The Malagasy dwarf Hippo: July 2006

7/31/06

Frenglish .... (sa vary amin'anana)

I am often guilty of intellectual laziness which shows its ugly head when I "inject" French words while speaking or writing in Malagasy or English. There is a word for it in Malagasy, "vary amin'anana" (rice mixed with various herbs) and it's often used in a derisive manner for the poor lad who can't carry a conversation in one tongue. I have now hit the "trifector" by doing so in all 3 languages. It still annoys me that I do that but I came to term with it. There is one instance where it is more annoying though. It's when the vary amin'anana or frenglish is used on purpose by one person thinking it sounds more educated. It was mostly occuring in English using French words. However, this trend has diminished lately because it is now fashionable in US to hate everything French (Freedom fries anyone ?). French speakers using english words also happen but it's either used by youngsters in reverence of hip hop culture or a terminology that is only known in english. (The "exception culturelle" effort of Toubon only lasted so long. )
So here are on the top of my head the most common Frenglish catch phrases that you may encounter from time to time and how they are sometimes quite removed from their original meaning:
a la carte, carte blanche, amuse bouche, au naturel ( that means naked here, why I am not so sure), bon voyage ( sometimes used in a sarcastic ways for good riddance, very popular now), clichE, (wine ) connoisseur ( that's the the correct spelling, it's not a word in french but who cares about such details ? ), coup ( for coup d'etat), deja vu ( all over again ) (this one always gets me ), femme fatale, menage a trois (only the physical act), piece de resistance, risquE, touchE, double entendre ( double sens, I think), maitre d' ( maitre d'hotel), encore (only in theatre, you saucy mint !).
So they are mostly either related to food, or sex. That's "l'art de vivre", I guess.

7/28/06

Faith and science : this reasoning should make the debate easier.

I know thetopic is hot water and have been beaten to a pulp (with the cell stem research issue). Plus, I obviously have no new information to share (really ?). However, I think that Tenzin Gyatso ( the 14th Dalai Lama) may have the beginning of the answer.
Here is his take on whether faith and science are compatible:
"If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change. In my view, science and Buddhism share a search for the truth and for understanding reality. By learning from science about aspects of reality where its understanding may be more advanced, I believe that Buddhism enriches its own worldview [..] The goal here is not to prove Buddhism right or wrong - or even to bring people to Buddhism - but rather to take these methods out of the traditional context, study their potential benefits, and share the findings with anyone who might find them helpful [..] many people still consider science and religion to be in opposition. While I agree that certain religious concepts conflict with scientific facts and principles, I also feel that people from both worlds can have an intelligent discussion,[..] A deeper dialogue between all scientific fields and society could help deepen our understanding of what it means to be human and our responsibilities for the natural world we share with other sentient beings."
I will reiterate my personal opinion on the matter of ID vs Evolution: evolution is a proven fact BUT it does not disprove by any means the existence of God. That's all we can and should be concluding at this point. How is this still an issue in this part of the world is a bit of mystery to me. For great reads on the subject of faith and science, I really liked Claude Allegre's book "Dieu et la Science", and Francis Collins (head of the NIH Human Genome Project) "Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief ".
The complete article in the New York Times of November 12th, 2005 is here.

7/25/06

Raharimanana: "Le français :un déchirant chemin de traverse"

