CT LVIII: Squat or sit?

[Kilroy]

So this school shooting epidemic... WTF...

[Mamba Mentality]

So this school shooting epidemic... WTF...

I feel like there's atleast one such incident every month...seemingly all in "gun free" zones.

[Kilroy]

Gun control may help but I think only a little... These kids can build pipe bombs off the internet and cause way more damage for less money than with a gun...
I mean... California has pretty strict gun laws and lots of people wouldn't allow one in their houses... How many of you guys feel safe?

This is a mental development issue... Something has to make these kids think shooting up their school is a good alternative... I don't buy the simple 'copy cat' argument.

[TonyMontana]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjT4T2gU9sM[/youtube]
Newest Animated Nike commercial. Pretty good.

Oh look Ronaldo finally got some muscles. Skinny anorexic btch!!

Abs on a skinny guy is like a fat chick with big t!ts.

[Mamba Mentality]

Just finished season 3 of Breaking Bad and all I can say is WOW. I thoroughly enjoyed the climax between Mike and Walt...

Spoiler:

in which Walt pleeds for his own life, offers up Jesse, and then proceeds to save himself by revealing Gale's address.

Genius stroke, cant say I saw that coming. I'm anticipating an epic season 4.

[TyCobb]

Abs on a skinny guy is like a fat chick with big t!ts.

[TonyMontana]

Im not lying mang. Skinny dudes running around shirtless claiming they got abs. Ya but you're 6.1 but you only weight 180 lbs wet. Come on mang.

[TyCobb]

Nah I agree. It was perfectly put.

[ennui]

Gun control may help but I think only a little... These kids can build pipe bombs off the internet and cause way more damage for less money than with a gun...
I mean... California has pretty strict gun laws and lots of people wouldn't allow one in their houses... How many of you guys feel safe?

This is a mental development issue... Something has to make these kids think shooting up their school is a good alternative... I don't buy the simple 'copy cat' argument.

The media sensationalizing the perpetrators' life has got to contribute to the recent rash; outcasts who were disillusioned and otherwise marginalized yearn for attention - which comes in droves post-shooting. The subsequent martyrdom and celebrity that is perpetuated by the media following these shootings are frankly deplorable and irresponsible. And you have to be naive to disregard the connection.

[ennui]

Spoiler:

Just finished season 3 of Breaking Bad and all I can say is WOW. I thoroughly enjoyed the climax between Mike and Walt in which Walt pleeds for his own life, offers up Jesse, and then proceeds to save himself by revealing Gale's address. Genius stroke, cant say I saw that coming.

I'm anticipating an epic season 4.

spoilers bruv...

yea, s4 is godly, enjoy.

[Mamba Mentality]

Just finished season 3 of Breaking Bad and all I can say is WOW. I thoroughly enjoyed the climax between Mike and Walt in which Walt pleeds for his own life, offers up Jesse, and then proceeds to save himself by revealing Gale's address. Genius stroke, cant say I saw that coming.

I'm anticipating an epic season 4.

spoilers bruv...

yea, s4 is godly, enjoy.

I assumed everyone was caught up by now. But I got ya.

[ennui]

so psy has some other hits besides gangnam style? good for him

Yeah, he's got that whole; "Blow up America and kill them all" thing going for him too... Which is nice.

dude, psy is south korean. huge diff in ideology between the north and south. im sure you must be thinking hes from the north?

[ennui]

Spoiler:

Just finished season 3 of Breaking Bad and all I can say is WOW. I thoroughly enjoyed the climax between Mike and Walt in which Walt pleeds for his own life, offers up Jesse, and then proceeds to save himself by revealing Gale's address. Genius stroke, cant say I saw that coming.

I'm anticipating an epic season 4.

spoilers bruv...

yea, s4 is godly, enjoy.

I assumed everyone was caught up by now. But I got ya.

[Kilroy]

so psy has some other hits besides gangnam style? good for him

Yeah, he's got that whole; "Blow up America and kill them all" thing going for him too... Which is nice.

dude, psy is south korean. huge diff in ideology between the north and south. im sure you must be thinking hes from the north?

No... I'm speaking specifically about the content of some of his past songs. I couldn't care less where he was from.
Google it... It's kind of funny in a 'sacrifice you're ideology after paid' sort of way...

[ennui]

wait... youve heard more than one psy song? youre a stronger man than ill ever be.

but seriosuly, he has songs about blowing up america? wtf? **** that guy

[Kilroy]

Gun control may help but I think only a little... These kids can build pipe bombs off the internet and cause way more damage for less money than with a gun...
I mean... California has pretty strict gun laws and lots of people wouldn't allow one in their houses... How many of you guys feel safe?

This is a mental development issue... Something has to make these kids think shooting up their school is a good alternative... I don't buy the simple 'copy cat' argument.

The media sensationalizing the perpetrators' life has got to contribute to the recent rash; outcasts who were disillusioned and otherwise marginalized yearn for attention - which comes in droves post-shooting. The subsequent martyrdom and celebrity that is perpetuated by the media following these shootings are frankly deplorable and irresponsible. And you have to be naive to disregard the connection.

That's too simple too... You go to any high school in America, and you'll find a population of disenfranchised, marginalized, and self-righteous youth... They don't need an excuse from the media to convince them.

