33 dead in 'horrific' campus shooting in Virginia

At least 33 people are dead and more than a dozen others wounded after a gunman opened fire at a Virginia college on Monday in what is being described as the worst campus shooting in U.S. history.

An injured person is carried out of Norris Hall, where most of the fatalities occurred. 'At least 30 to 40 big shots' were fired in the engineering building, a student said.

The suspected gunman took his own life at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, campus police Chief W.R. Flinchum told an afternoon news conference.

Police said they now know the identity of the gunman but are withholding his name for the time being. They said they did not know his motive or whether he was a student at the college, which has a student body of about 26,000 in a town with a total population of only 39,573.

There were two separate shootings about two hours apart at opposite ends of the campus. The first took place at about 7:15 a.m. ET at West Ambler Johnston dormitory, a co-ed residence housing more than 800 students, and the second about two hours later at an engineering building, Norris Hall.

University president Charles Steger said Norris Hall had become a "tragic" and "horrific crime scene."

"Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions," Steger said. "The university is shocked and indeed horrified."

Steger said authorities initially believed the dorm shooting was a domestic dispute because police found a dead woman and man in one of the dorm rooms.

"We had no reason to suspect any other incident was going to occur," Steger said.

Then at 9:25 a.m., police responded to calls of a second shooting at Norris Hall where they found a gunman had killed himself in a second-floor classroom after shooting dozens of students at that location.

Two weapons, which police declined to describe, were recovered and are now with a lab at the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to determine whether the shootings are related, Flinchum said.

Fifteen wounded people remain in several area hospitals, Flinchum said.

An off-campus man who knew one of the victims is a "person of interest" to police and has been co-operating, though he is not in custody, Flinchum said.

Gunman enters college room shooting

Derek O'Dell, a student wounded in the shooting, told MSNBC from a hospital that the shooter entered a room at Norris Hall that had about a dozen or so students and started shooting.

"He didn't say anything," O'Dell said. "He just shot and then left. Some of those hit were a lot more critical than me."

He said the shooter tried to get back into the room, but the students held the door shut.

"At first I thought it was a joke," O'Dell said. "You don't really think about gunmen just coming onto campus. But it became very serious, very quickly."

Trey Perkins, who was sitting in a German class in Norris Hall, told the Washington Post newspaper the gunman barged into the room at about 9:50 a.m. and opened fire for about a minute and a half, squeezing off 30 shots in all.

The gunman, Perkins said, first shot the professor in the head and then fired on the students. Perkins said the gunman was about 19 years old and had a "very serious but very calm look on his face."

"Everyone hit the floor at that moment," said Perkins, 20, of Yorktown, Va., a sophomore studying mechanical engineering.

"And the shots seemed like it lasted forever."
'It seemed so strange'

Erin Sheehan, who was also in the German class, told the student newspaper, the Collegiate Times, she was one of only four of the approximately two dozen people in the class to walk out of the room. The rest were dead or wounded, she said.

"It seemed so strange," Sheehan said.

The gunman "peeked in twice, earlier in the lesson, like he was looking for someone before he started shooting. But then we all heard something like drilling in the walls, and someone thought they sounded like bullets."

"That's when we blockaded the door to stop anyone from coming in."

She said the gunman "was just a normal-looking kid, Asian but he had on a Boy Scout-type outfit. He wore a tan button-up vest and this black vest, maybe it was for ammo or something."

"I saw bullets hit people's body," Sheehan said.

"There was blood everywhere."

As the shots rang out at Norris Hall, some students escaped through second-storey windows.

About 26,000 students attend the college in Blacksburg, Va.: 'Blacksburg is a very small town, everybody almost knows everybody. It's going to be very bad and very sad in here,' one student said after the shooting.About 26,000 students attend the college in Blacksburg, Va.: 'Blacksburg is a very small town, everybody almost knows everybody. It's going to be very bad and very sad in here,' one student said after the shooting.

