Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf says his nation is an irreplaceable ally in the war against Islamist terror.

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DNTO agree not to bring up the Dawson College controversy in its interview with Jan Wong this afternoon?

Some British army officer's critical musings about Pakistan were leaked to the media this week on the eve of the visit by President Pervez Musharraf. Neither Pakistan nor the British government were amused.

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Amnesty International accuses Pakistan, the West's close ally in the war on terror, of detaining hundreds of terror suspects illegally. Some of those suspects were subjected to the other t-word.

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Did the Danish cartoon controversy start a much needed dialogue between wider Danish society and the country's Muslim community? It may well have. However, 10 of the 12 cartoonists who took on the subject of depicting the prophet Muhammad still haven't appeared in public.

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Bob Woodward has a new book out that paints an unflattering picture of Dubya's administration in the months after el presidente pronounced "mission accomplished" from the deck of an aircraft carrier.

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The Daily Show looked into the hard-hitting work of Carl Monday, investigative reporter for WKYC TV in Cleveland, Oh., particularly his stories on a teen masturbating in a public library (six stories, 22 minutes of airtime; that's a lot on TV).

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CBC President Robert Rabinovitch drew his line in the sand for reality TV on the nation's public broadcaster for a parliamentary Heritage Committee hearing. However, the big issue was the impact on English TV if CBC lost NHL hockey.

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Some new laws criminalizing offending of the Iraqi government or its officials are lifted from deposed dictator Saddam Hussein's old penal code, reports the NYT.

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There was an eye-opening story Wednesday: An unnamed U.S. military officer say there has been a tripling of attacks by insurgents in the eastern part of Afghanistan since Pakistan reached a deal with tribal leaders in North Waziristan that was supposed to end cross-border incursions.

However, as usual, the devil is in the details.

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People don't drink horse urine in Kazakhstan or hold a Running of the Jews as some movies would have you believe. However, it does have real problems with corruption and authoritarianism.

Don't expect to hear Dubya talk much about that unpleasant stuff following his state dinner for President Nursultan A. Nazarbayev on Friday.

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In today's Globe and Mail, David Shoalts talked in part about Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo, who had concussion problems last year  and had suffered some dizziness episodes at the start of training camp:

Colaiacovo said hs first priority is to make sure his brain is healthy. "Without your brain or your head, who knows where you would be?" he said the other day. Um, I don't know, Carlo, divorce court maybe?

I suspect Shoalts was referring to this.

The LCBO store on Spadina north of Dundas has a sign saying it's accepting applications for the Christmas season.

Agghhh!!

Here's a (edited and improved) missive I sent to an email discussion list about the film Bon Cop, Bad Cop, which has done far better in Quebec than the Rest of Canada:

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I like the part about "a passionate desire to join the blogger 'A' list." :)

#WEB1552 - Host (Blogs), NPR News & Administration
Hosts and writes for blog that serves as users’ daily guide to the events of the day and notable stories on the network and the Web; uses news judgment and a lively prose style to present a singular perspective, writing and reporting original items and drawing other NPR reporter/correspondents and listeners into analysis and discussion; may also host a podcast of the day’s top on-air stories; and may serve as a public representative of National Public Radio, Inc. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience. At least five years of journalism experience, preferably daily news; familiarity with the blog form and a passionate desire to join the blogger “A” list; demonstrated excellence as a writer and storyteller; demonstrated ability to communicate in a sparkling personality and unique perspectives in writing; demonstrated ability to understand the difference between having an attitude and taking a (political) stand in the written word; a broad range of general news knowledge; well-developed curiosity in a wide range of subjects; ability to work quickly and efficiently under deadline pressure; ability and willingness to relocate; proven ability to consistently work well with others, demonstrating at all times respect for the diverse constituencies at NPR and within the public radio system; and a desire to be part of a new NPR venture. Prefer broadcast experience, the ability to be a voice of a podcast; previous blog writing experience; and familiarity with and an appreciation for public broadcasting.

Here's an NPR blog post on the gig. This is perhaps the only job I've ever seen posted for a blogger at a mainstream news organization (H/T to boingboing).

Byron Calame doesn't think the NYT has gone far enough in indicating to readers when an article is opinion or analysis rather than reportage.

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From the NYT:

A  public relations company that participated in a United States military program that paid Iraqi newspapers for articles favorable to allied forces has been awarded another multimillion-dollar media contract with American forces in Iraq.

