Reflections on the Virginia Tech School Tragedy

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Dr. Sohail -

Thanks for sharing your insights on a very sad incident.

Is there any connection between people like Cho and the location they pick to vent their frustrations? Long time back, another incident like this took place in Canada in 1989. That incident is attributed to be the worst in Canadian history.

[The Montréal Massacre of December 6, 1989, in which 14 women students at the École Polytechnique were systematically killed and 13 other students wounded by a lone gunman, is indelibly imprinted on the minds of Quebeckers and others who struggled to comprehend the worst single-day massacre in Canadian history.]

http://www.gendercide.org/case_montreal.html

http://www.peaceworkmagazine.org/node/346


Looking back at the Amish school killings and Columbine Massacre, I wonder why schools and universities are being chosen to unleash the animals within. Is it because of the significance of a place of learning? Or the counter effect it produces on others? That`s really disturbing.

I agree with your points in Relationship to War and Violent Films and Videos passages.

#103 by bulleya on April 27, 2007 11:23pm PT

Funny how you discovered the magic of canada at the same time the US government was cracking down on pakis post 9/11..quite a co-incidence, isn`t it...

and the fact that abdul paki and harper jr both have to wait 19 weeks or more for cardiac surgery isn`t exactly comforting to abdul paki or harper jr...

The fact remains that the US is a magnet for the most productive immigrants...must be some reason for that, right?

Re: # 105

dear muh adil.....i am not a computer expert. the way the chowk staff has arranged

my articles are published under the name

khalid sohail

but when i respond to people`s questions it comes under

drsohail

i am not aware if someone else writes under my name....i know there are other sohails

but i write under khalid sohail and respond under drsohail

thanks for your concern. sincerely sohail ( the real one)

Naqshbandi #106: I am glad you are trying to integrate yourself as a european, and i agree that one can be comfortable with being a muslim and at the same time be comfortable with seeing oneself as a member of the broader community where one has chosen to live. If only more muslim were capable of taking this broader view of things!!

You take a controversial stand in saying that you oppose further immigration from muslim countries unless the immigrants are willing not to build a ``muslim ghetto`` for themselves (as they have done in the UK and France). The question of immigration I think needs to be seen in the broader light, whereby the world has become a ``global village``. It is indeed vital for the muslims to understand this - at the risk of becoming more and more irrelevant at best (and a problem, at worst) in the modern world.

I can understand your negative perceptions about the US, but as kulharee says they are shaped not by a first-hand view of things but on a negative press in europe. Rest assured that if human nature changes by crossing over the Atlantic (or Pacific) to the new world, it is generally for the better (more ``elbow room``, fewer historical hangups, stronger democratic roots).

Re: # 100

Kulharee mian-- i am aware of the immigration issue. but like many middle class/professional immigrants i too support restrictions on immigration--because a lot of them dont make the effort to integrate and that leads to problems for those of us who just want to get on with our lives. i know a lot of people from chowk probably think of me as some kind of islamist but, i love islam and respect it, but i am v integrated into the european way of life.

saying i support stopping immigration might seem selfish considering my own family were immigrants 2 generations ago but so be it.

there are FAR more inter-racial marriage as a proportion of the population in the UK than in the US, especially between blacks and whites. i have no stats but am sure it`d back me up. even in so called racist france, something like 30 percent of muslims from north africa have white partners.

in the usa blacks live in their own ghettoes which are virtual no go areas for whites.
ask yourself this: WHY is the USA so criticised socially in the EU countries?

Hello Dr. Sohail,
i have one request to make, and that is

when you write something at chowk.com, you use ID
(http://www.chowk.com/show_writer_page.cgi?pen_name=Khalid%20Sohail)

and when you are replying to the comments made by people you use different ID (http://www.chowk.com/show_interactor_page.cgi?membername=drsohail) , so it make

confusion to the people who are reading your reply on comments.

I also get confused earlier but since i have read almost all of your writing at your website (http://www.drsohail.com/), and i know your writing style, so i came to know it`s you not somebody who is writing with fake ID.