Jean-Luc Raharimanana sur la douleur de l'ecrivain africain et malgache en particulier. Je n'oserai pas charcuter la perfection de l'argumentation de Raharimanana alors si vous voulez bien excuser la longueur de ce post voici le chapitre ecrit par Raharimanana dans son integralite:
"Plus jeune, et tout récemment encore, j’étais incapable de formuler
toutes ces tensions autour de la langue malgache. Il y eut simplement
dans mes années de collège et de lycée un refus d’apprendre et de
lire la littérature de langue malgache – écrite entièrement en
merina, les rares textes dans les autres variantes étant qualifiés
de « traditionnels », de « folkloriques ». Ce n’était même pas la
peine d’y chercher des poèmes, des romans ou des nouvelles :
ils n’existaient tout simplement pas. Je me retrouvais face à ma perte,
la perte de la culture de ma grand-mère, de tous ces contes qu’elle
disait et que je ne pouvais pas reprendre, de cet autre malagasy
– l’antakarana, que je ne pouvais parler sans tomber dans le défi
et le conflit. Écrire en français fut bien plus facile. Pour autant,
je n’abandonnais pas la langue malgache, je continuais à conter pour
mes amis et mes cousins mais j’entrepris froidement d’effacer de mon
vocabulaire tout mot qui n’était pas du merina. J’en avais conscience,
j’en avais douleur. Je me surpris même à me mener tout un débat
intérieur pour me revendiquer merina, être un vrai Malgache passait
par là !
Un événement allait bouleverser et ma vie et mon rapport à la
langue : en 1975 – j’avais donc huit ans - des affrontements eurent
lieu après l’assassinat du président Ratsimandrava7, un camion
militaire surgit en trombe sur notre terrain de jeu habituel alors que
nous jouions au foot. Les militaires embarquèrent des gens. Coups,
insultes… la violence fit irruption dans ma vie d’enfant, et rien ne fut
plus comme avant. J’avais l’habitude de tout transformer en conte :
je traquais les caméléons qui attrapaient les mouches, les libellules
qui rasaient l’eau, les vieilles femmes qui s’échinaient à grimper
les côtes, les enfants qui se défiaient à sauter des rochers, mais face à
cette violence, je n’avais plus de mots. Le monde des adultes m’était
un monde précieux et sécurisant – à l’image de mon père, à l’image
de ma grand-mère, et voici que ces adultes s’en prenaient à d’autres
adultes ! Cette réalité-là ne pouvait se transformer si facilement en
conte, en fiction. J’étais incapable de le concevoir. Ce jour-là
volait en éclat la langue apprise, langue pourtant si fière de sa
« sagesse ancestrale » – ny fahendren’ny Ntaolo, de son « humanité
proverbiale » – ny fanahy no maha olona…
La fiction n’était plus simplement un plaisir, je ressentais de la
douleur, de la souffrance. Je ne pouvais plus conter innocemment.
Quelques années plus tard, j’ai commencé à écrire. À écrire en
français. Loin de la douleur de dire en malgache, les émotions me
submergeant trop vite dans cette langue. En français où je n’avais pas
non plus de choix à faire : être vrai Malgache ou pas, être Merina ou
Antakarana. L’urgence était d’écrire, simplement écrire.
Ne pas obéir aux diktats du malagasy officiel pour pouvoir aborder
les sujets qui fâchent, sans épurer les mots de toute rébellion.
Pour désigner ce que j’avais vu, la pauvreté qui se développait jour
après jour, les mots en malagasy que j’avais à ma disposition
s’avéraient trop « sales », trop « violents ». J’ai donc écrit en français.
Étonnante facilité de la langue française à parler de tout. De la
merde comme du sublime. Je n’ai jamais cessé d’y penser,
de m’interroger. J’avais poussé très loin l’expérimentation de la
douleur. À peine essayai-je avec la langue malgache que j’abandonnai.
La souffrance était intolérable. Je revenais au français, plus torturé
et plus enragé encore. Plus j’avançais dans la langue française, plus
j’avais un sentiment de dérive irrémédiable vis-à-vis de la langue
malgache, comme si je m’éloignais inexorablement d’elle jusqu’à ne
plus pouvoir l’utiliser. D’où venait cette perte ?"

L'expose en entier peut-etre lu ici: l'argumentation sur la domination du la langue malgache Merina sur les autres variantes est au moins tout aussi interessante que le passage precedent.

