Leave it to the Communist Guardian to invent such nonsense. Factually, there has been no increase in temperatures in 17 years, but in the mind of leftists not only do these mythical temperature rises exist, they are even causing Muslims to kidnap girls.
If we are just going to invent myths, I’ll take a shot. There is no doubt that the kidnapping tendencies of the African Muslims were caused by the explosion of perversion in the West and the rampant pedophilia in Hollywood.
Ricky,
There’s no doubt Islamic fundamentalism is fueled by a rejection of western modernity including what you would call the explosion of modernity among other things. However, economic dislocation caused by the end of cheap oil and changing climate (drought and desertification are indisputable) is more likely the reason behind Boko Haram. Also note, irritation with western culture may be more a symptom than a cause. If the economy was fine and the farms were producing, I doubt the message of Boko Haram would have the same level of appeal amongst dislocated farm boys.
HRW, I was making a joke. People have been starving, killing and kidnapping each other in Africa for centuries, long before the myth of “global warming” was invented, long before perversion engulfed the West. That is why Frederick Douglass and other black leaders rejected Lincoln’s idea to return them to Africa.
It is a tragedy for the Nigerians that they are not still ruled by the British. Though Great Britain itself is as weak and perverted as the US, British Governors provided the best government on earth when they ruled Hong Kong. Americans would probably be better off they conceded they have grown too stupid, lazy and selfish to govern themselves and asked Queen Elizabeth to appoint a new royal governor.
Oil production began to decline in West Texas where my people came from. The overuse of the Ogalala Aquifer has also reduced irrigation, driven farm boys from their land and caused “desertification”. However, rather than kidnap hundreds of girls from New Mexico and Oklahoma, West Texans are fracking in the old oil fields, providing fuel for Al Gore and his fellow subsidized greenie millionaires to use in their private jets.
HRW, I don’t agree with the columnist’s first points – his last point, I really have no knowledge of either way. However, I can say that desertification and hunger do not necessarily lead to radicalisation, as I lived last year in a region much closer to the spreading Sahara, one of the poorest in Africa, where I saw many cases of malnutrition. While the people were fervently religious, they displayed no inclination to radicalise. As for climate change, it does but not in any one direction. Last year in West Africa was one of the wettest summers on record. Too wet in fact, leading to destroyed homes and rotting crops. It was also cooler than normal. Frankly, the columnist is simply repeating popular talking points with no real knowledge of the situation or the region.
Ricky, your remarks on Africa are offensive. If incidents of kidnapping, starving and killing people are grounds for belittling an entire continent or even a country, then there is no place on earth that is exempt.
Roscuro, Frederick Douglass and others understood what things were like in Africa in the 1860s and what they had been like there for centuries before. Colonialism accomplished a great deal on that continent. Alas, barbarism has now returned and the liberals are left to blame it on global warming and the oil companies. The truth, as you say, is “offensive”.
In one sense, not much has changed since Jay Leno cracked these jokes:
“A new study shows that the phrase most often used by President Obama is, ‘Let me be clear’. The phrase he uses the least often? ‘Let me be specific’.
“That’s pretty amazing, Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Ironically, his biggest accomplishment as President so far: winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
Ricky, yes, a great deal, like the 2 million slaughtered or mutilated in the Congo by the Belgians – The Butcher of the Congo was no African warlord, but a ‘civilised’ king of Europe. Or the deliberate killing of women and children by thirst and starvation and the formation of concentration camps by the Germans in Namibia. Or the detention of an entire tribe in Kenya and their brutal torture by the British. Never mind the thousands from all parts of West Africa who were kidnapped as slaves, starved on ships and killed slowly in slavery in the Americas. The West can claim no moral superiority in the history of Africa.
As for what Africa was like before the colonists, there were kingdoms, like the Ghana and Mali empires, and civilisations which rose and fell, just like in Europe. There were good times and bad times, just like the rest of the world. Africa is not somehow especially dysfunctional just because they are now struggling with globalisation and the after effects of colonization.
the flip side to the colonial argument is that it imposed authority from above and away and cut off at its head the natural governing structures of the natives as they were evolving. Hence, governance in newly independent countries is stunted.
The barbarism of Africa has nothing on the “civilization” of Europe which in the 20th century committed murder on an industrial scale and subjected the rest of the world to war. A breakdown of law and order can occur anywhere — Bosnia, Moldova, eastern Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, Pakistan, Haiti, Honduras, etc Once the state is dissolved, the rule of the warlord is always a possibility.
roscuro — I agree poverty, malnutrition etc do not guarantee radicalization — you need a dynamic leader. This can occur whereever there is “fertile soil” — the Taliban, the Lord’s Resistance Army, Boko Haram, AL-Queada, Bosnian Serbs, etc. — had all the ingredients.
