The Casement Report of 1904 by British diplomat Roger Casement outlined abuses of the indigenous people in the Congo Free State which was under the private control of Leopold II of Belgium.

We were talking yesterday about AFRICOM and Africa [See below].  And yes, "Nostromo" was Joseph Conrad's book of 1904, not "Heart of Darkness," but he was friends with Roger Casement and I think I am allowed a little leeway here, once in a while, if you don't mind.

         Nancy Cunard by Man Ray

My dear friend and gym buddy Eduardo has been after me to include something on Nancy ever since he got back from his last cruise, and not so much because of her efforts on behalf of African art, artists and African men -- although that is certainly important -- but because of her extremely colorful life and no doubt also because of his fond memories of the Cunard Line.  

It was, however, while watching "Cabaret" the other night on the big screen -- a special showing by the AFI at the Arclight (which is coincidentally where E. and I work out, there being a 24 Hours Gym in the Arclight complex so you can jog on the treadmill and look at the geodesic curves of the Cinerama Dome) -- it was watching Michael York have one more moment fraught with tension over a glass of champagne with the Baron while Sally Bowles/Liza Minelli is asleep in the back of the limo, that you might say everything fell together.  You see, the Baron is going to take Michael and Liza to Africa, and right before the Nazi youth stands up and starts singing "Tomorrow Belongs to Me," the two men -- with SO much unsaid between them but with extremely knowing glances -- raise their glasses and share a toast "To Africa."

Of course they don't end up going to Africa, as it turns out, because Michael and Sally/Liza have a fight about Max the Baron, and in a fit of pique Michael says, "Screw Max!" and Liza says calmly and with tremendous intended drama, 'I have," and Michael replies, taking the wind so to speak out of her sails: "So have I."  Which rather puts a damper on the trip to Africa, as you can imagine.
 
Anyway, that's what it took to redirect my attention to events in Africa.  Convoluted, huh?  But -- and here's the weird part -- that wasn't all.

While working out, (it was Gun Show Day as E calls it at the gym -- being all about biceps and triceps and I can tell you, E was pushing me to my limits; I can barely lift my arms to type this) while thus exerting ourselves E. was telling me how he had once dated someone from Nicauragua who said to him, when the whole Iran-Contra scandal came out, "I had always wondered," [this person from Nicauragua said] -- "I had always wondered how Iran could afford to continue that war.  Now at last we know."

And E. confessed he had felt awful.  "What's wrong with me?" he had asked himself at the time.  "I never wondered how Iran could afford the war!"   

Well needless to say I quickly reassured him by admitting that it was the same thing, because I myself had never wondered why Bush was so friendly with Bono and wanting to give money to Africa and go visit while being a lame duck and all and dancing with native women with his picture on their bottoms.  And then, prompted by events and circumstances beyond my control I found myself looking into the matter, and voilla!  Yesterday's post! 

But wait!  There's more! 

Go to this article in The Pambazuka News for more details!

Let me tell you, though: political blogging can be pretty exhausting, if you want to know the truth, and I find myself teetering on the brink of being snarky and cynical which as many of you know is simply not my nature.   I get upset, I have to confess.  All of a sudden I want everyone to be concerned the way I am, now, and I have to be hard on myself -- as hard as I can, of course, given how much my arms ache from yesterday's workout -- I have to sternly remind myself that it took Nancy Cunard, Joseph Conrad, Cabaret, Liza Minelli, a young Michael York shirtless and if I were really honest I should probably throw in Merle Streep playing Karen Blixen/Isak Dinesen [I had a farm in Africa...] to shake me out of my unconscious stupor and get me wondering about events beyond the safe and familiar confines of the Arclight and Hollywood and Hancock Park-adjacent! 

Well, my hat is off to the folks at HuffPo and Andrew Sullivan and all the serious people doing serious blogging about real world events.  It's not easy being conscious!  It's rough caring about the rest of the world sometimes!