In 1h around the world

First Sunday of the month museums are for free so we try out Quai Branly. We have many a prejudice about the concept of “art premier”, like with the concept of “art brut” or outsider art. Actually they have abandoned the name, as it was a quite problematic way of calling everything that comes from “traditional societies”. It is art, but then it isn’t… So the concept of the museum staid but now it is called some no name like Musée des arts et civilisations d’Afrique, d’Asie, d’Océanie et des Amériques”.

Now that the place is not as full as the past year, when it grandly opened as Chirac’s last gift to the Republique and the queues went all the way out of the building, so that we had to give up on our last try (not really a problem).

Africom

 

Bush’s recent Africa tour (Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia) has recalled some of the major issues at stake between the US and Africa, like the establishment of the Africom, Bush’s way of caring about Africa, which has had troubles finding a base since its official creation in October 2007.At the moment it’s command is in the Kelley Barracks of Stuttgart “Africa Command is not meant to militarize U.S. foreign policy,” Army Gen. William “Kip” Ward, the boss, told reporters during his visit to Addis Abeba in November 2007. “Our policy is to assist African countries to build their security capacity and have a secured environment.” (more)

This new military command force aims at coordinating US military deployment and anti-terrorism efforts, keeping an eye on oil and china. Its mission includes providing training for the armies of African countries and helping in humanitarian missions. Binding military and humanitarian aspects is critical. The different states in Africa have showed great unity in showing their disapproval a US military might in their countries, and Africom still has to find a home. Such has been the problem, Bush has expressedly stated during his tour, that for the moment Africom will stay in Stuttgart. Although it seems Ethiopias Meles Zenawi could imagine hosting it.

Bush’s Prostitution Loyalty Oath

George Bush: a good man in Africa As he starts a five-nation tour, the US president is an unlikely hero to the poor of a continent ravaged by Aids

This cheerful report (Guardian) on Bush’s Africa tour, reminds us about some of the issues at stake like AFRICOM or HIV programmes in Africa. Some of what we had seen in Ethiopia came to mind.

PEPFAR (The United States President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief ; please check their website out: photos of Bush with African children and glossy promotional videos) was founded in 2003 and has showered billions of dollars to some 15 countries in Africa. The fact that it has been an overpowering display of money has been widely acknowledged:The Global AIDS Act authorized the President to spend up to $15 billion over 5 years (2004—2008), including $10 billion in new money to expand global HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria programs. (from Pepfarwatch)

Notes on Coffee

The image for the Ethiopian New Millennium is a grain of coffee surrounded by the national flag, because coffee plays a very significant role in Ethiopia. It is its main export product (or the 2^nd according to our research) and is celebrated in everyday life with the timely coffee ceremony, where women make coffee starting by roasting the grain. They burn incense at the same time, another typical Ethiopian product, alongside with slaves, especially for the Arab peninsula.

In Ethiopian mythology, Kaldi, a young goatherd, first noticed the effects on coffee back in the 10th century. Kaldi’s coffee is also the name of the fake Starbuck’s that opened near the Airport, in the modern Bole Rd area. Its owner, a priced women entrepreneur, Tseday Asrat, in Addis Ababa supposedly asked Starbucks for a franchise and did not get it, so she went on her own. Kaldi’s resembles Starbucks, the same green aprons, lettering and expensive coffee.

Maybe Howard Schultz visited Kaldi’s lately during his official visit to President Zenawi. They have ended the months long dispute, earlier this year, because Starbucks’ opposed Ethiopia’s plans to copyright its coffee, Starbucks has signed distribution, marketing and licensing agreements with Ethiopia.

As usual, coffee is business.

Il business del Development Aid

Let us remember that the main purpose of aid is not to help other nations, but to help ourselves.

Richard Nixon

L’aiuto economico, attraverso cui i paesi ricchi (o maggiormente sviluppati) versano ogni anno milioni di dollari nelle casse dei paesi del cosiddetto terzo mondo, non solo è perfettamente inutile, ma è anzi assolutamente dannoso. La semplice considerazione che negli ultimi 60 anni tutti i paesi più poveri si siano ulteriormente impoveriti, nonostante gli ingenti e costanti flussi di aiuti economici, e siano sommersi inoltre da un debito insostenibile, dovrebbe essere sufficiente a decretare il fallimento di tali politiche ed auspicarne la fine immediata.

Invece quello che accade, paradossalmente, è proprio il contrario: gli aiuti economici ogni anno, da 60 anni, aumentano. Il business delle ONG, sparse oramai per tutto il terzo mondo da circa 20 anni, non ha affatto migliorato la situazione, anzi, la ha peggiorata, se possibile.