I Just Burnt My American Flag...

Last week, I came across the August issue of Paste.

Since I've been thinking about getting into international music lately, I was amped to read all the juicy articles inside. Cover to cover, this wonderful publication served it's purpose, and enlightened me on all the global heat out there. Like Carrie said in Sex and The City about Vogue, I literally spent my time reading it instead of eating... "it fed me more." I love you, Paste. Truly, I do.

Interestingly enough, one of the articles was on Emmanuel Jal, the Sudanese child soldier who I blogged about in May after I saw his film "War Child" at the Tribeca Film Festival. In true organic, coincidental, Labyrinth form, I received a related article this week from a new friend:

Sudan's president was charged for genocide in Darfur.

Read the article HERE. Thanks to Derrick, who spells his name in a really cool way.

Beyond Africa...

L-Boogie came back from 2 weeks in China recently, so I wanted to discuss some of her cultural observations and post her photos (I mean, I've never been to China). And then, magically, I stumbled upon an article on Chinese text messaging. I happen to be in an interesting text message squabble myself, so clearly, this is all meant to be... 

"Graylin says the Chinese have a hard time expressing deeply personal emotions. A text message allows them to do it without bumping up against old cultural norms."

"So far, text messaging is beyond the reach of China's infamous government censors. Internet dissident Yu Jie says activists use text messages to organize protests."

Read the article HERE, and take a look at Boogie's photos: