So I’ve said it before and, looking at May approaching, I’ll say it again…this year has been going by FAST! I don’t like that…except that Christmas comes sooner! Well, if it’s going to be five months of nonstop triple-digit weather and no rain, then maybe a speedy year is in order. But as Wayne has told me when I commented about the way time seemed to fly, it only gets faster as you get older. Wow, my life is just going to spin to the end then if that’s the case!

First off, it is time for me to put on the record, after much delay, my congratulations to Kim and her husband, Brian, for the birth of their daughter earlier last…er, this being Sunday…I guess a little less than two weeks ago. Miss Tivani entered the world. Just as long as she stays clear of me, she’ll be fine…otherwise there may be another Kirika or Henrietta added to this world, j/k!

So in the middle of last week I came across yet another interesting development of things. Basically, my supervisor is no longer working for the company if you get my drift. That said, I am effectively a workcenter of one…kind of giving me the nostalgia of some of my darker days on the USS Cole. He was working on a fairly critical job before he left, and I have inherited that job. Not much info passed down to me, just being able to reconstruct an important part of a grinder using a burnt and melted part that failed earlier for a reference. Fun! Thankfully, Wayne is able to give me some good assistance here and there. Furthermore, I’m glad that as of now nothing hasn’t really affected me for now. Those of you who know me fairly well know why I say this.

Also, after a little bit of shifting here and there I finally have Heather working on my hair once again! Good way to start off a weekend that has been fairly hectic and crazy. Afterwards, it was on to the Real Texas Festival in Mesquite. I figured I’d be there for a few hours and if some buddies had any free time to drag me to the Dallas Market Hall Gun Show, then I’d go. Not big on that location. By the numbers, I believe it’s bigger than Big Town…but when I went as far as booths carrying any pertinent value to me, it wasn’t big…it may have actually been smaller. Furthermore, the parking situation there is horrible and I didn’t think the show itself justified the trouble it took to park. This would also give me a chance to test out my new camera. I have some important lessons learned on the festival having to do with my camera.

My main goal of the festival was to check out Mesquite’s level of community sense. I’m all for anything that gets people out of their houses to have some fun community wide. I did see that throughout. You had various businesses out there, like Town East Mall, Whataburger and that new NYPD pizza place that opened not too long ago. As well there were your Texas, Mexican and other varied food outlets to eat at and several rides for the kids. This was like a very small state fair.

The fire/rescue department had little games, fire awareness lessons and showed off a few of their vehicles, stretchers and EOD gear. They even had the bomb robot going around and handing little kids cards. The police had a good presence throughout the area as well and had their corner of the area too. They had a recruiting stand, places for kids to get pens, stickers and other goodies and also offered fingerprinting for them. Periodically, they would have educational speeches of various topics like identity theft, internet safety, the Mesquite Police website and gang awareness. The information was pretty good. I have seen, heard and read various public safety postings on the news, TV, radio and Internet and they are usually the same thing with different wording. I seemed to get a more thorough amount of information from these lessons, so bonus points to the police department for these educational speeches.

Other big features were the musical events. There was a large open stage out there and various bands were scheduled to play. Me…I don’t know. The music was going to start at noon on that sunny day. I do not often listen to country music so a quick glance at a schedule revealed that I did not recognize a single person. I didn’t know if a lot of people were willing to stand or sit out in the open grass field to listen to people playing music. I was very right. I figured I was snapping away at events I would see how my camera would hold up to stage shows. I was aware that my particular camera exposes for the shadows. That would make me not as satisfied with a majority of the pictures I took on stage. For most people, it would good enough…but not so for my eye…though a little tweaking on the computer could bring it to acceptable, they were in no way horrible pictures.

