Violence abounds

A shooting occurred at a grocery store I used to frequent before moving to IA.


Will the event deter me from going back to the store?  No.

First off, this wasn't some random act or robbery gone bad.  It involved three of the grocery store's employees.  It was a love triangle.  Unless you were a participant in the triangle or unfortunate enough to be in the line of fire, you weren't in very much danger.

Know what I'll do next time I'm in the neighborhood of that grocery store?  I'm going to go shop there.

Why?  Because I inherited something from my mother called "spite".  I refuse to live my life in fear of what might happen to me in a place already touched by violence.  If I did, the purveyors of violence and evil would win.

It's similar to a gang-related shooting that took place a few miles to the south a number of years ago at a movie theater.  Despite the high cost and lower quality of the cinemas, I and and a co-worker went to the movie theater out of spite.

Interestingly enough that some hack at the University of London has produced a study that sampled from 90 college students who "self-identified" themselves as liberal, moderate, or conservative.  I've posited what I think of journalists who self-identify themselves as "moderate" when their bias betrays a pervasive liberalism in their thinking.  Anyway, the researcher claims a correlation between an enlarged amygdala (the "fear" center of the brain) and a propensity toward conservatism, while denser gray matter (where conflict resolution occurs) may leads towards a person being more likely to be liberal.

Yeah, I rolled my eyes too.  These lefties will stop at nothing to not win the debate, but merely overwhelm it with diversions and distractions.  Conservatism's a disease.  Your amygdala's too big.

Anybody peer-review this guy's findings?

Unsurprisingly, the fingers point to Glenn Beck.  I listen to the man's radio program and occasionally watched his television program.  I'm not sure it could be characterized as fear-mongering.  A more apt description would be that he is encouraging his fellow citizens to be vigilant of what their government's doing, or what some people are doing with the government's blessing.  Since when did a healthy distrust of one's politicians become paranoia?  Never forget, they are contractually-obligated employees.  The contract?  The U.S. Constitution.

Alas, I've decided that the brouhaha about enlarged amygdalas and Glenn Beck dovetails nicely with how every act of violence directed against politicans, members of law enforcement, or "immigrants" (where the media conveniently drops the "illegal" adjective is the result of a mindless right-wing drone whipped up into a "violent frenzy" by the "hate speech" from talk radio.

Of course, point out the well-documented trail of violence from the Left, and you get described with some "colorful" adjectives in lieu of debate.  After all, liberals are more nuanced thinkers.  Or so they keep telling us.  Meanwhile, they're also telling us civilization as we know will come to an end if the government shuts down.  Or public employee unions losing some of their power is the first step on the road to indentured servitude.  Or questioning the allocation of funds to the EPA means that Republicans want to poison the earth, air, and water.

Um, who's the one fear-mongering again?

Back to the study.  Dense gray matter correlates with the likelihood of being liberal?  Consider the fact that many young people start out as liberal until their rampant altruism collides with the reality that

• there is no money tree from which a government can pluck T-bills in hopes of solving all of society's ills
• trying to help someone improve their station in life can backfire because you have taken an incentive away
• the money comes from others, many of whom have figured out how to be self-reliant, begging the question of why the person being helped cannot also help themselves.

 at which point they become conservative.  Does the gray matter transform into an enlarged amygdala overnight or something?

Oops, I just realized I used the word "self-reliant" above.  Let me translate it into liberal-speak:  "selfish".  After all, acting in your own self-interest is never to the benefit of others.  Unless your successful business venture means jobs for your community and increases your ability to donate to charity.

Yep, selfishness (ability to care for yourself and others), paranoia (ability to recognize a threat to your way of life and be vigilant), and violence (ability to kick said threat in the ass it doesn't leave your way of life alone). 

Sign me up.