Not About Racism, Not About Guns, It's About Mental Illness

              

Anchor Parker, and Cameraman Ward, in happier times.    I have not published the photographs of the killer because I don't believe we should glorify what they have done to others who may be mentally ill.

        I have so little confidence in standard American news that I wasn't watching so I didn't hear about the on air Roanoke area shooting until Euronews brought it to me.  It was surreal to see such a thing announced by a European news outlet speaking of an area I recognized,  not all that far from where I live. Smith Mountain Lake is a lovely area.  Of course, the Euronews has an agendic spin......... Implied is "See what happens when mere humans are allowed to have guns?".   My answer would be, "why in the US, where police often can't get out to such a vast area, would you ever have a remote broadcast without having your own handgun ?"  I live in this area, and in all honesty, if I can't go somewhere with a concealed weapon, I won't go there.  A high end jeweler at Christmastime last year was upset when I rang the bell to enter, and when I saw the handguns prohibited sign returned to my car. She followed me out to the car thinking that I had waited too long to have the door opened. I told her that I have a concealed weapons permit and it would be unsafe for me to leave my weapon in the car, security system or not, so I won't ever be able to shop in her store. It is not safe for most women to be out in the world without a weapon, and without sufficient training to use it properly. We hear about mentally unstable people who use guns to murder people in an active shooter scenario. We don't hear about the ever growing number of abductions, rapes and murders that are prevented when the potential victim pulls a weapon and improves or equalizes their own chance of survival.

                      The assailant in the Roanoke shooting was named Vester Flanagan.  He had worked as a a television announcer a few years ago at the station in question, and used the on air name Bryce Williams.  From information he faxed to other news outlets in advance of the shooting, he felt that he had been fired a few years ago from his television job as a result of prejudice against gay men and against blacks.(His words, not my own)  Several sources claim the man "had anger issues".   Apparently, although the man in his early forties had worked in other jobs since, his firing was a festering wound which furthur deteriorated his mental state.  News reports say that  he bought a gun a couple of days after the Charleston church shooting, and his statements indicate that he feared attacks against blacks.  How ironic that a man who said he feared racial violence killed a twenty-four year old young news reporter and a twenty-seven year old cameraman who are reported to have been the very best of friends. He perpetrated the very type of insane violence and injustice he feared !  He also shot the woman they had been interviewing, in the back.

                    Mental illness isn't confined to people who have been fired from a job. It isn't confined to gays. It isn't confined to blacks. The internet age may enhance the mental deterioration of some of these mentally ill individuals as it may leave them less actual contact with other human beings.  Years ago, a withdrawn or persistently angry person would have had contact with a friend or relative who would have told them it was time to get help.  The internet may add an extra veil for these people, sometimes even validating the mentally unhealthy perspectives and disordered thinking they usually exhibit.

                 It's ironic that our first biracial president has done more to underscore racial differences than we could have imagined.  In many parts of Virginia, whites and blacks work together well. Biracial families are common, although the white spouses are often targets of nasty comments by black women who think the pool of black men should be left for them.  Mr. Obama has had even those who were adapted and thriving wondering if racism has impacted their lives.

                  
                 The answer is not to furthur restrict guns allowing the very people who need to protect themselves to have fewer options.  Perhaps the answer in this case is to educate employers that when you fire someone, that a security contractor should speak with them in a terminal interview.  People who perpetrate violence either just after a firing or some time after are usually assessed at high risk for doing so IF they have come to the attention of s savvy security contractor. The field is called protective intelligence and threat assessment. People who are going to act out after a firing usually give pretty clear indications that they aren't operating normally.  The fact that when fired, Mr. Flanagan or Williams if he is on air, wouldn't leave the premises until the police were called to escort him.  This was a bloody red flag.



  One of the best companies for threat assessment work is:

http://coursensecuritygroup.com/CSG/BIO.html

Guns Aren't the Problem

Plenty of law abiding people own these, including a lot of soccer moms.

