Besides resolving the country’s longstanding socio-economic problems, the ongoing political talks in Zimbabwe will go a long way to start redressing the damage that has been inflicted onto the environment over the past decade. 

A botched government led land reform programme resulted in the unmonitored movement of people and the untoward cutting down of trees and an increase in the poaching of endangered animal species.

For the past few weeks, the streets of Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city, have been awash with talk about ongoing talks between incumbent President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) aimed at breaking the country’s political stalemate.

With neither the ballot nor the bullet being a solution to the stalemate, much hope has been staked on the talks.

The talks, which are being brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki are seen as the last trump card in halting Zimbabwe’s downward spiral.

However, the talks which are coming in the wake of a negotiated political setup in Kenya are seen as setting a precedent in Africa in which the people’s voting power plays second fiddle to political expediency in the democratic process.

And with Mugabe clinging to executive powers won on the back of political mayhem, intimidation, and murder of opposition activists, there is but little headway in the talks achieving a credible solution.

Already, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which played a key role in the formation of the MDC in 1999, has dismissed the power sharing talks as inconsequential.

Although the street talk is filled with a lot of optimism that this time the talks will usher a resolution to the country’s longstanding political problems, the road to be traversed ahead is still filled with major challenges.

There is no doubt that a political resolution is the first key step to the country’s recovery for a myriad of misplaced policies pursued by Mugabe’s government for the past 7 to 10 years.

With the ballot box having failed to resolve the country’s political problems, dialogue appears to be the only way to find a peaceful and democratic solution to avert the country’s Humpty Dumpty-like fall.

Failure of the ongoing dialogue process will propel the country toward the brink of collapse, further plunging the citizens of Zimbabwe into a state of unprecedented suffering.

The gravity of the economic situation is indeed forcing the major political actors to avoid playing hardball. But within both the ZANU-PF and MDC political camps there are fears that each is compromising too much.

Whatever the case, Zimbabwe’s economy has suffered terribly over the past decade and rebuilding it will require numerous sacrifices, and the road ahead will not necessarily be a rosy one for ordinary Zimbabweans.

While political reconciliation is a key first step, there are legal, constitutional, social and land appropriation issues that have to be put on the table to give the country a firm foundation to progress into the future.

The rule of law is perhaps what has suffered the most in the past 10 years with there being no clear separation of powers between the executive, judiciary and the legislature.

Furthermore, the role of civil society in the ongoing negotiations is very obscure, which means that a significant sector of the Zimbabwean populace is already excluded from the process.

The fact of the matter is that the ongoing political problems in Zimbabwe are more than just a battle between ZANU-PF and the MDC. So once the sticky issues between the major political players are resolved, the dialogue process will need to involve a greater part of the population in the country.

In addition, a mere paper-based political deal will do little to resolve the country’s fundamental problems. Put simply, the ongoing talks are dominated more by political characters than by national interests or the common good.

By focusing only on the political characters, the talks are forestalling productive political dialogue aimed at addressing several outstanding issues responsible for the country’s current ossification, including land tenure, human rights abuses, separation of powers and constitutional reform.

To be successful, the process of political dialogue and deal making must reflect the hopes and aspirations of the people as well as receive the blessings of the international community.

There is danger that the ongoing talks will only result in a superficial deal that does little to change the destiny of Zimbabwe.

In the absence of a broad based political settlement, the nation of Zimbabwe will continue down the road of further disintegration and decline. The decline will adversely affect all sectors of society. There will be an increase in lawlessness, brain drain, corruption, environmental degradation, poverty and disease.

Reports say General Constantine Chiwenga told Mugabe the army was not prepared to honour any arrangement that leaves Mr Tsvangirai as the dominant figure. Gen Chiwenga is the leader of the Joint Operations Command (JOC), which is made up heads of the army, police, prisons and intelligence that has effectively usurped power from Mr Mugabe since Mr Tsvangirai defeated him in the presidential election held on March 29. Another threat came from former liberation war fighters who are said to have ordered the 84 year-old president not to accept any power sharing deal with the opposition. More

{sidenote - not only is each month's issue published and distributed the month before, but it's getting earlier ... the issues used to be on London's newsstands on the 13th of the month prior; the last two issues I've bought closer to the 3rd of the month prior ... time's zooming past fast enough already, thank you very much!}

However I did gift my dad a 12mth subscription for his most recent birthday, so I guess I'm a subscriber of sorts.

