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Shot by Dan Saturday, Brandon Avenue at Mud Lick Road
“There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern.”
Samuel Johnson
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Spent 2 hours in the emergency room this morning. D and I decided to “conquer” the steep hill in our neighorhood and open up the great road riding which just beacons to us at the bottome of our hill. The delima is building up our stamina enough so we can bike down the hill, and get back up. Ride out robinsnon tract to the bottom of Little Walker Mountain and back which is a good quick workout that we can complete from the house in around 1hr give or take.
I have failed so far in my attempt to climb the hill which is steep by around 100ft so I’m close.
Today, D and I started out and D took off in the lead and wrecked in the first cruve which does have gravel over asphalt. He took a serious spill over the handle bars and rolled several times and collected an admirable case of road rash along the way. It was a scary moment for me because he obviously had hit his head, his visor was knocked off, he was shivering, and was dis-oriented. I decided to run back up the dreaded hill after making sure his was in no immediate danger and after picking up the truck, loaded up the gear and quickly visited the local emergency room.
Luckily, no broken bones, just as serious case of road rash and hopefully a new found respect for the road and biking.
Every time you get on any excercise or pleasure craft, you are taking a risk. I am reporting my experience because we were wearing all the recommended saftey gear which I know prevented a serious injury in the hopes others will take this story to heart and participate, but wear your safety gear, It will save your life.
BTW I’m getting up early and will attempt to climg the dreaded hill before I go into work just on principle. The Sob will not defeat us even though the score at this point is hill 2, us zero. We will win.
Food for thought…”Failure to Communicate” http://theroanoketribune.com/catalog_26.html
#1 Sorry to hear of the accident, CNP, and glad all seems well. Good advice on wearing all your safety stuff.
I don’t mind riding a bike around my neighborhood but I have to say that pretty much everybody I know who rides a lot has had accidents, and most of them have had at least one fairly serious one. My brother has had two of them, one when he was run off the road by a pickup and another that was mostly his own miscalculation. Makes me wary of riding any more seriously than I do.
Hope it went well, CnP. Check in and let us know you’re in one piece.
Wow Cold, tell him thanks for the painful lesson he taught us all and hope he feels better soon. My husband rides but refuses to wear a helmet and it is an ongoing battle. I will make him read your post! Thanks!
Glad he had on the safety gear and hope he feels better soon, Cold.
#5 Sandi, my brother’s second serious accident was “nothing more” than a slip in some gravel in the road. Despite the fact that he WAS wearing his helmet, he doesn’t really remember most of what happened, the woman who found him said he wasn’t making a lot of sense, and he had a mild concussion. The helmet was cracked and actually did its job, so imagine what it could have been like had he not worn it.
Thanks all, Son is fine, just very sore and has a bad case of road rash. As for me, the score is hill 3, us 0 as I had to once again walk the steepest 100 ft but I’ll keep trying.
According to Daily Kos, Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian Christian fundamentalist terrorist who murdered over 80 people last week, found his inspiration to go on his killing spree by watching and listening to Americans!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/25/998486/-Norway-killer-found-inspiration-in-American-anti-Islamism?detail=hide&via=blog_1
Should we not take heed that we live in a country where our bigoted hatred is the one thing others learn from us?
More on the concept of fair-weather-constitutionalists, where-you-sit-determains-where-you-stand, NIMBY, and the like:
http://tinyurl.com/43j8tga
**
Lay Judgments of Judicial Decision-Making
Dan Simon
USC Gould School of Law, USC Department of Psychology
Nicholas Scurich
University of Southern California
July 18, 2011
Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Forthcoming
Abstract:
This exploratory study examined lay people’s evaluations of judicial decision-making, specifically of the judicial decision-making process and the judiciary’s legitimacy. Seven hundred participants were presented with three judicial decisions, which were portrayed as following on the heels of solid and appropriate legal procedure. Each decision was accompanied by one of four types of reasoning. Participants were asked to evaluate the acceptability of the decisions, focusing on the manner in which they were made and the legitimacy of the decision-maker, regardless of their outcomes. The study yielded four findings. First, lay people’s judgments were highly contingent on the outcome of the judges’ decisions. Consistent with the theory of motivated reasoning, participants found the decisions highly acceptable when they agreed with the judges’ decision, but deemed them relatively unacceptable when they disagreed with them. Second, participants were indifferent to the modes of reasoning when they agreed with the outcomes of the decisions, but were differentially sensitive to the modes of reasoning when the judges’ decisions frustrated their preferred outcomes. Third, when participants were sensitive to the modes of reasoning, they gave higher ratings of acceptability to decisions that openly admitted to good reasons on both sides of the case as compared with decisions accompanied by reasons that supported one side of the case exclusively. Giving no reasons at all was found to be more acceptable than giving a single, curt reason. Fourth, the findings replicated the coherence effect. Implications for the legitimacy of the judiciary are discussed.
