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 Politics / Re: What Exactly Is "boko Haram" Fighting For? by logic101: 2:04am On Aug 29, 2011 |
the question should be who created boko haram |
| Foreign Affairs / Nigerians Beeing Killed In Libya by logic101: 12:04am On Aug 29, 2011 |
| Foreign Affairs / The Myth Of Libya Liberation by logic101: 11:09pm On Aug 26, 2011 |
by CONN HALLINAN In his essay, “Top Ten Myths about the Libyan War,” Juan Cole argues that U.S. interests in the conflict consisted of stopping “massacres of people,” a “lawful world order,” “the NATO alliance,” and oddly, “the fate of Egypt.” It is worth taking a moment to look at each of these arguments, as well as his dismissal of the idea that the U.S./NATO intervention had anything to do with oil as “daft.” Massacres are bad things, but the U.S. has never demonstrated a concern for them unless its interests were at stake. It made up the “massacre” of Kosovo Albanians in order to launch the Yugoslav War, and ended up acquiring one of the largest U.S. bases in the world, Camp Bond Steel. It has resolutely ignored the massacre of Palestinians and Shiites in Bahrain because it is not in Washington’s interests to concern itself with those things. Israel is an ally, and Bahrain hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Cole accepts the fact that Qaddafi would have “massacred” his people, but his evidence for that is thin, and he chooses to completely ignore the deaths and casualties resulting from the NATO bombing. The U.S. is interested in a “lawful world order.” That would certainly come as a surprise to the Palestinians, the Shiites in the Gulf, and peasants in Colombia who suffer the deprivations of death squads aided by the U.S. (see the Washington Post story of 8/20/11) etc. The U.S, supports international law when it is in its interests to do so, undermines it when it is not, and ignores it when it is inconvenient. I wish Cole were correct but he is not. The record speaks for itself. Okay, spot on for the NATO alliance, which is exactly the problem. Africa has increasingly become a chess piece in a global competition for resources and cheap labor. It is no accident that the U.S. recently formed an African Command (Africom)—the Libyan War was the organization’s coming out party—and is training troops in countries that border the Sahara. It is already intervening in Somalia, and a recent story in the New York Times about an “al-Qaeda threat” in Northern Nigeria should send a collective chill down all our spines. NATO has already “war gamed” the possibility of intervention in the Gulf of Guinea to insure oil supplies in the advent of “civil disturbances” that might affect the flow of energy resources. NATO represents western economic and political interests, which rarely coincide with the interests of either the alliance’s own people, or those of the countries it occupies. The Libyan intervention sets a very dangerous precedent for the entire continent, which is why the African Union opposed it. Who will be next? Ummm, Egypt? Certainly the U.S. has “a deep interest in the fate of Egypt,” which ought to scare hell out of the Egyptians. But overthrowing Qaddafi was important because he had “high Egyptian officials on his payroll”? Is Cole seriously suggesting that Libya’s 6.4 million people have anything to do with determining the fate of 83 million Egyptians? Opposition to the Libyan War is not based on supporting Qaddafi, although Cole’s portrait of the man is one-sided. For instance, Libya played an important role in financing the African Bank, thus allowing African nations to avoid the tender mercies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Libya also financed a continent-wide telecommunications system that saved African countries hundreds of millions of dollars by allowing them to bypass western-controlled networks. He also raised living standards. This does not make him a good guy, but it does say that Libya’s role in Africa cannot be reduced to simply “sinister.” Lastly, the charge that this was about Libya’s oil is “daft”? Libya is the largest producer of oil in Africa, and the 12th largest in the world. Its resources are very important for NATO’s European allies, and over the past several years there has been competition over these supplies. The Chinese have made major investments. During the war China, Russia, and Brazil supported the African Union’s call for a ceasefire and talks, and pointed out that UN Resolution 1973 did not call for regime change. One of the first statements out of the Transitional National Council following Qaddafi’s collapse was that China, Russia and Brazil were going to be sidelined in favor of French, Spanish, and Italian companies. Quid pro quo? The war was not just over oil, but how can anyone dismiss the importance of energy supplies at a time of worldwide competition over their control? The U.S. is currently fighting several wars in a region that contains more than 65 percent of the world’s oil supplies. Does he think this is a coincidence? Sure, the companies that invested in Libya will take some initial losses, but does Cole think those Libyans beholden to NATO for their new positions will drive a hard bargain with the likes of Total SA and Repso when it comes to making deals? If I were those companies I would see the war as a very lucrative investment in futures. In any case, when the U.S., China, and Russia are locked in a bitter worldwide battle over energy resources, to dismiss the role of oil in the Libyan War is, well, daft. Special Forces are taking over the U.S. military. Africom is increasingly active on the continent. NATO has just finished its first intervention in Africa. With Qaddafi gone, every country that borders the Mediterranean is now associated with NATO, essentially turning this sea into an alliance lake. This is not a good thing. |
