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April 20, 2007 [LINK / comment]
A gorgeous (but mournful) day
These flowers are on a Crepe Myrtle tree which is next to the post office on North Augusta Street. In the distance is the tip of a very tall fir tree. It reminds us that life goes on, and that life is beautiful.
The weather today was absolutely beautiful, in stark contrast to the solemn occasion of remembering the 32 students and faculty members from Virginia Tech who were murdered last Monday. The one good thing about this awful episode was that it brought out a lot of good feelings, and it heightened our awareness of the inestimable value of life. Virginia Tech is a wonderful institution, and even if there is some hesitation in the short term, I'm willing to bet that the surge of media attention to that institution will end up improving its image around the nation and around the world. At noon on Tuesday I attended a brief moment of silence ceremony at Mary Baldwin College, and for the past couple days I've been wearing a maroon and orange ribbon -- quite out of the ordinary for a Virginia Cavalier!
"We are all Hokies now."
As for the gunman, the less said about him the better. He craved posthumous glory, with much the same narcissistic motivations as a jihad martyr, and I was disgusted that the executives at NBC were foolish enough to oblige his twisted dreams. Their poor judgment will probably inspire copycat murders in years to come, and it certainly caused far more agony to the families and friends of the victims than it was worth in terms of understanding the killer.
In the killer's native country of South Korea, many people expressed sympathy or paid respects at memorial shrines. Perhaps another side effect of the massacre will be to moderate anti-American sentiments there.
Posted (or last updated or commented upon): 20 Apr 2007, 11: 34 PM
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Category archives:
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This (or that) year's
blog highlights
January 4, 2007 ~ 110th Congress: open for business
January 24, 2007 ~ The State of the Union, 2007
March 28, 2007 ~ Mark Steyn's America Alone
April 19, 2007 ~ Senator Hanger comes to Staunton
April 30, 2007 ~
Sen. Hanger's campaign kick-off
June 1, 2007 ~
Stars shine for Senator Hanger
June 12, 2007 ~
Republicans In Name Only? You be the judge!
June 13, 2007 ~
How sweet: Reason prevails
June 24, 2007 ~
SWAC bloggers air dirty laundry
August 13, 2007 ~ Hasta la vista, Karl Rove
August 21, 2007 ~
Fading dreams of democracy
August 6, 2007 ~
Nats sweep World Champion Cards!
September 23, 2007 ~ Au revoir, RFK Stadium
October 18, 2007 ~ Nationals 2007: Year in review
October 25, 2007 ~
Augusta County Campaign 2007
October 29, 2007 ~ Red Sox sweep Rockies; Dynasty?
November 7, 2007 ~ Democrats win Virginia Senate
December 14, 2007 ~ The Mitchell Report is released
December 29, 2007 ~
The death of Benazir Bhutto
December 31, 2007 ~ Baseball 2007: Year in Review
NOTE: Thus far, only blog posts related to politics and baseball are included in this list.
Blog highlights have been compiled for the years 2010-2012 thus far, and eventually will be compiled for earlier years, back to 2002.
Explanation
The "home made" blog organization system that I created was instituted on November 1, 2004, followed by several functional enhancements in subsequent years. I make no more than one blog post per day on any one category, so some posts may cover multiple news items or issues. Blog posts appear in the following (reverse alphabetical) order, which may differ from the chronological order in which the posts were originally made:
- Wild birds (LAST)
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Also see: My blog practices.
Blog errata (Nobody's perfect.)