Tag Archives: terrorism

political news

Gun violence has terrorized us yet again

shooting

Let’s add one more city to the infamous list of communities that have been plagued by shocking gun violence.

That would be San Bernardino.

Fourteen people are dead, about 17 more are injured.

And while the media are reporting on the breaking story, they are fixating on a question that, to my mind, need not be asked.

They wonder: Was this an act of terrorism?

My thought? Well, yes. Absolutely. Look at the picture I’ve attached to this blog post. Does she look terrified?

By its very definition, what happened today terrorized a community, if not the nation.

So, here’s my thought. Why not broaden the definition of terrorism to include any act by individuals that frighten the senses out of individuals or communities of individuals?

We don’t yet know the motive behind the individuals who walked into the social services agency and opened fire. They reportedly were dressed in what police called “tactical gear.” They were heavily armed with assault weapons and assorted “long guns” — which has become sort of the latest term of art to describe weapons that one shoots with two hands.

Does it matter right now, this moment, what kind of terrorism transpired? Domestic or foreign, it matters little to me.

I am frightened for our country and equally terrified at the frequency of these types of attacks.

We are being terrorized.

 

national news, political news

He’s a poster boy for various causes

suspect

Robert Lewis Dear’s picture has been plastered all over the media of late with good reason.

He’s about to become a poster boy for a number of key debate points in our modern political environment.

Dear is accused of killing three people and injuring several others in that Friday shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo. He’s going to court Monday to be arraigned.

Usually, someone accused of a high-profile crime gets to see his face related to one, maybe two, issues at once. Not so with this guy, Dear.

For instance.

  • He’s being discussed in the context of Planned Parenthood and women’s abortion rights. He told the cops “no more baby parts,” leaving authorities and the media to speculate that the shooting rampage was politically motivated. Is he a longtime anti-abortion activist?
  • Dear has been called a “domestic terrorist” who could become the face of non-Muslim, Anglo Americans who are just as prone to commit acts of terror as those evil foreigners seeking to sneak into the United States.
  • He carried a rifle into the Planned Parenthood building, which brings to mind the issue of gun control. Some will ask, “How did this guy obtain a gun so easily?” Ah, yes, the gun control debate will flare up once again.
  • And, finally, he might become the face of mental health treatment and the need to be on the lookout for those who are capable of committing such horrible crimes?

Wow! That’s four of them — four issues that, taken separately, all provide enough grist for friends to become foes in a heartbeat.

And to think that one man could be at the center of it all.

 

Uncategorized

Fear is overwhelming us

Politically-Correct

I am attaching a link to this post.

Here it is: Stop worrying about PC-ness.

It takes a few minutes to read. It’s from a Christian pastor named Danielle Egnew.

The essay isn’t the end-all to the discussion Americans have been having about terrorism and how we should respond to the refugee crisis that’s erupted in the Middle East — not to mention the terror attacks in Paris, Beirut and places elsewhere that have escaped the world’s attention.

But take a few minutes to read this piece. I believe it speaks to what’s going on here as we seeks answers to some very troubling questions.

Enjoy …

 

International news

Rooting out potential danger remains most challenging

atta

Surely you remember this guy, but if not, here’s the answer.

His name was Mohammad Atta. He hailed from Egypt. But in the spring or early summer of 2001 he made his way to the United States. He then received lessons from instructors who taught him how to fly a commercial jetliner.

Atta didn’t receive any instruction on takeoff or landing; just how to control a massive airplane in mid-flight.

Then on Sept. 11, 2001, he and about 18 other men hijacked four jetliners. Atta seized control of one of them and flew it into one of the World Trade Center towers in New York City. Another jet crashed into the second tower, the third jet crashed into a Pennsylvania field while passengers fought with hijackers. The fourth jetliner crashed into the Pentagon.

You know what happened after that.

What’s the point?

We’ve grown anxious about how we can find terrorists before they commit terrible deeds. Mohammad Atta and his gang of merciless thugs managed 14 years ago to slip undetected through U.S. security systems. Atta received and several of his fellow monsters received flying lessons of the nature I described here — without causing anyone to raise a red flag of alarm!

