The Dark Knight Rises

[R-V]

When I got up this morning and saw this page full of posts, I assumed they were spoilers of some kind.

Guess I called that putt a little early.

Has this already been politicized?

Gil, I would like to welcome you to the United States of America. Not a bad place, but if someone picks his nose in public, it immediately is used by Ann Coulter to explain that under Obama nose pickers went up 75% and by Paul Krugman to explain that Bush blocked anti-nose picking legislation four times and by Tom Friedman to explain the Chinese not only are more efficient at picking their nose, but because of the so-awesome government there, they have made boogers a delicacy and created thousands of new industries around nose picking, SO WE ARE SO SCREWED AS A NATION.

Twelve people were killed and 50 were wounded in an event that should be nightmare fuel for anyone. Why would the Brady people or the NRA wait for the next of kin to be notified?

Well this was an unfortunate tweet:

http://mashable.com/2012/07/20/nra-tweet/

[Eli]

When I got up this morning and saw this page full of posts, I assumed they were spoilers of some kind.

Guess I called that putt a little early.

Has this already been politicized?

Gil, I would like to welcome you to the United States of America. Not a bad place, but if someone picks his nose in public, it immediately is used by Ann Coulter to explain that under Obama nose pickers went up 75% and by Paul Krugman to explain that Bush blocked anti-nose picking legislation four times and by Tom Friedman to explain the Chinese not only are more efficient at picking their nose, but because of the so-awesome government there, they have made boogers a delicacy and created thousands of new industries around nose picking, SO WE ARE SO SCREWED AS A NATION.

Twelve people were killed and 50 were wounded in an event that should be nightmare fuel for anyone. Why would the Brady people or the NRA wait for the next of kin to be notified?

Well this was an unfortunate tweet:

http://mashable.com/2012/07/20/nra-tweet/

And perhaps an even more unfortunate tweet:

[J. Walter Weatherman]

When I got up this morning and saw this page full of posts, I assumed they were spoilers of some kind.

Guess I called that putt a little early.

Has this already been politicized?

Gil, I would like to welcome you to the United States of America. Not a bad place, but if someone picks his nose in public, it immediately is used by Ann Coulter to explain that under Obama nose pickers went up 75% and by Paul Krugman to explain that Bush blocked anti-nose picking legislation four times and by Tom Friedman to explain the Chinese not only are more efficient at picking their nose, but because of the so-awesome government there, they have made boogers a delicacy and created thousands of new industries around nose picking, SO WE ARE SO SCREWED AS A NATION.

Twelve people were killed and 50 were wounded in an event that should be nightmare fuel for anyone. Why would the Brady people or the NRA wait for the next of kin to be notified?

Well this was an unfortunate tweet:

http://mashable.com/2012/07/20/nra-tweet/

And perhaps an even more unfortunate tweet:

;)

[Gilgamesh]

When I got up this morning and saw this page full of posts, I assumed they were spoilers of some kind.

Guess I called that putt a little early.

Has this already been politicized?

Gil, I would like to welcome you to the United States of America. Not a bad place, but if someone picks his nose in public, it immediately is used by Ann Coulter to explain that under Obama nose pickers went up 75% and by Paul Krugman to explain that Bush blocked anti-nose picking legislation four times and by Tom Friedman to explain the Chinese not only are more efficient at picking their nose, but because of the so-awesome government there, they have made boogers a delicacy and created thousands of new industries around nose picking, SO WE ARE SO SCREWED AS A NATION.

Twelve people were killed and 50 were wounded in an event that should be nightmare fuel for anyone. Why would the Brady people or the NRA wait for the next of kin to be notified?

Well this was an unfortunate tweet:

http://mashable.com/2012/07/20/nra-tweet/

And perhaps an even more unfortunate tweet:

;)

Sounds about right.

AND WE ARE SCREWED AS A NATION!!!!

[Internet Apex]

I was going to take JAPex to this movie tomorrow, assuming I could get a ticket. I'll be seeing Ted instead. I don't want to see this one for awhile. But who gives a fuck? There's nothing to say about this shit that hasn't already been said. And people always say too damn much.

[Internet Apex]

This morning my wife said, "Was it Weebs?"

The best of times, the worst of times, indeed.

God Damn it, Laurie.

I laughed.

[World's #1 Astros Fan]

The suspect.


