quote:As the continent absorbs Asia’s largesse, it should realize that solutions to its economic problems must be home-grown. It calls for resolve to steer the process, learn from history, and form a united front to reclaim African civilization. Africa should choose between remaining an egg that will be an omelette on other peoples’ breakfast tables or hatching into a chick that will give rise to other chicken
The most difficult lesson of all for Africa.
This could have been written about Africa a thousand years ago.
Posts: 15202 | Registered: Jun 2004
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UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 14 — More than 700 Islamic militants from Somalia traveled to Lebanon in July to fight alongside Hezbollah in its war against Israel, a United Nations report says. The militia in Lebanon returned the favor by providing training and — through its patrons Iran and Syria — weapons to the Islamic alliance struggling for control of Somalia, it adds.
The report, which was disclosed by Reuters on Monday, appears to be the first indication that foreign fighters assisted Hezbollah during the 34-day conflict, when Israel maintained a tight blockade on Lebanon.
The report also says Iran sought to trade arms for uranium from Somalia to further its nuclear ambitions, though it does not say whether Iran succeeded.
The 86-page report was issued by four experts monitoring violations of a 1992 United Nations arms embargo on Somalia, which was put in place after the country lapsed into civil war and remains in effect. The report is to be discussed Friday at the Security Council.
The panel does not say how the information was obtained. But the members had access to information from the intelligence agencies of the Security Council’s 15 current members, including Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States, a United Nations official said.
Any involvement by Somalis would be surprising because Hezbollah’s effectiveness is widely attributed to its deep familiarity with the region.
Hezbollah officials could not be reached Tuesday night for comment.
An official at the Israeli mission to the United Nations said he had not seen the report, and was not aware of any Somali fighters having taken part in the conflict with Hezbollah. The official asked not to be identified, citing diplomatic protocol.
While the sources of the information remain unclear, the report is dense with details about arms shipments to the groups vying for power in Somalia.
It states that in mid-July, Aden Hashi Farah, a leader of the Somali Islamist alliance, personally selected about 720 combat-hardened fighters to travel to Lebanon and fight alongside Hezbollah.
At least 100 Somalis had returned by early September — with five Hezbollah members — while others stayed on in Lebanon for advanced military training, the report says. It is not clear how many may have been killed, though the report says some were wounded and later treated after their return to Somalia.
The fighters were paid a minimum of $2,000 for their service, the report says, and as much as $30,000 was to be given to the families of those killed, with money donated by “a number of supporting countries.”
In addition to training some Somali militants, Hezbollah “arranged for additional support to be given” by Iran and Syria, including weapons, the report found. On July 27, 200 Somali fighters also traveled to Syria to be trained in guerrilla warfare, the report says.
It also indicates that Iran appears to have sought help in its quest for uranium in Dusa Mareb, the hometown of Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, the leader of the Islamist alliance in Somalia, which is known as the Council of Islamic Courts.
“At the time of the writing of this report, there were two Iranians in Dusa Mareb engaged on matters linked to the exploration of uranium in exchange for arms” for the Council of Islamic Courts, says the report, which is dated Oct. 16.
Those claims, if proved, could worsen global tensions over Iran’s nuclear program. Iran ignored an Aug. 31 deadline to suspend its uranium enrichment, and the United States has been leading a United Nations effort to impose sanctions.
The United Nations report is focused mostly on the increasingly volatile situation in Somalia, where Islamists took control of the capital, Mogadishu, in June from warlords backed by the United States.
Not only has the volume of arms flowing into Somalia grown, according to the authors, but more sophisticated weapons like surface-to-air missiles are being brought in. The conflict could grow into a regional war, with Somalia’s neighbors, Ethiopia and Eritrea, backing opposing sides.
The report also accuses Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria of supplying the Somali Islamists with arms, advisers and fighters. It says three nations — Ethiopia, Uganda and Yemen — are aligned with the so-called transitional government based in Baidoa, an inland city.
Asked about violations of the arms embargo, the report states, officials in those countries either denied any involvement or failed to answer.
The report recommends that the Security Council blockade Somalia. It also warns urgently against sending any peacekeepers to the country, saying such a force could become “the catalyst that sparks a serious military confrontation between the opposing sides.”
The panel does not say how the information was obtained. But the members had access to information from the intelligence agencies of the Security Council’s 15 current members, including Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States, a United Nations official said.
