Lots of Killing

[the running man]

Have any of you noticed how many people are dying often recently, I mean a week ago or so some guy came up here from florida and murdered two people, a man and a wife and was chased for two blockes before he stopped threatened to kill himself,then finally gave up but, I digress. A couple months before that some guy got shot crossing the street or something. I live in a relatively small town and it seems that every couple months somebody else is getting shot.

I just wondered if anybody noticed the same sort of thing happening now.

[Panda]

I am not sure if it is actually happening more now than in the past or if we are just noticing it more now. Things such as kidnapping becomes major national news if the Amber Alert is activated. In the past we didn't know that a child is missing, now it is national news. In a similar light I think violence is what people have come to expect from their news programming.

Another thing is to consider your age. When we were little there was a lot of violence out in the world but as children we are sheltered from it and/or we just don't understand it. I grew up in the 80's and didn't realize that there was an honest fear of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. No clue at all. But as an adult I see more of all this violence in the world.

On a local sense I have seen and heard of much more violence now than when I was younger. One of my classmates got shot in the face outside of the grocery store. We had one of the first school shootings here in my hometown. There's a bunch of crazy meth labs and meth heads here too. The criminals have always been around, we just notice them more now since they are on tv.

Who knows. We live in a wacky world.

[Sanada]

Cliché coming up:
Society is becoming harder.

But it's true.. I think people are also becoming more agressive, solving problems with their fists and not words.
Arguments you have with friends can easily turn into a fight, when one says the wrong thing, or hears the wrong thing.

Kids these days are packing weapons, just to feel 'safe' School isn't a safe place anymore, It's a place where you've got to blend in, go with the flow, just to advoid being hurt.

In my country now (The Netherlands) there's currently an uproar about extreme muslims. I don't know if you've heard this, but a famous man in Holland, Theo Van Gogh, has been murdered. After that accident, more and more 'hate crimes' have been comitted. Burning Mosque's, beating up small children just because they are the kids from an muslim organisation (<-- it's sick, but it really happened.)

It is indeed a wacky world we're living in..

-Sanada

[elfpirate]

[b]I agree that there is more violence, and also that we are exposed to it more often than we were in the past.[/b]

[b]In the area that I live, there is constant violence. Even 10 years ago, it was estimated that this area had more violent crimes committed each day (per capita) than New York City... and it has increased enormously since then.[/b]

[b]I had two friends brutally murdered within 2 months of eachother at the end of last year... and two of my sister's friends were murdered within a two-week period just a couple of months before that--one of them was shot in the head as he lay with his baby son in his arms.[/b]

[b]Every female I know in this community has been raped at least once, and people get beaten all the time. [/b]

[b]A young man who was out celebrating his 21st birthday was beaten to death under my mentor's window about a month ago.[/b]

[b]This community is pretty small, and there are about 5 murders a night in the area-- and the number of murder/suicides has been on a nauseating incline all over the nation. It is actually statistically catching up to the number of (straight) homocides and is expected to surpass it... a frightening trend.[/b]

[b][b]It's not that these crimes didn't occur in the past, it's that the number of incidents is on a sharp rise.[/b]
[/b]

[Citrus]

My grand arents live in California. I go to visit them for a month every year, Throuhought the whole month every day someone gets killed. I don't understand. Why are poeple getting killed everyday?

It hurts me to see the families crying because their daughter was kidnapped and stabbed to death. It always brings tears to my eyes.

Ever since 9/11 there seems to be more and more people dieing everyday. Are the High Ones, God, Allah or who ever you believe in trying to send us a message?

9/11, a tsunami, someone getting hit by a train, someone gets shot in the head in the drive thru at Jack in The Box. What is the world coming to? We need to come together and see what the violence is bringing us too.

There should be a holiday where there is no crime called Love Day. It would just be so lovely to see everyone together and love each other. That is my opinion on violence.

Thanks, China

[Havoc88]

People die. It sucks. Move on. I seriouly could care less about what happened half-way across the country to some one. It doesn't effect me. It's not national news. If anything it's local news. The media likes to headline murders and kidnappings because they are dramatic and it sells newspapers.

Another thing that sort of annoys me was the entire Scott Peterson thing. People die and are murdered every day all around the country and the media decides to focus on this one slaying. Why? Because she was aw hite women living in suburbia who might've been killed by her husband. GASP! DRAMA! SUSPENSE!

There were people outside the court room [i]cheering[/i] when the guilty verdict was announced. What kind of country is this? It's like the Roman blood sports! We cheer when a man is possibly going to be condemend to death! It's disgustin and I'll tell you we're noticing death more and more: because the media headlines it. If it bleeds it leads.

[Pumpkin]

[QUOTE=Havoc88]People die. It sucks. Move on. I seriouly could care less about what happened half-way across the country to some one. It doesn't effect me. It's not national news. If anything it's local news. The media likes to headline murders and kidnappings because they are dramatic and it sells newspapers.

