Sarcasm & The Great Immigration Debate

Immigration is always a contoversial issue.  The state of Arizona recently passed a law that bars people with "accents" from teaching English.  This NPR All Things Considered piece is a poignant and comical look at the bill:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126480169

Siddhartha

Musical references (found on wikipedia)

• The 1972 Yes song Close to The Edge from the Close to the Edge album was inspired by the book.
• Radiohead's 2001 album Amnesiac contains themes and lyrics inspired by the book, especially "Pyramid Song", "I Might Be Wrong", and "Like Spinning Plates".
• Rock band Queen recites a passage from Siddhartha in their 1977 BBC re-take of the song We Will Rock You.
• The 1971 Ralph McTell song The Ferryman from the You Well-Meaning Brought Me Here album was inspired by the book.
• Jerry Cantrell has a song called Siddhartha on his Degradation Trip double album.
• Andrew McMahon of the bands Something Corporate and Jack's Mannequin has the quote "the river is everywhere" tattooed on his wrist and is currently working on a clothing line called River Apparel.
• The Hot Water Music song Sunday Suit contains the line "Siddhartha style, I'll choose a path of open minds".
• "The river man" by R.E.M
• Pete Townshend's song The Ferryman was written for a modern production of Siddhartha in June 1976.
• The Slovenian rock band Siddharta was named after the novel.

By The Thousands: Human Rights in Eritrea Forces Youth To Flee Overseas

"Eritrea, which fought its way to independence nearly 20 years ago, is ruled by hard-as-nails former guerrilla fighters who have held firm to their revolutionary Marxist policies and who demand that all young people work for the government, sometimes until their 40s. Anyone who tries to buck this national program, according to human rights groups, is subject to cruelly inventive tortures.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says that hundreds of thousands of people have fled Eritrea in recent years — the total population is less than five million — and nearly every day, 100 new Eritreans risk their lives to cross into Sudan.
Some of these defections have been hard to miss. In December, more than 10 players from the Eritrean national soccer team absconded to Kenya during a tournament. In 2004, some Eritrean refugees being sent home from Libya were so desperate not to return that they hijacked the plane."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/world/africa/20eritrea.html?src=me&ref=world

Spoken Word Poet Tantra Zawadi

Tantra Zawadi is a spoken word artist. 
“My work can best be described by the love that I make through my art to the vision of the unseen reality.”
http://tantra%20zawadi/

Inshallah إن شاء الله

"Inshallah" or "Insha'Allah" (إن شاء الله) is a phrase often used in East Africa and the larger Muslim world.  The English translation is "God willing" and is a term to indicate hope for an aforementioned event to occur in the future.  However, the term is often thrown into conversation to express "if I feel like it".  For example, when asking a refugee applicant to come for interviews the following day they will often simply state "inshallah".

Local Produce & Job Creation

Awesome: http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/06/15/seeds-for-success-gardens/?refid=0

Self-Evolution vs. the Need for Job Perfection

Lately I have been on a quest to "Be the Best I Can Be", which entails examining how I do my job and how I can improve.  I was dealt a blow today when I was told by a team member that I "act more like an upper-management manager than a team leader".  So I have taken the criticism in stride and am now working on my methods of empowerment in my quest for self-evolution instead of over-achieving perfectionism.

Stealing the Soul: Photography as a Form of Exploitation

When you tell people you work in Africa, the first thing they ask is "Do you have pictures?"  I recently had a conversation with a colleague who just finished working with the PeaceCorps in Latin American for 4 years and he was able to conceptualize what has been hard to explain to everyone who asks that question: That there exists an power differential between photographer and subject in the Global South.  He explained that, especially in rural communities in South America, inhabitants would refuse to have their picture taken because they believed the photograph would "steal their soul".  While this may sound like an ignorant idea if taken literally, the inhabitants were trying to express the complex and abstract concept of exploitation.

By definition, exploitation is: "selfish utilization" or the "utilization of another person or group for selfish purposes"

The inhabitants didn't actually believe that the camera would physically steal their immortal being, but were trying to communicate across language and cultural barriers that they felt uncomfortable posing for the enjoyment of foreigners.  In many cultures, it is incredibly rude to begin a conversation without making the proper introductions.  I am still learning the art of office dynamics in Kenya and continue to catch myself making business requests before going through the proper morning introductions.  So whipping out your camera to take the picture of individuals you have never met can be a huge cultural faux pas in many situations in the Global South and around the world. 

Kakuma Refugee Camp, Reuters News Article

excellent article outlining situation in Kakuma Refugee Camp: http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/56540/2010/02/16-161221-1.htm