Featured Discussions - 12160 Social Network2024-03-19T01:56:04Zhttps://12160.info/forum/topic/list?groupUrl=african-american-history&feed=yes&xn_auth=no&featured=1Malian War Spreading into Niger: French Military Moves Further Into Northern Regiontag:12160.info,2013-02-04:2649739:Topic:11127592013-02-04T15:26:32.879Ztruthhttps://12160.info/profile/adap2k
<div class="leading"><div><div class="article-rel-wrapper"><h2 class="contentheading"><a class="contentpagetitle" href="http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/79264-malian-war-spreading-into-niger-french-military-moves-further-into-northern-region"></a></h2>
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<div class="article-info-surround"><div class="article-info-surround2"><p class="iteminfo"><span class="createdate">Monday, 04 February 2013 09:49</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://www.davidicke.com/images/stories/Feb20131/6-big_soldier-poster.jpg" width="475"></img></p>
<p>'Reports…</p>
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<div class="leading"><div><div class="article-rel-wrapper"><h2 class="contentheading"><a href="http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/79264-malian-war-spreading-into-niger-french-military-moves-further-into-northern-region" class="contentpagetitle"></a></h2>
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<div class="article-info-surround"><div class="article-info-surround2"><p class="iteminfo"><span class="createdate">Monday, 04 February 2013 09:49</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.davidicke.com/images/stories/Feb20131/6-big_soldier-poster.jpg" border="0" width="475"/></p>
<p>'Reports emanating from the West African state of Mali indicate that French grounds forces accompanied by the national army from the capital of Bamako–along with a small contingent of regional troops from Niger, Burkina Faso, Togo, Senegal, Benin, Chad and Nigeria–are moving towards the northern historic city of Timbuktu. Although there has been a media blockade by the French and Malian governments about the impact of the war, details of the conditions taking place inside the country are emerging.</p>
<p>In the northern city of Gao, French and Malian forces claim that they have taken the airport and are moving to occupy the city. A military press release from Paris stated that they were fired on by “Al-Qaeda linked terrorist elements who were destroyed.”'</p>
<p><a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/malian-war-spreading-into-niger-french-military-moves-further-into-northern-region/5320936" target="_blank">Read more: Malian War Spreading into Niger: French Military Moves Further Into Northern Region</a></p>
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<p> <span class="leading_separator"><br/></span></p> Across Africa, deep beneath a host of varied terrains, vast groundwater reserves lie almost untouchedtag:12160.info,2012-12-19:2649739:Topic:10706102012-12-19T06:25:54.782ZTarahttps://12160.info/profile/Tara
<div class="art-Post"><div class="art-Post-body"><div class="art-Post-inner"><h2 class="art-PostHeaderIcon-wrapper"><span class="art-PostHeader"><a href="/journal/winter2012/map-room" title="Map Room: Hidden Waters">Map Room: Hidden Waters</a></span></h2>
<div class="art-PostHeaderIcons art-metadata-icons">June 12, 2012 - 12:00am | admin…</div>
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<div class="art-Post"><div class="art-Post-body"><div class="art-Post-inner"><h2 class="art-PostHeaderIcon-wrapper"><span class="art-PostHeader"><a title="Map Room: Hidden Waters" href="/journal/winter2012/map-room">Map Room: Hidden Waters</a></span></h2>
<div class="art-PostHeaderIcons art-metadata-icons">June 12, 2012 - 12:00am | admin</div>
<div class="art-PostContent"><div class="art-article"><div class="field field-type-filefield field-field-node-img"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item odd"><a class="imagecache imagecache-node imagecache-imagelink imagecache-node_imagelink" href="http://www.worldpolicy.org/sites/default/files/node_img/Split%20Map_0.jpg"><img class="imagecache imagecache-node" title="" alt="" src="http://www.worldpolicy.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/node/node_img/Split%20Map_0.jpg" width="488" height="316"/></a></div>
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<p class="rtecenter">(<a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8197/8284315585_c90be8d204_o.png">FOR HIGH RES IMAGE CLICK HERE</a>)</p>
<p class="rtecenter">(<i>Subscribe to</i> World Policy Journal <a href="http://www.sagepub.com/journalsProdDesc.nav?ct_p=subscribe&prodId=Journal202047" rel="nofollow"><i>here</i></a>)</p>
<p class="rtecenter">From the Winter Issue "<a href="http://www.worldpolicy.org/journal/winter2012">Africa's Moment</a>"</p>
<p class="p1"><strong>By Adam Scholl</strong></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s2">A</span>cross Africa, deep beneath a host of varied terrains, vast groundwater reserves lie almost untouched. These aquifers are some 410,000 cubic miles thick and contain 100 times the freshwater that exists on the continent’s surface. As Africa’s population expands, these aquifers could prove critical in increasing food production, reducing poverty, and adapting to climate change.</p>
<p class="p1">Last April, scientists published the first comprehensive map of African groundwater reserves in the journal Environmental Research Letters. In the image above, World Policy Journal shows these water resources alongside historic drought conditions in an effort to define the enormous scope of this vital resource. Much of the groundwater lies beneath the Sahel belt, one of the most drought-prone stretches on the planet. Since water scarcity in the Sahel will remain a problem, tapping these hidden freshwater reserves could become a priority.</p>
