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Feelin' for the kin

I certainly agree with the advice to young people. Sad to think of Cho's parents, who could very well be Christians, and for all we know, he might have accepted the Lord when he was younger. Haven't seen any press on either one of these things.

Doug, I appreciate your no nonsence (sp?) approach. Keep up the good work, and join me in praying for that young man's family.

Hey what about that nutty poet

professor-ette who gave such a bizarre speech at the convocation? Nikki Giovanni used the occasion to spew her personal activist rant material.

She seemed as derranged as Cho himself, and I wonder why the college thought her vile meanderings would be comforting to the survivors of the massacre.

Victim mentality.

Cho and Giovanni have a lot in common.

What a Terrible Article

This article is obscene. Evidence suggests strongly that Cho suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. This severe mental illness can't be cured (or avoided) by exhortation, religion, friendliness, good living, or the kind intentions of others. It is not curable by counseling. It can usually be controlled with medication, which works best if the patient is also supported by regular meetings with a mental health professional. It is not a manifestation of evil. It is not evidence of satanic possession. State-of-the-art thought is that schizophrenia is caused by a fault in brain biochemistry. I really can't believe the nonsense I have been reading about Cho. Yes, he killed 32 people, but he also suffered, probably for years, and his young life is also lost. And almost always, schizophrenia is a tragedy for the patient's family. Is there such a thing on townhall as empathy? As common sense?

Unfortunate column

Everyone spouting off about Sheryl Crow confirms the existence of the right-wing echo chamber. The left has one too, but don't you righties think for one moment that you don't have one as well. None of you people apparently read where the one-sheet thing came from. It is impossible to believe that Crow's toilet paper comment was anything other than a joke. Does anyone believe that Crow believes that it is possible to use just one sheet? Please. No one would ever suggest that.

I'm not sure what to think about Giles. Was this supposed to be a joke? If so, Crow is much better at joking than Giles. Giles gives decent advice to people who are not mentally ill: Self-pity, blameshifting, and isolation are all undesirable. But all of these things are fairly common and yet Cho's actions are decidedly uncommon. Clearly something else was going on. From everything that has come out about Cho's life, this person was clearly mentally ill. Mental illness like schizophrenia can't be cured by the sheer force of will. You can't just "suck it up."

Am I wrong to wonder if Giles is one of those on the right who doesn't believe in mental illness? Is he one of those people who actually believe that the human brain is not susceptible to biological defects which can lead to abnormal behavior? Does he believe that mental illness was cooked up by liberals who want to make excuses for bad behavior? The belief that the most complicated structure in the human body will always work fine as long as liberalism and satan are kept away is ridiculous and guarantees further tragedies. If we can accept that a biological defect can lead to chronic ingrown toenails, why is it so difficult to believe that a biological defect could lead to mental illness? Folks, the human brain is more than capable of falling apart all by itself. No help is required.

I know most people who visit TH want the lesson of Virginia Tech to be that we need more guns, but the real lesson is that we should learn as much as possible about mental illness. We need to teach parents that it is decidedly not normal for a person in his or her early 20s to have never had a friend. We need to eliminate all stigmas associated with mental illness. We need to reach out to immigrant communities from cultures where mental illness is still regarded as a moral failure that must be hidden. We need to help families help their loved ones with mental illness get help.

Trulib, Reason

You folks have put your fingers on a difficult area. Namely, proactive dealings with people who are dangers to the public weal. Perhaps its a bit inefficient to even discuss this area, when people who are proven and obvious dangers, murderers, pedophiles, armed robbers, are routinely released onto the public. But preventive action is a concept with the potential to give govt huge new and dangerous power. Who decides what is insanity? What are the penalties for being insane? Once again its "we're from the govt and we're here to help". Given the incompetence and ineffectiveness of the current criminal/jurisprudence system, i shudder to think about giving govt the power to act on what someone thinks you are going to do.

Lilly

I'm sorry, but I have absolutely zero empathy for Cho. He mass murdered 32 people, Lilly. How on earth could you feel sorry for him? I feel empathy for his parents and the survivors' families. I also feel empathy for US, because now the gun grabbers are out in full force trying to make sure the rest of us cannot protect ourselves from someone else bent on killing us.

ummm, Liberty.

You feel "sympathy" for these folks. You can feel empathy ONLY if you have suffered like they have! Forgive me for being nosy.

What about Ismail Ax?

