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Link to the South Alabama shooting rampage. Started as a domestic violence incident and then escalated. 10 confirmed dead including the gunman, several injured, 2 are in serious condition. News conference scheduled for early this morning.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/...24506#29624506
I'm guessing that this will either be blamed on the gun or on the NRA. Had this occurred 2 months ago, it would have been easier to assign blame to one individual: George W. Bush.
While I do not suspect that this was terrorism, it reminds me of an earlier thread. Random yahoo kills 10 with relative ease and could have killed more if he really wanted to. Just imagine what a dedicated terrorist could do. It still amazes me that we haven't seen it.
16 dead in German School Shooting
Curious to see how their reaction, if any, differs from ours, if any.
Alabama Murder Mystery Solved: The Shocking Story Of How A Chicken-Slaughtering Billionaire Plundered Rural America, By Mark Ames. The eXiled, March 13th, 2009.
Quote:
If we study the motive for Michael McLendon’s shooting rampage Tuesday, which left 11 bodies across three towns in southern Alabama, and we look at the bizarre way that the causes of the shooting are being hushed up, you begin to understand why this uniquely-Reaganomics-inspired crime started in the United States, and continues to plague us.
But of all the inexplicable circumstances surrounding the murder spree, one of the oddest has to be the way Alabama authorities went from focusing hard on solving the shooter’s motive to suddenly dropping the issue like a hot potato and running away from the scene of the crime, as if they didn’t like what their investigation produced.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bourbon
And just couldn't due to the fact that the author has such a blatant disdain for Reagan (apparently in any context) and thus tends to attempt tying any and every injustice ever done to himQuote:
Originally Posted by jmm99
That and the fact that I as with millions of other people who were bullied by someone or another in life and spent a lot of time working harder while making less
1- Realize that life's not fair
2-Don't feel the necessity to go out and shoot up the place just because of it.
Sorry just can't buy what the author's sellin:rolleyes:
I'm pretty sure that it's satire.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron Humphrey
Sometimes people ask me to explain al Qaeda, why they hate us, etc. I’ll explain bin Laden’s stated grievances and objectives, the history of the organization, social psychology, etc. For the most part people don’t like hearing this, some even get offended or angry. It conflicts too much with their worldview and previously held conceptions. They don’t like to hear that most AQ members are not insane. I can understand where they are coming from, and to be honest sometimes it unnerves me as well; but ignoring all this only inhibits my ability to understand it. And if I can’t understand it, I can’t help to defeat it.
I don’t think Ames is excusing the shooting or being an apologist for it, I think he is trying to explain it. He’s published a book on workplace shootings; he’s knowledgeable on the subject, and has done some digging on this case. It doesn’t matter that you or I know the world isn’t fair, and that we’ve never shot up a school or workplace. What matters is that some people have, that there is some reason why they did it, and usually it is not because they are insane.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Schmedlap
I had hoped so]
While much of what you state is true. I still find that so often attempts such as this tend to take the readers even further away from seeing the deeper issues than they were in the beginning.Quote:
Originally Posted by bourbon
Workplace shootings, marital distress, gambling, stressors in general can and due cause many if not most of these sort of incidents.
The issue is with the failure to connect readers to the true humanity of all party's involved rather than consistently picking a scapegoat such as Bad boss, bad spouse, bad cop, bad anything rather than accepting and recognizing bad actions and decisions by any and all involved and the fact that any of those decisions made by any of them still in the end come down to their own CHOICES.
There are many injustices in life which do require addressing and one of the greatest things about living here is we do exactly that. This should not excuse us in failing to make the connection between circumstances such as this and the bad decisions made by those who act out. Crazy or not mistreated or not the responsibility for their actions is still theirs.
rant done
Sorry:o
I can agree with both statements but not being insane is one thing -- deliberately killing innocent people is a totally different issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by bourbon
One who does that is not deserving of any consideration or sympathy. They deserve a round in a kneecap a day and on the third day a brain stem perhaps -- but there is no apologia or acceptable rationale for either directly or indirectly deliberately targeting innocent people. As for trying to explain it, that almost certainly has to be a presumption unless the individual(s) provide or provided a thorough explanation of their thought processes -- and even that would be questionable, sometimes we do not really know why we do some things.
I believe that rather than 'explaining it' he used the tale to whip up a lot of not really germane froth. That sort of comes as the ultimate insult to the person he's nominally trying to explain...
