perfidy

For the week ending 8Nov04

Spotlight Thailand: Another week, another lost head. This time, assed-up radicals in Thailand took the head of a village official in revenge for several Muslims killed in protests last week. That there might be a connection between previous similar rioting, attempts to seize police weapons earlier in the month, and a harsh backlash by Thai police and soldiery was lost on the vengeance-seekers.

Spotlight Die Nederlaender: Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was brutally killed in broad daylight in Amsterdam. The killing was done to exact revenge on Van Gogh for a film of his that is hrashly critical of certain aspects of Islam. Surprisingly enough, the perpetrators of the crime (admitted radical Muslims) did NOT- I repeat, NOT- cut his head off. But they DID leave a couple knives in the bullet-ridden body, one of which pinned a note of Koranic verse to the dead man's chest. What's Arabic for, "blugh"?

Spotlight Taiwan: It's well established that previous attempts to convert lions to Christianity in public arena-type settings have met with consistent, and gory, failure. An intrepid zealot in Taipei, however, thought he'd take animal proselytization into the Third Millenium. His modern take on the issue did yield some benefit, as instead of being torn to pieces he was merely mauled about the arms and legs, so the Church is voicing cautious optimism. The lions in question refused comment.

Spotlight New Jersey: A Jersey Air National Guard pilot on a night training flight put 25 rounds of 20mm training ammo into an elementary school three and a half miles from the range. First, more training appears to be needed. Second, was it really an accident, or evidence of the Air Force's new anti-school munition? If the latter, double extra training is needed as the rounds barely penetrated the roof.

Spotlight Virginia: George Mason University's Associate Director of Equity and Diversity Services is a pervert. Not only did he have an ongoing relationship with a boy (which started when the boy was 16), the guy made child porn vids of his other liasons and later tried to leverage the vids for extortion money. He was arrested after being found unconscious in a DC motel. Some Mason students report that they would be "uneasy about approaching his office if they needed help with sexual harassment issues."

Spotlight Tejas: A 17-year-old boy from Mexico, staying with relatives in Texas, killed one cousin (age 10), slashed three other cousins AND their mother, then fled. Two of the victims remain in critical condition. Police said "some of the victims looked like they were trying to find places to hide" from the rampaging kid. And what was the cause of this gruesome display? The family accused the boy of using drugs. DARE- to keep kids from knifing their entire family.

Spotlight Freedom Hating Northeast: Johno submits that nothing's funnier than combining jokes about secession with jokes about illegal settlements and security fences in the context of Red Sox Nation!! Sneering liberal condescention, Sneering Northeast provincialism, and sneering equal-oppo Antisemitism and Antipalestinian derision... that's some kinda trifecta.