posted
Huh. I would have said that far more people were familiar with the word "akimbo" in the "arms akimbo" sense than "wielding two weapons simultaneously" sense.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
I don't fall into either list, I'd never heard the term before, I better brush up on my action vernacular.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
So VT's student government is asking media to butt out and leave campus by Monday. Bravo!
I wonder how many will try to fight that request??
quote:quote from an AP story: In getting ready for the resumption of classes, the university's student government asked hundreds of reporters to leave campus by Monday morning.
Student government spokeswoman Liz Hart said the campus appreciates the reporting on the Virginia Tech story, but students are ready to move forward.
"The best way to know how to do that is get the campus back to normal," she said. "That includes being able to go back to class, to get back into our normal routine as much as a possible without being held back by anything external, reminding us that it will be a difficult road. We already know it."
quote:Originally posted by Puppy: There is an earlier definition that means "with elbows pointed outwards", but it's far less common. And definitely not used colloquially.
Say what? It definitely is used colloquially. And among non-gamers, I believe far more commonly than the Teal'c-Season-10-pose meaning -- which I'd never heard of before either. (And since gamers make up a relatively small part of the population, the standard dictionary definition is definitely more common.)
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Morbo: So VT's student government is asking media to butt out and leave campus by Monday. Bravo!
I wonder how many will try to fight that request??
quote:quote from an AP story: In getting ready for the resumption of classes, the university's student government asked hundreds of reporters to leave campus by Monday morning.
Student government spokeswoman Liz Hart said the campus appreciates the reporting on the Virginia Tech story, but students are ready to move forward.
"The best way to know how to do that is get the campus back to normal," she said. "That includes being able to go back to class, to get back into our normal routine as much as a possible without being held back by anything external, reminding us that it will be a difficult road. We already know it."
My friend's funeral is Tuesday. Granted this in RI, but shouldn't they assume people might want to attend?!?!?!?!
Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: Nighthawk: I am not sure why you call it the "Akimbo pose". I'd welcome illumination. The Wachowski brothers did also cite Asian cinema and John Woo as influences, you are right in this. Why must they be influenced by one or the other? Anime writers watch movies, and Movie writers read manga and watch anime.
I'd post examples I already have, but my server's down. But, put simply, here are some examples, directly from Woo:
Forgive me if I thought the term "akimbo" was common; I spent the greater part of six years writing a game for Half-Life based on the asian "blood opera" genre that Woo made famous (The Opera - Site's currently down), so maybe it's just common to me. It's been also used in other games: Action Quake and Action Half-Life, Max Payne Woo's own Stranglehold, etc...
I know we sometimes have a sensitive crowd here; if the images above bother anyone, let me know.
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Finally some good news! The Phelps/Westboro Baptist group has agreed not to stage their horrible protests at the VT victims funerals, in exchange for some air-time on a national radio show, hosted by Mike Gallagher. I've never heard of him, but Mr. Gallagher did the right thing to get them to cancel their protests. Gallagher did the same thing to stop their protesting after the recent Amish school shootings.
quote: When I found out that they [Phelpsians] were planning to hold protests outside the Virginia Tech victims funerals, I've made the decision to offer them more airtime. On Tuesday, April 24, Shirley Phelps-Roper and other members of Westboro Baptist Church will be my in-studio guests for the entire program. They have formally announced that they are cancelling all of their scheduled protests for the Virginia Tech shooting victims funerals as a result of receiving this invitation to be on my show.
It is great they aren't protesting, but this type of bribery only encourages them to do this crap. I hate the fact that they are profiting from this.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Kwea, IMHO it's far, far better they are on some show I've never heard of than in the faces of grieving people burying their friends and relatives. And they don't need or care about encouragment: they thrive on disapproval, as it reinforces their peculiar beliefs.
