Good News on a Thursday Afternoon

by Michael Bear · 2009-04-30 18:36:00 UTC
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Taking a short break from our usual doom-and-gloom, the apocalypse is nigh approach.  So, some good news on a Thursday afternoon:

- Two aid workers with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) kidnapped in Somalia on April 19th were released on Tuesday.

- Similarly, two aid workers with Aide Medicale Internationale kidnapped in Darfur three weeks ago have also just been released.

That said, not all is happiness, rainbows and unicorns, at least not according to The Onion - G-175 Nations Convene To Discuss How Things Can't Possibly Be Any Worse:

"In a hotel ballroom eight miles outside Zimbabwe's capital city, representatives from the world's 175 least powerful nations met this week to discuss how everything—from political unrest, to insurmountable debt, to bloody social strife—can't get any worse....According to organizers, this year's G-175 will focus primarily on the challenges of global inequality, most notably how much of it there is, and how almost nothing can be done about it.

...

A series of seminars, including 'Coping With Being Ignored By The U.N.,' 'The Welcome Respite Of Impending Death,' and 'At Least We Haven't Been Swallowed Whole By The Earth Yet,' provided frantic world leaders with some unviable solutions.

In addition, representatives from nations lacking in the most basic of daily amenities found hope Friday when a motion to steal soap, shampoo, and hand towels from their hotel rooms was successfully ratified."

[Photo of MSF operations in Somalia from the Canadian Association of General Surgeons]

Michael Bear
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