three degrees of joseph kony

Remember that game, the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon? Where any actor can be linked to Bacon via his or her film roles?



Turns out you can play the same game with Joseph Kony. Observe:

Degrees of Joseph Kony: 0
Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army.

Degrees of Joseph Kony: 1
Okot Odhiambo, Kony’s right-hand man and second-in-command of the Lord’s Resistance Army. Odhiambo announced earlier this week that he plans to surrender, citing serious wounds received in a battle with the Ugandan military.

Degrees of Joseph Kony: 2
Ben Simon, the Agence France Presse reporter whom Odhiambo called to say he was turning himself in.

Degrees of Joseph Kony: 3
Me, the blogger who met Ben over Ethiopian food and later discussed the Aga Khan’s role at the Daily Monitor with him.

Hat tip: Kristin Antin

history and hindsight

As part of a side project for a professor of mine, I’ve spent much of this week buried in New York University’s Tamiment Library, combing through the archives of Picture Magazine, a leftist newspaper published daily in New York from 1940-1948.

Today I relived the entire Allied invasion of Europe, including the Italian surrender, the takeover of Rome, D-Day and the liberation of Paris. When I go back on Saturday, the Soviets will reach Auschwitz.

It’s strange to read through these archives, day by day, already knowing what will happen: knowing that the first mention of “forced labor” in Poland in late 1941 will eventually lead to a 1944 photo essay that includes a picture of a pile of shoes discarded by Jewish gas chamber victims; anticipating American troops landing at Normandy. Reading brave articles that claim that the war will be over by the year’s end — articles published in 1943 and in 1944. Knowing that Jews were proposing a Holocaust memorial before American newspapers were even reporting Rabbi Stephen Wise’s first press conference on the genocide.

(According to some accounts, it took almost two years for reports of the Holocaust to be taken seriously, largely because they were difficult to corroborate. I wonder what things would have been like had Ushahidi existed?)

It’s a lot of history to take in in seven hours, and my head is spinning with the thought that, with the help of microfilm, I condensed 60 million deaths into a day’s work.

uganda blogger happy hour, redux

This month’s (impromptu) Uganda Blogger Happy Hour was nothing short of perfect. It was the two-year anniversary of the first UBHH. Rev, who’s been a lovable yet aggravating presence since the very beginning, was on his very best behavior (this unfortunately means I have very little to write about). And, proof that the blogren are continually growing, there were new faces. Like I said, perfect.

Nevender and Antipop have considerably more detailed round-ups, and Dee has photos. Before you head over there, though, I want to point you to Solomon, who has a list of Very Important Questions concerning this year’s Uganda Best of Blog Awards. This year we’re introducing prizes including free hosting, your very own domain name, and possibly pizza — go check it out and let us know what you think.

Last thing: earlier this month I wrote about why I blog about Africa. In my wave of Uganda-inspired love, I neglected to obey the rules of the meme and tag other bloggers. Here goes:

Dee

Gay Uganda

Mr. King

Rev — I know you just closed your blog, but surely there’s room for one more post?

Tumwijuke

ugandan bloglove

Voting opened yesterday for the 2009 Bloggies, the “Web’s longest-running blog awards,” and of the five blogs in the running for Best African Weblog, two originated in Uganda.

Appfrica has its finger on the pulse of African IT, including podcasts from last December’s Facebook Dev Garage in Kampala and an interview with Blogren Superstar Benge Solomon King. It’s also available in Luganda.

Scarlett Lion left Kampala last month to move to Liberia, but her site has been an integral part of the Ugandan blogging scene since 2007, and her archives hold a wealth of reflections and photography from all over the country.

Voting lasts until Monday, February 2, so head over soon and give your fellow blogren some love.

jackfruit of the week (01.21.09)


Jackfruit on Long Bien Bridge from Hanoi Mark on Flickr

I’m back in New York after a whirlwind trip to Kampala, where I communed with the blogren (more later) and waxed nostalgic. I got in last night and hit the ground running today with a lecture on Pareto efficiency, delivered by the son of a French-Argentine football player. I love New York.

The new semester is starting for lots of people, including my friend and former blogret* Josh Goldstein, who together with Patrick Meier is teaching a class on Digital Democracy at Tufts University. You can follow along with the course, which covers a blend of digital activism, political theory and media studies, on the Digital Democracy wiki or the @digidemocracy Twitter feed.

In other news, Barack Obama:

Courtesy of Ryan Schuette, whose affinity for Ugandan Mexican food and willingness to meet me anywhere in the city to drink out of cups made K’la City as much like home this time it was the last.

*blogren, singular, male.