A new report by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a U.K.-based think tank, identifies Kenya as one of 11 countries most at risk for disaster-induced poverty. The report, entitled “The geography of poverty, disasters and climate extremes in 2030”, warns that the international community has yet to properly address the threats disasters pose to the poorest parts of the world. The report includes locations where both poverty and natural disasters will likely be concentrated in 2030; and in many instances, these locations overlap.
It is easy to believe that the security threats are exaggerated and complacency can set in. The truth is that there are small networks of sympathizers to radical Islamist causes in Kenya and also apparently in Tanzania. It was only a matter of time before a high profile target such as Westgate was attacked. For some years Nairobi's Kenyatta International Airport has been regarded by Western intelligence agencies as particularly vulnerable, and international airlines have invested in additional security screening procedures that seem to have reduced the risk.
If relatively simple songs are being underanalyzed, we also lose the power in more complicated expressions of protest in songs like Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” The song’s triumphant chorus, which chants “Born in the U.S.A.,” often overshadows its darker verse.
Professional baseball faced a similar postwar influx. More than 500 major leaguers and 4,000 minor leaguers had swapped jerseys for military fatigues during the previous four years. Two former big leaguers, Harry O’Neill and Elmer Gedeon, plus more than 100 minor-league players, lost their lives.
