Barack Obama says that if he'd watched Fox New he would not have voted for himself either.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi, Obama took shots at the network, which is widely criticized for its negative coverage of Democrats. 

In discussing social media and traditional media outlets, Obama said that networks like Fox News have created “information silos,” where different groups of people are getting different information based on what they consume. 

“Those who watch Fox News and those who read The New York Times occupy completely different realities,” he said. 

He pointed specifically to Fox News, saying that the network portrays him “in weird ways.” 

“If I watch Fox News, I wouldn’t vote for me,” he said. “I would watch it and say who is that guy? This character Barack was portrayed in weird ways. It is all edited and shaped. ... The point is, you get multiple realities.”

This is absolutely dead on. The President Obama as presented by Fox News seemed to have absolutely no similarity to the one that existed in the real world.

And that is also true of their characterization of Hillary Clinton, who in their eyes appeared to be a cold hearted criminal, incapable of telling the truth.

Fox New is of course Donald Trump's cable news outlet of choice, because they are essentially Trump TV these days, and before that they worked as a propaganda arm of the Republican party.

I actually do not think that Fox News should be allowed to call itself a "news" outlet or to be invited to cover political events as journalists.

In fact the only reason they should be invited to the White House Correspondent's Dinner is to park the cars and bring drinks to the actual reporters who show up for the celebration.

Donald Trump summed up in one photo.

This picture was taken in Mumbai, where Trump was advertising the building of yet another gaudy edifice with his name attached in giant letters for all of the lesser people to admire.

The picture started to circulate early last month and in response a number of folks did not believe it to be real.

However Snopes was contacted by the photographer who confirmed its authenticity.

Shoving his immense wealth in the faces of those who are barely surviving each day.

Yeah, that's our president elect alright.

Children in India beaten, forced to convert to Christianity. I guess some things never do change.

Courtesy of the Hindustan Times:

Forcibly converted to Christianity, hung by the wrists from a ceiling fan, starved for days and beaten mercilessly for failing to recite Bible passages — this is what a nine-year-old boy said he had to endure at an illegal shelter. 

He was among 30 children, all from poor families, rescued on December 29 after police raided two homes run by the Emmanuel Seva Group in Greater Noida and Meerut. The child, who along with his younger sister and brother had been confined to the home for three years, said their stay was like a “jail term” during which his name was also changed. 

“I was allowed to meet my parents once a month for only 15 minutes. The only thing I was taught was the Bible. They forced me to memorise its passages,” the boy told HT on Thursday and added that the children were forced to consume buffalo meat and “paraded” before potential donors. “They gave us good clothes whenever visitors came. 

They made us stand in line and recite Bible passages. Faltering meant a beating with sticks and belts later,” he said. “Once the guests left, the shelter in-charge snatched away our clothes, sweets and gifts and we were back in rags again.”

I am always amused by Christians who seem to believe that their religion spread because of its inherent truth, or that people were compelled to convert by the word of their god and not the pressure they were put under to do so.

If you believe this to be an isolated incident, or that even harsher tactics were not used in times past, then you are either purposefully ignorant or simply ignorant.

Even as recently as sixty or seventy years ago the native children of Alaska were stripped of their cultural identity, beaten for speaking their native tongue, and forced to change their names to those found within the Bible, all in the name of saving their eternal soul.

Like I said, things never change.

Pro-LGBT clothing commercial from India, where being gay is illegal, will melt your heart.

Courtesy of Stylelite: 

In India, being homosexual is back to being illegal — as in punishable with prison, which is why this fashion ad featuring a lesbian couple in a heavenly apartment has gone viral there. 

Shared with tagline, “standing up for what you believe in is never easy. But the struggle is what makes the journey so beautiful,” Anouk Ethnic Wear’s “The Visit,” is the beautiful and pure story of two women who might be roommates getting ready together in an apartment filled with sunlight through sheer curtains flowing in the breeze. They share eyeliner and solicit advice on accessories until you realize they’re gay and about to come out to one of the woman’s parents.

I have to admit that I find Indian women beautiful, and the message in this ad even more so. 

Imagine coming out to your parents in a land where your love is illegal.

