Afromusing

*This is a temporary departure from my normal topics - Indulge me for a sec…

Its 36 minutes into the democratic presidential debate on MSNBC - This is an open thread for those watching while logged on…feel free to comment with your thoughts:

Quick impressions so far.

Hillary Clinton is clear, sharp and looks very confident and comfortable dealing with the questions from the Giant Head of Brian Williams (mini joke from Daily Show - he makes satellite appearances where Jon refers to him as the giant head for this post his abbreviation will be GHBW). Would have her minimize the shoulder shrugs when describing the poor in her state if i were her advisor. - She was being asked about Hedge funds when she did this, but she answered the question really well, sounding like she would regulate the hedge fund industry. Edwards did not do too well on the hedge fund question. He didnt recover from the $400 dollar haircut flap sufficiently, acknowledged that they are rich and lived a priviledged life…then went into a story about his humble background - weak example of his dad not being able to pay for a bill at a restaurant and his resulting embarrassment.

Obama - Floundering abit, he appears to be getting his feet wet with this debate.

Kucinich - Anti war (esp. war as a tool of foreign policy)
Biden - Funny use of 1 word answer regarding the comment abt him being a gaffe machine (this refers to his gaffe where he referred to Obama as articulate bright and clean)

Gravel - First thought was heh wacky! wanted to tell him ‘chill abit’, After afew minutes, i think he comes off as passionate, abit on the bleeding edge, and extremely clear about his anti war and anti nuclear stance (He is a long shot as a candidate, but quite a strong character. They should have him on the next debate)

Bill Richardson - when asked why he was last to ask for Alberto Gonzales’ resignation was honest abt saying that he knows Mr. Gonzalez and wanted to give him time to answer, plus felt kinship with Gonzalez because he is also Hispanic.

Email Q: what mistakes have them made?:

Edwards sorry for voting for war.

Obama: Not staying in senate during the Terry Schiavo vote

Hillary: Healthcare - not being able to get it sorted in 93 ‘94, and how she handled it.

Richardson:Impatient with implementing change (didn’t choose his words carefully here)

Oh havent mentioned Chris Dodd, seems like a confident guy but i don’t get the sense that he is a strong contender on this one.

Hillary is looking better and better each minute. She is handling the debate deftly!

They tried to cram too much into the first hour rushing them through questions.

7pm CDT

GHBW - Who are the 3 allies for US?

Obama - Long winded answer not being specific though mentioning Japan, asia - follow up Q by GHBW on his stance abt Israel, obama acknowledged the issue of palestine and Israel (sorry i missed part of this)

3 important enemies:

Gravel - No enemies, military industrial complex is controlling culture and pointed to the fact that Iraq was not a threat to US.

Edwards - Russia, dissent being squashed suggests that America can change the underlying relationship with the rest of the world by providingprimary sch education, clean drinking water, microfinance, reposition US as caring abt humanity.

Richardson: How would you deal with Russia? His answer - control nukes, humanity towards chechnya, give energy to US, promote russian democracy within. He passionately pointed to the Darfur problem and poverty.

The myth of Dem’s being soft on Defense-

Hillary - great answer on bad foreign policy feeding into this myth.

Dodd- Absence of diplomacy and turning away from diplomatic tools - great answer.

GHBW - Part where they had a show of hands. Is there such a thing as War On Terror? - No one raised their hand.

GHBW: What would you do if there was a terrorist attack?

Hillary - Very strong IMO very presidential answer - Be swift as is prudent.

GHBW: Would you join Kucinich in calling for impeachment of Cheney? - No one bit. Kucinich pulls out a pocket copy of constitution pointing to constitutional transgressions by Bush Admin.

GHBW: Hard choices on Climate change as quoted by Friedman of NY times

Biden - legislation, fuel cells etc

GHBW: Gay Marriage Vs Civil Union - How are these things different?

Dodd - Looked at it from the parent point of view - civil unions ok, same sex marriage not

Gravel changed subject from a q asked by GHBW to address Iraq war - Terrorism is mischaracterized, invasion of Iraq has created more terror.

What have you done personally to deal with climate change - Obama - organized others to plant trees. Taught his daughters about changing light bulbs to low energy consuming ones (CFL’s i presume is what he meant though didnt mention CFL’s by name) He could have answered this better.

IRAN - Abit of sparring btwn Obama and Kucinich. Obama reiterating that a nuclear threat must be met with seriousness

GHBW: Who is your moral Leader?

Edwards - Took time thinking - Prays to God, His wife source of great conscience, his father these are the people with most impact on his views on morality.

GHBW: Is walmart good or bad?

Hillary - mixed blessing - goods to rural arkansas, with growth responsibility on discrimination provision of healthcare…points to buddy buddy relationship between corp and current bush admin.

90 minutes went by very fast.

My opinion: I would say HILLARY WON THIS ONE. by far. The talking heads on TV will deconstruct this further in the news

Update: If interested in more commentary, see what John Dickerson has to say over at slate.

1.

Afrigator

Update: Afrigator is giving away free T shirts and there is a competition to win an ipod. check it out here…

2.The landlord goes after Will Ferrell (some strong language: warning for those that need one…)
3. For MJY - and all the other strong bad fans: Coach Z ‘These people try to fade me!’ 1 2 1 2

4. Am not kidding on this one: A solar powered bikini!

I had to make a quick note for US readers of this blog who have discovery channel, science channel or eh heh, bittorrent.

Planet Earth - TV Series

Its stupendous, visually captivating, and absolutely fascinating.

It is airs on sundays at 8pm, discovery channel. More info and online video available here.

For Science channel air times click here.

It was shot HDTV format, so if you have one of those high end HDTV screens…I am seriously envious. The technology used to film the series is also quite impressive, as reported by Sonia Zjawinski in wired mag article *’A view to a Kill’ - “Every hunt you’ve ever seen on a nature show has been a scam”.

