The shortest and clearest answer to the question posed in the title is “Nobody knows.” To call the politics of South Asia “murky” is the understatement of the century.
The mainstream of opinion seems to prefer the theory that they were militant Islamists. Animesh Roul over at Counterterrorism Blog posits that they may have been Kashmiri militants (specifically Lashkar-e-Toiba) impersonating homegrown Indian jihadis (hence the “Deccan Mujahideen”, a group nobody had ever heard of, claiming responsibility).
However, there are others who believe that they were actually militant Hindus impersonating Islamists and therefore trying to inflame sentiment against Pakistan. To make your head spin a little more, it may also have been militant Islamists pretending to be militant Hindus pretending to be militant Islamists in an effort to frame militant Hindus.
The odds are that it may actually end up being some combination of all of the above. As Aaron Mannes puts it,
The reality is that the structures supporting this attack go beyond specific organizations.
In other words, the gunmen were most likely pawns, and the organization(s) from which they came and the networks that equipped them were most likely pawns as well.
In the final, lame duck days of his presidency, George W. Bush has been discussing his legacy. He’s been expressing regret for even entering the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, taking the blame for the country’s tarnished image overseas, acknowledging his poor hiring practices and suggesting ways that he might pay a penance for the damage he did to our nation and the world.
In an interview conducted earlier this month by his sister, Doro Bush Koch, Mr. Bush said he wanted to be remembered “as a person who, first and foremost, did not sell his soul in order to accommodate the political process.”
“I came to Washington with a set of values, and I’m leaving with the same set of values,” Mr. Bush said. “And I darn sure wasn’t going to sacrifice those values; that I was a President that had to make tough choices and was willing to make them. I surrounded myself with good people. I carefully considered the advice of smart, capable people and made tough decisions.”
In excerpts of the interview released by the White House, Mr. Bush did not explicitly mention the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks or the war in Iraq, which many would consider to be the defining moments of his presidency.
But he said he wanted to be known “as somebody who liberated 50 million people and helped achieve peace; that focused on individuals rather than process; that rallied people to serve their neighbor; that led an effort to help relieve HIV/AIDS and malaria on places like the continent of Africa; that helped elderly people get prescription drugs and Medicare as a part of the basic package; that came to Washington, D.C., with a set of political statements and worked as hard as I possibly could to do what I told the American people I would do.”
I bought my friend Chris Mediocre Clothing’s Missing Turtle T Shirt (pictured below) for his birthday earlier this year. Chris has never worn a graphic t shirt in the sixteen years I’ve known him but I thought his love of all things Ninja Turtles would make this garment irresistable. And it did. He wore it the day after I got it for him. While I didn’t actually wear it, I did look at it and can attest that the color is rich, the graphic is well done and the fabric is soft.
If Chris were here, he’d surely tell you to buy a shirt from Mediocre Clothing. Especially now that there’s a 20% off sale happening. How awesome is the sale? Why, it is so awesome that AWESOME is the discount code! (Seriously, enter that code during checkout if you want to save the money). The awesome AWESOME sale is running through Sunday night.
I’m a major fan of horror movies to the point that I rarely watch a movie that isn’t in that genre. But that wasn’t always the case. When I was ten, I saw two minutes of the original Night of the Living Dead (part of the graveyard scene) and didn’t sleep through the night for two months. I broke myself of the fear by watching every horror movie I could get my hands on, dealing with the emotional fallout until I eventually became desensitize to the frights (not- as the media would tell you- to violence in general).
“Are You Afraid of the Dark?”, a children’s show that started airing on Nickelodeon in 1991, scared the wits out of me when it first came on air. It centered around a group of children- dubbed The Midnight Society- that met at night in the woods to tell ghost stories that they could all visualize thanks to a magic powder that was thrown into the fire. Hi, non-subtle drug reference.
I recently rewatched an episode and even though it is obviously meant for pre-teens, it stands the test of time. And the intro still creeps me out a little:
If I were the sort of person to recommend that others watch totally illegal, bootlegged copies of shows online- and I’m not- I would mention that you can find full episodes of the show here.
