As you are all probably aware by now, at least 27 people, including 18 children, are dead after a mass shooting earlier today at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. I don’t have any idea how one even begins to process that information. I’ve just been staring blankly at my muted television for the past hour trying to muster up the courage to turn the volume on. The only things I know right now are (a) CNN really needs to stop interviewing children, because that is terrible, and (b) it doesn’t feel right to have a post about an actress rapping in a silly costume at the top of the page, so I am going to remedy the one I have control over.
One production note: Today’s chat with Marc Maron has been postponed. We’ll keep you posted as we figure out more on that front, but it doesn’t feel quite right to press on given the circumstances.
I don’t know. Hug your kids, people. That’s all I got.
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Ugh. And the award for Worst December Ever goes to…… 2012!
Comfort each other, please.
Now more than ever we need the return of Corgi Friday. I don’t want to deal with the real world.
For you, Kevin.
I will never understand.
Some people are fuckheads. Don’t waste time trying to understand them. Don’t listen to their excuses. Pick up the pieces and forget their names.
Agree with Billybob
This sucks. There is…ugh.
You know the world is fucked up when I start to consider homeschooling my daughters.
My wife said the same thing.
Exactly the discussion I had with my wife …
This thought went through my mind too. When kids aren’t safe at school, nothing is safe.
Let the pundits and politicians begin with their, ‘Now is not the time to talk about gun control..’ bullshit in 3…..2…..1
Well maybe your internet comment is just the thing to break the ice.
So i should tag a ‘first’ on here like YouTube? Thx bro
That’s absolutely what’s going to happen. It’s going to be a storm of “Innocent lives have been lost, do we really need to be discussing things at a time like this?”…. America: Postponing debate of serious issues since 1776
”Before people start arguing about gun control, lets think about how accessible public mental health services could impact people and prevent tragedies.” From a friend.
It is NOT too early to talk about gun violence. Where do people get these ideas? That’s like saying Sept.01, 1939 was too early to talk about war.
And this is why I’m an atheist.
I don’t get it, why?
Events like this are incompatible with an omnipotent being that is both all-loving and all-powerful.
why?
Such a douche’
It’s simple: a god that can’t stop tragedies like this isn’t really a god. And if he can stop tragedies like this, but chooses not to, then why exactly is he someone that should be worshipped and called all-loving?
RomanCandle, your argument is only flawed in that your view of “God” is a singular one. Many people have different views and definitions of God. Some, like myself, don’t believe that “God” makes choices at all, humans are the ones making them.
So while I won’t tell you what to believe, I simply hope you understand your argument is directly specifically at someone who has the same exact concept of God as you do.
Ha. “directly specifically” good one me. You know what I mean though.
is RomanCandle Ricky Gervais? they’re both giving atheists like myself a terrible name
I’ll be drinking today, in case anyone was wondering. All are free to join.
I do that every day, but this is as good an excuse as any.
As a dad of a kindergartner and a 2nd grader this story fills me with rage, fear, sadness, and a sick feeling in my stomach that I won’t be able to shake for a long time. thinking about those kids and their parents makes me want to cry and scream and the same time.
I always look forward to seeing my girls when I get home, but today more than ever.
Hold ‘em tight, UU. Hold ‘em tight.
Thanks. I always do.
Hang in there, bud.
Oh my God, I just want to leave work right now, speed the 20min drive to my kid’s school and just go home and cuddle with her. That’s all I want to do!
Exactly how I feel. Sickens me how close this strikes to home (literally).
I think all dads, like myself, can relate to the feeling UU described. That’s all I got
I can’t even the terror you must feel. As I am approaching the “kids” point in my life I am starting to care more and more about this. I hope we are thankful for the people in our lives, but try to remember that we have it lucky that these, although happening far too often, tragedies are not as common to us as they are in other parts of the world. I am saddened that this keeps happening, but I’m hopeful that this will never become “normal”
dude
i have no words.
If my kids asked me if they could have ice cream for dinner tonight, i will say yes without even blinking, just to see them smile at me.
My second grade daughter rode the bus home this afternoon with a friend to spend the night. I had to call her at her friend’s house when I got home just to talk to her to make sure she was OK. Kids legitimately make you a blubbering idiot.
If I have any faith in humanity after this, I’m pretty sure it will all be gone after the politicians and pundits use the murder of children as platforms for the politics.
You’ll see a ton of it, on both sides of course.
Waving the bloody flag has been an effective tactic since ancient times, especially if it’s children’s blood.
Oh it’ll be completely on Fox News from pundits, but pussy Democratic politicians won’t want to make a big stink about things because they’ll fear the public will think of them as politicizing a tragedy.
There’s part of me that really hopes the Mayans were right and the world ends next Friday. Starting to believe we don’t deserve this world.
Wishing mass extinction of the species, due to the acts of some, negates the validity of one’s disgust. It’s like telling a person with a tumour that, rather than cut it out, they should just kill themselves.
Then again, I do generally feel that way immediately after most tragedies. Especially this one.
Yeah, obvious overreaction on my part. I have no kids, but I have two nephews, 13 & 7, and my first thought was of them and the utter sadness I would feel if something happened to them. I can’t begin to comprehend those feelings. 8 days before I get to see them again and right now that feels like an eternity.
I’ve never been physically ill over a news story before, not one time ever. Until today.
I believe there were day cares at the WTC, but I agree, this feels worse.
I’m tearing up trying to even imagine what those parents there are going through.
I want to find a kid and hug them.
I’m right there with you. I can’t even begin to comprehend the pain.
Fucking. Awful.
I don’t want to live on this planet anymore
Maybe that Rev. Wright was right. God Damn America.
