So Warren Buffet gave about $ 37 billions of his personal fortune to charity ( gates foundation) leaving him with an estimated 10 billions ( still not too shabby). I know that there are probably some tax breaks involved and other financial implications involved but 37 BILLIONS is 37 BILLIONS....Some people talk about giving back, some try something and some donates 37 billions..I'd say that should make a difference at some point in time. Then there is Joseph Kony.... I don't want to spend too much time talking about this fine example of the dirtiest scum of the earth but here is an article about Kony and the situation in Sudan (and Ranjit's depressing conclusion after reading it). That should describe the kind of living being ( I cannot call him a man) Joseph Kony is. There really are all kind of people. There surely are plenty of anonymous heroes out there that are "most opposite" to Kony but I believe Buffet deserves to be mentioned here for making things happen. Let's see if Bill Gates can come through now in the fight against Malaria with this substantial boost.
Motivational speeches is one aspect of American culture that stands out from an European or a Malagasy perspective. The Cartesian perspective in Europe and a healthy dose of skepticism and humility in Madagascar make the motivational speech an ineffective tool in both cases. I think this is too bad. The strength of the US in my opinion, originates from their ability to seek and find an edge where others are not willing to go. It might be a bit cliche but I believe it is a fair assumption of how Americans differ from the rest of us and are able to achieve more (in very general terms). I once attended a company recruitment (that I shall not name here) conference and the 3 speakers were so enthusiastic and driven in their that my mood went for chuckling sarcastically at their show first, to then silence and finally nodding in approval. My point is, a great passionate speech is an amazing tool to channel a group of people into outstanding achievements if the speech is done properly. Logic and intellect have often little to do with the ability to transcend people into great accomplishments. As a case in point, there is a pretty mediocre movie about American football called "any given Sunday" with Al Pacino as a deadbeat coach, Jamie Fox as a budding star and Cameron Diaz as a shrewd owner. The only chill-inducing scene in the movie is Al Pacino giving a pre-game speech in the locker-room to motivate his players to win this one crucial game. The speech was so inspiring that even I felt like going to the lab and find a cure for cancer in the next 12 hours :). I believe that one has to look past critical judgments and reasonable doubts to truly inspire people at critical times. Such moments are occurring routinely in real situation here: Pat Riley, the coach of the NBA champs Miami Heat is one of the best at this, he found a way to push an aging and less talented team to the top by the sheer power of his will through his speeches. If they ever make a movie about him, I can only picture Al Pacino playing Pat Riley and telling old Shaq, Mourning and Payton: " When we get old , things are taken away from us [..] but we can still climb out of hell, one inch at a time [...] the inches we need are all around us [..] now what are we going to do ?" It may sound corny to most of us but the fact is, by pure logic only, Miami should have lost 4 out of 5 times against Dallas. Logically, France should have lost against Spain and the Zambian football team should have crumbled after most of its team in a plane crash. But these groups of people "found these inches": racial slur by opponent's coach or booing of a national anthem in the case of France, spirit of the lost ones by the Zambian football team who went on to the ANC KO rounds that year. Madagascar could get inspiration from that type of mentality and logic defying will if we are to "climb our way up, 1 inch at a time". Here is the speech: transcript: "I don't know what to say really. Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives all comes down to today. Either we heal as a team or we are going to crumble. Inch by inch play by play till we're finished. We are in hell right now, gentlemen believe me and we can stay here and get the shit kicked out of us or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb out of hell. One inch, at a time. Now I can't do it for you. I'm too old. I look around and I see these young faces and I think I mean I made every wrong choice a middle age man could make. I uh.... I pissed away all my money believe it or not. I chased off anyone who has ever loved me. And lately, I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror. You know when you get old in life things get taken from you. That's, that's part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out that life is just a game of inches. So is football. Because in either game life or football the margin for error is so small. I mean one half step too late or to early you don't quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in ever break of the game every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us to pieces for that inch. We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch. Cause we know when we add up all those inches that's going to make the fucking difference between WINNING and LOSING between LIVING and DYING. I'll tell you this in any fight it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch. And I know if I am going to have any life anymore it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch because that is what LIVING is. The six inches in front of your face. Now I can't make you do it. You gotta look at the guy next to you. Look into his eyes. Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you. You are going to see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because he knows when it comes down to it, you are gonna do the same thing for him. That's a team, gentlemen and either we heal now, as a team, or we will die as individuals. That's football guys. That's all it is. Now, whattaya gonna do? "
Today is June 26th, Madagascar independence day. As you know, I have been zipping in with appreciation the nice coverage of the World Cup in the US. The tv coverage is a nice a surprise because most Americans stated that they could care less about soccer, a sport they did not excel in. Well, the tv ratings proved otherwise, which shows that globalization goes both ways: you may be able to export hollywwod to the world but the world will counter-attack with "Joga Bonita" ( the beautiful game). I digress again... Patriotism aside, national anthems are a thing of beauty. For instance, I have no allegiance to England; if anything, I believe their team is overhyped. However, when it comes to their fan support and the national anthem, they are riveting. To hear a whole stadium sing in unisson "God save the Queen" is such a thrilling experience, it almost makes you want to root for the "bloody" english :). On the other hand, The Ecuadorian anthem was, hummmm not so inspiring....not one player sung along the jazzy like tune....so more credits to the Ecuadorians for providing a good fight :) . Now about the malagasy anthem: I am probably biaised but the malagasy anthem is one of the best out there. It starts off strong: " Ry Tanidrazananay malala O....." and finishes even stronger. The amazing thing is that I don't even think it is the best choice of song for our anthem. You have a plethora of songs that could have been picked: "Madagasikara,...tany sarobidy, masina tokoa" to name one, and plenty of others that I can't remember right now. The sad part is that we rarely get to hear the chill-inducing "My beloved fatherland " on the international stage. The other great sighting of the World Cup anthem part were the Swedish fans. They always had a good time, win or lose, cheered on their team till the end but most importantly, they stood up during other nations' anthems and cheered on as the anthems ended. How classy is that ? However, one need to keep in mind the that " patriotism is a virtue of the wicked" (Oscar Wilde). So let's cheer on our team and our national anthem and our independence day but at the end, let's remember the spirit of the Swedes. P.S: Here is a great link with all you need to know about national anthems from every countries with music, lyrics (also translated in english) and the history. Here is the full chorus/translated:
Tahionao ry Zanahary 'Ty No sindrazanay ity Hiadana sy ho finaritra He sambatra tokoa izahay. english:(loose translation) O, Lord Creator, do Thou bless This Island of our Fathers, That she may be happy and prosperous For our own satisfaction.
It also gives the former national anthem of Madagascar here.
1) "operation pays mort au Niger": given the economic hardship, I think Niger should be the one of the 1st country to focus on making healthcare affordable to everyone. And I know that Didier, Issa and Atou (to only name a few) are brilliant surgeons if we let them work. 2) Violence against women is a laughable matter for this Kenyan officials: no comment except that we have ways to go before gaining proper respect if our African leaders are such morons. 3) Ghana-Brazil has the potential to be the highest scoring game of the WC. Go Black Stars ! 4) Aaron Spelling died today: he produced "Dynasty" and "Beverly Hills 90210" that was so big back home when I was in High School that Jason Priesley and Luke Perry would have been Prez and VP very easily if they wanted to. 6)So the Miami Heat had their victory parade after winning the NBA title: I am rooting for them to win again just so that I can see Pat Riley shake his ass and get down again. Priceless ! Junior, I know you guys are on cloud 9 now but what is the excuse for the Pat Riley Dance ? 5) Andre Agassi said he will retire after the US Open: I think I am going to get tickets right now for his last game. Don't weep Loni :(. 6) Loni has all the reason to smile: they just had a baby boy Sonny 2 days ago. Congrats to Vola and you. I am ready for my role as the spoiling uncle :) Have an awesome week-end !
