I saw this story on Marmot’s today and it caught my eye for a number of reasons. The above statue is being built by North Korean workers, in Senegal.

The story in AP doesn’t mention the statue is being built by North Korean workers until the 16th paragraph of this story, which I guess I find a little odd. That’s not to say that the headline should be “Senegal Moves Toward Socialism,” or anything, but it certainly deserves more than a buried mention.

I don’t follow what goes on in Senegal, or Africa, all that closely, but I do know that China has been investing a lot of money and manpower in the continent. A quick search on China and Senegal by my cousin produced this piece by China View, proclaiming China does more for Senegal in 4 years than West in 20 years: envoy. The envoy is Chinese, of course, so take it with a grain of salt.

A number of Senegalese are enraged by the project, which is costing a cool $27 million. According to the story, the president of Senegal Abdoulaye Wade has compared the work to France’s Eiffel Tower. The story notes the status is 13 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty.

But the best part of the story is here:

And he has sparked outrage by maintaining he is entitled to 35 percent of any tourist revenues it generates because he owns “intellectual rights” for conceiving the idea, with the rest to go to the government.

I use the term “best” loosely. Actually that kind of thinking is right up North Korea’s alley. Although at the same time I’m wondering what percentage of visits to the Statue of Liberty go to the U.S. or New York State government.