This is probably just a coincidence, because I rather doubt that a 60 year old NASA employee could be inspired to go on a rampage by a 20-something killer college student, but it's odd how these things tend to cluster together. It could just be a trick of media reporting, though. Also a hostage situation/killing at NASA is big news even without anything else happening. (Or is it? You would think that the usually all-things-NASA-obsessed Orlando Sentinel would have this prominently on their main web page, but I find nary a mention of this. I did find out, however, where all the smoke that is making my throat feel like someone scraped it with sandpaper is coming from.) On the whole, it supports my theory that sometimes a sort of free-floating Evil Force builds up periodically, causing sporadic outbursts of extra disaster.
One final note. The article in the Houston Chronicle contains the immortal line (so standard to these stories it must be a macro in every newspaper office's Word setup), that the killer was "known in his neighborhood as a quiet man who kept to himself." Of course! Is there any other kind? I can see it now -- anyone with the slightest indication that they aren't frantic social butterflies will be bothered within an inch of their lives, just to make sure they don't grow up into crazed sociopaths. This won't help introverts like me, who know that there are two kinds of loners in the world: those who like to be alone because they accept themselves for who they are and are content with their own company, and those who seethe silently because no one likes them or appreciates their special qualities, until they finally snap and take revenge on an uncaring, indifferent world that refuses to center itself around them.
Link via Instapundit. Also, a commenter on Ace of Spades says he was a friend of the slain hostage, David Beverly.
