"We are back where we started. Sending raw materials out, bringing cheap manufactured goods in. This isn't progress. It is colonialism." WILFRED COLLINS WONANI, head of the Chamber of Commerce in Kabwe, Zambia, where a
Chinese company once manufactured finished cloth but now
exports only raw cotton.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
the new colonials...
Slide Show: New Power in Africa
Manufacturing has suffered in Africa as cheap Chinese goods flood the market, eliminating needed jobs.
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/08/20/world/20070820ZAMBIA_index.html?th&emc=th
Manufacturing has suffered in Africa as cheap Chinese goods flood the market, eliminating needed jobs.
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/08/20/world/20070820ZAMBIA_index.html?th&emc=th
Saturday, August 18, 2007
the new royals, again...
URL:http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/editorials/article/0,2777,DRMN_23964_5675236,00.html
On the road to ruin in Venezuela
August 17, 2007
Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez likes being president so much he's arranging to stay in charge indefinitely. While this may be good for Chavez's boundless ego, it's bad for Venezuela.
Chavez has presented another rewrite of the country's constitution to the tame National Assembly. This latest version would abolish the current two-term limit and extend a presidential term from six to seven years.
It would also greatly diminish possible challenges to his authority by curbing the powers of elected governors and mayors in favor of local "communal councils" that will be dependent on Chavez for funding. And to secure that funding he is proposing to end the autonomy of the Venezuelan Central Bank. That shortsighted move is bound to weaken the country's currency and isolate it from international financial institutions.
Chavez has already scared off needed foreign investment in Venezuela and especially in its aging oil-industry infrastructure. He has nationalized various industries, and the new constitution would give him still greater powers to appropriate private property.
It is all part of his avowed plan to eradicate capitalism in Venezuela in favor of "21st-Century Socialism," which looks very much like 20th-century socialism with its proven record of failure.
Raid nets 42 vendors
POLICE in Gweru (Zimbabwe) have arrested about 42 vegetable vendors suspected of overcharging, mostly for cabbages and potatoes.
The raid over the Heroes and Defence Force holidays came after vendors at Kudzanayi Long Distance Bus Terminus and other markets around the city centre raised their prices.
The price hikes saw a head of cabbage being sold for $150 000 while a pocket of potatoes was selling at around $1,5 million.
The recommended price for a head of cabbage is $60 000 while a pocket of potatoes should not be sold at more than $600 000.
Acting police spokesperson for Midlands Province Assistant Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko said some of the vendors had paid admission of guilt fines while others were expected to appear in court soon for either operating illegally or defying the Government directive to freeze prices. — Midlands Bureau The Herald
On the road to ruin in Venezuela
August 17, 2007
Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez likes being president so much he's arranging to stay in charge indefinitely. While this may be good for Chavez's boundless ego, it's bad for Venezuela.
Chavez has presented another rewrite of the country's constitution to the tame National Assembly. This latest version would abolish the current two-term limit and extend a presidential term from six to seven years.
It would also greatly diminish possible challenges to his authority by curbing the powers of elected governors and mayors in favor of local "communal councils" that will be dependent on Chavez for funding. And to secure that funding he is proposing to end the autonomy of the Venezuelan Central Bank. That shortsighted move is bound to weaken the country's currency and isolate it from international financial institutions.
Chavez has already scared off needed foreign investment in Venezuela and especially in its aging oil-industry infrastructure. He has nationalized various industries, and the new constitution would give him still greater powers to appropriate private property.
It is all part of his avowed plan to eradicate capitalism in Venezuela in favor of "21st-Century Socialism," which looks very much like 20th-century socialism with its proven record of failure.
Raid nets 42 vendors
POLICE in Gweru (Zimbabwe) have arrested about 42 vegetable vendors suspected of overcharging, mostly for cabbages and potatoes.
The raid over the Heroes and Defence Force holidays came after vendors at Kudzanayi Long Distance Bus Terminus and other markets around the city centre raised their prices.
The price hikes saw a head of cabbage being sold for $150 000 while a pocket of potatoes was selling at around $1,5 million.
The recommended price for a head of cabbage is $60 000 while a pocket of potatoes should not be sold at more than $600 000.
Acting police spokesperson for Midlands Province Assistant Inspector Emmanuel Mahoko said some of the vendors had paid admission of guilt fines while others were expected to appear in court soon for either operating illegally or defying the Government directive to freeze prices. — Midlands Bureau The Herald
"informed choices"
HIV test before Nigerian marriage
Nigeria is a deeply religious country
Couples must first take an HIV test before they will be allowed to marry, the Anglican Church in Nigeria says.
The church says the move is to help parishioners make "informed choices" when choosing marriage partners.
