Interesting Links

• Mugabe is not the worst dictator in Africa.
• Stop Mugabe by cutting off his supply of…. paper.
• British mercenaries try to take over Guinea.
• The rise and fall of European and Arab cities.
• Advice for fixing the global food crisis.
• The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart – Bill Bishop
• A debate about evolution and the origin of life from a Muslim perspective.
• Possible good news for veterans with PTSD: give them ’shrooms.

Hot Fun in the Summertime….

I’m disrupting the usual assortment of interesting links to bring you a special holiday weekend edition, of summer time fun. Enjoy!

Miscellaneous Fun

• Annalisa Barbieri on growing up with ice cream.
• The power of “because”.
• Statistics (of baseball) in politics.
• Philanthropy in US cities. Hat tip: NonProfiteer
• The ‘11 best foods you aren’t eating.’ Personally, I can’t stand beets or anchovies (except in Caesar salad dressing), but I highly recommend all the rest.
• Male and female privileges lists. I like commenter katiet’s snark.

Places to Go

• The world’s first ‘building in motion.’
• More bridges to visit.

Movies to See

• Movies about Rwanda, and ‘rebuilding the hearts of people.’
• A buddy cop film about federalism (so says Jacob T. Levy)

Books to Read

• Dan Drezner’s vacation reading.
• 11 Questions Every Donor Asks. Hat tip: NonProfiteer
• Independence Day reading (just in case you don’t have enough already).
• Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington, reviewed by siphoning off a few thoughts.
• A reader asks Tyler Cowen which books he should take to Africa. I’d accept all of his choices, but might I also suggest the List?

Testing Veterans

The things that we have done and continue to do to our veterans shocks and appalls me.  The latest scandal is covered by the Washington Times:

VA testing drugs on war veterans
Experiments raise ethical questions

The government is testing drugs with severe side effects like psychosis and suicidal behavior on hundreds of military veterans, using small cash payments to attract patients into medical experiments that often target distressed soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, a Washington Times/ABC News investigation has found.

In one such experiment involving the controversial anti-smoking drug Chantix, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) took three months to alert its patients about severe mental side effects. The warning did not arrive until after one of the veterans taking the drug had suffered a psychotic episode that ended in a near lethal confrontation with police.

I work for a statistical survey company, and we have to be extraordinarily careful about consent and monitoring the health and well-being of our respondents, especially when dealing with those who suffer from mental or emotional disorders (we occassionally poll people with depression or similar conditions).  If our review board isn’t thoroughly convinced of the ethicality of the study, and persuaded by the safeguards for the respondents’ health, then it is a no-go.  And we don’t  do anything but talk to them!  So how the hell did this pass muster?

 

Hat tip: Matt Yglesias

World Malaria Day

My Google calendar (always available on the Doings page) has kindly reminded me that today is World Malaria Day.  Apparently, some people (at last count, 22607) on Facebook are sponsoring something called ‘Project Blackout’ – ‘one million faces against malaria.’  You’re supposed to replace your profile picture with a black square.  The idea is to

POST A BLACK PROFILE PICTURE TO SHOW THE WORLD WHAT ONE MILLION FACES DYING EVERY YEAR FROM MALARIA LOOKS LIKE (apologies for the caps – not mine).

I’m not really sure how I feel about publicity stunts like this (do they really do any good?) so I’m not participating, but I will do my part by sharing some information about malaria.

Headlines from Africa

In order to not completely overwhelm my del.icio.us feed, a post of articles about Africa. All can be accessed through allAfrica.com, which you should be checking regularly anyway.

Civil Liberties and Rule of Law
Rwandan genocide hearings to begin Thursday
Nigerian Congress to begin investigating the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation
Former Monrovia City magistrate takes President to court
Broadcast journalist accuses Angolian diplomat of assault
Reporters without Borders condemns the closing of a Niger radio station for broadcasting testimonies of soldiers’ victims
2 musicians are arrested in Cameroon for criticizing constitutional amendments

Economics and Development
China earmarks US $5Billion for food aid for Africa
Oxfam International says ‘don’t make EPAs with the EU legally binding’ and the Malawian government asks, ‘if EPAS are so good, why force us to sign?’
Zimbabwean NGOs may go under due to foreign currency shortages

Governance
Mauritania’s first democratically-elected President receives vote of confidence

Health
4 million children are treated for worms in Cameroon (4 MILLION!)
Novartis is reducing the cost of its malaria medication, Coartem by 20%
Tanzania makes gains in maternal and child survival

War, Genocide, Conflict and Post-Conflict
Shelling resumes in Burundi
UN officials tell Ethiopia and Eritrea to resolve their border dispute, already
South Africa is replacing the National Defence Force with the Police Service in border patrol operations