Friends of African Village Libraries (I post regularly here)- Sortie d’animation avec la Bibliothèque Mobile Pénélope à l’école B de Houndé
- Ghana librarians do a group reading session
- Organisation d’une séance de mots croisés et d’une séance de dessin à la bibliothèque de Karaba
- Appréciations des livres CMH par professeurs du CEG de Maro
- Animation d’une séance de lecture guidée à la bibliothèque de Karaba
- Animation de l’animateur de ABVBF à la bibliothèque de Béréba, Burkina Faso
- Encouragement des élèves de l’école Sainte Thérèse de Houndé à la lecture
- Organisation d’une séance de lecture à voix haute à la bibliothèque de Koho
- Visite du coordonnateur et de l’animateur de ABVBF à la bibliothèque Lumière pour enfants à Houndé
- Une sortie d’animation de la BMP à l’école E de Houndé
Author Archives: mkevane
Starting Coursera course on R, computing for data analysis
First impressions: Online lecture classes are just as boring as in-person lecture classes. That’s after about 40 min. An interesting question pops up: R core group… the people behind the curtain. How does open-source make money for owners of S+? … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Comments Off on Starting Coursera course on R, computing for data analysis
Sahel having an excellent season, second year in row
Last year was a very good agricultural season, and this year appears to be even better. Hmmm…. I believe that 2000 years ago Joseph had good advice for what to do after a good season. But he wasn’t so good … Continue reading
Posted in Economy
Comments Off on Sahel having an excellent season, second year in row
Djafar Héma in Bobo makes the news… not sure what the import of everything is… except he is Sunni
« Je n’ai rien contre Blaise, mais je suis contre ses faits. Notamment les tueries », propos de Djafar Héma pour entamer la question du sénat. Comme dit, comme prévu par lui lors de ses prêches, la communauté musulmane par … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Comments Off on Djafar Héma in Bobo makes the news… not sure what the import of everything is… except he is Sunni
Electricité au Faso
Bon reportage de Patindé Amandine Konditamdé; j’aurai aimé savoir ce que le SONABEL dit comme réponse. La SONABEL serait en train de consommer son capital à en croire Luc Adolphe Tiao, lors de l’émission télévisuelle « Dialogue avec le gouvernement … Continue reading
Posted in Economy
Comments Off on Electricité au Faso
Great interview with Ibrahim Coulibaly, who many thought the force behind 2002 Force Nouvelles that divided Ivory Coast
Hard to know how credible is the source. Ibrahim Coulibaly was killed in 2011 in Abidjan by Alassane Ouattara and Guillaume Soro’s forces, as they ostensibly tried to disarm his small group of commandos. War is a messy business indeed. … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Comments Off on Great interview with Ibrahim Coulibaly, who many thought the force behind 2002 Force Nouvelles that divided Ivory Coast
Next time you get mad at a retailer for not letting you charge under $5… the law changed
Embarassing… at least I didn;t yell, or throw down my bagels… (but I didn;t threaten to “report them”)…. this morning I got peeved at a $5 minimum sign (my order was $3.8)… but turns out… they were right… the retail … Continue reading
Posted in United States
Comments Off on Next time you get mad at a retailer for not letting you charge under $5… the law changed
Richard Ford Reads Harold Brodkey
A very long story by Brodkey, “State of Grace” that I listened to while on a long run. Interesting and precocious. I am sure it is a fine story to teach in undergraduate classes. Almost the same key as Catcher … Continue reading
Posted in Book and film reviews
Comments Off on Richard Ford Reads Harold Brodkey
Sudanese starting to read books again? Or New York Times reporter with human interest angle?