Sure the anti-hero mythology about the shooters may contribute to it, but it starts earlier...

And remember, this is from a guy who worked for Blizzard testing games early in his career... The games kids are playing from their pre-teen years through High School, coupled with a **** American Fast Food diet full of chemicals and sugar, and constant images of depravity and death from other media is effecting these kids development in the formative, cause and effect, morality developing years...

I used to think all that was bs when I was younger... Now I have 2 kids and have seen the effects first hand... There is nothing more volatile or easily manipulated than the brain of a preteen...

That, and kids today have way too much time on their hands... Or more importantly, they have too much control of their own time... You know who doesn't shoot up their schools? Farm kids... Because they're too physically exhausted, and the last thing you want to do after waking up at 5am to milk cows and being ankle deep in horse ****, is shoot up the one place that gives you a break from all that work.
You know what a "Loner" is?.. It's someone with too little responsibility and too much time on their hands.

[Kilroy]

wait... youve heard more than one psy song? youre a stronger man than ill ever be.

but seriosuly, he has songs about blowing up america? wtf? **** that guy

That was a little rhetorical on my part... He has 'anti-American' songs... Not necessarily about actually blowing us up.
But they were strong enough to be interesting...

[ennui]

Gun control may help but I think only a little... These kids can build pipe bombs off the internet and cause way more damage for less money than with a gun...
I mean... California has pretty strict gun laws and lots of people wouldn't allow one in their houses... How many of you guys feel safe?

This is a mental development issue... Something has to make these kids think shooting up their school is a good alternative... I don't buy the simple 'copy cat' argument.

The media sensationalizing the perpetrators' life has got to contribute to the recent rash; outcasts who were disillusioned and otherwise marginalized yearn for attention - which comes in droves post-shooting. The subsequent martyrdom and celebrity that is perpetuated by the media following these shootings are frankly deplorable and irresponsible. And you have to be naive to disregard the connection.

That's too simple too... You go to any high school in America, and you'll find a population of disenfranchised, marginalized, and self-righteous youth... They don't need an excuse from the media to convince them.

Sure the anti-hero mythology about the shooters may contribute to it, but it starts earlier...

And remember, this is from a guy who worked for Blizzard testing games early in his career... The games kids are playing from their pre-teen years through High School, coupled with a **** American Fast Food diet full of chemicals and sugar, and constant images of depravity and death from other media is effecting these kids development in the formative, cause and effect, morality developing years...

I used to think all that was bs when I was younger... Now I have 2 kids and have seen the effects first hand... There is nothing more volatile or easily manipulated than the brain of a preteen...

That, and kids today have way too much time on their hands... Or more importantly, they have too much control of their own time... You know who doesn't shoot up their schools? Farm kids... Because they're too physically exhausted, and the last thing you want to do after waking up at 5am to milk cows and being ankle deep in horse ****, is shoot up the one place that gives you a break from all that work.
You know what a "Loner" is?.. It's someone with too little responsibility and too much time on their hands.

I don't buy the "kids are desensitized" shtick, because by all accounts, kids are actually less desensitized in this era than nearly any era preceding this. I recall reading various studies debunking that myth. For much of human existence we, and inexorably our children, have been subject to far worse on a daily basis. I don't have enough expertise to comment on the food thing, so it could very well affect nascent emotional/physiological development. And I totally agree with you on the "keep-kids-busy" thing, as much as it may be a cliche truism we all know from personal experience that kids that are left up to their own devices invariably make poor choices.

Now, I know that my interpretation is as anecdotal as anyone's, but I think the combination of mental illness, social retardation, media glorification and the inherent - although incorrect - Amero-centric assumption that you DESERVE glory, celebrity and happiness all are governing factors in these situations.

And at some point - as much as I hate to belabor this - we have to make a generalization. It's mostly white, privileged kids doing this. What is it about that environment that is such a powder keg?

[Kilroy]

I don't think it's that they are 'desensitized to violence'... Kids up to their mid teens and beyond have a hard time distinguishing between fantasy and reality... Call it naivety or what ever, but it's just that that part of their consciousness isn't fully developed yet... That's why laws are different for kids or at least should be, because they have a hard time placing themselves in the real world, outside of their head.

So when you give a kid too little direction, too much free time and too much access to media and games, it makes it difficult for them to switch off the fantasy and return to reality... And some kids just refuse to come back...
You can see it in the kids that live... Some of them seem like the reality of the situation they find themselves in is totally foreign to them.

And keeping them busy isn't the trick... The trick is giving them a reason to be busy... Finding some passion they have that encourages them to accept more responsibility for their time. 4H, sports, jobs... Anything really that makes them the master and keeper of their own time I think does wonders. Especially in those preteen years.

But as a parent... That's not anywhere as easy as it sounds at times...

Another factor too is the school systems today are test factories... Kids are compartmentalized into statistical groups and are not given the individual care and attention they need and deserve. Kids especially in public schools are largely reduced to a number... So if they aren't getting a whole lot of attention and direction at home, they don't get it at school either. It can be a hopelessly lonely existence for a kid...

[Slava]

I'd been a friends' place in West Texas and everybody has guns in every room of their home, the dogs look like wolves, poverty is a real concern for physically hardworking people which should inherently lead to disillusionment and yet no one goes columbine. They just drink like tanks and do Texas stuff.