12 Aug 2005
Niger leader 'ignorant' of hunger

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a rather acerbic bit about an article about Niger in the New York Times, which praised the government there as a "functioning democracy"? I pointed out at the time that the "functioning democratic" government denied that slavery was rampart in the country, despite obvious proof to the contrary. Now it appears that this government is proclaiming the lack of a famine in Niger ... if this were truly a functioning government of any sort, democratic or otherwise, methinks it highly improbable that they'd be allowed to ignore reality so blithely and so consistently.

They're just another gang of thugs on the west coast of Africa, running their country into the ground and waiting for the West to bail their sorry asses out. And I for one am over saving idiots like this from their just desserts: which in this case is probably a lynch mob.

The opposition says Niger's president is "ignorant" after he said people were "well-fed" in the midst of a food crisis.

(link) [BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Experts 'decipher' Inca strings

Writing by tying knots ... fascinating stuff.

Researchers in the United States believe they have deciphered mysterious strings used by ancient Incas.

(link) [BBC News | News Front Page | World Edition]

00:00 /Technology | 0 comments | permanent link

Britney to drop sprog on live TV?

I had to read this, despite being completely uninterested in celebrity gossip of any sort. Why? Because I had to discover exactly what Ms. Spears was going to drop on live TV ... what the Hel is a "sprog"?

What I got for my trouble was a nearly unintelligible article written ostensibly in English, proving George Bernard Shaw's point when he said that America and England are "two countries divided by a common language".

Britney Spears' squeeze Kevin Federline wants the highly-talented chanteuse to drop her sprog on live TV, a breathless Yahoo! reports. Britney is due to eject her bun in October, and young Kev reckons - in the wake of the couple's recent ratings flop Chaotic - that the sight of the pop sensation, legs akimbo, grunting her Hollywood rugrat into the world might prove an audience-puller.

(link) [The Register]

00:00 /Humor | 2 comments | permanent link