I'll take "Potpourri" for $800, Alex.
Apr. 19th, 2007 05:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gridloreI'm still here. But getting over the latest yuck has really drained me and left me less than willing to post. That, and recent events testing my "never post to LJ while extremely pissed off" pledge.
But today I'm home on time (after going to Modesto and Stockton!) and have calmed down a bit. So, onwards!
The system failed. This guy was a textbook psychopath. Classmates of his for three years could no0t recall him ever speaking. Girls he never spoke too got sudden messages professing undying love. His writings were a bloody red flag the size of the one flying above Ft. McHenry! He was even committed once! Yet no one had the cojones to tell this freak "get into counseling now or leave the campus. We have received multiple complaints about you from faculty and students, your presence is inhibiting others. Make you choice." Then watch his ass. Also, Why the fact that he entered a psychiatric facility voluntarily kept that fact off his background check makes me want to scream. Had the gun seller seen that, he not only could have denied the sale, but alerted authorities that a person with a history of self-destructive behavior was seeking firearms! Look, everyone knows that I'm anti-social outside a close circle of friends. Not all of you know I was diagnosed as a sociopath while I was in the Army. Relating to people is hard for me. For this guy it was impossible. If I ever get nearly that bad, I want someone to step in and stop me!
Secondly, everyone who thinks that had the VT students been armed the massacre would have been averted are high. Seriously. You could issue a 9mm handgun to every student at the beginning of the school year, make them take a course in gun safety and effective shooting, and know where those guns would have been by mid-April? In dorm closets, car trunks, left at home during winter break, at the boy/girlfriend's place in town, buried at the bottom of a book bag, or providing a home to wayward spiders under a bed. Why? Because college is not a combat zone. College students do not develop the instincts that lead to carrying a cleaned, oiled weapon in a easily accessible holster every single day.
Even if... if... some students had been armed, what where they doing at the time of the attack? They were in class! Now my college experience is limited to one LSD-soaked year at San Jose City College, but I seem to recall that students in class tend to be focused on the material being presented. I also have never been in a classroom or lecture hall where the axis of focus (white board, lectern, whatever) is in the same direction as the entrances. So you are asking people, seated at desks or something similar, to get to a gun on their hip from a seated position, acquire a target that is not in their primary line of sight, and fire effectively in a chaotic situation? The question then will be "who killed who?" Oh, your target is not surprised, and is already ready to shoot you. This is called an ambush.
Way back when, when I was but a green recruit in my third week of OSUT, we did two days of NBC Training (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Warfare) The major thrust of this block of training was the correct method of donning the M-17A1 Protective Mask. The standard was, from the mask in its carrier on the left hip, to don, clear, and seal the mask in under nine seconds. For two 10 hour days, we did this endlessly. It became second nature for me.. with my left hand, rip my glasses off, dropping them, right hand opens the carrier, and removes mask, open mask, don it, cover the exit valves and blow hard (clearing the mask) then cover the intake valves and suck in hard (sealing the mask.) By the end of day 2, all of us at or under standard. While waiting for our cattle cars back to the barracks, we were told that another company was at a range across the berm waiting for their rides. Our drills encouraged us to scream our company chant.
On our third run through, over a dozen CS grenades sailed into our formation. Remember, we had just spent close to 20 hours training for this exact thing.. a chemical warfare attack. Our training could not have been fresher in our minds, our reflexes couldn't have been more primed. At that moment, we lived to put on masks.
One in ten made it before the gas took hold. I was not one of them. I forgot to remove my glasses. Five seconds later, I was stumbling around trying to decide which was worse.. my eyes, my throat, or the eight tons of snot coming out of my nose. Thank Ghu one of my buddies handed me my rifle before a drill noticed I had dropped it and ran.
Trained soldiers with the idea of chemical attack fresh in our minds. And people expected college students on an average day to act like Bruce Willis in Die Hard.
Finally, I hate the second guessing of the VT police. At first, they had two bodies in a residence. No other indications that an ongoing situation was going on. They locked down that residence, and began investigating. They assumed they were looking at a domestic situation. Not a bad assumption. No one expected a fresh attack two hours later!
