From the NYT obit:

"Harold Pinter, the British playwright whose gifts for finding the ominous in the everyday and the noise within silence made him the most influential and imitated dramatist of his generation, died on Wednesday. He was 78 and lived in London."

I can only pray someone says this about me someday, that I found the "ominous in the everyday" and, perhaps, both the noise within silence and the silence within noise ...

Also:

BBC death notice

Guardian obit and primer

Like many people, my favourite section of the newspaper is the obituaries. Some papers are better than others, and the Portland Press Herald in Maine is one of the best I've found for homey, chatty, detailed, quirky obits. Among the 5-15 obits that appear most days are some people who have led unusual lives and who have done extraordinary and ordinary things. And then there are the descriptors, some of which appear in almost every obituary ("deceased was happiest when spending time with family" in obituaries written by ... well, the family) and some of which you'll only read once in a lifetime.

Some clips from obits I've enjoyed in the last week or two:

"He enjoyed watching Nascar and having a Bud Light. " (Lance Morton, b. 1948?)

"She collected music boxes, dolls and unicorns." (Roberta S. Potvin, b. 1926)

"In his spare time he enjoyed clock repair."  (David L. Adams Sr., b. 1939)

"He was a brilliant applied mathematician and solved one of his mathematical problems on the Eniac. ...  Between 1963 and 1968, he was the first solo circumnavigator to sail in a fiberglass boat. His trip took him through the Panama Canal, onto Cape Horn, and around the Cape of Good Hope. ... Other work included participation in seeding clouds in order to create clear spaces over airports and lead capsule protection that shielded the men on Admiral Rickovers' first nuclear-powered submarine." (Alan Gates Eddy, b. 1930)

"On a king-size Tempurpedic, holding the hands of her daughter and new son-in-law, May Madeline Carter took her last breath, closed her eyes and left her body; instant peace filled the loving home of three. May's final days on Earth were comfortable, serene, and beautiful. In her last hours, May could not say a word; her shirt said, 'Love is all you need.'" (May Madeline Carter, b. 1951?)

"His leisure time was spent walking the streets of his beloved town, riding his bicycle or driving his muscle car. He loved the town, the woods, the tracks and the beach. He will be sadly missed by all those who have loved him, known him or have laughed with him, including his pug, Maevis Pudge, and his tuxedo cat, Mandy Marie." (David M. Couri, b. 1958)

"She loved lighthouses and went on a lighthouse tour of the Cape with her sons and their wives to celebrate her 70th birthday. She was an avid football fan. Her favorite team was the Green Bay Packers, particularly Brett Favre. She studied every aspect of the game and had won some fantasy football leagues. She was especially proud of the week that she picked every game in the NFL right.  ... Another joy of hers was to sit peacefully on her porch observing nature and watching the birds come and go from her feeders." (Joanne Marie Parks, b. 1932)

"Although she was a brilliant hairdresser, the job May truly accelerated [sic?] in was motherhood."  (May Madeline Carter, b. 1951?)

"Joseph was always on the move and could often be found repairing small engines. He had a very unique way of sharing his opinions." (Joseph 'Grandpa Joe' E. Lanham Jr., b. 1932?)

"She loved her family dearly and lived through her children." (Laurabelle Wing Small, b. 1942)

"Hans' enjoyed three hobbies during his life, tournament chess, stamp collecting, and building several large format H.O. scale model railroad layouts."  (Dr. Hans Willem Verleur, b. 1932)

"There was always plenty to eat and drink for anyone who happened to stop by. Ed was very proud of his backyard garden, where he grew a beautiful mix of vegetable and flowers. He loved to fish and make daily shopping trips to most of the supermarkets in Southern Maine." (Edmund Wilfred Rombalski, b. 1939)

"Mrs. Small was very fond of gardening and keeping up the grounds of her home and also, keeping a very tidy household. She enjoyed preparing holiday meals for her family and enjoyed having her family around her. She was a feisty woman right up till the end." (Laurabelle Wing Small, b. 1942)

"May encouraged, supported, admired, and inspired her children; they were simply her universe. Unfortunately, May suffered the loss of her mother, father, stepfather, son and two brothers. Finding out cancer would reunite her with these losses brought joy to a special place in her heart." (May Madeline Carter, b. 1951?)

