Lead Africa 3

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Danai Gurira met Fred Swaniker at Macalaster College in St. Paul MN (where he gave their commencement address earlier this month). 

She spoke to the young leaders at ALA this winter after her new movie, "Black Panther", came out. (She played Okoye, general of Wakanda and protector of the king.)

Africa needs their talent, she told them: "'Whatever you do, the continent needs it."

Lead Africa 2

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Yesterday you saw African Fred Swaniker speak of his vision to educate leaders. Since he believes that "Africa’s greatest need is ethical and entrepreneurial leadership," that is the goal of his organization,  African Leadership Academy (ALA).

"Too often, we only invest in addressing the symptoms of poor leadership in Africa: we give blankets, food, and medicine to those impacted by war, poverty, and famine. But these efforts will never stop unless we develop leaders who prevent wars, entrepreneurs who create jobs, and innovators that develop lasting solutions to the root causes of Africa’s problems."

What does ALA do? "We comb Africa for youth who show the spark of initiative; who see what can be and strive to make it so."

Example: After losing a friend to Cholera, young leader Solomon Martey from Ghana invented a borehole machine using spare parts to pump, purify, and distribute water in his village. His machine has since been adopted by the Ghanaian Ministry of Environment and rolled out in several other rural villages across Ghana.

Globally recognized as a top social entrepreneur, Fred says he wants to "make our continent great!"

Lead Africa 1

All this week we'll look back on posts about Africa and its rising leaders.

Re-post from 2014:

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Ruined - Fixed

Could one individual man be responsible for ruining a country?  Fred Swaniker thinks so.  His experience tells him that a single leader can destroy a nation . . when he is a corrupt leader like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

He makes the point that one bad leader in America can be stopped by our laws and institutions which limit political power ("checks and balances").  In Africa, he says, dictators have no such restraints and so can create disaster.

Fred's not-so-modest goal is to train 250,000 African young people to become the leaders Africa urgently needs.

Memorial 2018

In front of a high school in Overland Park, Kansas, there's a battlefield cross with a soldier's helmet, rifle, and boots - a memorial for U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Justin Sisson, 23 years old when he died in Afghanistan. 

Justin's mother, Phyllis, says “Sometimes it can be upsetting when people say Memorial Day is the kickoff of summer: picnics and barbeques. It is, but I also want people to understand what this day really means, especially to people like us, who have lost a son.”

Ten Afghan school children and U.S. Army Spc. Robert Pierce (20) were also killed by the same enemy improvised explosive device.

On Memorial Day weekend and beyond, let it be our mission to make sure America never walks away from its sacred responsibility to remember the valiant men and women who gave all for our freedom.

Human value

Human beings have intrinsic value. In the Christian view, Jesus Christ gave his life for them. Pastor Mac says the value must be taught and lived in the home.

Work model

When Joshua Charles had to move to a new home, he hired three immigrants to do the work. The way they carried out their work impacted him.

"They were young men, in their late 20’s and mid-30’s. The leader had a family — a wife and two children. He was only 28. And despite the fact that it was a late night on the weekend, and they would be up at 7 AM the next day to do it all over again, they worked incredibly hard and with great skill. Everything was moved out of the old residence, and into the new one, in three hours. I have rarely seen such hard, diligent work.

photo: realtor

"Here were these men, about my age, far from home, late at night, with families back home — and doing an excellent job. They were kind, courteous, hardworking, and they exemplified excellence. They were even … happy."

Their example modeled diligence and gratitude, and reminded Josh he should be more grateful for his own life.

"I, the financially and materially blessed young man, was confronted with young men in worse material circumstances than myself, but who nonetheless brought me closer to God."

Dirt helps

"Most avid gardeners will tell you that their landscape is their “happy place” and the actual physical act of gardening is a stress reducer and mood lifter." And now there is science to back up that claim.

"There’s a natural antidepressant in soil . . . Mycobacterium vaccae is the substance under study and has indeed been found to mirror the effect on neurons that drugs like Prozac provide. . .The bacterium is found in soil and may stimulate serotonin production, which makes you relaxed and happier."

It "appears to be a natural antidepressant in soil and has no adverse health effects. These antidepressant microbes in soil may be as easy to use as just playing in the dirt."

photo: telegraph

(from Gardening Know How)

Graying U.S.

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Today the babies being born in the U.S. are fewer in number than, say, the babies born fifty years ago (1968). In 20 years, the babies born in 2017 will be 21 years old and still fewer in number than those 70-year-olds who were born in 1968. Older people will make up a bigger portion of the population than older people do now.

By 2030, every baby boomer citizen - that very big generation born after WWII - will be over 65. One out of every five Americans (including babies) will be at retirement age.

(from Forbes)

Few births 2017

European countries, plus some Asian countries like Japan and Singapore, have had fewer and fewer births over the years to the point that their native peoples cannot replace themselves. To simply replace its numbers, a society must average 2.1 births per woman.

