Octopus Overlords

Busy day @ work, went upstairs for lunch and my wife was watching the news. She'd been watching it for over an hour, I couldn't take more than 5 minutes... made her turn it off.

Just sick to my stomach.

Today is my oldest son's 11th birthday. We're not even going to discuss it, not today.

Now they are saying the gunman was positively identified as the brother of the guy they previously thought.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2 ... -shooting/

Skinypupy wrote:

triggercut wrote:http://www.theonion.com/articles/fuck-e ... rts,30743/

Brilliant.

I was cringing as I opened The Onion page on this, but they were spot on.

Also, Kraken's apathetic post is... just ick.

Kraken wrote:...

Dude, sometimes you're pretty tonedeaf.

Trent Steel wrote:

Skinypupy wrote:

triggercut wrote:http://www.theonion.com/articles/fuck-e ... rts,30743/

Brilliant.

I was cringing as I opened The Onion page on this, but they were spot on.

Also, Kraken's apathetic post is... just ick.

+1 on both counts.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

A friend just shared this on FB,

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.”
— Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers)

Look for the helpers.

Enough wrote: Look for the helpers.

The police spokesman said they are providing counselors for the responders because of how horrific it was inside the school.

I am beyond grateful for the helpers and I pray they are greatly blessed, but I ache that they will have nightmares about this for the rest of their days.

I can't remember if it was George Carlin's or someone else's, but the advice still holds: if you're going to end by turning the gun on yourself, just start there.

I'm sure we'll hear about motives in the coming days, but it basically looks like this monster killed 20 children and 8 adults because he hated his parents.

My cousin lives in Newtown (my dad's family is from CT). Her friend lost her 5 year old today. She also lost her next door neighbor, a teacher in the school.

It's a very small, tight knit community. Last place I would ever expect this.

Jag wrote:My cousin lives in Newtown (my dad's family is from CT). Her friend lost her 5 year old today. She also lost her next door neighbor, a teacher in the school.

Last place I would ever expect this.

That's so awful. Nobody should lose a 5-year-old in kindergarten.

Oh, Jag. How utterly terrible.

To all my American friends. To all the parents who, like myself, fear the loss of a child as an unfathomable, devastatingly cruel loss. To all those who felt saddened, sickened, stunned and repulsed by this horrific act of self-centred cruelty.
You have my sympathy, condolences, thoughts, prayers and shared (perhaps) outrage.

No words for this.

triggercut wrote:

Kraken wrote:...

Dude, sometimes you're pretty tonedeaf.

Suffice it to say that I flunked compassion and should therefore steer clear of emotion-charged topics. I lack that frame of reference completely.

Kraken wrote:

triggercut wrote:

Kraken wrote:...

Dude, sometimes you're pretty tonedeaf.

Suffice it to say that I flunked compassion and should therefore steer clear of emotion-charged topics. I lack that frame of reference completely.

I understand this most of the time, but how can you possibly not have compassion for 5 year olds?

[dick]Kraken[/dick]

I didn't watch the news today at all and missed this. The only reason I heard about it today was a friend texting me that she couldn't stop crying.

msduncan wrote:

Kraken wrote:

triggercut wrote:

Kraken wrote:...

Dude, sometimes you're pretty tonedeaf.

Suffice it to say that I flunked compassion and should therefore steer clear of emotion-charged topics. I lack that frame of reference completely.

I understand this most of the time, but how can you possibly not have compassion for 5 year olds?

I'm guessing he has cognitive compassion but is a bit impaired on affective compassion. I don't mean that pejoratively, it's just how Kraken is wired.

It's so hard.
What I am trying to do is not hate. The more anger that flies all over the place the worse everyone in the world is.
So I can keep it together/how I am keeping it together is by sending comforting thoughts to the children. Healing images to the adults bearing witness, including the first responders, for the horror their eyes saw. I am sure their mind won't stop that racket either
All in all I'm feeling pretty insane. Haven't heard any local news other than the initial press conference and a little CNN right before my Hospice training class... yes that was a doozy of a class cause many of the people attending had just heard about it on the radio on their way in.

Please daddies and mommies keep on being super terrific and watch what the kids are seeing on TV I know I'm barely comprehending this

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Going to watch the prez, sure I can find it on YouTube somewhere

Enough wrote: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.”
— Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers)

Look for the helpers.