Edit: Am I wrong for having a knee jerk reaction and not allowing my kids to go see this movie? At least for awhile?

Based on the dude's background and the supposed demograhpic, am I wrong for having a knee jerk reaction in thinking the kid had racial motives?

[CT III]

The suspect.


Edit: Am I wrong for having a knee jerk reaction and not allowing my kids to go see this movie? At least for awhile?

Based on the dude's background and the supposed demograhpic, am I wrong for having a knee jerk reaction in thinking the kid had racial motives?

I'm thinking his motives were more along the Antarctic Nazi alien-lizard kind.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

The suspect.


Edit: Am I wrong for having a knee jerk reaction and not allowing my kids to go see this movie? At least for awhile?

Based on the dude's background and the supposed demograhpic, am I wrong for having a knee jerk reaction in thinking the kid had racial motives?

I'm thinking his motives were more along the Antarctic Nazi alien-lizard kind.

Yeah... As far as knee-jerk reactions go, this sort of speculation seems like it could be a bit more on target.

James Holmes is reportedly a 24-year-old socially-withdrawn loner and Phi Beta Kappa who recently dropped out of grad school. Bearing that in mind, this guy notes:

Schizophrenia is an especially cruel disease. With no warning it strikes often very smart, promising young people and eats away the core of their self. It strikes at exactly the age when young men and women become independent from their parents, making it hard to impossible for family to catch the early warning signs or do anything about it when they do. It broke my heart to see two different young people leave a PhD program when their deteriorating condition, and the medications to control it, made it impossible to continue their studies.

Jared Loughner is 24 now. The schizophrenic who shot up a psychiatric hospital in Pittsburgh was 30, but by his mid twenties he was already dangerous, paranoid and struggling to maintain a regular job. We still know almost nothing about James Holmes, the man who committed these shootings, but this nugget from ABC suggests that we should take a deep breath before we assume any coherent political motives on the shooter's part.

A San Diego woman who identified herself as James Holmes' mother told ABC News she had awoken unaware of the shooting and had not yet been contacted by authorities. She immediately expressed concern that her son may have been involved.

"You have the right person," she said, apparently speaking on gut instinct. "I need to call the police... I need to fly out to Colorado."

Best not to assume anything yet. Take some time away from the blog, hug someone you care about and pray for the victims if praying is your thing.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Relatedly, you may have heard about Jessica Ghawi already, but if not...

She wrote this blog post a month and a half ago after narrowly missing getting caught in the middle of the Toronto mall shooting in which two people were killed:

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.

What started off as a trip to the mall to get sushi and shop, ended up as a day that has forever changed my life. I was on a mission to eat sushi that day, and when I'm on a mission, nothing will deter me. When I arrived at the Eaton Center mall, I walked down to the food court and spotted a sushi restaurant. Instead of walking in, sitting down and enjoying sushi, I changed my mind, which is very unlike me, and decided that a greasy burger and poutine would do the trick. I rushed through my dinner. I found out after seeing a map of the scene, that minutes later a man was standing in the same spot I just ate at and opened fire in the food court full of people. Had I had sushi, I would've been in the same place where one of the victims was found.

My receipt shows my purchase was made at 6:20 pm. After that purchase I said I felt funny. It wasn't the kind of funny you feel after spending money you know you shouldn't have spent. It was almost a panicky feeling that left my chest feeling like something was missing. A feeling that was overwhelming enough to lead me to head outside in the rain to get fresh air instead of continuing back into the food court to go shopping at SportChek. The gunshots rung out at 6:23. Had I not gone outside, I would've been in the midst of gunfire.

...

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.

She was among the 12 killed in Aurora last night.

[Canadouche]

The suspect.


Edit: Am I wrong for having a knee jerk reaction and not allowing my kids to go see this movie? At least for awhile?

Based on the dude's background and the supposed demograhpic, am I wrong for having a knee jerk reaction in thinking the kid had racial motives?

It was clearly bath salts.

[Slaky]

I saw it. It was fucking awesome.

[BH]

Great article by Ebert.

[Chuck to Chuck]

I saw it. It was fucking awesome.

It was good. Like Monsters Inc. good where Dark Knight is Nemo and Batman Begins is Toy Story 2.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

I saw it. It was fucking awesome.

It was good. Like Monsters Inc. good where Dark Knight is Nemo and Batman Begins is Toy Story 2.

No, Chuck.