"Oh, yes, he will - won't he, Mary Poppins?" Jane's voice was full of anxiety.
"How should I know?" snapped Mary Poppins. "I'm not a Public Library!"
- From P.L.Travers - The Cat That Looked at a King, in "Mary Poppins Opens the Door"
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Devastated by AIDS, Africa Sees Life Expectancy Plunge
By CELIA W. DUGGER Published: July 16, 2004
"Africa is getting poorer and hungrier as life expectancy continues its steep decline in the countries hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic, according to a United Nations report released Thursday. It said infants born now in seven nations with high rates of H.I.V. infection could expect to live less than 40 years...
Africa's setbacks are a break from recent decades of progress. From 1960 to 2000, for example, life expectancy in developing countries rose to 63 years from 46. Africa was part of that progress until the mid-1990's, when AIDS began seriously eroding its gains. The bleak statistical portrait of sub-Saharan Africa, drawn from the 2004 Human Development Report, does not spare South Africa, the region's economic powerhouse, which celebrated a decade of post-apartheid democracy this year. It is a discouraging portrait that the South African government sharply disputed Thursday. "
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/international/africa/16afri.html
By CELIA W. DUGGER Published: July 16, 2004
"Africa is getting poorer and hungrier as life expectancy continues its steep decline in the countries hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic, according to a United Nations report released Thursday. It said infants born now in seven nations with high rates of H.I.V. infection could expect to live less than 40 years...
Africa's setbacks are a break from recent decades of progress. From 1960 to 2000, for example, life expectancy in developing countries rose to 63 years from 46. Africa was part of that progress until the mid-1990's, when AIDS began seriously eroding its gains. The bleak statistical portrait of sub-Saharan Africa, drawn from the 2004 Human Development Report, does not spare South Africa, the region's economic powerhouse, which celebrated a decade of post-apartheid democracy this year. It is a discouraging portrait that the South African government sharply disputed Thursday. "
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/international/africa/16afri.html
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
"Globalis - an interactive world map
Globalis is an interactive world atlas where you decide what is to be displayed on the map...
At Globalis you will find statistics from the Human Development Report 2003, which is the first global status report discussing how the countries of the world compare in reaching the UN Millennium Development Goals. For each goal you can choose between several indicators, which show the countries' positions. You can also display temporal changes to see which countries are going through a positive or negative development in relation to the millennium goals."
http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/
Globalis is an interactive world atlas where you decide what is to be displayed on the map...
At Globalis you will find statistics from the Human Development Report 2003, which is the first global status report discussing how the countries of the world compare in reaching the UN Millennium Development Goals. For each goal you can choose between several indicators, which show the countries' positions. You can also display temporal changes to see which countries are going through a positive or negative development in relation to the millennium goals."
http://globalis.gvu.unu.edu/
Private Voluntary Organization (PVO)
"USAID defines private voluntary organizations as taxexempt, non-profit organizations working in, or intending to become engaged in, international development activities. These organizations receive some portion of their annual revenue from the private sector (demonstrating their private nature) and voluntary contributions of money, staff time, or in-kind support from the general public (demonstrating their voluntary nature).
Many Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in international development and humanitarian aid preffer the term to NGO. NGOs typically include any private or nonprofit entity that is formed or organized independently from any national or local governmental entity. These can include for-profit firms, academic degree-granting institutions, universities and colleges, labor institutions, foundations, private voluntary organizations, and a cooperative development organizations."
From Wikipedia, cited in
http://www.fact-index.com/p/pr/private_voluntary_organization.html
"USAID defines private voluntary organizations as taxexempt, non-profit organizations working in, or intending to become engaged in, international development activities. These organizations receive some portion of their annual revenue from the private sector (demonstrating their private nature) and voluntary contributions of money, staff time, or in-kind support from the general public (demonstrating their voluntary nature).
Many Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in international development and humanitarian aid preffer the term to NGO. NGOs typically include any private or nonprofit entity that is formed or organized independently from any national or local governmental entity. These can include for-profit firms, academic degree-granting institutions, universities and colleges, labor institutions, foundations, private voluntary organizations, and a cooperative development organizations."
From Wikipedia, cited in
http://www.fact-index.com/p/pr/private_voluntary_organization.html
Sunday, July 11, 2004
On the horizon: Devil in the White City, about the Chicago World's Fair in 1983; a William Monk novel (Anne Perry mystery); more literacy or writing workshop material; a more focused architecture book, possibly Frank Lloyd Wright or Gaudi?
