Definitely. I have argued that there is a gender component as well. But these two things work hand in hand. You could say they intersect. Mental illness + misogyny = mass shooter.

No. The government in place supports the Russian help. Russia has the help and sanction of a significant minority, the Alawites, in Syria.

Ah, the friendzone. The myth, the legend. I still don't know what to do about that. It seems there are a lot of boys and young men who don't know how to express interest in a woman and in this society, its pretty much a requirement that they know how to do that.

It isn't, directly. However it has been shown that individuals with autism can come to fixate on things. Some fixate on animals, some fixate on beds (a kid in my neighborhood knows surprisingly a lot about beds). Violence can become a fixation.

Part of the spike is, definitely, due to Barack Obama being President. White people have been up in arms about that since 2008. But it should be noted that only a very small subset of those angry white dudes have actually shot anyone.

Yah. I definitely don’t think this was at all about “women maturing faster.” By 18 the mental and emotional development is about the same anyway.

Something to bring up with your son though may be to not metaphorically "eat his feelings." A lot of young boys do just bottle up, and its not healthy. Approaching emotions with care and helping your son learn to cope with them in a positive way should definitely be on the table (because boys don't really get that…

Aspergers tend to rob people of their empathy. Chris Harper-Mercer seems to show symptoms of undiagnosed Aspergers and Adam Lanza was diagnosed but not receiving treatment.

This is because you have had relationships and have acquired social skills. In the case of Adam Lanza and Chris Harper-Mercer, Aspergers hurt their development and then really sheltering mothers created the space for them to be denied that development.

A couple of things missing from your case though:

I would disagree, to a point. Shootings in general are guns, but mass shooters inparticular tend to follow a similar pattern of misogyny and social isolation. Adam Lanza and Chris Harper Mercer also are eerily close in symptoms of Autism.

I just now realized this was an X. Props to Sam again as always its perfect.

I've noticed that too. You ever notice how Diddy and Mariah Carey and lots of other wealthy black celebrities keep their mouths shut, except when they say canned stuff? I feel like the more money you have the more you can be insulated from the world, and the more you can look on it with more hopeful eyes.

If Rihanna is #newblack, well that is probably something she really believes.

Whoever shopped this in should get a free Sexy Pizza Rat costume from Gawker Media corporate. Even if it was Sam.

I imagine like a 1950s pinup outfit with a bubble helmet

Usually, I avoid these kind of costumes and just loathe them. But I am wearing this one this year. It's on order.

I mean Rachel McAdams was in that movie too. It is not just a Vince Vaughn movie.

I swear I had something for this...

Oh my god! Today I was followed by Jezebel AND Erin just starred my post!