"She was a head surgical nurse in brain surgery at University Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich. ... The Walls traveled extensively, including a four and a half month trip around the world on a freighter. ... Above all, she loved a good party." (Ruth Alberta Walls, b. 1908)

"She was a simple woman who loved vegetable gardening, cooking and making quilts." (Marjory J. Greenleaf, b. 1926)

"Her interests were varied. She enjoyed hunting and fishing, skeet shooting and motorcycles." (Margaret 'Peggy' Beaudoin, n.d.)

"In his free time, Robert enjoyed puttering around his home." (Robert E.L. Stevens, b. 1935?)

"She was a loving mother and grandmother who taught her family to 'believe in the Lord with all your heart and he will show you the way.'" (Mary Ann Lakin, b. 1943?)

"Her favorite memories of that time involved sledding before breakfast in the winter ...." (Katherine Jewell Fiori, b.1951)

"Her favorite week of the year was the one she spent with Terry and her family in Jonesport every summer. She enjoyed doing crossword puzzles, e-mailing her friends and family, and spending time with her cats Gert and Mary, who will miss her dearly." (Dona J. DeRoche, b. 1942)

"Valeriye's greatest passions were her love for the Lord, her family, and her country." (Valeriye R. Johnston, b. 1935?)

"He often noted that having been raised by Victorians synchronized his values to an earlier generation."  (David W. Adams, b. 1923?)

"She was never without a book in the evening. ... One of her other interests was tap dancing, and she would often entertain at family and school reunions." (Janet B. Lynds, b. 1919)

"Decked out in his favorite duck billed cap, a plaid shirt, glasses, comfortable shoes, and mostly brown pants, he never seemed to be in a bad mood."   (Franklyn Hunter Goldsmith, b. 1914)

"He was enthusiastic about sports, particularly baseball, and at one point in his life was able to attend every single world series game for 24 consecutive seasons." (Carl Roger Wright, b. 1925)

"In 1972 he bought a cabin in Friendship, coming closer to his childhood dream of being a lighthouse keeper. A fourth-generation Freemason, he often headed out in a dory to fish with fellow Mason and curmudgeon, Jake Overlock, for silence and Jake's recitations of the Masonic ritual. ... He loved breakfast out with friends and family and a good joke, although he never could remember the punch line." (David W. Adams, b. 1923?)

"Wayne enjoyed swimming, fishing and mowing the lawn." (Wayne P. Hobart, b. 1958)

"She also enjoyed traveling, camping, gardening, flower-arranging, bowling, archery, painting, playing the piano, sewing, needlework, and reading." (May Harmon Rowe, b. 1924)

"Buff found her first, true avocation as a tender, empathetic mother, bearing three children over six years. She taught by example, always having time for conversation and play." (Elizabeth 'Buff' Grant McDonald, b. 1938)

"Fran became engaged to Jack in Tuckerman's Ravine, was married in Cape Elizabeth and honeymooned aboard the 'Loon,' their friendship sloop. ... Frannie was a natural athlete. She played golf at Purpoodock Golf Course and won the President's Cup at age 88. ... [S]he finally gave up her downhill skis when she was nearing 80, but continued to cross country ski when the snow conditions allowed."  (Frances Dana Jordan, b. 1918)

"Kay was a strong and independent woman before it was common. During the 1940s, she would drive a florist truck full of flowers and vegetables to sell at Haymarket Square in Boston." (Katherine Pilsbury Cobb Mercier, b. 1914)

"Donald enjoyed playing bingo and going to the Casinos at Foxwood and Las Vegas." (Donald E. Cobb, b. 1944)

"Florence is predeceased by two infants ...." (Florence R. Gray, b. 1919)

"He was planning to work in Dubai in January." (Fred A. Pickering III, b. 1952?)

