I am happy they caught the shooter in Moncton. It's unfortunate that anyone had to die.
Like many, I followed social media to keep abreast of the situation, particularly Twitter. I'm generally disappointed in people over this situation. No one should have to be told that tweeting the locations of police during such a situation is a bad idea. No one should be trying to justify that it is okay for them to do so either. Please use your brains as they aren't grown simply to fill the space between your ears. Such actions help the person who is gunning people down rather than helping the people who are trying to restore safety to the area. It is not okay to suppose he couldn't possibly be watching Twitter for locations. Twitter allows people to follow a hashtag without being logged on and everything is public. Social networking is kind of a big thing in case you didn't notice and it's likely that he was following social media. You shouldn't even need the police or media to tell you that.
If he had only been upset with a particular officer, I might care a little less because I would understand it a little better. I've worked with police officers and know that some are huge jerks. That's not unique to policing or security though. Not all officers are against things like smoking weed either. Targeting a group of people based on their job is an a-hole thing to do. Police officers are not just police officers; they have lives outside of work too. They have children, wives, etc. They have hobbies like fishing, painting, writing, bbqing, etc. COPS ARE PEOPLE! I'm not cool with all the cop hate. I'm generally not cool with hating any particular group (with the exception of groups like the KKK). Even politicians are people. Yes many politicians suck and I often feel like voting in any election is akin to deciding who will screw up my life the least while also trying to consider if they will largely screw up society. This doesn't mean all politicians should be killed either. Some do great things that help regardless of whether or not everyone in the public is aware.
I really don't get the 300-something people that were liking the shooter's fan page either. I don't get people that collect murderabilia. I don't get people that want to marry serial killers. I don't understand how people can be interested in such things, but that doesn't mean those people should die either. I personally think they need some mental help, but then there are many fringe groups I am part of that others don't understand and it's not unreasonable to think that others may think me a little mentally off too.
Back to tweeting. Be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. It's natural for people to want to feel involved in such a thing, but if you can't take a moment and think about whether you are helping the situation resolve or prolonging it and possibly causing death to more people, stick to texting your friends instead.
A person's right to free speech on the Internet is not greater than the lives of a community. I wonder if people think about how we got the right to free speech. Do you think it was simply that enough people complained? I don't think it's unreasonable to be asked to shut up temporarily to help stop someone from murdering people. Patience is a virtue today that is rapidly becoming extinct with our fast food lifestyles. Just because you have the right to something, does not mean you should exercise it at every moment of every day. If you consistently abuse a right, it can be taken away. Use it wisely. Please do better in the future. Also, it's likely the right to free speech is to be used to help protect our other rights and freedoms, not to aid and abet a killer.
And people who think all police go out and beat good people up... Yes it happens. No, not all cops do this. I worked at a police station for 4 years and never saw any evidence of that during my time there. Part of my job there was to go through video evidence and prepare tapes for court, which were necessary because of this very issue. Yes, some go into policing because they like to dominate others, but that happens in business and other industries too.
Imagine for a second what it would be like to live your work day under constant surveillance. It's not because you're a bad person. You have nothing but good intentions, but the world doubts you because of a handful of a-holes. I think it would feel like you constantly have to prove you're different than those a-holes and that can get exhausting. It might be a bit like dating someone who thinks you couldn't be different than all the crappy people they've dated before. Is it really a wonder that some living under such pressure, give up?
Imagine what it would be like to go to work each day knowing some a-hole could make it your last day alive.
No I'm not a general fan of police either. Like I said, I worked with them. I know some a-hole cops, but I don't let that group of a-holes colour my perception of all cops or all people that work in policing related fields.
Every time something like this happens, people remark on warning flags that happened in the months and years leading up to the event. Please have the bravery to talk to someone that can help your loved ones out. At worst, your friend will be annoyed that you thought they were serious, but they'll get over it and you might even laugh about it at a party someday. At best, you'll stop unnecessary death from happening.
Instead of hating cops, perhaps it would be better to hate the societal circumstances that require the job of policing to exist? Do something that helps reduce the need for police.
I didn't think I had any connection to Moncton. I don't have family there. My friend's sister lives there, apparently, which I discovered because of this tragedy. I unwittingly discovered another connection with Moncton during the shootings. Apparently, in 1998, when I was 16, my home town of North Bay, Ontario and Moncton, New Brunswick became sister/twin cities. My first thought was, "What does that even mean?" Apparently it means our cities have enough in common to want to help each other prosper. I wonder if it means anything though. If I show up in Moncton one day and tell them I'm from a sister city, will they care?
I didn't get any work done on my book during this, but I'm okay with that. I spent my time retweeting posts about not sharing police locations and the like. I don't know if I helped the effort to put an end to the situation, but I do know that I didn't hinder police efforts and I tried to help.
I hope the shooter gets help, but even if he does, he's lost the right for anyone to trust him in the future by running around and murdering people. I hope the families of the fallen and injured officers get through this time and are able to live life without fearing that every member of the general public is a cop-hating psychopath.