Another thing that sort of annoys me was the entire Scott Peterson thing. People die and are murdered every day all around the country and the media decides to focus on this one slaying. Why? Because she was aw hite women living in suburbia who might've been killed by her husband. GASP! DRAMA! SUSPENSE!

There were people outside the court room [i]cheering[/i] when the guilty verdict was announced. What kind of country is this? It's like the Roman blood sports! We cheer when a man is possibly going to be condemend to death! It's disgustin and I'll tell you we're noticing death more and more: because the media headlines it. If it bleeds it leads.[/QUOTE]

[size=1] It wasn't just the fact that it was her husband, it was the fact because it was such a mysterious case and that he had an affair and had a pregnant wife to boot. They didn't have enough proof which made its tricky, dont you find it wierd though that she went dissapearing after she found out about the affair and then he tries to sell the house afterwards? Of course its going to be a big deal. They always make a big deal about one case atleast once a year, especially one THAT bad. That guy is pretty sick for you to be defending, although I don't agree with the cheering, I understand it because people care about others who happen in this country. Its messed up for what he did, I would rather see him suffer in jail instead of him getting the death penalty. Just because you don't care, doesn't mean others don't. [/SIZE]

[Havoc88]

Do you personally know that he actually did it? Can you prove beyond a reasonable doubt? That's what is required in a court of law: beyond reasonable doubt. I don't think the prosecution did that. I think the jury was influenced by all the media hype and hooplah. You couldn't open a newspaper or turn on a tv without getting "And now the latest on the Peterson case!"

I really don't think he did it. But that's just my opinion. If you're going to call me sick or something for thinking that way, so be it.

[Minako]

Being a foreign exchange student in Finland, I've noticed that the crime rates here are [B]very[/B] low. In the states, I would NEVER think of going shopping, AT NIGHT. ALONE. *cough*rapists*cough* Here, I don't have to worry about that. I'm not saying there [I]aren't[/I] creepy people who want to hurt me... It's just that you don't see it.

The Finnish media doesn't eat up bloodshed like the US does. On March 12th, a man shot 8 people at a church meeting, including himself. As I read articles from my local newspaper online, they are STILL writing about it. Especially the day after, the whole site was about the "Bloodbath of Brookfield." (They've been claiming that the "church" that was attacked was a cult...I read some of their beliefs today... :animedepr )

People are just hungry for blood. The media is chock-full of it: i.e. police shows, movies (Kill Bill for example..not that I didn't like this movie...), and so on. All the way back to the Ancient Roman times, people have been hungry for blood ( the Colosseum).

I'm not saying that everyone is, but at least on some sub-conscious level, I think there's a blood-thirsty beast inside some of us, and it sickens me.

[Lacuna Coil]

[size=1]Yeah, definatly seeing the violence. Hell, I live all the way in boonieville Vermont where the only dangerous happenings are getting run over at a cow crossing or over-dosing on ketchup and milk. ;(

Surprisingly, last year someone was murdered in the back of a pizza parlor, of all places, and just recently someone was shot at a local gathering place for teens. Looks like violence isn't just in the big cities.[/size]

[elfpirate]

[b]I guess today there was a school shooting in my community in which 15 or so people were shot (6 are dead already, including the shooter's grandparents, whom he shot before going to school and going on his rampage).[/b]

[b]I probably would have heard about it tonight on the news, but instead, I heard about it because my mom is a nurse and had called in to ER to let her co-workers know that she was going to bring me in (I'm in a helluva lot of pain right at this moment) and her nurse friends told her not to even try to take me to ER right now because they were dealing with so many gunshot wounds that I probably wouldn't be seen any time today.[/b]

[b]So-- when your local hospital can't even see patients in its emergency room because of the number of violent crime victims, you tend to roll your eyes a bit at the people who are trying to claim that it's just the media coverage that's increased.[/b]

[b]And f_ing ouch! I need a doctor right now, damnit. I'm only online at this time to distract myself from pain... and it ain't working...[/b]

[Harry]

[QUOTE=Minako]Being a foreign exchange student in Finland, I've noticed that the crime rates here are [B]very[/B] low. In the states, I would NEVER think of going shopping, AT NIGHT. ALONE. *cough*rapists*cough* Here, I don't have to worry about that. I'm not saying there [I]aren't[/I] creepy people who want to hurt me... It's just that you don't see it.

The Finnish media doesn't eat up bloodshed like the US does. On March 12th, a man shot 8 people at a church meeting, including himself. As I read articles from my local newspaper online, they are STILL writing about it. Especially the day after, the whole site was about the "Bloodbath of Brookfield." (They've been claiming that the "church" that was attacked was a cult...I read some of their beliefs today... :animedepr )

People are just hungry for blood. The media is chock-full of it: i.e. police shows, movies (Kill Bill for example..not that I didn't like this movie...), and so on. All the way back to the Ancient Roman times, people have been hungry for blood ( the Colosseum).

