Jun 9 2009 - Jun 11 2009, Johannesburg, International
WaterTecAfrica 2009
WaterTec Africa 2009 together with Petro.t.ex Africa 2009 and Pumps, Valves and Piping Africa 2009 is a conference that features the latest innovations and the current state of Africa's water and agriculture industry.
As President of the Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA) and on behalf of the exhibitors and organisers - I have pleasure in welcoming you to the International Water Technology Exhibition and Conference (WaterTec Africa 2009) Scheduled for 9-11 June 2009 at the Gallagher Convention Centre – Midrand, Johannesburg South Africa.
The pressures for water services delivery and water resource management are top agenda items in Southern Africa. The water industry face major challenges related to water quality, asset management and cost effective service delivery on a daily basis. This together with a vibrant growing region creates the ideal environment for the adoption and application of innovative solutions and appropriate technology.
We therefore invite exhibitors, water professionals and technology users to actively participate in this international event. It is guaranteed to be rewarding business and learning experience. more this way»
I love this kind of stuff. To me, these kinds of studies really tell us some important details of our history.
The largest genetic study done on African populations has just been published. I haven't had a chance to look at the originial article in Science, but BBC news has an article on it:
A genetic map of Africa - the continent from which all modern humans originate - has provided information about its huge diversity of language and culture...
The work revealed the continent to be the most genetically diverse place on Earth, and identified descendents of our earliest human ancestors.
The team, led by Sarah Tishkoff from the University of Pennsylvania, studied genetic material from 121 African populations.
They collected over 3,000 samples, and identified 14 "ancestral population clusters". These are groups of populations with common genetic ancestry, who share ethnicity and similarities in both their culture and the properties of their languages. more this way»
[Reposted from 2006 by mole333...I think this is worth revisiting and I know Leo has a hard time accessing the internet in Nigeria]
Skepticism in Africa
Leo Igwe
The word skepticism comes from the Greek word "skepticos" which means inquiry. Skeptics are inquirers. And the skeptical outlook is governed by reason, science, curiosity and critical thinking. It is opposed to dogmatism, irrationalism, blind faith, gullibility and superstition. The skeptical temper has inspired distinct trends in human thought, history and philosophy- the renaissance, reformation and Enlightenment.
In countries across the world, the state of skepticism is not the same. Some countries are more skeptical than others.
Last year, I visited three West African countries - Senegal, the Gambia and Sierra Leone to meet with scientists and skeptics and to ascertain the state of skepticism.
In Senegal, the traditional life is still mired in myths, superstition and taboos.
In some communities, people do not go to market on Wednesdays or cut their hairs on Saturdays. They believe that such actions would lead to death and misfortune- these beliefs have gone unchallenged for centuries. more this way»
I wrote about the military coup in Guinea and how it bodes ill that this nation, considered the center of stability in West Africa, has slid into instability. Conflicts in one nation tend to boil over into other nations in this part of the world, as when Liberia's Charles Taylor's brutal forces entered Sierra Leone, right next door to Guinea.
The coup leaders moved in the power vacuum left by the death of President/Strongman Lansana Conte, as I predicted would happen about a year ago when Conte's health was deteriorating. They promise to hold elections in a year, but it seems they are currently weeding out any rivals to power, tightening their grip on power. From BBC news:
The new military leadership in Guinea has made a series of arrests, including some senior military officers, in the past few days, military sources say.
There has been no official statement, but some army officials have said that those detained include the former army chief of staff and a former navy chief...
The wave of arrests began on Saturday and the detainees are now being held at military headquarters in the capital, Conakry, military sources have said. more this way»
My high school friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life.
"Why did you leave Sierra Leone?"
"Because of the war."
"Did you witness some fighting?"
Everyone in the country did.
"You mean you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?"
"Yes, all the time."
"COOL."
I smile a little.
"You should tell us about it sometime."
"Yes, sometime."
A Long Way Gone is an autobiographical book written by Ishmael Beah who spent several years caught in the middle of the civil war in Sierra Leone. It spans pretty much exactly the period of his exposure to the war, starting with the day before the fighting first impacted his life in 1993 and ending with his eventual escape from Sierra Leone into neighboring Guinea in 1997. Only glimpses of his life both before and after this appear as flashbacks or flash forwards in the story.
As Zimbabwe rapidly slips into chaos, we do well to remember what is sadly common in modern African history: well-armed and ill disciplined gangs, often mostly children who should be in Middle School or High School, led by violent strongmen locked in brutal and prolonged wars over who gets to loot a given country. Sometimes there are religious overtones. Sometimes racial/ethnic/tribal overtones. Often economic conflicts are also involved. But generally no one benefits from these conflicts except a handful of top men who squirrel away as much wealth as they can for their own benefit. more this way»
Submitted by mole333 on 7 December 2008 - 10:54pm.
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Obama sketched out a different theory of social change than the one Clinton had implied earlier in the evening. Instead of relying on a president who fights for those who feel invisible, Obama, in the climactic passage of his speech, described how change bubbles from the bottom-up: “And because that somebody stood up, a few more stood up. And then a few thousand stood up. And then a few million stood up. And standing up, with courage and clear purpose, they somehow managed to change the world!â€
For people raised on Jane Jacobs, who emphasized how a spontaneous dynamic order could emerge from thousands of individual decisions, this is a persuasive way of seeing the world. For young people who have grown up on Facebook, YouTube, open-source software and an array of decentralized networks, this is a compelling theory of how change happens.
Clinton had sounded like a traditional executive, as someone who gathers the experts, forges a policy, fights the opposition, bears the burdens of power, negotiates the deal and, in crisis, makes the decision at 3 o’clock in the morning.
But Obama sounded like a cross between a social activist and a flannel-shirted software C.E.O. — as a nonhierarchical, collaborative leader who can inspire autonomous individuals to cooperate for the sake of common concerns.
Clinton had sounded like Old Politics, but Obama created a vision of New Politics. And the past several months have revolved around the choice he framed there that night. Some people are enthralled by the New Politics, and we see their vapors every day. Others think it is a mirage and a delusion. There’s only one politics, and, tragically, it’s the old kind, filled with conflict and bad choices.
