20 People Shot Dead on Virginia Tech Campus

[ThinBlueLine]

Disregard my plea. Found it. Forgive me in advance for whatever abomination my first attempt may turn out to be.

The Multi-Quote toggle. This toggle allows you to select .........

 

[Katana]

I haven't figured out how to do that nifty thing with multiple quotes from a posting. Can't use trial and error-it would drive people nuts. I tried clicking on multiquote icon and nothing special happens. Nothing intuitive to me, at least. I want to answer each of your points seperately. Where are the instructions or remedial training on this site?

I'm going to try by using my post. I'm going to have to insert stuff, though, to be able to show you.

So I have hit the quotation marks at the bottom right of your and my posts to create this one.

Each statement from my post needs to start with

. The number that is generated is important for the first part as it allows other posters to click on the original post, but I don't usually bother with it in the rest of a post if I'm splitting things up as it sounds like you want to.

Each statement needs to end with [/{artificial space}quote]. That will finish things.

When I want to do what you're proposing, I'll usually just separate out things, type in these starts & finishes, and then add my thoughts.

Others may have more efficient ways, but that's what works for me.

I hope that this makes sense, TBL. Just remove the {artificial space} in the commands above, including the brackets, and you should get the results that you want. Preview your post to be sure - I wouldn't want to steer you wrong .

OK, TBL. You have no idea how many "wannabe"s you hit on here.

I'm a Chicagoland native (raised in suburb, lived in city as adult) - are you a Chicago cop?

I desperately miss Chicago and can't wait to get back.

I'm at a career cross-roads, and I am exploring ways to enter law enforcement.

The idea of becoming a Chicago cop right now, frankly, sounds great.

To those who know what I do, that might sound strange, but it's true.

I'm so psyched you're here, TBL!

ETA (edited to add): in light of your last post, TBL, perhaps this was just babble that you can now disregard.

 

[a_unique_person]

"Rich kids made me do it".

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/rich-kids-made-me-do-it/2007/04/18/1176696869631.html

 

[Pardalis]

"Rich kids made me do it".

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/rich-kids-made-me-do-it/2007/04/18/1176696869631.html

That's another one for Skeptigirl's list.

 

[Meadmaker]

That's another one for Skeptigirl's list.

I'll add another. Credit cards. The Glock cost him some bucks. If you had to pay cash, and you were an antisocial loner with no friends, you might not have it. On the other hand, everyone has a card these days.

No doubt about it. If you want to end crime, shut down MasterCard.

 

[Mince]

Student kills 32 other students with a gun. What's the solution? More guns! It was interesting hearing Alex Jones talk about how the students could have defended themselves if they had been allowed to carry a gun. Interesting. A student uses a gun to kill 32 others, and Jones thinks it is logical to give more guns to more students. Well, if more students do carry guns, that'll be a good thing, I guess, because they'll be defending themselves more often.

 

[Katana]

Goodnight, everyone.

TBL, I look forward to your reply.

Go Red Sox (yes, Mr. Katana has converted me)! They're down to the friggin' Toronto Blue Jays 2 to 1.

Grrrrrr.

 

[ThinBlueLine]

I haven't figured out how to do that nifty thing with multiple quotes from a posting. Can't use trial and error-it would drive people nuts. I tried clicking on multiquote icon and nothing special happens. Nothing intuitive to me, at least. I want to answer each of your points seperately. Where are the instructions or remedial training on this site?

I'm going to try by using my post. I'm going to have to insert stuff, though, to be able to show you.

So I have hit the quotation marks at the bottom right of your and my posts to create this one.

Each statement from my post needs to start with

. The number that is generated is important for the first part as it allows other posters to click on the original post, but I don't usually bother with it in the rest of a post if I'm splitting things up as it sounds like you want to.

Each statement needs to end with [/{artificial space}quote]. That will finish things.

When I want to do what you're proposing, I'll usually just separate out things, type in these starts & finishes, and then add my thoughts.

Others may have more efficient ways, but that's what works for me.

I hope that this makes sense, TBL. Just remove the {artificial space} in the commands above, including the brackets, and you should get the results that you want. Preview your post to be sure - I wouldn't want to steer you wrong .




ETA (edited to add): in light of your last post, TBL, perhaps this was just babble that you can now disregard.

No, I was premature. Your post has helped immensely and thank you. I have tried it out in preview and also experimented with and without the added artificial space. What happens if I eliminate your name as it is unecessary each time. I shall see then, my turn to babble.

 

[Lonewulf]

Student kills 32 other students with a gun. What's the solution? More guns! It was interesting hearing Alex Jones talk about how the students could have defended themselves if they had been allowed to carry a gun. Interesting. A student uses a gun to kill 32 others, and Jones thinks it is logical to give more guns to more students. Well, if more students do carry guns, that'll be a good thing, I guess, because they'll be defending themselves more often.

