Shocking - and I thought he wouldn't have much to say.  That solves the whole "Why'd you do it?" question - sort of.  The news of his astonishing media pack has just broke and from what they've released so far, it appears as if he might have been screaming ...... "I'm a lunatic and need to be at the very least medicated and if I refuse or can't be trusted to do so - place me in a facility where I don't have a choice until I'm BETTER!!!!!"  AAAAAHHHHH! 

Sorry....I know that is not possible and probably going against what a lot of people would want enacted, but I think it may become necessary.  Have some central location that can track the number of times an individual is requested/required to seek mental health evaluations and start keeping track!  Have a 3 strikes you're out rule or something!  Seek the help yourself or for your children when it's necessary, (government better step in and make it affordable dammit), or pay the penalty - mandatory stay in a facility for evaluation and treatment. 

There were signs, and even though I know hind sight is 20/20, that teacher knew more needed to be done for this guy, but her hands were tied by the law.  Sometimes some of our freedoms do have to be given up for the greater good - for the safety of everyone.

Just heard on FOX news (it's usually on in my house) that South Korea held a candlelight vigil last night near the U.S. Embassy to show their sorrow for what one of their own has done here.  It has been said that they now worry that this will cause bad relations between the two countries.  I find that this would just be one more tragedy to add to the already too long list.  I also find it absurd.  This is what hate breeds.  Plain and simple stupidity.  He was a man - period.  I hold the country he was born in no more responsible than I held the USA responsible when Klebold went crazy in Columbine.  What was responsible?  Only God knows for sure, but my guess would be several things.  Brain chemistry make-up, parental guidance or lack of, drugs, bullying, easy access to guns, lack of caring or insight by teachers or those around him, inability for those who knew what was going on to say anything, society.  Take your pick or combination or add your own.  The point is, I didn't blame the country and hate Americans.  I felt bad for all of them, the kid included.  Something was horribly, horribly wrong with him and there was no room for hatred in my heart, just sorrow.  So, South Korean's everywhere, you won't read this and don't know me, but I for one do not blame you. 

Cho is dead.  There will be no trial to place blame, no hearing to determine his fate.  When you do something as awful as this, I think it is the right thing to do to take your own life.  You do not deserve to live anymore here on this earth, and to put the families through a trial is just adding salt to a wound.  I also believe it provides a time for hatred to build while attorneys try to work the system to save a life that nobody wants saved besides the famalies of the accused, but in my eyes, I think it's more humane to put them out of their misery too.  Living life knowing your son took the lives of 32 people and he himself still breaths would be a bitter pill to swallow on a daily basis I would imagine.  Perhaps he would have enlightened us to his reasons, but they do say he wasn't exactly the outgoing type, so I wouldn't bet on it.

 

I just pray for answers to a way to make sensless violence end.  Love more.  Forgive more.  Fill the world with more good and perhaps some day, far far ahead in the future, it alone will be enough to push the bad away for good.  I'm ever the wishful thinker......

'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin Dies at 44
Sep 4, 12:41 AM EST

The Associated Press

BRISBANE, Australia -- Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and conservationist known as the "Crocodile Hunter,"  was killed Monday by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.

Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous barb on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.

"He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time.

Crew members aboard the boat, Croc One, called emergency services in the nearest city, Cairns, and administered CPR as they rushed the boat to nearby Low Isle to meet a rescue helicopter. Medical staff pronounced Irwin dead when they arrived a short time later, Stainton said.

Irwin was famous for his enthusiasm for wildlife and his catchword "Crikey!" in his television program "Crocodile Hunter." First broadcast in Australia in 1992, the program was picked up by the Discovery network, catapulting Irwin to international celebrity.

He rode his image into a feature film, 2002's "The Crocodile Hunters: Collision Course" and developed the wildlife park that his parents opened, Australia Zoo, into a major tourist attraction.

"The world has lost a great wildlife icon, a passionate conservationist and one of the proudest dads on the planet," Stainton told reporters in Cairns. "He died doing what he loved best and left this world in a happy and peaceful state of mind. He would have said, 'Crocs Rule!'"

Prime Minister John Howard, who hand-picked Irwin to attend a gala barbecue to honor President Bush when he visited in 2003, said he was "shocked and distressed at Steve Irwin's sudden, untimely and freakish death."

"It's a huge loss to Australia," Howard told reporters.  "He was a wonderful character. He was a passionate environmentalist. He brought joy and entertainment and excitement to millions of people."

Irwin, who made a trademark of hovering dangerously close to untethered crocodiles and leaping on their backs, spoke in rapid-fire bursts with a thick Australian accent and was almost never seen without his uniform of khaki shorts and shirt and heavy boots.

Wild animal expert Jack Hanna, who frequently appears on TV with his subjects, offered praise for Irwin.

"Steve was one of these guys, we thought of him as invincible," Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus (Ohio) Zoo and Aquarium, told ABC's "Good Morning America" Monday.

"The guy was incredible. His knowledge was incredible," Hanna said. "Some people that are doing this stuff are actors and that type of thing, but Steve was truly a zoologist, so to speak, a person who knew what he was doing. Yes, he did things a lot of people wouldn't do. I think he knew what he was doing."

Irwin's ebullience was infectious and Australian officials sought him out for photo opportunities and to promote Australia internationally.