"Connor D. Chute was born and died on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008, at Southern Maine Medical Center, Biddeford. He was the first born child of Michael C. and Kelly J. (Noel) Chute. ... 'Curious George will be watching over you.'" (Connor D. Chute, b. 2008)

and this one, almost in full:

James A. Creighton Jr., 89 THOMASTON -- One of Thomaston and Cushing's notable characters passed away early Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008.

James A. Creighton Jr., a World War II veteran, was 89 years old. Jim Creighton was born in Harrisburg, Pa., but moved as a boy to the town of Hamburg in western New York. He worked summers during high school in the blast furnaces of Bethlehem Steel and later studied metallurgy at the 'hardest college I could find,' which turned out to be the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Certainly one of the proudest experiences of his life was his Naval service, for which he volunteered before the war started. He served in every theater of war except the Indian Ocean, as an engineering and deck officer, first on a minesweeper and then a destroyer escort rising eventually to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. On the early part of his service, his ship guarded supplies for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, was assigned to the Mediterranean and North African landings, and guarded against submarines in the North Sea. Later as the war progressed, Jim joined the Pacific fleet and participated in the invasion of the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. In 1945 his ship was put out of action by the attack of a Kamikaze plane.

He told so many war stories about his Naval adventures-including being washed overboard in the mid-Atlantic -- that his wife urged him to write them down, and his book, No More War Stories, is in its second printing.

Jim stayed in the Navy through 1951 and returned to Bethlehem Steel as a metallurgical engineer, working in the Lackawanna and Burns Harbor, Indiana Plants. He was promoted to Superintendent of the Burns Harbor plant in 1967.

After his retirement he moved to midcoast Maine, where his family had lived since the early eighteenth century-one David Creighton, in fact, had been separated from his scalp during a fort battle in the 1730s. His family eventually became sailors, shipmasters, shipbuilders and lime manufacturers in Thomaston. In his retirement, he worked enthusiastically for Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and the Maine Highway Commission.

He himself embraced unusual driving techniques. One of his more dubious practices was his 'moose avoidance procedure,' which entailed driving close, if not on, the dividing line, in rural Knox County. This permitted him to prepare for animals emerging on either side of the road.

As an eager competitor throughout life, Jim Creighton helped organize and build community skating rinks for hockey games, construct tennis courts, and invented a type of duplicate bridge. 'Bridge Match' is regularly played in and around Knox County. His love of numbers and statistics extended to his golf playing and his health. His physician compared his blood pressure records to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Jim will be remembered not only for his optimism, loyalty, and leadership, but also for his love of sailing, tennis, bird watching, and the Boston Red Sox.

He loved 'hunkering down' in Maine winters. He will no doubt be remembered as well for his eccentric opinions. Known within the family as Gump, he was also referred to as Captain Budget, and his pronouncements about life, money, and manners were kept in a red notebook. He proclaimed early on, for example, that he wanted 'one dog, one cat, one wife or any combination thereof,' but the limits he set in the animal line were never honored. His family pets besides numerous dogs and cats over the years included white rats (complete with their own apartment complex), a green heron named Pookie, and an enterprising crow named Woody. In his later years he and his cracked corn earned a devoted following among the mallard duck and seagull populations in Pleasant Point, Cushing.

You've probably heard about the Wal-Mart worker, Jdimytai Damour, 34, who was trampled and crushed by a stampeding crowd of early-morning shoppers at a Long Island Wal-Mart on Black Friday -- shoppers who then "went on to scour the shelves for sales, even after being told a man had died." Damour died apparently of a heart attack of asphyxiation after the sliding glass doors he was holding shut shattered under the weight of the crowd of 2,000 or so who were trying to get in as the store opened at 5 a.m. for after-Thanksgiving sales. (Ludicrous comment by a Wal-Street employee in the store's electronic department: "'It was crazy. .. The deals weren't even that good.'")

Here's a bit of Damour's story, and here: "He loved to chat about movies, Japanese anime and politics. ... [H]e had a great sense of humor. ... He was the guy who was always lively." He was "an easygoing literature buff -- a fan of poetry and the late novelist Donald Goines -- who would put himself out for friends."

Woman killed by husband's coffin (11 Nov.)

