Well I'll imply that for ya there, ol pal;-)  In any case I appreciated your sentiments.

As I figured, there's a lot of intellectual to-ing and fro-ing debate happening here.
 
I've still got the impression that it is a horrific tragedy and my heart is still broken.
 
Some bloke just down the road in Brighton lost it and started killing and maiming people with his van the other week, anyone on Earth that's actually come of the edge and lost it to the point of losing complete control during their lifetime has to be grateful that the consequences weren't as bad as this.
 
How cruel it is, I saw a still picture of a Mothers face from this disaster, I'll never forget what it was telling me.  It flies in the face of any natural order for a parent to have to bury a child, and in these circumstances?
 
Sometimes there is no cause to point at, no justice.  Sometimes justice, simply is a case of it just is.
 
I can't find it in me to point fingers to look for comfort from recriminations or revenge, I just sit here feeling the pain, a pain that must be beyond bearable for those currently sitting in the epicenter of it.
 
If I don't have a prayer to offer those people, then what have I got?

I can't help but think that most of those parents are probably sitting at home with presents wrapped for a child that no longer is alive to enjoy them...  The timing of this (i.e., during a season where families generally think more about each other) makes it that much worse.
 
Oh, and I'm with you there Steve.

Single parent individuals don't develop or inherit a set of problems secular to losing a parent. Personality disorders are always made of indidvidual circumstance and misunderstanding of the whole picture. While that may sound general, and it is, it has nothing to do with a dead or missing parent. It has to do with subjective influence and knowledge. That means in broader terms, what code of right and wrong-(conduct), you adopt in relation to the missing influence in your heredity.
All our hearts are broken by this tragedy. We are all trying to find and identify what the common thread in these attacks on schools and innocent people is. All the killers have been people that dropped off the norm suddenly and took up the same persona. A killer clad in black with no motive. This is a common and as yet unidentified influence, causing people to go nuts and become automated killers.

craigb


I can't help but think that most of those parents are probably sitting at home with presents wrapped for a child that no longer is alive to enjoy them...  The timing of this (i.e., during a season where families generally think more about each other) makes it that much worse.
 
Oh, and I'm with you there Steve.

I couldn't agree more.

  People who grow up in horrible situations, are disadvantaged and in many cases, "do suffer with all kinds of scars," for the rest of their lives.  However, "whether you want to become a meth freak, or a teacher, or a murderer, or a doctor," is up to you. 

There is no proof this guys household was filled with abuse.  Perhaps it was, but at 20 years old, "regardless of your upbringing," you will know right from wrong.

Child abuse suffered does not mean you will be a psychopath.  Great parenting does not ensure, "your nobel peace prize."

This guy was insane.  We do not have the medical science to determine with any accuracy, what was wrong with his body, mind and soul.

Linear Phase


  People who grow up in horrible situations, are disadvantaged and in many cases, "do suffer with all kinds of scars," for the rest of their lives.  However, "whether you want to become a meth freak, or a teacher, or a murderer, or a doctor," is up to you. 

There is no proof this guys household was filled with abuse.  Perhaps it was, but at 20 years old, "regardless of your upbringing," you will know right from wrong.

Child abuse suffered does not mean you will be a psychopath.  Great parenting does not ensure, "your nobel peace prize."

This guy was insane.  We do not have the medical science to determine with any accuracy, what was wrong with his body, mind and soul.

Yep, I agree totally.
 

This was apparently posted by Morgan Freeman in response to the killings, not often I agree with him but he makes sense here:

"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."

I made a tribute video.  It's not much (I'm not much of a video editor) but I took an old song I wrote years ago and remixed it, adding some additional touches to it and put pictures to it from cnn.com.  The song could use some work but that's besides the point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5si8_EExqm8

It's just so unfathomable.  This tragedy has made me realize how much I've taken life for granted.  I've been hugging my son a little tighter.

craigb


I can't help but think that most of those parents are probably sitting at home with presents wrapped for a child that no longer is alive to enjoy them...  The timing of this (i.e., during a season where families generally think more about each other) makes it that much worse.

I wrote a poem last night that illustrates that horrible truth:
 
Unopened presents under the tree,
Stockings full of toys and candy.
A shiny new bike sits outside,
A pretty doll with a bow tie.
 
Favorite box of cereal remains half full,
Favorite ice cream once made them drool.
A matchbox car sits on the rug,
A coloring book not quite done.
 
Little laughter in a memory,
Pitter patter of little feet.
Little cries for spilled juice,
Sometimes having to call a truce.
 
Pain will slowly fade away,
Hearts will mend day by day.
Forever will their memory remain,
Until we meet again.
 
12/14/2012 - We won't forget... RIP little ones.