Strategic Forecasting sent out their latest, free intelligence report today. This one provides a pretty thorough analysis of the background and results of Those Cartoons.

I've attached the whole article (with permission), but here's my favorite quote:

European states cannot control what private publications publish. That means that, like it or not, they are hostage to Islamic perceptions. The threat, therefore, is not under their control. And thus, even if the actions or policies of the United States did precipitate 9/11, the Europeans are no more immune to the threat than the Americans are.

If you're at all interested in the apparent "collision of civilizations," read this article.

I'm not particularly surprised that the European press ran those cartoons that have the Muslim world in an uproar.

I am surprised that Dave Winer hasn't even mentioned them, as far as I can tell, nevermind actually run one or two of them himself. (I wonder if he's even considered showing one of them?)

It also surprises me that so few American papers have run it. Not that I'm claiming they should: not running them seems to have shown some wise self-restraint. Or maybe they're just scared.

Are the cartoons being avoided out of respect for Muslim beliefs, or is it just fear of reprisals?

"Coconut stanky face goop!"

That is all.

Christopher Reeve, aka Superman, died last night of heart failure at 52.

As corny as the Superman movies were, I grew up with them. How many little boys inside full grown men are crying today for their fallen hero? Mine is.

I actually think his best movie was Somewhere in Time, though I know a lot of people would violently disagree with that. (Also, I haven't seen everything he was in, so that's not really a fair assessment.)

Remember when SuperMan died in the comic books in the early 90's? I bet those black arm bands make at least a minor comeback. (I also hope they remember to leave him out in the sun...)

This makes three people that have said something nice (er... sorta) about me today. Go mark your calendar.

Even more important is that he's giving me credit for ruining his day by addicting him to Sluggy.

It's more proof that public writing spaces give you the power to mold men's minds. Like cheese. Or old bread. Or that container of casserole that was shoved to the back of your fridge and forgotten until it rose up to lead the rest of your food in a rebellion.

Er, I think maybe I've had too much coffe.

Pete Abrams, the creator of Sluggy Freelance, has been stretching his artistic muscles a bit for the last two weeks.

Normally, Sluggy's format is the all-too-common "four panels with a punch line." That one shortcoming is made up for in numerous ways: the punch lines are often hilarious, the characters are all very well developed, and more important than anything else: the "environment" of the story is always changing.

Primary characters die. Good guys become bad guys, and vice versa (or both, in the case of Aylee). Other characters move away. Story arches often last for weeks or even months, and when they're done the effects of those stories are permanent, as they should be.

Still, it's always been a "strip", as I said. Four panels and a punch line.

Two weeks ago, Pete decided to temporarily abandon the old format. Since then the strip has been "double size" with irregular panel shapes, and some very classy artwork where appropriate. He's also integrating music into the stories, with the lyrics from different songs supporting the storyline (like they do in movies, but it takes a bit more imgination since you have to play the song "in your head").

On the 23rd, Pete borrowed Sandman's "Death" character, although what's going on there wasn't (or hasn't been yet) fully explained.

With the dark turn Sluggy has taken lately, I'm eager to see what's going to happen with some of the main characters. Oasis has been a repeating question mark in the story line for a long time: she was even on the cover of one of the books. Zoe has been one of the key characters almost from the beginning. I wouldn't bother trying to guess where he's going with this, but it looks like one of them is being written out in a big way, since Oasis is trying very hard to kill Zoe. See what I mean by "dark"? (Zoe actually needs to be written back in, as she's been "away" since Torg and Riff went to an alternate "microverse" for awhile... but that's beside the point.)

Wow, it's really hard to explain this comic to anybody who isn't already a reader! (I guess the best stuff is always a little difficult to explain. ;-)