Author Topic: The Library (Read 2318895 times)

marjifay · « **Reply #10200 on:** December 15, 2012, 04:56:45 PM »

The Library

Our library cafe is open 24/7, the welcome mat is always out.
Do come in from daily chores and spend some time with us.

We look forward to hearing from you, about you and the books you are enjoying (or not).

Let the book talk begin here!

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*SeniorLearn's Archives

I agree with Barb who said "We will never fully know the rage that must have been in this boys heart - the family was split so there is more that we may never know." And with Jean who said, "We can demand better mental health funding and the banning of semi-automatic and automatic weapons from sale to "civilians."

I'm alway amazed that when something sad and awful like this happens that people are so quick to jump to conclusions. How do we know what kind of a family he came from? That his mother was not a monster? That he was not severely mentally ill?

Marj

JeanneP · « **Reply #10201 on:** December 15, 2012, 05:51:18 PM »

Being only 20 years old he couldn't have been out of High School very long. He was a A1 student all way through they say. So I don't know about the Mentally ill part. He could have gotten into drugs I suppose.
With his mother gone going to be hard for Police to figure what happened and his elder brother not seeing him over the years.

It is sad all around. for both sides.

marjifay · « **Reply #10202 on:** December 15, 2012, 06:05:59 PM »

I didn't know he was an A1 student, Jeanne. But I don't think that would necessarily preclude his being mentally ill. Yes, perhaps he had drug problems. I guess we'll just have to wait until further becomes known. Altho' that will not help those poor grieving parents.

Marj

ANNIE · « **Reply #10203 on:** December 15, 2012, 11:31:10 PM »

What do we know for sure? His aunt said he was good boy and a genius. People with high intelligence often crack because the world is more than they can take. I heard that he had had a problem at his mother's school the week before. Maybe he was asked to leave because he was disturbing the school? And he freaked out? His family is to be pitied. They are victims also. I am sure there is more to this story.

MaryPage · « **Reply #10204 on:** December 16, 2012, 08:53:14 AM »

According to my newspapers and the ABC and NBC news reports I have been following, the shooter's mother WAS NOT a teacher at that school. She does not now work there at all, but at one time she HAD BEEN a teacher's AIDE there.

When the Supreme Court came down with their decision on the Heller case in June 2008, it sounded to me from the wording that they were saying it is against the Constitution to enact any laws regulating the use of fire arms in these United States. Ergo, we now have the right to carry concealed weapons into our churches, our hospitals, our schools. We have the right to purchase any type of weapon for sale. Manufacturers may make and put out there guns designed to kill as many people as possible in the shortest time. For some reason, the matter of Homeland Security trumps that, and we cannot carry weapons on airplanes. Me, I think the lives of six year olds should be secure, as well.

I grew up in a house that contained rifles and shotguns. We were and are a hunting family. I inherited and passed down to my children some valuable guns. But you do not shoot deer or any animal with automatic weapons. It just is not done. They are only for killing a large number of people at one time. That is their sole purpose. IMHO only our police and soldiers should possess these weapons. But men have overruled my opinion, and there is nothing more I can do about it. Believe me, I have tried for about 50 years now. With my daughter Debi, I marched in that Million Mom March to save our children back in 2004 in Washington, D.C. We all wore white and went down on the subway with our signs and all. Rosie O'Donnell was so great that day, as were many others. For some reason, it is she I remember most. I have given to the Brady campaign ever since President Reagan and Jim Brady were shot. I write my congressmen and call their offices. Now I am almost 84, and everything is much worse, not at all better. So I wonder what it was all for.

Babi · « **Reply #10205 on:** December 16, 2012, 08:57:50 AM »

I signed the petition, JEAN, but would you translate 'LBGT' for me. I can't puzzle it out.

PatH · « **Reply #10206 on:** December 16, 2012, 09:49:51 AM »

I think it's often GLBT. It's gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender. They suffer a lot of violence too.

