Craig Murray suggested earlier that the UK terror attacks might not have been done by Muslims. Now it’s clear that they were.

But my question cui bono? was also helpful in pointing out that these terrorist attacks are not only callous and inhuman, but extraordinarily stupid. Islamic terrorism fills those who hate Muslims with unholy glee. You only have to surf the internet for five minutes to prove that. At the same time it sends those of us who try to improve community relations, and it sends the established Muslim communities in the UK, into deep despair. Those in the security, weapons and mercenary industries who make billions from continued War are rubbing their hands and counting the cash.

How religious faith can lead people into such a mix of depravity and counter-productive stupidity is impossible for the sane to fathom, even acknowledging the depths of despair caused by the carnage our country has caused in Iraq. I can do nothing today but issue the anguished cry of the liberal in a brutal, unlistening World.

Religious faith has also led US religious and political extremists to blow up a federal building in Oklahoma and murder an abortion doctor. Don’t blame the religion for how  followers can twist its precepts to justify the unthinkable. This happens in any religion, Hindu and Buddhist included. Let’s not have any illusions here.

The problem with the anguished cry of the liberal is that it too often ends there. Action is needed. End the wars now. That will do more than anything else to end terrorism.

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Ubuntu Linux is currently #21 in the Amazon Software bestsellers while Windows Vista Ultimate is just #50.

Tip. Philosophical Geekiness

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Treehugger reports Wow Energy has announced technology that can scrub emissions from coal plants quite clean, which would be great news if true. And maybe it is, but their website is decidedly low-tech, which indicates they don’t have venture capital backing. VCs are throwing money at green tech now, so it is odd that Wow doesn’t appear to have such financing Plus, their website has lots of capitalized words in different colors, something which to me automatically triggers a Tinfoil Hat Alert.

Besides, even if coal could somehow magically be made to burn clean, that doesn’t remediate the environmental destruction done by mining it or the enormous energy (usually rail) needed to transport it.

More on just how filthy coal is.

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Wall Street investment banks encouraged lending to those with little ability to pay, then created hedge funds (also using borrowed money) that bought and sold bizarre and risky packages of those very same mortgages. Thus, the subprime mess is very much their own creation.

When that Bear Stearns fund blew up recently, the company was forced to prop it up with billions of dollars in secured loans. They did this because the other investment banks, who have similar shaky portfolios, didn’t want Bear Strearns liquidating because this would set new, sharply lower market prices for the garbage mortgages in their portfolios. If Bear Stearns had liquidated, they’d be out of the club, and other investment banks would no longer deal with them. So, these august titans of Wall Street are really just pretending their mortgage portfolios are solid when it’s obvious more carnage is coming. They will probably come begging to DC soon for bailouts too.

No doubt that many subprime borrowers shouldn’t have been allowed to borrow money, but they still shouldn’t be faulted for creating this mess. Doors were opened to them because Wall Street firms and the banks welcomed the business they brought, for their own greedy purposes.

Rather than bailouts, I’m thinking indictments would be more appropriate. Why? Because it’s a given that some of these transactions were fraudulent and the books were cooked ala Enron.

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