In the News

FC, I think if you have kids it adds a whole 'nother layer to the deal of what is scary, that even outweighs fear for oneself.

Since I do no have kids, I just think about my own lone self and my friends in such circumstances.

When I worked at the art museum, which has a large, famous, and after 9/11, notorius, collection of Islamic art curated by a brilliant Jewish woman who was dedicated to making a bridge between Jews and Islamic people. The whole place would get bomb threats. As the webmaster I used to get the e-mails from lunatics. I passed them on to the security office, and to the PR people. The PR guy sent it to the curator, who then went kinda nuts on ME as though I was blaming all of Islam.

Personally it was all very weird and confusing.

But did LACMA strenghten it's security?

Nope. Too expensive.

It is still on the list for terrorist bombings.

I belive in exiting at the earilest warning, so I would often go home as soon as the alarm sounded, while most people stayed at work.

Sorry... just rambling here...

I don't remember Frazz, did you work at the Getty Center? We got to go there for a couple of hours with Neill before we headed to the airport. Beautiful place.

I hear ya about wanting to keep your kids locked up in the closet when things like this happen.

I guess it can happen anywhere though. In state buildings that are blown up, in airports,in a plane, or in any public place to any of us. That is the scariest thing abou it. There does'nt seem to be anything you can do to avoid it when you are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Austin, I didn't workat the Getty, I worked at LACMA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

WHen I was in college (Brandeis University...founded by the leftist Jewish community (whom I identify with in most ways...except I like to drink beer like an Irish person)...but they wanted to be ecumenical, so it was much easier to get in if you were not Jewish...hence my acceptance and scholarship...plus they had a great Theater Department) Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Isreal, was coming to speak. The campus did a 3 day semi-shutdown before she came. By far the heaviest security I'd ever heard of, let alone witnessed.

Mind you this was the days of campus riots, etc.

My boyfriend and I easily got into the theater building (where she would be speaking) the night before, and as an experiment left a note, folded, but addressed to SECURITY in plain sight on the top floor, saying HEY SECURITY!!! IF YOU DON'T FIND THIS NOTE YOUR SECURITY SUCKS!!!

Unsurprisingly, the note was untouched the following week (we waited to check, just in case they had cameras).

Very scary Frazz. I feel safe working out of my home, but once I had a couple going thru a difficult divorce and custody battle and I worried about things like the hubby coming to take the kids when he wasn't suppose to have them and if he would hurt me if I didn't let him leave with the kids. Luckily the mom moved to Colorado with the girls and I didn't need to worry anymore. I think working in large public building where anyone can come in will never feel completely safe for anyone anymore. Heck, people aren't safe at McDonalds.

All that said, working at an art museum sounds great!

firecracker wrote:

All that said, working at an art museum sounds great!

Sounded great to me, too. Little did I know. But that is for another time.

Latest news is that the shootings began when boyfriend came to fight with girlfriend, dorm advisor intervened. Shooter shot both, then disappeared for 2 hours before coming back to shott classrooms full of people.

Moral of the story: I have no idea, but it does piss me off that gun favorers are claiming that the answer is to arm faculty and students. If anything, I think that more guns will lead more people to shoot when they get pissed.

or maybe it is just that if I had a loaded gun with me at all times I would not trust myself not to have blown a few people away on a pissed-off impulse.

I am certain that if any of my major exes had had loaded guns at the ready that I would be dead at their hands 10 times over.

Yeah, more loaded guns carried around by kids is just what we need...

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very scary. I do not know what can or should be done to prevent such things from happening anywhere, including schools, short of locking up everybody in lead rooms, individually.

There is no completely escaping evil. There's no way to completely prevent this kind of thing, but I sure wish the gun laws in this country didn't make it quite so easy.

The girl on The Clayboard who couldn't get a hold of her friend Caitlin yesterday has posted that her friend did die in the shooting. Very sad. The girl on The Clay Board went home to be with her family. They will be in my thoughts today.

If you all could send some good thoughts this way for my dad I would really appreciate it. It looks like they will be removing his toes and perhaps his left foot. We will learn more by the end of the week. Thanks.

Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll be thinking about you. I know this has been a rough road for you all.

He has prostate cancer, is that right? Why would they be removing his toes?

No cancer. An extremely enlarged prostate that causes him to go into the hospital a lot due to blockages. He has diabetes and there is very little circulation in his legs, especially the left one. The toes are very bad. He has diabetic ulcers on his feet that won't heal, so he goes to a wound center every Monday for those to be treated. They have been open for months. He can barely walk now. He needs a wheelchair.

I'm sorry firecracker. That sounds awful. I'll be thinking about him.

They just showed parts of the "video manifesto" of the Virginia Tech shooter.

Comments say how obviously disturbed he is.

I have to say that if I had seen this before the shootings I would just have said he was an untalented would-be rapper and fan of stupid popular violent movies.

I feel the need to post some of my thoughts about Cho Seung-Hu that are becomming more clear the more interviews that are being broadcast with his roomates, people who went to high school with him, teachers etc.

Question number 1: How does a student make it through high school not ever talking to anyone, never participating in classes, never making eye contact with anyone, ignoring people's attempts at talking to him without someone (namely teaches, counselors, etc.) identifying that there was a HUGE problem with him, talk to his parents, and get him some help or at least try to find out what the deal was??????????? What does this say about our schools, our society in general?

Question number 2: How do you make it to the point of being a senior level English Major at a major University without talking or engaging with anyone in ANY of your classes? The last time I checked in order to be an English major it involves verbally analyzing and interpreting literature. And usually involves speaking in public on a regular basis, and this comes from experience because I also once was a senior English Major at one point in my life-so I know what is involved. How do you pass classes without EVER speaking or participating???? You just show up for 3.5 years and take the tests and never utter a word???? WTF is that all about?

Question number 3: What kind of world do we live in that just ignores people (especially young children) who are obviously mentally ill, having difficulty fitting in, show evidence of having horrible self esteem issues that are being virtually ignored in our schools for years-as long as they don't cause any trouble... people just turn the other cheek and look the other way?

To me...this incident has got me thinking about a lot of things. What are the chances of some other troubled, neglected, misfit doing something like this again???

I wish we lived in a world that was not only safe, but less confusing.

There was a kid in my grammar school that was that weird: never talked, never looked at anybody. He was very scary and creepy to me. I know he did graduate from high school when I did, though I was not in any of his classes. I have always thought one day I'd read about him going postal someplace.

Decades later I saw a class notes thing...guy has a job as a major accountant at a big firm in Boston, has a wife and two kids going to Ivy League schools. While he may still go postal, he is in his fifties and it hasn't happened yet.

One of my favorite fellow high school pals was an OBVIOUS oddball (flamboyantly, not quietly....and I adored him) , and wrote outrageously absurdest violent plays (but he was a MUCH better writer than the V Tech killer). After high school he became very political, and I believe he armed himself (we had stopped being friends before that). Now I hear he is a successful acedemic expert in Armenian literature.

By far the sexiest (to me) guy in my high school was big and handsome and macho-menacing to all. He didn't talk to people because he was too cool. He was found dead in a field some years later....drug deal gone bad.

The scariest people I encounter in L.A. tend to be celebrity bodyguards. Seriously.

Who can tell the difference between the evil whack jobs and the plain old oddballs? I can't. I really can't.

Good point about not being able to always identify an evil whack job in our midst. Yeah, there are lots of eccentric people out there that are totally harmless. But, I think it was'nt that hard to identify this guy as a very, troubled kid that needed some serious help years ago.

I think with larger schools, faculty being overwhelmed, and more complacency all the way around when it comes to staff being willing and able to ask questions and agressively pursue helping a troubled kid...if the kid just melds into the woodwork and does'nt cause trouble no no one feels they have to do anything.

It is just another form of being in denial to me. Yes, we can't always change the outcome of things, but if someone would have reached out to this person when he was a child...

I just think it is scary how complacent our society is in general. This is just another example of what the consequences are.

Luca wrote:

I think with larger schools, faculty being overwhelmed, and more complacency all the way around when it comes to staff being willing and able to ask questions and agressively pursue helping a troubled kid...if the kid just melds into the woodwork and does'nt cause trouble no no one feels they have to do anything.