<p class="p1"><a href="http://www.worldpolicy.org/journal/winter2012/map-room" target="_blank">Full Article</a></p>
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</div> Zimbabwe: Mugabe Outwits Coalition Partnerstag:12160.info,2012-10-22:2649739:Topic:10218122012-10-22T16:11:04.102ZJustin A Hornehttps://12160.info/profile/Jamesx
<p>Harare — PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has tightened his grip on power ahead of the watershed election next year by assigning some crucial Acts directly under the purview of his office.</p>
<p>He did this without consulting his coalition partners Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC leader Welshman Ncube.</p>
<p>The country is set to go to the polls next year to bring to an end the shaky inclusive government that has run its course despite bringing a modicum of economic stability.</p>
<p>In a…</p>
<p>Harare — PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has tightened his grip on power ahead of the watershed election next year by assigning some crucial Acts directly under the purview of his office.</p>
<p>He did this without consulting his coalition partners Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC leader Welshman Ncube.</p>
<p>The country is set to go to the polls next year to bring to an end the shaky inclusive government that has run its course despite bringing a modicum of economic stability.</p>
<p>In a Statutory Instrument gazetted on Friday, Mugabe put nine pieces of legislation under the Office of the President and Cabinet without the knowledge of coalition partners. Mugabe's political adversaries yesterday said the move was designed to tighten the 88-year-old leader's grip on power.</p>
<p>The Acts now directly under Mugabe are the Commission of Inquiry Act, Emergency Powers Act, Honours and Awards Act, Interception of Communication Act, Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act, Procurement Act, Radiation Protection Act, Research Act and the Zimbabwe National Security Council Act.</p>
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<p><a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201210220189.html" target="_blank"> Read More Here</a></p> Kony 2012 is a propaganda film with ulterior motivestag:12160.info,2012-03-09:2649739:Topic:7993792012-03-09T21:40:08.931ZNikkihttps://12160.info/profile/NikkiG
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<div class="modfloat full"><div class="module moduleText color0" id="mod_18097492"><div class="txtd" id="txtd_18097492"><p>The 30 minute video "Kony 2012" has gained quite the hype within the past week. On Monday night the video accrued 15,056,327 views on YouTube. As of this morning it has racked up 52,591,704 views after being shared around the world on…</p>
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<div class="modfloat full"><div id="mod_18097492" class="module moduleText color0"><div class="txtd" id="txtd_18097492"><p>The 30 minute video "Kony 2012" has gained quite the hype within the past week. On Monday night the video accrued 15,056,327 views on YouTube. As of this morning it has racked up 52,591,704 views after being shared around the world on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. In case you haven't seen it, it is a campaign against one Joseph Kony, the leader of The Lord's Resistance Army. The video was released on Monday by the charity Invisible Children Inc. and was directed and presented by Jason Russell. The video portrays Kony and the LRA as a ruthless militant group that has been ravaging Uganda and the surrounding regions of east Africa for the past two decades. The LRA has been said to abduct young boys and turn them into soldiers, turn the girls into sex slaves and murder their families. Now there is no doubt that these are horrific crimes and that the LRA and Kony should be dealt with accordingly. However this film is clearly a propaganda film, complete with all the hallmarks of brainwashing, emotional manipulation, sensationalism, and an eerie hyper-realistic quality.</p>
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<div class="modfloat right"><div id="mod_18106606" class="module moduleImage"><div id="imgs_18106606"><div id="img_url_6293600"><img src="http://s1.hubimg.com/u/6293600_f260.jpg" class="half" alt="2011 financial report for Invisible Children Inc" title="2011 financial report for Invisible Children Inc" height="175" width="260"/></div>
<div class="caption_half" id="img_desc_6293600">2011 financial report for Invisible Children Inc</div>
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<div id="mod_18097712" class="module moduleText color0"><h2 class="subtitle">Invisible Children</h2>
<div class="txtd" id="txtd_18097712"><p>Invisible Children Inc. is a charity organization that wants Joseph Kony to be apprehended for his war crimes in Uganda. It sounds like a righteous enough cause doesn't it? But where do the donations actually go? According to Invisible Children's official financial reports from last year over 68% of the money donated went towards film-making, merchandising, and salaries for organizers while the remaining 32% actually went to Uganda. They claim they support the direct action of the Ugandan Government, The Ugandan army, and Sudan People’s Liberation Army in the capture of Kony. Meanwhile the Ugandan army and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army are guilty of many of the same crimes Kony himself is being charged with. However Invisible Children defends their support of them, claiming the Ugandan army is “better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries”, despite the fact that Kony left Uganda in 2006. So what exactly is Invisible Children Incs motive here? It certainly isn't about saving the children.</p>
