Congo

Lately i got interested in reading about central african countries, especially DRC (Democractic Republic of Congo).

In short, DRC is the 12th biggest country with estimate population of 62 million,(Former Belgium colony got independence in 1960), faced two civil wars in the last decade. Had roughly 120,000km of well-maintained roads,as well as national rail/boat services (on congo river) during the independence, now left with less than 1000 km of road remain. Long story, short DRC is being called "Undeveloping country of world".

Mighty Congo River flows thro the heart of the country(second longest river in africa after Nile, runs over 4,700 km). Tim Butcher, British journalist followed the path the river whole way thus by crossing the country in 2004 describing his experiences in his classic book Blood River. Tim takes journey which most people considered as suicidal journey (because of civil war in the country, for more info please read here and here), following the Legendary H.M.Stanley's epic trans-africa journey.

Honestly, reading Tim's experience was quite depressing,like his experience with toddler and his mom.He explains "I looked at the sickly child and tried to think of another country in the world where a baby born half a century earlier had more chance of surviving than today". Lines like "safest place for a Congolese is the forest" confirms that, DRC is undeveloping. He finishes his journey in Kinshasa and notes,"no capital city in the world more unrepresentative of its country". Tim finishes his book with following "Major lesson I learned on my trek through modern central Africa was that the most valuable asset stolen from the Congo was the sovereignty of its people"

You can read Guardian review here

BBC Reports this today. Quite depressing. God save DRC.

Funny Job Application

McDONALDS APPLICATION

This is an actual job application a 17-year-old boy submitted at a McDonald's fast-food establishment in Florida – and they hired him because he was so honest and funny!

NAME: Greg Bulmash

SEX: Not yet. Still waiting for the right person.

DESIRED POSITION: Company's President or Vice President. But seriously, whatever's available. If I were in a position to be picky, I wouldn't be applying here in the first place.

DESIRED SALARY: $185,000 a year plus stock options and a Michael Ovitz style severance package. If that's not possible, make an offer and we can haggle.

EDUCATION: Yes.

LAST POSITION HELD: Target for middle management hostility.

SALARY: Less than I'm worth.

MOST NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT: My incredible collection of stolen pens and post-it notes.

REASON FOR LEAVING: It sucked.

HOURS AVAILABLE TO WORK: Any.

PREFERRED HOURS: 1:30-3:30 p.m., Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL SKILLS?: Yes, but they're better suited to a more intimate environment.

MAY WE CONTACT YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER?: If I had one, would I be here?

DO YOU HAVE ANY PHYSICAL CONDITIONS THAT WOULD PROHIBIT YOU FROM LIFTING UP TO 50 LBS?: Of what?

DO YOU HAVE A CAR?: I think the more appropriate question here would be "Do you have a car that runs?"

HAVE YOU RECEIVED ANY SPECIAL AWARDS OR RECOGNITION?: I may already be a winner of the Publishers Clearing house Sweepstakes.

DO YOU SMOKE?: On the job no, on my breaks yes.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE DOING IN FIVE YEARS?: Living in the Bahamas with a fabulously wealthy dumb sexy blonde super model who thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread. Actually, I'd like to be doing that now.

DO YOU CERTIFY THAT THE ABOVE IS TRUE AND COMPLETE TO THE BEST OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE?: Yes – Absolutely.

SIGN HERE: Aries.

Concept of God

Couple of months ago, during a long drive back home, i had a intersting conversation with friends about god (topic of conversation for several centuries).After couple of minutes into the conversion,friends got baffled with my view on god, end up explaining "Agnosticism", difference between Agnosticism and Atheism . Webster defines agnostic as "One who is not committed to believing in either the existence or the nonexistence of God or a god". In other words, "one who doesn't really get involved in the arguments on existence of God".

I am neither agnostic nor atheist. In my view, god is a concept, belief, positive energy which drives people. Again god is just a concept. The following quote reflects it more clearly.

If God is nothing more than an intangible concept that motivates our hearts—a synonym for "love" and "kindness"—He is more powerful than I ever imagined as a believer

-- Dr.R. David Lee


Read a excellent article by David Lee couple of days which reflects my view more clearly. It's written by Doctor who lost his faith in god. Author writes "
A world without God? Perhaps all doctors, like me, are one dead baby away from atheism". Couldn't agree more on that.

Again from article,

"I'm not a stupid man—I know how believers and disbelievers would interpret the events of that horrible evening. An atheist would say that Lisa's death didn't destroy my faith, but rather served as a final crack in an already shaky foundation. Believers would tell me that instead of trying to decipher the meaning of death in the cosmic scheme of things, I should just accept that God sometimes permits bad things to happen for reasons beyond our comprehension".

Probably, it's all in the way how you look at things. Again, full article is here . Definitely worth a read.

On the same topic, i like the following scene from Tamil movie "Anbe Sivam".

Coldest city in the earth

Couple of days ago, here in chicago the temperature dropped down to -31c (about -11F) (feels like temperature). I happened to be outside for couple of hours and it was real pain. After coming back home, i started reading about coldest places in the world. I was shocked to learn about "Yakutsk", coldest city in the world, even by siberian standards. Couple of chiling points about Yakutsk.

• Temperature drops down to -45c to -55c during the winter (Jan-march).


• You are warned not to wear eye-glasses when you walk,since when you try to remove it,your flesh will come with the glass.


• Day-to-day work is happening as usual until drops below -55c (kids can take leave if the temp drops below 55c).


• Office workers usually leave the car "on" for hours, to avoid car starting problems.

watch the youtube video on a cold night.

Interesing article about yakusk in independent, click here

wikilink for Yakutsk