But this thing can make confusions for the people who have not read you before, or even if they have it still confusing because how we know its you.

I don`t know it is problem of chowk.com or you are doing it intensionally, If it is chowk.com problem, then i think we can request them to give functionality to writer also to comment back, and if you are doing it, then can you give some reason for that.

I hope you will reply to that because this is a very serious problem.
Thanks.

Those who can read ``URDU``

should read a wonderful, readworthy article `` Nazaryatee Maqtal Gahain`` from

http://kashifhafeez.com/mazameen.php

....If you are a medical patient, Canada is a better place to be......as you will be looked after at very low costs and in an equitable manner.....Your son will be in the same line for a heart transplant as the son of the Prime Minister of the country.........However, if you are the surgeon treating the patient, USA is a better place, as you will make far more money as a surgeon in the USA than in Canada........

........There are more patients in the world than surgeons........

Interesting discussion on the best places to live and the most equitable societies......I think one would actually have to live/work in a country to be able to objectively evaluate it........And one would have to look at it for all levels of society - poor and rich - to get a clear picture.........

I have lived extensively in the Midwest and West Coast of USA.......And now in Canada......I have worked for a European firm, thereby getting a chance to see the business environment there, though not the social environment.........And now I will be getting a chance to spend a lot of time in India, Pakistan and Middle East.......

.......The best and most humane and just society I have seen is Canada.......There really isn`t any contest in this regard........The UN`s HDI is the most detailed analysis in the world of living standards.......And for its first seven years, it ranked Canada as no. 1..........

The best place to do business and to become rich the quickest, in a stable manner, is hands down USA......Once again, no contest amongst the Western nations........(though now it is being replaced by the Middle East oil kingdoms in this regard....however they are not as stable)...........

The USA is for the entrepreneuer, the talented, the ambitious and the successful.........I don`t have exact figures, but that probably constitutes 10% or so of a society.......This is not to say that the USA doesn`t look after the downtrodden etc........However considering the amount of wealth it has, its downtrodden could be a lot better taken care of.........

..........Canada allows you to make money........But not at the same pace as the USA.......However, Canada is a far more equitable society..........While I have not seen the kind of wealth in Canada that one sees in Silicon Valley, I have yet to see the kind of poverty in Toronto that I saw in Silicon Valley........In addition, Canadian society is far more at peace with itself than USA........Everyone is blended in.......The rich and poor live in the same neighborhood..........When was the last time anyone heard of any ethnic, racial etc. violence in Canada, even though Toronto is more multi-cultural than New York.....

In addition, Canada`s economy is far better placed for the future than the USA......It has been in a surplus for a while, and will remain in one for a while.......It provides universal health care to all, nearly free education, throughout university, with every student given access to its Harvard`s and MIT`s.......It has Employee Pension and Insurance Plans(s) which are overflowing with money.........Amongst large(r) countries, it has by far, the largest natural resources to population ratios in the world......Alberta alone has more oil deposits than Saudi Arabia......Lumber, fresh water, stream water, minerals etc.........

Due to a society being in peace with itself, Canada has a low crime rate.......To the point that one can feel it, when one walks through downtown.........I could walk in any part of Toronto in the middle of the night........Couldn`t do that in San Francisco and San Jose.........

So it depends on what level of the society one belongs to and what one`s motivations are in life........If you want to become Bill Gates, you must be in USA; no other place will allow you to move up so quickly..........However, I cannot see something like a Katrina happening in Canada.......

In addition, Canada is recognized as a leader in human rights internationally, and is generally respected by countries across the spectrum..........While USA has moved to the opposite spectrum on this and has created a lot of problems for itself and its social setup, in this regard.........

Europe, from what I can see, seems to have gone stale and non-dynamic.......Not to mention quite expensive.......I cannot see how one can get value for money in Europe........I have worked with a lot of Europeans who want to migrate out to North America; even though they have good professional jobs in Europe........

Re: # 97

Well said!

all i remember is that paknets service (atleast for my internet card was ``intentionaly disrupted by some real black-behind and then when i could not hit the net, and since my mother board (intel`s) is manufactured from Korea, well, then perhaps the message was dilevered to the other end, when someone shouted loud n clear.