Hopefully progress will soon reach India, which has had a complicated history with homosexuality, just like it is reaching into other places all over the world.

Indian police investigating guru who convinced 400 of his followers to undergo castration.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim

Courtesy of Business Insider:  

Indian police said they are investigating a popular self-styled godman for allegedly encouraging 400 followers to undergo castrations at his ashram so they could get closer to god. 

The country's top crime fighting agency has registered a case against Gurmeet Ram Rahim, known as the "guru in bling" for his penchant for garish clothes and jewellery, over the operations in the country's north. 

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said in a statement late Wednesday Rahim is being investigated for criminal intimidation and causing grievous bodily hurt, saying 400 castrations were allegedly carried out. 

The guru, who heads the Dera Sacha Sauda organisation based in Haryana state, is already facing trial for conspiracy over the murder of a journalist in 2002 along with claims of sexually exploiting female followers. 

The latest case was filed after one of his devotees, Hans Raj Chauhan, lodged a complaint in court alleging he was manipulated into having the "painful" operation at the ashram. 

"They were told that only those who get castrated will be able to meet god," Chauhan's lawyer, Navkiran Singh, told AFP on Thursday. 

I usually consider myself to be a person of great compassion, but I have to admit that I am having a hard time feeling sorry for these men.

He quite literally convinced these guys to take themselves out of competition so that he could bang all of the females. And they went for it hook, line, and now decapitated sinker.

If you put faith before logic, you open yourself up to manipulation by others. Simple as that. 

Florida Congressman mistakes two brown skinned Americans for representatives of India, and then the fun begins.

Courtesy of the Miami Herald:  

The latest inductee to the Sunshine State's face-palming club: U.S. Rep. Curt Clawson, the Bonita Springs Republican who replaced Trey Radel, the cocaine congressman busted for buying blow in Washington last year. 

The scene: The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday. 

The players: Clawson and two congressional witnesses named Nisha Biswal and Arun Kumar. 

“I am familiar with your country; I love your country,” Clawson told them, speaking about India, which he thought was their land. “And I understand the complications of so many languages, and so many cultures, and so many histories, all rolled up in one.…” 

Yes. All those languages. Like the English language. Spoken primarily in the United States. English is also a written language and, in plain English, the witness list said Biswal and Kumar, respectively, hold senior positions at the State Department and Commerce Department. 

That is, Biswal and Kumar work for the U.S. government. They don't work for India. They are Americans. 

But Clawson apparently didn't read the witness list's plain English. Nor did the freshman probably know that it's rare for foreign-government officials to testify before Congress, according to Foreign Policy's blog, The Cable. The Cable reports that Clawson had been busy talking about his knowledge of India and his favorite Bollywood movies. 

You know, most of his friends are Indians. Oh, and he's also concerned about U.S.-India trade relations. 

Do yourself a favor and read the entire article from the Herald, they brutalize this dumb son-of-a-bitch.  As well they should.

I saw this last night on both the Chris Hayes show and Rachel Maddow, and I knew I had to share it today.

And you see this is the problem with these fucking Teabaggers. They are ideological pure enough to get elected by the rabid Right Wing, but so incredibly stupid that they make the state they are from and the entire country look like it is being led by preschoolers.

I have watched this video about five time at it literally gets better each time.

An advertisement in India that I think a few American men could stand to read through as well.

You know my mom made just about every mistake in the book, but she drilled into my head repeatedly that I needed to respect women and treat them as equals, and it was perhaps the advice she ever gave me.

I think there are many men, some sitting in Washington right now, who would have benefited from having a mother like mine.

As Americans celebrate our holidays of giving, perhaps we could learn more about TRUE giving from this amazing man.

That really put a smile on my face.

I especially appreciated that he had to go against his own cultural and religious beliefs in order to reach out to those in need. That is huge and definitely a lesson to us all.

Indian man faces three years in jail, on charges of blasphemy, for explaining that the local "miracle water" is in fact leaky toilet water.

"Look how can I say this so you understand. You're drinking poopy water."

Courtesy of Secular News Daily:

The local Catholics spotted water dripping from a crucifix in Mumbai’s western suburbs. They eagerly lapped up the “miracle water”, thinking it had magical powers. 

