Feline Warrior

BBC NEWS | England | Merseyside | Youth guilty of racist axe murder

Most potent quote, from Gee Walker, Anthony Walker’s mother: “I’ve got to forgive them [the murderers], my family and I still stand by what we believe - forgiveness.”

Most hideous quotes: Anthony, 18, was killed with an ice axe at McGoldrick Park in Huyton, Merseyside [England], on 29 July.

The judge, Mr Justice Leveson, said the murder was racially-motivated and the pair would be sentenced on Thursday.

and: Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers told the court the axe had smashed a 5.5cm-wide (2.1 in.) hole into Anthony’s skull, penetrating his brain.

How humbling this is, Gee Walker, who can and does forgive the two miscreants who murdered her son. I’m tempted to hang onto the bitterness and anger for her -a sort of human depository for such stuff- but perhaps it is better to follow Mrs. Walker’s lead and practice forgiveness. And mind you, I do not know any of these people - my outrage comes from reading that one of my relatives in the brother/sisterhood of people was brutally murdered for no damn reason. I’m aghast that people can do such stuff to others.

So then, the theme for the rest of this week: Forgiveness. It’s gonna be hard, but I’m going to give it a try.

Video shows Western hostages in Iraq - Yahoo! News

Favorite quote: Despite the surge in kidnappings of foreigners and Iraqis and political and sectarian violence before parliamentary elections on December 15, U.S. troops may soon start to withdraw as overall security improves.

Iraq’s national security adviser said up to 30,000 of the 155,000 U.S. troops in Iraq could leave in early 2006.

This makes me think -out loud, very loudly- about this situation in terms of chicken and egg. If US troops left, would this kidnapping end?

(And add this to the Feline Warrior lexicon: TOL is to “thinking out loud” as LOL is to “laughing out loud”)