Patterico's Pontifications

7/20/2012

Fallout From Today’s Shooting

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:23 pm



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The Tea Party guy blamed by ABC News for the shooting, despite the shooter being 24 and the Tea Party guy being in his 50s, gives an interview to Breitbart.com:

“It was freaky,” said Holmes, describing his reaction when ABC News speculated that he was the culprit who entered a crowded theater and opened fire on dozens of innocent men, women, and children. He disconnected his telephone and says that he is worried about members of his family who might be contacted by the media.

ABC News has since retracted and apologized, but I don’t think that’s going to be enough. How about a huge lawsuit?

Most of you have probably heard about this blog post by a woman who barely survived a shooting in Toronto last month:

I can’t get this odd feeling out of my chest. This empty, almost sickening feeling won’t go away. I noticed this feeling when I was in the Eaton Center in Toronto just seconds before someone opened fire in the food court. An odd feeling which led me to go outside and unknowingly out of harm‘s way. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around how a weird feeling saved me from being in the middle of a deadly shooting.

. . . .

I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders’ faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don’t know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath. For one man, it was in the middle of a busy food court on a Saturday evening.

I say all the time that every moment we have to live our life is a blessing. So often I have found myself taking it for granted. Every hug from a family member. Every laugh we share with friends. Even the times of solitude are all blessings. Every second of every day is a gift. After Saturday evening, I know I truly understand how blessed I am for each second I am given.

I feel like I am overreacting about what I experienced. But I can’t help but be thankful for whatever caused me to make the choices that I made that day. My mind keeps replaying what I saw over in my head. I hope the victims make a full recovery. I wish I could shake this odd feeling from my chest. The feeling that’s reminding me how blessed I am. The same feeling that made me leave the Eaton Center. The feeling that may have potentially saved my life.

In a horrible and bitter irony, she was one of the shooting victims today who died. Her brother remembers her here. Video of her here.

190 Responses to “Fallout From Today’s Shooting”

  1. I haven’t read all the stories but I assume the left is still desperately trying to hang this on the Tea Party somehow. I think one of the commenters linked a Breitbart.com posting saying the guy is a registered Democrat, but I think I’ll hold off on that and see how it plays out.

    Patterico (feda6b)

  2. That is so spooky about Jessica Ghawi, almost like this horrible death was her destiny.

    Why??

    Patricia (e1d89d)

  3. Excellent round-up

    JD (318f81)

  4. Great news!

    NBC reported that the “fiancé” who ran out and left his baby on the floor of the theatre later proposed to the baby’s mother while she was in the hospital being treated for her shrapnel wounds. Apparently she accepted. There was no word on whether they were signing up for the Obama gift registry.

    elissa (280618)

  5. I would think a lawsuit would better be about negligence rather than slander. I would think a few lawyers might be beating his door down. ABC might want to settle out of court.

    Gerald A (b00ac1)

  6. Brian Ross’s head on a pike should suffice.

    Icy (31a7c1)

  7. ____________________________________________

    An odd feeling which led me to go outside and unknowingly out of harm‘s way. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around how a weird feeling saved me from being in the middle of a deadly shooting

    To me it’s a given that some people — probably due to unique and very sensitive brain chemistry — have the ability to detect electrical impulses emanating from the minds of other people who may be a good distance away. So that woman in Toronto probably honed in on the thought waves (and malicious ones at that) radiating from the shooter. And please don’t laugh.

    Think of that phenomenon as a human version of a cell phone. IOW, manmade devices can pick up signals (and, in turn, a person’s voice) sent from another manmade device (ie, a cell phone), held by a person on the other side of town. So if artificial objects created by mere mortals can do something like that, there’s no reason to believe that mother nature (vis a vie the amazing complexity that is the human being, and its creation thereof) isn’t just as clever, tricky and phenomenal.

    Mark (a346be)

  8. I was reading twitter links re: the massacre today and some apparent hoaxes re: Holmes’ internet connections are already in the mix, so be warned:

    http://www.blottr.com/breaking-news/online-warnings-batman-premiere-shooting-allegedly-appear-9gag-website

    Here’s a rebuttal:

    http://mashable.com/2012/07/20/9gag-hoax/

    Interesting potential Anonymous connection.

    *Note: I don’t know of the reliability of either of these two sources, so take it with a grain of salt.

    All I do know is that police are saying that Holmes has no apparent internet footprint. You’d think they’d know if he’d said something online, and you’d think it would have been leaked to MSM. But this exists only in the blogosphere; which is not to say that it’s false, but could be and probably is suspect.

    Brandon (d777af)

  9. I am beyond furious.

    How many times have occupy types been linked to violence. I mean besides our favorite occupy-linked domestic terrorist, there are… well, i sketch out my thoughts over here.

    If we are going to link movements to violence, then occupy would deserve it long before the Tea Party. And is the media really blind to this? No, I don’t believe they can be this blind.

    Aaron "Worthing" Walker (23789b)

  10. Just want to remind everyone that there is absolutely NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that this shooter was politically motivated AT ALL.

    Icy (31a7c1)

  11. #4- I don’t find the humor in this situation that you do. Shall I make a joke about that person potentially being a Romney contributor??? Nah. I don’t joke about national tragedies.

    tye (e165c5)

  12. Icy,

    When I stated:

    Interesting potential Anonymous connection.

    I wasn’t referring to Holmes, but to the apparent hoax that suggests he had made an online threat.

    Not sure if that’s what you’re referring to as finding a political motive.

    Nonetheless, none of what I linked has much value apart from the observation that some are making wild speculations already, and some are actually creating false sources for such speculation. It’s so easy to do on the internet.

    Brandon (d777af)

  13. tye – No report from FBI or police yet that Holmes was not working for OFA. What are they hiding?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  14. tye – I’m not suggesting Holmes was working for OFA, merely noting there has been no report from the FBI or police saying he was not.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  15. _____________________________________________

    NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that this shooter was politically motivated AT ALL.

    By the same token, you can say that the new Batman movie, and the series in general, has absolutely no political undertones, or that it won’t tweak the gut biases of any fan of the movie. But, in reality, and even though “Batman” is pure fiction, there nonetheless are some political/ideological dynamics below the surface of the movie, in the concept of Batman versus The Joker. One of the writers of the original Batman character said as much.

    If Holmes was so caught up in the Batman series, or enough of a follower of them that he liked the idea of his taking on the identity of the Joker, that suggests the story tweaked his biases. Such a reaction by its very nature is closely related to the way that daily life for many people can easily switch on people’s political instincts.

    Mark (a346be)

  16. “NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that this shooter was politically motivated AT ALL.”

    Exactly, if Holmes was not working for OFA, why can’t they just say so?

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  17. #4- I don’t find the humor in this situation that you do. Shall I make a joke about that person potentially being a Romney contributor??? Nah. I don’t joke about national tragedies.
    Comment by tye — 7/20/2012 @ 11:40 pm

    — Ironically, developing a sense of humor could, should & would do you so much good!