Also, they would have gotten far more press from the funeral protests than they will from this one radio show, so I'm not sure they really profit.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
In America's past there are certainly things that needed to be outlawed. But I think we could have kept the private-citizen ass-whuppin'. Posts: 544 | Registered: Mar 2007
| IP: Logged |
posted
It's not an ideal solution, but I do respect what the guy has to say in his column. It seems that letting them on a radio show is better than having them harass grieving families.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Let me start by saying that it is not my intention to start (or restart) an argument about gun control. However, I saw this article linked from google today, and it made the interesting point that our CURRENT laws should have prohibited Cho from getting a firearm through legal means. It also goes on to say that, of course, this does not mean he wouldn't have been sufficiently determined to access firearms another way.
posted
I think one possible issue is balancing confidentiality in mental health treatment and protecting society. The article says, "People who have a felony conviction or a history of mental illness should not be eligible to purchase guns." Really? "Mental illness" is a pretty broad category. The article does clarify that a court has to declare someone "mentally incapacitated" or that person has to have been involuntarily hospitalized. Are those things (particularly the latter) a matter of public record? If not, how do we prevent those people from buying guns without violating their privacy?
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think that if a court is involved in deeming an individual mentally incapacitated, this would be part of the records made available when one is doing a background check for firearm purchases. When attempting to make a gun purchase, individuals must already volunteer to have their privacy intruded upon to a certain extent.
Posts: 1099 | Registered: Apr 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
A magistrate found that the killer was a danger to himself (not to others.) This is enough, according to the article and the talking heads on Friday's PBS News Hour, to prevent him from legally buying a gun. Problem is, this info wasn't in the database seached for the background check. So he bought the guns with no problem. I'm not sure, but I think the magistrate or his staff was supposed to report the matter for inclusion in the background check DB.
There has been a complete lack of political will in funding the background checks. With an incomplete database results like this (people who are legally bound from getting guns getting them anyway despite background checks) will happen.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
"In America's past there are certainly things that needed to be outlawed. But I think we could have kept the private-citizen ass-whuppin'."
Here in the rural South, we still have some of that. I don't know, it has its benefits, but it has its costs, too. A good friend of mine lived in Wisconsin for a couple of years. He grew up here in rural NC. He was always impressed by how much trash Northerners talked, and how little physical fighting they did.
Posts: 3354 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
For the mourners, a chance to grieve without hearing their loved ones maligned. (Failing that, a more entertaining funeral, with fond memories for years to come!)
For the subject of the ass-whuppin', an opportunity to look at life in a new way, and re-evaluate life choices.
For me, the chance to say "ass-whuppin'."
Posts: 544 | Registered: Mar 2007
| IP: Logged |
posted
There's a country song by Hank William called "Attitude Adjustment". It has funny lyrics that involve attitude adjustments.
In no way do I particularly promote this. However....I have taught a few lessons this way. When i was younger, I got taught a few. As Lao Tzu says, "He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword.", or words to that effect.
Posts: 3354 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:What exactly are the benefits of private-citizen ass-whuppin'?
The answer to this question will change drastically based upon the circumstance. But here's an anecdotal answer: 20 year old man dating and fooling around with (although to my knowledge, not sexually active) a 15 year old relative. You're 17 at the time. Sister won't be dissuaded from seeing the guy who was, in fact, a creep. Creep won't be dissuaded from seeing her with words. Parents forbid, but the relationship continues.
The benefits of a private-citizen ass-whipping in this anecdote are when the 20 year old creep, after refusing to listen to reason, is goaded into a physical fight which he loses, badly and publicly. A promise of further injury and humiliation concludes the encounter. Relationship terminated. Relative not happy, but got over it.
And that's a benefit right there.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
From what I understood, the magistrate deemed him a possible danger, and he spent a few days at an institution where they said he was no crazy enough to warrant extended residence, that decision permitted him to legally obtain a weapon, at least according to newsweek.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
The benefits of a private citizen ass-whuppin' are considered in depth in "Private Creation and Enforcement of Law: A Historical Case", which looks at the history of private citizen ass-whuppins in medieval Iceland.