When Leslie and I were in Khartoum we bought and browsed extensively in the bookstores. At that time mostly English stuff, but as Arabic improved occasionally we purchased simple Arabic texts. On each successive visit, a bookstore would have closed. … Continue reading
Tahar Ben Jelloun’s short story “By Fire” in The New Yorker
Another story to add to “literature about poverty.” I found it pretty powerful, but I knew what the story was about by the third paragraph. So it reinforces a sense of injustice and outrage at the petty abuse of authority … Continue reading
Posted in Book and film reviews
Comments Off on Tahar Ben Jelloun’s short story “By Fire” in The New Yorker
Macroeconomics for dummies… it takes a Nobel Prize Winner… George Akerlof’s Nobel lecture
Probably the best single guide to the behavioral perspective on macro… why it is relevant, why it is better, and what the models are doing… Can be read over and over again for nuance. Did he have help from Thomas … Continue reading
Posted in United States
Comments Off on Macroeconomics for dummies… it takes a Nobel Prize Winner… George Akerlof’s Nobel lecture
Howard French summarizes Nina Munk’s evisceration of Sachs… Only Easterly left standing, because he didn’t do anything
Maybe Sachs will decide he needs some good PR and fund 20 libraries in Burkina Faso? Who knew FAVL would last longer than MVP! And probably we’re learning more too. With his $100 million, we could have established and operated … Continue reading
Posted in Development thinking
Comments Off on Howard French summarizes Nina Munk’s evisceration of Sachs… Only Easterly left standing, because he didn’t do anything
Cautionary words for Deans and University Presidents
It’s easy for university administrators to ignore the fundamental truth here, and be constantly reaffirmed by their underlings, so that they can (with some old-fashioned cognitive dissonance) tell themselves they are perplexed and befuddled when suddenly a crisis erupts and … Continue reading
Posted in United States
Comments Off on Cautionary words for Deans and University Presidents
And now… for the traditional chiefs (of the Mossi that is)…
The chiefs (of the Mossi, let’s be precise… and probably in English their title is more like king or prince than chief) visited Presidential palace in Kosyam, and publicly declared their backing of the Senate. It’s like a long line … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Comments Off on And now… for the traditional chiefs (of the Mossi that is)…
Best hype ever… odor-cancellation against mosquitos. Could they noise-cancel the whine too?
Les nouveaux composants que nous étudions rendent la personne inodore. Le moustique entre dans la pièce et ne sent rien. La personne est devenue invisible… via Les humains bientôt «invisibles» pour les moustiques? – Science – RFI.
Posted in Economy
Comments Off on Best hype ever… odor-cancellation against mosquitos. Could they noise-cancel the whine too?
Marginal Revolution succumbs to gee whizism
I have no doubt the paper is terrific and interesting and insightful, but the broad thrust of the economic history agenda seems to be that people kind of stay the same in many ways for a long time. Well… it’s … Continue reading
Posted in United States
Comments Off on Marginal Revolution succumbs to gee whizism
Fédération des Associations Islamiques du Burkina supports the Senate in Burkina Faso
The comments are scathing. Hard not to be. “”Muslims are in favor of Senate.” “Our association is not political.” « La position des musulmans sur le Sénat est connue depuis 2011 parce que nous sommes partie prenante du consensus qui … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Comments Off on Fédération des Associations Islamiques du Burkina supports the Senate in Burkina Faso
Africa least happy place… millions of tourists corrected
The gap between perception (Africa? Are you sure? Isn’t it dangerous?) and perception (Everyone is so happy and helpful and hospitable.) finally can be eroded due to some serious social science effort. Africa turns out to have lowest levels of … Continue reading
Posted in Development thinking
Comments Off on Africa least happy place… millions of tourists corrected
Sahel crop production and vegetation production trends, seen from space…
From a poster by Lund Earth Observation Group. Overall this conforms with what the data generally is saying, that Sahel for last 40 years has been on gentle improvement trend in terms of climate, after the very bad 1970s, and … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Comments Off on Sahel crop production and vegetation production trends, seen from space…
Nice little reminder of what makes for better graphics (HT #cblatts)
Posted in Development thinking
Comments Off on Nice little reminder of what makes for better graphics (HT #cblatts)
For shame… Santa Clara City council wants to turn only natural area left in the city into soccer fields
The irony is that council itself created Ulistac Natural Area 15 years ago from an abandoned golf course that was “going natural”… Here’s a very recent Yelp review: The beauty of Ulistac is that it is left natural and a … Continue reading
Posted in United States
Comments Off on For shame… Santa Clara City council wants to turn only natural area left in the city into soccer fields
Michael Kevane 