America has finally joined the birth dearth. In 2017 America averaged just 1.8 births per woman. (That's the lowest average since 1978.) Total births were 92,000 less than 2016.

photo: cbsnews

from cbsnews

(cont'd tomorrow)

Are EV's worse?

Not everybody is on board with electric vehicles, in spite of the many - including car makers - who believe EV's are the future of cars. Here's an article that says electric cars are worse for the environment that the internal combustion engine (ICE) cars we mostly drive now.

The author says that "widespread adoption of electric vehicles nationwide will likely increase air pollution compared with new internal combustion vehicles. You read that right: more electric cars and trucks will mean more pollution." (The pollution he's talking about is emissions of carbon dioxide, SO2, and NOx.)

Two main reasons are:

• EV's are powered by electricity - which is produced for cars just as it is produced for everything else. Depends on what fuel is used by the power plants in your area.
• Today's cars are much better re: the environment than they used to be - "Today’s vehicles emit only about 1% of the pollution than they did in the 1960s, and new innovations continue to improve those engines’ efficiency and cleanliness."

But . . the issue is still debated. Here is an article that says EV's are better for the environment than today's gasoline-powered cars.

To Mars

SpaceX was started, as you know, to help humanity become a "multi-planetary species." Elon Musk wants to get the transport ready so we can colonize Mars. He recently added more details to the plan:

• the rocket will launch, be refilled with fuel in orbit, then proceed to Mars
• two ships in 2022 will find best source of water and identify hazards
• four ships in 2024 will build the solar array and propellant depot 
• with lower gravity on Mars, a first stage booster will not be necessary to get off its surface
• SpaceX will start building the first ship next year, hopefully ready to launch in five years

Block 5

The title of this post has been changed to "Final Falcon 9"

Final Falcon 9

This is for those of you who like news about Elon Musk's SpaceX. Use the link if you want more engineering details.

Falcon 9 is the rocket SpaceX has used for years. The first stage is reusable - a tremendous innovation that made launches hugely less expensive than they used to be when a brand new first stage was required for every launch. 

photo: spaceflightinsider

"Block 5" is the latest and final major design revision to Falcon 9, moving toward the goal to make space travel more comparable to air travel on earth. Engine thrust is increased by 8%, making this version about twice as powerful as the first Falcon 9 in 2010.

They've also made the first stage more reusable. Instead of good for two flights, "it's designed to do 10 or more flights with no refurbishment between each flight. The only thing that needs to change is to reload propellant and fly again."

The Block 5 Falcon 9 will meet NASA's requirements for crewed flight.

Here's the May 11 launch for a Bangladesh satellite, featuring Falcon 9's 25th safe return of a first stage booster.

(from https://www.space.com/40582-elon-musk-explains-spacex-falcon-9-block-5.html)

Father grieves

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

An Indonesian grandfather grieves over the family who carried out the terror in yesterday's post. His son was the father of those four children. Here's what he says:

"I love my grandchildren very much. They died because of their father's ideology . . . I want to apologize to Surabaya residents who have become a victim due to my son's actions. I apologize from deep within my heart, especially to those who died because of him." He holds a photo of the family (below).

photo: cnn

An ideology is a way of looking at the world, a set of ideas about what is true and what is valued. Ideas have consequences. 

Churches bombed

A family of six, including children ages 9 to 18, coordinated bombing attacks on three churches in Surabaya, Indonesia, yesterday. Seven people died in the attacks in addition to the six family members, and an additional 41 were injured.

photo: nytimes

Islamic State (IS) claims responsibility. The mother and two daughters wore explosives and detonated themselves at Christian Church of Diponegro, the two sons used motorcycles to get onto the grounds at Santa Maria Church, and the father blew up his car bomb at the Pentecostal Church.

"Christians, many of whom are from the ethnic Chinese minority, make up about 9 percent of Indonesia’s 260 million people." Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation.

It's twisted parents who would kill their kids as well as themselves, all for the sake of inflicting injury, destruction, and death on random Christians.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Chess master

Mention was made in Monday's post of chess tournaments. Wesley So (24), originally from the Philippines but now living in Minnesota, has been playing chess in tournaments since childhood.

In Monday's post, a professor claimed that long/intense thinking puts a lot of physical stress on the body. Wesley So doesn't address the gender questions raised Monday and Tuesday in this blog, but he serves as a good example of the huge effort required in a great chess competitor.

He defended his title of U.S. chess champion in April against eleven opponents who wanted to take it away from him. He says he doesn't play chess now for fun.

“You really have to want it. You have to be ready to give up everything to study, train, and compete. I usually study eight to 10 hours most days. Chess is not a team sport, so you are very much on your own physically and emotionally. Some matches can run up to eight hours or more, and once the clock starts there is no stopping or going back. Your mind is involved in solving problems as quickly as possible, and that motor keeps running until the game is done. I don’t think there is any professional ballplayer who is asked to play continuously like that.”

from World Magazine

Easy groceries

If grocery shopping is time-wasting drudgery for you, it may soon become just one more thing you can do in minutes on your computer. Mainline stores are bringing grocery shopping online.