Here is the usual knock on Indiana: there's nothing going on except for corn growing. I take exception to that, I have had quite a bit of fun in good ol'Lafayette :) Last week-end was the Tippecanoe food festival: good food (although a bit pricy), good jazz music (although from Chicago) and a nice long firework show with interesting background music. Good times all around. However it emphasizes how your surrounding can affect the way you perceive things. I explain: we were pretty close to the fireworks and in the final hoorah, the noise was very reminiscent of a machine gun during war time. Yet, it is summertime in Lafayette so everyone is carefree and have a big smile n their face. These kind of loud repeated explosions in a big city would have gotten me worried (as I was during the bicentennaire de la revolution in 1989). It was even more surreal because the background music during the show was honoring the music legends of Indiana so it was playing in no order: Jackson 5: I want you back, ABC. Blue melon: No rain ("All I can say is that my life is pretty plain.."), Mellecamp,and some jazz tunes I did not recognize. 1st) I did not that Indiana was so creative :) so much for stereotypes....2nd) so we had machine gun, Jackson 5 and fireworks happening all at once....very surreal atmosphere after a few beers, trust me. It reminded me of the weird atmosphere in "apocalypse now" when the Us choppers were dropping bombs to the music of "riding of the walkyries" of Wagner. I planned on linking all those tunes here but I got lazy....maybe next time. For now, here is the video:
Ce billet n'est pas une plainte, ni une excuse, et surtout pas une reflexion approfondie sur les raisons des difficultes socio-economiques du continent africain. En aucun cas,ne voudrais-je faire du miserabilisme exacerbe, ce n'est ni l'objet ni la nature de ce site. L'Afrique est ce qu'elle est: avec ses forces, ses faiblesses, ses enfants qui parfois la fuit, parfois la reclame, parfois l'honore et parfois baisse la tete. Dans ce coin du monde, on apprecie notre afrique digne, sans pretentions et silencieuse car les mots sont parfois denues de sens devant l'immensite de certaines tragedies. Je m'explique pourtant sur le titre de ce billet: Je viens de recevoir des nouvelles d'Arnault et Cecile, que j'avais rencontre a New-Orleans et qui commencent leur periple a velo a travers l'afrique apres avoir visite Madagascar. J'avais dit alors sur ce blogue que cela promettait d'etre une aventure humaine extraordinaire..... Madagascar leur a plu mais ce qui leur a marque le plus marque, c'est toujours (helas) l'etendu du tourisme sexuel. Bizarrement, a la meme periode, Tattum a aussi eu un souvenir desagreable de ce genre de rencontres. Le probleme de ce genre de tourisme se pose gros comme le nez sur la figure a Madagascar, comme le temoigne ces temoignages personelles et autres anecdotes vecues..... Pour ne pas tomber dans ce genre d'abysse sans fond , on alors tente sa chance ailleurs, legalement ou pas.... et voici ce qui attend comme le decrit sipakv. L'immigre illegal sera reconduit en depis de sa contribution a sa terre d'asile et du fait que ses enfants ne connaisset rien de leurs nouvelles terres. Alors on se tourne vers un terrain ou la competition semble plus juste. Une competition avec 11 joueurs de chaque cote et 1 ballon. La passion est presente car il semble qu'avec chaque tir au but, c'est une frustration qu'on chasse et une petite revanche sur le sort. Et pourtant l'injustice semble encore plus flagrante: le talent le niveau et l'envie sont la mais un carton rouge ici, un poteau la et le reve s'envole: 5 equipes et aucune victoire pour l'instant..... Alors je sais que ce n'est que le "foot" et que cela ne resoud pas les problemes dans la region de Darfour, de la corruption des dirigeants, de la pauvrete qui force au tourisme sexuel.... mais apres un enieme penalty non siffle en faveur des elephants de Cote D'Ivoire, on s'etonne a crier: " meme l'arbitre est contre nous...." et on se dit que ca aurait fait un bien enorme de voir une equipe africaine triompher au mondial. Triompher car ils l'auraient merite, pour oublier le temps de 90 minutes que la guerre civile est rampante et que les "damnees de la terre" de F. Fanon etait un livre et non une prophetie. Bref, l'emotion et la frustration du moment se resume ainsi apres ces lectures de blogues diverses: pas evident d'etre africain en ce moment....n'est ce pas Didier Drogba? Allez c'est promis, on reviendra... la resilience est une des vertues africaines apres tout. PS: Thank you, Ghana ! The football gods have spoken :)
I love sports, big secret :) . However, there is one show that trumps any live sporting events in the must-see tv priority: House, MD ( docteur house en francais). I know it's been around for awhile now and it has lots a bit of its bite. However, Hugh Laurie's character ( House) is just genius and the show, give or take a few approximations, is really well-written and smart (i.e the episode that parallels the opera based on princess Turando story is spellbinding). However, my gut-splitting moment came in that episode when House made this face: here is the scene that led to the "House" face:( it's silly but his face is priceless) (NSFW :) )
Madagascar does not have a shot at the world cup of football. So How about the world cup of comedy ? Here are the teams composed of the best 2 comedians for each country. Feel free to add or argue the selection of the players or the team playing.