``you cannot do this to me``

isn`t that what the korean kid said ?

there is God Almighty ?

or even somes little lower than God Almighty.

did i ever went to virginia ?
do i have a mobile or other wise electronic or non-electronics link with others ?
do i reveal these emotions to others ?

i do know why spirits fall for One.


...

Re: # 98

Naqshbandi Sahib, I could never figure out (even after living in England) why the Brits refer to Americans as Yanks? I hope that Yanks is a term of endearment (as in liberators). Secondly, you are brainwashed by the typical anti-American European and British press. Here, let me ask you to find out these facts for yourself… ask yourself, what country has 12 million ‘illegal’ residents, vs what country is keen on challenging the Geneva convention on refuges and asylum seekers and spends over a billion dollars building refugee ‘detention’ centers. You are very misinformed my friend. Anti-immigrant political parties are gaining huge grounds in practically all EU nations. And you still believe that Europe is a refugee/immigrant friendly place? Do you know what Sarkozy is proposing to do (and mind you he is very popular, while he may not be Le Pen but he is not far off ideologically)? Europeans are intolerant and xenophobic. Wait and watch my friend.

naqshbandi #98 Other things equal, it would indeed be great to have a system where the quality of healthcare is based on need rather than ability to pay.

Other things are not equal, though, and this ideal is met to varying extents in the US vs UK systems. Thus, virtually every hospital in the US is chartered to provide medical care to anyone showing up at the emergency ward. Also, there is the other goal of promoting medical innovation - and here the US has led the world over the past few decades. A system that accomplishes this cannot be simply dismissed regardless of the benefits of socialized medicine.

tahmed

i quote the cases of yanks i have met simply because i have not lived in the USA. But I oppose on principal any system where the quality of the healthcare you can receive in based on your ability to pay.

#93 by Naqshbandi on April 27, 2007 11:52am PT


if i was a refugee or an asylum seeker i`d rather be in the EU than in the USA.


If you were a refugee or an asylum seeker, i`d rather you be in the EU too...

OTOH, productive immigrants are drawn towards the US more than the EU...ever wondered why?

Like Reagan said, you can`t migrate to germany and be a german but you can migrate to america and be an american...

from today`s paper-
CARY, Ill. -- A high school senior was arrested after writing that ``it would be funny`` to dream about opening fire in a building and having sex with the dead victims, authorities said.

Another passage in the essay advised his teacher at Cary-Grove High School: ``don`t be surprised on inspiring the first CG shooting,`` according to a criminal complaint filed this week.

Allen Lee, 18, faces two disorderly conduct charges over the creative-writing assignment, which he was given on Monday in English class at the northern Illinois school.

Students were told to ``write whatever comes to your mind. Do not judge or censor what you are writing,`` according to a copy of the assignment.

According to the complaint, Lee`s essay reads in part, ``Blood, sex and booze. Drugs, drugs, drugs are fun. Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, s...t...a...b...puke. So I had this dream last night where I went into a building, pulled out two P90s and started shooting everyone, then had sex with the dead bodies. Well, not really, but it would be funny if I did.``

Officials described the essay as disturbing and inappropriate.

Lee said he was just following the directions.

``In creative writing, you`re told to exaggerate,`` Lee said. ``It was supposed to be just junk. ... There definitely is violent content, but they`re taking it out of context and making it something it isn`t.``

Lee was moved to an off-campus learning program, and the district was evaluating a punishment, schools spokesman Jeff Puma said.

``It wasn`t just violent or foul language,`` Puma said. ``It went beyond that.``

The teenager`s father, Albert Lee, has defended his son as a straight-A student who was just following instructions and contends the school overreacted. But he has also said he understands that the situation arose in the week after a Virginia Tech student gunned down 32 people before committing suicide.

Defense attorney Dane Loizzo said Allen Lee has never been disciplined in school and signed Marine enlistment papers last week.

A conviction could bring up to 30 days in jail and a maximum $1,500 fine.