gleans + 1xlagniappe at 7:45 AM MT, 7/6

 

From the dogs of war to ordinary Joes with guns Review: War Plc by Stephen Armstrong The rise of the professional mercenary in the aftermath of the intervention in Iraq raises worrying questions about legitimacy and accountability

 

Russian spies hit Britain's terror fight   The activities of Russian spies in Britain are seriously undermining the fight against terrorism, security sources have disclosed.

• Spy chief found with 'blood everywhere'

• Few signs of a thaw in new Cold War

• Litvinenko murder nearly 'perfect'

• What's the most serious threat facing Britain?

 

Al-Qaeda driven from Mosul after bloody siege

The battle has been crucial to both sides and the Americans believe that it could have repercussions for Al-Qaeda beyond Iraq

• Iraqis lead final purge of Al-Qaeda

• We're winning the War on Terror

 

John McCain finds cheerleader  America’s most famous, and feisty businesswoman, Carly Fiorina, is at the forefront of the Republican presidential race

• Carly Fiorina on the John McCain campaign

• McCain: Obama is pandering to protectionists

 

Why I don't like Michelle Obama

 

 

 

90 nostalgic children's books

 

 

AA Gill in the Seychelles

There’s nothing better than doing nothing and the Seychelles is the place in which to do it, says AA Gill

 

 

There's something fishy going on...

Crab is a key part o the English summer by the sea - Lucas Hollweg gets his claws into his favourite shellfish

 

 

Waiting for the internet meltdown

The world is heading for a digital doomsday as the net fast runs out of numerical addresses

 

 

Casanova by Ian Kelly

The Sunday Times review by James McConnachie: love affairs and rakish behaviour take centre stage in this thrilling read

 

 

Lady Antonia Fraser's life less ordinary

The writer on motherhood and Catholicism, her remarkable parents Lord and Lady Longford, and soulmate Harold Pinter

 

 

Authors jump the fence to help out behind the counter

As part of independent booksellers' week, a motley crew of household names are pitching in at their local bookshops

 

 

lagniappe

TULIP TIME IN SING SING
From the Broadway Show "Sitting Pretty" (1924)
(Jerome Kern / P. G. Wodehouse)


Up the river there's a college
Which authorities acknowledge
Is a cosy sort of place to go and dwell
And with joy each student chortles
As he passes through its portals
And the faculty conducts him to his cell

How I wish that there I'd waited
Wish I'd never graduated
For the memory of those days still stirs me so
And the birdies every Spring sing
"Aren't you coming back to Sing Sing
Where you used to be so happy long ago"

When it's tulip time in Sing Sing
Oh, it's there that I would be
There are gentle hearts in Sing Sing
Watching and yearning for me
Oh, I wish that I was back
With a rock or two to crack
With my pals of the class of ninety-nine
And I miss the peace and quiet
And the simple, wholesome diet
Of that dear, old-fashioned prison of mine!

Oh, I'd give a lot to go there
Life was never dull or slow there
Every night there was a concert or a hop
Or I'd sit discussing Coué
With my old pal Bat-eared Louie,
Quite the nicest man who ever slugged a cop

We were just a band of brothers
Each as good as all the others
As the humblest sort of sneak thief you might rank,
But when you'd been there a week, well
You were treated as an equal
By the high and mighty swells who'd robbed a bank

When it's tulip time in Sing Sing
Oh, it's there that I would be
There are gentle hearts in Sing Sing
Watching and yearning for me
Oh, there's no place like home
And I'm tired of having to roam
Through the world with its women and its wine
So just bob my hair and shove me
Where I know the warders love me
In that dear old-fashioned prison of mine!