7/24/06

Zebda et les malgaches

Zebda, on connait; "tomber la chemise" on l'a fait. Zebda est un groupe toulousain, par consequent, Zebda, c'est forcement de qualite, n'est ce pas Vaomiera ? ;). Voici un extrait d'un des premiers morceaux sur leurs premier album "L'arene des humeurs" en 1992:
Arabadub ( Arahaba ?):
"Où est-ce que t'es né ? Qui t'as dépanné ?
Contrôle de police aux dirty faces, aux basanés.
Faut pas lésiner, à moi les gros nez,
A moi tous les falsificateurs d'idendité.
Il n'y a plus personne ! C'est vraiment la zone !
Qui va lessiver les colorés de l'hexagone ?
Les frileux, les tâches ? Qui va bouger ?
A nous les malgaches ! Tous les camés !
Les couleurs pistaches ! Tous les reggaes !
Scalper tous les apaches,
Tout c'qui tache et les malgaches
Et du tac au tac des matraques pour les Kanaks !
Quand vas-y je fouille ça bafouille."

Je comprends bien que c'est forcement du deuxieme degre ,du moins je l'espere, (Zebda est connu pour etre politiquement actif comme le montre la pochette du groupe), mais "scalper tout les apaches, tout ce qui tache et les malgaches....a nous les malgaches" peut preter a confusion. Je repete, je comprends le deuxieme degre de la chanson et que c'est un vieux "morceau" mais est-ce-que quelqu'un pourrait me donner une "expliquation de texte" quant a la singularisation des malgaches dans la chanson? Le texte est tout de meme assez violent, et j'aimerai me tenir pret la prochaine fois que je debarque a Toulouse voir la famille et les amis, juste au cas ou....:).

7/23/06

how different are we ?

One of the question that this space is trying to address (in a very simplistic way I admit )is how different do we feel, perceive or understand the events or people around us. This website, wolrdvaluesurvey.org, tackle this project the most direct way, by asking people all over the world the same questions. I have a weakness for numbers and graphics ( professional habit I guess) so the study really appealed to me . A caveat though, it seems that the sampled populations were a bit smaller than ideal. Still here are a few results to reflect upon:
N.B: The choice of countries by me were arbitrary (my friends here). Madagascar , Zambia and Sri Lanka were not available so South-Africa is in.
Last graphic is Israel and Iran because Lebanon and Palestine were not available.
I have checked the source in depth so if they had an hidden agenda, don't shoot the messenger.
"Province of china" in the study is Taiwan.

South-Africans are the happiest...

India teaches kids to save money early

emphasis on religion with kids is most important in the US

Iran and Israel both emphasize tolerance to their kids similarly so....never mind.

how different are we ? (2nd part)

Miss St Martin,

Miss Japan

Quick "Miss Universe" update on the previous post: if we are going to discuss global differences, how can we not mention a competition where 1/2 the world was represented. This year, I had 2 evident rooting interests: St-Martin (allez le papou !)and Ethiopia (allez la mirou !). Sadly, Tunisia or Madagascar did not send anyone (FYI, Madagascar only send once, 1961, a representant.)
Quick thoughts from a show that has been losing relevance for a while now but seems to have picked up steam this year:
1. Porto Rico won, congrats to PR ! However, I think the judges missed out on a great potential Miss Universe in 2nd place Japan. She really was the star of the show as she was beautiful, sparky and actually had something relevant to say in 4 languages nonetheless. She wants to be a UN delegate, her French is effortless and she is a bit of an activist as she states that if she could change anything in history, she would erase all the gender inequalities that have plagued and still plague the world. Maybe a little too political for the judges, ...evidently scared the male judges away.... pity.
2. I wonder if miss Israel and miss Lebanon shared a room and bedtime stories.
3. Miss Ethiopia seemed preoccupied (with good reasons: Ethiopia invaded Somalia this week-end)
4. St Martin ( 37 sq mile island ) sends a rep twice in 5 years and Madagascar 1 in 54 years ? Didn't we start a highly publicized model agency 10 years ago ?

