Oh, no -

[kyburg]

The injured were lying down on a red tarp as they awaited treatment in a light rain at a triage center where ambulances, firetrucks and other emergency vehicles had descended. Helicopters taking off from the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Arizona were transporting the injured to area hospitals. According to television accounts, a burgundy-colored automobile traveling westbound on Arizona Avenue at a high rate of speed "just mowed people down," one person told NBC-TV.

Santa Monica is a dense place, population-wise. So far, 8 known dead and over 40 injured - and they're saying now 14 of those are critical.

It's been a total scorcher all day, so more people are at the beach than usual - and now...now, it's raining on them.

And you thought your day was bad. Holy cow.

Comments

[yasha-chan.livejournal.com]

Thank god none of my friends were at the Promenade... ugh, now I never want to go there again in my life :\

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Thank you for checking in....whew! You're the one who lives closest on my friend's list and I was wondering.

Not everyone I know has checked in yet - it's awful. It's just plain horrible.

They're saying the driver was having a heart attack - and is over 80 years old.

Stuff like this happened regularly in Hemet where I grew up - but here it's so much more lethal when someone loses control over a vehicle.

It's so sad. So very, very sad.

[yasha-chan.livejournal.com]

I hope everyone will be okay. God, though... I don't know what we'll do if someone we know was involved. All of my family is currently accounted for, but as for friends... and damn, it was this nice old man who did his best to be helpful, who was well known in the community. Everyone is shocked, and god only knows what they'll do now since everyone's all paranoid. I'm sure half the people who see the online links think its terrorism or something.

Gahhhhh...

[miwasatoshi.livejournal.com]

...

Damn, I took inagawayuu shopping there not terribly long ago.

...

I have no words for this.

[unclemilo.livejournal.com]

I was just reading about this on Yahoo's mail service. I don't know what upset me more... the horrible event... or the people posting on the Yahoo News Board making crude remarks about the event.

How can people be that heartless and cruel? I mean... does anyone honestly think a tragedy like this is just a joke for them to be entertained by?

One person wrote that we deserved it because we're Californians!

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS COUNTRY?
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?

I'm just so fucking upset right now I can't even think straight...

[yasha-chan.livejournal.com]

Cretins, oh my god! I'd better not even venture into those boards or I'd lose my cool. It turns out that the man who was driving the car was this guy who'd go through the community helping people, he tutored at Samohi, things like that. He was well known and liked. He probably wishes he was dead right now and those assholes think it's funny?

People like THAT should be gathered up and run over. Fuck.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Some people just want the entertainment value of 1) seeing their name in print, 2) seeing people go off.

We've got Pat Robertson praying for 3 Supreme Court Justices to die and you wonder why some people hate California?

[yasha-chan.livejournal.com]

Pat Robertson deserves to be bludgeoned to death by a pack of frenzied Russian bear wrestlers. And these yahoos need to do us all the favor of shoving their heads further up their rumps instead of bothering people. Some people have too much damn time on their hands and far too little brains.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Noooo, they've just had their heads up their rears so long, they're using shit for brains.

*badoomshhh!*

Shell Shock

[forestcats.livejournal.com]

I sat watching this on TV for a couple of hours and I was agast at my own behavior of watching this. I think that this is just another part of the 9/11 grieving process that everyone is still suffering from.
In 95 we were in a horrible car crash and ever since then I go into a repeat cycle on the 2 occations that I've been hit since. Its a routine that the latest accident brings up memory relationships from 95.
It is the curiosity and remembered pain that is opened up anew. Just recognise that everyone acts out in accordance to their own process of grief. All anyone can do is grow and learn from the past and apply it to the future.
Please take care of yourself...

[riverheart.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're OK!!! This is dreadful.

I was born and raised in California, and I still don't understand what causes people to act like this.

[neintales.livejournal.com]

Well, not like people just act like that in CA.. we had a guy kill a few cops in a standoff against the government up here, and people were driving out there from hours away to watch it through binoculars :p

Americans *are* desensitized and messed up majorly- myself, I partially blame things like 'reality tv' and such. I like violence in fiction- will even laugh at it, because I know it's fiction, no one got hurt. But for decades now, more and more people are watching as entertainment shows where even while I suspect a lot is plotted and forced, they're told it's real- and TOLD it's entertaining.

It's 'normal and cool' to be entertained by it. And most people want to be normal and cool- after all, if you're NOT normal and cool, if you're one of the OTHER people, you're a loser, and will be the butt of the next jokes.

"America's Funniest Home Videos" was one of the early trend-setters, showing us it was funny to see grampa get kicked in the balls. THen there's the "Worst disasters" and "When Animals Attack" type things, few of which actually point out thr tragedy so much... making light of folks getting gored by bulls or accidentally set on fire because no one realized silly string shouldn't be fired over birthday candles.

People bitch that gamers like myself get lost in fantasy realms, but MOST of us seem to have a far better grasp of the seperating line than the average tv-watcher these days.

And it likely also has to do with competitiveness... people are raised to strive to outdo everyone around them- NOT to stop a moment and consider how another will feel if they're hurt, or to try and sort out if going to a certain level of ruthlessness or cruelty isn't really necessary.

You don't even need to mix any religion into things to teach your kid early to stop and think about how much damage they're doing, and the consequences. "How would you feel if it was YOUR best friend who was one of the victims?"

But people don't do that.. they may say as much as IS expected of them to say to look like they're good Christians or whatever, but they don't really try hard- they keep expecting other people will teach their kids the same thing.

Meh...
People just suck. I probably shouldn't try ranting so early in the morning... I'm pretty sure I never really got to any point. Heh.