This is getting scary

Looking through a few of the links, it seems too many people die too often in similar circumstances (in schools). It's probably a little ott to suggest it's every single day, but it is often.

 

mass killings are nothing new.

they have, however, become more frequent

 

That was just a regular NYC shooting. Relax, I've been in a few.

 

It was actually three bombs, the third of which he detonated himself by shooting at with a rifle, and according to the article there was an additional 500 lbs of explosive material left under the school. Anyway I'm not certain that I gather the importance of the point you are emphatically trying to express with this post, as the method of murder pales in light of the comparison to the consequences of the ultimate act itself. I understand the valid need felt to point out the difference in psychology of this recent more hands-on approach to violence, which likely has to do with the availability of more advanced weapons, and it could also be argued that the Bath perpetrator was apparently more calculating and 'sober' given the amount of time taken to prepare for the atrocity in order to insure it's nearly 'flawless' execution. In the end, he killed 38 children and while most of them likely died instantly and were somewhat unaware of what had happened to them, several people, some children, died after crawling out of the rubble of the school to his self-detonated third explosion, and not less than 38 parents went home that night feeling absolutely no different than those that lost children yesterday. Lynn, I hope you recognize that I am not picking on you, I have two small children of my own and in fact my godmother worked at Sandy Hook school, with all of her children having attended it, she lost a close friend yesterday, I only wished to draw the comparison between these two occurrences with the intention of dispelling the false notion that violence is currently, particularly on the rise with the progress of time and technology in any truly 'meaningful' sense (and I am what most would likely consider anachronistic in the extreme); it rises and falls according to distorted personalities and is largely consequential. We have above me the statement..

..to which I would ask "in relation to...?" 50 years ago? 100 years ago? 1500 years ago? And to which locality, or is this worldwide? Mass killings actually seem to occur in clustered groups of perceived association; they may be on the rise according to 5 years ago, but even as little as 10 years ago the numbers in frequency are rather close. Go back another 5 years and the numbers drop down again, and go back another 5 and they climb right back up. Hopefully time will not tell in proving me wrong, but to my mind this point is only relevant in the very short-term and within close proximity.

 

Your welcome. And I agree, even though I was not alive at that time; I long for a past that I was not a living part of and despite the existence of violence, I am of the opinion that people were generally more friendly, more imaginative and seem to have adhered to a higher standard of morality and civility back then. I'm certain that if given the possibility, I would trade all of modern convenience and entertainment to live in the time you grew up in, or even further back, when honor was defended (with violence, lol) and excitement over dreaming up the future was in abundance.

 

I'm really depressed about this, it just keeps increasing as time goes on. When I first heard about it, I told my coworker not to tell me, then I kept hearing people talk about it, then I had to read about it/think about it the whole train ride home and I feel bad to feel so sad, it would be better if I was enjoying my time off with my child and be happy, but I can't help it.

 

the suggestion that there has been no increase in spree killings is misleading.

if no spree killings occurred today, for example, one might conclude that the rate of these killings has dropped dramatically. strictly speaking, that would be true, but also misleading. a day-to-day or year-to-year absence of these killings obscures a longer scale trend

in the us, there have been at least 62 mass shootings in the last 30 years, with 24 occurring in just the last 7 years.

prior to the 1970's there had only been a couple mass shootings in the us

spree killings also appear to be on the rise globally

beyond the number of mass shootings, one also needs to consider the total number of fatalities in each

 

From what I've read, those 62 events involved the killing of 4 or more people per event. That puts a number on how one can define a 'mass shooting' and the frequency of it. I've read that the U.S. is at the top of the mass-shootings list worldwide in terms of frequency of occurrence when using that definition.

 

i think we also have to factor in the rise in population when thinking about these things. i'm far too lazy to find the numbers and do the math, but i wonder if the per-capita occurrence of mass killings has risen in recent years?

 

Stabbing sprees in China.

http://www.latimes.com/news/world/w...en-near-china-school-20121214,0,6383015.story

I saw a news report that said in some places in China a personal ID is required in order to buy a knife bigger than a certain size.

 

10 days before Christmas, how do you cope with such a loss

I would be inconsolable and looking for answers



hotwater

 

population should indeed factor in

I can tell you right now that the per capita occurrence of mass shootings in the us has risen

if there have been 24 mass shootings in the past 7 years, and no more than 1 mass shooting over any 7 year period before 1970, then there has clearly been a per capita increase

us population has risen, but not by a factor of 24

 

Saddest incidents of all. Involving children in such an event is the saddest part really. I cannot believe how could one be so cruel to the innocent kids. This world has gone so merciless. Sad really !

 

^ I'm getting some conflicting data looking at other sources. once source claims between 1 and 9 mass shootings per decade before 1970

 

At least 4 dead in apparent Colorado murder-suicide

Four people were found dead Tuesday in Colorado after a woman called police to report a shooting and was apparently shot to death while she was on the phone.

Weld County sheriff's spokesman Tim Schwartz says dispatchers heard the woman who called 911 scream "No, no, no," and then heard a gunshot. Schwartz says a man grabbed the phone and said he was going to kill himself, and dispatchers heard another shot.

The bodies were found in a home in a subdivision east of Longmont, which is about 35 miles north of Denver.

The dead included two men and two women, including one who appeared to be in her late teens or early 20s.

Schwartz says investigators have a possible motive for the shootings, but he refused to release details



Hotwater

 

Chinas has mass killings. It tends to be someoine outside a primary school wth a knife.
Even Scandinavia has had them. Obvisously it doesnt justify it, but I think the modern environment means more of it is happening.

It was interesting to read this (wacko!) website saying the whole thing was staged. This guy was even claiming that politicians etc are all Hollywood actors. Strange guy.. and utterly insane.

However, the circumstances surrounding our handgun ban were VERY weird.
Will be interesting to see how far Obama tries to go on gun controls..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PezlFNTGWv4"]Charlie Brooker's Newswipe 25/03/09 - YouTube

the media need to start being more responsible.