2006-06-02

Africa is not a country, dimwits

I'm reading the Royal Gazette online this morning and I spot the following phrase in this article:
"...leave the Island and return to Africa — the country where her husband was... "

I don't know if to be sad or angry that once again the media treats the whole continent as a bunch of loose regions all under the same banner. There are more nations in Africa than any other continent in the world. While it may be true that many African nations share similarities in economic conditions, poverty and history, they're still individual nations.

I'd expect Bermudians to know better, after all we are quick to point out to unknowing visitors that Bermuda is not the Bahamas or Barbados or Jamaica. We're an individual country and often we don't want to be lumped into a group such as the Caribbean, for example.

By the way, the country in question, is Sudan, which is the largest country in Africa in area and is in the midst of all manner of internal warfare that the rest of the world appears powerless to deal with.

I'm belatedly booking the driver of HA866 for not using their turn indicators (what is it with people here that they only use the indicator as they're turning instead of before they start to turn if at all), but I'd like to point attention to this promising young site, http://bdaroadhog.blogspot.com/. It's like I've found a kindred spirit in the world of dealing with local traffic on the island. I will definitely be adding this site to my Favorites.

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