I hope the shoppers at this Long Island Wal-Mart got a super good deal on their vacuum because otherwise trampling a man to death might have been in vain. Oh, and that pregnant lady? Shouldn’t have gotten between the throng and their digital camera discounts, right?
Nassau police said about 2,000 people were gathered outside the store doors at the mall about 20 miles east of Manhattan. The impatient crowd knocked the man to the ground as he opened the doors, leaving a metal portion of the frame crumpled like an accordion.
“This crowd was out of control,” said Nassau police spokesman Lt. Michael Fleming. He described the scene as “utter chaos.”
Shoppers stepped over man
Dozens of store employees trying to fight their way out to help the man were also getting trampled by the crowd, Fleming said. Witnesses said that even as the worker lay on the ground, shoppers streamed into the store, stepping over him.
Kimberly Cribbs, who witnessed the stampede, said shoppers were acting like “savages.”
“When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling ‘I’ve been on line since yesterday morning,’” she said. “They kept shopping.”
The 34-year-old man was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 6 a.m., police said. The exact cause of death has not been determined, and the man’s name was not released.
A 28-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital, where she and the baby were reported to be OK, said police Sgt. Anthony Repalone. At least three other people were taken to hospitals with minor injuries.
I very rarely venture into stores to begin with but I avoid them at all costs on Black Friday. The worst in human nature comes out in fairly enclosed settings. Granted, it normally doesn’t devolve into manslaughter but- having worked in retail for years- I’m not entirely surprised. I hope the authorities are able to file charges against the shoppers. What they did is akin to a hit and run.
There were three main points of conflict during the terrorist attacks in Mumbai: the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels and the Chabad House- a local headquarters for the Hasidic Jewish movement of the same name. Five have been found dead in the Chabad House. Included are two Americans: Alan Scherr, 58, and his 13 year old daughter, Naomi. The pair had traveled from Virginia to tour with a meditation group.
CNN currently has the overall death toll at 155 with 300 wounded. Authorities are still fighting one gunman inside the Taj but the Oberoi has been cleared. Thirty bodies have been discovered so far inside the Oberoi.
This is obviously a great tragedy for India and for the global community at large. It will be days- if not weeks or months- before we know who was behind the attack and what their motivations were. Best wishes of strength and perseverance are extended to those still in Mumbai and their families and friends.
Though my portion of the family isn’t hosting the Thanksgiving meal, I’ve been in the kitchen all morning and am currently coated in a thin layer of flour. I’ve got the bread in the oven, then I have to mix up the butter herb coating for the turkey I’m making for our household…it’s going to be a long day with a lot of eating.
It is a rare occasion that I actually follow a recipe exactly without modifying it to my liking. Actually, this might be the first time. But I got this on the Chow website and followed it mostly due to a lack of time and energy It is still in the oven but I’ve baked enough to know from the batter that it is going to be tasty.
It is a slightly sweet and moist bread, better for dessert (or breakfast tomorrow) than as a side to a meal It makes 8 to 10 servings but it might give you a better idea of the size to know that it bakes in a 9″ x 6″ pan.
1/2 cup whole pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat the oven to 350°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Coat a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan with butter and flour; tap out excess.
Combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl and whisk to aerate and break up any lumps; set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix sweet potato flesh, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until well combined, about 1 minute. Add butter and mix on low speed until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until fully incorporated, then mix in vanilla.
Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. On low speed add 1/2 of the flour mixture, then 1/4 cup of the milk. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and milk, mixing until just combined, about 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in nuts.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out on a wire rack to cool completely. The bread will last covered for up to 5 days.
The photography of Elle Moss has a bizarre effect on me. I want to stock a creepy little house on the end of a lane with her pictures and order something from UPS that needs a signature, so that when the delivery person arrives the door is cracked open and I get to follow them through the house peering at these unusual prints in the search for the missing resident. And then when I was bored I’d jump out wearing a horse-mask and say boo.
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