Kruse's Keys: Read "Beyond the Rice Fields" to Experience the Beauty, Love and Tragedy of Madagascar (Madagascar)

It’s hard to express how much I looked forward to reading this book.  I spent three years living and working in Madagascar beginning in late 2013 (my collected writings from that time can be found here and here).  Prior to my arrival, I had scoured the libraries and internet for anything that I could find in English on Madagascar (my list of collected articles and books can be found here and here.).  Unfortunately, this was a rather small task once one gets beyond the myriad travel guides and nature-oriented literature.  

Then near the end of 2015, I came across a post from Ann Morgan, who spent a year reading a novel from EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.  In the post, she lamented the fact that not a single novel from Madagascar had ever been translated into English, but that a translator named Allison Charette had received a PEN grant to translate one and  she’d chosen “Beyond the Rice Fields.”  So I’d been literally waiting for the last two years for the book to be released and it did not disappoint.  

Malagasy author Naivo has crafting a heart-wrenching tale of love sets amidst one slave’s seemingly impossible yearning for success and upward mobility.  Impressively, the author’s expansive piece of pre-colonial historical fiction doesn’t hold back in addressing some oft-considered taboo subjects in Madagascar such as slavery and the wholesale execution of Christians under Queen Ranavalona’s reign in the 19th century. The narrative centers on Tsito, a child whose family were “forest people” and captured, then sold into slavery by the ruling Merina highlanders (called amboalambos, i.e., pig-dogs by the atandroy or antakarana--it’s unclear which tribe the author refers to when he uses the denotation ‘forest people).  He grows up with his master Rado’s family and develops a bond with Rado’s daughter Fara.  The story unfolds through dueling narratives between these two characters.  

The book reads as a mixture of hainteny (oral tale/poetry) and tantara (historical narrative) with a liberal dosing of Malagasy proverbs/adages (I counted 29 of them).  One in particular proves emblematic as Fara ponders her destiny:

Love is like rice, when you transplant it, it grows, but never in the same way.  It retains a bittersweet memory of its first soils. Every time it’s uprooted it dies a little; every time it’s replanted, it loses a piece of its soil.  But it also bears fruit (188).

Fara’s observation captures the tension and movement with Beyond the Rice Fields as the central characters and family find themselves uprooted numerous times amidst shifting factions as King Radama dies and the throne is passed to his wife Ranavalona.  Her reign marks the beginning of an increasingly fraught relationship between Christianity and political power in Madagascar, especially since the crown Prince becomes a Christian.  

While neither Fara nor Tsito are themselves Christians, they find themselves caught in the ill effects of Ranavalona’s power consolidation as she upends traditional tribal power alliances and eventually publicly executes thousands of Malagasy Christians.   Within all this chaos, however, Fara and Tsito ultimately find each other.  

In one key conversation, we hear echoes of the fampitaha song from the novel’s beginning as Fara lovingly spars with Tsito:

“And how will you love me?”  

He replies: “I will love you like my eyes, the windows of my soul; without them, I am as weak as a child, but with them, the world smiles at me.”

“Then do not love me, for I will be of no use to you in the darkness.”

“I will love you like the door to my home, protecting me from enemies and keeping the hearth warm.”

“Then do not love, for you push through me without shame to achieve your ends.”

“I will love you like the Sovereign of this realm, mistress of the our lives and destiny.” (238)

Naivo proves himself a skilled and brave writer in Beyond the Rice Fields. With the publication of his novel in English, he has illuminated a period of Malagasy history previously hidden from most of the world.  Along the way, he has brought to life the rich traditions and deep culture of a country and people that are all too often wrongly associated solely with lemurs and coups by radio DJs.  

*One of my Reading Around the Continent books--the full list is here.
See our 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014 Reading Lists.

Key Quotes:

“Sing for your highest dreams, dance for your most starstruck plans.  Then you cannot lose (120).”

Key Takeaways:

• Unless you live in Madagascar I don't think that I can ever make you understand how important rice is to Madagascar, to its culture.  For starters, Malagasies eat rice AT EVERY MEAL. Living in its capital you see the rice fields everywhere, they are inescapable--RICE IS LIFE in Mada! 
  