The panel does not say how the information was obtained. But the members had access to information from the intelligence agencies of the Security Council’s 15 current members, including Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States, a United Nations official said. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I took note of that also. One always has to exercise caution in buying fully into uncorroboratred reports - especially as pertains to regimes that the western powers are against like the Islamic Council in Somalia, the Syrian, and the Iranian gov'ts.
Posts: 1038 | From: Franklin Park, NJ | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Africa: From the BBC: African flood rescue gathers pace
International aid agencies have launched a massive relief operation to help 1.8 million people affected by heavy flooding in the Horn of Africa. Large areas of central and southern Somalia have been flooded after several weeks of heavy rains. Neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia are also affected.
Crocodiles in Somalia killed at least nine people after floodwaters swept them into villages, reports say.
At least 80 people in the region have died in the last three weeks.
The UN has said the floods could be the worst in the region for 50 years.
Crocodile-infested waters
Several rivers have burst their banks, washing out roads and destroying bridges.
Particularly hard hit have been the areas around the Shebelle and Juba rivers in southern Somalia.
The region contains some of the most productive farmland in the country.
The Shebelle river has flooded its banks, affecting towns and villages in a swathe of territory stretching hundreds of kilometres.
A UN aid worker on high ground near Beledweyne in Somalia told the BBC Somali service he could see people climbing trees or fleeing the town as it became flooded with crocodile-infested waters.
The interim government of Somalia, based in Baidoa, has appealed for international help.
The Islamic militia which controls much of the south of the country, including the capital Mogadishu, has also asked for help, Reuters news agency said.
Refugee camps flooded
Floodwaters from the Juba river in Somalia and the Tana river in Kenya have combined to inundate a large region of north-eastern Kenya.
Roads and bridges have been washed out by floodwaters Three camps in the area, housing 80,000 refugees from the conflict in Somalia, have been cut off.
The UN refugee agency has begun airlifting emergency supplies to the camps, at Daabad near the border with Somalia, and has ordered its staff to move to higher ground. A dam on the Tana river, south of the town of Garissa, is close to bursting, the UN said on Friday.
Much of Garissa is underwater and 20 people are missing, AFP news agency reported.
In western Kenya, a hippo went berserk and killed six people after floods washed it into the town of Busia, Elizabeth Byrs from the UN's humanitarian affairs agency told AP news agency.
The heavy rains in the Horn of Africa follow a long drought that has dried the ground and left it unable to soak up large amounts of rainfall.
Crops already blighted by the drought have now been destroyed by the flooding.
"We are facing a disaster where many people will die not only of floods, but also of diseases and food shortages," a Somali government spokesman told AFP.
posted
The climate in somalia is really fucked up, either it rains to much (resulting with floods), or it doesn't rain at all, but it always affects southern somalia, seldom the northern part. The 2004 Tsunami hit northern somalia(cape hafun) real bad though. I wonder if all this has something to do with the global warming.
Posts: 1420 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:The report also accuses Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Syria of supplying the Somali Islamists with arms, advisers and fighters. It says three nations — Ethiopia, Uganda and Yemen — are aligned with the so-called transitional government based in Baidoa, an inland city
Arms were being supplied to the warlords by United States before the warlords got kicked out by the ICU, why didn't the U.N report include U.S. in the list also? Typical hypocrasy by the U.N.
Posts: 1420 | Registered: May 2005
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Why do you bring my ethnicity and belief everytime I discuss politics and African diaspora?
Or is it the forbidden topic(s) for Muslims to talk about?
If you think that every Black face in a high place in the world represent Africans, then no wonder we didn't emerge from the Jim Crow mentality.
Posts: 2198 | Registered: Jun 2006
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I don't know any Somalis in my circle of friends, so if you don't mind if I discuss with you about my native country
To be honest with you, I don't trust the Somali Islamists (in Mogadishu). Don't take me wrong. I'm not against Sharia, but if they are honest about their work, why don't they give back people's properties and lands before the civil war? I think that is the core issue if the Somalis want to go forwards and build their country.
Posts: 2198 | Registered: Jun 2006
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Hi Igbogoddess (I did not know you are a female)
Sorry the late response
I fail to understand why any criticism of black person is a criticism of every black person. Unless we don't talk about religious figures, the are no "Holy Cows" in this world.
