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GRAPHIC NOVELS etc (4#) -

# This week The First Post is featuring the work of caricaturist Drew Friedman with 6 panels from his book The Fun Never Stops!

# I don't often take the time to look at the array of graphic work displayed at TFP, but did so today. From their Comics Index, I saw a couple of interesting picks:

# Exit Wounds by Israeli Rutu Modan: They're investigating the mysterious circumstances of his father's death.

# And God Save The Queen about drug-crazed faeries by Brit Mike Carey: not much of a sampling shown, but nice art work on what little there is.

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NEWSPAPER SHAKEUPS (4#) -

# About the decline of the
newspaper family dynasty. Good article.

# Alexander Cockburn's reaction to
Rupert Murdoch's takeover of the WSJ:

"Call it his revenge for the story
the Journal ran about Murdoch's Chinese
wife Wendi Deng in November 2000."

# Jack Shafer's reaction to
the Murdoch takeover of the WSJ:

"Having bagged his trophy, how
long will it take Rupert to bugger it?"

# Manhattan Media has purchased the New York Press, the alt-weekly that once challenged their rival Village Voice, but has since declined.

"We expect to give The Voice a run for its money."

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BEYOND THE KHYBER PASS (3#) -

Lots of Visiting Going On -

# *The British army chief of general staff, General Sir Richard Dannatt, visited the North Waziristan tribal region on Thursday.* Who else would tell you these things, hmm?

# PESHAWAR: *Pakistani tribesmen nominated for the joint Pak-Afghan peace jirga starting on August 9 in Kabul visited the Afghan consulate on Thursday to receive travel documents required for a visit to Afghanistan.*

# Continuing with the Red Mosque
Spinoff story (see July 30th entry) . . .

The undaunted and enterprising reporter Kamal Hyder somehow managed to get out into the far outback of the Northwest Frontier Province to check out rebel Umar Khalid. Well, hats off to you, Kamal! A jeep will really shake up your kidneys out there; hope you rode in on an elephant.

"Efforts are under way to resolve the crisis through a tribal jirga, or council of elders." Yeah, so we heard... I guess via satellite.

Nice story, but no timestamp on it.

There's video, too, but I don't watch much video. The still photos are usually enough for me. I get seasick from watching too much video - it must be part of the Wayne & Garth effect.

Back to you, Ron Burgundy.

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SoFlo: DOWN & DIRTY -

What's the difference between
the CSI-Miami TV show and Real Life?

Now I understand that Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer of all these TV shows, has to pepper the programs with hot women and good-looking corpses...

Forensic Artist Andrea Campbell
:: tells you about it ::

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DOG DAYS vs SILLY SEASON -

Well, it's August. Here in the States, we call these the Dog Days of Summer. It's a time to kick back a little, read up on coming attractions, and look forward to what's in store for the new Fall Season on TV, in books, or whatever else you fancy...

But Across the Pond, this is known as the Silly Season. It's a time for the Press to break out those quirky, off-beat stories and feature them writ large.

Over at the Beeb, they explain.

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TRAVEL GRINDER -

Blogger Omar Fadhil from the ITM Blog
has a piece at OpinionJournal today called

Flight to Nowhere:

"For Iraqis,
a visit to Jordan is a travel nightmare."

There are Reader Responses to it, too.

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FL: ANOTHER QUANGO SCHEME -

Cheerleader Perky Patty wants to train college students in civic involvement, which will raise voting turnout, she predicts.

College is far too late to start this kind of training.

But thanks for waving at us

from your ivory tower, Perky. [sent]

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FL: HACKING ELECTIONS -

Computer hackers can change election results
on certain voting machines used in 25 Florida
counties and not leave a trace,

according to Florida's secretary of state, who has given Diebold Election Systems until Aug. 17 to fix the problem or lose the right to operate in the state...

A new state law requires that, by next year,
all counties must use paper-trail-style machines...

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FL: DETOUR INTO CAPTIVITY -

It seems that Grandpa was on his way
to the doctor's office when he got distracted . . .

A 75-year-old man called 911 overnight, saying he was being held against his will in an Orange County FL home after going there with a prostitute 14 days ago.

After a four-hour standoff, four men inside the home were taken into custody for questioning, and the elderly man freed.

The sheriff's office is still trying to sort it all out. [sent]

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Bookish: MURKY MYSTERIES (2#) -

# Clayton Moore's July Mystery Strumpet:

"At least I know there will always be detectives in the future... People will always need to know things that other people want to keep secret. It’s a guaranteed gig... You can count on people to do bad things."

He covers William Gibson's new
book, Spook Country, and a few others.