Peace all my OO fellas and gals. Carpet, only peek through your fingers, you don't have to take your hand away

I was really hoping to read something today - anything really - that could possibly just take a tiny bit of this soul-crushing story away. Like how some kid with terminal cancer woke up cured or something equally as ridiculous. That Onion piece pretty much nailed it. I cannot even begin to imagine what any of the affected people are dealing with, but this was a sad day for all Americans the planet.

20 kids between 5 and 10 years old. It is mind boggling. I cant stop thinking about the horror of it.

Kraken wrote: Suffice it to say that I flunked compassion and should therefore steer clear of emotion-charged topics. I lack that frame of reference completely.

Lacking an instinctive social response shouldn't prevent you from compensating with cognitive social responses. You can learn the rules even if they don't come naturally to you.

Here's one: When people are emotionally upset, humor rarely works, and usually has the opposite effect.

I dont think Im going to check this thread for a good while. All I think about are those little kids being shot and all they wanted were Christmas. Going to avoid what I can. Good thoughts all.

WarPig wrote:Now they are saying the gunman was positively identified as the brother of the guy they previously thought.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2 ... -shooting/

There is a victim that few people will recognize. He just lost his brother to suicide. He just lost his mother to murder. He has to come to terms with the fact that his brother did such a horrible thing. The impatient media named him as the suspect, even linked his Facebook page so that everyone could find him, even attack the pages of anything associated with him. Not only that, people will quite likely shun him for his relative's actions. Everybody else who lost loved ones today will receive love and sympathy. He'll likely just receive hatred.

Blackhawk wrote:

WarPig wrote:Now they are saying the gunman was positively identified as the brother of the guy they previously thought.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2 ... -shooting/

There is a victim that few people will recognize. He just lost his brother to suicide. He just lost his mother to murder. He has to come to terms with the fact that his brother did such a horrible thing. The impatient media named him as the suspect, even linked his Facebook page so that everyone could find him, even attack the pages of anything associated with him. Not only that, people will quite likely shun him for his relative's actions. Everybody else who lost loved ones today will receive love and sympathy. He'll likely just receive hatred.

Yep. Reminds me of this story about the Amish school shooting several years ago where the Amish community reached out to comfort the family of the man who killed their children. The families of the killers are victims too.

I was sitting in bed reading articles and listening to music when this particular Jack Johnson lyric really hit home:

Mama said
It's just make believe
You can't believe everything you see
So baby close your eyes to the lullabies
On the news tonight.

What a horrible news. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims, families and Newtown's community. I'm hugging my son a little extra today.

Captain Caveman wrote:

msduncan wrote:

Kraken wrote:

triggercut wrote:

Kraken wrote:...

Dude, sometimes you're pretty tonedeaf.

Suffice it to say that I flunked compassion and should therefore steer clear of emotion-charged topics. I lack that frame of reference completely.

I understand this most of the time, but how can you possibly not have compassion for 5 year olds?

I'm guessing he has cognitive compassion but is a bit impaired on affective compassion. I don't mean that pejoratively, it's just how Kraken is wired.

Yeah, that nails it. I know how I'm supposed to feel, but the whole "feeling" thing is academic. I usually say appropriate things but I misjudged this time. Sorry to anyone who was offended (see what I did there?).

Blackhawk wrote: Lacking an instinctive social response shouldn't prevent you from compensating with cognitive social responses. You can learn the rules even if they don't come naturally to you.

Here's one: When people are emotionally upset, humor rarely works, and usually has the opposite effect.

Wasn't meant to be funny.

Kraken, everyone knows you here. Don't sweat it. A bunch of little kids were shot and killed today, for no motherfucking reason whatsoever.

Let me repeat that.

A BUNCH OF LITTLE CHILDREN WERE SHOT AND KILLED TODAY, AS PART OF A PLANNED MASS SHOOTING SPREE.

There is no explanation for any of this.

There is no proper way to react to this.

I have no good way to end this post. I am at a loss for words. I suspect most of us are. Tomorrow it won't make any more sense, but maybe we'll begin to think about where we go from here.

Inverarity wrote:A BUNCH OF LITTLE CHILDREN WERE SHOT AND KILLED TODAY, AS PART OF A PLANNED MASS SHOOTING SPREE.

The only thing I can of do after this insanity is take inventory of my own life. And I am pretty damn lucky to have the family I that do.

If nothing else, this should have given everyone +1,000,000 Perspective.

The families in CT, I'm afraid, will never recover. I don't think I could.

Inverarity wrote:Kraken, everyone knows you here. Don't sweat it. A bunch of little kids were shot and killed today, for no motherfucking reason whatsoever.

Let me repeat that.

