I am horrified, but not surprised by the shooting in VA.
As kids grow up in an environment where their parents want sunshine and rainbows and the kids see the stuff on the news (cause bad stuff sells ratings), mental conflicts develop. As they age, more and more bad gets piled on by the media in record time, and the parents get more fanatical in their protection, the kids lose their outlets. In America, the trend is towards larger houses, partly because parents want the kids IN the house where it's safe. Bad idea in the end.
The sad part is that when people are threatened and scared they don't think, just act. Very often that action is very very stupid and pointless, especially if they have no inkling of crisis management.
A major deterrent in the past against crimes is the repercussions. Our justice system is so overtaxed it's not funny. In short, people aren't afraid of going to jail. "It's three hots, a cot, free cable and exercise equipment, what more could a guy want?" is a line I actually heard from a person that went to jail. That alone tells me that the punishment itself isn't a deterrent from committing the crime. ooops.
In other words, we have serious social problems and most are unwilling to grow enough of a spine to make the necessary changes.
Race shouldn't be considered a factor but it is. Because so many are ignorant of other's cultures, they can only rationalize that it might have been a factor of their culture.
Americans as a whole remember Tienamin (sp?) Square in Bejing where the tanks rolled over their own people. That's the image many have of China (Besides the label on all our products that says 'made in China').
I personally don't have anything against race, but merely groups within a race. I for example, have soured to some Somali as the times I have come in contact with them (they seemed to have flooded to the state where I live) they were arrogant and seemed to think that it was okay to *demand* full financial support from the welfare system. But that doesn't mean I dislike blacks in general. Some of the nicest guys I know are black. By the way, I refuse to use 'african american' until I am called a 'caucasion american' instead of 'white'. In other words, not gonna happen.
Each race has their group that makes the rest shake their head in shame. See the Waco, Texas incident for an example (I didn't remember their name as I didn't want to give credence to the group or its activities). But that doesn't prevent society at large from trying to find SOME characteristic (be it valid or not) that will allow them to say "THAT is bad, stay away". See The roundup of all the Japanese in WWII. My father fought on Normandy for the Americans, as an American yet he had German heritage. They didn't round him up and feed him bad Sauerbraten. He was infuriated by what happened but in the same respect understood the rationale. It didn't make it right, but he understood why they would think the way they did. And yes... my father was OLD when I was born. Nothing like playing baseball at the age of 10 with a geriatric. But I digress. Again. And again.
I find that video games can either rile me up or let me vent anger. The first person shooters and fighting games allow me to take frustrations out on inanimate objects safely, while strategy games often rile me up with the horribly unbalanced AIs. Or maybe it's the fact that I suck at them, but still like them.
I myself wonder why no one tried to stop him. Did they, and got shot for it? I know I would have tried, but that's not everybody. I happen to ascribe to the precept of the 'needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.' Most believe in, "Screw you, I'm saving my own ass." in that type of situation. Hearing the stories of WWII from my dad gave me a different perspective I guess.
The oddity of this whole shooting thing is how did this person on an educational visa manage to get a handgun and enough clips, ammo and experience (without being caught) to kill that many people. Obviously he had to get it on the street as no fool in their right mind would try to legally sell a handgun to a non-citizen. Which leads me to wonder if he didn't have the experience by the time her arrived here. THAT would be frightening, especially if he did come from China. While I don't know much about the country I'm pretty sure the govt doesn't encourage the *average* citizen to carry or discharge firearms, which means he may have had military experience. Or... on the other hand he could have found a sand pit somewhere here in the US and practiced. Getting the ammo would have been the interesting part. If anything, Immigration will become even more difficult in the US because of this. "Sorry folks, stay away or you'll be shot at the border, and have a nice day, ya'll!" *sighs*
My most heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of those lost in this tragedy. I pray that something like this doesn't happen ever again, but I fear it's just the front side of the wave, so to speak.
As kids grow up in an environment where their parents want sunshine and rainbows and the kids see the stuff on the news (cause bad stuff sells ratings), mental conflicts develop. As they age, more and more bad gets piled on by the media in record time, and the parents get more fanatical in their protection, the kids lose their outlets. In America, the trend is towards larger houses, partly because parents want the kids IN the house where it's safe. Bad idea in the end.
The sad part is that when people are threatened and scared they don't think, just act. Very often that action is very very stupid and pointless, especially if they have no inkling of crisis management.
A major deterrent in the past against crimes is the repercussions. Our justice system is so overtaxed it's not funny. In short, people aren't afraid of going to jail. "It's three hots, a cot, free cable and exercise equipment, what more could a guy want?" is a line I actually heard from a person that went to jail. That alone tells me that the punishment itself isn't a deterrent from committing the crime. ooops.
In other words, we have serious social problems and most are unwilling to grow enough of a spine to make the necessary changes.
Race shouldn't be considered a factor but it is. Because so many are ignorant of other's cultures, they can only rationalize that it might have been a factor of their culture.
Americans as a whole remember Tienamin (sp?) Square in Bejing where the tanks rolled over their own people. That's the image many have of China (Besides the label on all our products that says 'made in China').
I personally don't have anything against race, but merely groups within a race. I for example, have soured to some Somali as the times I have come in contact with them (they seemed to have flooded to the state where I live) they were arrogant and seemed to think that it was okay to *demand* full financial support from the welfare system. But that doesn't mean I dislike blacks in general. Some of the nicest guys I know are black. By the way, I refuse to use 'african american' until I am called a 'caucasion american' instead of 'white'. In other words, not gonna happen.
Each race has their group that makes the rest shake their head in shame. See the Waco, Texas incident for an example (I didn't remember their name as I didn't want to give credence to the group or its activities). But that doesn't prevent society at large from trying to find SOME characteristic (be it valid or not) that will allow them to say "THAT is bad, stay away". See The roundup of all the Japanese in WWII. My father fought on Normandy for the Americans, as an American yet he had German heritage. They didn't round him up and feed him bad Sauerbraten. He was infuriated by what happened but in the same respect understood the rationale. It didn't make it right, but he understood why they would think the way they did. And yes... my father was OLD when I was born. Nothing like playing baseball at the age of 10 with a geriatric. But I digress. Again. And again.
I find that video games can either rile me up or let me vent anger. The first person shooters and fighting games allow me to take frustrations out on inanimate objects safely, while strategy games often rile me up with the horribly unbalanced AIs. Or maybe it's the fact that I suck at them, but still like them.
I myself wonder why no one tried to stop him. Did they, and got shot for it? I know I would have tried, but that's not everybody. I happen to ascribe to the precept of the 'needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.' Most believe in, "Screw you, I'm saving my own ass." in that type of situation. Hearing the stories of WWII from my dad gave me a different perspective I guess.
The oddity of this whole shooting thing is how did this person on an educational visa manage to get a handgun and enough clips, ammo and experience (without being caught) to kill that many people. Obviously he had to get it on the street as no fool in their right mind would try to legally sell a handgun to a non-citizen. Which leads me to wonder if he didn't have the experience by the time her arrived here. THAT would be frightening, especially if he did come from China. While I don't know much about the country I'm pretty sure the govt doesn't encourage the *average* citizen to carry or discharge firearms, which means he may have had military experience. Or... on the other hand he could have found a sand pit somewhere here in the US and practiced. Getting the ammo would have been the interesting part. If anything, Immigration will become even more difficult in the US because of this. "Sorry folks, stay away or you'll be shot at the border, and have a nice day, ya'll!" *sighs*
My most heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of those lost in this tragedy. I pray that something like this doesn't happen ever again, but I fear it's just the front side of the wave, so to speak.