Sanal Edamaruku, president of the Indian Rationalist Association and Rationalist International, inspected the site and pinpointed the source of the water. A leaking toilet drain. 

For explaining that the only “magic power” the water has is to transfer gastrointestinal infections and other disease, Edamaruku now faces up to three years in prison for “blasphemy”. 

"It’s a case of miracle-mongering," Edamaruku told AFP from his home in New Delhi. "Any kind of miracle-mongering is ultimately to get money and power." Accusing him of spreading "anti-Catholic venom" during televised debates on the crucifix, outraged religious groups in Mumbai have filed police complaints that could see Edamaruku jailed for up to three years under India’s blasphemy law. 

Joseph Dias, general secretary of the Catholic-Christian Secular Forum, lodged one of the complaints, claiming it was the result of Edamaruku’s “”very obvious and stridently anti-Christian bias”. Edamaruku, who has spent the last 30 years debunking India’s mystics and gurus who attract massive followings (and fortunes), welcomes the charges as an opportunity to challenge India’s blasphemy law.

Okay now as you know I am constantly taking issue with people putting faith above logical thinking, but I cannot remember when I saw a more clear cut case of  a faith inspired harmful outcome that was rectified by a logical thinker. And for this Sanal Edamaruku faces jail time?

I am not sure where they  get the "anti-Christian bias" here since his discovery has potential saved dozens, if not hundreds, of Christians from contracting a gastrointestinal infection and at the very least rescued them from drinking dirty toilet water.

Unless what they are saying is that they would rather drink feces infused toilet water then have to face the fact that their blind faith might be a detriment to their physical and emotional well being?

Koel Purie's interview with Sarah Palin is almost painfully pointless potpourri of political posturing and palpable pandering.

I almost did not post this interview because there was so much going on that I just did not have time to get to it.

But I watched it again last night, and was struck by the fact that Palin does not really say ANYTHING.  All she does is talk around the questions posed and throw out talking points to confuse this poor woman.

And by the way, I used to think that the Japanese people were the most polite people on the planet, but after watching the Indian people talk about, and attempt to interview, Palin I think perhaps they are the most polite people on the face of the earth.

I am amazed that this young woman continues to smile thorough this train wreck of an interview, and does not once turn to the camera to mouth the words, "What the fuck?"  In my opinion that shows almost super human restraint on her part.



Palin does not waste any time and starts spewing moose nuggets as soon as she is asked the VERY FIRST question.

Purie: "What do you think of when I first say India to you?"

Snooki: "Diversity..just uh..amazing..the geographic diversity is s lush and yet dense with population so there's..there's.. all that going on. But then the diversity of the cultures and the religion and...um...its just quite fascinating.  And as I said in my remarks India is a good leader by example for so many other countries that could emulate the things that are being done in terms of tolerance and embracing that diversity"

(Palin-bot word for the say is "diversity." You trolls better remember it cause it could show up on the test.)

And after that first helping of word fruit salad things continue to go downhill.

Every question that follows is met with patented Palin-isms like "liberty," "freedom," "self-reliance," "free markets," blah blah, blah blah, blah blah.

I love it that Palin volunteers that she wants to go out and see all of the sight, like the Taj Ma-hal for instance, but we now know that the only sights she saw were of the inside of her hotel room and of Todd locking himself in the bathroom to escape the crazy.

I love that Purie asks her how she manages a political campaign while raising five children. Snooki's answer that Todd is her "helpmate" must certainly make her handbag carrier feel muy macho. "I can do this because Todd is my bitch.  Aren't you Todd? Check my makeup again you prostitute screwing bastard!"

By the way watch for the banners that show up on the bottom of the screen during the interview like, "The Hockey mom who does not laze around," "My husband is a champ," "Did lots of laundry before coming to India," and of course "India has lots of dynamic personalities." (None of who she met of course.)

The question about how Snooki felt when Pakistani President Asif Zardari got a little frisky is kind of interesting because it shows how uncomfortable Palin becomes when somebody responds to her flirtatious persona in an overt fashion.  She is clearly somebody who is not comfortable with her sexuality, and only uses it as a tool to distract from her lack of intelligence.