A junior student named Josh, calling from campus, told the WDBJ news station in Virginia that he was inside Norris Hall when the gunman opened fire.

"We heard some loud banging, we weren't sure if it was construction or not, then we heard some screaming," he said.

"It didn't stop for at least two or three minutes," the student said, adding "at least 30 to 40 big shots" were fired.

"We all jumped out the window," he said.
'There were cops holding guns, shooting all over'

According to local television station WDBJ, high winds prevented helicopters from evacuating campus buildings.

Jamal Albarghouti, a student at the school, took video footage on his cellphone of the unfolding incident until police asked him to move because he was too close to the scene. The sounds of gunfire can be heard on the video while police can be seen holding guns outside of a building.

"It was really terrible. There were cops holding guns, shooting all over," Albarghouti said. "You can't imagine how sad everyone here is."

He said he was not yet sure whether he knows any of the victims.

"Blacksburg is a very small town, everybody almost knows everybody. It's going to be very bad and very sad in here."

Locked down for hours at dorm

Another student, Aimee Kanode, said the shooting in the dormitory occurred on the fourth floor, one floor above her room. She said her resident assistant banged on her door about 8 a.m. ET to tell students to stay in their rooms.

"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.

Student and dorm resident Alex Miller — who shot a video of two police officers outside the dormitory patting down a person who was later released — told CBC News it was "frightening" when the shootings were underway just one floor below him.

He said he was a bit scared about the prospect of returning to class, adding, "You don't know if one of your classmates could be one" of the victims.

Three local hospitals rolled out their disaster preparedness teams to deal with the victims.

Some students later questioned why the gunman was able to strike a second time. They bitterly complained that there were no public-address announcements on campus after the first burst of gunfire. Many said the first word they received from the university was an e-mail more than two hours into the rampage — about the time the gunman struck again.

Steger defended the university's handling of the tragedy, saying: "We can only make decisions based on the information you had on the time. You don't have hours to reflect on it."
'This is every parent's nightmare'

Craig Nessler, an associate dean at the school, said campus security personnel are armed and there are loudspeakers around the campus used to broadcast emergency messages — including in this case. He said the broadcast told students to seek shelter because of a shooting.

Nessler said he hopes extra counsellors, who have already been set up on campus, will help students cope with the terrible incident.

"This is every parent's nightmare, even if your child is not directly involved," he said.

The college closed all entrances to the campus, told faculty and staff to go home and cancelled classes for Monday and Tuesday. Officials said the campus itself would open Tuesday and a convocation to grieve the dead would be held at Cassell Coliseum.

The names of the victims may be released Tuesday, Steger said at the news conference.
Second emergency closing in year

During a brief statement at the White House on Monday, U.S. President George W. Bush pledged federal support to local law enforcement and community officials.

"Schools should be places of sanctuary and safety and learning. When that safety is violated, that is felt in every American classroom," he said.

"Today our nation grieves with those who have lost a loved one."

In Canada, parliamentarians offered their condolences in the House of Commons.

"Such a senseless act leaves Canadians stunned and horrified," said Liberal MP Michael Ignatieff.

It was the second time in less than a year that the school, better known as Virginia Tech, has ordered an emergency closure of the campus because of a shooting.

In August 2006, the opening day of classes was cancelled and the campus closed when an escaped jail inmate killed a hospital guard and a sheriff's deputy involved in a massive manhunt just off the campus.

