That's usually said to inspire people who are down on their confidence, to inspire them to achieve positive things.
But if you got bad intentions, yes you can do almost anything you put your mind to it.
And if you got a gun (ie. Jovan Belcher, Adam Lanza), knife (ie. OJ Simpson, Min Yongjun ) or just huge size (Matthew Kupa) you could use those things to your advantage.
Whereas my previous blog post focused on the reactions to the guns used by Jovan Belcher and Adam Lanza, it's time to focus on what drove them to act that way.
After all, even if Belcher or Lanza didn't have access to a gun, they're still screwed up psychos who can find another way to do some major damage.
After all, OJ Simpson didn't need a gun to kill his ex-wife and her new boyfriend! Min Yonjun didn't need a gun to stab a bunch of kids at a school in China. (btw, that happened the same day as the Sandy Hook killings)
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-12/18/content_16027099.htm
http://www.salon.com/2012/12/17/china_up_in_arms_over_governments_newtown_coverage/singleton/
And Matthew Kupa didn't need a gun to beat the living crap out of a smaller, older man.
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-lenient-is-too-lenient.html
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/149899015.html?id=149899015
In the case of OJ Simpson and Jovan Belcher, the issue is domestic violence
In the case of Adam Lanza and Min Youngun, the issue is mental illness
In the case of Matthew Kupa, the issue is excessive leniency for violent bullies.
1) Domestic Violence
Those who commit domestic violence tend to be control freaks.
This was definitely true about Jovan Belcher.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/171607/kasandra-perkins-did-not-have-die
Indeed, it has now come out that Belcher had a history of violence and controllingness in relationships with women. While at the University of Maine, campus police reports were filed when Belcher punched his fist through a window during a fight with a woman and again when police were called to break up an argument he had with his girlfriend after she failed to check in with him at a designated time. Belcher’s relationship with Kasi has repeatedly been called strained—so much so that the Kansas City Chiefs provided the couple with relationship counseling. (Which is actually not the right move, according to domestic violence experts.)
Reports indicate that Kasi was leaving or had left Belcher with their daughter. Women are most likely to be killed by their abusive partners when they try to leave—in fact, victims who leave an abusive relationship have a 75 percent higher risk of being murdered. Pregnancy and childbirth exacerbate violent relationships and young black women are eleven times more likely than white women to be murdered while they are pregnant or in the year after childbirth.
This is not rocket science—we know how women die when they are killed by their partners. We know what precedes it and we know what the relationship looks like before it happens.
We also know the excuses that are made for the men who kill. When University of Virginia student and lacrosse player George Huguely V beat his ex-girlfriend (she had just left him) Yeardley Love to death, he insisted it was because of an alcohol problem. Articles said he snapped. I’m sure his friends liked him. People were shocked. But in the weeks leading up to her death, Huguely sent Love an e-mail threatening to kill her, and witnesses had seen him physically abusing her.
Look at what I highlighted! Belcher got belligerent when his girlfriend "failed to check in with him ata a designated time." Police had to be called! This is control freak behavior!
When someone tries to break away from a control freak, the control freak can't handle that! This is why spouse abusers (ie. Jovan Belcher, OJ Simpson) resort to murder!
After all, OJ Simpson couldn't handle it when his ex-wife had a new boyfriend. His stabbed them both to death!
This is why sports pundits like Bob Costas and Jason Whitlock sound extremely stupid when they said that if there was no gun, both Belcher and Perkins would be alive!
The root of the problem isn't the knife or the gun! After all, both Simpson and Belcher have used their size and fists to beat their spouses WAY BEFORE THEY KILLED THEM!
The root of the problem is being a control freak!
This is the type of stuff that parents and educators need to warn their kids about! How to avoid control freaks and more importantly how to avoid becoming a control freak!
2) Mental Illness
Many people blame parents if their children turn out to be screwed up people!
But children are NOT blank slates!
Children have minds of their own! Sometimes, very sick minds!
Here, a woman with a son struggling with mental illness speaks
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/16/i-am-adam-lanzas-mother-mental-illness-conversation_n_2311009.html
I live with a son who is mentally ill. I love my son. But he terrifies me.
A few weeks ago, Michael pulled a knife and threatened to kill me and then himself after I asked him to return his overdue library books. His 7 and 9 year old siblings knew the safety plan -- they ran to the car and locked the doors before I even asked them to. I managed to get the knife from Michael, then methodically collected all the sharp objects in the house into a single Tupperware container that now travels with me. Through it all, he continued to scream insults at me and threaten to kill or hurt me.
That conflict ended with three burly police officers and a paramedic wrestling my son onto a gurney for an expensive ambulance ride to the local emergency room. The mental hospital didn’t have any beds that day, and Michael calmed down nicely in the ER, so they sent us home with a prescription for Zyprexa and a follow-up visit with a local pediatric psychiatrist.
