My friend Rina in Mumbai wrote an article for Reuters about the clean-up after last week’s carnage. I was worried about her so I’m glad she’s safe and trying to help us make sense of this mess.

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Mumbai on Sunday mopped up the streets where Islamist gunmen rampaged and killed nearly 200 people over three days, while Indian anger over the attack’s alleged Pakistani links threatened the nuclear rivals’ ties.

Anger at the intelligence failure and delayed response to the attacks on two of the best-known luxury hotels and other landmarks in India’s financial capital prompted Home Minister Shivraj Patil to submit his resignation.

Newspaper editorials and commentaries blasted politicians for failing to prevent the attacks and for taking advantage of its fallout before elections on Delhi on Saturday and national polls due by May.

China’s Andy Rooney Has Some Funny Opinions About How Great The Chinese Government Is

A little “Kids Don’t Stand a Chance,” a little “Oxford Comma.” Nice.

For some reason I’m drawn to the story of Jonestown and after listening to and reading the stuff BB has been posting I’m starting to understand why. Jones was the embodiment of “charisma,” something that can poison opinions and destroy lives. He is the man in the middle who insinuates himself in places he doesn’t belong and, in a way, isn’t that what the devil always tries to be? A great line from LA Weekly sums him up:

Jones toyed with both medicine and the law but, after a brief phase as an itinerant salesman of pet monkeys, discovered his true vocation in God’s work.

Unable to handle monkeys, he turned to people.

I just found a mention of my book in QP magazine. The magazine also has a nice piece about the M-A by Thomas Byczkowski who I’m going to hit up in a minute about his research.