This is exactly the problem. I feel his family should have seen and done more to help their son. I know it is hard to except that your child may have serious issues, but who else can a kid count on to get him what he needs if not his mom and dad. I watch my kids closely. I get to know their friends. I pay attention to their friends and what their interest are. What movies they see. What music they listen to. As a parent it is your job to try and be as aware as possible of what is going on in their lives. I know parents can't be with them all the time and know everything they do, but you certainly can try and get a good idea if they are happy, healthy and enjoying their life. From everything I read this morning in the Trib this kid had every classic sign in the book of a very troubled young man. Everyone let him down.


I talked to my dad. He seems better. They will be running a bunch of tests today. Chest x-rays among others. His primary came to see him again this morning and told him at least one toe was going for sure. Tests will decide if they will take more at the same time. I hope we know more soon. I hope that if they have doubts about the other two middle toes that they take them all at once. That just has to be easier and safer. I assume you are completely put out when they do this, and with his age and heart problems I would rather he were not put out repeatedly. I guess I will spend some time today reading about this sort of proceedure.


In other wonderful news, there was an attemtped child abduction in a neighboring town yesterday. Makes me worry about the daycare kids playing outside before the bus comes. If the weather is nice I let them play out front until the bus comes (it's usually late) even though I am out front it still worries me if someone would grab them really fast and speed off. I think we will all sit in the car today until the bus arrives. Such a shame to be forced once again to think about how fast lives can take a tragic turn for the worse. Thank goodness the little girl was able to run fast from the man who tried to take her. He told her he was there to take her home to her parents. I am so glad she was taught well not to fall for that.

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From everything I read this morning in the Trib this kid had every classic sign in the book of a very troubled young man. Everyone let him down.

Exactly. I agree it was also very much the parents job to seek out help for their child. They ran a dry cleaning business, lived in the basement and were immigrants, so may have not had the skills to agressively seek out help for their son, although certainly were able to ensure he and his sister got college educations, I guess his sister went to Princeton and works for the state department or something. Obviously, both kids were not lacking in ability.

Perhaps their parenting or lack of could have been a major cause for this young man's issues. I'm sure we will find out more as the story unfolds.

I think he will definitely have to be put out for this, but his surgeon will make a decision about the type of anesthesia based on his medical status and age. Glad he seems to be doing better and they are going to do what needs to be done right away.

That is such a blessing that child got away from the abducter. It just reinforces how important it is to teach them to never go with strangers and to run away.

Luca, just now I was reading on the internet about toe amputation. They try to just use a local if at all possible. I am not sure what all factors into the decision. From what I read they run a lot of tests on muscle, bones, veins etc. before they determine what all they are going to do. I wonder if those are some of the tests they are running today? Dad said he will call later when he is done with all the tests. I can't leave here until 6:00 PM because I have kiddies here. They are playing with Play-doh right now and one is freaking out because she got some on her socks! Funny how they think their mom is going to be really mad about stuff. Anyway, from what I have read it looks like recovery can be a real problem for diabetics. Since the original cuts wouldn't heal there is a risk that the patient won't heal from the proceedure and there would be more infection leading to further amputation. Sadly, it does not sound as simple or optimistic as I had hoped. So much depends on the condition of the veins and circulation. We already know my dad's veins are shot and he has less than 30% circulation in the left leg. I will stay positive, and I hope he does too. I just wish that I had read more encouraging reports about diabetics having amputation. I think if he were younger with a stronger heart and more circulation I would feel a lot better about his chances of a successful and fast recovery. But, it is what it is. We'll take it one day at a time.

The bus picked my kindergartners up in front of my house today instead of at the corner. I guess they are being extra careful today.

Wow. So much going on!

FC, I'm glad to hear your dad is doing well. I'm hoping that they can find the best possible option. Mine just had prostate cancer and had surgery and he's totally fine, but he's in amazing health. Goes to the gym daily.

I'm sorry to hear about that girl. When you said she hadn't contacted anyone to let them know how she was, I had a sinking feeling the news was not going to be good. I can't believe that you could be just going to college minding your own business and now you're dead. Weird.