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<h2 class="subtitle">The real agenda</h2>
<p><a href="http://chrisindellicati.hubpages.com/hub/Kony-2012-is-a-prpaganda-film-with-a-ulterior-motive" target="_blank">Read More>>></a></p>
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<p>Is this propaganda, exploitation or about the discovery of oil in Uganda? Share your opinion, please.</p>
<p>Here's a video response from a Ugandan</p>
<p> <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7DO73Ese25Y?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0"></iframe>
</p> Guinea: Working to Provide Water and Electricity for Alltag:12160.info,2012-03-08:2649739:Topic:7976142012-03-08T02:46:55.372ZJustin A Hornehttps://12160.info/profile/Jamesx
<p>Conakry — Guinea faces acute problems in the supply of clean water and electricity to its citizens, slowing the country's economic development. A major project to address this is now under way, but some Guineans are sceptical of its promises.</p>
<p>Guinea enjoys more rainfall than any other country in West Africa; the country is known as the water tower of the sub-region, with the headwaters of the Niger, Senegal and Gambia rivers all found within its borders. The country's many rivers and…</p>
<p>Conakry — Guinea faces acute problems in the supply of clean water and electricity to its citizens, slowing the country's economic development. A major project to address this is now under way, but some Guineans are sceptical of its promises.</p>
<p>Guinea enjoys more rainfall than any other country in West Africa; the country is known as the water tower of the sub-region, with the headwaters of the Niger, Senegal and Gambia rivers all found within its borders. The country's many rivers and tributaries should be valuable assets for the provision of fresh water, extensive irrigation agriculture, and large-scale hydroelectric power generation.</p>
<p>But despite its natural resources, this country of 10.6 million people faces problems providing adequate electricity and access to clean water for its development. With support from international lenders, Guinea is working to improve the potable water supply and to refurbish and extend the electricity network in the capital, Conakry, and beyond.</p>
<p><a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201203010898.html" target="_blank">Read More Here</a></p> Colonialism in Africa helped launch the HIV epidemic a century agotag:12160.info,2012-02-28:2649739:Topic:7912702012-02-28T16:29:41.429ZJustin A Hornehttps://12160.info/profile/Jamesx
<div class="article_body"><p>We are unlikely to ever know all the details of the birth of the AIDS epidemic. But a series of recent genetic discoveries have shed new light on it, starting with the moment when a connection from chimp to human changed the course of history.</p>
<p>We now know where the epidemic began: a small patch of dense forest in southeastern Cameroon. We know when: within a couple of decades on either side of 1900. We have a good idea of how: A hunter caught an infected…</p>
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<div class="article_body"><p>We are unlikely to ever know all the details of the birth of the AIDS epidemic. But a series of recent genetic discoveries have shed new light on it, starting with the moment when a connection from chimp to human changed the course of history.</p>
<p>We now know where the epidemic began: a small patch of dense forest in southeastern Cameroon. We know when: within a couple of decades on either side of 1900. We have a good idea of how: A hunter caught an infected chimpanzee for food, allowing the virus to pass from the chimp’s blood into the hunter’s body, probably through a cut during butchering.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/colonialism-in-africa-helped-launch-the-hiv-epidemic-a-century-ago/2012/02/21/gIQAyJ9aeR_story.html" target="_blank">Read More Here</a></p>
</div> Globalization, water, and the Congotag:12160.info,2012-02-10:2649739:Topic:7721102012-02-10T20:15:49.040ZJustin A Hornehttps://12160.info/profile/Jamesx
<p><span class="main"><span class="main">The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been affected by globalization in many ways. The most damaging of these effects can be shown in the recent war in the DRC. Although there were troops from several African countries—Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, as well as from the DRC—none of the firearms used are made in any of these countries. Globalization has made it such that firearms from North Korea, Israel, South Africa,…</span></span></p>
<p><span class="main"><span class="main">The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been affected by globalization in many ways. The most damaging of these effects can be shown in the recent war in the DRC. Although there were troops from several African countries—Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, as well as from the DRC—none of the firearms used are made in any of these countries. Globalization has made it such that firearms from North Korea, Israel, South Africa, Europe, and North America have been used to kill millions (estimated 3 million dead because of this war) in Central Africa.</span></span></p>