7/21/06

Enough with the "list" posts ! this is the last one, I promise :)

As Jogany noticed, there are way too many " gimmicky lists" posts on this space (Gavroche, lyrics and so on) lately. This is why I decided to stop.... but not until one last flurry to start off the week-end :) (Maybe I am addicted to making lists. Hi, I am Lova and I am a list-oholic) . Today's list du jour is (what else) the top G.W Bush most embarassing moments. This had to be mentioned although talking about Bush's latest "exploits" is like predicting bad weather in London, it's mildly surprising at first and then the novelty wears off pretty quickly. Still there are now 22 such memorable moments for the "leader of the free world", yes, 22 ! There is no other job where you can be a fool 22 times at your workplace and keep you job, none. (unless you are Jim Carrey or Paris Hilton, then being a fool is part of your job description). This is my personal favorite:

VH1 top 10 lyrics of all time: U2 is #1 but Mahaleo is a close second

VH1-UK just came up with this highly entertaining poll: "What is your favourite lyric ?". The results are in and U2 came on top with "ONE" and the line "One life, with each other, sisters, brothers". I could not happier because.... well let's see: it's only my favorite band, my favorite song, my favorite humanitarian cause and one of my favorite personal memory:
Here is the story:
last year in Chicago's Vertigo concert, U2 shut down all the lights in the stadium, ask all 69,000 of us to turn on the lights of our cellphones, and as Bono played the 1st notes of ONE, all the flags of the world were coming up on the screen behind him with names of people who signed the "ONE" petition. Then, the malagasy flag came up as Bono was singing along with the crowd: "we get to carry each other" and if you don't think I had goosebumps all over me th entire time, then you don't know me at all. I mean: ONE, Madagascar, on my birthday, in Michael Jordan's stadium, sometimes the stars are just aligned perfectly.
The truth is, as far as "chair de poule" moment is concerned, there was another moment. It was in a smaller venue: Le Mirail, Toulouse; packed with 300 people and it was Mahaleo singing: "anaraka anao, tohy ny aloka, ka tsy y fandaho, ratsy andro tena maloka, fa raha mbola misy ...." in unisson with the crowd. Anyone who's been to their concert know the feeling and anothe reason why I am very tempted to go NYC in October. So here is my own top 10 lines from songs of all time:

1) U2, ONE: " one life, we get to carry each other"
2) Mahaleo, Fahafahana: "fahafahana no irina ho any taniko"
3) Brassens, chanson pour l'auvergnat: " toi qui m'a donne du feu quand , les croquantes et les croquants, m'avaient ferme la porte au nez"
4) Mahaleo, aza misara mianakavy: " izay ry zanakolombelona, iaraka famelona "
5) Peter Gabriel, Don't give up: " I was taught to fight, taught to win, I never thought I could fail
6) J-J Goldman, Veiller tard:" Cette inquiétude sourde qui coule en nos veines,
Qui nous saisit même après les plus grandes joies. Ces visages oubliés qui reviennent à la charge Ces étreintes qu'en rêve on peut vivre cent fois"
7) Marley, Redemption song: " How long shall they kill our prophets, while we stand aside and look."
8) FC liverpool fans, you will never walk alone: " walk on trough the rain, walk on through the pain,.. with no fear in you heart"
9) Ben Harper, burn one down: " herb's a gift from the earth, and what is from the earth is of the greatest worth.." (kidding..)
10) ANC Anthem: Nkosi sikelel' Afrika.

By the way, if you have read this far, consider youself tagged to write your own list :). I know, Mos, I know :)....

Here is the rest of the offcial list from VH1.