Anyway, I was reading my treasured September issue on the train home this evening, and got to the article Day of the Crocodile. It's a very moving and open article written by Peter Godwin, a journalist of Zimbabwean origin, looking at what the truth of Zimbabwe's predicament is. The picture that Godwin paints is a truly disturbing one - of a society that seems to be the worst type of Lord of the Flies-style tyranny, where 70% of the population has fled, inflation is at 9 million percent and violence is the only known political communication.

I also find the awful things that people will do to each other to be both amazing and horrifying. After the last 150yrs of mass media, mass communications and mass migration I would (naively it seems) like to think that people would learn from past events ... the pogroms of medieval Europe, the Holocaust, Stalin's Great Purge, Mao's Cultural Revolution, the military coups of Latin America, the recent Balkan war, the Iran-Iraq war, amongst others ... that politics and political power that is gained and maintained by violence never lasts, and eventually ends in the violent demise of the despot and their supporters. And that uncountable numbers of the 'little people' are killed, maimed and have their lives destroyed in the process.

I really recommend that you read Godwin's article, and I hope you find it moving as well. I'm off to Google ways that I can contribute to the communal voice speaking up for the poor, displaced, dispossessed, terrified, tyrannised and incredibly brave people of what should be a prosperous and beautiful country.

Zimbabwe is in the midst of a dire economic crisis with unemployment at almost 80%, most manufacturing at a halt and basic foods in short supply.

High money supplies have also been fuelling hyperinflation. Critics have accused Africa's caricature dictator Robert Mugabe's government of printing money to finance his election campaign and prop up the economy. Month-on-month inflation in the country accelerated to 839.3% from 433.4%.

Mugabe must go soon, today …yesterday!

In Zimbabwe, Mugabe’s regime maintain their position of power through use of extreme violence including  murder of opposition members and their families or supporters.

In Israel, the government maintains its stranglehold on the Palestinian people through raw violence and might. Building a wall that goes through Palestinian towns, restricting all movements, destroying infrastructure, moving their own settlers onto Palestinian land. And yet the Israeli government is supported at the highest levels internationally.

In China, minorities are regularly oppressed. The current target is Tibet, but they are not the only ones who have suffered in the past. Media is regularly stifled, protests are cruelly crushed, and differences of opinion are locked up.

And Russia has never forgotten it’s USSR empire. It still seeks to intimidate independent countries and interfere with domestic politics. Whether it is the Ukraine, the various ‘Stans’, or now Georgia, very few of the ex-Soviet Bloc countries have been allowed to control their own destiny.

A basic human right is that citizens of a country have a right to say how the country should be run. Any restriction of that right, whether internally as in China and Zimbabwe, or externally as in Russia and Israel, must be opposed as strongly as possible around the world.

Israel complains about the odd suicide bomber or missile, but they carry on destroying the Palestinians completely and carving up their lands. Then they promise to give 30% of the occupied land back – the desert part, with no access to water, roads, or any other of life’s basic requirements. Talk about empty gestures!!

Three times Russia said they would pull out of Georgia, and three times they failed to live up to their own promises. Get out! By all means support the South Ossetia people in discussions with the Georgian government, but don’t do it with tanks in Georgian towns!

I could go on about the violence in China and Zimbabwe perpetrated by the government forces on anyone who has a different point of view, and the temerity to voice it. But that information is available all over the net.

Suffice to say that while these injustices are occurring around our globe we should not be silent, our governments should not be silent.

Botswana's President Khama stayed away from the recent summit meeting of the Southern African Development Community because Robert Mugabe was attending, and Botswana does not recognize his government. This increases pressure on the SADC to deal with the Zimbabwe political situation But there are also rumors that President Khama is motivated by an interest in hosting AFRICOM. Of course some of these reports come from Zimbabwe as a counter move against Botswana's boycott. From Kenya's The Nation:

The Herald newspaper, a [Zimbabwean] government mouthpiece, claimed that the main reason Botswana boycotted the summit was because it wanted to pull out of the regional grouping on the orders of the United States.

Mbeki has been brokering a deal during the course of the SADC summit to work out some sort of compromise government in Zimbabwe. They did not achieve anything at the summit, but Mbeki intends to go to Harare later this week and continue his efforts. I found the observations of Sentletse Diakanyo interesting:

It may perhaps be appropriate to examine what could be motivating Ian Khama to remain stubborn when the political landscape in Zimbabwe is shifting. Botswana has very close and historic ties with Britain and we can not be certain of the influence that 10 Downing Street still exerts in its former protectorate. Europe is Botswana’s largest trading partner; over 70% of export trade is directed to Europe. It would not be surprising if Botswana was acting to protect its own economic interests and not to offend the position taken by Britain. After all, it is bad manners to bite the hand that feeds you.