    Icy (31a7c1)

  18. Somebody seems to be slip slidin’ away.

    Icy (31a7c1)

  19. No, Brandon, I was not referring to anyone specifically; just noting that the reaction to the ABC News fiasco by SOME on the right has been to engage in the same type of unsubstantiated rumor mongering. It’s dumb. Media Matters is least effective when they’ve got nothing and feel forced to invent material, rather than having it handed to them on a silver platter.

    Icy (31a7c1)

  20. Wow that is spooky. Seriously spooky. Very sad.

    Harrison (975823)

  21. Contact your local ABC station. Politely and briefly explain the Brian Ross matter, that you know he doesn’t work for them, but that he does appear on their news programs. Ask that they add their voice as an affiliate to the complaints about Ross’s dangerous lapse in professionalism.

    Tregonsee (9989ec)

  22. Why would anyone care if he were working for OFA.

    tye (2dd0b7)

  23. Or do you mean Obama, daley? Because yesterday you swore you weren’t blaming Obama even though now you’ve expressed two arguments to the contrary. And you’re normally oh so truthful.

    tye (2dd0b7)

  24. Since tye equates silence with assent, I wish to go on record as disagreeing with his comments on this post, on prior posts, and on any future posts, retroactively and going forward to the end of time.

    Pious Agnostic (ee2c24)

  25. 24- i think conservatives are great people and would make great presidents … but you disagree.

    tye (2dd0b7)

  26. Again with the lying, tye. Are you hard-wired to do so?

    JD (459580)

  27. Pious Agnostic – please remember that tye is just in search of honest, real debate.

    JD (459580)

  28. That’s right tye. Because you said it, I am now questioning whether or not all conservatives are great people and if all of them would make great presidents.

    Your work here is gone, scamper off now, would you?

    Pious Agnostic (ee2c24)

  29. 16. “NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that this shooter was politically motivated AT ALL.”

    Exactly, if Holmes was not working for OFA, why can’t they just say so?

    Comment by daleyrocks — 7/21/2012 @ 12:01 am

    An excellent point. And if I can tack on to it, if this isn’t the James Holmes who was organizing for OFA, shouldn’t Brian Ross of all people have suspected it?

    Brian Ross? WTFO!

    The headline should be, “John Doe accuses wrong Joe Sixpack.”

    Steve57 (65d29f)

  30. Charlie Cooke has a post up at NRO on the misguided calls for gun control.

    As tho monster’s care about laws(e.g., POTUS). If a half-dozen viewers had been carrying do you suppose he’d have been found reloading in his car?

    gary gulrud (dd7d4e)

  31. he could be a ‘lone wolf’ OFA, or just hiding his digital footprint, note how hard it’s been to identify all of Kimberlin’s minions,

    narciso (ee31f1)

  32. Just want to remind everyone that there is absolutely NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that this shooter was politically motivated AT ALL.

    The most important and reliable evidence isn’t available yet because it’s in the loon’s apartment surrounded by explosives. They’re still working on getting in there safely.

    As I write this, there is a news conference going on about the apartment. They haven’t gone in yet, but they’re hoping to in the next hour.

    QuadGMoto (3eb042)

  33. Anita, I am so sorry for your terrible loss and awed by your loving faith.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  34. 24.Since tye equates silence with assent, I wish to go on record as disagreeing with his comments on this post, on prior posts, and on any future posts, retroactively and going forward to the end of time.
    Comment by Pious Agnostic — 7/21/2012 @ 6:00 am

    Second that, with possibile revocation only by specific new declaration.

    Mayor Nutter in Philly has gone the “we’ve got to get control of the gun situation” theme.

    IF it turns out that Holmes suffers from a mental disorder like Loughner, it would be more reasonable IMO to revisit thinking and law about options for handling people with mental illness who are deemed a violence risk by professionals, family, close friends.

    But he may be lucid and motivated with specific intent that we do not know yet. If he does have schizophrenia, his earlier years of high academic achievement might have been before the full onset. Pure speculation- perhaps after he gaduated he could not get a job because his interviews were so awkward with early symptoms that progressed after enrolling in grad school.
    Also, people with bipolar/manic-depressive disorder can become psychotic at times when in one of the extremes. I could see someone going into a manic phase with psychotic features becoming obsessed with some need to do something like this and work on it “feverishly” to accomplish it.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  35. Now all these people know how the Israelis feel 24/7.

    glenn (877ee1)

  36. Saturday starts like a scalded tyena! Yay!

    Colonel Haiku (b61252)

  37. ____________________________________________

    Mayor Nutter in Philly has gone the “we’ve got to get control of the gun situation” theme.

    He’s one of the few, if only, public figures in America who is willing to be refreshingly candid about an aspect of criminality that has remained far too intractable for decades. He’d have really gone the full mile if he had also noted that it isn’t race per se that is closely attached to the problem, but the fact that the troublemakers he’s excoriating emanate from communities where around 90-plus percent of the populace is into dyed-in-the-wool liberalism.

    washingtontimes.com, August 2011:

    Mayor Michael A. Nutter, telling marauding black youths “you have damaged your own race,” imposed a tougher curfew Monday in response to the latest “flash mob” — spontaneous groups of teens who attack people at random on the streets of the city’s tourist and fashionable shopping districts.

    “Take those God-darn hoodies down, especially in the summer,” Mr. Nutter, the city’s third black mayor, said in an angry lecture aimed at black teens. “Pull your pants up and buy a belt ‘cause no one wants to see your underwear or the crack of your butt.”

    “If you walk into somebody’s office with your hair uncombed and a pick in the back, and your shoes untied, and your pants half down, tattoos up and down your arms and on your neck, and you wonder why somebody won’t hire you? They don’t hire you ‘cause you look like you’re crazy,” the mayor said. “You have damaged your own race.”

    And while the following behavior can’t necessarily be equated with a political stance, it’s more likely that a person of the left instead of the right will have sympathies that are peculiarly subversive. Liberals are notorious for shedding tears for the bad guy, for the bad situation, for the bad society, if only because they have a knack for transposing good and bad. Or because they think that giving a million benefits of the doubt to the underdog — whether he’s really an underdog or not — is a sign of one’s compassion, humanity, tolerance and sophistication.

    denver.cbslocal.com: One high school friend said Holmes always rooted for the “bad guys” in superhero movies, which he found odd.

    Mark (a346be)

  38. Other than Nutter stating the obvious and giving helpful advise to the clueless, he’s another liberal nutter. And he can kiss my Republican ass.

    Colonel Haiku (b61252)

  39. Speaking as someone who has dealt with mental illness in my family, it is very heart rending to have a family member committed involuntarily. It can be done but it is difficult to go to family court, stand up and have written into the record that your sister is manic depressive. It is like a weight on your soul that never goes away. It has been over a decade and I still hurt because this was the only way to help my sister. She was helped and lives a good life now. I hope no one ignores or rationalizes mental illness in their family. Please make the difficult and painful choice and get them help even if you must use the courts to force that help. Although I still hurt, I know that I did the right thing and I am still close with my sister. Even if she hadn’t forgiven me I would never regret forcing her to get the help she needed. Please please do not ignore mental illness or believe that someone in that state can help themselves. It is possible to get them help before it is too late. Difficult but not impossible.

