Norway’s deadly bombing and shooting rampage; a homeowner’s tale of foreclosure; and new suspects in the Dodger Stadium beating case

Tragedy in Norway

Re “At least 87 die in Norway terror attacks: Suspicion falls on Islamic extremists or neo-Nazi groups after a blast in Oslo and a shooting rampage,” July 23, and “Muslims feel the sting of blame,” July 24

Muslims like me, who live in America, took a collective sigh of relief when it was learned that the person apparently responsible for this carnage was a Norwegian native of Christian faith.

Western media seem to have jumped the gun in immediately pointing accusing fingers at “Muslim terrorists” being responsible for this mayhem.

I hope they now have the journalistic courage to apologize to Muslims for this slip.

This time it was Norway. The world has come to accept another mass murder carried out by some nut with a gun, and no one dares to propose anything that might prevent gun violence in the future.

If this follows the pattern of other mass murders, the suspect probably had no criminal record and would easily have passed a background check and could have purchased his guns legally.

When is the world going to recognize the misery caused by guns and do something to stop it? Yes, people kill people, but they do it with guns. The first step should be the elimination of private ownership of all guns.

The other problem is that common sense and sanity have been drowned out by gun-rights advocates for too long.

The carnage and destruction left in the wake of two attacks in Norway prove that bad things can happen anywhere, even in peaceful countries. All it takes is for one disgruntled individual to become a loose cannon and tragedy can result.

It was only a few months ago that a lone gunman killed six and critically wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others in Arizona. Such actions are impossible to predict.

All things considered, there is no “safe haven.” Just being in the wrong place at the wrong time puts us all at risk.

A mass murder in Norway has rocked the consciousness of the world -- and where do we turn for answers?

The boogeyman of “Islamic extremists” cannot be used as a rational excuse for this insane violence. We must look into ourselves and the core values of what constitutes the way of life that we have worked so hard to achieve in the false hopes of what a free and democratic way of life brings as its rewards.

Home-grown terrorism and its root causes speak to an issue that is more problematic than those created by the post-9/11 phenomenon.

News of Christian fundamentalist Anders Behring Breivik’s alleged shooting outbreak is alarming. My Christian friends are just as disgusted at hearing this news as I am -- as a Muslim American -- when I see headlines of so-called Muslims killing others in the name of their religion.

To the families of the victims of this heinous attack, we are with you.

Her house, lost to foreclosure

Re “Postcards from the recession,” Opinion, July 24

This heart-rending account brought tears. Excellent credit rating (at the start): Yes. Employed: Yes. History of paying the mortgage on time: Yes. Making every effort to work something out with the bank: Yes.

All these counted for nothing. I’m even more incensed because I know of the federal program that gave banks money to aid homeowners just like the author.

The writer concludes her heartbreaking tale of defeat in homeownership at the hands of the banks with the comment: “I can’t find a life lesson here; no insight on why this happened to so many people.”

To an open-minded observer, the lesson is plain. Capitalism is rooted fundamentally in the principle of greed and contains no provision for mercy.

Eventually, we have to find a better way to manage our lives.

I am in the same situation; I was told by my loan servicer that my investor would not give me a loan modification because I was up to date on my loan. I previously received one. They said I did not return all the paperwork to them.

It does not make sense to play hardball on loan modifications. Why does anyone want a loss (foreclosure) on the books if payments can be made?

We, the taxpayers, bailed the banks out of trouble; why can’t they do the same?

I readily accepted their loan, and they readily gave it to me. Two wrongs do not make a right.

I read with sadness the piece detailing the loss of a home. Unfortunately, the story is not unique, and it is truly tragic, especially when children are involved, as in her case.

Yet, I was dumbfounded with her conclusion. In her particular case, it is easy to see why she got into the difficulties she did: She bought a house she clearly could not afford.

I hope other readers indeed can draw the life lessons that the author so eloquently wrote about.

Do not buy a house you can’t afford. Don’t rely on the promises of others such as loan officers, banks or the federal government to bail you out.

Before buying, make sure you can afford it, not with optimistic assumptions about the future but with realistic assumptions about your ability to pay the mortgage you have for the succeeding decades.

New suspects in beating case

Re “A chagrined LAPD,” Editorial, July 23, and “How the stadium beating probe shifted,” July 24

I was thrilled to read that the real culprits in the Dodger Stadium beating have apparently been apprehended.

I was incensed at the fact that those two allowed Giovanni Ramirez to take the rap while they laid back and did nothing.

I hope, if they are convicted and sentenced, that a judge takes into consideration that they allowed others to take the blame.

First and foremost, congratulations to Chief Charlie Beck and the LAPD (and more specifically to those at Robbery-Homicide) for reorienting their investigation and ultimately exonerating Ramirez from his alleged crime at Dodger Stadium.

It takes guts to admit a mistake under these circumstances, and the chief and his detectives deserve some praise.

However, this story proves once again that we are a long way from dispelling the myth that eyewitness testimony is a highly credible form of evidence.

By way of contrast, it turns out that the “easily dismissible” alibi testimony of the friends and family of Ramirez was factually correct.

Logic refresher lesson: All people make mistakes. All cops are people. All cops make mistakes.

Stories periodically surface of investigators who fabricate evidence or of prosecutors who withhold exculpatory evidence or condone questionable witnesses. Thankfully, that’s not the case here.

Parolees don’t have the same rights as the rest of us; law officers can inspect their homes at any time and act on what they find.

No argument can be made for injustice or false arrest. It seems to me that “we got the wrong guy” is apology enough.

I don’t condemn the police for making a mistake. I commend them for admitting it.