Week 42

08.19.02

"The case of Karel Srba contains all ingredients of a great detective story: murder plans, bribery, high politics as well as secret services."

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/
view-id.php4?id=20020803E00639

Yeah, it sure does.  Lesson learned: if you want to whack a cute redheaded journalist, don't hire some Czech gunsel named "The Lemon."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/0813/
p06s02-woeu.html

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/
8-11-2002-24309.asp

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/
2171016.stm

I can't seem to find the rumor that it was Karel Srba's girlfriend who arranged the hit on this female journalist. But I think it's true, and wow, that would put this scandal right into Monica-land.

08.20.02

This Peruvian spy named Vladimir has got to be one of the weirdest, scariest spooks of the 20th century.

http://www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/
drillbits/6_02/3.html

http://www.dawn.com/2001/02/05/
int12.htm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/
monitoring/media_reports/ 1406794.stm

He taped the works, that was the creepiest part. Try a Google translation of this description of one teensy part of his arsenal of corruption, the "vladivideos."

http://www.elcomercioperu.com.pe/
Ecespe/Html/Montesinos/
Vladivideos_Index.html

08.21.02

Wait a minute, a rocket to the Moon from India?

http://europe.cnn.com/2002/TECH/
space/08/13/india.moon/index.html

Well, why not?

http://www.isro.org/programmes.htm

08.22.02

http://www.iranian.com/BURNTOAST/2002/
August/Muja/index.html

One doesn't often see Burroughs cut-up material written within an Afghani context. With all that opium around, though, maybe that approach makes sense.

What on earth were they smoking when they started photoshopping the pictures of this Iranian chanteuse?

http://www.iranian.com/Music/Venus/1.html

08.23.02

Let's get some of our best handwaving cyberwar  types together and try to wreck civilization.

http://www3.gartner.com/2_events/
audioconferences/dph/dph.html

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/
6/26675.html

Meanwhile, jaded Europeans suspect that Americans have drifted into some alternate universe of military unreality.

http://www.policyreview.org/JUN02/
kagan.html

Bruce Sterling writes books like Darwin watched animals. Find out more about him, and read tattered electronic copies of Cheap Truth, at the Bruce Sterling Online Index. He lives with his wife Nancy and their two daughters in Austin, Texas.