God's Facebook Wall (12 Nov.)

Apparent 6th severed foot found in British Columbia (12 Nov)

Two Dead in Argument Over 'Bama-LSU Game (10 Nov.)

The Essential 007: A Recap of all 22 Bond Movies (13 Nov.)

Unregulated Credit Default Swaps Led to Weakness (31 Oct.)

Exxon Mobil: Biggest profit in history (30 Oct.)

The age when children begin attempting to appear racially colour-blind (27 Oct)

The Quest for the Perfect Morning Routine: The first in a series on lifehacking, at Slate (12 Nov): "The advice here is not my own, but I have clicked on it."

When Alzheimer's Hits at 40 in the WSJ (14 Nov.)

and

"I don't remember a whole lot about that period; I appear to have bought a couple of truly depressing sweaters, the kind you only wear when all you really want is to curl up under the bed for several years..." (The Likeness, p. 47, Tana French)

(Photo: Recent Drinking: Ironstone Cabernet Franc 2004)

I've been reading in recent weeks about the so-called Bali Bombers, three men -- two brothers (commonly called Amrozi and Mukhlas) and an Imam/computer technician -- who were tried and found to be instrumental in the killing of 202 people -- most of whom were foreign nationals, including 88 Australians -- -- at nightclubs in a tourist area on the Indonesian island of Bali [in green] in 2002, to protest the US-led invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. (Bali is overwhelmingly Hindu, however.) Another 209 people were injured. (More at Wikipedia)

For their roles in the crime, their execution, which may occur by this weekend has now occured, will be by ritualised firing squad on another Indonesian island, off Java, the spot (or perhaps three separate spots) in the woods already decked out with chairs and crosses, after five years of legal appeals that apparently the bombers themselves had no interest in, as they have said throughout that they are ready and happy to die as martyrs, preferrably by beheading, in the Islamic way. They admit the crime and show no remorse but have apologised for killing Indonesian Muslims during the attacks.

Meanwhile, their family and other supporters are surging towards the moment of execution, burial, funerals, and partying, using the funeral as "an occasion 'to celebrate the victory of Islam.'" Graves have already been dug for the two brothers. A goat will be slaughtered. It will be an occasion for rallying.

As usual, it's the mimesis -- the accusative gesture, the heightening drama, the religious rituals and the prohibitions, the sacrificial centre that offers meaning and a feeling of unanimity amidst grief -- that interests me, and the predictable forms it takes, particularly as death comes very near:

The bombers are hailed by supporters as, variously, victorious martyrs, victims of an unfair system, and heroes whose deaths will spin off more heroes.

• Family members have said it's unfair for the Bali Bombers to be killed before the Bali Nine heroin smugglers, who "should be executed first because their drugs could have killed more people."
• The bombers issued a statement in October: "'Principally we are ready to die but if the executions go ahead it is wrong. If we are executed there will be new Mukhlases, new Imam Samudras and new Amrozis and they will take revenge,' they said."
• They have also written "an open letter encouraging their supporters to retaliate after they are executed," naming some specific officials whom they believe should be killed.
• The brother of two of the Bali bombers supports his brothers' right to kill "half-naked people [the people in the nightclubs] ... for the perceived insult. ... 'That's what [my brothers] believe. Whatever it is, it is against Islam and must be fought, whatever the form, whatever the action.'" Their mother concurred: "'I feel that killing infidels isn't a mistake because they don't pray.'"
  

The site of the execution has become rather sacred-seeming in the media, and both speech and acts related to the deaths are shot through with religious language and appeals.

• Religion is obvious at the site(s): There are crosses there, religious officials have met with the men and will accompany the bombers to their place of execution (as will lawyers and a doctor).
• There are rituals: the setting up of the execution site(s) in a particular way, the health check-ups for those who are about to die, families delivering a last meal of favoured goodies and other gifts. All the elements are in place, including autopsy table, helicopters and body carrier baskets, and the fourteen members of the execution squad, and a 'rehearsal' of the execution is planned for today.
  
