murder

The Cleveland murders of 11 black women who were buried in the back yard of a previously convicted sex offender chill me to the bone. How could 23 women be murdered, almost completely unnoticed by the local community, media or the police. My gut feeling is that is was racism and sexism, even class that came into play, as some of the victims family members have accused the local police of ignoring their missing person reports. Whatever the reason the lack of media coverage is disturbing.

Also the throwing aside of reproductive rights to get the health care bill passed has really ticked me off. The Hyde Amendment, one in which has to be passed every year, was used as a reason for why women under the health reform bill will be unable to use any government funds to get a insurance plan that covers abortion. Not to appease just Republicans, but so called Pro-Life Democrats, even though the platform of the party still claims to be Pro-Choice. Yet despite this not every Democrat voted for the bill and only one Republican did.

It's been almost two weeks since Seung-Hui Cho (usually it's reported the other way around, but Cho is technically a family name) shot and killed 32 people at Virginia Tech.

My sister lost her best friend.

She was a beautiful young woman who had dreams, goals, and passions. She helped create housing for the homeless and loved helping those less fortunate than her- despite the fact that Cho went on his rampage to try and kill snobby, rich elites. She cared about international issues- she was a member of Model UN and was going to major in International Studies. She played sports like basketball, and she was a lifeguard.

I personally know a family that was affected in the recent shootings of Bailey High School in Colorado. It seems to be a domino effect; one person does something horrible and it inspires another incredibly messed up person to act upon his or her desire to commit a like crime. A shooting in Montreal, then Colorado and now Pennsylvania. Our own US soldiers are enlisting in the army to simply shoot people, like they do in video games. (Quoted to me, by an acquaintance who enlisted several years ago).

Are video games the cause of this violence? I don’t believe so. I can imagine the horrible things that must have happened to these murderers or the psychosis that they must be dealing with. I truly believe that therapy can really help a person get over his or her trauma; but seriously, not everyone can afford (financially and/or emotionally) to commit to long-term therapy. I know for a fact how expensive it can be, especially if you don't have health insurance that covers it.