Welcome to hell
VBS travels to West Africa to rummage through the messy remains of a country ravaged by 14(!) years of civil war. Despite the United Nation’s eventual intervention, most of Liberia’s young people continue to live in abject poverty, surrounded by filth, drug addiction, and teenage prostitution. The former child soldiers who were forced into war have been left to fend for themselves, the murderous warlords who once led them in cannibalistic rampages have taken up as so-called community leaders, and new militias are lying in wait for the opportunity to reclaim their country from a government they rightly mistrust. America’s one and only foray into African colonialism is keeping a very uneasy peace indeed. In Part 1, Vice’s own Shane Smith provides a brief history lesson and some essential context for understanding what caused Liberia’s civil war and how things got so bad. Liberia was originally planned and founded as a homeland for former slaves back in 1821. But fast forward a bunch of years and a military coup and you find the First Liberian Civil War in 1989: yet another third-world regime change in which the US-backed opposition, led by Charles Taylor, overthrows a government unfriendly to US interests. Once in power, Taylor’s corrupt, dysfunctional government quickly finds itself under attack by local warlords, leading to the Second Liberian Civil War ten years later. From there things go from bad to total shit.
Since Och has been on bikes and boats, I thought we just needed the air too. Turns out, I by chance got the opportunity to fly with the kind people of Kammair. They offered a trip over the harbor (the second maas grounds) and over the city. Sounds good.
Howevah, the flight initially didn’t seem to going take place. It was almost three times canceled: Once because of internal affairs, second because of carnaval (too wasted) and almost third because ..the other passengers were too heavy. Just when you thought the fat air-tax was avoided. However, Kammair offered an earlier flight and free extra passengers! Meanwhile the sun came up and the sky turned blue and we were off for 45 minutes of air: Continue reading ‘Och tocht-ies: Luchtruim Rotterdam’
Als je denkt alle goede series te hebben gezien komt gelukkig Carnivale op je pad. Deadw00t en The Wire waren natuurlijk al fantastische HBO series, deze voegt zich comfortabel in het rijtje.
Een beetje de sfeer van The Kingdom en Twin Peaks (vooral omdat die dwerg meedoet) gekruisd met Deadw00t.
Lijkt me voldoende aanbeveling om het eens te checken.
Downen maar!
(niet de meest gebruikte torrent, wel goede kwaliteit en subs)
This weekend you can sit down for an eclectic and nice story. Nina Paley intertwines her own pinkbird broken heart story with the ancient stories of the Rmayana, the habit of debating the true versions of it and the beautiful smartful songs of 1920’s jazz vocalist Annette Hanshaw -”cheeks like peaches and a voice of honey“.
Continue reading ‘Weekendmovie: Sita sings the blues’
Sja, wat moet je erover zeggen; It’s grim up north!
Gewoon een erg goede film. Lekker gewelddadig (sleutelwoord: FUNCTIONEEL, meneer Gibson). Goed geakteerd. Vergeet niet de subs erbij te downen anders is het geen doen, dat noord-engelse accent.
downen
MUTO, Wall painted animations. Check ook de site van de maker, BLU, waar het filmpje te downloaden is (maar waarom zou je?).
Continue reading ‘Art in Motion’
Asleep somewhere between Derry and Salem, N.H., 1/6/2008. With three rallies down and two more to go, Obama catches a quick nap on his campaign bus as it headed for Salem. I once asked him when we were traveling through Illinois and he was about to fall asleep, if he cared if I took a picture. He said I was fine photographing him until his jaw dropped. This night his jaw dropped after I took three frames. [view all here | via]
One man. One bike. One dream. To grow the biggest beard a cyclist ever had. To smash the record, Mark Beaumont must cycle eighteen thousand miles in just two hundred days. His epic journey will take him through floods, burning deserts, freezing winds, and desolate plains. The experience will push bike, body, and facial hair to the limit. It’s the ultimate endurance test. If he pulls it off, the world record will be his.
Watch Mark struggle to keep his bike, designed in Heerenveen and made in Pookiwookistan, rolling along Europe. See him blush over the compliments he recieves in India about his manly physique. How he rides the famous 90 mile straight, Australia’s longest straight road, with no hands. And his sufferings to keep his vegetarian body pedalling around the US on chicken and steaks.
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