Saturday, November 7, 2009

1. Atrocity at Fort Hood - What took place at Fort Hood, Texas the other day was an atrocity - not a tragedy. A tragedy is when a hurricane slams into a Caribbean island or when an earthquake wipes out a city. An atrocity is when a Major in the US Army opens fire on his fellow soldiers at an Army base, when Timothy McVeigh bombs a federal building in Oklahoma City - and, yes, when Baruch Goldstein murders 29 mosque worshippers.

This particular story has become magnified because the Major was a Muslim. All the predictable reactions have appeared - the Major was treated poorly because he was a Muslim, the Major is not representative of all Muslims, etc.

Sounds just like a bunch of political correctness to me. Like it or not, the guy was Muslim - and very apparently, devoutly and perhaps rabidly so. He is alleged to have yelled "Allah Akbar" before opening fire. Like it or not, if it was true - being picked on by one's fellow soldiers does not allow one to open fire on them.

And to return to my opening paragraph, it seems to me that while all religious groups have their share of murderous fanatics - one would be hard pressed to name many other Timothy McVeighs or Baruch Goldsteins. However, it would not be very difficult to name other Major Hasans.

Here are a variety of stories on this issue:

• VDH's Private Papers::Fort Hood
• Political Correctness As A Murder Weapon
• It's The Religious Ideology, Stupid
• Did He Just Snap?
• Tragedy at Fort Hood
• Taught Koran Instead of Medicine
• Yes, Michael Moore, There Is A Terrorist Threat
• Don't Jump To Conclusions

2. More On That Ship Seizure - 36 Containers from Iran: Israel Stops German Ship Carrying Weapons for Hezbollah - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International, Netanyahu: Ship proves Iran's support for terror | Israel Palestine-Gaza Conflict | Jerusalem Post and Commentary » Blog Archive » The New Karine A.

3. Ain't Education Great? - Hitler was a German soccer coach, kids tell U.K. poll - Haaretz - Israel News

4. What About Sderot, Qiryat Shemona? - Pete Seeger's role in ending Israeli house demolitions - Haaretz - Israel News

5. Satchmo! - Satchmo and the Jews

6. Do They Have Impeachment In Turkey? - Turkey PM: Israel war crimes worse than Sudan - Haaretz - Israel News. This guy "is losing/has lost" it.

By the way, Bub, ever heard of ARMENIA?

7. Iran - nothing ever moves this topic very far from the headlines:

• ANALYSIS / How Israel's war with Iran will be fought - Haaretz - Israel News
• Investors.com - Iran Positions Israel In Its Cross Hairs
• Iran's supreme leader warns against negotiating with U.S. - washingtonpost.com
• Iranians Protest, President Obama Appeases - WSJ.com
• Yadlin: Qom facility has no possible civilian application | Iranian - Iran News | Jerusalem Post
• Akbar Atri and Mariam Memarsadeghi: President Obama Snubs Iran's Democrats - WSJ.com

8. Confluence Of Issues - Lord Weidenfeld of Chelsea: Gaza, Iranian Rockets and J Street

9. Blame Israel - Blame-Israel-first mindset - Washington Times

10. New Jews - 'New Jews' stake claim to faith, culture - CNN.com

11. Goldstone - RealClearWorld - Israel After Goldstone

12. Berlin - How Could One City Have Mattered So Much? Can anyone imagine the USSR doing something remotely like the Berlin Airlift? Remember Kennedy's dramatic speech?

13. From A Different Perspective - You hate me? Thanks | Michael Coren | Columnists | Comment | Ottawa Sun

14. Elie Wiesel - Little Green Footballs - Elie Wiesel on Tea Partier Signs: 'Indecent and Disgusting'

15. Scientology - Exposing Scientology

16. A New Religion? - The always excellent Rex Murphy.

17. Boycott In The UK - UK supermarkets are targeted for stocking Israeli goods | International News | Jerusalem Post - what is with these people?

18. Hummus Wars - Give (Chick)Peas a chance!