The BBC News website learnt that many Christian churches in Nigeria impose similar tests on their members as a condition for marriage.
The policy is being implemented in all Anglican dioceses across Nigeria, the church's spokesman said.
'Unacceptable'
"The aim is to help intending couples to make informed decisions because we don't want anyone to be kept in the dark about their partner," spokesman for the church Rev Akintunde Popoola told the BBC News website.
If they find out their status and still want to go ahead, we cannot object. Instead, we offer them care and support
Rev Akintunde Popoola
He said the church will not stop people from getting married if they test positive to HIV, the virus that causes Aids.
"The whole point is for couples to know their HIV status before getting married," he said.
"If they find out their status and still want to go ahead, we cannot object. Instead, we offer them care and support."
But the authorities are already challenging the new policy by the church, saying it is unacceptable.
"We cannot accept what the church is proposing. Every Nigerian must be allowed to decide on their own whether they want to be tested or not," Prof Tunde Oshotimehin, who heads Nigeria's state HIV control agency, told the BBC.
"HIV testing and counselling must be voluntary. What the church is trying to do will encourage denial."
Graduate tests
The Catholic Church in Nigeria says it is not imposing such a policy on its members because it wants HIV testing to be voluntary and personal.
"We know that some people do it, but we are not making it church policy," spokesman of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja Rev Fr Ralph Madu told the BBC News website.
Recently, a church-owned college - Covenant University, Nigeria - announced that its graduates should take HIV and pregnancy tests as conditions for graduation.
But the university suspended the policy after widespread condemnation and criticisms from government agencies and rights groups.
Nigeria is a deeply religious country with her 140 million people almost evenly divided between Christians and Muslims.
According to Nigeria's National Agency for the Control of AIDS (Naca), some 4.4% of Nigerians live with HIV.
Nigeria is a deeply religious country
Couples must first take an HIV test before they will be allowed to marry, the Anglican Church in Nigeria says.
The church says the move is to help parishioners make "informed choices" when choosing marriage partners.
The BBC News website learnt that many Christian churches in Nigeria impose similar tests on their members as a condition for marriage.
The policy is being implemented in all Anglican dioceses across Nigeria, the church's spokesman said.
'Unacceptable'
"The aim is to help intending couples to make informed decisions because we don't want anyone to be kept in the dark about their partner," spokesman for the church Rev Akintunde Popoola told the BBC News website.
If they find out their status and still want to go ahead, we cannot object. Instead, we offer them care and support
Rev Akintunde Popoola
He said the church will not stop people from getting married if they test positive to HIV, the virus that causes Aids.
"The whole point is for couples to know their HIV status before getting married," he said.
"If they find out their status and still want to go ahead, we cannot object. Instead, we offer them care and support."
But the authorities are already challenging the new policy by the church, saying it is unacceptable.
"We cannot accept what the church is proposing. Every Nigerian must be allowed to decide on their own whether they want to be tested or not," Prof Tunde Oshotimehin, who heads Nigeria's state HIV control agency, told the BBC.
"HIV testing and counselling must be voluntary. What the church is trying to do will encourage denial."
Graduate tests
The Catholic Church in Nigeria says it is not imposing such a policy on its members because it wants HIV testing to be voluntary and personal.
"We know that some people do it, but we are not making it church policy," spokesman of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja Rev Fr Ralph Madu told the BBC News website.
Recently, a church-owned college - Covenant University, Nigeria - announced that its graduates should take HIV and pregnancy tests as conditions for graduation.
But the university suspended the policy after widespread condemnation and criticisms from government agencies and rights groups.
Nigeria is a deeply religious country with her 140 million people almost evenly divided between Christians and Muslims.
According to Nigeria's National Agency for the Control of AIDS (Naca), some 4.4% of Nigerians live with HIV.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
"its 200% true my bru"
The Sunday Times on Tuesday refused to return documents detailing Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's alleged drinking in hospital.
The minister must "explain on what basis" the documents should be returned, Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya said after a deadline set by the minister for the return of the documents had passed.
Makhanya said the newspaper had written to the minister, saying the onus was on her to explain why the documents and notes she was requesting should be returned.
He said as far as the Sunday Times was concerned, there was no reason to give her anything because the story about her drinking was true.
"The minister needs to tell us what it is in the story that is garbage," he said.
"The story that ran on Sunday is 200% accurate.
"[It is] thoroughly, thoroughly researched. Everything is accurate."
Makhanya said he was "not saying anything" about whether the paper was in possession of Tshabalala-Msimang's medical records.
He said legal action remained just a "threat".
In any case, to be successful in court she would have to disprove the story, which Makhanya insisted was accurate.
A retraction was not under consideration, he said.
It would be "terrible" for media freedom if the paper had ceded to her demands.
