A Prayer

**Dickhead** · Posted On: 12/16/2012 9:24am

I think Patfromlogan was just trying to state his frustration with the moral decline/decay of the United States. Which may be a valid point. I think that a lot of people feel at their wits' end. The 'solutions' politicians throw around are either gun control, which will either simply make maniacs use illegal guns for their illegal killing sprees, or nothing. To my knowledge, teachers aren't really told what to do in such an event, other than duck and cover as in a tornado drill. Also, it's just common sense that if teachers were encouraged to carry firearms then one of them would at least have a chance to stop the POS who's shooting innocent kids.
I also wanted to say that I have a lot of admiration for Victoria Soto. She's a hero.

**Vorpal** · Posted On: 12/16/2012 9:53am

Evil does not come in and out of this world. It exists at all times. Evil is patient. It waits. It chooses. If the events the other day horrified you, buy a gun. Train. Prepare. Evil is not deterred by laws, good intentions or magic thinking.

**Vieux Normand** · Posted On: 12/16/2012 10:18am

I might have mentioned this on a previous thread: one can carry all the firearms one wishes, but they do not emit some kind of magic force-field against some one else's guns...or just plain smarts.

A huge walking-arsenal type of guy can still get dropped by some patient and stealthy little twerp hiding behind a bush with a .22---or even just some quiet-stalker with soft shoes and nothing more than a hammer.

Then the stealthy, quiet little twerp can strip the arsenal from the big guy's corpse.

**Dickhead** · Posted On: 12/16/2012 10:29am

Yeah, that's kind of my point. Evil lunatic shooting up the place can easily be stopped by a teacher with a handgun, especially if they get the drop on him.

**W. Rabbit** · Posted On: 12/16/2012 1:59pm

**patfromlogan** · Posted On: 12/16/2012 3:28pm

http://www.nationmaster.com/compare/...d-States/Crime

oops, sorry, I was tending toward rant and I'm wrong about some stuff @ US... Mexico and El Salvado and a few other violent poor countries have us way beat in murder by guns, yippee (though this of course has a lot to do with the idiotic Drug War, which in turn has something to do with the pri$on industry and there the US does lead the world for incarceration). Amongst developed countries we lead or are near the top for shitty stuff as far as I can tell, but whatever, I think our society is pretty damn sick, and what makes it worse it that as long as we pretend to be all for democracy, peace and prosperity while acting as a ruthless imperialist warmonger and maintaining, or rather, increasing the disparity of income (CEOs Japan 11x floor worker income, US 465x floor worker, "The top 1 percent of earners took in a full 93 percent of all the income gains 2010, leaving the other 7 percent of gains to be sprinkled among the vast majority of society etc etc) we live with ever increasing tensions and fear. I'm sorry it's so hard for the mostly young martial artists on this site and for my own children and I expect it will be much harder for my grandchildren. My parents and grandparents went from outhouses and chamber pots to plumbing and vacation condos. Now youth are going the other way. My son tells me that (as a person of color) that the fifties and sixties actually sucked for everyone 'cept white males, but be that as it may, now it's going to suck for most everyone, except the very wealthy, and they control the media and the propaganda machine. I think that maintaining the illusions while things get worse creates terrible tensions in the society. Not directly causing gun mahem, but contributes.

Morgan Freeman has a point: MORGAN FREEMAN ON THE SHOOTINGS YESTERDAY:

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single victim of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem."

**Styygens** · Posted On: 12/16/2012 4:10pm

Originally Posted by patfromlogan

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Morgan Freeman has a point: MORGAN FREEMAN ON THE SHOOTINGS YESTERDAY:

"You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here's why.

It's because of the way the media reports it. Flip on the news and watch how we treat the Batman theater shooter and the Oregon mall shooter like celebrities. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris are household names, but do you know the name of a single victim of Columbine? Disturbed people who would otherwise just off themselves in their basements see the news and want to top it by doing something worse, and going out in a memorable way. Why a grade school? Why children? Because he'll be remembered as a horrible monster, instead of a sad nobody.

CNN's article says that if the body count "holds up", this will rank as the second deadliest shooting behind Virginia Tech, as if statistics somehow make one shooting worse than another. Then they post a video interview of third-graders for all the details of what they saw and heard while the shootings were happening. Fox News has plastered the killer's face on all their reports for hours. Any articles or news stories yet that focus on the victims and ignore the killer's identity? None that I've seen yet. Because they don't sell. So congratulations, sensationalist media, you've just lit the fire for someone to top this and knock off a day care center or a maternity ward next.

You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim. You can help by donating to mental health research instead of pointing to gun control as the problem."

Morgan Freeman is a smart man. +10 to him.

**ermghoti** · Posted On: 12/16/2012 4:15pm

Originally Posted by Styygens

Morgan Freeman is a smart man. +10 to him.

This, I agree with. His views on a number of topics are very clear-headed.

**Styygens** · Posted On: 12/16/2012 4:55pm

I think this just proves Freeman's point about seeking attention:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/...officials-warn

Even as authorities struggle to gather real clues in Friday's horrific attack, they're warning that those promoting misinformation about the case are subject to prosecution.
"Misinformation is being posted on social media sites," Connecticut State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance said at a news conference Sunday. "These issues are crimes. They will be investigated, statewide and federally, and prosecution will take place when people perpetrating this information are identified."
In some cases, Vance said, people are posing as the dead gunman, Adam Lanza. Some are assuming other identities associated with the shooting — and some of the information has been threatening.
One such threat caused the evacuation of a church in Newtown during Sunday Mass. Archdiocese spokesman Brian Wallace says a threatening phone call caused officials to evacuate St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, where many residents have gathered to seek solace from the tragedy.
The Newtown school shooting has been a story particularly vulnerable to false information, starting with the misidentification of the shooter by law enforcement and media on Friday. Since then, officials have been careful with the information they do release, warning that it may be weeks before many questions are answered.
Meanwhile, Tom Carson, a spokesman for Connecticut U.S. Attorney David Fein, is underlining the penalty for harassment:
"Anyone who harasses or threatens the victims, the victims' families or witnesses of these horrific crimes or who in any manner interferes with the ongoing state or federal investigations will be referred for state and or federal prosecution to the fullest extent permitted by law. Harassment not only includes in-person contact, but also contact via the internet, social media and telephone."

How pathetic do you have to be to seek attention in this way?

**W. Rabbit** · Posted On: 12/16/2012 5:19pm

Morgan Freeman has a point: MORGAN FREEMAN ON THE SHOOTINGS YESTERDAY

No, he didn't.

Originally Posted by Styygens

Morgan Freeman is a smart man. +10 to him.

He is, but that thing being attributed to him, is not him. Someone seeking attention attributed it to him and it went viral, because entertainment news is designed to pick up celebrity "statements" quickly.

Originally Posted by Styygens

How pathetic do you have to be to seek attention in this way?

As pathetic as attaching Morgan Freeman's face to an anonymous opinion.

Trust nothing. Trust no one.