7/18/06

les miserables and Gavroche awards

I caught "Les Miserables" on Saturday in Indianapolis. The place was packed despite the entry price and Indy's reputation as a cultureless hick-town (one stereotype down, one) . It is of course old news anywhere else as I remember my sister catching it 15 years ago in Paris. Well, I loved it and more surprisingly, the "naptownians" ( people from Indy) loved it even more. Now, isn't Les Miserables about, among other things, "la revolution de Juillet" and the people of Paris challenging Charles X's reign ? You have to love the irony of a midwestern town as republican as can be giving a standing ovation to a group of artists waving the socialist red flag. Fugain's "chiffon rouge" song could have played in the background and it would have been the ultimate left-wing political meeting being cheered by people who would cringe at the mention of Karl Marx :). The numbers of unlawful acts of heroism in Hugo's Les Miserables is probably record breaking. From Valjean's stealing bread for his nieces to Gavroche facing bullets to steal ammuitions for the barricades, "Les mis" is a call to stand up against the law anywhere the law is unjust. So here is my list of most memorable moments of bravery against oppression and unjust laws,
Let's call it the "Gavroche' award":

-unknown rebel in front of tanks in Tiananmen square.
-Hector Peterson in soweto 1976
-Rosa Parks on the bus
-Galileo defending the earth motion against Church 's orders.
-Gandhi's Salt March.
-Cambronne in Waterloo: "The guard dies but does not surrender" or better yet: "Merde !"
-flight U93 passengers: "Let's roll".
-Aung San Suu Kyi using $1.3 million dollar from Nobel Prize for health and education in Myanmar.
-MDMR uprising in march, 1947, of course.
This list is certainly not exhaustive and so any help to my failing memory is appreciated. The Gavroche awards always welcome new additions :).
PS: a correction on this post as I modified Gavroche's crew to awards as I was looking for a defining moment of bravery not the bravest people which deserve a whole new post.

7/17/06

research is useful, really....

As any researcher can attest, many people outside of academia wonder what is the use of us lab rats, wandering in lab coats in helpless pursuit of the perfect assay to prove our hypothesis. When asked: “what is the finality of your work ?” Our standard answer is: "without the contribution of basic science research, one would not be able to efficiently fight diseases and specifically in my case, help find a cure for liver cancer." That is a blatant lie, of course because there is no way in heck that my current research would contribute significantly to the fight against liver cancer. So I was trying to find the proper analogy to explain the purpose of my work to the world outside ( that’s mostly my family and my 2 friends). So here is my rather ludicrous attempt at a parallel with the real world but before you click away hear me out:
The effort to look for a cure for liver cancer is akin to the fight against discrimination...
First let’s explain a few things: one famous analogy about research in molecular biology is the one with the 10 blindfolded scientists trying to describe an elephant by touching it: no one is wrong but no one has the complete answer either. The fundamental vs applied research paradigm: fundamental research seeks to understand they way cells behave. Applied research finds a way to fix “misbehaving” cells. As a result, fundamental research usually gets less money than the applied counterpart because we do not cure anything therefore we cannot sell anything.
Now, for the similarities between trying to find a cure for cancer and fighting discrimination in society: liver cancer is a plague on society; to determine the exact causes of it is complex and the tipping point towards the noxious phase is even harder to pinpoint. Finally, many factors have to be taken into account when studying the liver cancer cells. Well, discrimination is no different: plague? Definitely; causes and noxious phase are nearly impossible to determine and so many factors involved (race, gender, political agenda and economic context). Moreover, the fight against discrimination does not produce direct fiduciary dividend and is mostly public funded. See the similarities yet ? OK here is the kicker: just as there is no end to the fight against cancer, there is no end to the fight against discrimination. Cancer finds a way to evolve and beat the cell safeguard system, discrimination evolved from segregation to deportation of immigrants. However, the most striking similarity for me is that the fight starts by understanding the most “upstream” detail in the cause of the “disease” and counter the process at its source.
So yes, my work is quite miles away from finding a cure for liver cancer. And so is the work of an elementary school teacher with respect to the getting rid of discrimination. However, her education of the young minds is a critical contribution to keeping bigotry under control. And I am hoping my studying of the most "upstream" event in liver cancer will contribute in a similar fashion to keep it under control.

7/16/06

Nkosi sikekel' iAfrika !

