Jim Crace’s Being Dead was one of the most disturbing novels I’d read in a long time, unflinchingly looking at (literally) death and decay. Now his The Devil’s Larder, here reviewed in the London Review of Books by Ian Sansom, promises more of the same on the tip of the tongue.

Jubilation at the fall of Kabul and apparent collapse of the Taliban all over Afghanistan is rampant. It’s obligatory to mention Kabuli men’s headlong rush to the barber for a shave. But, hey folks, the war’s not over by a longshot, and it gets dicier from here, as the Taliban retreat to the Pashtun areas of the south where they have enjoyed popular support; and to the mountains and caves. On the other hand, there is word of indigenous uprising against the Taliban even in Kandahar, euphemistically referred to as their “stronghold” in just about every news report I’ve read; anti-Taliban sentiment may be widespread, and the Taliban may be fleeing population centers in general. However, this may not be a rout but rather a strategic regrouping either for a counterattack or the kind of protracted guerrilla war that defeated the Russians. Analysts caution about the perils of assuming things are as they seem. Northern Alliance capture of Kabul accompanied by atrocities and looting; Robert Fisk comments that we ought not be surprised, and Simon Jenkins wonders if we ought to regret having this tiger by the tail, reminding us that it was factional fighting among these same people, when they were the mujahideen fighting the Russians, that gave the Taliban their ‘in’ seven years ago. Here’s an interview with foreign correspondent Robert Kaplan, whose travels with the mujahideen in 1990 were chronicled in his Soldiers of God. International stabilization may be necessary in post-Taliban areas. ObL, of course, is nowhere to be found; perhaps it would be a good idea to ask the ‘remote viewers’ US intelligence is reportedly using to predict future terrorist attacks to tell us what cave he’s in? In fact, why not let the remote viewers act as spotters for US bombing runs? The US and the Northern Alliance seem to have it out for al-Jazeera, whose Kabul office was hit by two American bombs (it seems, because its coverage has been seen in some circles as pro-terrorist) and whose Kabul correspondent fled after threats that he would be killed if found in Kabul when the Northern Alliance arrived. I’d been wondering, but some undisputable good news is that the Western aid workers imprisoned by the Taliban in Kabul have been freed.

Woman pregnant twice — ‘An Italian woman is due to give birth in a hospital in Rome this week to a baby girl – before returning three months later to have triplets.

If both deliveries are successful, it is thought that this will be the first such case in history.’ BBC

For those who share my interest in art brut (‘outsider art’): The Mystery Gallery: ‘Van Freeman decorated his rented home with crosses and biblical mosaics, then vanished. What will happen to his work?’ Los Angeles Times

In Minnesota, “… a man arrested for shoplifting hundreds of dollars worth of Nicorette gum claimed he was recruited to steal the stuff so it could be sent to Pakistan to aid terrorism.“

America: Think of It as a Brand Name

Osama bin Laden is the greatest brand manager in the world. He has a niche product with limited appeal, a relatively small budget and limited distribution. Yet his Al Qaeda brand has 100% unaided awareness and is gaining share in a market segment that we should own: decent Islamic men and women in Kuwait, Egypt, Nigeria and even the U.S. Los Angeles Times

Why ‘Gilligan’s Island’ and ‘The X-Files’ Hold the Key to America’s Global Reach

Paul A. Cantor is a strange creature: a conservative professor of English at the University of Virginia who specializes in Shakespeare, loves pop culture and is flat-out funny (he once referred to Mel Gibson’s “Hamlet” as “Lethal Bodkin”). In his new book, Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization, Cantor examines four of his favorite television shows–“Gilligan’s Island,” “Star Trek,” “The Simpsons” and “The X-Files”–and explores how they speak to America’s understanding of its place in the world. Cantor is a proponent of a thoughtful conservatism that should be interesting to liberals and instructive for conservatives, for he has the courage to say out loud that not everything on television is dross and that some of it is not only entertaining but significant as well. Los Angeles Times

British Prime Minister Has ‘No Doubt’ of bin Laden’s Guilt NY Times. Haven’t we been reading news items similar to this around every week since Sept 11th? Doth the lady protest too much?

“Literally you are taking out a screwdriver and a pliers and a clippers and you are taking it apart in the reverse process of putting it together.”Where Warheads Are Made, and Where a Good Pair of Pliers Can Put Them to Rest NY Times

I love it! Coming back to this page after 24 hrs. away, it seems you are starting to use the ‘comments’ facility. Thank you, and keep it up.