Virginia University Massacre

[gerrit]

Hi All,

Everyone will have been shocked by what has been happening at the latest college shooting in the US. It has hit us all raw.

Somehow or other, ever since, a harp tune which I heard a few years ago was playing on my mind. Today, it just dawned on me, it was played on the Irish harp by Cliona Doris from Northern Ireland, at the Last Night of The Proms in 2005.

It is called "Lady Dillon" and was composed by Thurlough O'Carolan.

I myself was very disturbed by what happened in Virginia on Monday. The video I am posting here has an very soothing quality.

To all of you who are disturbed by the recent happenings in Virginia, I hope the sounds of the Irish harp as played by Cliona will help you put your mind at peace.

One thing that impressed me on this video is the power of the hands. The hands that were used so destructively in Virginia this week, using guns, are used here in a healing way.

If you are depressed by the destruction caused by one person, I hope you are uplifted by the music created by someone else.

Gerrit

www.classicalrelatedperformances.com/misc/clionadoris_ladydillon_thurloughocarolan_proms2005.wmv

[roger]

Hi Gerrit,

I have often admired the works of Thurlough O'Carolan but never were they more meaningful than now.

May God bless the good people of Virginia.

Roger

[fusilier23]

Life will go on, just as it did in the wake of the Columbine shootings. These events always leave me torn, because, although I do NOT condone this kind of wrong action, I can in some ways identify with the rage this person was experiencing as set forth in his rambling, hate-filled Vlog.

The fact is that he was teased and bullied by the "in" crowd both at VT and before, just as Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were treated like outsiders by the Columbine "jocks" and Mark Essex and Frederick Cowan and other guys who've gone on rampages like this (I won't go into the gory details) were bullied and treated badly by folks using power simply because they could. Although we all like to think that anyone who gets bullied or excluded gets that treatment simply because he is inferior, or not cool, or eccentric, I think we all know these aren't legitimate reasons to make someone else's life difficult.

The fact is that everyone has a breaking point where he says that is all he can take, and he isn't taking anymore. Most bullied folks simply eventually hit back, but others, like those listed above, take it many steps further. As yet we don't know all the details of this last atrocity, but to simply fob these other overreactors off as insane is to ignore the fact that Harris and Klebold saved their bullets for bullies while yelling to other students to run before they got hurt, and that Mark Essex told African-American employees of the hotel where he made his last stand to flee, for he was only shooting white people. They knew exactly what they were doing, and had simply thrown the moral compass out the window.

The fact is that bullying and mistreatment too often gets ignored by parents and teachers, who excuse nonaction by saying it was probably both sides' fault or saying that the victim should just ignore the behavior. I been there, done that, and I can tell you it doesn't work. Bullies will just turn up the bullying until they get the desired reaction, and I twice ended bullying against me by finally going after tormentors. After that they left me alone, that tends to make a bully look for some other victim who won't fight back. We need to end this habit of looking the other way on this kind of behavior, both in bullies and in victims who are becoming powder kegs. Otherwise, no one should complain when the powder kegs detonate.

[Natasha]

Absolutely NOTHING condones such horrible and demonic deeds. I believe that people who do things like this are devil-possessed. I can't even comprehend it honestly, and I know that the losses caused by this horrific event will take years if not lifetimes to heal. But lets do what we can by keeping those affected in our prayers.

[fusilier23]

(Sigh) I wish it was that simple, but unfortunately there is malefic intent enough right here on the temporal plane without introducing the supernatural.

Still, a prayer or two for the recovery of the wounded and the shattered hearts and spirits left by those killed would not be amiss.

[grant]

There is very little one can say about a person capable of killing so many people. It is certainly beyond my comprehension. But it happens and it will continue to happen.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by this terrible tragedy and I just thank God that we have wonderful people like Hayley around us to make us realise that there are still a lot of good things in this world of ours.

Grant

[jons]

I believe to stop this happening people should listen to someone who has problems. I have already posted my feelings on other boards about the way troubled people like myself don't truly get listened to (in fact I recall being attacked on Hayley's official site at a time of great need by a certain individual). These people need help, before they get worse, the bulling needs to stop. Obviously this guy was truly disturbed, and I am hoping this will not happen again, people must start to care about whats happening in there lives. This guy was ignored as not being a danger, people can buy guns at a drop of a hat in the US. If the world was a little nicer.

[Russ]

The tragedy at Virgina Tech was horrific. Words cannot explain the loss of promising young lives, nor can words express appreciation for the heroic teacher who blocked the door to the classroom so that the killer could not get in, and in return sacrificed his life to provide an opportunity for his students to escape. My heart and my prayers go out to these men & women who lost the gift of life so young and with so much promise, and those who are left to suffer as a result. If any of you on this board can spare a few seconds, observe a moment of silence for these souls. May you all rest in peace.


Standing at the US flag at Half Staff, full salute


Russ

[Stephany]

Nothing can describe the horror of this massacre. It's just......horrific. I can only say that my heart go out to all the students, teachers, relatives and friends who either lost their lives or a loved one.

