#mali publishing

[tarotforsale]

A little showcase on Thai tarot studio Mali Publishing’s Into the Wild tarot. This deck features a linen textured box with gold foil, and extra thick 350gsm cards gilded in a gorgeous pale gold. The cards are a dream to handle. The imagery is faithful to the original RWS system but featuring whimsical woodland animals and includes the base 78-cards as well as a bonus 22-card oracle set. These are packaged together for the first printing of this deck.

Mali Publishing has 3 other similar decks that I’ll post pictures of: Luna Lapin Tarot, Stray Cat Tarot, and the Aibo Tarot. There are a few official sellers of their decks and, unfortunately, are already widely bootlegged. You can find these decks at Tevada and Look Tarot or directly from the Mali Publishing website Stray Cat Chamber.

[justunsoliciteddeckpics]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Unsolicited Deck Pics ✨ (@justunsoliciteddeckpics)

✨

#JulySpy24

I Spy With My Little Eye

Road Trip Game

Hosted by WildmoonTarot2222 & GlitterbyInk

Day 8: Relax 🛀

Lunalapin Oracle

by Kanitsart Semanopparat

published by Mali Publishing

[filletedfennysnake]

screaming crying throwing up etc

[diobrando]

im overthinking this lesson so much holy fuck

[batboyblog]

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #14

April 12-19 2024

The Department of Commerce announced a deal with Samsung to help bring advanced semiconductor manufacturing and research and development to Texas. The deal will bring 45 billion dollars of investment to Texas to help build a research center in Taylor Texas and expand Samsung's Austin, Texas, semiconductor facility. The Biden Administration estimates this will create 21,000 new jobs. Since 1990 America has fallen from making nearly 40% of the world's semiconductor to just over 10% in 2020.

The Department of Energy announced it granted New York State $158 million to help support people making their homes more energy efficient. This is the first payment out of a $8.8 billion dollar program with 11 other states having already applied. The program will rebate Americans for improvements on their homes to lower energy usage. Americans could get as much as $8,000 off for installing a heat pump, as well as for improvements in insulation, wiring, and electrical panel. The program is expected to help save Americans $1 billion in electoral costs, and help create 50,000 new jobs.

The Department of Education began the formal process to make President Biden's new Student Loan Debt relief plan a reality. The Department published the first set of draft rules for the program. The rules will face 30 days of public comment before a second draft can be released. The Administration hopes the process can be finished by the Fall to bring debt relief to 30 million Americans, and totally eliminate the debt of 4 million former students. The Administration has already wiped out the debt of 4.3 million borrowers so far.

The Department of Agriculture announced a $1 billion dollar collaboration with USAID to buy American grown foods combat global hunger. Most of the money will go to traditional shelf stable goods distributed by USAID, like wheat, rice, sorghum, lentils, chickpeas, dry peas, vegetable oil, cornmeal, navy beans, pinto beans and kidney beans, while $50 million will go to a pilot program to see if USAID can expand what it normally gives to new products. The food aid will help feed people in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Yemen.

The Department of the Interior announced it's expanding four national wildlife refuges to protect 1.13 million wildlife habitat. The refuges are in New Mexico, North Carolina, and two in Texas. The Department also signed an order protecting parts of the Placitas area. The land is considered sacred by the Pueblos peoples of the area who have long lobbied for his protection. Security Deb Haaland the first Native American to serve as Interior Secretary and a Pueblo herself signed the order in her native New Mexico.

The Department of Labor announced new work place safety regulations about the safe amount of silica dust mine workers can be exposed to. The dust is known to cause scaring in the lungs often called black lung. It's estimated that the new regulations will save over 1,000 lives a year. The United Mine Workers have long fought for these changes and applauded the Biden Administration's actions.