    TexasMom2012 (cee89f)

  40. I’ve been thinking about why Holmes might have told the authorities he had booby-trapped his apartment. Is is possible that he views himself as so smart that it wouldn’t be satisfying to blow up unsuspecting law enforcement? Perhaps he wants the “satisfaction” of pitting his knowledge and skills against a forewarned bomb squad. If so, I assume his goal is to kill the best of the best.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  41. I guess it’s also possible he decided that he had killed enough people, but somehow that doesn’t seem likely.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  42. DRJ–after yesterday morning one doesn’t want to jump to any conclusions about names. Does your earlier special mention of condolence refer to “our” Anita? I saw that a woman by that name gave a heartfelt and loving statement about her family’s loss to the AP.

    elissa (c20277)

  43. elissa- I was just going to ask the same question about our Anita.

    MayBee (fb7121)

  44. It’s hard to know exactly how Holmes told the police he’d booby trapped his apartment.

    He could have said, “I’ve booby trapped my apartment” or
    “You have a surprise waiting for you at my apartment”
    or
    “Has anybody opened my apartment door yet?”

    MayBee (fb7121)

  45. this was mass murder a performance art I can’t really think of anything to compare it to

    things are getting freaky out there

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  46. *as* performance art I mean

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  47. Yes, happs. That’s exactly what it was.

    MayBee (fb7121)

  48. With respect to why he warned the cops about the booby traps and trip wires here is my theory. I suspect that he did not ever plan to survive the shooting himself and wanted to go out in a big blaze of glory with a record setting death toll. Done. Into oblivion. When, instead, he was prevented from re-entering the theatre with more ammo and was captured alive in the parking lot he may have been lucid enough to know he’d have to face the music in a very different way. Maybe at that point he just decided to spare his own family even greater shame and disappointment by attempting to somewhat “limit” the casualties.

    elissa (c20277)

  49. My speculation on the booby-trap warning is less charitable…I think it may not have been a warning at all, but a slip borne out of curiosity at the unexpectedly large police turnout to the theatre.

    If he’s the type of person to bring into reality, malevolent narcissistic fantasy plans, to commit such a crime in the first place, he’s the type of person to be curious about things happening that he did not expect, and tip his hand.

    ‘Well didn’t apartment bombs go off”, or how big was the damage at my apartment…. or other announcement or query or even brag.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  50. “‘Well didn’t apartment bombs go off”, or how big was the damage at my apartment…. or other announcement or query or even brag.”

    SarahW and elissa – Do we know whether it was an inadvertent warning as Sarah suggests or a deliberate warning as elissa suggests? I have not followed or seen anything to know whether we have that level of detail available.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  51. Last report I heard was that the cops are going to blow the booby traps rather than try to defuse them. Too “sophisticated”, which, I suppose, means interlocking trigger devices and possibly even anti-tampering devices.
    1. You have to be smart to do this stuff.
    2. You have to be smart to do this stuff without blowing yourself up. You have to try this stuff, over and over, so he probably had some area and time where he was trying it out with dummy explosives and either meters or just blasting caps.
    3. You have to be patient to put this all together. Means his nutcasery was not recent. Some folks are talking about withdrawing from school being a triggering event and that was supposedly a month ago. Not enough time, IMO, to cook this up with all that involves.
    4. For some people, the planning and complication of the thing, and its anticipation, are a hell of a lot of fun. Anything in retrospect which might be a hint he was having entirely too much fun?
    The VaTech guy was so weird that some girls didn’t want to come to classes he was in and a prof arranged a code word call the cops for her secretary when the guy visited her office.
    This guy ever creep anybody out?

    Richard Aubrey (0aac79)

  52. no, daley. We’re just day-after speculating on the basis of what the police chief has hinted at publicly. I’ve not seen anywhere that the actual words spoken by Holmes on the topic of his apt. have been divulged. Obiously it makes a difference.

    elissa (c20277)

  53. elissa – Thanks. Both interesting theories.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  54. TexasMom

    Speaking as someone who has dealt with mental illness in my family, it is very heart rending to have a family member committed involuntarily.

    In most states, unless a mentally ill person is demonstrating dangerous behavior to themselves or others, it’s quite impossible to have them committed. Police and other agencies often have very strict criteria for what they will consider dangerous behavior.

    I had a mentally ill man living in a home I was sharing with several other men about 15 years ago. The man had gone off his meds for about a month and was hallucinating at night – making all kinds of noise. None of us could get any sleep, and he would not go to the hospital voluntarily.

    We called the police, but they refused to take him, even though he had burned his bed mattress with a cigarette butt. They didn’t consider this dangerous enough behavior. Finally after another two weeks of this I was able to convince them that he needed to be “5150d” (as the police call it). And he was doing actually less dangerous behavior than the last time they were called – but he wouldn’t leave the bathroom for hours on end.

    People think that if a person is mentally ill then it should be easy to prevent them from committing terrible crimes. It’s not always the case. If the police have to wait until they do something dangerous before they can force them to get the help they need, then no wonder we have crazy people committing violent crimes for the first time without anyone knowing that they were dangerous.

    But at the same time, people who have mental illnesses have rights. You can’t just incarcerate them for no reason – and putting them in a locked mental health facility is incarceration.

    Here in California – the local mental health authorities have a very loose measurement for when a mentally ill person needs help. They call it the “MacArthur Park Rule” and it goes something like this:

    If a person has the wherewithal to find a bench in MacArthur Park on which to sleep without disturbing others; he/she does not need mental health services.

    I’m serious. That’s the mentality. The mentally ill are not even encouraged to seek services, and the programs that exist are already terribly impacted.

    I’m all for cutting budgets for a lot of government programs, but I do not believe the mentally ill get the funding that is necessary for the programs they need.

    If one looks at the loads of money that go towards lucrative programs for the developmentally disabled compared to that which goes towards the mentally ill, there’s no real comparison.

    The state developmental services departments, which they call “Regional Centers” have money coming out of their orifices, with big fancy new office buildings and the like, but mental health gets piddly little. And you don’t find mentally retarded and autistic people out massacring crowds of people. Violent crimes by the developmentally disabled are very rare.

    The disparity needs some attention – and I won’t even go into the fiasco of trying to find services for people who have both a mental illness and a developmental disability – but I will give you a hint: One state agency believes it’s the other state agency’s responsibility and vice versa. They usually end up getting kicked out of developmental services into DMH where there’s less funding to deal with them.

    The reason for the disparity is in my view due to more lobbying among families with developmentally disabled children – and the fact that DDs start in childhood, while mental illness tends to start later in adolescence or adulthood. And when the state budget needs to be cut, mental health services are usually the first to go.

