ST LOUIS CARDINALS MOURN LOSS OF PITCHER JOSH HANCOCK

The St. Louis Cardinals were informed this morning by the St. Louis Police Department of the tragic death of pitcher Josh Hancock, 29, who was killed in an auto accident on westbound Highway 64/40 within the city limits. Cardinals' Manager Tony La Russa informed Josh's father of this tragic event. Hancock, who is single, has been a member of the St. Louis Cardinals since February of 2006 and helped the team to its 10th World Series title last Fall. The Cardinals ask that all fans join the team in offering their prayers and condolences to Josh Hancock's family on this very sad day for the Cardinals and Major League Baseball. MORE

Why can't Westerners respect the laws of other countries?

Indian court issues warrant for Gere
Thu Apr 26, 2:54 PM ET

NEW DELHI - A court issued arrest warrants for Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty on Thursday, saying their kiss at a public function "transgressed all limits of vulgarity," media reports said. Judge Dinesh Gupta issued the warrants in the northwestern city of Jaipur after a local citizen filed a complaint charging that the public display of affection offended local sensibilities, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

Gupta earlier viewed television footage of the event, which he called "highly sexually erotic," saying the pair violated India's strict public obscenity laws.

Gere and Shetty "transgressed all limits of vulgarity and have the tendency to corrupt the society," PTI quoted the judge as saying.

Such cases against celebrities — often filed by publicity seekers — are common in conservative India. They add to a backlog of legal cases that has nearly crippled the country's judicial system.

Gere left India shortly after the kissing incident and it was not immediately clear how the warrant would affect him. His publicist, Alan Nierob, said there would be no comment from the actor.

Gere is a frequent visitor to India, promoting health issues and the cause of Tibetan exiles. The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has his headquarters in the north Indian town of Dharmsala.

Under Indian law a person convicted of public obscenity faces up to three months in prison, a fine, or both.

Last week, crowds in several Indian cities burned effigies of the 57-year-old star of "An Officer and a Gentleman," "American Gigolo" and "Pretty Woman" after he embraced Shetty and kissed her several times on her cheeks during an HIV/AIDS awareness event in the Indian capital.

Photographs of the clinch were then splashed across front pages in India — where public displays of affection are largely taboo.

The judge lambasted Shetty for not resisting Gere's kisses and ordered her to appear in his court May 5, PTI said.

Shetty, who is on a religious pilgrimage in southern India, was upset by the news, said her spokesman, Dale Bhagwagar.

"She does hurt, she does feel low," Bhagwagar told The Associated Press. "She feels she is being constantly targeted, but anyone who knows her well knows she can't be put down."

"Shilpa wishes that people would focus on the real issue , AIDS awareness, and not three pecks on her cheek," he said, adding that she had not yet received any court summons.

Shetty, 31, has said the embrace was not obscene and that the media should instead focus on HIV/AIDS awareness.

"I understand this is his culture, not ours. But this was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to overreact in such manner," she told PTI last week. "I understand people's sentiments, but I don't want a foreigner to take bad memories from here."

Shetty, already well-known in India, became an international star after her appearance on the British reality show "Celebrity Big Brother" — another controversial public appearance. A fellow contestant, Jade Goody, sparked international headlines by making allegedly racist comments to Shetty. Mobs took to the streets of India to denounce Goody, and Shetty went on to win the competition.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/people_gere;_ylt=Ah2_TSNHpvHWqZkLg6aNXHrlWMcF

Planet Earth

I've posted some photos I found on the internet from the television series "Planet Earth" that aired on the Discovery Channel.
http://asunnyworldrevisited.blogspot.com/2007/04/planet-earth.html

http://asunnyworldrevisited.blogspot.com/2007/04/planet-earth-2.html

You can learn about this breathtaking show here;
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/planet-earth/planet-earth.html

Oh this is just wrong!

The phone rings and the lady of the house answers,
"Hello."
"Mrs. Ward, please."
"Speaking"
"Mrs. Ward, this is Doctor Jones at the Medical Testing Laboratory. When your doctor sent your husband's biopsy to the lab yesterday, a biopsy from another Mr. Ward arrived as well, and we are now uncertain which one is your husband's. Frankly the results are either bad or terrible."
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Ward asks nervously.
"Well, one of the specimens tested positive for Alzheimer's and the other one tested positive for AIDS. We can't tell which your husband's is."
"That's dreadful! Can't you do the test again?" questioned Mrs. Ward.
"Normally we can, but Medicare will only pay for these expensive tests one time."
"Well, what am I supposed to do now?"
"The people at Medicare recommend that you drop your husband off somewhere in the middle of town. If he finds his way home, don't sleep with him."

Smart Parenting

Please take this quiz on parenting.
I hope this quiz can benefit you and your children.
I got 100%, I'd thought I wasn't doing some things right.
http://www.familyeducation.com/quiz/0,1399,1-3680,00.html

What a woman should have...

MAYA ANGELOU

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own,

even if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

something perfect to wear if the employer,

or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

a youth she's content to leave behind...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

one friend who always makes her laugh...

and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,

and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...

a feeling of control over her destiny.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to fall in love without losing herself.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

when to try harder... and

WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that she can't change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

that her childhood may not have been perfect...but its over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

whom she can trust, whom she can't, and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

where to go... be it to her best friend's kitchen table... or a charming inn in the woods... when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...

what she can and can't accomplish in a day... a month...and a year...

A short explanation

By me posting the video below DOES NOT mean I agree with what happened at Virginia Tech. No the media should not have played this video as much as they had. No Cho should not have done what he did. I do feel that the public does have the right to know what kind of person this horrid man was. If it can help them understand him a little better then I'm all for it. I also feel it helps people learn how some people in our society can become when mental problem go untreated. This video shows us what we all should be looking for in people around us to keep safe. I will no longer explain myself to anyone with what I post. I don't have to. If you don't like what I put on my own personal blog then don't read it.

Virginia Tech shooter diatribe on video

WARNING: CONTAINS DISTURBING IMAGES

AND VIOLENT DIALOG!

I am in no way condoning what Cho Seung-Hui did to terrorize the innocent people at Virginia Tech on April 16th by posting this video. This was a sick and twisted man with no sense of integrity, honor, or loyalty to his fellow man.

Rock on Steven Tyler!

