Fort Hood

I spent some of my youth living near Waco, TX. It was about a half hour drive to Temple and Kileen, home to Fort Hood. Horrific things happened out there today, and my deepest thoughts for peace and happiness go to everyone involved.

We may never know why 3 men he opened fire on their his fellow soldiers, the second shooting incident this year. We may never know how they he managed to kill a dozen people* and wound over 30 on a military base where thousands of men have sidearms and the skills to use them. We may never know why Major Hasan, a psychiatrist,** holed up with a big sniper rifle a couple of guns, although there is conjecture that he was about to be deployed to Iraq — despite his recent arrival at Fort Hood. There is no telling why this happened to take place the day a graduation ceremony was to be held on campus.***

Truly the President was correct when he called it “a horrific outburst of violence,” but he promised that all these questions will be answered. Since Major Hasan is dead, this seems unlikely. Let’s hope the Commander in Chief is correct.

Update: See also changes, original text crossed-out. Looks like Maj. Hasan is alive, and we have confirmation that a “first responder” was injured but not killed. They’re also saying he was the only shooter, and had only civilian weaponry. Of all the crazy things, he’s an expert in combat stress. Please tell me this isn’t his idea of an experiment on inducing combat stress.

* An early report indicated that one was a police officer. I can no longer find this detail, which may have been reported in error. If this was true, was it military police, local police, or just a guy who happened to show up for the graduation? See update. Still no idea what sort of “first responder”: civilian or military.

** Apparently, even army docs can shoot with the best of them! I don’t know if this pleases me or terrifies me. The surgeons on M*A*S*H didn’t do that! Can you imagine Col. Blake with a 50 cal??

*** Although there are several local colleges, it appears to have been a ceremony for soldiers who completed coursework through distance learning programs while deployed overseas.

In Closing: the story of Maneki-Neko; how to make baguettes; 45 things you didn’t know you could make at home; this Political Compass quiz is an interesting way to spend 5 minutes; Schneier on zero tolerance policies; Gaza life sucks; reinstate Glass-Steagall!; medical advice brought to you by Coke; Shark-fu is brilliant, and she tells you how it is; personal bankruptcies are up 9%, which could have something to do with the job numbers (but hey, they’re productive!); CBO laughs in the face of the Republican health insurance reform plan; and 50 years of economic history in one picture. Notice that nice big uptrend line from the 60s to roughly 1980? Then notice that down-trend during the reign of St. Ronnie? Yeah, trickle-down really worked great, thanks for nothing. Literally.