    I believe it was 3 or 4 years ago when Mental Health received a huge cut in funding in California, and many mentally ill people were released from services such as nursing home care and acute care onto the streets.

    California is going to go ahead and build a high speed train costing billions of dollars when they haven’t fixed the very real problems that already exist – thinking that this will actually make money. I’m surprised there hasn’t been a major mental health related incident in California recently. But it’s going to happen, sadly.

    Oh, and of course, guess what state Holmes is from – you guessed it, California.

    But not every state has the same problems as California. I also worked in Pennsylvania’s mental health system for a number of years, and I found their programs to be much better funded and better run altogether.

    Brandon (d777af)

  55. Mother-in-law apartment

    pdbuttons (1ad69e)

  56. Well, I’m glad I didn’t jump on the “Holmes was a registered Democrat” deal at Breitbart.com. They have retracted.

    I guess they’re saying that they never said Holmes was definitely the registered Democrat they were talking about. But then, I believe Brian Ross didn’t definitively say the Tea Party guy was the guy he was talking about, either.

    Both were, I think, victims of the “gotta get it out quick” mentality that prevails in stories like this. What each side should do is: apply the same level of scrutiny that they would apply to a story that HURTS their side rather than HELPING it.

    The failure to do so is a problem with a partisan polarized media.

    Patterico (feda6b)

  57. I think he’ll turn out to be a schizophrenic. Schizophrenics don’t act from ideology, they act from disease processes.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  58. These mass shootings are almost always the product of a mental illness and not a political ideology. Doesn’t stop people from trying to hang it on the Tea Party every. single. time.

    Patterico (feda6b)

  59. granny flat for rent third floor walk-up no pets

    dishwasher

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  60. 17th and Peoria, happyfeet?

    Not a great neighborhood.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  61. Blaming the Tea Party is just the newest fad. The old standby is always to blame guns and argue for more gun control.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  62. Available for rent during Olympics
    Airy man-cave with view
    possible rent reduction in exchange for light housekeeping

    pdbuttons (1ad69e)

  63. DRJ, the ghouls at Brady Campaign/VPC are doing just that.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  64. I’m not sure I agree that mass murders are almost always the product of mental illness. That may be true, but it could also be that something in the perpetrator’s personal life happened to trigger them to give up or get even. Perhaps a financial, emotional, or personal setback in a fragile or especially emotional individual.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  65. “Doesn’t stop people from trying to hang it on the Tea Party every. single. time.”

    Patterico – Then you have thread jacker tye, chokin’ his chicken faster than Fred Willard, demanding to see Mitt Romney’s tax returns

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  66. LEAVE FREDDY ALONE

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  67. !

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  68. With respect to mental illness, the criteria under 5150 W&I are: 1. hazard to self (i.e. suicidal); 2. hazard to others (i.e. homicidal); or 3. unable to care for self (e.g. “MacArthur Park Rule” or, locally, unable to eat if hungry and food placed in front of them). These rules came about following some (probably few) abuses of the system 40+ years ago. The good side is that your kids can’t easily have you committed so that they can get your money; the bad side is that some really disturbed individuals are walking among us.

    roy in nipomo (d31d1e)

  69. Mr. Feets – Freddy and Pee Wee both paid good money to sully the floors of their respective venues in peace.

    daleyrocks (bf33e9)

  70. true dat

    but apparently not good enuff

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  71. From reading what he did and not what’s being said about him: He is a sadist, with no compunction of killing even babies. He is an extremely flamboyant exhibitionist and fantasist who adopted a Joker persona. How much he believes it …?

    Shizophrenic? Too simple. He could probably meet every criterion of every axis of DSM-IV. Just pick the pages you want to read.

    My diagnosis. He’s a killer. A mad dog.

    nk (875f57)

  72. roy in nipomo, Clayton Cramer spent some time researching this issue and could find no documented eamples of abuse in modern times. Doesn’t there were none but they are difficult to cite.

    SPQR (f892fa)

  73. Dad’s windshield sticker hints of prior troubles, which might explain the mother’s reaction:

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9417789/Batman-shooting-suspect-James-Holmes-the-making-of-a-sick-Joker.html

    on the back windscreen of what is believed to be the car of Mr Holmes in the family driveway is a sticker that reads: “To Write Love on Her Arms”. That is the name of a charity that works on depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  74. Just to lighten the mood… take a piece of Mr. Parker’s Band…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MlLG0_Qgp8

    Colonel Haiku (3aaab3)

  75. Interesting link, SarahW. The organization posted this poignant response.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  76. nothin’ from nothin;, but Skunk Baxter was an amazing guitarist.

    Colonel Haiku (3aaab3)

  77. I remember when that guy shot Reagan my parents’ BFFs down the street were friends with the Hinckley seniors who were living in… wait for it… Colorado

    I was a wee lad but my impression was the parents were as unconnected to the killy bits as I was

    flabbergasted they were

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  78. also Jodie Foster was involved

    but that doesn’t appear to be the case in this incident

    so far

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  79. From SarahW’s link:

    For Miss Fonzi, there was a particularly chilling twist to last week’s horrors. For at midnight on Friday, music started to blare from the apartment upstairs.

    She and her boyfriend called the non-emergency police line to report the noise nuisance. But when there was no response, she went upstairs to rap on the door to ask for the music to be turned off.

    “It was particularly strange as we had never heard a squeak from that apartment before,” she said. “I knocked on the door, but there was no answer.

    “Then I noticed that it was not properly shut and I almost opened it, but something made me stop at the last moment. I thank God I did.”

    For behind the door was the trip wire that was intended to blow up the apartment. Police now believe that Holmes had set the music on a timer in the hope of eliciting a complaint to police and luring officers totheir death.

    It was at that hour that Holmes was conducting his rampage as “The Joker”.

    If his door was “not properly shut,” does that mean it was ajar? That, coupled with the repetitive music blaring from his apartment for the first time, makes me wonder if his booby-traps were aimed at his neighbors or police investigating a nuisance complaint more than the police at the shooting. Perhaps that’s why he felt free to tell the police about it — because it was a trap that had already been sprung.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  80. lot of sick puppies out there. I’d sure like to find out who opened the theater door for the killer. He had help.

    Colonel Haiku (3aaab3)

  81. There is so much information out there about this tragedy and it is so hard to know what is true and has been confirmed. Several articles have referred to Holmes’ mother as a nurse so I think that’s likely. But somewhere over the past two days I read that she is a psychiatric nurse. If that is the case it could also be an explanation for the sticker that is described above being on their car.

    elissa (c20277)

  82. 74- I did not know birds are Shriners!
    Dig the armadillo.
    Thanks Colonel.

    mg (44de53)

  83. Thanks for pointing to their response, DRJ.

    I agree with them that help is hard to seek, and too hard to get.

    I don’t know if Holmes himself or the some one in the family sought services of that organization, (though given all that has happened I suspect that is the case.)