Stephany

[jons]

Sorry, I was a bit upset when I wrote that last post, but the truth is while these really disturbing events happen every so often, the problem is deep rooted. Research published recently looked at how happy children were in various countries, The UK came out the worst - kids have unhappy home lives and a lot of them are either bullies or victims. New Zealand came off the best by the way. Up above you will see an advert for Avril Lavigne. She's at number two in the charts I think. The song she sings is about stealing other girls boyfriends, because the girlfriend in question isn't as stylish has popular girls, in fact shes a "Duuuuhh!" has Avril puts it. Avril makes me sick! But as a fictional cheerleader said recently: "Its better to be honest with yourself and be happy than be popular.".

So the problems pile up on the victims of bullying and they take drastic action. Not by using a gun, but by taking there own lives. It upsets me every time I hear that on the news. These kids must have thought they had no-one to turn too. My post was meant to stir people into being aware as this week was Depression Awareness Week. Being bullied is just one of ways you can develop depression from. It is serious! Its not something you can just swept under the carpet.

[Joe]

Hi everyone.

May I join my fellow members in expressing my condolences to the families and friends of the victims in the horrible and catastrophic tragedy at Virginia Tech earlier in the week.

Also at this time I'd like to remember the man taken hostage and killed at the Johnson Space Center complex yesterday.

There are far more heroes in these tragedies, thankfully. The teachers and students, police, and ordinary people.

Mental illness is a true illness and has real symptoms. Once found, it must be properly and completely treated.

[Dave]

jons said:

Sorry, I was a bit upset when I wrote that last post, but the truth is while these really disturbing events happen every so often, the problem is deep rooted.

Jon, these were distressing events even to people living in other Countries, there's nothing wrong in getting upset about them, I too was shocked by it. But I was not impressed with the news coverage, especially the broadcasting of tapes made by the killer. He got his 15 minutes of fame but he did not deserve to be heard for one second, such was the gravity of his crime. I switched off all News reports as soon as they started showing his videos.

jons said:

Research published recently looked at how happy children were in various countries, The UK came out the worst - kids have unhappy home lives and a lot of them are either bullies or victims. New Zealand came off the best by the way

Yes this is true but the UNICEF survey only looked at the World's twenty one most advanced Countries and what isn't clear is how far apart were the Countries at the top, middle and bottom of the table... and how they compare with less advanced Countries. So its findings must be taken with a pinch of salt in case the differences are subtle.

It was a bit surprising to see the UK in bottom (21st) place and the US in 20th place but as I say, too little information was released to make a proper judgement about it so it's even harder to connect the survey results with the amount of violence in Society (though there *may be* a connection, I don't know).

Cheers, Dave

[Stephany]

jons said:

People can buy guns at a drop of a hat in the US.

For the record, Hayley has signed up to the Million Faces petition a few years back. The idea was to send a powerful, global message of support to the world's governments for an International Arms Trade Treaty. I'm not saying this massacre could have been avoided with this, but it could clearly limit the kills and general irresponsability.

For more info on the campaign, click HERE.

[roger]

Hi Stephany,

That photograph brings back memories - I was standing about ten yards away when it was taken! It was immediately after the Amnesty International Christmas concert in Trafalgar Square, London on 6th December 2003.

Roger

[fusilier23]

The nation got past September 11th, it will get past this, and I think it will get past it quicker if we do not repeat "They're dead, isn't it awful? Boo hoo hoo!" over and over again. Dissolving into a puddle of tears and dwelling on the sad part: loss, families losing members, talent wasted, just prolongs the most difficult part of things. There is such a thing as overindulging the natural urge to grieve, though it last really manifested itself in 1997, which will go down in history as the Year of the Tear, mostly due to the indulgent outpouring that followed the admittedly tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

As for the killer's videos making it onto the news, I think we all know what that was about, namely ratings. We all know that "if it bleeds, it leads," and that a trainwreck is horrible but hard to look away from. This insight into the thoughts of a madman was something the networks simply couldn't pass up. Let's face it, books and videos on bad people and true crime sell very very well, might it not be said that the networks were simply feeding into that market? Now of course they'll pull back after the backlash, but I'm not sure that's the best thing to do. But it is the wise thing to do financially, so that's what they will do, the same reason as CBS tossed Don Imus off the air, his loss of advertisers was going to hurt their bottom line.

I dunno how far we want to go into the politics of weapons here, but I think the idea of some kind of international arms treaty is hogwash, just as it has been the other umpteen times it has been tried. There were more than enough laws on the books on both the State and Federal levels that weapons should never have found their way into this guy's hands, but these two pistols fell through the cracks because of poor or lax enforcement of these laws. The answer isn't in adding yet another layer of high-minded rhetoric, it's in making sure that those who are responsible for making sure weapons are not used in a criminal manner do their jobs and do them thoroughly. If that means putting more police and so on out there, then fine, but I think it may also mean that the clerks and office workers who make only half what the policemen make need to be conscientious too, and not simply sign off on this permit without going through it thoroughly just because it happens to be 10 of 5 on Friday, not to mention making sure that doctor's reports that say this person is disturbed and a danger to others DON'T get ignored, which is exactly what happened here.