We still don’t know what’s wrong with Michael. Autism spectrum, ADHD, Oppositional Defiant or Intermittent Explosive Disorder have all been tossed around at various meetings with probation officers and social workers and counselors and teachers and school administrators. He’s been on a slew of antipsychotic and mood altering pharmaceuticals, a Russian novel of behavioral plans. Nothing seems to work.
So what could we do about it? Let's read more!
When I asked my son’s social worker about my options, he said that the only thing I could do was to get Michael charged with a crime. “If he’s back in the system, they’ll create a paper trail,” he said. “That’s the only way you’re ever going to get anything done. No one will pay attention to you unless you’ve got charges.”
I don’t believe my son belongs in jail. The chaotic environment exacerbates Michael’s sensitivity to sensory stimuli and doesn’t deal with the underlying pathology. But it seems like the United States is using prison as the solution of choice for mentally ill people. According to Human Rights Watch, the number of mentally ill inmates in U.S. prisons quadrupled from 2000 to 2006, and it continues to rise -- in fact, the rate of inmate mental illness is five times greater (56 percent) than in the non-incarcerated population.
With state-run treatment centers and hospitals shuttered, prison is now the last resort for the mentally ill -- Rikers Island, the LA County Jail and Cook County Jail in Illinois housed the nation’s largest treatment centers in 2011.
No one wants to send a 13-year old genius who loves Harry Potter and his snuggle animal collection to jail. But our society, with its stigma on mental illness and its broken healthcare system, does not provide us with other options. Then another tortured soul shoots up a fast food restaurant. A mall. A kindergarten classroom. And we wring our hands and say, “Something must be done.”
Yep, until someone commits a crime, you can't really do anything about someone's dangerous tendencies! That's how civil liberties work! However, even if the insane person goes through the justice system, he could still be let out.
For example, a man named Benjamin Davis stabbed a bunch of people at Koko Head hiking trail.
And he has been given excessive leniency
http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/20120809_Victim_decries_stabbers_OK_to_go_to_school.html?id=165555566
The victim of a vicious attack on Koko Crater said he's "disgusted" by a court decision this week that will allow his assailant to attend college classes unsupervised.
Nicholas Iwamoto, 26, was stabbed 18 times and thrown from the crater rim by Benjamin Davis on Feb. 1, 2009. He broke his neck in the fall and fractured his skull. Although Davis was acquitted of attempted murder by reason of insanity, the state ordered him into the custody of the Hawaii State Hospital so he could receive mental health treatment.
On Tuesday, Circuit Judge Richard Perkins ruled that Davis could attend English classes without supervision at nearby Windward Community College.
After the controversy, Benjamin Davis was given a police escort to attend community college!
But this shows you the system has been negligent when it comes to dangerous people.
I'm for allowing inmates receiving an education, but they should NEVER be let out unsupervised!
A guy as dangerous as Benjamin Davis could easily escape if he is unsupervised. And then what? He could easily strike again!
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3) Excessive leniency
Another case of excessive leniency in Hawaii is the case of Matthew Kupa. I have already mentioned this case in another blog post.
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-lenient-is-too-lenient.html
On March 26, 2010, 57- year old Andy Ganigan was minding his own business after he left a lounge in Waipahu. He was then attacked by a much larger intoxicated man named Matthew Kupa! Kupa kept hitting Ganigan's head even after he could no longer fight back. Kupa then had to be restrained by 2 other people.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/sportspremium/20120329_andy_ganigan_fights_for_his_life.html?id=144853325
Matthew Kupa claimed that he couldn't remember what happened that night, even though there were multiple witnesses at the scene.
Let's face it, if you hit some in order to defend yourself, you would say so to everyone, especially in court. If you hit someone who pushed you or threatened you, you would admit that in court. Even if you over-reacted to someone who was bullying you, you would just admit that in court. Those are all things you would remember for as long as your brain can function properly.
But Kupa claimed he doesn't remember what happened the night he attacked Ganigan, because if he stated the real reason for the attack, he would be in more trouble.
Meanwhile, Ganigan's brain was so damaged that he could no longer do simple tasks like brushing teeth or opening a can of juice. He was unable to remember names. He experienced tremors and needed 24 hour care.
The prosecutor asked that Kupa receive 10 years in prison. The judge Glenn Kim went even lower than that, and just gave Kupa 18 months (not years) in prison and 5 years of probation.
Yep, in less than 18 months, Matthew Kupa will be out of jail. Meanwhile, his victim (Andy Ganigan) suffered for 2 years with extreme brain damage until he passed away earlier this year!
What does that tell the Matthew Kupas (and his wanabees) of the world? They are getting the message of "we don't take your actions seriously!"
So yeah, make whatever laws you want about guns. Make whatever laws you want on any weapon in general! But if violent criminals like Benjamin Davis and Matthew Kupa are set free, they will continue to ignore the law and cause trouble!
