Neither Stately Nor Static

Ok...new pictures. [I hope, they were still uploading when I published this] Upload times in Uganda are unbelievably slow. Actually they’re just as slow as expected, but trust me, very slow. Only 6 new pictures up; all from Tanzania. Hope to have the camera out this weekend though now that I've replaced my camera-card reader.

Glad to see major media outlets are picking up on what’s going on in Somalia. Had been reading vague reports about this for weeks in the local papers, but it’s difficult to get much on this increasingly shady situation. The first I’d heard about it was actually from an equally shady New Zealander I met in Arusha. The guy was really into international conflicts and intrigue and, I’m not joking, vacations in Afghanistan and Northern Uganda. He had picked Somalia as his next holiday destination and told me has all kinds of access to CIA agents there and promised me that the Pentagon had some of their top guys in Mogadishu. He was really into weapons and the global arms trade too. He was like a fat, kiwi version of The Lord of War. But he might be right.

Also, it’s not often I get news from the local media in Africa on what’s happening in my hometown of Syracuse, NY – in Ethiopia, one of the papers covered an incident of ‘Man Bites Dog’ among the drunken revelers celebrating SU’s win in the NCAA b’ball tourney. I guess The Economist isn’t as local, but there was a story on Syracuse this week about the attempts to revive the city through the Destiny USA project, which would make the Salt City home to the largest mall in the nation. It was a little depressing to have such an authority as The Economist confirm that my city is in fact ‘dying,’ but it did include one of the best pictures of downtown I’ve ever seen…though the caption read “Stately but static in Syracuse.” Can’t win.

Related: has anyone w/ nytimes.com “Insider” access read the article online today “36 Hours In Syracuse?” Please cut/paste/email it for me.

I trust Americans were just as devastated by Arsenal’s loss on Wednesday as Ugandans. Well, the latter is true. I’m amazed by how well English football is marketed in Uganda. The NFL will do well to follow the pentagon into Iraq/Afghanistan/Iran/Somalia and replicate the British model.

Update: added some new minibus names to the list that was started in the last post, including one that has to be seen to be believed (devastated I didn’t have my camera with me), garnered its own category.