Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

• Investors sought for North Sea oil and gas - FT.com

  "The UK government is opening a round for offshore oil and gas licences on Friday, hoping to stimulate a North Sea industry hit by falling production and rising costs. "

  tags: oil gas energy northsea unitedkingdom scotland europe

• Douglas Coupland: The aliens within - FT.com

  "Two years ago last July I was in Washington DC, viewing an exhibition at the National Building Museum titled America’s World’s Fairs of the 1930s. Afterwards I noticed that upstairs was a Lego show called Towering Ambition – 15 seminally famous towers made of Lego – so I went to see the Empire State Building, the St Louis Arch et al, all in Lego. But what I found just past the exhibition space was far more interesting: children visiting the display were encouraged to build their own towers using bricks provided in vast quantities. Being Washington, most kids only had 30 minutes to build something before Dad said, “Come on, let’s go to the Lincoln Memorial.” Vacating children left chunks of unfinished towers behind them, chunks in turn cannibalised by succeeding children, a process leading to the creation of remarkable hybrid structures of alien beauty. Had I lived in DC, I’d have been at the museum at the end of every day, documenting the DNA of these buildings as they were mutated forward. "

  tags: random thought generations construction discourse technology

• Anti-Mafia police seize celebrities’ favourite eateries in Rome - FT.com

  "Dozens of photos of Italy’s rich and famous grace the walls of Pizza Ciro in central Rome – actresses, football players, even former prime minister Mario Monti and celebrated anti-Mafia prosecutor Antonio Ingroia. Now the pizzeria, along with 20 other well-known eateries in the historic heart of the city, is under special court administration after police raids this week. Those raids, together with seizures in Naples and Tuscany, netted an estimated €250m in property and assets believed to be under the control of the Mafia."

  tags: pizza italy mafia crime europe europeanunion

• US softens tone on any Snowden deal - FT.com

  "The US government is beginning to drop hints about opening a legal negotiation with Edward Snowden a week after the White House unveiled reforms of surveillance activities that his supporters say vindicated the leaking of government secrets. "

  tags: snowden obama nsa spying bigbrother data bigdata

• Purple tomato juice from Canadian GM crop heads for trial in UK - FT.com

  "Two thousand litres of purple tomato juice, pressed from genetically modified fruit grown in Canada, are heading for Britain to be tested for their health-promoting properties. "

  tags: canada unitedstates unitedkingdom gmo food britain europe

• At least 29 dead as violence marks anniversary of Egypt uprising - FT.com

  "Street clashes and explosions erupted across Egypt on Saturday, the third anniversary of the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak, the country’s longtime leader, as the resurgent military and its allies sought to suppress Islamist and leftist rivals. "

  tags: egypt revolution muslimbrotherhood islam politics authoritarianism

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