Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
To almost deafening silence, the region of Southern Sudan has voted in a referendum on its secession from Sudan, possibly the end point of the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005). You read that right—almost 25 years of war. In crude terms, this is the black, Christian or animist region leaving the rule of Khartoum and the northern, Arab, Muslim region. If it goes smoothly (and irredentism is always possible, even decades down the line…), it may well be the single most positive development in African political history since the downfall of apartheid in South Africa.
So you might want to pay attention to that. But that's all by way of introducing an odd bit of trivia. Sudan is—and maybe soon was—the largest country in Africa. If the secession proceeds along current borders, they’ll drop well behind Algeria and (the D.R.) Congo and just nose out Libya for third place. You don’t see the largest country on a continent break up often, I thought this evening driving down an empty Chicago highway.
But then it occurred to me that I already had. Eurasia’s largest country (score that as one continent or two), the U.S.S.R., took a huge hit to its surface area not two decades ago. Is this a trend? Does Brazil need to watch its back? Is the “Pampas Republic” suddenly a going idea? What about the Dominion of Westralia? (That's their flag up there.)
And, oh, Canada, y’all might just watch out—est-ce que c'est l'heure des Assassins des Fauteuils Rollents?
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Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
The silence about this is truly weird, isn't it? I was thinking just the same thing yesterday. It made me wonder whether we could rank international news events by some kind of algorithm--"number of human lives apt to be significantly changed," or something like that--and insist that on Ricochet, at least, the stories at the top of the list are news whether or not anyone else is noticing them. I couldn't figure out a good way to do it, but I didn't give the problem more than passing thought. It is bizarre that a story this big would go almost completely unremarked.
Jun '10
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
Does the concept of a nation-state apply to large parts of Africa in any meaningful way? It seems to me that Robert Kaplan got it more correct than not in his essay The Coming Anarchy. Where governments lack control over large swaths of territory within their borders, what legitimate claim can be made for national sovereignty? Somalia and Congo are fictions on a map. What about Zimbabwe? Does a place run by a gangster government count as sovereign while the "nation" is run to ruin and the populace is either dying or migrating? Perhaps we need new geopolitical terms to describe Africa.
Oct '10
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
I was thinking the very same thing yesterday when I stumbled upon news of Algerian riots on the web - we are fed a very strange assortment of news stories here in North America. My paranoid husband things we are being kept deliberately uninformed and distracted so as to be led more easily into fascism. I am a not so sure it is very intentional - more a question of habit.
And as to Canada breaking up - I wish we would just go ahead and do it. The rest of the country should have the legislative freedoms that Quebec has won from the federal government through years of threatening to leave. Many Canadians are sick to death of their whining and massive transfer payments (they get more money back from the Federal government than their residents pay in federal income tax). Enforced bilingualism is nuts and very expensive for the rest of the country and really translating all of the federal governments work into French in Alberta is crazy.
But if Canada does separate, don't expect to read about it in the main-stream media. (Just kidding - we get the attention we deserve.)
Nov '10
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
Is The New York Times ignoring it, as well? No surprise if they are...
Nov '10
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
Bill Walsh Eurasia’s largest country (score that as one continent or two), the U.S.S.R., took a huge hit to its surface area not two decades ago. Is this a trend? Does Brazil need to watch its back? Is the “Pampas Republic” suddenly a going idea? What about the Dominion of Westralia?
And, oh, Canada, y’all might just watch out—est-ce que c'est l'heure des Assassins des Fauteuils Rollents?
Mark Steyn has predicted that China might break up into three or four smaller nations, along ethnic or regional lines. If that happened, it would complicate the issue of our huge debt to China. To whom would we pay the money?
Sep '10
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
Claire Berlinski, Ed.:
It is bizarre that a story this big would go almost completely unremarked. · Jan 10 at 1:04am
Perhaps South Sudan should be included in the New York Times' list of "41 Places to Go in 2011" since that is currently the most emailed New York Times article. Maybe all foreign news should be made part of newspapers' travel sections for people to take note of world affairs. An article about the recent release of Turkish Hezbollah members would have to include inside accounts of Istanbul's great health spas and restaurants.
Nov '10
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
My eyes tend to glaze over when I see more stories about trouble in Sudan. After all, it's only oberved a decade of (relative) peace since 1955. Without a very strong outside military force in place there, I can't see things changing. But that's not going to happen.
As for Canada - Xty's view is pretty widely shared; there's more than a few people willing to hold the door open in the RoC next time Quebec threatens to leave. That was made pretty clear during the last referendum, and is probably a significant reason why separartist chatter has died down in the last few years.
BTW Bill, did you manage to read the whole of Infinite Jest? Just curious; I made it about a third of the way through before tossing it out. (Actually, I didn't throw it out, I gave it to the library, which is what I do with all the books I buy and find I don't like).