Making sure we detect evil among us is difficult and tedious work. Do we overreact and ban everyone who seeks to flee repression and bloodshed, which many thousands of them are doing at this moment in Syria?

Yes, we’ve long needed to secure ourselves against those committed to evil deeds. This need pre-dates by a very long time the events of just the past few days, weeks or months.

Indeed, the threat has existed all along.

Still, we have welcomed refugees who seek deliverance from misery. Check out this blog post from Texas Monthly. It speaks to a long-standing Texas tradition.

Why haven’t we panicked long ago?

Mohammad Atta gave us ample reason, didn’t he?

 

International news, religious news

Let’s not condemn them all

ku-klux-klan_3153153b

The image that jumps out at me from this picture might not be what you think it is.

It’s not the low-life cloaked in that robe. It is the burning crosses in the background.

What do the crosses symbolize? Well, I suppose you can say they represent Christianity’s holiest symbol, the crucifix on which Jesus Christ lost his earthly life.

Yet the Ku Klux Klansman pictured here no doubt proclaims he burned those crosses to stand up for “Christian values.” Isn’t that what those loons proclaim?

Well, as a practicing Christian, I do not consider them in any shape or form to represent my faith. They are outliers in the extreme.

So, too — in my view — are the terrorists who commit their horrible acts today in the name of Islam.

And yet …

There are individuals around the world — including Americans, some of whom are friends of mine — who continue to tar all Muslims with the same brush with which they are painting the monsters who commit hideous crimes against humanity.

This prejudice and bigotry goes far beyond declarations by state governors, such as Greg Abbott in Texas, that seek to ban refugees from Syria from entering their states. They are concerned over whether some so-called refugee is a closet terrorist seeking to deliver more misery.

The bigotry being displayed by many against all Muslims is no more acceptable than it would be to label all Christians as believing in the hatred that is spread by Klansmen.

Yes, the Islamic State carries the name “Islam” in its own label. It does not, however, represent the tenets of what remains one of the world’s great religions. It is a murderous cult that has perverted Islam’s teachings to suit the demented ends of a terrorist organization.

And that, I do believe, cuts straight to the view that’s been expressed by the nation’s two most recent presidents — Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack H. Obama — that the war in which we are engaged is not a war against Islam.

It is a war against murderous perverts.

environmental news, local news

We’re going to be talking about the weather

pampa twister

If we were suffering from “terrorism fatigue” in the Texas Panhandle, our attention has been diverted to concerns a lot closer to home.

A large tornado touched down in the Pampa area earlier this evening. It was a big, fast-moving storm that roared across the plains. At this moment, I don’t know about any casualties, nor do I know about the extent of damage. The weather tonight went bonkers! The picture that accompanies this blog post comes courtesy of Dennis Palmitier, a friend of mine who lives in Pampa; a storm chaser took the picture. It’s a bit grainy, but you get the idea of the size of this thing.

In our neighborhood in the far southwestern corner of Amarillo, we got pelted with a violent — but thankfully very brief — hailstorm.

But what we’re hearing from weather forecasters is that an event such as what we had tonight is rare for this time of year. The middle of November isn’t considered a “normal” time of the year to produce the kind of energy that produces these storms.

Still, these things can happen any time and usually without much warning. It’s all part of living here. Indeed, we often joke in the Panhandle about how quickly the weather can change … and it does — rapidly!

The National Weather Service did warn us about 24 hours ago that the weather could get a little dicey in the Texas Panhandle.

Well, it did.

And for the time being, it’s taken our minds — more or less — off the tragedy that played out in Paris.

 

environmental news, national news, political news

Climate change produces terrorism … huh?

1 Comment

climate-change

I thought maybe I misheard Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday night when he blamed climate change for the terrorism that’s plaguing the planet.

Then he said it again the next day, on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

Here’s part of what the Democratic presidential candidate said: “The reason is pretty obvious: If we are going to see an increase in drought and flood and extreme weather disturbances as a result of climate change, what that means is that peoples all over the world are going to be fighting over limited natural resources.”

Then he said: “If there is not enough water, if there is not enough land to grow your crops, then you’re going to see migrants of people fighting over land that will sustain them, and that will lead to international conflict.”

