That's the most complete write up so far I've seen about the 14 yr old shooter. I've posted this before, elsewhere. I worked in one state at a psych hospital w/ young adults, then in another state at a residential treatment center for adolescents, working as a family therapist/MSSW. The majority of those in treatment were admitted by the courts for the safety of themselves or others. Then the feel-good libs campaigned against such facilities, citing it was against freedom of choice. Now such hospitals don't exist & it's virtually impossible to admit someone. A great majority of homeless have mental issues, don't like taking meds &/or find it difficult to obtain them. If there are problems, cops can't do anything, or if the situation is severe they're put in jail WHERE THEY DON'T BELONG!
There were sooooooooooooo many red flags w/ this child & his family. During my pre-retirement time it wouldn't have been easy to sweep in & take him away from his family BUT I can most assuredly say MUCH more action would have been made, much sooner than when he began making threats & sooner than when his dad bought him a gun. I would bet just about anything that child would have been in a residential placement center like where I worked. His family would have been required to attend counseling.
I read about the college kids unable to read an entire book a few days ago via The Dispatch. Sad, to put it mildly. I used to bribe my kids to get them to get ready for bed by saying if they were ready in time, they'd get some stories read to (before they were able to read), or they'd have so much time to read before lights out. They always loved reading, still do, gifts to them, & now to the grandkids, have always been books. Schools have always required summer reading lists, before HS graduation they read the majority of the classics. My kids were born '80, '82 & '85.
My kids love to read because they saw us reading all the time. The schools should be ashamed that they don't require kids to read entire books anymore (ours still does). We are becoming a nation of dummies. Ivy League dummies.
I saw my parents read all the time; when we'd go on trips, by car, we'd always make sure our books were packed, so I too grew up reading, & my kids saw that - chain reaction, huh. My grandkids all love reading...
That was a solid, fact-based WSJ article on Asheville. Thanks for sharing.
The devastation in SW NC is heartbreaking. We live an hour south of Asheville (in Greenville County) and go there as well as the general area regularly. Hiked all around Brevard and Hendersonville. Our favorite Ethiopian restaurant was in Asheville. The destruction along I-40 is also unreal.
We have been without power for a week now but are spoiled with a whole house generator. There are at least 20 locations of destroyed power lines and sub stations within a 10 minute drive yet our woes are nothing compared to the Asheville vicinity. The mountains just to our north have always provided some protection from weather but I never imagined it could get that bad on the other side.
can absolutely take politics out of everything like this & hope for the best for everyone. Glad you had your generator. The entire area is so gorgeous!!
very typical narcissist behavior: Silent treatment: They may use the silent treatment as a form of emotional abuse to punish you or make you feel like you did something wrong.
"On Sept. 4, according to authorities, the teen used his rifle to kill two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School here in Winder, exposing yet another community to America’s epidemic of campus gun violence. The next day, in this small city just beyond the Atlanta suburbs, his father became the first parent of an alleged school shooter to be charged with murder."
The entire article is about how his parents were abusive and suffered from addiction. Even though the grandmother tried to get interventions to have the boy removed from the home, authorities and school officials failed him over and over again. Then, in one sentence, all of that is thrown out the window and the tragedy is blamed on gun violence. Can someone please step up and admit that we are failing our children? Had just one person listened to, and acted upon, the begging pleas of the grandmother, the story might have had a different ending. Not everyone deserves to be a parent, and THEY are the reason this turned tragic.
Can the problem be all of the above? Parents, failure of our mental health system, assault rifles/gun problems/violence, no good system to deal with reports? It seems there are too many issues in our world that sometimes line up in a perfect storm.
This does seem to be a confluence that caused the boy to go on a shooting rampage. My parents immigrated here and worked hard to provide my brother and me with as much as they could. We were always told that education was key to our success, and we both graduated college (I was the first one in the family to do so). I'd say that parents have a lot to do with how children turn out as adults. In my experience, schools were good and helpful too, but I think that schools don't have the capacity to do as much as they used to (from my kids' elementary school experience) because they don't have funding nor are they allowed to be as involved with kids' lives due to regulations. Also, no social media and widespread news about gun violence back in the day - the only major things you'd see was the Watergate hearings or the explosion of the Space Shuttle.
It is so sad that kids are no longer needing to read in school. It is one of the joys of life, and costs you nothing but the price of a library card.
And aren't calling for more soldiers and more babies at counter purposes? Takes two to make babies and if one is at the front, kind of defeats the purpose.
