To steal from Tolstoy, all functional countries resemble
each other, but every fucked up country is fucked up in its own way. Pakistan has a substantial population of
medieval warlords locked in a
struggle to return the country to the glories of
the 14th century, only with nukes. Afghanistan has never really wanted to enter the
20th century and the Taliban will ensure it never will. Qat-addled Yemen
operates according to its own ancient principles. Turkmenistan is a cartoon.
Zimbabwe blows them all out of the water.
On arrival, my South African Airways flight descended from
rainy clouds, only to abort the landing twice within a couple hundred feet of the ground. After sharply ovaling for 20 minutes, the pilot announced that he was waiting for the runway lights to come back...