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Tag Archives: Africa
There are two species of African elephant
Everyone knows that there are two kinds of elephants in this world: Asian and African. The Asian is the only one that can be trained and the African ones live in harmony with their environment until hunters come by and shoot them. Scratch a little deeper, and the African bush elephant lives by destroying its environment and moving on to new areas, where it destroys that environment, cycling back to the original region over generational time; Both African and Asian elephants can be trained; and there are three, not two species of elephant in this world: Asian, African Bush, and African Forest. Once again, everything you know is wrong. But you knew that.
Continue reading There are two species of African elephant
Happy Day of Reconciliation!
Formerly known as Day of the Vow, as South African holiday, and a time of reflection on dramatic historical and cultural changes.
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Elephant Tracks and Child Safety Devices
It is probably true that every culture has child safety devices. It is also probably true that all of these devices are very limited in their effectiveness.
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Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia [citation needed]
I like Wikipedia, I really do. But there are also some serious, very serious problems with it. I just read the entries on the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, a few related historical entries, and the entry on the movie Zulu, which is about the Battle of Rorke’s drift.
My interest here is in looking at how things African are depicted in movies and other aspects of popular culture, especially historical events and “traditional” cultures. (I am not an expert on modern African studies.)
I will write about that at another time: Suffice it to say that at this point it is obvious that the overall pattern of divergences from historical (probable) fact in the movie can be best understood in reference to the by then well developed African in Western Eyes trope. One of the more blatant divergences is the invention of a person who simply was not present at the event (interestingly, there seems to be only one significant example of this in the movie) and it is “the young white woman” without which no Western movie about Africa would be complete.
Anyway, in reviewing these Wikipedia entries, I noticed that the Wikipedia process has it’s own pattern, including a preponderance of (amateur?) military historians at the keyboard who are unable to leave a single fact unturned no matter how insignificant, and a nearly complete lack of proportion so that very important facts get glossed. In addition, if you are Black or African, don’t expect your dead to be honored like the white dead will be. Shame.
And so, this all inspired me to make fun of Wikipedia with the following parody:
Continue reading Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia [citation needed]
UN report verifies DR Congo killings “may be genocide”
Nazi Holocaust: 1939 – 1945
War crimes trials: Fall 1945
DR Congo genocide: 1996-1997
War crimes trials: Still thinking about it.
I guess that brackets the range of potential variation.
(Note: This does not refer to the other, related genocide of Tutsi, for which trials have taken place.)
Shamans, Surgery, and the Driveway of Doom
In which I explore the interface between the Jungian Subconscious and my own primordial anguish.
Continue reading Shamans, Surgery, and the Driveway of Doom
ca 140 killed in Congo boat sinking
Up to 140 people are feared dead after a boat carrying passengers and goods capsized on a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials say.
The accident happened on the Kasai river – a tributary of the Congo River – in the western province of Bandundu.
Information Minister Lambert Mende told the BBC the boat had been overloaded and 80 people had been confirmed dead.
After decades of conflict, DR Congo has few roads or rail links and many people travel on often overloaded vessels.
John Kasaona: How poachers became caretakers
Floribert Chebeya Bahizire found dead in Kinshasa
A leading rights activist in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been found dead in the capital, Kinshasa.
Floribert Chebeya’s body was discovered, partially clothed, on the back seat of his own car.
He was last known to have gone to a meeting with the national chief of police, Genral John Numbi. His driver has disappeared.
Amnesty International’s deputy Africa director, Veronique Aubert, issued a statement upon hearing of his death: “We are stunned and appalled by the suspicious death of such a prominent and respected human rights defender”.
Catching Up on the News
Harakat Al-Shabab is a militant Islamic youth movement engaged in the Somali war. Yesterdaythey mortared the presidential palace in Omgadishu, setting off a fight killing 14 people.
A landslide caused by heavy rains and a flooding river on the slope of Nyiragongo killed over 50 people in the DR Congo.
A gay couple in Malawi has been sentenced to 14 years (max) at hard labo for “gross indecency and unnatural acts.”
The judge said he wanted to protect the public from “people like you”.
Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, have been in jail since they were arrested in December after holding an engagement ceremony.
The case has sparked international condemnation and a debate about homosexuality in the country.
The British government, Malawi’s largest donor, expressed its “dismay” …
Read the story here, be dismayed like the British Government.
The Freetown Hotel made iconic by Graham Greene (eg in: Journey Without Maps (Penguin Classics)
The World Cup stadium has opened! Sales are said to be down, but I think that won’t last long.
Ethiopian voting underway:
Polls have closed in Ethiopia’s first election since a 2005 contest which was marred by protests that led to the deaths of 200 people.
Always look in the refrigerator
I walked into her tent, went immediately to her bed and turned over her pillow. And there, as plain as day, was a stack of hundred dollars bills, a US passport, and a first class plane ticket to New York.
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Social Justice in the Tea, Chai, Rooibos, Aardwolf … Everything is connected to everything else.
CHAI RANT!!!11!!
It is time for another Chai Rant.
Race and National Bias in East African Palaeoanthropology
A half century of struggle has resulted in more than a little change, which we hope is still ongoing.
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From Fit to Fat to Fit and Back: Exercise and Weight Loss
Did you ever watch cattle? I mean, really watch them, for a few hours? Mostly they just sit or stand around munching on grass, chewing their cud, or snoozing. But every once in a while a handful of them will stand up and point in one direction. And they may take a few steps in that direction. Then a few more will join them. And once a critical mass has been reached, the whole herd will just go. Domestic cattle, wild African cape buffalo, whatever. This is what they do.
And as the cattle do, so do Scienceblogs.com bloggers. And the current stampede about to form up is about fitness. I’m not sure where it started, but I first noticed it at ERV‘s blog, but Page 3.14 has also picked it up.
We’re not talking about Darwinian fitness, but rather, physical fitness.
So, because I’m as much a member of the herd as the next cow, I decided to join in and tell you my fitness story … or at least, a version of it. Part I is below the fold.
Continue reading From Fit to Fat to Fit and Back: Exercise and Weight Loss