At the conservative estimate of $4.6165 trillion, so far (including the Citi bailout) (Bloomberg estimates the bailout even higher, at over $7 trillion already, which is $24,000 for every person in the country), the bailout would cost more in inflation-adjusted costs than:

the Marshall Plan,

the Louisiana Purchase,

the Race to the Moon,

the 1980s S&L Crisis,

the Korean War,

The New Deal,

the Invasion of Iraq,

the Vietnam War,

and NASA [hope that doesn't include The Race to the Moon ...],

which together total $3.92 trillion.

"The only single American event in history that even comes close to matching the cost of the credit crisis is World War II: Original Cost [to U.S.]: $288 billion, Inflation-Adjusted Cost: $3.6 trillion."

More scary details here, courtesy Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture

Yes, taxpayers could get some of the money back (the Chrysler 1.5 billion bailout loan in the early 1980s was repaid in full with interest) (maybe), but even if taxpayers are on the hook for only $1-2 trillion, that's still between $3,200 and $6,500 per every man, woman, and child in the country.

Others suggest we should look at the cost of the bailout in terms of GDP, or in terms of national net worth. (And Nobel-prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, in his recent 'What To Do' essay, talks about the viability of solutions in terms of GDP.)

Doing the latter, one commenters says that the $4.6 trillion "is still quite modest. As a percent of total national net worth (government and non-governmental assets minus liabilities) it's less than 4 percent." (No idea where those figures come from.)

Another commenter crunches more numbers (with caveats, and sources, listed) to determine government expenditures inflation-adjusted as a percentage of time-relative annual GDPs:

the Marshall Plan (1947): $115.3 billion/$1,574.5 billion GDP in 1947 = 7.3% of 1947's GDP

the Race to the Moon (1961-69): $237 billion/$3,191.1 billion GDP in 1965 = 7.4% of 1965's GDP

S&L Crisis (1986-91): $256 billion/$6,742.7 billion GDP in 1988 = 3.8% of 1988's GDP

Korean War (1950-53): $454 billion/$1,915.0 billion GDP in 1951 = 23.7% of 1951's GDP

The New Deal (1933-36): $500 billion (Est)/$704.2 billion GDP in 1934 = 71% of 1934's GDP

Invasion of Iraq (2003-08): $597 billion/$10,989.5 billion GDP in 2005 = 5.4% of 2005's GDP

Vietnam War (1965-75): $698 billion/$3,771.9 billion GDP in 1970 = 18.5% of 1970's GDP

NASA (1958-2008): $851.2 billion/$5,423.8 billion GDP in 1983 = 15.7% of 1983's GDP

which total 153% of annual GDP relative to year of expenditure

In terms of GDP, the current bailouts (2008) -- estimated, conservatively, to cost $4,616.5 billion (or $11,523.9 billion GDP in 2007) -- would be 40.1% of 2007's GDP, a little less than the Korean and Vietnam Wars combined, but quite a bit less than the New Deal.

I wish my calculator went up to a billion, much less a trillion ....

At least, that's what Joan Didion seemed to say, per a NYT article, at a talk she gave a week after the U.S. election, when she "lamented that the United States in the era of Barack Obama had become an 'irony-free zone,' a vast Kool-Aid tank where 'naïveté, translated into "hope," was now in' and where 'innocence, even when it looked like ignorance, was now prized.'"

Columnist Roger Rosenblatt, after 9/11, "said that while irony had its place and time, this was not it." Some events, he says, "are so big that they almost imply an obligation not to diminish [them] by clever comparisons."

John H. McWhorter, "semiconservative black commentator," sees a reduction in irony as a natural and praiseworthy reaction among white people to having voted Obama into office and in doing so expiating "white America's sins" and "showing that you are past the nastiness."

I gotta go with Joan. Irony (particularly phase III irony) is all about puncturing propaganda, "stating the lie in order to expose the lie," pointing out the discrepancy between what is expected and what actually results, and in doing so examining the nature of human folly and vanity. So particularly when we're feeling good about ourselves and what we've accomplished, and when much is expected and hoped, when so much faith and trust is put in one event, in one person (as New York magazine put it, a couple of weeks ago, "Obamaism: It’s a kind of religion. But one rooted in a deep faith in rationality."), and when results are so sorely needed, we benefit from that "distanced perspective" of irony more than ever.

Like P.J. O'Rourke's; he's writing a column for The Weekly Standard with the working title, 'Is It Too Soon to Start Talking About the Failed Obama Presidency Just Because He Isn't President Yet?'

