Well said blitz.

I've held off from making any comments on this since I'm both a teacher and a parent who had a child killed.  I may come off somewhat overzealous because of that. I'm not sure what those parents do later on in  life has to do with how the rest of us react but I assure you that many pick up and go on. It's a wound that never heals but in what I call the 6's.....6 weeks....6 months..... and 6 years you'll find the intensity somewhat diminishes. That doesn't mean they won't be affected....they'll cry like I do when something reminds them of their lost loved one.....especially around Christmas and holidays.

As far as this single event before the ball game I have to believe it was a single act of omission. I can't see a person or even a group of people sitting around debating whether this was or was not a national tragedy. Like blitz said these were mostly kids....and gun control and mental health impacts may be huge.  Anyone who thinks this is not a national tragedy is wrong.

This tragedy (my use of the word) obviously impacts each of us differently.  The personal impact of this tragedy is fueled by our relationship with the situation.  As a parent, I can only imagine the loss of a child in such a sudden and senseless way – and my heart, thoughts and prayers go out to those directly impacted.  And appreciate that “there for the sake of God…” 

 

Personally, I have friends that call Sandy Hook home.  Folks with whom I have shared wonderful times with, lived with.  While personally safe, this incident directly impacts their lives, and the life of their three-year-old daughter.  And I have reached out to them to reaffirm that while they are experiencing a shock and loss, others are still with them.

 

Much of one’s response may hinge on, as Jeff states, a perspective of “who is our neighbor?”  If one’s answer is strictly defined by only those one associates with, knows, cares about (oh, and maybe those that share my man made state line with) – then the loss of these children means nothing.  My definition of neighbor encompasses a wider sphere to those I share values with, a culture, a history, an understanding – including the understanding that when I drop a child off at school, they should not be slaughtered. 

 

I fully appreciate had this tragedy occurred in Matthews, NC I would be more personally submerged in it.  Had it involved children from our bus stop I would be more hurt, angered and be directly sympathetic to the parents and families I would know.  But while geography may fade its connection, it does not erase its impact.

 

As far as a moment of silence before the game, I am sure we have each (or most of us) held our own moment(s) of silence and prayer.  Such a gesture is traditionally done out of respect to a situation and those impacted.  Since I would guess our school has students from Connecticut and, even, Fairfield County, I would have expected such an effort on their behalf – even if those students were not in attendance.  At Ohio we stand as one for each other.

 

And as far as the statement: “I've got a college degree. Statistically how many of these kids would have wound up on food stamps from their own apathy towards life?”  That’s just a sad comment, and, if you know anything about Fairfield County, illogical.

May want to also consider this: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16099971/ns/technology_and_science-games/t/does-game-violence-make-teens-aggressive/

(Chose the source carefully so some of you would be less likely to discount the story out-of-hand.)

Maybe they've been reading this (now way off subject) thread and were afraid to draw the wrath of some on this board.

I can tell you one thing. If my kid(s) were murdered I wouldn't give a crap that someone several states away held a moment of silence for him.  I would be too wrapped up in my own grief.   As for the actual moment of silence I have no problem with one being held but I'm not going to get upset that there wasn't one.  This is a story that has been talked about already by everyone and everyone has come to grips with it in their own way.  It's a horrible tragedy and ways to stop it from happening again need to be discussed but moments of silence hardly contribute to anything meaningful.  I get that it's a show of respect but to what end?

Couldn't agree more

**Sigh** Are we going there? I guess we're going there....

Alright, I will explain why an assault weapon ban will not prevent acts of mass murder in our schools. But first, I need you to explain why the Gun-Free School Zones Act failed to prevent this one.

But dear God, don't let anyone utter the word "pray" or "prayer" in association with a "moment of silence which is in no means an instruction or invitation or pressure to pray"

And violent crime went up. Look it up. I personally oppose all violent crime, not just violent crime perpetrated by those with guns. Do I take it from your statement that you are willing to accept an overall increase in violent crime in order to reduce the frequency of one specific type of violent crime?

But that strawman aside, you failed to answer my question. Why did the Gun-Free School Zones Act not prevent this tragedy? Answer that question, and then I will explain why an "assault weapon ban" will not stop mass murders in the future, and BEYOND QUESTION would not have prevented this one.

Sexual assults, pedophiles, molestations, theft, embezzelment, wall street raping honest Americans, murders. drug related gang crime, black on black violence......

All seemingly part of our cultrure.

Why?

I got a look from a different perspective when I was in England. As I was walking to the market from Tommy's one afternoon I saw dozens of 6-13 year old grade schoolers walking in their little skirts and shorts several blocks to climb on the City bus. I was standing there shaking my head in incredulity as a constable walked up. All I could think to say when she addressed me was "man ....you would never see that in America". Her reply hit me like a ton of bricks... :" that s because you have too many lawyers, there is no REAL punishment"

I try to live my life by a certain code but in the year and change since that conversation I listen harder and try to understand why no gun zones will never work and what makes a man pull down his pants and violate a weaker woman or worse ...a child.... There is no fear. There is no example. There is no real consequence. From the Wall Street lawyer to the office manager who steals the money from the practice, to the perv who can't get laid on his own there is no fear of repercussion. No one is stupid enough to take drugs into Turkey ....why is that? NO one makes jokes about Bombs in an Israeli airport. WHy is that? Rightly or wrongly....the deal is that folks understand the consequences of doing those things.

Count me in the crowd of guys who had long thought about getting my permit and making sure when the local meth head comes thorugh my back door I am going to shoot first and ask questions once he is on the floor. I am tired of AMerican lawyers encouraging bad behaviour......because the girl I met this weekend that gets a thousand bucks a month for being bi polar and the dyslexic I just met who says he can't find work and gets SSI for his dyslexia is just another extension of the legal profession mucking up our country whether it be extending benefits and taking away from people who really need help pr  the advancement of illegal activities by manipulating outcomes and putting real criminals back on the street while people committing consensual crimes that hurt no one but themselves are in jail for years.

Sorry for the rant...... but every game I attended in the last 5 days had a moment of silence..... and all I could think about was not the ones who had been slain but the general tone of a society that continues to have a legal system that does not deal effectively with crime ehter it is related to money, drugs, sex or any other crap these low lifes indulge in .....gun free zones have no effect on idiots who probably showed signs long ago that may have predicted the future outcome OTOH, I do not have to have 30 rounds in a clip to protect myself and those I love.

 

Did I miss the sarcasm here?  Your source is a network widely considered to lean the furthest in one political direction of all the major networks.
 

That said, I immediately discounted the story.

I think you misplaced the sarcasm. If you find MSNBC to be suspect, my sarcasm wasn't directed at you.

That's fine, but remember, bedtime is at 10:00 and you have school tomorrow.