The first group out was led by someone named Amanda Graves. They did several songs and were fairly good. As I said, being a person who doesn’t really hear a lot of country music I have no way of comparison. There was just something that bothered me…but I didn’t know what. I can tell you, however, that my camera does fairly well as far as viewing the LCD screen on the glare of a sunny day. Unfortunately, I was still stuck in my head trying to run this camera as my last camera…I didn’t really realize that until after I left the festival, I kicked myself for being so narrow-minded as my shots would’ve came out even better.

After Amanda’s group was done, I took the time to sift through the shots I made. They were okay for the most part. I also noted that where I stood my lens didn’t have much reach. Maybe I would get a little closer for the next person, was my plan of attack. I made a few more adjustments to my camera’s settings, again thanking the LCD screen for being easily viewable despite the glaring sun. Another problem for me…when I review my pictures, I need to take my sunglasses off. Why didn’t I do something that simple? Needless to say, reviewing the shots I made on camera they looked good…through sunglasses. Later on the computer, they were exposed a little higher than I’d want them. Okay, lesson learned. The differences from a point and shoot to a D-SLR are pretty evident the more I use this camera.

Next up was the Sheila Marshall Band. Well, it was Sheila and her guitarist. The stage was huge with drums and all that. I’m guessing she is a rising star. Again, my country music database is limited. I know…Garth Brooks and…yeah. Oh well, hey…I heard that Britney Spears shaved her head…lol.

As Sheila started off her first song I remember that I needed to move closer to take better shots. I wanted to move, but I couldn’t. Her singing and her song was really good and it made me kind of forget about taking pictures, just that if I started moving then I would move away from the speakers that were carrying her song and it wouldn’t sound right. So I just pretty much stood there and enjoyed the music, snapping here and there and wishing that I had more megapixels on my camera so I could just crop and zoom to the pictures later on. I didn’t want to move and ruin the song.

She also gets bonus points for traveling and performing for the military, as she has done a couple of times. I did realize that the end was coming near. The heat and sun were really beating down on what audience there was, and just like BUD/S candidates they were slowly throwing in the towel one by one. I don’t know how you could walk away, but that’s just me. I finally, with lots of hesitation from my mind, force myself to walk up a little closer and grab some closer shots. The kit lens on this camera is pretty good optically, but I definitely need a little more reach.

She finally finished her performance, and I myself wanted to get a little shade. I also wanted to see if I missed any calls on my phone…I told my friends to contact me after lunch if they wanted to go to the gun show. After finishing up replying to messages and calls (though there were none for the gun show), I spotted Sheila and her guitarist behind some tables to sell their CDs. I didn’t know how long they were going to be there, as I had to dash to an ATM to grab money (I spent it on food earlier…go figure!) so I went up to see how much the CDs would be. They saw me taking pictures and asked if I had a website where the pictures would be. I didn’t answer the question really, mainly because I didn’t know where to go with it. Yes, I do have a site…but they also inquired if I was a professional photographer, which I am not. Not saying I suck at taking pictures, a browse through my Picasa album shows a lot of pictures that most people would be happy with. My pictures are all over, be it on people’s albums or websites, the Cole’s 2003-2004 Cruise Book or Glenn Beck’s website…but I am not a pro.

That, and they were more my “experiment” with my camera. Testing out my camera as much as I can. I do know that a majority of the pictures are decent, but them inquiring about the pictures made me really wish I just stepped closer for better shots and just enjoyed the CD later on.

A lady also came by and was inquiring about the CDs I think. Next thing I know, Sheila just decided to simply hand us her CDs. Now I really felt bad for taking her CD for free. She put on a good performance for a handful of people and I don’t think she made any money on her CDs after the performance. I’ve decided to really pore through the pictures that I have. I’m still doing it. I’ll send her probably two or three pictures full sized for her to use and I have uploaded the rest on my website and Picasa. Any picture she wants I’ll gladly send her. If she returns to the area anytime soon, I hope to take much better pictures afterwards. I’m also going to look around and see if she has any other CDs, I’ll buy those.
So taking that on cue, I decided I was probably done with the concerts now. I was fairly dehydrated. Though a stand that was selling iced tea got the better of me and a few minutes later with the last couple of bills I had left, I was slurping away happily with some iced tea. Deciding to give my friends a little more time, I went around a little more. The area was a whole lot more crowded now. Almost all the rides were running and I watched as everyone interacted in some way or another. The bomb robot was a pretty big hit.

