A Few Odds and Ends on a Quiet Sunday

Published April 26, 2009 @ 07:42PM PT

Feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment; so, in time-honored fashion, slept late and then sought refuge at a local deli. Because, corned beef and pastrami really are the answer to everything.

(And yes, Canter's is the best deli in the world. Fighting words, I know, but those who swear by New York, or Montreal, simply haven't ventured far enough west.)

Anyhows, my addiction to google reader also continues unabated, so below some of the more interesting links from the past few days:

- Chris Blattman has a great post on what to pack if you plan on working in the tropics. I especially like his suggestions for your own personal first aid kit.

- Speaking of tropical climates, Steve Bloomfield on his blog Things Seen and Heard highlights a great quote from Bernard Porter (reviewing Michela Wrong's newest book):

“You can’t just march in to someone else’s country, give it entirely arbitrary boundaries, decide to rule it with only the minimum of resources, settle an alien population on its best land, brutally suppress any sign of resistance, then scuttle before you’ve properly prepared it for self-government - and expect everything to turn out OK."

Or, as Steve summarizes: "How Europe screwed up Africa in one sentence."

- And, finally, from The Onion - Well, There Goes Our Dream Vacation to Somalia:

"I know exactly what my kids are going to say. 'Oh, Dad, this is just like the time we had to abort our Sierra Leone trip in 2000, or when we had to cancel our hiking expedition through the very depths of the Rwandan jungle.' Well, I'm sorry, but who do you think I am, Nostradamus? Can I see into the future and predict what countries bad things are going to happen in? Of course not. Crazy, unforeseen events are always happening in random countries, for no reason at all, and with no historical precedent. That's the way the world works. It's just that this time, my family happened to get unlucky. Again."

[Image from wwff.wordpress.com]

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Author

Michael has worked for NGOs in Afghanistan, across east and central Africa, and Iraq. Prior to going overseas, he worked on a project providing assistance to the United Nations on the application of International Humanitarian Law to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.