CONCEPT: Pollution

Pollution: The term pollution is understood to encompass "all unwanted effects of human or natural activities" (Conway and Petty, 1991: 2). Emphasis here is on effects. Types, as well as potential or actual contexts, of pollution include: water, air, soil, noise, aesthetic and cultural. When waste finds its way into previously potable water, we call it water pollution. 

When it gets into the air we breathe or the soil in which we grow our crops or other plants, it causes air or soil pollution -- or other types of pollution. Thus, we may even prefer the stronger terms of water or soil contamination when referring to wastes with more chemically and similarly "aggressive" effects on human or animal food-chains -- or on the ecology as a totality. 

Noise pollution  stands out among all these types of pollution in the sense that the term refers simultaneously to a cause and an effect. Persistent or recurrent noise of a certain decibel level is the cause of noise pollution. It is, uniquely, the cause of itself; and is, indeed, itself. And of course context matters here. People at a disco, for example, do tolerate more noise than those who live in the neighbourhood, even though they may suffer in the end if their being there is habitual. Those who live near large and busy airports will suffer degrees of permanent hearing loss, as well as heightened levels of anxiety.  

READ: Pollutants

CONCEPT: Pollutants

Pollutants: In social and cultural contexts, pollutants are those potentially or actually harmful (or negatively tagged) substances or materials -- or wastes -- which inadvertently or by design “mix” or variously remix with, and thus compromise the environment in general, or more specifically the cultural, aesthetic, practical or other utility of substances, materials or situations of value to discrete publics. Their unchecked accumulation can hit a critical-mass point at which they cause emergencies and even disasters in specific localities; and does, in fact, frequently do so.

Elliott (1994: 27) observes, correctly, that “All productive activities make demands on the resource base in terms of the raw materials on which they draw. In addition, all such activities involve some waste generation. These are termed the 'externalities' of production." She admits that not all production, and not all its 'externalities' harm the environment. 

A considerable amount of waste can indeed be recycled. The opportunity to do so also seems to be increasing with time, as the requisite knowledge accumulates and cost-effective ways of leveraging them become more widely available and within physical reach. Thus, as the saying goes, one person's waste is a venturesome producer's raw material. 

However, pollutants or wastes that "do endanger human health, harm ecosystems or interfere with other legitimate uses of the environment are termed ‘pollutants’” (Elliott, 1994: 27). Clearly, pollutants are the cause of pollution. The former are 'substances'; the latter a consequence, an effect -- or a condition. 

READ: Pollution

CONCEPT: Management

Management: According to Harry (2001: 16), management is a "description of what people who do the managing do". He closes the management loop by adding that, in general, the terms management and managers refer to "the people who do the managing." It follows that, in the context of disasters and emergencies, (disaster) management is a description of both what the people who manage them do, and of what kinds of people they are (in terms of skill-sets and broad social characteristics). 

As a generic concept, it is instructive to note, management is, to quote Kast and Rosenzweig (1974: 6), "the primary force within organizations which coordinates the activities of the subsystems and relates them to the environment". Coordination is not management's only function, however. It helps to grasp this fact, and the full spectrum of management functions, by first listing those usually mentioned in management texts. These are, in alphabetical order: Assembling Resources, Controlling, Coordinating, Decision-Making, Directing, Implementing, Leading, Motivating, Organizing, Planning and Staffing (Kast and Rosenzweig, 1974: 6). Each of these functions has been the subject of lengthy scholarly and 'guru' interrogation.

However, when examining or designing management roles in diverse contexts of disaster and emergency management, we must go beyond the standard or generic list given above -- as was implied at the beginning. For example, UNHCR (2007: 58) defines emergency management as "The organization of capacities and resources to meet threats to the lives and well being of refugees." FEMA, with a wider mandate, defines it more broadly than UNHCR as "the process of preparing for, mitigating, responding to and recovering from an emergency". Toward this end, moreover, emergency managers do get involved in "Training, conducting drills, testing equipment and coordinating...with communities" (FEMA).

CONCEPT: Intelligence

Intelligence: In safety and "security" terms, as broadly conceived -- and, by extension, outside of the field of psychology -- intelligence generally refers to any kind of information or set of data considered crucial to maintaining the status quo (and related advantages), overcoming threats to it, and/or gaining actionable advantage over identified barriers to desired goals. In a much-quoted passage, Stephen Hawking, leaning toward the psychological view and away from the "security" perspective, sees intelligence rather differently -- as "the ability to adapt to change". 

From the safety and "security" perspectives -- that is, in the field of emergency and disaster management, public safety and health, and among others -- intelligence refers to any information, privileged or open-sourced, which gives managers marked advantage over likely, impending, or on-going threats to humans and all things of value to them as individuals and collectivities -- that is, family, belongings, property, community, institutions, ecosystems, society at large and country. 

"Intelligence gathering" has many labels and involves a variety of activities, including: Preparedness, precaution, data gathering (or mining), business intelligence, surveillance, monitoring, SWOT analysis, GIS, observation, investigation, probing, espionage, spying and secret service. Importantly, "Intelligence Communities" of all kinds are quite alive to the insight embedded in the adage that information is power. Interestingly, moreover, Artificial Intelligence (AI), both as a concept and bundle of practices and applications, spans both psychology and safety/"security". 