I hate to stretch too far, but it was reported in Virginia newspapers that Cho had "Ismail Ax" written in red ink on his arm. Ismail was the "illegitimate" son of Abraham, who by Islamic accounts was offered to God as a sacrifice with an ax as opposed to Issac and a knife. Is there any truth to this reported inscription? If so, could Cho have been influenced to this mass murder by the religion of peace?
Christianity teaches that everyone is ultimately accountable to a higher being for all they've done. Islam teaches that certain murders result in eternal rewards from a higher being and humanism teaches a man is only accountable to himself. If Cho was influenced by Islam, his actions speak for themselves- he destroyed infidels. If he was guided by humanism, his accountability to anyone ceased when he killed himself. The constant destruction of Christian principles in this country could have contributed to all of this. When Christianity held some sway in the US, even non-believers were socially restrained by the possibilty they would have to account to the God they did not believe in.

reading the tea leaves

We cannot suppress what is news, BUT there is a great danger that some will miss the messages...

I am passing along below an excellent piece in TIME about the nutcase at Va. Tech and others of his warped ilk... I agree with that op-ed that we are looking in the wrong places (gun control, violence in the media, etc.) to fathom that we might obviate such nuts, or to try to comprehend the incomprehensible. The reality is that there are ALWAYS a handful of the lost and the damned... the biggest mass murderer was in Russia-- he never saw American TV, and guns were less readily available.

Here is a selected excerpt:
"Freud explained narcissism as a failure to grow up. All infants are narcissists, he pointed out, but as we grow, we ought to learn that other people have lives independent of our own. It's not their job to please us, applaud for us or even notice us-- let alone die because we're unhappy."

We could jump thru hoops passing tighter gun control laws, but they would have no effect on guys like this. The PC liberal crowd who now cry out for more gun controls were the same ilk who demanded privacy "rights" for the mentally disturbed and clearly warped like Cho at Va. Tech.

We should indeed be concerned about violence/trash generally because it debases the culture and us as a people-- NOT because it inspires the handful of puerile, self-obsessed misanthropes and psychotics waiting to explode. They tar and feather Imus for saying what rappers make mega-millions bleating routinely-- that he targeted his supercilious, sardonic rap-parodied calumny is a distinction of little difference.

Speaking of guns and crime, ILLEGAL aliens typicially buy a "pistola" early on after they get here with their often untaxed, ILLEGAL income-- we SHOULD WORRY ABOUT THEM and their gangs, drugs, crimes, ethnocentricity, balkanization, and identity and welfare fraud permeating like a metastasizing cancer through the body politic. It was not raining when Noah began construction of his ark-- there are none so blind as they who will not see.

Here is the REAL message/moral from the tragedy at Va. Tech:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1612688,00.html
reading the tea leaves
We cannot suppress what is news, BUT there is a great danger that some will miss the messages...

I am passing along below an excellent piece in TIME about the nutcase at Va. Tech and others of his warped ilk... I agree with that op-ed that we are looking in the wrong places (guncontrol, violence in the media, etc.) to fathom that we might obviate such nuts, or to try to comprehend the incomprehensible. The reality is that there are ALWAYS a handful of the lost and the damned... the biggest mass murderer was in Russia-- he never saw American TV, and guns were less readily available.

Here is a selected excerpt:
"Freud explained narcissism as a failure to grow up. All infants are narcissists, he pointed out, but as we grow, we ought to learn that other people have lives independent of our own. It's not their job to please us, applaud for us or even notice us-- let alone die because we're unhappy."

We could jump thru hoops passing tighter gun control laws, but they would have no effect on guys like this. The PC liberal crowd who now cry out for more gun controls were the same ilk who demanded privacy "rights" for the mentally disturbed and clearly warped like Cho at Va. Tech.

We should indeed be concerned about violence/trash generally because it debases the culture and us as a people-- not because it inspires the handful of puerile, self-obsessed misanthropes and psychotics waiting to explode. They tar and feather Imus for saying what rappers make mega-millions bleating routinely-- that he targeted his supercilious, sardonic rap-parodied calumny is a distinction of little difference.

Speaking of guns and crime, ILLEGAL aliens typicially buy a "pistola" early on after they get here with their often untaxed, ILLEGAL income-- we SHOULD WORRY ABOUT THEM and their gangs, drugs, crimes, ethnocentricity, balkanization, and identity and welfare fraud permeating like a metastasizing cancer through the body politic. It was not raining when Noah began construction of his ark-- there are none so blind as they who will not see.

Here is the REAL message/moral from the tragedy at Va. Tech:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1612688,00.html

Cho and Sheryl

Re: Cho - One thing, it showed how much damage can be done by one with a gun, and 35 without one.

Rosie and the other person - I wouldn't want to sit by them in a theater or on a bus... phew.

Could Sheryl have been joking? I hope so.

Cho - Reason

Reason has excellent points. I agree whole heartedly. Calling Cho and other mentally ill or even misfits, cute little names such as whacko, sicko, mitigates the seriousness of their mental attitude and/or illness. Those are kids' words when they razz another kid. This is serious business. The schools at any level need to be aware of behavior that is odd and put the techers' notes together to recognize patterns.

