Wednesday, April 18, 2007

mornin'

well, after thoroughly getting my ass whooped by thorne (not me personally but it spoke to me) i decided to weigh in on my thoughts on the v-tech shooting. i haven't up to now because of the media shitstorm and the fact that they were having to mop up puddles of drool over so big of a story. not to be outdone- the politicians crowding into the picture for their inevitable attempts at pr control and photo ops. movin' on.

the thing that struck me the most was the sheer ineptness of the 'old guard' emergency forces and the guts and savvy of the students. these young adults kept their heads for the most part and did what they needed to do in order to survive- and the heroism. we get so jaded and think that every young adult is "narcissistic" i believe one news outlet put it- and doesn't think about the world at large- but i don't know if that is entirely accurate. for sure- people in this country in general are self centered and ego centric- i have posted on this many times. but taking a look at how these kids networked and used technology to communicate in real time- something that homeland security and apparently the virginia police don't get the concept of- was astounding.

so- if this government doesn't get its clutches into the internet and technology- these 'narcissistic' young people just might be our last best hope. sending positive thoughts and condolences out over the air waves to all of the people at virginia tech.

11 comments:

Thorne said...

Mornin', betmo!!!
I'm so pleased to find you up to your usual fine form this morning. Shall we share a cuppa??
My yestereve's rant was not, I hope you do know, directed solely at you. You were however one among a plague of many bloggers who are suffering from despair for one reason or many. A good example is one of my favorite political bloggers, jurassicpork at Welcome To Pottersville in his yesterday's The post entitled "Farting the National Anthem in the Wind" at the Unruly Mob .
This stuff is making us all crazy, and I'm no conspiracy theorist, but I have alot of activist friends who talk about "HAARP", and it being used to focus and control minds to some degree. I've been wondering for a while if such a tool could be used to inspire feelings like the fear and false patriotism that abounded post 9/11, and of late I've been wondering what else it might be used for.... Don't know enough about it to say, but shade's on 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World cast a heavy pall, these days.
In Light... and Shadow

billie said...

thorne- nothing surprises me anymore. this country does not stand for ideals or freedoms anymore. for a variety of reasons this country has chosen to embrace all that is dark and ugly, cruel and mean. we embrace cheating and lying as a means to an end- from school kids on a test to business people and embezzlement to the governmental level. we think that it is ok to torture and imprison people if they don't agree with us- or more to the point- if they interrupt our daily routine. the government we have is probably pretty close to what people in this country are really like. church going, god believing hypocritical liars and cheats who swear on the bible while knifing you with the other hand. we are not nice people; we are cowards and quite frankly- we don't deserve what was our democracy. the founding fathers put a lot of thought into the founding of this country- and although it had flaws, there was a time when one could be proud to stand for the ideal that was america. no longer.

geez- i guess i should have just written another post :) i am cleaning and i guess i must have gotten high on the bleach :)

Peacechick Mary said...

I heard one spokesperson for the Virginia governor say that they had to work harder to embrace technology. So it takes this to wake them up. Shish! Bravo to the students!

Ingrid said...

Betmo, pardon my too long a absence! Good to know you've been doing just fine thank you very much and as Thorne mentioned, in fine form!
yes, the hoopla around the Vtech thing is taking away from the real sadness of it, every tom dick and harry has this ignorant opinion about it, especially some hateful ones that Mash wrote about (see http://www.docstrangelove.com/ and scroll down to subhuman) but as you so well pointed out, these kids were reacting smart and as well under the circumstances as any of us could hope for were we in that situation ourselves.
Hope you're doing well Betmo..I'll have to come back and catch up on a lot of the posts!
hugs
Ingrid

Anonymous said...

But frigging Boortz and Malkin are already accusing the students of being too "wussified" to save themselves.

I'd love to see both of those craven cowards having to figure out what to do while bullets are flying around them. Like all other Chimpletons, I suspect we'd see a couple of wet crotches in short order.

Sarah said...

This VT tragedy is bring out the worst in the conservative blogging movement, I can tell you that much.

Just stopping by at one of my favorite blogs, and a fight about guns had broken out. I provided some "insight" (aka I ranted) because I was just so darn angry at these people who can't get over their gun lust for a second to honor those who are hurting and mourning at the moment. There is a wider political debate to be had, but do NOT use these kids and teachers from VT to bolster your arguments. It is crass and beyond comprehension.

Politics do not matter when it comes to personal tragedy. However, I rarely come across a conservative blogger that represents anything close to being human. It's always ideology over people, and I'm tired of it.

The Future Was Yesterday said...

As the Husband of a College Professor, my asshole gets pretty tight every time I hear this stuff.

The kids. Ah....yes, "the kids." We were once, weren't we? I can't remember!:P

I know many of my wife's students personally, have met them many times, and there are some for real nutballs in the crowd, but I HOPE, no killers.

But in that same group of kids, there are also honor students who have been such all their life, and continue to be so. Then there's the kids that carry a full credit schedule - and I see them behind the counter when I go pick up a pizza - greeting me with a smile!

So "kids" don't have a lock on goofy. I know some real asshole adults..(:

landsker said...

Amongst all the comments, few seem to think that there is a problem with the availability of guns.
It seems like when the guy bought his guns, he was asked if he had "any problems of mental health".
He answered that he did not, so the shopkeeper sold him the weapons.
As you say Betmo, the incident showed that despite the helicopters, the fast cars, the assault rifles and machine guns, the flak jackets and helmets, the 2-way radios and binoculars, shiny uniform badges and high wages with pension plans and subsisdised vehicle loans....despite all that... the taxpayer funded law-enforcement puppets were an absolute bunch of obese and ignorant asshats, who had not a clue.

Sad moments indeed.

Mariamariacuchita said...

true, that.

Sornie said...

The thing that gets me going is how conservatives are blaming the massacre on the fact that VT is a gun-free campus. They say that if concealed weapons were allowed, someone would have likely stopped this young man's killing spree. I fail to agree with that position but am curious what others think.

Thorne said...

betmo, I do agree. It's all so difficult right now. But I still swear we need to read, think and write. My post this afternoon is relevant in a broad sense, I think. I know this is not good form, but I hope you will forgive my ignorance, (I'm sure it won't be the last time ;), I'd like to post today's piece somewhere that it might reach a greater number of people. Is there a way to submit to a group blog or other venue that you might assist me with??
Perhaps when folks who have been blogging for awhile and find themselves world weary or discouraged, they could pass on the flame to newer bloggers with some amount of innocent enthusiasm?? LOL. Might be a way for us all to keep on blog-rollin' on!!!