Where does the US fit in to all this? In 1980, Botswana entered into a training agreement with US military — a commitment that it has sustained over the years. To date the development of the Botswana military has been sustained primarily through contributions from the US.

Botswana had also recently expressed interest in hosting Africa Command (Africom), when the rest of the SADC countries were hostile to the idea of the US establishing military bases on their soil … Not only did Botswana express its interest, it went further and signed in 2003, under controversial circumstances, the so-called Status-of-Force Agreement (SOFA), a non-surrender pact defining the legal standing of US soldiers stationed abroad.

…

Maintaining the military support received from the US is important to Botswana and Ian Khama, as a former army commander. Botswana, with a population of a mere 1.8 million, does not have sufficient men in boots to defend itself in case of a military threat. It would appear that Khama does not want to be seen to be showing the Bush Administration a middle finger.

It may after all be a strategic rather than a principled position by Khama to boycott the SADC meeting, confident in the knowledge that a solution will definitely be found; while appeasing his masters and maintaining continued military support, as well as sustaining Botswana’s economic relationship with Europe.

I doubt a truly workable deal will be reached in Zimbabwe anytime soon.  But that does not necessarily negate the speculations about Botswana, its ties to the US, and potential for cooperation with AFRICOM.

This boycott was a real change from Botswana's foreign policy in the past, which generally was something along the lines of hear, speak, or say no evil about any country.

Great journalists go where they are totally unwanted and do those things exceptionally well.

I consider Muhammad Khurshid a great journalist.  He went home to Pakistan's tribal areas, an area of the world crawling with any number of al Qaeda and Taliban militants that could have killed him at any time, and he brilliantly kept many in the West informed of the situation.

When the Pakistani Army moved right into his back yard, we lost touch with him and we feared he was lost.  But God protected him (again) and we are thankful.  We hope he is reunited soon with his family.

Muhammad is threatend in the course of his work with death from terrorists, from the Pakistani government and its Army and officials, and even from 'death from above' due to the activities of missile-armed drone aircraft from the U.S. and its coalitional allies.

There are great journalists under fire in all the dark corners of the world. 

There are those that want to prevent reporting and eyewitnesses who usually have something to hide.  More often, they have plenty to hide.  These people reside in such unsavory houses of power as in Myanmar, Zimbabwe, and yes, even in China and Russia.

We salute today those great and brave journalists and we stand in awe of them.

John E. Carey
Peace and Freedom

Ko Nyi Thaut, 53, who lost six of his children to the cyclone, explains the need for him to rush working in the rice field in order for his remaining three children and wife to survive in this July 6, 2008 photo in the Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar.  Aided by boatmen who risked arrest, a journalist from the Los Angeles Times secretly saw what the government of Myanmar didn’t want seen in the wake of Cyclone Nargis earlier this year. 

Related:
Unwanted Jounalists: Standing Among Great Men

Zimbabwe's political rivals left a summit Sunday deadlocked over how to share power, as their divisions defied attempts by regional heads of state to find a resolution to the country's crisis.

A summit of southern African leaders and a meeting of a regional security body failed to bring the two sides to a settlement, leaving it unclear when or if the crisis that intensified with President Robert Mugabe's widely condemned re-election could be brought to a conclusion.

Both Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai attended the weekend summit of regional leaders in Johannesburg, where South African President Thabo Mbeki raised the possibility of a deal before the gathering ended.

But following the summit and the security meeting, Mbeki, the mediator for the Zimbabwe talks, said negotiations would continue, adding it "may be necessary to convene parliament" during that time.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and a smaller faction of the opposition led by Arthur Mutambara would have a parliamentary majority if they combined forces.

Mbeki, however, said that a solution to Zimbabwe's crisis "won't last" unless all of the country's parties agree to it.

He also warned against outside interference in the crisis and said no timeframe could be put on how long the negotiations would last.

"Let's really allow the people of Zimbabwe to determine their future," he said.

Disagreement centred on the division of power between Mugabe and Tsvangirai in a national unity government, and what authority they would have as president and prime minister.

