FUUO Daily Dose: Foreign Aid, Rape in the DRC and Foreign Service helps orphanages in Kenya

FUUO recommended daily dosage:

Global Summitt on AID Programs .  This summit will be occurring from today till Thursday.  Global foreign aid and assistance has not reached its potential and has yet to be effectively applied.  The scattered anecdotal success stories are overshadowed by BILLIONS wasted.  Perhaps Dambisa Moyo will deliver the keynote address.


Sexual Violence in Eastern DRC.  Just because you don't hear Secretary Clinton addressing it on CSPAN does not mean sexual violence and rape is not a MAJOR  and CONTINUING problem, especially in the DRC.   I've written about it before late last summer and discussed the logistical challenges to stopping it.
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/08/some-200-women-gang-raped-near-congo-un.html
http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/08/secretary-clinton-speaks-out-on-mass.html

 Associates of American Foreign Service Award Winner in Kenya.  This award rewards volunteerism abroad.  These are great stories about the power of motivated and compassionate individuals.  The Association might also be an organization that my fellow FAOs would be interested in joining.

 

FUUO's Pentagon Protesters of the Week Compendium

NOTE:  For those who don't know,  every Monday morning the Pentagon allows only the biggest idiots best and brightest dissenters to post up on the grassy area by the Metro entrance escalators and display their signs. 


I have three POTW entries to add however as my lovely wife and I (and our two pups) are about to begin our cross-country drive out to Monterey this week I am not sure I will have time.  And in the interest of "closing the loop" on my time in the Pentagon I wanted to include  a link to the wackjobs protesters who gave me a chuckle each Monday morning.


NOTE:  For those who don't know,  every Monday morning the Pentagon allows only the biggest idiots best and brightest dissenters to post up on the grassy area by the Metro entrance escalators and display their signs.  The tales of these cantankerous kvetches are below:

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2011/07/protesters-and-sorcerers.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-protester-of-week-singer-actress.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2011/05/pentagon-protesters-of-week-day-after.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-protester-of-week.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2011/03/protester-of-weak.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2011/01/protester-of-week-update.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/11/protesters-i-implore-you-step-up-your.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/10/protester-of-week-in-absentia.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/09/protester-of-week-practice-non-violence.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/09/protester-of-week-fyi-drones-are-always.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/09/protester-of-week-christians-dump-jews.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/09/protester-of-week-thank-you-pfc-bradley.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/08/protester-of-week-disarm-now.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/08/protester-of-week-best-part-of-waking.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/08/best-part-of-waking-up-smell-of-napalm.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/08/best-part-of-waking-uploving-your.html

FUUO's Pentagonisms:

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/11/pgon-ism-of-week-circle-wagons.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/12/pentagon-ism-of-week-bandwidth.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/10/pgon-ism-of-week-missionary-work.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/09/pgonism-of-week-bluf.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/08/pgon-ism-of-week-across-river.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/07/pentagon-ism-of-week-reaching-out.html

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2010/07/pentagon-ism-of-week.html

http://famousdc.com/2010/09/03/for-unofficial-use-only/

Six-year project to tweet the Second World War

Check out this article and the twitter feed.  This guy is retweeting WWII over the course of 6 years.  Fascinating!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/8877167/Six-year-project-to-tweet-the-Second-World-War.html

Come on you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever? Happy birthday Marine Corps!

Following is an updated repost from my yearly Marine Corps birthday post:

"Come on you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?"

-commonly attributed to Sergeant Major Dan Daly, born November 11th (he respectfully waited for the Marine Corps birthday before entering the world) 

  
    While I ended up joining the Navy (6 weeks of Leatherneck during the summer after my junior year at the Naval Academy was enough for me to know that I was not cut out for the Marines).  I have always had a profound respect and admiration for the Marine Corps.  There is no greater, ruthless and expedient fighting force on the planet.

       My father is a Marine (and my grandfather, grandmother, an uncle, and a cousin).  I always felt a point of personal pride to call myself a Marine Corps B.R.A.T. growing up.  Those of you my age may recall the movie entitled The BRAT Patrol (1986 starring Sean Astin) in which the kids of military service members save the world (more or less).  Of course BRAT stands for Born Raised And Trapped.  I can remember running around the neighborhood as an 9 year old singing the BRAT Patrol songs and conducting "missions" with my fellow USMC BRATs.  Below are two links to the movie for those of you who are curious:

"The BRAT Patrol" youtube excerpt (first ten minutes of the film)

IMDB link: The BRAT Patrol

I'll close out this column with two quotes, one from a modern day Marine maestro of quotable quotes( http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/16-Most-Hair-Raising-General-Mattis-Quotes-1573/) :

"I come in peace, I didn't bring artillery.  But I am pleading with you with tears in my eyes:  If you fuck with me, I'll kill you all.

