Home Sweet (new) Home

Newly arrived to the Republic of Congo, I can now understand why it was recommended that I opt for carrying whatever I needed with me and paying excess baggage fees as opposed to having household goods and personal belongings shipped via a moving company. Three and a half hours in an outboard-rigged pirogue (or dugout canoe) would not be the best way to treat a large amount of one’s personal belongings. It would also be cruel to make the pirogue pilot endure several trips overloaded with cargo.

I had time to reflect on things as they are. I’m pretty sure I’ve always considered ecotourism a stupid idea from a consumer’s point of view. My family, while I was growing up, never considered it, though we did make our unforgettable visit to the Catskill Game Farm in upstate New York (though I’d be hard-pressed to point it out on a map). But as cruised along the Sangha River on a Saturday afternoon, with basically nothing to see in ecotouristy terms, I thought about how much some people pay to do just that. And in email exchanges on Monday morning at the office, I’d have a unique response to the what-did-you-do-this-weekend query.

But the part that makes me gloat is that I get paid to be here, and every now and then, I have to remind myself of this great benefit. Yesterday, I had that “Hey! Look where I am!” feeling that I have not had in a long time, having been in Madagascar for an extended period (it had become “normal” – uh oh, here we go again on the “normal” bit), and most recently employed in the DRC, which I would not wish on anyone that I liked.

I guess I’m kind of harsh on the DRC, but we worked with people who were constantly being abused by their countrymen, and then bailed out by foreigners only to turn around and bite the expats in the jugular to suck the life out of any relief program that either helped them or employed them to help others. And it was worse in Kinshasa, where I unfortunately spent most of my time. I preferred to be out in the field because then it was only the staff that I had to contend with, as the average people in the village and along the roads were not out for my grant-endowed blood as were the Kinois (people from Kinshasa). Another expat staff person pointed out, while we were in Kasongo, that I was a completely different person when we weren’t in Kinshasa. That’s understandable. It’s the only place, so far in my short life, that I was consistently pissed off from the time I left the apartment at 7 AM until I got home at 7 PM. And my poor, wonderful wife put up with me. In fact, she encouraged me to hang in there.

Anyway, here I sit on my new veranda, overlooking the Sangha River on a Sunday morning. The people standing in their pirogues, making their way across the river, seem like miniatures to me because, apparently, the distance is deceiving. I mean, the river is right there in front of me, and yet it is so vast.

Religious Fervor??


I have been inspired to update the blog by none other than CNN. They are airing two sets of reports that are eerily linked.

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. The “faithful” that are flocking to his mansion are expressing an almost religious fervor about his legacy. As a reporter put it, they have put aside all knowledge of his personal life (like the drugs and alcohol that probably caused his death) and they are focused only on his music and how wonderful, inspiring, etc., it is.

The network is also airing a report “one year in the making” called “God’s Warriors.” The almighty Ms. Amanpour will be enlightening us on the reasons behind three different “religions” of influence nowadays: Christian, Muslim and Jewish. If the Presley congregation gets some weapons, maybe she should highlight them, too.

These reminded me of a book I read recently called “The End of Faith,” by Sam Harris. While the book looked primarily at the Muslims, it alluded to some of the American religious right’s influence on society, and on politics in particular. There were interesting passages in it.

Some prose from “The End of Faith,” by Sam Harris

(p. 65) Faith is what credulity becomes when it finally achieves escape velocity from the constraints of terrestrial discourse – constraints like reasonableness, internal coherence, civility, and candor.

(p. 215) Faith is rather like a rhinoceros, in fact: it won’t do much in the way of real work for you, and yet at close quarters it will make spectacular claims upon your attention.”

(p. 182) Intuition: One cannot walk far in the company of moral theorists without hearing our faculty of “moral intuition” either exalted or scorned. The reason for the latter attitude is that the term “intuition” has always carried the scent of impropriety in philosophical and scientific discourse. Having been regularly disgraced by its appearance in colloquialisms like “women’s intuition” (meaning “psychic”), or otherwise directly contrasted with “reason,” the word now seems to conjure up all that is cloying and irrational outside the university gates. The only striking exception to this rule is to be found among mathematicians, who apparently speak of their intuitions without the least embarrassment – rather like travelers to exotic places in the developing world who can often be heard discussing the misadventures of their colon over breakfast. But, as we know, mathematicians travel to very exotic places indeed. We might also note that many of them admit to being philosophical Platonists, without feeling any apparent need to consult a trained philosopher for an exorcism.

Hey! I just saw Elvis!

Am I the only one who sees this?

It's been seven months since I left the DR Congo, and I am still and increasingly pleased about that decision. I wish I could propose a solution to the problems they are causing themselves, but it boggles the mind for a myriad of reasons. Now look at the most recent stuff:

Bemba is going to Portugal

See an article on the BBC web site: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6502719.stm
"Mr Bemba is planning to leave on Saturday to go to Portugal where he has been receiving medical treatment for a broken leg," Dumisani Kumalo told the BBC.

Assuming Kumalo, South Africa's Permanent Representative to the UN, has mastered the English language, his statement implies that Bemba has already been to Portugal for treatment. Also, interestingly, the press has said absolutely nothing leading up to this that Bemba ever had a broken leg.
"...there is speculation the trip may be used as a diplomatic manoeuvre to ease tension."

Let's see. Bemba's support is in western DRC, including the capital. Not far to the south lies Angola, who constantly denies they are going to invade the DRC. And Portugal is the former colonizer of Angola, and maintains very close ties to them and their economy out of self interest, of course...

What common interest would Bemba, Portugal and Angola share...? In investing, they say past performance is not an indicator of what's to come, but in human behavior, I'd say it's pretty indicative.