I can't believe I forgot to mention the South-African ( and also ANC, Zambian and Tanzanian) anthem twice: 1st, in the post for best song to sing in a stadium and 2nd, as a send off from germany 06 to south africa 2010. If this song does not give you chills, you either need a heart transplant or a hearing device. So here it is in music and on paper: best anthem ever and it is not negotiable.

    
Nkosi sikelel' i Afrika
Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,
Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.
Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa South Afrika - South Afrika.
English:
God bless Africa,
Lift her horn on high,
Hear our prayers.
God bless us
Who are Your people.

God save our nation,
End wars and strife.
South Africa.Tags: nkosi sikelel, african lyrics,  best anthem

Richest Malagasy.....?

So I was skimming through Forbes'list of billionaires in the world. Only Egypt and South Africa have managed to crack the list for Africa. This is actually a good thing, I guess.. It got me thinking: What is the range of the highest personal fortunes in Madagascar and in what business it might be involved ? This is not just morbid unhealthy curiosity on my part (OK, just a little bit :) ) but I believe it is a fair piece of information that is available in the rest of the world ( with names and personal hobbies...). I am obviously not asking for names or exact figures for personal fortunes ( this kind of info would definitely be uncomfortable for the fortunate ones ;0 ) just an approximation. For example: 250 millions in transport (totally made that up, by the way). The purpose: I argued that the real measure of the health of a nation is based on the criteria here and here. This info would complete the painting if you will. So help, please ? If you wish to not put the info in the comment section, you can email me at lova.rakotomalala@gmail.com.
Cheers to our mystery wealthy man/woman.
PS: let's stay clear from former or current government officials, this is not about politics. :)

7/13/06

Gladwell's “Blink” theory. An applied case study: Zidane's decision.

I know I promised to not talk about the world cup anymore. However, this is more of an extrapolation on the ramification of a headbutt that looks more and more like a stand against bigotry and ignorance. Let’s get our facts right: after the interview on French TV, Zidane apologized for his action but reiterated that he did not regret it. He also did not deny the version published in the press stating that Materazzi called him a “son of a terrorist whore” but he refused to state the exact wordings used by Materazzi. Zidane has a history of “hotheadedness” that is well illustrated but always as a reaction to previous aggression. Zidane most critics said that he should have known better, that he tarnished his legacy and that physical violence is never justified.
Here is my contention based loosely on Gladwell’s book. The theory in a very simplified way can be summarized as “thinking without thinking”. In other words, it’s the ability to process the relevant factors in the decision making process and select for the important ones to discern to the right course of action in a very short amount of time. In this particular case, Zidane clearly stated that he knew exactly what he was doing and that it was not a case of sudden rage but it did happen very fast. So what were the relevant factors ?
Factors against the headbutt: ejection from the final of the World Cup, tarnished legacy, representative of a team and a nation, outcome of the game still in doubt.
Factors for the headbutt: punish instantly verbal abuse against his mother, sister and race, take a stand against at once against shirt pulling, behind the back aggression, provocation and bigotry that have been corrupting the game of football for too long.
It is of course a stretch to argue that all of this information was carefully processed by Zidane in the 1.5 s it took him to clock Materazzi. However, he acknowledged that he was aware of the moment (overtime of world cup final, 2 billions people, sure ejection) and try to walk away from Materazzi (very clear on the replay) before choosing otherwise.
So he KNEW the consequences on the game and his team (he said: we would have gone in overtime anyway where it is always a toss-up), the surroundings (biggest stage ever) and the fallout for his legacy and DECIDED to go for it because it was more important to punish and take a stand for his family and against bigotry at that time.
In retrospect, how can we argue against the timing? What better time to take a stand against bigotry than in the most media covered moment ever, for an issue that is as tense as it could ever be. If his actions result in a harder stance in football against deliberate provocations and monkey noises, this is the best thing that could ever happen to him, France and football. This is a blessing in disguise for France because as other nations were laughing at the fact that the birthplace of the “Declaration of Human Rights” is currently deporting illegal child immigrants, France’s most famous representative fought back for his family ‘s rights to not be denigrated and humiliated on the basis of its race. He sacrificed his own legacy for an undeniable human value for him: respect of one’s family and culture. In the process, he also tripped other stereotypes that my favorite author Bill simmons (Sportsguy) touched upon: “I thought it was fascinating to watch him wipe out two stereostypes at once: That soccer players are wusses, and that French people are wusses. I'm also delighted that the Euro papers hired lip readers to see what the Italian said to him -- you know how I've been pushing for lip readers to replace sideline reporters for the past few years. But I didn't think the Zidane thing was as big of a deal as everyone made it out to be -- 8 minutes left in extra time, and it's not like they didn't have 10 guys left.” So there, Zidane also headbutted the idiotic stereotype in The US that French people only knows how to surrender when challenged by their neighbors.
Ironically, Gladwell and Simmons who often exchange ideas on basketball and American culture, might debate over this football thing for a while. For Zidane, his mind was made up in the BLINK of an eye and I cannot fault his final decision.

