We need to pick some scabs..

[SoCalDem]

A DOUBLE MURDER on one day and THREE bomb threats in a week are considered "isolated incidents"? (the reason given, for why they did not alert the students in the TWO HOUR interim time-frame)

Prominent "media" types feel free to "slur at will" (regardless of party.. we all know who does it/did it..)

Millions of hopeless little kid-zombies traveling through each day, wondering if anyone really loves them. Wondering if they are too fat, too short, too dumb, too ugly..

Red v Blue
Whites v Blacks
Everybody v Browns
Old v Young
Poor v Rich

Paranoid people looking over their shoulders, wondering if someone "has their personal information".. and if so, what they will do with it..

Sick people afraid to go to the doctor because they fear a costly diagnosis, or having to choose between food/rent or medicine

Women (mostly) raising kids alone on shitty wages, with NO help ..

A city sacrificed (NOLA), and now it sits forlornly, given over to the rats & vermin, because the "so-called" leaders are playing a waiting game with its poor.

our people overseas, killing people they don't understand, and making twice as many enemies as friends

...back to school...

I have a sick feeling in my gut, that tells me there are many many many "kids" going off to school with a serious lack of inter-personal understanding. The bravado & posing I see with even small kids, leads me to believe that lots of these kids do not know HOW to handle break-ups, cheating in relationships, disappointments, discouragement, stress..you name it.

If I ran a college, I would make the FIRST class required, to be one involving this subject..and perhaps some psychology/sociology..no matter their intended course of study.

The ease of getting lethal weapons, coupled with the hair-trigger emotions that young people carry around inside them is a recipe for more disasters.

We cannot really call this a "tragedy", and do nothing to address the underlying issues .

People are just not connected anymore. Most people have little compassion, and have spent a lifetime of being egocentric. Perhaps it's a natural result of having workaholic parents who HAVE to work 24-7 to keep from sinking to the bottom of the pile.

All of these problems ARE related, and they must be addressed someday..and done so in a serious manner. If we just keep "kicking it down the road" and blaming the scapegoat of the day, this will just keep on happening.

[demnan]

1. One of the items you mentioned is the big elephant on the table

Easy access to deadly weapons.

It's also easier to fix than the other items. But you won't hear Bush say it, you won't hear Governor Kaine say it, you won't hear Jim Webb say it.

Access to guns is too easy in Virginia. And look at D.C., denied voting rights in Congress merely because they have a tight gun control law.

If you listened to the BBC in the last 32 hours you would have heard the incredulous way the British believe we deal with guns in this country.

Second Amendment rights my ass!

[Virginia Dare]

2. The type of gun the assailant used was apparently..

one of those that was included in the assault weapon ban that Bush let expire.

[Toots]

4. I saw that he carried two pistols, one a 22 caliber the other a 9mm.

Neither of those are an assault rifle..

[SoCalDem]

6. It was the ammo clip size that was "re-legalized"

but a determined killer will usually overcome just about anything he has to, to carry out his plan :(

[Virginia Dare]

7. Yes, I'll be interested to see how and where he got those weapons..n/t

[SoCalDem]

8. He probably bought them "on the street"..the serial numbers

were "removed", so that pretty much says "illegally gotten".

When my son was in high school, he once told me he could (if he wanted to) get a gun in about 20 minutes..

[Toots]

3. I think another issue is the uncivilizing of America

People like Imus and Limbaugh and Coulter must share in the blame on this. They have kept up a steady howl of incivility for over a decade now. It has become cool to call people names and incite hatreds, We are seeing civil people become less because of torture, loss of the Constitution, criminal thugs running the government, etc. Can we expect any less of America? This is no longer shocking to me. In fact I expect it to become a common occurance. We glorify in implements of death. America's soul has been grabbed by the devil and I believe we are helpless to try and get it back. I mourn for the country we used to be.

[SoCalDem]

5. and the ultimate dichotomy?

We cling to religiosity, as a nation..and have more churches than almost anyplace else on the planet...

[formercia]

9. God save us

our Government won't. The last refuge.

Don't fret. No matter what terrible things happen in your life, if you pray, God will have a special place for you in heaven.


Junior read it as prey.

[CrispyQ]

10. You said:

People are just not connected anymore. Most people have little compassion, and have spent a lifetime of being egocentric.

A few months ago I read "Dark Ages America" & the author made some excellent points. One that really stuck with me was that we have "privatized the public space." When a person talks on their cell phone in a movie theater, when parents let their children disrupt other dining patrons, when someone positions their grocery cart across the isle so others can't get by, these are actions of someone privatizing the public space -- acting as though they are in private when they are not. It's rude & it creates bad vibes. Some aren't aware that their behavior is rude and others just don't care. Either way, they go through their day making sure things flow as smoothly as possible for them & no one else matters. I see this lack of civility everywhere. We have created a society where it is acceptable to treat people you don't know like crap. Look at our 'stars,' movie, sports, etc. Hardly any of them suffer when they behave badly. Imus got fired for something he said. There was a pro basketball player who went into the stands & bashed a spectator. What happened to him? He actually assaulted someone & I think he was only suspended for a few games.

I sound like an old fart complaining about younger people who have no manners, but it goes deeper than that. And it isn't just the young people. I see this behavior from boomers on down. It is a meanness that permeates our culture. Instead of building ourselves up through hard work & discipline, it is now ok to build yourself up by tearing others down. It is very disturbing. I wish the whole Imus thing was a paradigm shift, but I don't think it is. I think it's an isolated case of bad behavior having consequence, but I doubt it's a trend.

[SoCalDem]

11. It's all you said.. and more.

There are kids being raised right now, who are told that they are the best organism in the universe, and anyone who says otherwise is evil.

In an odd way, it's advertising (in my opinion) that reinforces it.

YOU deserve (insert any product here)..you have earned it..just by being YOU!

Anyone who tries hard "will" be successful...unless you are not..then it must be YOUR fault. I think there are a lot of conflicted people walking around. They are told that the world is their oyster, yet they are not successful (in their own eyes).

People like that lash out, because
somebody else" must be at fault..

Guns make it easy to feel big..if only for a little while

[tomreedtoon]

12. There are some people who can't deal with people.

Unless you get the right parents and the right environment, you can never gain the social skills to deal with people on a personal level.

If you don't get those skills by an early age, you will never get them.

And psychiatry and meds don't do a damned thing to stop it, because both are frauds.

Wake up and smell the cordite. Some people will never be "all right" and they cannot be fixed. The best thing you can do is learn to protect yourself. And if you're a damaged person, accept that you're damaged and don't get angry at the universe because you're damaged.