Mugabe makes it to 85, at least

Photographed at his 85th birthday party this week.


Photo:bbc.co.uk

Bush killed democracy

The latest Newsweek aptly states that President-elect Barack Obama will not only be confronted with an unprecidented economic recession, but a global democratic contraction, too.

The last quarter of the 20th century was signified by a democratic movement that changed the face of global politics; however in the last decade this progress is under threat.

Is there any coincidence that this decline has directly coincided with the shambolic reign of George W Bush?

In the past nine years, eight of which have been governed by Bush, two thirds of countries that embraced democracy have now slid back into the clutches of authoritarianism. Maintaining these fledgling democracies has been a greater task than engendering the collapse of authoritarian rule.

George Bush’s self rightious, uniltaral approach to politics that alienated the world is largely to blame. It could be argued that the international security that Bush so coveted can be directly attributed to his lack of savvy foreign policy.

How can he expect to promote democracy abroad when he continues to chip away at the constiutonal principles that the United States was founded on? Simply put, the hypocrisy that America forces upon the world is a hard pill to swallow.

The Obama administration will face the mamoth task of reviewing America’s forgein policy and reversing the remarkable bluders that divided the world with moralistic rhetoric by once again embracing a multilateral approach to politics.

Madoff made-off with billions

In the largest securities fraud case in history, Bernard L. Madoff has disgraced the face of investment banking further, by losing an estimated $50 billion via conducting what is known as a Ponzi scheme. In other words, he would pay returns to his investors out of the principal of other investors instead of real profits.

How he managed to keep the Securities and Exchange Commission at a distance is a question under much public scrutiny. He has later commented that his actions were catalysed by "irrational euphoria".

SOME OF THE REPORTED LOSSES CAUSED BY MADOFF:

- Clients of Santander, Spain - $3.1bn
- HSBC, UK - $1bn
- Royal Bank of Scotland, UK - $601m
- BNP Paribas, France - $460m
- Nomura, Japan - $303m

This isn't the first tme Madoff has been investigated for dodgy business, it is now known that the SEC received reports about him in 1999, almost ten years ago. The pieces of the puzzle don't seem to fit, one can't help but question who has known about this; and moreover, what else is going.

Meanwhile in hell...

Only two months ago the situation seemed as if it couldn’t get any worse, but it has.

Ongoing food shortages and severe poverty in Zimbabwe has lead to the worst cholera outbreak in decades.

“The extent of suffering ‘has reached Auschwitz proportions’, read the bold title of a two-page spread in The Times yesterday.

And with mass media attention like this - we hope - comes widespread action.

Gordon Brown, who has been one the most outspoken world leaders against Mugabe, has said that the issue is an international emergency, “the world is saying ‘enough is enough”.

Similarly, Condoleeza Rice said, “If this is not the moment that it is obvious to the international community that it is time to demand what is right, I don't know when that moment will ever come.”

The first signs of a regime that could be on the brink any time soon are surfacing in the words of politicians the world over; cracks in Mugabe’s usual steadfast façade are becoming obvious. Perhaps Mugabe has been woken up to the picture of his country in descent.

Could we be getting somewhere?

Though the cholera outbreak, or something similar, was on the cards. When a country finds itself in economic collapse, when clean water, food and healthcare is so scarce, you would want to assume that someone shouts “CRISIS” and international bodies of the first-world flock in before any major outbreak or before the place ceases to be a country at all. Unfortunately, in our not-so-perfect world, it doesn’t work like that.

It takes something like this to bring about change. Change, let’s not get ahead here, but in the last few days we have heard the most promising words from international bodies that international intervention could be on the way. Let us pray.

Second missing reporter in one week - China

The latest incident, captured by CCTV footage (below), shows reporter Guan Jian being taken away by five men in a hotel in Shanxi.

Guan Jian was reportedly a chief journalist at Networking News, a weekly publication by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was sent to Taiyan, Shanxi province, to investigate a dodgy property deal.

Similarly, Chinese reporter Li Min was invetigating corruption while she was seized at her home in Beijing.

What a price to pay for investigating graft and wanting to expose those who are expoliting an area of a North China now well-known for corruption.


Photo from Chinaorg.cn

"Final indignity"

FINAL INDIGNITY AS BUSH DUCKS SHOE IN IRAQ, so blunty but fairly read this South China Morning Post headline.

"This is your farewell kiss, you dog!", shouted Arabic journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi as he threw his size ten shoes at the President on his final visit to Iraq

'Mad' PM versus Mad Mugabe

Robert Mugabe's denial of his impoverished country reached new levels this month when he refused to acknowledge the cholera epidemic, which has now killed 600 in Zimbabwe.

The severity of the disease has caused a global outcry, finally, and once again Gordon Brown is ahead of the international stand-up against the failed state.

Mugabe didn't fail to entertain with another absurd response to international concern for Zimbabwe:

"This is now an international rather than national emergency. International because disease crosses borders," says Brown.

"I don't know what this mad Prime Minister is talking about," responds Mugabe.