Close to the police display, I noted a flat trailer with a band playing some Spanish music. Was this another concert I wasn’t aware of? The beat was lively and catchy…I just didn’t know what they were saying. So I watched for a little bit, fired off a few more shots and moved around. As I passed back and forth, it seemed like there was a different set of people up on that trailer performing. That was kind of weird to me.

Then one of the guys up there said something which sounded like it was patched in both Spanish and English, pretty much sounding like, “Hey Mesquite Police! You’d better come up here, we’re gonna start a riot!”…or something along those lines. I saw someone on the grass kind of come up and it looked like he had a concerned face and made a motion that the guy needed to quit saying stuff like that. At least that’s what it looked like to me. I spotted a few officers that were looking in our direction, trying to figure out what was going on. I kind of had a small thought that I probably shouldn’t be in the vicinity right now, but that was a light thought that wasn’t taken too seriously because I was kind of laughing a bit inside.

Eventually, I made yet another round to see another set of people up there. It wasn’t until then I noticed a small canopy booth about thirty yards away, facing them. There were three people seated there watching them with paper. Is this like some Spanish Idol or something? If that’s the case, then everything made a whole lot more sense. I stopped by over the police presentation area to learn a little bit more again, they were putting out some good info. After that, I checked my watch and my phone. Oh well, I don’t think I was gonna have the energy for the gun show. Time to head home! By the time I left the festival, I had seen a total of four Dodge Charger police cars. Looks like the testing was done and the Chargers were going to now start trickling into the Mesquite Police car fleet.

Back at home, after stripping away the hot clothes and gulping down a pitcher of water, I realized I was definitely sapped of energy and took it easy the rest of the day. By today, I decided to be clothed a little lighter. Mainly a sore, red and tender spot on the bottom back of my neck had emerged. I guess the combo of sun, sweat and a camera neck strap led to my neck’s current state. Oh well. So what’s up next? Well, Wayne’s daughter is getting married next weekend. There is also another festival next weekend. Then hopefully a little downtime, maybe? I want to get a lens with more reach soon.

Lisa’s wedding is coming up as well. She still wants me to video record her wedding. I have given my caveats, if she’s still asking then I’m pretty sure she gave it some thought. So know I will be doing video photography (I’m still taking my camera, of course) for her wedding. It’s almost like everyone thinks I’m a pro, lol. Oh well, the experience will be good. Photography has been good at rehabilitating me and I’ve gotten decent with it. We’ll see.

Also important photography…Glenn Beck is coming to town with his show, An Inconvenient Tour! Awwwww yeeeah! I’d better have my camera in competence by then! He will be at the Meyerson Symphony Center when he visits Dallas. Tickets go on sale tomorrow morning! If you want them, better get them…they sell pretty fast. This is the first time that I know of him coming to Dallas, so I don’t know how that’s going to be like…but if you want to see him, you’d better get those tickets right away. They don’t last long! Also, he has another special on Wednesday on CNN Headline News…Exposed: The Climate of Fear. It’s this Wednesday.

Okay, I need to get ready for work tomorrow…gotta think of more tools to buy (my supervisor brought all his tools with him, so I gotta fund for my own tools)…also gotta try to see what pictures I’m going to send Sheila…so I’m off!

Anyway, if you want to see it…

Pictures of the Real Texas Festival

Pictures of Amanda Graves

Pictures of Sheila Marshall

Bonus PS: Apple had better hurry up with that new OS…how is it going to take me nearly half an hour to upload my blog because my computer wants to crash. Add to it that MySpace is screwing up as well. Makes me really considering just blogging only on my website, sometimes it is just a hassle to blog on MySpace. Same with Windows…I’ll be glad when I’m finally done with Windows.