Posts: 2198 | Registered: Jun 2006
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posted
Former Ethiopian Dictator Is Convicted By LES NEUHAUS The Associated Press Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Mengistu Haile Mariam
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- Former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam was convicted Tuesday of genocide and other charges in a rare case of an African strongman being held to account by his own country.
Mengistu, who lives in exile in Zimbabwe, was tried in absentia. He could face the death penalty at his Dec. 28 sentencing, but Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said he won't deport Mengistu if he refrains from political activity.
The trial focused on Mengistu's alleged involvement in the killing of nearly 2,000 people during a 1977-78 campaign known as the Red Terror. A panel of judges, sitting in a packed courtroom, convicted the former dictator of instigating genocide, committing genocide, illegal imprisonment and abuse of power.
Mengistu had taken power in 1974, when his military junta ended Emperor Haile Selassie's rule in a bloody coup.
Mengistu was tried along with 72 of his former aides, although there were only 34 people in court Tuesday. Fourteen died during trial and 25 were tried in absentia. All but one man were convicted of at least one charge Tuesday.
Most of those in the courtroom were family members of the defendants, and looked sullen after the verdict.
"I am very happy he has been found guilty," said Tadesse Mamo, 32, a businessman in the capital. "He killed so many of our intellectuals and our youth, most notably our emperor."
Selassie's cousin, Mulugeta Aserate, said Mengistu's men came to his family's home in June 1974 and took his father away. He was a young boy at the time, and never saw his father again.
"They told us that they were taking him to an interview, but I found out later he was summarily executed with 60 others," Mulugeta, 55, told The Associated Press.
Some experts say 150,000 university students, intellectuals and politicians were killed in a nationwide purge by Mengistu's Marxist regime, though no one knows for sure how many suspected opponents were killed in the Red Terror.
The case has been closely watched in Africa, where dictators have been known to harbor colleagues from other countries and to stymie attempts elsewhere to bring despots to justice.
It was seen as a watershed when, in March, former Liberian President Charles Taylor was brought before a U.N.-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone on charges of backing Sierra Leonean rebels, who terrorized victims by chopping off body parts during the 1991-2002 civil war.
The rebels who toppled Mengistu, however, were determined to pursue him in the courts, and began planning for trials almost immediately upon taking over in 1991, producing 8,000 pages of evidence.
When he was deposed in 1991 by rebels led by Meles Zenawi, now Ethiopia's prime minister, Mengistu fled to the protection of Mugabe's authoritarian regime in Zimbabwe, where his army had helped train guerrillas in their struggle for independence from white rule.
The trial, which began in 1994, has been complicated by requests from both sides for long breaks. Hundreds of key witnesses have also died, making it difficult for prosecutors and defense lawyers to present their cases.
Ethiopia's courts have convicted more than 1,000 people since 1994 for participating in the Red Terror, but thousands more live in exile.
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Posts: 1549 | From: California, USA | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
Its already starting to happen Mullah. People from Africa have been moving into Africa in large numbers for quite some time.
Posts: 904 | From: Texana | Registered: Aug 2006
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I don't know any Somalis in my circle of friends, so if you don't mind if I discuss with you about my native country
To be honest with you, I don't trust the Somali Islamists (in Mogadishu). Don't take me wrong. I'm not against Sharia, but if they are honest about their work, why don't they give back people's properties and lands before the civil war? I think that is the core issue if the Somalis want to go forwards and build their country.
sister same thing i to do not trust them . why are they always going nearer and nearer to puntland .i also do not carry about that stupid man cabdulahi usuf who is a idiot.
Posts: 216 | From: london | Registered: Aug 2006
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quote:Originally posted by ARROW99: Its already starting to happen Mullah. People from Africa have been moving into Africa in large numbers for quite some time.
i see interesting indeed! Posts: 275 | From: .. | Registered: Aug 2006
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quote: NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- A Catholic priest was convicted Wednesday of participating in Rwanda's 1994 genocide by ordering militiamen to set fire to a church and then bulldoze it while 2,000 people were huddled inside.
...
Priests, nuns and followers were implicated in the killings, and some churches became sites of notorious massacres.
...
Last month, the tribunal sentenced a Catholic nun to 30 years in jail for helping militias kill hundreds of people hiding in a hospital. In 2001, two Catholic nuns were convicted by a Belgian court of aiding and abetting the murders.
