Oh, he's definitely not sane, but he's also definitely NOT insane per the criminal defense classification.  He knew exactly what he was doing and there was an extreme amount of premeditation.

Awful tragedy. It just beggars belief that this guy could go and buy all the kit off the internet and everything was perfectly legit. Something is horribly wrong there. 

We have had a couple of guys go loco here in New zealand with guns and it takes a long time for the communities to overcome the stigma attached to the rampages. 

Best wishes to all those affected by this tragedy....


About the movie- I liked the first one Batman Begins much better than the second which dragged on a bit and was too violent IMO.  I thought the first one was one of the better action movies i have ever seen. Another reasonably good modern one (which also had some disturbing violence) was Collateral.

As I understand.  Being criminally insane, and pleading insanity are two different things.  This kind of long premeditation, and planning shows sound mind. Insane?  Yeah..  criminally insane.  but can not enter a plea of, "not guilty by reason of insanity."   Although I'm afraid we will have to wait for a Doctor in the house, if we wish to be lectured on how the criminally insane, are sound and determinate thinkers.

Beyond the scope of my understanding..   

Regardless, the situation is incredibly sad, my thoughts are still with the victims, and the man responsible should be prosecuted and sentenced accordingly...

Bob, it had completely slipped my mind that you guys were from Aurora.    I'm glad everyone's OK.

ProjectM

 
I’m looking forward to see the movie by the way. I always though of Batman as a douchebag in a costume with gadgets, not as a superhero. After Christofer Nolan’s movies I finally saw him as a superhero and I’m a huge fan of these movies – in particular the last one with Heath Ledger as the Joker. That’s a master piece IMO! But I can’t go to the cinema and watch this without thinking of what happened in Denver.
 
What happened there is absolutely horrifying…

 I always dug Batman exactly for those reasons - no superpower, just a man w/ his will and his intelligence. And, well, yeah, gimmicks - but I'm a guitar player, and we like gimmicks almost as much as keyboardists. ;)


But it was great to see Nolan put the emphasis on the martial arts training - because that's where the penchant for gimmicks comes from, it puts it into a context.
Overall, Nolan really brought Batman where I'd always wanted to see him.

Similarly, I've just seen that he was producing a reboot of the Superman series. I've always disliked Superman because he is the exact opposite of Batman - so righteous and clean and he has a superpower for every situation. 

I'm hoping that maybe at last I'll be able to enjoy a Superman movie.

 I see this guy as cold calculating and evil. Evil doesn't necessarily need to look like evil. I'm not exactly sure what the connection is but these guys are usually always younger white males.

I never understood  movies like Hostel where people watch other people suffer and get some kind of enjoyment from it. 

 Could these kinds of so called entertainment be desensitizing people to violence?

 I remember recently watching someone I know playing a video game where you blow someones head off and blood is everywhere,and while playing the game they are giggling with delight. Is this what we have come to?

  I know the argument is that not everyone who plays these games kills people but I think the desensitivity is prevailing or the contribution by this media to the problem. 

 My heart goes out to all of the innocent people who were just out for a fun evening at the movies.

Starise


 I see this guy as cold calculating and evil. Evil doesn't necessarily need to look like evil. I'm not exactly sure what the connection is but these guys are usually always younger white males.

I never understood  movies like Hostel where people watch other people suffer and get some kind of enjoyment from it. 

 Could these kinds of so called entertainment be desensitizing people to violence?

 I remember recently watching someone I know playing a video game where you blow someones head off and blood is everywhere,and while playing the game they are giggling with delight. Is this what we have come to?

  I know the argument is that not everyone who plays these games kills people but I think the desensitivity is prevailing or the contribution by this media to the problem. 

 My heart goes out to all of the innocent people who were just out for a fun evening at the movies.

Although a valid point, I'll offer this as a counter to think about.  It's always been part of human history to be fascinated/horrorified by violent death and the usual method before video games was war where FAR more people ended up dead.  While it's a wonderful dream to envision a world without any conflict, it's not only a pipedream but not what life is meant to be.  If everything is rosy and nice, what would you learn?  Can you actually realize "good" without evil to contrast it?  I think it's sadder when people look out a window at nature and don't notice it.
 
My thoughts go out to the survivors but, if these same people had all died in car accidents instead, would we give it the same attention?

What we need is more folk like Harry Callahan....

Go ahead make my day
 
A few days ago in Florida.
 
J