A quotation of interest:
quote: During more than fifty years of what the Icelanders themselves perceived as intolerably violent civil war, leading to the collapse of the traditional system, the average number of people killed or executed each year appears, on a per capita basis, to be roughly equal to the current rate of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter in the United States.
quote:Originally posted by graywolfe: No doubt he's rushing to judgement. I don't disagree Tresopax, but based on available evidence there appears to be a two hour stretch between the initial gunfire and the bulk of the killings, and there are numerous pieces of video showing cops walking while gunfire can be heard. I don't really care much if it's a rush to judgement, I want a hue and cry about this so at the very least SOP in these situations can be changed. The death toll is at 32. It's hard to believe that many would be dead if the reaction had been more aggressive. Of course I could be wrong.
quote:Originally posted by graywolfe: And additionally, my main issue here is with the lack of aggressive engagement. I don't really care who occupied what zone. What I care about is defenseless students were being murdered left and right, and there were numerous officers available to engage the suspect, and either for procedural reasons, or some other reason, he was not engaged until more than 50 were shot. Shouldn't that be unacceptable?
quote:Originally posted by graywolfe: What I do expect is when someone starts murdering students left and right, some law enforcement official somewhere, will find them, and engage them as soon as possible.
quote:Originally posted by graywolfe: 50+ people were shot, I don't see how it's conceivable that that could happen w/o procedures slowing up the police on the scene considering the reports of how the murders at least partially went down.
quote:Early that morning, Crannis and Flinchum had called in SWAT teams in case they needed to serve warrants in the 7:15 a.m. shooting of two students in a dormitory across campus. Those SWAT officers were able to get to Norris Hall first, just three minutes after the first 911 call.
quote:Within eight minutes of Haas's call, Blacksburg and Virginia Tech police broke into Norris Hall. They worked frantically to save students clinging to life. Medics performed triage and rushed victims to safety as SWAT teams moved through the building to confirm that Cho had acted alone. In the critical first 20 minutes, when ambulances could not pull close to Norris Hall because they hadn't been given the all-clear by SWAT teams, one officer placed wounded students in his sport-utility vehicle and ferried them over sidewalks and lawns to get to the ambulances, parked blocks away.
Why did it take 5 minutes to get inside? Because Cho had chained the doors:
quote:As Morgan tried to keep Haas calm, Virginia Tech and Blacksburg police officers were desperately trying to get into Norris Hall two floors below. Since the Columbine shootings, police across the country have trained to respond to an "active shooter" by entering a building immediately.
Blacksburg Police Sgt. Anthony Wilson ran with four officers to the front double door. But the door was chained from the inside. They heard glass breaking, people screaming and shots being fired. They ran to the northwest corner of Norris and met up with other officers, some in SWAT gear. They tried the door there; it was also chained. "Shoot the chain," they yelled almost in unison. One aimed a shotgun and tried, but no luck. He shot again. It wouldn't budge.
...
Lt. Curtis Cook, leader of the Virginia Tech SWAT team, heard the shots and looked up at the gray limestone building to see if he could spot the gunman. The officers moved to a big wooden door next to the chained one. It was locked with a deadbolt. An officer shot through the lock and pushed the door open, then the group ran inside through a mechanical shop. It was quiet.
On a heroic note, the girl stayed on the 911 call even when she had to play dead to avoid Cho's return to the scene:
quote:Her 911 call had been critical to officers. By staying on the phone, she had given them details about what was happening inside Norris when they were locked outside.
posted
That article is absolutely heartbreaking (as well it should be).
quote:When Col. W. Steven Flaherty, the state police superintendent, arrived from Richmond before 2 p.m., scores of officers were photographing, documenting and searching for evidence. They could hear student cellphones ringing. And ringing. Loved ones were desperately hoping for an answer.
posted
I just keep wishing some group of them could have rushed him somehow, and taken him down, or else shot him themselves. Surely we must have 1 person in 20 who can be trained and practiced (and carry weapons) to stop something like this in progress. As brave and wonderful as the officers' response was, even 3 minutes was far too late. Since our lives must contain such dangers going forward, then we must needs have a better means of countering them.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Dags - thanks for linking to that article. My cousin is friends with Haas, but I hadn't heard about the importance of her phone call or the courage she had in staying on the line.
Posts: 959 | Registered: Jan 2002
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Cry]](graemlins/cry.gif)
