The Adventures, Mishaps and Musings of Me

If you type the words "how to" into google and hold off typing anything more, a little box comes up with (presumably) the ten most common searches beginning with "how to". I was amused by the following list, replicated here (exactly) for your own enjoyment:

-How to write a CV
-How to kiss
-How to get pregnant (!!!)
-How to lose weight fast
-How to make money
-How to get rid of spots
-How to lose weight (twice?)
-How to make pancakes
-How to get a six pack (Yeah, because only girls have an insecure body image...)

Are these really the top things that the human race wants to be able to learn to do? Most of them all revolving around ones looks? It has to be said, we really are an insecure lot...

Let me put it this way.  One of my best friends is Russian, and thus should have done a year of national service.  He didn't because his rich Daddy was able to give a brown envelope containing $20 000 (yes, that is dollars not rubles) to the "correct authorities".  He tells me that this is standard procedure for all kids of the Russian elite. 

So, equality?

I also have another two Russian friends who got out of national service.  One who was so nervous in the medical exam they thought he had a heart condition, and another who should be doing national service, but is hiding in Italy and hoping the Russian police don't find him (so far they haven't). 

From a purely economic point of view, it seems to me a collasal waste of government funds to train people for the army who simply are not suited for it.  Funds that could be used to deal with social problems instead.  Besides, from a bleeding heart liberal viewpoint, what right does a government have to interfere in the lives of it's citizens so much as to force them to put their life on hold and, essentially, give up a year to the government?

Tradition be hanged.

In the canteen of my University they serve up, everyday, four types of pizza, four types of pasta, a million types of panini and tubs of overpriced (yet delicious) salad.  Yesterday, on walking past the menu attached to the wall, I spotted that the "Pizza del Giorno" (pizza of the day) was the never before served "Americana". 

Mio Dio, I thought to myself, are the Italian's getting off their culinary high horse and serving American style pizza??  Going over to the pizza counter quickly answered that question in the negative.  The pizza the canteen had fondly named "Americana" was Italian style, thin based pizza simply with french fries (another question, why are they called french fries?) baked on top.

...

American stereotypes of Europeans are often pretty absurd and silly.  The same is clearly true the other way around as well.  Seriously Italy, I've been to America twice, and however sugar and chemical filled their food may be, they at least have the good sense not to bake fries on top of a pizza.

Apparently, the Italians don't.

I went to a seminar on Development Economics yesterday and, while expecting to be completely depressed by it, by the end I was completely uplifted.  Good news concerning the third world doesn't tend to come around often, thus I feel compelled to recount and share.

The lecture was held by a Swedish proffessor who is, as she put it, the marine core of economists in that she with her team, sponsered by the world bank, carries out field research in sub-Sahara African countries.  The Ugandan minister for health approached her to investigate why, after he had invested so much money in free health clinics all around Uganda, the mortality rates of the population had not changed at all and were still diabolical.

After much reseach, the professor and her team found that, although villages had access to free, fully equipped health clinics with trained doctors/nurses, they were not functioning at all as they should.  Doctors/nurses being idle, ignoring massive lines of people outside in order to sit and chat and receive their paychecks.  The system was completely corrupt in that if someone wanted to get treament from the free public health clinics they would have to pay cash to the doctors.  However, the people in the villages who were subjected to this system knew there were problems and were eager to get them solved, simply had no empowerment to do so.

Thus, the Swedish professors team set up an experiment in 25 clinics in which, with as little White intervention as possible, talks were organised between the villagers and the Health workers (who were also part of the village) in order to sort through the issues.  Simply talking and coming up with solutions together.  After this had been carried out and conclusions apparently reached, the Swedish professor left the villages for a year before coming back and investigating if there had been any improvements.

Mortality rates had cut by a third.  With such staggering results, the Ugandan health minister is planning to carry out the same procedure in all health clinics in Uganda.

Just by communication, no extra money, funding, nothing, that great evil of corruption and idleness was majorly overcome.  Perhaps people aren't as bad as I thought?