Senseless Loss

Like many yesterday I was reeling from the news of the senseless rampage that left 33 people dead in Virginia. There is no way to comprehend such a tragedy. Less than 48 hours later people are busy trying to exploit the events . . . a testament to where we are as a society I suppose.

Not long after the news broke sick Internet folk started registering domain names in the hopes of making a future profit. Some even tried to sell them on eBay. Here is an assortment of what was listed yesterday:

1) vtechkilling.com
Registrant: Jason Berlinsky of Morristown, New Jersey
Registrar: Moniker Online Services, Inc.
Starting bid: $0.01
Buy It Now: $500
Bids: 0
Vtechkilling.com is registered through 2008. It is "a perfect domain name for any memorandum or other site dedicated to the recent mass killing of students at Virginia Tech." The eBay description has a visual "memorandum" of an assault rifle. Berlinsky has a 100 percent positive feedback rating.

2) virginiatechkiller.com and viriginatechstudentmemorial.com
Registrant: Lewis Dennison of Southfield, Michigan
Registrar: GoDaddy
Starting Bids: $99.96
Bids: 0
--Both listings feature an American flag waving in the breeze. Selling under the handle "groovybluedragon," Dennison has a 99.5 percent positive feedback rating.

3) Virginia-tech-rampage.com
Registrant: Matt Owens of Jackson, Michigan
Registrar: Melbourne IT
Starting Bid: $1,000
Buy It Now: $10,000
Bids: 0
According to Owens, www.virginia-tech-rampage.com is a "great domain name for development! Make a [sic] offer!" In his description, Owens includes a rather disturbing photo-shopped image of a comely angel in what appears to be lingerie. She is hovering next to a cross. Owens has a 100 percent positive feedback rating.

4) vatechvictimsfund.com and vatechhelp.com
Registrant: Rory Klinge, possibly of Greenport, New York
Registrar: Melbourne IT
Starting Bid: $5,000
Buy It Now: $10,000
Bids: 0
Klinge's apparent sense of charity also apparently encompasses his own well-being. Feedback rating? 100 percent positive.

5) virginiatechlawsuits.com, vatechlawsuits.com, vatechlawsuit.com, vatechlawsuit.info, vatechlawsuits.info, virginiatechlawsuits.info
Registrant: Proxy, Inc. (a anonymous registrant service)
Registrar: GoDaddy
Starting Bid: $417,007
Buy It Now: $500,000
Bids: 0
This mystery profiteer hopes to corner the legal angle on the tragedy. "Unfortunatly [sic], we know that this is coming," he writes in his description. "Lawyers will jump on this thing real quick!...These domain names will be good for years to come; we all know how long a lawsuit takes." A clue to this seller's identity: mbradley005 in Sterling, Virginia.

It is a sick world that we live in. Happily eBay got wind of what was going on and pulled the auctions.

Others are trying to make political 'hay' out of this horrific act. Supporters of gun control are using it as proof that guns should be banned. Supporters of 'the right to carry' are using it as proof that we should have guns to defend ourselves. Anti-immigration pundits are using the fact that the shooter was from South Korea as proof that America should ban immigrants and it goes on and on.

The reality is that the perpetrator of this shooting spree was a product of American culture; his life in the US being greater than his time in Korea. Evidence is slowly trickling out that he may have been emotionally unwell, yet he was able to purchase guns.

Other reactions are as troubling. The 'blame game' has started before facts are even released. The magnitude of the loss is alarming; let folks come to grips with that before examining what happened in an effort to learn how to prevent further tragic events. The fact that people were discussing lawsuits so quickly saddens me.

Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott (a victim of the Columbine massacre), was asked today if he believed we lived in a society which glorifies violence. This was his response:

I've said for eight years that the responsibility lies with all of us. When I was a child, they didn't allow the extreme violence to be so widely available to young people the way it is now. Unfortunately, today people can go to the Internet and find out how to make bombs. We've got artists and musicians who glorify suicide and homicide. We've got video games being mimicked after Columbine. And you've got extremely violent movies. It's no secret that when people are exposed to extreme violence and become angry, it triggers something. And if they have access to a weapon, the combination of all of that can be pretty volatile.

So much to think about . . . .

Finally. My rant. I am coming to despise journalists, the media, and ourselves for watching it. . . I am sickened by what I see on TV. In our era of 'instant messaging' we have lost something precious; people have lost privacy to cope with tragedy in their own manner without a microphone or camera shoved in their face. We are becoming focused on the sensationalistic story. I have seen more disaster, horror, death, and sadness played over and over again in my life. I don't want to hide my head in the sand but I would like some balance . . .

Comments

[Robert]

I can sympathise with you on this.

Our society has become addicted to the cheap thrill, and something like this massacre provides that kick.

People do by and large seem oblivious to the fact that real people were involved, that real people died, were injured, etc.

Whilst they know it intellectually, somehow they have not fully connected with that reality, and that emotional distance enables them to prostitute such tragedies to their own benefit.