You know, many of us have had plenty of laughs courtesy the Republicans running for president. Sen. Sanders is not going to be outdone, apparently.

I get that he believes that Earth’s changing climate is caused greatly by human activity. What I don’t get is his linking it directly to terrorism.

The cause of terrorism comes from lunatics who think nothing of killing innocent people, of terrorizing civilized society to further some crackpot philosophical or political cause.

There might some link to climate change on the fringes of the terrorism plague. However, the issues are unique and separate. They might not be mutually exclusive.

Direct linkage? Come on, Sen. Sanders.

One doesn’t cause the other.

 

International news

Is this what world war looks like?

paris-terror-attacks-3-e1447456165453

Paris has been hit. Again.

Terrorists went on the attack in a concert hall. Dozens of victims were killed. French police then stormed the hall, rescued some hostages and killed two attackers.

World leaders around the globe have issued statements of condemnation. President Obama called the tragedy today an “attack on all of humanity.”

Is this what world war looks like? Have we been fighting this international war against terrorism around the globe to such a degree that someone can declare this to be the start of World War III?

Paris was hit a couple of years ago at a magazine publishing office. Twelve victims died in that act of terror. And there have been countless other attacks all around the world.

The 9/11 attacks in 2001 in New York and Washington seemed to ignite the inferno. There have been so many others they are impossible off the top of one’s head to count them.

We knew when President Bush sent the troops into Afghanistan to hunt down al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists that this war wouldn’t be won with a surrender document. There wouldn’t be a Battleship Missouri Moment. This looks for all the world like a war without end.

Paris is suffering yet again.

Our hearts go out to the French, its leaders and its people.

Will there be more heartache somewhere else? Most assuredly. Yet the fight must go on wherever we find monsters willing to commit gruesome acts of terror against innocent victims.

For as long as it takes.

 

International news, national news, political news

Bush channels Billy Jeff

Jeb Bush

Jeb Bush seems to be channeling William Jefferson Clinton in trying to explain how President George W. Bush “kept us safe” from terrorist attacks.

You remember when Billy Jeff tried to explain the definition of the word “is.”

The former Florida governor, who’s running for the Republican presidential nomination, is struggling with the reality that the 9/11 attacks occurred on George W.’s watch. Thus, he is responsible — as commander in chief — for the failure to protect us against terror attacks.

Bush is correct, though, to assert that since the attacks the United States remained safe. President Bush and Congress created a new Cabinet agency — the Department of Homeland Security — and gave it specific authority to devise a strategy to prevent future terrorist attacks.

Bush says W kept us safe

It doe no good to quibble over the definition of “keeping us safe” and arguing over whether we mean pre-9/11 or post-9/11.

The attacks occurred nine months into George W. Bush’s presidency. There’s no denying that, right? Nor is there any denying that the president did rally the country behind the initial effort to go after the terrorists in their Afghanistan hideouts — and to take down the government in Kabul that was supporting them.

The unity evaporated when we went to war … in Iraq.

Did the 43rd president keep the nation safe? Yes — after the attacks that killed 3,000 innocent victims and changed the nation forever.

 

local news, religious news

Hate gives way to … tolerance

islam

An anti-Muslim rally planned for Saturday didn’t materialize in little ol’ Amarillo.

It was billed as a protest against Islam and was going to take place at an Islamic Center on South Soncy Road. What happened, though, was something quite remarkable.

It became a rally in support of those of varying religious faiths. Imagine that. The 100 or so demonstrators were arguing in favor of what the U.S. Constitution lays out there, which is that all faiths are to share honor equally in this country.

The anti-Muslim protest not only fizzled; it never got lit.

The Islamic center is the project of Dr. Ali Jaffar, a renowned physician in Amarillo, who built the center to honor his late mother.

I recall distinctly when it was going up some comments I heard from acquaintances of mine who — are you ready for this? — were certain that the center would become a “place where they could train terrorists.”

My response? Sure it is. They’re going to train the bad guys to do evil things in a place where everyone on Earth can see it.

Well, such nutty “thinking” — and I use the term loosely — was supposed to resurface again this weekend.

It didn’t. Instead it gave way to a more reasonable and rational world view.

Thank goodness.