Yesterday evening I was fortunate to catch Paul Collier, the Oxford economist speak at my University on external interventions in Africa. Collier is the author of "Wars, Guns and Votes" and "The Bottom Billion" and he had some interesting and perhaps even controversial ideas concerning the so-called "forgotten continent". As a student of international law and politics it was particularly interesting to hear his views on common sense solutions to political corruption. The balance between the urgent needs of the struggling nations of the earth need to be balanced with the concept that aid finds its way into the right hands.
It was an interesting challenge to many in the crowd when Collier claimed that many Southern countries need to do away with the idea that the West still has a "colonial agenda". What is clear is that Collier is passionate about making a difference with a hands on perspective and he challenged the youth in the room to make these problems their own and to contribute to the flow of knowledge he deemed so important to helping economic growth.
Collier's speech marked the end to a busy weekend. I caught the premier of "Black Swan" in Amsterdam on Friday night and felt the movie really makes an impact with the audience, especially the performance by Natalie Portman. I had goose-bumps for the rest of the night.
Saturday I celebrated Chinese New Year with some friends and received the interesting fortune: "Things come and go like lightning, Wheel of transmigration rolls like drifting clouds. Where is the time to discuss right or wrong? Quite cryptic I know.
And like any self-respecting North American, Sunday night I found myself in a pub in Amsterdam catching the big game. I was cheering for the Packers and was really happy to see them pull through with the win.
Now I am off to bike to the VU and take advantage of this gorgeous day :)