The Biden Administration announced its progress in closing the racial wealth gap in America. Under President Biden the level of Black Unemployment is the lowest its ever been since it started being tracked in the 1970s, and the gap between white and black unemployment is the smallest its ever been as well. Black wealth is up 60% over where it was in 2019. The share of black owned businesses doubled between 2019 and 2022. New black businesses are being created at the fastest rate in 30 years. The Administration in 2021 Interagency Task Force to combat unfair house appraisals. Black homeowners regularly have their homes undervalued compared to whites who own comparable property. Since the Taskforce started the likelihood of such a gap has dropped by 40% and even disappeared in some states. 2023 represented a record breaking $76.2 billion in federal contracts going to small business owned by members of minority communities. This was 12% of federal contracts and the President aims to make it 15% for 2025.

The EPA announced (just now as I write this) that it plans to add PFAS, known as forever chemicals, to the Superfund law. This would require manufacturers to pay to clean up two PFAS, perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid. This move to force manufacturers to cover the costs of PFAS clean up comes after last week's new rule on drinking water which will remove PFAS from the nation's drinking water.

Bonus:

President Biden met a Senior named Bob in Pennsylvania who is personally benefiting from The President's capping the price of insulin for Seniors at $35, and Biden let Bob know about a cap on prosecution drug payments for seniors that will cut Bob's drug bills by more than half.

[mindblowingscience]

The deadly heat wave that hit Africa's Sahel region in early April would not have occurred without human-induced climate change, according to a study by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group published Thursday. The West African nations of Mali and Burkina Faso experienced an exceptional heat wave from April 1 until April 5, with soaring temperatures above 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) triggering many deaths. Observations and climate models used by researchers at the WWA showed that "heat waves with the magnitude observed in March and April 2024 in the region would have been impossible to occur without the global warming of 1.2C to date", which scientists attribute to human-induced climate change.

Continue Reading.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Half the land earmarked for regeneration by the 34-country African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) is in savannah or other non-woodland areas, says a paper published in Science on Thursday.

[...]

“There is a vast area of non-forest across Africa that is earmarked for restoration, principally through tree planting,” said Catherine Parr, a co-author of the paper and an ecologist at Liverpool, Pretoria and Witwatersrand universities. “The focus solely on forests and trees is highly problematic for these non-forest systems.” The AFR100 project seeks to restore at least 100mn hectares of degraded land — an area the size of Egypt — in Africa by 2030, with big plans in countries including Cameroon, Ethiopia, Mali and Sudan. The initiative’s backers include the German government, the World Bank and the non-profit World Resources Institute. But about half of the approximately 130mn hectares that African countries have committed to restore through AFR100 is earmarked for non-forest ecosystems, principally savannahs and grasslands, according to the paper.

[...]

The dispute over the research highlights growing friction over pledges by philanthropists and corporate leaders to plant a trillion trees worldwide. These ambitious plans face obstacles including potential shortages of available land suitable for planting. Other questions concern how effective newly planted trees are at locking in significant amounts of carbon dioxide — and how vulnerable they are to risks such as forest fires. “There’s such a big focus at international level on deforestation, but the level of sophistication and understanding about ecosystems writ large is really low,” said Alex Reid, a policy adviser on nature and finance at Global Witness, a non-profit group.  Some scientists and conservationists argue that it is better to focus on preventing deforestation, by creating incentives to retain woodland areas. Greenhouse gases released by deforestation make up about 11 per cent of global emissions, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 

[mybeingthere]

A BOLI is an abstract figure kept in a shrine belonging to a secret Bamana men's association. It is believed to be the embodiment of the spiritual powers of the society. These powers underlie the ability of the association to maintain social control. Today, the Kono society has lost its influence in most Bamana communities due to the conversion of Bamana to Islam.

The basic form of this boli resembles a highly simplified cow. It is composed of a wooden core over-modeled with materials such as mud, eggs, chewed kola nuts, sacrificial blood, urine, honey, beer, vegetable fiber, and cow dung. The use of blood, excrement, and urine reflects the belief that these organic substances possess extremely potent spiritual powers.