Some people make the assumption that everyone is a ticking time bomb, are mentally incapable, and are ready to go out on killing sprees at any moment in time, and are completely incapable of handling any situation adequately.

Others, like me, do not.

You can get a gun illegally easy here in the U.S. Making guns more illegal just ensures that those that are armed are those that are more likely to break the law. It is impossible to remove firearms from the US, so this only makes things worse. Quid pro quo. Easy stuff. Moving on.

I like the other answer. "Throw in more security guards!" Yes, because all security guards are completely trustworthy, and never make mistakes... oops. Penn and Teller debunked that myth.

But yes, if the average person can buy and carry guns, then they'll all go crazy and kill everyone.

 

[Lonewulf]

Growwwllll!

You tease.

 

[hgc]

However, that can't be the whole story. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that it is no easier to acquire a gun today than it was in 1950, but in 1950, murderous rampages by gun toting lunatics were rare. Even accounting for an increase in population, I'm willing to bet that incidents where people just grabbed guns and killed people more or less at random just didn't happen a whole lot until recently. (Again, somebody can correct me if I'm wrong. Are there statistics available for multiple murderers of people not in your family and without a motive?)

The one thing that seems to unify most of the accounts I have seen of muckers (a term I got from an ancient, and not widely read science fiction novel for someone who runs amok killing people at random) is that they are lonely. I think it's easier to be lonely in America than it is elsewhere, and I'm fairly certain it's easier to be lonely today than it was in years past.

I'd like to see stats on this too, if they exist. I don't assume that this is more common today than in days of yore (adjusting for population). It's still quite rare in any case.

 

[ThinBlueLine]

OK, TBL. You have no idea how many "wannabe"s you hit on here.

It is the "quantum effect". I saw it on Oprah so I know it's true. She shoots her show in Chicago which is even more proof.

I'm a Chicagoland native (raised in suburb, lived in city as adult) - are you a Chicago cop?

I guess northsider when you lived in city? Can you share what suburb? So much weird synchronicity going on here I want to see more strange connections. Yes, I am a Chicago Cop. Rogers Park area now. Wild West Side before. Blue shirt patrol then gang team (plainclothes), tactical team (plainclothes) now back to uniform on a beat.

I desperately miss Chicago and can't wait to get back.

To visit or live?

I'm at a career cross-roads, and I am exploring ways to enter law enforcement.

The idea of becoming a Chicago cop right now, frankly, sounds great.

If you are female (and since there is a Mr. Katana then it is probable) like your Avatar you would get on pretty quick due to Equal Opportunity standards. Even faster if you are an ethnic minority. That applies even more so to promotions. I will let you know when they are accepting applications. They may be now for all I know. I will check. 2 year college requirement. The age requirement has changed over the years. Was a max of 34ish then that was found unconstitutional then they got one back somehow. Minimum is 22, I believe. Can find out the current if you wish.

To those who know what I do, that might sound strange, but it's true.

Can you tell me what you do? I went from The Boston Consulting Group (peon level) to Chicago Police. I was sick of the cubicle life and let myself "blue sky" about what I would be if I wasn't afraid of a major change. Then I made that change. Best decision of my life and second best thing to happen to me (my son being #1 and he not being a decision). All my peers thought I was nuts. I laugh more in a week now then I used to in a year and I used to laugh a lot even before! "It's all about the Yuks!"

I'm so psyched you're here, TBL!

And I you. You have made me feel so welcome! I am truly grateful. I will happily volunteer to take you on a ride-along if you want to get a feel for the job. I can easily get you a vest (bullet-resistant) for the tour of duty. You just have to sign a waiver and have a sponsor (me). I have taken people before and they loved it and developed a whole new perspective on police officers. Any time you want, let me know.

 

[OMGturt1es]

Dude, no way!

Drinking is in no way mainly done off campus, it is done EVERYWHERE at College. You have probably seen may drunken students in class, but just don't know it. I remember people used to bring their drinks right into class! When I was in college drinking was very prevelant, and I can't imagine much has changed in the past 5 years. I'm sure the level changes from school to school, but to act like college kids don't drink in campus is naive. Study harder.

i didn't say students never drink on campus. i said that the percentage of sober students on campus is greater than the percentage of sober students off campus.

i've seen many hung over students, and i've seen some buzzed students and tons of stoned students, but most students that are willing to drink the night before a class are also willing to skip the class if they have not sobered up in time.

there are those that actually, intentionally, show up drunk to campus, or drink-- to the point of drunkeness-- on campus, but they are not that common.

my point was/is that students drink to the excess much more often off school grounds, where students can legally carry concealed weapons if they have the papers to due so. this hasn't resulted in mass panic induced from alcohol driven shoot outs. why would this change on campus, where less drinking occurs? that was my point...