**
Download the article. Good stuff.
I was just searching online to find a good price on a flash drive for my daughter for college when I came across this:
http://www.geekalerts.com/police-revolver-gun-usb-flash-drive/
Dan, you can add this one to your collection of items labeled “inappropriately disguised as a handgun”.
Re: #9
Read the NYT article @ http://tinyurl.com/3gtoq6h
Flash drives are a very handy tool, but OMG that one is not on my list!
Dave H, I like that phrase “where-you-sit-determines-where-you-stand” and I find it to be sadly true as to why we end up so divided and vitriolic. Hypocrites, thy name is people!
#12… I read the article.
While I don’t agree that a handful of bloggers can cause anyone to commit murder, I don’t doubt that what has played out in the US media over the last decade – in terms of the Mosque debate, instances of profiling, and the smoldering hatred we have toward any group of people who are different from us (especially those of Islamic heritage)- is enough to make one with the propensity toward violence, fall off the edge.
I hope everyone has a good next couple of weeks…I’ll be super busy and out of town a lot so I likely won’t be around too terribly often. Enjoy the dog days of summer!
@#11 I’m adding that to my Christmas list…..
Linking back to the Weiner thread
http://tinyurl.com/3tbo2z2
**
How Many College Kids Sext? Four Out of Five
By Belinda Luscombe Monday, July 25, 2011
Sexting and college, they go together like carnal and knowledge. But a recent survey from the University of Rhode Island has put some numbers on how widespread it is. And the answer is: w i d e.
Seventy-eight percent of students in the survey say they’ve received sexually suggestive messages and 56% say they have received intimate images. Two thirds of the students said they sent salacious messages. Before we call a national epidemic of Weiner -itis, we should note that 73% of texts were sent to a romantic partner. Almost like a romantic old love-letter, but shorter and with more emoticons.
And, it seems, with more staying power. Almost a fifth of the people who received the racy messages then forwarded them onto somebody else. And 10% of all the explicit messages sent were relayed without permission from the original author. (Those statistics should be put on a label and stuck on cellphones everywhere.)
SNIP
**
CNP – glad that your boy is ok!
On another subject, I watched the Swedish film adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy books over the past week via Netflix. I highly recommend them! I’ve read the books, and believe the filmmakers did a great job. Actually, I thought the film version of third book (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) was better than the book. So, if any of you gonzos like a good thriller or if you read the books and want to see the film adaptations, I give them two thumbs up! Buyer beware, they are all in Swedish and thus subtitled, but I didn’t find that to be a problem.
@9 so you are going to blame Americans for this wacko in Norway? Rubbish. Evil and hate exists everywhere in the world. Don’t be so naive.
I had no idea how bad it is out there with all these horribly high taxes and the bad economy. Some parents are having to “hitch” rides home on private jets after taking their babies to camp. And then there’s the poor woman who was so put off by the whole scene that she quit sending her kids to camps in the Northeast. Now they’re having to settle for camp in Europe.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/25/nyregion/to-reach-simple-life-at-camp-lining-up-for-private-jets.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha29
(Actually, the article is about how many MORE people are taking private jets to summer camp. Rough life out there with Obama destroying the country.)
Check this out:
http://www.americanselect.org
This could be America’s first directly nominated presidential ticket.
Re: #20
Nope!
