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Shootings in Charleston


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Is it political to discuss this? Seems callous that there's no mention of it on this board. How about if we just discuss what music is best to play on hearing about it. Ghost of Miles suggested "Alabama" on FB. Weirdly enough reading that was when I first knew something bad had happened.

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How about if we just discuss what music is best to play on hearing about it.

I would suggest no music at all, lest we delude ourselves into finding some "comfort" in any of this. No, there is no comfort in this, anywhere, at any level.

Leave the music off and scream. Scream until it feels like it's going to kill you, and then scream some more, because goddamit, it is going to kill you. It's going to kill us all.

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I started seeing reports about it online last night around 10:45 p.m. I was supposed to start vacation today, but went to the station this afternoon and removed the pre-recorded program I'd loaded in for the regularly scheduled show, playing this music instead:

http://indianapublicmedia.org/justyouandme/2015-06-18/

Normally on Thursdays I play only Indiana jazz artists or artists coming to Indiana--hence the presence of those J.J., Freddie Hubbard, and Wes Montgomery tracks, all of which had moods that seemed to fit this particular program in one way or another.

As I said during the show, we don't normally pull current events into Just You And Me, but when something this awful and harrowing happens, it seems weird and wrong not to acknowledge it. Especially in this instance, given jazz's longstanding relationship with the civil-rights movement.

Edited by ghost of miles
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I guess the trifecta of racism, insanity and guns are something I can't square completely or correctly as one over the other. Either way, all bad.

I might be wrong, but I think you'll find that insanity played no part in this tragedy. Fear, anger and ignorance are all that is necessary for this kind of human behavior.

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Not sure about that, sonny. There is nothing sane about murdering 9 people.

"Insanity" means that the person either could not control their behavior, or they could not distinguish right from wrong due to mental illness. From all accounts, this individual was focused, determined and in full control of his actions. We tend to identify such people and their actions as "insane", "monstrous" or "pure evil" in order to protect and distance ourselves from the harsh reality that tragedies like this are the result of the fear, ignorance and hatred of those who believe they are losing their ability to exert power and control in our society.

Edited by sonnymax
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Not sure about that, sonny. There is nothing sane about murdering 9 people.

"Insanity" means that the person either could not control their behavior, or they could not distinguish right from wrong due to mental illness. From all accounts, this individual was focused, determined and in full control of his actions. We tend to identify such people and their actions as "insane", "monstrous" or "pure evil" in order to protect and distance ourselves from the harsh reality that tragedies like this are the result of the fear, ignorance and hatred of those who believe they are losing their ability to exert power and control in our society.

A psychiatric diagnosis is not a prerequisite for mass murder, nor does such a diagnosis make one generally more inclined to commit (mass) murder. If every killer with a certain number of sociopathic personality traits was declared insane, hardly anyone would get convicted for murder, and instead most would be institutionalised. You might with equal right declare all believers in holy books and prophets insane.

Popularly mass murderers might be regarded as insane, but this is counterproductive in getting people to understand what a certain psychiatric diagnosis means for a person's personality and behaviour.

Edited by erwbol
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Not sure about that, sonny. There is nothing sane about murdering 9 people.

"Insanity" means that the person either could not control their behavior, or they could not distinguish right from wrong due to mental illness. From all accounts, this individual was focused, determined and in full control of his actions. We tend to identify such people and their actions as "insane", "monstrous" or "pure evil" in order to protect and distance ourselves from the harsh reality that tragedies like this are the result of the fear, ignorance and hatred of those who believe they are losing their ability to exert power and control in our society.

I can't follow you down that road. Besides, you kind contradicted yourself when you said being able to discern between right and wrong. Not sure in what reality murder is right, but it isn't in this one. And if he didn't realize it...

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