Angola's Foreign Minister Joao Miranda, who attended the talks, said that "the gap between the parties is narrower. Points of disagreement are not so wide."

But he added that "the parties still are far from each other though on one point, and that is the executive powers that should go to the president and the prime minister. That is the stumbling block."

The opposition's number two leader, Tendai Biti, speaking after the end of the meetings, said "failure is not an option" in the talks...

Click to read more

Nummer elva yip that is Number eleven in Swedish, pretty close to English in  a way but I bet in their normal script it has cool squiggles on some of the letters with pretty patterns to boot!  Number 11 with 83 posts linked... erm yeah more than last week, blame it on the new sharers!  No Peace for the wicked when you know a South African! (possibly why you should be multilingual)

Please note that some sections of this post are PG18+.  If educational materials are that of course.  Yes, Sex folks, SEX.

Anyway's now that that is out of the way we move along swiftly...

This morning I woke up with a start, it felt as though a big spider was crawling into my ear, we know, I hate spiders! Then I went "Is OK, dog" That farting furball of a Furkid had stuck his furry gross tongue into my ear.  He Did What???? yes I am NOT lying.  I don't know if I will ever be able to sleep again.  One thing is for sure I will be Need Protecting, well at least my ears.

Been there, done it, got the T-shirt, thank you! Never again *shivers* it was revolting

Right, I need to get something out of the way before I really get into this.  Yes it is about my world renown skills as a Chef.  I'll have you know that there are No compromises in my kitchen! My cookies are just Perfect so much so that they almost made the Next Week’s News Today™ III.  Yip, you heard it.  Being a WHOLE all on your own.. means being able to bake those gingerbread men all on your own and all for yourself, it means putting on the Eyes knowing that you're going to eat them.  Doing it for you because you want to! Hmm perhaps all I need is a The Miracle Pill, perhaps then they will look like cookies and maybe, just maybe, taste like them???

One last matter on this cookie business.  The last time I baked I got a serious System Error and then it was recommended that I look into becoming a Carpenter’s Apprentice instead.  I kind of thought at one stage that the heat coming off my laptop would bake the cookies nice and crispy.  Apparently "Love thy neighbour .. even if he or she is a little different.." doesn't count when you've had the Bomb squad over to sort out a cookie fire.  Hey I was trying out a new form of Street Art *shrug* creative license and all.

As for Views on the Weakly News XVIII... the Sun was spotted over in England, sorry I mean Washington.  Homosexuality and Christianity the big furore. Furkids are visharse and seem to be taking their role in Resident Evil a bit too far (no offence).  Kidney Transplant Slacker Gets Wings in the form of some big hooters (Why are they called that anyway's, do they hoot when you pinch them???). The Wedding Invitation with shocking ties, shocking! Mexico invades US, yeah I know I missed it as well. The Kid Was Hot Last Night good old Loverboy and doing Mushroom's all in a weeks work.

Get your mind out of the gutter and Build it (green) and they will buy?

Don’t Just Make Money….Make Memories... ok well if you are betting on who wins the "Phelps, Bolt and AngryAfrican" race then perhaps it is the best of both worlds.  Personally my money is on AngryAfrican!  Don't say that I never warned you!

Hatred is learned and that is why those who teach the young, those Parents: Heroes at Home, those that teach the right way, one of no hatred, they are the true Heroes in the World.  It takes real guts to admit when you have been wrong and learn from it.  We are taught many things from a young age forgetting that it is we, it is us, you and I that get to choose each action, each word and moment that we have.  If you are a racist, bigot (word for the week) or any other funny word that describes discrimination... that is your choice. 

Do you know who James Hoyt is? I am being dead serious now, do you know of him? Go have a read perhaps it will put more of what I mean to say into words.

For those who face discrimination every day the best statement that you can sometimes make is turning the other cheek.  By not treating those very people that treat you so badly as they have treated you, you show them how to be, how they should be.  Be the example for you only spur their hate on.  That is my personal opinion from my experience.  At the very least they will perhaps feel **** for treating you so badly and hopefully start to brew on their actions and what they do to others making those important changes.  Life is no Vanity Fair at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery but it sure is fun and entertaining.

