More Notes on Chad...

Thought I'd fill the void with some of Chad's distinctions/recent developments:

Chad in recent years has succeeded in no longer being the most corrupt state on Earth is now 5th in rank. Chad has been overtaken by Korruption King Haiti while 2nd place is shared by Guinea, Myanmar and... free Iraq. (so says Transparency International)

Chad remains the country which will have the most population growth over the next 43 years at a whopping 282.01% (don't ask me how they calculated it). There may be over 35 million Chadians by 2050. Expect some major genocide/popular uprising/famine between now and then. There's no way Chad's (near non-existent) economy and social services will be able to keep up (unless individual baby-booming Chadians independently find livelihood for their so many kids). (so says NationMaster)

The Chadian Government (read: Idriss Déby's clique/ethnic group) has sent troops in the Central African Republic to quell the rebels there (to whom borders are meaningless, they've been running around southeast Chad, northern CAR and west Sudan). Chad already has 100 troops in CAR, but the new ones (numbers unknown) will stay under Chadian command. Presumably that means a few hundred dudes from Chad are going to go south for a bit, probably just a raid/short incursion on the rebels. (so says Le Monde)

Will report on something more substantive in a bit as I've just finished handing in my essays (including a beautiful one on the thought and actions of francophone Blacks). I've avidly read The Economist's report on how to "fix" France (they suggest a Thatcher) so expect something on that...