A BUNCH OF LITTLE CHILDREN WERE SHOT AND KILLED TODAY, AS PART OF A PLANNED MASS SHOOTING SPREE.

There is no explanation for any of this.

There is no proper way to react to this.

I have no good way to end this post. I am at a loss for words. I suspect most of us are. Tomorrow it won't make any more sense, but maybe we'll begin to think about where we go from here.

This is all very true and very much a reality. But my question is why we must inundate ourselves with the details, the media seeming to repeat over and over the same details. We know what happen, and I think it is psychologically unhelpful to get swamped by all this. Is it not better to deal with this tragedy within ourselves or among our own family and friends, without the constant bombardment of images and explanations and the hypothetical.

Myself, I don't have a television and never, ever watch the news or anything else, except for sports.

I believe it does America not one damn bit a good to watch the same tragedy unfolding hundreds of times. It is healthier to figure out all this within one's own head, with the help of our family and closest friends.

It is really sad to think that the media (television in particular) are gaining enormous amounts of advertising dollars through this tragedy. They won't admit that they are pleased with this, but undoubtedly they know it is true.

The good thing is that folks do not have to watch. Many will, and these people are going to be the worse for doing so.

Tragedy? Yes. Unspeakable? Yes. But then what good is it to repeat this thousands of times?


Alan

Alan_Bernardo wrote:...except for sports.

I believe it does America not one damn bit a good to watch the same tragedy unfolding hundreds of times.

Stop dissing the Ravens.

The first time I encountered this phenomenon was the Reagan shooting. I was 10, and it happened right around the time I got home from school. So instead of watching Gilligan's Island or whatever, the networks were inundated with the assassination attempt. I still remember them showing the little footage they had of Reagan starting to wave and then being thrown back into his limo as all hell broke loose. Over and over and over and over again.

Sadly, I think it's human nature to watch tragedies like this with rapt attention. And of course there's money to be made for the media outlets, so as long as they believe people will watch, they're going to show it in incredible detail, repeating it as often as possible, particularly if they have nothing new to add. And if they really feel like they need an "edge" in the ratings, they'll make shit up.

Frankly, I don't see anything changing here. People are going to watch when there's a major event like this, and the media's going to give it to them. It is what it is. At least anyone who's bothered by it can turn it off, which I think a lot of people did do sooner or later.

Grundbegriff wrote:

Alan_Bernardo wrote:...except for sports.

I believe it does America not one damn bit a good to watch the same tragedy unfolding hundreds of times.

Stop dissing the Ravens.

I'm from Cleveland. I would think the Browns and Indians have coined the term "woe".


Alan

My wife (the communications professor) raised an interesting question: To what extent is the ongoing media saturation due to this happening in a market that's already saturated with media? There were reporters from Japan and Korea doing standups because it's a hop-skip-and-jump away from where they're stationed in NYC. Would it have received the same blanket coverage if it had happened in East Bumfuck Wyoming?

Sure, it's obviously a major news story regardless of location. But there's a media circus aspect that makes her uncomfortable because news is where the reporters are. Reporters are supposed to chase news, but sometimes news lands in the middle of reporters.

Ongoing media saturation due to:
20 elementary kids mowed down in cold blood.

Nothing to do with geography. Kinda big news.


Sent from mobile

Someone shot 20 kids, young kids in a freaking school. It doesn't matter where it was everyone would still be covering it all over the place. I mean really... This is probably the worst thing I've ever heard of aside from 9/11. This actually on some (a lot?) of levels bothers me more.

Octavious wrote: heard of aside from 9/11. This actually on some (a lot?) of levels bothers me more.

Wife just said the same thing


Sent from mobile

Odin wrote: Sadly, I think it's human nature to watch tragedies like this with rapt attention.

It is, but I don't think it is sad. We are fragile creatures living fragile lives. Tragedy, death and destruction fascinate us because we are all subject to them, yet unable to truly comprehend them. We have the psychological need to understand them, but cannot unless it happening to us (and often not even then.) It is both natural and reasonable for us to be drawn to such things in an attempt (even if it is subconscious) to understand ourselves and our own existence.

Now, the media using that natural need to sell sensationalism is sad.

Octavious wrote:Someone shot 20 kids, young kids in a freaking school. It doesn't matter where it was everyone would still be covering it all over the place. I mean really... This is probably the worst thing I've ever heard of aside from 9/11. This actually on some (a lot?) of levels bothers me more.

I feel like it bothers me more but I am ten years past 9/11 so I am unsure if my emotions have just faded.