Category Archives: Politics

The amazing astronaut is Sunita Williams.

My brother gave me this CD for Christmas.  It makes an addictive present, and you will never, ever, forget Yuri Gagarin, Alexei Leonov (did you even know he was the first person to walk in space?) and the three astronauts … Continue reading →

Smith accuses economists of being blithely callous.  But he seems unable to appreciate how narrow-minded his own “attack on economists” is, because by his notion of what is fair and just only Americans matter. Who cares what happens to the … Continue reading →

Nice perspective from Anthony! I come not to praise the superiority we feel about library service in the United States, but to bury it. This issue of VOYA [February 2016] concentrates on how technology continues to move evermore rapidly to … Continue reading →

Slade House, by David Mitchell. A haunted house horror story, sort of. More interesting as a technical challenge: create a vivid character and virtual reality, one for each decade, from 1970 to present.  In some ways Dorian Gray, and the … Continue reading →

It looks like the Splendid Hotel and Cafe Cappuccino attack of January 15 2016 evening in Ouagadougou was an AQIM-organized attack, with the possibly declared purpose of attacking France, which leads operations against AQIM in northern Africa and the Sahel.  … Continue reading →

As usual, nice summary commentary from Jean-Pierre Bejot: Discours très généraliste. En cette journée qui vient clore « la glorieuse page de l’histoire récente de notre peuple », Roch Kaboré s’est bien gardé d’évoquer quoi ou qui que ce soit … Continue reading →

I agree with Tyler Cowen that this summary is extremely helpful.  Unfortunately the media is not going to let this story go unless something more serious happens (like a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran? No this story would probably … Continue reading →

The trouble with fans and reviews like this one is that they are dreadfully wrong about one important point.  It is a movie for 12 year old children.  Land Before Time also created a “mythology”… Doc? The Mysterious Beyond? But … Continue reading →

Returning to Mali, how are policymakers supposed to act on Elischer’s analysis? The “international community” is supposed to “note” the “destabilizing” influence of Dicko and other Salafis in southern Mali. Then what? Demand that Malian politicians repudiate Dicko? Seek to … Continue reading →

The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma is a harrowing novel set in the 1990s.  A middle-class professional family in the town of Akure unravels, with brother killing brother.  The novel works as a metaphor for Nigeria, as a classic-style tragedy, and … Continue reading →

Pope Francis didn’t win many friends among mainstream climate economists when his recent environmental encyclical Laudato Si’ condemned the notion of buying and selling carbon credits, suggesting that it could “lead to a new form of speculation which would not … Continue reading →

Puerto Rico met its deadline for repaying $354 million in debt, the island’s development bank announced Tuesday, avoiding what some feared would be its first major default. But it was unclear how long the payments would continue or whether the … Continue reading →

I love it when pundits write opinion pieces purporting to “explain” what something means, when they often have little or no idea, or they just copy what everyone else says.  So in that spirit, I offer three “anti- it means … Continue reading →

I had asked Salimata to use the library’s smartphone to post some casual shots of the “library in action” to Facebook.  I thought I would repost a couple.  I like the top photo of the group reading session.  Isn’t this … Continue reading →

Somehow I came across Percival Everett’s name, not sure exactly where.  I checked out Percival Everett by Virgil Russell from the library.  It is a very meta novel, a novel for people who really like to analyze novels… reading it … Continue reading →

A nice article in Oak North by Waringa Kamau and Kyle Ludowitz.  The main interviewee, Saré Bawaya Elisée, was FAVL’s national representative for a couple years.  And is a good friend!

Public procurement was always the place where everyone supposed the Compaoré clan was enriching itself. Now there is finally a case that might open the door to some jail time and real punishment. As far as I am aware, none … Continue reading →