Monday, April 6, 2009

"Still Living At Home?"

"Still Living At Home?"

A couple of fairly common taunts on various Internet discussion sites, are, "Will Mommy and Daddy be upset when they find out what you have been using the computer for?" And "When are you going to move out of your parent's basement?" The implication is that the ideas being spouted are childish or immature-and as a rather famous Dilbert strip points out, "On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog."

The guy being held for the murder of three police officers in Pittsburgh is a sad reminder that there are people for whom those taunts are perilously true. From the April 4, 2009 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Mr. Poplawski attended Immaculate Conception elementary school and moved on to North Catholic High School. A spokesman for the high school today said that he was expelled, but declined to state a reason.

Mr. Perkovic said his friend stopped attending classes so he could take get his General Educational Development certificate then join the Marine Corps.

Records indicate that Mr. Poplawski was dishonorably discharged from the corps during basic training. Friends said he wanted out so he could rejoin his girlfriend.

When that relationship failed, Mr. Poplawski moved for two years to Florida where he worked as a glazier, helping to asemble and replace windows. He returned here in 2006 or 2007.

Mr. Poplawski collaborated with Mr. Perkovic on an Internet show that featured clips --- sometimes from local news broadcasts, other times video from around the town --- where they discussed politics.

Mr. Poplawski lived with his mother and grandmother in Stanton Heights. Friends said his parents had split years ago and that his father "was totally out of the picture."

If the dishonorable discharge is true, then Poplawski could not legally possess or purchase a firearm. Snowflakes in Hell points out that Pennsylvania no longer allows private firearms transfers for handguns. Comments on that article suggest that Poplawski was probably given an administrative discharge--not a dishonorable discharge.

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