People often suggest that Palin has slept with lots of people to get ahead, but I seriously doubt that she has.  Sister Sarah is a look but don't touch kind of woman.

Purie: "Who's the person you would like to meet in India?"

Snooki identifies meeting Mother Theresa's biographer, whose name she clearly does not remember, and mentions meeting the Prime Minister a few years back but not this time, and then finishes by saying "Gosh there's so many dynamic interesting people in India again I wish I could stay much longer to meet more of you." However Palin actually avoided the Indian people like the plague, or like they HAD the plague. Remember, " Sources confirmed that the Palins had no direct interaction even with room service and that for two whole days (the entire duration of her visit) Sarah Palin confined herself to her room." Clearly Palin was only in India for a paycheck, and hoped to have to interact with as few brown people as possible while she was tossing her word salad.

Did she say she does NOT have a temper? I believe there is a dented refrigerator in Wasilla who might give a different opinion on that.

I have seen a LOT of interviews with Palin but this one is especially amazing in that I do not think that the Grizzled Mama says even ONE THING that is honest or truthful.  Not one.

Even for a chronic liar like Sarah Palin that is quite an amazing achievement.

Indian journalists fill in the blanks concerning Palin's odd visit to their country.

From indiareloaded.tv:

Here is how it went down.

After Ms. Palin's excursion to the Emporio mall in New Delhi, word got to her that her movements were being tracked. Our stringer gleaned some information from the shopkeeper about the jacket that didn't quite fit the ex-Governor.

Shortly after, we got information that a trip to Agra to visit the Taj was being planned for the next day.

Sources inform us that the ex-Governor was keen to visit the Taj and experience first hand one of the true wonders of the world. However as it turned out, Ms. Palin changed her mind at the last moment.
Back at the hotel, at the same time, there was pandemonium and hotel staff could be seen running helter-skelter. Presumably this was the point at which the media blackout was being instituted.

While that pretty much summed up our coverage on the live blog, we continued to receive updates - few and far between. Now that Ms.Palin is back in the US and in visibly better spirits (appearing in a recent interview on Fox aptly titled 'Palin and the Vicious Double Standard'), we decided to complete our coverage and post our last update.

The first stage of the media blackout was under way when the Washington Speakers Bureau, the organization that traditionally organizes speakers for the Conclave event, had promptly dispatched an aide to serve as a conduit between the Palins and the rest of the world - quite literally. Sources confirmed that the Palins had no direct interaction even with room service and that for two whole days (the entire duration of her visit) Sarah Palin confined herself to her room.

One can only imagine that she used the time to practice her key note address.

Reportedly, just before her speech, Ms. Palin was visibly nervous - to a point where she looked pale and rather out of sorts - and kept requesting for a little time ("Just a minute" she was heard repeating) when being called for her speech. That would perhaps explain the awkward getting-up-before-cue moment that Palin had during Aroon Purie's introduction.

By and large, SMS usage in India is far more common than 3G (even among the elite attending). So the SMS being passed around during her speech was "God Bless America".

You know I have been following the antics of Caribou Barbies for quite some time now, and THIS might be the funniest description of Palin's interaction with others that I have ever read.

First she panics when she realizes that the Indian press is trying to report on what she is doing, and in response calls for a media blackout and changes all of her sightseeing plans to foil any attempts to observe her, thereby missing the opportunity to see incredible sights in a place she has never visited before,

While hiding in her room she refuses to talk directly to hotel staff (Do you think skin pigment was the problem again?), essentially locking herself away in her room, and isolating herself from the very people she ostensibly came to interact with in order to further her foreign relations credibility.

And to top it all off she suffers a serious panic attack right before going onstage to say stupid things that made her look like an imbecile.

And people say she is not Presidential.

Update: Oooh I think I may have stumbled on why Palin was a little pissy with the Indian people:

In an important snub, India last week cold-shouldered Sarah Palin, former Republican US governor and possible contender for the 2012 presidential election, refusing a request for ‘adequate protocol’.

What?  The people of India refused to acknowledge the importance of Queen Esther of Alaska? The nerve!

