No outlet...save one

I really don't get a chance to vent my feelings on current events except here. I really don't talk to anyone that cares, or cares to hear me rant. I'll go a few.

Imus: He kinda had it coming. You just don't run somebody down like that on what was possibly the greatest moment of their lives. Yeah, they lost the game, but they were college basketball players in a championship game. That should have been a moment of pride, not everyone can accomplish that. Imus said something really tacky, which has been his gimmick for about 30 years, so he's been dodging the bullet, but I don't agree with the fact that Jesse and Al are hypocrits enough to call for his head. I think both of them only represent themselves, not the Black community. The only reason Imus had the program is the fact that he was a moneymaker for so many years, but he was not really getting listeners and it was time for something new anyway. I found his brand of "humor" to be downright unfunny. That being said, I don't think we should squelch every offensive voice. Repression and opression do not change things, it's like putting a lid on a boiling pot, it will eventually blow and make a mess of things. We've got to try and find a better way to understand and get along.

VA Tech shootings: I'm an ISS teacher at a middle school and a full-time college student. Spending all this time around schools, which seem to be the only places crazed gunmen are targeting, is making me a little nervous. Almost like I'm dodging the bullet, no pun intended.

Makes me wonder when the saftey of others should take precedence over the rights of the individual. It's a slippery slope and I'm not too sure I can answer that question. I do know that if a person is considered a danger to himself and others, maybe s/he shouldn't be allowed the same freedoms. Maybe a person in this state of mind should be monitored more closely. Why not? Our government spies very closely on people who they believe are a terrorist threat, why not a person that could go nuts and kill people. Big Brother is already watching, if I were to type the right words in the right combination in this very blog, I could be flagged as a threat to national security and be monitored. So then why was nothing done to bring a person like the VA Tech shooter into protective custody? If he hadn't killed anyone, he's not a criminal. Since he is not a criminal, we'd be violating his rights.

The sad part is, there may be no answer as to how to keep these things from happening. Any "coursre of action" to prevent future tragedies could bear scary, unexpected outcomes. Not doing anything could do the same.