Sotheby's catalogue note: "Catalogue Note

Upon first inspection this power object, known as a boli (plural boliw) impresses with its seemingly ‘elementary’ form, a shape achieved by the gradual accumulation of material around a wood core. In 1933 an image of a ‘boli du kono’ [the Kònò secret society, which was custodian of the boli] appeared in the Surrealist magazine Minotaure; it was described by the author and ethnographer Michel Leiris as "one of those bizarre shapes […] in the form of a pig, always in nougat brown." The form of the boli and its dense, cracked surface, suggestive of some primordial landscape, resonated with the Surrealist love of ‘fetishes’ and objects which were generally considered grotesque or bizarre, and the boli published in Minotaure soon became "the centre of an enthusiasm for Primitivism" (Colleyn, ‘ Images, signes, fétiches. À propos de l'art bamana (Mali)’, Cahiers d’études africaines, No. 195, 2009, p. 22).

If one engages with the boli beyond its seemingly ‘primitive’ appearance an object which possesses an immensely complicated cosmological significance is revealed. The boli is both a symbol of the universe and a receptacle for the forces that animate the universe, and it serves as an intermediary which permits communication with the ancestor or supernatural power whose force permeates it. As a repository of enormous spiritual power, or nyama, the boli would be viewed with a mixture of awe and fear. As the most essential instrument of communication between earthly mortals and the supernatural powers that control nyama, boliw were "an important part of the Bamana judicial structure, inanimate objects to which the Bamana community entrusts its decision making."

https://www.sothebys.com/.../literati.../lot.2919.html

[cityof2morrow]

Gallery Collection 001

Published: 2-21-2024 | Updated: N/A SUMMARY This is the first in a series of upcoming investment objects for Sims 2 – things your sims can use to generate income over time. From 1975-2000, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. commissioned 30 paintings of African kings and queens for an extended outreach and marketing campaign. This set of paintings features artwork from this amazing series. Celebrate Black History Month 2024! #co2bhm #bhm2024 #sims2bhm.   *No copyright infringement intended – I own no rights to these images.

DETAILS Requires Sims 2. Requires Apartment Life for shiftability. §1K-15K | Buy > Deco > Wall Hangings Paintings are centered on 1-tile but cover more tiles than that. They come in various gallery sizes and images have been edited to fit the mesh. After purchase, their value increases by approximately 2% daily – watch out for burglars! Files with “MESH” in their name are REQUIRED. Frame recolors include EA/Maxis and yeti textures. Frame and painting recolors are merged into two files so you’ll have to take them or leave them. ITEMS Great Kings & Queens of Africa: Paintings 001-006 (92-764 poly) DOWNLOAD (choose one) from SFS | from MEGA

IMAGES

Akhenaton Pharaoh of Egypt (1375-1358 BC) by Barbara Higgins Bond

Alfonso I King of the Kongo (circa 1486-1543) by Carl Owens (1929-2002)

Askia Muhammaed Toure King of Songhay (1493-1529) by Leo Dillon

Benhanzin Hossu Bowelle—The King Shark (1841-1906) by Thomas Blackshear II

Cleopatra VII Queen of Egypt (69-30 BC) by Ann Marshall

Hannibal Ruler of Carthage (247-183 BC) by Charles Lilly

Hatshepsut The Ablest Queen of Far Antiquity (1503-1482 BC) by Dean Mitchell

Idris Alooma Sultan of Bornu (1580-1617) by Charles Lilly (1949-)

Ja Ja King of the Opobo (1821-1891) by Jonathan Knight

Khama III The Good King of Bechuanaland (1819-1923) by Carl Owens

Makeda Queen of Sheba (960 BC) by Debra Edgerton

Mansa Kankan Musa King of Mali (1306-1337) by Barbara Higgins Bond

Menelek II King of Kings of Abyssinia (1844-1913) by Dow Miller

Moshoeshoe King of Batsutoland (circa 1786-1870) by Jerry Pinkney

Mwana Ngana Ndumba Tembo—Ruler of the Angolan Tchokwe (1840-1880 circa) by Kenneth Calvert

