VA Tech: Today marks the one-year anniversary of the shootings at Virginia Tech. The tragic event was the most deadly shooting spree in modern US history, when 23-year-old student Cho Seung-hui shot 27 students and five staff members before killing himself. The day will be marked with ceremonies and remembrance.
Iraqi Deserters: A company of Iraqi soldiers abandoned their positions last night in Sadr City, defying American soldiers commanding them to hold the line against Shiite militias. A US company commander in the 25th Infantry Division confronted the Iraqi major who was leading his troops away from the Sadr City fight, saying, “if you turn around and go back up the street those soldiers will follow you. If you tuck tail and cowardly run away they will follow up that way, too.” The desertion by the 50 Iraqi soldiers left a large and important stretch of frontline road undefended.
CO Fires: Wildfires raged over 11 square miles in Colorado last night, forcing hundreds to evacuate and leaving three dead. The three fires broke out following a dry March, and Gov. Bill Ritter has declared a state of emergency, freeing up state resources to help fight the fires.
India Bus Crash: In India at least 44 people have been killed after their bus plunged into a river. Most of the dead are children as the bus had been transporting students to an exam. Four children have been rescued from the wreckage. Road accidents in India claim thousands of lives every year, and most are blamed on reckless driving and poorly maintained roads.
Erykah Badu offers up some insider tips and tricks for budding musicians who want to make it big in the biz. It all starts with a little plastic surgery. Or a lot. French kiss a chick (Madonna maybe?) in front of a world audience. Overdo it on the body glitter. Don't forget the stilettos and leave the whining at the door. Even if you're a 12-year-old Disney hotshot with a fan club, your tootsies ain't allowed to hurt in those heels. Cuz at the end of the day, it's not about the vocals; it's about them heels. Who knew Badu — my new fave person — had a sarcastic streak? I think she's telling us to get over ourselves and get on with the music already.
A few weeks ago I posted a Group Therapy all about revenge. This woman's boyfriend cheated on her, and to get him back, she reported his illegal business to the IRS but then feared that she had gone to far. Now for those of you who believe in karma, any kind of revenge is probably crossing the line, but sometimes people need to know that there are consequences in life, right? Now I'm not one to go out of my way to get revenge — I believe more in what goes around comes around — but what about you? Do tell ladies: What's the worst thing you've ever done to get revenge on someone?
I fear we might be heading into a grave age: The Death of Common Sense. Perhaps I've suspected for a while that we're living in too-touchy times, where a sensible or proportional response is lost without bells, whistles, and six or seven exclamation points, but I think it's entirely possible that we've begun deferring personal judgment and common sense in favor of an arsenal of black and white all-or-nothing rules.
See what you think. In this month alone:
Robyn Hooker, principal of Kent Gardens Elementary School in Virginia, has ruled that students can no longer play tag during recess. Hooker determined that the game of chasing, dodging and yelling "You're it!" had gotten out of hand, and had in fact become a game of "of intense aggression," much more intense than the tag she remembers. One parent said of the ruling, "We are regulating the fun out of normal childhood activity. In our effort to be so overprotective, we are not letting children be children."
At Cove High School in Texas (a school where half the students have at least one parent deployed) suspended a student for answering a call from his father — who is serving in and calling from Iraq — saying the student had violated the school's no-cell-phone policy.
In Colorado, an eight-year-old received a three-day suspension for sniffing a Sharpie marker. The principal says that she didn't want to see the event escalate and assumed the boy was "huffing" or inhaling dangerous fumes from the marker.
Are these instances where rules were necessary and rightfully enforced? Are we walking the balance between discipline and discretion?
I'm dating an amazing guy. We've been in a serious relationship for just about a year now, but before we were fully committed to each other, we were dating other people — he more so than me. It wasn't until relatively recently that it became an issue, when I noticed that he still talks to the girl he was seeing. She still has eyes for my boyfriend and doesn't try to hide her attraction for him. I try not to be an overly jealous girlfriend, but I'm only human; I get worried sometimes.
I brought this up with him a few months back, and I asked if he would stop talking to her, but he felt that was too much for me to ask. Every time I try to bring it up, which is not often, he gets frustrated that I am so jealous and reiterates that he's not cheating and therefore it should be a nonissue that he's still friends with her. Am I just being overly jealous, or do I have a right to be upset about this relationship? — Possessive Polly
You win some, you lose some. If we did everything perfectly, the gal next to us wouldn't get that oh so refreshing mid-party shower. We'd never see some dude's head stuck in some other dude's underpants. We would never get electrocuted during a drunken night out on the town. Failure is part of the fun, you see. (Want more failure? Visit MMOABC.)
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Chin up, Mr. President Bush, sir! It's not all bad! OK, yes, 98 percent of historians think your presidency has been a failure, but that's just a silly survey. I found an amazing list of the Top Ten Worst Presidents, and you're not even on it!
There are a whole slew of scandals (Teapot Dome, Black Friday) an impeachment (nope, not him — think way back) a Great Depression even greater than the one we're hurtling into now, and a Folly! You haven't had an official folly yet! Get crackin'!
Here are the top (worst?) five from the hilarious and not historically unsound list of top ten worst:
James Buchanan (oops Dred Scott...)
Warren G. Harding (there's your Teapot Dome!)
Franklin Pierce (Kansas-Nebraska Act?)
Richard Nixon (Ohh, Watergate.)
Andrew Johnson (And we have impeachment!)
So you see, Mr. President sir, there's a whole lot of history just as bad as what you're up against. But take a second to read the list, will you? There are quite a few months left of your big job! Let's learn and laugh together!
So. Do you think George W. Bush should have made that list?
Jimmy Choo
Haurex
Tod's