Digital composing and research on Google+
Instead of writing a blog post or instead of adding links to my delicious account I ENGAGED with my questions, did a lot of reading, collecting, thinking… and a bit of writing. I’m composing my thoughts about the famine in the Horn of Africa.
Paul Allison - 10:49 PM - Public+Lark Fleming points the way. Getting informed is an important step as well.
Lark Fleming originally shared this post:+Paul Allison ONE is calling on world leaders to do two things in the face of this emergency:Take immediate action to address the current humanitarian crisis by filling a $1 billion funding gap that will allow the U.N. and charitable organizations on the ground to run the refugee camps, stop disease outbreaks and secure routes that will ensure the safe delivery of food aid. The UN currently has only…Expand this post »
Last night, ONE cofounder Bono and Somali–born singer and poet K’naan met in Minneapolis with several Somali Minnesotans to discuss and draw attention to the growing famine in Somalia, where a food cr… - Comment - Share
Paul Allison
Paul Allison - 7:15 PM - PublicI’ve been listening to Somalian music, and it’s hard as an outsider to tell what is Somalian and what is universal hip-hop. But this, this spoke to me as filled with local knowledge and global attitude!Somali song
youtube.com – Dedicated to the graduating class of 2009 from Benadir University who lost their lives when a suicide bomber detonated himself among crowd of people, … - Comment - Share+2 by Lina Srivastava and 1 other
Paul Allison
Paul Allison - 5:07 PM - PublicSomalian cuisine seems to capture the richness of the regions they are connected to. Wikipedia’s “Somalian cuisine” page has descriptions of long, loving food preparation, eating, even after-meal traditions!
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Somalian_cuisine&oldid=437612787
Chris Fancher - Our ship (U.S. Navy) went into Berbera Somalia in 1983(4?). The embassy told us to not take pictures of beggars, women, or dead people. There were an inordinate amount of all three. Food was good and I, bravely, ate from street merchants.5:40 PM Add a comment…
Paul Allison
Paul Allison - 3:14 PM - PublicWhat is my country doing? How do I find out?Magnitude of crisis hinders Somalia relief efforts
youtube.com – Somalia’s government says it is making every effort to help refugees pouring into Mogadishu to escape the drought enveloping East Africa. The UN’s Children’s… - Comment - Share
Paul Allison
Paul Allison - 1:10 PM - PublicTo address some the issues on the Horn of Africa, how would we construct something similar to what Michael Wesch created with his World Sim game for teaching world systems theory?http://mediatedcultures.net/worldsim.htmWorldSim Preview
youtube.com – A massive experiment in education. For more information see: http://savageminds.org/2006/04/02/a-brief-theory-of-anti-teaching/ - Comment - Share+1 by Al Elliott1 share - Scott Weidig
Paul Allison
Paul Allison - 12:57 PM - PublicI’m trying to learn as much about the “Culture of Somalia” as I’m also learning about the famine there. Thanks for the suggestion +Lark Fleming
Culture of Somalia . Art. Architecture. Pottery · Textile. Music · Wood carving. Language. Literature · Mythology. Writing systems · Poetry. Other. Dance · Dress. Games · Cuisine. Society · History. I… - Comment - Share+1 
Cathy Crea - I have lots of Somali students at the community college where I teach. I believe Minnesota is home to the largest community of Somalis outside of Africa. (Must be the similarities in climate.) Do you want me to see if I can put you in contact with any of them? It will be easier once fall semester starts in late August, but I occasionally run into a few of my former students on campus over the summer.1:16 PM 
Paul Allison - That would be interesting, thanks. I’ll follow up.1:19 PM (edited 1:24 PM) - Edit Add a comment…
Paul Allison
