Trouble in the Ivory Coast

The NY Times reports on the recent political unease in the Ivory Coast. The current ruler lost an election last month, yet he has decided not to give up his power. Seems like Mr. Gbagbo really likes his Presidential perks as he defies the will of the majority of his people.

The neighboring countries are none-too-pleased, but are reluctant to use violence to remove him.

It is sad that a country of 10 million people must suffer this little man with too-much power.

btw, if you read the article, "autarchy" is the ability to be self-sufficient. This is different from "autocracy", which is the rule (of a city or state) by one person.

The Saints

As a Protestant, I'm sometimes baffled at the practices of friends of Roman Catholic persuasion. The Anchoress, while looking back at her chosen saint of 2010 and looking forward to her chosen saint of 2011, includes a curious link. The link is to a website that randomly generates the name of a saint - just for you. Mine turned out to be St. Isidore, the Farmer. Interestingly, he's the Patron Saint against the death of children. He's also the Patron Saint of many other things/people/places.

So, are you curious to know who your saint will be for the coming year?

My Response to EJ Dionne

Mr. Dionne wrote an article today for one of my favorite News/Opinion websites: RealClearPolitics. He wants to remind us all that we should not "spin" the Civil War. It was about slavery first, second, and third.

My response:

The reason that the Civil War was fought was different than the reason that the Southern States left the Union.

I agree that a primary reason for the Southern States' departure was the difficulty in consensus among the States about slavery. While there were other major issues such as taxes and the role of the Federal Government (sound familiar?), "slavery" is rightly seen as a good representative "reason for secession".

The two sides fought for differing reasons, however. The South fought to put reality to their declarations - they wanted self-determination and independence from the other States (think Federal Government). The North (again, think Federal Government) fought to deny independence to the Southern States.

Make no mistake, Lincoln - if he is to be trusted - tried to arrest the exodus of States by declaring in his First Inaugural Address, "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so."

He also stated to Horace Greeley, "If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it, and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also so that."

Further, when some counties of Virginia broke away from that State, Lincoln welcomed them into the US as a slave state as West Virginia.

If Lincoln was fighting to free the slaves, he did so not on principle, but as a means to his primary end - maintain dominion over the Southern States.

I've learned that the history of slavery in the US is more complex that I originally thought. I've learned that blacks in the South sometimes owned slaves - sometimes many slaves. I've learned that whites were sometimes slaves - though not at the time of the Civil War. Complexity brings about differing opinions that ought not be derided simply as "spin". The Civil War was fought for reasons good and bad, but it is not as clear cut an issue as Mr Dionne states.

The Mites and the Bees

People have, in recent years, noticed a decline in the Honeybee populations. This is regrettable because it makes the honey more expensive. Some have suggested that the trouble is caused by the ever increasing number of radio waves that we shove through the air.

This article suggests that one major source of trouble is Varroa Mites - and they might be controllable soon. It involves tinkering with their genetic code so the mites would "self-destruct". From what I can figure, it's like having an auto-immune disorder where the body attacks itself. While this is all very interesting, and hopefully the bees will win their wars, I'm pretty nervous about playing with the genetic codes of little bugs. What if they grow to be 10x their size as an unforeseen and unintended consequence?

(More on the little critters)

(the red bug on the bee is the mite - on the picture above)

Guess the title for the list

The following is a list of 25 countries (in order). These came from this article. Give your guess for the title in the comments.

Country	GDP per capita	% GDP for food	% food exports
Bangladesh	$497	53.8%	-3.3%
Morocco	$2,769	63.0%	-2.1%
Algeria	$4,845	53.0%	-2.8%
Nigeria	$1,370	73.0%	-0.9%
Lebanon	$6,978	34.0%	-3.9%
Egypt	$1,991	48.1%	-2.1%
Sri Lanka	$2,013	39.6%	-2.7%
Sudan	$1,353	52.9%	-1.3%
Hong Kong	$30,863	25.8%	-4.4%
Azerbaijan	$5,315	60.2%	-0.6%
Angola	$4,714	46.1%	-1.4%
Romania	$9,300	49.4%	-1.1%
Philippines	$1,847	45.6%	-1.0%
Kenya	$783	45.8%	-0.8%
Pakistan	$991	47.6%	-0.4%
Libya	$14,802	37.2%	-1.7%
Dominican Republic	$4,576	38.3%	-1.1%
Tunisia	$3,903	36.0%	-1.1%
Bulgaria	$6,546	49.5%	-0.1%
Ukraine	$3,899	61.0%	0.9%
India	$1,017	49.5%	0.3%
China	$3,267	39.8%	-0.3%
Latvia	$14,908	34.3%	-1.1%
Vietnam	$1,051	50.7%	0.8%
Venezuela	$11,246	32.6%	-1.0%

The title: Nations most at risk for a food shortage.
(triple-click the word "Nations" in the line above for the answer, but first put your guess in the comments)

150 Years Ago Today

The s(S)tate of South Carolina voted to leave the Union. Here's how it is reported: "We, the people of the State of South Carolina in convention assembled, do declare and ordain ... that the Union now subsisting between South Carolina and other States, under the name of 'the United States of America,' is hereby dissolved," and SC left the country to go it alone again.

Finding out what actually happened to cause the War between the States has been a pursuit of mine over the last 11 years. At times, I've really studied hard, while other times, not so much. I'm very surprised by how much myth and misinformation is out there - and I believed. While many of the myths revolve around Abraham Lincoln, there are myths aplenty for all sides.

For the misinformation around secession, it was universally believed up until 1860 that this was legal for a state to do. A couple New England states had voted on articles of secession during the War of 1812. Other states had threatened to do the same. But it is my understanding that when it all came down to brass tacks, the Nothern States (headed by Lincoln) could not afford the expense of having South Carolina withdraw their economy. It would impact the Treasury too greatly.

But aren't most wars about money? And why would I be surprised at finding this out? Many states followed SC to their independence. This happened over the next several months - 150 years ago.

Americans' Beliefs about the Universe's Origins

40% of Americans still believe in a "Young Earth". (Think this: the earth is less than 10,000 years old. Think this: Adam and Eve living in a literal Garden of Eden.)

This represents some of the findings of a new poll conducted by Gallup. The remaining opinions were: A God-guided evolution (38%), and a godless evolution (16%). No word on the remaining 6% - maybe they believe that the universe is imaginary!

I remember back in my Teacher Training days, in my Science Education class when I presented on this subject. I pleaded with my fellow teacher-wanna-bees not to be prejudiced against the Young Earth Creationists. While I myself am not in that camp, I was at one time, and I remember the confusion and heartache of the worldviews in collision. That can be hard to take for a teenager. It wasn't received well. One tried to tie a Creationist mindset to the mindset of a Nazi. I made him regret that comment. Science teachers can be very intolerant of competing perspectives on truth. By extension, so can scientists.

Holy Astronomical Collision Batman

For the first time in many hundred years, a Lunar Eclipse will match up with the Winter Solstice. (Those who write horoscopes must be going nuts!) Starting Tuesday, just after midnight, the moon will start to hide in the shadow of the Earth - full moon to no moon. It will take a few hours for the hiding to the Peek-a-boo on the other side to complete. And whatever else is happening, it promises to be cold in MN. So find a warm spot inside the house or car with some people or things to keep you awake, and you may well be able to see this "once-in-four-hundred-year event". Then, of course, you could otherwise try and get a good night's sleep.

I wonder if there is a lottery drawing on Tuesday, I read that that was supposed to be my lucky day!

More here, but you'll have to slog through a short interview with a Wiccan.