7/12/06

Madagascar: Happy Nation ?

Found this post on the happy nation index. This new index that surely would make Tattum happy is defined as such:

"The Happy Planet Index (HPI) is an innovative new measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered around the world. It is the first ever index to combine environmental impact with well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which country by country, people live long and happy lives. The results are surprising, even shocking, but there is much to learn from what they show.

The Index doesn'’t reveal the ‘happiest country in the world. It shows the relative efficiency with which nations convert the planet's natural resources into long and happy lives for their citizens. The nations that top the list aren'’t the happiest places in the world, but the nations that score well show that achieving, long, happy lives without over-stretching the planet'’s resources is possible."
Madagascar has an index of 46 equal to Holland. The formula is

HPI =	Life satisfaction x Life expectancy

	Ecological Footprint

So what is ecological footprint ?
The ecological footprint measures how much land area is required to sustain a given population at present levels of consumption, technological development and resource efficiency, and is expressed in global-average hectares (gha). The largest component elements of Footprint are the land used to grow food, trees and biofuels, areas of ocean used for fishing, and , most importantly , the land required to support the plant life needed to absorb and sequester CO2 emissions from fossil fuels.

So basically we are not really happier but we do not trash our environment as much as others and might have a shot at lasting longer. Although at the rate at which humans deplete the Earth:"At present, therefore, our Footprint exceeds our biocapacity by 0.4 global hectares per person, or 23 per cent. This means that the planet's living stocks are being depleted faster than nature can regenerate them." it might not matter much how long we live.

7/11/06

Can we talk about something else ?

As the world cup ended, I was hoping for one of those "Southwest Airlines get away" moment: "Ding, you are now free to .....resume a world cup-free life" :). Alas, "the headbutt heard around the world " is all the rage on the news and the blogosphere. Keep in mind that Zizou has not given his version of the event yet....Oh boy, we might be here for a while. Here's a collection of all the opinions about this incident that clearly is about more than football now:
SF, Helmut, BHL and much more later.
My opinion is simple: knowing the game was going to PK anyway and knowing what he allegedly said, I would have decked the guy in similar fashion for insulting not only me but my family and all people prejudiced on account of their look or faith. But that is just me :). It is more important to take a stand right there against bigotry with the largest audience in the world than biting your tongue forever in hope of shooting a PK that someone else can make anyway.
I am done discussing this topic because here is what people should get animated about:
200, 000 deaths in Darfur since 2003 (in French).
7 Bombs explode in Bombay: 160 casualties.
(Mos and GSL, I hope you have both heard from your family by now. This sucks beyond imaginable)
North Korea's missile threats or
even this.

I love the world cup fiesta and all but it's over now so let's move on now or at least discuss how we can improve it by stopping all the diving and faking that are taking over the game.

