Tragedy at Virginia Tech

[oregonpackfan]

I agree with you Zig.

The South Koreans have been good friends and allies. They bear no collective responsibility for this young man's disturbed actions.

There are mosques around the world that preach hatred and jihad against the United States. That particular subculture of the Muslim faith does bear collective responsibility for attacks against us made in the name of Muhammed.

There was no such dynamic at work here. In fact, the things I have been reading about the young man suggest that he had rather serious mental health issues and had no agenda other than an amorphous rage that grew until he had this horrific psychotic break.

I agree with you and MJZiggy.

Cho's race and/or ancestry has nothing to do with this tragic incident. He was just one very deranged young man.

It is unfortunate the Korean-American community feels an obligation to apologize to the rest of the American society for this. Cho could have easily been Caucasion, African-American, Latino, or some other minority group member.



The apologetic sentiments from South Koreans and people of South Korean ancestry seemed very genuine to me and reflect the goodness of those people.
But, as you say, Zig. This was certainly not something for which any South Korean bears any responsibility.

[Joemailman]

News has been pretty grim today. This is a better story.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070418.SHOOTISRAEL18/TPStory/TPInternational/America/

VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTINGS
Cho Seung-Hui was a dark and demented student. Liviu Librescu survived the Holocaust and tyranny. They will be remembered for their final moments.
THE HERO: 'He had no fear. Not in doing the right thing'

SONIA VERMA

Special to The Globe and Mail

JERUSALEM -- As a child, Liviu Librescu survived the Holocaust. As an adult, he escaped Romania's Communist rule.

But it was only in the last moments of his life that the Israeli professor was recognized as a hero, sacrificing himself to save his students -- using his body to block the door of his engineering classroom as Cho Seung-Hui tried to shoot his way inside.

"He showed that kind of bravery throughout his life, so it doesn't surprise me at all," his son, Joe Librescu, reflected.

"He had no fear. Not in doing the right thing, especially with regards to his work and his students," he said from his home in Ranana, a sleepy suburb of Tel Aviv.

Yesterday, the Librescu family was finalizing funeral arrangements for their 76-year old father, a mechanical engineering professor and well-regarded scientist who refused to retire after 20 years of teaching at Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

"He could never concede retirement. He loved his work too much. He was too passionate to quit," his son said.

Joe and his brother Araya spent yesterday morning sifting through e-mails sent from students of their father, painstakingly piecing together the final moments of his life.

It was 9 a.m. on Monday morning. Prof. Librescu was in his second-floor classroom in Virginia Tech's Norris Hall, launching into a lecture on solid mathematics.

A series of shots rang out from an adjoining classroom, followed by screams. Prof. Librescu rushed to the door and held it shut. His engineering students dived for cover behind their desks.

As the sound of gunfire drew closer, his students searched for a way out. Some climbed on desks, pulling down the window screens to kick out the glass, jumping three metres to the bushes below.

In a letter addressed to Prof. Librescu's wife Marlena, one student described how he climbed out the window, but paused on the ledge to look back.

"I saw your husband still standing there. He was holding the door closed and looking over his shoulder to make sure everybody else was safe. It was the bravest thing I have ever seen and I will always remember his courage," the student wrote.

Another simply wrote: "I think he saved my life."

Prof. Librescu was fatally shot, and died on his classroom floor. But by the time the gunman managed to get inside, most of his students had escaped to safety.

His sons described their father's final act of bravery as an honourable end to a courageous life.

Prof. Librescu was born and raised in Romania.

During the Second World War, his family was interned in Transnistria, at a labour camp set up by the Romanian government with the help of Nazi Germany to exterminate the Roma people and Jews.

Prof. Librescu was 10 at the time -- among 200,000 people crowded into crude barracks without running water, electricity or latrines. His family was later deported to a central ghetto in the city of Focsani.

"That experience helped shape his character.

"He saw people who gave their lives for others in difficult times. He knew what it meant to help others," said his son, Joe.

Mr. Librescu survived, and eventually married Marlena, another Holocaust survivor.

He studied in Bucharest, earning his doctorate and gaining a reputation as an accomplished scientist.

In 1978, the couple immigrated to Israel over objections from Romania's Communist regime. He was granted permission to leave only after Menachem Begin, the Israeli prime minister, personally appealed to Nicolae Ceaucescu, the Romanian president.

In 1984, he moved with his wife to Virginia for his sabbatical, and chose to stay.

But he returned to Israel frequently for family occasions and holidays.

Yesterday, his two sons who live here recalled their father's connection to the country.

"He always considered himself as an Israeli. He saw himself as an ambassador to the United States, but an Israeli at heart," Joe said.

His body will be flown to Israel for a family burial some time next week.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070418.SHOOTISRAEL18/TPStory/TPInternational/America/

[packers11]

it was just on the news...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/default.cdnx/id/18179431/displaymode/1157

Here goes the violent video game thing...

I play that game "counter-strike"... I don't see myself doing any of this shit...

I think he was just extremely bullied / psychotic....

[digitaldean]

[quote="Joemailman"]News has been pretty grim today. This is a better story.

What selflessness.

With what this man endured to give himself up to save others epitomizes his true character.

A rare individual indeed.