This is the second story about a school shooter I have seen lately. The one, the shooter has fetal alcohol syndrome and calls for help were ignored. Sad that kids continue to fall through the cracks.
the devastation from Helene can't be imagined. I lived in Colorado during the South Platte flooding in 1965. My dad's business flooded. He had 2 bldgs, 1 higher which wasn't affected, but the lower one resulted in flood waters 5 feet high. We all, employees, family, etc, spent weeks cleaning that sticky mud off of equipment. I can identify a bit w/ the shop owners... it's tear inducing...
I haven't read that article in the Atlantic yet. As someone who grew up reading (and not actually seeing my parents read books; they mostly read the Chinese newspapers), my dad would take me to the library on a regular basis so I could get books. I can't recall having to ready any big, long books in high school (no War and Peace) but I took American Lit and read The Great Gatsby and other books. I'm sad for these young people who can't seem to read a book. I recall not being able to put down The Secret History and reading through the night. A great book can grab you and not let go! Oh, and the things you see in your mind when you're reading this book is beyond anything I can put in words.
As a native mountain woman having grown up in Asheville in the ‘50 s and ‘60s then living back there, after separating, in 1978 until November last, I can tell you that right now, that is where most of my attention is right now. I wrote somewhere else that in 1916 when there was another devastating flood there the population in Buncombe County where Asheville is was about 2.3 million people. When the flood happened last week, a population of 278,012 found themselves having to deal with all the headaches that an exploded population in an ecologically fragile drainage system for the French Broad River system had created. I’ll get around to the NYT piece that I’m sure is well written but can’t know personally what has led up to this tragedy.
As for not being able to read a complete book, how degraded has our educational system really become? Above said before, I’m old. I’ve read books almost all my life; and not small ones either. No wonder these kid’s brains break when asked to read something like a complete book. Blows my mind 🤯. How sad.
SPW, altho our political differences may vary I sincerely hope you know my personal views/thoughts most likely coincide with yours. You might not believe it but I honestly believe we could enjoy a relaxing weekend together, perhaps with a bit of wine if you imbibe… I like cabs…
Wow! An abundance of terrific information today. Thanks, Bill, for today’s reads!
That's the most complete write up so far I've seen about the 14 yr old shooter. I've posted this before, elsewhere. I worked in one state at a psych hospital w/ young adults, then in another state at a residential treatment center for adolescents, working as a family therapist/MSSW. The majority of those in treatment were admitted by the courts for the safety of themselves or others. Then the feel-good libs campaigned against such facilities, citing it was against freedom of choice. Now such hospitals don't exist & it's virtually impossible to admit someone. A great majority of homeless have mental issues, don't like taking meds &/or find it difficult to obtain them. If there are problems, cops can't do anything, or if the situation is severe they're put in jail WHERE THEY DON'T BELONG!
There were sooooooooooooo many red flags w/ this child & his family. During my pre-retirement time it wouldn't have been easy to sweep in & take him away from his family BUT I can most assuredly say MUCH more action would have been made, much sooner than when he began making threats & sooner than when his dad bought him a gun. I would bet just about anything that child would have been in a residential placement center like where I worked. His family would have been required to attend counseling.
I read about the college kids unable to read an entire book a few days ago via The Dispatch. Sad, to put it mildly. I used to bribe my kids to get them to get ready for bed by saying if they were ready in time, they'd get some stories read to (before they were able to read), or they'd have so much time to read before lights out. They always loved reading, still do, gifts to them, & now to the grandkids, have always been books. Schools have always required summer reading lists, before HS graduation they read the majority of the classics. My kids were born '80, '82 & '85.
My kids love to read because they saw us reading all the time. The schools should be ashamed that they don't require kids to read entire books anymore (ours still does). We are becoming a nation of dummies. Ivy League dummies.
You are so right. As they used to say, “Reading is fundamental.”
I saw my parents read all the time; when we'd go on trips, by car, we'd always make sure our books were packed, so I too grew up reading, & my kids saw that - chain reaction, huh. My grandkids all love reading...
"Timeline of the Far Future" - new to me, LOVE IT!!! Thank you!!
That was a solid, fact-based WSJ article on Asheville. Thanks for sharing.
The devastation in SW NC is heartbreaking. We live an hour south of Asheville (in Greenville County) and go there as well as the general area regularly. Hiked all around Brevard and Hendersonville. Our favorite Ethiopian restaurant was in Asheville. The destruction along I-40 is also unreal.
We have been without power for a week now but are spoiled with a whole house generator. There are at least 20 locations of destroyed power lines and sub stations within a 10 minute drive yet our woes are nothing compared to the Asheville vicinity. The mountains just to our north have always provided some protection from weather but I never imagined it could get that bad on the other side.