• There are mythologies and compelling stories galore, from everyone's point of view, and they all say the same thing: we are victims and someone else is to blame for the violence. We are justified. There are rumours among supporters of the bombers that the U.S. CIA was behind the most destructive of the three bombs that exploded that October night. They see the attacks as "'a conspiracy between America, Australia and the Jews.'" There are all kinds of theories concerning the nefarious meaning of the multiple delays in carrying out the executions.
  

The supporters are gearing up for a show of grief, celebration, and unanimity on behalf of religion and its martyrs.

• Jemaah Islamiyah, a local network of "mostly Afghan trained militants" that is believed to be behind the Bali bombings, will be at the funerals in force and have threatened to kill in revenge for the executions. The founder of that group, Abu Bakar Bashir, plans to attend both funerals; he says that "Muslims would be angry if the men are executed but what he is most scared of is 'if God is angry.' 'If Muslims are angry,' he said, 'it will be only words. But if God is, it will be real problem.'"
  
• The U.S. and Australian embassies in Jakarta received bomb threats by text message earlier this week. Australia has raised its terror alert and launched travel warnings in anticipation of violence after the executions are made known.
  
• Some Indonesians are donating their land for the bombers' burial ground, to create a Jihadi cemetery; a blogger living in Jakarta notes: "'It is almost comical in a sense the competition that is being generated with regards to signing up the families of the soon to be dead killers to a burial spot.'"

Not only are the supporters building momentum, so is the media. I set up a news alert for "Bali Bombers" last week. It brings about 20-25 news stories per day into my email box, more than any other news alert I've ever had. And nothing is happening -- except the pre-death rituals, anticipation and intimations, and the post-death fears, anticipation and predictions -- and the precise recording of the process of momentum-building as mimetic.

I admit to feeling fascinated, not by these three bombers and what they've done, in particular, nor by their deaths whenever they occur, but by the process as it unfolds so clearly, so ordinarily though it's writ large, so (seemingly) unconsciously through all the conscious strategising.

To quote Rick Blaine in Casablanca (1942): "It doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world." Three people, yes, and yet, how alike we seem, how much the same the system seems to operate everywhere: how ready to grieve, to unify, to remove conflictual elements, to blame and accuse someone else, to seek revenge, to feel we are victims, to ritualise, to sacralise, to mythologise, to invoke a higher authority to support our views, to want our side to win, to join in the violence and to feel good knowing we're right.

Update 14 Nov: This article in The Age today hits most of the elements of the scapegoat mechanism: unification of splinter groups through shared anger, grief and a sense of being the victims of others -- the outsider 'others' become the enemies, displacing animosity among  warring splinter groups; the compelling story that can be told to enroll new converts; the 'sacrifice' and the glorification of the 'self-sacrificing' victims; and, the understanding in modern times that violence in the name of religion masks "economic, political and social disaffection."

Headline today:

Bombers get medical all-clear for death

My irregular annotated link dump:

>> Never Say Die: Why We Can't Imagine Death by Jesse Bering in the 22 Oct. 2008 SciAm:

The crux: "So why is it so hard to conceptualize inexistence anyway? Part of my own account, which I call the 'simulation constraint hypothesis,' is that in attempting to imagine what it's like to be dead we appeal to our own background of conscious experiences -- because that's how we approach most thought experiments. Death isn't 'like' anything we've ever experienced, however. Because we have never consciously been without consciousness, even our best simulations of true nothingness just aren't good enough."

Fun for the Whole Family: "In a 2004 study reported in Developmental Psychology, Florida Atlantic University psychologist David F. Bjorklund and I presented 200 three- to 12-year-olds with a puppet show. Every child saw the story of Baby Mouse, who was out strolling innocently in the woods. 'Just then,' we told them, 'he notices something very strange. The bushes are moving! An alligator jumps out of the bushes and gobbles him all up. Baby Mouse is not alive anymore.'"

