Kroger shooter kills one, injures 14; Mid-East religious wars bring famine, persecution-National & International news FRI24Sept2021
NATIONAL
At least one victim dead in a shooting spree at a Kroger store in Collierville, Tennessee
A gunman shot 15 people at a Kroger grocery store in Collierville, Tennessee yesterday afternoon, Sept. 23. One of the shooting victims was pronounced dead mid-afternoon at a Memphis hospital; three are in critical condition. This morning, the Commercial Appeal identified the shooter as Uk Thang, 29, who was a third party supplier to Kroger.
According to a statement by the Collierville Police Department, the gunman shot himself to death in the store. Police were called to the Kroger store about 1:30 p.m. Thursday,
The victim who died has been identified as Olivia King. Readers are cautioned that that early identification came from postings King’s family members made on Facebook. Those Facebook postings were reported by The Independent, a news organization in the United Kingdom.
However, local news organizations, including the Memphis Commercial-Appeal newspaper had not published King’s identity as of the early hours of this morning. In fact, the Commercial-Appeal’s website was “crashed” intermittently Thursday night and Friday morning, apparently overwhelmed by the number of Internet users trying to access it.
Many details were still scarce and confused in reporting available early this morning. Apparently 14 other individuals were shot or otherwise injured during the incident and were taken to several Memphis hospitals for treatment. Three of the injured are said to be in “critical” condition this morning.
Collierville, which has a population of about 52,000, is located near the eastern edge of Shelby County, Tennessee, 23 miles east of Memphis, which is the county seat of Shelby County.
Collierville is 53 airline miles from New Albany, 77 miles from Tupelo, and 23 airline miles from Holly Springs.
INTERNATIONAL
Famine, religious persecution, dispersal follow years of wars in the Middle East
Famine and starvation in several Middle Eastern countries is being blamed, in part, on years of wars in the region.
As many as 16-million people are said to be threatened with hunger and death by starvation in Yeman alone. The prospect of famine in the near future of other Middle Eastern countries including Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries is increasingly likely.
The Middle East has been roiled for decades by wars between religious sects and tribal elements. Dozens of Muslim sects have tried to annihilate one another for 14 centuries, since the days of the Prophet Muhammed himself. Christian minorities have been brutally attacked. Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Egypt were once the home to millions of Christians of many denominations. The exodus of Christians from the Middle East has created a Christian diaspora, with striking similarities to the Jewish diaspora occasioned by the conflict between Rome and Jerusalem in the first century of the common era.
A great many Middle Eastern Christians have emigrated to the United States, more than a few of them having become successful as business people in Northeast Mississippi
One thoughtful analysis argues that the U.S. military intervention in the region during the last two decades has resulted in an evil and violent genie being let out of its bottle. Secular regimes were destroyed, allowing religious fanaticism to flourish.
That analysis is not from a bunch of sissy, pink left wingers. Rather it comes from the Cato Institute, a bastion of right wing political thinking, funded in large part by the Koch brothers of Wichita.
We refer our readers to two articles. One of them published by the Associated Press yesterday. The one by the Cato Institute is nearly a year old, but still very timely. It’s a little long (and we do not recommend swallowing whole everything propounded by the Koch family), but inquisitive readers may find it worth reading during the coming weekend.
https://www.cato.org/commentary/how-our-pointless-wars-made-life-hell-religious-minorities#
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