October 12/2002
Editorial opinion
Current events in Bali (2002) underscore the seriousness of the terrorists
ability to strike any where, any time. To those who would see terrorism as an entity to be dealt with on a diplomatic level I say, Wake up!
Terrorism is as real a threat to civilized society as any conflict in history. There can be no rest from or reasonable solution to the problem of terrorism until the nations of the world come together and agree on dealing with the common enemy and determine a collective course of action. Anything less is doomed to failure and a sure victory for terrorism.
Terrorist activities around the world and an escalated awareness of the real possibility of a small pox epidemic emphasizes how ill equipped we are to deal with terrorism. Suicide bombings continue to
plague civilized society with the threat of bioterrorism looming on the horizon. The "threat" has invaded every country in the world and the weak efforts to control or diminish it have produced few if any results. Has the cancer spread to a terminal degree? Are we truly unable to cope with the "threat"? Is society handcuffed by a set of rules that preclude the obvious responses?
Any organism will
close ranks and attempt to shut out the invading terror but our societies utilize no such measures. For the most part we have not yet fully identified the "threat", many believe there is no "threat" and consequently cannot agree on how to respond.
The battle cry has been sounded but has fallen on too many deaf ears. Our thinking process cannot comprehend that so much hatred is
possible, hatred that vows our destruction and ultimate demise. Why would anyone hate so completely? The answer lies in something that we have long ago cultivated out of our society, the idea of
anti ism.
We have made it politically incorrect to be anti anything and in so doing have lulled ourselves to sleep on the subject of terrorism. Terrorism is not generally associated with blonde blue eyed norwegians, no, terrorism comes from a specific
identifiable group, a radical element of that group, I might ad. It
is unfortunate that an entire "group" must suffer for the activities of a "few" radicals. This, however, is a fact of life
try as we might to cover it under the umbrella of political correctness the truth is, terrorism, for the most part, is practised
by one indentifiable group of radical Islamic fundamentalists.
Where should we concentrate our efforts to eliminate this terrorist threat if not on the identifiable group from which is springs.
Oct 14/2002
Editorial opinion
It is a strange circumstance when Islamic fundamentalists lash out with whatever rhetoric they choose while at the same time we in the Western world are unable to respond in even the slightest way without cries of Anti arab epithets. Terrorism has found our weak
underbelly and is utilizing it to the fullest against us. To those who believe this is about oil, let me say, it's about religeous fanatisicm. Terrorist Jew, terrorist against Christianity, terrorist against anything not of Islamic fundanentalist belief.
Oct 14/2002
Editorial opinion
The fallout from the recent bombing in the Indonesian resort of Bali and the ensuing economic chaos are sending clear signals as
to the intent of the Terrorists. Killing of innocent people is not
the primary objective of terrorism. They have learned how devastating 911 was to the American and world economies their main
focus now is to cause economic terror around the world. Just as
the U.S and other world nations have attempted to cut off their
supply of money to fund their terrorist activities, they are engaging in activities that will severely hinder the economies of
the target countries. Indonesia is just a test case, a trial balloon, to see what the fallout will be. They have the advantage of surprise and can operate without fear since life is of little
value or importance to them. The can strike anywhere at any time.
They have had years to build "Terrorist cells" in many countries and though the odd cell is discovered and imobilized the overall
objectives are still achievable with relative ease. This mad mentality will not be appeased with anything but total victory, no
matter how long the battle continues. When individuals fight for a
blind belief there is no strategy to deter them, at least not one that the western world is yet ready to undertake.
Oct 26/02
Editorial opinion
The amount of media attention to the sniper killings in DC was by any measure an overkill of space filling and time filling reporting that said little or shed little new information on the snipers. As is often the case speculation and rumor filled the airways with great gobs of nothing, nothing new to report, nothing of any real substance, just a shot at being first ro give an eager public snippets of uninteresting bits. Keeping the public informed is one thing but keeping them up to date on the lack of new development and informing them of intended police activity is of little value to the public but more value to the perpetrator(s).
The "legitimate" media has far too long had things it's own way under the guise of the publics right to know. That tune is beginning to play off key and no longer resonates with the thinking
public. Report what's happening in a responsible way, report what has happened in an objective way, keep the speculation and opinion
to yourself.
Nov 03/02
Editorial opinion
Canada seems to delight in America bashing which is strange considering that the U.S. is our closest neighbour and best friend.
We are more alike than we care to admit and much more dependent than many of us would like. Nevertheless the fact remains that the U.S. is our neighbour, friend and ally. I can think of no country that I would choose over the U.S. as my neighbour. Certainly the
U.S. has many faults as do most of us in greater or lesser degree.
Perhaps those die hard anti americans would prefer to be bordered by Afghanistan or Pakistan or Iran, Iraq, Turkey or dozens of other
countries I could mention. We should be happy with a neighbour who
speaks the same language enjoys a similar life style and would come to our rescue at a moments notice. Being Anti American is, to me, like selling your best friend down the river. It would serve us right if we ever really needed them and they turned their back on us.
