:
SWAT VALLEY:
Sovereignty & Severed Heads -

Pakistani troops have a
pro-Taliban cleric's hideout under siege.

Maulana Fazlullah, known locally as The Radio Mullah, has been broadcasting seditious speeches over FM radio advocating the imposition of Taliban-style Sharia law in the North West Frontier Province.

"The Swat valley was once one of Pakistan's premier tourist spots." Now you can see severed heads being publicly displayed there.

:: Al Jazeera TV Net ::

...

:
LOOSE LINKS: Diverse (4#) -

# As mentioned on BuzzMachine recently:
the Media Section of The Guardian has
dropped its registration wall... talk
about Information Overload!

# Angelique Chrisafis explores the history of Nicolas and Cecilia Sarkozy, the circumstances of their relationship, some biographical background, and how it all came apart. I found this article more informative than any of the others I've read. *A very public affair*

# Some descriptive highlights from
The London International Comics Festival,
running from October 19 to November 6th.

# Lite Fluff: Matt Thorne conducts a somewhat
rambling interview with author Douglas Copland.

...

:
WHITE SHOE LAW
FIRM'S EXOTIC VISITORS -

An amusing piece by the guy
who writes the Tabloid Law Blog
Above the Law in this week's NYO.

:: NY Observer ::

...

:
SoFlo: BLOODLESS COUP -

Fort Lauderdale's Fishy Election (2#) -

An Ocala FL stockbroker has been found liable in a federal court for almost a million dollars in punitive damages in connection with his campaign as a candidate for the office of Fort Lauderdale Mayor, purportedly, in order to spoil the city's election process.

:: SF Sun-Sentinel ::

:: Miami Herald ::

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:
CALIFORNIA FIRES (3#) -

# ARSON: *Arson suspect killed, another arrested - Police in San Bernardino shoot an Arizona man who fled after being spotted near the Cal State campus. In a separate incident, a Hesperia man is in custody.* [LAT]

# REWARD OFFERED: *San Diego... A major wildfire that has scorched thousands of acres and destroyed hundreds of homes in Southern California has been declared an arson, according to Orange County law enforcement and FBI officials said on Wednesday. Officials said that there is a $70,000 reward for information leading to an arrest for those responsible for the Santiago fire in the rugged eastern part of the county.* [fox]

# A COP'S SUSPICIONS: Curt, who is some kind of police officer somewhere on the West Coast, expresses his suspicions about a possible causal link between al Qaeda and the Cal fires. And there is some speculation about whether "tree-huggers" could be behind it. [FAblog]

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:
INTERNATIONAL BUZZ (3#) -

# PULLING THE PLUG: Al Jazeera is reporting that the Israeli government, which supplies 60% of the Gaza Strip's electricity, is planning to cut off power to the territory if rocket attacks against Israel continue. [jaz]

# THEY'RE STILL RIOTING IN EUROPE: "Tonight (Wednesday evening) heavy rioting erupted in Turkish quarters of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Buses and trams were attacked. Several cars were torched and shops destroyed." [bjourn]

# BUZZ IN THE GULF: The Hot Movie to see in Kuwait this Eid is: The Kingdom. I've heard it's an adventure-thriller about a terrorist attack on a foreigners' apartment complex in Saudi Arabia. Apparently, it was officially banned in Kuwait for some mysterious reason, and, as a result, the Underground Economy has been supplying it quite profitably, while the officially-licensed Movie Theaters have lost out on income from exhibiting it. But what's so hot about it? Go figure. [gvo]

...

:
THE "NET EFFECT" ON BOOKS -

"Penguin publishers said this week that the explosion in online and second-hand retailing has not caused the damage they were expecting and that the Internet has in many ways been a boon for booksellers as a tool for marketing, experimentation and reaching out to the next generation
of readers."

:: Reuters ::

...

