And thus, another anniversary for a heinous and tragic event is created.

[GreasyDogMeat]

I guess that is what the POS was doing in the 2 hours between the two shootings, making a stop at the post office.

 

People like this make me hope there really is a hell just for them.

 

I knew it, the idiot is blaming everyone at the school for it, despite people who actually tried to talk to him, open up and help him, it was everyone elses fault but his. Stupid lunatic.

[metadigital]

If by tightest gun laws you mean quite lax gun laws then, yes.

No, I mean some of the tightest gun laws in the US.

 

Also, latest information is that a Judge declared he was a danger to himself and others. That makes the teachers, the law and the police (at least two girls reported him for harassment) all thought this guy was a ticking timebomb, and nothing was done.

 

I guess that is what the POS was doing in the 2 hours between the two shootings, making a stop at the post office.

 

People like this make me hope there really is a hell just for them.

 

I knew it, the idiot is blaming everyone at the school for it, despite people who actually tried to talk to him, open up and help him, it was everyone elses fault but his. Stupid lunatic.

He's probably got 8-10 of the ten personality disorders.

[Aram]

The kid was old enough and he had a clean record. Though he was a foreign student, I believe legal immigrants can apply for a type of permit that lets you purchase firearms without being a citizen. The guns were obtained legally, and at the time that he boguht them, there was no reason they shouldn't have been.

[Aram]

I don't know if Gorgun's just being cheeky but he's actually right. West Virginia is one of the most pro-gun areas I think we have. Even the democrats there oppose anti-gun legislation. It's also one of the few places open carry (carrying a gun in public, even without a permit, so long as its in plain sight) is perfectly legal.

[metadigital]

The kid was old enough and he had a clean record. Though he was a foreign student, I believe legal immigrants can apply for a type of permit that lets you purchase firearms without being a citizen. The guns were obtained legally, and at the time that he bought them, there was no reason they shouldn't have been.

See, this is the problem. If I plan to go nuts, I'm hardly going to prevent myself by doing something illegal before the big crime. Kinda like being a Jedi all the way up to Korriban, and then turning to the Dark Side and becoming a Sith for the rest of the game.

 

This is where some form of provisional licencing would be useful. Even having a gun club (for example) sponsoring people, like a co-signatory on a loan.

 

It is a bit silly in the UK, however, as the Olympic Pistol team have to travel overseas to practice ...

 

I don't know if Gorgun's just being cheeky but he's actually right. West Virginia is one of the most pro-gun areas I think we have. Even the democrats there oppose anti-gun legislation. It's also one of the few places open carry (carrying a gun in public, even without a permit, so long as it's in plain sight) is perfectly legal.

Really? My information must be wrong. Someone will be shot for that ... "

[Tasaio]

I think that part of what causes people to snap younger is the amount of pressure put on each child to succeed. Whe your put through school you are told by every person, every teacher, every mentor, that College is the only option. and every little kid forces themselves to try for higher grades in order to get into a good college. The amount of testing (in Cali) is insane. every year students are put through at least four weeks of standardized testing, not counting Psats, SATs, or the militaries version of the SATs. My freshman year was the first year for the California High School Exit Exam which had my class stuck in testing for a week longer than any of the other classes (admittedly the difficulty was laughable).

 

Very true.

 

Also (at least in my experiance) kids are pushed into cliques where a social norm is established. Some of us get tossed out of all the cliques or don't fit perfectly with one clique so will over the course of the year move around and never have a really steady group of friends. School councelors are usually scheduled for a month in advance because every kid with a scheduling grevience is sent through the councelors to get the classes changed, so if somebody has a real problem and it gets picked up on, either they get dragged off in the back of a cop car to the county mental health, or they bottle it and finially at one point or another go ballistic.

 

If more parents were willing to spend time with their children, this would not be an issue.

 

All in all we live in a society where accountability is non exsistant, more people are on antidepressants than not, divorce rates are through the roof. and access to violence, sex, and drugs is at an all time high. Of course we're going to see a heck of alot more people going ballistic. But I some how doubt that we will see any wild west family feuds popping up with death tolls in the hundreds.

 

I don't know about this, since I live in Canada.

 

But yours is the one post that targets the real issue -- the pressure on today's youth.

 

It was up to his parents to get him help. Not the school. Not the government.

 

Of course, being poor, foreign, and (correct me if I am wrong) of a very strict Asian mindset when it comes to raising children, they probably wouldn't.

 

I have Asian members in my family, so I'm familiar with how harsh they can be on children.

 

I know how much they are driven to succeed.

 

And that's forgetting the pressure school would place him under.

 

Maybe I'm just an old man, but when I was in public school, it wasn't about grades -- it was about fostering a love of learning. More, it was about fostering a *desire* for a good work ethic.

 

There just wasn't the same type of pressure. There wasn't this obsession with grades, for one thing.

 

http://hackvan.com/etext/6-lesson-schoolteacher.html

 

http://montalk.net/conspiracy/39/the-horro...ublic-education

 

It's hubristic to blame the ME generation. Are you so different? Aren't we interacting on a forum for...computer games? If anything, older generations have had it easier.

