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Chippewa
SFN Regular

USA
1496 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  08:01:18   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Chippewa's Homepage Send Chippewa a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Eroica

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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard

3192 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  09:49:06   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send BigPapaSmurf a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Sad incident this is, no doubt it will scar many people for life. Makes you think though when an incident this horrific has happened daily in Baghdad for a thousand days.


"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History

"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini
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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  11:40:39   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message  Reply with Quote
And so, with the wounds still fresh and bleeding, the septic scum from the Westboro Baptist church is preparing to rub salt in them.
quote:
Never missing the opportunity to take advantage of a tragedy, Fred Phelps and his gang of haters at Westboro Baptist Church plan to picket the funerals of those killed in the Virginia Tech shootings, according to a message on their website (which I haven't linked on purpose):

"WBC will preach at the funerals of the Virginia Tech students killed on campus during a shooting rampage April 16, 2007. You describe this as monumental horror, but you know nothing of horror -- yet. Your bloody tyrant Bush says he is 'horrified' by it all. You know nothing of horror -- yet. Your true horror is coming. 'They shall also gird themselves with sackloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads' (Eze. 7:18).

Why did this happen, you ask? It's simple. Your military chose to shoot at the servants of God today, and all they got for their effort was terror. Then, the LORD your God sent a crazed madman to shoot at your children. Was God asleep while this took place? Was He on vacation? Of course not. He willed this to happen to punish you for assailing His servants."


From out of the cesspool....




"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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the_ignored
SFN Addict

2562 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  12:30:32   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send the_ignored a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Dave W.

You've been run over by two trucks, Ricky, and now this. As a friend, I've gotta say I think you should transfer to a different school.



Holy Crap! I had no idea, Ricky, that you were going to that place! I almost had a heart attack when I read the posts here today, until I saw you posting saying that you were alright.


Off on another track: Two trucks? I think I remember a story about one truck, but two?

>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.

What brought that on? this. Original posting here.

Another example of this guy's lunacy here.
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the_ignored
SFN Addict

2562 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  12:33:06   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send the_ignored a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by filthy

And so, with the wounds still fresh and bleeding, the septic scum from the Westboro Baptist church is preparing to rub salt in them.
quote:
Never missing the opportunity to take advantage of a tragedy, Fred Phelps and his gang of haters at Westboro Baptist Church plan to picket the funerals of those killed in the Virginia Tech shootings, according to a message on their website (which I haven't linked on purpose):

"WBC will preach at the funerals of the Virginia Tech students killed on campus during a shooting rampage April 16, 2007. You describe this as monumental horror, but you know nothing of horror -- yet. Your bloody tyrant Bush says he is 'horrified' by it all. You know nothing of horror -- yet. Your true horror is coming. 'They shall also gird themselves with sackloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads' (Eze. 7:18).

Why did this happen, you ask? It's simple. Your military chose to shoot at the servants of God today, and all they got for their effort was terror. Then, the LORD your God sent a crazed madman to shoot at your children. Was God asleep while this took place? Was He on vacation? Of course not. He willed this to happen to punish you for assailing His servants."


From out of the cesspool....







What does he even mean, about "Your military chose to shoot at the servants of God today"?

>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.

What brought that on? this. Original posting here.

Another example of this guy's lunacy here.
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard

USA
3834 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  12:59:45   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send beskeptigal a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by BigPapaSmurf

Sad incident this is, no doubt it will scar many people for life. Makes you think though when an incident this horrific has happened daily in Baghdad for a thousand days.



I was thinking of this very thing imagining not just everyone with a gun but how about everyone with assault rifles? Gee think how much safer we'd be if we followed the gun lobby wishes.

