Google + Somalia = ?

Wow...my first ever blog post (well, not really, I did have a blog several years ago but that's long gone now). Why make a blog you ask? Well several reasons actually, the first being that I wanted a place to bring together are the disparate services I'm currently using and as most of those are by Google I thought blogger would be a good fit. The other reason is that I need a soapbox to rant and rave at anonymous strangers on the internet and so without further ado it was time to jump on the blog bandwagon.

Right now two things are fascinating me: 1) Google products and 2) Somalia. As I've been lagging behind in terms of my computer literacy over the past several years I decided to get caught up to speed (I also have about 4 hours a day to kill at work during which I do nothing so the timing couldn't have been better) and checked out everything - twitter, delicious, lastfm, facebook and of course the various Google apps out there. For the most part I don't think I was missing too much however after exploring them a bit I've been really impressed by the disparate Google products out and about. Currently I'm using Google Calendar, the Google Reader and now of course Blogger. All of them are incredibly useful and I hope I can get a few of my friends on board as well. There does seem to be some privacy issues developing with Google but it seems as though they are working to rectify that.

The other topic that I find strangely fascinating these days is the former country of Somalia. Basically the place has had no real central government for over a decade now (think back to the days of "Black Hawk Down") and the capital Mogadishu is an active warzone. This is a part of the planet I have absolutely no experience, knowledge or even stereotypes about and maybe this is why I find it compelling - it's the unknown, or my personal "undiscovered country". The fact that world seems to have done absolutely nothing to help the people who had the misfortune to be born there is disturbing, as is the fact that warlords are filling the gap left by the former government. It's almost something out of Mad Max or any post-apocalyptic tale, urban warlords controlling pockets of the city through their toyota druck driving subordinates. I'd love to go and see things first hand, if it wasn't a) and active warzone and b) apparently the worst place on earth for minorities (I'm sure my white ass would stick out just a tad).

I'm not sure how things will ever get better in Somalia, perhaps a fresh approach is needed. With that in mind I propose that Google take over the interim government and give it a go. The United States and United Nations have failed miserably so far and if corporations really are quasi-governments now then let's see what one of the better and more cutting edge ones can do. I'm sure the staff there would have some pretty unique and interesting ideas on how to reign in those feudal warlords and impose some kind of order and stability. It's just a thought...