Not really in a happy sense either. I got an e-mail a couple of days ago about something that made me shake my head, but I wanted to verify that it was true before I said anything else. During the next three days, I have received multiple confirmations on this matter.

I am sorry to say that a chief that I knew who was on the Cole when I was onboard, GSEC Dave McCain, has suffered the loss of his daughter…Lauren…to the Virginia Tech shootings back on Monday. Currently, as far as I know, the only way I know of getting to him online is through his Navy Together We Served profile, which is like a Navy MySpace just far more private and restricted to us who have worn the uniform. I’m sure there will be other ways to contact if need be. I offer my condolences and prayers…sometimes the world can be a little too small despite it all.

Okay, so on to better stuff. Last weekend was an easy day for me though I did go to the gun show again with my buddy and coworker Don…he was looking for flashlights. I gave him a thorough rundown throughout the show of factors to be considered and what is often left out. I mean, what they put on the catalogs, websites and on their packaging should be looked at…but so do the things that aren’t listed either.

About two days ago there was a little bit of uncertainty to the ruggedness of my flashlights so I took my SureFire M3, my beloved light for about seven years now and tossed, threw, cartwheeled and whacked with a metal rod to end up bouncing painfully on a concrete floor. In the end, there are new scratches and my Pyrex lens even cracked but the light was going strong and that’s all he needed to see, lol. Oh well, I am going to probably retire this light in a few months…it has done me very well.

So just a few hours ago, uncertainty became joy. As I’ve said before, when I order things to be shipped to me…I have some of the worst luck when it comes to actually getting to me. I really do, everyone who has seen me in action…from Allen to Wayne…know I have the craziest misfortune more often than anyone else they know. Well, I was tracking an order and then it stopped suddenly. It worried me, but I kept my hopes up. I walk into the office in time to see Mr. Fedex with my box! I sign for it gleefully and I wait for Wayne to finish a business call on his phone and then I open it up. My new digital camera has arrived! Hopefully I am going to be posting up even better pictures than before. That’s a somewhat tough one, as my (now) backup camera did a wonderful job doing so. This camera is going to be my primary for a few months…there’s another camera I already have my eyes on, and it’s going to be my new primary when I get it and the one I have now for backup and general use. I say this because the only catch to this camera is that my evolving skills will probably begin to surpass this current camera as has happened with my (now) backup. But for now…rejoice! I’m going to start taking pictures today and hopefully in a few weeks I’ll have some photos off of that camera to show you!

What you read on the title is the question I got by a couple of coworkers this morning. I had been doing a lot of rounds picking up parts from various locations in the metroplex. This was their little joke for me…a joke of referencing me to the shooting that happened in Virginia Tech earlier this morning…I also say earlier this morning, because it wasn’t till later in the day that we got to see the magnitude of casualties that this would turn out ending up to be.

This isn’t the first time a joke like this has been put on me. One of the most well known ones was during the whole DC sniper incident about four years ago. Two guys randomly firing at people with a precision rifle, I’m sure most of you have heard of that. Well, it just so happened that anytime I had liberty, they would strike. Yet, if I was stuck onboard the ship on duty or if we were underway, nothing ever happened. Eventually, there was a shooting that occurred while we were underway and I (finally…ugh…) got “cleared” of my crimes. If you think this isn’t a joking manner, then you really don’t have much of a sense of humor and probably want to stop reading this because I may say something that you don’t want to hear later.

Before I continue, I also have to bring up the crazy storms that happened this past Friday. Three cloud rotations at once? That was crazy, two of them passed over downtown Dallas if my data was right. Could you imagine if it touched down? Dallas will have quite a bit of rebuilding to do. But here’s what I’m wondering about. Before the TV got knocked out (I’m guessing because the storms went over the TV station itself), they were talking about how dangerous these tornadoes were…because they would be hard to see, they would be rain-covered tornadoes.