• Book captures a tension that exists today between the Merina highlanders, who consolidate power across Madagascar and everyone else (in the novel’s case the ‘forest people’ who refer to the Merinas as pig-dogs). While many would disagree as to the level of this tension today, I saw evidence of it, particularly between the Merina highlanders and those living on the coasts (6).
• Torture as a whole plays a central role throughout the novel, whether in its use to break down slaves (9), or as an overall method of societal control.
• The idea of “purification” also plays an important role in the culture and tradition of the villages and the palace.  Earlier on, we see the ‘witch doctors/seers’ practice of determining a child’s purity by putting them in the path of stampeding cattle and seeing if they live (56).  
• Fara’s belief that “the city is my destiny” is a harbinger of doom (64)
• Short hair done as a sign of mourning (72)
• Keen insight into rather insidious ways that early white missionaries exercised control and ensured their livelihoods as they spread rumours that “killing a white man will give you leprosy” or “vazaha blood was a slow poison that made anyone who spilled it go deaf” (90).
• Fampitaha singing/dancing competition is seen as elemental part of Malagasy society (117). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBUxRMAZ6oM 
• Merina referred to themselves as “People under the sky” (117).
• Lanterns and lights are associated with childhood and celebration of children (133)
• Annual Bathing feast described as essentially a sexual free for all, as long as the participants hide while they do it (144)
• While the Queen starts anti-Christian actions (171), they also had the effects of galvanizing the spread of Christianity (175).
• Tangena poison test played a huge role until the Queen’s successor outlawed it.  Anyone so accused would be required to drink the poison (derived from the toxic nuts of tangena tree.  Then they’d have to swallow three bird skins.  If they could vomit up the three bird skins without dying then they’d be declared innocent.  Evidently this was a widely accepted method of guilt determination with something like 2% of the population dying from it every year (much more during Ranavalona’s reign) (216).  
• Under the quee, the palace/government started to confiscate everything from the people (220).  
• Beautiful writing: “I will love you” (238)
• Words in English as holding no sacred virtue (267)
• More beautiful writing: “My heart is as solid as a shield” (274)
• It becomes evident under the queen that the military generals wield the real power (342)
• Habits of a slave described (23)

Proverbs:

1. A slave skilled at valiha: when you ask him to play, he refuses, but as soon as you speak of work, he goes mad for the music. (9)
2. A crying orphan, only pitied by the back of his own hand. (10)
3. Do not cook meat without knowing its name (15).
4. The seer who wants to make the impossible believable is not afraid to make dying men dance (17).
5. A banana threatened with a knife with eventually be pierced (33).
6. A lie likes to dress itself up as a story (40).
7. A servant’s undivided piaster is the master’s esteem (48).
8. You must not judge the stranger by his yellowish face but think of his family on the other side of the earth (58).
9. Better a small soul respected by his friends than a great soul who perishes in vain (69).
10. The tree that grows too tall will be thrashed by strong winds (70).
11. The sovereign’s word is law; it enters our homes not on tiptoes, but stomping its feet (88).
12. He who changes lords changes status (93).
13. The City’s great houses, the first built are soonest dissatisfied (107).
14. Hope cannot vanquish destiny (110).  
15. Only simpletons want to be like their fathers (116).  
16. He who shows his back hides what’s in his soul (125).
17. He who has a white soul is like a bird of ill fate (125).
18. If the waterfall rumbles, it is because of the rocks; if kings rule, it is because of the vahoaka (128).
19. The poor are not friends of the affluent (171)
20. Love is like rice, when you transplant it, it grows, but never in the same way.  It retains a bittersweet memory of its first soils. Every Time it’s uprooted it dies a little; every time it’s replanted, it loses a piece of its soil.  But it also bears fruit (188).
21. They can rise to the top as cream does, but milk will always reveal a common ancestor (189).
22. A meeting of dogs where they only sniff each other’s asses (199).  
23. Those who are unified are like a rock, those who are divided are like the sand (221).
24. Love is like the silkworm in winter: touching it makes its eyes open wide(232).
25. Only halfwits have less ambition that their fathers (242).
26. The soul is what makes us human (251).
27. Everyone is in himself a noblemen (251).
28. Destiny is a chameleon on a tree branch, it only takes a hissing child for it to change its color (318).