Now lets talk sex.  Smart Girls do mathematics so do smart boys but sometimes both forget that there There are TWO people in the bed ... Masturbation? Even that can take two, you and your imagination.  Sometimes, most times, perhaps no times, things get so stale that we forget Variety is the spice of your sex life.  Can you imagine cooking a gorgeous roast with no herbs??? I mean come on guys it is not always a Bay of Pigs!.  All good things have their negatives though, just remember that sample humans happen and that should it happen you may need to look into getting a few Baby planners... yip Being a Daddy will suddenly become reality when one of those critters win the race! You may of course also face one of the hardest decisions ever.

It's no Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People nor is it that I have AIDS… No in actual fact it is a contraption I have never set eyes on before.  I mean I come from a farming family and NEVER have I seen a ghetto tomato planter. Shocking I know, Truth or Document, That is the Question. Talking about truth, The Truth About Aging is Absolutely Amazing, just this morning I found another gray hair... I mean come on people, hair gods, monkeys, back OFF.

It's ok *breathe* no matter what I am living the life of my dreams because it is filled with beautiful stories of a friendship.  What is it without the Golf balls in the game of life, crumbs life would be so so boring without the hills we craw, walk, run up.  That Point In Your Life when fall and then We Rise, Healing our souls as we go.  We slowly gain Clarity through the madness, we learn What NOT to do, that The Tides always turn, we utter the words "It will soon pass…".  We grow.

Sometimes we don't know what we want never mind what others want.  We forget to ask, we forget to talk, we forget to laugh.  Soon before we know it 61 years have gone by and what do we have to show for it? Cool Groups and Soulmates? No peace without true democracy? We get so comfortable in our lives we forget to live.  What ever you do don't have a rememblur. No, seriously now.

No, we must focus on the truths, for instance What Does Your Elementary Report Card Say About You? go on splurge... mine was in part Afrikaans "die fokken kind praat te veel" hmmm yes I still can't spell... basically in English it says "that bleepin child talks too much".  What can you do I mean it is not like they were annoucing a New Department or anything.  Look Agility and Cowboy's were the discussion at hand and what a discussion that was.  My biggest question though is why my 6 year old cousin knows who James Dean is and thinks he is sexy... Yeah go on have a chuckle, it disturbs me.

Distant Thoughts, there are no Quick miracles, no fast answers, Day Dreaming can become reality.  Consider yourself challenged to pass on the Shine, the light, to give to another without expectation, to be kind, to love, to be peaceful.  It doesn't matter if the box comes in your size, whether you are Church Going or a Grandmother, it doesn't matter who you are, this challenge is for you.  Rain Dance, Happy Dance - Procrastinating 101 doesn't count here.  Get to it, shake that ass and cause a Summer Storm while singing that song "we are Family"

Got that song in your head now don't I... haha!

Finally folks I know that you have been wanting an update on the world tour starting at the end of August.  It's now into the next phase with the UK now booked.  If you are in the UK please send out the warning notices to all.  Thanks.

Thanks for all the sharing, caring, writing, posting, laughs and inspiration.

Too many links? 

[caption id="attachment_98" align="aligncenter" width="265" caption="Robert Mugabe, Primer Ministro de Zimbabwe 1980-1987 y Presidente desde entonces."][/caption]

No hay acuerdo en crisis de Zimbabwe.

Después de un verano de violencia entre el gobierno de Robert Mugabe y la oposición liderada por Morgan Tsvangirai, queda inconcluso el proyecto de gobierno unido propuesto en la cumbre de Egipto. Mugabe, jefe del gobierno desde 1980, entró en conflicto con Tsvangirai cuando éste ganó las elecciones presidenciales en marzo pasado pero sin una mayoría directa, tras lo que se organizó una segunda vuelta repleta de horrores.

(El Informador)

Conoce más en http://www.informador.com.mx/internacional/2008/32363/6/gobierno-y-oposicion-de-zimbabwe-no-logran-un-acuerdo-para-poner-fin-a-la-crisis.htm