IMHO, it would be akin some Democrats are using Sarah Palin as a symbol of political divisiveness and a cause the assassination attempt of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — just political sophism.
ONTH, see: http://tinyurl.com/3pok4pk
**
Far right domestic terrorism on par with foreign threat, experts say
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 25, 2011 4:12 p.m. EDT
(CNN) — The threat of domestic terrorist attacks in the United States similar to last week’s fatal bombing and assault in Norway is significant and growing, analysts said Monday.
The greatest threat of large-scale attacks come from individuals and small groups of extremists who subscribe to radical Islamic or far right-wing ideologies, said Gary LaFree, director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START.
While extremist animal rights and environmental groups also pose threats, those groups either have not tended to seek to kill or have only targeted individuals, according to researchers.
SNIP
**
OTOH, ignoring the threat is foolish, IMHO.
We also should not blame Muslims living in New York City for Osama Bin Laden. Or all Somali refugees everywhere for the fact that Somalia has pirates.
Wealthy people can fret about whether to charter a plane to get their kids to and from summer camp, but poor people dare not worry about whether they are able to get safely to and from the grocery store. Got it.
What ever happened to mood rings?
http://tinyurl.com/3fzcu83
.
.
Don’t remember where I first heard this, but I think this might well be something for many bloggers to consider and contemplate about.
“An old Cherokee told his grandson, “My son, there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies, & ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, & truth.” The boy thought about it, and… asked, “Grandfather, which wolf wins?” The old man quietly replied,. “The one you feed”.
Lori, we streamed them all on Netflix and I thought they were great – I liked the books too. I find that after a couple of minutes the brain adapts great to the subtitles…you barely realize you’re not hearing what you’re reading.
I liked how the 40-something editor of the magazine was actually a 40-something actress. I’m sure that in the American version it will be Scarlet Johannsen or something.
Gdad, that article was hilarious.
Was watching “fair and balanced” yeterday to see how they would spin the
Norway shooting spree. Their coverage began with the stttement that the Norway shooter “apparently” was claiming to be some right wing anti-muslim fundamentalist. The three talking heads then proceeded to spend
the next five minutes talking about Muslim terrorists and attacks in Palestine, Afhghanistan, , etc. and said not one more word about the Norway attacker or his agenda.
Eric writes: “@9 so you are going to blame Americans for this wacko in Norway? Rubbish. Evil and hate exists everywhere in the world. Don’t be so naive.”
I’m not blaming anyone. I’m simply pointing out that in a world where violent minds are a dime a dozen, all this political posturing and talk of seclusion and inequality just adds fuel to the fire.
Everyone gets their ideas from somewhere… we don’t live in a vacuum. If the world is filled with hatred, our children will learn to hate. If the world is peaceful and we willingly co-exist with those of different religions and nationalities then our children will learn to be accepting and kind.
Our distrust of Muslims has been fueled by our fear. I’ve always been taught that the best way to overcome fear is to confront it. Obama had the right idea when he suggested we sit down and talk with our enemies. We see how quickly that was shot down.
Yes, there will always be evil people in the world, people who want to hurt others simply for the sake of who they are or what they believe.
Americans hold on to just as much hate and bigotry as those in other cultures… Just because we don’t pick up guns and bombs and kill the ones we hate, does that make us any better than the ones who do?
Oh… wait….
“Our distrust of Muslims has been fueled by our fear. I’ve always been taught that the best way to overcome fear is to confront it. Obama had the right idea when he suggested we sit down and talk with our enemies. We see how quickly that was shot down.”
Well that didn’t work. Did it?
What have Muslims done to earn our trust? Has Iran stopped trying to get the bomb? Did Hamas make peace with Israel? Oh and the way they treat women “Very Humane”. Are the “majority” of terrorists worldwide Muslim? They sure as hell aren’t Jews, Christians, Catholics and Hindus.
““Muslim-American organizations and the vast majority of individuals that we interviewed firmly reject the radical extremist ideology that justifies the use of violence to achieve political ends“.