Paul Allison - 12:43 PM - PublicAny thoughts on this service? Finding penpals in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami seems likely, but what about the Horn of Africa? Just wondering.PenPal News Demo
youtube.com – PenPal News is a web application in development that will use news as a conversation-starter to foster global connections. - Comment - Share+7 by Nethead Plurk, Jake Duncan, Christopher Cluff, Sy Bounds, Jon Jaques and 2 others1 share - Sy Bounds6 older comments from Nethead Plurk, Marlita H, Kimberly Herbert, Matt Montagne and Paul Allison
Christopher Cluff - I love it. Has anyone tried it with their class yet? Is it a pay service or supported by ads6:38 PM Add a comment…
Paul Allison
Paul Allison - 12:30 PM - PublicI’m not asking this lightly. Is there a game that might help me (and later my students) to learn about the “deadly cocktail” or the systems that seem to have created the increased food prices, political instability, and droughts. There’s a lot of talk about systems learning in gaming circles, what about these systems? - Comment - Share
Kenny Kenwud Kbarbz - bumping for interest in the deadly cocktail12:30 PM 
Wilson Hines - I’m trying to wrap my head around what you’re talking about? Are you talking about a social engineering game?12:33 PM Paul Allison - A game where I can learn how to change these systems that have led to the famine… so that I can understand how all of this works more.12:35 PM - Edit 
José Vega - Are there such existing game/s? … outside of G+12:37 PM (edited 12:37 PM) 
miriam dunn - I think your students would know more about that than we would, to be honest. It would be a great brainstorm, at any rate - if they did not know of such a game, what elements they would include if they were creating one.12:42 PM 
Cristina Lopez - Michael Wesch created a World Sim game for teaching world systems theory that addresses those issues. http://mediatedcultures.net/worldsim.htm1:01 PM Paul Allison - Thanks for the tip!1:03 PM - Edit 
Scott Weidig - Paul… trying to remember back when I was teaching. I did a game (non-tech) very similar to this concept with my Econ / Gov kids… Foggy brain as that was 8 years ago. I will do a bit of digging and see what I can come up with again.1:12 PM José Vega - +Cristina Lopez Thumbs up for the link!2:17 PM Paul Allison - More here:https://plus.google.com/113993022447291199374/posts/ii9b9UhPSti2:29 PM - Edit 
Jaime Vander Velde - How about Risk (or a modified version of it)?3:37 PM Paul Allison - +Jaime Vander Velde Right! What would we — or the students modify to make it fit the situations we find in Somalia?3:40 PM - Edit 
Jon Jaques - Have you ever seen or played “Axis & Allies”? It is a huge board game based upon WWII, which might not ultimately be so irrelevant, if you stop and think about it, because that is when nearly every current “modern” country was affected in some way, at the same time.
It kinda sounds like it might be relevant for you to study, though, because the game made extensive use of playing on each country’s strengths and weaknesses, but the outcomes are completely unpredictable, even though you play it through again and again, based upon the same initial inputs.8:43 PM Add a comment…
Paul Allison
Paul Allison - 11:47 AM - PublicThis is a title that seems on target. I’m learning from this now.Horn of Africa Famine: Millions at Risk in “Deadly Cocktail” of War …democracynow.orgThe United Nations has called an emergency meeting to discuss the Horn of Africa drought, which it says has already claimed tens of thousands of lives. Famine was declared in two regions of Somalia on Wednesday where 3.7 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian …Shared from Sparks - Comment - Share
Paul Allison
Paul Allison - 11:08 AM - PublicOne source that I’m using to find out more about the Horn of Africa today is this Foreign Policy slide show, filled with links to things like the many videos and articles from CNN.