I'm not saying that everyone is, but at least on some sub-conscious level, I think there's a blood-thirsty beast inside some of us, and it sickens me.[/QUOTE]
Yeah but that's Finland. There's major differences that cause Finland to be like that. For example, citizens of the US don't wear the wooden shoes that the Finnish are used to.

[Pumpkin]

Of course people are want to know about violence, people are fascinated by danger. Its true that there is violence not only in big cities, but small suburban towns like I live in are becoming more common. One of my old friends from elementary school when she was like 13 got thrown into a bonfire at a party and had to go to San Francisco Hospital's Burn Center for many years and lost all her hair. Another person I know who's best friend got pushed out of a car at a stop sign and a car ran her over. Incidents like this are becoming more common-place then it seems, its sad, but thats the direction it seems to be going in.

[Sara]

[quote name='Minako']On March 12th, a man shot 8 people at a church meeting, including himself. As I read articles from my local newspaper online, they are STILL writing about it. Especially the day after, the whole site was about the "Bloodbath of Brookfield." (They've been claiming that the "church" that was attacked was a cult...I read some of their beliefs today... :animedepr )[/quote][FONT=Trebuchet MS]But you have to admit that such a thing hasn't happened in our area before. At least, not to my knowledge. People are/were [i]upset[/i]. It's not supposed to happen. Meh.

I actually don't know much about the incident, except that it happened. I heard about it shortly after I got home for Spring Break, and managed to avoid the news the rest of the week.[/font]

[Morpheus]

[quote name='Harry']Yeah but that's Finland. There's major differences that cause Finland to be like that. For example, citizens of the US don't wear the wooden shoes that the Finnish are used to.[/quote]
That's major...not. The difference is that people want to be scared here. They want to know what's out there, so that they can feel protected. This is precisely why the only news I pay any attention to are Fark.com . If I ever have the news on, it usually gets turned off after a few minutes. I don't care how many people are killed in downtown Louisville. Just tell me about the newest products and let me get on with my life.

[Sara]

[quote name='Morpheus']That's major...not. [/quote][FONT=Trebuchet MS]Harry's just being silly, love. It's Holland that's stereotypically associated with wooden clogs, anyway. :)

But I must agree that as a culture, we've got a morbid fascination with all things bad.[/font]

[Guest leeswayze]

[quote name='Havoc88]There were people outside the court room [i]cheering[/i'] when the guilty verdict was announced. What kind of country is this? It's like the Roman blood sports! We cheer when a man is possibly going to be condemend to death! It's disgustin and I'll tell you we're noticing death more and more: because the media headlines it. If it bleeds it leads.[/quote]

that reminds me of a saying... The Puritans hated bearbaiting not because it gave pain to the bears but it because it gave pleasure to the spectators. People are facinated by death and so they publicise it. They are also frightene of it so they believe in religions that promise "eternal life" and "life in paradise after death". they don't see that death is all around them until the newspapers/media shove it in thier faces and then they blame the media for "hyping it up" yes. people are dying every day but that is nothing new. We have done that since the beggining of our race. If ou don't want to see the evidence turn off the tv. Every one who is born dies. It is the fate of all living creatures. Violence is terrible but so is the justice systems that make violent criminals into caged animals and then release them to prey upon the populace again. It's a brutal cycle. Maybe we should think of some way to stop the cycle and then try to get laws passed to put these "plans" into effect. any comments?


Lee

[Bloodseeker]

Yep, that's the jest of it. We all die eventually. Under normal circumstances, the only thing that worrying about it is going to do is scare you, and if you stew on it too much, it may even lead to downright paranoia. Believe me, I've been there. If you've done something to piss one of the local crime organizations or gangs off, or if you've got solid information that makes it look like the bordering country is going to raid your town, or if something else major and blaring like that gives you a logical reason to be afraid, your best bet is to shrug it off and try to continue normally. Carry protection if it makes you feel any better. Just live well as long as you can. Or if you're really afraid, join the police force or become a bounty hunter and do something about it.

As far as violence goes, I haven't been to anywhere in the US that I'd call safe. If its not a bunch of angry teens packing amunition, then its the armed bum looking for money for his next drink. I've ran into both on less than friendly terms, and its the reason that I won't run alone at night without a weapon of some sort. Thankfully, the "gangsters" here are a bunch of jokes. They taunt and threaten, but they're so hesitant to fire that a few of my more rowdy friends have been able to run off before any shots were fired. But every now and then, you get the south Sacramento crowd coming over here to visit their family and things get ugly.