Steph · « **Reply #10207 on:** December 16, 2012, 09:54:35 AM »

As more facts emerge, you can see that he had a problem from the time he was young. He does not seem to be working or going to school and at 20, that is odd indeed..
My younger son has a good friend at the Kingston, NH police force.. The Mother of the shooter comes from the area and lived there for a good deal of the time.

The police are even more puzzled by the fact that she did not work or volunteer at the school.They find no connection.A seriously disturbed human.. but to take it out on children is beyond my capabilities for sorrow for him.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #10208 on:** December 16, 2012, 03:06:34 PM »

Yes, LBGT is lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgendered.

JeanneP · « **Reply #10209 on:** December 16, 2012, 05:51:47 PM »

Time to stop repeating what we are hearing now regarding the shooting. Just to many different things being said by both the News papers, TV etc. Why do they write up and say things before they know for sure.? I am not watching it anymore. Will turn on again next week.
I feel that it does tie into something that happened at the School that he had been holding in. I thought the school was only up to the 4th grade which is about age 10. He had been out 10 years. but people can hold grudges longer than that.

Steph · « **Reply #10210 on:** December 17, 2012, 05:59:28 AM »

That school does not look that old.
Got bullheaded yesterday, spent 45 minutes under the desk sorting out wires and who do what do who.. Then unhooked the old computer, hooked up my lap top. lugged ( phew) the tower and the new computer to Office Depot. Tomorrow I will get it back anwill see how the new all in one Lenova works.. Hooray for stubborn.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #10211 on:** December 17, 2012, 07:40:00 AM »

I think if there was a national call - and it would have to be started by folks outside the community - the nation would donate in a minute to bulldoze down that school - set the site as a memorial and build a new school to get all the memory out of the minds of these kids so that the many who do not want to go back can feel safe even if it means paying for a policeman to be there everyday all day till these kids are off into another age range. The trauma to these kids to go back to that building and even the teachers is more than they should have to handle.

Babi · « **Reply #10212 on:** December 17, 2012, 08:36:08 AM »

Ah. Thanks for the clarification, PAT.

My profound admiration, STEPH. I make it a point never to touch one of those wires.
I am quite sure I would do irreparable damage! Val handles all that, exclusively.

I would suppose, and expect, that all the new security measures that the principal
had been about to initiate will all be in place before the school re-opens. And
that the teachers and parents would be shown all that had been done, to help
re-assure them. The children will need a great deal of help, though. I would not
ask them to return to those same rooms, definitely.

LarryHanna · « **Reply #10213 on:** December 17, 2012, 11:32:55 AM »

I doubt that having a policeman there would have helped as this young man would probably have killed the policeman before the policeman could act. We have had to turn the news off also as a person can stand hearing the same thing only so many times. Politics is bad enough.

marjifay · « **Reply #10214 on:** December 17, 2012, 12:18:47 PM »

This blog was written in The Blue Review.org by the mother of a mentally ill 13-year-old son. Altho' it is titled "I am Adam Lanza's Mother," it is written by another mother. It gives you some idea of what Adam Lanza's mother must have gone through (altho why she had guns available to him is beyond me. My husband was a police officer and his guns were always under lock and key):

"I Am Adam Lanza's Mother': A Mom's Perspective On The Mental Illness Conversation In America

"I can wear these pants,” he said, his tone increasingly belligerent, the black-hole pupils of his eyes swallowing the blue irises.

“They are navy blue,” I told him. “Your school’s dress code says black or khaki pants only.”

“They told me I could wear these,” he insisted. “You’re a stupid bitch. I can wear whatever pants I want to. This is America. I have rights!”

“You can’t wear whatever pants you want to,” I said, my tone affable, reasonable. “And you definitely cannot call me a stupid bitch. You’re grounded from electronics for the rest of the day. Now get in the car, and I will take you to school.”

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.

At the start of seventh grade, Michael was accepted to an accelerated program for highly gifted math and science students. His IQ is off the charts. When he’s in a good mood, he will gladly bend your ear on subjects ranging from Greek mythology to the differences between Einsteinian and Newtonian physics to Doctor Who. He’s in a good mood most of the time. But when he’s not, watch out. And it’s impossible to predict what will set him off."