[MJZiggy]

[quote="digitaldean"]

News has been pretty grim today. This is a better story.

What selflessness.

With what this man endured to give himself up to save others epitomizes his true character.

A rare individual indeed.

If I could get away with hearing nothing more of the sicko that did this and read only about these kinds of people, I'd like it a whole lot more. I don't want to know his name or see his pictures or hear his voice or read his writing or worry about what might have driven him. I feel for his family who must be crushed considering that total strangers are apologizing for what he did. I feel for the victims and their families. I'd love to hear their stories. Not his.

[the_idle_threat]

If I could get away with hearing nothing more of the sicko that did this and read only about these kinds of people, I'd like it a whole lot more. I don't want to know his name or see his pictures or hear his voice or read his writing or worry about what might have driven him. I feel for his family who must be crushed considering that total strangers are apologizing for what he did. I feel for the victims and their families. I'd love to hear their stories. Not his.

I agree completely.

[retailguy]

This is gonna have an affect on the election.

At this point, it'll have ZERO effect on the election. Once this nutcase sent out his video, it became crystal clear to any American voter just what a nutcase he really is.

I have seen a few pictures of the whole video, but have turned the sound down... I just don't need to pollute my brain with this crap.

May he burn in hell.

[rdanomly]

After watching little portions of his videos you can see a passion and intensity to him. It makes me wonder what he could have achieved if he were to take that energy & put it towards something productive. Such a horrible waste of lives.

[LL2]

Just saw the video he sent to NBC on yahoo.com. This guy was one f*cked up kid.

He says "You just love crucifying me. You put cancer in my head, tortured my heart, and raped my soul..

He goes on to say, "I didn't have to do this, I could of ran. But I'm doing this for my children, my brothers, and all the innocents that you fucked."

He also says, "You thought I would be just one guy. Thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ, to inspire a generation to fight back, the weak and defenseless.

I wonder what made him feel like he was "crucified" and "tortured." He certainly didn't die like Jesus. Jesus didn't killed 30 innocent people either in cold blood. He was definitely angry at wealthy people, and that makes me wonder if his parents didn't make much and growing up he resented and envied kids that had "things" that he didn't. It was this envy that turned to hatred and self pity that eventually built up into who he was in the months before he killed. It sure would've helped if someone could've counseled this deep rooted anger out of him.

[Jimx29]

I'm finding myself being somewhat fascinated by the videos. I'm very curious to see what makes a person like that snap....and I wanna make my own judgments about it, not have the talking heads at FOX, CNN, etc.... telling me how he became what he did.
I'm guessing that some day all the videos and the transcript(s) will get either released, or leaked onto the web, and i'm sure i'll be all over that too.

[Merlin]

The media royally screwed up once again. By showing his pictures, his writings and his videos, they gave him everything he wanted. Way to make him be the spotlight. Why not show us the lives of the 32 people he murdered? Why not focus on what was taken from us? Instead the media gives this guy validation for what he did.

Awhile back, professional sports stopped televising the idiots who run onto the field. Why? So they wouldn't get the attention.

It's one thing to have experts disseminate the information and then give us their take on the guy. It's entirely another to listen to any unqualified talking head speak as if they are an expert while they show this shit. We may want to know everything but this wasn't the way to do it. We won't hear about the victims until their funerals, if even then.

What's more important? Knowing the people he murdered or the obvious that the guy was a nutball?

[Kiwon]

You hit the nail on the head, Merlin.

In my opinion, NBC did more harm than good when they decided to immediately air the material. A real classy Al-Jazeera move.

[K-town]

Maybe its just the cowboy in me, but my immediate thoughts would be if I charge and leap at this guy he isn't going to be able to get a good shot on me, and if he does it will likely only be one. If thats how god has deemed me to die, than I would let fate run its course.

Don't know how much of a "cowboy" I would be in that situation, but...
Judging from what I've seen from the Columbine coverage, plus what happened here in K-town some years back, YOU are in charge of saving your own life. The authorities seem quite willing to "contain the situation", thus leaving the hostages at the mercy of the gunmen/psychos for extended periods of time. In both instances, while SWAT and the hostage negotiators were busy setting up and attempting to make contact, people were dying.

If you're going to die anyway waiting for SWAT to take their requisite 2-4 hours to get into action, maybe it's better to go down fighting.
Or find a really, REALLY good hiding spot.

[MJZiggy]

I'll go with that second option...

[mraynrand]

Another difficult reality is that he would not have had any access to guns in Korea to strike out at society as he did in the U.S.

Is this really true? What are the laws like and how much gun crime happens there?

The reality here is that if the guy wanted guns, and could only get them illegally, he'd easily be able to get them in America. From what I know of Korea, the culture itself is the reason there is less gun crime. If Cho fuck dong hadn't been able to get his hands on a gun, it's likely the number dead would have been less, but he probably would have eventually killed someone. Gun laws are not a panacea - there are plenty of decent (and impartial) studies showing that presence of conceal-carry laws correlate with reduced shooting deaths. If people want to kill one another they usually can find a way.

I'm with Partial, though. I'd be casting my lot in with the 75 year old guy trying to kick the shit out of that punk, if at all possible. Where were the MEN?