this & that
- Africa: the Board Game will be mine. And I will consider teaching about pan-Africanism with it. Oh, yes, I will.
- Zuma tells local ANC officials that the corruption has to stop so social services can be delivered.
- An African view of China's investment on the continent.
- On "Aging African Dictator Syndrome."
- Via @kenyanpundit, somebody mapped Nairobi's matatu routes. This almost - ALMOST - makes me nostalgic for all those days (and nights) on the 105. Of course, that was in the era before the whole "one passenger, one seat" rule. It's just not the same experience when you have a seat belt and you're not holding someone else's child in your lap.
- The United States gives Mali's army $5 million in military equipment to fight al-Qaeda. If there's one thing DOD's Africanists have down, it's military cooperation with Mali.
- Kigali gets a large-scale WiFi network.
- Uganda still lacks a national language. (via @RachelStrohm)
- Also via @RachelStrohm, Rwanda is working on an oil exploration policy for Lake Kivu. What could possibly go wrong with drilling for oil in a methane-saturated lake on an active fault line?
- Very interesting thoughts on Jeff Sachs' speech at Oxford earlier this week.
- On Juba's dual economy.
- The U.S. sent spy drones to the Seychelles to use against Somali pirates.
- Alex de Waal is one of The Atlantic's Brave Thinkers for 2009.
- The BBC Magazine provides a helpful guide to what fascism actually is.
- al Shabaab hands out quite a quiz night prize in Somalia.
- The new revisions to a specific set of domestic poverty guidelines still don't account for most poor people in America, but this is a good step towards having a more realistic number. And reality isn't pretty.
- Rick Perry finally went too far.
- I do not understand paranoia about vaccines - or the willingness of so many people to take medical advice from Jenny McCarthy. It's actually one of the few areas in which I don't think people should have much of a choice. Vaccinations are not just about the health of the child whose parent makes a decision; they are about the health of the entire community, especially those who are most vulnerable to disease. And when the children of people who have irrational fears of vaccinations get everybody else in their preschool or Girl Scout troop sick, it costs us all more money. Anyway, there are plenty of people who disagree with me on that. And the craziest of them were out in Atlanta on Wednesday.
- I never thought I'd say this, but God bless Orrin Hatch.
- Somebody reached this blog by Googling the following: "peace corps guinea -bissau -fowl -equatorial -papua -pig -pigs." Awesome.
7 Comments:
Two comments: both funny to me.
The picture of the protester's sign in Atlanta is taking a truth and making it seem bad. If any vaccine was not at least a little "toxic" the body would not produce anti-bodies to fight off the virus/microbes which cause the disease.
If Obama were to be successful in seteling the long running discussions about the BCS and playoffs, he might indeed deserve the Noble Peace Prize.
Thursday, October 22, 2009 5:35:00 PM
I don't get why people are taking medical advice from Jenny McCarthy (hello, Singled Out!)...I know folks that stagger the vaccines, and know some that have put them off.
As a parent, it's hard to make these choices...who's right? Who's wrong? Are they both right and wrong?
I do vaccinate, and thoroughly believe in it. The diseases we prevent through these are truly bad, bad, bad, and definitely worse than the reaction from the vaccine in the average kid. I don't want my kids to get these diseases, nor do I want them to spread these diseases.
I'm also very lucky that my kids have had no reactions - hardly even a fever - from vaccines.
I do know those that don't vaccinate, or at least delay, and I partially get it. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I can sympathize.
I am glad I don't have a daughter though. I have concerns about that Guardasil crap.
My husband and I also have concerns about the H1N1 vaccine. And no, we DO NOT watch Glenn Beck (unless to mock and relish in the idiocy)...just have concerns about timing and how they're rushing to get it out there. I'm going to talk to our pediatrician though, and trust her enough to go with her recommendation.
OK, I'll shut up now.
Thursday, October 22, 2009 8:58:00 PM
I totally get that, Emily. But you obviously get your medical advice from doctors (real doctors, with degrees and licenses and experience) as opposed to getting it just from what you read on the internet or heard in the carpool lane. And I get the H1N1 concerns. Every doctor I've heard from thinks it's much more dangerous not to get it, especially since it's essentially the same as the normal seasonal flu vaccine in terms of how they made it.
This strikes me as one of those debates we only have because as a society we're so rich and well-off that we don't have to worry about real problems. I don't know many Congolese moms who would turn down the chance to get their children vaccinated against MMR, polio, teatnus, and TB.
Thursday, October 22, 2009 11:16:00 PM
TIA,
My doctor advised me to not get the H1N1 shot. He said he would not get it. My wife's doctor flat told her do not get the H1N1 nasal spray shot. Both advised getting the "regular" flu shots, which we had already done. So now you have heard of at least two doctors (both MDs) who advise patients against the H1N1 vaccinations.
"In terms of how they made it." Really, are you sure? When did they start rushing thru formulating, testing (for both effectiveness and safety), and production of the "normal" flu shots?
Charlie Mac
Friday, October 23, 2009 6:23:00 AM
The first girls have not received H1N1 shots. Why? The spin report is,"it is not available to them because of their low risk factor."
Yeah! Right!
"I believe, help my unbelief."
MK 9:24
Charlie Mac
Monday, October 26, 2009 6:58:00 AM
Well what do you know? Now the press release is that the First Daughters did receive their H1N1 vaccinations last week after it bacame available to all school children in D.C.
What a special first family, they wait until all others are served before they protect their own children.
"I believe, help my unbelief. Mk 9:24
Charlie Mac
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 7:02:00 PM
The idea of a politically united Africa, Pan-Africanism, has been around for over a hundred years. While the pan-african movement has been involved in anti-slavery and anti-colonial struggles and the fight against Apartheid South Africa, there has never been any significant movement towards a political unification. However, recent historical events, quite unexpectedly, may provide an impetus in this direction.
http://www.watchinghistory.com/2009/11/african-union.html
Thursday, November 05, 2009 9:36:00 PM
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