Thursday Thoughts

Stories under contemplation on this sunny Thursday morning:

Chaos: Pakistan at war. At least 20 dead in Karachi: "Enraged mobs took to the streets indulging in aerial firing and torching vehicles and shops, witnesses and police said... As the clashes spread, there were reports from many parts of the city of firing and mobs setting vehicles ablaze as shops closed down and people rushed to reach home." ~~ Meanwhile, government forces launched a counter-attack against taliban positions north of the capital city, Islamabad: "Rather than fleeing, militants seized three police stations in the north of Buner on Tuesday and kidnapped 70 police and paramilitary troops..." ~~ Military spokesperson Major General Athar Abbas: `The militants are forcing local youth to join their ranks.'' ~~ In Kohat, taliban raze the homes of Sikhs for delaying their payment of "jazia": ‘Sharia had been enforced in the area and every non-Muslim had to pay protection money’. ~~ Editorializing against the leftist-islamist alliance: "...[A]mong the booty are also women whose families cannot refuse the marriage proposal of a Talib. This kind of redistribution of wealth is not exactly what Marx and Engels ordered, so any leftist, romantic idea that the Taliban’s is a revolution of the dispossessed is simply wrong. More to the point is the fact that one cannot survive for long cutting down trees and selling precious stones. Development is not possible under draconian and medieval regimes so the total number of people under the poverty line will increase in any Talibanised state."

Gratitude: Miami driver rescued from burning car returns to paramedics and firefighters on her birthday to thank them for saving her life. "To us, it's the biggest thank you we could receive in the world. No amount of money, no amount of anything could replace what she did for us today..."

Heroism: Passersby stop to pull couple out of burning car on Florida highway. "'I didn't even consider leaving her there,'' said Kelly... ''You could hear the metal bending in the heat'' .

Civility: Walter Williams on "Law Vs Moral Values". "To see men sitting whilst a woman or elderly person was standing on a crowded bus or trolley car used to be unthinkable. It was common decency for a man to give up his seat. Today, in some cities there are ordinances requiring public conveyances to set aside seats posted "Senior Citizen Seating." Laws have replaced common decency.

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Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we've become."