Singer Steven Tyler of the U.S. rock band Aerosmith performs during their concert in Guadalajara, Mexico, Friday, April 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias)

This man is awesome! After over 30 performing, dealing with addictions, and raising a family, Stever Tyler of Aerosmith is still has the stamina to tour the world. I'm in awe...

Alec Baldwin is a shithead

No wonder I've NEVER liked this guy! What a mean old shithead! Can you imagine if any normal person in society were to ever talk to their children like this, they'd be thrown in jail for abuse. It's appalling! No father should ever have this kind of animosity toward their children. Quoted below is what Alec said on a phone message to his child.

"Hey, I want to tell you something, OK? And I want to leave a message for you right now. 'Cause again, it's 10:30 here in New York on a Wednesday, and once again I've made an ass of myself trying to get to a phone to call you at a specific time. When the time comes for me to make the phone call, I stop whatever I'm doing and I go and I make that phone call. At 11 o'clock in the morning in New York and if you don't pick up the phone at 10 o'clock at night. And you don't even have the Goddamn phone turned on. I want you to know something, OK?
I'm tired of playing this game with you. I'm leaving this message with you to tell you you have insulted me for the last time. You have insulted me. You don't have the brains or the decency as a human being. I don't give a damn that you're 12 years old, or 11 years old, or that you're a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the ass who doesn't care about what you do as far as I'm concerned. You have humiliated me for the last time with this phone.
And when I come out there next week, I'm going to fly out there for the day just to straighten you out on this issue. I'm going to let you know just how disappointed in you I am and how angry I am with you that you've done this to me again. You've made me feel like shit and you've made me feel like a fool over and over and over again. And this crap you pull on me with this Goddamn phone situation that you would never dream of doing to your mother and you do it to me constantly and over and over again. I am going to get on a plane and I am going to come out there for the day and I am going to straighten your ass out when I see you. Do you understand me? I'm going to really make sure you get it. Then I'm going to get on a plane and I'm going to turn around and come home. So you'd better be ready Friday the 20th to meet with me. So I'm going to let you know just how I feel about what a rude little pig you really are. You are a rude, thoughtless little pig, OK?"

Argh, what a pig HE is!

Channon Christian & Christopher Newsom

There needs to be more attention put on this case!

Missing woman found dead in N. Knox house Police identify victim, 21, as girlfriend of slain man, 23

By DON JACOBS,
jacobs@knews.com
January 10, 2007

Police confirmed Tuesday night that a body found in a North Knoxville house was that of a missing woman whose boyfriend had been killed and left along railroad tracks. Knoxville Police Department spokesman Darrell DeBusk said police determined the body is that of Channon Christian, 21, of West Knox County.

Authorities discovered Christian's body about 2 p.m. at 2316 Chipman St., near where the body of 23-year-old Christopher Newsom was found over the weekend.

Newsom's body was found at 12:24 p.m. Sunday by a Norfolk Southern railway employee who saw it along tracks between Ninth Avenue and Cherry Street, DeBusk said. The spokesman said an autopsy was performed on Newsom's body, but he declined to say how the Halls High School graduate was killed.
"We're not discussing the manner of death or the condition of the body when found," DeBusk said.

Sgt. Tim Snoderly, who commands the KPD investigative unit, declined to say how authorities targeted the Chipman Street residence for a search.

The KPD Special Operations Squad, which is trained to smash into hostile environments, was sent into the house first. Snoderly said the special unit was called "as a precautionary measure."

Snoderly said the residence where Christian's body was found is a rental property. No one was home when police entered, he said.

"We don't know if they're going to come home or not," Snoderly said.
Police seized a Toyota Camry from near the house and had it towed to an impound lot, DeBusk said.

"It was just a vehicle in the area that we thought might be important," DeBusk said.

He declined to say if investigators found any drugs or weapons in the house.
Newsom's father, Hugh Newsom, said Tuesday night that the family had hoped Christian would be found alive.

"It was a letdown when the body was found," Hugh Newsom said.

"We sympathize so much with her family because we've been through this."
Hugh Newsom said he had met Christian several times. He called Christian, a senior at the University of Tennessee, "a fantastic person."

"Chris was just crazy about her," he said.

Police on Monday found Christian's silver 2005 Toyota 4-Runner two blocks from the house where the body was discovered. The vehicle had been abandoned at a stop sign at the intersection of Glider Avenue and Chipman Street.

About four hours after Newsom's body was found Sunday, Christian's mother filed a missing-person report with the Knox County Sheriff's Office, records show. Denna Gail Christian told investigators her daughter probably was with her boyfriend, Newsom.

Denna Christian told the KCSO she had last spoken with Channon Christian about 12:35 a.m. Sunday. At that time, Denna Christian told authorities, her daughter was planning to visit friends on Washington Pike.

Denna Christian told the KCSO that her daughter had no drug or alcohol problem and had not had a recent confrontation with anyone.

Chris Newsom and Channon Christian had been dating since November.
After Denna Christian filed the missing person report, she contacted the Newsoms.

"At that time, we were aware of a body being found, but we had no idea it was Chris," Hugh Newsom said.

By midday Monday, Hugh Newsom said, Snoderly notified the family of their son's death. Snoderly, who is a friend of the Newsoms, was able to identify the body, Hugh Newsom said.

DeBusk declined to say when the couple had been to see their friends at the Washington Pike apartment. He said investigators determined the couple planned to have dinner and then watch movies with friends.

"We're trying to build a timeline of their activities," DeBusk said.

Carl Hunley, who lives next door to the house where the body was found, said a man, a woman and her two preschool-age children moved into the house about three months ago. Behind the house Tuesday were several children's toys, including a tricycle.

Hunley said he didn't speak much to his neighbors. About three weeks ago, he said, there was a drive-by shooting at the house. Police were called about the shooting, Hunley said.

About two weeks ago the woman left with her two children, Hunley said.
"It's been like Grand Central Station since then," he said of numerous visits by people at all hours of the night to his neighbor's residence.

Hunley said he and his family were not at home this weekend when Christian and Newsom went missing.

Misty Boshears, 31, who lives on Chipman Street, said her neighborhood bears the scars of being located next to an industrial area. Police already busted a crack house and a residence used for prostitution in the area, she said.

"I'm shocked, but I'm not shocked," said Boshears, the mother of a girl not allowed to play outside because of the danger.

"If you come down here, you're either visiting someone or you're buying drugs," she said.

