Who would have ever guessed that this is what we would see today

[blues90]

This is insane madness , just insane . More murder on a college , it is just so horrible and unbelievable .

Where else does this happen other than the USA , and we are supposed to be the example of the world and look at what we have done .

You really get to the point where turning on the news is almost as scary as picking up a bomb .

I just don't understand this and never will . But we promote war , maybe this should be an indication that we are in need of a complete rethinking in this country .

[shaniqua6392]

1. But we are too busy worrying about what some crusty old

man with a radio show said. God help us.

[Dhalgren]

5. Oh yeah...Let's try to connect Imus to EVERYTHING...

jesus.... :eyes:

[shaniqua6392]

16. I was merely implying that we are easily distracted

from the important issues by a bunch of crap. So right back at you. Oh and thank you so much for your support. Jesus....:banghead:

[Dhalgren]

17. Ok. I'll play.

"But we are too busy worrying about what some crusty old
man with a radio show said"

Too busy to what? How does being "busy" with the disgusting racist and sexist "old man" have any bearing on this tragedy? What could we have done had we not been distracted?

[shaniqua6392]

18. It has been a focus of the media for days now

while other stuff flies under the radar of the public. Oprah is still blubbering about it on her show today. I will just say one thing: 5 million missing emails?

[Dhalgren]

20. I don't dispute any of that (I don't watch Oprah anyway),

but what has any of this to do with the murders at Va. Tech.?

[Raine]

21. Yeah and a whole week

spent with the media in total Imus immersion with EVERYTHING else ignored. Now another violent tragedy in our nation (which righfully should be covered) and the emails that should have been on last week once again sink to the bottom. x(

[Sammy Pepys]

2. A similar event happened in Montreal not too long ago...

...I keep hearing references to it and vaguely remember hearing about it.

[melody]

3. This happens all over the world

It may happen more often in the US, but few (if any) countries have the kind of constant, media-led terrorizing
of its citizens that the US has. We also have little "safety net". All this leads to violence and more violence.

[TexasProgresive]

4. We have no lock on madness

Canada comes to mind and there have been other mass school killings but very little can compare with Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur, Stalinist Soviet Union and NAZI Germany. It is sadly, the nature of humans to act in very inhumane ways.

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. This is the society we live in

We take our lives in our hands every time we leave the house, and death comes in on the freaky-flukey (as Michael Herr once said), and that's just that. Hell, next time I'm driving down a two-way 55 mph road, some lunatic might decide to swerve into me at the last possible moment. I have to go through life ignoring that possibility. There's not much that can be done about that. We just hope the next person in our path hasn't gone off the deep end, and that hope is the foundation of society.

[Sapere aude]

7. WE did not kill 29 people today. My beliefs are not that of the others in this country.

[gravity]

8. I have a hard time believing it

You just don't think these things can happen here. It just reminds us how vulnerable we are, and that this can happen to us.

[uppityperson]

9. It happens all over and who says the USA is supposed to be the example of the world?

Good things here and some not so good things here. This is a huge country with lots of differences across it, and, like every other country, has people with mental health issues. I fear what will happen in the next 10-50 yrs with the returning Iraq occupation vets getting little assistance to re-enter this society.

[jus_the_facts]

10. It amazes me that it doesn't happen more often. eom.

[malaise]

11. Actually most college incidents happen around this time

stressed out students, mentally ill students and exams coming. Still I cuold not have imagined the worst college killing in US history today.

[Individualist]

12. April madness

Waco, OKC, Columbine, now this. :(

[onenote]

13. If you think this is a uniquely American event you are sadly mistaken

Erfurt Germany (2002) 16 dead
Osaka Japan (2001) 8 dead, 16 wounded
Sanaa Yemen (1997) 8 dead
Dublane Scotland (1996) 17 dead
Montreal Canada (1989) 14 dead, 14 wounded

And those are just school shootings.

You also have events like the Aranamoa New Zealand massacre (1990 - 13 dead), the Hungerford massacre (Berkshire UK - 1987 - 16 dead), and the Port Arthur Massacre (Australia -35 dead, 37 wounded)

[blues90]

14. I don't know what to say .

I am not surprised that this happened , I guess it just adds to the over all effect in ones mind relating to all the murder and killing that we have been hearing about just since bush got in office .

It just builds up to a point where it's difficult to handle or even come close to understanding , my understanding is not going to change a thing other than in my small personal stop on this planet , a grain of sand that is a life that can be snuffed out in a second for many reasons .

Certainly we all take a risk driving or walking about but this sort of murder on a mass basis may or may not be the same thing . Certianly one could trip and fall down a flight of stairs or get electrocuted by some faulty lamp cord , these for the most part are accidents , this shooting was not an accident .

If we have no control at all then what do we have other than fate knocking at ones door .

I recall many years ago going to school and the worst fear may have been the play ground bully and that's it .

No one I knew owned a gun and had no reason to unless perhapes they hunted . Now we have some states with laws that allow one to be armed and ready on the streets , allowed to shoot if they feel threatened .

There is something really wrong with this picture , at least in my mind .

So you just live each day and hope there is a next , this is fine and can't be avoided . So be it , so what , who the hell will know when their time comes until it gets there .

I don't worry about this sort of thing daily , but I have had a few close calls due to some out of control idiot and this does bring that needless reaction of fear to boil back to the surface , a hightened awareness making daily life just a bit more difficult than it needs to be .

I am certain these students will never see this college quite the same as they did before .

[depakid]

15. It was inevitable and is going to happen again and again.

With increasing frequency, especially as the economy tanks.

The formula couldn't be clearer. A country with libertarian gun laws that promotes hate speech, fear of the other and violence as a means of solving problems- AND a country that has no intention of doing anything about it.

Contrast this with a saner nation like Australia....

[Forkboy]

19. I'm surprised we haven't had it happen more often.

I don't understand it either.