***********************************

# From the Dark & Stormy Dept . . .

The winner in the Detective category of this year's Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is Bob Millar from Sweden with this entry:

"I’d been tailing this guy for over an hour while he tried every trick in the book to lose me: going down side streets, doubling back, suddenly veering into shop doorways, jumping out again, crossing the street, looking for somewhere to make the drop, and I was going to be there when he did it because his disguise as a postman didn’t have me fooled for a minute."

And you can find the rest here.

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CYBER LOUTS:
Mouthing Off Online -

Recent incidents in the news involving incivility on the Internet have fueled a heated debate about how the boundaries of civility relate to the presentation of opportunities for freedom of speech online, according to Janet Kornblum's article today.

+ I believe this situation has developed largely because so many people have watched so much TV over the years that they have lost their interactive communication skills.

What do you think?

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SoFlo: SMASHING MISS TEACUP -

Patricia Turgeon, 37, said she pulled over her ice cream truck, "Pattie's Wagon," about 7pm Sunday for an insistent motorist in Pembroke Pines, but the car drove off when a little girl approached her.

After serving the child, Turgeon pulled out and as she turned the corner, she saw that car again but its passenger was waiting for her on the side of the road.

He was wearing a black hat, black shirt
and black shorts . . . And he had a gun.

He demanded her ice cream money,
while cocking the hammer of the gun.

Police have created a sketch of the suspect, Sgt John Jacob alleges, but no such sketch accompanies this article.

So, where's the sketch?

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SOME IRAQI DEVELOPMENTS (4#) -

# Unidentified gunmen blew up the Lion of Babylon statue in central Basra during the early hours of Sunday, eyewitnesses said. The statue, carved in basalt, was a historical landmark built in the 1920's.

# Abdul Khaliq al-Habir al-Anbaki, a young political cartoonist in al-Mutamar newspaper, affiliated with the Iraqi National Congress party, headed by Ahmed al-Chalabi, was killed along with his 11-member-family in a car bombing attack that took place last Thursday in Karrada, central Baghdad.

# Iraqis celebrated their soccer win... But:

"The team's players do not live in Iraq, and they earn their wages playing for teams across the Middle East. Because of tenuous security at home, wars and United Nations sanctions, the team has not played a home game in 17 years and must train and practice abroad."

#Salam Adil's weekend
dispatch for his Iraqi Blogodrome:

Salam writes that veteran blogger Zeyad has had his Yo*Tube account permanently suspended and all his videos deleted. Explanation included.

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RED MOSQUE SPINOFF (4#) -

# Peshawar: AFP and PK TV are reporting that late Saturday around 150 pro-Taliban armed masked men took control of Turangzai Sahib Mosque in Lakaro village in the lawless Mohmand Agency bordering Afghanistan, some 60 kilometres north-west of Peshawar, and have renamed it the Red Mosque.

"Residents said militants had taken positions on the roof of the mosque and in the surrounding area."

# PPI reports: That mosque is in an area belonging to the Garbuz tribe, but a council meeting of all the tribes in the area will assemble tomorrow in Ghalanai to discuss this situation.

# PK Daily Times seems to believe that it is under the responsibility of the Saafi tribe, but everyone is willing to help out. Militant leader Umar Khalid says he plans to "Islamise" the area, but denies any affiliation to Al Qaeda or to the Taliban; however, he's threatening to use suicide bombers in self-defense, if attacked.

***********************************

# It may be hard to believe at times, but
there is also some funny news in Pakistan:

News Views & Confused is an irreverent
Pakistani news satire TV show.

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IRAQ WINS 14th ASIAN CUP (3#) -

# "Iraq's unexpected 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia... was as much a triumph for human spirit as the athleticism and skill of their players."

And Brazilian coach Jorvan Vieira
was up to the challenge. [chan4]

# Eyewitness play-by-play details. [pkdtimes]

# Blog reactions and some photos [gulfnews]

+ Thunder rumbling here.

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HE'S GOT ALLEGED CONNECTIONS -

*The FBI and the DEA have sought cooperation from the Pakistani government to trace Dawood Ibrahim's links to Al-Qaida related Islamic local terrorist groups as well as his alleged involvement in the global heroin trade...

Meanwhile, US Federal agencies have sought cooperation from Indian agencies via Interpol in trying to track down Dawood, who is a citizen of India* [toindia]

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MADCAP "WHY-DONTCHAS" -

Worthy of the late Diana Vreeland's always
at-the-ready and never-at-a-loss lists of
"why don't you" suggestions, Baroness Howe
has helpfuly suggested that:

juvenile delinquents "be encouraged to
take up bridge, gardening
and Egyptology." [tfp]

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