Va Tec shootings. 33 dead. OP/ED on media reports.
Offline First of, I am sure I speek for many in saying that our thoughts are with the students and staff of Virgina Tech. May they get through this as best they can.
But I do have problems with the reporting by media.
I cant stand a couple things about the reporting. They keep mentioning "school" shooting. But this type of crime is not a "school" event as much as it is a person who is angrey at the world who is picking a convient target. McDonnalds in San Deigo in 1984 and Luby's Cafeteria in Waco Texas were mass shootings as well. Then there was the day stock trader who shot his entire family and then went on a shooting spree in Atlanta.
The profile of these perpitrators is that they blame society for their shortfalls. This student was problibly rejected by a girlfriend or was failing a class.
Reporters also are placing blame on security and police. This type of reporting is also dishonest. In a free society there will always be soft targets. Movie theatres, resteraunts, malls are all places that are open and easly accessed. Can security be improved anywhere? Whatever improvements society can come up with should not come at the cost of irresposible sensationalistic propaganda journalism.
It is sad that these lives were lost. But our freedom as society should not go down the drain because selling fear seems to be the flavor of the day "If it bleeds it leads".
Comparitively speeking the number of trafic related deaths per year on our nation's highways far outnumbers events like this. It is not to deminish the losses, but to keep in mind that in reacting to this we not need let fear rule us as a society.
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I went to dinner with my family last night and my sister in law stated how shocked she was that this guy managed to leave and then just wander back in 2 hours later. I had to explain to her the size of the place, how police would have expected the person to be fleeing/hiding especially after 2 hours, how far away the area he came back to was etc. All the security/students/teachers would have calmed down quite a lot 2 hours later and been expecting things to be safe, I know I would have.
After my uncle told us that the initial shootings were this guys gf and a councellor who overheard an argument, it was pretty obvious this guy wasn't coping well with what he did in those 2 hours and eventually lost it completely. It was only this morning I heard about the note, but that would just be part of him losing it after having already killed two people and essentially ruining his life in that act.
Actually, it's more something I learnt about when reading an article on computer security recently ... it's what the author of that paper wanted to become a regular buzzword "CYA Security" which stands for "Cover-Your-Arse Security". It's happened once, people were caught off guard, ok. Happens twice? The public and everyone will be up in arms demanding blood of those who didn't stop it the second time.
Other than turning the tech (and every other tech/university/college) into a police state, how exactly is one meant to enact CYA Security anyway? What I've seen of the grounds makes it look extroadinarily hard.
... and pales in comparison to wars etc. We've been desensitised to those things. In a way it's fortunate, in others it's very unfortunate.
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My friend made this... http://virginiagotskooled.ytmnd.com/
Now remeber though this is not my opinion i agree with you guys but he thought with the media hipe on a one sided tracked he figured he would go over to the oposite. I think he also just wants to anger people. He gets enjoyment out of this. I figured i would pass this on to others and let them see the true side of him.
That's just retarded and your friend is an asshole!
Why do you think i figured i would tell other people...
I wanted people to see the other side of him not just the A student who is never wrong. I want people to see the real him. Plus He claims that this is just a joke...But he usually waits a while before he jokes bout incidents like this.
ps. Asshole doesn't even begin to desribe him when he does stuff like this...
I understand that you posted it here so people would see he is an asshole. I was confirming that. I will say it again, your friend is a dickhead without abandon.