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/01/06/muslim.radicalization.study/
Why does any Muslim have to “earn our trust”? Do you hold every Italian or Sicilian responsible for the Mafia? Do you hold every Priest responsible for the pedophiles? Do you hold all of the Irish and British responsible for terrorism in Belfast? What a load of crap from people who constantly seem to create the stuff! You SAY individuals are responsible but then hold entire classes of people responsible for what they abhor, fight, ran from or deny. How very American of you!
I’m waiting for someone on our blog to explain to Breivik and the Norwegians that he is mistaken….he is in fact a LW liberal godless Communist, not the RW Christian is purports to be.
Sandi’s post is correct. No Muslim has to “earn” anything from us. They all merit the same presumption of innocence we’d accord anyone else from any other faith. Even fundamentalist Christians.
Religion of Peace? You go right ahead and trust em.
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/Quran-Hate.htm
http://articles.latimes.com/2005/may/19/local/me-koran19
http://www.jewishmag.com/53mag/islamtruth/islamtruth.htm
I do, I will and thank you for your permission Eric! That the “Christian” terrorist in Norway has perverted Christian belief and doctrine you are more than ready to admit, but Islam has to be blamed for every “Muslin” terrorist. You are too fair by half. There are over 1.5 BILLION peaceful, good, devout, humble and non radical, non fundamental and non terrorist Muslims you have no right to insult, blame or malign. Unless you are willing to accept the same and I think we all know better.
Were the Abu Ghraib guards good Christians?
Was the torture of Gitmo detainees Christian behavior?
Is blowing up children and civilians Christian ideals in action?
Don’t throw a blanket you are not willing to wear!
It would be possible for someone who was not acquainted with Christianity or Judaism, and just happened to come upon the Bible and read the Old Testament, to walk away thinking that Christians and Jews must be sadistic, violent people. They could pick out passages from Exodus and Leviticus that prove that Christians are perfectly fine with stoning people to death and killing innocent women and children over a piece of land (after all God instructed Moses to do just that). And that women are not to speak in church and are to be subservient to their husbands. And slaughtering animals for sacrifice is a normal and necessary act.
The truth is you would be hard put to find a self-proclaimed Christian who still follows any of those ancient biblical examples (the ones that do, we call extremists). Picking passages out of the Quran to try to prove a point about ALL people who practice Islam is just as misleading.
From Eric’s first link: http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/Quran-Hate.htm
“While rumors of a Quran desecration or a Muhammad cartoon bring out deadly protests, riots, arson and effigy-burnings, the mass murder of non-Muslims generally evokes yawns. In the six years following 9/11 more than 10,000 acts of deadly Islamic terrorism were perpetrated, yet all of them together fail to provoke the sort of outrage on the part of most Muslims that the mere mention of Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo inspires.
This critical absence of moral perspective puzzles many Westerners…”
Isn’t the same true in reverse?
Eric, are you outraged by attacks on non-Muslims? And are you equally outraged by Guantanamo? Would the burning of a Quran upset you the same as the burning of a Bible?
Sandi & VT Hokie: yep and yep.
I don’t think Timothy McVeigh or the Unabomber were Muslims. I doubt any of the IRA bombers from years ago were Muslims – you get crazy people or killers from every walk of life.
Religion of Peace?
“You must destroy all the nations the Lord your God hands over to you. Show them no mercy and do not worship their gods. If you do, they will trap you. Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’ But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt. Remember the great terrors the Lord your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the amazing power he used when he brought you out of Egypt. The Lord your God will use this same power against the people you fear. And then the Lord your God will send hornets to drive out the few survivors still hiding from you! “No, do not be afraid of those nations, for the Lord your God is among you, and he is a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once, for if you did, the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you. But the Lord your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into complete confusion until they are destroyed. He will put their kings in your power, and you will erase their names from the face of the earth. No one will be able to stand against you, and you will destroy them all.” (Deuteronomy 7:16-24)
Killing people who have different beliefs is okay, even expected. If you don’t do it, better prepare to suffer the wrath.
“When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are all more powerful than you. When the Lord your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them, and don’t let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters. They will lead your young people away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will destroy you.” (Deuteronomy 7:1-4)
Within the first link Eric gives, another link is referenced: http://www.politicalislam.com/blog/statistics-and-the-meaning-of-islam/
Here we learn that the Quran (or Koran) is not the only Islamic text, and moreover, not even the most important.