The KCSO joined KPD officers during the search for Channon Christian because the missing-person report was filed in the county. DeBusk said Sheriff's Office detectives will continue to assist as police search for those responsible for the two slayings.

DeBusk said KPD is being careful about what is released to the public about the slayings.

"We've got a very active investigation, and we don't want to jeopardize the investigation, so we're being very careful about what we release," he said.
Don Jacobs may be reached at 865-342-6345.

http://tinyurl.com/26yked


Here are more links about this story.
http://mylifeofcrime.wordpress.com/tag/channon-christian/

http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=41276&provider=top

http://www.volunteertv.com/home/headlines/5133501.html

http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=5930690

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channon_Christian_and_Christopher_Newsom_Murder

Christopher Barrios Law

I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I recently signed:

"Christopher Barrios Law"

Christopher Barrios was a 6 year old boy raped and murdered by convicted child molesters. We MUST change the laws. Our goal is to have a federal law that supercedes the various state laws. If a person is convicted ONCE for molesting a child he/she should spend life in prison without the possibility of parole. The one strike law!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ChristopherBarriosLaw

I really think this is an important cause, and I'd like to encourage you to add your signature, too.

It's free and takes less than a minute of your time.

Thank you!

Words of Love

Clemson University sends condolences to Virginia Tech and talk about security

Upstate Offers Help, Prayers To Virginia Tech
POSTED: 5:15 pm EDT April 16, 2007
UPDATED: 2:42 pm EDT April 17, 2007

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Many people in the Upstate -- whether or not they have ties to Virginia Tech -- are trying to determine what they can do to help in the wake of Monday’s deadly rampage.

"We'd like to start the healing process as soon as we can with this tragic event,” Tech graduate Tom Carter told WYFF News 4. “All of us are deeply saddened by what happened."

Clemson University has offered to send a team of counselors to Blacksburg to help with the healing process.

Tuesday afternoon, students shared a moment of silence with the students and staff at Virgina Tech at 2 p.m.

A group of Clemson students also had cards and posters outside the school’s library for people to send their condolences.

Ben Whitehead and Dustin Weather worked on a banner that said "Hokies in our hearts." Students, staff and members of the community are signing the card that Whitehead and Weather plan to deliver to Virginia Tech over the weekend.
Whitehead said, "We're thinking about them and praying for them (and) looking forward to going up on Sunday meeting several people telling them Clemson University is praying for them."

A group of Virginia Tech graduates plan a prayer and remembrance service Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Advent United Methodist Church in Simpsonville.

St. Matthew United Methodist Church in Greenville is also holding a service of prayer and healing at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday that is open to the community. The church is located on Cleveland Street next to the YMCA.

Upstate Families Waiting, Wondering

Monday’s deadly shooting at Virginia Tech had families all across the region waiting and wondering if their loved ones were OK.

Alice Wagner of Greenville is a sophomore at the Blacksburg, Va., school. She was unharmed by the shooting, but not unaffected.

“I can't believe this is happening,” Wagner told WYFF News 4. “We're in Blacksburg, Va., which is a small town and you wouldn't think this kind of thing would happen."

Wagner said that some of her friends had classes in the buildings where the shootings took place and that she did not know if they were harmed or even in the rooms where the shootings took place.

Wagner went to Riverside High School.

Clemson Security

At Clemson University, Monday’s massacre has students and security personnel thinking about safety.

Some Clemson students who have friends who go to Virginia Tech and others who say it’s not hard to imagine that sort of thing happening here.

"I have a lot of friends that go to Virginia Tech, so it was one of those things that hit home," Clemson Student Kevin Fitzsimmons said.

"I mean, realistically, there's no way you can really prevent it,” said student James Burnham. “There's no metal detectors and someone can just walk in. It's a public place, you know."

Clemson’s police said that they work hard to prevent crime, but that effective safety measures require that everony on campus is vigilant.

“There's a finite number of people that are working the police department,” University Police Chief Johnson Link said. “We depend on the other people out there in the buildings to report and to be eyes for the police department to help us to see what's going on in the community."

http://www.wyff4.com/news/12193845/detail.html

Virginia Tech cell phone video outside Norris Hall

Virginia Tech in mourning

Names Of Virginia Tech Shooting Victims

Here is a list of victims of the shootings at Virginia Tech:

Ross Abdallah Alameddine
Christopher James Bishop
Brian Roy Bluhm
Ryan Christopher Clark
Austin Michelle Cloyd
Jocelyne Couture-Nowak
Kevin P. Granata
Matthew Gregory Gwaltney
Caitlin Millar Hammaren
Jeremy Michael Herbstritt
Rachael Elizabeth Hill
Emily Jane Hilscher
Jarrett Lee Lane
Matthew Joseph La Porte
Henry J. Lee
Liviu Librescu
G.V. Loganathan
Partahi Mamora Halomoan Lumbantoruan
Lauren Ashley McCain
Daniel Patrick O'Neil
Juan Ramon Ortiz-Ortiz
Minal Hiralal Panchal
Daniel AlejandroPerez-Cueva
Erin Nicole Peterson
Michael Steven Pohle, Jr.
Julia Kathleen Pryde
Mary Karen Read
Reema Joseph Samaha
Waleed Mohamed Shaalan
Leslie Geraldine Sherman
Maxine Shelly Turner
Nicole White

May you all have peace in the hereafter.

South Korean Senior ID'd As Virginia Tech Shooter

Apr 17 2007 5:56PM

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The gunman suspected of carrying out the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead was described Tuesday as a sullen loner whose creative writing in English class was so disturbing that he was referred to the school's counseling service.

News reports also said that he may have been taking medication for depression, that he was becoming increasingly violent and erratic, and that he left a note in his dorm in which he railed against "rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans" on campus.

Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior majoring in English, arrived in the United States as boy from South Korea in 1992 and was raised in suburban Washington, D.C., officials said. He was living on campus in a different dorm from the one where Monday's bloodbath began.

Police and university officials offered no clues as to exactly what set him off on the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.

"He was a loner, and we're having difficulty finding information about him," school spokesman Larry Hincker said.

On Tuesday afternoon, thousands of people gathered in the basketball arena, and when it filled up, thousands more filed into the football stadium, for a memorial service for the victims. President Bush and the first lady attended. Virginia Tech President Charles Steger received a 30-second standing ovation, despite bitter complaints from parents and students that the university should have locked down the campus immediately after the first burst of gunfire.

