GEORGE KORDA: A view from abroad, and back in the U.S.A.

* The mass killing in Orlando, Fla., of 49 people by an ISIS-inspired terrorist was heavily covered by European media. What we could understand best was on the BBC, Skynews, and a couple of other English-speaking television channels.

I expected a good deal of criticism and debate directed at the U.S. over the 2nd Amendment, but interestingly, from what we saw it wasn’t prevalent. Europe, particularly France, has been recently victimized by terrorist attacks despite more stringent gun laws than those in the U.S., so perhaps that realization factored into the initial coverage we saw, as well as the fact the gunman identified himself as aligning with ISIS.

* Speaking of European media, it was pleasant to be spared the all-Trump, all-the-time mania of U.S. news stations.

* The taxi drivers, guides, and others with whom we spoke were generally, but not universally, critical of the high taxes in their countries, saying it threatens or keeps them from improving their standard of living.

A universal gripe was that every time the government raises taxes on gas, construction, etc., to grow revenue it results in slowing down those areas of the economy, thus reducing government revenues, causing governments to seek other ways to acquire more revenue, with the same resulting slowdowns.

Bad luck, that.