| Politics / Re: Nigeria Urges Gaddafi To Quit by logic101: 1:30am On Aug 24, 2011 |
@alhaji this is for you the Negro has failed to recover from his slavish habit of berating his own and worshipping others as perfect beings. No progress has been made in this respect because the more "education" the Negro gets the worse off he is. He has just had so much longer to learn to decry and despise himself. The race looking to this educated class for a solution of its problems does not find any remedy; and, on the contrary, sees itself further and further away from those things to which it has aspired. By forgetting the schoolroom for the time being and relying upon an awakening of the masses through adult education we can do much to give the Negro a new point of view with respect to economic enterprise and group cooperation. The average Negro has not been sufficiently mis-educated to become hopeless. |
| Religion / Re: The Tithing Issue by logic101: 12:44am On Aug 24, 2011 |
It is very clear, then, that if Negroes got their conception of religion from slaveholders, libertines, and murderers, there may be something wrong about it, and it would not hurt to investigate it. It has been said that the Negroes do not connect morals with religion. The historian would like to know what race or nation does such a thing. Certainly the whites with whom the Negroes have come into contact have not done so. |
| Religion / Re: The Tithing Issue by logic101: 12:35am On Aug 24, 2011 |
The large majority of Negro preachers of today, then, are doing nothing more than to keep up the mediaeval hell-fire scare which the whites have long since abandoned to emphasize the humanitarian trend in religion through systematized education. |
| Religion / Re: The Tithing Issue by logic101: 12:31am On Aug 24, 2011 |
To begin with, theology is of pagan origin. Albert Magnus and Thomas Aquinas worked out the first system of it by applying to religious discussion the logic of Aristotle, a pagan philosopher, who believed neither in the creation of the world nor the immortality of the soul. At best it was degenerate learning, based upon the theory that knowledge is gained by the mind working upon itself rather than upon matter or through sense perception. The world was, therefore, confused with the discussion of absurdities as it is today by those of prominent churchmen. By their peculiar "reasoning," too, theologians have sanctioned most of the ills of the ages. They justified the Inquisition, serfdom, and slavery. Theologians of our time defend segregation and the annihilation of one race by the other. They have drifted away from righteousness into an effort to make wrong seem to be right. While we must hold the Negroes responsible for following these ignorant theorists, we should not charge to their account the origination of this nonsense with which they have confused thoughtless people. As said above, the Negro has been so busy doing what he is told to do that he has not stopped long enough to think about the meaning of these things. He has borrowed the ideas of his traducers instead of delving into things and working out some thought of his own. Some Negro leaders of these religious factions know better, but they hold their following by keeping the people divided, in emphasizing nonessentials the insignificance of which the average man may not appreciate. The "highly educated" Negroes who know better than to follow these unprincipled men have abandoned these popular churches. While serving as the avenue of the oppressor's propaganda, the Negro church, although doing some good, has prevented the union of diverse elements and has kept the race too weak to overcome foes who have purposely taught Negroes how to quarrel and fight about trifles until their enemies can overcome them. This is the keynote to the control of the so-called inferior races by the self-styled superior. The one thinks and plans while the other in excited fashion seizes upon and destroys his brother with whom he should cooperate. |
| Religion / Re: Adeboye As A Mathematician by logic101: 12:30am On Aug 24, 2011 |
While we must hold the Negroes responsible for following these ignorant theorists, we should not charge to their account the origination of this nonsense with which they have confused thoughtless people. As said above, the Negro has been so busy doing what he is told to do that he has not stopped long enough to think about the meaning of these things. He has borrowed the ideas of his traducers instead of delving into things and working out some thought of his own. Some Negro leaders of these religious factions know better, but they hold their following by keeping the people divided, in emphasizing nonessentials the insignificance of which the average man may not appreciate. The "highly educated" Negroes who know better than to follow these unprincipled men have abandoned these popular churches. While serving as the avenue of the oppressor's propaganda, the Negro church, although doing some good, has prevented the union of diverse elements and has kept the race too weak to overcome foes who have purposely taught Negroes how to quarrel and fight about trifles until their enemies can overcome them. This is the keynote to the control of the so-called inferior races by the self-styled superior. The one thinks and plans while the other in excited fashion seizes upon and destroys his brother with whom he should cooperate. |
