Monday, April 23, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Senseless Killing of 32 Students and Teachers
I, like all people with a heart, feel sick over the senseless killing of 32 innocent students and teachers at Virginia Tech. I can not imagine the pain that the families and loved ones are experiencing. I can never fully comprehend how one person is able to cause such suffering.
My earlier thought was that How could anyone have guessed that this quite student had that much rage and such a careful put to kill all in his sights. However the more I read the clearer it becomes that not only were there warning signs, there were virtual Neon signs pointing to the danger this man represented.
It was more than a year ago that Cho Seung-Hui was accused of stalking two female students. According to the Virginia Tech Web Site,The first was Nov. 27, 2005, Cho contacted a female student through phone calls and in person. The student notified the Virginia Tech Police Department, and declined to press charges. However, Officers spoke with Cho concerning this matter, and the investigating officer referred Cho to the University disciplinary system. The second time that a stalking incident occurred was Dec. 12, 2005, Cho instant messaged a second female student. She made a complaint to Virginia Tech Police. In both instances there was never any direct threat made. Later that day police received a call from an acquaintance of Cho’s who was concerned that Cho might have been suicidal. Officers again met with Cho and talked with him at length. Virginia Tech Police Chief Flinchum said. they considered the messages "annoying," not threatening,Cho was however asked to speak to a counselor, after meeting with Cho, the counselor was so concerned that a temporary detention order was obtained and Cho was taken to, Carilion Saint Albans Behavioral Health Center. a mental health facility.
If that was not sufficient warning signs, his teachers began getting repeated complaints from others students in his classes. One of his teachers, poet Nikki Giovanni, said her students were so rattled by Cho's behavior, that some stopped coming to class altogether. Students complained of him taking pictures of them with his cell phone,and the violent nature of his writings. Ms. Giovanni called security to check on her room. She eventually threatened to quit if he wasn't removed from her class.
"I know we're talking about a youngster, but troubled youngsters get drunk and jump off buildings," she said. "There was something mean about this boy. It was the meanness - I've taught troubled youngsters and crazy people - it was the meanness that bothered me. It was a really mean streak that was intimidating,"
Lucinda Roy, a co-director of creative writing at Virginia Tech, said she tutored Cho after he was removed from class. She said she tried to get him into counseling starting in late 2005 but he always refused. She became so concerned that she went repeatedly to university officials, and when told they could do nothing, she went to the Virginia Tech Police regarding Cho and his course writing assignments.
"He was so distant and so lonely," she told ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday. "It was almost like talking to a hole, as though he wasn't there most of the time. He wore sunglasses and his hat very low so it was hard to see his face."
So the question is, how was a person with such a detailed history of mental illness able to go into a gun store and in the same day buy a 9mm Glock semi-automatic and a second gun, extra clips and a large quantity of ammunition?
If there was ever a example of a person that should have been asked to wait 5 days for a background check, this is the one. Clearly the blame falls on the head of Cho Seung-Hui, he was the sick individual that carried out this way of terror. That said the system must do a better job of protecting us from this kind of bloodshed. He was a ticking bomb, a lot of people knew it, to steps to warn and get the guy the help he clearly needed, but the system let us all down. The school let him stay, the police had no power to hold him and the Virginia laws allowed a man with a track record of violent writings, stalking charges and obvious mental illness buy a stock pile of weapons.
My earlier thought was that How could anyone have guessed that this quite student had that much rage and such a careful put to kill all in his sights. However the more I read the clearer it becomes that not only were there warning signs, there were virtual Neon signs pointing to the danger this man represented.
It was more than a year ago that Cho Seung-Hui was accused of stalking two female students. According to the Virginia Tech Web Site,The first was Nov. 27, 2005, Cho contacted a female student through phone calls and in person. The student notified the Virginia Tech Police Department, and declined to press charges. However, Officers spoke with Cho concerning this matter, and the investigating officer referred Cho to the University disciplinary system. The second time that a stalking incident occurred was Dec. 12, 2005, Cho instant messaged a second female student. She made a complaint to Virginia Tech Police. In both instances there was never any direct threat made. Later that day police received a call from an acquaintance of Cho’s who was concerned that Cho might have been suicidal. Officers again met with Cho and talked with him at length. Virginia Tech Police Chief Flinchum said. they considered the messages "annoying," not threatening,Cho was however asked to speak to a counselor, after meeting with Cho, the counselor was so concerned that a temporary detention order was obtained and Cho was taken to, Carilion Saint Albans Behavioral Health Center. a mental health facility.
