The World's Address: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie Buy Ethiopia

You're probably aware of that massive land reclamation development project called The World that is being built off the coast of Dubai. Well, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have reportedly plunked millions of dollars down for the island of Ethiopia.

Agence France Presse reports: "The Hollywood couple intend to use the reclaimed piece of land to showcase environmental issues and encourage people to live a greener life, the Emirates Today newspaper said...Representatives of the pair in the US and other reliable sources had confirmed the purchase had gone ahead. But state-owned Nakheel, the firm behind the development called "The World", declined to comment, the paper said. The couple's two-year-old daughter Zahara was born in Ethiopia. Billionaire businessman Richard Branson and musician Rod Stewart are also reported to have bought plots on the development. Prices for the islands range from six million to 36 million dollars."

Watch for an announcement from Madonna today that she has dibs on Malawi.

UPDATE: Pitt's rep denies island report.

Ethiopian Church in AIDS Holy Water Brainwash

An Ethiopian Orthodox church just outside Addis Adaba claims its "holy water" has the power to cure AIDS. A British reporter says it's a scene which makes him think of the Holocaust:

"Naked men, women and children, some of them in chains to prevent them escaping, cower in front of the men in charge in a dimly-lit room in the church of St Mary on Mount Entoto....These people fear death, but they believe that coming here will prolong their lives. It is more likely to have the opposite effect...Every day, thousands of people with the virus come here to be 'baptised', though the act is performed without ceremony and in a way which seems brutal to outsiders. Plastic jerry cans are filled with water from a pool, and passed along a human chain to priests dressed like deep sea fishermen. The bright yellow waterproofs protect them from the drenching they administer to their congregation. They hurl the water over the mass of people kneeling in front of them who shriek and scream, either through devotion or the simple shock of the cold water hitting their naked flesh...Some cried out for the demons to leave their body, while priests hit them with wooden crosses. Many of them clutched their babies while the water was is shaken from the plastic containers. It is an extraordinary sight."

The brainwashing power of Orthodox religion at its worst.