Interesting.

UPDATE: NBC and CNN have retracted the identification of Ryan Lanza as the name of gunman of the Newtown school massacre. The New York Post and NBC's Pete Williams have reported it could be Lanza's brother, Adam, 20.

That might explain some of the confusion about (a) whether the shooter was 20 or 24, or (b) why there were initial reports of two shooters.

Yeesh.

On a broader cultural level, I do think there's a kind of rot and sickness in the American sense of entitlement.

Which I find at odds with the whole individualistic, make your own way part of American culture.

Although contradictions haven't stopped people from being anti-choice yet pro-death penalty.

I suppose some people feel they tried to make their own way, failed, which they blame on some form of "them", and so someone else has to pay too preferably "them" but whoever might get in the way will do in pinch.

President Obama, Today Is the Day To Politicize This Tragedy

I suppose some people feel they tried to make their own way, failed, which they blame on some form of "them", and so someone else has to pay too preferably "them" but whoever might get in the way will do in pinch.

I think it's something like this. What started off as an ethos of self-reliance mutates when you peg those virtues as being the source of American Exceptionalism. Then once you're Exceptional you just deserve awesomesauce on everything and are not accountable for droning around the world and torturing Bad Guys, or shooting up shit when you feel bad.

That might explain some of the confusion about (a) whether the shooter was 20 or 24, or (b) why there were initial reports of two shooters.

One more reason why it's a bad idea to try to Understand anything from a suspect's Facebook page -- it might not even be the right name, much less the right person.

I just had a glass of wine at work, and I really don't understand three-martini lunches. Or, I do, and it makes me understand how productivity has gone up so much.

I want a glass of wine so bad right now.

Npr coverage seems to be very cautious and not releasing unconfirmed information.

One more reason why it's a bad idea to try to Understand anything from a suspect's Facebook page -- it might not even be the right name, much less the right person.

I really don't see why speculation is a bad idea, or piecing the story together. It would be one thing if there were people directly involved, but that wasn't the case. I was able to get a bead on the story much more quickly by piecing the bits and pieces that weren't reported immediately because they were unconfirmed or corroborated. Some of it was wrong and I mentioned that.

But many of the early rumors were true: a parent was killed away from the school, the principal was killed, most of the student killings were an entire classroom, it wasn't a parent but it was somebody with a connection to the school (so not random, or terrorist), etc.

I was never advocating bombing somebody's FB page or doing anything rash, so why not speculate? That's how you figure out what happened.

We are watching Mike Rowe paint the Mackinaw Bridge and eating homemade cookies. Evils of the world be damned.

I heard a report of a teacher who put all 14 of her students in the small bathroom off the classroom and pulled some equipment in front of the door so it looked unused. When the police came to the door, she wouldn't unlock it. She said, "You're the police. Get a key."

I think we need a better system for making sure everyone with mental illness gets competent treatment, because it would make for better lives. As a side effect, it might identify the tiny percentage of mentally ill who could become violent.

Historically, there have always been murderers and people who start killing at random. The problem is that modern large-magazine guns up the death count exponentially.