 

It sounds like he railed against injustice, as we all do. Read about his rants. He apparently hated the corruption and the rich kids...what we all complain about.

 

I came from a very poor household, and I can tell you, it was not easy being around lazy, spoiled brats all the time. I adapted, and did very well in college -- but I had my parents and family to support me.

 

It sounds like, once again, this boy had no one. Isn't that always the case?

 

I think people should remember that Cho Seung-hui was one of the victims of this tragedy.

[Aram]

No, sorry, he was just a ****up.

 

And apparently another net ninja too.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18183171/displ...framenumber/11/

[Tigranes]

Coming back to meta's reply in page 9:

 

I haven't seen any of his writings, have you?

 

The media have denied us nearly any actual quotations from either his writings, his 'death note' or his letters to NBC, as far as I can dig up. However, one of the exampels for a particularly disturbing piece of writing, for example, was about a son who hated his stepfather, (or the other way round), and eventually ended up attacking him with electric chainsaws, throwing stuff at him, and eventually killing him in a sadistic manner. Think there was a quote somewhere along the lines of "you think I can't f--ing kill you? Here's one eye... here's the other." So yeah, it's disturbing, but again, look at Old Boy or hundreds of other literary works. Cho's works don't compare to those. Meta, the reason I made such 'sweeping' statements is because I was able to read a few descriptions of Cho's work that actually went into such detail - mostly from the Korean media, which is much more concerned about Cho as a person, as you can imagine.

 

Instead of getting actual quotations or even neutrla descriptions so we can decide for ourselves just how disturbing these writings were, for the most part, all we get is second-hand interpretations laced with emotives, sucha s "horrifying", disturbing, etc. This is not right.

 

My information (again very limited) was that the students actively tried to involve the shooter in their social interactions.

 

That is interesting, the only example I have ever heard is the roommate. Can you tell me any other instances that I might have missed?

 

I disagree that preferring one's own company is looked on as antisocial.

 

To reword myself, I would argue that people draw a line, a grey line in the sand, and once you step across it, then you are preferring your own company to the point of antisocialness. i.e. we are supposed to react in a certain way to strangers or acquaintances or other social contacts in a certain manner; you can be a bit reclusive, a bit of a loner, but there is definitely a line.

 

------------------------------------

 

Anyway, meta, I am in no way saying that the kid is NOT responsible. He in the end is resposnible for what he does and nobody can absolve him of what he has done. But that will not help us do what we can do prevent these kind of things in the future. But the media will not try and find out exactly what he was so angry about, and if they know from his letters, they will not tell us. All they want tod o is designate him a psychopath then move on, after having garnered their share of ratings.

[Azure79]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years...7071vtech1.html

 

They posted one of Cho Seung Hui's plays.

 

I read through it, and with the clarity of hindsight and the surrounding events, I found it disturbing. However, given normal circumstances I think I would have found the play a little funny.

 

Okok...I admit I chuckled once while reading it. It was when the mother seems to grab a chainsaw out of nowhere.

 

And when Richard says, "Honey-poo"

[Rosbjerg]

Hmm, I would say it's a disturbing play even when not taking in the current circumstances - it's very childish and it made me feel quite strongly that he had been molested..

 

and I found it kinda morbid that an add on the right was saying "find your graduating class here".

[Gorgon]

I hardly think it's appropriate to make this guy into a superstar, we should learn what we can from his situation not start selling coffe mugs with his demented face on it.

[Aram]

That was just really, really, really ****ty writing.

 

 

 

 

But wait for it to become a widespread internet classic because of all the emo kids trying to get into his mind through it.

[Gromnir]

am not a fan of handguns. Gromnir not own a handgun. 'course, the honest reason why Gromnir not like or own handguns is 'cause we gots crummy aim with handguns. is inexplicable too as our accuracy with rifles is somewhat better than average.

 

an educated populace is the bestest check on extreme abuses of govt... but a well-armed populace is gonna rank in top 10. USA is a revolutionary governmentt. so we maybe have some anachronisms lingering that not seem all that important today, but woulds be vital if things changed and govt. became less democratic. trial by jury is a check on govt. excess. you thinks your average jury is more fair than your average judge? HA!. not a chance. juries is peopled by the old, government employees, and people too dumb to get out o' jury duty. if you honestly want fair, then chances are you don't want a jury. 'course if a government is corrupt and the judges is simply a tool of the state, then being able to rely on jury trial of peers is an appealing alternative.

 

what if tomorrow there were legislation passed in the USA requiring all southern baptists to report to internment camps? you thinks maybe a few o' those southerners might resist... forcibly? am still amazed that the japanese didn't put up a fight. Gromnir grew up at and near Pine Ridge. you thinks feds like to visit Pine Ridge, even today? our Grandfather once joked that God made wasichu so pale so that they woulds be easier to see and shoot at a distance. more than one bia policeman or fbi agent went into Pine Ridge and never came out again.