If that was not sufficient warning signs, his teachers began getting repeated complaints from others students in his classes. One of his teachers, poet Nikki Giovanni, said her students were so rattled by Cho's behavior, that some stopped coming to class altogether. Students complained of him taking pictures of them with his cell phone,and the violent nature of his writings. Ms. Giovanni called security to check on her room. She eventually threatened to quit if he wasn't removed from her class.
"I know we're talking about a youngster, but troubled youngsters get drunk and jump off buildings," she said. "There was something mean about this boy. It was the meanness - I've taught troubled youngsters and crazy people - it was the meanness that bothered me. It was a really mean streak that was intimidating,"
Lucinda Roy, a co-director of creative writing at Virginia Tech, said she tutored Cho after he was removed from class. She said she tried to get him into counseling starting in late 2005 but he always refused. She became so concerned that she went repeatedly to university officials, and when told they could do nothing, she went to the Virginia Tech Police regarding Cho and his course writing assignments.
"He was so distant and so lonely," she told ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday. "It was almost like talking to a hole, as though he wasn't there most of the time. He wore sunglasses and his hat very low so it was hard to see his face."
So the question is, how was a person with such a detailed history of mental illness able to go into a gun store and in the same day buy a 9mm Glock semi-automatic and a second gun, extra clips and a large quantity of ammunition?
If there was ever a example of a person that should have been asked to wait 5 days for a background check, this is the one. Clearly the blame falls on the head of Cho Seung-Hui, he was the sick individual that carried out this way of terror. That said the system must do a better job of protecting us from this kind of bloodshed. He was a ticking bomb, a lot of people knew it, to steps to warn and get the guy the help he clearly needed, but the system let us all down. The school let him stay, the police had no power to hold him and the Virginia laws allowed a man with a track record of violent writings, stalking charges and obvious mental illness buy a stock pile of weapons.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Is Global Warming a Military threat?
Is Global Warming a Military threat?
For years it seemed easy to paint those people screaming about global Warming as a bunch of “liberal, tree-hugging, Latte drinking, Volvo driving, extremests. The truth be told, there are quite a few in the enviormental movement that fit that description. So it was with special interest that I read about the report being issued by a number of retired military leaders addressing Globan Warming as a major security threat.
In an article By SETH BORENSTEIN (AP) he quotes Bush's former Middle East envoy, Gen. Anthony "Tony" Zinni, as saying : "It's not hard to make the connection between climate change and instability, or climate change and terrorism."
"We will pay for this one way or another," wrote Zinni, former commander of U.S. Central Command. "We will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today, and we'll have to take an economic hit of some kind. Or we will pay the price later in military terms. And that will involve human lives. There will be a human toll."
"Everybody needs to start paying attention to what's going on. I don't think this is a particularly hard sell in the Pentagon. ... We're paying attention to what those security implications are, stated " Gordon Sullivan the former U.S. Army chief of staff. He goes on to say that "Climate change exacerbates already unstable situations,"
The report looks at the geo-political fall-out that will likely occure when Global warming causes rivers to dry-up, resources that nations depent on, be come in short supply. Terry Root a Stanford scientist who contributed work for a report on the effects of global warming, added
"We're going to have a war over water," Root said. "There's just not going to be enough water around for us to have for us to need to live with and to provide for the natural environment."
I think it is important to point out that this report “Assumes” global Warming, rather than offering any new data to answer whether Global Warming is Fact or Fiction. It is clear that the number of reports, documents, photos and data supporting a warming global climate grows each year, as do the number of once skeptical, now on board, scientists. Even many of the once loudest voices challenging the “Green House effect” have reluctantly acquiesced, and now speak in terms of uncertainty. They say thing like “the changes will Not be as quick “ or “Not as severe”. Interestingly, this is coming at the same time that some in the scientific community are questioning some of the scientific procedures and objectivity of some of the data being used to in their world “Prop-up the theory of man-made climate change.
In Geology class you study natural boundaries such as Rivers and mountains, in a political science class you will put out a map and discuss national boarders. Science might tell us that the amount farm land might remain level in a particular set of conditions, but a military strategist will remind us that it matters if the resource moves from one country to the next.