Steger expressed hope that "we will awaken from this horrible nightmare." "As you draw closer to your families in the coming days, I ask you to reach out to those who ache for sons and daughters who are never coming home," Bush said.

A vast portrait of the victims began to emerge, among them: Christopher James Bishop, 35, who taught German at Virginia Tech and helped oversee an exchange program with a German university; Ryan "Stack" Clark, a 22-year-old student from Martinez, Ga., who was in the marching band and was working toward degrees in biology and English; Emily Jane Hilscher, a 19-year-old freshman from Woodville, Va., who was majoring in animal and poultry sciences and, naturally, loved animals; and Liviu Librescu, an Israeli engineering and math lecturer who was said to have protected his students' lives by blocking the doorway of his classroom from the approaching gunman.

Meanwhile, a chilling portrait of the gunman as a misfit began to emerge. Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university's English department, said she did not know Cho. But she said she spoke with Lucinda Roy, the department's director of creative writing, who had Cho in one of her classes and described him as "troubled."

"There was some concern about him," Rude said. "Sometimes, in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it's creative or if they're describing things, if they're imagining things or just how real it might be. But we're all alert to not ignore things like this."

She said Cho was referred to the counseling service, but she said she did not know when, or what the outcome was. Rude refused to release any of his writings or his grades, citing privacy laws.

The Chicago Tribune reported on its Web site that he left a note in his dorm room that included a rambling list of grievances. Citing unidentified sources, the Tribune said he had recently shown troubling signs, including setting a fire in a dorm room and stalking some women.

ABC, citing law enforcement sources, reported that the note, several pages long, explains Cho's actions and says, "You caused me to do this."

Investigators believe Cho at some point had been taking medication for depression, the Tribune reported.

Classmates said that on the first day of an introduction to British literature class last year, the 30 or so English students went around and introduced themselves. When it was Cho's turn, he didn't speak.

The professor looked at the sign-in sheet and, where everyone else had written their names, Cho had written a question mark. "Is your name, `Question mark?"' classmate Julie Poole recalled the professor asking. The young man offered little response.

Cho spent much of that class sitting in the back of the room, wearing a hat and seldom participating. In a small department, Cho distinguished himself for being anonymous. "He didn't reach out to anyone. He never talked," Poole said.

"We just really knew him as the question mark kid," Poole said.

The rampage consisted of two attacks, more than two hours apart - first at a dormitory, where two people were killed, then inside a classroom building, where 31 people, including Cho, died after being locked inside, Virginia State Police said. Cho committed suicide; two handguns - a 9 mm and a .22-caliber - were found in the classroom building.

One law enforcement official said Cho's backpack contained a receipt for a March purchase of a Glock 9 mm pistol. Cho held a green card, meaning he was a legal, permanent resident, federal officials said. That meant he was eligible to buy a handgun unless he had been convicted of a felony.

Roanoke Firearms owner John Markell said his shop sold the Glock and a box of practice ammo to Cho 36 days ago for $571.

He was a nice, clean-cut college kid. We won't sell a gun if we have any idea at all that a purchase is suspicious," Markell said. Markell said it is not unusual for college kids to make purchases at his shop as long as they are old enough.

"To find out the gun came from my shop is just terrible," Markell said.

Investigators stopped short of saying Cho carried out both attacks. But ballistics tests show one gun was used in both, Virginia State Police said.

And two law enforcement officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the information had not been announced, said Cho's fingerprints were found on both guns. The serial numbers on the two weapons had been filed off, the officials said.

Col. Steve Flaherty, superintendent of the Virginia State Police, said it was reasonable to assume that Cho was the shooter in both attacks but that the link was not yet definitive. "There's no evidence of any accomplice at either event, but we're exploring the possibility," he said.

Officials said Cho graduated from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., in 2003. His family lived in an off-white, two-story townhouse in Centreville, Va.

Two of those killed in the shooting rampage, Reema Samaha and Erin Peterson, graduated from Westfield High in 2006, school officials said. But there was no immediate word from authorities on whether Cho knew the two young women and singled them out.

"He was very quiet, always by himself," neighbor Abdul Shash said. Shash said Cho spent a lot of his free time playing basketball and would not respond if someone greeted him. He described the family as quiet.

South Korea expressed its condolences, and said it hoped that the tragedy would not "stir up racial prejudice or confrontation." "We are in shock beyond description," said Cho Byung-se, a Foreign Ministry official handling North American affairs.

Classes were canceled for the rest of the week. Norris Hall, the classroom building, will be closed for the rest of the semester.

Many students were leaving town quickly, lugging pillows, sleeping bags and backpacks down the sidewalks.

Jessie Ferguson, 19, a freshman from Arlington, left Newman Hall and headed for her car with tears streaming down her red cheeks.

"I'm still kind of shaky," she said. "I had to pump myself up just to kind of come out of the building. I was going to come out, but it took a little bit of 'OK, it's going to be all right. There's lots of cops around."'

Although she wanted to be with friends, she wanted her family more. "I just don't want to be on campus," she said.

Until Monday, the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history was in Killeen, Texas, in 1991, when George Hennard plowed his pickup truck into a Luby's Cafeteria and shot 23 people to death, then himself.

Previously, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history was a rampage that took place in 1966 at the University of Texas at Austin, where Charles Whitman climbed the clock tower and opened fire with a rifle from the 28th-floor observation deck. He killed 16 people before he was shot to death by police.

Associated Press writers Stephen Manning in Centreville, Va.; Matt Barakat in Richmond, Va.; and Vicki Smith, Sue Lindsey and Justin Pope in Blacksburg contributed to this report.

http://www.10tv.com/?sec=&story=sites/10tv/content/pool/200704/787197791.html

Virginia Tech Shooting Victim Had Ohio State Ties

Apr 17 2007 5:56PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio - An Ohio State University graduate was among the 32 people who were killed by a gunman on the Virginia Tech University campus Monday morning.

Dr. Kevin P. Granata was listed among the victims Tuesday morning. Granata was an engineering science and mechanics professor at Virginia Tech, according to Ishwar K. Puri, the head of the school's engineering science and mechanics department.

According to his biography on the Virginia Tech Web site, Granata received his Ph.D. from Ohio State in 1993 and was a research scientist in Columbus from 1993-97. Granata also graduated from Ohio State in 1984 with a Bachelor's of Science degree in engineering physics and electrical engineering.

