Mark Steyn: We must all be more sensitive

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | 09/14/2002 | Mark Steyn

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for the heads up!!!

[stands2reason]

Can anyone give me a way, even by snailmail, to contact this man?!? He needs to know he has a fanclub! :-) I'd so much like to invite him here for a Q&A.

[F.J. Mitchell]

BTTT!!!!

[stands2reason]

Oh, man... (shaking head)

[A_perfect_lady]

How do you handle a young member of one of these organized terrorist crime families?

Aim lower.

[swarthyguy]

>>Too many parties involved are invested in undermining the Bush administration.

I view it more as evidence/foreknowledge on a relatively widespread basis in certain muslim communities in the west, in addition to the ME.

>>It's us, Americans like Eunice Stone, or the terrorists.

Connie Chung asked the local chief if Eunice Stone was going to be investigated. Sheesh.

The sister of one of the trio made a statement slamming Georgia and the South. Didn't think it particularly helped her case; Georgians certainly are not going to think better of women in hijabs if they heard her. Had to chuckle at how oblivious she was to the impression she was making.

[Auntie Mame]

Bumpin' this puppy up to the top of the latest posts page for anyone up late who's missed this great Mark Steyn article.

[Pokey78]

All have been added.

[A.J.Armitage]

Thanks for the links, swarthyguy. I'm not convinced. Too many parties involved are invested in undermining the Bush administration. In one story the boy's Pakistani, the other he's Palestinian. Our government was never meant to be big enough to cover every eventuality, any more than local police can be there when a burglar shows up.

I'm not sure why you should refuse to believe it because you imagine some connection to Bush. I haven't seen anyone say that some kid in school should have caused the government to go on alert (although I'd say that nowadays it should). And even if there were people drawing that conclusion, a fact and the conclusions you draw from it are different things.

But I'll admit that I think the proper conclusion is "anti-Bush", but not the way you have in mind. The fact that the kids all knew means it was common knowledge to the Muslims, And what did they tell the authorities? Nothing. And Bush prattles on about how we should be tolerant and understanding of the poor backlashed Muslims. They deserved a backlash. Heck, a repeat of the internment thing would've been unduly generous. But instead, we're supposed to demonstrate our goodwill for them. Evendently they thought it was better to let thousands of Americans die than to stop thousands of Americans from dying. Screw 'em.

[WaterDragon]

For me, it's been a week of alternating tears and rage. I am now so angry I'm blind with it that the Democrats gladly risk our lives for their political hides. I will NEVER vote for another Democrat, not even if I like him/her.

[maryz]

Pokey, please add me to your Steyn list, too. I usually catch Steyn's columns, but I might have missed this one if I hadn't been up early.

Thanks in advance.

[maryz]

I will NEVER vote for another Democrat, not even if I like him/her.

When Moakley (Boston rep) died, Steve Lynch (D) ran for his seat and won. His opponents (R and D) tried to play up the fact that he had been arrested back in -- I think -- the late 70s. (Even one poster on FR complained that he had no respect for First-amendment rights!)

His offense? He had done his best to punch out the lights of an Iranian flag-burner. As Howie Carr pointed out in his column, after 9/11, what better achievement could you have on your resume? (Here in Boston, where 90% at least of the Republicans are country-club, Rockefeller RINOs -- or at best wimps like Romney, oftentimes the most conservative candidate is a Dem!)

[nicmarlo]

Pretty much anywhere you looked you could find media folk interviewing media folk about how courageous network reporters reacted to the news that fateful morning Still, I for one never tire of seeing headscarved women in Midwestern towns giving interviews about how in the past year they can tell people are looking at them "differently".

Teachers at schools within sight of the World Trade Centre report that, as the towers burned, a lot of Muslim pupils were taking pictures: it seemed odd that so many of them happened to have brought their cameras to school on that particular day.

That wacky London imam has a point: it'll all be a lot easier once we're living under Islamic law. And, if his predictions are as remarkably accurate as some of those psychic New York schoolkids, we won't have long to wait.

This is true, the WTC attack now deals with how all the "important reporters' 'braveness,'" and how "hard" it was for them to report. Also, true, we must devote our attentions to how "brave" and how "hard" it is for those of Muslim descent to now live in American.

About the reporters and the Muslims' feelings of "mistreatment," I can only say: this is disgusting and appalling. Otherwise, my anger boils and leaves me speechless.

God bless the victims' families, the heros on Flight 93 who saved, possibly, the President, by sacrificing their lives. God bless those who remain at their FDNY battalions and comfort the widows/widowers of the murdered FDNY and NYPD who, because of these radical murdering Muslims, now have no husbands/wives to go home to and comfort them. The innermost depths of my soul weeps for them.

[WaterDragon]

I get your point and I take back that promise. In truth, if a conservative Democrat runs, I definitely will consider him, especially if he has a record of cutting taxes!

[MeekOneGOP]

Aim lower.

ROFL !!

[iconoclast]

Please add me to your Steyn list.

Pokey, that list must be gettin huuuge, but bless you for putting it together.

[PogySailor]

Please add me to your ping list.

[MeekOneGOP]

Wasn't this an urban legend? It's real?

I saw the replies to your note that have already posted and followed the one regarding http://www.snopes.com/ . I went to their "Search" window and entered the phrase "World Trade Center attack predicted". I brought up a series of Urban Legends and the first one was applicable. (What's interesting, RC, is the story about the Dallas boy is actually a Dallas suburb, Garland. That's just down the road from my house, about 2 miles!).......

1. Urban Legends Reference Pages: Rumors of War (Young Nostradamus) ••••
Did a Dallas schoolboy predict the September 11 terrorist attacks on America?

Here's how they classify the Urban Legend:

Status:   Undetermined.

And here is the report/finding:

A similar incident involving a schoolchild was reported in Brooklyn, New York:

In Brooklyn, a high school freshman who recently immigrated from Pakistan was investigated by federal agents after his teacher reported that he had predicted the Trade Center's collapse a week before the towers were attacked.

The student pointed out a third-story window of New Utrecht High School toward the Trade Center and said, "Do you see those two buildings? They won't be standing there next week," according to three police sources and a city official familiar with the investigation. They said the comment came in the midst of a heated political discussion the student was having with his teacher in an English class for Arab-American students.

Once again, however, no follow-up information surfaced to indicate that the boy had any specific foreknowledge of the September 11 attacks:

Federal agents who visited the New Utrecht school questioned the student and his older brother, who also attends there, the sources said. Afterward, the agents tried to question their father, who chastised them for harassing his children, they said.

Police sources said that, after the interviews, the boy's father left for Pakistan. After his departure, investigators conducted a second interview with the boy and his mother, who told them that her son was having psychological problems.

Additional information: http://www.snopes.com/

[iconoclast]

tears and rage. I am now so angry I'm blind with it that the Democrats gladly risk our lives for their political hides.

I certainly have no sympathy for Democrat politicians, but how does this relate to the Steyn article?