Proselytizing

With what happened at Fort Hood, and the relentless stream of scary Muslim stories in the U.S. — tonight a report on the local news that some Mosques here are sending money back to Iran, I just have to point and laugh.

For a long time, churches here in the U.S. have been funding people to spread out around the world to proselytize. When I was a pre-teen, my mom’s church was where I discovered Africa — through its program to send missionaries there.

With the fall of the former Soviet Union, missionaries flooded Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics. I can’t tell you how many of my students in Latvia practiced their English with Mormons around pool tables. And the other Christians were there, too.

So why is anyone surprised that Muslims are proselytizing here in the U.S.? Why worry that there are Muslims in our armed forces? Why be concerned about growing Muslim populations?

I admit I am an innocent bystander. I don’t really care what crazy omniscient being you believe in, and none of them will convince me that their God is the one, but I still find it calmly humorous that now Christians are getting bent about Muslims horning in on their turf. Religions are funny that way.

From Africa

We don’t have cable here in the Tam/Dora/Murph/kitten cave, but we do have the internets, and that’s where I first found this amazing young man and his book.

His name is William Kamkwamba and he is a magical person — and inspiring.  As a 14 year old, he built a windmill which produced electricity for his family’s home in impoverished Malawi.

John Stewart interviewed him.  He is just so full of joy.  His book is in the top 10 on Amazon.  I will order it tomorrow.

In my line of work, I have the opportunity to meet the more adventurous souls from around our planet.  I have always been impressed with those students who come from the African continent.  I have an affinity for the place and have for a long time.

From the reviews on  Amazon and William’s interview with Stewart, this looks to be a great read and a memoirs more significant than Sarah Palin’s.  Think about it.  This young man, now 22 years old, has made a stronger impact in the world than Palin had by 22, and arguably even now.

Big News in Paloeanthropology

It’s on The News Hour right now.  The fossilized bones of a mostly bipedal specimen have been found and analyzed.  It took 17 years.  The fossils are 4.4 million years old.  In other words, they predate Lucy.  The site is in Ethiopia — just like Lucy’s site is — and so the fossils are a national treasure and will be kept there.  Also, the Ethiopians had a major part in the excavations and analysis.

This is one of those times I wish I had cable or satellite because the special about the whole process will be on the Discovery Channel.  It  airs on October 11th, so perhaps I can persuade a friend to figure out how to record it so I can play it on my DVR . . . . .

If you only listen to talk radio . . .

or read Ann Althouse, you would think that the big deal about S0S Clinton’s visit to Africa was just about one thing she said.  And that is what they would like you to believe.

Africans feel differently.

Rape is a very serious issue and in the Congo it has been used as a weapon against not only women, but men as well.

Just like Obama’s work in Mexico with the three North Americas summit, there is little of it discussed in any meaningful way on talk radio.

It’s pretty clear where the town hall anger is coming from — it’s the slanting of the news.

Like someone else on the intertubes said, Sarah Palin didn’t have anything to do with the differently-abled community until she claimed to be a part of it and still hasn’t.  That her son gets the benefits that he does is the result of other people who have fought for years.

Lastly, back to talk radio, it’s clear that much of it is ego driven.  And it’s also clear that they all pounce on the same thing.  As egoists, they try to differentiate themselves from each other, but they all hit the same points.

At least Michael Berry hasn’t been on the air screaming BLACK the last couple of days.

About that arrest warrant for Al Bashir

I read about this earlier in the week and The News Hour had something on it, but this piece by Peter Pham is the best analysis I have read about what it might mean.

It’s complicated, but my take away from the analysis is that while it might make things worse in the short term (and given how things are in the Sudan, that’s saying something), but in the long term, the southern portion of Sudan may find a way to break free of the oppression of Khartoum and then, in time, make a deal with China.

In the larger picture, this is good in many ways.  I can see how it might look bleak.  But a strong South Sudan, with a relationship with China, might just make the oil there pay for people who have paid the ultimate price.

If I were an entrepreneur, I would do what others have done in India and provide solar power to South Sudan and then let China pay to get and then burn that oil.

Another Term Begins; Something about Chimps

(I’m not very good at titles, sorry, and I know it’s supposed to be one topic per post, but whatever.)

I didn’t really get the classes I asked for, but that’s nothing new.  However, two of them are better than I had hoped so far, and the third has potential.  All of them are intermediate level.  Each class has a mix of students from each of the five continents (if you count that way:)  One thing that has surprised me in the last year — we have been getting a higher number of Africans –  from almost every point in the continent — Mali, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Equtorial Guinea — you name it (almost).  One funny thing is that I have one student name Michel — he and I laughed today about how we would have to be in the same place when I talked about him — otherwise people would think I was talking to myself.

I don’t have a writing class this time, just grammar and listening and speaking.  I think I can make it interesting and fun for all of them.  We will see.

The other thing I came across today is an article about chimps.  According to Discovery News, they have made modifications in the eternal hunt for termites.  While I always read these reports with wonder and awe, I know that we, as humans, will soon exterminate all of the great apes.  We, as humans, do more to our own, value our own humans less than we do them, our fellow primates.

And don’t get me wrong:  I care about and worry over people — humans — who die every day from things that — in a just world — no one human would have to suffer.

To those who waste their time and votes on fertilized cells, I say, get your priorities in order.  Stop harping on single cases and look at the bigger picture.  We are killing ourselves through war and destroying the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

Getting your carpet changed after a hurricane has devistated the region you live in illustrates your mindset better than your words.

This is Rich

Former colonial power and assholes extraordinaire Belgium decides that it has something on the Africans.