Granata was a great bio-engineering professor, but to his former colleagues at Ohio State, he was a dear friend.

"We'd sit in this office for hours and have these wonderful conversations about where the field was going, what needed to be done, and how you'd going about doing it," said Dr. Bill Marras, OSU Biodynamics Lab.

Marras told 10TV he emailed his friend the minute he learned of the shootings, to make sure he was okay.

"I didn't hear back from him, so I called his wife about 5 p.m. last night and at that time she hadn't heard from him," Marras said.

Granata was married and had three children, ages 14, 10 and 8, 10TV News reported.

Granata's office was located in Norris Hall, the site where a gunman wielding two handguns and carrying multiple clips of ammunition stormed the building.
The classroom shooter was later identified as Cho-Seung-Hui, 23, a senior from South Korea who was in the English department at Virginia Tech and lived in a different dorm on campus. Cho committed suicide after the attacks, and there was no indication Tuesday of any possible motive.

Granata also spent time at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Virginia and Wake Forest University, according to the Virginia Tech Web site.

Stay with 10TV News and refresh 10TV.com for continuing coverage.

Reported by Angela An

http://www.10tv.com/?sec=&story=sites/10tv/content/pool/200704/912046840.html

Virginia Tech witness/Ohio State University security

Apr 16, 6:18 PM EDT

Ohio students escape shooting spree in dorm

One Ohio student was sleeping in her dorm at Virginia Tech when Monday's shooting spree started on the floor above. Another was leaving the dorm for class. Both were a little rattled, but unharmed.

Freshman Ashlee Goodwin, of Granville, was awakened when a friend called her to tell her about the shooting.

"I was going to get up early this morning and go for a jog, and thank goodness I was lazy," Goodwin told The (Newark) Advocate.

Goodwin said she was shaken by the shooting.

"That freaked me out; I slept through a gunshot," she said.

Goodwin said that, following the shooting, she and fellow dorm residents were told to stay in their rooms unless they needed to use the bathroom.

"All today, I'm afraid to walk down the hall," Goodwin said.

Freshman Courtney Campbell, also of Granville, left the dorm for an 8 a.m. class. She said she didn't hear anything unusual, but did see what she now believes were some paramedics. However, she said things seemed pretty normal as she walked to class.

A gunman opened fire in the dorm about 7:15 a.m. and two hours later in a classroom across campus, killing 32 people and himself.

"It makes me a little bit uneasy, but it doesn't make me paranoid," Campbell said in a telephone interview from West Ambler Johnston Hall.

After Campbell arrived at her class, she and some fellow students drove to nearby Christiansburg to pick up some school supplies. That's when she began hearing reports of the shootings.

Campbell returned to her dorm in the afternoon and talked with fellow students there, who were being flooded with calls from family and friends.

"We're all just sitting in the room. The phone calls just keep coming in. It's going haywire," she said. "My roommate - she's a little bit upset. She knows a few people who were injured."

Student Travis Nebel, whose parents live in the Columbus suburb of Powell and whose father once taught at Virginia Tech, said he was off-campus when the second series of shootings occurred.

"This has really shaken me up, and I'm sure everyone else," Nebel said. "It seems almost surreal, watching it on TV. ... It's like your brain doesn't pick it up, or maybe I don't want to pick it up yet."

Campbell said she has never felt unsafe on the campus.

"It's unfair that their (Virginia Tech's name) would be tainted with this," she said. "The students here are all wonderful."

Campbell said she knows a few students who have gone home.

"I'm planning on staying here," she said. "If school is canceled later in the week, I'll go home with my roommate."

Nebel's father, Ray Nebel, found to his immense relief Monday that his two sons who attend the school where not victims of the shooting rampage on campus.

He said he immediately called 19-year-old Travis his youngest son, a freshman who shares an apartment with his older brother, Ryan, 23.

"They were both there and were OK," said Nebel.

He said the school was a big part of the community of about 30,000 or so.
"It's a very close campus and very much a college town," he said. "It just goes to show that if it can happen there, it can happen anywhere. It seems to have been a random act of violence and nothing associated with the school itself."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OH_VIRGINIA_TECH_OHIO_OHOL-?SITE=WBNSTV&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT



Campus Security Examined After Shootings

Apr 16 2007 6:33PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio The shock of what happened 300 miles away from Columbus on Monday resonates on college campuses that work every day to secure their students.

Students on the Ohio State campus said what happened in Virginia could just as easily happen in Columbus. Students told 10TV the university is all-access, and maybe too open.

"I could absolutely see how somebody could bring a couple of guns into class and nobody even notice," said Ohio State engineering student Stefan Kalbi.

Ohio State dormitories are restricted access and an ID is needed to get any further than the front door. However, OSU police agreed that it is an open university and little can be done to prevent an attack.

"So our planning is just to respond to an incident such as this with the ultimate goal to reduce loss of life," said OSU police Assistant Chief Rick Amweg.

The university's critical incident plan and comprehensive emergency management plan are secret for security reasons, but spelled out in detail for police and emergency responders.

The OSU Police Critical Response Team routinely trains with Columbus SWAT officers so officers are ready to execute what OSU calls 'quick action deployment plans'.

Those plans do little to comfort students like Kalbli, who decided to stay home from class.

"It kind of rattles you, Kalbi said. You're not in a bubble. Anything could happen."

Ohio State police said the campus has the advantage of being located in an urban setting, where Columbus police, the Ohio Highway patrol, and the Franklin County Sheriff's office are just a phone call away.

Stay with 10TV News and 10TV.com for continuing coverage

http://www.10tv.com/?sec=&story=sites/10tv/content/pool/200704/1234188074.html

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. - Antoine de St. Exupery

A tuning fork is a small tool that is used to tune musical instruments. It is tapped softly and then set down. As it vibrates, it gives off a musical tone. When its vibrations perfectly match the vibrations of the note played on the instrument, the instrument is in tune. When the note matches the tuning fork, this can be both felt and heard.

Our hearts work like a tuning fork. When the heart feels completely in tune with a decision or thought or action in our lives, then we know it is the right one for us. We can actually feel the harmony inside our bodies. Sometimes what we know deep in our hearts gets clouded over by doubts and questions and other people's opinions and judgments. We need to clear away such clouds and listen to our hearts, for our hearts carry the wisdom of the Creator.

