Monthly Archives: October 2014

The latest from #Burkina Faso #lwili: It is complicated

Blaise Compaoré is holed up maybe in Kosyam, the presidential palace, with presidential guard (very powerful) remaining loyal.  Compaoré announced he would remain as president until elections at end of 2015, and he would not try to change constitution (and … Continue reading

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Why politics in #Burkina Faso is complicated #lwili

A few hours ago I flinched after one tweet exchange with the inimitable Jon Lee Anderson.  Fuck!  I’ve been reading him in The New Yorker for years, and he tweets about Burkina Faso, and I try to be all sassy … Continue reading

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Can you spot the error? Bloomberg News fail on #Burkina Faso

            *That is Yoweri Museveni, and no Blaise Compaoré, in the photo!

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Negotiating all night #burkina #lwili

Now is when it gets Borgia-like, right?  Everyone has known for years that the slow but steady growth of Burkina Faso for last 15 years could vanish in a puff of smoke and a lot of broken windows, in three … Continue reading

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What did Ambassador Mushingi tell Blaise Compaoré? What will he tell him now?

For the future, it would be good to know what exactly were the messages being sent by Susan Rice and Tulinabo Mushingi, because surely this was not the outcome that U.S. policy should have been working for.  As a U.S. … Continue reading

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Burkina Faso: President Compaoré’s arrogance and miscalculation not different from any other dictator’s

President Blaise Compaoré looks like he is about to be ousted, as a popular uprising today has led the regime to collapse.  Pretty much his own fault.  He had numerous opportunities over 2014 to engineer a graceful transition of power … Continue reading

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Amazing footage from Droit Libre TV starting with Benewende Sankara going to Assembly…. and ending…. #Burkina #lwili

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Great summary by Neil Irwin on Quantitative Easing

The era of quantitative easing is almost over, for now, and in the United States, at least. But the consequences of the Federal Reserve’s policy to pump trillions of dollars into the financial system in hopes of stimulating the economy … Continue reading

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A good step by Ambassador Mushingi and the Burkina Faso team at State Department

U.S. diplomats were pretty clear today in disapproval.  Of course, the effects depend on how the message was delivered in person, and the hints of consequences to follow if the message were ignored (as seems likely, at this point).  The … Continue reading

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Cutie and the Boxer

Watched this after teaching Monday night.  I had mixed feelings.  The art was not compelling for me, and the artists seemed unable to articulate what they were doing.  Or perhaps the filmmaker did not let them.  At the same time, … Continue reading

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Alan Blinder’s “After the Music Stopped”…. Chapter 1

For my Macroeconomics class I assigned Alan Blinder’s After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead.  I’ll be reviewing the book chapter by chapter in the coming weeks. The very first paragraph of the first … Continue reading

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EIFL partners to launch library training in Uganda

EIFL Electronic Information for Libraries is delighted to announce a joint project with Maendeleo Foundation and National Library of Uganda that will encourage development of new and innovative public library services in Uganda that meet local community needs.The collaboration will … Continue reading

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Ken Opalo provides the right data for Blaise Compaoré’s constitution-change attempt

The right data: Since 1990, 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa have had leaders try to rewrite their constitutions to do away with term limits. Seven 64 percent of these leaders succeeded Burkina Faso, Chad, Gabon, Guinea, Namibia, Togo, and Uganda. … Continue reading

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Gene Yang’s The Shadow Hero, illustrated by Sonny Liew

Was it coincidence?  Yesterday morning I started to read Gene Yang’s new graphic novel, The Shadow Hero.  In the afternoon Sukie and I went to see Raina Telgemeier at The Reading Bee in San Carlos.  And there was Gene Yang … Continue reading

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Burkina Faso update – President Compaoré seeks to amend constitution

President Blaise Compaoré, and his political party the CDP (led by Assimi Koanda) announced this week they would seek to amend the Constitution in order to permit President Compaoré to run for another term. Opposition announced big demonstration October 28.  … Continue reading

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@goraina and Gene Yang at San Carlos bookstore The Reading Bug… Raina Telgemeier to sign her new book, Gene Yang to get signed copies for his daughters… they were both so nice to Sukie!

Afterwards at home, long discussion about relative merits of various graphic novels.

Posted in Book and film reviews | Comments Off on @goraina and Gene Yang at San Carlos bookstore The Reading Bug… Raina Telgemeier to sign her new book, Gene Yang to get signed copies for his daughters… they were both so nice to Sukie!

When a favoriting can make your day… thanks @goraina

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Gilbert Ouédraogo : “Pour préserver la paix, l’ADF/RDA opte pour le compromis”

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Jeune Afrique thinks it knows what CDP in planning in Burkina Faso

Rémi Carayol writes that his sources indicate Blaise Compaoré will try on October 30 to have the National Assembly pass by 3/4 majority an amendment to the constitution permitted a second re-election (that is, a third term).  Oddly, Jeune Afrique/Carayol … Continue reading

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Solow growth model style discussions applied to China… reversion… convergence… continued growth?

Many of the most bullish forecasts of China’s economic future are based, more or less, on extrapolation. For more than three decades, its economic output per person has been rising at an extraordinary annual rate of 6 to 10 percent, … Continue reading

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