The fact is, Popal was reported to be mentally unstable, had received psychiatric treatment, was on medication and had been having recurring nightmares about someone coming to kill him. Does that mean he was taking headache, cold or flu medication? No. It means he was most likely taking an antidepressant which would put him in the same class of people as Andrea Yates who was on Effexor when she drowned her children, Eric Harris who was on Luvox when he went on a shooting spree at Columbine, Jeff Weise the young Native American who was on Prozac when he killed ten and wounded many others at Red Lake High School and thousands of other Americans of many races and backgrounds who became violent after taking antidepressants.

Popal's actions as reported in the media clearly go to a state of mind. Road rage,"going Postal," senseless school shootings, and Iraq war veterans who shoot family members and fellow soldiers usually all have one thing in common--they were on antidepressants or similar-acting psychiatric medications.

The FDA has finally mandated a Black Box warning for all antidepressants to say that they cause suicidal ideation and suicide. Effexor, the antidepressant Andrea Yates was on, now carries the warning that it can cause Homicidal Ideation. That means some people taking this antidepressant are going to feel the urge to go out and kill people. That sure sounds like the state of mind Omeed Popal was in. Those side-effects are not limited to people driving SUVs or of Muslim origins. Look around, this scenario is playing out in every city in America everyday.

Maybe we should be focused on the pharmaceutical lobby that has kept a lid on this to protect profits just as the tobacco industry kept a lid on smoking causing cancer.

Is it "just peachy" to have a loved one die in Bush's war to stop WMD, oops, I mean to spread democracy? And I remind you that we may not get that outcome.

You may be comfortable with the blood that is now on our hands, but I am not.

Speaking of brutal dictatatorships L, how many items in your home come from China?

So if someone wants to spread their religion by force, they are evil.

For once, you are correct, grasshopper.

If someone wants to spread thier concept of government by force, they are good.

Perhaps you allude to the spread of democracy. The alternative being a brutal dictatorship? Yeah, those types of governments are just peachy for every one except the dictator and his henchmen.

So if someone wants to spread their religion by force, they are evil.

If someone wants to spread thier concept of government by force, they are good.

I see. Well actually, I don't, but them I am not a fanatic.

Please provide examples of how Muslims wish to "convert at the point of a sword".

As for violence, well lets see. America is waging war on Iraq because we think they have WMD. Oh wait, that's wrong, its because Saddam is a torturer. Oh wait, we tortured some folks over there too! Oh wait, its because we have to convert Iraq to a form of government we are comfortable with. And of course, we have the RIGHT to do so. Well we say we do, so it must be so.

Take a look at murder rates in the US and the number of military incursions we have been involved in since the end of WW2. I guess its just easier to point the finger at other folks and say how violent they are then it is to look in the mirror.

Neither should you, Steve.

And please spare me the "you don't know muslims" BS as is being demonstrated above.

I spent 4 years rooming with a muslim girl who told me, on our first meeting, that if she asked me to join and I refused 3 times, it was right that she should kill me. That's what she said her book said.

Were she not my sister-in-law, seeking asylum from Beruit as a Palestinian, I would have kicked her out on the spot.

Lunacy

Wonder on Steve. Or find out and tells us ALL about it.

Well, a brief search of google news shows that there are a fair number of articles on "rampages" in general. Sometimes with a car, sometimes with other weapons. The idea here is that this seems an unlikely terrorist attack. But feel free to conclude it is simply based on this fellows religion.

I note that you have not provided any information about yourself that would lead us to conclude that you do, indeed, have some insight into the Muslim mind beyond what is reported in the mainstream media and on blogs.

Again, you seem to be utilizing the "It-is-a-Muslim-thing-you-wouldn't-understand" argument.

Religious tolerance is another American tradition that the right seems to hate, for reasons that I cannot fathom.

Tolerance of a religion which wishes to convert at the point of the sword is foolishness by a different name. I doubt very much that you will be able to find many on the right that have an intolerance of the various Christian Protestant denominations, Catholics, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, etc. Many on the right have concerns on what percent of the 1.2billion (CAIR's number) Muslims are of the violent variety: 10% (120M), 5% (60M), 1% (12M), .5% (6M), .1% (1.2M).

So when I guess about your TV watching habits, its a big mistake.

When you guess about what Muslims are thinking, it is cool, and its OK for you to insult their religion based on your guessing.

I note that you have not provided any information about yourself that would lead us to conclude that you do, indeed, have some insight into the Muslim mind beyond what is reported in the mainstream media and on blogs.

Religious tolerance is another American tradition that the right seems to hate, for reasons that I cannot fathom.

My guess is no, you are simply absorbing anti-Muslim propaganda on Fox and parroting it.

A couple of problems here. First, you're guessing, big mistake. Second, I don't happen to watch much television, maybe 2 or 3 hours a week, either a movie or sports, which lends itself to the following question. When is FOX supposed to indoctrinate me?

How do you know what the reaction is in the Muslim world to a tragedy like this? Do you have Muslim friends who live in the Middle East? Do you speak & read Arabic & Farsi? Have you traveled extensively there?

Very similar to discussions with blacks when they don't' like what I am saying. To paraphrase, You are white, how could you possibly know anything about X or Y? I even get these types of questions when the one asking knows that half my youth was spent in the projects (MD projects aren't quite as bad as CA projects I would wager) and that I should be quite aware of X and Y?

How do you know what the reaction is in the Muslim world to a tragedy like this? Do you have Muslim friends who live in the Middle East? Do you speak & read Arabic & Farsi? Have you traveled extensively there?

My guess is no, you are simply absorbing anti-Muslim propaganda on Fox and parroting it.

>I have no fear that a Christian society in the modern age would subjugate me at the point of a sword

Have you studied 20th century history at all?

As for "my conduct" what conduct is that? Using my right to free speech and to disagree with Bush?

Hmmm… Islam was founded in the late 600s. What was Christianity doing around 1400 years after its founding? Oh yeah, murdering, torturing, and forcibly converting Jews, Moslems, and heretics (Protestants).

Maybe it’s just a phase…

I guess that makes it okay then? Smiles, hugs and pink pony parties for everyone! Well parities till they started killing all the non-believers that is.

I don’t one could construe that Christianity is trying to impose itself via violence. On the other hand, there seems to be more than incidental evidence that Islam, otherwise known as the “Religion of Peace”, preaches its dominance via violence.

Hmmm... Islam was founded in the late 600s. What was Christianity doing around 1400 years after its founding? Oh yeah, murdering, torturing, and forcibly converting Jews, Moslems, and heretics (Protestants).

Maybe it's just a phase...

Sure, there is the odd old man who runs off the road. Or the stuck accelorator.

But I'm wondering when (besides that b@tch in Houston) who deliberately ran people over for no reason.

Oh yeah, let's not count that dude in NC.

Wonder on Steve. Or find out and tells us ALL about it.

Lunacy