An attack ad worth your attention

The partisan venom, let's shelve

For the moment, while all of us delve

In this criminal's past

And agree now, at last,

That it's Kony in 2012.

The Savant acknowledges the critics of this campaign and recognizes there is more to the history of Central Africa's problems than Joseph Kony and the L.R.A. but the man is an international criminal and is there any justification for the brutal conscription of children as soldiers and sex slaves?

The argument goes that Northern Uganda has been at peace for several years and that the L.R.A.'s influence has declined and that pursuing Kony and his band may only incite him and his followers to further violence. Has that ever been a good argument for letting crimes against humanity and their perpetrators go unpunished?

Yes the video is propaganda and grossly simplifies the very complex problems occurring in the region but if the movement has helped to raise awareness to the point of drawing such criticism it has been successful and maybe this is a model for how to get the public to recognize important issues without George Clooney having to get our attention first.

Mission Accomplished?

Well, what do you know about that?
Future terrorists' plans must fall flat!
Since Obama has shown
With bin Laden's iPhone
There's an app that can tell where you're at.

Seems like we finally had intelligence where we needed it: in the White House

Osama Bin Laden Killed
NPR, 5/2/11

So it ends and begins

Those who seek to be leaders of state
Often meet with a violent fate.
Now, as proof of that fear,
The beloved Benazir
Fell victim to militant hate.

Two Benazir Bhuttos
By Anne Applebaum, The Washington Post, 1/1/2008

A feline for those in need

Not intending to be, at all, witty,
I suggest that it's really a pity
That we can't get Osama
To finish the drama
And curl up tonight with this kitty!

Reports of an Italian director's ten minute You Tube of Oscar, just staring; or accounts of the cat's recent chess match with a Swedish auteur appear to be greatly exaggerated.

Does Feline Have a Feeling That Death Is Near?
NPR Morning Edition, 7/26/07

Uncle Al (Zawahri) wants you

Now hiring a sober self-starter.
There is no opportunity smarter
Than a job with al-Qaida.
You won’t be well-paid-a,
But can end your career as a martyr!

[Recycle Alert: the above is a reworked version of a limerick posted on the Savant's original website. Plus ca change, la meme chose]

al-Qaida Calls for War Against Pakistan
The Guardian, 7/11/07

Time will tell

Can the death of Zarqawi be bartered
For the violent acts he has chartered,
Or will the insurgency
Feel a new urgency
At having a leader thus martyred?

Al-Zarqawi Killed in U.S. Bombing in Iraq
By Patrick Quinn, The Washington Post, 6/8/06

Finish this sentence:

"I am al-Qaeda..."

The Feds now admit that they might
Have stopped 9-11 pre-flight
And claim it is how we
Were duped by Moussaoui
That terrorists hid in plain sight.

Moussaoui 'hid 9/11 plot details'
BBC News, 3/7/06