Norway and terrorism as a daily event.
In the West, we seem to have at least a double standard when it comes to violence and mayhem. When violence and mayhem involves People Who Look Like Us (“us” in this case generally translating to: ethnically European/white, not-poor, citizens of a Western-style democracy) — we experience society-wide woe. When it involves People Who Don’t [...]
...read moreThe Man Who Hated Women
Shocker: Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik is a racist and a misogynist, and his shooting rampage was inspired by his hatred of women, Muslims, and brown people. He uses a lot of the same tropes as Men’s Rights activists. He was encouraged by anti-Islam bloggers in the United States who routinely warn of the “Islamicization” [...]
...read moreCowardice
The trial of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the man who is accused of plotting the September 11th attacks, will be held before a military commission in Guantanamo Bay instead of in federal court. Why? Because apparently the American criminal justice system is too soft to adequately try a terrorist — a view that is stunningly insulting [...]
...read moreNew York politician opens hearing on Muslims
Well, Peter King will definitely be getting his name in the history books in the chapter on post-9/11 racism and fear-mongering. I’d like to think we learned something from McCarthyism and Japanese internment and other uglier-than-even-usual periods in our history, but I guess not. (Surprising? No. Disgusting? Yes). It’s appalling that a United States congressman [...]
...read moreRape, Trauma, and Terrorism
Jessica Stern had an incredible op-ed in the Washington Post yesterday. Stern is a noted expert on terrorism and national security, and is a lecturer at Harvard and served on Bill Clinton’s National Security Council. But in her piece yesterday, she talks about the violent rape she was a victim of in 1973 – and [...]
...read moreAnti-Choice Dems Receive Death Threats From Pro-Lifers
Oh the irony. This isn’t surprising, given the far-right’s habit of threatening and sometimes carrying out violence against those they disagree with; it is particularly predictable given the anti-choice movement’s reliance on violence and intimidation. This is what radicals in the anti-choice movement do — they threaten people, they scream outside of clinics, they yell [...]
...read moreIntentionally flying planes into buildings because you don’t like a particular government: Terrorism or no? Let’s debate.
Newsweek editors and reporters discuss the use of the word “terrorist” and essentially conclude that it’s mostly applicable to foreigners with beards. The conversation is an off-shoot of the story of the IRS “protestor” (as the Wall Street Journal designated him) who flew his plane into an IRS building because he didn’t like paying taxes. [...]
...read moreThe Washington Post or The Onion?
“Bin Laden blasts U.S. for climate change” My favorite part: The change in rhetoric aims to give al-Qaida’s message an appeal beyond hardcore Islamic militants, said Evan Kohlmann, of globalterroralert.com, a private, U.S.-based terrorism analysis group. “It’s a bridge issue,” Kohlmann said. “They are looking to appeal to people who don’t necessarily love al-Qaida but [...]
...read moreRoeder, voluntary manslaughter and the future of anti-abortion terrorism
I will write more about this later as time allows, but the judge in the Scott Roeder case — Roeder is the man who shot abortion provider George Tiller at Tiller’s church — has ruled that Roeder may present a case for voluntary manslaughter instead of murder. Voluntary manslaughter is a less serious crime than [...]
...read moreSo basically we’re all going to die
Because our airports are run by dingbats. Here’s what happened at Newark airport yesterday (thank Zeus I flew into LaGuardia): 1. Man walks through “Do Not Enter” doors, into a secure part of the airport terminal without going through security. 2. The security guard manning the doors apparently ignores him 3. A passenger sees the [...]
...read moreNew Restrictions
Call me cynical, but this “you cannot pee within an hour of landing” seems a bit… simplistic. I mean, yeah, deter people from blowing shit up. But when you’re making the decision between blowing shit up an hour before landing verus two hours before landing, you have failed. And yes, I understand that the majority [...]
...read moreTime To Fire Ross Douthat, round 4095
Shorter Ross Douthat: Europe wasn’t racist enough, and so now they should be worried about the brown hordes. After arguing that European nations should have done more to restrict Muslim immigration, he concludes that while the end of the West is not near, there is still much to be fearful of: This is cold comfort, [...]
...read more
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