McVey was just anti-whatever, the 9/11 terrorists were anti-America, but the Columbine incident and Cho were literally out of their minds. Early recognition might have prevented both tragic events.

Face It!

This Oddjob wannabe left one positive. He showed all America just how big a joke the "Gun Free Zone" is.

Mental stability?

How often do you see some perverted Lib come to TH name calling and insult the author without reading the article then throw out a general insult to all conservatives?
Make you wonder about their mental process?

Something bipartisan;

RE: The new Fluorescent light bulbs;
The enclosed link does a good job of explaining the expenses involved but failed to mention the danger to children.
Unlike a car coming down the street, children don't recognize fine particles of a poisonous white powder as any more dangerous than talcum or blackboard chalk on an eraser.
What if a child breaks one of these bulbs and tries to clean it up? Or a child finds some in a trash can and decides to play with them? Mercury can kill in sufficient concentration but exposure from a single broken compact fluorescent bulb is more likely to cripple or disfigure a child.
Help prevent tragedy by alerting as many people as you can.

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,268747,00.html

Bytheocean

I don't know any solution for politicians.
They tend to jump to conclusions without checking the facts, take a firm position and then imbed their feet in concrete because they refuse to admit errors.

We can pass the word about the danger though.
Knowledge is the greatest safety device.

I have seen examples of mercury poisoning in the CA gold country and gone skinnydipping in rivers with men who have no hair anywhere, not even a whisker or eyelash. ALL teeth gone, no fingernails or toenails.
I heard it can also cause blindness.
I was not aware it can do mental damage as well but it does not surprise me.
Nice thing to happen to a little child?
Try to get the word out.

Skinny dipping and Virginia Tech?

I'm trying to connect light bulbs to the Virginia Tech massacre, reaaly struggling with that connection, and skinny dipping with hairless men...is that what led to this mass murder? Can't we just stick to name calling?

AND BEES TOO!!!!

Say it isn't so, Cho was tied to the bee massacre too and it isn't the bee mites (parasite) that are responsible? He keeps killing from the grave!!!!

MyOpine

I sent out an email about the article to which you referred us. I got a response back that fluorescent light bulbs are on their way out. Light emitting diodes, "LED's", are replacing them.

Liberty

Looks like we have another simpleton laughing boy.

I do wish TH would card these little children who come here to sass adults.

Cho

Mr. Giles, point will received I would like to add a few supporting comments as follows? Maybe if we out law guns then maybe all the nut burgers would learn to comply and we can all just get along in the infamous words of Rodney the King. Let me see if I can make my self clear. We'll draft a law where the Government will come in and round up all the guns and we burn them in a big fire pit, but yet we can't even round up 11 million illegal lawbreakers and now we are to trust our Government to round up all the millions and billions of guns in America. Right? That sounds like something a tenured professor would teach a bunch of brain dead puppets in higher education. Maybe we should refocus our attention on the next villain of choice Global Awareness. After all we can always trust the highly educated weather prognosticators to give us a pretty good educated guess on tomorrows weather, at least lets be honest about it, they got a 50/50 shot of being right or wrong give or take 24 hours. But far be it from me, I barely made it through high school, so pardon me I must have missed the great debate. How dumb and stupid of me to have not been present. I can only assume they were experts doing the debating right? I wonder how many were actually masters at the debating, just some food for thought. There's always going to be guys like Cho out there in the world. Just like there will always be a Syndrome to name after the mentally deranged minds that produce results like what happened at VT, 911, the Ovens of the late 30s and early 40s. Some times there is only one draconian way to deal with belligerent people and I’m not talking about voluntary rehabilitation. If it’s a Syndrome, for a lack of a better word, I think it would only be prudent to name it after the great Senator from New York. I think "Hillary Syndrome" or "Reverse Hillary Syndrome" would be a more accurate excuse. For you less critical thinkers out there. Hillary Syndrome is that holy moment when you experience a reality check. You suddenly realize if you had known then what you know now you wouldn't have done it? But then there's always the excuse you were duped! Right? What that amounts to my friend is foolishness. On the other hand you could suffer from the opposite Syndrome, that's where you suffer a bipolar moment of pontificating, you knew the guy was a nut burger from the get go but you didn't do anything about it. That's the definition of stupidity. Everybody has excuses even Cho, Osahma, Bush, Nancy even Harry. Everybody has an excuse for why we are where we are. But one thing we all have in common and that's the same dumb down education we all grew up with. Please don’t be so vain as to think I’m against education. I know that God’s people parish for the lack there of. So I’m for education I’m just not for the results that excuse the insane! How could an individual that had resin to the level of Senior English Major be like he was? How could 88 tenured professors hand the hangin rope to Nifong when there was no evidence? How could Oshama justify 911? Why stop there, why did the Japanese boom Pearle Harbor? They all had one thing in common, SUPER STUPID. What are we teaching our young people about our history, what are we teaching our young people about anything? Can I get a witness that can testify to when there has been a time in our history that we all just get along? Don’t go Presidential on me now! If you’re looking for answers my friend put the text book down and pick up a Bible. If the Bible is such an offense and we are so dumb as to date our two eras by the birth and death of one criminal who profoundly changed the world as we all know it. Then just maybe that book has something to say about the content of our character, something that got lost back in a speech from the 60s. If only people would take the courage to put all the theories down and pay attention to something greater than themselves. The great communicators the wisest of our thinkers of all time can be found in the one-recorded document that has stood the test of all time. The Holy Bible. Now isn't that offensive to you free thinkers? And we’ve all been lead to believe God is Dead. Actually that’s true, but what the non-believer fails to grasp is that he rose from the dead. The Glory of God is found in the resurrection not the tombs of foolishness. Cho is where he belongs! Why, because of his character, he was a loner, a bore and self-centered. He had his opportunity and he blew it and 32 others away. You see when rage and hatred becomes your only option out you take as many as you can with you. That’s what happened to Cho and 32 others, what a shame, it almost happened to three white boys in the Carolinas, what a shame, what happened on 911 has not ended yet, now that’s really a shame. Cho was simply defined from the Bible as EVIL. No need to understand it, just avoid it and get saved. Works for me! But then again, who am I, just another uneducated one. Shame on me for not dumbing down.