Nov 07/02
Editorial opinion
The election results are in and no one is more shocked than the Democratic party. President Bush, regardless of the reason, has been given a mandate to govern with controll of all three branches of Government. In my opinion the Democrats have run out their string of accusations against the
Republican party. Starting with the economy, which was on a decided downturn when Bush took office and then hit with 911, which did not fly with the public who are more sophisticated and informed than the Democrats would have you believe. Health care for the aged, which the Democrats would have you believe is being denied to the elderly by Bush and the Republicans, also did not fly because of it's obvious baseless claims. In short the Democrats could not squeeze one single issue into the consciousness of the American public. Then there was the, let's show them our true colors issue,
when the Democrats politicised the funeral of one of their fallen
comrades in Minnesota. This one really backfired and cost them the
election in Minnesota and sent Mondale back into retirement. I believe the public is slowly seeing through the Democratic modus operendi which is based on lies and deceit.
Nov 10/02
Editorial opinion
The world waits with breathless anticipation, will Saddam fullfil the inspection demands of the UN or will the U.S "unleash the dogs of war"? It would seem that Bush has a clear mandate to us force on
Iraq if the terms of the inspection resolution are not followed to the letter. A pretty tough expectation from Mr. Hussein since he has flaunted the UN for the past ten or eleven years. Will he continue to play his dangerous games and find yet more ways to delay and obfuscate his way around the demands? Time will certainly tell. Saddam Hussein cannot win this battle regardless of Arab Islamic sentiment. Where this will take the Western world, regardless of outcome, is anybodys guess but one thing is certain, the threat of terrorism and terrorist acts will continue into the
forseeable future unabated. The world will continue to oppose terrorism at every turn but the fight will go on exapnded or contracted. We need simply to look at the Irish situation which has been festering for years without an end in sight. If this sort of behavior cannot be curtailed or stopped within the boundaries of one country (Ireland) how do we propose to deal with an even greater base of hatred, (radical Islamic fundamentalists), on a world scale?
Nov 17/02
Editorial opinion
The capture of Osamin bin Laden, though desireable, could, symbolically, signal an end to terrorism and this would be a catastrophic error. Bin Laden symbolizes terrorism in the eyes of most Americans and indeed many of the worlds population. Terrorism is not exclusively the property bin Laden, it is a frame of mind that many Islamic fundamentalists hold, nurture and hand down to their children. It will be ongoing for many years to come in greater or lesser degree but it will always be there. One simply needs to look at the Irish who have been egaging in terrorism and hatred for
decades with no real end in site. If terrorism cannot be stopped in one isolated locale, how can it be stopped from a global perspective. Thos who believe that there can be an end to terrorism or that terrorists can be dealt with on a basis of dialogue, are indeed naive. Islamic fundamentalists are now spread thrughout the
world with the stated objective of killing "infedils" that's us. Considering their view of life and the hereafter and their willingness to commit suicide if it furthers their goals, there is no solution to terrorism except ongoing persuit and vigilence. On
911 the world etered a new reality, the reality of terrorism and we
should be prepared to live with this reality for the forseeable future. The demands of terrorists are total victory and nothing will
appease this mad objective.
Nov. 28/02
Editorial opinion
The number one news concern in the world today is terrorism, suicide bombings occur almost daily, without warning in random fashion everywhere
on this earth. It is truly surprising that there is so much effort put forth to downplay the serious nature of these bombings by giving them some rational reason. To excuse the suicide bombings as some cause or that some country deserves to be hated or treated in this insane fashion is to think like the radical fundamentalists that engage in this behaviour. The free world is at war whether we like it or not, whether we recognize it or not, we are at war with an enemeny that can only be described as insanely mad. Man has entered a new era in history that is not yet fully comprehended but and era that will last for many years to come. There is an almost Armeggedan like aura that is slowly seeping into our collective societies spawned by mistrust, misunderstanding, greed, hatred, religeon and the lust for power. We can only continue to try to tame the beasts we have created, the disparity in thought and material things between our worlds is too great to overcome.
Nov 28.02
NEW YORK:
Salman Rushdie, sentenced to death in 1989 by Iran's Muslim rulers for his book The Satanic Verses, wrote in The New York Times on Wednesday that other "Rushdies" were emerging around the world to challenge Islamic fanaticism.
Rushdie said in an opinion piece that moderate Muslims had been "unnaturally silent" on the religious death edict against Nigerian reporter Isioma Daniel in this month's violent Miss World controversy, a death sentence on Iranian reformist academic Hashem Aghajari and a Dutch Muslim woman who had to flee the Netherlands because of death threats received after she criticised Muslim men for oppressing Muslim women.
"If the moderate voices of Islam cannot or will not insist on the modernisation of their culture — and of their faith as well — then it may be these so-called 'Rushdies' who have to do it for them," the author wrote in a piece headlined No More Fanaticism as Usual.
Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses, was banned in India in 1988 and sparked protests in the Muslim world, where critics charged he had blasphemed the Prophet Muhammad. In February 1989 Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a religious edict or fatwa, calling for him to be put to death. Nine years later Iran disassociated itself from the fatwa, but hard-line Iranian clerics say it cannot be rescinded.
When an official in the Nigerian state of Zamfara issued the death decree against newspaper reporter Daniel on Tuesday, he compared her to Rushdie, according to the New Nigerian newspaper. Muslims rioted after Daniel's story suggesting the Prophet Muhammad would have approved of the Miss World pageant and possibly married one of its beauty queens.
Pageant organisers hurriedly moved the event to London from Nigeria after more than 200 people died in the protests. It will take place as originally scheduled December 7.
In The New York Times, Rushdie said he was no longer uncomfortable with "sloganisation of my name by Islamists around the world" and he was "often even proud" of the company he was in.
Rushdie wrote that for every person who is "vilified and oppressed, two more, 10 more, 1,000 more will spring up. They will spring up because you can't keep people's minds, feelings and needs in jail forever, no matter how brutal your inquisitions."
He said "the Islamic world today is being held prisoner, not by Western but by Islamic captors, who are fighting to keep closed a world that a badly outnumbered few are trying to open."
American Muslim: AN OXYMORON
A Colonel in the Saudi Arabian Army once told an American officer, "We
can be friendly, but we will never be friends." Can a devout Muslim be
an American patriot and a loyal citizen?
THEOLOGICALLY: No. Because his allegiance is to Allah, the moon god of
Arabia.
GEOGRAPHICALLY: No. Because his allegiance is to Mecca, which he turns
in prayers five times a day.
SOCIALLY: No. Because his allegiance to Islam demands that he make no
friends of Christians and Jews.
POLITICALLY: No. Because he must submit to the mullah, who teaches
annihilation of Israel and the destruction of America, the great Satan.
DOMESTICALLY: No. Because he is instructed to marry four women and beat
and scourge his wife when she disobeys him.
RELIGIOUSLY: No. Because no other religion is accepted by his Allah
except Islam-Intolerance.
INTELLECTUALLY: No. Because he cannot accept the American Constitution
since it is established on Biblical principles and he believes the Bible
to be corrupt.
PHILOSOPHICALLY: No. Because Islam, Mohammed and the Quran do not allow
freedom of religion and expression. Democracy and Islam cannot coexist.
Every Muslim government is dictatorial except Turkey.
SPIRITUALLY: No. Because when we declare "one nation under God," the
Christian's God is a triune God while the Muslim's is one entity called
"Allah," who is never a heavenly father, nor is he ever called "Love" in
the 99 excellent names.
This article by: Anis Shorrosh, a former Muslim, turned to Christ, from
Nazareth, now living in Alabama.
Reprint rights granted.
Commentary: And we think we can "reason" with them here and throughout
the world?....when pigs fly!
Feb 04/004
Conclusion on the shuttle didaster
Insulation breaking loose from the rocket on take off and striking the left wing in a vulnerable spot was the cause of the didaster. Once the event occurred the fate of the shuttle was determined and only an adission on the part of central command that it was a problem and would cause a disaster on reentry could have saved the crew. They ,at mission controll, were unwilling or unable to make that determination and therefore no remedial action was planned. The outcome was determined at launch by the debris that hit the left wing but had mission controll been aware of the consequences they could have sent a second craft up to deploy the astronauts and transfer them to the second ship and a safe return to earth. The question of
extra vehicular equippment(space suits) could have been solved rather easily by transfer of suits in orbit from the rescue shuttle to the damaged shuttle. That is my opinion and time will confirm.
Editorial commentary Feb 14/03
The terrorists need do absolutely nothing but drop rumours here and there and the U.S Government is thrown into a , "the sky is falling" tizzy. For my money they have already
won the war, how perfect for them. The country is in a knee
jerk reaction to any hint of terrorism, they (terrorists) can make us flinch at will. They have done nothing since 911 and I doubt they are getting ready to do anything, they
don't need to, they have us terrorized already. We are spending millions on preparing for we
know not what. To be infinitely prepared for any and all events requires an infinite economic resource. If and when
a true terrorist attack comes along we won't be prepared to
deal with it anyway.
There are three places to deploy our resources for maximum
results, our borders need absolute security, our middle eastern inhabitants need to be scrutinized and kept under
surveillance, and we need to organize a covert anti terrorist army that can access any country and provide a final solution for any suspected terrorists. Appeasement won't work, talk won't work, negotations are useless. If you are a terrorist or suspected of being a terrorist, be afraid, be very afraid. That's the message that must be sent, if terrorists want to blow themselves up in the name of whatever, the least we can do is help them along wherever we can. They may as well meet their maker before they take some poor unwilling soul with them.
We will never again be the carefree society we were pre 911 but we can embark on a serious attempt to rid the world of terrorism.
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