While in India Palin identifies China as new Republican bogeyman, suggests they might launch military offensive. In other words, BOO!

From the Daily Mail:

While in India yesterday Mrs Palin suggested China is preparing itself to launch a military offensive.

She questioned why the Far East country was stockpiling ballistic missiles, submarines and ‘new-age, ultramodern aircraft’ seemed unjustified when it did not face an outside threat.

‘What’s with the military buildup?’ She said. ‘China’s military growth can’t just be for defensive purposes.’

While our President is in South America using diplomacy to win hearts for America, while dealing with a very troubling problem in Libya, Snowdrift Snooki is spreading fear and distrust of what is rapidly becoming perhaps the most powerful nation on the planet.

If ever there were a starker contrast between what we need in a President, and what we should avoid at all cost, I believe this about sums it up.

And before the Republicans follow Palin's lead and start vilifying China, as they are apt to do when the Grizzled Mama identifies a target, they might well remember that currently America is China's bitch, and whose policy decisions made that possible.

George Bush started two unnecessary wars, with the full support of the Republican party, and charged the cost of those conflicts on a credit card issued by China. This effectively made our ability to deal with China impotent since we now owe them in excess of two trillion dollars. Saber rattling and empty threats do not work when directed at the country with the ability to repossess your saber.

Of course China is going to use their leverage to build up their military, which they undoubtedly feel they will need when they take their place as the world's newest superpower.   An eventuality that is certainly not out of the realm of possibilities, which is why it behooves America to deal with China in an honest and diplomatic manner while taking the opportunity to partner with them whenever it presents itself.

After all countries are far more likely to take advice from a nation they respect and have alliances with than from a potential enemy they no longer fear. (By the way China has increased their spending to around 90 billion while America now spends a whopping 661 billion annually.)

Which is yet another reason to keep a Republican out of the White House as long as possible, especially a war mongering, foreign relations ignoramus like Sarah Palin.

Update: By the way for those who have been asking, Palin's trip to India and Israel WAS funded by SarahPAC. I heard Norah O'Donnell report as much this morning.  No surprise really, but what do these people really expect to gain by sending their hard earned money to this fraud so that she can go on vacation overseas?

Palin comes to India bearing only one gift, a little Alaska "whine." Update!

From The Hill:

When asked about the greatest lessons she learned from 2008, Palin did not mention the friction between McCain's camp and hers. Instead she said the experience informed her public relations strategy.

"One thing I learned is that you cannot trust the mainstream media to accurately report on [your record and accomplishments]," she said. "You have to have the boldness, the courage to set the record straight yourself."

She even accused Republicans of not defending their records vigorously enough.

"Too often, Republicans have the fighting instinct of sheep sometimes," she said. When it comes to correcting the record, "I will put my foot down."

Rebutting a criticism often used against her, Palin said, "It's not victimization, I'm not playing the victim card."

It is informative to always remember that when Palin says she is going to "correct the record" what she is really saying is that she is going to deny that she lied, or said something stupid, about something and attack the journalists who dared correct her misstatement by claiming they misreported what she said.

Then she, and her followers, will insist that her words are being altered through a liberal media filter and if only people would let her speak for herself she would make a whole lot more sense.

So in the spirit of letting Sarah "be Sarah," here is her entire Q and A that took place after her India speech, without any filter and presented by her very own sycophants at PalinTV.  Nobody can claim media bias here.

Go ahead and listen to as much of her mooseshit as you can, remember to check your ears periodically for bleeding, and tell me if it smells any better without the "liberal media filter."

The Indian people are certainly getting the "full Palin."  She trotted out her short skirt, wild hair, and screechy high pitched voice.  Yep the Indian people were certainly "sold a pup."

A crazy, inarticulate, thin-skinned pup.

P.S. I do have one request from any of you who managed to get to the 23:30 mark of the video.  Could you please tell me what in the hell the "hyphenated days" of India were?  I am trying to make sense of that and I think it is causing a brain aneurysm.

Update: For those who simply cannot bring themselves to listen to Palin talk there was some very entertaining liveblogging done by Pundit Commentator.