“The most commonly belief about Islam is that it is based upon the Koran and is a religion. Neither of these ideas is true.
How important is the Koran? It contains about 153,000 words. The Sira (by Ibn Ishaq) contains about 292,000 words, and the Hadith has 646,000 words (using the Bukhari text). So Allah is about 14% of the total of the Trilogy and the Sunna (Mohammed’s words and deeds) is 86% of the total. These are only a quantitative measure, but still, it points out how important Mohammed is compared to Allah, based upon the amount of text.
This is born out further by noticing that the Koran does not contain enough information to practice even one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Only the Sunna (primarily the Hadith for religious practice) tells the Muslim how to worship.”
Not too different from the fact that Christianity is based on two texts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. One teaches that God is angry, vengeful, and to be feared; the other teaches that God is kind, loving, and that we should show the same kindness and compassion to others. Which of these do most Christians prefer to identify with?
And while we’re at it, what exactly are the Five Pillars of Islam?
http://www.islam101.com/dawah/pillars.html
The ‘Five Pillars’ of Islam are the foundation of Muslim life:
1. Faith or belief in the Oneness of God and the finality of the
prophethood of Muhammad;
2. Establishment of the daily prayers;
3. Concern for and almsgiving to the needy;
4. Self-purification through fasting; and
5. The pilgrimage to Makkah for those who are able.
No mention of killing infidels….apparently one can practice Islam without preparing daily for a holy war.
Eric Rudolph was not Muslim either.
Eric’s strategy (and he’s not alone) in explaining away abberant behavior by Christians is to disclaim them completely. Meanwhile, every time a Muslims jaywalks, he’s emblematic of the entire Muslim population. It’s ridiculous.
There probably are no “religions of peace” except maybe Buddhism.
“Eric’s strategy (and he’s not alone) in explaining away abberant behavior by Christians is to disclaim them completely.”
Kristen, concealed carry permit holders do this routinely. When you point out a not-so-great moment in the annals of concealed carry, they exclaim, “he broke the law!” almost as if that person should never have had a permit in the first place. Despite their support for laws that helped said person get that permit.
Kristen writes: “There probably are no “religions of peace” except maybe Buddhism.”
I don’t think Buddhists refer to their spiritual practice as a religion. It’s more of a philosophy. In fact, Buddhism welcomes people from all faiths to practice their principles.
There’s a Zen story in which a professor visited a Japanese master to inquire about Zen. The master served tea. When the visitor’s cup was full, the master kept pouring. Tea spilled out of the cup and over the table.
“The cup is full!” said the professor. “No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” said the master, “You are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
Like the visitor, I believe we have all become so mired in our own opinions and beliefs that we have no room to consider that there may be ideas or opinions from those of a different belief (religiously, politically, etc) which might be worth consideration. Do any of us (myself included) really listen to one other or are we all just too anxious to make our point… and be right?
This is so typical and so disgusting, no wonder there are so many people like Eric:
“Friday night on The O’Reilly Factor, guest host Laura Ingraham did a brief report on the terrorist attacks that killed dozens of people in Norway. She began by saying, “In the ‘Back of the Book’ segment tonight, two deadly terror attacks in Norway, in what appears to be the work, once again, of Muslim extremists.” She went on to describe the attacks, which involved a bombing in Oslo and a mass shooting.”
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201107230001
Ed Schultz was right about her!
@45
Well Kristen, you’d think Buddhism might be a pretty safe bet but I ran across this today:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-monk-sex-cases-20110724,0,7057292,full.story
Buddhist monks having their way with kids, and just like the other BIG denomination where this has been a problem, they seem no to want to own up to it.
VT Hokie, you’re right. The Old Testament is full of violence, hatred and extreme intolerance. “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”
Jesus was New Testament, and he was all about tolerance, love for your enemy, etc. “But I tell you, love your enemies”.
