Sydney Siege
 

Dearest Aussie friends,

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...a5d2e723725ec8

My heart has been in my throat as I read of the Iranian criminal who held hostages in your harbor area cafe yesterday. I can't imagine the horror they must have felt while having their quiet peace intruded upon in such a fashion. We (in the U.S. this morning) know there were losses and several injured and can only hope one at least was the terrorist who began all this and not another Australian citizen.

Our prayers and caring thoughts are directed your way as more details come out about this awful event. We hope that none of our members or their loved one were involved.

Those of you from Sydney, please check in with us!

Jan in VA

Sad thing is that 5 people were killed in Pennsylvania in a "shooting spree" last night and that is not unusual enough to cause that kind of media attention. My daughters were born in Australia and any such incident anywhere is terribly tragic for all involved.

I think one of the questions that will be asked is why the man was on bail and not in jail.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Haron_Monis

Well said, Jan. My thoughts and prayers are with our Australian members.

Kitsie,
It's true others have been missed.....I didn't read about the PA incident until well after I had posted about Sydney. Both are horrific experiences for those involved and it makes me particularly sad at this time of year. Thank you for reminding us.

Jan in VA

Multiple shootings anywhere are horrific and especially when done by one who has been in jail and allowed to move around. I saw some of the footage on the news earlier today. Breaks my heart. I'm not much of a churchgoer. I look outside and no matter what the weather, I know the sun is shining bright on the other side of the clouds. I know there is a higher power. I was baptized and raised in the Catholic church and I'll tell ya I've been keeping my one and only rosary very nearby. Got it when I made my First Holy Communion back in 1957. Been making a lot of use of it. I really mean it when I say "Sending prayers from the Gulf to help them through this horrible ordeal" I don't say it lightly!

I agree with all the others. It makes for sad times... :(

Thoughts and prayers for all.

The information that we have is that the 34 year old manager of the restaurant wrestled with the gunman at about 2am when the gunman was falling asleep. Unfortunately the manager was killed. The police moved in when the gunshots started. One young female lawyer was killed protecting a pregnant colleague and a number of others were wounded. The gunman is dead. A number of the hostages managed to escape during the day but for obvious reasons have been asked by the police to not discuss the details of what happened. There have been many floral tributes in Martin Place since the incident and a ''I'll ride with you,'' invitation extended toward our Islamic neighbours and friends who may fear any reprisals from the act of one obviously disturbed man.
The peace and relief has not lasted long as we have now heard about the terrible massacre of the young school kids in Pakistan. Is it too idealistic to hope that people will tire of all of this and start working toward the common good?

These are all horrific incidents at any time but more so at this time of year. Unfortunately I think ISIS is determined that more acts of terror are going to follow against countries who have joined the U.S. in trying to stop their terror. As for the taliban attack against these poor children, they should be ashamed of themselves. Attacking the weak & innocent is not the sign of brave soldiers (the taliban think they are at war) but the sign of weak soldiers who are nothing but bullies. To attack a school full of young children is reprehensible & should be condemned by us all. May God bless the victims of the Sydney attack, the survivors & the victims families of the Afghan attacks & the surviving family members of the murdered victims in the Pennsylvania incident. It is small consolation that the Sydney attacker is now dead as is the man who murdered his family members in Pennsylvania. My prayers to everyone at this time.