In my backyard

[Photon Brewing]

You see all these shootings and disasters at other places and think boy that gotta suck for those folks. The stabbings this morning happened at a school i drive past everyday. They brought 8 of the victims to my work, 3 of which were rushed into surgery immediately. Its very surreal and honestly doesnt feel very good at all and feels like an out of body sorta thing. I commend our response teams for staying level headed and doing what needs done. And the surrounding trauma centers and hospitals. Just got let go from work and got home and think Im going to drink beer and cry til I pass out.

[Beer-lord]

I've been following this and it seems to be getting worse more often. It's not something that sane and normal minds can comprehend so it does us no good to try and find a reason because there is no good reason to make this seem rational.

Then I read something like this and it makes me start to wonder if it could be true: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/469 ... ld-is-nigh
Very silly and unconventional but with more sicko things going on in our world today, why not?

[Funky Skunk Brewing]

I'm not as "experienced" as others on this board may be when it comes to life events and seeing things unfold from years past. Though I do remember when I was in high school in the early 90's and these types of incidents were not common place. Now you can say that we did not have instant 24/7 media then either, or instant internet on mobile phones, tablets, etc, to get the news at any time. And yes I know anyone can go Google these types of incidents and I'm sure there were many in that time frame, that's not my point.

Though I feel these types of incidents are becoming nearly common place, where in the past even 15-20 years, they were major, major stories that did not happen all "that" often as they seem to these days. It's not guns, knifes or any other weapon that are doing these acts, it's the people that are committing these acts that I wonder what brought them to this point.

These days it seems to take less and less to throw someone over the edge to act on those thoughts and commit acts of this nature. It's like the world is being filled more and more with people that can't cope and react to situations and they just snap and go off and do things like this. I'm always perplexed at what it takes for an individual to be thrown to that point where this seems like an action that can/could resolve whatever their issues are. Or, what pushed them to this point to react in this manner.

I've had events happen to me personally that have changed my life forever in horrid ways. I lost my son before he was two years old because his mother thought it would be OK to smoke dope while driving on the freeway. She passed out after smoking apparently too much with the cruise control on, veered off the road and hit the metal guard railing that separates the oncoming freeways. She killed my son, her other son and the other passenger. Probably the hardest phone call I have ever received and the hardest thing I will ever have to do in my life, identifying my own sons body.

This was a devastating blow to me personally as I was in college at the time. Not to mention what it did to my family. I'd be lying if I said many times I wished her to be killed as well and that I could do it. Never did I act on those emotions or feelings, as I believe myself to be a pretty sane individual ... Well, most of the time

Has societies ability to cope with life changes, situations or obstacles become so thin that this is what we have to look forward to? I sincerely hope not or we're all in for a world of you know what.

[Beer-lord]

Oh my God Eddie, I am so very sorry for your loss. I could never imagine losing a child, especially so very young and for the reason you mentioned. I can only wish you peace in the future as you continue to deal with this. They say everything happens for a reason but that never could satisfy me. For her to survive such a tragedy and have to live with that on her concious is a painful punishment that no one would want but I certainly can understand why you would wish the worst on her....it's only natural.
We live in a very painful world.

[Funky Skunk Brewing]

Oh my God Eddie, I am so very sorry for your loss. I could never imagine losing a child, especially so very young and for the reason you mentioned. I can only wish you peace in the future as you continue to deal with this. They say everything happens for a reason but that never could satisfy me. For her to survive such a tragedy and have to live with that on her concious is a painful punishment that no one would want but I certainly can understand why you would wish the worst on her....it's only natural.
We live in a very painful world.

Thank you very much. I did not want to post that to take away from what the original post was about (obviously). I just don't understand the mindset or how one could get into that mindset to do something like these acts to innocent people. And like I said, it seems that it's just happening more and more all the time. At some point, I feel we'll see this sort of news every day. I feel thankful we live in the U.S. and I know other countries have dealt with this their entire lives.

It's just sad and scary all at the same time that people have such little respect for one another they can resort to this and think nothing of it. And as to Photon said, we all see it and think man, that community must be in complete shock. Then for it to happen in your own backyard is a wicked dose of reality no one is ever really prepared for.