(You can read the rest of it at The Blue Review.org. She tells how she has tried to get help, but they tell her the only thing they can do is put him in jail if she will charge him with a crime. But she says "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.")

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #10215 on:** December 17, 2012, 02:11:22 PM »

I agree he would have killed any policeman I am simply thinking of the kids we hear about who do not want to go back to school - something to allow them to feel safe is what I am thinking about - no one wants in their face everyday the place the was filled with this horror - we want to put it out of sight and to imagine kids and teachers can be functioning in a learning environment that was the place of the massacre I think as asking too much - they have endured much and then to keep on asking them to endure and get over it I think is inhuman. If it takes the kids and teachers seeing a unit of police so be it - this lingers for a few years - if this was high school it would be different but grade school - they deserve anything that will make them feel secure so they can learn and not sit silently in their day dreaming world that kids go to when they do not or cannot deal with the present.

Frybabe · « **Reply #10216 on:** December 17, 2012, 06:41:51 PM »

I would think that scenario would be enough to have him enrolled in a mental health institution. They don't seem to do that any more. Are these kids seen regularly by a psychologist or psychiatrist? Probably not. My sister and her husband recently moved because her husband found a job in another state. Her eldest son has Aspergers. Because he likes where he is (subsidized apartment, a cat, and a helper that checks in on him) he stayed in Ithaca. Right before she moved, she mentioned he keeps just getting weirder and weirder. I know she misses NY and feels some guilt about leaving him since all the other children have scattered. I expect this whole thing has her upset too. Guess I'd better call her.

Steph · « **Reply #10217 on:** December 18, 2012, 06:08:52 AM »

Ohhh the new computer. The learning curve is very high and weird. it wont let me watch a Christmas card I just got. It says it has adobe flash, but darned if I can find it and the help screen might as well be in Chinese for all the sense it makes. I hate this new stuff.. Why oh why does windows make life difficult.

Frybabe · « **Reply #10218 on:** December 18, 2012, 08:17:47 AM »

The card should open without having to open Adobe Flash. It is possible that all Flash needs is an update to the newest version. The latest version for Windows 8, Internet Explorer is 11.3.377.15. Here is the Adobe site help for Adobe Flash. Keep in mind that if you use a different browser, you are likely to need a different Flash. I use Firefox on Windows 7. See the chart below, but it looks like the site reads what you are using which should show in the dynamic display box directly below the 1-2-3 steps. Hope this helps, Steph.
http://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player.html

Babi · « **Reply #10219 on:** December 18, 2012, 08:55:15 AM »

Surely there are other options, I would think. There are special schools, but I
realize those may be more costly than many can afford. There are state institutions,
but I can also understand the reluctance to place one's child in one of them.
This mother seems to be handling the problems wisely, but I do hope she will be
able to find some help. Thank for this article, MARJ.

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #10220 on:** December 18, 2012, 06:10:36 PM »

Be sure and keep talking ab out your new computers, becaise I just got a New HP desktop with Windows 7. I didn't want Win 8. I had my computer guru over here today 2 hrs to switch all my old stuff to the new computer, set up new one, I had to have a new Modem too as my old one was knocking me off line every chance it got ! The computer came with a USB plug in style keyboard, which is the old rectangular one. I had used a Microsoft Natural (ergonomic style) keyboard for years, due to former career of transcriptionist, typist, Adm. Asst. where I nearly typed my way into Carpal Tunnel.

Steph · « **Reply #10221 on:** December 19, 2012, 06:21:25 AM »

Thanks Frybabe, but that is something I have been trying for days. It shows that everything is installed properly, but the card still wont download.
Oh for a computer guru.. I need someone to come to the house and help me learn the new system and Windows 8 is truly new and a bit problematic.. But where I live, no one does that. It is all bring it in..ugh..
But I did get some stuff installed.. Printer worked yesterday. Today it keeps turning itself off.. Ah, the joys of new sometimes escape me.

