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Sundown: Israel Rethinks Strategy Toward Syria

Plus Colorado movie theater shooter identified, and more

by
David Fine
July 20, 2012
View from the Golan Heights. (Jalaa Marey/Agence France-Presse, Getty Images)
View from the Golan Heights. (Jalaa Marey/Agence France-Presse, Getty Images)

• Police have identified the Aurora, Colorado theater shooter as James Eagan Holmes, a graduate student at the University of Colorado medical school. Holmes shot 71 people, killing 12, according to Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates. [Denver Post]

• As thousands flee Damascus amidst heavy fighting between Syrian rebels and pro-Assad forces, Israel rethinks its strategy toward Syria. [NYT]

• The Wall Street Journal, citing Deborah Lipstadt’s Tablet article, adds its voice to those calling for a moment of silence at the London Olympics in memory of 11 Israelis killed at the Munich Olympics in 1971. [WSJ]

• Terry Gross gives an entertaining interview to the New York Times Magazine, saying of Howard Stern what we’ve all been thinking: “within him is this kvetchy Jewish grandfather.” [NYT]

• Bill Simmons does the nerd community a huge favor by explaining the NBA through lines from HBO’s Game of Thrones. [Grantland]

• When they’re not explaining the universe’s origin by discovering the Higgs Boson, physicists attempt to answer the eternal question facing most of the East coast today: walk or run when it’s raining? [Washington Post]

On this day in history, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the moon (1969), and Elvis Presley gave his first public performance outside a pharmacy in Memphis, Tennessee (1954). Coincidence? Neither Buzz or Neil are saying—Elvis has yet to chime in.

David Fine is a senior at Columbia. He is editor emeritus of The Current.