| Religion / Re: Adeboye As A Mathematician by logic101: 12:29am On Aug 24, 2011 |
In chameleon-like fashion the Negro has taken up almost everything religious which has come along instead of thinking for himself. The English split off from the Catholics because Henry VIII had difficulty in getting sanction from the Church to satisfy his lust for amorous women, and Negroes went with this ilk, singing "God save the King." Others later said the thing necessary is baptism by immersion; and the Negroes joined them as Baptists. Another circle of promoters next said we must have a new method of doing things and we shall call ourselves Methodists; and the Negroes, then, embraced that faith. The Methodists and Baptists split up further on account of the custom of holding slaves; and the Negroes arrayed themselves on the respective sides. The religious agitators divided still more on questions beyond human power to understand; and the Negroes started out in similar fashion to imitate them. |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: Gaddafi Falls: Libyan rebels in 'final push' for capital by logic101: 2:03pm On Aug 23, 2011 |
@cap 28 i just observed something interesting libya has been omited from the economic indexes of countries .In that way one cant examine the standard of living in libya here are a few sitess http://www.economywatch.com/economic-statistics/economic-indicators/GDP_Per_Capita_PPP_US_Dollars/2011/ |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: Gaddafi Falls: Libyan rebels in 'final push' for capital by logic101: 1:25pm On Aug 23, 2011 |
all4naija: Some day you might loose your family during an invasion in your country. Can you show us evidence that gadaffi killed his people. and please dont quote cnn or bbc. |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: Gaddafi Falls: Libyan rebels in 'final push' for capital by logic101: 1:23pm On Aug 23, 2011 |
all4naija: your logic baffles me.Your saying that gadaffi dethroned the kind of governments those countries so called have and that those countries have different forms of governments , ? lets get down to facts 1.qatar,bahrain and oman are all american allies . QATAR Beginning in 1992, Qatar has built intimate military ties with the United States, and is now the location of U.S. Central Command’s Forward Headquarters and the Combined Air Operations Center. they are ruled by an absolute monarchy since the mid 19th century. 2. BAHRAIN In 1797, fourteen years later after gaining the power of the Bani Utbah, the Al Khalifa family moved to Bahrain and settled in Jaww, later moving to Riffa. They were originally from Kuwait having left in 1766. Al-Sabah family traditions relates that the ancestors of their tribe and those of the Al-Khalifa tribe came to Kuwait after their expulsion from Umm Qasr upon Khor Zubair by the Turks, an earlier base from which they preyed on the caravans of Basra and pirated ships in the Shatt Al Arab waterway. In 1820, the Al Khalifa tribe came to power in Bahrain and entered a treaty relationship with Great Britain, by then the dominant military power in the Persian Gulf. This treaty granted the Al Khalifa the title of Rulers of Bahrain. you see the people of bahrain are fed up with the settlers but you wont see saudirabia or ussa attacking bahrain why? its a usefull servant and offers good oil deals to western nations. Unrest amongst the people of Bahrain began when Britain officially established complete dominance over the territory in 1892. The first revolt and widespread uprising took place in March 1895 against Sheikh Essa Ben Ali, then ruler of the Al Khalifeh. Sheikh Essa was the first of the Al Khalifeh to rule a land without Iranian relations. 3.OMAN Oman has been ruled by the Al Bu Sa'idi dynasty since 1744 and has long-standing military and political ties with the United Kingdom and United States, although it claims it maintains an independent foreign policy, |
| Politics / Re: Nigeria Urges Gaddafi To Quit by logic101: 12:53pm On Aug 23, 2011 |
cap28: 1.Nigeria has no foreign policy 2.Governed by a group of people who have dont know african history nor have africans interest at heart nor even know what national interests are , our citizens have so much apathy to what goes in parts of nigeria not to talk of the african continent . SouthAfrica can come out of this with their heads held high even t hough they voted with the un resolution.They have woken up and realised that libya is one of the pieces in the jigsaw.That libya is an example to african countries on how to be self sufficient . |
| Politics / Re: Nigeria Urges Gaddafi To Quit by logic101: 12:29pm On Aug 23, 2011 |
Federal government of clowns, |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: Gaddafi Falls: Libyan rebels in 'final push' for capital by logic101: 2:40am On Aug 23, 2011 |
emmatok: logic101: |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: Gaddafi Falls: Libyan rebels in 'final push' for capital by logic101: 2:28am On Aug 23, 2011 |
emmatok:as usual u avoided the questions , id int not blame anyone just pointed out facts, asnwer my questions then i would get back to you but i guess you wont , |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: Gaddafi Falls: Libyan rebels in 'final push' for capital by logic101: 2:00am On Aug 23, 2011 |
