A new year dawns with two things that make me sad, angry and motivated at the same time.

Firstly is the mine tragedy in West Virginia. I was awake at 1:00 am when ABC 7 news announced that the 12 miners were found alive (the news was on late due to the Orange Bowl, a terrific, triple-overtime thriller between two evenly-matched teams). Both sprite and I were so grateful of the news, and we went to bed on a happy note.

This morning, I awoke to hear that the news was wrong, that only one miner survived, and that the mine’s management knew of the errant info only 20 minutes after disclosing the false positive info. I simply can’t fathom what must’ve gone through the minds of the families and the town. Frankly, the news media, the mine’s management, even the Governor of West Virignia deserved the angry reactions of the families. But it’s still a tragedy, no matter how it’s framed. The mine’s management is clearly at fault, the Sago Mine having been issued over 200 citations for safety violations in 2005 – the majority of which were deemed “severe.” So sad.

And yesterday, a gut-wrenching editorial appeared in The Washington Post. Written by Paul Schroeder, parent of a Marine killed in Iraq, “A Life, Wasted” is one of the most gripping pieces I’ve read about the misguided military action in Iraq. It is the words of a grieving parent who sees through the jingoism and jargon and sees the bigger picture: that the war in Iraq is a wasted effort, and that his son died in vain. It’s a great read, full of raw emotion and extremely motivating for those who, like me, feel that this country has taken the wrong turn.