NO RESERVES, NO RETREATS, NO REGRETS
The purpose of this blog is to educate entertainingly, entertain purposefully, and to evangelise for the Lord.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Friday, December 26, 2014
Thursday, December 25, 2014
World's aid to Africa has been useless
In the past fifty years, more than $1 trillion in development-related aid has been transferred from rich countries to Africa. Has this assistance improved the lives of Africans? No. In fact, across the continent, the recipients of this aid are not better off as a result of it, but worse—much worse.
In Dead Aid, Dambisa Moyo describes the state of postwar development policy in Africa today and unflinchingly confronts one of the greatest myths of our time: that billions of dollars in aid sent from wealthy countries to developing African nations has helped to reduce poverty and increase growth.
In fact, poverty levels continue to escalate and growth rates have steadily declined—and millions continue to suffer. Provocatively drawing a sharp contrast between African countries that have rejected the aid route and prospered and others that have become aid-dependent and seen poverty increase, Moyo illuminates the way in which overreliance on aid has trapped developing nations in a vicious circle of aid dependency, corruption, market distortion, and further poverty, leaving them with nothing but the “need” for more aid.
Debunking the current model of international aid, Moyo offers a bold new road map for financing development of the world’s poorest countries that guarantees economic growth and a significant decline in poverty—without reliance on foreign aid or aid-related assistance.
Dead Aid is an unsettling yet optimistic work, a powerful challenge to the assumptions and arguments that support a profoundly misguided development policy in Africa. And it is a clarion call to a new, more hopeful vision of how to address the desperate poverty that plagues millions.
Book by DR DAMBISA MOYO
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Monday, December 22, 2014
Friday, December 19, 2014
The Gates of Jerusalem
The Zion Gate: Bearing Jerusalem’s earliest biblical name
in Hebrew and English, this gate’s Arabic name is the Gate of the Prophet David, as the Tomb of King David, on adjacent Mount Zion, is only a few steps away. Zion Gate
leads directly to the Armenian and Jewish quarters.
The Dung Gate: This gate’s unusual name derives from the
refuse dumped here in antiquity, where the prevailing winds would carry odors
away. Nehemiah 2:13 mentions a Dung Gate that was probably near this one. This
gate leads directly to the Western Wall and the Southern Wall Archaeological Park.
Golden Gate (Gate of Mercy): This gate,(leading to the Mount Olive) in
the eastern Temple-Mount wall, may be the best-known of them all. Also called
the Golden Gate or the Eastern Gate, it has been blocked for centuries, and is
said to be awaiting a miraculous opening when the Messiah comes and the dead
are resurrected.
Lion’s Gate (Also called St Stephen’s Gate): Also leads to the Mount Olive. This portal
is named after a pair of ferocious-looking animal carvings that flank it. They
are actually tigers, the heraldic symbol of the 13th-century Sultan Beybars. It
is also called St. Stephen’s Gate, after the first Christian martyr, who
tradition says was stoned nearby. Lion’s Gate, which leads to the Pools of Bethesda, the Via Dolorosa, and the markets, became famous during the Six Day War.
Herod’s Gate: Despite its name, the notorious Judean king had nothing to do
with this gate. In Arabic and Hebrew this north-facing gate, which leads to the
Old City markets, is called the Flowers Gate. Some say the name derives from a
rosette carved over it. However, in Arabic a similar word means “awakened,” and
may refer to a nearby cemetery and the hope of resurrection.
Damascus Gate: This most imposing of Jerusalem’s gateways
also faces north and is named for the grand city from which Jerusalem’s rulers
once came. It is always a busy thoroughfare, thanks to the bustling markets
within. Below the 16th-century gate, archaeologists have uncovered part of the
entryway built by Emperor Hadrian in the second century CE.
The New Gate: This is the only Old City entryway not part of the original design
of the 16th-century walls. It was breached in the waning days of the Ottoman
Empire to allow Christian pilgrims quicker access to their holy places within
the ramparts.
The Jaffa Gate: This was the destination of Jewish and Christian pilgrims disembarking
at the Jaffa port, hence its name. It led (and still leads) directly to the
Jewish and Christian quarters, as well as to the most popular parts of the
market, and to the Tower of David Museum, once Jerusalem’s citadel
and now a showcase of its history.
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
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