What We Can't UnLearn: "Back when you were still in diapers, you learned that people didn't cease to exist simply because you couldn't see them. Developmental psychologists even have a fancy term for this basic concept: 'person permanence.' Such an off-line social awareness leads us to tacitly assume that the people we know are somewhere doing something. ... We can't simply switch off our person-permanence thinking just because someone has died. This inability is especially the case, of course, for those whom we were closest to and whom we frequently imagined to be actively engaging in various activities when out of sight."

>> For a Fee, a Thai Temple Offers a Head Start on Rebirth by Seth Mydans in the NYT, 26 Sept. 2008. (Reminds me of a vividly described scene in the movie My Dinner with Andre.)  What interests me about the Thai story is the explicit connection between anxiety due to the state of the economy (i.e., decline in prosperity) and the need for this kind of burial and resurrection ritual:

"Nine big pink coffins dominate the grand hall of the temple, and every day hundreds of people take their turns climbing in for a [minute and a half] as monks chant a dirge. Then, at a command, the visitors clamber out again cleansed -- they believe -- of the past. ... A cardboard sign warns visitors not to stand behind the coffins, where bad karma sucked from the 'dying' devotees may still be hovering ...

"It is a renewal for our times, as recent economic hardship brings uncertainty and people try seeking a bailout on life. In growing numbers, they come here from around Thailand to join what has become an assembly line of resurrection.

"'When the economy is down, we latch our hopes onto some supernatural power,' said Ekachai Uekrongtham, the writer-director whose movie The Coffin is in Thai cinemas now with a plot revolving around such funerals for the living."

>> Psychology Voting: 'My Candidate, Myself,' by Robert Burton in Salon, 22 Sept. 2008 (I previously cited Burton's work on certainty when it appeared in a 9 Oct. SciAm piece): The lead-off quote is this: "Let's make sure that there is certainty during uncertain times" -- George W. Bush, 2008.

Burton laments humans' inability to change our minds, to view our own opinions with skepticism, to refuse to be swayed by logical appeal.

He cites a 1999 paper reporting on a study of Cornell undergraduates, which found that the most incompetent people overestimate their abilities to the greatest degree. In other words, "People who lack the knowledge or wisdom to perform well are often unaware of this fact. That is, the same incompetence that leads them to make wrong choices also deprives them of the savvy necessary to recognize competence, be it their own or anyone else's." And, conversely, "smart people tend to believe that everyone else 'gets it.'" They overestimate other people's abilities.

Further: "Closely allied with this unshakable self-confidence in one's decisions is a second separate aspect of meta-cognition, the feeling of being right. ... [F]eelings of conviction, certainty and other similar states of 'knowing what we know' may feel like logical conclusions, but are in fact involuntary mental sensations that function independently of reason. ...  The evidence is substantial that these feelings do not correlate with the accuracy or quality of the thought." And, "Like other powerful mental states such as love, anger and fear, they are extraordinarily difficult to dislodge through rational arguments."

He cites another study in which "staunch party members from both sides" are asked to "evaluate negative (defamatory) information about their 2004 presidential choice:

"Areas of the brain (prefrontal cortex) normally engaged during reasoning failed to show increased activation. Instead, the limbic system -- the center for emotional processing -- lit up dramatically. ...'[B]oth Republicans and Democrats 'reached totally biased conclusions by ignoring information that could not rationally be discounted.'"

Burton suggests that we would know more about our political candidates if we could give them thought experiments that would demonstrate how they think. He'd also like to focus on "each candidate's intellectual grasp of scientific method, from choosing and evaluating evidence to seeing how they would respond to a well-constructed contrary line of reasoning." And what do they do when they are presented with evidence that their answers are wrong? Can the candidates recognise their intellectual limitations? And can we?

THIS IS WHAT I WANT. OMG. Imagine.

"Even as she was dying, she would take walks in Central Park in the daytime, and in the evening sit in a back booth in Bemelmans Bar, looking at the whimsical illustrations of New York City on the wall by the artist Ludwig Bemelmans, best known for the Madeline children's books, and listening to Mr. Harris play. She loved Cole Porter, and she would pass requests to the waiter."

It's been six weeks since I last blogged about mob violence. I've been away most of that time, but no matter where we go or what we're doing, collective violence continues in many forms. Below are some of the latest incidents reported as mob violence or mob justice. (And here's why I'm doing it.)