Melissa Techman - Have you tried the Telegraph and Oxfam? Also, the print version of the Economist is usually thorough on coverage of Africa - I don’t have many journalists in my circles, so not sure who is here and might be helpful.11:13 AM 
scott lo - BBC World service has offered some insightful coverage of this horrible story for past couple of weeks. Might be better to check their Africa service: http://bbc.in/o4RKrD
As the UN has recently negotiated with Islamist groups to arrange for food deliveries, UN Radio might also be worth checking out: http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/
Also of interest might be the July 2nd episode of Behind the News with Doug Henwood. Doug’s guest Christian Parenti offered a useful and important historical analysis of the Horn of Africa: http://bit.ly/niWPtu
Thank you for focusing our attention on this unfolding disaster.11:22 AM (edited 11:23 AM) Paul Allison - There are a lot of faces and stories to follow up on here too:
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/07/21/africa.famine.voices/index.html11:24 AM - Edit Add a comment…
Paul Allison
Paul Allison - 10:32 AM - PublicIs there a list of G+ writers who are talking about the Horn of Africa? - Comment - Share
Lark Fleming - Why don’t you start a blog? And start writing and then ask other people to write, then you can also link stories….then maybe you can do a reading in about 6 months to raise awareness.10:39 AM 
Barry B - I am in agreement with Lark on this one +Paul Allison . I plan on following this one for sure.10:40 AM Lark Fleming - That’s so easy and you’re in NY so you already have that going for you in regards to publicity. Living in LA or NY put you ahead of the game, never realized that, but now I do.10:42 AM Paul Allison - I wonder how we can get people on teachersteachingteachers.org this week and in the fall to talk about the people and culture and famine in Somalia. I suppose a place for me to start (also) is to learn more about Somalia.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia10:56 AM - Edit Lark Fleming - You can also check this out:
http://www.africaaccessreview.org/aar/index.html
http://www.africaaccessreview.org/aar/Database.aspx
Iman the supermodel is also Somali, though I don’t know how that might help. It’s fun info.11:02 AM Add a comment…
Paul Allison
Paul Allison - 10:10 AM - PublicThe Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd “commended Kenya for her role in facilitating humanitarian operations for the famine stricken people of Somalia…. Mr. Rudd attributed the ongoing unpredictable weather pattern to global climate change that has also affected Australia with extreme weather conditions experiencing floods and droughts.”
The people in Somalia seem to be caught between “insecurity” brought about by “the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab” and global climate change.]
I wonder what I can do to build appropriate support from the U.S. government there. Or are we already doing the right moves there?
KBC, The leading broadcaster in Kenya, Offeres a variety of sites including, news, sport, weather, community, education, and lifestyle sites. TV and Radio programme schedules, online Radio News and ea… - Comment - Share
Paul Allison
Paul Allison - 9:40 AM (edited 9:44 AM) - PublicI’m wondering how I can silence the noise and focus on what is happening in the Horn of Africa today, this week.
Key Messages about the Famine in the Horn of Africa.
This is page 28 in a detailed report that I’m reading today from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network and Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit.
Press Release: http://www.fews.net/docs/Publications/FSNAU_FEWSNET_200711press%20release_final.pdf…Expand this post »
Matthew Bridgewater - This story needs more media attention. Although I guess the Amy Winehouse and Oslo Shooting stories are pretty important.9:48 AM Paul Allison - I’m not even interested in the story about what’s important or not. Just want to learn more about what is happening in the Horn of Africa, and what part of the “massive multisectoral response” I can be part of.9:53 AM - Edit Lark Fleming - I know what I’m going to do. I”m just going to start being part of writing actively good stories, sharing good stories, and reviewing good stories about that part of the world. The reasons that the world reacts to Japan and Norway is because the world sees them as people. The problem with Somalia, even in this description (not yours, but the press release you pulled this info off) is that the countries can’t even get identified as countries so identifying with the people as people is going to be even harder. It has to be people are starving not just famine, but also before that story it’s got to be a sort of retelling of their stories, culture, wonderful foods, because people don’t react (and they never seem to for that part of the world) if they can’t relate to you as people just like them.10:09 AM Paul Allison - +Lark Fleming You are really onto something there, something that we learned last year by listening to the teachers and students along the Gulf of Mexico onvoicesonthegulf.org . It’s not small turn to ask, what “stories, culture, wonderful food” are going to be lost if something isn’t done in the Horn of Africa? What are the countries and cultures, ethnic groups and groups of people that we are talking about there? Thanks for immediately broadening my inquiry so quickly!10:21 AM - Edit Lark Fleming - You are welcome. Thank you for the link of Voices on the Gulf.10:29 AM Add a comment…
