Thoughts and Non Thoughts

After the shock of the Virginia Tech tragedy, finally the time to mourn has come. This event has made the whole world take notice, not only because of the violence of the crime but also because of the questions it raised. The hardest question is "how could it have happened?" In any critical incident, one always looks at two angles, the act itself and the conditions that allowed the event to happen. In this case, both the actions of the perpetrator and the conditions surrounding the event converged to allow this incident. Most people are still trying to make sense of it all, and the expression of grief and renewal needs to replace the initial shock. It is a tragedy, one that shocks, but also one that calls us to wake up. If it could happen in Virginia Tech, one wonders if it could happen anywhere else. It is a time of mourning, for the families of the victims, and for the whole world. But is also a time to ask the hard questions.

See this. It's the same result, only different opponents. Actually Viloria fought more valiantly. Too valiantly in fact he was getting himself hit too much! Quite the opposite of the previous fight. Perhaps he thought he could floor his opponent by landing power punches, too bad the other guy was strong too. Pacquiao toyed around in the beginning, unlike the last fight when he immediately went for the KO. He paid for it with a cut, and risked a contest stoppage.

These pics (not mine) taken with the Lumix FX09.

Talk about bizarre. A man kidnaps children at his day care for 12 hours. kidnapping news Then the parents of the children hold a rally to support him? channel news asia article Then some say it is a political gimmick? By whom? australia story The President had to make game time with the kids and their parents, hopefully to make them see the light. Throw the book at this serial kidnapper and attention-seeker! article citing history of kidnapping as gimmicry In today's world there is no place to toy with people's lives, specially children's, to bolster a sick ego.

Today you get it then tomorrow you don’t Just when you’ve found the Holy Grail You lose it again The game of your life is followed by the worst of them all It’s a gentleman’s game but your patience must be a saint’s Two steps forward, one step backward Then two more back, before a single one front Surely it must be easier To train a dog how to sing Than your muscles to swing The ball is too small and the hole is too small And what makes you think you can sink it From a quarter mile even with a roll? Not with a stick with a head that miniscule Sometimes you wonder why you picked it up at all The view is so wonderful if you can just look around But most of the time your head is on the ground The splash of water is a sound that you dread And the wind on your face Is not a good sign indeed Most of the time you'll frolic in the sand But no, not this time, you’ll avoid it if you can Sure you'll never see a sight lovely as a tree But not if it blocks Your next shot from the tee But on...

Kinda disappointing, no replacement for the 5D... yet... http://www.dpreview.com/articles/pma2007/Canon/

Stocks recover slightly. http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/28/markets/markets_0945/index.htm?cnn=yes I say hold. But that's just me.