What happens after ISIS falls?

Buying nukes on the Black Market

Gains

Imperium

Harry Potter grows up and joins the white supremacist movement. Worth a watch.

A thoroughly British reflection on the terror threat

"Our approach to Muslims is no different because these attacks purport to be committed in the name of Islam. We don't stigmatise the millions of British Muslims whose values and faith completely reject the terrorists' litany of hate. We are a nation that accepts difference but builds communities with shared values. We should be proud of that - it is another reason why the UK is a hostile environment for those intent on murderous terrorism. It means that the vigilance of our officers is backed-up by millions more eyes and ears. These are whole communities united in defeating terrorism."

An interesting article by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, on the terror threat to the UK. Full article HERE. 

Things aren't going so well for ISIS these days, evidently

I've thought for a while that applying the old Roman practice of damnatio memoriae would be the most appropriate way to deal with ISIS. How satisfying it would be for any "legacy" they hope to achieve to be wiped from the world's collective memory, so that nobody even remembers who they were in twenty years. All of their "martyrdom" and death would have resulted in a sum total of nothing. Not the most inspiring legacy for the disaffected youth of the future. 

They've finally lost Fallujah, and have been taking heavy losses from the air during their retreat (see below). Mosul is next on the list. 

Here's to hoping the "72 virgins" scenario plays out like this for a couple of people in particular today

Poor Belgium. This article pretty much captures my feelings about the whole thing.

Just another normal day in America

(via here)

No real surprises here

(via here)

Vive la liberte indeed

All political arguments aside ("tragedy hipsters"etc etc...), what a nightmare this must have been.

A few months ago I linked to a good article by The Atlantic about the underlying intentions of a group like ISIS (in part, creating the conditions - through increasing tension and mistrust between Muslims and non-Muslims - for an apocalyptic "good vs. evil" conflict from which "true believers" would emerge). So it's good, I think, to see that the general response in the wake of the Paris attacks has been to encourage more understanding and compassion across social and cultural lines, rather than less. There's also been a recognition that while there will always be a small, bigoted, murderous fraction of the population, they'll always be far outnumbered by the lawful and free majority.

As an aside, here's to hoping Eagles of Death Metal can return to this some time in the future:

The challenge of the Islamic State

What ISIS really wants

An interesting article from The Atlantic.

More or less captures my thoughts on all the drama in France at the moment.

'murrica!

Patton Oswalt

"Boston. Fucking horrible. 

I remember, when 9/11 went down, my reaction was, "Well, I've had it with humanity."

But I was wrong. I don't know what's going to be revealed to be behind all of this mayhem. One human insect or a poisonous mass of broken sociopaths.

But here's what I DO know. If it's one person or a HUNDRED people, that number is not even a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population on this planet. You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. (Thanks FAKE Gallery founder and owner Paul Kozlowski for pointing this out to me). This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, "The good outnumber you, and we always will.""

(from here, spotted here)