Interesting; I follow a motovlogger (Itchy Boots), and she is currently travelling across many African countries. After a while my wife and I noticed that there was a clear tendency of countries where she spoke French being the dirtiest, poorest, having the worst infrastructure and corruption.
Same with Haiti (French colony) vs Dominican Republic (Spanish colony).
Compared to Haiti, every country in Latin America is like paradise (fuck, some of the most racist comments I’ve heard came from Latin Americans talking about Haitian immigrants in their countries)
That’s sad. I hope these comments are not from fellow Brazilians.
The comparison with the Dominican Republic is even more emblematic, because they started as equals (same island, divided between France an Spain in 1697). There has been no charitable colonizer, but there really seems to be a trend of France being the worst.
Is there a “colonizer” rank, ordered by average HDI of colonized countries?
My guess would be England, Spain, Portugal, then France far behind. (only the longest colonization period counts)
French colonization of Haiti was particularly horrible because of the mass importation of slaves and extremely poor treatment of slaves on plantations. But Haiti’s poor development is also the result of many post-independence events. France forced Haiti to pay massive reparations. The US intervened in Haiti several times to prop up US-backed leaders who did little to develop Haiti.
Wouldn’t a subway or train be 100 times more cost effective and safe? In a connected city asky taxi alleviates 1 car from traffic, a subway alleviates thousands. Not to mention the extreme danger of helicopters and tall buildings. Helicopters are easily affected by upa and downdrafts, and large buildings in cities typically create these conditions. Seems very dangerous to put a bunch of these out, even experienced helicopter pilots need practice with a new machine. On top of that what about air traffic control and landing? Do I have to schedule my rides in advance to avoid mid air collision? Will buildings have to be reinforced for landing pads?
An Italian man has been crushed to death under thousands of wheels of a Parmesan-style cheese, authorities said.
Giacomo Chiapparini, 74, was buried when a shelf broke in his warehouse in the Lombardy region on Sunday, firefighter Antonion Dusi told AFP.
The collapse created a domino effect bringing down thousands of wheels, which weigh about 40kg (84lbs) each.
Some of the wheels reportedly fell about 10m (33ft) and a local resident told Italian media the collapse sounded “like thunder”.
Speaking to Italian media, a neighbour described Mr Chiapparini as “very supportive… and generous”.
The warehouse, located in Romano di Lombardia, about 50km (31 miles) east of Milan, contained a total of 25,000 wheels of Grana Padano, a hard cheese which resembles Parmesan and is popular in Italy.
The fact that we can maintain communication with something so far away boggles my fucking mind. Technology is some good shit, sad that NASA keeps getting funded less and the military keeps getting funded more.
Based on comments and stuff I read, isn’t this sooner than expected? I thought I read somewhere it wouldn’t be until October until contact would be possibly back.
They planned on trying a command to fix it but they didn’t expect it to work and said that October when the system reset happened was the best shot. Seems like the command ended up working though.
Yes! Very glad they were able to reestablish contact. It makes me happy knowing that both Voyagers are still out there sending useful data still after all these years. Absolutely incredible. I think Carl Sagan would also be very pleased.
Damn I had no idea that’s where the phrase came from. Now I want to start showing up at his rallies to give him the Nazi salute… Oh wait, that’s right, his followers already do that.
By the way, this sort of thing is how many of those historical “religious schisms” happened. They weren’t really about religious belief; they were about whether a particular congregation should follow a dictator or a rebel movement.
Yes, this sort of thing probably informed the Nicene Creed and other core elements of Roman Christianity.
In the geopolitical context of West Africa, this attempted coup highlights the recurrent destabilizing elements that persist in the region. The instability, primarily fueled by jihadist insurgencies, external powers, and internal grievances, significantly hinders democratic progress and socio-economic development. Niger, like its neighbors, Mali and Burkina Faso, finds itself in a precarious situation, walking a fine line between international alliances, internal political dynamics, and threats from non-state actors. This event calls for an in-depth academic exploration into the cyclical nature of power struggles in post-colonial states, specifically examining how external interventions, both past and present, intersect with domestic power dynamics.
So my question is: who is supporting it from the outside?
KSA or non-state Saudis are always the obvious choice. China doesn’t usually get that cozy with islamists. Russia is busy or they’d be the usual suspect. Iran is also busy, plus these guys look sunni.
It’s very possible this is wholly organic, but recent history makes that suspect.
It’s crucial to remember that Niger is a key western ally in the fight against Islamist militancy in West Africa. Therefore, direct involvement from countries such as the KSA, China, or Russia seems less likely, as it would conflict with their international relations and objectives.
While it’s conceivable that non-state actors could have a hand in the unrest, available information doesn’t provide concrete evidence for this claim. It’s also worth noting that jihadist groups in the region are not homogenous, and often have differing interests, making their involvement in political coups complicated and less probable.
However, you rightly point out that these situations are rarely as simple as they appear. The truth may well be a mix of local grievances and foreign influences, given the complex and interconnected nature of global politics. Until there’s more information, though, any assertions remain largely speculative.
I have to argue against your assessment that the ksa does not support Islamic militant movements, under Bandar bin sultan they had a strong policy for favoring such groups including isis, a successful policy which seems to have led to his removal. Otherwise they have a strong history of non-state support of islamists.
Russia supported the taliban: www.voanews.com/a/…/6192205.html and the taliban claims Chinese support as well which fits given post-us withdrawal activity.
The goal to extract the west from Africa fits well with both Russian and Chinese geopolitical goals, and ksa has had an agenda to “islamize” Africa for decades.
NONE of this is anything but baseless conjecture, but in my opinion Africa is the next geopolitical theater, much like the middle east was during the 2000s and eastern Europe and the pacific are now.
China would be well placed to make their maneuvers in areas where the west has fewer natural advantages and their arguments against colonialism bear weight, even the pacific seems less friendly to Chinese geopolitical aims than africa right now.
Your points are well-made, yet they lean heavily on historical precedent while missing recent dynamics. Although past foreign interference is notable, current geopolitics require fresh evidence to assert foreign involvement. Africa is indeed a growing geopolitical theatre, but the narrative isn’t solely about external actors - the agency of African states and citizens plays a crucial role. Dismissing them risks oversimplifying the complex reality.
I completely agree there is no evidence to support the claim of interference here.
We’ll see. I think the 2010s had a number of staged “coups” and perhaps we’re getting back to the era of organic political upheaval. Wouldn’t that be nice?
bbc.co.uk
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