When I was in college, I took a year-long survey course in art history. We began with a deep dive into Greek and Roman art, and then lingered long and hard on the cathedrals of Europe, particularly the Gothic variety. … Continue reading →
It’s such a familiar story. After acts of terrorism (or even non-terrorist mass shootings) we hear one of two refrains: he (or she, but it’s almost always a “he”) was a quiet and regular guy and no one saw it … Continue reading →
In all the furor over the New York bombings and the capture of the suspect-at-large, let’s not forget the Minnesota mall stabbings: The man who stabbed nine people at a Minnesota mall before an off-duty police officer fatally shot him … Continue reading →
Ahmad Khan Rahami, a man suspected in connection with the recent New York and New Jersey bombings, has been captured after a shootout with police in New Jersey: The FBI had earlier released a wanted poster for the 28-year-old Rahami, … Continue reading →
This story could be turned into a movie. It already seems like a movie in terms of the distance, and the timing of the rescue: A sharpshooter killed a top ISIS executioner and three other jihadists with a single bullet … Continue reading →
[NOTE: This is an updated version of an earlier post.] On 9/11’s 10th anniversary I wrote a post that contained this observation: For those of us who were grownups when 9/11 happened, it’s also been transmuted””not to something that was … Continue reading →
We’ve grown used to criticizing Europe’s intelligence and police systems for letting homegrown or home-dwelling jihadis slip through the cracks. But it’s not easy to deal with this problem, not at all, while attempting to keep the countries themselves from … Continue reading →
Worth reading: Though the internecine conflicts wracking the Arab world ensure the war against the Islamic State is hardly a war on Islam, the jihadis are bent on a clash of civilizations. And by martyring French Catholics who are Old … Continue reading →
A woman was killed and five others (two women, three men) injured in a stabbing attack in London’s Russell Square: [Officials] called the incident a “random attack” with mental health issues at the heart of it. Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, … Continue reading →
It’s always hard to know what protests represent, because the crowds in the streets are always a very small percentage of a population. The real question is always: how many people sympathize with the protesters, and how many don’t? And … Continue reading →
Adel Kermiche, the young ISIS sympathizer in France who killed an 84-year old priest by slitting his throat as he performed mass, previously had been detained for wishing to go to Syria. Kermiche was also wearing electronic monitoring, so the … Continue reading →
The latest atrocity committed by ISIS followers/admirers/members in France had an overtly religious target: Francois Hollande says France is at war with ISIS after two Islamist knifemen butchered a French priest and left a nun fighting for her life before … Continue reading →