 

personally, we gots no problem with an amendment that would prohibit or limit handguns, but second amendment is a revolutionary amendment. people who mistakenly assume that sole purpose of 2nd were to makes US government not to have to pay so much to arm soldiers is deluded. 2nd amendment assumes that an armed populace is as important a check on government tyranny as is freedom o' speech and jury trials, and while many may thinks that such a notion is misguided (you may be right too,) it not change fact that the Founding Fathers had a different pov.

 

btw, crazy people and fanatics can always finds ways to kill large numbers o' peoples if they really wish to. the 9/11 guys used planes filled with jet fuel to kill thousands... not need guns. you wanna stop the impulse mass murderer by taking away an easy and obvious and deadly tool? ok, we understands the motivation, 'specialy in light o' tragedy, but if you want significant and serious gun control in this country, then you better use an amendment.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[theslug]

I was reading his plays last night from another forum. So funny rofl. I mean seriosuly some of the stuff he said in the first one was gold. I mean he was a horrible play right and sucked grammar wise and stuff and if i was a teacher I'd throw that shi out immediately and fail him.

[Gromnir]

I was reading his plays last night from another forum. So funny rofl. I mean seriosuly some of the stuff he said in the first one was gold. I mean he was a horrible play right and sucked grammar wise and stuff and if i was a teacher I'd throw that shi out immediately and fail him.

 

vtu is an excellent school... for engineering.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Tigranes]

Interesting to see that some quotes and such are indeed beginning to surface now, although after the primary definition of the events had already been set. They released some quotes from his diatribe on the NBC Video as well.

 

Just read the play, it's actually pretty funny, if you ignore the fact that the writer just killed thirty people. Certainly it could even be mistaken as a parody or a joke, if it was not written by someone of his personality. A series of such writings would mark him out to be a disturbed, potentially dangerous person, b ut certainly not enough to force him to get locked up or anything like that. The warning signs weren't all that clear, it only seems clear now in hindsight.

 

I find it sad that one thing which seems likely is that in the end Cho really was genuinely angry and depressed, and he really did believe in the stuff he said and wrote; yet we all understand that, brought out of the dark room, the depths to which our emotions can sink us, in daylight and under the scrutiny of society, his fears and anger, reasons and conspiracies, are all rather childish and silly, to the point of a sad ridicule.

[Aram]

Wonderful. Now every time I flip through channels, I have to go through at least 30 playing nothing but this guy's head spouting gibberish about his bull**** teenage pain in what appears to be a bad Napoleon Dynamite impersonation. Why are we giving this idiot air-time?

 

And he killed a holocaust survivor. What the hell is he even talking about?

[Calax]

Wonderful. Now every time I flip through channels, I have to go through at least 30 playing nothing but this guy's head spouting gibberish about his bull**** teenage pain in what appears to be a bad Napoleon Dynamite impersonation. Why are we giving this idiot air-time?

 

And he killed a holocaust survivor. What the hell is he even talking about?

I'm not following the story or anything for that matter in the news (yay for comedy central!) but one of the few tidbits I picked up is that he was raging against having to grow up the poor boy in a rich community.

 

And we wonder why he's a basket case?

[Fenghuang]

Both his plays are HERE for those that are interested.

[Azarkon]

They've made movies about Jack the Ripper. They've made movies about the Zodiac killer. One day, if Cho isn't one-upped by someone else, they'd probably make something about him. All the ingredients are in place - signs of an abusive childhood, the resulting psychosis, deep depression, disturbing symbols in his writings, a martyr complex... You know, this whole event almost seems it came straight out of a horror movie, if not for the fact that 30+ people actually died.

 

Tragic, tragic event. Mad, mad world.

Edited April 19, 2007 by Azarkon

[Walsingham]

Actually I think all the attention in this case may be positive. Because it is exposing a totally inadequate cornball. I mean a main character called Richard McBeef?

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6567143.stm

 

The man was a total idiot. He makes Richard Reid (the shoebomber) look positively dynamic. I would hope it might give other fools pause for thought if it turns out attracting all that attention can just expose you as a *expletive deleted in auto-moderation*.

[Gorth]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6567143.stm

 

In 2002, the US Secret Service conducted a major study of 37 school shootings to learn the patterns of the school-aged assassins.

 

Makes you wonder what they do with that info... a recruiting campaign?

[Gorgon]

I am Jack's bladder

[Walsingham]

The incident was awful but this guy is a laugh riot. An alter ego called Richard McBeef, and his 'glorious testament' to NBC fails to arrive on time because he got the address wrong!

 

I have to say that it looks to me as if the second incident was probably more or less off the cuff after realising the authorities weren't doing anything to effectively prevent a second shooting. He probably went more or less to pieces in the two hours in between and the breather gave him time to steady his nerves, and removed any previous 'restraint'. But I'm purely speculating.

[Gorgon]

Of course he must have realised that there was no way out for him now, and decided he would inflict as much pain as he would while he was able.