There's a frequent complaint that you run into anytime something violent happens anymore, and it revolves around when and why we designate something as "terrorism." Words are often imprecise things, and their meanings can evolve over time, so a lot of times people will throw terms like "terrorism" around because it feels like they apply … Continue reading Words and how we use them

I think you can make a strong case that it's David M. King of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the named plaintiff in the King v. Burwell case that is giving the Supreme Court another bite at the "gut healthcare reform" apple. Why, you ask? Well, this is why: But Mr. King said that he was … Continue reading The Worst Person in America

Tal Abyad sits right along the Turkish-Syrian border in Syria's Raqqa Province, which has been ISIS's base of operations in Syria for two years now (the provincial capital, the city of Raqqa, is ISIS's "capital city," inasmuch as an unrecognized "state" can be said to have a capital). ISIS has controlled the city and its … Continue reading ISIS and the Turks (!) take a hit in northern Syria

JEB knows you can't just listen to any old yahoo when it comes to climate change: “I hope I’m not going to get castigated for saying this by my priest back home, but I don’t get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinal or my pope,” the former Florida governor said. “I think religion … Continue reading Republicans suddenly care about credentials, sort of

With roughly two weeks still to go before they reach their June 30 deadline, negotiators in Vienna are already talking about an extension, so that ought to give you some idea how far apart the two sides still are in drafting a comprehensive agreement (and even if they're just posturing, they're posturing for a reason). … Continue reading Iran talks slipping into old habits

Egypt's first and arguably only democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, had his death sentence confirmed today by an Egyptian court, right after it sentenced him to life in prison on separate espionage charges. He's been sentenced to death for plotting jailbreaks and attacks on police during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak … Continue reading From president to death row

A couple of weeks ago, Al Jazeera published a report that alleged that the former Yemeni government of Ali Abdullah Saleh supported Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP),  that it knew about and possibly even coordinating AQAP's 2008 attack on the US embassy in Sanaa and a 2007 attack on Spanish tourists there. The allegation … Continue reading Al Jazeera alleges that AQAP’s new leader may have been a Saleh mole

Shane Harris, who writes for The Daily Beast, wrote a piece that was published Sunday night about being approached to write an anti-US/anti-Israel piece for a conference being held by a group in Iran that might have ties to the Iranian government. It's an interesting read, but totally overblown and all because it has to … Continue reading Examining “Iran Derangement Syndrome,” me at LobeLog

Writing about alleged terrorist deaths means being ready to retract what you've written if, as happens pretty frequently, the report of their death turns out to be wrong. One minute you're talking about Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri kicking the bucket, the next his organization is releasing new recordings that may (but also may not!) be him … Continue reading One terrorist probably dead, another probably not

The Sunday Times published a big bombshell (here's the full text) yesterday, reporting that Edward Snowden's cache of documents has been decrypted by Russian and Chinese officials, and that MI6 agents have actually been pulled out of ongoing operations because their identities are now compromised. It's a story that, if it's true, has enormous ramifications … Continue reading The Sunday Times’ Snowden story has some…problems