Rain-covered tornadoes…in the 27+ years that I’ve been alive, I have never heard of a rain-covered tornado. That almost sounds like an evil Final Fantasy force…

Squall: “Watch out, team! Inside this cave we have to fight a Rain-Covered Tornado!”
Rinoa: “Yeah, that Rain-Covered Tornado will be hard to see if it’s at the squall line of the storm…get it? Squall? Ahahahahahahaha!”
Squall: “…idiot…”

So yeah, just had to throw that in there. That was quite a storm last Friday.

So eventually, the jokes of me being in Virginia began to become subdued especially when the casualty count went from 1 person dead to 21. While I have heard this for over a decade, from various incidents…whether it was turning on a TV to see breaking news when I was sitting in my desk at school, or trying to sort things out in my mind covered in water, blood and dirt while standing on the deck of the Cole with a rifle hours after our attack…I couldn’t help but just shake my head as I heard comments with the words “sudden[ly]” or “shocked”…”came out of nowhere…” or the like. People were taken by complete surprise it seems and cannot comprehend what tragic and horrible event just happened. It’s as if they were sitting down, glued to their computers and staring at the screen for almost three days straight and then realize that there’s a fire in their room, realizing only because their hands are melting off their arms.

Are you kidding me? While this is tragic because of the body count, I will still have to say I am more enflamed by what happened to the little Amish girls last year…but I’m not really leaning from one or another. That’s just more people dead.

Let’s get a good recap of what I know…I’m not going to worry about the body count, it has fluctuated and risen to alarming levels…it doesn’t matter to me. If only one person died, I’m already upset. My coworkers can say that they see me very troubled and sometimes contained in my own thoughts on the past school deaths resulting from crimes, no matter how many or who died. The facts may change in a few hours as more info starts to get out, but this analysis pretty much sums up what is current.

At least 32 people are dead from this shooting spree, appearing to be killed by the shooter’s two 9 mm pistols. Sadly, it looks like many of these students were lined up and shot.
Prior to this, there were two separate bomb threats at the university around the last two weeks. While not confirmed, the bomb threats may have been used to gauge the response times and procedures of university police.

The first shooting incident happened around 0715 local time of West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory. The second shooting occurred approximately two hours later in Norris Hall, an engineering building…which is roughly across the campus grounds. Entering the last building, the gunman chained the doors shut and moved from one classroom to another shooting students execution style, as the news is reporting it.

Many note that the shooter’s high killed-to-wounded ratio suggests the killer was skilled, knew what he was doing and was reasonably prepared. Police were still investigating the first shooting at the dorm when the other shootings occurred. Lots of counterterror classes talk of the use of diversionary tactics or secondary incidents to help maximize casualties, so many think the killing in the dormitory was meant as a diversion while the gunman moved on to his primary target, Norris Hall.

Unconfirmed reports identify the suspect as an Asian individual in his mid-20s. While people may cite the difficulty of trying to identify a suspect who probably blew his head wide open, the delay in identifying the suspect is because the intelligence community is running foreign and criminal intelligence traces on the shooter.

The President of Virginia Tech, has been commented as the attack was probably impossible to stop…I should note that there is circulation now of how he was pleased that a bill that would’ve had people bringing weapons on campus died a few months beforehand. Now before we get in a gun-in-school debate, let me stop it before it begins…mainly because this is a blog and not a discussion forum. I am not too comfortable for a bill like this to go through. You look at the age groups of most college students? Yeah, not only are at least a fourth of them still in their pathetic Emo Mode, most still have no grasp of the real world. Sorry if I’m looking down on you college folk, another reason why I’m not entertaining going to college any time soon. Give me a means to allow myself to be safe, then I’ll probably open books and sleep in class for one of you universities…but I’m digressing.

