Wwwindy, Virginia Tech Gunman

Wwwindy

It was another windy day in Washington, DC. The weather has been very unseasonable; even to long time residents of the city, the weather is a real puzzle. The forecasters predict an eventual change in the days ahead, perhaps by the weekend. I, for one, cannot wait (for the weekend or change in weather). In the meantime, while I wait, I've become somewhat of a weather junkie.

My WeatherBug Vista Widget fires up on startup, and my bookmarks include WeatherBug's website, Accutweather, and The Weather Network.

Virginia Tech Gunman

As I walking home this evening, I noticed that U.S. Flags atop buildings, as well as other flags, were at half staff. Seeing that, the terrible, senseless events that transpired yesterday (April 16) at Virginia Tech hit home. The town of Blacksburg, Virginia, is relatively close to the Washington, DC area. Not next door, close, but close enough.

The shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, a Virginia Tech student from South Korea who immigrated to the United States and described by peers as a loner (not surprisingly) with a violent imagination (not surprisingly), created carnage on the peaceful campus with his legally purchased pistols.

According to police, the shooter left a rambling note in his dorm room blaming everyone for what had happened.

"The gunman in the Virginia Tech massacre was a sullen loner who alarmed professors and classmates with his twisted, violence-drenched creative writing and left a rambling note in his dorm room raging against women and rich kids."

There is clear and distinct trend with these loner gunmen: A gradual isolation from society and from reality, a re-creation of reality in their own minds based on being victimized by a group of "others," and then fueled by revenge fantasies and believing with almost religious fervor of their right to revenge and to judge and carry out judgement against the "others."

The story always begins and ends the same way. A plan is made, weapons are bought (legally in this case), havoc is created, death taints the hallways, and the gunmen, perhaps in that final moment of burning rage realizes what he has done decides to kill his last foe, himself.