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Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

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Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#51

Post by r00fus »

laglad wrote: post #29
PakG1 wrote: post #15

I don't claim to understand African issues very well, so take my comments with the grain of salt that I'm very ignorant. The civil wars that happen in certain African nations are troubling. But what was more troubling to me was reading news how factions would take control by poisoning wells that provided water for citizens. It was unthinkable to me that someone could actually do that, especially in certain areas wher…

I speak as an African (Nigerian). As humans, we plan into the future. However, our planning timeframes are limited by how far into the future we can imagine. Further, our ability to imagine the future depends on how likely we believe that future to be. In the West where life is safe and prosperous, planning/imagining 20-30 years out is reasonable. In all likelihood, you will live that long. However, in war-torn Afric…

What is criminal is that the so-called humanitarian "West" either does nothing to assist longer-term thinking (don't want to create self-sufficient competitors!). Instead we strip-mine, exploit and install puppet governments so our all-important corporations and their profit and resource flows are unhindered.

Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#52

Post by biot »

rabino wrote: post #37
biot wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some other suggestions along the same lines as you suggest: Interrupt a court case so that the courtroom can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to quibbling over legal wording. Speak at a conference for accountants so that they can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to fiddling with spreadsheets. Share this in sexual abuse groups so that they can app…

Here's a novel idea: Post that WATEX publication and let's see how many upvotes it gets vs. this one here. Let's allow democracy to do its thing.

I think there's a very good reason why pg and the editors actively curate HN (eg: blocking certain sites from submission) and don't let democracy do its thing: it doesn't stand a chance against Eternal September.

(Besides which: those publications, like this story, aren't all that interesting from an intellectually gratifying perspective.)

Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#53

Post by chrischen »

smtddr wrote: post #48
chrischen wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Africans aren't more corrupt or warlike than anyone else How do you know? My history teacher never hesitated to teach us how Prussia was good at war, and how France sucked at war. Edit: this is an honest question. If I said anything wrong, please let me know as well.

As a person from a Nigerian family, I'm already offended... but... let me try and answer you. 1) It's one thing to say something about a country(France & Prussia), it's another thing to talk about a race(Africans). Take a look at Youtube's attempt at defining hate-speech in their guidelines: ""Hate speech" refers to content that promotes hatred against members of a protected group. For instance, racist or sexist cont…

> It's one thing to say something about a country(France & Prussia), it's another thing to talk about a race(Africans).

Africa is a continent. There are white Africans. If I had said, black people, that would be different, however I did not. I did not because the OP mentioned Africans and I was only pointing out that his statement about a generalization of an entire continent (he implied most Africans cannot be different from most other humans, which is already untrue even if you consider just skin color). However, had the OP stated what he stated and used "black people" instead of "Africans," I would have still asked the same question. Because he still would have made a generalization that he could not possibly know.

> How far down this endless rabbit-hole are we going to go? I can't prove to you the nature of any group of people, anymore than you can prove to me that you're not just another racist/troll that always shows up during conversations about Africa or African-Americans on Google+

Exactly. You can't prove that it's not a trait. That's all I'm questioning. Btw, I can't prove I'm not a racist to you, but I can prove that I have not yet made a racist remark. By YouTube's definition, I have not made an insulting remark based on a generalization of a race. Just because I don't agree with the author's assertions, does not necessarily mean I agree with the opposite assertion (that Africans are more corrupt and warlike). I have not made the claim or generalization that Africans, or black people, are more corrupt or warlike. Just because you are insulted, does not mean what I have said is actually insulting.

That being said, I'm sorry if it offended you, but I stand by my point. All I wanted to say was that the OP himself made a generalization. And I tried pointing it out with a question that might have made me look like I was making a racist remark... but I was just pointing out the fallacy in his claim by implying the opposite could be true..

Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#54

Post by r00fus »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #33
has2k1 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(if (< hate-to-be-that-guy urge-to-be-that-guy) (be-that-guy) (not be-that-guy))

You're ignoring the 'think it's important that the point is raised' factor. If there was a user-visible flagging mechanism, then a hate-to-be-that-guy would use it and never feel any urge to make an annoying post, win-win. I strongly doubt that most people claiming to 'hate to be that guy' are lying.

You do realize that users with sufficient karma can flag articles here, right?

Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#55

Post by Dylan16807 »

r00fus wrote: post #54
Dylan16807 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're ignoring the 'think it's important that the point is raised' factor. If there was a user-visible flagging mechanism, then a hate-to-be-that-guy would use it and never feel any urge to make an annoying post, win-win. I strongly doubt that most people claiming to 'hate to be that guy' are lying.

You do realize that users with sufficient karma can flag articles here, right?

I do realize that, which is why I said 'user-visible'. Flagging as HN currently has it can be used for moderation purposes, and for downvotes in extreme situations. But a user-visible flag would provide a warning to users that an article is fluff or otherwise problematic, and possibly attract more discriminating attention.

Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#58

Post by smtddr »

chrischen wrote: post #53
smtddr wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a person from a Nigerian family, I'm already offended... but... let me try and answer you. 1) It's one thing to say something about a country(France & Prussia), it's another thing to talk about a race(Africans). Take a look at Youtube's attempt at defining hate-speech in their guidelines: ""Hate speech" refers to content that promotes hatred against members of a protected group. For instance, racist or sexist cont…

> It's one thing to say something about a country(France & Prussia), it's another thing to talk about a race(Africans). Africa is a continent. There are white Africans. If I had said, black people, that would be different, however I did not. I did not because the OP mentioned Africans and I was only pointing out that his statement about a generalization of an entire continent (he implied most Africans cannot be diffe…

I won't be in this thread after this. I already see the rabbit-hole falling has begun.

Since we can actually measure & look at people in a very non-debatable way, you can get unquestionable & unbias data on how tall people are and the color of their skin. You cannot debate 6-foot tall versus 7-foot tall. We've(first-world at least) all agreed on what is a ruler. 12 inches is 12 inches. You also cannot debate the color red versus green as it has been defined.

The OP's generalization of people being equal is a fair generation to make considering the context of the world we live in today.

You should understand and be sensitive to the fact that racism is a real problem in the world today. As such, statements/questions implying directly, or indirectly, a characteristic of a group of people that support ideas aligning with racism should be done with care and not without quality evidence that suggests the negative characteristic; otherwise it just appears malicious. Especially for a group of people who have already experienced very similar abuse for many years and are still dealing with it today.

Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#60

Post by ChuckMcM »

memset wrote: post #44
JabavuAdams wrote: post #36

Fantastic! Let's concoct some overly optimistic growth statistics for how this will stimulate the Kenyan economy. Let's say 19% for the first 10 years, then 15% for 10 more, then 12% for the next five. Based on those fudged figures, we'll convince the government to take on excessive debt to pay for water development, etc. projects. Since the figures are fudged, and since we'll do this hand in hand with local elites /…

What is your comment trying to say?

I took it to be reflexive satire based on a deep cynicism of anything 'good' being allowed to benefit the African people.

Africa is complex, it's broken, and it is rich in resources. People from outside Africa have been exploiting it since wooden ships took its people to be their slaves to the present day where China signs "exclusive" mineral contracts with thugs.

I heard a little cry of anguish that the poster has to watch something that could do great good get crapped upon by unsavory external influences.

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