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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard

USA
3834 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  13:03:35   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send beskeptigal a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Phelps is beyond words. Take the man away before he starts shooting people himself. The man is off his rocker.
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard

USA
3834 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  14:40:20   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send beskeptigal a Private Message  Reply with Quote
So far we have the blame going to
    abortion (parent of a Columbine victim)
    the ban on school prayer (multiple sites)
    gun control
    no gun control
    homosexuals (Phelps' usual rant)
    evil (for whatever reason God doesn't interfere)
    God (for reasons unknown, not punishment as claimed by Phelps, et al., and because obviously he controls these things)
    the university for not warning people and/or closing the campus down
    the police for not assuming a murder in a dorm meant a madman was possibly on his way to a shooting rampage
    Bush (JREF forum)
    society (JREF forum)
    lack of mental health care for various reasons (can't force it on someone, not available, no one took action to help shooter get it)


Did I leave anything/one out?

Oh yeah, the shooter.




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JohnOAS
SFN Regular

Australia
800 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  15:53:23   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit JohnOAS's Homepage Send JohnOAS a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal

So far we have the blame going to
    abortion (parent of a Columbine victim)
    the ban on school prayer (multiple sites)
    gun control
    no gun control
    homosexuals (Phelps' usual rant)
    evil (for whatever reason God doesn't interfere)
    God (for reasons unknown, not punishment as claimed by Phelps, et al., and because obviously he controls these things)
    the university for not warning people and/or closing the campus down
    the police for not assuming a murder in a dorm meant a madman was possibly on his way to a shooting rampage
    Bush (JREF forum)
    society (JREF forum)
    lack of mental health care for various reasons (can't force it on someone, not available, no one took action to help shooter get it)


Did I leave anything/one out?



How about:

* The shooters parents
* Drugs
* The shooters boyfriend/girlfriend
* The shooters potential boyfriend/girlfriend
* The education system
* Engrams






John's just this guy, you know.
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard

USA
4907 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  15:55:58   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Ricky an AOL message Send Ricky a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I was watching the news about the event on Monday, what channel I have no idea. There was a professional of some sort, I can't remember exactly, it could have been the FBI profiler which they interviewed but again, I'm not entirely sure. Anyways, one of the things he said is that after this sort of event happens, there were always some warning signs before hand. You ask people who knew the shooter and there are always at least a few people who noticed something right before it happened. He said that many people just ignore these things, whereas if they recognized certain things as warning signs, these horrible disasters can be avoided.

To me, this sounds like it would be fraught with confirmation bias. When someone goes clinically insane and harms others, those who knew them will recall events which lead up to the tragedy. In this case, catching a cheating girlfriend (not sure if this has been confirmed). But more hypothetically, becoming antisocial, being depressed, getting in trouble with the law, falling grades, threatening others, and the like. These may be common factors behind the shooters actions, but I don't think they can be called warning signs.

Certainly, millions of people go through them every day. Of course, one should be worried if they know any such person, and try to be there for them to comfort and help. But to interpret them as warning signs is absurd. One need not get counseling simply because they are feeling a little depressed. You certainly shouldn't alert the authorities at any, excluding threats, of these so called warning signs that someone may become violent.

Furthermore, there is always a tendency to exaggerate and even make up things about the shooter, in order to attempt to explain their actions. One can not forget that we are humans, and we don't always tell the truth, even when we want to.

Why continue? Because we must. Because we have the call. Because it is nobler to fight for rationality without winning than to give up in the face of continued defeats. Because whatever true progress humanity makes is through the rationality of the occasional individual and because any one individual we may win for the cause may do more for humanity than a hundred thousand who hug their superstitions to their breast.
- Isaac Asimov
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard

USA
3834 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  16:19:00   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send beskeptigal a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by JohnOAS

quote:
Originally posted by beskeptigal

So far we have the blame going to
    abortion (parent of a Columbine victim)
    the ban on school prayer (multiple sites)
    gun control
    no gun control
    homosexuals (Phelps' usual rant)
    evil (for whatever reason God doesn't interfere)
    God (for reasons unknown, not punishment as claimed by Phelps, et al., and because obviously he controls these things)
    the university for not warning people and/or closing the campus down
    the police for not assuming a murder in a dorm meant a madman was possibly on his way to a shooting rampage
    Bush (JREF forum)
    society (JREF forum)
    lack of mental health care for various reasons (can't force it on someone, not available, no one took action to help shooter get it)


Did I leave anything/one out?



