Canada.com is the easy online source I use for most of my daily Canada-related news. They had a little more credibility a few years ago but lately have been a little more tabloidy, but every once in a while they redeem themselves.
Right now they have a special feature section on Great Canadians. The great thing about this article is that it's not just highlighting the John A. MacDonald's and Terry Fox's of the world, although they were great. The feature highlights all sorts of great Canadians including some regular people who are doing great things.
Some highlights include the Asian business tycoon, Allan Zeman, affectionately known as the Mouse Killer, Alan Bean, a pastor working in Jena, LA., and Laura Louie who refuses to stand by and instead rolls up her sleeves in Mae On, Thailand where she started a clinic that is now self-sustaining.
Showing posts with label countries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label countries. Show all posts
3.1.08
10.12.07
Sierra Leone :: Part 1 :: The Country
Sierra Leone is on the Western horn of Africa an area often referred to as the Rice Coast. The country is thoroughly marred by it passed as over a span of nearly 40 years the country so near constant political instability, coups, and civil war.
Sierra Leone was first known to Westerners through the slave trade. The island's illicit
activities were started in 1670 and the fortress became the largest slave passage on the West Coast of Africa up until it was shutdown by British Parliament in 1808. The slaves that came through Bunce were prized for their rice growing skills and techniques and were highly sought after for the southern coast of the United States. The 1997 movie Amistad is a story about slaves from Bunce Island.
In the late 1800's the capital of Freetown became a British Crown colony and the rest of the country a British Protectorate. At this time the country began to be re-settled by many former slaves, many from various tribes and areas. This melding of cultures, tribes, and languages has created a unique kaleidescope in Sierra Leone and helped to create the Creo (or Kreole) language that is spoken in the Freetown area.
In 1961 Sierra Leone gained its independance and became a full member of the British Commonwealth. Unfortunately since that time there has been few periods of peace and political stability. The country has been mired in coup after military coup, civil war, war, and more. The various instabilities got to their worst in the late 90's. Stories of child soldiers high on drugs and forced to slaughter thousands of innocent people are far to clear in recent history. Fortunately early in the 2000's a UN lead peace keeping force came to the country.
2002 saw the war officially announced to be over and May brought peaceful elections were the most recent president from before the war got to its' worst re-elected with a 70% majority. The years following that election saw much stability return to the region and in fact a second peaceful and democratic election was recently held, in September, and a new president, Ernest Bai Koroma, was elected on a platform of reigning in corruption.
Time will tell where Sierra Leone goes from here but there are several encouraging things to watch. A large electric plant is currently under construction and is anticipated to be completed in the near time. Foreign investment which for 2006 was approximately $5M USD is growing rapidly and there is news of a $500M beach & golf resort being built near Freetown! The stamping out of corruption will also be something that will have to be watched closely...
SL Update :: Part 2
Sierra Leone was first known to Westerners through the slave trade. The island's illicit
activities were started in 1670 and the fortress became the largest slave passage on the West Coast of Africa up until it was shutdown by British Parliament in 1808. The slaves that came through Bunce were prized for their rice growing skills and techniques and were highly sought after for the southern coast of the United States. The 1997 movie Amistad is a story about slaves from Bunce Island.In the late 1800's the capital of Freetown became a British Crown colony and the rest of the country a British Protectorate. At this time the country began to be re-settled by many former slaves, many from various tribes and areas. This melding of cultures, tribes, and languages has created a unique kaleidescope in Sierra Leone and helped to create the Creo (or Kreole) language that is spoken in the Freetown area.
In 1961 Sierra Leone gained its independance and became a full member of the British Commonwealth. Unfortunately since that time there has been few periods of peace and political stability. The country has been mired in coup after military coup, civil war, war, and more. The various instabilities got to their worst in the late 90's. Stories of child soldiers high on drugs and forced to slaughter thousands of innocent people are far to clear in recent history. Fortunately early in the 2000's a UN lead peace keeping force came to the country.
2002 saw the war officially announced to be over and May brought peaceful elections were the most recent president from before the war got to its' worst re-elected with a 70% majority. The years following that election saw much stability return to the region and in fact a second peaceful and democratic election was recently held, in September, and a new president, Ernest Bai Koroma, was elected on a platform of reigning in corruption.
Time will tell where Sierra Leone goes from here but there are several encouraging things to watch. A large electric plant is currently under construction and is anticipated to be completed in the near time. Foreign investment which for 2006 was approximately $5M USD is growing rapidly and there is news of a $500M beach & golf resort being built near Freetown! The stamping out of corruption will also be something that will have to be watched closely...SL Update :: Part 2
21.12.06
World Travels
Ever wanted to have a great big map that charted your world travels? It's definately something I've always wanted as I really enjoy travelling and it's always nice to know where you've been, especially when charting where you're going to go next.
Well, wait no longer, you don't even need to go out and make a big purchase. You can just use this great little mapping tool I found on the ol' interweb.
Here's the places I've now been, all 33 of them. It looks like I need to do quite a bit more travelling, especially in Eastern Europe & Asia, South America, Africa, and the South Pacific.
So, where to next?
Well, wait no longer, you don't even need to go out and make a big purchase. You can just use this great little mapping tool I found on the ol' interweb.
So, where to next?
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