I have no problem with people having to take responsibility for their own choices and actions. But the guy is dead, killed himself as they usually do in these cases. How can he pay for his actions now? I don’t see any utility in preaching personal responsibility here. Is it going to prevent the next one? I doubt it.
President Reagan would read widely; he used to read socialist publications weekly, so he could learn what he was up against. He had thick skin, was secure in his beliefs, and would stomach it. He would have taken issue with not finishing the article and using a generalization like “attempts such as these”. And he would have found this publication a refreshing change from the limp wristed rubbish that makes up much of liberal thought in our country, even if he didn’t agree with it.
Ken, who is saying anything about sympathy? We both know where that can be found in the dictionary.
A target list seems like a good indicator in his thinking. I know that shooting innocent people is a different issue; the problem is that he didn't see some of these people as innocent, and that he ain't around to be held accountable to his actions.
for the first quoted clause, is that just an assumption on your part?Quote:
Originally Posted by bourbon
In the event, five of those he killed were relatives and that doesn't say much for him -- or your case.
For the second clause, that he's no longer around -- I doubt it would make much difference to the dead if he were still around LINK. Not to mention the four dogs and setting the house on fire. He might not have been insane but he sure was unusual...
As I said, we have a different worldview... :cool:
And thus my wayward efforts to plod all the way through it.Quote:
Originally Posted by bourbon
Unfortunately(or fortunately)
I discovered three important things
1- I'm not him:D
2- Even though I read three quarters of the article I couldn't remember a single fact about the case (except that they called him doughboy) because every other para started or finished (insert adj) Reaganomics
3- I realized that the company he's trying to portray seems to have some pretty messed up stuff going on (but I still have no idea how in the heck
#$@offs at a company acting badly has diddly to do with ol Ronnie):D
That should tell you though that I respect a lot of what you've contributed enough to feel what you point out is probably worth checking despite what where my personal opinions on the matter. ;)
What was strange to me is Chris Murphy head of Alabama DPS came from the Secret Service and had worked Presidential Protection before. The Secret Service has done many things in this area. Read this below the shooter followed it almost to a Tee.
http://www.secretservice.gov/ntac/ntac_threat.pdf
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29676657/
Quote:
Many around Samson knew Bruce Maloy as their town's comedian, a goodhearted, wiry little jokester who was always boasting about hitting it big someday.
On Friday, witnesses and authorities said Maloy, the 10th and final victim of Tuesday's shooting rampage by Michael McLendon, single-handedly tried to end the violence with his beat-up old pickup truck.
With gunshots still echoing through downtown Samson and the killer headed toward a bigger city 12 miles away, Maloy chased McLendon's dark red Mitsubishi out of town, ramming the vehicle at least once.
Maloy slowed down the killer briefly, and he may have given police and state troopers time to catch up to McLendon, said Geneva County Chief Deputy Tony Helms. But it cost him his life.
"There's a hero in all of this that nobody is talking about, and that's Bruce Maloy," said Jim Stromenger, a dispatcher with the Samson Police Department.
Maloy was stopped at a traffic light on Main Street in Samson, headed west toward his home. Shots rang out to his left at the Big Little Store, and McLendon pulled out of the parking lot going east toward Geneva.
Two workers at Samson Feed and Seed saw Maloy whip his ragged old Isuzu pickup to the left, doing a U-turn and gunning it as he took off after McLendon.
With Maloy behind him, McLendon shot at a hardware store and a car stopped at a red light and kept going. Within seconds, Craig Harrison saw both vehicles speed past his business.
"The car came by and Bruce was right behind him. He wasn't two car lengths away from him," said Harrison, who formerly employed Maloy at Craig's Cycle and Marine. Harrison heard two more shots and believes McLendon was trying to get Maloy off his tail.
Maloy's chase ended 2.4 miles from where it began. Damage to the front of Maloy's truck indicates he rammed McLendon at least once, and the Mitsubishi had damage to its rear, although a police car could have done that.
Near a pipe plant just inside the city limits, McLendon fired at least three shots at Maloy after a collision. Two bullets hit metal, a third went through the windshield and struck Maloy.
Some people didn't like being around Maloy because he was such a big talker, Harrison said. He could be a little obnoxious with his joking and boasting.
But Samson now knows him as someone much different.