August to the present (also December 2007, and in 1999): Violence against Christians continues in Orissa, on India's east coast, since the 23 Aug. assassination of a Hindu swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his followers: "Though Maoist insurgents took credit for the killing, Hindu extremists blamed Christians. They mounted mob attacks on churches, as well as homes and villages populated by Christians.  More than 100 people reportedly have been beaten, hacked or burned to death since the mob violence began. It is estimated tens of thousands of Christians have fled their homes, many remaining in seclusion in forests and others in relief camps with police guards. ... Christians reportedly make up about 2.4 percent of the state's 36.7 million people." A BBC news report mentions the religious rivalry of the region: "Hindu groups have long accused Christian priests of bribing poor tribes and low-caste Hindus to convert to Christianity. Christians say lower-caste Hindus convert willingly to escape the Hindu caste system." More at Orissa Burning, at Legacy Matters, and in the NY Times.

12 Oct. 2008, Andhra Pradesh, India: "Even before Friday's communal fire could be doused, six members of a family, including three children, were burnt alive after their tile-roofed house was engulfed in a mysterious fire in a village near here in the strife-torn Adilabad district in the early hours of Sunday." Relatives allege "that Mahboob Khan's family members were killed and later burnt to death by pouring kerosene on them." The incident is under investigation.

Previously, 12km away in Bhainsa town, "three people were killed when a Durga idol immersion procession was passing by a mosque, where Friday prayers were being offered. Two of the three killed ... were from the minority community and they were stabbed to death. Twenty-five people had been injured too."  Andhra Pradesh home minister K Jana Reddy appealed for calm and "he urged people to stay away from rumour mongers."

8 Oct. 2008, Dhule, Mumbai, India: "The communal riots that erupted in Dhule on Sunday afternoon have claimed six lives so far. Eight others were injured in the riots which broke out after two groups clashed over the tearing of posters. ... Eighty-six were injured in mob violence." The area is about 75% Hindu and 25% Muslim. "Residents said that 10-15 houses were set ablaze near the Juna Devpur Eintbhatti area and the wall of Agna mosque was demolished by the rioters. ... 'The police became mute spectators as rioters pelted stones and put property on fire. They could not be controlled.'"

1 Oct. 2008, Kemaman, Terengganu, Malaysia: "A group of men beat to death a suspected motorcycle thief on Saturday in what appeared to be mob justice. The 30-year-old man was attacked by a group of 20 to 30 men. ... The suspected thief, from Dungun, had prior convictions and was also believed to have been a drug addict." Four men, aged between 30 and 40, are being held for murder.

30 Sept. 2008, Norwich City Centre, East Anglia, UK: "Three men have been arrested over the murder of a millionaire banker who tried to save a homeless Lithuanian man being assaulted by a mob." Frank McGarahan, 45, died from head injuries suffered when intervening to help: "[A]s Mr McGarahan shouted at the gang of ten men to stop, they turned on him. In the fracas, he suffered a serious head injury."

27 Sept. 2008, Meetiyagoda, Sri Lanka: "In a tragic incident, a six-year-old boy was burnt to death in his sleep when an angry mob set fire to a house in Meetiyagoda on Thursday night following a dispute with his parents. ... Police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekara told the Daily Mirror the parents and the victim had gone to attend a wedding in the Bataduwa area on Thursday evening. In the night the father had come home along with the child and gone back to the wedding after the child went to sleep.  He had got involved in a brawl there, reportedly after consuming liquor. The brawl had taken serious proportions forcing him to flee the area and hide in the jungle. The angry group had stormed his house and set fire to it unaware of the presence of the sleeping child. The house which was made out of wattle and daub was swiftly gutted by fire."

26 Sept. 2008, Delhi, India: "Lalit Choudhary, 47, died on Monday of head wounds after being attacked by a mob at the Graziano Transmissioni car parts factory in Delhi. He'd been attempting to resolve a long-standing dispute with workers who had demanded better pay and permanent contracts, and some of whom had been sacked for their trouble.  However, a meeting with former employees turned seriously nasty and 'the unemployed men began vandalising the machinery, turning on Choudhary when he tried to reason with them'. ...  Around 125 dismissed workers armed with iron rods barged into the factory and went on rampage. When Lalit tried to pacify them, they assaulted him with rods." More at The Register.

