The Islamic State Beheadings and the Medieval Romanticization Behind Them

Medieval Cruelty in Modern Times: ISIS Thugs Behead American Journalist, 18 August 2014

By Christopher DickeyJames Foley was executed in the most horrific way possible on video so the jihadists can prove they are fearsome knights of the caliphate.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/19/medieval-cruelty-in-modern-times-isis-beheads-american-journalist.html

Also from colleagues and contributors at The Daily Beast:

Hanifa's Story: Her Five Sisters Taken by ISIS to Be Sold or Worse

By Christine van den Toorn
Obama's limited military help has raised hopes for some in Iraq. But Yazidi families despair as they begin to doubt they'll ever find their sisters and daughters taken away by ISIS.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/19/hanifa-s-story-five-sisters-taken-by-isis-to-be-sold-or-worse.html

How the U.S.-favored Kurds Abandoned the Yazidis when ISIS Attacked

By Christine van den Toorn
Interviews with witnesses show the Kurds who are now getting weapons and air support from Washington left the Yazidis defenseless earlier this month.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/17/how-the-u-s-favored-kurds-abandoned-the-yazidis-when-isis-attacked.html

I find it interesting and disturbing for many reasons that Catholic Online would post particularly gruesome photographs from ISIS atrocities, unintentionally playing right along with the terrorists' game of incitement: http://www.catholic.org/news/international/middle_east/story.php?id=56339

In that regard, it might be worth taking a look again at my piece on Pope Francis, ISIS and The Last Crusade: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/18/pope-francis-isis-and-the-last-crusade.html

In other news .... this is my conversation about Ferguson and the parallels with European unrest:
http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-08-15/france-ferguson-protests-stir-memories-suburban-riots