After the deadline passed on Tuesday afternoon he said, "We'll take it from there."
Tshabalala-Msimang said she would proceed with legal action after the newspaper failed to return her medical records.
"The newspaper has failed to comply with the demand to return these medical records.
"The minister has therefore directed her legal team to proceed with the litigation against the Sunday Times," said the minister's spokesperson, Sibani Mngadi, in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
'Malicious statements'
Yesterday it was reported that Tshabalala-Msimang demanded the Sunday Times retract "malicious, untrue and injurious statements" made about her.
This follows the weekend front-page report, under the headline "Manto's Hospital Booze Binge", in which it is alleged the minister consumed excessive amounts of alcohol while in hospital for shoulder surgery two years ago.
The Sunday Times also reported that Tshabalala-Msimang suffered from an alcoholic liver disease, which led to her requiring a liver transplant earlier this year.
"Just three months ago, Tshabalala-Msimang received the gift of life from a teenage suicide victim whose family donated their child’s liver," wrote the Sunday Times.
"Within hours of the operation at Donald Gordon Medi-Clinic in Johannesburg, doctors said the minister had been diagnosed with auto-immune hepatitis, and that the cause of her cirrhosis was not alcohol.
"However, the Sunday Times can reveal that many top medical experts at state and private institutions, who refused to be named as they feared retribution from the health ministry, said speculation was rife in the profession that she suffered from alcoholic liver disease.
"Many of these experts said the only reason she got the liver was because she was the minister of health. Had it been another patient of her age in her condition, she would not have qualified," reported the newspaper.
The newspaper also claimed that the minister drank bottles of red wine and whiskey when she was admitted to the Cape Town Medi-Clinic in 2005 for a shoulder operation.
It alleged that she forced staff to buy alcohol for her, often late at night. -- Sapa
The minister must "explain on what basis" the documents should be returned, Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya said after a deadline set by the minister for the return of the documents had passed.
Makhanya said the newspaper had written to the minister, saying the onus was on her to explain why the documents and notes she was requesting should be returned.
He said as far as the Sunday Times was concerned, there was no reason to give her anything because the story about her drinking was true.
"The minister needs to tell us what it is in the story that is garbage," he said.
"The story that ran on Sunday is 200% accurate.
"[It is] thoroughly, thoroughly researched. Everything is accurate."
Makhanya said he was "not saying anything" about whether the paper was in possession of Tshabalala-Msimang's medical records.
He said legal action remained just a "threat".
In any case, to be successful in court she would have to disprove the story, which Makhanya insisted was accurate.
A retraction was not under consideration, he said.
It would be "terrible" for media freedom if the paper had ceded to her demands.
After the deadline passed on Tuesday afternoon he said, "We'll take it from there."
Tshabalala-Msimang said she would proceed with legal action after the newspaper failed to return her medical records.
"The newspaper has failed to comply with the demand to return these medical records.
"The minister has therefore directed her legal team to proceed with the litigation against the Sunday Times," said the minister's spokesperson, Sibani Mngadi, in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
'Malicious statements'
Yesterday it was reported that Tshabalala-Msimang demanded the Sunday Times retract "malicious, untrue and injurious statements" made about her.
This follows the weekend front-page report, under the headline "Manto's Hospital Booze Binge", in which it is alleged the minister consumed excessive amounts of alcohol while in hospital for shoulder surgery two years ago.
The Sunday Times also reported that Tshabalala-Msimang suffered from an alcoholic liver disease, which led to her requiring a liver transplant earlier this year.
"Just three months ago, Tshabalala-Msimang received the gift of life from a teenage suicide victim whose family donated their child’s liver," wrote the Sunday Times.
"Within hours of the operation at Donald Gordon Medi-Clinic in Johannesburg, doctors said the minister had been diagnosed with auto-immune hepatitis, and that the cause of her cirrhosis was not alcohol.
"However, the Sunday Times can reveal that many top medical experts at state and private institutions, who refused to be named as they feared retribution from the health ministry, said speculation was rife in the profession that she suffered from alcoholic liver disease.
"Many of these experts said the only reason she got the liver was because she was the minister of health. Had it been another patient of her age in her condition, she would not have qualified," reported the newspaper.
The newspaper also claimed that the minister drank bottles of red wine and whiskey when she was admitted to the Cape Town Medi-Clinic in 2005 for a shoulder operation.
It alleged that she forced staff to buy alcohol for her, often late at night. -- Sapa
Thursday, August 9, 2007
contempory african
richard nwamba does a good show on safm http://www.safm.co.za/portal/site/safm/ at 1pm saturdays (thats +2gmt)
its african music at it's best, and it's on streaming audio too!
gecko
its african music at it's best, and it's on streaming audio too!
gecko
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