milehigh06:if a man was ruling nigeria for forty years i wont be happy with it but wont want snakes into my country, but hold on if in those forty years, he has given the citizens of the country a higher standard of living(not the hell we live in nigeria) then ummmm obviously yes or wont you?people like you with response with but the man is there for to long.You see in life ,certain issues are not black and white and , i dont define leadership by how long you have been in power but what have you done for your people, i also dont define politics by wstern standards(you see they operate democracy but its a big illusion of power , you can read up on machaivellies the prince, ). if you have a problem with corrupt leaders be the leader you want elect one and let him make the african union stronger, Then issues like this can be discussed. |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: Gaddafi Falls: Libyan rebels in 'final push' for capital by logic101: 1:51am On Aug 23, 2011 |
emmatok: emmatok: your equating a country(russia) not having so called"democracy" to it not beeing attacked by the powers that be.Well lets discuss you also have to define the meaning of the word attack(there are various forms of attack/warfare) a.Physical(military campaigns) russia has one of the best military in the world, cant mess with them, b.financial(former french colonies in west africa have their currencies tied to the franc) rigging of socalled free market, financial institutions(imf,worldbank)funnily enough gaddaffi never asked for loans from them. c.Pyschological----colonialism leads to hate of one selfs, lack of belief in ability, dependence, new way of lifee, d, media(well aljazerraa has done well (qatar owned (qatar allies with the powers that be) hates gaddafii and does the willing of the master) why would qatar hate q/kadaffii?, well he pulled out of the arab league and ridiculed the arabs(arabs aint determined by the colour of their skin modern arabs are not really arabs) thats why the arab league hates him and sold him out, but hold on a little digression what is the relationship between arab league and an african country? or should nigeria form christian league and have a say in europe, ? back to media, Cnn has played its role(the so called liberal enlightened channel) , has cast the rebels(thugs) if you call them that as the oppresed . bbc(well posh etonian channel right? you see there is power in branding, they maintain the status quo of the powers that be) i have a quote from frantz fannon, "when a journalist from the west asks questions,it is seldom in order to help us"remember the word humanitarian , continue quote "in the algerian war,even the most liberal of the french reporters never cease to use ambiguous words in describing our strugggle .When we reproached them for this,hey replied in all good faith that they were being Objective" in conclusion western media is a propogator of orwellian information, there are other types of warfare but wont go into more details, |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: Is Ghaddafi The Devil We Think He Is? by logic101: 8:56pm On Aug 21, 2011 |
@ cap happy sunday hope you doing good. 1. Nigerians are not thought their history, I remember as a kid in history and social studies classes was more of a lesson of white bravery and humanism,The nigerian history i learnt was that lord lugard almagamated the south and north to form one country.Was told how mongo park discovered river niger and how mary slessor stoped the killing of twins in crossriver. The result , u loose your history and get conditioned with a new one and it has a pattern, i>e nigerians were savages who killed children, africans had no history prior to the arrival of the european, the european was always there to save us like superman, This creates a subconscious mind that equates black== useless, this is so obvious in companies in nigeria todayyy, 2. in religion classes, they told us that our Gods were pagans , evil blood suckers, that we shouldn't look at them or even find out the history, We were thought to pray for everything and wait for Gods(chrisitanity) time. I was thought that the white man brought his religion and it was a priviledge for us to be converted cause our souls were dammed. the result, A group of people who have no spirituality and only go to church because they have been conditioned too, our customs have also been lost because our traditional religions were also our libraries, we have no military knwoledge.have lost our sciences. A group of people who think its africans lot to suffer on earth , The indians still have their own religions. e.g the dogon ethnic group found in mali today have know the existence of siruis long before the europeans knew it but it was preserved because their religion remains intact . they refused to be converted to islam, i didnt know all these until i began to ask questions (in africa a young man asking questions is attributed to madness ), i have read the works of john henrik clark,, ivan sertima,, frantz fannon and many moree, i have also realised that we had great kingdoms in nigeria,, ife,benin,aro,oyo,nok, in regards to libya, it pains me when i see fellow africans being happy that nato is bombing the hell out of libya to get kaddaffi out, they refuse to acknowledge that he is a threat to certain people who want to have a field day in africa. they also refuse to think globally and think africa exists only in nigeria, (we dont know it all and so we have to seek for knowledge) but sme people never get it, Cap that quote sums it al upp. know thyselfffff and know thy enemyyyy, would add some learn your history because your history tells you your present and plan for your future, |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: Are North Africans, Arabs Or African? by logic101: 11:10pm On Aug 20, 2011 |
nolongTing: the current inhabitants of some of the lands in north africa are of arabian descent.Would give you more information |