How about:

* The shooters parents
* Drugs
* The shooters boyfriend/girlfriend
* The shooters potential boyfriend/girlfriend
* The education system
* Engrams







Sorry if this is a double post but now I've lost my entry.

I totally forgot to add video games and TV.

And someone on JREF has now mentioned lack of national health insurance because the guy might have been spotted by his doctor if he had one.

I'll wait a day and revise the list.

Edited to add:
Foreign students (even though this guy had been here since he was 8)
Chemicals in your food (talk radio, Air America, the Tom Malloy show)
and from Olbermann's worst people in the world, the wimpy men who didn't rush the guy.



Edited by - beskeptigal on 04/18/2007 02:48:20
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard

USA
3834 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  16:36:54   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send beskeptigal a Private Message  Reply with Quote
As long as I'm at it, here's some evidence based information about these people and prevention strategies. There are a lot of good links on the page. I haven't had time to check them all yet.

School Associated Violent Deaths; CDC


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filthy
SFN Die Hard

USA
14408 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  16:38:42   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send filthy a Private Message  Reply with Quote
An open letter to Bush:



From A Virginia Tech Alumnus to President Bush
by DWG
Tue Apr 17, 2007 at 04:37:02 AM PDT

I find your desire to attend the memorial service on Virginia Tech to be just another callous and manipulative act. Do these people suffering from an inexplicable tragedy the favor of staying in Washington. You have nothing but empty sentiment to offer. However, to accommodate and protect your monstrous ego, security procedures will destroy the emotional sanctity of the memorial service. You know that, but you cannot resist the temptation to distract people from your failed foreign and domestic policies, not to mention the corruption threatening the survival of your terrible tenure as the president.

You have a history of the cheap political stunts to encourage people to think you are capable of caring about others. Your many visits to the destroyed Gulf Coast are perfect examples. You politicized and gutted FEMA. You were warned Katrina was a serious threat, but did nothing. You visited devastated areas time and again, but your administration accomplished little to clean up the mess. The least fortune and most vulnerable suffered the most from Katrina. Your words and sympathy did not translate into action.

You now want to pretend to grieve the loss of young lives. Before you bring your security circus to my alma mater, please explain your failure to attend the funerals of the 3300 young men and women killed in Iraq and 380 killed in Afghanistan. You made the decisions to send those soldiers to their deaths, but do everything possible to keep the deaths out of public conscious. You should stay in Washington to figure out how to end the humanitarian crisis YOU created in Iraq.

You are expert at little more than transforming tragedy into carefully crafted political theater. Now you want to intrude upon the memorial service. I know God is dead in you, but do try to imagine for a nanosecond how the security might prevent the university community from coming together in grief. Your words will ease no one's pain.

..................

Stay in Washington, D.C., and let the Virginia Tech community heal.

Class of '79 (BS), '82 (MS), '90 (PhD)

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/17/72925/5946




"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)

"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres


"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude

Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,

and Crypto-Communist!

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Dude
SFN Die Hard

USA
6891 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  16:59:14   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Dude a Private Message  Reply with Quote
beskeptigal said:
quote:
I was thinking of this very thing imagining not just everyone with a gun but how about everyone with assault rifles? Gee think how much safer we'd be if we followed the gun lobby wishes.



Leave my hobby alone!

Also, go to the FBI stats site and look up the % of gun crimes in the US that involve an assault weapon. I'll give you a hint, it's a very small number.

Then look at the stats about all gun crimes and the number of those guns that were obtained through legal channels. Also a small %.

This thread probably isn't the place to hash out this particular debate anyway.... but I'll leave you with this thought. If you want to see a democrat in office in 2008, as I do, you won't want your candidate of choice to come out anti-gun. That is a guaranteed election loser. Personally I think it was a major contributor to the republican election victories in the 90's.


Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson

"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin

Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9687 Posts

Posted - 04/17/2007 :  16:59:24   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message  Reply with Quote
If the shooter hadn't had access to the gun, but had to resort to beating people to death with a baseball bat, the number of casualties would have been much lower before someone stopped him, or he had to stop to catch his breath.

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3

"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder.
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