I've been hearing about Professor Liviu Librescu's heroism, and saw this in James Taranto's Best of the Web Today. Taranto quotes the Jerusalem Post:

Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, threw himself in front of the shooter when the [murderer] attempted to enter his classroom. The Israeli mechanics and engineering lecturer was shot to death, "but all the students lived — because of him," Virginia Tech student Asael Arad — also an Israeli — told Army Radio.

Several of Librescu's other students sent e-mails to his wife, Marlena, telling of how he had blocked the gunman's way and saved their lives, said Librescu's son, Joe.

"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu said in a telephone interview from his home outside of Tel Aviv. "Students started opening windows and jumping out."

Taranto observes:

Librescu was a Holocaust survivor who escaped communist Romania for Israel in 1978 and moved to Virginia in 1986. By coincidence, he was murdered on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Obviously, banning guns in certain locations doesn't prevent gun crime in those locations. How about if we ban all guns everywhere?

Marko explains:

People who argue for the banning of arms ask for automatic rule by the young, the strong, and the many, and that's the exact opposite of a civilized society.

I posted this link last month, but it remains topical: Why the Gun Is Civilization

Melinda Doolittle's performance was her best I've seen, but Jordin Sparks was awesome. I think Jordin should win.

I didn't like Blake Lewis' performance, but the chicks here at Acme Manor did. They didn't like LaKisha Jones, but I thought she was OK. We all thought Phil Stacy didn't do very well, but Sanjaya Malakar was atrocious, as Simon should have said. The bandana was too high — it should have been over his mouth.

Hopefully, this is the week Sanjaya goes home; I can not see why people keep voting for him, unless they just want to see more of his naked-guitar-playing sister. Go see her at Hooters if you must, but vote for someone with talent.

Martina McBride was beautiful, of course. Looking forward to hearing her sing tomorrow night — love her voice, too.

My reactions yesterday come from years of being a conservative gunowner; I knew which way the mainstream media would jump, and the idea of forced helplessness in the face of someone like Cho Seung-Hui is abhorrent.

But the main thing to remember is that despite finger pointing at VA Tech officials, gun-fearing congressmen, lax gun laws, socio-economic factors, etc., is that ultimate blame belongs to Cho Seung-Hui. He made the decision to do what he did; no others.