Something like this puts things in perspective.
can absolutely take politics out of everything like this & hope for the best for everyone. Glad you had your generator. The entire area is so gorgeous!!
Based on the way you interact with me on this site, such as earlier this week, would appreciate it if you do not respond to comments I make.
i could have predicted this; too bad
very typical narcissist behavior: Silent treatment: They may use the silent treatment as a form of emotional abuse to punish you or make you feel like you did something wrong.
"On Sept. 4, according to authorities, the teen used his rifle to kill two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School here in Winder, exposing yet another community to America’s epidemic of campus gun violence. The next day, in this small city just beyond the Atlanta suburbs, his father became the first parent of an alleged school shooter to be charged with murder."
The entire article is about how his parents were abusive and suffered from addiction. Even though the grandmother tried to get interventions to have the boy removed from the home, authorities and school officials failed him over and over again. Then, in one sentence, all of that is thrown out the window and the tragedy is blamed on gun violence. Can someone please step up and admit that we are failing our children? Had just one person listened to, and acted upon, the begging pleas of the grandmother, the story might have had a different ending. Not everyone deserves to be a parent, and THEY are the reason this turned tragic.
Can the problem be all of the above? Parents, failure of our mental health system, assault rifles/gun problems/violence, no good system to deal with reports? It seems there are too many issues in our world that sometimes line up in a perfect storm.
This does seem to be a confluence that caused the boy to go on a shooting rampage. My parents immigrated here and worked hard to provide my brother and me with as much as they could. We were always told that education was key to our success, and we both graduated college (I was the first one in the family to do so). I'd say that parents have a lot to do with how children turn out as adults. In my experience, schools were good and helpful too, but I think that schools don't have the capacity to do as much as they used to (from my kids' elementary school experience) because they don't have funding nor are they allowed to be as involved with kids' lives due to regulations. Also, no social media and widespread news about gun violence back in the day - the only major things you'd see was the Watergate hearings or the explosion of the Space Shuttle.
It is so sad that kids are no longer needing to read in school. It is one of the joys of life, and costs you nothing but the price of a library card.
And aren't calling for more soldiers and more babies at counter purposes? Takes two to make babies and if one is at the front, kind of defeats the purpose.
This is the second story about a school shooter I have seen lately. The one, the shooter has fetal alcohol syndrome and calls for help were ignored. Sad that kids continue to fall through the cracks.
the devastation from Helene can't be imagined. I lived in Colorado during the South Platte flooding in 1965. My dad's business flooded. He had 2 bldgs, 1 higher which wasn't affected, but the lower one resulted in flood waters 5 feet high. We all, employees, family, etc, spent weeks cleaning that sticky mud off of equipment. I can identify a bit w/ the shop owners... it's tear inducing...
I haven't read that article in the Atlantic yet. As someone who grew up reading (and not actually seeing my parents read books; they mostly read the Chinese newspapers), my dad would take me to the library on a regular basis so I could get books. I can't recall having to ready any big, long books in high school (no War and Peace) but I took American Lit and read The Great Gatsby and other books. I'm sad for these young people who can't seem to read a book. I recall not being able to put down The Secret History and reading through the night. A great book can grab you and not let go! Oh, and the things you see in your mind when you're reading this book is beyond anything I can put in words.
One daughter-in-law is Chinese; 3 of my grandkids then are beautiful mixed. They love to read & of course are extremely smart :-) - ages 3, 7 & 9
As a native mountain woman having grown up in Asheville in the ‘50 s and ‘60s then living back there, after separating, in 1978 until November last, I can tell you that right now, that is where most of my attention is right now. I wrote somewhere else that in 1916 when there was another devastating flood there the population in Buncombe County where Asheville is was about 2.3 million people. When the flood happened last week, a population of 278,012 found themselves having to deal with all the headaches that an exploded population in an ecologically fragile drainage system for the French Broad River system had created. I’ll get around to the NYT piece that I’m sure is well written but can’t know personally what has led up to this tragedy.
As for not being able to read a complete book, how degraded has our educational system really become? Above said before, I’m old. I’ve read books almost all my life; and not small ones either. No wonder these kid’s brains break when asked to read something like a complete book. Blows my mind 🤯. How sad.
That’s it for now. Have a good weekend Bill.
SPW, altho our political differences may vary I sincerely hope you know my personal views/thoughts most likely coincide with yours. You might not believe it but I honestly believe we could enjoy a relaxing weekend together, perhaps with a bit of wine if you imbibe… I like cabs…
Well I’m more into Scotch or gin and tonic. But also I’m no longer stateside; so there’s that.
The idea does sound appealing however.