Nandi Queen of Zululand (1778-1826 AD) by HM Rahsaan Fort II

Nefertari Nubian Queen of Egypt (192-1225 BC) by Steve Clay

Nehanda of Zimbabwe (1862-1898) by Lydia Thompson

Nzingha—Amazon Queen of Matambo (1582-1663) by Dorothy Carter

Osei Tutu King of Asante (circa 1650-1717) by Alfred Smith

Queen Amina of Zaria (1588-1589) by Floyd Cooper

Samory Toure The Black Napoleon of the Sudan (1830-1900) by Ezra Tucker

Shaka-King of the Zulus (1787-1828) by Paul Collins

Shamba Bolongongo African King of Peace (1600-1620) by Roy LaGrone

Sunni Ali Beer King of Songhay (circa 1442-1492) by Leo Dillon

Taharqa King of Nubia (710-664 BC) by John Thomas Biggers

Tenkamenin King of Ghana (1037-1075 AD) by Alexander Bostic

Thutmose III Pharaoh of Egypt (753-712 BC) by Antonio Wade

Tiye The Nubian Queen of Egypt (circa 1415-1340 BC) by Leonard Jenkins

Yaa Asantewa Queen of Ghana (1863-1923) by Barbara Higgins Bond CREDITS No copyright infringement intended – I own no rights to these images. Artwork and trademarks are the property of their respective creators and/or owners. If this exceeds fair use, please contact me via private message. Thanks: Simming and Sketchfab Communities. Sources: Any Color You Like (CuriousB, 2010), Beyno (Korn via BBFonts), Console Certificates (d_dgjdhh, 2019; 2011), EA/Maxis, Gyeongbokgung Sajeongjeon Painting (National Heritage Administration, 2024 via CCA; Sketchfab), Great Kings and Queens of Africa Series (Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 1975-2000; Kentake, 2016), Offuturistic Infographic (Freepik), Painting by Zdzislaw Beksinski (Sosnowski, 2018 via CCA), Yeti Metals (Shastakiss, 2017).

[geekynerfherder]

'Grail' by Syd Mills (Vetyr).

Art for the 'Classics But Make It Gay Vol 2' artbook, published by Nova and Mali.

[turtlesandfrogs]

So I was scrolling and saw this image in an article about the European heat wave,

And was like, uh, are you missing something there, buddy? Like all that red in northern Africa? Because that's a lot of red.

And I was going to give them the benefit of doubt, since I don't know much about the climate in Northern Africa, aside from Morroco and Egypt, which seem like really hot places, so you know, maybe it's normal there?

But nope, that's not the case:

"While the planet broke multiple records for average worldwide temperatures last week, a heat wave gripped northern Africa.

The region has been experiencing some of the most intense heat waves in recent years, but in many cases they’ve been under-reported due to misconceptions about Africans’ ability to withstand them.

“Africa is seen as a sunny and hot continent,” said Amadou Thierno Gaye, a research scientist and professor at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. “People think we are used to heat, but we are having high temperatures for a longer duration. Nobody is used to this.”

North Africa, the Sahara desert and the Sahel, a semi-arid belt north of the Sudanian savanna, are some of the most vulnerable areas because they have larger land masses relative to the rest of the continent, meaning they tend to heat up faster. Scientists have attributed the unprecedented temperatures to a combination of human-induced climate change and the return of El Niño, a natural phenomenon that alters weather patterns.

The Sahel, for instance, has been heating at a faster pace than the global average despite being hot already. Burkina Faso and Mali, both in West Africa’s Sahel, are among countries that are set to become almost uninhabitable by 2080, if the world continues on its current trajectory, a UK university study found. Its people are especially vulnerable due to shrinking resources, such as water, and poor amenities, and a dearth of trees and parks means there are few options for places to cool off.

“People talk of climate change as if it’s a thing of the future,” said Gaye. “Climate change is already here and we see its implications in people, livelihoods, economies and even in cultures.”

While studies on heat impacts on health are limited in Africa, research published last year found that children younger than 5 years old are particularly vulnerable to the hotter weather as they are less able that adults to self-regulate their bodies’ temperatures. The authors estimated that heat-related child mortality was rising in sub-Saharan Africa due to climate change. Other researchers have named the elderly, pregnant women and people who work outdoors, as groups at risk of heat strokes or heat-related infectious diseases.

