blessed britons

The fall of Delhi to the British... was accompanied by the slaughter of thousands of civilians. One officer later confessed that his men "were very savage, treating those poor wretches like vermin. Some carried ropes on purpose to hang them with, which they did with great delight." The killing was accompanied by an orgy of looting with many officers becoming rich men. Queen Victoria herself "acquired some prize articles, including the evanescent emperor's jewelled hat and gilt chairs".

— John Newsinger

The Decline and Fall of the British Empire

mad world

* One quarter of the aid [provided by rich countries] – $20bn a year – funds expensive and often ineffective western consultants, research and training.
* In the UK, for example, almost half of TA spending goes on consultants and other experts, the vast majority of them British.
* A typical cost of an expatriate consultant will be in the region of $200,000 a year. According to the OECD, in typical cases more than one third of this is spent on school fees and child allowances – spending which would not be needed if local consultants were used.

— Action Aid

Real Aid II

$592 million US embassy

Submitted by antarchi on August 16, 2007 - 02:57.

... a controversial Kuwait-based construction firm is building a $592 million US embassy in Baghdad. The "Embassy," will be a self-sustaining cluster of 21 buildings reinforced 2.5 times the usual standards, with some walls to be as thick as 15 feet.
Plans are for over 1,000 US "government officials" to staff and reside there. Lucky for them, they will have access to the gym, swimming pool, barber and beauty shops, food court and commissary. There will also be a large-scale barracks for troops, a school, locker rooms, a warehouse, a vehicle maintenance garage, and six apartment buildings with a total of 619 one-bedroom units. And luckily for the "government officials," their water, electricity and sewage treatment plants will all be independent from Baghdad's city utilities. The total site will be two-thirds the area of the National Mall in Washington, DC.

mostly nuggets

blessed britons

mad world

$592 million US embassy