Mediated by the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Zimbabwe's ruling party came together in a signing ceremony held to initiate formal talks in an effort to solve the country's political crisis.
The MDC congratulated the opposition party and Zanu-PF ruling party  for taking this “important step” in the right direction.
"It is a very historic occasion ... and I want to thank president [Mbeki] for the facilitation of this process, Morgan Tsangirai, the MDC leader, said.
"As we sign the memorandum of understanding, we all commit ourselves for a solution and I want to thank everyone who has made a contribution to ensure the process of negotiations becomes successful," he added.
In his speech, Tsangirai reminded the attendees that while the signing is a great start, .”..as we move towards these negotiations, I hope that all of us must bear in mind the mother and the child who go to sleep without food, the people who have been brutalized, the divisions and bitter exchanges and I sincerely acknowledge that if we put our heads together, we can find a solution."
In the aftermath of what the world's politicians deem a stolen election, President Robert Mugabe could not afford to disregard the request of his opposition. He hoped to reassure MDC and the world concerning this part of his original plan once elected. "This is out of a decision that we made sometime ago: that we assist each other to overcome the political and economic situation which requires support," he said.
Mbeki has been accused of “quiet diplomacy” where Mugabe was concerned. Attending the signing in Harare could be presumed as his way of countering such claims.
South African's foreign ministry said the deal “represents a positive step forward.” This comes after a series of meetings Mbeki held with MDC, Zanu-PF and UN and African Union officials.
However, Mugabe's critics remained disheartened and unconvinced that any changes would be made for a better Zimbabwe. The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions against Mugabe and his supporters. In hopes of admonishing Mugabe for what is being called a stolen election, President Bush said in a statement accompanied by an executive order detailing the American sanctions, "No regime should ignore the will of its own people and calls from the international community without consequences." (See “Will of the People,” page A7.)
The United States has already imposed sanctions against Mugabe, 129 other people, and 35 businesses. For a country as small and poor as Zimbabwe, this can be damaging not only to Mugabe’s administration, but it could hurt the people over whom he presides. The Treasury Department recently added 17 more businesses which Mugabe and his “regime cronies” use to "illegally siphon revenue and foreign exchange from the Zimbabwean people."
At press time, the talks were completed; but no deals had been made. The Star, a South African newspaper, however, reported that a draft agreement was circulating and in this agreement, Mr. Tsangirai would serve as prime minister and Mr. Mugabe as ceremonial president. Meanwhile, analysts are more concerned about the growing humanitarian crisis.

Robert Mugabe (left) and Morgan Tsvangirai met last month for the first round of talks.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) -- African leaders gathered for a weekend summit in South Africa on Saturday as hundreds protested nearby, angry at the inclusion of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

The protesters planned to march to the summit venue in Johannesburg to call on the leaders not to recognize Mugabe as a head of state after June's widely discredited presidential runoff that returned the longtime president to power.

Zimbabwe's political crisis is expected to dominate the summit of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional group set up to promote democracy and economic growth in the region.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, SADC's appointed mediator for Zimbabwe, had hoped to host the summit having clinched a power-sharing deal between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. But after weeks of back-and-forth talks among the parties, Mbeki has been unable to get them to agree.

Inside the summit venue, Mugabe sat on the dais along with the other invited leaders, while Tsvangirai sat in the audience with other guests.

One leader was missing from the line-up -- Botswanan President Ian Khama, who said he was boycotting the summit because he considers Mugabe's presidency illegitimate.

Talks on Zimbabwe are continuing throughout the weekend on the sidelines of the summit, but the sides appeared far from reaching a deal. The sticking point is how much power Mugabe would retain in a future unity government.

Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change disputes the result of the June runoff, condemned internationally as a sham. Tsvangirai pulled out of the race citing political violence and intimidation, but Mugabe went ahead with the vote and declared victory.

Send Mugabe a red card at Avaaz.org (picture sourced from avaaz.org).

http://www.avaaz.org/en/red_card_for_mugabe

US and Poland sign defence deal - *Gobble gobble munch* Bhutan, bordering China to the south, is the absolute most strategic nation of all pre-WW3wise just because of that fact. It does not ally itself with any member nation of the UN security council. This will become a hotly contested for nation. This nation will be in the top story headlines in the months/years to come. And not in a good way.

BA and Iberia hold merger talks - This is the most disturbing part of the article. "Iberia will likely concentrate on South America and Africa while BA will focus on the Middle and Far East." Total cartelism. Holy fucking shit. Now I get it. And American Airlines signed that deal with British Airlines. If these three were to become one, they'd have a gigantic market share. Because of the created problem, the food price increases due to rampant printing of money to fund the Iraq and Afghan occupations, [Read this sometime for explanation] the airlines are losing millions. Their rival, Virgin Airlines, has expressed concern that they will end up controlling nearly half of all takeoff and landing slots at Heathrow Airport. The execs said themselves that the current economic crisis is cause for mergers. Yes. If there is a plan to make a one world government, as even David Rockefeller admits on p.405 of his autobiography, Memoirs, you would have to have to merge the corporations as well as the governments. This is the reason for the rampant mergers in the past decades, and now this series of gigantic proposed airline mergers is the start of what is planned to come.

