I may be alone here, and I don’t often say things like this, but … I hope it’s a rough kind of justice. I hope it lasts for a long time. I hope they suffer agony and torment. I hope they die.
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What sort of justification do you have for killing people just because they have a different religion?
As SDA we believe in freedom of religion, and condemn this senseless act.
Condolences to the families and people who have lost family members and friends.
That sort of thing just is not on.
There have been a lot of developments over the last couple of days which will probably still change more as time goes on, but at the moment here are the things we know
- The death toll now stands at 50 people
- The police are saying this was the work of a lone gunman
- 4 people were initially arrested, of those 1 person was release, 2 people are still being investigated
- The person arrested and released was a “concerned citizen” who had a gun and wanted to help the police.
- The lone gunman was an Australian white supremacist who had legal weapons that were illegally modified so that they became automatic weapons
- The gunman had a manifesto that, among other things, praised Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity”
Here’s my take on the above.
The only reason that I included the last bullet point is because there have been several media outlets who have chosen to highlight it. This is not about Trump and never should be.
New Zealand doesn’t do consecutive sentences, all sentences are concurrent. There are pros and cons to this approach which I’m not going to get into. For premeditated murder, the maximum sentence is life in prison. This does literally mean “life in prison”, however nobody actually spends their life in prison as they will be paroled after a certain amount of time, and for the rest of their life they will be “on parole” and can be recalled back to prison if they violate their parole terms.
The sentencing judge can, however, assign a minimum non-parole term - which is how long they must spend in prison before being eligible for parole. The highest non-parole period in New Zealand so far has been 30 years for someone who killed 3 people.
I wouldn’t be unhappy to see his minimum non-parole period set at 150 years. That is unlikely to happen, but it will still be a significant period.
The NZ police did a fantastic job. They took down the killer at great personal risk and got to him incredibly quickly.
The moron who went wandering around Christchurch with a gun to “help the police” is extremely lucky to be alive. There are several countries (yes, I’m looking at America here) where a lot of the police have “shoot first, justify everything afterwards” mentalities.
I’m just waiting for both the pro-gun and anti-gun lobbies to jump on the bandwagon to promote their point of view. I still think that using tragedies in that way is reprehensible.
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Nebula and Hugo award winning author Vonda McIntyre
I knew her from her Star Trek novels - I may see what non-Star Trek stuff of hers I can find.
There’s a name from my past. I don’t remember really liking her books, but I read a few.
I enjoyed her short stories more than here larger bodies of work. Still a shame to see more of the old guard passing.
I think I read a few when I basically plowed through a friend’s mom’s collection of Star Trek paperbacks back in the 80s. They had probably 20+ feet of them on a shelf in their basement, and I’d read a shopping bag full a week for a summer back in the 80s.
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I think I read her stuff before she started writing the Star Trek novels. It was when I was in my teens, so late '70s, early '80s?
I think she did one or two Star Wars expanded universe books.
Not sure if this is the right place, but I thought it fitting.
I am not at all religious - in fact, quite the opposite - but this hit me harder than I expected when I saw the footage. They’re saying that it’s likely nothing can be saved. The loss of history and the craftsmanship is just devastating.
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I saw that at lunch. Shocking, truly.
Apparently the structure is intact, although the beautiful lattice-work ceiling - made of wood in the 13th century is gone. They managed to save the bell towers, and - and I literally teared up hearing this - the three Rose windows and the pipe organ are okay. They also managed to get a number of the relics and artwork out.
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From what I saw elsewhere, the fact that renovations were occurring meant a fair amount of the relics and art were already moved out, and the firefighters were able to run in and get a bunch of the rest out with little issue.
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That reminds me of the Windsor castle fire way back…
They removed the gargoyles last week for the first time since installation.
I’m not saying, but I’m saying…
edit:
Jean-Marc Fournier, the chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade who also played a key role in supporting Parisians following the 2015 Bataclan terror attack, saved the Blessed Sacrament and the Crown of Thorns after he went in with the firefighters, Sky News reported.
“Father Fournier is an absolute hero,” an emergency services member said. “He showed no fear at all as he made straight for the relics inside the cathedral, and made sure they were saved. He deals with life and death every day, and shows no fear.”
Balls o’ steel.
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I found out yesterday that my Uncle Gordy died. I’d only seen him sporadically since he moved to Mexico decades ago, and hadn’t talked to him in years. I really regret that now.
My Grandma just a few hours ago. The only thing that soothes me is knowing she can’t be missing Grandpa anymore…
I am so glad I went to see her one last time. I hated seeing her like, but I would have hated not having that last hug even more.
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I happened to visit my mom on the day she passed. It was purely random that I went on that day, but it meant that someone from our family was there the moment she no longer wasn’t. She probably didn’t know I was there.
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This is from over a week ago, but Kazuhiko Katō died on the 11th at age 81. You may know him better as Monkey Punch, creator of Lupin III.
I’m sorry for your loss, @MSUAlexis
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