Originally Posted By RoadTrip I am so freaking done with everything. Comments by conservatives on Facebook today are trying to blame Obama for the senseless shootings on live TV in Virginia. That combined with the latest Trump comments has me giving up on life in this country. I'm glad I'm an old man and will be dead soon.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros The shooting happened at the lake where I've spent many many vacations through the years, and where my parents spend their summers and ultimately plan to retire. I've been to that shopping center countless times and know exactly where it took place from the single still frame I've seen (I have no interest in watching the video) To say this is a surprise is an understatement. Although it's a rural area where lots of people have guns (which they use for hunting, not "self protection"), things like this just don't happen there. It's the sort of place where nobody ever locks their doors because it's a quiet place without any trouble Given that it was a former employee of the news station, it sounds like this was more than just a random shooting. I am very interested to see what they find out about the guy and what his potential motives were. He also managed to drive very far away (almost into the DC suburbs) before being found and shooting himself, so I'm curious what his plan was. Given how far he made it in so little time, it seems like he was trying to do more than just hide out somewhere to avoid being found As for the comments on Facebook, I see countless stupid comments on nearly every single story that hits the news, both from conservatives and liberals. The internet can be a great way to connect people and share information, but it also gives every idiot a microphone to send their message. Luckily, it's pretty easy to turn off or ignore the stuff that you're not interested in
Originally Posted By FerretAfros And for what it's worth, my mom is currently in Hong Kong and says that this story has been playing non-stop on CNN there, including an extended period where they were just showing the local news channel's live feed and discussion
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf Ho hum, another shooting in America. No big deal, just another person upset about something choosing to grab a gun and kill people. But at least the sacred right to own a gun isn't being questioned. Now that would be something to be outraged about.
Originally Posted By ecdc We sanitize the news here. The big thing now is telling people "not to watch it" and to "respect" the victims. Maybe it's our sanitation of gun violence that makes it so prevalent here. We should have the cost and violence of guns shoved in our face every single day in this stupid country until we actually bother to do something about it.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>We should have the cost and violence of guns shoved in our face every single day<< I wonder if that would really work to jolt people into demanding a stop to the violence, or if it would simply become the highest rated reality programming?
Originally Posted By Tikiduck "We sanitize the news here." Just like our meat and poultry, we get our news in clean, wrapped packages that give no indication at all of what it took to get it there. People can imagine the terror of gun violence. Seeing it is another story.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>Ho hum, another shooting in America. No big deal, just another person upset about something choosing to grab a gun and kill people. << And don't forget the gun apologists who say that he could have killed them with a knife. Had that Holmes guy in the Aurora cinema been armed only with knives, it's safe to say that the death toll would have been much lower.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost Probably not a knife, but, I think a bomb would have worked. Seriously, you aren't going to stop crazies until the laws make it possible to stop them before they do that damage. I don't own a gun and never have, but, I do know enough to know that it wasn't the gun that hunted down and aimed itself at those people, it was the crazy holding it.
Originally Posted By oc_dean You know ... the crazy gun advocates would decry ... 'you can't change the Constitution' - Well, you know what .. it's called the 2nd Amendment. An amendment is a CHANGE. An alteration to the original document. What was changed on the constitution before ... can be change again, as far as I'm concerned.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros People knowingly do plenty of things that are illegal, so I'm not sure that banning all guns would really fix anything. Murder is illegal, yet that doesn't seem to stop these folks from the shootings. There are plenty of illegal drugs in the US, yet there are no shortage of drug users I agree that there is a problem that needs to be addressed, but I don't see a total gun ban as the solution. I think a tough look at our mental health system (especially now that we're all responsible for each other's healthcare, regardless of shooting rampages) and ending the stigma surrounding it would be a good start, though certainly would not be the only fix needed
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I think it is growing disrespect for both human life and the rule of law. More and more people today seem to feel they can violate the law with impunity if in their mind they are justified in doing so. I don't know what can be done to change that.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***the crazy gun advocates would decry ... 'you can't change the Constitution'*** They would be wrong. You most certainly *can* change it, although the people have fallen into such a state of ignorance that I've no doubt most of them think it's impossible. If the people wished, they could even eliminate one or more branches of government outright. It's well within our power, though most would scoff at the very notion. But for those who decry the do nothing congress, the power hungry president or those pesky revisionist judges, they have it in their power to change it all to their liking, adding or revoking powers or even adding new branches or changing one for another, *if* they can get enough of their compatriots on board. They could easily make guns illegal, too. I kinda wish we Americans would flex our muscles a bit more. It'd make for a more interesting world, I'd say, and would certainly make short work of those career politicians who care nothing for the people, and who toil in service to big corporations and the wealthy.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>I wonder if that would really work to jolt people into demanding a stop to the violence, or if it would simply become the highest rated reality programming?<< Ugh. I mean...UGH. I really want to believe that's just not true...but you may be right. I guess I'm thinking about 9/11, for example. Imagine if no one had seen the images or video. We just had newspaper reports about it or a still of the plane right before it hit. Would the reaction be the same?
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Here's a strange factoid about the guy who did the shooting yesterday. He graduated from San Francisco State University in 1995 with a degree in radio and television. My brother graduated that same year from the same department, though has no recollection of this guy. However, the person that gave the commencement address at SFSU that year was Hillary Clinton. There's a good chance he was in attendance that day as well.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox OMG. You are scaring me, 2oony. =8^0 I received my MA from SFSU in 1995. I was at the graduation and clearly remember Hillary's speech. In fact, several female undergrads held up a "Hillary for President!" banner just before she took the podium. She grinned. 8^D So your brother graduated from radio and television? My college was Education, based in Burk Hall. Wasn't your brother's college also housed in Burk Hall? If it wasn't then it was the building next door. But I do remember some of the television classes taking place near our media lab. Wow. That was 20 years ago before many of the old earthquake damaged buildings were replaced or rebuilt. Geez I'm old.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan I will have to ask him about that! Small world after all! Also speaking that day was SFSU alum Annette Benning.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox And Reverend Cecil Williams from Glide Memorial Church here in SF. If only other ministers were as compassionate and color blind as Cecil is. He's been an amazing humanitarian for decades.