Songs and Hainteny:

We’ll go to the City of Thousands

To eat the laying hen

To eat the fatty zebu hump (18)

The village is rich with children

Grandmother is lucky indeed

Her home has a hundred slaves

Her home holds a hundred cattle (26)

To mediate the difficult

        As saffron does (73)

Come forth! Let them appear

        And the most beautiful will triumph

They will be judged

And the ugliest will disappear (126)

Tell me how I can keep your love:

        If I knot it into a corner of my gown

        The thread might break it and I could lose it.

        If I place it in the palm of my hand

        I’m afraid it might dissolve into dampness…

Instead, I’ll put it in my heart

Although it will make me perish

Will that not make me love you all the more? (131)

Bulls fighting within the herd

        The victor is not cheered

        The vanquished is not booed (135)

The trees of sweet-smelling wood

        Counting two, there finding three

        There on the tall mountain

        On Mount Adrigiba

They wanted to sleep

Pressed against each other

At least rejoice, oh my soul,

That you do not possess

The one you do not love (146)

A thousand words

        A hundred stories

        But all talk ends

        At the hour of confrontation (275)

I implore your forgiveness, O my earth

        I appeal to your mercy, O my earth!

        You, who cover our dear ones

        You, their final shelter

        We trample you underfoot

        But you are the water’s cradle

        And you grow the ears of rice

        And you absorb all sorrow

        O my earth (348).

Key References (for further study):

• Fampitaha competition (12)
• Fara name (15)
• Kalanoro (96)--mythical creature--there’s some weird stuff on the internet about this one
• “Paul and Virginia”  love story of star-crossed lovers in Mauritius.  You can read more about it here(123)
• Christian holy man who was killed by the Queen--more about him here. (162)
• Fara describes the dying away of fampitaha competitions, are these still held today? (192)
• Mantasoa, man-made lake/Laborde built the city there is and is buried there. (193)
• Royal decree for export rights (227) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Laborde 
• Menamasos artists society to surpass Vazahas (236) reference book
• Zafamanelo family right to recite kabary was rescinded by the Queen(239)
• Crown prince Radama I a christian (243)
• Madagascar sent ambassadors to England and France in the 1800’s (247)
• Sidikina derivation of God Save the King played when foreign rulers would visit Madagascar (259)
• http://kruzoo.blogspot.com/2016/08/veloma-list-of-madagascar-posts.html
• http://kruzoo.blogspot.com/2016/08/veloma-list-of-poems-written-while-in.html
• http://kruzoo.blogspot.com/2016/08/antananarivo.restaurantlist.bestofmadagascarhediard.html
• http://kruzoo.blogspot.com/p/mada-articles.html
• www.brooklynbookfestival.org/authors/naivo/
• http://ile-en-ile.org/naivo/
• http://www.wordswithoutborders.org/article/december-2015-the-conspiracists-naivo-allison-m-charette
• https://pen.org/introducing-the-literature-of-madagascar-on-translating-naivo/

Ambassador Yamate, Paul Revere, Albert Meyer and AFRICOM walk into a bar

Following is a speech that I wrote for the US Ambassador to give at the closing ceremony of the AFRICA ENDEAVOR Senior Leader Communications Symposium the year that Madagascar hosted it.  The week long event brought together senior communications generals from across Africa with the goal of building communications/signals interoperability. The US Army Signals officers from AFRICOM geeked out over the short speech which highlight a few instances of early signals innovation.  

I didn't realize it when I first arrived in Madagascar, but an important facet of security cooperation work overseas is speech writing.  A supportive Ambassador can be a powerful force multiplier for any security cooperation program.  In Madagascar, I was fortunate to serve under a superb ambassador who always made himself available to speak at training and cooperative events.  His presence meant that we'd always have a large media contingent covering the event.  In Madagascar, that meant the event and subsequent interviews would be carried on the widely watched local news program in the evening.  A large part of security cooperation is managing and shaping public perception of long-term strategic goals--media coverage is a vital part of this.  The Ambassador's presence meant that I'd often need to prepare remarks for him to deliver.  Ideally, writing speeches for someone gets easier the longer you know the person as you are able to better intuit their voice. This was the case with my Ambassador--by the end of my tour there, the edits required became very minimal.  

His Excellency the President of the Republic of Madagascar

The Honorable Minister of National Defense

Distinguished government and military members from more than 40 countries and international organizations,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a privilege to speak before such an accomplished group of officers from more than 40 countries and international organizations.  We gather here to honor and acknowledge the hard work that each of you, the Africa Endeavor communications experts, has put in these past five days. 