We couldn't stop the mergers - A creative lyrical thing about the phone company mergers, in the style of Billy Joel's We couldn't stop the fire. I love this!

US airline 'broke safety rules' - See how. Should be jail time for some execs, actually, from what I'm reading. And we're just supposed to accept restrictions on our basic freedoms at the airport and have this happening? And too many people to count think partying and drinking is more important than this. Laughable....

Georgia President denies Israel halted military aid due to war - Why would they? They have a job to do here.

Hacker wins extradition delay - David McKinnon, the famous Pentagon hacker who claims that he found evidence of a USA space fleet, won a delay on extradition to the US.

In China, Bhutan and India collide - More on the strategic importance of Bhutan from the Asia Times.

Study: Most companies avoid income taxes

Dan Rather reported flight data recorder recovered from ground zero - And then the FBI came in and confiscated all of them, just like they did at all the places near the Pentagon.

Prachanda elected Nepal Prime Minister - From bad to worse. The dictator king got out and now the Nepalese Parliament elected the Maoist thug, Prachanda to be PM. Communism, socialism, always are put in for the same end of control. Those who support communism need to remember that in that sort of system in a country with all those people, there has to be someone in charge of distribution of all the things produced. That means someone is in charge somewhere because of that. Since someone is in charge, that means someone controls things. Absolute power always draws the absolutely corrupt. Doesn't work, never will.

UN plea to Zimbabwe on food aid - Now UN Secretary-General Ban-ki-moon is crying for the ZImbabweans to let in food aid. After 29 years of this, the world starts getting up on national TV asking Mugabe to stop? All about getting his pro-China butt out on the curb and getting a pro-US or Europe guy in.

Researchers tie skin creams to cancer in mice - Yup. Everyone just bombarded with poisons all around. Another main reason why cancers are exploding across the board.

Crane collapse kills ironworker - There have been quite a few crane collapses this year....

Kenya's giant coalition was formed by the three leading contenders in the December 2007 General Elections. According to the Electoral Commission of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki of the Party of National Unity (PNU) won the polls. Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) came second but immediately rejected the results on account of opinion polls which had put him in the lead. The third placed candidate was Kalonzo Musyoka of ODM-Kenya, a splinter group of ODM.

Violence after the elections led to the formation of Kenya's first coalition since independence. Kibaki retained his position as President, while a new post of Prime Minister was created in Kenya's constitution to accommodate Raila Odinga. Kalonzo became Vice-President in the new equation.

In Zimbabwe, its becoming evident that Robert Mugabe will keep the presidency while Morgan Tsvangirai will have the yet-to-be-created post of Prime Minister. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won the first round of elections in March but Mugabe refused to vacate office. Negotiations are now stuck on who between the two will have greater executive authority for the government of Zimbabwe. Like in Kenya, a third political candidate, Aurthur Mutambara, is part of the talks.

There is growing fear among political observers that the little democracy that exists in Africa will be destroyed by the trend established by Kenya and Zimbabwe. With elections scheduled soon in Malawi and Angola, the fears may have some credibility.

The prospect of retaining the presidency will encourage African leaders to subvert the electoral process and negotiate a coalition. African leaders are not exactly famous for leaving power. Indeed, across Africa, democratically elected presidents are busy changing constitutions in order to remove the two-term limits. In Malawi, a former two-term president is among contenders in the forthcoming polls. Now, with possibilities of forming giant coalitions, African leaders may have found a new tactic to lengthen their occupancy of the top seat.

Contrary to what is portrayed by Western media, opposition parties in Africa are not the bastions of democracy they claim to be. Virtually all opposition in Africa consists of people that fell out with their governments for purely self-serving reasons. The new trend of giant coalition governments will induce opposition movements in Africa to reject electoral results - even where the process is fair - and demand slots in government. We are likely to see increased ethnic and other violence in African countries as opposition candidates play to the gallery of international media while seeking sympathy for their cause.

For this, the prospects for the ordinary African remain rather bleak. He and she will be used by politicians, both government and opposition, both claiming to represent the people but in reality hungrily eying the riches of the land. Once the giant coalition is formed, it is a resumption of the usual business of hyena-style politics, with discussion revolving on whose cronies get jobs in the state apparatus.

Such is the Pandora's box that has been opened by Kenya.

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