7/10/06

Quick fresh thoughts on World Cup final:

I want to write these few points about the final moments of the World Cup before I read too many points of view about this:
1) Italy-France was a thriller of a final, a fitting ending game to a great World Cup.
2)Frenchmen and women ought to stand proud today: The French team showed great heart and a beautiful style of football until the very end.
3)Zidane's head butt is a SAD event, an ATROCIOUS gesture and well-deserved red card. That said, I am waiting to see what exactly happened prior to that. If he was "fondled" as some video showed and was called an "Arab terrorist" as one report stated, I would NOT EXCUSE the gesture, but I would UNDERSTAND.
4)Zidane's artistic play is the best thing that has happened to football in the last 10 years. I regret his temper and display of violence, however I am going to work today with my ZIZOU jersey proudly on and I will welcome all the jeers and sarcastic comments. Why? a) The joy he provided us since 1998 is immense b) Until one has been called with a racial slur, one cannot speculate on how one would react. Again, I do not excuse but I sure understand.
Congratulations Italy ! Pirlo,Cannavaro and Buffon are world class player deserving of the ultimate trophy. I am afraid I cannot say the same about Materazzi.

I am a bit relieved the World Cup is over though. I am exhausted and I am looking forward to not be glued to the TV for a while :).

7/6/06

Ronaldo football 101: it's like sky diving (with a ball). Brilliant !

just like sky diving you need to:
1) make sure you have a landing spot (i.e: penalty box)
2) make sure you are accompanied closely ( opponent in the vicinity is recommended but not necessary)
3) make sure you have a proper hang time in the air with your arms spread out.
4) upon landing, roll over a couple of times to cushion the blow (or help the ref)
5) congratulate your fellow divers after successfully scoring.
optional: (for the esthetic of the dive): waive for a red card upon completion ( work especially well when englishmen is involved). Wink at teammates and blow kisses at the crowd.

7/5/06

The poverty gap: how does Madagascar fare ?

I do not know enough about economics and development to assess the current situation in Madagascar. However, this index makes a lot of sense (to me at least): you can tell the state of wealth or (poverty) of a country by observing how much does its poorest population contribute to the total GDP ? Keep in mind that Madagascar's GDP /capita is now evaluated at $905 (169th in the worldout of 180). Here is a list of how subsaharian countries fare in that regard:

As a comparison, here is how other developing countries fared:

So it seems that Madagascar poverty gap is wider than in most countries other than Argentina and Brazil. Still we are only a few points away from the USA (4.9 vs 5.4)... What conclusions to draw from this... I am not sure :) but it seems fare to say that the USA poverty gap is not getting better. Of course, their GDP/capita is $41,000 so it is difficult to compare. I am just worried for Madagascar because the external signs may indicate that things are moving in the right directions: shopping mall everywhere, cell phones and entertainment facilities... when it might just hide the underlying growing poverty.

7/4/06

Happy 230 B'day, America. (from U2 and Springsteen ).

As the US celebrates its Declaration of Independence form the UK, we join in with 4th of July songs from U2 and Springsteen. U2's is from the album unforgettable fire: referring to paintings from "Nagasaki and Hiroshima" survivors. I guess U2 was US centric at the time, celebrating Martin Luther King ("Pride, in the name of love) but also remembering one of the darkest hour of US history ( Nuclear bombing of civilians. )
Springsteen also sings the 4th of July but emphasizes the forgotten ones by the American Dream.
It gives a pretty accurate picture of the US: moments of absolute greatness (Declaration of independence, D-day...) mixed with times of darkness ( native American genocide, Iraq War...).
So happy B'day but remain aware of the work to do.

7/2/06

Yes, in case Le Pen asks, this IS France....

Thuram was asked how he felt about the remarks saying that there were too many people of color on the French team. He laughed and answered: " Well, I am not black,[...] I am French." Considering that Thuram is indeed "black" and that he is very committed in the fight against racism, his answer was probably as on point as it gets (with a touch of sarcasm). This "rainbow" french team will probably do more in unifying France than any political leaders could ever do. Who said football is only a game? ;)