Am I in tune with my heart today?

Virginia Tech nightmare - slideshow

VIRGINIA TECH RAMPAGE

Chief: Gunman kills at least 31 at Virginia Tech

POSTED: 2:24 p.m. EDT, April 16, 2007

(CNN) -- A lone gunman is dead after police said he killed at least 31 people Monday during twin shootings on the Virginia Tech campus -- the deadliest school attacks in U.S. history.

"Some victims were shot in a classroom," university police Chief Wendell Flinchum said during a news conference in Blacksburg.

Police believe there was only one gunman, Flinchum said.

Spokespersons for hospitals in Roanoke, Christiansburg, Blacksburg and Salem told CNN that they were treating 29 people from the shootings.

Sharon Honaker with Carilion New River Medical Center in Christiansburg said one of the four gunshot victims being treated there was in critical condition.
"Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," said university President Charles Steger. "The university is shocked and indeed horrified."

The killings mark the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history, surpassing attacks at Columbine High School in 1999 and at the University of Texas in 1966.

One person was killed and others were wounded at multiple locations inside a dormitory about 7:15 a.m., Flinchum said. Two hours later, another shooting at Norris Hall, the engineering science and mechanics building, resulted in multiple casualties, the university reported.

The first reported shooting occurred at West Ambler Johnston Hall, a four-story coed dormitory that houses 895 students. The dormitory, one of the largest residence halls on the 2,600-acre campus, is located near the drill field and stadium.

Amie Steele, editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, said one of her reporters at the dormitory reported "mass chaos."

The reporter said there were "lots of students running around, going crazy, and the police officers were trying to settle everyone down and keep everything under control," according to Steele.

Kristyn Heiser said she was in class about 9:30 a.m. when she and her classmates saw about six gun-wielding police officers run by a window.

"We were like, 'What's going on?' Because this definitely is a quaint town where stuff doesn't really happen. It's pretty boring here," said Heiser during a phone interview as she sat on her classroom floor.

Student reports 'mayhem'

Student Matt Waldron said he did not hear the gunshots because he was listening to music, but he heard police sirens and saw officers hiding behind trees with their guns drawn.

"They told us to get out of there so we ran across the drill field as quick as we could," he said.

Waldron described the scene on campus as "mayhem."

"It was kind of scary," he said. "These two kids I guess had panicked and jumped out of the top-story window and the one kid broke his ankle and the other girl was not in good shape just lying on the ground."

Madison Van Duyne said she and her classmates in a media writing class were on "lockdown" in their classrooms. They were huddled in the middle of the classroom, writing stories about the shootings and posting them online.

The university is updating its more than 26,000 students through e-mails, and an Internet webcam is broadcasting live pictures of the campus.

The shootings came three days after a bomb threat Friday forced the cancellation of classes in three buildings, WDBJ in Roanoke reported. Also, the 100,000-square-foot Torgersen Hall was evacuated April 2 after police received a written bomb threat, The Roanoke Times reported.

Last August, the first day of classes was cut short by a manhunt after an escaped prisoner was accused of killing a security guard at a Blacksburg hospital and a sheriff's deputy.

After the Monday shootings, students were instructed to stay indoors and away from windows, police at the university said.

"Virginia Tech has canceled all classes. Those on campus are asked to remain where they are, lock their doors and stay away from windows. Persons off campus are asked not to come to campus," a statement on the university Web site said.

Before Monday, the deadliest school shootings came in 1966 and 1999.
In the former, Charles Joseph Whitman, a 25-year-old ex-Marine, killed 13 people on the University of Texas campus. He was killed by police.

In 1999, 17-year-old Dylan Klebold and 18-year-old Eric Harris -- armed with guns and pipe bombs -- killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html



Students describe panic and confusion after shooting
POSTED: 2:33 p.m. EDT, April 16, 2007

(CNN) -- A gunman is dead after opening fire in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech on Monday, killing at least 31 people in the deadliest campus shooting spree in U.S. history.

Students in Blacksburg, Virginia, described a chaotic scene as word of the shootings spread by e-mail, word-of-mouth and the school's emergency loudspeakers:

Jamal Albarghouti, Virginia Tech student: "The first thing I saw is when the policeman started taking their guns out. Then I knew this was serious. I didn't hear anything about the shooting that happened in A.J. but when I saw the guns, I thought there was just another bomb threat. Then I started hearing some gunshots far away. It seemed to me -- where the cops are near right now. And then all the cops were trying to get into Norris Hall and they used like a bomb or something to open one of the doors. Probably they dropped a bomb in the building. There was a person on the second floor of Norris trying to tell the cops that he's in there. And probably trying to guide him in."

Kristen Heiser, student: "We were having class as usual and my teacher was lecturing and then there was a big window in our classroom and we saw all of a sudden about -- this was probably around 9:30 -- about six officers run by the building with their guns drawn. We were like, what's going on? Because this definitely is a quaint town where stuff doesn't really happen. It's pretty boring here. We were all alarmed, but someone got on their laptop and checked the Web site. All the Web site said was that there had been a shooting incident and that it had occurred at that dorm, which is across campus."

Matt Waldron, student: "I was on campus today, and I was walking toward class with my iPod on and these police cars started streaming down the sidewalk and kids were peeling off. I guess there were gunshots. It was right behind the building that I was in. And so they peeled us alongside the building. We had to stay inside there for like 15 minutes buildings. These two kids panicked and jumped out of the top story window. One kid broke his ankle and the other girl was not in good shape just lying on the ground. It was just mayhem. They told us to get out there. We ran across the drill field as quick as we could. There were cops yelling, and it was just a mess. It was kind of scary."

Laura Spaventa, student: "I was in Shanks Hall, which is located in the upper portion of campus, and we were having class, and all of a sudden we had e-mail saying that, like, there was a shooting on campus and then we were updated with it saying that, like, classes were being canceled and to stay where we were. ... Right after we got that e-mail we heard five shots on campus, and we could hear the emergency speaker system. So we all got down under the desks and moved away from the windows.

There must have been at least over 20 or 30 cop cars and ambulances. Like, every street was lined with them. I did not see like openings at all, like, it was really scary. All the cops had, like, vests on, and some had guns in their hands and everything. I felt like I was in a war zone, or in the middle of like the city, or something. It was just very, very unsettling."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/students.witnesses/index.html

Don Imus, it's your turn in the hot seat!