The importance of military communications is deeply ingrained in the history of the United States, dating back to the American Revolutionary War and our independence.  In 1775, it was the American patriot Paul Revere, who took his famous horseback ride from Boston to Lexington – warning his countrymen that “the British are coming.” 

A week earlier, Paul Revere played a pivotal Signals role in alerting the colonial militia of approaching British soldiers.  Revere had arranged for lanterns to be hung in the bell-tower of Christ Church in Boston, and these lanterns would indicate if the British troops were coming by land or by sea – two lanterns if by sea, one lantern if by land.  Ultimately, the British ended up crossing the Charles River, two lanterns were hung in the bell-tower, and the local militia was alerted to the enemies’ arrival by sea.  The subsequent battles of Lexington and Concord signaled the start of the American Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775. 

After this auspicious start, however, there were hardly any Signals or Communications innovations until the American Civil War, nearly 100 years later.  This innovation was driven by technological advances in weaponry during the Civil War that revealed a need to quickly command and control units over long distances. 

Out of necessity, an Army doctor named Albert Meyer created the first Signals system that used a series of flags for daytime signals and torches for nighttime signals to direct movements of troops on the battle field.  Before Dr. Meyer’s system, commanders relied on horseback couriers to pass messages to other units in the field.  Dr. Meyer’s new and innovative signaling system allowed for a commander to call for reinforcements and receive a near instantaneous response.

I share with you the story of these two innovators because that is the role that all of you play today.  The battlefield has fundamentally changed in the last twenty years – even more so in the past ten years.  What we face today are often transnational or asymmetric challenges that exist in cyber space, in famines and floods, in insurgencies, in terrorist attacks, and in post-conflict peacekeeping missions. 

The United States cannot meet these challenges alone; Madagascar cannot meet these challenges alone, no country can do it alone.  However, we can – and we must – meet these challenges together.  This 8^th Africa Endeavor symposium is important because you had the opportunity to share your own experiences and best practices.  You had the opportunity to work together and create standard operating signals procedures – so that when we face these challenges together, we are speaking the same “language.” 

While this morning in the closing ceremony, the work of the AFRICA ENDEAVOR symposium must not end.  In order to continue our standardization efforts, each of you will take your newfound knowledge home and share it with your defense leadership and the soldiers under you.  And I encourage each of you to continue to invest in the personal relationships formed here and leverage those to continue your military’s C4I development. 

I’d like to conclude by thanking the government of Madagascar for doing such a phenomenal job in hosting the symposium.  Madagascar, and each of you as representatives of your respective countries, understands the importance of investing in the capabilities of a right-sized military force. 

Madagascar, and each of you as representatives of your respective countries, understands the importance of your fundamental role as impartial guardians of democracy, and as protectors of the fundamental human rights of the all its people – to include women, children, and the most vulnerable.  

To all of you here, my congratulations on a job well done.  Thank you.

Poetry of the Indian Ocean

http://fuuo.blogspot.com/2014/03/comoros.poetry.anthology.fao.html

Weekly Reading: The Plague in Mada, Christianity, Writing at large, Getting Kids into College, Downs PSA, a total eclipse of AFRICOM and Mandatory FAO reading

Doing some catch-up posting after a long weekly reading hiatus. Now that I am back stateside, I hope to bring back this regular column.


The plague, alive and well in Madagascar
Yup--we keep it old school here on the Red Island

Why is Christianity the right religion?
I always enjoy hearing from Ravi Zacharias

From HBR to Mashable: How to Be a Guest Writer on 11 Popular Sites
Great reference doc for budding writerpreneurs!

Olivia Wilde stars in powerful PSA for World Down Syndrome Day
My wonderful uncle Dutch has down syndrome and this PSA is a great one that shows people with down syndrome are not to be pitied.

Advice College Admissions Officers Give Their Own Kids
Storing this one way for ten years from now.  The article contains a wide swath of advice from admissions officers at different universities.

Why the US needs AFRICOM
...and I need you more than ever...it's a total eclipse of the heart!  Sorry, where was I.  Some good soundbites for your next argument.

How Not to Make Disciples (Francis Chan Video)
Chan keeps it real and real funny.

Getting to Si, Ja, Oui, Hai, and Da
This is an incredible read.  I put in on my FAO (Foreign Area Officer) Mandatory Reading List/PQS page for good reason.  The author breaks down the myriad ways negotiations or relationship often break down across different cultures.  Absolutely vital reading for anyone working in cultures outside the US.

