If you count the book sales on Amazon and plot them according to frequency, the curve hugs the vertical and horizontal axes, indicating a few very large numbers (the blockbusters) and many small ones (the ‘long tail’ of books like yours and mine). This is a typical manifestation of something called a ‘power-law’ distribution. This… Read More »
1. Unmet promises tied to ebb of truce in Niger Delta – NYTimes 2. No. 1 above has led to attacks, which in turn have led to Shell announcing on Sunday that it had shut down three pumping stations in the region – Reuters 3. Gaddafi goes, Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi in, as AU… Read More »
1 The decline of Bin Laden’s relevance? 2. Tyler Cowen’s predictions about the iPad… Bill Easterly takes issues with the choice of name. 3. Black Looks on Homophobia – past successes and future struggles. 4. A Nigerian writes a hilarious letter to the underwear bomber. 5. The Lebanese in West Africa.
The presidents discuss whether or not we need a president. A bit less tongue-in-cheek than my commentary. HT Seye Abimbola.
The courts have given the Nigerian cabinet 14 days to determine whether the president is fit to lead the country. You might recall that the president has been away from the country on treatment for close to two months. From Reuters: Judge Dan Abutu ordered the cabinet to pass a resolution on Yar’Adua’s fitness within… Read More »
1. Turns out Nigerian foreign minister knows the ‘visions’ of a president he hasn’t talked to in close to two months! (See this BBC Hardtalk excerpt). Hmm… maybe we really don’t need a president then. 2. Intelligent Life on online fashion shopping. 3. Haiti and the Catastrophic Role of the International Financial System by Saskia Sassen. HT @jranck… Read More »
Great BBC programme on ‘the history of ideas’ hosted by Melvyn Bragg. Past topics have included Pythagoras, The Samurai, The Library at Alexandria, Thoreau and the American Idyll…. You can subscribe to the weekly podcast here. You can also check out to the list of podcasts I listen to on the podcasts page.
1. Haiti Earthquake: Worldwide solidarity, a common humanity? 2. Paul Krugman writes, ‘Europe’s economic success should be obvious even without statistics’. Matt Welch responds. Megan MacArdle responds. Don’t forget to check out the comments. 3. Top 5 reasons why “Failed state” is a failed concept – Aid Watch 4. Is the Nigerian President a goner?… Read More »
… is the title of a review of anthropologists Jean and Jean Comaroff’s book, Ethnicity, INC. An excerpt of the review: From the very beginning of their study, the authors ask us to take a step back and stop thinking about ethnicity only as a political tool. Rather, we should extend new attributes and opportunities… Read More »
Couldn’t resist posting this. HT Jeremy