Here's the back-story.

Embattled Don Imus tells listeners, 'I am a good person'

NEW YORK (AP) — A contrite Don Imus described himself Monday as "a good person" who made a bad mistake by making racially charged comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team.

Speaking on his radio show Monday morning, Imus said he was not trying to downplay what he called "the repulsiveness" of the remarks, in which he referred to the mostly black team as "nappy-headed hos." But he said it was important to understand the context of his comments.

"We were kidding around, but that doesn't change it. That doesn't make it any less repugnant," he said Monday.

"I'm not a bad person. I'm a good person, but I said a bad thing. But these young women deserve to know it was not said with malice," he said.

Imus said he hoped to meet the players and their parents and coaches, and he said he was grateful that he was scheduled to appear later Monday on a radio show hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who has called for Imus to be fired over the remarks.

"It's not going to be easy, but I'm not looking for it to be easy," Imus said.
Sharpton has said he wants Imus fired and that he intends to complain to the Federal Communications Commission about the matter.

"Somewhere we must draw the line in what is tolerable in mainstream media," Sharpton said Sunday. "We cannot keep going through offending us and then apologizing and then acting like it never happened. Somewhere we've got to stop this."

Meanwhile, the Rev. Jesse Jackson planned a protest in Chicago, and an NAACP official called for the broadcaster's resignation or firing.
Imus made the now infamous remark during his nationally syndicated radio show Wednesday.

The Rutgers team, which includes eight black women, had lost the day before in the NCAA women's championship game. Imus was speaking with producer Bernard McGuirk about the game when the exchange began on "Imus in the Morning," which is broadcast to millions of people on more than 70 stations and MSNBC.

"That's some rough girls from Rutgers," Imus said. "Man, they got tattoos ... ."
"Some hardcore hos," McGuirk said.

"That's some nappy-headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that," Imus said.
Imus also apologized on the air Friday, but his mea culpa has not quieted the uproar.

Jackson said his RainbowPUSH Coalition planned to protest Monday in Chicago outside the offices of NBC, which owns MSNBC. Jackson said protests were being planned across the country.

James E. Harris, president of the New Jersey chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, demanded Sunday that Imus "resign or be terminated immediately."

Allison Gollust, a spokeswoman for MSNBC, said the network considers Imus' comments "deplorable" and is reviewing the matter.

Karen Mateo, a spokeswoman for CBS Radio -- Imus' employer and the owner of his New York radio home, WFAN-AM -- said the company was "disappointed" in Imus' actions and characterized his comments as "completely inappropriate."

http://www.courttv.com/people/2007/0409/imus_ap.html

Now, Imus has since been suspended from broadcast for two weeks starting April 16. I heard that Rev. Al Sharpton was not convinced of Imus' apology and I don't blame him. I think it's too little too late. Those comments were no slip of the tongue, it was a drawn-out conversation. I've also heard Imus was on probation when he said these comments because he's done this before, many times. My opinion is that he's going to "shock-jock" himself out of a job soon. Imus is famous for hate-mongering, he never has anything nice to say. If he's supposed to be funny why am I not laughing?

Here are some more of my thoughts on this subject.

There are just some things that should not be said on a national media format. Sure you can say what you want but those same things should not be said in public. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but what is the limit. There are some things whites should not say about blacks and vice verse. There are some comments that are inappropriate and offensive to women and men. The nappy-headed comment is offensive to blacks and the ho comment is offensive to women. All ho is is a shortened form of whore. Common sense tells me to do unto others as I would have them do unto me, so I'm going to be respectful. I don't want to clutter my conscience with hatred toward fellow human beings. Sharpton has the right to ask or tell Imus what he wants. Doesn't he have the same right to freedom of speech that Imus has? So I ask again, what is going to be society's limit? I'm not singling Imus out, he's just the one who's in the hot seat right now. "Jokes" like that do not belong in a public forum like that. If society accepts these comments then what's next? Is it okay for me to call you a faggot or a spic? Can I just blurt out the comment that you're a toothless hick? No of course not because that's rude and disrespectful!

My parents' vacation

I've made slideshows of my parents' photos from their vacation. I invite you to view them here:
http://asunnyworldrevisited.blogspot.com/2007/04/my-parents-recently-went-on-holiday.html

Easter Controversy

Fri Apr 6, 4:58 PM ET

ZAGREB (AFP) - A Croatian activist Friday completed a 24-hour stay in a chicken cage in a central square in Zagreb to urge people not to eat eggs on Easter Sunday.

But one man attempted to scramble the stunt. He showed up with a bag full of eggs and bombarded the caged man and other activists before police stopped him.

Despite the interruption, Luka Oman completed his self-imprisonment and exited the cage Friday at noon.

Oman is president of an organisation called Friends of Animals, which wanted to draw attention to the industrial production of poultry.
"We are calling for people not to eat eggs and to buy wooden eggs for Easter," said Anita Eushen of Friends of Animals.

Oman said chickens raised industrially for the purpose of laying eggs undergo "unimaginable suffering."

About 88 percent of Croatia's 4.4 million residents identify themselves as Catholic and celebrate the Christian holiday of Easter.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070406/od_afp/croatiareligioneaster_070406205818;_ylt=AnCw72g3kir7k4kGP2TKlcYFO7gF

In rememberance of Dr Martin Luther King Jr

On this day thirty-nine years ago, a great man was gunned down while doing what he believed was right for our society. Dr Martin Luther King Jr was a pinnacle in civil rights society. He believed the minority should have the same rights as others in this country. In the prime of his life, Dr King was killed while fighting for the rights of the downtrodden, the poor, the discriminated, and any man or woman who felt they were being condemned by a society who could not accept them for the color of their skin. So today I honor Dr King with open heart and mind, and praise him for his valiant efforts to change a damaged society. Below is the famous speech Dr King gave that has most inspired many in this country, including me.


"I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!""

