More In Kosovo

Moscow, May 17, Interfax - A group of young ethnic Albanians beat up and hurled stones at a monk at a Serbian Orthodox monastery in Kosovo, the Russian Orthodox Church said on Thursday.

The Monastery of Saints Cosmas and Damian near the town of Orahovac, the site of the attack, is officially under the protection of the Kosovo police.

The assault on monk Dionisije was the latest in a series of incidents "that have marred the life of Orthodox believers in [Kosovo] province over the past few months," the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations said in a statement.

'The assault was perpetrated three hours after the monastery was visited by the commander of the German contingent of the Kosovo Force, and this makes this extremist act even more brazen,' it said.

On the day of the incident, an allegedly terrorist ethnic Albanian group disseminated leaflets with threats of violence against ethnic Serbs who refuse to leave Kosovo.

'The beating up of monk Dionisije has given rise to concern in the Russian Orthodox Church. The incident must receive an appropriate legal qualification and become one more reminder of the need for measures to protect the churches and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church,' the department said.

Did You Just Play Your Ace?

Back when I was in the academy, the Sergeant told us something like, "When you're responding to a fight call, don't play your ace right away or else you'll end up looking stupid".

Alexis Tsipras, leader of Greece's Syriza party said that he'd repudiate Greece's debts if the Eurozone cut off further funding.

Ok, you've played your ace. Thanks for the belated warning. Now what?

Efforts have been underway for the last 18 months to prepare for an eventual Greek repudiation. I'd rate his ace more like a mean-case 5 or 6 or a worst-case 10. A Greek exit from the Eurozone would hurt Greeks more than anyone else, you know, with at least 100% inflation for those entitled public pensioners and a halving of everyone's savings, except for the prudent Euro hoarders. The Germans are better off husbanding their welfare checks for countries with genuine growth prospects, like Spain or Portugal or Italy.

Fire away, Ace.

No Worries, Stud

Desmond Hatchett, 33, of Knoxville has children with 11 different women

RUN!

Am I hearing that the drachma won't be worth spit? Naw, the drachma could be worth as much as 0.5 euros.

I added trenchant comments over at Ad Orientem.

Despicable

Arianna Huffington, founder of the liberal leaning news site The Huffington Post, has criticized the Obama campaign for an ad suggesting that Mitt Romney wouldn’t have killed terrorism kingpin Osama bin Laden, calling the move 'despicable'.

I agree.

I'm acquainted with a SWAT Captain who, after he sledged down a suspect with 00 buck, passed around autopsy photos and loudly calculated his shotgun qualification score as if the suspect been a B-27 silhouette.

Ok, I'm entirely sympathetic with the morbid humour of those who inhabit the nuanced world of mortal peril, but I can't stomach the fake bravado of the pussycat who takes credit for the hard decisions and dirty fingernails that he leaves to others.

Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey wrote of the Bin Laden decision in today's Wall Street Journal:

A recently disclosed memorandum from then-CIA Director Leon Panetta shows that the president's celebrated derring-do in authorizing the operation included a responsibility-escape clause: 'The timing, operational decision making and control are in Admiral McRaven's hands.'

But What Do The Shareholders Say?

The British government says that Rupert Murdoch is unfit to run his media empire.