Mourning Aurora's Dead: Good News, of a Sort

It's been several days since someone killed a dozen folks at a 'Batman' movie in Aurora, Colorado.

I'm impressed at how many people are upset about this tragedy. When I drove across part of central Minnesota today, most flags were at half mast.

A cynical person might expect folks in this country to take the shooting of a dozen movie-goers in stride. Mass murders have happened in America before, including:

• 45 dead, 58+ injured
  • Bath School (1927)
• 32 dead, 25 injured
  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2007)
• 16 dead, 32 injured
  • University of Texas at Austen (1966)
• 13 dead, 24 injured
  • Columbine high school (1999)
• 13 dead, 29 injured
  • Fort Hood (2009)

In a way, it's encouraging to see this level of sadness over a relatively small number of casualties. Many Americans apparently care about what happens to others.

As I've said before: prayer couldn't hurt. No pressure, of course: but a whole lot of folks are hurting right now.

Clueless Advertising, Conspiracy Theories

A tip of the hat to Christie Ramsey, on Google+, for the heads-up on this item:

"The most astonishingly tactless tweet of the day."
Happy Place (July 20, 2012)

"#Aurora is trending, clearly about our Kim K insired #Aurora dress;) Shop; [url redacted]"

"In times of unthinkable, horrifying tragedy, it's easy to slip into a downward spiral of petty political arguments and blame. But one thing we can all agree on is that Celeb Boutique has officially said the most astonishingly inappropriate thing any of us will hear today.

"UPDATE: After leaving the disastrous tweet up for an hour, Celeb Boutique finally pulled it down, and followed it with this incredibly awkward and equally tactless series of apologies. We're so glad to hear this senseless violence hasn't dampened their Fabulous Friday...."

Celeb Botique's blunder may be forgotten soon: for their sake, I hope it is.

Notions that 'they' are behind what happened at Aurora will probably be around for a long time. The last I heard, some folks are still convinced that the CIA blew up the World Trade Center.

I haven't run down a source for the assertion that the Tea Party arranged for the murder of 12 people in Aurora. I did find this, however:

"Was Colorado Shooting Staged By The Government?"
Mike Adams, The Western Center for Journalism (July 21, 2012)

"James Holmes, the Aurora, Colorado shooter who reportedly opened fire at a Batman movie premiere, was a medical student at the University of Colorado, pursuing...

"According to news reports, this sudden violent rampage was completely out of character for James Holmes, who was described as 'shy.'

"The New York Times is now reporting:The New York Times is now reporting:

"Billy Kromka, a pre-med student at the University of Colorado, Boulder, worked with Mr. Holmes for three months last summer as a research assistant in a lab of at the Anschutz Medical Campus. Mr. Kromka said he was surprised to learn Mr. Holmes was the shooting suspect. 'It was just shocking, because there was no way I thought he could have the capacity to do commit an atrocity like this,' he said.

"...There is already conjecture that James Holmes may have been involved in mind-altering neuroscience research and ended up becoming involved at a depth he never anticipated....

"...His behavior doesn't add up

"His behavior already reveals stark inconsistencies that question the mainstream explanation of events. For example, he opened fire on innocent people but then calmly surrendered to police without resistance. This is not consistent with the idea of 'killing everyone.'..."

I might take the 'government conspiracy' a little more seriously, if it wasn't the sort of thing that gets trotted out after most gut-wrenching tragedies. Who knows? This time 'the boy who cried wolf' might be right. But I don't think so.

I also don't think that shape-shifting, space-alien lizard men are using the University of Colorado as a cover. Although if this were a story, lizard men could have infiltrated the Anschutz Medical Campus and used mind-control technology to turn Mr. Holmes into a killer cyberzombie.

Lizard men? They're the ones who 'really' rule the world: according to one of the more colorful conspiracy theories I've read about. (Another War-on-Terror Blog (January 14, 2009))

Seriously: Prayer Couldn't Hurt

Again, lots of folks are hurting as a result of those murders. Prayer couldn't hurt.

Somewhat-related posts:

• "Colorado: Prayer Couldn't Hurt"
  (July 21, 2012)
• "Tea Party Zombies Must Die! What Could Possibly Go Wrong?"
  (September 12, 2011)
• "Apathy is Rampant, But Who Cares? - The Sequel"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (February 7, 2011)
  Particularly
  • Crisis Du Jure, and The Boy Who Cried Wolf
• "Murder and Suicide at Johns Hopkins: My Take"
  (September 16, 2010)
• "Lebanon, Israel, Pakistan, India, and the Lizard People"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (January 14, 2009)
  Particularly
  • Someone to Blame