Nancy Grace fans

Top 10 locations that Nancy could've been the last 2 days

#10 In Oz to see the Wizard
#09 Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C.
#08 In Iran beating the hell out of their Pres to get those British marines released
#07 Attending the Mens' Final 4 in Atlanta
#06 Throwing the 1st pitch (or drunk) at the Braves home opener
#05 Giving Sanjaya Malakar singing lessons
#04 hopping down the bunny trail
#03 in the Holy land attending Holy week festivities
#02 TP'ng (toilet papering) Debra Opri's house

And the #1 place Nancy could've been
#1 In the Bahamas babysitting Dannielynn Smith

By Jeff Fisher

Solomon Islands Tsunami 2

Solomon Islands Tsunami

Thousands homeless from tsunami

POSTED: 8:24 p.m. EDT, April 2, 2007

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (AP) -- Bodies floated out to sea and thousands of residents camped out overnight Tuesday on a hillside above a devastated town in the western Solomon Islands after a tsunami that struck without warning washed away coastal villages, killing at least 13 people. The death toll was expected to rise.

The Solomon Islands government declared a national state of emergency, as the prime minister held meetings with his impoverished country's aid donors about getting help.

"My heart goes out to all of you at this very trying time," Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said in an address to the nation.

A wall of water reportedly 30 feet high struck the island of Choiseul and swept a third of a mile inland, while smaller but still destructive waves surged ashore elsewhere in the western part of the impoverished archipelago, causing widespread damage and driving thousands from their homes.

Thirteen people were confirmed killed in the Solomons, and the toll was expected to rise as assessment teams made their way into the stricken zone, National Disaster Management Office spokesman Julian Makaa told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

The station also reported the first deaths in neighboring Papua New Guinea, were a family of five was reportedly washed away.

Makaa said more than 900 homes were destroyed in the Solomons.
The tsunami was triggered by a magnitude 8.0 quake that struck shortly after 7:39 a.m. Monday six miles beneath the sea floor, about 25 miles from the western island of Gizo and 215 miles northwest of the Solomons' capital, Honiara, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake -- the strongest in the Solomons in more than three decades -- set off tsunami alarms from Tokyo to Hawaii and closed beaches along the east coast of Australia more than 1,250 miles away. Lifeguards with bullhorns yelled at surfers to get out of the water at Sydney's famous Bondi Beach.

The danger passed quickly, but officials rejected suggestions they overreacted, adding that the emergency tested procedures put in place after the 2004 Indian Ocean disaster that left 230,000 dead or missing in a dozen countries.

Up to 4,000 people were camped on a hill behind Gizo, a town of about 7,000, said Alex Lokopio, premier of hard-hit Western Province. In all, at least 5,000 people were affected by the tsunami, Makaa said.

Many people were too scared to return to the coast amid more than two dozen aftershocks, including at least four of magnitude-6 or stronger.

Initial reports from other islands suggest similar or worse levels of damage, the Red Cross said. Roads were inaccessible and there was heavy damage to infrastructure, including phones and electricity, said Martin Blackgrove, the International Red Cross' regional disaster management coordinator for the Pacific, based in Fiji.

Because of Gizo's proximity to the quake's epicenter, the tsunami struck before an alarm could be sounded.

"There wasn't any warning -- the warning was the earth tremors," Lokopio told New Zealand's National Radio. "It shook us very, very strongly and we were frightened, and all of a sudden the sea was rising up."

Within five minutes, a wall of water up to 16 feet high plowed into the coast, inundating homes, businesses, a hospital, schools and two police stations, and dumping boats into streets in Gizo, a popular spot for diving, witnesses and officials said.

'Water 'right up to your head'

Outlying villages, where many houses are flimsy wooden structures, may have fared worse, based on scattered reports from residents with two-way radios.
"It was just a noise like an underground explosion," Gizo resident Dorothy Parkinson told Australia's Nine Network television. "The wave came almost instantaneously. Everything that was standing is flattened."

Judith Kennedy said water "right up to your head" swept through town. Her father, dive shop owner Danny Kennedy, said Gizo was devastated when the wave subsided.

"There are boats in the middle of the road, buildings have completely collapsed and fallen down," he told The Associated Press.

Alfred Maesulia, a spokesman for Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, told the Sydney Morning Herald that some coastal villages were struck by waves up to 30 feet tall, although most reported heights of between 9 and 15 feet.

"There are reports that some villages were completely washed away," he told AP.

Maesulia said the death toll was expected to rise as the cleanup progressed.
"Some people were seen floating on the sea during the big waves but it was very difficult to go near them," he told the AP. "The number at the moment is 13. It's possible that number will increase, maybe double up or even more."

Villagers on Simbo, Choiseul and Ranunga islands reported deaths and widespread destruction, he said.

"Sasamungga village is quite a big village. ... It was reported that 300 houses were completely destroyed in that village alone."

Debris needed to be cleared before Gizo's airfield could be fully operational, the Red Cross said.

Fresh water was in short supply in some areas, while temporary, localized food shortages have also been reported, it said. Some of the affected areas can only be reached by boat.

International aid pledges

A damage assessment team flew over the tsunami zone late Monday, then reported back to the government in Honiara, National Disaster Management Office spokesman Julian Makaa said.

Helicopters made the first drops of tents, drinking water and other supplies to the crowd on the hill behind Gizo, said Peter Marshall, the Solomons' deputy police commissioner. Flights were expected to resume Tuesday.

One boat carrying relief supplies left Honiara for Gizo, and at least three more were expected to go Tuesday, Makaa told the British Broadcasting Corp.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the United Nations had a humanitarian team ready to deploy to the Solomon Islands and offered assistance to the government, U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said in New York.

The Australian government pledged $1.6 million in emergency aid and said helicopters already in the Solomons as part of a multinational security mission had been made available for rescue and relief.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it was releasing $53,000 in initial aid to the national Red Cross.

The archipelago has more than 200 islands with a population of about 552,000 and lies on the Pacific Basin's so-called "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines where quakes are frequent.

The quake occurred when the Australian tectonic plate suddenly dived beneath the Pacific plate, said David Wald of the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in Colorado.

The undersea temblor lifted the ocean bottom, generating deadly tsunami waves near the epicenter, Wald said.

"It would have been a much worse situation if the cities were heavily populated," Wald said.

On July 21, 1975, a large tsunami hit Bougainville, killing an estimated 200 people, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and World Health Organization. That tsunami and a 1956 wind storm, which also killed 200, are the deadliest natural disasters to strike the nation.

The Solomon Islands has been rocked by several strong earthquakes in recent history. The region was hit by temblors of magnitudes 8 and 8.1 in 1971 and 7.3 in 2003.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/04/02/sopacific.quake.ap/index.html