Need really to get away from the white world. Oh yes. Add African history to the list. But otherwise, really. All escapist. Need to find some other development or social justice type story or book... perhaps biography or school.
Day in the NGO life: get there, boss on phone, hands me 2 scribbled pages. i go off, take a look at mess. find people. kinda. bump into people, more like. luck or serendipity. look at stuff in boxes. get carts moved. read up on org. fortuitous request for org chart has more info - includes info abt field offices (tho still need more) and history of org. figure what the hack and empty all boxes in the afternoon. break down boxes and talk to grantwriter. on leaving, i tell my supervisor "see you tomorrow", and she says "yes! she's coming back!"
Feel like i've accomplished something, not so much due to the boxes (which is physical), but because started getting some info from people. Looks like will have to do this very much piecemeal. Side conversations and so on. Lucky break to have helpful administrative assistant around.
Day in the holiday life: Friday. Play guitar. Go to Longs to pick up photos. Go to mall. Go swimming. Watch French and BBC news. Watch Jeopardy.
Saturday. Read a section of Story of Architecture. A chapter of Because Writing Matters. A chapter of Katharine Graham. The science (Saturn's rings and moons), movie (Michael Moore and Fahrenheit 9/11), news (Iraq's new government), and opinion (French opposition to US initiatives) in Time magazine. Dinner is egg and tomato and french beans and shrimp. Rice is white and brown mixed. Peach for fruit.
Need really to get away from the white world. Oh yes. Add African history to the list. But otherwise, really. All escapist. Need to find some other development or social justice type story or book... perhaps biography or school.
Day in the NGO life: get there, boss on phone, hands me 2 scribbled pages. i go off, take a look at mess. find people. kinda. bump into people, more like. luck or serendipity. look at stuff in boxes. get carts moved. read up on org. fortuitous request for org chart has more info - includes info abt field offices (tho still need more) and history of org. figure what the hack and empty all boxes in the afternoon. break down boxes and talk to grantwriter. on leaving, i tell my supervisor "see you tomorrow", and she says "yes! she's coming back!"
Feel like i've accomplished something, not so much due to the boxes (which is physical), but because started getting some info from people. Looks like will have to do this very much piecemeal. Side conversations and so on. Lucky break to have helpful administrative assistant around.
Day in the holiday life: Friday. Play guitar. Go to Longs to pick up photos. Go to mall. Go swimming. Watch French and BBC news. Watch Jeopardy.
Saturday. Read a section of Story of Architecture. A chapter of Because Writing Matters. A chapter of Katharine Graham. The science (Saturn's rings and moons), movie (Michael Moore and Fahrenheit 9/11), news (Iraq's new government), and opinion (French opposition to US initiatives) in Time magazine. Dinner is egg and tomato and french beans and shrimp. Rice is white and brown mixed. Peach for fruit.
Books reading: The Story of Architecture/Norman Glancey. Visually appealing. Nice prose. Key feature: global scope - includes Africa, Asia, East Europe... areas not usually covered in intro art history.
Personal History/Katharine Graham
Because Writing Matters/National Writing Project
Books read: Guns, Germs and Steel/Jared Diamond
Mountains Beyond Mountains/Tracy Kidder
Personal History/Katharine Graham
Because Writing Matters/National Writing Project
Books read: Guns, Germs and Steel/Jared Diamond
Mountains Beyond Mountains/Tracy Kidder
Graphic Novels
"He works on two desks, side by side, one 19th-century, as he likes to say, and one 21st. The first is an old-fashioned drafting table, and the second is a computer; in between, there is a scanner. He can sketch something by hand and then refine it on the screen, or do it the other way around. By the time he is finished with a piece, he says, he can no longer tell the difference between what is computerized and what has been done by hand."
- Talking about Art Spiegelman. Article about graphic novels in NYTimes Magazine. Okay, fine. Citation info: Not Funnies
By CHARLES McGRATH Published: July 11, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/11/magazine/11GRAPHIC.html?pagewanted=5
"He works on two desks, side by side, one 19th-century, as he likes to say, and one 21st. The first is an old-fashioned drafting table, and the second is a computer; in between, there is a scanner. He can sketch something by hand and then refine it on the screen, or do it the other way around. By the time he is finished with a piece, he says, he can no longer tell the difference between what is computerized and what has been done by hand."
- Talking about Art Spiegelman. Article about graphic novels in NYTimes Magazine. Okay, fine. Citation info: Not Funnies
By CHARLES McGRATH Published: July 11, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/11/magazine/11GRAPHIC.html?pagewanted=5
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
