Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
Podcast Episode 80 The European decolonization of Africa ended over 50 years ago. Yet nothing betrays Africa as still the white man’s burden quite like African leaders bemoaning about a war now raging in Europe preventing them from feeding their people in Africa. Related commentaries: Zimbabwe… Podcast African migration… African migrants… Listen.
Severe flooding in Venice that has left much of the Italian city under water is a direct result of climate change, the mayor says. The highest water levels in the region in more than 50 years would leave ‘a permanent mark’, Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro tweeted. ‘Now the government must listen,’ he added. ‘These are… Read more.
Natural disasters, like droughts and pandemics, are commonplace in Africa. As I write this, for example, drought is decimating East and Southern Africa while a new Ebola outbreak is raging across the Democratic Republic of Congo and threatening to spread beyond. Hell, you’d be forgiven for thinking that God is continually unleashing plagues to get… Read more.
You might notice that this blog does not feature any revenue-generating ads. That’s because, when I launched it 12 years ago, I wanted to make plain my primary interest in contributing to informed public debate on an eclectic array of topics. This has distinguished it over the years from the blogs of far too many… Read more.
For important context on this grazing tragedy, here is an excerpt from “South Sudan Descending into the Heart of Darkness,” December 30, 2013. _________________ I joined the chorus of those heralding the birth of South Sudan as a new nation in Africa – fathered not by colonial masters but by Africans themselves. But I felt constrained to… Read more.
More than 1 million people in South Sudan have fled their homes at a crucial time of the year: planting season. Famine, aid officials say, could be the result, and the U.N.’s top official for human rights said Wednesday she is appalled by the apparent lack of concern by the country’s two warring leaders that… Read more.
Now that the herd-like American media have finished covering the debt-ceiling food fight between Republicans and Democrats, some news organizations are finally beginning to cover the drought and famine plaguing the Horn of Africa. I note especially the series of reports that NBC Nightly News has been airing this week. To welcome their belated attention, I have decided… Read more.
I know, I know: reading about the scourge of famine and drought in Africa is like reading about the menace of guns and drugs in America. And, truth be told, I harbor no illusions that anything I write will have any bearing on the looming fate of millions who are now competing with wild animals… Read more.
I know, I know: reading about the scourge of drought and famine in Africa is like reading about the menace of guns and drugs in America. And truth be told, I harbor no illusions that anything I write will have any bearing on the looming fate of millions who are now competing with wild animals… Read more.