台灣暴力政治的盒子已被打開

台灣暴力政治的盒子已被打開／文﹕南方朔
2007年4月9日

【明報專訊】4月7日凌晨，一場怪火把台北的「草山行館」燒得盡光。同一天，桃園大溪的「蔣公行館」也被人噴漆「二二八元兇」字樣。隨 台灣立委與總統選舉愈來愈接近，整個台灣的形勢就像那把怪火一樣，已更加的詭譎陰沉，充滿了讓人不安的寒慄甚至暴力氣氛。

自從20世紀民國肇建到1970年代，對全球後進國而言，都還處於離封建專制未遠或獨裁統治的階段，而統治者為了方便，隨意設置行館之事也相當普遍。早年蔣介石在北伐後獲得權力，即在多處設有行館，到了台灣後，也在台灣各地陸續設置行館十餘處。在這些行館裏，位於陽明山的「草山行館」無疑的最為重要。

因為，這處行館乃是日本統治台灣時期，為了當時還是太子的裕仁要來台灣視察而建，它完成於1920年，後來成了日本殖民政權政商要人的溫泉別墅。1945年台灣光復後成為招待所，1949年國府遷台，蔣介石最初即以此為居所，翌年正式的「士林官邸」落成才遷離。但因「草山行館」環境清幽，他每年端午到中秋這段較熱的季節，仍多半到此居住。1975年蔣介石逝世，此處閒置，一直到1998年陳水扁當台北市長時才加以局部整修並開放參觀。而後在馬英九當台北市長時定名為「草山行館」並委外經營開放。此處的主體建築為磚石門廊及玄關，其餘皆為日本式木建築，另有四五棟秘書侍從所住的房屋，另有假山庭園，非常清雅。我因為是台北市「草山行館」委外經營的督導委員，曾多次至該處勘察。

蔣介石毫無疑問的是特定歷史階段所造就的威權人物，這是歷史問題。只要歷史改變，這種人物就會從神壇上被拉下人間。以前神聖不可侵犯的行館後來變成人們可以參觀及喝茶聊天的地方，它所註解的即是歷史改變的意義。

只是，從今年初開始，由於立委和總統大選的接近，現在的陳水扁政權欠缺實質政績來保衛政權，遂將腦筋動到了蔣介石頭上，它有計劃的展開清算蔣介石的運動，包括宣稱蔣介石是「二二八元兇」，揚言要把「中正紀念堂」改名，並拆除圍牆；而在民進黨統治的高雄市，硬是拆掉蔣介石銅像。陳水扁過去當台北市長時還不是還整建「草山行館」嗎？怎麼一翻臉又搞起「批蔣」的清算運動呢？

而說穿了，其實也沒有別的。當陳水扁任台北市長時，由於未掌握中央政權，當然必須做一些符合主流的動作。而一旦取得中央政權，即有了推動「去中國化」的權力。而且「去中國化」、「清算蔣介石」，一方面可藉此煽動台灣內部的族群仇恨，另方面也可藉此轉移諸如貪腐無能的問題。在陳水扁的算計裏，只要持續煽動，當台灣的台灣人和外省人對立升高，自稱代表台灣人的民進黨即可得到人口的優勢而永遠掌握權力。陳水扁一點都不疲倦的搞這些問題，其實就是要藉此來收割選票利益。研究近代法西斯民粹主義的，都當知道找廉價的敵人來恨，乃是最廉價有效的伎倆。它和文革時找廉價的「黑五類」來恨，藉以煽起民粹情緒，從而達到奪權之目的可謂相同。

而除此之外，研究近代政治暴力的也發現到，政治人物用語言暴力來煽動，他們的語言並非實質暴力，但煽動久了，盲從者即會將這種語言暴力具體化，而成為真實的暴力，而這其實也符合了製造語言暴力者心裏想說但卻不便說出來的本意。

就以「草山行館」大火為例，在沒有透過科學證據證明真象之前，當然人人皆可任意解釋。但我們卻不能忽視了，最近台灣北部正值清明雨季，陽明山更是霪雨不休，但就在這樣的季節，一把火卻很快的就把偌大一棟建築燒得盡光，附近的居民還說大火時傳出陣陣爆炸聲。「草山行館」是失火還是縱火？外人當然無法知道，但它卻有 太多疑竇，至少它已可能是「清算蔣介石」這種「語言暴力」逐漸升級到了「具體暴力」。桃園大溪的「蔣公行館」遭人噴漆，把陳水扁所說的「二二八元兇」具體化成為行動，誰又能說這兩者之間沒有相似性呢？