Frybabe · « **Reply #10222 on:** December 19, 2012, 08:04:54 AM »

I expect that maybe you did Steph, but I threw it out there in case anyone else wanted to update their Flash manually. I like their new setup for updating. The site reads your computer and tells you which update you need. Super. No more guessing. I suppose, though, that when I want to update the Flash for IE, I'd have to do that manually. I have IE and Chrome on the computer also, but Firefox is my default browser.

I have a really neat program called Secunia which will keeps an eye on and updates all my programs. I use version 2.0. I like that so much better than the newer version 3. Version 3 insisted that I manually update the programs that needed it (must be a setting somewhere to change that), and doesn't have the nice dashboard and additional info that 2.0 does. I blew off 3 and went back to 2.

Not reading too much just now. Concentrating on getting a SciFi done before our Travels with Herodotus discussion. Still need to get that book. I finished reading The Alchemist last week. Not that impressed with it. Good thing it was short.

LarryHanna · « **Reply #10223 on:** December 19, 2012, 11:23:53 AM »

Frybabe, I also have used the Secunia program for quite awhile but like the new version as it goes ahead an updates any programs it can and I only have to take a manual action on a few.

MaryPage · « **Reply #10224 on:** December 19, 2012, 02:36:32 PM »

Most states offer no financial help for the mentally ill whatsoever. Some do.

In this country, if you have a family member with Alzheimer's or any totally disabling health issue, you have to wear yourself out physically and financially to care for that person. If they have no health insurance, you have to provide it for them or pay their expenses. If the family member is poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, that will cover a lot. If the family member is old enough to have Medicare, that will cover a little.

I think the government (that's us; all of us) should begin to protect our communities by having all High Schools and Colleges by law report any and all total misfits to their local county to a team of psychiatrists who are on RETAINER to the county. You have to be very careful in these situations that no doctor or lawyer is going to make MORE money if they certify a person a misfit. If an annual retainer is automatically paid, and only that and no more, they should prove to be diligent and truthful in their reporting. As for misfits, there are among us an enormous number of folks with mental disabilities and illnesses; but by far the most of these can and do hold down jobs and/or relate to other human beings. They fit into our society, each in their own way. These rare, but unfortuately not rare enough, TOTAL misfits are easy for one and all to pick out. Time after time after time some young man, usually dressed all in black like hooded Death himself with his sickle or a hooded executioner, goes on a killing rampage. And time after time we hear from family and schoolmates and neighbors that he was "weird" and did not fit in.

Once a team of local government doctors certifies a person a misfit, they should be placed in government paid group homes and overseen 24/7. No chance to obtain guns or any type weapon, or drive a vehicle, or run off and kill. This will safeguard the community and relieve the familys involved.

JoanP · « **Reply #10225 on:** December 19, 2012, 10:32:11 PM »

Steph, I had the same problem ...for weeks. Here's how I fixed it..just yesterday-

Go to "SAFETY" on top of page next to Tools. Left click on SAFETY.
Look on the menu for ActiveX Filtering.
Do you see a check mark in front of ActiveX Filtering?
Click it so the Check mark disappears.
Now try to read the card...

I hope this works for you too.

Steph · « **Reply #10226 on:** December 20, 2012, 06:20:21 AM »

Joan, I will try it. Do you mean on the box that comes up when I try to open the card?
One of my dil's is here.. She has been working on painting some trim on one of their rental houses in Orlando and stayed the night with me. Good company.. I am lucky enough to have two very different and delightful dil's.

JoanP · « **Reply #10227 on:** December 20, 2012, 07:37:16 AM »

No, not on the card. Try this - it might be easier. You can also find the ActiveX filter check mark if you look at the top of your browser page when on the Internet - like now.

Do you see the line that says FILE-EDIT-VIEW-FAVORITES-TOOLS? Left Click on TOOLS - do you see Active x filtering? Is there a check mark? If yes, click on it so that the check mark disappears...

Now see if you can read your card...