[elfpirate]

[b]I strongly disagree with the fact that it is our media's attention to the violence that makes it appear that violence has increased. [/b]

[b]I can see for myself-- without watching the media-- that violence has indeed increased.[/b]

[b]Apparently, my community is going to be flooded with national media... (MTV is already here...they were staying at one of our local hotels last night...) but the only reason that the media is here is because THIS time, the violence here took place within one of the local schools. For some reason, it ain't national news unless it happens at school.[/b]

[b]This shooting is really no more violent than this community was last week or the week before that, but now, because it has happened within school walls-- suddenly this community is tragically violent. Screw that.[/b]

[b]In the words of Slim Shady "now it's a tragedy--now it's so sad to see"...[/b]

[b]I think that it's the media's [i][u]INattention[/u][/i] to the violence that occurs everyday that makes people say that the levels of violence have not increased.[/b]

[b]I mean-- come on, people-- it can't just be[i] my[/i] community that is becoming more and more violent. If you're not seeing it, then you're not paying attention... because I certainly don't need to watch the news to see it happening right in front of my face.[/b]

[eleanor]

[color=darkslateblue] News? News is nothing but entertainment for older people who want to see interesting, real stories. A teacher dies because this random guy from a dark alleyway came up to her with a gun and shot her. Media does not give a damn about this. A teacher is killed by one of her students during school. Watch as swarms of news channel workers flock to the school and broadcast everything.

I don't know about the whole 'is the whole world becoming more violent' thing, because I've never studied it or seen data about the rate of murders/crimes/etc., but I think that the rawness and brutality of crimes has probably gone up. [/color]

[Godelsensei]

Living where I do, I rely on CBC for my news, but I tune in to CNN every so often, just to hear what the view is down south.

And, while it would be crazy to say any form of media isn't sensationalist, CNN is just way over the top. It's the use of extremely aggressive adjectives and verbs that just change the whole perception of what happened. ("Bloodbath in Brooklyn" instead of "Murder-Suicide in Brooklyn", for instance)
I also get the notion, from Americans I talk to, that it is not in the least bit safe to go anywhere at night in a US city. I don't know if it's true or just what the news tells them, or both, but it's different from the case here.
One of my camp instructors, who moved here from the States, told me she moved here because she could walk down the street at night and basically be ignored, instead of having people approach her and ask her, "So, what do you do?" (This was the example she gave me, probably because I was, like, nine at the time...)

While it's generally a bad idea to go skipping about in alleyways at nighttime anywhere, I've been downtown after dark, shopping or simply heading home, and always feel safe.

The discrepancy in the amount of violence between countries can be attributed to allot of things: for instance, America has a very large population, and its cities are fairly diverse (not only in terms of race).
However, Toronto is the most diverse place on Earth, and doesn't hold a patch on New York, when it comes to violence.

Even within one country, you have huge discrepancies. You can have a very small community utterly riddled with violence and crime, and then you have your sheltered suburbia.

And remember--crime isn't on the rise: the coverage is. This applies to nearly all cases, especially with big cities.

Any one who reads MacHall knows, after all, that, "EVERYBODY GETS MURDERED IN NEW YORK!!!"

And the Vinyl Cafe tells us that, "Toronto is a great place to meet people, especially if you go out at night." (But only after B... [can't remember her name--damn] gets over her fear of...people. Everywhere. o_o)

And I can't pretend to be unbiased by the media, either: I shall forever remain convinced that the country is absolutely riddled with chain saw-wielding maniacs.

[elfpirate]

[quote name='Godelsensei'] And remember--crime isn't on the rise: the coverage is. This applies to nearly all cases, especially with big cities..[/quote][b][color=darkred]Come to my community-- where there are rapes and murders happening every day... sometimes the police themselves are the perpetraters... where children become mass murderers and shoot their fellow students--(nearly every shot was a head shot, by the way...). [/color][/b]

[b][color=darkred]Hmph-- and he was a sweet young man, too. Confused and hurting, but he was kind-hearted ...before he snapped.[/color][/b]

[b][color=darkred]When I was in school, we didn't worry about it. The high school in Red Lake had an emergency lock-down plan even before Columbine happened... and there were a few hostage crises in middle school, but we really didn't think about school massacres...[/color][/b]

[b][color=#8b0000]So explain how the media coverage could increase the appearance of violence if the violence is at the same level... Did you walk through a metal detector when you were in primary school or middle school?[/color][/b]

[quote name='Godelsensei'] And I can't pretend to be unbiased by the media, either: I shall forever remain convinced that the country is absolutely riddled with chain saw-wielding maniacs.[/quote][b][color=darkred]Nope-- not chainsaws... tech 9's and 9 mills and sawed off shotguns...sometimes a 45 or a ladyslipper...but no chainsaws...at least, not that I've seen...:smirk: [/color][/b]