Tragedy in Norway

Was really shocked when I heard about the twin attacks in Norway yesterday. This follows the three separate explosions in Mumbai just last week and the first thought that came to mind was "Muslim terrorists!" Even the BBC reports speculated that extremist "Jihadis" were responsible for the attacks. "Bloody F£$%^&g, B£$%^&ds" I cursed.

Not surprisingly comments on most online news sites including the Telegraph, Sun and the Daily Mail were filled with anti-Muslim and anti-immigration sentiment. Many were so blatantly islamophobic and some actually were incitement to violence.

Today it emerged that the man at the centre of the attack has been identified as Anders Breivik, 32, a Norwegian with links with to right-wing extremists and a neo-Nazi. He is also said to have anti-Muslim feelings and against a multi-culturarism. Few reports describe him as a conservative Christian.

I could almost hear a collective sigh of relief from Muslims all over the World.

I was really interested to see how the readers of the newspapers responded to the latest news. A lot of people were offended about the description of the killer as "conservative" and as a "Christian". Some guys correctly pointed out that when similar incidents involving a Muslim happens around the World, news reports promptly put "Islamic terrorist" or "Jihadi" tag, whereas in this case the guy was simply a "mad man" or simply  "the Oslo gunman".

Larry Keffer of the Biblical Research Center in Norway warned that "that people should not think that just because Breivik says he is a Christian that he actually is one."

The best comment was by a Mohammed kamran on the Daily Mail .

He points out that

"Terrorists use religion to get the moral high ground and give themselves a cause. My religion has been hijacked by terrorist s*** but Muslims reading this know he is NOT a Christian. We know what it's like when someone claims to be of your religion and causes an outrage like this. My thoughts and prayers are with Norway. God bless you."

I do wonder whether the anti-Muslim and anti-immigration rhetoric sweeping all over Europe may have had a part in this tragedy.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims of this tragedy in Norway.

Updated: Various pictures also show him wearing the ceremonial robes of the Freemasons. I wonder what is his link with this very secretive group.

If you had a million pounds

Yesterday Friday night 25 prizes of £1 million were won on in the Christmas Eve EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle. If all winners come forward and claim their prizes, this will break the existing world record for the most millionaires in a single draw, according to the National Lottery.

I can't help but wonder whether winning a million may be a curse. I mean look at the history of past winners.

I read that winning that kind of money doesn't make you happy. Winning £2million made Stuart Donnelly miserable. He became a recluse and died alone in his luxury home. Alex Toth who won Thirteen-million dollars also died penniless.

There are so many other sad stories and in most there seems to be a familiar story line - most of the winners just spent all their money in such a short time - usually on booze and materialistic things. A million is not that much and it is possible to spend all of it in a few years. I wish they had done something useful with their money.

Maybe it was the curse of living under the spotlight. And of course, there were some who kept their head level and managed their money well but they are few. Of course, there are loads of winners who didn't want the publicity and they probably did well as well.

I was reading the article "What to do when you become an instant millionaire" on the BBC website and was wondering what I would do if I had that kind of money?