The public relations firm, the Lincoln Group, won a two-year contract to monitor a number of English and Arabic news outlets and to produce public-relations products like talking points or speeches for American forces in Iraq, officials said Tuesday.

“Lincoln Group is proud to be trusted to assist the multinational forces in Iraq with communicating news about their vital work,” a company spokesman, Bill Dixon, said in a statement.

An unlikely story of business executive as hero to his underlings as Jeffrey M. Johnson, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, said 'no' to more cuts at his paper.

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The Republican-dominated Congress has given Dubya most of what he wanted in terms of a terror tribunal bill.

The NYT describes the whole thing as a cynical political excercise that will rank as a legal low point in the history of the United States.

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The days keep counting down until the worst nightmare of the government of Kazakhstan hits movie screens: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Nov. 3).

But while the government fumes, ordinary citizens don't seem to be as inflamed by how comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's character makes them look.

And I wonder why Borat isn't from Turkmenistan.

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Osama bin Laden, the world's most wanted terrorist, apparently has a side career as an actor.

At least he's listed as one in the Internet Movie Database.

Here's an interesting bit of trivia that I previously had not known:

 Has his look-alike puppet in the French show _"Guignols de l'info, Les" (1988)_ .

Unfortunately, poor Osama has been typecast as playing himself.

It was suggested to me tonight that perhaps he should stretch his wings, try a light, romantic comedy.

May I suggest Whitney Houston as a co-star?

Pissed off by a weekend leak (so to speak), Dubya ordered the declassification of a portion of a National Intelligence Estimate that had been the source of some troublesome news coverage in the previous 48 hours.

It's hard to see how the document buttresses his optimistic view of how the war on terror is going.

Here's the Washington Post's, BBC's and NYT's news coverage.

Here's the W-P's and NYT's analysis.

This Beeb story asks whether the new book by President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, given that it's replete with allegations such as the United States threatening to bomb it back to the Stone Age, may ...   more »

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf will go down in the books as the first sitting world leader ever to appear on The Daily Show.

He was flogging his new memoirs, In The Line of Fire.

Here's an excerpt from the AP story on Yahoo! News:

To conclude the interview, Stewart put Musharraf on the "Seat of Heat," a new feature for the program in which red lights flash around the studio and the guest is asked a final question.

"George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden — be truthful — who would win a popular vote in Pakistan?" asked Stewart.

"I think they'll both lose miserably," replied Musharraf, an answer met with raucous laughter by the "Daily Show" audience.

Poor Conrad Black is sounding chewed up and spat out these days. Here is what the embattled newspaper overlord said in a TVO interview with Steve Paikin on Monday night (from the CTV.ca story):

The beleaguered former media baron also said that while he still holds the United States in high regard in many ways, his appreciation has been tempered due to his legal ordeal.

"It's a very tough country,'' he said. "People work hard and its whole culture is nice guys come last and there is no substitute for winning.''

He's trying to get his Canadian citizenship back. Guess the old nanny state isn't so bad after all. :)

This Toronto Star article looks at the secretive ways of some governments in Canada, based on an access-to-information audit by the Canadian Newspaper Association.

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Veteran science journalist Peter Calamai had a piece in the Sunday Star about the implications of the rampant innumeracy -- and numerophobia, if I can call it that -- within the journalistic population.

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More on the contretemps between the Los Angeles Times' publisher and editor and their corporate betters at the Tribune Co. in Chicago, who wants budget and staff cuts. Those corporate betters are in turn under pressure from major investors who think Tribune Co. stock is undervalued.

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The drive among the affluent to raise perfect little corporate robots isn't limited to any one continent or culture, as this NYT article shows.

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Read this excerpt of an NYT yarn about a "Club Med for dogs."

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Generally speaking, Bill Clinton is an in-control kinda guy. Which made his performance on Fox News Sunday all the more remarkable!

You can see some of the video at this CTV.ca story.

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Globe and Mail editor-in-chief Edward Greenspon wrote Saturday that a controversial part of a Jan Wong story on the Dawson College shootings should have been excised in the editing process.

However, that's only part of the problem.

Updated Sept. 28

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For a while there, a French newspaper had a world-beating scoop: Osama bin Laden died in Pakistan in August.

But by day's end, anybody from any government that should be in a position to know something backed away from the claim.

Questions:

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It seems like only days ago that Dubya was telling Americans Iraq was the front line in the war on terror. Well, if it wasn't under Saddam, it sure as hell is now, says a new report.

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