OK, I feel better now.
Anyway, yesterday was the 101st anniversary of the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. Even though there was no official celebration, the Fire Department did sound its sirens at 0511 and dozens gathered at Lotta's Fountain on Market St. Alas, only one survivor made it, a 104-year old man whose only memory was his mother racing downstairs with him. Very soon, there will be no more witnesses, but we'll still remember. Yesterday was also the 100th anniversary of the Fairmont Hotel. The Fairmont is an institution in SF, best known as the birthplace of the Mai Tai and as the spot where Tony Bennett debuted a new song that has served him (and the Giants) well..
Kiri and I have a full schedule for the next few weeks. My aunts are coming in for the annual Donnelly sister reunion (police and FEMA have been alerted), we have the BayCon picnic, then Baycon, Ka-Boom for our anniversary, and we need to clean the apartment this weekend because they are finally replacing the bathtub/shower. So much for "days of rest." In other news, I've been invited to be a guest at Westercon
Today is a good day to be a Bay Area sports fan. The Warriors make the playoffs for the first time in 13 years (want to know how long that is in sports? Two of the players on that last playoff team are now the Warriors' GM and our first-round opponent Dallas Mavericks' head coach), the Sharks won, putting them one game away from advancing in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the A's won, and the Giants came back to defeat the Cardinals in 12 innings. The Niners and Raiders avoid losing, mainly because it isn't football season.
Oh,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aurictech? I know it's only a two-game series, but I'm still going to gloat. Gloat, gloat, gloat.
I know I'm missing something. Blame the beer. Blame the Bossa Nova
But today I'm home on time (after going to Modesto and Stockton!) and have calmed down a bit. So, onwards!
The system failed. This guy was a textbook psychopath. Classmates of his for three years could no0t recall him ever speaking. Girls he never spoke too got sudden messages professing undying love. His writings were a bloody red flag the size of the one flying above Ft. McHenry! He was even committed once! Yet no one had the cojones to tell this freak "get into counseling now or leave the campus. We have received multiple complaints about you from faculty and students, your presence is inhibiting others. Make you choice." Then watch his ass. Also, Why the fact that he entered a psychiatric facility voluntarily kept that fact off his background check makes me want to scream. Had the gun seller seen that, he not only could have denied the sale, but alerted authorities that a person with a history of self-destructive behavior was seeking firearms! Look, everyone knows that I'm anti-social outside a close circle of friends. Not all of you know I was diagnosed as a sociopath while I was in the Army. Relating to people is hard for me. For this guy it was impossible. If I ever get nearly that bad, I want someone to step in and stop me!
Secondly, everyone who thinks that had the VT students been armed the massacre would have been averted are high. Seriously. You could issue a 9mm handgun to every student at the beginning of the school year, make them take a course in gun safety and effective shooting, and know where those guns would have been by mid-April? In dorm closets, car trunks, left at home during winter break, at the boy/girlfriend's place in town, buried at the bottom of a book bag, or providing a home to wayward spiders under a bed. Why? Because college is not a combat zone. College students do not develop the instincts that lead to carrying a cleaned, oiled weapon in a easily accessible holster every single day.
Even if... if... some students had been armed, what where they doing at the time of the attack? They were in class! Now my college experience is limited to one LSD-soaked year at San Jose City College, but I seem to recall that students in class tend to be focused on the material being presented. I also have never been in a classroom or lecture hall where the axis of focus (white board, lectern, whatever) is in the same direction as the entrances. So you are asking people, seated at desks or something similar, to get to a gun on their hip from a seated position, acquire a target that is not in their primary line of sight, and fire effectively in a chaotic situation? The question then will be "who killed who?" Oh, your target is not surprised, and is already ready to shoot you. This is called an ambush.
Way back when, when I was but a green recruit in my third week of OSUT, we did two days of NBC Training (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Warfare) The major thrust of this block of training was the correct method of donning the M-17A1 Protective Mask. The standard was, from the mask in its carrier on the left hip, to don, clear, and seal the mask in under nine seconds. For two 10 hour days, we did this endlessly. It became second nature for me.. with my left hand, rip my glasses off, dropping them, right hand opens the carrier, and removes mask, open mask, don it, cover the exit valves and blow hard (clearing the mask) then cover the intake valves and suck in hard (sealing the mask.) By the end of day 2, all of us at or under standard. While waiting for our cattle cars back to the barracks, we were told that another company was at a range across the berm waiting for their rides. Our drills encouraged us to scream our company chant.