Babi · « **Reply #10228 on:** December 20, 2012, 09:11:23 AM »

MARYPAGE, I am leery of the idea of high schools and colleges being required to
report 'misfits'. How many would be qualified to identify a potentially dangerous
'misfit'. Not all 'misfits' are violent or dangerous, just different in some way
from the general run. And think of all the harm that could be done to perfectly
unexceptionable people by someone who just disagreed with their choices? Someone
has to refer these people to the 'team of local government doctors', and that someone
may have less than pure motives. The whole thing seems to me just a prospective
horror of injustice.

ginny · « **Reply #10229 on:** December 20, 2012, 09:39:17 AM »

Oh golly, misfits, they'd have locked me up years ago.

I do think the mentally ill need more help than is currently afforded them.

I'm hearing a LOT about Gone Girls. I read up on it and it seems people are really raving over it, doesn't appear to be a holiday type theme, has anybody here read it? The plot sounds like See Jane Run by Joy Fielding, but I'll reserve judgment. I thought See Jane Run was wonderful when i read it years ago, heart pounding.

So what's in your pocket?...er...on your Wish List for books this holiday season?

I'm reading Our Man In Havana, somebody recommended it in one of our other folders. Aside from the N word in the first sentence, in a quote, it's delightful, and really clever, so far, am about 1/2 way through. I guess that usage is a matter of the time it was written in, or the speaker's prejudice in the book, but it's not been repeated. They have removed a lot of references like that in other books, like Agatha Christie, for instance, which helps hers remain timeless.

Now I know what that phrase means, Our Man in Havana, I never really understood other than what it appears to mean, what it actually does. Seems to fit in nicely with the current 007 excitement. It's quite different.

We just had one of our fireplaces rebuilt on the inside, they finished yesterday and I hope I can remember if it ever needs doing again what happens when they drill out old brick and grout and put in new. Not a good time to do this work, but we wanted a small fire on Christmas Day.

Like Sir Walter Scott:

Heap on the wood!- the wind is chill;
But let it whistle as it will,
We'll keep our Christmas merry still

That was in a book I read years ago and has always stuck with me. Who reads Scott today? How about Macaulay? The Lays of Ancient Rome? They were SUCH good writers.

Horatius at the Bridge:

566 And in the nights of winter,
567 When the cold north winds blow,
568 And the long howling of the wolves
569 Is heard amidst the snow;
570 When round the lonely cottage
571 Roars loud the tempest's din,
572 And the good logs of Algidus
573 Roar louder yet within;

574 When the oldest cask is opened,
575 And the largest lamp is lit,
576 When the chesnuts glow in the embers,
577 And the kid turns on the spit;
578 When young and old in circle
579 Around the firebrands close;
580 When the girls are weaving baskets,
581 And the lads are shaping bows;
....
587 Still is the story told,
588 How well Horatius kept the bridge
589 In the brave days of old.

Good old stuff!

Happy Happy Holidays! Our fire, according to the brick mason, will consist of two very small logs/ sticks/ splinters which will burn out in an hour, this repeated several times over several days, so I expect lighting a toothpick would have the same effect, but it's the thought that counts, right? hahahaa

Let it snow!

Tomereader1 · « **Reply #10230 on:** December 20, 2012, 01:37:44 PM »

Ginny, I read "Gone Girl" and can't see what the brouhaha is about it. I did not like it. It was an interesting way of telling the story, with her half being diary entries (?) but it seemed to deteriorate into simply a sex-based tale, especially from her POV, and she had a really dirty mouth. You feel bad for him (at first) bad for her (during) and at the end, I despised them both. If you can read it free, then do so, if you must, but don't do as I did and pay good money for the book!
Words to the Wise!

Frybabe · « **Reply #10231 on:** December 20, 2012, 01:48:15 PM »

Walter Scott's Guy Mannering is in my old Kindle library still waiting to be read. I don't remember if I downloaded Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, or Lady of the Lake. I do think there is one other in the Kindle. I haven't read Macaulay.

maryz · « **Reply #10232 on:** December 20, 2012, 04:10:53 PM »

ginny, we just got the movie, Our Man in Havana, from Netflix. So looking forward to it, although it'll probably be the weekend before we watch it.

