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Tragedy in the land of the Hokies


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Why do we need to argue the semantics of what the guy did?

 

 

Doesn't really matter now anyway. All you can do now is pray, if that is your bag, for the survivors and their families.

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Why do we need to argue the semantics of what the guy did?

We don't. I just find it interesting that any time anything like this happens, post-9/11, it seems like someone official has to trot out a comment about whether it might be related to "terrorism," as if there's only one definition of that word (the government's).

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It depends on whether we're talking about the dictionary definition of terrorism or the one that is malleable for political purposes, that's all.

 

In other words, in the war against "terror," what is the gov't doing to fight terrible acts like this?

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For as long as I can remember, "terrorism" has referred specifically to creating terror for the purpose of political gain or forwarding one's ideology. Referring to it as such, to the exlusion of even large-scale acts of violence whose express purpose is something other than the creation of terror, is not a deviation, as far as I'm concerned.

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In other words, in the war against "terror," what is the gov't doing to fight terrible acts like this?

College campuses are generally pretty open places, which is part of what's great about them. I went to school at a place with a very large student population in the middle of a fairly large city, so there was always a mix of all kinds of people--students and not--on and around campus at all times. In light of something like this, its not hard to imagine how easily something like this could happen almost anywhere. So how to stop it seems to be the question. I don't know how you "lock down" a college campus that is, almost by definition, an open community--and even moreso, I don't even think it is desirable to do so.

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For as long as I can remember, "terrorism" has referred specifically to creating terror for the purpose of political gain or forwarding one's ideology. Referring to it as such, to the exlusion of even large-scale acts of violence whose express purpose is something other than the creation of terror, is not a deviation, as far as I'm concerned.

My initial post about "terrorism" notwithstanding, what I'm actually trying to point out is that the subject of "terrorism" seems to come up now with any major incident of violence, even if it's incredibly obvious to everyone that terrorism had nothing to do with it. In the coverage of the office shooting here in Michigan recently, in which one man shot three people and then fled, there were numerous mentions of possible terrorism, and the local news people kept repeating them until someone in an official capacity finally set them straight.

 

It's just a media tactic -- mention "terrorism" to stir up maximum fear.

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For as long as I can remember, "terrorism" has referred specifically to creating terror for the purpose of political gain or forwarding one's ideology. Referring to it as such, to the exlusion of even large-scale acts of violence whose express purpose is something other than the creation of terror, is not a deviation, as far as I'm concerned.

 

Yeah, that makes sense. But what if the means are different while the ends remain the same?

After events like this, administrators always want to take away the fear and make people feel more secure, and the planning always seems to mirror the planning that would follow an act of terrorism.

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29 posts before this absolutely horrible incident turned into another rip on the government...well done.

ah yes, plenty of ripping on the government going on here... :unsure

 

media maybe...

 

i know you're just "calling it like you see it", but you're always pretty smarmy/holier than thou about it...

 

anywho, let's leave the bitching out of this thread...

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Nikolas Macko was in a mathematics class in Norris Hall when they heard a series of loud bangs in the hallway which prompted a female student sitting near the door to move to close it.

 

"She peeked out into the hallway, and saw the shooter, so she immediately closed the door. Three other students moved a table that was in front of the room - it seats approximately 40 students at capacity - and barricaded it against the door.

 

"A few seconds later, the shooter tried to open the door, but my classmates kept it well shut, as they held the table against it from floor level.

 

"The shooter shot the door twice at chest level, which resulted in two holes in the door, one of which hit the podium in the front of the class room and the other continued out the window. At this point he reloaded, shot the door again - this shot did not penetrate - and moved on to the other classrooms," Mr Macko added.

 

I can't imagine how scary this would be.

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ah yes, plenty of ripping on the government going on here... :unsure

 

media maybe...

 

i know you're just "calling it like you see it", but you're always pretty smarmy/holier than thou about it...

 

anywho, let's leave the bitching out of this thread...

 

one fucking post and the bitching started a long time ago, but you got it, kyle. sorry.

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The first shooting occurred around 7:15 AM EDT at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a co-ed dormitory that houses 895 students, where one person was killed and up to four others wounded. Shooting was next reported in a classroom at Norris Hall, an engineering building, approximately two hours later.

 

I wonder how the person got around for that length of time without getting caught.

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you wonder if they were trying to not throw people into a panic and treating the earlier shooting as an isolated incident (as one would imagine), but unfortunately if that was their reasoning, it definitely played a part in the # of people killed in the 2nd shooting, no doubt...

 

obviously hindsight is 20/20 however...

 

one fucking post and the bitching started a long time ago, but you got it, kyle. sorry.

i don't think anyone was exactly out of line or being mr. conspiracy theorist though. it was an honest question, and your post just came off as being mr. morality police and didn't offer up a single thing regarding the tragedy or victims is all...

 

anywho...

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Actually here's a better question: If campus officials knew there was a shooting on campus and they did not have anybody under custody, why were there classes going on?

 

I don't know what the right answer is. If they decided to cancel classes, is it then safer to dismiss thousands of students into a dangerous situation?

 

It's all just sad to think about.

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