Somalia forces "out of control"
On top of all the rape, torture and murder:In Mogadishu, hundreds of people have stormed through the Bakara market area, hurling stones at cars and shops and setting fire to tyres in protest at rising food prices and fake currency.
I've never been to Somalia, or sub Saharan Africa for that matter, but the media gives the impression that it's an awful, stinking, bloody mess with the ubiquitous poverty, starvation and disease a quiet break from horrific bouts of genocidal slaughter. I have this sneaking suspicion that it's not quite as terrible as they make it out to be, but I could be wrong about that. I suppose it varies from region to region. It's a huge continent.
Regardless, it begs the question: Why are there so few reports of African success stories? They have to be out there. Maybe I'm missing them, somehow.
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"I think the purpose of life is life."
Philanthropist, entrepreneur and co-founder of Pay-Pal, Peter Thiel on technology, the Singularity and being a libertarian.
via KurzweilAI.net
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Movie producer Brian Grazer is looking for a new cultural attaché:This person would be responsible for keeping Brian abreast of everything that’s going on in the world; politically, culturally, musically. . . . They’re also responsible for finding an interesting person for Brian to meet with every week . . . an astronaut, a journalist, a philosopher, a buddhist monk. . . . There is LOTS of reading for this position! Grazer may ask you to read any book he’s interested in. You’ll probably get to read about 4 or 5 books a week and you may be required to travel with him on his private plane to Hawaii, New York, Europe—teaching him anything he asks you about along the way. . . . You will also be provided with an assistant. . . . Salary is around $150,000 a year. . . . You will be to Grazer what Karl Rove was to Bush.
I think I could handle the knowledge side of the job, but I might have some trouble wrangling astronauts and buddhist monks. For a job that cool, I'd give it a shot, though.
via kottke.org
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The adventures of the real Indiana Jones
A familiar figure for movie fans, you may think. It must be Indiana Jones, the whip-cracking, hat-snatching hero of the blockbuster films Raiders Of The Lost Ark, The Last Crusade, Temple Of Doom and next month's The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull — part-explorer, part-archaeologist and all man.Badass of the Week - F.A. Mitchell-Hedges
But the man is not Indy, but a figure called Frederick Albert Mitchell-Hedges, a British adventurer whose life contains astonishing parallels with Indy's big-screen jaunts.
Some say this guy is the real Indiana Jones.
via Sector 19
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ends
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