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 …

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. 
Just kidding. He totally thinks he rocked the last eight years: 
In an interview conducted earlier this month by his sister, Doro Bush Koch, Mr. Bush said he wanted …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

I’m very much a creature of habit, generally, and there’s a certain order of activity to Thanksgiving that I like to observe.
The day itself is for family, the night is spent with close friends, and the wee hours of the morning are spent with…
GACHAPIN ON ICE!

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all.

I love you, Rick Astley. I love you desperately. 
(Video quality is meh but it’s actually the best I could find) 

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 …

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.

something for horse, 8″ x 10″ …