Ciao,
R~
Like many, I followed social media to keep abreast of the situation, particularly Twitter. I'm generally disappointed in people over this situation. No one should have to be told that tweeting the locations of police during such a situation is a bad idea. No one should be trying to justify that it is okay for them to do so either. Please use your brains as they aren't grown simply to fill the space between your ears. Such actions help the person who is gunning people down rather than helping the people who are trying to restore safety to the area. It is not okay to suppose he couldn't possibly be watching Twitter for locations. Twitter allows people to follow a hashtag without being logged on and everything is public. Social networking is kind of a big thing in case you didn't notice and it's likely that he was following social media. You shouldn't even need the police or media to tell you that.
If he had only been upset with a particular officer, I might care a little less because I would understand it a little better. I've worked with police officers and know that some are huge jerks. That's not unique to policing or security though. Not all officers are against things like smoking weed either. Targeting a group of people based on their job is an a-hole thing to do. Police officers are not just police officers; they have lives outside of work too. They have children, wives, etc. They have hobbies like fishing, painting, writing, bbqing, etc. COPS ARE PEOPLE! I'm not cool with all the cop hate. I'm generally not cool with hating any particular group (with the exception of groups like the KKK). Even politicians are people. Yes many politicians suck and I often feel like voting in any election is akin to deciding who will screw up my life the least while also trying to consider if they will largely screw up society. This doesn't mean all politicians should be killed either. Some do great things that help regardless of whether or not everyone in the public is aware.
I really don't get the 300-something people that were liking the shooter's fan page either. I don't get people that collect murderabilia. I don't get people that want to marry serial killers. I don't understand how people can be interested in such things, but that doesn't mean those people should die either. I personally think they need some mental help, but then there are many fringe groups I am part of that others don't understand and it's not unreasonable to think that others may think me a little mentally off too.
Back to tweeting. Be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. It's natural for people to want to feel involved in such a thing, but if you can't take a moment and think about whether you are helping the situation resolve or prolonging it and possibly causing death to more people, stick to texting your friends instead.
A person's right to free speech on the Internet is not greater than the lives of a community. I wonder if people think about how we got the right to free speech. Do you think it was simply that enough people complained? I don't think it's unreasonable to be asked to shut up temporarily to help stop someone from murdering people. Patience is a virtue today that is rapidly becoming extinct with our fast food lifestyles. Just because you have the right to something, does not mean you should exercise it at every moment of every day. If you consistently abuse a right, it can be taken away. Use it wisely. Please do better in the future. Also, it's likely the right to free speech is to be used to help protect our other rights and freedoms, not to aid and abet a killer.
And people who think all police go out and beat good people up... Yes it happens. No, not all cops do this. I worked at a police station for 4 years and never saw any evidence of that during my time there. Part of my job there was to go through video evidence and prepare tapes for court, which were necessary because of this very issue. Yes, some go into policing because they like to dominate others, but that happens in business and other industries too.
Imagine for a second what it would be like to live your work day under constant surveillance. It's not because you're a bad person. You have nothing but good intentions, but the world doubts you because of a handful of a-holes. I think it would feel like you constantly have to prove you're different than those a-holes and that can get exhausting. It might be a bit like dating someone who thinks you couldn't be different than all the crappy people they've dated before. Is it really a wonder that some living under such pressure, give up?
Imagine what it would be like to go to work each day knowing some a-hole could make it your last day alive.
No I'm not a general fan of police either. Like I said, I worked with them. I know some a-hole cops, but I don't let that group of a-holes colour my perception of all cops or all people that work in policing related fields.
Every time something like this happens, people remark on warning flags that happened in the months and years leading up to the event. Please have the bravery to talk to someone that can help your loved ones out. At worst, your friend will be annoyed that you thought they were serious, but they'll get over it and you might even laugh about it at a party someday. At best, you'll stop unnecessary death from happening.
Instead of hating cops, perhaps it would be better to hate the societal circumstances that require the job of policing to exist? Do something that helps reduce the need for police.
I didn't think I had any connection to Moncton. I don't have family there. My friend's sister lives there, apparently, which I discovered because of this tragedy. I unwittingly discovered another connection with Moncton during the shootings. Apparently, in 1998, when I was 16, my home town of North Bay, Ontario and Moncton, New Brunswick became sister/twin cities. My first thought was, "What does that even mean?" Apparently it means our cities have enough in common to want to help each other prosper. I wonder if it means anything though. If I show up in Moncton one day and tell them I'm from a sister city, will they care?
I didn't get any work done on my book during this, but I'm okay with that. I spent my time retweeting posts about not sharing police locations and the like. I don't know if I helped the effort to put an end to the situation, but I do know that I didn't hinder police efforts and I tried to help.
I hope the shooter gets help, but even if he does, he's lost the right for anyone to trust him in the future by running around and murdering people. I hope the families of the fallen and injured officers get through this time and are able to live life without fearing that every member of the general public is a cop-hating psychopath.
Ciao,
R~
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