India: Russell Peters/Dany Bhoy Australia: George Wallace/Steve "crocodile hunter"Irwin. England: John "Monty Python" Cleese/Hugh Grant France: jean-Pierre Bacri/Jamel Debouzze Madagascar: Gotlieb/torak'hehy Germany: Helge Schneider/Til Schweiger USA: Jon Stewart/George "the decider" Bush Taiwan: Tai Chih-yuan/Ni Min Jan Cote d'Ivoire: Michel Gohou/Wintin Wintin Pierre Spain: pedro almodovar/Antonio Banderas. Canada: Jim Carrey/ Mike Myers
I believe that we have a shot at the 1/4 finals here. However, The "decider" teamed with Jon Stewart is just too lethal of a combination.
So starting tonight, I will be submerged in 3 great events:
1) what could be the most entertaining NBA finals in the decade. The Pat Riley/Shaq/Wade powerhouse vs the Mark Cuban/Nowitzki/Howard triumvirate. First time in the Finals for both cities: we can only hope for the same at the World Cup. 2) The World Cup in Germany. To tell you how psyched I am about this, I am starting a World Cup prediction tournament worldwide and so far, Palermo, Addis-Ababa, Paris, Bangkok and of course Lafayette have dived in. So join on the fun ! Sadly, I do not expect a prediction from Tunis because my sister thinks: "le sport et surtout le foot rend con ! (sports and especially football makes you stupid)".More on that in a minute, anyway Germany/Costa Rica will get started what I hope will be a great celebration of peace and sportsmanship. 3) The French open is closing on a bang after a very pleasant 2 weeks. We are all hoping for a final for the ages between Federer and Nadal (knock on wood). Federer could (repeat knock on wood ) achieve the greatest feat in sport by winning 4 grand slams in a row on 4 different surfaces nonetheless. Nadal is on his way at barely 20, to destroy every winning records on clay court and he beat Federer 5 out of 6 times. This has the potential for a classic confrontation. Now how am I supposed to be productive in the next few days ? Should I just tell my boss: I may look like I am here but my heart is singing in Munich, my hands are dribbling in Dallas and my feet are sliding on the Parisian clay :). So score one for my sister, productivity will slightly go down. I strongly disagree that sports make you dumb though. You either are or not. Many good writers and thinkers have pondered and waxed poetic about the complexity and beauty of sports. And to dismiss sports as just a game is naive. The triumph of Jesse Owens in Olympic games caused Hitler to withdraw in disgust. Something England and France could not do at that time. Ali refusing to fight Vietnam started the end of that ill-conceived campaign. And you bet that the World Cup in South Africa would mean the world to the continent of Africa. So without guilt nor remorse, I will indulge in the best week-end of sports ever !!! ( knock on wood). ( Yes, that was my poor attempt at trying to rationalize my obsession with men running in shorts,...oh well....).
It is always a little ironic when politicians are lecturing about moral calling. However in this case, the irony has to be singled out because one administration is pointing fingers at another one in an "holier-than-thou"manner that is quite frankly laughable.
The setting: "The United States warned key ally Germany on Monday that it should do more to stop a tide of sex workers arriving for this month's soccer World Cup.." "The U.S. government opposes prostitution," which is legal in Germany, a State Department report on global human trafficking said. "These activities are inherently harmful and dehumanizing.'' No quarrel here. Prostitution=bad. OK, even I understand that. ( The Oscar winning-song, "it's hard out here for a pimp" could prove to be more prophetic than ever.) The punchline: "At a briefing, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denounced "the sordid trade in human beings" and said the fight against trafficking is "a great moral calling of our time." "Together we will stop at nothing to end the debasement of our fellow men," she said." [source]
Now let's see what is, apparently, NOT a great moral calling of our time: * Making sure not to invade other countries for no apparent reasons. And "together we will stop at nothing to...": * prevent as many human losses as possible during Hurricane seasons....unless they are poor and won't vote for us anyway. "These activities are inherently harmful ...": * you surely would not be talking about excessive CO2 emission harming the ozone layer or the lack of initiative in the Darfur region now, would you ?