Elsewhere on the continent, the crisis is also being felt. In the Horn of Africa, at least 43,000 people died in Somalia alone last year as a result of the worst drought in four decades. A study found that global warming is changing rain patterns and bringing more heat to Somalia and some of its neighbors, for longer stretches of time. Further south, unusually destructive cyclones in 2019 claimed more than a thousand lives in Mozambique and Zimbabwe alone.

“If we continue business-as-usual, the heat is not just going to get worse, it will get much worse,” said Mouhamadou Bamba Sylla, research chair in climate change science at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. “We are going to see more frequent, longer and more intense heat waves.”

Much of the continent, responsible for just 4% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions generated from burning fossil fuels, is ill-prepared for a hotter world. Meanwhile, Group of 20 nations, with air conditioning and access to functioning healthcare facilities, account for 80% of the world’s emissions.

Hundreds of millions of Africans lack electricity to even power a fan. One in three people in Africa is affected by water scarcity, according to the World Health Organization, so hydration can’t be taken for granted. Even shade is harder to come by due to widespread deforestation and land degradation. And only 40% of people on the continent are covered by early warning systems for extreme weather.

“More funds have to be allocated to climate adaptation and they need to be made more easily accessible to the most vulnerable countries,” Sylla said.

The UN climate talks later this year aspire to come up with a plan for richer nations to pay for loss and damages. But they’ve collectively fallen short of their commitment to spend $100 billion each year on projects in developing nations to cut emissions and to help them adapt.

“That’s where the issue of climate justice comes in,” said Gaye. “It’s not just that people are uncomfortable, climate change is killing them.”

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

Israel’s National Cyber Directorate (INCD) stated on Thursday that Iran is running a cyber campaign against members of the Israeli delegation arriving in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

In its investigation, the INCD revealed that Iranian hackers have created social media channels and published personal information about the Israeli team members to send them threats. The INCD is working with the Cyber Unit of Israel’s State Attorney to shut them down. 

As part of their anti-Israeli campaign, the hackers reportedly pose as the French organization GUD. INCD authorities are continuing to coordinate both with the Israeli Olympic Committee and the Security and Emergency Department of the Culture and Sports Ministry to make sure that Israel’s athletes and other delegation members remain safe during the Paris international sports competition.

INCD Dir.-Gen. Gabi Portnoy said Iran was exploiting the Olympics to terrorize Israel.

“Iran is exploiting an apolitical international sporting competition to promote digital terrorism against Israel and its right to participate in these competitions,” he said.

Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar echoed Portnoy’s remarks. 

“We are witnessing attempts by the Iranian regime to intimidate Israeli athletes and carry out psychological terror against our amazing delegation. We are here in Paris, continuing with full force, and nothing will stop us,” he said.

“Our athletes are more prepared and determined than ever to achieve great results, and our security apparatus is ready for any scenario. We will not relent until we topple the Iranian regime,” Zohar added.

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Thursday that while cyberattacks on the Paris Olympics are inevitable, France will do all it can to limit the effects of such attacks.

“We are a target. There will be cyberattacks. The key thing is to limit their impact,” Attal told reporters at the headquarters of France’s ANSSI software security agency.

In the meantime, Israeli tourists in Paris face escalating threats.

On Sunday, Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) advised Israeli nationals traveling to the Olympic Games in Paris to exercise increased caution due to anti-Israel threats, warning that it believes Iranian-backed terror organizations “are seeking to carry out attacks on Israeli/Jewish targets around the Olympics.”

Earlier this week, a masked man with a Palestinian Authority flag on his shirt threatened the "Zionist regime" participating in the Olympic Games, saying, “Rivers of blood will flow through the streets of Paris.”

Despite the threats, the Israeli delegation traveled to Paris on Monday with their heads held high and the support of the entire nation.

“We feel like emissaries of the State of Israel – our athletes, every one of them are here to achieve their dreams, but there is another layer, of a national mission,” the President of the Olympic Committee of Israel Yael Arad said ahead of the flight to France.