[Gymrat]

I think this has a direct correlation to more and more people who have never been to church in their lives. Without God there is no moral compass and a person is less inhibited about following the inclination of their heart. The heart of man is always evil all the time. The only absolute for what is right and what is wrong is in the bible. People who have at least been to church as children have these seeds planted. On top of that we are living in a nation where people pop out kids to get bigger welfare checks. The kids grow up with out any parents who truly care about them. On another level a number of people are more into material things such as boats, cars, etc. than they are into their families, so even in upper middle class and above we have children who were never really tended to or reared properly. Then you look at the input these kids are getting, video games, jack ass type movies, saw type movies, and the list goes on. It all adds up to more and more people with no moral direction or conviction in their lives.

[John Sand]

Photon, I'm sorry for your pain. Thank you for being there to help. If it continues to haunt you, talk to a professional. I don't say that glibly, as an ex-cop, I saw plenty of blood and death. Sometimes our guys needed counseling.
Eddie, you are a good man. You chose the right course, and I believe that people who are scarred by loss can become bitter, or kinder. I think you are the latter.
Gym, I agree that most faiths encourage good, moral behavior. I also think that our society not only rejects God, but morals and ethics of all kinds.
Take care of each-other my Brothers.

[BlackDuck]

On another level a number of people are more into material things such as boats, cars, etc. than they are into their families, so even in upper middle class and above we have children who were never really tended to or reared properly.

So very true.....I saw this picture on another thread, and it points directly at your comment:

children.jpg (77.24 KiB) Viewed 1127 times

[Beer-lord]

I agree Roger. Not to put too much of a religious spin on it (though I go to church weekly and am a believer) our youth has no moral compass. Science has all the answers and if not, wikipedia does. Even my son, raised Catholic, was an altar boy, doesn't attend church though he believes in God. They make excuses, are selfish and only think of themselves.
The kid who did this today, whether 100% sane or not, is crying out for some twisted attention. They can't settle their problems, no matter how simple they are, so they lash out violently. To put it in simple terms, THEY HAVE NO FEAR! Those who fear nothing, having nothing to live for.

[RickBeer]

In my opinion (which is just that), society hasn't in the past and won't in the future recognize the major issue that we are all confronted with - the reality that some percentage of the population of the world should a) not be allowed to have children, b) are not aware enough to function in the world, c) take no responsibility for their own actions or the actions of others - the famous "I knew he was crazy but I did nothing" excuse, etc.

In short, Darwin has a law "The Survival of the Fittest" that might better be stated as some people aren't meant to exist. We can all pick them out - the ones that cause harm to others, the ones that don't carry even a portion of their own weight and live slovenly off society, the ones that by their inaction cause bad things to happen to others. Sometimes it's poor education, sometimes it's a biased/prejudiced view of the world, sometimes it's ignorance, and sometimes it's evil.

Today we know everything everywhere right away. 100 years ago they didn't. 10 years ago they didn't. Therefore, we learn of things that we never learned of when they existed years or decades ago. It was just as bad then - the difference is that the world's population is much bigger and so the x% that do these things are bigger in number.

Without bashing those that believe in something, I defy anyone to show a study that says that religion makes a difference in preventing bad things from happening to good people. Priests molested children. Their boss priests covered it up, and still do. Religious people embezzle money. People brought up in a deeply religious household belong to organized crime families. Bad parents can be religious or not. Many bad people in history were driven by their faith to commit horrendous crimes against humanity. What works for you works for you. Glad it does. But it's not a cure. Many religious faiths have conducted horrendous crimes centuries ago in the name of religion.

In my opinion (which again is only mine), the accessibility of weapons in our society, and more importantly the "it's my right and it's people that kill, not weapons" self-righteous excuse are the main cause of increased violence in society as a whole. Of note - the NRA is comprised of 4% of gun owners, so 96% of gun owners don't belong, and the vast majority of Americans don't belong. Yet the NRA has incredible sway in ensuring that gun laws are not toughened up, and more importantly the rest of us don't object to that influence. If a religious fanatic had the same sway, or some other "fringe" effort, we'd all object. We as a society are lazy, we don't get involved except from our sofa sitting on our fat butts. To change requires getting off your fat butt and getting involved in fixing whatever you think is wrong.

