Thursday, September 28, 2006

the dangers of acne

She described him as "creepy", saying he had acne and stubble on his face.
No wonder he lost it: I was never able to get laid until I discovered Clearasil.

11 comments:

The Darkroom said...

sorrry aa - I meant to say, what a terrible story. It seems like only yesterday our children were able to run around freely. But the world has become such a violent place lately.

Mr roT said...

Preemptive war! Cut it out or I'll get Kofi's briefcase of blues come down on yo haid!

My Frontier Thesis said...

Pepe, you're so sophisticated and unpredictable with your comments. Wow us again by commenting on another pedophilia/murder-suicide story.

The Darkroom said...

mft - i am not sure what you would consider a "sophisticated and unpredictable" reaction to 5 o'clock new stories like this to be.

But if you want to know what i really think, there is no question that the widesspead availability of weapons bears at least as much responsibility in this sad story than the psychopath does.

It is an interesting debate though - there is the line of thought that goes something like "we are entirely responsible for our actions" whereas others consider that our environment has a huge bearing on them and that individual responsibility is limited.

So for instance, lack of regulation in the food industry causes obesity, handgun availability is an important factor in promoting crime, etc...

Mr roT said...

Got a problem? Write a law.

My Frontier Thesis said...

It is an interesting debate though - there is the line of thought that goes something like "we are entirely responsible for our actions" whereas others consider that our environment has a huge bearing on them and that individual responsibility is limited.

True, Pepe. However, if we run with this line of logic, then if a particular individual human agent decides that society or their environment has forced them into, say, suicide, what other reason would they have to want to live in that particular society? By your system, I see it as encouraging what we're trying to prevent.

It's all about interpretation rather than the positivistic bullshit that comes from our "Objective" social sciences. If this fucking shit head of a human had a problem, there are literally thousands and thousands of people and private and public organizations that he could have gone to before he decided to outrage a young girl, take her life, and then kill himself.

When you chime in with Houellebecq-like humor, I understand what you're doing, but it's still incredibly uncivilized and un-emphathetic to the families. That's what I sarcastically (apparently too subtle) meant with "sophisticated and unpredictable."

My Frontier Thesis said...

So for instance, lack of regulation in the food industry causes obesity, handgun availability is an important factor in promoting crime, etc...

America (nor Mongolia for that matter) isn't that much of a nanny state yet, so for now us Yanks will have to remove the bic macs from our mouths, and stop using handguns as pointers if we want to curb obesity and homocide. ...besides: I only use my guns to shoot televisions and produce (down range, of course). If you guys ever come to Dakota, we'll find some televisions (legally) and blast them with 12-gauge slugs. If you haven't heard a television tube explode, I can tell you it makes a satisfying and great goddamned noise.

The Darkroom said...

mft - I think the point is precisely that the families aren't part of the conversation so that these stories and their implications, such as the hypocritical evening news fascination with them, can be discussed out of the emotional context.

My Frontier Thesis said...

But Pepe, you've said your political ideology instructs you to listen to others in order to find out what makes them tick. Are you concerned with listening to those who have been harmed, or are you exclusively concerned with listening to the murderers, pederasts, and so on?

The Darkroom said...

mft - your statement sounds like a non-sequitur: I haven't stated anything relating to listening to victims or culprits. I am simply suggesting that one issue worth debating out of this type of story is of human nature as it relates to its appetite for gore.

Statements limited to lamenting the loss of life, etc... are appropriate around the families but do not add anything of substance to a discussion board.

My Frontier Thesis said...

Statements limited to lamenting the loss of life, etc... are appropriate around the families but do not add anything of substance to a discussion board.

Thank you. My cousin and flat mate knew Dru Sjodin. I don't bring that up to make it any more or less significant a murder (a life is a life, afterall). Perhaps I shouldn't post stuff that's comparatively close to home -- North Dakota touts a population of only 650,000 (Grand Forks 50,000), so there's a good chance of knowing someone involved in whatever, even if it happened on the other side of the state.