Serial murder, jingoism, and America-bashing, oh my.
In the NYT-sponsored blog The Lede, Tom Zeller, Jr. posts about the serial murders of prostitutes in Ipswich, in which Jack the Ripper is invoked. Earlier versions of the post referred to the Ipswich killer as "The Ipswich Ripper"; this has since been changed to "Strangler", in Zeller's words, "thanks to readers who correctly pointed out that “Ipswich Ripper” was an obvious misnomer, given the apparent modus operandi in this case."

There's some minor Jack the Ripper theory nuttiness in the comments thread (especially amusing if you've read From Hell, specifically the epilogue "Dance of the Gull-Catchers"), but the real faptasticness starts with "Shad Thetford", who writes:

This is a shocking situation of how incompetent scotland yard and british intelligence is revealed.
I truly wish my last name did not associate to a street in london town.-AMERICA FOREVER- deal with it brits.

The British readers don't like this at all. Many take pains to point out that "Thetford" is the name of a town not far from Ipswich. Reader Kate chimes in with:

oh, sorry Shad (you should be sorrier your first name correlates to a type of fish) but America will not be forever just as all nations have their day and retreat. Read a history book. Or prehistory. It’s a deep seated and time honored trend. As for the Brit intelligence being any more incompetent than that of the US, can I just remind you of one unfortunate phrase: “Osama: wanted dead or alive”. A bit silly for one man to escape the “most powerful nation in the world”, no? The emperor and his clothes have been parted.

Small but of at least moderate interest, although the news story that inspired it all is no less awful for all that.

ETA: Oh, and there's some fapping over the legalisation of prostitution as well. Which is to be expected, I suppose -- the American jingoism and the reaction to it was really a bonus.