Okay. I meant to update this yesterday, but I was busy. Yesterday, I was told about a shooting that happened mere stone throws away from the school I go to.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/0710.....779357-100.stm (here's the news story on it)

At first, I was a little paranoid "Well, holy shit. That happened really close to the school. I was walking there just two hours earlier." But then I started thinking

What's with all the fucking shootings this week!?

We have the VT shootings that wiped out 33 people on monday, this on thursday. I wouldn't be all that surprised if on Saturday, there was news about some guy with a rocket launcher going on a killing spree. This might just be due to my mellow and pacifistic nature, but this really pissed me off that there have been two notable shootings in a week. What's this world coming to when 33 people die, then some other dude just struts up thinking "I think I'll make that 34"

Our country is paranoid as is. You can't go down the street without some kind of news about "OMFG! UR GONNA FUCKIN' DIE!" Being plastered everywhere. We've got shit in Iraq, murderers over here, everyone shitting bricks every time they find something that slightly resembles a bomb, and to top it all off, people are too busy pointing fingers at whoever they think is the cause of it all to go out and fix things. People are too concerned with suing the music and gaming industry down to their last penny for making their kids go on a rampage, conveniently ignoring the fact that 17 of those 18 years were spent being plopped down by the big, box-shaped baby sitter while the parents were just too busy to tell them "HEY! SHOOTING PEOPLE IN THE FACE IS BAD!"

Heck. When I heard about the V Tech shootings, it was Tuesday and I was in my literature class (I get news slow, okay?). As soon as we started on the debate on it (because my literaature class is really more debating about the world around is, a hobby I enjoy), I had it already set in my mind that someone was going to bring up video games as the cause. Sure enough, someone in the class brought up that lawyers were ALREADY jumping on gaming like a dog in heat.

Ladies. Gentlemen. We are looking into the face of pure evil http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped.....ario2small.jpg My...God...

But this isn't a journal about me defending gaming. That is likely to come later, when Jack Thompson tries to blame Kirby for the Lincoln Assassination. My point here being, maybe it's time to put down the fingers and start working to find the real cause.

I'm not as religious of a man as I wish I was, but my prayers will be with the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings, and their families, as well as the man in the hospital right now as a result of some dude being too bold. I hope yours are all with them as well. Hopefully, the people who are shit slinging can take a moment to do the same.

EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnso.....enter_shooting
Just... Wow... There isn't much more I can add to say about this one. Just... I wanted to get it out there. This is a sad world we live in when we have three shootings in a week

On an unrelated note, things are finally warming up over here in Pittsburgh. About fucking time, I gotta say. I was really getting fed up with seeing snow in April. Damn global warming, making everything cold!

Good news for you fans of my work (both of you), I'm planning a few updates soon. I'm even planning on a contest you guys may find interesting. It all depends on if I can get the pics required to hold the contest up sometime this weekend. So far, all signs point to yes. What the contest is about? Well, let's just say a newcomer to my cast, that you all have met, has come across a bit of misfortune as a result of crappy gaming. The contest will be about taking that weight off his shoulders... and putting more weight elsewhere. I'll keep you posted

So. Until next time, this is Ziggy, your favorite inflatable cabbit saying "Take care of yourselves, and each other"