Janitor Felt Invisible Until One Changed His Life
Feel good story about common decency amongst the oft-maligned millenial generation.

Weekly Reading: Spooks, Buchanan!, Loss, Sanctuary cites, Mada's Legal Morass, FAOs and I am 2nd

How an obscure adviser to Pat Buchanan predicted the wild Trump campaign in 1996
Well this is an interesting article...but who could have really predicted Trump...

On Flying, and Who We Lost
A beautiful heartbreaking post about aviation, friendship and loss.

I Am Second
Then who's first, you will have to see for yourself.  Some incredible videos and stories.

The Struggle With Sanctuary Cities in Iowa
I am learning new things about our crazy political/electoral system all the time.

Eyewash: How the CIA deceives its own workforce about operations
The CIA, of course, denies any knowledge...between articles like these and watching Homeland...

UPDATE: Law and Legal Systems in Madagascar: A Political Siege
A good primer on the pol-legal systems of Madagascar.  I've been here two years and there were quite a few things that I learned.  It's difficult to find much political analysis on Madagascar in English so this was nice to run across.  One quote in particular caught my attention: "Montesquieu recommended that “power should be a check to power” to avoid abuses. However, Madagascar which wishes to be a democratic regime views the legislature and judiciary subordinated to the executive. Further, the Constitution appears to be an instrument used to legitimate and strengthen its supremacy."

IS THE UNITED STATES CONDUCTING THE CORRECT TYPES OF SECURITY COOPERATION MISSIONS IN THE AFRICAN CONTINENT?

This links auto-downloads the PDF--a bit annoying but so far a good 50 pages thesis that I am reading through.    His short answer is yes but AFRICOM needs a more balanced approached in Phase Zero ENCAP, MEDCAP and SC/SA activities.  You can just skip to page 48 to read his conclusions.

Foreign Area Officers learn from the experts at Monterey language school
Nothing I love more than a little FAO propaganda!

"Every FAO is an expert on political-military issues in a particular region of the world, is knowledgeable of security cooperation, highly trained in language skills and interpersonal skills, and is an experienced officer."

We definitely are not trained in 'interpersonal skills' but it's not a bad idea...although I am not sure what that would look like

Weekly Reading: Washington's Study, Rosewood Riches, Ragamuffins, Biblical Iliteracy, Sean Penn and One Important Quesiton

A Well-Organized Study
I don't normally put these articles in any order but when I saw I had this one near the bottom I moved it up to the very top.  MY FAVORITE READ FROM THIS PAST WEEK.  A USNA Classmate has put together a detailed look and program for organizing your digital life.

Madagascar continue de fermer les yeux sur le trafic du bois de rose
Some key quotes for my non-francophone readers regarding rosewood trafficking in Madagascar:
- From one diplomat--The entire world is sick and tired of Madagascar's double talk
- No one can even really measure the amount of natural resources being pillaged by Madagascar's political elite

LEARNING FROM RICH MULLINS – A RAGAMUFFIN AT THE DOOR OF GOD’S MERCY
Will definitely check out this movie from about two years back

Life aboard a hospital ship
Great short article on the great work done by the volunteers at Mercy Ships!

‘Excellent Daughters,’ by Katherine Zoepf
Looks like a very interesting read by someone who worked for years with these women.


 My Last Day as a Surgeon
Ugh, a heart breaking article excerpted from the surgeon's swan song/book.

























We’ve lost our consciousness of the Bible
This article hits the nail on the head as the majority of the news/media establishment no longer has even a modicum of knowledge regarding what many Americans still believe.

Sean Penn is a college freshman’s Che Guevara T-shirt personified
For real though.  Talk about the lack of a moral compass.

Why We Write About War
The short answer: We write to know we are not alone.

THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION OF YOUR LIFE
Such a great post: what do you want so much that you are willing to endure pain to achieve/get it?

Brookings: Foresight Africa--Top Priorities for the Continent in 2016
A good reference and starting point for analysis.

Weekly Reading: Pastor Santa, Christmas Focus, Shipwrecked Malagasy Slaves, and a Year Long Haul Trucking

With the feast of epiphany today, this week's readings are Christmas heavy to close out the season.