Colonialism introduced Africa to Christianity, literacy, the wheel, modern farming, the rule of law, monogamy, golf and toilets that flush just as our ancestors introduced the Indians to all of the above. When the Europeans gave up their African colonies, the deterioration and collapse on that continent was as sure and as steady as when whites left Detroit following the 1967 riot.
Tychicus, I am beginning to have some confidence that our teams will soon meet again. I am very pleased at the play of Westbrook, and am happy to see him get the credit he deserves. Leonard does a fine job on Durant and the play of Splitter and Diaw has been most impressive.
Christianity, literacy, the wheel, and modern farming were all part of the African landscape long before the Europeans arrived. Rule of law was the exception not the rule in Europe let alone the rest of the world at this time.
It looks like literacy is a shrinking part of the West African landscape. No doubt this was caused by global warming, Winston Churchill or Ronald Reagan.
“And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia [sub-Saharan Africa], an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot[wheels], read [literacy] Esaias the prophet.
Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot [Christianity].” (Acts 8:26-29)
One could say similar things about Europe, like this: The Roman Empire introduced Europe to Christianity, literacy, modern farming, the rule of law and monogamy. When the Roman Empire collapsed, the deterioration and collapse on that continent was sure and steady and literacy became a shrinking part of the European landscape.
As for this phrase, the deterioration and collapse on that continent was as sure and as steady as when whites left Detroit following the 1967 riot, there is only one response:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27)
“But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” (James 3:8-10)
West African literacy rates are affected by extremely low female rates. We can then blame patriarchal societies (mostly Muslim) across an equatorial band from Senegal to Pakistan.
The use of wheeled transport was made difficult in sub Saharan Africa by the terrain which head portage more practical and the lack of proper draft animals.
Roscuro, I agree with your description of Europe and the effect of the collapse of Rome. I also do not feel compelled to scold you for stating historical facts about my ancient ancestors. One of the reasons for the decline of the West is its refusal to acknowledge facts when they are neither pleasant nor politically correct. You and your generation would do well to study what happened in Detroit. Devil’s Night by Ze’ev Chafets is a good place to start.
HRW, Did the Europeans change the terrain of sub-Saharan Africa before they introduced the wheel to that region?
Interestingly, I was reading a book on slavery and freedom — The Empire of Necessity — and just came across a short essay on the Muslims slaves. European slavers in Senegal and Guinea preferred to avoid Muslim slaves since most were literate including the females. Prior to the European arrival, West Africa featured several highly literate societies but through the slave trade and colonization, literacy was discouraged as it was viewed as a source of power. After removing the previous elites or corrupting them, the Europeans kept the rest in the dark and when they left, there was no institutions to take their place.
My friend is an anthropologist specializing in African development issues. Here’s his reactions; “Yes there’s a climate connection, but holy cow, he’s just off base on some basic premises. First, he seems to be suggesting that there’s this new increase in Islamic fundamentalism in Nigeria, and since there are lots of people suffering from drought conditions in Northern Nigeria (where Boko Haram hails from), then it must be a response to this. Utter nonsense. Certainly climate issues and oil relate to Boko Haram, but their relationship is much more complex. Michael Watts is the person to look to to understand this. But lets get back to the premise of a rise in fundamentalism. Before Boko Haram there was indeed the followers of Maitatsine (back in the eighties) which was extraordinarily violent. The kidnapping of a couple hundred school girls is a minor incidenet in relation to the broader violence carried out by the groups that stem from Maitatsine. Yes, there’s drought in the North (but wait, why is it in the north east and not the northwest that Maitatsine arose and thenBoko Haram after it? His analysis doesn’t get at this. But there’s also a reaction to the ways in which oil wealth has been unequally distributed, combined with an intensification of both ethnic and regional conflict, which has escalated as particular groups aligned with the Sokoto Caliphate have been marginalized and others have been courted in struggles to maintain political and economic dominance. It’s not all climate change, but it’s also not really something that’s “rising”.”
As for breitbart — ad hominum arguments aren’t valid.
Wandering Views 
Interesting commentary on Boko Harem
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/may/09/behind-rise-nigeria-boko-haram-climate-disaster-peak-oil-depletion
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Leave it to the Communist Guardian to invent such nonsense. Factually, there has been no increase in temperatures in 17 years, but in the mind of leftists not only do these mythical temperature rises exist, they are even causing Muslims to kidnap girls.
If we are just going to invent myths, I’ll take a shot. There is no doubt that the kidnapping tendencies of the African Muslims were caused by the explosion of perversion in the West and the rampant pedophilia in Hollywood.
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing, HRW. Horrible.
