Nobody is perfect. I am Nobody.

You are surely aware of the tragic shooting that occurred at the Virginia Tech campus. One of the victims was a Jewish professor. Liviu Librescu–a 75-year old Romanian-Israeli survivor of the Holocaust–used his body to block the classroom door and enable others to escape, sacrificing his life for those of his students.

Liviu Librescu was among the thirty-two people who were murdered in the Virginia Tech massacre on April 16, 2007. He was killed during a class in the Norris Hall Engineering Building by a student (Cho Seung-hui, 23). Librescu held the door of his classroom shut while Cho was attempting to enter it; although he was shot through the door, he was able to prevent the gunman from entering the classroom until his students had escaped through the windows.

A number of Librescu‘s students have called him a Hero because of his actions, with one student, Asael Arad, saying that all the professor’s students “Lived Because of Him”. Librescu’s son, Joe, said he had received e-mails from several students who said he had saved their lives and regarded him as a hero whilst many newspapers also reported him as the hero of the massacre. His death came on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day, also known as Holocaust Memorial Day. Librescu is survived by his wife, Marilena (née Semian), and his sons Joseph and Lionel. According to the family wishes, the body will be flown to Israel, where he will be buried.

Librescu Family Condolence Page
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Yom HaShoah Website from the Israeli Knesset
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Yad Vashem: The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority
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Rest in Peace Mr Librescu!

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A very freaky PSA that targets GenY kids who are apparently far too comfortable posting everything online:

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Have you wondered why Google Logo is designed like this in this special day?

On April 22, 1970, 20 million people across America celebrated the first Earth Day. It was a time when cities were buried under their own smog and polluted rivers caught fire. Now Earth Day is celebrated annually around the globe. Through the combined efforts of the U.S. government, grassroots organizations, and citizens like you, what started as a day of national environmental recognition has evolved into a world-wide campaign to protect our global environment.

Earth Day is important because it reminds us to look at the problems of our environment. We need to make plans to recycle materials that are recyclable and to clean up
our rivers, streams, lakes and oceans. Pollution is causing danger to the air we breathe, our
soil, and our water sources. Industries, automobiles, and others are releasing dangerous
smoke in our atmosphere and the air we breathe. This can cause us health problems.
Each of us must do our part to recycle and reuse products instead of throwing them away.
Earth Day is now celebrated each year on April 22nd. Think about what you can do to celebrate Earth Day this year. We can all do something.

The significance of the date:

* April 22 is the birthday of American television star Eddie Albert, an early environmental activist.
* April 22 is also the birthday of Julius Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Day, a national tree-planting holiday started in 1872. Arbor Day became a legal holiday in Nebraska in 1885, to be permanently observed on April 22. According to the National Arbor Day Foundation “the most common day for the state observances is the last Friday in April . . . but a number of state Arbor Days are at other times to coincide with the best tree planting weather.” It has since been largely eclipsed by the more widely observed Earth Day, except in Nebraska, where it originated.
* April 22 1970 was the 100th birthday of Vladmir Lenin. Time reported that some suspected the date was not a coincidence, but a clue that the event was “a Communist trick” – then quoted a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution complaining that, “Subversive elements plan to make American children live in an environment that is good for them.” J. Edgar Hoover may have found the Lenin connection intriguing. The idea that the date was chosen to celebrate Lenin‘s centenary still persists in some quarters, although Lenin was never noted for his environmental credentials.

Learn about the history of Earth Day.

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