「草山行館」被燒、「蔣公行館」被噴漆，看起來都和國計民生無關，但這種事卻無疑的是巨大的惡兆。它已隱約的透露出，此刻的台灣在持續的煽動及製造仇恨下，相信這種話的譫狂者已經出現，他們接受政客煽動的語言暴力之召喚，開始把這種語言暴力具體化，而最可怕的乃是做這種事的人會自認是代表了正義。自鳴正義的暴力是最可怕的暴力。強盜在殺人放火時知道自己不對，而被政治暗示出來的自鳴正義之暴力則否，當暴力而有理，這種暴力就只會增加而不會止息！

美國人曾說陳水扁是個「不可預測的人」。這其實是不對的，陳水扁絕對可以預測，他總是在「語言暴力」的邊緣游走，並不斷的向盲從者發出暗示，因而真正不可預測的不是他，而是接受他的暗示而付諸行動的人。當蔣介石被說成是屠殺台灣人的元兇，燒掉他的住宅，拆掉他的銅像和圍牆，難道不是正義的英雄嗎？當不獨就是台奸，就是中共的同路人，就是不愛台灣，那麼把這些人殺掉豈不就是對台灣之愛的證明？把這種人抓去坐牢，不也是順天應人的義行？

因此，「草山行館」大火，「蔣公行館」被噴漆，它的意義不是事情本身，而在於它所代表的徵候。當搞政治的靠清算挑撥與加工製造仇恨來騙取選票，這種語言暴力就像是潘 拉的盒子被打開一樣，具體暴力的精靈就開始四散。大火和噴漆還是小暴力，在2008年大選之前如果出現大暴力，我也一點都不會覺得訝異。把它看成是對愚蠢台灣人的一種詛咒，如此而已。正因台灣有 暴力的不可預測性，我們又怎能不事先有所警惕與準備呢？

南方朔

What I think is most disturbing is the parallel that one can draw between what is happening in Taiwan to what happened during the cultural revolution in China. It tears me up that we Chinese people keeps screwing ourselves up like this.

許瑋倫經2小時搶救不治

藝人許瑋倫昨日在國道上發生嚴重，情況一直沒有改善，今日下午5點09分，心跳停止，經過醫生2個小時搶救後，於晚間7點37分宣告不治。

醫生表示，因為許瑋倫的腦水腫的部份，一直沒有，有效的改善，下午5點09分，多突然休克，經過醫師全力搶救，在晚間7點37分搶救無效，目前家屬已經在處理後事部分，將在晚間會將許瑋倫遺體送回台北。

Aiy... I first noticed her in 十八歲的約定 and now she's gone.

SFU is Going to Hell in a Handbasket

University drops crosses on coat of arms
Last Updated: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 | 1:59 PM ET
CBC News

Simon Fraser University is getting rid of the two crosses on its coat of arms, saying they sent the wrong message to international students.

The Burnaby-based university is replacing the crosses at the top of the coat of arms with images of open books.

A spokesman for Simon Fraser University says the two crosses on the 40-year-old coat of arms creates 'confusion.'

Warren Gill, SFU's vice-president of university relations, said the crosses created the wrong impression.

"For some people, particularly internationally, the crosses were seen to identify us as a private religious institution as opposed to a secular public one, and a lot of our international folks were getting that back.

"If our name was the University of Burnaby, it probably wouldn't have conveyed the same thing, but named for a person it caused some confusion internationally."

Gill said the new coat of arms will still have the Fraser shield, in honour of explorer Simon Fraser.

He also said the old symbol will remain on the university's buildings.

The current coat of arms was approved in 1965.

The new design has been in the works for 18 months, said Gill, and is expected to be approved by the Canadian Heraldic Authority by May.