A new startup business plans to sell a package of robots, software, and tracks to grocery stores to enable them to operate their own online delivery system. It could even mean lowering their costs from 35% to 25%,  big savings.

Heavyweight Amazon is getting into it. "[T]he groceries-on-demand market has stepped up a gear after Amazon bought Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion." Industry observers think that they will turn Whole Foods into fulfillment centers, well-located for delivery.

"Earlier this month, Amazon said Prime subscribers in four U.S. cities could start making fresh-food orders from its Whole Foods stores, and get deliveries within two hours. That would mean eating lunch and ordering dinner ingredients in time for cooking."

Volcano

Amber Makuakane saw steam rising from her front yard last Friday. She took her two children and left for a shelter, later finding out that sometime Saturday lava had covered her property. She lives on the big island, Hawaii.

Amber's home was one of 26 destroyed in her neighborhood, "where molten rock, toxic gas and steam have been bursting through openings in the ground created by the volcano. "

"Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, has been erupting continuously since 1983."

Male strength

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

There's physical strength, and there's mental strength. They are not related, right? Well, maybe they are. In yesterday's video you saw a clip of a professor talking about the connection.

The Stanford University professor says that two people competing in a Grand Masters Chess Tournament have the same blood pressure for six hours that a marathon runner has. They burn a lot of calories just thinking (comments on this prof's claim).

The point being made is that strenuous and prolonged thinking, as in a chess tournament or video game tournament, makes great physical demands on a person even though he or she is not doing physical work.

So maybe some women prefer activities or professions that require less sustained intense  brain activity - even though they have no less intelligence.

A provocative theory. If true, it could explain part of the reason why women may make somewhat different career choices than men.

Fem Strength

Serena Williams is said to be the most dominant female tennis player ever. She and her sister Venus won many championships. They each played the man ranked about 200 in the world of male tennis players, thinking they could beat him. The results are at the beginning of this video.



In general, men are a lot stronger than women. It can't be denied. It's not remotely fair to girls/women when male bodies are allowed to compete in female sports for the sake of political correctness.

That should be obvious. But this video makes another - surprising - point about  the greater physical strength of males.

(cont'd tomorrow)

Fight for Alfie

Alfie was a 23-month-old boy in a British hospital who had some kind of deteriorating disease. The hospital decided that removing the boy's life support was in his "best interest."

His father, Tom, organized opposition to the hospital's decision. He went to court, and the judge sided with the hospital. Italy made Alfie an Italian citizen and offered to treat him at Bambino Gesu Hospital. The judge would not allow it. Tom wanted to take his child home. It was not allowed.

"Pope Francis met with [Tom] earlier this month, and the distraught father told him, “Our child is sick, but not dying and does not deserve to die. He is not terminally ill nor diagnosed. We have been trying our best to find out his condition to treat or manage it.”

"But days after that meeting, Britain’s High Court again rejected the couple’s appeal, and last Monday the European Court of Human Rights refused to hear their case. Hours later, the hospital removed Alfie’s ventilator."

Tom finally submitted to the national "health care" system, and Alfie died.

France's Jews

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

(from New York Times 3-30-18)

"Jews represent less than 1 percent of the population in France, yet in 2014, 51 percent of all racist attacks were carried out against them, according to the French Interior Ministry."

Just last month an 85-year-old Jewish widow was stabbed to death and her apartment set on fire. Last year in the same neighborhood, another Jewish widow was beaten to death by a neighbor screaming "Allahu Akbar."

Former French President Hollande and current President Macron have denounced anti-semitism and asked French Jews to remain in France, though Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has invited European Jews to come there.

Attempts to instill French tolerance in school classrooms haven't had much success among immigrant Islamists. 

“These young people have French identity cards, but they hate what France stands for. This is the nature of the problem we are facing. And it’s very hard to talk about.”

ph0t0: jpost.com

Kippah for all

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

“We must never allow anti-semitism to become commonplace in Germany again," said the German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas. Germans came out by the thousands to demonstrate solidarity with Jews in four cities, with the largest in Berlin.

"Non-Jews were seen wearing kippot in solidarity, while images of Muslim women wearing the head-coverings over their hijabs were widely shared on social media." Look closely to see the kippah on the wrapped head of this Muslim woman:

photo: the jc

A newspaper actually printed a kippah one day so that non-Jews could cut it out, put it together, and wear it to the demonstrations in support of Jews.

from: the jc, the Jewish Chronicle based in London, founded in 1841

(cont'd tomorrow)

Kippah

"It's dangerous to wear a kippah in Berlin." A young man heard this from his friend, so he wore one near his home in Berlin to see if it was true. Here's the BBC account:

"German police are investigating an assault on two young men in Berlin, in which the attacker was filmed shouting anti-Semitic abuse. The men say they were harassed in the Prenzlauer Berg area on Monday while wearing Jewish skullcaps (kippahs).

"A video of the incident, which was later shared on Facebook, shows the attacker hitting the men with his belt. He is heard shouting “Yahudi,” an Arabic word for Jew, before being dragged away by another man."

(cont'd tomorrow, Germans and French fighting it)