French authorities have reportedly dispatched around 1,000 elite anti-terrorist officers to provide security and a "ring of steel" for Israel’s Olympic athletes. The first competition involving Israelis, a soccer match between Israel and Mali on Wednesday, passed without major security incidents, despite the presence of anti-Israel activists who held Palestinian Authority flags and demonstrated against the Jewish state. Some activists wore “Free Palestine” t-shirts and booed when the Israeli national anthem, "HaTikva" (The Hope) was played before the game. Israeli players were also met with initial boos when they touched the ball during the game.

On Friday, despite heightened security, France suffered attacks targeting the country's train networks in what authorities described as "coordinated sabotage," including arson. No organization has claimed responsibility. The attacks are expected to negatively impact around 250,000 travelers today and 800,000 over the weekend.

[justunsoliciteddeckpics]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Unsolicited Deck Pics ✨ (@justunsoliciteddeckpics)

✨

#SeptemberSlowDown23

Word Prompt Challenge

Hosted by GlitterbyInk & LivingJivaWell

Day 10: Introspection 💭

Lunalapin Oracle

by Kanitsart Semanopparat

published by Mali Publishing

[zvaigzdelasas]

A team of economists and engineers from China, Turkey and Nigeria has published a proposal based on simulations to build a sub-Saharan Africa electrical grid across 12 countries. In their paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, the group outlines which countries would be involved, factors that would be used to build such a grid, and estimated costs.[...]

The proposed grid would traverse northern parts of the continent, horizontally, then move south near the East Coast, including countries all the way to South Africa. Countries included would be South Africa, Mozambique, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Niger and Mali. [...]

Based on the simulations, the researchers found that total electricity demand for the grid would be approximately 700 TWh/yr for 2030 and 800 TWh/yr for 2040. They noted that hourly demand on the grid would range from 40 to 120 GW.[...]

The researchers suggest that their simulation could be used in consideration for a much larger project by entities, such as China, that have been active in smaller projects in Africa.

25 Jul 23

[didierleclair]

Maryse Condé, a great lady is gone

The work of the writer Maryse Condé, who died on April 2, 2024, at the age of 90, is colossal. I will say a few words about it. This is the journey of a free black woman.

She was born in Guadeloupe and her name was Marise Liliane Appoline Boucolon. She studied in France, lived in Guinea, Ghana and Senegal. She will end her career in the United States as professor at Colombia University.

I discovered her writings with Ségou (1984). It is a two-volume saga about the decline of the Bambara kingdom of Ségou 200 years ago. This kingdom includes present-day Mali. The story ends with the arrival of French colonizers at the end of the 19th century. We follow the destiny of four Traoré brothers. The two volumes are well written, and the ambitious work keeps its promises. There are multiple intrigues and extraordinary destinies against the backdrop of the slavery trade which left its mark on Africa and sent millions of Africans to the four corners of the world.

Maryse Condé has published around thirty novels, plays and essays in her long career. The author was prolific and won numerous prestigious literary awards for her work.

I have not read all of her work, but I had great respect for her because of her ability to attack the faults of the former colonists as well as those of patriarchal, chauvinistic and authoritarian black men.

“Moi, Tituba sorcière” (1986) is another novel that I liked. This is a character inspired by a woman who existed. Tituba, a young slave of the Puritan pastor Samuel Parris, was accused of being one of the Salem witches in 1692 during a trial. It is a story rich in twists and turns that the great writer offers us, and we witness the persecution of Tituba. Beyond the irrational reaction of village women to a black woman healer, there is Tituba the slave who has a memorable destiny. Maryse Condé thus rehabilitates Tituba, whom American writers had thrown into oblivion.

Another beautiful work is “Traversée de la Mangrove” (1989). In this story that happens in one night, people come together to talk about a dead man in Guadeloupe that everyone thinks they know but that no one really knows. At the heart of this work is the question of the identity of the West Indians and even of the Africans in general.

