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Lord there goes Martin Luther King, notice how the door closes when the chimes of freedom ring... -Johnny Applesee by Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros
- Mood:
hopeful
, a fancy photo sharing thing.- Mood:
scared
- Mood:
political
"America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've got to want it bad, because it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil who is standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the 'land of the free'? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then you can stand up and sing about the 'land of the free.'" -The American President
I love this country. Yes, I'm a bleeding heart liberal, and I adore America. Have things gone wrong in our short time as a country? Of course. But when I look at the immense freedoms and opportunity at my hands, I can't help but be grateful that I live here. I was raised by an American parent and a German one, and growing up I saw first hand what other countries were like, and as much as I adore Germany and the fact that I have dual citizenship, I doubt I'll ever leave. I suppose my admiration and love for the USA is the reason I get so angry when we have politicians in office who, in my opinion, do not seem to have the best interest of this country's people at heart. I'm political all the time. I support those people I agree with constantly, I don't just throw on a candidates button and pretend to care in September of an election year. Celebrating this country isn't just for July 4th, it's for all the time. And slapping yellow ribbons and American flags on your car doesn't cut it. Be progressive, always see the need for improvement, but appreciate what IS good.
Stick around, I saw Sicko this weekend, and I have lots to say about that.
- Mood:
awake
"Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical."
Yet, we are at war, right?
- Mood:
irate
Updated: 8 minutes ago
BLACKSBURG, Va. - At least 22 people were killed Monday in a shooting rampage on the Virginia Tech campus, police said. They said the gunman was among the dead.
In addition to those killed, officials said at least 28 people were wounded.
Virginia Tech Police Chief Wendell Flinchum said the gunman was dead, but that he didn't know how he died.
"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."
Up until Monday, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history took place in 1966 at the University of Texas, where Charles Whitman climbed to the 28th-floor observation deck of a clock tower and opened fire. He killed 16 people before he was gunned down by police. In the Columbine High bloodbath near Littleton, Colo., in 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives.
Virginia Tech reported shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning at about 7:15 a.m. local time at West Ambler Johnston, a co-ed residence hall that houses 895 people, and continuing about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.
At least one student was killed in the dorm and others were killed in the classroom, Flinchum said.
After the shootings, all entrances to the campus were closed.
"There's just a lot of commotion. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on," said Jason Anthony Smith, 19, who lives in the dorm.
Aimee Kanode, a freshman from Martinsville, said the shooting happened on the fourth floor of the dorm, one floor above her room. Kanode's resident assistant knocked on her door about 8 a.m. to notify students to stay put.
"They had us under lockdown," Kanode said. "They temporarily lifted the lockdown; the gunman shot again."
"We're all locked in our dorms surfing the Internet trying to figure out what's going on," Kanode said.
Madison Van Duyne, a student who was interviewed by telephone on CNN, said, "Most of the students are sitting on the floors away from the windows just trying to be as safe as possible."
source : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/1813467