On a related note Rwanda is still trying to persue charges against the French for their complicity in the Rwandan genocide. Ties between France and Rwanda have been broken and the Rwandans have opened a tribunal to investigate France's involvement.
posted
Somalia must rule it self and Somalians in Mogadishu have chosen Islam Al-Hamdullah and all Muslims around the world will be with the Somalian people whether america likes it or not
Inshallah Hureya Fe Somaliaeya
-------------------- Hikuptah Al-Masri Posts: 526 | From: Aswan Egypt | Registered: Jun 2006
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quote:Originally posted by ARROW99: Its already starting to happen Mullah. People from Africa have been moving into Africa in large numbers for quite some time.
i see interesting indeed!
The professor is confused as always so let him be. Posts: 26334 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
Aw man! I've been on holiday, missing this here topic.
Posts: 3423 | From: the jungle - when y'all stop playing games, call me. | Registered: Jul 2006
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posted
The Sinking Sand in Trusting Politicians By Josephat Juma African Executive Writer
On 14th December, the African Research and Resource Forum (ARRF) in collaboration with the Henrich Boll Foundation and media Focus on Africa (MFOA) hosted a public debate on Choosing Leaders: Dilemmas for Democracy in Africa and Abroad. The forum which was held at the Kenya National Theatre was in honour of retired Prof. Issa G. Shivji of The Faculty of Law, University of Dar es Salaam.
The panelists included Prof. T. Mkandawire of UNRISD, Geneva, Switzerland; Prof. Mahmood Mamdani, Columbia University, USA and Prof. Archie Mafefe of South Africa. Prof. Peter Wanyande of the University of Nairobi chaired the debate.
There was general discontent on the current crop of African leadership. Prof. Shivji narrated the changing perceptions of Tanzanians about their leaders. Shortly after independence, they used to be referred to as the “wabenzi” or those who drive Mercedes Benzes. Later on, they became “wanaokula matunda ya uhuru” (Eaters of the fruits of independence). With the failure of the fruits of independence to trickle down to the common man, the legislators now become “wanaokula uhuru” that is, they had eaten the fruits of independence, finished them and had now embarked on eating independence itself. Tanzanians were no longer free.
Disillusioned by the performance of the state during the multiparty inception debate, one Tanzanian of Maasai origin lamented to the commissioners: “if the one party state created a myriad problems: there is high illiteracy, diseases are rife and poverty abounds; won’t the increase in parties multiply the problems?”
A participant said that it was time Africans stopped looking at their leaders for what they have done today, but rather trace their track record from childhood.
“We are always told to vote in good leaders. How do I vote for a good leader when I have never seen one? The people I see are the same recycled material,” lamented another.
African intellectuals did not escape the crossfire. A lawyer attributed Africa’s problems to its intellectuals.
“African intellectuals have reduced themselves to peddlers and salesmen of Western products and ideologies,” he said. Another participant blamed African intellectuals for being think tanks for oppressive regimes.
Pandemonium broke loose when one participant castigated the panelists for drinking bottled Dasani water. “Why do you claim to speak for Africans when you can’t drink water manufactured by African companies?” He asked.
Another participant blamed African intellectuals for being out of touch with the local population. He said that they were not educating the common man as in Romania and Argentina.
“What is the use of a University graduate if he can’t forge solutions to the African problem from his learning? Why can’t University ideas help the common man?” He asked.
Reacting to this, Prof. Shivji opined that the intellectuals’ major problem is not failure to educate people at the grassroots but rather failure to learn from the common man. To them, the common man has no wisdom to offer. Another participant intimated that intellectuals should be agents of change. He cited a number of intellectuals who joined citizens to demonstrate against oppressive regimes or went to the bush to fight.
Prof. Mamdani attributed Africa’s woes to existing structures. He said that even in the U.S., the Native Americans don’t enjoy the bill of rights. There is a separate bill of rights for American Indians. He pointed out that the Nigerian constitution, by incorporating a federal character clause that makes every process quarter driven, has denied citizens the ability to exploit their full potential.
It is increasingly clear that wealth creation in Africa is through political connections. Africans should recognize that poverty is a personal affair. They should relinquish hope in politicians steering them from poverty and take responsibility. It is you who voted the politician into power. It is you who believes that the government should solve your problems. It is you who doesn’t hold your government and intellectuals accountable.
Take away as much responsibility as possible from the politician and hand it to the citizen. By so doing, the national cake will shrink considerably. Consequently, fewer people will clamor for it. In the meantime, Africans will be working out their dreams through personal struggle rather than pegging their hope on politicians.
