Most disturbing news of the week: 40 Al Qaeda terrorists-in-training at a camp in Algeria have died of the Bubonic Plague. Now, the plague is endemic in Algeria, so it's possible they were simply victims of hazard. Or it's possible that they were victims of something much more sinister.

Fucking hilarious:

"What is interesting is the fact that he would want to do this. And you see that since his election he has kind of reached out to people that may not be ideological allies, to Rick Warren, the pastor who will be at his inaugural, to John McCain, whom he has treated with a lot of dignity and respect, and to a bunch of right wing ( Read more... )

There's a new report on the effect of African Americans on the passage of California's Prop 8 last November. The conclusions, as summarized by Ta-Nehisi Coats:

1.) The (oft-cited) 70 percent figure for black support of Prop 8 is wildly overblown, and in conflict with all the other polling done. The study concludes that 58 percent is a more likely ( Read more... )

A couple of you have probably noticed that I've essentially abandoned my politics LJ (politicam). It got to be a hassle. However, Google Reader essentially automatically creates an RSS feed of articles I click (though it unfortunately doesn't let you sort by tag unless you're reading it through a Google account - though, if you already use Google ( Read more... )

The president-elect argued that with the economy reeling, his incoming administration could not afford to worry about a spiralling budget deficit. (Link.)

Yes, but... can he afford not to worry about the deficit?
I mean, yeah, massive government spending got us out of the Depression... but our deficit wasn't 7% of GDP then either. I mean, just think ( Read more... )

Members of India's restive urban middle class have vented their anger and frustration over the attacks by denouncing the entire political class for the failure to protect them. Politicians have been lampooned and abused on the streets and on TV, in newspaper columns, text-message campaigns and blogs, and on the social networking sites Orkut and ( Read more... )

Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni on Thursday proposed a moratorium on the building of mosques in the wake of arrests on Tuesday of two Moroccans suspected of plotting terrorist attacks.

That really says it all about Europe's approach to Islam, terrorism, and racism.

I must say, I am incredibly impressed at how the Bush administration is handling the transition. Oh, I'm impressed at the Obama side too, but that's less remarkable. If anything confirms for me that, however misguidedly, Bush has been doing his genuine level best as he knew it for the country as President, this does. Ensuring as smooth a transition ( Read more... )

The Atlantic has a decent piece on the background/consequences of the Mumbai attacks.

The immediate result of the Mumbai terror attacks will be a further hardening of inter-communal relations within India. The latest attacks will also increase the likelihood that in national elections slated for early 2009, the result will be a BJP-led government, ( Read more... )

As of 4:42pm EST, according to the New York Time's The Lede:
-The most recent casualty count: 125 dead and 327 wounded. Authorities also say a dozen attackers are dead.
-Multiple civilians appear to be trapped at the three locations where standoffs between gunmen and security services continue. It is unknown if they are hostages, trapped by fire or ( Read more... )