    I’m thinking that anyone who need such services should not be able to have weapons and ammunition shipped to their home and work. That weapons ownership or purchase should be suspended until the patient is able to establish stability and/or some very overriding need.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  84. Well, I’m glad I didn’t jump on the “Holmes was a registered Democrat” deal at Breitbart.com. They have retracted.

    How embarrassing to fall into the same trap ABC did.

    I’m glad Patterico was wiser.

    His supposed ideology, whatever it turns out to be, is not relevant to this story. He was obviously crazed. Figuring out how to prevent another tragedy like this does not require us to look for others with whatever politics or religion he turns out to have (if any). That’s lazy.

    Dustin (73fead)

  85. Colonel Haiku,

    According to the Denver Post and the press conference I saw, the police believe Holmes was the person in the theater who opened the door:

    The lone suspect in the shooting had a ticket to the midnight premiere of the newest Batman film and entered along with the crowd, investigators believe.

    Then he walked out of the theater’s emergency door unnoticed, investigators said, propping it open. The suspect, later identified as Holmes, allegedly returned through the same door minutes later, clad in black ballistic gear, and opened fire.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  86. self-harmers by and large don’t hurt other people

    it’s kinda their thing

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  87. Witness: SOMEONE let gunman inside theater…

    “As I was sitting down to get my seat, I noticed that a person came up to the front row, the front right, sat down, and as credits were going, it looked like he got a phone call. He went out toward the emergency exit doorway, which I thought was unusual to take a phone call. And it seemed like he probably pried it open, or probably did not let it latch all the way. As soon as the movie started, somebody came in, all black, gas mask, armor, and threw a gas can into the audience, and it went off, and then there were gunshots that took place.”

    http://www.wkyc.com/news/article/252995/396/Witness-Someone-let-gunman-inside-Colorado-movie-theater-

    Colonel Haiku (3aaab3)

  88. elissa, that is an interesting detail I have not read – about her being a psychiatric nurse. If that is the case it just seems all the more tragic that her son should end up as he has.

    TMZ is saying the profile of the red=haired person thought possibly to be the shooter checks out.

    In one of the photographs his eyes are extremely dilated. Police are saying he took 100mg of vicodin (which I presume is referring to the oxycodone dosage as it is a combination pill). If that dosage is referring to the oxycodone, that’s between 10 and 20 pills in the common 5mg and 10mg strengths. His neighbors report spotting him smoking marijuana outside.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  89. Col–it has been confirmed by witnesses that Holmes opened it himself. He bought a ticket, sat in the theater near the front, feigned that he got a phone call and left seemingly “as a courtesy” to other viewers. He was in a costume. As he left thru the exit door he jammed something there to keep the door from closing entirely so he could get back in. His car was parked right outside. He changed into all black and brought in his shotgun and a rifle on his back. The rest is history. I believe this is an accurate representation of what witnesses told police. Anyone please correct if I have missed something. missed

    elissa (c20277)

  90. Maybe he did… and maybe he didn’t…

    Colonel Haiku (3aaab3)

  91. welcome, mg!

    Colonel Haiku (3aaab3)

  92. Happyfeet, yes they do. I know a cutter who ended up taking it out on her family. She was given a borderline personality diagnosis, but was a very mean drunk.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  93. Hope that’s correct, DRJ and elissa… hate to think there’s another sick fook out there on the loose.

    Colonel Haiku (3aaab3)

  94. Happyfeet, but I take your point, they probably don’t end up suiciding by cop or taking out food courts and theaters full of people in some grandiose or psychotic psychodrama. ALl the same it doesn’t seem like a good idea to let unstable people purchase weapons.

    SarahW (b0e533)

  95. Sorry for the duplicate info I added at 6:08 while others were posting about the same thing.

    elissa (c20277)

  96. reefer madness, sarahW…

    Colonel Haiku (3aaab3)

  97. Where is teh Sammy Finkleman when we need him teh mostest?!?!

    Colonel Haiku (3aaab3)

  98. yes I agree Sarah but if unstable peoples are purchasing weapons it’s a very very good idea for the stable people to do so

    that doesn’t appear to have happened here

    it’s all very killeen luby’s just without the tasty salmon squares and puddin cups

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  99. and also hairnets

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  100. It’s true the police aren’t saying they know that’s what happened, Colonel. But I’ve only seen one person claim there was another person, and I don’t think his statement is definitive. After all, the movie had started, the theater was dark, and Holmes came in in battle gear and a helmet. Would the witness be able to tell it was the same person?

    I also wonder if there were any security cameras behind the cinema. In one of the press conferences, I think the police said they looked at security footage but I don’t know if it was from the cinema.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  101. Colonel,

    The police also said they aren’t assuming it was just one person and are continuing the investigation. I hope they really meant it — it seemed like they did — because this needs to be cleared up, one way or the other.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  102. it’s a sick sick world
    growing sicker ev’ry day
    what’s teh prescription?

    Colonel Haiku (3aaab3)

  103. eat mor chikin?

    happyfeet (3c92a1)

  104. I hope you’re right, DRJ.

    Colonel Haiku (3aaab3)

  105. don’t mind if I do, happy… thanks.

    Colonel Haiku (3aaab3)

  106. One problem with limiting gun sales to people with major psych issues is there is no way to identify someone if they’ve never been hospitalized, etc. IIRC this was discussed in reference to the shooter at VTech, as to what kind of precautions are in place.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  107. It’s a hard question because government action (such as putting someone’s name on a list of people who can’t buy a gun) could discourage people from getting help.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  108. And you know it wouldn’t stop there. Their names would go on lots of lists.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  109. While I doubt there was a security camera inside the screening theatre, I’d be surprised if there weren’t some overlooking the parking lot, near the exit doors and in the lobby, concession and ticket purchase areas. I think the police will be able to trace his steps that night.

    elissa (c20277)

  110. I’m going to check for secutity camera locations next time we go to the movie theater here.

    elissa (c20277)

  111. Looks like tye changed his handle.

    Ag80 (b2c81f)

  112. This report suggests another explanation for why Holmes told the police about the explosives in his apartment:

    Police believe the flat, a few miles from the cinema, may have been booby-trapped to create a diversion.

    A source said: ‘Perhaps he wanted to lure someone into his apartment to set off the trip wire and cause an explosion. The emergency services would then have attended that incident, which would have diverted resources away from the movie theatre.’

    The tactic was used by mass murderer Anders Breivik, who bombed government buildings in Oslo in July 2011 before killing 69 people, mostly teenagers, on the island of Utoya.

    That’s the most evil explanation yet.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  113. Police believe the flat, a few miles from the cinema, may have been booby-trapped to create a diversion.

    I was about to suggest that theory. If you think about it, the music started at 12:00. He started shooting at around 12:30. If someone had investigated the disturbance, half an hour should have been enough time for a big boom followed by just about every emergency services person arriving at his apartment instead of many of them being across the street from the theater.