:
MIDDLE EAST (3#) -

# RiverBend just checked in with an entry
from her new location, linked below discussion.

Seems to me like she is in serious need of a portable radio for those lengthy waits involving red tape and bureaucracy. Listening to some music on such occasions makes them at least a little easier to get through.

Superficially, Life in Damascus may seem almost normal... but so did Life in "Argentina Nunca Mas" under that junta. I hope the censors in Syria don't start interfering with her.

Unfortunately, there are already indications
of them meddling with some other bloggers.

-- "Bloggers Without Borders" --
:: RiverBend perma ::

***********************************
# Prof Walid Phares on Osama Bin Laden's
most recent (Eid) message, which was
broadcast on Al Jazeera TV:

"Almost as in a captivating movie, in about three hours, the master of al Qaeda had his message aired, the commentators were ready to make very focused analysis - of what it means - and leaders from inside Iraq [were] calling in and approving. The audio message was a few minutes long while the whole back and forth debate was a few hours long."

+ Sounds like a neatly wrapped up Media package. And it all just fell into place by chance. Fancy that! Or how could that have happened? Hmmm...

:: More from the Prof here.

...

:
PRESS: Quick Snippets - (3#) -

# "A Baghdad-based correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is missing and her driver has been found shot to death, the broadcaster said Monday."

# Gossip about infighting
between The Guardian and
its sibling publication, The Observer.

# GuardianAmerica launched today, but it
seems rather late to arrive at the ball, since the
Puffington Toast appears to have already captured
that niche of readership... whaddayathink?

...

:
RIOTING IN EUROPE -

Blogger Paul Belien is reporting
riots in Amsterdam and Brussels.

:: Brussels Journal perma ::

...

:
LIBRARIAN IN LaLaLAND -

Don Borchert's memoirs from his 10 years
as a librarian in California include the kind
of off-the-wall everyday events you'd
expect from the wacky west coast.

And some of these shocking secrets from
the stacks are related by Samantha Booth
at Scotland's Daily Record. Oh, my!

...

:
PROTESTS AGAINST:
Islamo-Fascism Awareness
Week on Campus (2#) -

What ever happened to Civility?

If you want to follow this issue,
you'll have a lot of links to choose from.

***********************************
"But if free speech is such an objective and unqualified good, and its frequent exercise a sacramental rite, why do campus progressives praise Ahmadinejad’s visit but anathematize Islamo-Fascism Week?"

:: from: Free Speech for Terrorists
-- by Christopher B Lacaria --
-- at The Harvard Crimson --

...

:
Bookish: ARMCHAIR ADVENTURES
..... in Crime and Espionage (3#) -

# Remembering Graham Greene: a longish (3pp) article, which includes some colorful details, written by a biographer named Richard Greene, but no relation to the author.

"Graham Greene often entered competitions in which the challenge was to imitate his works. Usually, he came second."

***********************************
# Susanna Yager reviews Crime Fiction: The Chameleon's Shadow by Minette Walters and a Canadian Cozy called The Cruellest Month by Louise Penny.

# 007: Royal Mail issues a set of postage stamps
honoring James Bond which will go on sale Jan 8th.

...

:
FAR-REACHING SUBPOENA
HEATS UP WEEKEND (3#) -

"Sheriff Joe Arpaio Wants to
Know What Websites You've Visited."

"The scope of the subpoena is unusually broad: It not only demands information from the reporters but also information about all the online readers of the publication since Jan 1, 2004, including their Internet domain names and browsers and what other Web sites they visited before reading New Times."

:::: "Prosecutor Fired for
Mishandling Phoenix New Times Probe."

...

:
Central Florida:
TEEN WITH PEN BOMB
THREATENS SCHOOL -

A Clermont FL teen, who expressed the intent to attack his school in a text message to a friend, was found to be in possession of a viable explosive device.

"It had a large amount of gunpowder and shrapnel."

Michael Drnek, 16, has been arrested.

:: Teen's text message - Orlando Sentinel

...