Bothered Boy

"The African Theatre" of the Cold War disappears overnight with the implosion of the Soviet Union. The continent also got flooded with Soviet weaponry, leading to the intense bloodshed across the continent in the 90s and up to the present day. But with the rise of the War on Terror, Africa became geopolitically important once more and now finds itself within a new scramble for the continent.

All of a sudden, in the wake of WW2, Africa becomes a battleground for competing interests between the West and the USSR. France also felt that they could prevent geopolitical obscurity by continuing to have a hand in Africa, and this brings us to many of today's problems...

So the Scramble for Africa more or less ends with the beginning of WW1. Afterwards, Togo and Cameroon and swiftly absorbed into France's colonial holdings. Things stay calm until WW2 and the Fall of France, with Indochina and West Africa declaring loyalty to the puppet regime of Vichy France. It was French Equatorial Africa, and under the leadership of Félix Éboué, that helped pave the way for Allied victory in various African campaigns and WW2 in general. So how did the French thank them?

How does Europe go from controlling only ten percent of the African continent in 1870 to controlling ninety percent by 1914? It's a long story, so let's break it down with some history in French West Africa, the industrial revolution, quinine medicine, a tyrannical Belgian king, and a meeting of White aristocrats in Berlin in 1884...

This has been a long time in the making. I've been wanting to make this series for a while, so I hope everyone will stick with me through this journey of French imperialism and how it's had repercussions that last up until the present day. It's a little-known history, but one that more people should be aware of.

The Central African Republic has been mired in a civil war since 2012, and some of that may be traced to the aftermath of the Libyan Intervention. However, it seems like peaceful and fair elections may be on the horizon, and I want to celebrate good news and little victories when I see them and when I find them.

Trump's America joined 32 illiberal or authoritarian countries in declaring that women have no intrinsic right to abortion. There also was no mention of LGBT people and protections for them. So, you know, when you go into a voting booth in two weeks, remember who America is standing shoulder to shoulder with internationally...

In typical conservative fashion, Doug Ford seems to think that 1867 was "peak Canada" which is farcical. What's worse, he's unilaterally decided ranked ballots for our municipal elections shouldn't be a thing anymore, and that's the tip of the terrible iceberg of all the bad things he's done and continues to do.

It's high time I talk about the protests in Nigeria, what sparked them, what's happened since, why they matter, and why waaaaaaaaayyyyyyy more attention needs to be paid to Nigeria for economic and geopolitical reasons. This also touches on why they're an important ally and the importance of West and Central Africa in general. #EndSARS #EndSWAT

I went into a local Canadian Tire on October 17th to buy some new stuff for work, and right near the entrance was a huge section of Christmas decorations. I am so bothered by this. Let Halloween have its time! Yeesh...