It was 90 years ago today that the fighting of World War I between the Allies and Germany ceased, on 11 a.m. on 11 Nov. 1918 -- now variously commemorated as Veteran's Day (U.S. only), Armistice Day, Poppy Day, and Remembrance Day. The Treaty of Versailles officially ended the war (and some would say laid the ground for the next one) when it was signed the next year in June.

I started thinking about what else was going on in 1918.

NOTABLE EVENTS

The Spanish Flu epidemic, coming in waves from 4 March 1918 to June 1920, infecting from 500 to 950 million people worldwide and killing 20 to 100 million people,  likely quite a bit more than the number of people killed in World War I (8.5-10 million combatants plus about 10 million civilians, mainly of famine and illness other than the flu). The Spanish Flu was unusual in that it killed healthy adults (average age: 33) and spread even to the Arctic. It seems to have started in the U.S. state of Kansas.

The Sedition Act was passed in the U.S. at the behest of Pres. Woodrow Wilson and "forbade Americans to use 'disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language' about the United States government, flag, or armed forces during war." Under the act, members of the Industrial Workers of the World union (U.S. citizens) were imprisoned during World War I. Wikipedia says that in his book The Great Influenza, John Barry claims "that the reason there is so little information available today about the 1918 influenza pandemic is that the newspapers supported the act. The information might have lowered the morale of the civilians supporting the war effort and the morale of the troops fighting the war." The Sedition Act was repealed by Congress in 1920.

The UK allowed women over age 30 to vote and widened suffrage generally in Feb. 1918 "by abolishing practically all property qualifications for men [over 21] and by enfranchising women over 30 who met minimum property qualifications." The tripled the electorate from 7.7 million people to over 21 million. In December, Constance Markiewicz was the first woman elected to the British House of Commons. Women under 30 were not allowed to vote until 1928. (U.S. women gained the right to vote through the 19th Amendment, ratified in Aug. 1920.)

The Russian royal Romanov family was shot to death on 16 July at Yekaterinburg by order of the Bolsheviks. This included Nicholas II and Aleksandra, their daughters Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia, and their son Alexis.

Lynching of black Americans continued in the U.S. South. In May, 8-months-pregnant Mary Turner was horrifically killed for opposing her husband's lynching: "She was taken from her home by a mob of several hundred, had her ankles tied, was hung upside down from a tree, doused in gasoline and motor oil and set on fire.  Whilst still alive, a member of the mob split her abdomen open with a knife, and the unborn child fell to ground, where it was repeatedly stomped on and crushed. Finally, Turner's body was riddled with bullets. After the incident, the Associated Press wrote that Mary Turner had made unwise remarks about the execution of her husband."

At the time of Finland's independence from Russian in late 1917, that country passed its Mosaic Confessors act, which went into effect in Jan. 1918 and which for the first time allowed Jews living in Finland to become Finnish nationals with full rights of citizens, and Jews who weren't Finns were to be treated like any other foreigner. Finland was engaged in civil war for the first part of 1918, between the socialists Reds (supported by Bolshevist Russia) and the non-socialist whites (supported by Germany); and when the Finnish Air Force was founded in March, the "blue swastika is adopted as its symbol as a tribute to the Swedish explorer and aviator Eric von Rosen, who donated the first plane. Von Rosen had painted the Buddhist symbol on the plane as his personal lucky insignia."

In Feb. 1918, Russia switched from the Julian calendar (which had essentially been in force since 45 B.C.) to the Gregorian calendar, and 1 Feb suddenly became 14 Feb.  Even stranger than daylight savings time, though only a one-time event. Speaking of DST, it first went into effect in the U.S. in March 1918, as did U.S. time zones!

Max Planck of Germany won the Nobel Prize for physics for his quantum theory of light.

Regular U.S. airmail service started in May 1918, among New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Forbes magazine produced its first Richest Americans list. The combined wealth of the 30 richest Americans was $3.7 billion. In 2007, the top 30 of the Forbes 400 were worth about $541 billlion.

The Raggedy Ann doll was introduced for sale in the U.S., based on a prototype produced to promote sales of the first book of Raggedy Ann stories, written by Johnny Gruelle.

Rinso, the world's first granulated laundry soap, was introduced by Lever Brothers.

On 11 Sept 1918, the Boston Red Sox defeated the Chicago Cubs for the World Series championship, their last World Series win until 2004.