<p>In many ways, this war in the DRC was a war over mineral resources used in the global economy. The DRC has valuable deposits of diamonds, coltan, copper, tin, and cassiterite. Coltan, short for columbite-tantalite, is refined into tantalum, a heat-resistant powder that can hold a high electrical charge and is used to make capacitors for miniature circuit boards. Tantalum capacitors are used in cell phones, laptops, pagers, nuclear reactors, Play Stations, and computer chips. Rwanda and Uganda seized control of the coltan areas in the DRC and made as much as $20 million per month as prices for coltan varied from $200 to $400 per kilogram at one point. Global companies like Nokia and Sony do not have any manufacturing plants in the DRC, but were economically responsible for this war.</p>
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<p><a href="http://globalministries.org/get-involved/justice-and-advocacy/water/globalization-water-and-the-co.html" target="_blank">Read More Here</a></p> Nigeria in Space(http://www.csmonitor.com)tag:12160.info,2011-08-25:2649739:Topic:6015252011-08-25T16:30:46.612ZJustin A Hornehttps://12160.info/profile/Jamesx
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<h1 class="head">West Africa Rising: Nigeria sends two new satellites into space</h1>
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<p>Satellites launched by Nigeria will map the unplanned urban growth of the commercial capital, Lagos, and track the increasing oil spills in Nigeria's south as well as the desertification of its north.…</p>
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<h1 class="head">West Africa Rising: Nigeria sends two new satellites into space</h1>
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<p>Satellites launched by Nigeria will map the unplanned urban growth of the commercial capital, Lagos, and track the increasing oil spills in Nigeria's south as well as the desertification of its north.</p>
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<p>Five hundred miles into the cold universe, at the cusp of sky, two satellites tumble into orbit, guided by the background light of stars – a remarkable sight, no doubt.</p>
<p>What's more remarkable still is the country that rocketed them up there: <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Nigeria" target="_self" class="inform_link">Nigeria</a>.</p>
<p>Earth's least likely space-going nation reached further into the stars last week, when Nigeria shot its third and fourth satellites into orbit, including the first satellite built by Africans.</p>
<p><b><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/2011/0127/Think-you-know-Africa-Take-our-geography-quiz" target="_blank">Think you know Africa? Take our geography quiz.</a></b></p>
<p>From their exospheric perch, the two will map one of humanity's final frontiers: <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Lagos" target="_self" class="inform_link">Lagos</a>. The vast megalopolis, home to between nine and 17 million people, is a constantly-shifting phenomenon in urban non-planning.</p>
<p>“These cities are growing very rapidly,” says <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Ylva+Sandring" target="_self" class="inform_link">Ylva Sandring</a>, spokeswoman for <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/England" target="_self" class="inform_link">England</a>'s <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Surrey+Satellite+Technology+Ltd." target="_self" class="inform_link">Surrey Satellite Technology</a>, which built one of the two satellites. “One of the ways these satellites can be used is for mapping the area and looking at that growth.”</p>
<p>Behold the Nigerian space program, an improbable endeavor that once cherished the dream of shipping a Nigerian into orbit by 2015.</p>
<p>“I don't think that one is actually feasible,” says <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Umar+Isah" target="_self" class="inform_link">Umar Isah</a>, an engineer with Nigerian Communications Satellite, a public-private partnership with the Nigerian government.</p>
<p>Instead, the agency's focus has swiveled from the promise of space back toward problems on earth – of which Nigeria has plenty.</p>
<p>The nation's desert is widening, its waterholes withering. These two new satellites will keep tabs on that loss of farmland.</p>
<p>Farther south, where crops should flourish, the country has struggled to kickstart large-scale agriculture – but infrared photographs of the nation's fields will offer farmers satellite data on where to smear fertilizer, and allow scientists to forecast each season's upcoming crop.</p>
<p>Then there's Nigeria's recurrent disasters: oil spills and urban flooding.</p>
<p>Already, Nigeria has become something of a leading nation in the field of disaster photography. One of its satellites snapped the much-needed first picture of <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/New+Orleans" target="_self" class="inform_link">New Orleans</a> after <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Hurricane+Katrina" target="_self" class="inform_link">Hurricane Katrina</a>. The same satellite beamed down photos of the 2004 tsunami and March's earthquake in <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Japan" target="_self" class="inform_link">Japan</a> to aid agencies.</p>
<p>“They're able to focus in on specific areas and look at damage to roads,” <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Surrey" target="_self" class="inform_link">Surrey</a>'s Head of Business Development <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Steve+Young" target="_self" class="inform_link">Steve Young</a> said. The information is vital to organizations like the <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/International+Federation+of+Red+Cross+and+Red+Crescent+Societies" target="_self" class="inform_link">Red Cross</a>.</p>
<p>“The fact that we have so many issues, so many problems, cannot stop us from going into space,” Isah said. “Space is just another way of dealing with those problems.”</p>