His public image was dented, however, in 2004 when he caused an uproar by holding his infant son in one arm while feeding large crocodiles inside a zoo pen. Irwin claimed at the time there was no danger to the child, and authorities declined to charge Irwin with violating safety regulations.

Later that year, he was accused of getting too close to penguins, a seal and humpback whales in Antarctica while making a documentary. Irwin denied any wrongdoing, and an Australian Environment Department investigation recommended no action be taken against him.

Stingrays have a serrated, toxin-loaded barb, or spine, on the top of their tail. The barb, which can be up to 10 inches long, flexes if a ray is frightened. Stings usually occur to people when they step on or swim too close to a ray and can be excruciatingly painful but are rarely fatal, said University of Queensland marine neuroscientist Shaun Collin.

Collin said he suspected Irwin died because the barb pierced under his ribcage and directly into his heart.

"It was extraordinarily bad luck. It's not easy to get spined by a stingray and to be killed by one is very rare," Collin said.

News of Irwin's death spread quickly, and tributes flowed from all quarters of society.

At Australia Zoo at Beerwah, south Queensland, floral tributes were dropped at the entrance, where a huge fake crocodile gapes. Drivers honked their horns as they passed.

"Steve, from all God's creatures, thank you. Rest in peace," was written on a card with a bouquet of native flowers.

"We're all very shocked. I don't know what the zoo will do without him. He's done so much for us, the environment and it's a big loss," said Paula Kelly, a local resident and volunteer at the zoo, after dropping off a wreath at the gate.

Stainton said Irwin's American-born wife Terri, from Eugene, Ore., had been informed of his death, and had told their daughter Bindi Sue, 8, and son Bob, who will turn 3 in December.

The couple met when she went on vacation in Australia in 1991 and visited Irwin's Australia Zoo; they were married six months later. Sometimes referred to as the "Crocodile Huntress," she costarred on her husband's television show and in his 2002 movie.  

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Steve Irwin has always reminded me of my dad.  Lover of animals, heart of gold, so in tune with nature it's scary sometimes, his "live-on-the-edge" personality and even his body build - all would remind me of my dad.  My mom agrees with me, and today when he died, the loss of this man, really was felt by me in a strange way.  I pray his daughter, Bindi Sue and son, Bob inherit their father's zest for life and know someday how important Steve Irwin was to so many and how very much he will be missed.  I know his wife Terri will always keep him alive in their lives. 

 

 

One Killed in Fatal Car Crash

Jun 06 2006 7:50AM

Franklin County sheriff's deputies are investigating a deadly car crash in southeast Columbus.

It happened early Tuesday morning when a 2006 Mitisubishi Endeavor traveling northbound on Courtright Road failed to negotiate a curve and hit a tree.

The driver of the vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene. The name of the driver has not yet been released.

One passenger were transported to Grant Hospital and is listed in critical condition, while a second passenger was taken to Mt. Carmel Hospital is stable but serious condition.

Police suspect alcohol was involved in the incident and say those in the car were not wearing seatbelts.

The crash remains under investigation.

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I was sleeping...having a nightmare actually, when I heard the impact of this crash.  The sign for this curve - that the driver "failed to negotiate" - is in my front yard.  The curve is basically a 90 degree angle and requires you to slow down significantly to make it.  People commonly speed on our street - as it is used as a cut through - and just a few days ago, my husband had the police out here after confronting a speeding teenager that threatened him with a pipe of some sort.  The officer had commented that several people had lost their lives on that curve - but this was the first since we moved here 3 and a half years ago.  It has shaken me a little for the following reason.

I awoke to the sound of the impact - not quite sure at the time what it was or where it had come from exactly.  I woke Tom up - he obviously hadn't heard it - and didn't seem too concerned.  I felt the need to investigate further. (I was wondering now if this had been part of my dream since it hadn't woke Tom up and had woke me up since I am a very sound sleeper)  I went out into the front yard (in my pajamas) - all the way to the street - looked in the direction in which I thought the sound had come from, and saw nothing.  I was still straining to see in the dark when Tom told me to come in.  After coming in, one of my cats was meowing outside the door, so I let him in, shut off the lights and headed back to bed.  I wasn't in there long before I thought I heard another cat crying - like they do when they're fighting - but it wasn't a cat.  As I listened, the "cat cry" became a very audible "Help"  "Help"  "Help" and then more insistently "Help! Help!! Help!!!"  I jumped up - told Tom I knew I had heard something!! - and ran to my car - a little leary of running down the road in my pajamas and bare feet I guess.  I was backing out of my driveway when I heard sirens - someone had already called 911 - and I could see lights flashing in the distance coming down the street.  I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and therefore reacted just seconds too late to my beep beep beeeeeping of my back-up warning system and hit the basketball pole - recently relocated to "my" side of the driveway. I jumped out of my car and was running down to the scene when Tom called me back.  Several fire trucks, ambulances and cruisers had arrived, and I'm not sure what assistance I thought I was going to provide....it was the adrenaline I think. 

All I could hear the rest of the night - as I was trying to fall back to sleep with the loud idling of the fire trucks, was the cry for help, obviously being uttered by one of the passengers, since the driver was killed on impact.  I wish I had followed my instinct more and investigated further when I first heard the impact, but pretty sure it wouldn't have mattered much - definately not to the driver.  It may have actually been a blessing not to see what was down there anyhow, because hearing it was bad enough.  I pray the passengers survive and I hope this gets people to slow down on our road, buckle up and for God's sake DON'T drink and drive!

 

 

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