Some scary stuff we’re hearing out of Mexico City flu outbreak. They’re saying it is not widespread just yet.
I remember an interview by one of the well known epidemiologists here in the US, and he said that another flu outbreak is just a question of when, not if.
I’m hoping technology will make a critical difference this time around to the one we suffered in 1917, I think it was. With better communication and efficiency, the people leading this effort may have a much better chance of containing the spread using available tech infrastructures.
Filed under: News and Politics
Famed singer Tilahun Gessesse passed on.
He was one of the great Ethiopian performers. Probably there has never been a single person who would match his level of fame and talent.
His songs were meaningful, passionate, delivered just right.
He has had health issues for years.
He reportdly died yesterday, April 19, 2009.
Filed under: News and Politics
Happy Easter, Orthodox Christians.
Filed under: News and Politics
April 17, 2009 • 12:13 pm
random thoughts …
Morning Joe should invite Dambisa Moyo. Wouldn’t she be a nice counter weight to ’spoon feed’ Sacks? –
Kristof, nytimes.com columnist has a nice article on IQ. He wrote a similar column a while back linking iodine deficiency contributing lower IQ in developing nations compared to people in developed nations. Not genetics, just nutrition and environment.–
Filed under: News and Politics
Free money kills, or rather incapacitates. That is the core of Dambisa’s argument, as she pointed out Africa got some cash, debt relief, lots of excess grain produced by subsidized western farmers for over 60+ years, and look where it got us. More people are hungry, homeless, in general leading a miserable life.
That is what Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s US bashing, socialism loving explosive leader in part did. He gave away free money to his lower income supporters, thanks to the Capitalist system that afforded him to do so, at least for a while. Now the chickens have come home to roast; he has cut his 2009 budget by 18% or so to adjust for his $60 per barrel of oil based give away budget to about a more realistic $40 a barrel.
He probably financed good projects like roads, clinics and the likes, but doubt that adequate and sizable investments were made in education and other schemes that actually grow the economy and frees its dependency on it finite and volatile resource, oil.
Hugo would have served his country better by developing his people and making the right investments, rather than running around the world bashing America, giving away free cash to his cronies, peddling a bankrupt system, Socialism.
Filed under: News and Politics
random thoughts …
Whatever happened to the Wechegud! lady? I miss her writing, commentary, and humor. Sorely missed, as she would say.
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I don’t get this twitter thing; letting people know what you’re doing in a sentence or so. What is the point? Why would I care? It is one of those novelity things that disappears in the ether. They better sell it to facebook for a billion dollars, what I heard to be the recent valuation of it. What is the value it anyways? Eyeballs, i.e it’s popularity is all I can think of. I don’t think it has any revenue to speak of, let alone making money. As I can see it, it is a cash eating machine. Think of the expensive labor, equipment, data center cost; talk about capital expenditure; huge!
But if some genious comes up with a way to turn all those eyeballs to cash, then we’re talking about a different game. That is a sizable IF though.
Filed under: News and Politics
Dambisa Moyo was on CSPAN last night. I couldn’t not agree with her more. She said in the past 60 years or so Africa received some trillion dollars in Aid, and nothing of significance to show for it. More people are poorer than ever; sicker than ever; illiterate than ever. She simply is asking why are we doing stuff so demonstrably have been shown not to work.
Aid is a model of pity, she says. While folks feel sorry for us and give us a handout, we’re getting poorer than ever. ‘Free money’ and surplus grains getting dispensed by while folks driving around in sport utility cars hasn’t helped one bit. It made us more dependent, far less productive, thus poorer.
Why are they not treating us the same as east Europeans, South Americans, and Asians. They were pushed towards the markets; their governments were expected of them to perform; they were given access to markets while shown how to fish, not just being fed fish.
Why are we being thought of differently by Jefferey Sacks and the likes she asks. He was apparently her teacher at Harvard for a year; then advocating free market principles and solutions to governments in Eastern Europe, Asia and South America. But when it comes to Africa, oh, let’s just GIVE them this and that; these poor people, they can fend for themselves. ‘We can’t expect them to do things for themselves’ seems to be the attitude.
Why are African governments not expected to solve their problems? Why are unelected celebrities like Bono and the likes speak on behalf of us, while we have supposed leaders who are elected to solve problems? Can we imagine Bono pleading for help for US financial Industry crisis while Obama and his folks seating in the White House sucking their thumbs? Wouldn’t the American people be outraged by that?
That is what my girl Dambisa is saying.
If you happen to read this, Dambisa, please keep it up. You make us proud.
Filed under: News and Politics
So very proud of her.
I couldn’t agree more with her. You just have to see it.
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10175#frame_top
Filed under: News and Politics
