This was not a 'slow news week' for sure.
While the shooting at Virginia Tech. continues to dominate news coverage, it has been pushed back a little – by another shooting. A disgruntled employee, Bill Phillips, went into building 44 at the in this afternoon and shot and killed a fellow engineer before killing himself. Apparently two other people were held hostage, one was injured but the other was not. The motive seems to be some kind of dispute between Phillips and his supervisors. Nothing gets your mind off one terrible shooting than another terrible shooting. (CNN, video can be viewed here: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/20/nasa.gunfire/index.html) While nothing really positive can come from any of these kind of actions, the first shooting may have shone some light on depression & other mental health issues among college students and other students, this should do the same thing for workplace violence. According to a report by the International Labor Organization (ILO, this report is here), homicide is the third leading cause of death at work. The press release on the above report, says:
"Violence at work, ranging from bullying and mobbing, to threats by psychologically unstable co-workers, sexual harassment and homicide, is increasing worldwide and has reached epidemic levels in some countries."
The report suggests the news is not all bad and that while the above is true, the trend in the US is decreasing and more deaths at work are due to the nature of the employment, showcased in many reality shows such as the Discovery Channel's "the Deadliest Catch," which showcases crab fishing in Alaska.
But this incident is not the first time this has happened and it will happen again. The ILO, on the same page, has offered a set of guidelines aimed at helping employers deal with unhappy employees and prevent it from happening again. Most cases of workplace bullying, for example, do not end up with violence. This story will be eclipsed by the tragedy, and it is easy to see why. As suicide is the third leading cause of death for people ages 15-24, once again I am going to say that we need to do more for people with mental illnesses — and that applies to both shootings. The incident with which I am most familiar took place on July 1, 1993 in . Another disgruntled employee entered a law office at 101 California street and killed eight people and wounded six others , this was one of the events that prompted Congress to pass a crime bill and the Assault Weapons ban, which has since expired — it was not renewed by the Dubya's administration. Personally, I don't think anyone needs to have access to these weapons and agree with the ban. People have the right to protect themselves, family and property and hunt but if you need an AK-47 to shoot a deer, you need either glasses or a class in hunting. Gun lovers have said the Second Amendment is there 'to protect us from our government.' Nothing, no assault rifle or anything else that you can get legally, is going to protect you from the military (and people have told me that's what they need protection from).
We need to stop our collective hand-wringing and second guessing and start to look at what happened and why and DO something — close gun loopholes, enforce the gun laws we have, allow schools to intervene when students become dangerous to others and create a society where we care about each other not fear each other. People like to say they 'are not their brother's keeper,' that needs to change. After re-watching "Bowling for Columbine" I want to move to . On why people in big cities up north DO NOT LOCK THEIR DOORS (hey, I am from NY there is NO way I would ever feel safe sleeping in a house where the doors were unlocked) one woman said that people in the States are scared of other people while when they lock their doors they feel trapped. They also have strong gun control laws and the like. It is too bad it is so cold there.
Back in Washington, DC…
Things continued to look bad for our AG Alberto Gonzales as more Republicans called for his resignation, which does not seem to be in the cards. It is comforting to know that while he knew little of what happened, per the number of time he said he did not recall or recollect events, he assured the Senate Judiciary Committee that 'nothing improper occurred,' — that's very comforting. (Hearing info here). It seems obvious, to me anyway, that the AG knew a lot more than he is even saying now and that he thinks claiming ignorance will help, Senator Leahy, the committee's chairman, made it clear the smokescreen was not working. The more this 'political fishing expedition,' as many Republicans have called it, continues, the more we learn that this White House treated the Justice Department like it was not a separate entity but a part of the White House. Sen. Leahy said:
"We hear disturbing reports that politics may have played a role in a growing number of cases. I have warned for years against the lack of prosecutorial experience and judgment throughout the leadership ranks of the Department. We are seeing the results amid rising crime, rampant war profiteering, abandonment of civil rights and voting rights enforcement efforts, and lack of accountability. This Justice Department seems to have lost its way.
The Department of Justice must not be reduced to another political arm of the White House. The Department of Justice must be worthy of its name. The trust and confidence of the American people in federal law enforcement must be restored."
I am working on getting more information on this but according to information provided by former AG Janet Reno, a small number of staffers at Justice and in the White House were able to work together but that number went from about 10 to about 400. Sources have told me Senator Leahy found this to be some of the 'most interesting information' he has seen in all his years in the Senate. The news magazine, the Nation, has documented the politicalization of many departments and has probably been the 'business as usual' approach towards all Executive Branch departments, which is not how it is supposed to work. More on that to come…
For the record, I hope Mr. Gonzales stays on. These people scare me and to think they are scary and competent scares me more.
Just when you thought it was safe to open a can of cat food…
It seems ANOTHER pet food ingredient has been contaminated by a chemical. Melamine has been found in wheat gluten and rice protein that was used in pet foods and it appears most of if came from . The Chinese are not cooperating with our FDA. According to the Washington Post (April 20, 2007) the FDA inspects about 1.3 percent of human and pet food and some of the contaminated food might have been meant for human consumption, and I do not mean people who eat pet food (I saw a woman on some cable station who, and I swear this is true, has gained 500 pounds by eating cans of cat food because she is 'addicted to it,' if there is time there has to room for a post on that). A list of pet foods NOT recalled can be found at www.thepetfoodlist.com. As a pet owner, it has been really worrisome that so many pets, cats mostly and I have a cat and like him a lot, died. Granted, some people do a lot of things for their pets that border on the obscene, like get them fur extensions and diamond collars, it is NOT too much to assume that when you buy pet food, it is safe for your pet.
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Note the before and after photos. The photo on the left is what I had as a kitten.
AlysonChadwick.com 