I'm so sick and tired of all the BULL SHIT that SFU whips up. You are wiping away what little history that SFU has build up in 40 years just so you can get a few more international students? Why do we need international students who are so stupid that they think SFU is a Christian institution, just because we have two crosses on our crest? Why do we need international students who are that ignorant of the impact of Christianity on western civilization to see past the pair of crosses as religious symbols? Why do we need even more international student who are too wussy to ASK the recruiter about our crest?

McDonald's puts patent on sandwiches

McDonald's puts patent on sandwiches
Tuesday, November 21, 2006

McDonald's wants to own the rights to how a sandwich is made.

The fast-food chain has applied for a patent relating to the 'method and apparatus' used to prepare the snack.

The burger company says owning the 'intellectual property rights' would help its hot deli sandwiches look and taste the same at all of its restaurants.

It also wants to cut down on the time needed to put together a sandwich, thought to have been dreamt up by the Earl of Sandwich in 1762.

The 55-page patent, which has been filed in the US and Europe, covers the 'simultaneous toasting of a bread component'.

Garnishes of lettuce, onions and tomatoes, as well as salt, pepper and ketchup, are inserted into a cavity in a 'sandwich delivery tool'.

The 'bread component' is placed over the cavity and the assembly tool is inverted to tip out the contents. Finally, the filling is placed in the 'bread component'.

It explains: 'Often the sandwich filling is the source of the name of the sandwich; for example, ham sandwich.'

Lawrence Smith-Higgins, of the UK Patent Office, said: 'McDonald's or anyone else cannot get retrospective exclusive rights to making a sandwich.

'They might have a novel device, but it could be quite easy for someone to make a sandwich in a similar way without infringing their claims.'

McDonald's said: 'These applications are not intended to prevent anyone from using previous methods for making sandwiches.'

It's either this story or the China jails porn site operator for life story. I decided this one is more amusing :). Oh what the hey, let's blog both!

Porn Site Operator Jailed in China
The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 22, 2006; 12:11 PM


BEIJING -- The creator of China's largest pornographic Web site was jailed for life on Wednesday, state media reported.

Xinhua News Agency said judges at the Taiyuan Intermediate People's Court in Shanxi province gave the life sentence to Chen Hui and handed down terms of 13 months to 10 years to eight others after they were convicted of profiting from pornographic dissemination.

Chen, 28, and his accomplices started the Qingseliuyuetian (Pornographic Summer) Web site in 2004, and opened a further three porn Web sites, attracting more than 600,000 users.

Xinhua reported that police said it was difficult to know the exact amount of profits the Web site earned. Police found about 200,000 yuan ($25,000) in the bank accounts of the nine.

When the site was closed in October last year, it contained more than 9 million pornographic images and articles, the police said.

China has the world's second-largest population of Internet users after the United States, with more than 123 million people online.

The government encourages Internet use for education and business, but strictly controls content and tries to block access to material deemed pornographic or subversive.

The guy seems like such a small time; he probably just pissed off the wrong guy. Poor fool.

Olbermann on the military commisions act

Damn I need to watch the news more. How did I miss something like this?

Roh 'cool' on N Korea threat

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- -- South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun has called for a "cool-headed and stern" response to North Korea's threat to conduct a nuclear test, his office said.

Roh made the remark after being briefed on the outcome of an emergency meeting of security ministers, the presidential office said. It was Roh's first comment since North Korea said Tuesday it would test a nuclear bomb at an unspecified date. (Leaders divided on NK nuke threat)

Further details on Roh's comments were not immediately available.

Earlier in the day, South Korea urged the North to withdraw the test plan and return to international disarmament talks on its nuclear program, warning a test could bring about a "shift" in inter-Korean relations.

But Foreign Ministry spokesman Choo Kyu-ho stressed Seoul is not considering abandoning its engagement policy with North Korea.

