What's in a name?

A name is an identifier, sometimes unique depending on how creative your parents were if we're talking about people - occasionally if your parents get too creative, then changing your name by deed poll is an option once you come of age.

But how about countries? At one time, Britain had an empire that spanned a quarter of the globe and chose to name countries within her realm as she saw fit. Once those countries gained independence, a few decided to change their names such as Zimbabwe which was formerly known as Rhodesia and Sri Lanka which was known as Ceylon. For other countries such as China and Russia, the renaming was limited to cities so Peking became Beijing and Leningrad reverted to St. Petersburg after the break up of the Soviet Union.

In 1989, the military junta in Burma decided to rename the country Myanmar and the former capital city Rangoon became known as Yangon. Today saw the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, but whether it's a case of sticking two fingers to the military junta or a former colonial power refusing to recognise the diktat of a wayward former colony, the British press insist on calling the country Burma - Al Jazeera have no such problems.

If I tell you what I'ld like to be called then it behoves you to refer to me by my name choice, especially if you're seeking to engage with me. The British press are taking their cue from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office which persists in using the old name and that's tantamount to a diplomatic own goal.

Talkin' 'bout a Revolution

I've just listened to Tracy Chapman's 20 year old song Talkin' 'bout a Revolution from her critically acclaimed debut album Fast Car, after watching an interview on Al Jazeera with a Haiti police chief who said that Haiti is in need of a revolution, although he wasn't sure what form it should take - the song has timely resonance.

We ordinary people whose interests are not represented by global/regional bodies such as the AU, the IMF, the UN, the World Bank etc need to make ourselves heard. When ordinary people exercise their will, it is willfully ignored, see Kenya, Zimbabwe etc. In Haiti, the ordinary people are suffering from policies drawn up in Washington DC. Haiti which used to be a net rice exporter now imports rice from Louisiana and North Carolina because Jean-Bertrand Aristide was required to open up Haiti's markets as a condition of his return to power. Opening up Haiti's markets meant that cheaper US subsidised rice imports flooded into Haiti, eventually destroying Haiti's rice industry. As Haiti now imports most of its food, ordinary people in Haiti have been particularly susceptible to the recent hikes in food prices. USAID sends food aid to Haiti from US farmers, using US transportation so 50% of that so called aid ends up in the pockets of the US. What went on in Haiti has been replicated in Mali except substitute rice for cotton.

So the question is, what are we as ordinary people going to do about this sorry state of affairs?

I'm Talkin' 'bout a Revolution.
Aluta continua!!