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China is doing what the West failed to do. The West colonized Africa, robbed its natural wealth and left a spoiled continent behind. Africa traded its original lifestyle for a European one but didn’t have the means to sustain it. It was a textbook recipe for parasitism, corruption and banana republics. European colonial powers also planted the seeds of today’s civil wars in Africa by arbitrarily dividing tribes across borders.
2500 scientists recently gathered in Paris and made a clarion call about an impending climate disaster. They said it was very likely that burning fossil fuels were to blame for most warming over the past 50 years. Their report warns of a new ice age engulfing the earth, while hurricanes, droughts and other apocalyptic disasters may play havoc with our planet.
When “prostitution” is mentioned, the first thing that comes to most peoples’ minds is sexual prostitution, selling one’s body for money. Next, we moralize, turning into preachers and issuing fatwas. We forget, however, that we all engage in prostitution of one form or another.
Somalia/UAE - It's refreshing to see President Bush finally admitting his failures in Iraq for the first time since he declared the Iraq war over in April 2003. Having one eye on a democratic congress and the other on the impact that a failure in Iraq will have on his legacy, Bush looked like more of a man looking for a dignified exit strategy from Iraq than a man of bravado.
Somalia/UAE - Contrary to what pundits say about an Iraq scenario tearing up Somalia, I believe the quick withdrawal of the Ethiopian forces from Somalia and the speedy deployment of African peacekeeping forces with international financial backing will bring peace and stability to Somalia under a strong central government for the first time in 16 years.
Somalia/UAE - Looking at the situation of the Middle East from Palestine and Lebanon to Iraq, and further afield to Sudan's Darfur, Somalia and Afghanistan, the only wisdom that rushes to my memory is the classic children's nursery rhyme:
Somalia/UAE - Muslim women can only envy their Western sisters rising to the highest political leadership: Angela Merkel, Tarja Halonen, Hillary Clinton, and Segolene Royal. Turn to the Muslim world and the media will surprise you with daily reports of honor killings, hudood laws, female genital mutilation, social segregation, and political discrimination against women.
Somalia/UAE - Ruth Shanor, an octogenarian American friend of mine who observes the world from her little home in Cowpens, South Carolina, and reads my Postglobal pieces, wrote to me after learning about the release of the Baker-Hamilton report on Iraq:
Somalia/UAE - The Muslim world heeded Washington's call for democratic change, and ushered Islamists in. This may be leaving a bitter taste in Bush's mouth.
Somalia/UAE - On the occasion of Christmas, while sending e-mail greetings cards to my Christian friends around the world, I faced a dilemma. Should I use the traditional "Merry Christmas" or opt for the rather trendy and politically correct "Season's Greetings"?
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