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1

His finger kind of looks like a penis.

Posted by work on the brain | December 21, 2007 11:04 AM
2

You're right, hot chicks are definitely better than cruel military dictators.

Posted by NaFun | December 21, 2007 11:08 AM
3

Yeah, that works on a global scale:

What's right with the world: pretty ladies

What's wrong with the world: militaristic asshole leaders

Posted by Levislade | December 21, 2007 11:11 AM
4

Ask Charles to explain the sinister and rampant homophobia in Nigeria and other African nations - I find it a puzzle.

That is compared to South Africa.

Posted by Kenneth | December 21, 2007 11:13 AM
5

woohoo, chucky finally posts a reasonable, sensible post. kudos on the truth in this.

Posted by ddv | December 21, 2007 11:18 AM
6

there's a lot more wrong with africa than militarism.

chopping off labia & clitori come to mind.

and bush meat.

and jenkem.

Posted by max solomon | December 21, 2007 11:21 AM
7

So, Charles, when are you announcing your sex change?

Posted by Tlazolteotl | December 21, 2007 11:25 AM
8

And the widths of their noses has nothing to do with this, right?

Posted by Greg | December 21, 2007 11:25 AM
9
Posted by charles | December 21, 2007 11:33 AM
10

africa deserves better than this kind of oversimplification.

Posted by sukie | December 21, 2007 11:44 AM
11

I agree with Charles. Explaining what's wrong with Africa is a lengthy discussion and can differ with each African country, but the general consensus is that colonialism fucked up Africa by basically raping the continent of it's resources, dividing up tribes and paying them to fight each other, implanting the European version of a religion that was started by East Africans (the same can be argued with Islam depending on who you talk to), and not doing anything to improve the infrastructure, until now. Now the Chinese are buying the oil and not implanting their religion or culture into Africa. Instead, they're improving the infrastructure by building roads, bridges, railroads, and highways between remote areas so that people can get around easily now, something the French, British, Italians, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese should've done years ago.

One day I would like to wake up and hear in the news only good news from Africa, not depressing stories about tribal warfare instigated by shady business deals, corrupt politicians, dictator-like presidents who think their shit don't smell, AIDS/HIV, and easily curable diseases robbing children and adults of their lives.

Posted by apres_moi | December 21, 2007 11:45 AM
12

I took it as, women are what is right with Africa and men are whats wrong. Just like the black community U.S.A! we arent so different are we!

Posted by Bellevue Ave | December 21, 2007 11:52 AM
13

@12 I agree with you. I'm black and I always see that when men in the black community try to run things, male egotism and pride gets in the way and conflicts arise. Whenever strong women take hold it of the situation and put the men in their place and make them listen, then things get done.

Liberia's a great example of things to come. If more women can get into power like Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and start to turn things around by battling the corrupt government and financial networks, and regaining the trust of the people, then there might be a positive outcome. I hope the same for the middle east. I wish more women would get into power there and deal with the bullshit there then things in the middle east might change. But the religious extremist there will always be there to site the Koran and how women should be subservient and all that bs.

Posted by apres_moi | December 21, 2007 12:07 PM
14

@3 says it all.

But, actually, the fact that more than half the population has two or more major infectious diseases - TB, HIV/AIDS, Malaria, etc - makes it so people know they probably won't live and so don't care about the future since they won't be there (or so they think).

And the US and USSR dumping enough weapons and ammo for 10 small arms per person might not have helped much either. And our funding of paramilitary and revolutionary groups that commit horrible crimes.

Bygones.

Posted by Will in Seattle | December 21, 2007 12:19 PM
15

@11,

The colonialists didn't cause different ethnic groups to hate each other so much as they created artificial states that force conflicting ethnic groups to live and work together. That's not a recipe for success, either in the Balkans or in Africa.

Posted by keshmeshi | December 21, 2007 1:05 PM
16

Don't blame the colonialists/the past for everything. The present people in Africa have the power to make it better.

The current "leaders" including Mugabe and war criminals like the one shown in the picture will have to take responsibility to fix things. So, they need to stop the corruption, the fighting, the genocide, etc. They are responsible for doing those things today.

Most colonies gained independence by the 1960s.

Fifty years ago.

How many centuries do they get to blame the past?

Relieving them of all responsibility is racist itself.
And it only leads to one solution , letting Belgium France Germany & Britain and to come back and take over everything to fix it.

We don't want that. So the Africans have responsibility to fix it. Not us, not Europe.

Posted by unPC | December 21, 2007 1:16 PM
17

" ... (G)eneral consensus is that colonialism fucked up Africa by basically raping the continent of it's resources, dividing up tribes ..."

Guess it depends on which narco generals you talk to. How convenient for Africa's many kleptocrat gangstacrat 'leaders' that they can still find, 40 or 50 years after the death of colonialism, pasty privileged apologists in the West to use colonialism as an excuse and justification for Africa's pathology.

Posted by the last king of uganda in a kilt | December 21, 2007 1:21 PM
18

pussy good. dicks bad. stunning insight.

Posted by some dude | December 21, 2007 1:25 PM
19

Labia choppers ... clitoris choppers ... There's something vulgarly racist, imperialist, and insensitive about your clitoral concerns. Who are you, who are we, tolerant progressive multiculturalist appreciators of diversity that we are, to impugn the customs of another culture?

Posted by cultural imperialists R us | December 21, 2007 1:32 PM
20

@8, That's what I was thinking.

Posted by Alexis | December 21, 2007 2:14 PM
21

19 - there's something vulgarly sexist about dismissing female genital mutilation [and the subjugation of women in general] as something we should accept as just another cultural discrepancy which we should not judge from the outside looking in.

moral relativism is fine and dandy when you're talking about something like eating insects or naming teddy bears after prophets, but not when gross violations of human rights are involved. unless of course you're joking....

Posted by brandon | December 21, 2007 2:33 PM
22

wow, am I the only one that noticed the critical comments censored on this one? does this happen much on the slog?

Posted by 81 | December 21, 2007 3:12 PM
23

@19 HAS to be joking.

my clitoral concerns are SEXIST. for, as everyone who has read the tao of sex knows, the female orgasm gives the man more yang. or yin. i forget which...

Posted by max solomon | December 21, 2007 3:16 PM
24

Politics, shmolitics. That girl is HOT.

Posted by Big Sven | December 21, 2007 5:29 PM

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