Violence

The rush to find a reason “why” the Sandy Hook shootings took place results from natural instinct. But, it is important that prejudice against those with psychiatric disabilities and resulting bias in reporting be acknowledged and addressed, so that those with mental illnesses are not painted with a broad brush.

It was a single individual involved in the Friday shootings, and statistics from many years of research show that persons with psychiatric disabilities are not generally more violent than those who do not have a disability. The exceptional cases are those persons with co-occurring substance or alcohol abuses problems, which do have higher rates of violence than the norm.

Five years ago, dismembered pieces of a human body were found floating in the French Broad River in Asheville, North Carolina. Forensics identified the victim as Kelly Lane Smith, a local prostitute, and though all evidence pointed to a local man infamous for the brutalization and rape of sex workers in the area, he was never charged, never convicted, and he left Asheville a free man.

Why couldn’t an obvious suspect be convicted? Because Kelly was a prostitute.

Cross-posted from Facing South article by Bob Moser, Texas Observer

Bobby Beltran was already having a blue Christmas. Because of his job, the 26-year-old was missing his tight-knit family's celebration back home in Brownsville for the first time. After work on Christmas night, to cheer himself up, Beltran joined some friends and co-workers at Rain, a gay bar in downtown Austin. He was accompanied by Chris Ortega, an Austin native who'd recently returned to Texas' supposed beacon of tolerance -- and had, only weeks before, come out to friends as gay.

Cross-posted from a Facing South article by Chris Kromm.

The tragic Arizona shootings that left six dead and others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) critically wounded, have sparked debate over an important question: What's the connection between violent political rhetoric and real violence?

It's not a new debate, especially in the South, where the bloody civil rights era forced Southerners and the nation to confront how extremist and violent political messages can have deadly results.

As we read the morning paper over breakfast, a sleek, gray raptor swooped across the backyard, plucking a goldfinch from the sky. Over the next twenty minutes, every dimension of life and death unfolded. We watched through a birding telescope as a male merlin, rare in these parts, disemboweled his prey. The attack came quickly, though death itself did not. Meanwhile, on the other side of our world, a man has assassinated a judge and fired a bullet through the brain of a Democratic Congresswoman.

What does it all mean? Anything? Nothing? The circle of life? Survival of the fittest? Might makes right? There's no accounting for crazy?

As we've seen, most recently with the tea party express, extremism will find a way in politics. This is one case though, where it's comforting to know that liberals are all talk.

One of the philosophical ideals that I cherish the most is that of non-violent human interaction. I am not a pacifist, but I think that violence should be used as a means to an end only if there are no reasonable non-violent means available and only if the end is extraordinarily compelling.

I just saw last nights Rachel Maddow show. She had a guy on her show that used to be a Right Wing Republican until he realized how wrong they were. I think he was C. Everett Koops (sp?) son. He wrote a book about his experiences as a Right Wing Republican. He spoke about what is happening now with Health Care Reform Town Halls and how the GOP, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Right Winged Organizations such as AFP are promoting violence against public officals and Democrats and how there is a subtext to the lies that could easily lead to a right winged fanatic killing someone. That is my fear, what will happen if some lunatic actually does commit a violent act towards a Democrat and public official.

The N&O says:

A Raleigh company that plans to release a video game about one of the Iraq war's bloodiest battles is running into a buzz saw of criticism.

The game, "Six Days in Fallujah," is being made with the help of Marines who fought in the battle, and its defenders say it provides a history lesson about what Atomic president Peter Tamte has described as "the largest urban military assault in about half a century."

History lesson. Riiiiiight.

So I snapped this pic with my phone this morning as it was the third shredded one I ran across while leaving Greensboro to head to work this morning.

Now I’m an old-tymer. I am well aware that yard signs are the most common victims of campaign violence. However, I was concerned when we received a phone call from a concerned voter who stated that there were Ovittore signs in a closet at an early voting site.

And the investigation begins.....

Violence in our schools and the thinking that leads to accepting the culture of bullying.