Man vs. Mosquito: The Ultimate Insurgent

The past week I celebrated the Jewish holiday Sukkot. During this holiday, observant Jews “dwell” in their sukkah – a temporary structure. This “dwelling,” depending on climate and inclination can vary from formally living in it to merely taking some meals in the sukkah. Personally I like to spend as much time in it as […]

Al-Qaeda & Ostriches: Axis of the Asinine

My musings on ostriches and WMD attracted an interesting comment. After observing that both North Korea and Iran were seeking WMD and were I posted this picture and writing Here is a picture of Osama bin Laden aide-de-camp Wadih el-Hage riding an ostrich during an al-Qaeda foray into flightless bird wrangling. I received this comment. […]

Axis of Ostriches Redux: Iran’s Failure

My last blog entry examined whether or not there was some connection between ostrich raising and seeking WMD. It was inspired by this story, about Iranian efforts to construct a 1500meter long ostrich meat sandwich in order to promote Iran’s ostrich farming industry. I wrote about how both North Korea and al-Qaeda have tried to […]

Axis of Ostriches? Avians of Evil?

Last week in Tehran, cooks assembled the largest ostrich meat sandwich in history. BBC reports About 1,500 cooks used 1,000kg (2,200lbs) of ostrich meat to make the 1,500m (4,920ft) long sandwich. The organisers hope those world-beating dimensions will be enough to earn a place in the Guinness Book of Records for the largest ostrich sandwich […]

College Park Maryland Cougar Video: Unanswered Questions

Here is footage of the Savannah Cat terrorizing the University of Maryland College Park. Notice how easily the cat disappears from the camera. Why did it allow itself to be caught on camera at that time? Steganography perhaps? A signal to al-Cata? Meanwhile, what else does the University know? What else are they concealing from […]

Large Cats@UMD Updates & Analysis: Infiltration Potential

My top secret campus briefing has been confirmed by mainstream media. First, the sightings were not humidity-induced mirages. Security cameras on campus have captured the elusive large cat’s image. Specialists have determined that it is not a cougar, but probably a Savannah Cat. A Savannah Cat is a mix between a Serval and a domestic […]

Cougar of College Park

Usually this blog focuses on the threat of trans-national terrorism – but major threats come in various forms. Reports of a cougar stalking the University of Maryland College Park (where, full disclosure, I am employed as a researcher) could represent more than a wayward large cat (strictly speaking cougars are not “great cats” because they […]