    Evil is the right word in my book.

    QuadGMoto (3eb042)

  114. And it sounds like it almost worked, but the downstairs neighbor thought twice and decided not to open the door when drawn by the loud music.

    He reportedly had purchased thousands of rounds of ammo, I thought, yet he drops his shotgun then his assault rifle and is apprehended without trouble in the parking lot outside.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  115. ABC News has since retracted and apologized, but I don’t think that’s going to be enough. How about a huge lawsuit?

    ABC News has apologized, but Ross himself has not. That cannot stand. I don’t know about the feasibility of a suit, but I would love to see Ross forced to make a groveling apology the way Talking Heads’ David Byrne squeezed this excruciating one out of former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.

    L.N. Smithee (321507)

  116. I don’t want him to apologize, I want him fired.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  117. Meanwhile, some rumors have floated around about a second suspect of some sort. A Reuters ghoul even twited a name, which I will not repeat. Rumor was that an “electronic communication” threatened violence if Holmes was not released and that communication was traced to an IP belonging to a fellow PhD student of Holmes.

    Aurora PD confirm interviewing such a person but won’t confirm he’s a suspect of any kind.

    Reuters, if you haven’t followed them in recent years, has become a cesspit of journalism.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  118. The first “apology” from ABC was shocking in its lack of apology or explanation.

    Colonel- I watched the news from the moment it broke. The police were, at the very beginning, searching the mall for a second gunman. So it sounds like they may have first thought someone let him in/helped him. It took a few hours for them to report they no longer believed there was a second gunman.

    MayBee (fb7121)

  119. Dana Perrino said tonight on Huckabee that as soon as ABC (Ross?) got the name of the shooter, the first thing they/he did was go to a Colorado TeaParty website to search for him there.

    Honest to Pete, every day that goes by, I can’t help but be pushed closer to the sweeping belief that Liberals/Democrats are simply, and deeply, utterly wicked.

    Lark (5bacab)

  120. Dana Perrino said tonight on Huckabee that as soon as ABC (Ross?) got the name of the shooter, the first thing they/he did was go to a Colorado TeaParty website to search for him there.

    It is ridiculous to compare that action to the weeks of explanations we got about the Times Square would-be bomber (he was stressed by financial trouble!) and the Ft Worth shooter (he had secondary PTSD!). Then, we were begged to look at any motivation but a political one.

    MayBee (fb7121)

  121. Ridiculous when you compare, not too compare.

    It’s early. My communication skills are not awake yet.

    MayBee (fb7121)

  122. Blame Hollyweird.

    ABC and Ross- They should suffer a severe beating.
    Hopefully the beating will be barry sotero going down in the election.

    mg (44de53)

  123. 116- and i assume you want the entirety of faux news fired as well…

    tye (39377e)

  124. MayBee, the spammers certainly make more sense than tye. More honest, too.

    Pious Agnostic (ee2c24)

  125. Bs excuses including a claim that fox news isn’t biased or a challenge for me to provide a list of (the myriad) lies disseminated in 3…2…1…

    tye (39377e)

  126. He reportedly had purchased thousands of rounds of ammo, I thought, yet he drops his shotgun then his assault rifle and is apprehended without trouble in the parking lot outside.

    Comment by MD in Philly — 7/21/2012 @ 8:16 pm

    That’s because the police could shoot back. He’s a coward, too.

    nk (875f57)

  127. Oh look, the baby is awake and wants attention.

    Icy (a5ea43)

  128. tye, you seem to know the rules of this game so well, you don’t need us to play it with you.

    go play with yourself, why don’tcha?

    Pious Agnostic (ee2c24)

  129. Did Fox try to falsely blame someone for being a mass murderer because of their political beliefs?

    JD (459580)

  130. They have less than nothing, for an argument JD, pity them from a nanosecond, then laugh;

    http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/07/you_didnt_build_that_boston_globing_for_obama.html

    narciso (ee31f1)

  131. There’s a John Doe #2 now?
    I suppose it depends on the motivation behind this. References to another John Doe #2 is a source of sneering laughter.
    But this one will probably be acceptable.

    Richard Aubrey (0aac79)

  132. michellemalkin: Police seek 2nd person of interest in #theatershooting; felllow PhD student; Reuters editor tweets name “Yoem Pyo Lee” http://t.co/CWLLBGVE

    Colonel Haiku (0b9d52)

  133. number 122…
    tell ya what I’m gonna do
    I’m gonna go downtown and buy a Mercury or two
    I’m crazy ’bout a Mercury

    Colonel Haiku (0b9d52)

  134. “The Obama campaign expects overflow crowds … as part of carefully orchestrated optics. Aides want to portray the president as still highly popular among young people and still able to energize large crowds.”

    http://www.tk421.net/gallery/sounds/haha.wav

    Colonel Haiku (0b9d52)

  135. HEY… TEAM 0BAMA®
    FEELIN’ LUCKY THERE WERE NO
    STYROFOAM COLUMNS?

    Colonel Haiku (0b9d52)

  136. Compare this story of three young men who shielded their girlfriends with their lives, with the story from a couple days ago about the dude who left his baby and baby-momma to take their chances.

    http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/aurora-shooting-died-bullets-sweeties-article-1.1119395

    Pious Agnostic (ee2c24)

  137. Truly heroic young men. We never know how each of us will react if/when danger arises. These young men were up to the task.

    Colonel Haiku (f6d6c9)

  138. Per UK Sun, Holmes followed the “teachings” of Anders Breivik….was a disciple of his methods, tactics.

    http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4443124/Batman-killers-obsession-with-Sun-Page-3-girl-Keeley-Hazell.html

    Sarahw (b0e533)

  139. ________________________________________________

    Schizophrenics don’t act from ideology, they act from disease processes.

    Human nature is complex, and when one is dealing with the behavior of millions of people out there, there will always be interesting contradictions and exceptions to the rule. But I still recall reading an article several years ago about a psychologist who noted that his typical patient in the 1960s often suffered from characteristics of repression. IOW, such a person was unhappy because he or she felt one had to hold back, to adhere to conformity, to keep things tight to the vest.

    He observed that his typical patient nowadays — decades after socio-political trends went in the direction of “let it all hang out” — is more likely to suffer from unrestrained, blatantly self-indulgent and shameless behavior.

    It is naive to assume the extremist, deranged behavior of James Holmes would have been any different over, say, 40 years ago, or that he was prodded to act the way he did because of the society around him. But it’s also simplistic to assume that people live in a vacuum and aren’t even slightly affected by the culture (and, in turn, the political trends that help shape that culture) around them.

    americanthinker.com, Selwyn Duke, March 2006:

    I spent about fifteen years working with children, during which time I had the opportunity to observe thousands and the responsibility of disciplining hundreds. I mention this because I too noticed a correlation between liberalism and childhood behavior. In fact, I quickly reached a point where I could predict how a child’s parents voted based solely on his behavior. And I wasn’t wrong too often. How did I do it?