I’d love to just copy and paste the VOA account of this, but I will just link and copy this one part:

“Belgium is not saying we want Habre extradited to Belgium to stand trial. They are saying Senegal has an obligation either to extradite him or to prosecute him. Hissene Habre is accused of systematic torture, of thousands of political killings. The documents say his political police which provide a roadmap to how Hissene Habre organized his repression in Chad and lists the names of 1,208 people who died in detention. So there’s a very strong against Hissene Habre for torture and crimes against humanity. Senegal has legal obligation under the Torture Convention and other conventions to either prosecute or extradite him,” Brody said.

Belgium’s action against Senegal comes at a time when the International Criminal Court is on the verge of issuing an arrest warrant against Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir.

Brody dismissed accusations by some Africans that the international justice system has been targeting only Africans.

 

“For Africans who complain that African leaders are being target by international justice, I think there’s a need to show that Africans are capable of delivering justice when crimes are being committed in Africa. In this case, I think Senegal should take the lead and show the world that African courts are capable of bringing to justice Africans who are alleged to have committed these crimes,” Brody said.

Brody is an attorney for Human Rights Watch.

The irony of the Belgians going after African torturers, and all the while George Bush gets to go to a hardware store and ask for a job as  a greeter is more than I can take.

The Zoo (more pics after the break at the end)

My school went to the Houston Zoo today for a field trip.  Everything went rather well.   We had more than 2/3 participation and thankfully, the stragglers I promised got in with a prepaid ticket.

I love the Houston Zoo. 

The Meercats are wonderful.  I got to see the new baby giraffe, but my pics turned out to just be the people reflected in the glass.

The thing about Meercats — and other small mammals — is that they look out for possible predators.  It’s something I had wanted to study before I decided to teach English.

I’m good at what I do.  I just wish now I had pursued my goal.  I would have been watching howler monkeys or orangutans or maybe mandrills sleep.

I made the correct choice.  Education and medicine are two of the fields open now.  We can’t seem to get good teachers.  My job is secure as long as English is spoken on the planet.

I still wish I could have lived these past twenty years in the wild.

I have a friend who plans to move to Africa when her last dog dies.  It’s something to think about.  I’d love to go back home to Africa.  I’d love to end my years visiting all of the countries that I’ve taught students from and then land in Africa.  My home.

More pictures later.

Cool kitty video and more

This kitty (via rump roast) is cool.

Poor Kathleen, she can’t find any fun, only sadness and Marxism talk.  No ’scandal’ worked to defeat Obama.

On a more serious note, the continent of Africa is blowing up — it’s more than Somalia or Sudan, but the Congo.  Snarky me thought that Sarah Palin might put her expertise to work helping the Congo make their natural resourses work for the general population.  But she’s back in Alaska and that sort of ’share the wealth’ program only works there.

I love it when my boss calls at 4:59 on a Friday about some web edit and then uses something I said about a FTP issue from 5 years ago to criticize her failure to edit copy — especially when she edited the copy all those years ago.  She’s recently taken to quoting my exact words (in her mind) from several years ago — all the while lying about simple stupid things that have happened since.  As always, my hope is just to last until she retires while making my work as interesting as possible.

RW&B is Chris Bell and Joan Huffman.  We’ll see if it’s interesting (TX Senate seat 17).

Oh, and Obama made a joke about Nancy Reagan. PLEASE.  The woman was horrible to everyone but those she trusted (very few) in her time.  GIVE ME A FREAKING BREAK.  Let Nancy cry about being the butt of a joke.  She’s got an entire organization and mouthpiece lauding her hubby day in and day out.  She deserved it.

I Thought That Sounded Fishy

I’ll have to do a little research, but my recollection of the 1980’s is that Republicans all around the country were opposed to divestment in South Africa over apartheid.  The argument went along the lines of free markets will do something or other.

I was quite surprised last night to hear Gov. Sarah Palin claim that Alaska had divested from Sudan.  (Not only because I hadn’t heard it before, but also because the current party line is that the Sudanese are important wrt intelligence in the war on terror.

I was surprised with cause:

“The [Palin] administration killed our bill,” said Alaska state representative Les Gara, D-Anchorage. Gara and state Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, co-sponsored a resolution early this year to force the Alaska Permanent Fund – a $40 billion investment fund, a portion of whose dividends are distributed annually to state residents – to divest millions of dollars in holdings tied to the Sudanese government.

<snip>

“The legislation is well-intended, and the desire to make a difference is noble, but mixing moral and political agendas at the expense of our citizens’ financial security is not a good combination,” testified Brian Andrews, Palin’s deputy revenue commissioner, before a hearing on the Gara-Lynn Sudan divestment bill in February. Minutes from the meeting are posted online by the legislature.

 

Gara says the lack of support from Palin’s administration helped kill the measure.

<snip>

 

The Alaska Permanent Fund currently holds $22 million in Sudan-linked investments, according to the non-profit Sudan Divestment Task Force. Divestment advocates say the fund does not need an act of the state legislature to divest itself of those holdings.

 

The McCain-Palin campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been a strong supporter of Sudan divestment efforts, and has urged Americans to liquidate their holdings in companies who do business there. He was criticized for that position when it was revealed in May his wife Cindy held $2 million in investment funds owning shares of Sudan-linked companies. She sold those holdings following a reporter’s inquiries.

First off, who exactly was she pandering to?  The Christianists are hardcore trying to convert in Sudan, and the poor victims of the government are their target.  Don’t they have enough to deal with?

Second, she just lied.

Third, the McCains have so much money it’s difficult for them to align their positions with their investments.

Luckily, I have no such problem.  I have no investments.  I choose not to buy or eat table grapes from California.  I’ve never had a slice of Domino’s pizza.  I don’t buy anything made in China unless there is no other available.

Which reminds me, I need to add another link on the blog.  Here’s McCain’s score.  And Obama’s and Durbin’s.  I know that C is passing, but as a teacher, I love those A+’s.