7 Sept. 2008, Paris, France: From the Jerusalem Post: "Three counselors from the Bnei Akiva youth movement were attacked not far from the organization's central branch in Paris on Saturday afternoon. The boys, aged between 17 and 18, had just finished the minha prayer when they were attacked by a group of Muslims. ... [T]he youths were initially approached by a group of three Muslim/African immigrants who began to throw chestnuts in their direction. When one of the counselors asked them why they were being attacked, the assailants began shouting anti-Semitic remarks. Ten to 12 attackers wearing brass knuckles joined the original three and beat the three Jews until police arrived." The victims sustained a broken nose, broken jaw, and lacerations.

6 Sept. 2008, Birmingham, England, UK: "A father died after being slashed across the face and then repeatedly stabbed on his own doorstep by a mob in front of his teenage son.  Odd job man Jeff Parry, 44, was left dying in a pool of blood after the frenzied attack. Neighbours in Bromford, Birmingham, yesterday claimed he had been a victim of mob justice -- targeted after being accused of stealing a handbag. They said he answered the door to a group of men who lashed out, cut his face and stabbed him seven times." (That's the entire article.) So far, three boys/men have been charged, one 16 years old.

28 Aug. 2008, Nabbingo, Uganda, Africa: "The Police in Nabbingo, Wakiso district, battled with residents after they pounced on two suspected chicken thieves and killed one of them. Sadala Kiwanuka, a carpenter of Kawempe, was killed, while his colleague Bulana of Bwaise was rescued by the Police from the mob and taken to Mulago Hospital. ... An eyewitness said one of the residents saw the suspects trying to load the stolen chicken on their bicycle and made an alarm, which brought residents out. ... Police commander Alison Agaba said "had the Police not got there in time, the mob would have set the suspects on fire."

25 Aug 2008, Orissa, India: In part of the ongoing Hindu-Christian violence, a 29-year-old Catholic nun was raped "by a member of a Hindu mob in Kandhamal district. ... She also alleged that she was paraded naked through the streets." Another article indicates that she was gang-raped by members of a mob of 40 men; so far 8 men have been arrested in the case. With her when she was taken was pastor Father Thomas Chellan, whom the mob beat with irons and tried to kill by dousing him with petrol. See The Hindu for more info from Chellan's pov.

25 Aug. 2008, Soweto, South Africa: "The victim of two suspected robbers, who had reportedly been terrorising the community, feels the culprits deserved to die.  She said this after the two robbers got a fatal dose of mob justice in Lenasia South at the weekend when residents accosted them. 'The men have been stealing from the community for a long time now and they finally got what they deserved,' said Amelia Miya, 53. ... 'When I got to the street there were many people assaulting the robber with sjamboks and kicking him.' ... 'The other robber was caught a few streets away and beaten to death on the scene. It turns out that he was carrying a toy gun.'"

21 Aug 2008, Subang Jaya, Malaysia: Six men, all in their 20s, are believed to have killed Mohd Farid Sarader Ali, 24, who was alleged to have snatched the handbag of a VIP's wife. He was beaten up about a week later by the VIP's son and his friends, after they tracked him through his motorcycle registration; he fell into a coma and died three days later in hospital. Mohd Farid, an oddjobs worker, "had several previous records for snatch thefts." His mother said, "'Even if he did snatch the Datin's handbag, he doesn't deserve to die.'" Another man said that he and others "'followed the VIP son's car to the place but could not do anything as some 25 men bashed him up in front of the Datin.'"

House: People get what they get. It's got nothing to do with what they deserve.   (House MD, ep. 5x01, Death Changes Everything)

Reminds me of a (fictional?) poem quoted in a crime novel I read on my vacation:

"People don't die because they're bad.

They die because they're available." (The Falls, Ian Rankin)