    Quite simply, I noticed that the ill behaved children, the ones who were wild, unstable, who had contempt for rules, usually had politically liberal parents. And the explanation is simple: aside from the example liberals may set, they also tend to raise their kids in very permissive ways, eschewing punishment and failing to enforce limits, instill discipline and demand obedience.

    At the other end of the spectrum, I observed that the best behaved children often had three things in common: they had stay—at—home moms, attended church regularly (relatively rare in my area) and, more to the point here, had parents who were politically conservative. Were there exceptions? Yes, insofar as some well behaved kids didn’t fit the profile completely (but virtually every one had conservative parents). However, I cannot think of even one instance wherein a child who conformed perfectly to the profile was not well behaved.

    [R]egardless of whether these traits are the result of nature, nurture, or a combination thereof, they certainly are familial. Thus, my effect is his cause, which leads to his effect, which is my cause, which leads to my effect…so on and so forth. The parent influences the child, who grows up to be a parent, who then influences his child, who grows up to be a parent….

    Mark (a346be)

  140. 133- yeah probably

    tye (39377e)

  141. Tye has an obsessive need to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it is a dishonest ignoranus.

    JD (b22d65)

  142. And what exactly are you talking about jd? Are you saying the guy they caught has been falsely accused? Is that what jabba the rush told you to think?

    tye (39377e)

  143. Because giving the name of the suspect then reporting that a person with that same name is on the roll for a local tea party is not the same as falsely accusing someone…. even if the drug addict rush limbaugh tells you that that is what you should think.

    tye (39377e)

  144. The troll continues to contaminate this blog. And this topic. Shameful.

    Simon Jester (69dc06)

  145. You are well and truly an effing Imbecile, tye. Brian Ross. ABC.

    JD (b22d65)

  146. 150- see comment 148. Don’t swallow everything the right wing tells you to. Think with the brain God gave you.

    tye (39377e)

  147. #144… interesting anecdotal evidence, Mark.

    Colonel Haiku (2166fa)

  148. So Ross didn’t do that? He didn’t go check Tea Party sites and draw a false link to someone twice the shooter’s age, in an obvious effort to smear political opponents, just like in the Giffords shooting? That didn’t happen?

    JD (b22d65)

  149. teh tyena bites
    not a speck o’cereal
    tyena chews it

    Colonel Haiku (2166fa)

  150. 153- read comment 148.

    tye (39377e)

  151. So, you are denying Ross did that. What possible other explanation is there?

    JD (b22d65)

  152. No. Not in an “obvious effort to smear political opponents “. He checked a local site. Probably googled the name and that showed up. How about Romney’s financials? Any sign of those yet?

    tye (39377e)

  153. Tye – your desperation stinks. Your inability to feel shame or embarrassment is rapidly becoming legendary.

    JD (b22d65)

  154. Should we go ‘argument clinic, or ‘Billy Madison’ JD?

    narciso (ee31f1)

  155. Mr. Tye,what you’ve just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
    Tye: Okay, a simple “wrong” would’ve done just fine.

    JD (b22d65)

  156. 151.150- see comment 148. Don’t swallow everything the right wing tells you to. Think with the brain God gave you.

    Comment by tye — 7/22/2012 @ 10:41 am

    Looks like G_d shortchanged you wrt a brain.

    ∅ (721840)

  157. tye’s willful stupidity reachs new lows.

    SPQR (f7a984)

  158. Rush Limbaugh? Who’s he?

    Pious Agnostic (ee2c24)

  159. Because giving the name of the suspect then reporting that a person with that same name is on the roll for a local tea party is not the same as falsely accusing someone…. even if the drug addict rush limbaugh tells you that that is what you should think.
    Comment by tye — 7/22/2012 @ 10:25 am

    — Isn’t it amazing how he just happens to use Olbermann’s exact terminology?

    Icy (a5ea43)

  160. But you are sheeple, Icy. Tye is speaking twoof to powder.

    JD (b22d65)

  161. Jay Carney knows 18 people named Jim Holmes

    Icy (a5ea43)

  162. Say tye, have you apologized yet for asking for pictures of people’s wives?

    Seriously, I don’t know if you apologized for that or not. Did you?

    Pious Agnostic (ee2c24)

  163. Isn’t it amazing how he just happens to use Olbermann’s exact terminology?

    Comment by Icy

    olbermann… who dat?

    Colonel Haiku (2166fa)

  164. That’s because the police could shoot back. He’s a coward, too.
    Comment by nk — 7/22/2012 @ 5:48 am

    Perhaps. Or perhaps he wanted to be around to watch people’s reaction to his crimes, and knew that even if he had initial advantage in weaponry it would not be long before SWAT showed up and took him down.

    I would say that at times (often, actually) it is hard enough to know what all is going in one’s own mind as far as motivations, etc., go, let alone figure out what is going on in the mind of someone else.

    I think the quote noted by Mark (7/22/2012 @ 9:49 am) has some merit, but to the author of it I would say he is being premature and superficial in evaluating results by looking at children only. Some of those well behaved children of the “model home” will go wild the moment they have the opportunity to be on their own, and some of them will parent their children in a much more permissive way because while they were obedient as children, much of that came from a sense of powerlessness and was done with resentment.

    Living things do respond to their environment, but I think a complex living thing like a human has choices to make in how they respond, in choosing to go along, to rebel, to be cooperative but yet free to go beyond expected boundaries in a non-confrontational way. How much of the choices are affected by genetically determined physiology, physiology post birth that has no direct volitional component, thought process that are volitional, behaviors that were once volitional but now more physiologically hardwired… and all of that is dealing only with biophysical aspects of “mind” and not taking into account issues of spirituality and the “soul”, depending on how one views what makes a person.

    In other words, I think even the wisest speculation with as much evidence as possible is still speculation.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  165. In the Harry Potter series there was a character referred to as “he-who-shall-not-be-named”. I think someone could be designated “he-who-shall-be-ignored”, “hwsbi”.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  166. ______________________________________________

    Some of those well behaved children of the “model home” will go wild the moment they have the opportunity to be on their own

    Yes, the observer did admit there are exceptions to the rule. Just as crucially, almost all people don’t live in a bubble, so no matter how their home life is structured, the outer world — of both good and bad — definitely will seep in. Or take that as sort of the opposite of Hillary’s “it takes a village.” But in this case, the influence of that village can be very corrosive or negative.

    Mark (a346be)

  167. Comment by Mark — 7/22/2012 @ 1:20 pm

    One’s ultimate view of life/reality has a lot to say about this. Historical Judeo-Christian belief would say that since the Fall, the capacity, even the compulsion, to do evil (to some degree) exists in all without the need of outside influences; outside influences just give “inspiration” to how it might be expressed.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  168. Pious – it absolutely did not.

