Amanda Ripley Author of The Unthinkable

I found myself unable to blink (or even breathe) as I read today’s full-page New York Times ad for the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower in Mumbai. I understand it’s a business, and it’s important and admirable that it reopened so quickly after terrorists killed dozens of guests and workers. I understand that no one wants to mention dead people in an ad like this. But still.

“We’re bringing back the champagne flutes…impeccable butler service, luxury Jaguar transfers and splendid suites.”

Really? No mention of the courage it takes to rebuild and return to life in the shadow of grief? No talk of forging ahead—without forgetting? I don’t know the right way to advertise for a hotel after a terrorist attack, and it does seem like the Taj and its many dedicated employees have done a remarkable job of mourning and repairing under enormous strain. But willful omission may not be the solution.

Granted, his country is at war. But it was striking, listening to Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor talk at George Washington Hospital today, how little mention was made of any long-term strategy for a better, more peaceful future. I don’t know if it was cynicism, realism or myopia, but it was remarkable.

In his talk, which was set up by GW’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, Meridor detailed a three-point plan for combating terrorism generally and in Gaza specifically:

1. Be realistic. “Recognize that this is a threat that doesn’t have an easy answer.” A fair point, and something U.S. leadership has totally failed to do here. “The goals you set for yourself cannot and should not be total victory—total defeat of the enemy. You have to create a sense in your society of being ready to be patient, to persevere, to be able to overcome terror, to continue the routine of life with terror.”

2. Take military action: “[You] need a mix of partial deterrence, partial defense and defensive prevention.” In other words, build fences, hope, pray and pay for a better missile defense system, and pre-emptively strike at your enemies (or as the Ambassador so eloquently put it: “You must get as many of them as possible before they hit you.”)

3. Get international cooperation. On this point, Meridor was less passionate and more vague. He spoke of “encouraging internal discourse, an authentic one, that would minimize the recruiting grounds on which they are thriving.” Aha. This would seem to be an exceptionally important point in an asymmetric war. Otherwise, you can (as Israel has proven time and again) obliterate the enemy and intimidate your neighbors—and you will still see homemade rockets dropping from the sky.

Forty-five minutes into his talk, Meridor touched on the importance of a long-term strategy for reducing the appeal of terrorism, but with breathtakingly little dedication: “Another thing I forgot to mention [emphasis mine]: we must find a way ot minimize this hatred [that is] spreading and at the same time offer another type of education and engagement for a young boy or girl.”

During the Q&A period, almost all of the questioners pressed the Ambassador to say more—to articulate a long-term vision for the campaign in Gaza and for reducing the spread of radicalism generally. He did not seem interested. “We do not have a grand political scheme for which we are fighting in Gaza. We were forced to defend ourselves and are doing that in order to provide for better security for our people. Period.”

To close the event, writer and professor Yonah Alexander thanked the Ambassador and suggested he come back one day to continue the conversation—to discuss for example how to combat an intellectual culture of death with a culture of life. An excellent idea. Sign me up, I thought. Meridor chuckled and said, “For that, you will have to find an intellectual. I am a diplomat.”

They are now selling commemorative Obama subway cards in the Metro here. True story. For just twice the price of regular Metro cards! Or, you can pay even more on eBay!

I don’t think an image has been so thoroughly exploited for cash since the FDNY lost its logo to the street vendors eight years ago. Here’s hoping the next eight years are better.

A jury has found five men guilty of conspiring to attack the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey. I followed the trial closely because I had gotten to know so many of the main players last year. I’d spent many hours interviewing the families and the lawyers for a story on the case as a model for terrorism prosecutions going forward. In the end, I found the men themselves to be only moderately interesting; the informants—employed by the FBI to record hundreds of hours of conversations with the men—turned out to be the main story.

This decision has been a long time coming. I had expected the jury to give the government some of what it wanted but not all, and that is what happened. But I can’t say I feel safer. Here’s my take on the verdict for Time.

OK, not really. But the guy who plays him on Saturday Night Live totally digs the book! So that counts, right? Fred Armisen called the book “amazing,” and I did not even pay him to say that.

Thanks to Glynnis MacNicol for taking a survey of the few remaining famous people who read. And thanks to Fred for being so talented and smart. And handsome.