| Programming / Why Java Is Great by logic101: 12:12am On Aug 20, 2011 |
Why Java is Great Simple grammar - Java has a very simple grammar familiar to anyone with experience in C and C++, which must be 99.9% of programmers. The BNF for Java has about 50 rules; that for C++, about 140. And C++ also has templates and a preprocessor in addition to the grammar. Java just got quite a bit more complex in 1.5 (excuse me, Java 5). They haven't even released a new version of the language spec yet. Portability - These days Java really does run well on all the popular platforms (Linux was a little behind, until Sun realized they needed them, now it's just FreeBsd, OpenBsd, and NetBsd lagging) (Too bad that Ruby, Python, Perl, Squeak don't work well on most platforms, Oh wait, they do!) Speed - The latest JIT compilers for Suns JVM approach the speed of C/C++ code, and in some memory allocation intensive circumstances, exceed it. (Too bad Ruby, Python, Perl, and Squeak don't even come close) Standard APIs - You can happily write your code knowing that the standard java.* libraries will be waiting on the client for it, assuming a recent enough version of Java is installed GarbageCollection - the programmer doesn't have to worry about memory (most of the time) VM - see WhyAreVirtualMachinesGreat interface vs. class CheckedExceptions (some people hate this, but its optional) (some ppl love it) single class inheritance singly rooted class hierarchy (the reason that lack of templates isn't a killer) no OperatorOverloading reflection Inherent support for dynamic linking and loading. Guarantees of binary compatibility w.r.t. changes to linked code. fast edit/compile/run cycle faster than what? I can only attest that this makes EclipseIde great. It is wonderful to be able to make small changes to a class and have the recompiled class linked into the running application for immediate testing. I don't know whether this is possible in other Java environments. broad industry support safe semantics -- no UndefinedBehavior in pure Java code Security model for restricted execution It's relatively easy to make programs that parse or produce classfiles (but not as good as lisp) MrBunny's Big Cup O' Java (By high-performance we mean adequate. By adequate we mean slow.) But, hey, at least it ain't BANCStar [BancStarLanguage] Code is fairly transparent: except for a bit of built-in magic to do with String, code never invokes methods implicitly. (By contrast it's in general impossible in C++ to work out in isolation what a statement will do.) No FragileBinaryInterfaceProblem JavaDocsForLibraries |
| Programming / Pros And Cons Of Java by logic101: 12:09am On Aug 20, 2011 |
Pros Free, as in beer. The syntax is familiar to the myriad programmers that know any other C based language. Java (the platform) has a very large and standard class library, some parts of which are very well written. Java provides a platform for behavioral transfer from one address space to another. This is particularly evident in the dynamic class loading mechanisms of RMI (Remote Method Invocation). Automatic Memory Management implemented by GarbageCollection and NoExplicitPointers NoExplicitPointers Explicit Interfaces Improving performance (especially under HotSpot and IbmJava?) Good portability (certainly better than that of nearly any compiled alternative) Simplified syntax (compared to C++) Language design not committee driven Comprehensive documentation Lots of available code and third-party libraries Lots of different choices between JavaIdes which don't tie you into a specific Java implementation. If you love OOP, the only way to write functions is to make them class methods. No FragileBinaryInterfaceProblem. Many standard interfaces defined in the standard library, which would have been vendor/OS specifc otherwise, helps a lot in achieving portability and ease integration/selection of 3rd party libraries. E.g. JDBC, JMS, JCE, JAI, serial I/O, JAXP, JNDI, etc. Some have correspondance in other languages (e.g. ODBC) but not all. Cons Much of the Java code as written by experienced coders turns out to be boilerplate. This has led to the charge that Java code is object-oriented Cobol. If you hate OOP, or used mixed paradigms, the only way to write functions is to make them class methods. Some people think the class libraries are poorly written. As with all languages, getting used to the syntax conventions takes a while for those who come from other backgrounds. Some people think that CheckedExceptionsAreOfDubiousValue Some people wish for keyword or default arguments to functions Some people miss closures (see SmalltalkMinusMinus, although BlocksInJava is a good (?) fallback) Some people want destructors that are guaranteed to be called. (See FinalizeInsteadOfProperDestructor) Poor garbage collection in some implementations/applications. Lack of garbage collection on resources other than memory (see FinalizeInsteadOfProperDestructor) Type system forces programmers to hard-code knowledge of types in multiple places throughout the code -- see Conrad Weisert's article on the topic in http://www.idinews.com/casts.html Large memory footprint Requires an interpreter. It is still difficult to deliver a self-contained application [If you feel that this has changed, please give us convincing information on "StandaloneJavaApplications" so we can delete this point.] If you aren't careful, you can write slow programs. Of course, you can do this in any language. Bugs in library implementations (especially Swing) Bugs in JVM implementations (all JVMs are not created equal). This isn't Java's fault, but