Virginia Tech...

Even the front page of the newspapers here is about the insanity a VT... Something I found interesting though was the letters australians wrote in regarding our ridiculous "right to bear arms". I know this is all anyone is hearing on the news, but I felt the need to email these to show you what people in a country so similar to the US think of us:

"Australians can be thankful that they do not have the same obsession with firearms as Americans. The tragedy at the Virginia Tech university campus yesterday would not have happened if guns were not so readily available to just about anyone in the US. Isn't it time for the Americans to amend the Constitution giving ordinary citizens "the right to bear arms"? When that Constitution was written more than three centuries ago, American needed guns to protect themselves against the natives. But nobody other than the police, security officers and the military needs to bear arms in the 21st century. I hope the next US president has the courage to change the gun laws in that country."

"'He was just a normal-looking kid,' said a fellow student of the mass murderer at VT. Was the commentator aware that US ails are filled with tens of thousands of 'normal-looking' people? Decidedly abnormal - at least in the eyes of sane and honest Americans - is that in the state of VA, the only 'character reference' that is required before you are able to stock up on an arsenal of lethal weapons is a current drivers' license. It looks as though Baghdad is not the only dangerous environment for US citizens."

"The latest massacre in the US comes as no surprise. If students know anything about US foreign policy since WWII, they only have to recall a few names - such as Guatemala, Vietnam, cambodia, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Chile, Nicaragua, Grenada, Libya, Panama, El salvador, Yugoslavia, Haiti, Afghanistan and Iraq - to know that if you don't like someone, you either bomb the hell out of them, machinegun them to death or sell someone else the weapons to do the job for you."

Also, in a press conference at our office today (about something ENTIRELY unrelated), the head of Basketball Australia was asked if they would start thinking twice about sending players to study and play in the states (one of the australian bball players was at VT). His response, and my American friend and I were a bit upset by this, was something along the lines of, "as a father, yes i would think twice. i think it's very important to consider the gun control laws in the US before sending our loved ones over and potentially putting them in danger."

Honestly, i'm not one to get too vocally involved in politics, but this is truly absurd that an international student (who wouldn't even have a valid driver's license!) got a hold of TWO hand guns?? what on earth is the purpose of allowing civilians to own handguns -- cause they're definitely not for hunting animals! It's really hard to sit here and listen to people in a country that is so culturally similar to the US consistently bash us -- and honestly, for good reason, in my opinion. how come the rest of the world has it figured out that there is no need to allow guns in everyday society and we can't seem to get past the fact that because it was written into the Constitution over 200 years ago that it should still be valid today? Conservative Jews understand that certain customs and beliefs in judaism that were once strictly believed might not be applicable in society today -- so shouldn't that apply to other absurd laws? For example, the town of Evanston used to have a law outlawing bowling alleys for religious reasons...

I'll end my rant with this: what finally made me burst into tears about this (because normally i would just be pissed off and not-so-much emotional) was hearing the story of Professor Librescu who managed to survive the Holocaust, and died years later saving his students from another soulless psycho -- on Holocaust Memorial Day.