In addition, I will say a word about “En attendant la montée des eaux” (2010). This work is about the destiny of black men. These are characters in search of a peaceful path, after exile, persecution and wandering. It is an ode to masculine friendship.

Apart from the novels, her plays were also very successful. 

To understand her work, we must follow the upheavals of the black diaspora. She drops stones in her path, nuggets of gold that give a multiple image of what it means to be Black. For Maryse Condé, being from the diaspora or from Africa at 21It is century does not mean the same challenges in the world. That said, she wants to make her work a link between those descended from slaves and those coming directly from the black continent. After all, mainly the West has disrupted the modern history of these Blacks.

For her, negritude was a chimerical movement, which claimed that all black people looked the same. The writer shows throughout her stories that we must move away from stereotypical concepts of what it means to be part of the black community.

For Maryse Condé, Traoré did not dream like Ovid. Tituba did not have the same conception of the world as Ayodélé. Her characters, sometimes contemporary or ancient, remain inhabited by their own dreams and above all, they each face the challenges of life in their own way.

In her interviews, Maryse Condé always got to the point.

“At the beginning, I was a disciple of Aimé Césaire. I believed in Negritude. To me, all black people of all “races” were my brothers and sisters. Then I realized that African-Americans did not accept me. Despite my black skin, I came from elsewhere; I had other references, another story. »

It is a strong, uncompromising statement. However, she kept her ex-husband's last name (Condé) because she loved Africa. She made the difference between having been hurt by Africans and being African at heart: “The pride of being black, the pride of being a woman, the pride of being what I am, it was Africa that brought it to me. »

This is not a contradiction. Maryse Condé brings this subtlety to understand the Black world. She drew on her experience and allowed herself to give essential nuances to the spirit of identity of black people. Not to divide them but to prepare them for a better understanding between them and above all to allow them to reconcile over unintentional injuries.

A great lady is gone.

Didier Leclair, writer

[tomorrowusa]

F-16 fighter jets are apparently now in Ukraine and under Ukrainian command. 🇺🇦

Ukraine has received the first batch of fourth-generation U.S.-made F-16 jets, Bloomberg reported on July 31, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. The news comes a year after the allied "fighter jet coalition" took shape at the Vilnius NATO summit under the Danish and Dutch leadership. The deadline for the transfer of F-16s was late July, the sources told Bloomberg. Ukraine received "a small number" of the planes, the sources said. Ukraine is expected to receive at least 79 F-16s from the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and Norway, with the deliveries to continue in the coming years. The fighter jet coalition also pledged to help train Ukrainian pilots and technical staff to operate the jets. It is unclear whether the trained Ukrainian pilots will be able to use combat aircraft immediately or the process will take longer, unnamed people told Bloomberg. Kyiv is yet to confirm these reports. The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American air superiority fighter that Kyiv has begged for since the start of the full-scale invasion. Although some defense experts do not expect F-16s to become game-changers in the war, the jets may strengthen Ukraine's air defense capabilities and shield the country's population centers from Russia's daily bombardments.

Earlier this week we heard that Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR) was involved in successful attacks on Russian mercenaries in the West African nation of Mali. Now there's news that Ukraine was behind an attack on a Russian base in Syria – a Putin client state.

Ukrainian special forces strike Russian base in Syria after Putin-Assad meeting

The military intelligence's special unit Khimik struck Russian military equipment at the Kuweires airfield, located east of Aleppo and occupied by Russian forces, NV's sources in the HUR confirmed. The Kyiv Post published a video showing a Russian electronic warfare mobile complex being destroyed, followed by drones attacking Russian military facilities at the airfield. [ ... ] The Defense Intelligence conducted the attack a day after Russian dictator Vladimir Putin met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on July 24. The Kuweires airfield has been controlled and used by Russian forces for military purposes since 2015.

Putin helped Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad crush the Arab Spring uprising early in the 2010s. There are still Russian forces in Syria. Apparently Russia is recruiting mercenaries in the country to fight in Ukraine.

Ukraine is putting Putin on notice that Russian military activity anywhere on the planet is a valid target for Ukrainian forces.