And I have yet to have a brew today. Eddie, sorry for your loss, hope she was punished appropriately by decades in prison. Photon, I hope that your skills and that of your coworkers that felt it was their calling to help others heal results in positive outcomes for those injured.

[FedoraDave]

Is it just me, or do these types of things frequently happen in April (or in the spring)? It just seems to me that they do.

[berryman]

You see all these shootings and disasters at other places and think boy that gotta suck for those folks. The stabbings this morning happened at a school i drive past everyday. They brought 8 of the victims to my work, 3 of which were rushed into surgery immediately. Its very surreal and honestly doesnt feel very good at all and feels like an out of body sorta thing. Just got let go from work and got home and think Im going to drink beer and cry til I pass out.

These things are always bad when we all see it on the news through out the country, but when it hits so close to home as it did with you, it is extra painful. Sorry to hear you had to be put into this very bad experience.

[berryman]

In my opinion (which again is only mine), the accessibility of weapons in our society, and more importantly the "it's my right and it's people that kill, not weapons" self-righteous excuse are the main cause of increased violence in society as a whole. Of note - the NRA is comprised of 4% of gun owners, so 96% of gun owners don't belong, and the vast majority of Americans don't belong. Yet the NRA has incredible sway in ensuring that gun laws are not toughened up, and more importantly the rest of us don't object to that influence.

Rick from what I've seen on the news and read about on this tragedy, gun control shouldn't be an issue as there were no guns involved. But the liberal media will jump on it as you did. Yes the real cause is lack of moral up bringing and in the christian religions one of the ten rules is "thou shalt not kill"
Just my opinion................

[Chuck N]

Nothing. NOTHING! Will piss me me off faster or more than being blamed and held accountable for something I didn't do. And I don't think there is anyone on this board that don't fell the same way.

Well, that's what gun control is all about; Holding innocent people to blame for crimes that they didn't commit.

I am going to tell you right now that there has been few people ever killed by a gun. That's not a typo. And I have proof: There have been guns in my house for longer than I have been in my house and not one of them have ever so much as scratched another person. And I have many, many friends that can say the exact same thing. None of the children in Sandy Hook, none of the students at Columbine and none of the movie goers in Aurora were killed by a gun. They were all killed by a criminal(s) with a gun. And this latest moron didn't even use a gun. But here we are talking gun control again.

So gun control isn't about controlling guns at all. Gun control is about controlling people. I, for one, do not want my Government controlling me. I want to control my Government. That's what this country and it's Constitution was founded on. And if you take the guns away those are nothing but empty words on a useless scrap of paper.

I had an argument a while ago on this same subject. The other guy said, "When the Constitution was written the best gun a person could own was a single shot, load from the barrel rifle."

And I answered, "You are absolutely correct; When the Constitution was written the best gun an American could own was on par with or better than the best weapon carried best the most highly trained soldier in the the most powerful army in the world. Our Founding Fathers afforded the American citizens that much trust. Why can't our present day administrators do the same?"

[Photon Brewing]

Agreed chuck, guns kill people the same way that pencils misspell words. Everyone has some valid points. After thinking on this for the better part of the day, I still havent come up with much. Good and bad resides in all of us. Good people do bad things and vice versa. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I dont think its violence on TV or video games. Theres a reason why they show batman stringing the joker up a flagpole by his balls on TV. It drives home the fact that good must ALWAYS prevail over evil. Star Wars, Lord of the rings, Star Trek and other great sagas are based on this single law. Video Games, while I dont like the obsessiveness, too are based on that single law. Bullying falls rite in step with this. Good MUST win over bad. I think some of it must be put on the parents. They dont want to see their kids lose or be saddened by defeat. Every kid gets a trophy or award just for participation now. Thats so lame. Olympic gold isnt achieved by a drawer full of 7th place ribbons. Its achieved by losing and then trying again and losing and trying again. If you lose enough times, one day you end up being pretty darn good at whatever it is your trying to succeed at. Along the journey you figure out how to deal with controversy and can accept the fact that not everything is gonna go your way. Be that as it may, I still got no answers. Thanx for the input.