Update 2: Here is the introduction of Palin by Aroon Purie.  I do not believe she understood that he was screwing with her.



Look at her face. She has no idea how to respond to what he is doing to her. I also love how she tried to get up and move to the podium before he was finished, and he told her to "sit there."

I can only imagine how the P-Bots will respond to THAT!

The Indian people are very impressed that Sarah Palin chose to bless them with her presence.

Okay maybe the word "impressed" was not exactly accurate.

Can any of you think of a better one?

On only her second day in India Snowdrift Snooki institutes a complete media blackout. Quick! Through a show of hands, how many of you saw THAT coming?

This is a portion of the report that india reloaded.TV filed on day one of Palin's India trip:

Sarah Palin landed in New Delhi, early afternoon and checked in to a hotel. From what we understand, she is traveling with one person (all indications are that she is traveling with Todd). Shortly after checking in, she went out to DLF Emporio Mall, an upscale mall in New Delhi where, after looking around for around 40-50 minutes, she decided to head back (presumably).

One shop owner reported that she liked a jacket but she wasn't too crazy about the fit and decided not to purchase the jacket. We are told that she did not purchase any item from this mall.

Another interesting detail - our initial attempts to connect to her room at the hotel were successful during the time that she was out at the mall. After her presumed return, subsequent requests to connect were promptly denied.

One could argue that Palin's selection as speaker for the Dinner Keynote Address for this event is quite a break from tradition. Palin joins speakers like Aamir Khan (2010), Pervez Musharraf (2009), Al Gore (2008), Benazir Bhutto (2007).

Understandably, there have been certain quarters, it is rumored, within the India Today group (the organizers of the speaking event) that had got the impression that they had been sold a pup.

"Sold a pup?"  Would that be a pitbull pup?  Or just a mutt?

Well anyhow apparently Palin did not enjoy the Indian approach to journalism any better than she has enjoyed the American version of journalism.  This is day two of india reloaded.tv's coverage:

It appears that our coverage from yesterday has been a source of great consternation in the Palin camp - which was not the intended result of our reportage. Since last evening there has been a virtual blackout of all information about her movements.

IRTV would want Ms. Palin to enjoy India to its fullest and would like her to know that we wish her well. And since we have established that someone from their team is actually viewing this blog, as no other media outlet is covering Ms.Palin (they are, it appears, not interested), we are confident that this message will get passed on to her.

LMAO!  Okay perhaps Klondike Kardashian is not a fan of  Indian journalism, but I am loving it!

Now why doesn't CNN have that level of snark. Well I guess they do have Jack Cafferty.

I have to say that I totally KNEW Palin was going to screw up over in India.  However I thought it would be more along the lines of asking every Indian she met to say "Welcome to 7-11." Or yelling to Todd "How come everybody here sounds like that brown guy on the Simpsons?"

Seriously, who goes over to a foreign country as a guest and then acts like they are too good to talk to the media?

And while we are asking questions, how soon can this idiot hurry up and move to Arizona so THEY can start being embarrassed by her instead of those of us up here in Alaska? I will even help them to pack.

Update: Palin may think her incredibly mad speaking skills have her Indian audience hanging on her every word, but in fact they are just waiting for her to say something stupid.

"Let me put it this way: There will be no serious political attention paid to what she says, but it will be watched with some curiosity to see what potential faux pas she may make," said former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.

Color me unsurprised.  I think this is why 95% of the people who pay attention to Palin are even vaguely interested in her. Every time she says something stupid we all feel that much better about ourselves.

Palin headed to India. Because apparently those poor people have not suffered enough.

From the Politico:

Sarah Palin is traveling to India next month to rub elbows with Indian politicians and Bollywood stars.

The former Alaska governor is scheduled to speak at the India Today Conclave in New Delhi on March 19.

Palin aide Rebecca Mansour confirmed the details by tweeting a link to the organization’s website, writing only “Gov. Palin will be traveling to India next month.”

It’s unknown if Palin is getting paid for the appearance, but the $1,850 price tag to attend the two-day event makes it seem likely that she got her quote – reportedly $100,000 per appearance.