                


     Today a terrible thing happened.   A disturbed young man shot his father in New Jersey and then proceeded to seek his mother, a kindergarten teacher in Newtown, Connecticut,while she was working at the Sandy Hook Elementary School..  He proceeded to kill six adults and twenty children, before eventually taking his own life.
       As the mother of a child who passed in childhood, I have some idea of the depth of the sorrow and loss of the parents of those children, and tonight I am praying for them all.
                       It took CNN and other outlets only about five minutes before they politicized this act and turned it into an appeal for tight gun control.   This is very interesting because Connecticut has some of the most restrictive firearm laws in the country.  So does New Jersey.  The young man was already breaking the law by being in possession of a weapon while under age. Secondly, his weapon was likely not legal in that state, and definitely not legal to have in his possession within a school zone. It's also possible that the rounds he used in killing his father were outlawed in NJ, as many of the better rounds are restricted to active law enforcement use only.   I grew up in the Northeast and I remain painfully familiar with the laws there, and the places in which I can't be safe by bringing my own weapon and chosen ammunition. Since this young man broke tons of laws and in addition, wore a bullet proof vest,also illegal there, one might wonder if additional laws would do anything at all.
                      It took President Obama no time at all before he emerged on television in tears promising gun control, but not today.   Is he insane ?   Chicago is a place where guns are tightly restricted and yet parts of it remain a bloodbath.    Virginia is a place in which we enjoy fairly fair gun laws, and our murders, rapes and robberies appear to be sharply decreasing.  Murders and robberies still occur in Australia, yet guns were outlawed long ago.
                     If you wish to protect those in schools, then license five people from each school as Special School Concealed Weapon Holders and train them in all 50 states. Allow them to take out anyone who comes to a school shooting.  The simple act of having Special School Concealed Weapons Holders in schools will stop attacks, and may well stop some terrorism, which according to US intelligence, is coming down the pike thanks to Al Qaeda.
                    Guns protect people like me,and my children from crazy people who would abduct, torture and murder us. Taking them away from law abiding people like me will do NOTHING to stop acts like today.  This young man ignored a myriad of laws.   If guns are outlawed, then only outlaws will have guns.

Tornadoes in Virginia

           In my general region, in another county on October 13, 2011, some tornadoes were spawned.  East of here, thirty houses have been damaged, fifteen of which have been demolished.    In Louisa County, the site of a 5.8 earthquake in August, and of 41 aftershocks since, they had an F-1 tornado.  A plantation home whose original structure is from the 1740s has lost it's roof and has sustained other damage as well.   The video which follows is quite interesting.   Louisa County has certainly had a difficult year.  FEMA, under the direction of President Obama, has elected to do nothing for Louisa County, other than to condemn their homes, in a futile and somewhat misplaced attempt at an austerity measure.  The fact is that these people were already stressed by the economy and fuel prices, and cannot possibly rebuild or survive as families without some help. I suppose the present administration would prefer to spend money on lobster for themselves when they are visiting Wyoming (where beef is plentiful and reasonable), and steak for themselves while visiting Massachusetts, where lobster is more economical. Very little of the decision-making of the Obama administration has made sense, leaving many Americans wondering if he is simply incompetent, or means to do the United States harm.

 







        This would be a good time to review what we should do in a tornado situation.  Remember that all 50 states in the US can have tornadoes, although most places do not have tornadoes often.   You should not attempt to follow a tornado as the person in the video did.  Although I am grateful for the video, the tornado could have killed this person.   Tornadoes are also occurring with more frequency in other parts of the world as well.

Showing the simple potential diversity of a tornado

Breadth and size can differ considerably

Damage in New Kent County, Virginia on October 13, 2011

Also in New Kent County, Virginia, October 13, 2011

"Sylvania", a beautiful old plantation home from the 1700s which was in the process of being restored, was badly damaged by the Louisa County tornado on October 13, 2011.  This is near the video above.

This is the overhead view of "Sylvania" now. Photo courtesy of "The Hook", Charlottesville, Virginia. (No additional attribution of photo is given.)

       In a tornado, here in the US, we often notice a slightly green tint to the sky and eerie stillness before one. (Although this is not 100% true)   One may see an actual tornado in the distance, or one might just see fog or even rain.  The telltale sign is a stormy sound which sounds like a train coming.  In a tornado, you and your family should get to the lowest point in your building.  A basement or storm cellar is best.  A bathtub away from windows has also worked well for many survivors.  Some people have also survived the complete destruction of their homes by hiding in a closet.  Always have shoes on your feet during a tornado because you will likely need to walk out of the building amid lots of broken glass.  Many areas in the US have a tornado watch or tornado warning program which is managed through the National Weather Service and then announced through local television. Never disregard a tornado watch or warning just because the weather looks great where you are this minute.  Conversely, tornadoes can occur quickly sometimes, before a warning has been issued, so being generally alert is simply intelligent.
           It is important that people take tornadoes seriously and that they get to the lowest level of their homes. Some references feel that one should get underneath a heavy table or workbench and cover ones head with blankets or a pillow.  
            Try to have emergency supplies in several places in your home.  This way, if your home is damaged by a tornado or an earthquake, and your main supplies are inaccessible, you will have smaller caches of supplies available to you in such an emergency.