Steph · « **Reply #10233 on:** December 21, 2012, 06:11:57 AM »

JoanP.. did that and active x is not checked.. Now they are suggesting that I find rich text and look for add ons..sigh.

Steph · « **Reply #10234 on:** December 21, 2012, 06:13:52 AM »

in the add ons, shock wave is enabled.. so no idea what or why it wont load.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #10235 on:** December 21, 2012, 07:30:19 AM »

Babi, I entirely agree with you. In our UK eyes (and I appreciate we live in a very different society) it is the guns that should be controlled, not the people. I know we have had terrible shootings here - a friend's friend's daughter was shot dead at by Thomas Hamilton at Dunblane Primary School - but they are far, far rarer than they are in the US. I understand that the parents of the children killed at Dunblane demanded more gun controls and more police checks on people who had gun licences (obviously farmers need them to control vermin, etc) not the reporting of anyone who appeared less than 'normal'. You cannot buy firearms in this country without a very good reason. our police do not routinely carry guns.

MaryZ - have you seen The Quiet American? It's another Greene adaptation and I thought it was an excellent one - Michael Caine plays the jaundiced Vietnam correspondent so well.

Rosemary

MaryPage · « **Reply #10236 on:** December 21, 2012, 08:27:20 AM »

Seriously, Ginny, clearly you jest when you say you would be classified as a misfit.
I did not go to school with ANY misfits. I was lucky. We had slow learners and fast ones and everything in between. But everyone related to other people.
Apparently a misfit stands out and everyone, teachers and other pupils, know perfectly well that person is really weird and not fitting in with anyone at all and not communicating with others in any way. At least, that is what they all report AFTER one dons their Death or Executioner black outfit and goes about taking an inner rage out on those who do fit in.

ginny · « **Reply #10237 on:** December 21, 2012, 08:35:06 AM »

Thank you, Tome! I was going out today to look for it, so I will look right past it, I don't need that one/ subject/ right now, free or otherwise. I appreciate that opinion.

The new Kennedy biography looks really good. Old Joe apparently was something else, like a lot of others of that generation. I seem to remember an old Kitty Kelley biography on the same topic years ago, long out of print, you can't buy that now. I think I'd like to read it. It's just out November 13 and I've not seen it on the shelves, is called The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy by David Nasaw. Anybody here read it?

Some of the reviews say "brilliant, compelling, riveting, spellbinding and hard to put down." That sounds like what I'm looking for. The author is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and the winner of many other prizes and a professor of history at the Graduate Center of CUNY. This one looks like a winner.

I keep meaning also to read the Caro latest in the biography of Lyndon Johnson, a man who apparently was more than anybody thought.

How about Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan? It also has about as many raves reviews as there is space to type them, anybody read that one? About literature, books, and 007 type espionage?

And then there's Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver, about climate change, anybody read that?

Somewhere out there has to be a well written good book!!

ginny · « **Reply #10238 on:** December 21, 2012, 08:37:56 AM »

Mary Page, we were posting together. I think there's a difference between people who don't fit in with the crowd and people who are pathologically mentally ill.

Babi · « **Reply #10239 on:** December 21, 2012, 09:09:34 AM »

GINNY, you really should take those lines from Homer over to the poetry page.
It is perfect as a poem of the season. I'd love to be in that circle around the
fire.

Thank you for the warning, TOME. I definitely am not interested in a book like
that.

I've read a number of Scott's books, long ago, FRYBABE, including Ivanhoe and Rob Roy. Don't remember reading Guy Mannering, tho'. When you get to that one on your kindle, tell me a bit about it, please. If I haven't read it I think I would like
to do so.

ROSEMARY, I have always been amazed, and even envious, that your police force is able to do just fine without everyone carrying guns. Unfortunately, guns are so
prevalent here that our police must have them if only for their own protection.
I fully understand the original premise that an armed citizenry is a safeguard
against the rise of tyranny, but it has obviously gotten far out of hand.

News:

Author Topic: The Library (Read 2318895 times)