Blue Ridge Mtn. massacre

Checked my email this morning and saw a Yahoo news item that read '30 killed in Va.' Groggy eyes, electronic typo ... couldn't be accurate ... surely, the 'Va.' was meant to read 'Baghdad', as that suffering city is besieged every day with mass killing. As we all now, it was at Virginia Tech. Sickening details covered in Sydney papers with the usual roadside glee. Couldn't resist contributing to a Daily Telegraph reader forum:

As an American who's lived in Sydney for nearly a year, my reaction to this tragedy is naturally different than most Aussies, especially as I've travelled to southwest Virginia many times. Still, some of the comments today are sickening. When that lunatic in Port Arthur shot dead 35 innocent people and wounded nearly 40 more, did anyone connect it to Australian foreign policy? Like most Americans, I detest what the Bush administration has done to Iraq -- but it's got nothing to do with the murder of nearly 3 dozen college students. And, like most Americans, I'm in favor of tighter gun control and am disgusted by the power of the National Rifle Association -- but they are not responsible for the actions of a bloodthirsty madman. As for the idiot who wonders why this slaughter of innocents gets 'mentioned' in the papers at the expense of innocent Iraqis -- I guess you don't read papers much, as the death of innocent Iraqis does get covered, as do the deaths of innocent Sudanese, Lebanese, Croats, Ruwandans, and others. How about showing compassion for ALL innocents, instead of the ones that score political points? Posted by: Joe W. of North Sydney 3:50pm today

UPDATE: Required reading here, here, here and -- most horrifically -- here, the glittering alter of violence where this unsound subhuman chose and purchased his weapons.