Yemi Alade's Johnny

In the eyes of many, and perhaps most, connoisseurs of African pop music, it was Johnny that, in 2014, put the continent on notice about Yemi Alade's great artistic gift. The song soon became  an anthem of sorts at certain public gatherings. You saw how this played out a year later at the MTVMAMA2015 in South Africa.

Click here to watch the official Johnny video

Johnny's impact was felt on radio, too, where I first heard it in 2014 -- with that distinctive (shall I say sexy?) Yemi Alade voice. A girl determined to get her Johnny (to behave) always wins hearts -- many, many more than she may lose.

The song has a crisp beat, and is upbeat all the way through. It's a superb piece for the dance hall as well. The first 42 seconds of the video (and the segment that runs from 3:32 to 4:11 minutes) could have been dispensed with, however, without any loss to Yemi's artistic expression in this song. That's a total of 82 seconds. In fact, those 'prosaic' seconds detract from this 5:16-minute video. All in all, however, a great and enduring song. 

NOTE: Jonny's popularity with the fans is reflected in the number of all-time YouTube views it has so far garnered; that is, 86,582,184 views as at 7:10 PM (EAT) on March 19, 2018.

East Africa's Top 25 Happiest Songs of 2016 ~ #TheYamboSelection

INTRODUCTION

This list of East Africa's Top 25 Happiest Songs of 2016 is part of a larger production -- the third annual edition of  #TheYamboSelection (#TYS). As a component of this year's #TYS, the list given below is more specifically a sub-set of a larger list titled Africa's Top 40 Happiest Songs of 2016. The same criteria are used this year (January to December 2016) as were used last year to select and rank, out of the songs released or published during the year, those that project and/or elicit the highest quotient of happiness -- otherwise understood as a "feel good" frame of mind -- in the listener(s) or audience (s).

With all the talent that keeps popping up all across Africa, it has been no less daunting a task this year to put together this list. Having more to pick from does not necessarily mean a greater leeway in doing so, one finds, as there's even more, regrettably, to let go that should be in. But all lists of quality do have a 'genetic' limit of sorts, one hazards to add, in the sense of how long, how elongated, they can possibly be -- and still remain optimal and (common)sensible. So, as we look ahead, one senses that this list is fast approaching a certain limit one cannot breach.

As before, the focus in this series of lists is the song, not the singer, with the added requirement that only songs in video form qualify. In addition, the "happy" song must broadly fit the standard definition of popular (or pop) music; that is, music in any of these distinct genres, or any combination of them: Hip Hop, RnB, rap, reggae or rock. We are not dealing here with gospel, classical  or traditional music; although borderline cases or creative partial 'fusions' with them will always be considered.

 CLICK HERE to read the whole Introduction to the criteria used to make the lists in the #TYS series, including the one below.

HERE, THEN, THE LIST AND RANKING OF EAST AFRICA's TOP 25 HAPPIEST SONGS OF 2016:
[Click on a Song's title to watch the video]

25. Juu by Vanessa Mdee ft. Jux (2016):

24. Please Don't Go Away by Mayunga ft. Akon (2016):

23. Akkuse by Sheebah (2016):

22. Shenzi by Tahmane ft. King Kaka (2016):

21. Kamatia by Navy Kenzo (2016):

20. Give it to Me by Akothee ft. Mr. Flavour (2016):

19. Unconditionally Bae by Sauti Sol ft. Alikiba (2016):

18. Inde by Dully Sykes ft. Harmonize (2016):

17. Tunakubali by Timmy Tdat ft. The Kansoul (2016):

16. Gamululu by A Pass ft. Konshens (2016):

15. Arosto by G. Nako ft. Chin Bees x Nikki Wa II (2016): 

14. Dede by Bebe Kool (2016):

13. Watora Mari by Jah Prayzah ft. Diamond Platnumz (2016):

12. Colors of Africa by Mafikizolo ft. Diamond Platnumz x DJ Maphorisa (2015):

11. Sembela Eno by Eddy Kenzo (2016):

10. Love You by Elani (2016):

9. Naomba Uniroge by Vanessa Mdee (2016):

Click here for a review of the song

8. Muziki by Darassa ft. Ben Pol (2016):

7. Farmer Remix by Ykee Benda ft. Shebbah Karungi (2016):

6. Benefactor by Akothee (2016):

5. HiiNiYa by Nonini ft. Jegede (2016):

4. Feel Good by Navy Kenzo (2016):

3. Movie Star by Mi Casa ft. Eddy Kenzo (2016):

Click here to read a review of the song

2. Disco Disco by Eddy Kenzo (2016):

1. Salome by Diamond Platnumz ft. Rayvanny (2016):

Click here to read a review of the song

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

READ: Africa's 40 Happiest Songs of The Year, 2015

READ: Africa's 25 Happiest Songs of The Year, 2014

READ: World Happiness Report 2015

ALSO READ: "The Happiness Contagion"