Until now, the false advertising has been a regrettable necessity: If filmmakers try to follow a high-speed chase by air, the blare of the helicopter blades scares off the action.But in March, when the BBC series Planet Earth premieres on the Discovery Channel, viewers will see a single wolf hunt from start to finish. There’s also a bioluminescent light show of a vampire squid deep in the Pacific, a blue bird of paradise dancing in the New Guinea rain forest, and lions attacking elephants at a watering hole in the Botswana desert all brought to you by the humble hi-def digital camera.

While on the topic of TV, a couple of current favorites,

Dr. Who - Not sure when the new series starts up again on BBC America - Can’t wait.

Robin Hood - Saturdays at 8 CDT

Hustle - The new episodes begin wednesday april 18th on AMC at 10 EDT, 9 CDT.

Oh, and 30 Rock! - Very funny show.

Pomp, shaking of grass skirts, tapping of words on pc’s, embedding of video, and ululations are in order.

African Signals launched today.Watch and stay tuned! Congratulations Hash!

Video of Majora Carter at TED

What an inspiration! Yes, i have a soaked kleenex after watching this. Hey, I am not the only one!.

More info on Majora Carter’s Sustainable Bronx projects such as the green roof and the south bronx greenway, please click on the image below.

Why the spate of posts featuring TED speakers you might ask? I decided to watch most if not all of the podcasts available on itunes (for free!) In preparation for TED Global. I have also been looking through KP’s live blogging posts of TED2006 here, and here. I am excited and very much looking forward to meeting the rest of the bloggers, technologists, writers and economists at TED Global. If Bono comes, i cannot promise that i wont drool and fill this blog with pictures of him - Fair warning
PS: The TED website has been redesigned, check it out…

Video of Bill Clinton’s appearance at TED 2007.

When his presidential term ended, i always thought that African leaders should retain his services as a consultant and advisor. He is a very smart leader (many other qualities that if i was to list here…this whole page would be full); Simply put, he finds solutions to problems, and inspires others to do the same.
Listen to what he and his foundation were able to do in Rwanda.Notably - A healthcare model that utilizes 5% of GDP, sustainable and not dependent on foreign aid.The model is to be replicated in other countries in Africa including Kenya.
In my opinion, this is indeed quite powerful. Health care has been and continues to be a big problem in Kenya. There are many dispensaries and such around the country, but think back and remember how people suffered when the world bank did not authorize money in the form of loans or when there was a precipitous drop in foreign aid. Barely any medicines, little or no pay for the nurses and doctors…etc. The late 80’s and early 90’s were particularly bad, just as the AIDs epidemic got a stronghold over the population.

So when there is a model that can utilize a % of GDP instead of foreign aid, i cant help but herald it as a god send. It would lend some stability to the healthcare system in Kenya, whose economy has seen some resurgence since the year 2000, growing at a reported 4.3%.

I will update the post later once i find more info on this particular healthcare model.

PS: You can watch the Ted Talks videos on the site or subscribe in I-tunes. (Word of caution to architecture buffs,at the end of the other ted talks podcasts, seeing a wrecking ball smashing the bridge at falling water can be just a tad unnerving…)

This is an article from Cameroon by Sylvestre Tetchiada, reporting on solar energy use for rural electrification. Interesting stats. Not entirely clear on whether actual use of solar has ‘muscled’ out kerosene, 60% of the 17 million population still use kerosene, what percentage or what stats point to the ‘muscling’ out of kerosene by Solar any increase in the last couple of years? If so by how much? I do realize that getting specific data on stuff like this can be problematic, so please pardon my ‘reading between the lines’. It is still a very good article, it points to the benefits of solar vs kerosene use - No smoke in the eyes of teachers grading papers at night, better quality of life, and the myriad uses of solar. Good stuff. The other good thing pointed out in the piece is the transfer of knowledge from the notable Barefoot College in India. This is the classic ’showing someone how to fish’ rather than giving someone the fish which they will eat for a day. It is also an example of good use of aid money from UNDP - the training and involvement of women in this program.

Solar power is not without its own costs. “In our country, you need on average 500 to 1,000 dollars to equip a home (with solar electricity systems), and most do not have the money,” Yves Ngouala, an economist based in Yaoundé, told IPS.

But, this hasn’t stopped the Association for the Support and Assistance of Women (Association pour l’appui et le soutien à la femme, ASAFE), an NGO based in the economic hub of Douala, from sending four women to India for six months’ training in solar power technology.

The women were briefed at the Barefoot College, an organisation founded in 1972 to equip rural people with various skills, which has branched out across India.

“The women we sent to train in the technique of solar power…will return to electrify 100 houses each in their respective villages, where inhabitants made use of kerosene and wood for cooking and heating until now,” says ASAFE President Gisèle Ytamben.

It will be interesting to find out how the program goes. Obviously i am biased here but you know if women are involved…It will surely be something successful.

The Cameroon government has some catching up to do, by eliminating import duties on solar panels just like Kenya did June last year.
Thank you Whis for sending me the story.

Most of you in the blogosphere have heard how bad things are. If not, click here to see a video of what Mr. Mugabe’s govt is doing. Our African leaders failed to persuade Mugabe to stop the madness, meanwhile Zimbabweans continue to suffer. This picture which appeared on the mg.za photo widget caught my eye. It captures a bit of that exasperation and imminent danger to those in Zim.

This young man joined Zimbabwe’s National Youth Service in late 2005 and has related to the M&G stomach-turning details of secret prisons and torture camps. He has now been moved to an unknown location in Europe and continues to fear for his life and for the lives of his remaining relatives in Zimbabwe.

John Grobler, M&G