it has been known to limit Java's usefulness. Proprietary language (i.e., not committee driven). There have only been a few events that could be construed as Sun abusing this power, and the JavaCommunityProcess (http://jcp.org) helps a lot. The main reason why people dislike this is because of what it "could" lead to. Primitive types don't inherit from Object. This is a decision the language designers made on purpose, and never causes problems that can't be worked around. Still, it robs the less intelligent of us of that cosy feeling of consistency. And it frequently necessitates special-case code. See java.util.Arrays for example. No generic programming means no StronglyTypedCollections unless you write 'em yourself one at a time. Immutable types are a damn poor substitute for restricted references. |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: How To Write About Africa by logic101: 12:14pm On Aug 17, 2011 |
MyJoe:lol no its an excerot from an article |
| Foreign Affairs / How To Write About Africa by logic101: 1:31am On Aug 16, 2011 |
always use the word ‘Africa’ or ‘Darkness’ or ‘Safari’ in your title. Subtitles may include the words ‘Zanzibar’, ‘Masai’, ‘Zulu’, ‘Zambezi’, ‘Congo’, ‘Nile’, ‘Big’, ‘Sky’, ‘Shadow’, ‘Drum’, ‘Sun’ or ‘Bygone’. Also useful are words such as ‘Guerrillas’, ‘Timeless’, ‘Primordial’ and ‘Tribal’. Note that ‘People’ means Africans who are not black, while ‘The People’ means black Africans. Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel Prize. An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts: use these. If you must include an African, make sure you get one in Masai or Zulu or Dogon dress. In your text, treat Africa as if it were one country. It is hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall, thin people who are starving. Or it is hot and steamy with very short people who eat primates. Don’t get bogged down with precise descriptions. Africa is big: fifty-four countries, 900 million people who are too busy starving and dying and warring and emigrating to read your book. The continent is full of deserts, jungles, highlands, savannahs and many other things, but your reader doesn’t care about all that, so keep your descriptions romantic and evocative and unparticular. Make sure you show how Africans have music and rhythm deep in their souls, and eat things no other humans eat. Do not mention rice and beef and wheat; monkey-brain is an African's cuisine of choice, along with goat, snake, worms and grubs and all manner of game meat. Make sure you show that you are able to eat such food without flinching, and describe how you learn to enjoy it—because you care. Taboo subjects: ordinary domestic scenes, love between Africans (unless a death is involved), references to African writers or intellectuals, mention of school-going children who are not suffering from yaws or Ebola fever or female genital mutilation. Throughout the book, adopt a sotto voice, in conspiracy with the reader, and a sad I-expected-so-much tone. Establish early on that your liberalism is impeccable, and mention near the beginning how much you love Africa, how you fell in love with the place and can’t live without her. Africa is the only continent you can love—take advantage of this. If you are a man, thrust yourself into her warm virgin forests. If you are a woman, treat Africa as a man who wears a bush jacket and disappears off into the sunset. Africa is to be pitied, worshipped or dominated. Whichever angle you take, be sure to leave the strong impression that without your intervention and your important book, Africa is doomed. Your African characters may include naked warriors, loyal servants, diviners and seers, ancient wise men living in hermitic splendour. Or corrupt politicians, inept polygamous travel-guides, and prostitutes you have slept with. The Loyal Servant always behaves like a seven-year-old and needs a firm hand; he is scared of snakes, good with children, and always involving you in his complex domestic dramas. The Ancient Wise Man always comes from a noble tribe (not the money-grubbing tribes like the Gikuyu, the Igbo or the Shona). He has rheumy eyes and is close to the Earth. The Modern African is a fat man who steals and works in the visa office, refusing to give work permits to qualified Westerners who really care about Africa. He is an enemy of development, always using his government job to make it difficult for pragmatic and good-hearted expats to set up NGOs or Legal Conservation Areas. Or he is an Oxford-educated intellectual turned serial-killing politician in a Savile Row suit. He is a cannibal who likes Cristal champagne, and his mother is a rich witch-doctor who really runs the country. Among your characters you must always include The Starving African, who wanders the refugee camp nearly naked, and waits for the benevolence of the West. Her children have flies on their eyelids and pot bellies, and her breasts are flat and empty. She must look utterly helpless. She can have no past, no history; such diversions ruin the dramatic moment. Moans are good. She must never say anything about herself in the dialogue except to speak of her (unspeakable) suffering. Also be sure to include a warm and motherly woman who has a rolling laugh and who is concerned for your well-being. Just call her Mama. Her children are all delinquent. These characters should buzz around your main hero, making him look good. Your hero can teach them, bathe them, feed them; he carries lots of babies and has seen Death. Your hero is you (if reportage), or a beautiful, tragic international celebrity/aristocrat who now cares for animals (if