For years it seemed easy to paint those people screaming about global Warming as a bunch of “liberal, tree-hugging, Latte drinking, Volvo driving, extremests. The truth be told, there are quite a few in the enviormental movement that fit that description. So it was with special interest that I read about the report being issued by a number of retired military leaders addressing Globan Warming as a major security threat.
In an article By SETH BORENSTEIN (AP) he quotes Bush's former Middle East envoy, Gen. Anthony "Tony" Zinni, as saying : "It's not hard to make the connection between climate change and instability, or climate change and terrorism."
"We will pay for this one way or another," wrote Zinni, former commander of U.S. Central Command. "We will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions today, and we'll have to take an economic hit of some kind. Or we will pay the price later in military terms. And that will involve human lives. There will be a human toll."
"Everybody needs to start paying attention to what's going on. I don't think this is a particularly hard sell in the Pentagon. ... We're paying attention to what those security implications are, stated " Gordon Sullivan the former U.S. Army chief of staff. He goes on to say that "Climate change exacerbates already unstable situations,"
The report looks at the geo-political fall-out that will likely occure when Global warming causes rivers to dry-up, resources that nations depent on, be come in short supply. Terry Root a Stanford scientist who contributed work for a report on the effects of global warming, added
"We're going to have a war over water," Root said. "There's just not going to be enough water around for us to have for us to need to live with and to provide for the natural environment."
I think it is important to point out that this report “Assumes” global Warming, rather than offering any new data to answer whether Global Warming is Fact or Fiction. It is clear that the number of reports, documents, photos and data supporting a warming global climate grows each year, as do the number of once skeptical, now on board, scientists. Even many of the once loudest voices challenging the “Green House effect” have reluctantly acquiesced, and now speak in terms of uncertainty. They say thing like “the changes will Not be as quick “ or “Not as severe”. Interestingly, this is coming at the same time that some in the scientific community are questioning some of the scientific procedures and objectivity of some of the data being used to in their world “Prop-up the theory of man-made climate change.
In Geology class you study natural boundaries such as Rivers and mountains, in a political science class you will put out a map and discuss national boarders. Science might tell us that the amount farm land might remain level in a particular set of conditions, but a military strategist will remind us that it matters if the resource moves from one country to the next.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
5,000,000 “Missing” White House Emails?
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By Larry Lubell
The plot, or depending on your point of view, the smoke is thickening in the case of the firing of the eight federal prosecutors. Each day there seems to be some development that calls into question the statement made by Gonzales and the White House concerning the prosecutor’s dismissals.
I am reminded by the scene from Casablanca when Claude Reines “ states that “He is shocked, Shocked, to find gambling going on here” as he secretly pockets his gambling chips. Look, both parties play politics. Both are guilty of padding the payrolls with people they believe will be loyal, and or support their views. You would think by this time the politicians would realize that it’s usually the cover-up that does them in, not the original action.
In this case, Alberto Gonzales has great latitude in the hiring and firing of the federal prosecutors under his jurisdiction. Clinton replaced all of them in one fell swoop. The only thing is, once you hire them, you have to respect their independence. The accusation is that the administration did not, and replaced them for not aggressively enough going after democrats.
If it was me, I would feel far more comfortable explaining firing employees based vague terms like “Quality,” “Time-Management” “Administrative temperament,” than trying to explain missing emails, contradictory statements and paper trails.
Two questions come to mind over the White House’s recent statement regarding the emails requested by congress.
How do you loose over 5,000,000 email?
Do you really believe that congress or the American people are stupid enough to believe they got “lost”?
Karl Rove, who seemed “In the clear” in the Valerie Plame case, now finds him self again being called before special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, now for a 4th time before that Grand jury. Rove’s return has created great anxiety among White House officials and the Republican Party that Fitzgerald may be preparing to bring indictments against Rove and other high-ranking administration insiders.
Robert Luskin, Rove's lawyer, when asked why didn't the Rove e-mail surface earlier? said “It's because an electronic search conducted by the White House missed it because the right "search words" weren't used”. (The White House and Fitzgerald both declined to comment.)
It seems clear, at this point, that Gonzales and White House officials are just weaving their own web that will in the end ensnare them; While the spider sits and waits.
Posted in Current events and politics http://www.urbaninsuranceagency.com/ http://urbaninsuranceagency.com/quote.php
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Kurt Vonnegut Dead at Age 84
His wife, Jill Krementz confirmed that Mr. Vonnegut died as the result of irreversible brain injuries stemming from a fall several weeks ago.
