In connection with the Newport, CT massacre, I’m wondering why we still haven’t seen the “video games are to blame” and “male immaturity is to blame” narratives. I think they will still crop up, though.
Missing Narratives?
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In Russian blogs I have seen “if they had an armed guard before the school’s entrance, like is in Israel, it wouldn’t have happened”. Somebody even shared that Israeli parents can’t enter the kindergarten (to pass a guard), but have to wait till children exit. That US should put guards at malls’ entrances (they do check for metal) and in other such places too.
Unless the guard would metal – check, I don’t think it would’ve helped. Somebody like him, who studied at the same school, whose mother works there, (most likely) would be permitted to enter in Israel too.
I do think those shootings have much to do with US gun culture. Israel has not less problems than US, right? Yet such things don’t happen regularly.
There is this new story: “Knife-wielding man slashes 22 children in China”. Because he didn’t have a gun, all children and adults seemed to survive. With a gun, it would have been a pile of dead bodies.
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And what is the population of Israel? š I’m not saying this as an argument that guns should be banned but to point out that this comparison is problematic.
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// Iām not saying this as an argument that guns should be banned
Did you mean “should NOT be banned”?
Israel has lots of people too.
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“Israel has lots of people too.”
– A little fewer than in the US, I believe. š
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// In New Haven, I was too scared to leave my house after 8 pm. Iād regularly hear or see shootings from my window.
This is only 1 small place in 1 small state. Israel is bigger and haven’t heard such yet. Criminals sometimes shoot each other on streets, but not often.
After reading, I became afraid of your living situation. I guess, each of us can consider the other as living in a more dangerous place. The grass is blacker on her side of fence thing. š
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Oh, the video games narrative has already popped up. When the news reported the wrong shooter, and showed his facebook page, people rushed to the page, saw the man had “liked” the game Mass Effect, then rushed to the game’s facebook page and unleashed their rage. I read some of the comments. People were screeching about banning video games, and telling the creators of the game that they had blood on their hands. Religious fanatics were, of course, damning the creators to hell and all of that. It quieted down quickly once people found out the man they were stalking wasn’t the shooter.
I can’t decide which narrative I hate more, the evil monster/mentally ill narrative, or the “rare event” that traumatises the inhabitants of the idyllic paradise narrative.
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“I canāt decide which narrative I hate more, the evil monster/mentally ill narrative, or the ārare eventā that traumatises the inhabitants of the idyllic paradise narrative.”
– Yeah, both of these narratives are very annoying.
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Ah, found an article:
http://m.kotaku.com/5968683/mob-blames-mass-effect-for-school-shooting-is-embarrassingly-wrong/gallery/1?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Twitter&utm_source=Kotaku_Twitter&utm_medium=Socialflow
They’ve got screengrabs of some of the comments on the Mass Effect facebook page. I’m not sure if they’ve got all the fanatics’ comments, though.
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Two particular aspects of the gunman’s life jumped out at me and made me feel that you might try to make a narrative out of them. (Which, of course, might be perfectly valid and spot-on.)
– The fact that his mother was apparently a stay-at-home mom since 2008, when her divorce from her wealthy husband left her sufficiently well-off to not have to work anymore. People who knew her were apparently at a loss to say what she did.
– The fact that he was pulled out of high school and then home schooled.
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Hmm, a housewife’s child, has Asperger’s, was kept out of school for a while. . . Who does this remind me of? Might that be me? š š
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// was kept out of school for a while. . .
Were you home schooled? You have never mentioned it.
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We didn’t have such an institution in our country, as you know. But I was kept at home until the age of 7 which was, of course, disastrous for my socialization.
My sister was homeschooled for a year when she was 9. That gave her a nervous tic that still hasn’t completely subsided.
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Now this gem is making waves on social media:
http://m.gawker.com/5968818/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother
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Maybe it would be a good idea for such messed up, narcissistic people to buy a pack of condoms before producing 4 children they neither need nor love.
Now, of course, she expects a round of applause and life-long worship for squeezing out these unwanted and unloved kids and turning them into freaks before inflicting them on the rest of us. Jeez.
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A small disclaimer for those who don’t yet know me well: narcissistic mothers bother me on a visceral level. Brrr, this horrible article gives me goose bumps.
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http://thegirlwhowasthursday.wordpress.com/2012/12/16/you-are-not-adam-lanzas-mother/
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Thank you, this is a very good link.
” The article doesnāt divulge, or even acknowledge, that its subject might have his own perspectives, beliefs and motivations that are worth mentioning. His motherās perspective, mainly on his āevil eyesā with their ācalculated pupilsā is the only one given. Thus the child is presented solely as a problem”
That’s my point exactly. It is highly probable that this child has absolutely no mental disease. He is just bullied by this horrible narcissistic mother who despises him with every fiber of her being.
Once again, I have to ask, are condoms too expensive, or something?
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“Antipsychotics and antidepressants are not designed for children and most of them are not indicated for disruptive behaviour in children. Zyprexa, the prescription given to the child in the article, is not indicated for disruptive behaviour or autism in the US. This sort of willy-nilly prescribing with little real knowledge of or regard for the long-term consequences, particularly for those whose brains are not fully developed yet, is potentially extremely damaging, and itās not unlikely that a forever-changing cocktail of unwise psychotropic prescriptions contributes to worsening psychological problems. ”
– What can I say other than “hear, hear!” It is good to see that there are voices of reason alongside with the ones of the shameless narcissists.
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I read the article and thought what you said too, but then my othering kicked in and I thought, “Who knows? Americans do things differently and the authoritative view is no doubt the accurate one, although it would not apply to me.”
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An American passport is not a permission to be a jerk. š
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I’ve developed an anti-American prejudice due to trolls, but I also don’t like Canadian trolls.
As a not-to-be-employed academic, I am busying myself over the Xmas break making video reviews for Amazon. If I am trolled, I will shoot all of them with an automatic machine gun.
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Beware, Amazon reviewers are a creepy bunch: https://clarissasblog.com/2011/09/30/whats-better-a-tampon-or-a-book/
Of course, leaving good reviews on Amazon is a very noble endeavor.
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I’ll have a look, although I think I remember your actual review and maybe one or two of the comments. š
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A mother who compares her son to killers and then plasters his pictures all over the Internet is the real monster, not her son. How can people be so oblivious?..
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She posted his photos, too?? Jesus wept. . .
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The “evil, gun loving, bitter clinging monsters at the National Rifle Association want to kill our children and we must pass laws to stop them” narrative takes precedence over all others. Never let an atrocity go to waste, as the man nearly said.
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I have remembered the narrative I hate the most today. May be, you could write a post about it?
He makes many good points, but this horrible (and wrong imo) argument is too much for me:
From:
http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.co.il/2012/12/why-cant-americans-be-more-european.html
Do you think there is truth in his words? This argument is often used, with not only Jews as an example and seeing it just “makes my day”. Makes my blood boil. I think it’s wrong for many reasons, but wanted to ask your take on the issue. Since the narrative is so prevalent, writing a post would be relevant.
There is something in common with “make teachers carry”, but it hits me as being worse.
His another post on the issue:
http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.co.il/2012/12/roots-and-branches.html
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And then I think what if he is right? Even already in ghettos some Jews (as much as it could be in the situation) successfully rebelled.
But, even if it could help then, is it still true now? Despite all modern weapons?
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Yes, this is, indeed, very unhinged. A psychoabalyst would have a field day with this author’s writing. Didn’t I say this would bring out the phallic obsession in full force?
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