fiction). Bad Western characters may include children of Tory cabinet ministers, Afrikaners, employees of the World Bank. When talking about exploitation by foreigners mention the Chinese and Indian traders. Blame the West for Africa's situation. But do not be too specific. Broad brushstrokes throughout are good. Avoid having the African characters laugh, or struggle to educate their kids, or just make do in mundane circumstances. Have them illuminate something about Europe or America in Africa. African characters should be colourful, exotic, larger than life—but empty inside, with no dialogue, no conflicts or resolutions in their stories, no depth or quirks to confuse the cause. Describe, in detail, naked breasts (young, old, conservative, recently raped, big, small) or mutilated genitals, or enhanced genitals. Or any kind of genitals. And dead bodies. Or, better, naked dead bodies. And especially rotting naked dead bodies. Remember, any work you submit in which people look filthy and miserable will be referred to as the ‘real Africa’, and you want that on your dust jacket. Do not feel queasy about this: you are trying to help them to get aid from the West. The biggest taboo in writing about Africa is to describe or show dead or suffering white people. Animals, on the other hand, must be treated as well rounded, complex characters. They speak (or grunt while tossing their manes proudly) and have names, ambitions and desires. They also have family values: see how lions teach their children? Elephants are caring, and are good feminists or dignified patriarchs. So are gorillas. Never, ever say anything negative about an elephant or a gorilla. Elephants may attack people’s property, destroy their crops, and even kill them. Always take the side of the elephant. Big cats have public-school accents. Hyenas are fair game and have vaguely Middle Eastern accents. Any short Africans who live in the jungle or desert may be portrayed with good humour (unless they are in conflict with an elephant or chimpanzee or gorilla, in which case they are pure evil). After celebrity activists and aid workers, conservationists are Africa’s most important people. Do not offend them. You need them to invite you to their 30,000-acre game ranch or ‘conservation area’, and this is the only way you will get to interview the celebrity activist. Often a book cover with a heroic-looking conservationist on it works magic for sales. Anybody white, tanned and wearing khaki who once had a pet antelope or a farm is a conservationist, one who is preserving Africa’s rich heritage. When interviewing him or her, do not ask how much funding they have; do not ask how much money they make off their game. Never ask how much they pay their employees. Readers will be put off if you don’t mention the light in Africa. And sunsets, the African sunset is a must. It is always big and red. There is always a big sky. Wide empty spaces and game are critical—Africa is the Land of Wide Empty Spaces. When writing about the plight of flora and fauna, make sure you mention that Africa is overpopulated. When your main character is in a desert or jungle living with indigenous peoples (anybody short) it is okay to mention that Africa has been severely depopulated by Aids and War (use caps). You’ll also need a nightclub called Tropicana, where mercenaries, evil nouveau riche Africans and prostitutes and guerrillas and expats hang out. Always end your book with Nelson Mandela saying something about rainbows or renaissances. Because you care. ■ |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: Without Colonialism Sub-Saharan Africa Still Be In The Stone Age by logic101: 11:59pm On Aug 14, 2011 |
havoc37:what points do you agree with him on |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: Without Colonialism Sub-Saharan Africa Still Be In The Stone Age by logic101: 6:13pm On Aug 14, 2011 |
cap28: cap your my kind of man you know your history , `Have you read frantz fanons wretched of the earth |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: Without Colonialism Sub-Saharan Africa Still Be In The Stone Age by logic101: 6:09pm On Aug 14, 2011 |
Che Guevara in 1964, also made it unequivocally clear that “to solve the problems now besetting mankind, there is need to eliminate completely the exploitation of the dependent countries by the developed capitalist countries. Like Rodney, Fanon blames the diametrical relationship existing between Africa and Europe entirely on colonialism. Says Fanon, “the well-being and progress of Europe have been built on the sweat and dead bodies of negroes….” And Fanon did not mince words when he made a strong claim that “Europe is Africa’s creation.” To Fanon therefore, the colonized man only “finds freedom in and through violence.” In the course of this struggle, Fanon warns that the native should be prepared to “…sacrifice everything and water their native soil with their blood.” He further cautioned seriously that as a strategy in this struggle, the native can accept a “compromise with colonialism, but never a surrender of principle.” Did the coming of independence halt the specter of violence in Africa? Or put in other words, has independence met the expectations of Africans who fought for and eagerly awaited this “wind of Change?” The answer to this question is found on the faces of millions of African children who are either born with disease, or turned refugees or orphans at infancy. It is found on the faces of African youths with bleeding feet on the sands of the Sahara as they make their way to Europe where persecution, prejudice and deportation await them. The answer is found