LikeLike
Ricky,
There’s no doubt Islamic fundamentalism is fueled by a rejection of western modernity including what you would call the explosion of modernity among other things. However, economic dislocation caused by the end of cheap oil and changing climate (drought and desertification are indisputable) is more likely the reason behind Boko Haram. Also note, irritation with western culture may be more a symptom than a cause. If the economy was fine and the farms were producing, I doubt the message of Boko Haram would have the same level of appeal amongst dislocated farm boys.
LikeLike
HRW, I was making a joke. People have been starving, killing and kidnapping each other in Africa for centuries, long before the myth of “global warming” was invented, long before perversion engulfed the West. That is why Frederick Douglass and other black leaders rejected Lincoln’s idea to return them to Africa.
LikeLike
It is a tragedy for the Nigerians that they are not still ruled by the British. Though Great Britain itself is as weak and perverted as the US, British Governors provided the best government on earth when they ruled Hong Kong. Americans would probably be better off they conceded they have grown too stupid, lazy and selfish to govern themselves and asked Queen Elizabeth to appoint a new royal governor.
LikeLike
Oil production began to decline in West Texas where my people came from. The overuse of the Ogalala Aquifer has also reduced irrigation, driven farm boys from their land and caused “desertification”. However, rather than kidnap hundreds of girls from New Mexico and Oklahoma, West Texans are fracking in the old oil fields, providing fuel for Al Gore and his fellow subsidized greenie millionaires to use in their private jets.
LikeLike
HRW, I don’t agree with the columnist’s first points – his last point, I really have no knowledge of either way. However, I can say that desertification and hunger do not necessarily lead to radicalisation, as I lived last year in a region much closer to the spreading Sahara, one of the poorest in Africa, where I saw many cases of malnutrition. While the people were fervently religious, they displayed no inclination to radicalise. As for climate change, it does but not in any one direction. Last year in West Africa was one of the wettest summers on record. Too wet in fact, leading to destroyed homes and rotting crops. It was also cooler than normal. Frankly, the columnist is simply repeating popular talking points with no real knowledge of the situation or the region.
Ricky, your remarks on Africa are offensive. If incidents of kidnapping, starving and killing people are grounds for belittling an entire continent or even a country, then there is no place on earth that is exempt.
LikeLike
Roscuro, Frederick Douglass and others understood what things were like in Africa in the 1860s and what they had been like there for centuries before. Colonialism accomplished a great deal on that continent. Alas, barbarism has now returned and the liberals are left to blame it on global warming and the oil companies. The truth, as you say, is “offensive”.
LikeLike
In one sense, not much has changed since Jay Leno cracked these jokes:
“A new study shows that the phrase most often used by President Obama is, ‘Let me be clear’. The phrase he uses the least often? ‘Let me be specific’.
“That’s pretty amazing, Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Ironically, his biggest accomplishment as President so far: winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
LikeLike
Ricky, yes, a great deal, like the 2 million slaughtered or mutilated in the Congo by the Belgians – The Butcher of the Congo was no African warlord, but a ‘civilised’ king of Europe. Or the deliberate killing of women and children by thirst and starvation and the formation of concentration camps by the Germans in Namibia. Or the detention of an entire tribe in Kenya and their brutal torture by the British. Never mind the thousands from all parts of West Africa who were kidnapped as slaves, starved on ships and killed slowly in slavery in the Americas. The West can claim no moral superiority in the history of Africa.
As for what Africa was like before the colonists, there were kingdoms, like the Ghana and Mali empires, and civilisations which rose and fell, just like in Europe. There were good times and bad times, just like the rest of the world. Africa is not somehow especially dysfunctional just because they are now struggling with globalisation and the after effects of colonization.
LikeLike
the flip side to the colonial argument is that it imposed authority from above and away and cut off at its head the natural governing structures of the natives as they were evolving. Hence, governance in newly independent countries is stunted.
The barbarism of Africa has nothing on the “civilization” of Europe which in the 20th century committed murder on an industrial scale and subjected the rest of the world to war. A breakdown of law and order can occur anywhere — Bosnia, Moldova, eastern Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, Pakistan, Haiti, Honduras, etc Once the state is dissolved, the rule of the warlord is always a possibility.
LikeLike
roscuro — I agree poverty, malnutrition etc do not guarantee radicalization — you need a dynamic leader. This can occur whereever there is “fertile soil” — the Taliban, the Lord’s Resistance Army, Boko Haram, AL-Queada, Bosnian Serbs, etc. — had all the ingredients.
LikeLike
I just saw roscuro latest post — too bad there are no like buttons here,. well said.