How Do We Know The Christmas Story Is Really True?
A great anecdote (from Donald Miller's Storyline blog) on the power and potency of indirect evidence.  The article has a great quote from C.S. Lewis on the subject: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.”

SANTA WAS A PASTOR
So Santa was actually Pastor Nicholas, of a church in Myrna (modern day Kale, Turkey).  Every parent (Christian or not) addresses Santa Claus in their own way but all in all, a good post on refocusing the scope of your thoughts around Christmas time.

BreakPoint This Week: Advent and Christmas Habits
On the subject of refocusing, this post poses a good question: What do your Christmas traditions communicate to the world about your stance and focus regarding the birth of Jesus?  Some good food for thought.

Lèse humanité What happened when slaves and free men were shipwrecked together
A fairly incredible story that could be a movie.  In the late 18th century, a French merchant who picked up some illicit slaves from Madagascar ends up shipwrecked on what is know today as Tromelin Island--a third of a square mile patch of sand some 500 nm east of Madagascar.  What followed was a 15 year journey before the last slave was rescued.

Island where shipwrecked souls spent 15 years

Middle East Time Bomb: The Real Aim of ISIS Is to Replace the Saud Family as the New Emirs of Arabia
A lot of good middle east and Saudi history that you probably had no clue about.

THE LONG HAUL: ONE YEAR OF SOLITUDE ON AMERICA'S HIGHWAYS
Wow.  An eye-opening look into the long-haul trucking industry and one young man's yearlong sojourn there in an attempt to pay off his college debt.

Weekly Reading: A Trek Across Madagascar, to Hijab or not to Hijab, Naval Strategy?, Aviation Black Lists in Africa and a FAO Reading List

The land grabs in Africa you don’t hear about
Fascinating article...you likely won't guess the largest constituency buying up land in Africa--you will have to click to find out.  While you are clicking, check out two great books below.
 

L'aviation africaine s'organise pour sortir de la liste noire
I've been on quite a few flights out here where I've spent most of the time praying...that the plane wouldn't fall apart.

Madness in Madagascar: Brit defies crocs and cops in bid to be first to cross island
Brit Ash Dyke is attempting to become the first person to traverse the world's 4th largest island on foot.
ashdykes.com/madagascar/
https://twitter.com/Ash_Dykes
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ash-Dykes/736642026399924

As Muslim women, we actually ask you not to wear the ‘hijab’ in the name of interfaith solidarity
These are the types of articles every American should read.  Islam, the Koran and Islamism are too often simplified and then misunderstood by our society at large.  On its face, the idea of wearing the 'hijab' in solidarity seems to be a praiseworthy idea but as the author demonstrates running through the Koran, the 'hijab' is used in many muslim cultures to denigrate and control women.  And on the other side of the argument, in some cultures wearing the 'hijab' is nearly devoid of any religious connotation.

FROM READERS: MU faculty member shares stories of racism
A beautifully written piece that should be mandatory reading for everyone--especially anyone with a knee-jerk reaction in either direction.

THE BRUTAL REALITIES OF NAVAL STRATEGY
Great book review by BJ Armstrong that completely sold me on the need for this book to be on every naval officer's bookshelf...filled with highlights.


WAR ON THE ROCKS 2015 HOLIDAY READING LIST
This is the reading list you wish you were smart enough to tackle.  That said, I did find a few books (that I may or may not understand) to add to my wish list (below)

Past Weekly Reads
What I Read Last Week: Pro-life means pro-gun control, a missile's aftermath, Yakuza photos, Contempt in Marriage and Politics in Madagascar

Weekly Reading List: Mosquito nets and fishermen, Papa's Letters, A Century of Immigration and Italy in Africa

Weekly Reading List: African Borders, A Cure for Blindness, Family, Wine, Fish and a Muslim State

Weekly Reading List: Ivory-Terrorism myths, People Hangovers, Shoeboxes and Lawrence in Syria

Weekly Reading: Writing in Italian, the Weirdness of English, Wu-Tang and the Mona Lisa, the Sainthood of Mister Rogers and Prepping for the Next Ebola in West Africa

Weekly Reading List: Ivory-Terrorism myths, People Hangovers, Shoeboxes and Lawrence in Syria

The US needs to retire daylight savings and just have two time zones—one hour apart
Before 1883 the US had over 300 different time zones--who knew?  A well-researched cogent argument for ditching the daylight savings system.  You can follow her on twitter here.