This is frustrating. On the one hand I hope there’s a Hell and dude spends eternity in agony. On the other hand that doesn’t really help anything. It wouldn’t even really make me feel better. The lives of the kids who survived and the families of the kids who didn’t are ruined, irrevocably.
I think about my daughter being that afraid and that abstraction nearly shuts me down. What the fuck are these people supposed to do now?
It was the last day of school before Xmas break.
Not true, they had one more week.
I assumed everyone kept the same schedule as Florida.
I live about 20 miles from there, and have friends who live in Newtown with young children. Thankfully their families are all safe. It takes a lot to shake me, but as a father of four, including two sons the same age as most of the victims, I’m practically catatonic with grief for those families. What the fuck is wrong with this world.
Same here. Good friend has a son in one of the other (was very relieved to find that out) schools in Newtown. Just been staring at the screen for 4 hours thinking about how much time left until I can pick up our wee monkey.
Everything is awful.
The interviewing of the children absolutely needs to stop. I’m all for freedom of the press but there should be a some type of ethics / common sense test that a news outlet needs to pass before covering a tragedy of this magnitude. CNN, MSNBC, and FOXNEWS would fail this test, badly.
Beyond all that of course my heart breaks for these children and their families.
Agreed…I was shocked when I saw that, I had to turn it off when they were interviewing the kids. Since common sense is not a new channel’s strong suit, do parents need to give permission for that kind of thing?
*news channel’s
While I’m here, I’ll add I also agree that coverage has been an overall fail. So much BS in the name of “you heard it here first” going on
I don’t necessarily blame the news orgs. They are just trying to do their job.(Although I would like some tact and have them not do it) I don’t get the parents who are putting them on tv? Why?
I want to know which cold, soulless bastard is the one telling the reporters to find the kid who saw the most as the one to interview. Because none of this will ever end up being repeated on a therapist’s couch.
If there’s one thing we’ve all learned from this tragedy, it’s how to spell Connecticut.
Too soon.
And by that I mean; I haven’t learned how to spell it yet.
I know it’s far from being the most important thing right now, but I can’t help but think of those parents with Christmas presents put away that now have no one to go to. I don’t know why, but that thought gets me the most.
I want to give my little brother (who is 9) a huge hug right now but he’s 400 miles away. I’ve been longing to go home this semester more-so than ever, and this just adds to it.
Finally, my school (Cal State Fullerton) was on lockdown a couple of days ago. At first we thought it was a shooter, but it turned out to be a jewel thief hiding out in one of the buildings. Everyone in our section was relieved when we learned that. It says something about the world we live in when people can sigh with relief because it’s ONLY a robber with a gun. I’m normally a cold, reserved bastard and it takes a lot to make me cry, but this might just do it.
Everything is terrible. Sorry for the long post guys. Be safe, everyone.
Forget about the Christmas presents. Think about those parents having to walk by an empty bedroom every night. The reminders of their children will be endlessly heart breaking.
I have a cousin who teaches theater at Cal State Fullerton. I am glad it turned out okay that day.
Everything is terrible!
@Upstate Underdog – I understand what you’re saying, but with Christmas right around the corner, that day, presents or not, is going to be horrific. I get what SuperHans is saying and I agree with him. As a parent, i can’t comprehend what the victims are going through, but I know for myself that outside of the bedroom and daily routine, those presents would be a huge reminder.
@Jim, agreed. Unfortunately everyday is going to be horrific for those families.
You’re right, Upstate. I was referring more to the holidays in general than suggesting any kind of materialistic consideration.
I can’t believe this happened, I have been in a state of disbelief, My heart goes out to the family and friends of all those affected. I attended VT during that shooting and I can not imagine how families will be able to deal with this as the victims are so young and never even had a chance to grow and prosper.
We had a student go into a freak out in the office today (about life, family, grades) and despite it being in full public view, some people couldn’t help but conflate that with what happened. There’s a time to panic and a time to do your job; I hate that some of my colleagues couldn’t separate the two, but I’m so glad for the parents that those CT teachers did.
The “reporters” interviewing the kids can DIAF and other nonsensical bullshit platitudes that I want to say to make myself feel better that isn’t going to change a fucking thing.
Here’s how I feel about everyone patting each other on the back about how appalled and morally outraged they are. NSFW.
Really, nothing else but very long, very exasperated sigh.
We can argue politics later until we’re blue in the face. Right now let’s just keep our thoughts and prayers are what is important.
I hope at least one of the parents punched the reporters trying to interview kids square in the face a la the mom from Die Hard because that is the only correct response. I’m off to go hug my 4 yr old nieces until they’re 40 now because that is all I’m capable of doing the rest of the day.
+1 million
This is why we have to give those kids guns.
it just seems absurd that in America, in 2012, there is a room full of dead kids . WTF?
I can’t believe Uwe Boll predicted this.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUCKKKKK
Seriously, fuck this!
I work at a daycare center one town over, all area schools were locked down so LUCKILY very few kids knew what happened. But, this shit is bad. I can’t imagine how or what parents are telling their kids, but it can’t be easy.
this reminds me of the dunblayne primary school massacre of 1996,, when a 43 year old man shot 16 young toddlers and 2 teachers and then himself, we will never understand the mentality of psychos, thoughts and prayers are with the families who are left to pick up the pieces,,,
condolances from ireland
nicole u shouldnt be tryna cash in on this
I have a two kids under the age of 10. My older one recently had a medical emergency that legitimately made me scared we might lose him. The fear, anxiety, and downright terror I felt can’t be described. Thank God, he’s fine now.
I can’t think about the overwhelming grief the 18 – 20 families of these kids must be going through without losing my shit. I’m speechless…