LikeLike
Colonialism introduced Africa to Christianity, literacy, the wheel, modern farming, the rule of law, monogamy, golf and toilets that flush just as our ancestors introduced the Indians to all of the above. When the Europeans gave up their African colonies, the deterioration and collapse on that continent was as sure and as steady as when whites left Detroit following the 1967 riot.
Tychicus, I am beginning to have some confidence that our teams will soon meet again. I am very pleased at the play of Westbrook, and am happy to see him get the credit he deserves. Leonard does a fine job on Durant and the play of Splitter and Diaw has been most impressive.
LikeLike
Christianity, literacy, the wheel, and modern farming were all part of the African landscape long before the Europeans arrived. Rule of law was the exception not the rule in Europe let alone the rest of the world at this time.
LikeLike
It looks like literacy is a shrinking part of the West African landscape. No doubt this was caused by global warming, Winston Churchill or Ronald Reagan.
http://www.irinnews.org/report/84052/west-africa-combating-world-s-lowest-literacy-rates
LikeLike
Please note that the wheel was “barely used in Sub-Saharan Africa into the 19th Century only arriving with the Europeans”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel
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“And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia [sub-Saharan Africa], an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot[wheels], read [literacy] Esaias the prophet.
Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot [Christianity].” (Acts 8:26-29)
One could say similar things about Europe, like this: The Roman Empire introduced Europe to Christianity, literacy, modern farming, the rule of law and monogamy. When the Roman Empire collapsed, the deterioration and collapse on that continent was sure and steady and literacy became a shrinking part of the European landscape.
As for this phrase, the deterioration and collapse on that continent was as sure and as steady as when whites left Detroit following the 1967 riot, there is only one response:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1:27)
“But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.” (James 3:8-10)
LikeLike
West African literacy rates are affected by extremely low female rates. We can then blame patriarchal societies (mostly Muslim) across an equatorial band from Senegal to Pakistan.
The use of wheeled transport was made difficult in sub Saharan Africa by the terrain which head portage more practical and the lack of proper draft animals.
LikeLike
Roscuro, I agree with your description of Europe and the effect of the collapse of Rome. I also do not feel compelled to scold you for stating historical facts about my ancient ancestors. One of the reasons for the decline of the West is its refusal to acknowledge facts when they are neither pleasant nor politically correct. You and your generation would do well to study what happened in Detroit. Devil’s Night by Ze’ev Chafets is a good place to start.
HRW, Did the Europeans change the terrain of sub-Saharan Africa before they introduced the wheel to that region?
LikeLike
Roscuro, Good use of scripture to correct and reprove. You let scripture do your talking.
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Yes — they changed the terrain.
Interestingly, I was reading a book on slavery and freedom — The Empire of Necessity — and just came across a short essay on the Muslims slaves. European slavers in Senegal and Guinea preferred to avoid Muslim slaves since most were literate including the females. Prior to the European arrival, West Africa featured several highly literate societies but through the slave trade and colonization, literacy was discouraged as it was viewed as a source of power. After removing the previous elites or corrupting them, the Europeans kept the rest in the dark and when they left, there was no institutions to take their place.
LikeLike
HRW, James Delingpole also thought the Guardian article was hilarious, and he knew some interesting facts about the author.
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/05/11/UK-Guardian-climate-change-to-blame-for-Nigerian-girls-kidnapping
If we are going to be communized, I am glad there are parts of the process that are humorous.
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My friend is an anthropologist specializing in African development issues. Here’s his reactions; “Yes there’s a climate connection, but holy cow, he’s just off base on some basic premises. First, he seems to be suggesting that there’s this new increase in Islamic fundamentalism in Nigeria, and since there are lots of people suffering from drought conditions in Northern Nigeria (where Boko Haram hails from), then it must be a response to this. Utter nonsense. Certainly climate issues and oil relate to Boko Haram, but their relationship is much more complex. Michael Watts is the person to look to to understand this. But lets get back to the premise of a rise in fundamentalism. Before Boko Haram there was indeed the followers of Maitatsine (back in the eighties) which was extraordinarily violent. The kidnapping of a couple hundred school girls is a minor incidenet in relation to the broader violence carried out by the groups that stem from Maitatsine. Yes, there’s drought in the North (but wait, why is it in the north east and not the northwest that Maitatsine arose and thenBoko Haram after it? His analysis doesn’t get at this. But there’s also a reaction to the ways in which oil wealth has been unequally distributed, combined with an intensification of both ethnic and regional conflict, which has escalated as particular groups aligned with the Sokoto Caliphate have been marginalized and others have been courted in struggles to maintain political and economic dominance. It’s not all climate change, but it’s also not really something that’s “rising”.”
As for breitbart — ad hominum arguments aren’t valid.
LikeLike