U.S. Disasters:

• 9 July: The great train wreck of 1918 (two trains collided) in Nashville, Tennessee kills 101. (Other reports say 99 killed and 171 injured)
  
• 12 Oct.: The Cloquet Fire killed 453 people in the city of Cloquet, Minnesota and nearby.
  
• 25 Oct.: The Princess Sophia sank on a reef near Juneau, Alaska and 353 people died in the "greatest maritime disaster in the Pacific Northwest."
• 1 Nov.: The Malbone Street Wreck, which was "the worst rapid transit accident in world history," occured in Brooklyn approaching the new Prospect Park subway station, killing 97 and injuring 100 people.

BIRTHS

Jan: Gamal Abdel Nasser, pres. of Egypt 1956-1970; Oral Roberts, evangelist; Nicolae Ceauşescu, Romanian dictator

Feb: Muriel Spark, Scottish novelist (Prime of Miss Jean Brodie); Joey Bishop, American entertainer; Don Pardo (SNL announcer); Bobby Riggs, tennis player

March: Mickey Spillane, American writer; Howard Cosell, sports journalist; Pearl Bailey, singer and actress; Sam Walton of Wal-Mart

April: Betty Ford, first lady; William Holden, actor.

May: Jack Paar, American TV host; Mike Wallace (60 Minutes); Julius Rosenberg, American-born Soviet spy

June:

July: Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren, advice columnists; Ingmar Bergman, Swedish film director; Nelson Mandela, pres. South Africa

August: Leonard Bernstein, American composer and conductor; Ted Williams, American baseball player

Sept.: Paul Harvey, American radio broadcaster

Oct.: Rita Hayworth, American actress

Nov.: Art Carney, American actor (The Honeymooners); Billy Graham, American evangelist; Spiro Agnew, American VP

Dec.: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer; Kurt Waldheim, Austrian president and Secretary-General of the UN; Anwar Sadat, President of Egypt; Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of Germany 1974-1982

DEATHS

Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter (b. 1862); Claude Debussy, French composer (b. 1862); Manfred von Richthofen (The Red Baron), German World War I pilot (b. 1892); Tsar Nicholas II of Russia (b. 1868) and his family, in the Russian Revolution; Stanley Steamer co-inventor Francis E. Stanley (in an auto accident) (b.1849); Joyce Kilmer poet (Trees) (b. 1886); tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds (b.1850); Wilfred Owen, English poet (killed in action) (b. 1893); Edmond Rostand, playwright (Cyrano de Bergerac) (b.1868);  Guillaume Apollinaire, French poet (b. 1880)

Not sure why Booker-prize-winning novelist Ian McEwan (Amsterdam, Atonement, Saturday) was asked for his opinion on climate change policy and the new U.S. administration, but in this piece in the WSJ (8 Nov. 2008), he wrote this lovely bit:

"The contest for the presidency, like all elections, had the self-enclosed quality of a squash game, a chess match, a post-modern novel -- and this one was far better than most. While the candidates appeared to address an external reality, they were bound by strictly ethereal requirements: to cast spells on large crowds while seeming ordinary, to trample their opponent into oblivion while seeming pleasant, to be inspirational yet sensible, to avoid offending a score of sensitive constituencies, and, an old wizard's touch, to promise the electorate various gifts without further borrowing or raising taxes. ...

btw, McEwan argues that Obama must act decisively on climate change, taking advantage of the "unearthly powers" now attributed to him.

Yes, I know it's over. These are some of the links I found most funny (if sometimes rivalrous and cynical), most moving, most interesting. Followed by a modest compilation of lengthy and detailed lists of 'what Obama needs to do,' proposed by various folk!

Moving

Greene: If you can’t (or can) say anything nice... by Bob Greene at CNN (31 Oct. 2008)

From 52 to 48 With Love at Ze Frank (begun: 5 Nov. 2008)

images by Patrick Moberg

Funny

I watched Fox News for five hours last night by Andrew O'Hehir at Salon (5 Nov. 2008)

Blowing Off Steam at the Margaret and Helen blog (6 Nov 2008)

Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job in the Onion (5 Nov. 2008)

Obama Deletes Another Unread MoveOn.org E-Mail in the Onion (17 Sept. 2008)

Election-Related Signs: Why? by Scott Adams (4 Nov. 2008)

This.Fucking.Election.

Sarah Palin for Poet Laureate in Prospect magazine (Dec. 2008): "A great poet needs to leave open the door between the conscious and unconscious; Sarah Palin has removed her door from its hinges. A great poet does not self-censor; Sarah Palin seems authentically innocent of what she is saying."

