Given the tragic killing of 12 soldiers at Fort Hood, I have suspended my humorous “Top 10 news of the weird” this week. Instead I have collected some actual radio and newspaper observations about the Fort Hood killings.

10 – “This the first case of arab terrorism on US soil since 9/11” (BA's observation - Major Nidal Hassan is a US citizen, and was reportedly born in America)

9 – “12 were killed, and 30 were injured. Major Hassan was armed with 2 handguns” (42 casualties with 2 handguns? At best, a handgun carries 15 rounds in its clip. He’d have to reload at some point, if this lone gunman theory has any credibility at all)

8 – “Major Hassan was a devout muslim, and felt he could not go to war against other muslims” (evidently his non-violent principles were not sufficiently strong to deter him from shooting 42 unarmed co-workers)

7 – “He had been acting strangely. It was easy to tell when he was getting upset. He’d turn red in the face and lose control” (He’s a psychiatrist – was he exempt from psychiatric assessment because of his job?)

6 – “Major Hassan was unhappy that President Obama did not end the war in Iraq” (Disagreement with the political decisions of our president is not a valid excuse for murder)

5 – “The toll of dead and injured was so high because soldiers on base are not normally armed, unless taking part in a training exercise” (In what circumstances would on base psychiatrists and medical doctors carry a loaded weapon? Wouldn’t the sight of Major Hassan roaming around the base with non-military handguns have raised some immediate questions of its own?)

4 – “It is ironic that Nidal Hassan is a graduate of Virginia Tech” (I don’t think “ironic” is the correct term here. Neither is “suspicious” or “pattern”.)

3 – “The Council on American Islamic Relations called the attack cowardly, and condemned it in the strongest terms possible”

2 – “Major Hassan’s family issued a public sapology mourning the loss of life and putting the victims and relatives in their prayers”

1 – “The White House has so far had no official comment (as of 715 AM drive time radio)” (is there some kind of debate taking among White House advisors on the need for an announcement? Or are they waiting for overnight poll results before deciding which side to take?)

(Full disclosure – BA is secular, and works in a diverse environment which includes of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and probably other faiths. Our hearts go out to the victims and families this morning)