I have to cop to a failure here: on Tuesday, when I tried to very superficially summarize the Panama Papers leak, I noted that the two biggest stories coming out of the document dump so far were the revelations about Vladimir Putin's potentially massive illicit financial network and the resignation of Iceland's prime minister. But … Continue reading Corrections, 10 Downing Street Edition

I kind of went on a hiatus from the blog there, didn't I? That was unplanned; when I said I wasn't going to be blogging as much I didn't mean "not at all." I think I just needed a break. Anyway, while I was away I wrote a couple of things that might be of … Continue reading I’ve been writing stuff

People who lived through the 1980s will understand the title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-NshzYK9y0 The big story for the past couple of days has been the massive leak of the so-called "Panama Papers," a trove of records exposing sketchy financial dealings by people who have more money and political stroke than you or me. You can find any … Continue reading Model citizen, zero discipline

First off, Happy Easter to those who are celebrating it today (Orthodox Christians won't celebrate it until May 1). Unfortunately, Easter Sunday has been turned into a horror story for people living in the Pakistani city of Lahore: A suicide bomber killed at least 65 people and injured more than 280 others, mostly women and … Continue reading Easter nightmare in Pakistan

Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the Maalbeek metro station and Zaventem airport in Brussels killed 34 people (including three perpetrators) and injured another 300, many critically. This was the worst violence that Belgium has seen since the Second World War. It was a despicable act, and many of us here in the US have expressed and … Continue reading Talking about the thing we never talk about

The terrorist attack on the Zeventem Airport in Brussels yesterday targeted one of the softest spots in the entire transportation system: the security queue at any major airport. Our "shoes off, belt off, take out your laptop, measure your liquids, put your left foot in and shake it all about" security screening process creates another … Continue reading Security theater in action

Terrorist bombings at a subway station in Maalbeek and at Zaventem Airport have killed at least 34 people and injured another 170. Two bombs, at least one of which is believed to have been a suicide bombing, struck the airport early this morning, and an hour later another bomb hit the subway station. There are … Continue reading Terror attacks in Brussels kill at least 34, story developing

First off, belated Nowruz greetings to all of you. As people learn more about Iran I find that there are more and more Nowruz "explainers" out there for people to read, though I'm still partial to the one I wrote back in 2013. This one from NPR is nice, though. Today is also the 13th … Continue reading Nowruz, and the Iraq War at 13

Mosul Dam, which was never structurally sound to begin with, depends on constant maintenance in order to keep it in one piece. Because Iraq is at war with ISIS and is run by a government that's unable to accomplish even the more critically urgent tasks either out of incompetence or political gridlock, that maintenance isn't … Continue reading A completely avoidable catastrophe

Yes, I'm writing this so I don't have to pay attention to the Republican debate. Sue me. This is a few weeks old, but I've been meaning to flag Dexter Filkins's January 22 New Yorker piece on the Pakistani Taliban (the Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan or TTP), perpetrators of many terrorist attacks including the December 2014 … Continue reading Pakistani Taliban, Pakistani problem