on the faces of millions of Africans caught in the crossfire of civil wars and armed conflicts, genocide and state brutality. Who else can tell the true meaning of independence than those Africans caught in the claws of AIDS, malaria, hunger, mismanagement and corruption? What should the peasants of Africa say of independence when they survive on what Fidel Castro calls “starvation salaries?” When Europe granted flag independence to Africa, the new breed of European spokesmen in the name of Presidents saw no need to severe the colonial bond. Mr. leon M’ba of Gabon could claim with impunity that “Gabon is independent, but between Gabon and France nothing has changed.” His counterpart in the Ivory Coast, Houghouet Boigny had earlier opposed independence for Africa at the Bamako Conference insisting that “there is no national problem in Black Africa.” The successors of M’ba and Boigny are the current leaders of Africa. This is the bunch Fanon calls “the straw men and traveling salesmen of colonialism.” |
| Foreign Affairs / African Flag Independence by logic101: 6:03pm On Aug 14, 2011 |
When Europe granted flag independence to Africa, the new breed of European spokesmen in the name of Presidents saw no need to severe the colonial bond. Mr. leon M’ba of Gabon could claim with impunity that “Gabon is independent, but between Gabon and France nothing has changed.” His counterpart in the Ivory Coast, Houghouet Boigny had earlier opposed independence for Africa at the Bamako Conference insisting that “there is no national problem in Black Africa.” The successors of M’ba and Boigny are the current leaders of Africa. This is the bunch Fanon calls “the straw men and traveling salesmen of colonialism.” In Fanon’s words, independence for Africa simply meant the replacing of one “species” of men with another “species” of men. This new species constitutes the core of the neocolonialist framework, the logical continuation and consequence of colonialism. Here, Fanon singles out two groups of people who need an equal dose of violence. These are the national bourgeoisie of the Third World and the lumpenproletariat. The former group Fanon says, balances its budget with loans and gifts. And together with the latter group, both simply serve the role which Fanon describes as “a transmission line between the nation and capitalism.” nsisting that the Third World bourgeoisie exists only in spirit, Fanon observes that this class invests its energy on a “neo-colonialist industrialization in which the country’s economy flounders.” This poorly informed and misdirected middle class instead of investing in the priorities of their people, instead take to leisure thus transforming Africa into what Fanon sees as “Europe’s brothel.” This class makes virtually “no change in marketing of basic products.” |
| Foreign Affairs / Colonialism In Africa by logic101: 6:00pm On Aug 14, 2011 |
Colonialism was without doubt a turning point in Africa’s history and destiny. It accelerated the pace of devastation initiated by the obnoxious slave trade. In Walter Rodney’s words, colonialism completely destroyed what remained of the political, economic and socio-cultural achievements of Africa and left in its place “nothing of compensatory value.” This colonial havoc was the springboard of Fanon’s philosophy of violence. Its test ground was Algeria where Fanon saw for himself what he later called “the psychiatric disorders of colonialism.” Angered by this bestiality of colonialism, Fanon concluded that the Algerian revolution had created “an irreversible situation” for the entire African continent. Another damaging aspect of colonialism which Fanon vociferously decried was the physical and spiritual partition of Africa. It was under colonial rule that Africa was split into several halves for European domination. Colonialism seized African land and minerals for European economic enterprise. It was under colonial rule that Africans were graded, degraded and finally classified into natives and assimiles. Colonialism obliged Africans to carry identification badges on their own soil. On a more dramatic scale, colonialism dissected Africa along the Sahara and prided the northern part of the continent with civilization because it bordered Europe, the land of achievement and wonder. The Southern part of the continent was termed “barbaric” and “uncivilized.” This “primitive” part needed the civilization missions from Europe, hence the justification for European “paternalism” in Africa. This deliberate attempt at tearing Africa apart was the handiwork of colonialism and a forerunner of (and compliment to) the “divide and rule” policy that marked colonial rule. Added to this puncture on Africa, was the tendency to implant and enforce the notion of racism and ethnicity which have today set Africa ablaze. Observes Fanon, “Colonialism does not simply state the existence of tribes, it also reinforces it and separates them … colonialism is separatist and regionalist.” As a result, continues Fanon, this “legalized racism … maintained in the very depth of the consciousness (of the African people) can only be combated by force.” Fanon’s anger at colonialism is reflected by the dose of fury with which this plague had to be confronted. “No diplomacy, no political genius, no skill can cope with it except force,” he stressed. |
| Foreign Affairs / Re: Without Colonialism Sub-Saharan Africa Still Be In The Stone Age by logic101: 11:12pm On Aug 12, 2011 |
| Programming / Re: Program To Add To Polynomials by logic101: 7:47pm On Aug 02, 2011 |
Thanks for your contribution i appreciat eit |
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