Word: civilizations
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Bili lies in Congo's far north, about 120 miles east of the Ebola River, where deep tropical forest breaks up into patches of savanna. Civil war and neglect have left the region nearly untouched by man. Overgrown dirt roads with bridges of rough-hewn logs string together thatched-roofed villages. Nearly all freight is carried in by bicycle. Locals hunt with homemade shotguns and crossbows seemingly modeled on 16th century Portuguese design. "This area is the last part of Africa where there are still wild animals," says Pontier, who grew up in the region. "It's not a game...
Many of Burns' past documentaries have examined well-covered subjects (the Civil War, baseball) to draw passionate conclusions that few people would disagree with (war is terrible, racism is evil). Johnson is a less obvious subject and in some ways more complicated. Blackness is about race, even more blatantly than Baseball or Jazz, and yet Johnson was not self-consciously a racial hero. He would not kowtow to racists, but he also rebuffed Tuskegee Institute president Booker T. Washington and other black community leaders who chided him for fraternizing with whites...
...remember that the ocean hurled itself a mile inland in an area of the world not known for wealth or stability, but for deprivation, poverty and civil strife. The waves that smashed ashore changed the very geography of the region; islands that once housed hundreds or thousands are now only a memory. Nature, without the slightest hint of mercy, snuffed out over 150,000 human beings, ending their lives anonymously and with great pain. We can only imagine the dread those thousands experienced when the waters roared up, the terror so many mothers felt as waves swept their little children...
...fact that the issue has been divorced from the democratic process. Judges, not voters, created the right to have an abortion. Students of history should remember that although Brown v. Board of Education outlawed “separate but equal,” it was the democratically passed Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that really gave the cause for racial equality legitimacy and impact...
...assembled under the discreet auspices of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani (who has also declared voting a religious duty for Iraq's Muslim faithful). While some leaders of that slate sought this week to assuage Sunni and U.S. fears over their ties to Iran - and their desire to avert a civil war and hold Iraq together strongly suggests they'll avoid mimicking Iran's theocracy and will reach out to the Sunnis - the fact remains that the dominant parties on the list are historically far closer to Iran than they are to Washington. That's why whether the election goes ahead...