Do you know what it took for me to get my first gun? Not a lot, I had just turned 21 a few months before I did. Do you really think that the investigating authorities have enough to truly determine my intent? Nope, neither did I. But I had the money, followed the minimum requirements and I had my gun in a few minutes. Next thing was to get a concealed carry permit for Virginia. That required about $40-$50 bucks, fingerprints and my pistol qualifications in the Navy. The qualifications, I was told, shows I have had sufficient training to carry a gun concealed in most places in public. I’m sorry, but it’s true…I’ve done my line coaching time and have plenty of time behind the trigger and to observe others as well. Out of everyone of you that got qualified, about 90% of you I’m not confident in your other skills other than taking a safety off and firing two rounds into a stationary paper target from up to 15 yards away…and I don’t care if the ship was rocking, it was 40 degrees outside and the wind was blowing at 15 knots. You VBSS people, don’t be pounding your chests either. I laugh at more of you than those in that outfit I respect.

At least here in Texas, even I have to take a class but from what I hear the class isn’t really that thorough…just the basics. I am one who more than loves the right to bear arms, but I think that we would be better off if the person buying the arms has to go through a class to prove their proficient skill in firearms before buying a firearm. There are just many people out there that own firearms but I feel uncomfortable when they are handling it and I’m around. Now we talk about self-defense…I mean the only other true reason is for a sport shooting or hunting club in campus, some recreational shooting and that even requires a little bit of knowledge. Kind of like an airport, a school (college or other) should be a relatively safe haven for the general population. So I don’t know about just anybody with a concealed permit having their weapon on campus. On the flip side, if I drove by my former high school and saw people start shooting…almost too soon for police to be alerted and get involved, and I drive in and deal with the threat. I’ll be pounced upon for carrying and being armed in a gun free zone, well intentioned and all. Would I risk that, knowing that? If it’s going to save another person’s life, then I will. I am a greater-good kind of person, and I’ll hit on that in a little bit.

So the local police are defending their actions. Details aren’t out yet, and I’m not going to set about and criticize them for something they may or may not have done with me on the computer. Let’s see what we can work on. These are just my questions…they are not designed to put the law enforcement in a good nor bad light. My questions probably can be answered well, if so then so be it…my question was answered. If there is a better answer, we can hopefully spread it to all the schools in the country to be further prepared for the incident.

For the police, did they have the appropriate displacement of units throughout the campus to minimize what they feel was a diversion. The report of the dorm attack has some guessing it may have been used as a diversion…have we something to strengthen law enforcement and emergency service displacement should there be an actual diversion, or a secondary attack in the same location that may put first responders in a dangerous situation? It’s sadly kind of like a game of chess.

