The Raven and Ravenatrix are off to a dinner party tonight. This is one of those "bring-a-dish" affairs, and after some hunting about we elected to prepare a Spicy Asian Salad from Epicurious.

Incredibly beautiful, and the peanut dressing is swoonworthy. Recommended.
5:23:55 PM       

Which is how an Australian editor I worked with would have described today's items. Considering the mix of bright and dark notes, you might opt for labeling them a Foxes' Wedding Ceremony.

Game of Death

That's not how you'd usually describe the elegant pasttime of golf, but it is now, according to U.S. Capitol Police who've warned our nation's senators that there may be al Qaeda snipers on the links. Marcia Krug, a spokeswoman for the Capitol Cops, relayed the info she received from an as-yet unidentified government agency:

She said her department, in turn, notified the sergeant-at-arms, who then notified the senators that al Qaeda snipers might be looming near golf courses, ready to pick them off.

"Sir, the fourteenth green is well defended by a water hazard, two sand traps on either side, and a nest of Islamic mudjahadeen snipers."

Atlanta Justice

Too bad for Deron Henry Thomas. The 46-year-old mugger was doing his thing Thursday night, which in this case involved tailing a dimunitive younger woman, Simona Edery, into a downtown Atlanta MARTA station and snatching her purse. When she fought back, he slashed her with his knife and bolted for the street. Enter ex-Marine Steve Miles, who saw Thomas running away from the sound of Edery's screams.

"I challenged him," said Miles, "I asked 'What are you doing?' And he just panicked and ran." Miles noticed that Thomas was clutching a handbag and gave chase, body-tackling the thug and slamming him across a bank of newspaper racks. Putting the punk in a full-nelson, Miles then saw the bleeding victim approach and sized up the situation.

Miles said he then realized "how serious this was. I held onto him tight and whispered in his ear, 'Don't move,'" adding an obscenity he would not divulge.

About Time!

You might recall our story last month where we reported on the horrific conditions at Atlanta's Fulton County children's shelter. Good news this morning from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which states that the city has finally closed one of these hell-holes down.

Although the Fulton shelter will stop accepting new residents Nov. 1, it will take until Dec. 31 for the shelter to move the approximately 30 children who still live there, Nitzberg said.

The Math of Life

According to the Daily Hindu this morning, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is discounting the report that militant members of their political party lynched five Dalits, members of India's "untouchable" caste, for skinning a cow alive. The VHP's senior leader, Giriraj Kishore, was questioned by reporters as to whether the life of the cow was worth more than the lives of the five slain Dalits.

His response was: "In our (Hindu) shastras, the life of a cow was very important".

Invasive Compassion

The State of Michigan was given permission yesterday by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to "rightfully deny benefits" to any welfare recipient who is found to be taking illegal drugs. But that isn't the problem. See, what Michigan was being challenged on was the state's random drug testing program for people on welfare. Want that check? Fill up this cup, please.

The appeals judges—Alice Batchelder, Richard Suhrheinrich and Eugene Siler Jr.—said in their ruling issued in Cincinnati that such testing can protect children from drug-abusing parents who might neglect or otherwise harm them.

Dueling Imams

Test your knowledge of religious zealot fundamentalism in this quiz that asks, "Who Said It: Osama, Robertson, or Falwell?" [metafilter]

12:32:08 PM