Good evening

South Asian peace

I've really begun to grow fond of the popular art one can see on store fronts, gates, etc.

I went to the Back Art Studio on Randall Street to invite an artist to come and paint our entrance. I asked the artist to use some of the motifs commonly seen in Monrovia. The idea was to paint something along those lines, resulting in a mural at our entrance.

The artist made quite an impressive mural. The only things we asked for were flags of Pakistan and India and Liberia.

See photographs of the work in progress until it was finally done.

Why didn't he?

After having invested so much time, energy, thought and emotions into the democratic process which brought Mr. Trump to the US Presidency, I am sure everyone is fed up and tired. It was all so entertaining the coverage of the elections and, all the shocking and embarrassing things Mr. Trump was accused of declaring. We eagerly followed and read about all the antics. 

But it seems the circus show will not end. For it has become a circus show. 

Since he's been elected, the mainstream news is covering the post-victory antics: the hirings, the dismissals, the evil plot to get rid of Obamacare, the righteous resistance, the banning of Muslim visitors, the cancelling of Paris, the Middle East visit, the shoving of European leaders in the Europe visit, and then the Russian conspiracy. Most of these developments are indeed news but it is the obsession with Mr. Trump's style that takes up most of the air waves. 

"What'd he say?"

"What'd he Tweet?" 

Of course, this is the unique style of Mr. Trump that he doesn't just rely on news conferences to speak but surely, every single Tweet cannot be Breaking News. 

The Russian conspiracy, too, never seems clear to me. Russia has apparently "interfered" with the American elections and is framed as the bad guy. The American democracy is a pure, perfect process and has been tampered with by Big Bad Russia. 

Even BBC presents Russia as the West's Enemy. So, what are we to make of it? 

In the end, I realised, BBC and CNN are really white news. It's white noise. It's this white noise which frames the so-called War on Terror, the Islamic State, the Assad regime, radicalisation of Muslim men, Islam, etc. 

I also realised I don't really understand how the Government machinery actually works. How does the US Government work? How does the Government work and organise itself in Liberia? In Pakistan? What do I know about it? 

Recently, an ex-colleague from my Mercy Corps Liberia days posted on Facebook that he is going to write an article about how Parliaments are so weak in poor countries. This a good reminder on how I need to make more of an effort of how the different arms of administrations work to have a deeper understanding before I start ranting. 

Well anyway, having said all that, I just watched the Vice documentary about the racial violence in the United States. If you were only listening/watching BBC or CNN, all one has been inundated with recently is whether or not American President has condemned the white supremacists strongly enough; why did he blame both sides; his 'whataboutisms,'; and so on. Even BBC has devoted hours and hours to the subtleties of Mr Trump's various speeches, Tweets, etc. BBC and CNN are obsessed with covering every unnecessary antic of Mr. Trump rather than focusing on news, analysis, and truth. 

Watching this documentary gives one more context, depth and severity of what actually happened - a chilling reminder of how violent the United States is, how deeply racist it is, and how it is just an ordinary country that is grappling with the legacy of its brutal founding and history. 

Following my Newsfeed and headlines, the ongoing debates focus more on denouncing Mr. Trump rather than confronting the reality of the United States which has, for example, the highest number of prisoners for a developed country. America is still a country that has has not achieved racial equality and eliminated institutional violence against black people. Why are white supremacist flourishing in the United States? Can we apportion this to Trump? 

I'm seeing random headlines of why more leaders don't denounce Trump or how Obama's loving Tweet proves he is cooler than Trump. If only everyone could just understand love conquers all! What unpolitical bullshit. What about rectifying historical injustice through reparations, economic and political reforms?

The United States allows white supremacists and Neo Nazis and KKK to exist and spread their messages. It is a country that allows civilians to buy and carry guns. So how is more superior to any other miserable country that has extremist fringes, too? 

Yet, the official United States rhetoric is full of self praise as the greatest, freest and most democratic country of all.

The United States is a brute military power that has been at war most of its existence. In recent history it invaded Iraq and Afghanistan on the pretense of liberating them. Don't forget American crimes against 2 entire sovereign states. Don't forget Abu Ghraib (classic American expertise of torture, racism and white supremacy). Don't forget Guantanamo Bay.  

And, let's not forget American support of the rogue state of Israel that daily commits crimes against humanity. 

The United States elected a candidate who freely traded in controversial rhetoric. One can't help but think whether this is the real face of America. Mr. George W Bush (same guy who invaded Afghanistan and Iraq) is denouncing Trump! Who is better? 

Let Americans denounce their history of terror and suffering on other sovereign nations before. Let liberal Americans hand over their Presidents to the International Criminal Court before we pity them for their President who doesn't condemn Nazis. But then again, how can neo-Nazis flourish in their great country? 

The quality of righteous anger against Mr. Trump rings so hollow. I heard Trevor Noah joke that in America, it is perfectly OK to have a racist society and uphold racism as long as one isn't called a racist. 

And, really, enough about the tweets. Sick and tired of wall-to-wall, minute-to-minute coverage of the tweets.

Liberia Nature Talk

I attended the First Liberia Nature Talk with Haresh and a few other friends. The talk was held at the University of Liberia Auditorium, organised by Society for the Conservation of Nature. The lecture was given by Dr Annika Hillers. 

I really enjoyed learning about the unique hotspot that is Liberia which has the last remaining concentration of the Upper Guinea Rainforest. While the forests in Ghana, Ivory Coast and even Sierra Leone have gone, the majority of Liberia's landmass is under forest cover. 

The rain forest in Liberia has unique species that can only be found in this part of the world.

Scientific exploration of the Liberian rainforests only started in the 80s and was unfortunately halted because of the war. Scientific study and conservation re-started in 2010 or 2011 in the post war era. 

There is a vibrant community of international and local organisations involved in conservation. 

The FDA has technical support and assistance but still not enough resources to monitor, educate and implement the laws. The laws are good and unequivocally ban the hunting and killing of wildlife; keeping wildlife as pets, etc. But law enforcement and the technical agencies lack resources, manpower, training to actually implement the laws. Therefore, we see the unabashed sale of bushmeat and animals. It's even illegal to keep the grey parrot as a pet! 

Dr Hillers told us about some of the unique species that exist in Liberia including the Nimba Toad, Pygmy Hippo, etc. The Nimba Toad is unique to the Nimba Mountain range and in fact, only lives in 12 square kilometre area. It gives live birth and gestates for 9 months!

What is the real fate of Liberia's rainforests and biodiversity? Will Liberia's development agenda be sustainable? Will a conservationist be able to answer these questions? It was a great lecture but didn't tackle any of these questions.

This was the first of a series of planned talks so hopefully, future talks and discussions can explore this.

Evening walk

After quite some time, the 4 of us (including Bijli) went for a walk together. We took a new route that took us from Randall Street to UN Drive. We walked up to the Executive Mansion and then turned towards South Beach. 

We made a stop to drink some coconut water. And then to eat some roasted meat. 

On the way home, I bought some groceries from Abi Jaoudi Supermarket to make koftas for dinner. 

I'm quite pleased with the photographs as it was a very sunny evening.