You know the weird thing though? So many people who claim to be Christians seem to exhibit more of the Old Testament instead. There weren’t Christians in the OT though, because “Christian” derives from the Greek word Christ- to be Christlike. So maybe these people should call themselves the “OTs” instead of Christians. Although then other people might think that stands for “Over-the-Top”.
Excellent points VT Hokie and Magpie!
@ VT Hokie You did know the Koran’s first 5 books are the same as The Bible and The Torah. Deuteronomy is book number 5.
@ Dan I don’t have a strategy to defend Christians or God. God can handle his own battles better than I can and Christians should be in their bibles learning. “Demonic Christians” is an oxymoron. Just like “Liberal Christian” or “intelligent republican” are oxymorons LOL!
For the concealed carry holders comment didn’t you Dan say you have one?
William Ayers Obama’s buddy isn’t a Muslim. He’s an admitted, convicted terrorist and can’t even get into Canada. Heh
The guy in Norway is evil and I find it appalling that someone who has committed such a heinous act could be released from prison in 21 years. It also angers me to see some on the left in the media and on this blog to use his beliefs to simply bash Americans and Christians and paint them in a negative manner.
I do know that a majority of the worlds terrorists are Muslim. That is fact. Why is it that a majority of terrorists are Muslim?
If I choose not to associate or trust them that’s my choice, if that makes me a bigot or racist well I have been called worse. Sticks and Stones… you know the rest. To say I demonize a group of people is ridiculous. I’d be willing to bet those who are critical of my comments have no Muslim friends let alone have been to a Mosque or read the whole Koran or bothered to learn anything about them. Go to the Mosque in Bedford, VA and see what type of reception you get.
PS
Obviously my participation on this blog is not wanted. It appears the opposing or conservative point of view is not welcome. So I bid you farewell. And please send me a farewell comment preferably a pithy one.
Eric, don’t go.
And please, explain how you know that a majority of the world’s terrorists are Muslim? And even if they are, what does it mean? A majority of the world’s nuns are women, but so are a majority of the world’s strippers, and I doubt you can draw any conclusions from either.
#52 Eric,
A parting thought I hope you’ll keep in mind in your future endeavors; I went to school with a lady who was a practicing Muslim. She graduated at the top of our class and was an excellent mother to her two intelligent and charming daughters. The highest compliment that I could pay to my dear friend was that I’d rather have neighbors like her than someone who shared your views.
“Fascism will come wrapped in a flag and carrying a Bible.”
Sinclair Lewis 1935
It angers me to see some on the right, and in the right-wing media and on this blog use terrorists to simply bash Islam and Muslims and paint them in a negative manner! Eric, your views are just as welcome to some of us as ours are to you, that much is patently obvious.
Eric-
“The guy in Norway is evil and I find it appalling that someone who has committed such a heinous act could be released from prison in 21 years.”
Stop spreading this crap. The Norwegian justice system has a specific policy giving judges discretion to keep people incarcerated for indefinite periods if they are perceived to be a danger to society. This knucklehead will never be free again.
“The Norwegian justice system has a specific policy giving judges discretion to keep people incarcerated for indefinite periods if they are perceived to be a danger to society. This knucklehead will never be free again.”
Like Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan.
Jason, welcome back! Hope you are well.
Re: #52
Although I have not done a line by line comparison, as I understand it the Koran’s, The Bible and The Torah versions of those books are not quite the same. Yes, the Torah and the Koran have many similarities, however there are quite a few differences, IIRC.
For example, IIRC, in the Koran Abraham goes against his father leaving idols and all that was familiar behind. However, in the Torah it is Terah, Abraham’s father, who leaves Ur and goes toward Canaan. According to Jewish tradition, Terah was an idol maker. After Terah died, God called Abraham, then called Abram, away from his family, home, etc.
In the Koran, it is Pharaoh’s wife who draws Moses from the river. In the Torah it is Pharaoh’s daughter.
In the Torah, the men chosen to carry out God’s will were sinful and often skeptical or doubters. In the Koran the men who were prophets were portrayed as knowing with full knowledge and acceptance.
In the Koran, if two men were found together, they would be given the chance to repent. OTOH, according to the Torah, if two men were caught in improper relations, both were to be stoned.