May '10
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
Bill Walsh
To almost deafening silence, ...
Does Brazil need to watch its back? Is the “Pampas Republic” suddenly a going idea? What about the Dominion of Westralia? (That's their flag up there.)
And, oh, Canada, y’all might just watch out—est-ce que c'est l'heure des Assassins des Fauteuils Rollents? ·
Let us hope that the separation occurs peacefully, and is more of a Czech, Slovak separation than a North South Korean one. It has indeed been little noted,but I have seen some coverage in the mainstream press on the middle pages.
As for the Westralia succession, this comes up here every time there is a mining boom in Oz, as then the balance of federal payments to the West Australian state vs taxes raised; is the West Australian's favour. When the mining boom ends (as they always do), the mining states in Oz are always the first to plead special needs from the rest of us, because their economy tanked.
I prefer the Hutt River Provence in Australia, that has claimed it was never declared a British Territory. It is a tourist joke more than anything else
http://www.principality-hutt-river.com/
Nov '10
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
I share your view of Sub-Saharan Africa. In Somalia, every trace of European infrastructure has been destroyed. In the Congo, roads have vanished, and it is difficult even to travel by boat. In terms of sheer mineral wealth, the Congo is one of the richest countries on Earth, yet the people live in crushing poverty. In Liberia and other countries, unbelievably sadistic wars are fought between lunatic warlords leading armies of bloodthirsty boy-warriors.
According to some accounts, cannibalism is more common now than in pre-colonial Africa. The whole place is going back into the Darkness. It is hard to think of new geopolitical terms that adequately describe the horror and misery.
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
Wow, this is a sensational idea! I've been struggling to figure out how to pitch that story--knowing it will be met with a great yawn by editors the world round--but if I could just figure out which restaurants these guys are going to and pitch it as Favorite Secret Spas of Accidentally (or Maybe on Purpose!) Recently Released Turkish Hezbollah Psychotics, I bet I could get it into Travel & Leisure. That would be edgy.
Aug '10
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
There are number of reasons that make this story very hard for the MSM to regurgitate.
1. If this works, then it is another Bush triumph in the continent. The AIDS work started by his admin has been the most effective to date, therefore the MSM ignores it or treats it as not news to be reported.
2. If it doesn't work and Bashir continues his genocide, then the Arabist support of the oppressive forces must be covered up by a generally sympathetic press and diplomats worldwide who labor long to hide the funds that find their way to Bashir. And there are the Chinese........The petroleum of the southern region is their focus and Bashir has been their access.
3. George Clooney, where less is more,more or less.
Janjaweed, remember them ? Appears that mention of them has pretty much faded since the new administration has come into power.
The election is a hopeful sign, but probably a helpless gesture. Bashir has been murdering peoples at will, the UN has promised to respond, but hasn't.
The UN police forces never showed up as promised. There are few roads, none all weather, there are fewer safe outposts.
Nov '10
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
Here is a link to that excellent essay:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1994/02/the-coming-anarchy/4670/
Jun '10
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
Lady Kurobara
According to some accounts, cannibalism is more common now than in pre-colonial Africa. The whole place is going back into the Darkness. It is hard to think of new geopolitical terms that adequately describe the horror and misery. · Jan 10 at 6:29am
Sophists love to coin euphemisms to disguise reality. We get from them terms like "children at risk" to describe what in my day were known as juvenile delinquents. I'll settle for the old-fashioned "badlands" to describe Africa. In Spanish the term is equally simple: mal pais. It's a comfortable shoe that fits.
Oct '10
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
God bless Texas.
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
I did. Even the footnotes. I read The Broom of the System on a whim in 1991 and enjoyed it, so I picked up Infinite Jest right when it came out. I thought it was a lot of fun, even though I have major criticisms of it as a novel. I was unaware then that Wallace was a cult figure and still haven’t read the non-fiction that seems to be the major basis of his popularity (it necessarily being more accessible). I was saddened to hear of his suicide.
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
No. There’s a whole literature on this.
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
I think I saw a BBC story saying Clooney is actually in Juba, flownover.
Aug '10
Re: Are they selling “We’re #1” foam fingers in Algiers tonight?
Well, it's a good deal closer to the Lake Como property than Belair anyway.
Clooney doesn't make any difference. Bashir is not going anyplace, the Chinese and their oil companies aren't going anyplace, and the 15000 troops that the UN promised certainly aren't going anyplace near Sudan, their numbers right now may approach 2000, but 15000 were promised years ago. If you need to know what UN soldiers do in these cases, suggest you consult with Romeo D'Allaire.
A movie star in Juba might shine some light on things for a brief moment, but with nobody in the States having anything "riding on this" except the history books, as soon as the cameras stop clicking, people will resume being killed.
Edited on Jan 10, 2011 at 2:23pm