virginia tech shootings

Not knowing your age or if you would remember this...I recall the Friday night body counts of our soldiers and the Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. Stated like they were giving the numbers for the stock exchange for that day.
Imagine being a parent hearing this count and having a son over there not knowing if you just hadn't been notified yet that it was your child (daughter's weren't really allowed to serve as soldiers then)
And nothing has changed since that time.
It's all wrong.
The killings in schools, Gonzalez's behavior, IMCLON, the war in Iraq, gun control (or lack thereof)etc.... The world needs balance and is spinning totally out of control in all aspects.
So how do we fix this? I thought it was all going forward in the late 60's & early 70's on so many levels and they have all crashed and burned.

dakotas way wrote: The world needs balance and is spinning totally out of control in all aspects.
So how do we fix this? I thought it was all going forward in the late 60's & early 70's on so many levels and they have all crashed and burned.

Well the best thing I can think of right now would be voluntary euthanasia. Of course things were going forward in the 60s and 70s because of an enormous cohort of liberal baby boomers. But you had fewer children than your parents, grew old and conservative, assumed then kept hold of the mantles of power and wealth, and stacked the deck to get a cushy ride at every stage. Only when that generation steps aside or finally shuffles off can progress resume.

HEY...who's old????
And what do you mean we stacked the deck to get a cushy ride?
I've worked two and three jobs most of my life and made thoughtful decisions and gone without things to make sure I don't have to force society to take care of myself and my husband as time went on.
What? Should be have just worked and said...Well, heres a new group coming up, lets just hand everything over to them cause they're cute??
You can do voluntary euthanasia if you like. It'll be one less whiney person complaining that they don't have blah, blah, blah.
Excuse me, I guess you expect me to shuffle off so you can resume progress......not happening babycakes.
And so progess continues........

And those who forget the past are doomed to recreate it.
I do understand what think you're saying. I'm simply pointing out that it's a shame when substantial social changes come to be and then fall by the wayside.
This really isn't the time or the place for this discussion. But if you open a new thread on it, I'd debate it with you.
Love and peace to all, man. (making a peace sign with my hand!)

I just wouldn't want to get into a self serving discussion when this was opened to discuss the tragedy of the lives taken.
But I do feel strongly that much of the ills of ouor society are due to media coverage slanted only to obtain viewers and not at all cover the truth.
Should we have seen what this maniac had to say in his video and manifesto? I think this is exactly what I'm talking about. It gave him the fame and outlet he was looking for at the expense of all others. The media knew that people would tune in, much like rubbernecking at an accident. You don't really want to look, but you're compelled to sneak a peek.
Not right, but simple human nature.
I think that it is the media that has created the chasm between races because it sells.
Doesn't matter if its true or how many real people believe in it, but if they can get a sound bite out of it, they'll use it.And thats what I was saying about what happened to the changes that seemed to have come about in the 70's between races. And this is where I feel people like Al Sharpton come into play.
Seems like so often he shows up at things that he really had nothing to do with. There was a situation in an area where the mayor of an NJ town was being questioned & indicted for some behavior or another and the guys wife was trying to make a race thing of it because he was black. Sharpton shows up and gets a group of people out and the media and starts ranting on. The mayor came out and said...no one asked you here, you don't even know what you're talking about and we don't want you here. And this is one of the largest mostly black cities in NJ. But Sharpton came in creating a situation out of something he knew nothing about. And after all was said and done, the mayor was indicted and left his post. So he did do whatever it was he was accused of and knew it, but wasn't going to allow the race card be put into play cause it wasn't valid.
How can we reverse this? Not sure.
But I guess by the outcry against the media outlets for airing these pictures and video of the murderer at VT may be a very small start.

I hate guns with a passion

Oiseau wrote: The ills of our society are the facts that you can buy a hand gun with barely any questions asked and kill 30+ people for $500.

In purely financial terms, this is much better value for money than the war in Iraq ($15.62 vs. $362,000,000.00 per American death).

sterling2000 wrote: [quote=dakotas way]I hate guns with a passion

Guns don't hate people; people hate people.

EGuns;Hate;People = H{Guns.Hate.People}

i.e. When you actually look at it, Guns, People, and Hate, are all discrete consequences of collapsing the {Guns.Hate.People} wavefunction. Unfortunately, it's a multi-body problem, so there's no analytical solution. This subtleties of this result are unfortunately lost on the legislature, which is itself entangled.