Secondly is the adequate training of the officers. I did see SWAT officers, but SWAT aren’t always the first ones on the scene…so what with the first responders? Do they have the appropriate weapons and training for an active shooter, barricade and hostage situation? Do we empower the officers to take aggressive action to stop incidents like this, or is the area one where an aggressive image looks bad? I say this because of a link I posted above about a bill that was shot down a few months ago pertaining to allowing weapons on campus, in a general sense. While I have said I have several issues with the bill, the response from the University President is the real thing I was paying attention to…it didn’t look good for those that have to use aggressive force if necessary. I didn’t particularly like his responses to the press today either. Like in the Navy, if you’re spending more time keeping yourself out of trouble instead of protecting your ship…well, you’re gonna suck when it comes to protecting the ship. Also, do all police that could serve as first responders have adequate first aid training and first aid equipment for such situations? I will admit my kit isn’t to where I want it, but it’s getting there.
For both the campus and the police, there is the question of locking down the whole campus vs a certain area. And the campus e-mail alerts. Are college students to that point where we can count on e-mail alerts that much? Do they sit on their computers for that long, or live through their Blackberries that much? Are there no general announcement procedures? I don’t know their capabilities…but the fact that a second shooting occurred about two hours after the first may have the campus looking deeper into their communications and response procedures. In the Navy, when a security breach took place, a security alert was sounded. Those not responding to the security alert got out of the way and stayed low. I feel the campus should’ve initially been like that, but that’s just my general assessment. I can’t say the Navy’s in the right either anymore…before, if a ship went to security alert, all ships on the same pier did. But now I guess we have a convenience discretion clause in there now. If the Captain is in civilian clothes and about to leave after a hard day of work (at 8:10 in the morning), then don’t go into security alert. If there’s an unidentified bag laying on the ground, let’s have the Captain go down there and rummage through it because it surely won’t be an IED. I’d love to see the look on his wife to know her husband, selected as the elite to command a Navy ship, died because he did a stupid thing like rummaging through an unknown bag because it was inconvenient for him. Gee, if I’m talking about it…it must’ve happened. Yeah, regardless of your rank there are idiots in the military…plenty. And yes, I’m digressing…but how many times do I have to warn people crap like this will happen and they just shrug or brush it off. Then something like 9/11 happens, or the Cole gets bombed, or school students get gunned down and people think it’s the biggest surprise in the universe. I only keep warning, because I actually care. Most people step off my ship and never look back. I keep at the very least a basic tabs of how the ship is doing and how her current crew is treating her (pathetically, is the word…sad to say).

So now on to the individual. School is a place to learn. A safe haven for education of our society’s future. That’s why we have oddball stuff like gun-free zones, and freedom for teenagers to wear clothes about sex and violence to exercise their free rights and all that retarded, self-centered, clueless stuff they want to get away with. We have people who think emo is the next greatest fad. Sad to say, all the killers that have been blowing away students have been emo…yeah, join the club. And yet you’re surprised when a school because an unchallenged, easily accessed killing field.

You think these things come out of nowhere? Some demon falls from the sky carrying every single weapon that should be banned by citizens? Oh yeah…you didn’t hear? Yeah, the media wants to talk about gun control again…at least a lot of people who comment have brains. Guess what? The campus was a gun-free zone, THAT did them a lot of good didn’t it? Yeah, I mean…now all we have to worry is about mass murders by the way of slapping people. This isn’t about gun control…or gun rights. This is about the safety that is supposed to be offered by school being violated by people who have an intent to kill. But that’s okay, it didn’t happen in YOUR campus so it doesn’t matter right. It only matters when you’re lined up against the wall and your friend next to you has a fraction of their body violently thrown into the wall by a bullet, and you know in less than five seconds the same thing happens to you…the end. Welcome to the real world…where your next destination is the morgue.

So what do we do about it? Number one…might help looking around. I know, it’s great living in your own little world isn’t it? Staying on MySpace for ten hours a day, changing your profile layout four times a day. Even going to get a glass of water, you shove earphones and play away on your iPod, throwing the world out. I mean, if you can’t hear the sound of gunshots getting louder and louder, it won’t affect you right? Yeah, turn your back…it’ll be okay. Some people try that with avalanches on the mountains…doesn’t seem to work well. Doing something to help others will really let you learn a lot about yourself, whereas most just buy things or try to find fun in everything. Start paying attention. There are ways of knowing about the world that you are in and you can listen to music…it’s called lower the volume.

Help…for individual students (or anyone, this could happen in a place like a mall)…help potential victims if you can. Shut down lights, throw objects to blockade. Hold your door open for someone stuck in a hallway. Call the police, give continuous reports. Stay calm. Pay attention. Stay out of danger, but don’t flee…if you have to, you have to…but you are more important to everyone if you can help put a stop.