Palin aides have been weighing a foreign trip for months, but had only previously disclosed that they were planning a still unannounced trip to England and Israel sometime later this year.

The conference’s choice of Palin is an odd one. She will be the only American politician attending the conference, which is stacked with Indian and Pakistani officials, business leaders, public figures and entertainers.

Gee I wonder if Snowdrift Snooki realizes that she is flying to India and NOT Indiana? You know India, home to many, many brown people, who are probably relatively unimpressed with a skinny inarticulate failed politician from Alaska.

I also wonder if her people realize that currently the country is in political turmoil and there is no guarantee that the people in charge today will STILL be in charge come March 19?

And has anybody told Klondike Kardashian that India is home to the second largest number of Muslims in the world, while only about 2.3% self identify as Christians? That is certainly something that a person well known for saying negative things about Muslims should have probably thought through.

Oh what am I saying?  The people of India are very peace loving, after all that is the birthplace of both the Buddha and Gandhi.

I mean unless Sarah Palin tries to smuggle a weapon of mass destruction into the country she should be fine.

Oooh, that's right. 

Well knowing her if anything DOES happen she will just throw up one of her children as a human shield and then blame President Obama for any injuries they might receive.

At least we know Trig is safe since she would need his birth certificate to get him a passport. But if I were Piper I would run and go hide in an aunt's house or something until April. Just to be safe.

Terrorists who staged the Mumbai attack were told they would return safely by their bosses.

The gang of terrorists who wreaked mayhem in Mumbai for three days were made to believe by their Lashkar bosses that they were not being sent on a suicide mission and that they would be coming back alive.

In a sensational disclosure made by Ajmal, the jihadi nabbed alive by Mumbai cops, the group had planned to sail out on Thursday. Their recruiters had even charted out the return route for them and stored it on the GPS device which they had used to navigate their way to the Mumbai shoreline. 

This suggests that the terrorists were willing to undertake a mission which they knew would be very risky, but not necessarily suicidal. 

Sources said that the bait of safe return must have been used by the recruiters to convince the wavering among the group to join the audacious plot against Mumbai. 

Damn if you can't trust terrorists to tell the truth then who can you trust?

All joking aside this information is bad on a number of levels.  

One they were clearly well trained and outfitted for this attack.

Two they were Pakistanis which is going to make the tension between India and Pakistan just that much worse.  With the amount of violence that is all around these two countries this is a powder keg just waiting to blow.

And third this was yet another attack from Muslims directed primarily at Christians.  They seemed to be targeting westerners who are usually Christians and this just keeps feeding into the idea of a religious war the flames of which our country has been very instrumental in stoking.

I have my tinfoil hat on again so I will also mention that something about this attack seems a little contrived to me.  I cannot quite figure out why my antennae are up, but they are definitely up.

UPDATE: Commenter Jane reminded me that the terrorists also targeted Jews.  She was very right point that out.  And as we know the relationship between the Muslim and Jewish community is in even worse shape then the Islamic/Christian one. My tinfoil hat stays on for now.  

80 people killed and about 200 injured as a result of terrorist attacks in India!

Gunmen have opened fire at a number of sites in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay), killing at least 80 people and injuring about 200 more.

Police said shooting was continuing and that the incidents were co-ordinated terrorist attacks. Gunmen have taken hostages at two hotels and a hospital.

At least seven sites have been targeted across India's financial capital.

A fire is sweeping through the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai's most famous hotel which is now ringed by troops.

The BBC's Andrew Whitehead says a claim of responsibility by a little-known group, Deccan Mujahideen, may harden suspicions that Islamic radicals are involved.

What can anybody say about such a horrific event, except I hope the bastards that did this are brought to justice and the conditions which inspire this type of violence soon becomes a thing of the past.

My heart goes out to the people of Mumbai, and to the victims of these cowardly attacks and to the families they leave behind.

My only hope for the future is that Barack Obama will somehow find a way to inspire the rest of the world to start putting differences aside and start working toward common goals together.

I know that is an awful lot to expect from any mere mortal, but Obama is the first person in many generations who may have a real shot that this.  And in circumstance like these, hope is really all we have.

Below is a news video taken during the initial attack.