At 5:03 AM this morning, crowds looking for Black Friday deals at a Long Island Wal-Mart broke the doors from their hinges and trampled a 34-year-old temporary employee to death.  Hours later, two men shot each other at a Toys ‘R’ Us in Palm Desert, CA.

Epic failure by Wal-Mart on crowd control and of course, the crowd itself.  No details so far on what caused the Toys ‘R’ Us shooting, but some jumped to the conclusion of a dispute over toys.  Quite a national embarassment to see people killed over Christmas gift deals, while many who are far more desperate fight over resources like water and food aid.

My latest favorite Podcast, Things You Should Know by HowStuffWorks.com, gives a more historically accurate recap of the first Thanksgiving than you see in elementary schools or parades.  The most interesting part is that it all happened by an incredible stroke of luck.  Listen above for details.

You can listen or subscribe to Stuff You Should Know here.

This is the landmark Taj Mahal hotel on the waterfront of Mumbai, India, set ablaze and under control of gunmen who are still holding an unknown number of foreign and domestic hostages.

Officials believe Islamic extremists are responsible for the attacks on at least seven different locations in Mumbai on Thursday.  A group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen has claimed responsibility, but nobody seems to have ever heard of the group.  Deccan is a region in India once ruled by Muslim kings, so it may be a domestic cell.  There are always concerns that terrorism will raise tensions between India and Pakistan, where many Islamic extremists are educated and trained.

So far, the police headquarters, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (one of Mumbai’s major rail stations), the Oberoi-Trident Hotel, Cafe Leopold, Cama Hospital and the iconic Taj Mahal hotel are among the .  Most of these locations are usually filled with western tourists, and witnesses are reporting that the attackers – armed with AK-47s and bags full of ammunition, grenades and almonds (to stay alert during the seige) – are targeting Americans and Britons specifically.  Last figures I heard were 85 dead and 200+ wounded, but there has been a lot of confusion in the reports, and even more so on the street as police and military forces try to secure a giant portion of India’s largest city.  There’s no word on how many Americans and Britons are included in those figures.

One reason for that confusion is that the region’s counter-terrorism chief, Hemant Karkare, was killed early on in the attacks, near the Cama Hospital.  The temporary leadership gap may have caused delays in India’s emergency response.  Some witnesses near sites of the attacks reported calling police multiple times over the course of half an hour before forces arrived.

This is a major change in terrorism tactics from anything India has dealt with before.  Most terrorism has involved bombs left on moving trains and in crowded markets, which have killed hundreds in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and other cities since at least 2003.  Read more »

These are PAD protesters in Thailand, who have gathered by the thousands to sit in at Bangkok’s major international airport, effectively shutting down the country’s major industry – tourism. There are even more of them blocking the entrance outside, and a few trucks have been abandoned lengthwise across major roads leading to the airport, walled on both sides with huge billboards protesting the prime minister.

I’ve got a friend in Thailand, so I’ve been following this story pretty closely. A bit of background: the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has been protesting the new Thai government – despite being fairly elected following a bloodless military coup – for more than 3 months now, with coordinated sit-ins at Bangkok’s major government buildings. PAD believes the current prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat, is following the orders of the ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was recently convicted of corruption and abuse of power. Both Thaksin and Somchai are reportedly still very popular in rural areas, but PAD protesters consist of mostly middle-class urbanites, and their efforts have been bolstered by the effectiveness of the 2006 protest that successfully led to the military coup. Read more »

Didn’t even know this was possible with YouTube. Discovered by @jeffcannata.