A recent article in the The New York Times depicts the violence in Iten, a village 18 miles outside of Elderot that has somehow managed to produce most of Kenya's best athletes. Famous for its high altitude, forgiving clay roads, and dirt track, elite runner Lorhah Kiplagat chose to base her charitable foundation for women and her training center here. The camp is now under siege. Fellow humanitarian and former world record holder in the marathon, Paul Tergat, is missing. Former Olympian Lucas Sang is dead, and countless others are injured or missing.
posted on Jan 7, 2008 - View this thread

Martin Amis visits Colombia. Life in the hellholes of Cali:

To say this of human beings is to say both the best and the worst. They can get used to anything. And I got used to it too. You find yourself thinking: if I had to live in El Distrito, I wouldn't stay at Kevin's but at Ana Milena's, where they have cable TV and that nice serving hatch from the kitchen to the living room... Similarly, I now found myself thinking: you know, this crippled murderer isn't nearly as interesting as the crippled murderer I interviewed the day before yesterday.

One of the scariest things I've read recently. (Via Arts & Letters Daily.)
posted on Feb 7, 2005 - View this thread

Cannes film sickens audience It proved so shocking that 250 people walked out, some needing medical attention. Good lord.
posted on May 26, 2002 - View this thread

Be careful how you sing "My Way" After being ridiculed for an off-key version of My Way, the irate singer kills one heckler and wounds another. Philippine karaoke bars have begun to remove the song from their playlists as this was the climax of several violent incidents when this song was played.
posted on Feb 19, 2002 - View this thread

Today's world-gone-to-hell story: "Middle-class" teens kill delivery person to avoid paying for food. They left him to die with $600 in his pockets.
posted on Sep 7, 2000 - View this thread