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Posts: 1549 | From: California, USA | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
The fact that the forum was funded by the Henrich Boll foundation--and I am not sure that the other funding sources didn't use Euro funds--and not by the University of Nairobi or Makerere University speaks volumes for the present intellectual situation in contemporary Africa. Funds exist to establish dozens of foundations for academic work but the will to do is nonexistent.
Posts: 5492 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
The problem here is that the POLITICAL situation in Africa arises from the wealth TAKEN from Africa by WHITES and other FOREIGNERS. In order to MAINTAIN access to this wealth the foreigners installed (educated and financed)PUPPET politicians who are brainwashed/coerced/forced into pushing policies that support foreign COMPANIES more than the indigenous people. Until Africans realize that their politics, economics and education are STILL being manipulated for the GAIN of foreigners and DETRIMENT of Africans, it will ALWAYS be a situation of Africans being divided and lost. Africans must NOT accept a SOLUTION for progress that comes from the former ENEMY. This so-called SOLUTION is ONLY a way for the former ENEMY to stay in power, stay on top economically and to CONTINUE to exploit Africa for resources and labor. A perfect example of this SOLUTION provided by the ENEMY is South Africa. The SOLUTION was freedom. But what is FREEDOM and WHO is the one defining it? It wasnt defined by the BLACK South Africans, because THAT sort of freedom only comes through the FORCED removal of those who have been oppressing you. The FREEDOM defined in South Africa was defined by the OPPRESSOR, who CONVINCED the majority oppressed population that FREEDOM meant being FREE to WORK for the FORMER oppressor as a low to middle class WORKER, helping make the former ENEMY RICHER, with NO land and NO INDEPENDENT wealth of their own. So HOW is this DIFFERENT from what you had before? It isnt. The difference is that many in South Africa THINK they are free. True FREEDOM means CONTROL of the economics of the country, with banks and other economic institutions designed to SUPPORT the growth and expansion of the BLACK AFRICAN industrial and economic sector. True freedom means control the land of the country so that BLACK AFRICANS are able to reap the harvest of the land to feed themselves and be self sufficient agriculturally. FREEDOM means to BENEFIT from the LABOR and RESOURCES of the country so that the HARD WORK and the CAPITAL generated mostly go towards building stable and prosperous BLACK AFRICAN communities. NONE of those things are happining in the SO CALLED free African countries of today. What has HAPPENED is that a whole lot of foreign educated or otherwise brainwashed, remote controlled puppets have been put in place to CONVINCE the people that they are free while they CONTINUE to stagnate, continue to die from basic diseases and continue to live in poverty.
Posts: 8901 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
^^ Hey! Gee wiz I wonder why I never see or hear this get mentioned everday during channel one news, but the Sahara movie did have a co - antagonist white dude in it. Such is the view of many naive peops in teh states who are fed and willingly eat Propaganda cereal for breakfast.
And I know it's not about 'having a white antagonist', but biased representation makes it that way. It's just about truth.
Speaking of Sahara, any opinions on it, I just saw it yesterday in school (winter break 2day).
I found it was interesting that they used a dark skinned - '35-36' man for a Taureg leader, I expected mixed looking people, maybe even arabs. There were some mixed looking ones I think. Anyone seen Blood Diamond yet?
posted
^I am just a tad bit disturbed that you keep posting that skin color block frame thing. It speaks of Eurocentric doctrine #1, the PHYSICAL CALIBRATION DOCTRINE and eerily reminds me of the "paper bag" test whites and even blacks performed on each other.
Posts: 26334 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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Why do you bring my ethnicity and belief everytime I discuss politics and African diaspora?
Or is it the forbidden topic(s) for Muslims to talk about?
If you think that every Black face in a high place in the world represent Africans, then no wonder we didn't emerge from the Jim Crow mentality.
Arwa,
first and foremost, forgive me for not dealing with this earlier. Had some stuff going on and I honestly got a little irritated by the whole conversation, so I decided to not respond until I could write without too much emotion.
Second, you are my Somalian sistah: end of story. Just because I don't agree with you doesn't mean that I am hating on you. You are my African sistah, end of story.
Third, I want you to expand your mind a little bit. Read some of the writings of Marcus Garvey, Kwame Nkrumah, and some other Pan-Africanists. The ideo of African-unity is still alive. My Ethiopian homegirl told me that her peoples(i.e. her mother and father) were Pan-Africanist. Africa must unite. Whether it is Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, etc., Africa currently is messed up. The good news is that if Africa is acutually united, and we stop the wars in the above mentioned countries, not to mention the other wars in the other countries, and come together.......that day will be a sad day for neo-colonialism..........
With the European Union, England, the United States, China, etc., there is no way that Africa can compete unless Africa is united. Otherwise, Africa will continue to be economic slaves of the Western countries. For Africa to be free, it will need some help, and believe it or not African-Americans are vital for this task. If African-Americans, on a whole, wake up and understand that Africans are our brother and sisters for real.............man, there will be a revolution in this world. Africa needs our help. But African-Americans also need the help of Africans to help us FURTHER reconnect to our ancestral origins.
I hope you hear me spirit my sistah. God bless. Salaam
Posts: 826 | From: U.S.A. | Registered: Jun 2006
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quote:LAGOS, Nigeria - Kidnappers grabbed six Filipino workers off a merchant ship Saturday in the latest hostage-taking in Nigeria's restive southern oil-producing region, officials said.
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The vessel was heading to the oil port of Warri with a crew of 14 when unidentified gunmen boarded and took away the six non-Nigerians, Delta state spokesman Ozoene Sheddy said. Initial reports said seven foreigners were taken, but that proved incorrect, Sheddy said.
Militants seeking to pressure the national government into giving more local control over the area's oil resources have stepped up kidnappings since launching a wave of attacks on oil facilities in early 2006 that have cut oil exports by Africa's biggest oil producer 25 percent.
Militant groups behind dozens of kidnappings in recent months couldn't immediately be reached for comment on the latest incident.
Nearly 100 foreign hostages, mostly oil workers, have generally been released unharmed, usually after a ransom is paid. However, a Briton and a Nigerian died in crossfire during a gunbattle between militants and Nigerian security forces trying to free the hostages.
On Thursday, militants released five Chinese hostages and one Italian who had been taken in separate incidents. Two Italians and one Lebanese remained in captivity.
The conflict stems from the deep poverty that afflicts the people of the Niger River delta despite the area's production of tens of billions of dollars in oil revenue every year. Violence has cut oil production below 2 million barrels a day, compared to the previous 2.5 million.
Associated Press writer Edward Harris in Lagos contributed to this report.
quote:Originally posted by Machiavelli: Oprah is a tit and is pretty much useless in the African American community. I don't agree that African Americans need their minds decolonised.
Yes, Oprah is useless, but no more so then Michael Jordan, Robert Johnson (BET), or the average crack dealer. The decision to open the S.African school wasn't Oprah's idea as much as the 25-30 jewish women that surround her and handle her Harpo business.
African-Americans aren't affected by a "colonised" mentality, but I think that Duke University's Professor Dyson summed it up best when describing Michael Jordan as having PNS, or Plantation Nig*** Syndrum. As expected, Duke BOD asked Dyson to resign shortly after making the comment. This condition can be seen in most African-Americans. Note Oprah's justification for opening the S.African school rather then Chicago. Sounds as if she is being led.
Some of my best jokes are friends.
Posts: 3595 | From: Moved To Mars. Waiting with shotgun | Registered: Dec 2006
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quote:What are you talking about?! China is still a communist government, despite calling themselves a "republic". Even today people who speak out against the government are imprisoned, executed, and even have their vital organs sold!
And even today Tibetans, Turks, and other ethnic minorities are being suppressed by the government!
There is a difference between an authoritarian system and communism...American capitalism and Chinese capitalism are not very different except that Chinese are getting smarter than the Americans...
The roots of the current debate can be traced to a biting critique of the property rights law that circulated on the Internet last summer. The critique's author, Gong Xiantian, a professor at Beijing University Law School, accused the legal experts who wrote the draft of "copying capitalist civil law like slaves," and offering equal protection to "a rich man's car and a beggar man's stick." Most of all, he protested that the proposed law did not state that "socialist property is inviolable," a once sacred legal concept in China. http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/international/asia/12china.html
True dat! Haven't communists always been a part of Africa? When US congress voted to keep Mandela imprisoned, wasn't it the russians that financed the ANC?