- Marine General James Mattis, to Iraqi tribal leaders

and the other from my favorite Marine Corps Commandants (yes, Marine kids have favorite Commandants...I had a poster of this one) Gen 'Lou', 'Iron-lung Lou' Wilson (Medal of Honor recipient).  He reportedly gave this toast at a Marine Corps ball.  And having a plethora of Marine buddies I can personally vouch for the veracity of the sentiments he expresses in his closing lines:

The wonderful love of a beautiful maid,
The love of a staunch true man,
The love of a baby, unafraid,
Have existed since time began.

But the greatest of loves, The quintessence of loves.
even greater than that of a mother,
Is the tender, passionate, infinite love,
of one drunken Marine for another.


General Louis H. Wilson
Commandant of the Marine Corps
Toast given at 203rd Marine Corps Birthday Ball
Camp Lejueune, N.C. 1978
"Semper Fidelis"

       

Congrats to Pedro de Verona Pires and "An African Answer" screening

During my absence:

Africa: Award of Mo Ibrahim Prize to Former President Pedro Pires of Cape Verde <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/10/175232.htm>

Washington, DC
October 11, 2011

The United States congratulates Pedro de Verona Rodrigues Pires, the former president of Cape Verde, upon being awarded the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. This prize recognizes President Pires’ notable achievements in strengthening democracy, good governance, and economic development, making Cape Verde a model for other West African nations searching for an enduring democratic way forward. Specifically, the award cited Pires's influence in assuring Cape Verde’s successful transition in the early 1990s from one-party to multi-party governance.

Sorry I missed this:

Religious Peacemaking in Nigeria and Kenya: Launch of a Film "An African Answer"

U.S. Institute of Peace

The Department of State's Office of International Religious Freedom and the Religion and Peacemaking program at the U.S. Institute of Peace are pleased to announce the Washington premier of "An African Answer."

In 2006, the documentary "The Imam and the Pastor" profiled the personal transformations of Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye from militant youth leaders to peacebuilders. With USIP support, Ashafa and Wuye have mediated peace between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria's Plateau State through their Interfaith Mediation Center.

"An African Answer" brings the conversation on interfaith peacebuilding a step forward, detailing the pair's unique methodology for building peace in divided societies as they work to bridge divides in Kenya following the 2007 outbreak of post-election inter-ethnic violence.

This event will feature the following speakers:

Pastor James Wuye, Panelist

Interfaith Mediation Center, Kaduna, Nigeria

Imam Muhammad Ashafa, Panelist

Interfaith Mediation Center, Kaduna, Nigeria

Dr. Alan Channer, Panelist

FLT Films

Daniel Baer, Introductory Comments

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State

Maureen Fiedler, Moderator

Interfaith Voices

David Smock <http://click.newsletters.usip.org/?qs=557a52e346034b61d0c7c543deaa2f3d0da67c5a384f3c63122028ba66199538> , Introduction U.S. Institute of Peace

Inquiries

Please contact Renata Stuebner at 202-429-3864 or rstuebner@usip.org <mailto:rstuebner@usip.org?subject=African%20Answer%20Event>  with any general questions about this event.

Importance of writing for Foreign Area Officers (FAOs) and what to read with a Rye Manhattan

I was looking back over my notes from Aidan Hartley's The Zanzibar Chest and was reminded of why my insignificant single blog IS significant when viewed collectively.  If we as the FAO community aren't sharing our analysis and thoughts from our experiences (and the books, articles we read), then we are not doing our jobs...we are sucking, wasteful black holes accomplishing nothing. 

On a lighter note, my well-traveled grandmother (self-dubbed as Granny Nanny Darling to be specific), a former marine and peace corps officer, just finished Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness which she recommends pairing with a Rye Manhattan (with a frozen Michigan cherry biensur).  This is the memoir of a girl growing up in Kenya (among other things of course) and I just added it to my amazon wish list.  Granny Nanny Darling plucked this gem from the book which sold me on it: 

A good host should never ask if their guest would like another drink, they should ask if 'they would like the other half.'

For Unofficial Use Only is back!

For Unofficial Use Only is back!  So after a long hiatus I am returning to the blogosphere!  I haven't posted since September due to a crazy busy schedule preparing for the 20th International Seapower Symposium, which our office runs.  This event happens once every two years and is a gathering of the heads of navies from around the world.

    In other great news I am headed out to Monterey in a month to start up on my master's degree at the Naval Postgraduate School.  I will be studying international relations with an Africa focus.   I am excited to delve deeper into the academic side of what I have been snidely commenting on for the past year and a half.  Hopefully, my writing and analysis will improve as well!