... of the god in the night-time

As you would expect from the Economist, yesterday's article was almost completely positive and optimistic, saying how globalisation, technology and free trade were making the world so much better. And it suggested that the curious incidence of little current news from many regions that previously had bloody conflicts was because those regions were now free and stable.

However, there was one standout exception to the general increase in security and stability. Quoting directly:

A big exception to the rule of declining political violence is the rise of terrorism. Despite claims to the contrary by the Bush administration, the number of international terrorist incidents has risen since September 11th 2001, after a decade of decline. The number of deaths from terrorist acts has climbed almost everywhere. Yet this picture of worldwide growth is misleading. While it is true that Asia, Latin America and Europe have all experienced more terrorist attacks than before, they are still rare. Since 2001, the Middle East has suffered more violence and fatalities than the rest of the world put together.

So the Middle East brings you Abraham, Jesus and Mohammed, and this is how you behave?

Meanwhile, as millions of Americans were voting in Democratic and Republican primary elections on Super Tuesday, many southern states experienced the worst tornadoes for decades. Many people died. The religious loonies are always quick to blame any catastrophe in New Orleans or California as God's vengeance upon immoral lifestyles, yet it seems that the most religious parts of the nation are those that are most affected by these natural disasters. Is it that the prayers of the supposedly faithful increased the likelihood of natural disaster there, or did the prayers make no difference whatsoever?

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time was that the dog did nothing.