She So Funny

Well, I had a funny blog entry to post but in light of the mass shooting that happened this morning in Newtown, CT, some other thoughts popped into mind.

First off, can we take a second the recognize that the 2nd amendment, which gives Americans the right to bare arms, was written by a group of men who owned slaves and thought that was perfectly acceptable? They also didn't have the plethora of hand guns available for purchase by filling out a simple application at a Cabella's hunting store. The way we think has changed and so should our laws.

Secondly, mental health care in this country should be FREE to EVERYONE. Statistically, the people who need it the most can't afford it. There are so many reasons why shootings like these happen and one of them is the mental illness had by the shooter.

To add to that, many psychiatrists in this country hand out pills like they're candy. I've had many experiences with the negative affects of psychiatric drugs on close members of my family. One of them tried to take their own life because they were on the wrong medication for the wrong disorder for months. I had to be on the phone with them as they attempted to jump in front of a train. All because they were misdiagnosed and followed their doctor's orders. I couldn't imagine what a person with a more extreme mental disorder would do if they were misdiagnosed... (Oh wait, they would probably shoot a bunch of innocent people).

Why doesn't this happen in other countries?

Fuck, just yesterday I went to a psychiatrist for the first time in my entire life because I wanted to see if I could get a perscription for Adderall. I sat down, shook his hand and told him I had trouble focusing. He asked to draw a family tree of all the members in my immediate family, which we did. Then, he gave me a perscription and I had a bottle in my hand that night. I was completely taking advantage of the fact that he was incompetent and was stunned at how easy it was.

It's hard to think of a shooter as a human being, but they didn't start out as an evil baby. Things happened that informed their condition and perpetuated it.

Lastly, the news. Media goes NUTS over this shit and they do things like interview 7 year old children who just saw their best friend get shot and air it for the world to see. They also blast the identity of the shooter across all of our television screens and plants the seed of all different types of prejudices. A large part of why racisms against Islams was so rampid after 9/11 is because all we saw in the papers and on our TVs were pictures of the terrorists. So naturally, when the guy who is driving your cab looks exactly like the guy who flew a plane into the World Trader Center, it's going to set off a reaction in you and often times hatred. Here is a link to a video of a psychiatrist's take on the media's perpetuation of mass shootings that I find fascinating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PezlFNTGWv4

Ok, that is it. I wish I could hug all the families and kids affected by this shooting. If anyone knows of a foundation or charity that exisits (if there isn't one now, I'm sure there will be many in the future) please share it. Or start one.