    JD (b22d65)

  169. Billy Madison is your Einstein jd. You’re as smart as a paper bag and as politically savvy as a paper bag. But you make up for it by being as fun as a wet paper bag.

    tye (39377e)

  170. ‘Aristotle was not Belgian, the key truth in Buddhism is not ‘every man for himself, the London
    Underground, was not a political movement,

    narciso (ee31f1)

  171. Without tye’s approval, something I desperately seek, I just don’t know how I will be able to go on. My life has no meaning without its approval.

    JD (b22d65)

  172. This is by no means, Ross’s first venture with fraud;

    http://sweetness-light.com/archive/is-brian-ross-a-reliable-reporter

    narciso (ee31f1)

  173. tye, even your attempts at insult are drab, uninspired and utterly lame.

    SPQR (26be8b)

  174. Who are you guys talking to? I see no one.

    Even if he wasn’t Belgian, did Aristotle like chocolate?

    In a better world, perhaps Ross would have never found another job as a reporter after the GM truck stint, at least not until he had demonstrated a complete change of heart and mind. Shame on ABC.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  175. Maybe legal action can hold Ross personally responsible.

    MD in Philly (3d3f72)

  176. 174- without your approval my life is meaningless

    tye (39377e)

  177. I suspect, tye, that your life is meaningless.

    Or maybe girl-less or guy-less.

    Everyone needs a void to fill. Being a troll seems to satisfy you. So, go ahead with all you’ve got. If we can make your life a little better for whatever limp reason, we’re happy to help.

    How about those Obama education transcripts? Why haven’t they been released?

    Ag80 (b2c81f)

  178. I suspect, tye, that your life is meaningless.

    Or maybe girl-less or guy-less.

    Everyone needs a void to fill. Being a troll seems to satisfy you. So, go ahead with all you’ve got. If we can make your life a little better for whatever limp reason, we’re happy to help.

    How about those Obama education transcripts? Why haven’t they been released?

    Ag80 (b2c81f)

  179. Posts so nice, I post them twice. I have no idea why.

    Ag80 (b2c81f)

  180. The Daily Mail story suggests another theory on Holmes’ motives re: his apartment — He was being evicted and wanted to get even with his landlord by blowing the place up. This doesn’t exclude that he also wanted to hurt a lot of people in the process.

    DRJ (a83b8b)

  181. 178. 179. 180. #

    Comment by Ag80 — 7/22/2012 @ 9:29 pm

    Posts so nice, I post them twice. I have no idea why.

    The software is supposed to prevent that. It says something like “Looks like you said that already”

    I think that’s the blog software.

    Sammy Finkelman (f560b6)

  182. Comment by Richard Aubrey — 7/21/2012 @ 11:33 am

    3. You have to be patient to put this all together. Means his nutcasery was not recent. Some folks are talking about withdrawing from school being a triggering event and that was supposedly a month ago. Not enough time, IMO, to cook this up with all that involves.

    He started 4 months ago with the bombs(ordering things for bombs)

    I’d like to know when the promotion for the Batman movie started.

    It’s isn’t that quitting or having to leave school caused him to feel his life was at a dead end or falling apart, but rather he quit school to facilitate his planning.

    He spent altogether a total of $14,000 on this project, of which he actually paid $11,000. This is more than just making the minimum payments on his credit cards to keep the cards in good standing. He was paying off the balances, like he had probably been taught by his parents.

    He had a grant of about $2,600 from the NIH, parceled out monthly, but that would not explain where he got his money from. It probably came from a student loan kickback.

    Sammy Finkelman (f560b6)

  183. Why did he keep his credit perfect and yet was willing to murder as many people as he could?

    This brings up what Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler wrote about the “bechira point” (Bechira means choice or free will)

    This seems to be more in a book rather than online although this may be one place is mentioned: http://www.aish.com/sp/pg/48916792.html

    The concept is, you know, “when two armies are locked in battle, fighting takes place only at the battlefront. Territory behind the lines of one army is under that army’s control and little or no resistance need be expected there. A similar situation prevails in respect of territory behind the lines of the other army. If one side gains a victory at the front and pushes the enemy back, the position of the battlefront will have changed. In fact, therefore, fighting takes place only at one location.”

    So it is with choices between good and evil. In some cases a person would have no conflict about doing things because his values and appetites are well established. And for other things it is inconceivable he might do something. But there are places where it could go either way.

    He said:

    “Free will is exercised and a valid choice made only on the borderline between the forces of good and the forces of evil within that person.”

    So, a professional thief, let’s say, raised among thieves and robbers has absolutely no inner struggle or compunction over whether or not to steal But if he were to be discovered in the midst of a robbery, the question of whether he would attempt to shoot his way out of the jam and run the risk of killing someone is where he may choose between good and evil. Someone else, brought up in a good home, would not have not the slightest temptation to steal a penny. In this case the same issue with money would show up in questions like how much charity he or she gives, and whether giving is done generously, and with a pleasant demeanor.

    So in this case, paying off credit card balances, was below James Eagen Holmes’s “bechira point”, (even though this is not actually a moral value!) It is not something he would not normally consider not doing.

    But killing a lot of people was above his bechira point. It was not something he could never see himself doing. All he needed was a motive, and for it to pass a risk/benefit analysis.

    His parents had probably not drummed into him that he should not kill people, like they had drummed into him a number of other behavorial rules, probably because he (and they probably too) were agnostics, really atheists, and were not interested either in Kantian or Nicomachean ethics.

    Maybe they thought it was not necessary to teach him “Thou shall not kill” because they thought people killing other people was a disease. And that’s not a moral choice.

    Sammy Finkelman (f560b6)

  184. 40. 41. 44. 48. 49. 50. 52. 53. 79. 112. 113. 114 (as currently numbered)

    DRJ: I’ve been thinking about why Holmes might have told the authorities he had booby-trapped his apartment……Perhaps that’s why he felt free to tell the police about it — because it was a trap that had already been sprung.

    You have to be careful with these third hand or worse reports. It also sounded peculiar to me that he would warn them. Sarah W @49 probably has it right.

    It could have gone something like this:

    “How big was the damage at my apartment?”

    Policeman: What?

    Joker: I made some booby traps by the door.

    Policeman: Where?

    Joker (thinking this particular policeman does not know) by my apartment where I live. When somebody opened up the door it should have started explosion. What happened?

    Second policeman comes over and asks some more questions. The Joker realizes that the trap has not yet been sprung, and he clams up.

    Sammy Finkelman (f560b6)

  185. Comment by Brandon — 7/20/2012 @ 11:07 pm

    All I do know is that police are saying that Holmes has no apparent internet footprint.

    It turns out, besides that lecture given at age 18, in 2006, where he lied about mentored by someone (actually he was an incompetent programmer and the person he cites basically “fired” him and he wasn’t a top notch student at that time either) and the reference to a lecture he was scheduled to deliver this year he had:

    1) A resume on Monster.com

    2) A profile on Match.com

    3) A notice on Adult Friend finder

    The last two with his hair dyed red.

    Sammy Finkelman (f560b6)

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