I think I heard this morning that in 2005 a judge would not commit him, so I guess his problems were pretty overt.

Still, I don't think you can predict someone will do something that drastic. Up until now, I don't think anyone takes weird, shy and quiet seriously. I don't think anyone would think that a person would just one day take out 30 people.

I would think that the guy is in college and yeah, you can be anti-social at college, but you don't HAVE to go to college. Like, in the case of these other kids, they're forced to go to high school day after day to the ridicule of their classmates and someone can push them too far one day. In college, people leave you alone, which may have been the problem right there.

Look, I'm sure Quentin Tarantino's stories would have alarmed anyone. Many times they say that if they're writing about it and getting it out that way, they won't do it in real life. You don't know who's going to make it real and who's going to keep it a fantasy.

I do think the responsibility lies on family and friends to at least have enough concern about this person to try and get them help. Once they reach adult-hood and they refuse that help, there's nothing you can do. The thing is to watch them when they're children and you can do something about it, not when they're over 18 and can just leave. Not that they're going to commit a crime, but just to find out what's wrong and try to nip it in the bud. Maybe help them have a happier school life if nothing else.

Sorry for the double post, but HOLY CRAP!

Student Arrested After Talking About Gunman
Remarks Deemed Sympathetic to Virginia Tech Killer
AP
BOULDER, Colo. (April 19) - A University of Colorado student was arrested after making comments that classmates deemed sympathetic toward the gunman blamed for killing 32 students and himself at Virginia Tech , authorities said.

Freedom of Speech?

Joshua Lawton, Daily Camera / AP

University of Colorado junior Max Karson, right, leaves the Boulder County jail with his father, Michael Karson, after posting bond Wednesday.

During a class discussion of Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech, the student "made comments about understanding how someone could kill 32 people," university police Cmdr. Brad Wiesley said.

Several witnesses told investigators the student said he was "angry about all kinds of things from the fluorescent light bulbs to the unpainted walls, and it made him angry enough to kill people," according to a police report. Witnesses "said they were afraid of him and afraid to come to class with him," Wiesley said.

The student, identified by police as Max Karson of Denver, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of interfering with staff, faculty or students of an education institution. He had a court appearance set for Wednesday afternoon.

His father, Michael Karson, told the Camera newspaper that the comments may have been misinterpreted and questioned whether his son's free speech rights had been violated.

"I would have hoped that state officials would know their First Amendment better than they seem to," he said.

University spokesman Bronson Hilliard said privacy laws prevented him from releasing personal information about the student.

At Oregon's Lewis & Clark College, another student was detained by campus police Wednesday shortly before a vigil for the Virginia Tech victims when he was spotted wearing an ammunition belt. Portland police later determined that it was "a fashion accessory" made of spent ammunition, and said the man did not have a weapon. The belt was confiscated.

That is a perfect example about what I mean about things being so horribly confusing. Likely the kid with the big mouth is just that, big mouth. Arresting the kid because he is an insensitive asshole is kind of good in my book, but not likely legal.

I found this about the VA Tech shooter in high school:

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Once, in an English class, the teacher had the students read aloud and, when it was Cho’s turn, he just looked down in silence, Davids recalled in an interview with The Associated Press. Finally, after the teacher threatened to give him a failing grade for participation, Cho started to read in a strange, deep voice that sounded “like he had something in his mouth,” Davids said.

“As soon as he started reading, the whole class started laughing and pointing and saying, ‘Go back to China,’” Davids said.

Wow! I was able to dodge most of that shit once I got to college. I can't believe kids are still doing that in college. That's so sad.

The bullying was when he was in high school. I think in college people just left him alone.

UPDATE: reportedly that kind of ridicule happened to him mostly in junior high (middle-school).

'Miz Julia' Speaks: Inside D.C.'s Most Notorious Escort Service

Some of the most in-demand women working for the "D.C. Madam" were in their 50s, according to the woman at the center of the scandal.

"There was never an age limit. I hired women well into their 50s," Deborah Jeane Palfrey told ABC News. "They were some of the most popular women on staff."

I guess I'm happy about this? Should I be?