A mix of good and bad on 6-9-081.South Africans attacking foreigners (like Somalis), have led to at least 70,000 people fleeing. More than 50 people were killed. Apparently, there's nationalism in Africa. I thought Africa had a strong pan-Africa movement. I also thought the borders were mostly random and haphazard, so borders were kind of arbitrary constructs. Damn. Oh, well.
2.In Australia, men are flocking to high paying mining jobs, and women are replacing them on cattle ranches. Jackaroos are becoming "Jillaroos". In typically blunt Australian fashion, the manager of Anna Creek Station, Randall Crozier, says his female workers are doing a great job. "The hormones are not playing up with them and they're more gentle and steady with cattle and look after your machinery and motorbikes and stuff and generally are much better than fellas. "And I'm not knocking the fellas, they do a great job too. The world's changing, the women are getting tougher than blokes, mate, hey?"
3.Also down-under, Australian surgeons saved the leg of an unborn baby by operating on her in the womb when her mother was just 22 weeks pregnant. It's still legal in America to have an abortion at this point (third trimester starts at 24 weeks, I think). Speaking of toughness, I think just as it is tougher to not fight in the face of a tormenting world and remain pacifist, I think women are stronger to have their children and go through childbirth than to have abortions (which has been painted as empowerment) -it takes balls, so to speak, lol.
4.Steve Jobs is expected to unveil the new Apple iphone2 in San Francisco today. Wow, greater connectivity.
5."Everyone is starving" in Ethiopia. Just as a million people died from the famine in 1984 (compounded by communist policies), there is Drought now. Adults and older children are increasingly stricken by severe hunger, health workers say. Drought is disastrous in Ethiopia; more than 80 percent of people live off the land. Ethiopia receives more food aid than nearly every other country in the world. The country's climate, chronic drought and large population -- some 78 million people, in the midst of the current world food crisis, makes it bad. Maybe Steve Jobs should "connect" to Ethiopia. See my Economist summary post on Ethiopia, above.
6.You Don't Mess with Zohan and Kung-Fu Panda are fighting each other for top box office receipts. Pandas are kicking Adam Sandler's butt. I just saw a video of real Panda mating ritual yesterday; link. Han means Chinese. Z makes me think of Zorro (chinese zorro??) I once saw a real hardcore kill-each-other fight, in grammar school, in San Francisco. Wow. That was something. Some serious connections.
7.The Chinese 7.9 earthquake led to the stopping up of the outflow of what has been termed "quakelakes." Experts warn that the Tangjiashan lake, up to 6 feet above the spillway, could burst at any time, flooding the homes of more than one million people. 250,000 people have already been evacuated.
8.The FBI crime report shows 2007 violent crime in U.S. down in all major categories from 2006. The number of murders, which everyone is so obsessed about, in 2007 is down 2.7 percent, they say. The number of violent crimes rose in the South, however.
So Australian women, the iphone, and fetal surgery are the good news.
The economy seems to be the bad news.
9. The "triple whammy" hit last friday, with a report showing the highest unemployment figures in 20 years, and gas prices hit an average of 4 bucks in the U.S. yesterday, and stocks took a dive... with this housing business (with hidden costs that -no one?- knows how will play out) and the resultant credit crunch. I haven't read much of my economist. I should be able to report better. Sorry. I think they think it's better than everyone seems to think it is. The economy is largely psychological, everyone seems to think. Then again, smart people think we're in for a long and deep recession, too.
I, God, am trying to stay positive. Let's start using our new iphones to develop Ethiopia and such, eh? Ahoy, matey! Chart a course for...Intercourse, PA?
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