Melissa shot this:

One of the suspects in the grisly murder of a villager in Glan, Sarangani whose flesh was eaten and his blood drank by a “cannibal gang,” was taken into custody, police said.

…the “cannibal gang” has sown terror in the far-flung villages at the borders of Glan, Sarangani and Jose Abad Santos in Davao del Sur.

In the 70s to 80s, the first “cannibalism” pratice was attributed to the group of “Kumander Bucay,” whose members were reported to have eaten the flesh of their Muslim victims during the “Ilaga” and Moro rebel fighting. Norberto Manero Jr., chieftain of the dreaded “Ilaga,” a para-military group, was even convicted of slaying of Italian priest Fr. Tulio Favalli in Tulunan, North Cotabato, where, he and his brother allegedly tasted the brain of the slain priest.

In a press conference, Ruben Latang admitted that he took part in the killing of Lamitod last month but said, unlike his brothers Sabino and Angelito and the other gang members, he “did not eat the victim’s flesh nor drink his blood.”

He confirmed that the “cannibal gang” did eat the “human heart and liver” of their victims and drink their blood, believing that it is an effective “amulet” to protect them from bullets and bladed weapons…

Wang Ying, 73, has been practicing Kung Fu, especially the study of Qi, since he was just eight-years-old. But his studies took a new direction after a 5cm long tumour grew on his forehead. Doctors told him they could not operate on the tumour because of its location. So Wang has incorporated it into his Qi routine…

Stumbling And Raging: More Politically Inspired Fiction is now available for pre-clicky at Amazon. That cover’s by Laurenn, who’s also collaborated with Stephen Elliott on a terrific piece inside. Elliott says of the book:

Some things you might want to know about Stumbling and Raging. There are six illustrated letters, an original picture, and two illustrated stories. I wrote one of the illustrated stories drawn by Laurenn McCubbin, who also designed the cover. There is a story from the perspective of John Ashcroft, another from the perspective of an Iraqi translater. Tom Ridge makes an appearance. Terry Shiavo leads to a contract killer’s demise. There are stories set in Russia, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Germany, and at least two set in the future.

Groupblog for Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly’s LOCAL.

Site might cough a bit over the next day or so, as I just upgraded my hosting package.

Taken by Nef:

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Absolutely pissing down out here in the countryside. And you have to sacrifice a badger to get five minutes of GPRS.

Sclavunos! Best of luck on Thursday at Ally Pally. By then I will have drowned, and stoats will be gnawing my flesh.

Now, afternoon tea. And stoats.

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Out until the end of the week. I’ll be checking warrene @ aol.com once a day, but that account is text-only when I’m travelling, and I won’t have web access, so please save links and other stuff until Friday.

There may be mobloggery from the wilds of England this week, if I’m not burned as a heretic by panicked villagers upon production of a mobile phone.

– W

Disquiet has the details.