Loomnie

I saw this and I just felt that I had to draw attention to it. It is einfach brilliant.

Hat-tip to Jeremy.

Nigerian Curiosity writes on Domestic Oil Production News
Akin on the false debates, in Nigeria, on same sex marriage
Want to learn how to speak Christian?
For the love of me thinks that I am not as boring as my blog would suggest
And my good friend Ishtar Skywatches

Some of it end up in Nigeria, through Cotonou, Benin. That is what my ongoing doctoral dissertation is about. I am in the UK at the moment, trying to understand the British textile recycling industry.

President Obama granted his very first one-on-one interview as a president to a media house that broadcasts out of Dubai. The White House Blog titles the post that announces the interview ‘President to Muslim World: “Americans are not your enemy”‘, which clearly shows that the interview was meant as an interview, or an address, if you will, to the Muslim world. The interview has him talking about having Muslim relatives, and about having lived in Muslim countries. The Economists Democracy in America blog thinks it was a good move for the president to have granted his first interview to a foreign media house, because an American media outfit would have probably asked Rob Blagojevich-related questions. That is true, but I also think that the interview is part of his defense and foreign policies. He did the symbolic thing of making sure that his first call as a president was made to Mahmoud Abass; that, I think, was an apology of sorts for having kept quiet during the recent Gaza bombings. Now, he has made his first interview one in which he talks directly to the Muslim world, and one in which he makes them understand that he does not see them as the enemy.

Responses
Responses to the interview have varied widely, from ‘I am so proud to be American’ to ‘Bush protected Israel, Obama is going to destroy her’. (You can check the Al Arabiya website for some of the comments.) My impression is that this is a really smart man, who understands that so much is tied to a peaceful relationship with the Muslim world. I think this interview is a great blow to Al Qaeda, and that it makes a case for extremist Islam a lot harder to sell. But, in case anybody thinks this is a sign of weakness, just remember that this same man who is saying that America is not the enemy of the Muslim world commands the best-equipped Army in the world.

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Mr Roger Cohen of the New York Times writes in his column:

A strong Europe is essential to America’s recovery. The United States is too stretched — militarily and economically — to do without the cohesion of its closest allies.

There are three major European powers: Britain, France and Germany. Britain is going through a meltdown so severe that the joke there is that the country’s the next Iceland. That aside, its European credentials are always a little suspect.

And:

The recession is severe in Germany, but the country still has a savings ratio of 11 percent (it’s negative in the United States), a strong manufacturing sector and, after spending a staggering $1.8 trillion to integrate the Communist East, it has managed to get its budget close to balance.

And that is where I think America and the UK should learn from Germany. I have found it increasingly baffling that almost every economist has pointed to the need to increase consumption, the need to make people start buying again. I find it a little problematic that people do not seem to want to discuss how part of the current economic crisis was created by people buying what they cannot afford and spending money they do not have. I hear stories of people having more than three credit cards, and I simply do not get it. That is where Germans can teach Americans and the Brits a bit. An average German, for instance, spends what they have saved; and I don’t think there are many who hold multiple credit cards.

If only one lesson is taken away from the current global economic crisis, it should be that people cannot just keep spending money they do not have without eventually running into trouble. But, sadly, it seems that is not a lesson people are prepared to learn. At least that is what is shown by rhetorics of economists and policy makers who aim to get banks to start lending again, and people to start borrowing and spending again.

You can read Mr Cohen’s column here.

Professor Kwame Anthony Appiah, Princeton-based professor of philosophy, prepared and presented a programme on Barack Obama for the BBC World Service. The programme is titled Obama – Professor President.

I saw an advert by the British Army: In the Army you start with 16k. Notice the word start?

And I thought to myself, Someone finally got rid of the idea of appealing to nationalistic ideals?

I am currently in the UK, learning about the textile recycling industry in the country. I have finally got a tentative outline written out, with a summary of what will be in each chapter. The third chapter is going to be about the source of the goods. I look at how the goods are sourced in the UK, what happens to them while they are in the UK, and the human interactions that surround their handling. Remember, my work is on Igbo trade networks that stretch from West Africa to the UK, but the third chapter will necessarily include many more people than the Igbo. At the end of the day, what draws them together is used clothing, or more precisely the trade in used clothing. Reminds anybody of ANT?

My friend sent this link to me: Police in Nigeria are holding a goat handed to them by a vigilante group, which said it was a car thief who had used witchcraft to change shape.

Thanks Felix.

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The Obama White House has a blog.
A BBC editor on their decision to air a racist’s opinion.
Stuck in the Middle – Mr Paul Krugman’s take on President Obama’s inaugural address.
White African on Google’s SMS search in Ghana and Nigeria.

Have a great Friday.