Teachers and faculty staff, know the area. Help lock what needs to be locked and open what needs to be opened to contain and/or divert threats as well as bring in/evacuate others to safety. You are the adult, if you lose control and panic so will those around. You are the “parent” to the students, most parents would risk their lives for their kids. Maybe you didn’t expect that of yourself, but I suggest you seriously think about it. Know who’s willing to risk and who isn’t…those who want the least risk can help with moving those to safety, those who are willing to risk can stall a threat if need be.

First responders, mainly police…if you’re assigned specifically to school, this isn’t personal gratification time. This is the future that you have under your watch, if you can’t hold to the adage of “Protect and Serve” get reassigned or find a job of another profession. You are there to keep those students walking a straight line so they can function better in society. At the same token, you are going to have to often go into the polar opposite of how you live if the situation warrants it. If a gunshot echoes the halls of the school, you will have to bring out an aggressiveness that will quickly and decisively stop a threat. As I have stated before, if I pass by and I watch a shooting start at a school, I will move to stop the threat. Those that really know me know this does not mean I will level the school down with every last bullet I have. On the contrary I have been known to give every benefit of the doubt, though a line has been drawn in the ground I will…if possible…put my back against the proverbial wall if necessary. But the moment that line has been crossed…that is it, I will deal with you right then and right there. I will provide my assistance if need be, just one of the few citizens that mind their own business but care and look past myself in those situations.

How many of you know how to control bleeding, shock, CPR and so forth? That’s good stuff to know, whether it’s a shooting incident, your friend choking on lunch or maybe in the future your first child tries to swallow a marble. How about talking with general people, not just friends…but actually talking to people? What if you have to call 911? Not only are you speaking to someone you don’t know, you’re probably in a stressful situation. Can you convey the info accurately and efficiently? Besides, the news now broadcasts 911 tapes sometimes…want to sound like a fool on TV and radio?

Why is it looked down on to know how to keep yourself safe and have the means to enhance that ability? You’re better off being disfigured and paralyzed in court instead of decisively meeting the action. I’ll never understand that. I’ll bring this up again…about a year ago or so I brought up the term, “Do what makes you happy.” That’s retarded.

If I drove by Poteet and saw someone shooting and I did what makes me happy, I’d go to the Sonic across the street and order a Hot Fudge Oreo Milkshake and video the violence with my camcorder. Does you a lot of good, doesn’t it? See how quickly this self-centered piece of crap for advice can go downhill? My only true beef with libertarian thinking, though with discipline it’s not that big a deal. That’s why I believe in “Do what is right to do.” In the end, more people are generally happy. That also puts the decision on logic instead of feeling, where feeling fluctuate and change from time to time, person to person…which is useless in a general feeling.

Or just turn up your iPod again and enjoy meddling in your virtual world where you have nothing to do with nobody, nobody knows or cares about you. Then one day you may face a tragedy and the worst happens to you. What? You dying? Nope…you dying, and you can’t be identified quickly because you and everyone else were so self-centered that nobody really knows who you are…and they don’t care for that matter.

Quit being surprised and shocked…pretty much all these tragedies had warnings beforehand. Don’t think it’s inconceivable…our society of emo-ness, individual feelings and permissiveness helped nurture this dark nature. So face the product of your actions…you must’ve wanted it, because you made it. Oh, you didn’t want it? So…what are WE (that means YOU help, not stand and watch us) going to do to make it better?

I have noticed a growing number of articles abound such as this article that seem to subtly apply that a man’s “utilitarian” contribution to society is becoming less and less relevant. Hmmm… If that’s the case, the manufacturers of those blow up dolls or gynoids like in Ghost In the Shell 2: Innocence will be making a huge profit, lol. But seriously, I don’t know how since I still an laughing, don’t we have better things to than this? We now have laser vision correction…can we work on repairing the ears for those, like me, who have reduced hearing abilities? If we’ll work on novel issues like in this article, can we also come up with new digestive tracts so I can have a mouth in my hands to eat? Or at least eye sockets so I can be like than weird monster at the end of the hallway in Pan’s Labyrinth for Halloween? Sheesh.