The point is: it is a bad idea to play the "moral calling" card in the face of other nations when most of "moral" offenses have originated from your own office.
We were blessed with a beautiful Sunday today. Perfect day to go cycling on a trail with friends and dogs. My friends were rollerblading, I was cycling and doggies were frolicking in the stream o the side of the trail. I was thinking that life wasn't too shabby in grand old Lafayette: green spaces, friendly folks, no real finance concerns....Then one of my friend fell flat on her butt trying to ... Hilarity ensues after making sure that no "derriere" were hurt too bad in the process. A few minutes later, another fall on the posterior, different person, and again, only feelings were hurt. I was having a good laugh pointing that out to my friends while driving back, windows wide open. That is when karma hit me square in the face. A bird , thinking I was having too much fun, dropped a little "caca" from up there that bounced on the side of the door, straight into my shirt's sleeves, and finally in my armpit, down to my chest. I was staring, horrified and what could only be some greenish birdcrap, hoping it was somehow, something (anything) else. Can you believe the sharpshooting ability of this bird ( hopefully flu-free) ? I was driving at about 35 mph (so definitely a moving target) and it squeezed a gigantic poop in the space between my arm and my shirt....I mean, this bird must be valedictorian of the sniper class at the avian academy. There is a thousand other things I can think of that are more pleasant that driving around with the feel of shit sliding slowly but surely down your chest. I think I am due for either winning the lottery, or an African nation will win the world cup. It could also be that it's just payback for making fun of my friends. You bet we are even now. I was already a big believer in karma ( or "chawarma" as my mom calls it): how else can you make sure people will do the right thing if not for fear of unforeseen payback ? Bird, thank you for that lesson in humility. Gael Monfils at the French open can only hope that karma will be served when he plays Djokovic tomorrow. Djokovic robbed him last year at the us open of a sure victory when he repeatedly called for medical assistance to break Monfils's momentum....Karma do your thing ! PS: maybe the week-end spent wine tasting the Indiana vineyards is the real reason for the bad karma. Hey at least, my friends and I finally got published ( not a scientific review but still...)
This video clip frustrates me. On one hand, It celebrates events I can only be cheerful for: peace for a country ( Cote d'Ivoire) where I lived for awhile, the world cup of course with the voice of Bono in the background and a reminder for the one.org cause. The music is even judiciously picked (U2's classic: where the streets have no name). Ivory coast on the front scene, World cup, U2.....So I am happy, right? Not quite. The message of the video is that thanks to the world cup, Ivory coast managed to broker a truce between the North and South feuding factions to support the national team...Huuum, I am all in favor of hyping up all-things-sports but isn't there something very wrong that in 3 years, only the world cup can bring peace in this embattled region ? There was no better reason than soccer to try to find a way to stop killing each other ? Other reasons such as...I don't know...increased orphans, dipping economy, human lives lost...you know...details. This truce for World cup means either that the two opposite factions did not find any reasons to try harder until the mighty ball is rolling or that a soccer game is so important that it negates all what they were fighting for in the 1st place.....I am not sure which case is less idiotic....either way it does not picture the men in charge in Ivory Coast in a very flattering way. And we wonder why 1) outsiders don't take us seriously 2)women are worried about the overbearing place of sports in society. Well, at least, a truce was achieved so this is good news right ? Kinda like the hunter who shoots himself in the foot and is glad that he did not shoot his face instead. Here is the video:
PS: Junior, can I invite myself to Miami for the NBA finals ? :) lucky SOB, I loathe you. :) Go Elephants for the WC !!!! PS2: the other clip with people from all over the world playing and cheering is far more engaging and powerful
Cute gatorade commercial with Kevin Garnett, Dwayne Wade, Pete Manning, Derek Jeter and Jennie Finch as little kids having fun on the playgrounds. I like the fact that these athletes can poke fun at themselves with Manning making the Manning face as Jeter hits a homerun. By the way, if Dirk Nowitzki goes against Dwayne Wade in the NBA finals , it will mark the renaissance of the NBA, reminiscent of the Magic vs Bird era. (I'm still hoping for Phoenix to rise from the ashes though). Good piece on the value of Kevin Garnett to his team on gladwell.com.