Greg England

You seem too happy today.
You probably already know this good news;
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,215084,00.html

Well here is the news that will take the smile off your face.
Consider the scare tactic and the motive.
Who is paying for this phoney study and why?
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,267124,00.html

Gestell and irony

I find irony in your writing. You criticize Doug Giles for promoting the locking up of the mentally ill. The liberal (insane) position is that confinement (treatment) of the mentally ill is just too cruel. It is also the liberal position that conservatives are resposible for Cho's rampage because the cons do not have the compassion to fund proper mental health care (facililties). Isn't this delicious irony? Positing two principles that are mutually exclusive of the other. Why, it's almost insane.

Lilly Livered Liberals You Make Me Laugh

Congratulations, Doug Giles for once again smacking the dipshids - offending their sensibilities and their SACRED intellects.

And the posthumous award for limp-wristed lack of self esteem to our "gunman" is non-pareil.

Mental illness vs. Evil

One thing seems to be cropping up here in the argument about mental illness and evil. Those who consider themselves "liberal" do not like the sting on their conscience of defining right and wrong, good and evil. For them it is far easier and "intellectual" to classify evil as mental illness. They are horrified by the notion of absolutes.

Hey, Concerned Dad

"Not being an aging, pot smoking hippie—but a VERY CONCERNED DAD —I think we should be showing young adults how not to be a Cho Seung Hui. Call me unhip, but I’m more concerned about how we can wipe a would-be Cho off the planet than I am about how a single ply of Charmin helps regulate the earth’s surface temperatures, thereby saving the polar bear. Which reminds me, I still didn’t get my polar bear permit for this fall’s hunt. "

My goodness, but your smugness is incredible. But that is not the worst of it. (By the way, what in heavens name does Cheryl Crow have to do with this issue?)

Do you think, concerned dad, that wiping mentally
ill people off the planet is an admirable thing
to do. Does it do one thing for preventing
mental illness in others. Does it give hope and
courage to other parents who are dealing with
mentally ill children. Of course, PERHAPS, you
meant that you want to do away with mental illness by finding cures for it. But there is
nothing in the tenor of your column to suggest
that. Death is a perfectly acceptable to you.

Your concern for mental illness is that you don't
like people who have it, or perhaps more to the
point, you hate people who have it. And I strongly suspect you will be raising your children to think in the same way.

This goes way beyond - shame on you, go stand in
the corner. Somebody ought to give you an
intensive course in what it means to be a Christian.

re lightbulbs and MyOpine

I sent the info on lightbulbs to some liberal friends. They wrote back that the EPA suggests
place the CFL in a sealed plastic bag and dispose the same way you would batteries, oil-based paint and motor oil at your local Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Collection Site. If your local HHW Collection Site cannot accept CFLs (check Earth911.org to find out), seal the CFL in a plastic bag and place with your regular trash.

They said if you call a Hazardous Waste crew on every oil spot in your driveway they are likely to be happy to give one a bill in the thousands of dollars as well.