World Press Round-Up

Elsewhere in the World:

We’re all aware of the big important things happening in the world these days, such as Microsoft launching its Xbox 360. But some small things also deserve attention. Here’s your round-up of the news around the world, starting on Wednesday January 18, 2006:

As of everything in life, we should always start with the ladies. And thus you may or may not be aware of the fact that Chile has elected its first female President, Ms. Michelle Bachelet. A divorced mother of three, who studied military strategy and lost a father to prison because he was opposed to General Pinochet's regime, she comes with a lot of hope. We (or at any rate I) wish her goodluck.

Otherwise,...

German cannibal Armin Meiwes is on retrial for having killed and eaten Bernd-Juergen Brandes. He claims he didn’t want to kill him. "I wanted to eat him, but I didn't want to kill him." I suppose that extra drop of Tabasco was the fatal blow, eh Armin?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4618216.stm

French policeman Roland Montoya had two MiG-23 fighter planes and three Mi-18 helicopters in his home, in Togo. I have a deflated soccer ball in my garage. Care to exchange?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4617002.stm

In Lithuania, the prices of vegetables and apples have fallen.
http://www.elta.lt/sablonas1.php?kalba=en

According to Kire writing for the Macedonian Digest, Macedonia is occupied by Greeks after the partitions during the early 20^th century. Until that occupation is over, Macedonia will never earn its true name, “Aegean Macedonia”.
http://www.maknews.com/html/articles/stefov/digest_1.html

In Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Biman cricket team beat the Kalabagan Krira Chakra team with a comfortable seven-wicket victory at Bogra. Who are we rooting for? http://www.bangladesh-web.com/view.php?hidDate=2006-01-19&hidType=SPT

In Suriname Judge John von Niesewand has ordered De West newspaper to advertise a correction about one of its articles in the pages of another newspaper, De Ware Tijd. De West will be fined US $1,800 per day until it complies. The problem is, De Ware Tijd doesn’t want to publish the correction. That’s how you wear out the competition. http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/suriname/suriname.htm

Still in Suriname, bad cops are supposedly no longer welcome in Suriname police force. Sorry guys… http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/suriname/suriname.htm

In Lesotho: Rankolopane Letsoara, a veteran journalist, retired at the end of December 2004. His last job had been to edit Litsoakotleng, the newspaper of the Christian Council of Lesotho. He retired in international anonymity, since most people can’t even tell you which country Lesotho is inside of.
http://www.trc.org.ls/events/events20051.htm#Journalist%20Rankolopane%20Letsoara%20Retires

Still in Lesotho, a visitor in the Queen Elizabeth II hospital shot dead a patient in the conclusive episode of the Thaba-Tseka feud. The patient had already been shot and stabbed by the same assailant, which explains why he was in the hospital in the first place.
http://www.trc.org.ls/events/events20051.htm#Patient%20Murdered%20at%20Queen%20Elizabeth%20II%20Hospital

There is a 1993 Blue Grey Mitsubishi Montero on sale in the Caribbean island of St. Kitts-Nevis for the price of $17,000. It’s a manual shift and, according to the owner, has 0 miles on the meter. Still a bit expensive, I’d say…
http://www.sknvibes.com/Autos/AutoSearch.cfm?Tz=%21%23%40%20%20%0A&ssz=11

Do you know that famously stinky French blue cheese, the Roquefort? Well it comes from the village of Roquefort, and the village’s soccer club, FC Roquefort, will name its stadium Alain Ransinan. Cool, isn’t it?
http://www.sudouest.com/180106/reg_lotetgar.asp?Article=180106a103645.xml

In Papua New Guinea, the Aopi Centre building at Waigani was evacuated during the lunch hour yesterday after the fire alarm went off. It was a false alarm. Now imagine someone was in the bathroom and came out to find all that free food and no one to claim it…
http://www.thenational.com.pg/011806/nation21.htm

Well folks, that’s all for this week’s round-up of news around the world. I hope you enjoyed it, and until next time, ciao ciao.

And Norway Saves the Day

Here is a lesson the US, France, Israel, the new Iraqi people, and any other supposed democratic country with ethnic divides should heed. This is the story of how to integrate foreign people into your society without forcing them to change, without ignoring them, and by working with them. This is the story of true democracy - in action.

The Norwegian government has recently realized that there were a number of Somalians living in Norway. Somalians, Norwegians. Somalia, Norway. Seriously, I can’t think of anything less likely, and any two peoples less alike, than Somalians in Norway. But somehow it happened.

“So, what do we do?” asked the Norwegian government.

… (Pause. Norwegian head-scratching.)

“I have an idea. Bring camels from the Gobi desert.”

“?”

Exactly. Think about it. Somalians who just got to Norway are probably going to have a hard time immediately adapting to the ways of this highly developed, technologically advanced, Viking cultured, cold country. However, they do happen to have invaluable expertise in the field of camel herding. So what do we do? We bring camels to Norway.

The camels will be an attraction, sure enough, and they can also provide milk, fur, hide, fertilizer, and meat. Their herders could therefore live off of them. They also secure an alternative source of income for local agriculture. Further, and this is the most important part, you help assure a people’s successful entrance into society not merely by giving them government welfare and not caring about them (France) or by letting them rot helpless hoping one day they will succeed (US), but by giving them a job they excel at and that they like. Obviously, a job is the best thing any honest person could receive because not only does (s)he make a living, but they feel decent. Psychologically, the difference is unimaginable. To receive money you know you’ve worked for and honestly earned makes a huge difference, that benefits both the person and the nation.

The miracle doesn’t stop here. When asked about the prospect of having camels roaming around the land, local farmers were cautious but welcoming. Why not? If there aren’t any explicit issues that arise, it would be an interesting experiment. And, in true civic behaviour, the farmers suggested that they (the rich educated farmers from a developed nation) could learn from Somalians (whose country we can’t imagine the state of): Einar Myki, one such farmer, says, "Of course, if [Somalians] know camels from before, they can educate us if we want to start with this." Do you realize what this is? You have a rich white man saying he could learn from a poor black man! The spirit of humility and of equality is unparalleled! Amazing.

And just imagine what could happen: in a few generations, finding camels roaming (or in Norway’s case just chillin’) might even be a normal sight. In a few generations Viking Norwegian farmers might just grow up knowing how to herd camels, and Somalian Norwegians might be very talented at cross-country skiing and might follow the soccer exploits of Brondby and Rosenborg. I'm not saying that the introduction of a few camels is going to miraculously integrate a people inside their new society; I'm saying that if this type of attitude, on both sides, is sustained, and if they cpntinue to find logical ways of integrating people, then success is inevitable.

And that, in my opinion, is partly what true democracy is about: integrating a people, but not assimilating them. These Somalians aren’t asked (or worse, forced) to become white Vikings, they’re simply asked to give and receive in society. And they’re given an honest chance to do so.

Just for the record, you can probably imagine that Somalian camels in Norway will die of cold right around September and would stay dead at least until June. So they thought of bringing over Mongolian camels from the Gobi Desert, who are also used to extreme temperatures. Last I heard, Igor and missus had grown a family of two… And once again, Norway saves the day.