What Caught My Eye Today

Virginia Tech - Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior suspected of carrying out the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead was described Tuesday as a sullen loner whose creative writing in English class was so disturbing that he was referred to the school's counseling service. News reports also said that he may have been taking medication for depression, that he was becoming increasingly violent and erratic, and that he left a note in his dorm in which he railed against "rich kids," "debauchery" and "deceitful charlatans" on campus. The rampage consisted of two attacks, more than two hours apart — first at a dormitory, where two people were killed, then inside a classroom building, where 31 people, including Cho, died after being locked inside, Virginia State Police said. Cho committed suicide; two handguns — a 9 mm and a .22-caliber — were found in the classroom building. Police and university officials offered no clues as to exactly what set him off on the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.

In related news...

Representing America's anguish, President Bush said that he prays for comfort for those victimized by the "dark turn" of the day at Virginia Tech that turned into the nation's deadliest shooting spree. Speaking to a somber basketball arena, packed with students and others, many wearing orange short-sleeved Virgina Tech T-shirts, the president encouraged grieving students to reach out for help. While I'm not your biggest fan (to say the least), well played, Mr. President. You did the right thing by reaching out to the Virginia Tech community.

Terrorism - Sadly, it appears that terrorist organizations have been busy of late.

Iraq - A top insurgent leader boasted that his al-Qaida-linked group was now making its own rockets, posting the claim in an audiotape online. The voice on the audiotape was said to be that of Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, head of the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq.

Algeria - Al-Qaida-linked militants are winning recruits from the margins of Algerian society for a new strategy of high-impact attacks, details emerging from last week's bombings in Algiers suggest. Last Wednesday's car bombings targeted a government building housing the prime minister's office in central Algiers and a police station on the outskirts of the capital, killing 30 people and wounding up to 330. The attacks were claimed by al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa. In Algeria, as in other countries, coverage of conflicts in Iraq and the Middle East on Arab satellite channels have helped recruitment by extremist groups, analysts say.

Afghanistan - A powerful remote-controlled bomb destroyed a U.N. vehicle in southern Afghanistan's main city of Kabul, killing four Nepalese guards and an Afghan driver. The attack on a three-vehicle U.N. convoy in Kandahar was the bloodiest in Afghanistan for the world body since the hard-line militia's 2001 ouster and illustrated how violence continues to impede much-needed reconstruction. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, the attack came a day after a Human Rights Watch report accused Taliban militants of committing war crimes by targeting civilians.

I hate to be a pessimist, but these developments don't exactly convey a message that we are making any positive progress in the war on terror.

Foreign Currency - The British pound traded at $2 for the first time in 15 years after figures showing an unexpected surge in inflation led economists to conclude that multiple interest-rate increases were likely. While the currency has been flirting with the $2 level for several months, hitting it marks a key psychological notch in trading that analysts expect to hold. Tourism operators expect the new round figure to jog interest in bookings to the United States, with shopping breaks in New York proving popular last time the pound threatened $2. Conversely, Britain will become more expensive for U.S. tourists — but economists noted that the euro is also strong against the dollar and local travel agencies do not expect to see a large drop in visitors given that the currency has been hovering near $2 for several months. All I know is that if this somehow gets twisted into another excuse to jack up gas prices, I'm going out and getting myself a whole lot of 'cans of whoop ass' to share with those dudes that run the oil industry.

Weather - More than 250,000 homes and businesses remained without power on Tuesday after a rare spring Nor'easter hit on Sunday and Monday, knocking out electric service to more than 1.3 million customers from the Carolinas to Maine and Quebec. You have to give props to New Englanders for being of a hearthy stock. Despite the horrible weather, the Boston Marathon went on as planned on Monday.

Basketball - This one is straight out of the 'Twilight Zone'. NBA referee Joey Crawford has been suspended indefinitely for improper conduct towards San Antonio's Tim Duncan during the Spurs' game in Dallas on Sunday. Duncan claims Crawford challenged him to a fight before each of the technical fouls he received during the Mavericks' 91-86 win over the Spurs. Crawford also called a technical in a recent game against Duncan, who said Sunday that Crawford has a "personal vendetta against me." Duncan was called for his first technical foul Sunday with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter for arguing about an offensive foul. Crawford hit him with the second technical 1:16 later after Duncan was on the bench laughing about a call that went against the Spurs. "He looked at me and said, 'Do you want to fight? Do you want to fight?'" Duncan said. "If he wants to fight, we can fight. I don't have any problem with him, but we can do it if he wants to. I have no reason why in the middle of a game he would yell at me, 'Do you want to fight?'" Sounds like our boy Crawford should his time off to enroll in some anger management classes.