Born in Indiana, yet living in Germany, Kurt Vonnegut lived through the firebombing of Dresden, Germany by the Allied forces in 1945 while he was a young prisoner of war. Many of his writings address or were clearly shaped by those events.
Vonnegut wrote, “The firebombing of Dresden, was a work of art”. “a tower of smoke and flame to commemorate the rage and heartbreak of so many who had had their lives warped or ruined by the indescribable greed and vanity and cruelty of Germany.”
As an avid reader of Vonnegut’s work, I understand him to be a man of empathy and compassion, that despised Hitler and all that the Nazi’s represented. However at the same time he watched in horror as Thousands of his neighbors were killed in the raids, many of them burned to death.
He came to understand and write about how in war it is the Innocents that pay the price for the greed and obsessions of the leaders. A lesson as relevant today in Iraq and Iran as was in the 40s in Germany.
Good by Mr. Vonnegut, You will be missed.
So it goes.
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Born in Indiana, yet living in Germany, Kurt Vonnegut lived through the firebombing of Dresden, Germany by the Allied forces in 1945 while he was a young prisoner of war. Many of his writings address or were clearly shaped by those events.
Vonnegut wrote, “The firebombing of Dresden, was a work of art”. “a tower of smoke and flame to commemorate the rage and heartbreak of so many who had had their lives warped or ruined by the indescribable greed and vanity and cruelty of Germany.”
As an avid reader of Vonnegut’s work, I understand him to be a man of empathy and compassion, that despised Hitler and all that the Nazi’s represented. However at the same time he watched in horror as Thousands of his neighbors were killed in the raids, many of them burned to death.
He came to understand and write about how in war it is the Innocents that pay the price for the greed and obsessions of the leaders. A lesson as relevant today in Iraq and Iran as was in the 40s in Germany.
Good by Mr. Vonnegut, You will be missed.
So it goes.
Technorati Profile
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Charges Dropped against Duke Lacrosse Players
Today it was announced that State prosecutors will drop all charges againstthe three Duke atheletes accused of sexual assaulting a stripper at a team party.
This action of dropping all charges would end the criminal prosecution of Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann, and David Evans.
Like most people of good will, I was angered when I first heard the story of an innocent woman being brutalized and humiliated by both sexual violence as well as racial taunts, emanating from a bunch of out of control rich white kids. The fact that the "White community" in general and, Nifong,a white prosecutor,in particular took the Black woman's allegations seriously, represents a step forward. For far too long woman, particularly woman of color, were ignored, or attacked when they came forward after being raped. It is a good thing to see that society is starting "To get It". To understand that No means No.
I do not know exactly what when on in that house the night of the party. Being a "Guy" I can assume there was likely a bit too much drinking, and behavior that was less than exemplary. This was not a house full of young men, playing chess and discussing Franz Kafka. It seems clear that they were acting in an unbecoming manor, but equally clearly the accuser's story was a cruel lie.
It was a lie that turned the lives of three men up-side-down, hurt the entire Lacrosse team and Duke University, and most damaging of all, made it more difficult for woman who were actually victims of assault to be taken seriously in the future.
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This action of dropping all charges would end the criminal prosecution of Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann, and David Evans.
Like most people of good will, I was angered when I first heard the story of an innocent woman being brutalized and humiliated by both sexual violence as well as racial taunts, emanating from a bunch of out of control rich white kids. The fact that the "White community" in general and, Nifong,a white prosecutor,in particular took the Black woman's allegations seriously, represents a step forward. For far too long woman, particularly woman of color, were ignored, or attacked when they came forward after being raped. It is a good thing to see that society is starting "To get It". To understand that No means No.
I do not know exactly what when on in that house the night of the party. Being a "Guy" I can assume there was likely a bit too much drinking, and behavior that was less than exemplary. This was not a house full of young men, playing chess and discussing Franz Kafka. It seems clear that they were acting in an unbecoming manor, but equally clearly the accuser's story was a cruel lie.
It was a lie that turned the lives of three men up-side-down, hurt the entire Lacrosse team and Duke University, and most damaging of all, made it more difficult for woman who were actually victims of assault to be taken seriously in the future.
Call 1-800-680-0707 for a Free quote
or Fill out the request form for and we will provide you with a quote
to get your insurance started. Get a free quote.
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