The Ivory-Funded Terrorism Myth
McConnell is quite simply one of the best reporters in Africa today.  If he writes it, I read it--you should too.  This is a must read article for senior military leaders and policy-makers alike.  Key quote:  "It matters because global terrorism and the international ivory trade are distinct problems, requiring different strategies; conflating the two risks undermining the fight against both." 

How to Avoid a People Hangover
Donald Miller's 'Storyline Blog' is mandatory reading for introverts (I'm a borderline introvert) and I know exactly what he means about a people hangover.  

Unsolicited Advice About Shoeboxes
If your church or group sends Christmas shoeboxes abroad to Africa --PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read this helpful post first.

How Would Lawrence of Arabia Defeat the Islamic State?
Great article by the prolific Staviridis.  Some great food for thought--I especially liked the idea of integrating the Af-Pak hands cadre across appropriate military planning staffs.  And of course, I also appreciation his plug for foreign area officers.

Mystery of Madagascar's stunted children
A rather complex wicked problem here in Madagascar.  Over 60% of children in Madagascar suffering from stunting--that is to say, chronic and lasting malnutrition that not only affect height but also long-term cognitive ability.

The Norwich Review of International and Transnational Crime (NRITC)
Looks like an interesting new magazine--but unfortunately the only way to read it is to download it as a PDF...not the most user friendly.

What I Read Last Week: Pro-life means pro-gun control, a missile's aftermath, Yakuza photos, Contempt in Marriage and Politics in Madagascar

How one evangelical activist changed his mind on gun violence
A preacher's journey toward an expansive understanding of pro-life the grew from one focused on protecting the unborn to also protecting life in general through gun control.  Personally, I tend to agree that protecting the unborn goes hand in hand with fighting gun violence from a consistency aspect.


In Yemen, Death From Above, Grief Below
While we're reading about the value of life, this is a sober account of what the aftermath of a missile strike looks like for civilians.  So often, the actuality of these events are masked behind passive headlines--it's important to remember that a person's value is independent of their country of origin and that government's relationship to another.

This Photographer Was Given Access Inside One Of Japan’s Yakuza Crime Families
An intriguing and frightening glimpse into the seedy underworld of Japan's crime world.  The depth to which the photographer seems to have been lulled into its pull speaks to families' power--he glosses over the deleterious aspects of their existence quickly--ignoring the implications of prostitution, bribery and corruption.

Easier Said Than Done On the elusive quest for political stability in Madagascar
While Soamiely may be pretty much the only person writing in English on Malagasy culture and politics, he's also an incredible talented and interesting writer.  He's on my weekly reading list.  This article is a great example from June this year in which he dissects the (in)efficacy of the government in Madagascar to make concrete progress.

Couples Who Stay Together Follow This One Rule
I will just give you the rule: "If an argument crosses over from anger to contempt, it needs to stop immediately."

What I Read Last Week: Lonely Rats, the Libya Novel You Never Knew About, BMX in Mada, Blind Hikers and an Age 18 List for Your Kids

The War on Loneliness
A great post related to the exploding heroin addiction problem in the United States.  Turns out addiction is less pronounced and powerful when people are in community.  People crave relationships...we were made for them.

A LIBYAN NOVEL YOU SHOULD READ

It was only recently translated from Italian into English.  It's billed as a multi-generational fictional history of Libya beginning from the 1900s in the vein of the epic The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street --one of my favorites.  I just started it and am adding it to my 2015 Reading List.  

A Stage Across the Sea An unjustly-neglected Libyan novelist captured the twisted logic of colonialism, past and present. 
In which a very intelligent writer named Ursula Lindsey lays out exactly why The Confines of the Shadow is such an important book.

DADA | The Malagasy Trialist
Cool little video about a Malagasy stunt bike rider named Dada up in Nosy Be.

The blind hiker who takes on the wilderness
Don't need to say much more than the title.   The hiker described has started a cool charity called The Far Sight Foundation .  He was the first blink hiker to complete the Appalachian Trail--check out his website.

CASH FAMILY “AGE 18 LIST” FOR OUR KIDS
A great post from the Chaplain for Mercy Ships that is here in Madagascar right now.  In it he offers a template to write out your hopes for your children by the time they turn 18.  Working backward from that then gives you an ability to build up those characteristics in your children.