WE ARE ALPHA
THE VERY, VERY BEST
WE ARE THE COMPANY
THAT STANDS ABOVE THE REST
IF WE CAN'T DO IT
IT CAN'T BE DONE
ALPHA, ALPHA
NUUUUMMBBBEER ONE!
On our third run through, over a dozen CS grenades sailed into our formation. Remember, we had just spent close to 20 hours training for this exact thing.. a chemical warfare attack. Our training could not have been fresher in our minds, our reflexes couldn't have been more primed. At that moment, we lived to put on masks.
One in ten made it before the gas took hold. I was not one of them. I forgot to remove my glasses. Five seconds later, I was stumbling around trying to decide which was worse.. my eyes, my throat, or the eight tons of snot coming out of my nose. Thank Ghu one of my buddies handed me my rifle before a drill noticed I had dropped it and ran.
Trained soldiers with the idea of chemical attack fresh in our minds. And people expected college students on an average day to act like Bruce Willis in Die Hard.
Finally, I hate the second guessing of the VT police. At first, they had two bodies in a residence. No other indications that an ongoing situation was going on. They locked down that residence, and began investigating. They assumed they were looking at a domestic situation. Not a bad assumption. No one expected a fresh attack two hours later!
OK, I feel better now.
Anyway, yesterday was the 101st anniversary of the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. Even though there was no official celebration, the Fire Department did sound its sirens at 0511 and dozens gathered at Lotta's Fountain on Market St. Alas, only one survivor made it, a 104-year old man whose only memory was his mother racing downstairs with him. Very soon, there will be no more witnesses, but we'll still remember. Yesterday was also the 100th anniversary of the Fairmont Hotel. The Fairmont is an institution in SF, best known as the birthplace of the Mai Tai and as the spot where Tony Bennett debuted a new song that has served him (and the Giants) well..
Kiri and I have a full schedule for the next few weeks. My aunts are coming in for the annual Donnelly sister reunion (police and FEMA have been alerted), we have the BayCon picnic, then Baycon, Ka-Boom for our anniversary, and we need to clean the apartment this weekend because they are finally replacing the bathtub/shower. So much for "days of rest." In other news, I've been invited to be a guest at Westercon
Today is a good day to be a Bay Area sports fan. The Warriors make the playoffs for the first time in 13 years (want to know how long that is in sports? Two of the players on that last playoff team are now the Warriors' GM and our first-round opponent Dallas Mavericks' head coach), the Sharks won, putting them one game away from advancing in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the A's won, and the Giants came back to defeat the Cardinals in 12 innings. The Niners and Raiders avoid losing, mainly because it isn't football season.
Oh,
aurictech? I know it's only a two-game series, but I'm still going to gloat. Gloat, gloat, gloat.I know I'm missing something. Blame the beer. Blame the Bossa Nova
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 20 Apr 2007 01:00 (UTC)With what they knew, it was probably a reasonable thing to do.
As far as college students...
...it depends on the college student.
Of the five classrooms I'm in during the typical school day, 3 have doors front and back, one has the door to the front, and the last has the door to the back of the classroom. In all situations, the doors are in field of view of multiple people.
Many of my classmates are not the type you probably want to trust with a firearm. There are several per class that I would be comfortable having one. If what happened at Virgina occured here, I think that there might be a significant difference in casualty numbers.
Then again, a number of my classmates are here courtesy of the GI Bill and a larger number are older "retreads" who went and did life before doing college.
So, I think there's still a huge problem and, oddly, I just e-mailed my School President about it.
no subject
Date: 20 Apr 2007 05:35 (UTC)Also, as for the VA Tech police, from what I've seen, while they talk a good training game, the average college cop deals with noisy parties, traffic citations, parking tickets and the random date rape. Where in that is a rifle-toting man with paranoid schizophrenia?