Pearsall's Books

Sometimes you just hit the buffers, and that's how I've been recently. So, here's some links:

"Young Patriotic Fervour" - On the rise of ethnic nationalism (ivoirité) in the southern sections of the Ivory Coast. Via Randy. (An aside: the Ivory Coast, like much else of West Africa, has a lot of problems between its mostly-Muslim north and its mostly-Christian south...why in God's name can't anyone with any power admit that the continuation of the utterly irrational national boundaries first drawn up by European hands plays a huge role in the region's problems?)

"Rape triggers a night of violence — but did it really happen?" - There was some rioting between black and Pakistani youths this weekend in Birmingham, ostensibly stemming from an alleged rape of a teenage black girl by a group of Asian merchants. It's not clear whether or not the rape actually took place, but what is clear is that a 24-year old black guy was stabbed to death by a group of Asian men in the mayhem (a totally unconnected 5ft 4in computer analyst - why go after the nerds you bastards?)

"Troubled season for Gaza's greenhouses" - On the Gaza greenhouses that the Israeli settlers left behind - a microcosm of the economic difficulties of post-settlement Gaza.

"Project Migration" - An interesting article on a fascinating-sounding exhibit currently showing in Cologne, tracing all sorts of different themes on the subject of migration.

"Dossier: Jeff Fort" - Lengthy profile of the long-time leader of Chicago's infamous Black P. Stone Nation street gang.

"Kazakhstan - Horsemeat and Two Veg" - On travel and eating horses in Kazakhstan.

"Upstate And Downstate – Differing Demographics, Continuing Conflicts" - New York City is a totally different world from the rest of the state.