Another in the endless mass shootings in USA - this time Denver

[Ed Jewett]

Aurora Massacre: Jimmy and the Llama

Posted on August 11, 2012 by willyloman

by Scott Creighton
At a time when the defense is trying to claim their client is bat-shit crazy, the Denver Post comes out with a story about what James Holmes was like just a short year ago. When he applied to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign neuroscience program they wanted him so badly they waved tuition and fees and offered him a yearly paycheck of $22,660 just to attend their school. Out of 150 qualified applicants yearly they take between 5-15. James Holmes was one of those.
How does James get from point A to point B? How do we get from one of the brightest students in the nation, a guy who's love of knowledge made him want to study the mind, a student so desired they would offer to pay him cash to attend, to a guy practically drooling on himself in a courtroom seemingly with no idea where he was?
This is a link to his application file at UI. You should read it.(H/T sunshinez)
Back in March of 2011, the University of Illinois had him come up and they interviewed him…

"Those who met you … during your interview visit felt that your personal and professional qualities are truly outstanding and that you will be an excellent match for our program," said the Illinois acceptance letter from professor J. Lee Beverly." Denver Post

The Denver Post also references an article put out by the News Gazette which detailed his application history a bit more. Holmes was exceedingly bright, the kind of kid you want your child to be, the kind you wish you were.

"Holmes' GRE quantitative score was 800 (94th percentile), his verbal score was 710 (98th percentile), and he had an analytical writing score of 4 (45th percentile), according to his UI application. His GPA was 3.94 out of 4.00, according to the application." News Gazette

Scores don't tell the whole story, that is true. For a better understanding of the way this young man's mind works (worked?), you would need to listen to Holmes himself…

"I have always been fascinated by the complexities of long lost thought seemingly arising out of nowhere into a stream of awareness," he wrote. "… These are the very cognitive processes which enable us to acquire information and retain it. They are at the core of what distinguishes us as people. Due to the seemingly infinite vastness of indefinite knowledge, we must be selective in our pursuits of knowledge. This is why I have chosen to study the primary source of all things, our own minds." Denver Post
"Rational people act based on incentives for self-fulfillment, including fulfilling needs of self-development and needs of feeling useful and helpful to others. I look forward to fulfilling my quest to advance my knowledge and I plan to use my critical thinking skills by studying the subject I am passionate about, neuroscience." News Gazette

Does that sound like the guy we saw sitting at the defense table blankly looking around or emoting various quizzical expressions? Does that sound like a "spitter" who needed to be gagged?
They have sealed Holmes' records at the University of Colorado where he ended up going in June of 2011 but before they did so, the university released a simple statement

"The University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus can confirm that Mr. James Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from the University of Colorado Denver's graduate program in neurosciences…" MSNBC July 20th

This is very odd indeed if you consider he gave a presentation on MicroRNA biomarkers just before he supposedly started the process of withdrawing from the school.
The Washington Post reported that a teacher at the school claimed Jimmy (as he had been called by classmates) did poorly on an oral exam, but the evidence of that, like all the other evidence in this case, is a big secret.
The only confirmation that we have of Holmes' ending his academic career is the say-so of the university spokesperson who obviously has a stake in the matter.
Seems to me that this young man had every intention of pursuing his academic career and knowledge itself, as far as he possibly could. By all accounts of those tasked with assessing his potential, this guy was professional and driven. Looking at his writing (which is nothing like the writing attributed to him on the Adult Friend Finders account) he was thoughtful and curious and possessed a desire to see how far these traits could take him.
Look very closely because one of these things is not like the other. The extra gas mask, the reports of other shooters, the conflicting descriptions of the shooter, his condition when the cops found him… the timing of this attack and the political environment in which it occurred… now we have what appears to be a quasi moron sitting at the defense desk wondering why he's there.
Look very closely people, because one of these things is not like the other.



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