 

[OMGturt1es]

Isn't this the guns make real men out of pussies?

i don't understand the question...

 

[delphi_ote]

I haven't been following the discussion here, but I just wanted to pop in and comment on this subject. The way this has been covered absolutely disgusts me. It's like the media is collectively saying, "Congratulations, Cho Seung-Hu. You got the high score!"

For all the other attention seeking sociopaths with no self worth out there, what does all this coverage mean? It means I'll see you in the next thread like this, when the next one snaps and gets a higher kill count.

Sometimes, I really hate my species. I wonder if the dolphins would adopt me.

 

[Lonewulf]

I haven't been following the discussion here, but I just wanted to pop in and comment on this subject. The way this has been covered absolutely disgusts me. It's like the media is collectively saying, "Congratulations, Cho Seung-Hu. You got the high score!"

For all the other attention seeking sociopaths with no self worth out there, what does all this coverage mean? It means I'll see you in the next thread like this, when the next one snaps and gets a higher kill count.

Sometimes, I really hate my species. I wonder if the dolphins would adopt me.

It's hard for me to accept the theory that sociopathic killers go and kill just to try to "beat the highest record".

Not that I'm saying it's not possible, just that it seems a bit much to fetch.

 

[delphi_ote]

It's hard for me to accept the theory that sociopathic killers go and kill just to try to "beat the highest record".

Not that I'm saying it's not possible, just that it seems a bit much to fetch.

My sarcasm was turned up pretty high in that post, because this has just disgusted me so much. I'm not suggesting their goal is to beat a number. I'm suggesting they do it for attention and for the thrill. The higher the body count, the more of both they get.

The message is clear: if you want to be important to America, you need to either become an waste of life celebrity or a murderer. Or both.

 

[anduin]

This is something weird that happens to skeptics in gun control threads: they seem to forget all about the correlation/causation fallacy.

I'm not sure you understood my post. I'm in favour of gun ownership whenever everyone else has guns.

Nothing against the country of Costa Rica, but despite the fact that their name means "The Rich Coast," most people there are in a lower socioeconomic situation than most Americans. In America, most of the crime is committed by people in low socioeconomic situations. That may have something to do with it.

Would that lower socioeconomic situation explain all of those Americans living in Costa Rica then? And nice dig at the name, which was given to the country by Crisopher Columbus. Argumentum ad natio?

Also, Costa Rica has a lower crime rate than its Central American neighbors. Wouldn't it be more valid to make that comparison, as there are fewer differences between those countries?

Having been the subject of both armed and non-armed crime, I prefer the situation in the UK, where thieves do not carry guns. Having had two guns pointed at me is not a nice thing.

 

[BillyJoe]

How do you keep up with a thread that produces nearly 600 post in nearly 2 days???

If someone has replied to mine, I apologise for not answering, but I don't have time to find it.

 

[Reeco]

"Blame" is the wrong word. You're right when you say "More accurately, we really should ask what is different about our society compared to other societies in which these incidents occur less frequently". And although I could make a few guesses as to why, I really don't know, but I'm pretty sure that guns have very little to do with why it happens.

No, absolutely not. Guns have everything to do with it. Every country has nutters, but it is way too easy for a nutter in America to get a gun and kill people with it.

There was a post a lot earlier in this thread about paracetemol. In the UK the packages were limited in size, to help prevent suicide. Whilst this initially appears pointless, as someone wanting to kill themselves will just buy more paracetemol, it is effective in that it prevents spur of the moment suicide attempts; a person will very often use what they have to hand, and if that's not enough there's a good chance the suicidal impulse will have worn off by the time they have walked to the shop to buy more drugs.

It's the same with guns. The more gun-heavy a culture is, the more likely it is that a nutter will choose a gun as his killing spree weapon of choice. If I decided I wanted to kill as many people as possible in my workplace, I'd try and get a gun. But I would find it very, very difficult. I'd have to travel all the way to Nottingham, sit myself in a pub and start talking to random strangers, in the hope that they knew an arms dealer. Chances are I'd never get hold of a gun, realise I was being foolish and end up not killing anyone. Or, I'd go on a wounding spree with a knife and get knocked out after slashing three people.

There is no solution to this other than having gun laws similiar to the UK's enforced, and then waiting for years until all exisiting weapons fade from existence. If the right to bear arms is so important to Americans, then they have to expect incidents like that of yesterday. There are so many people, and so many guns, it is unavoidable.