"There could be a shift in our policy toward North Korea if North Korea conducts a test, but that doesn't mean at all that we're going to abandon our engagement policy."

South Korea has consistently pursued dialogue with North Korea since their leaders first met in a historic summit in 2000. That approach has caused a rift with Washington that favors a harder line toward the communist regime.

Seoul is one of the main aid providers to the impoverished North.

North Korea said Tuesday that it would conduct a nuclear explosion to prove the country is a nuclear power. Pyongyang has since last year claimed it has atomic bombs, but hasn't performed any known test to verify that.

South Korea urged the North to renounce the test plan and immediately return to six-party talks on its nuclear program.

"We express grave concern and regret," said Choo, after the country held an emergency meeting of security ministers. "If North Korea pushes ahead with a nuclear test, North Korea should take full responsibility for all consequences."

The North's statement further spiked the already high tension in the region in the wake of the North's test-firing of a series of missiles in July.

Six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program have been stalled since November last year as Pyongyang refuses to attend in anger over U.S. efforts to cut off the North's access to international banking over the country's alleged financial wrongdoing. The talks involve China, Japan, Koreas, Russia and the United States.

The North's announcement prompted South Korea to raise its security level and spurred strong condemnation from countries around the world. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a North Korean nuclear test would be "a very provocative act."

The North Korean nuclear crisis flared in late 2002 after Washington accused the North of running a clandestine atomic bomb program in violation of its pledge not to do so. Pyongyang denies the claim.

The two Koreas are still technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. But their relations warmed significantly after the 2000 summit.

Police: Intruder strangled by nurse was hit man

PORTLAND, Ore. - When Susan Kuhnhausen returned home from work one day earlier this month, she encountered an intruder wielding a claw hammer. After a struggle, the 51-year-old nurse fended off her attacker by strangling him with her bare hands.

Neighbors praised the woman for her bravery, and investigators said they believed the dead man — Edward Dalton Haffey — was burglarizing Kuhnhausen’s home.

But after an investigation, police now say the intruder Kuhnhausen strangled was apparently a hit man hired by her estranged husband — Michael James Kuhnhausen Sr. — to kill her.

The 58-year-old husband was taken into custody Thursday and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder. He was ordered held on $500,000 bail.

Haffey had worked as a custodian under Kuhnhausen at an adult video store, according an affidavit filed by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office.

Kuhnhausen and his wife were in the process of getting a divorce, and she told officers “her husband was distraught about the divorce and wanting to reconcile but that she was insisting on the divorce,” the affidavit states.

A background check showed Haffey had served lengthy prison terms for conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and convictions for robbery and burglary.

Inside a backpack Haffey left at the scene was a day planner with “Call Mike, Get letter,” scribbled on the week of Sept. 4, the affidavit said. Michael Kuhnhausen’s cell phone number was jotted on the inside of a folder, it said.

An emergency room nurse who lives in a southeast Portland neighborhood, Susan Kuhnhausen arrived home on the evening of Sept. 6 to find Haffey coming at her with a claw hammer.

She was struck in the head and wrested the weapon away, but the struggle continued and Haffey bit the nurse, according to police. A large woman, she was eventually able to get the slight Haffey into a chokehold and police later found him dead in a hallway. An autopsy revealed the cause of death as strangulation.

Police say she acted in self-defense.

There was no sign of forced entry into the home, but according to the affidavit, Susan Kuhnhausen offered an explanation for the lack of evidence of a break-in: Her estranged husband had the security codes for the home’s alarm system, and would have been able to disarm it.

Michael Kuhnhausen denies any involvement, the affidavit states.

Susan Kuhnhausen was out of town attending a nursing conference and did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

She left this message on her voicemail: “I’m not able to answer all the calls that I’ve received in the past few days. I’m being comforted by your concern and your support. I want you to know that our lives are all at risk for random acts, but more likely random acts of love will come your way than random acts of violence.”

PWNED!!!! LOL