Interesting and Useful

PolitiFact.com, applying factchecker and truth-o-meter to politicians' assertions

Political Speech by Nancy Hitt at Preaching Peace (5 Nov. 2008)

The Perils of Populist Chic by Mark Lilla in the WSJ (8 Nov.2008)

Change.gov - Office of the President-Elect (official website) - the 'agenda' section is pretty meaty

Obama's To-Do Lists

Obama's to-do list in the Boston Globe (6 Nov. 2008)

What Obama's Next Steps Should Be on Health Care, Transportation, Iraq and More at AlterNet (6 Nov. 2008)

A Towering Economic To-Do List for Obama in the NYT (5 Nov. 2008)

Economists' Advice for the President-Elect in the NYT (10 Nov. 2008)

Obama's global to-do list from John Hughes at the Christian Science Monitor (6 Nov. 2008)

Barack to the future: What can Obama do around the world at mirror.co.uk (6 Nov. 2008)

Top 10 foreign challenges for Obama at BBC News (5 Nov. 2008)

Obama's Top Three Foreign Policy Priorities at Foreign Policy in Focus (7 Nov. 2008)

Judith Kipper's Memo to the President at Huffington Post (6 Nov. 2008)

Environmental leaders offer their elevator pitches for Obama (Guardian, 7 Nov. 2008)

What the tech industry needs from President-elect Obama at CNET (5 Nov. 2008)

A Small Business Agenda for President Obama by Keith Girard at AllBusiness.com (6 Nov. 2008)

Let's consider three overlooked priorities for the new Obama administation by Judah Freed in the Portland (ME) Examiner (6 Nov. 2008)

Dave Pollard's view of Obama's Top 10 Tasks (5 Nov. 2008. Ten sounds small but wait until you see them ... 'Herculean' comes to mind)

Garrison Keillor has some advice, too: On this beautiful day, a few words for the happy couple (6 Nov. 2008)

requests for Advice for Obama at Freakonomics (see comments) (5 Nov. 2008)

what Obama should be reading from Inside Higher Ed (5 Nov. 2008)

Harvard economics professor Greg Mankiw has a memo to the POTUS-elect (8 Nov.2008)

advice from Alice Walker, at Ekklesia: Care for your soul, Barack (10 Nov. 2008)

advice from folk at Sojourners: Jim Wallis (7 Nov); Elizabeth Edwards (10 Nov); Richard Rohr (11 Nov)

leaders in sustainable food and agriculture weigh in at Grist (10 Nov. 2008)

(to be continued ...)

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

Why are these accounts always so interesting, funny? (And timeless: originally published May 2003)

"I am nervous. Spending half a week passing harsh judgment on your fellow Manhattanites just seems so… well, when put like that, it sounds just like every other day."

"The judge is Irish, fast-talking, and hilarious. 'Is there anyone among you who likes crime?' he asks. I consider the question. I do like some crimes: I love jaywalking; I love watching people turnstile-jump; I enjoy committing pre-crime. I say nothing. Neither does anyone else. Thus begins my suspicion of lies beneath the black and white world of the law."

"Potential juror#1: Then when I was 10, my parents moved to a suburb of Philadelphia.
"Judge: Did they take you with them?"

"I am in the jury box. I make snap judgments. I have no opinion about the defendant, but I'm ready to send the Zionist down the row from me to the electric chair; she's wasting our precious time blathering about her good deeds for Israel while we could be happily smoking."

"I want that jury power so bad I can taste it. If I don't get picked today, I may have to re-enter therapy. I feel I must get into the box today, but even as my conviction grows, I am torn. Sending someone to prison is like, really bad."

"I immediately become gal pals with the funny gay fellow behind me. I don’t ask his name or anything else -- I'll learn it all in voir dire, the speed-dating of jury duty!"

Find out what various politicians (Obama, McCain, Clintons, John Edwards, Ron Paul, Condoleezza Rice, Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney, et al.) have said about various topics at Google's 'In Quotes': Iraq, the economy, abortion, marriage, oil, George W. Bush, or anything else you can think of. There are also Canadian, Indian, and UK editions which feature politicians in those places.

I tried 'libraries' and 'librarian' for both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin and got nothing. Got two hits on Palin for 'library,' though only one was a quote directly from her (the other was a quote someone attributed to her). Nothing for Hillary. Tried 'stem cell' for Palin and GW Bush -- turned up no quotes by Bush at all, which seems highly unlikely.

My initial assessment is that the quotes database is vastly underpopulated. One very useful feature: date and linked location are provided for each quote.

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.'"