Posts: 3595 | From: Moved To Mars. Waiting with shotgun | Registered: Dec 2006
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posted
From: Law Practice, the ANC, and the Freedom Charter
5 December 1956; in response to the adoption of the Freedom Charter at the Congress of the People, the Apartheid government in South Africa arrested a total 156 people, including Chief Albert Luthuli (president of the ANC) and Nelson Mandela. This was almost the entire executive of the African National Congress (ANC), Congress of Democrats, South African Indian Congress, Coloured People's Congress, and the South African Congress of Trade Unions (collectively known as the Congress Alliance). They were charged with "high treason and a countrywide conspiracy to use violence to overthrow the present government and replace it with a communist state." The punishment for high treason was death. The Treason Trial dragged on, until Mandela and his 29 remaining co-accused were finally acquitted in March 1961. During the Treason Trial Nelson Mandela met and married his second wife, Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela.
Posts: 3595 | From: Moved To Mars. Waiting with shotgun | Registered: Dec 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Machiavelli: Oprah is a tit and is pretty much useless in the African American community. I don't agree that African Americans need their minds decolonised.
Yes, Oprah is useless, but no more so then Michael Jordan, Robert Johnson (BET), or the average crack dealer. The decision to open the S.African school wasn't Oprah's idea as much as the 25-30 jewish women that surround her and handle her Harpo business.
African-Americans aren't affected by a "colonised" mentality, but I think that Duke University's Professor Dyson summed it up best when describing Michael Jordan as having PNS, or Plantation Nig*** Syndrum. As expected, Duke BOD asked Dyson to resign shortly after making the comment. This condition can be seen in most African-Americans. Note Oprah's justification for opening the S.African school rather then Chicago. Sounds as if she is being led.
Some of my best jokes are friends.
"Perhaps" Oprah means well by this opening of a school, but the potential "publicity" motive behind it is hard to ignore, and the idea of this "saving Africa" is quite nauseating. That school couldn't "save" a single country in which it is built, let alone an entire continent!
Posts: 5964 | Registered: Jan 2005
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posted
African Business News Round Up February 2007
Kenyan Exports Approved by US Congress
The United States Congress has allowed Kenyan exporters to market peas, corn and carrots to the lucrative US markets. The chairman of Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya (FPEAK), Tiku Shah, while speaking during a cocktail hosted for agricultural experts from the United States Department of Agriculture and Health Inspectors Service in Kenya, said that Kenyan exporters were diversifying from the EU markets to the US and South East Asia due to competition from emerging exporters such as Morocco, Egypt, and Central America on EU markets.
Why Africa’s Slow Growth?
According to Challenges of African Growth; Opportunities, Constraints and Strategic Direction, a report by World Bank, Africa’s slow economic growth is due to low levels of investment and poor policies. “Investment in Africa yields less than half the return measured in growth terms than in other developing regions,” says the report.
Cancel Debts, Prof. Wangari Maathai Tells Rich Nations
The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Prof. Wangari Maathai, said rich countries should write off the debts of poor countries. She blamed African leaders for diverting such funds into foreign accounts leaving a majority of the poor carrying the burden of servicing debts. “For many years, funds advanced to African countries by rich nations and financial institutions have not benefited the poor. The money has either been misused or was looted by corrupt and dictatorial leaders.”
Diamond Deal Signed
The diamond sales agreement between the Namibian government and diamond giant De Beers has been signed and extended to 2013. The Namibian diamond industry hopes that the revised deal will bring benefits to their businesses and Namibia's economic development. They anticipate that the level of turnover from the Namibian diamond beneficiation industry could reach up to $2 billion by 2009.
Namibia and China Sign Deals
China is to give Namibia a $30-million grant for projects, while an interest-free loan of $30 million was also signed. President Pohamba has been actively promoting co-operation with China. Chinese President Hu Jintao, on his first visit to Namibia, and President Hifikepunye Pohamba looked on as the agreements were signed.
Environment and Tourism Minister Willem Konjore said some of the money would used to formulate a strategy to boost group tourism from China to Namibia. "This will be done together with the private sector," Konjore said.
Some money will reportedly also be used to build a new primary school.
There was no press conference and no chance for the media to ask any questions.
According to agency reports, trade with China in the first 11 months of 2006 amounted to US$240 million.
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Posts: 1549 | From: California, USA | Registered: Jan 2006
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Personally I think they should never have left the wing of Alexander. Since then they have suffered to the Jews, Muslims, Arabs, and a range of people that have tried to exploit the region. I must again say please do not use Greece in any collective. Greece is Greece, Europe is Europe.
For a recovery Egypt should have adopted an economic alliance with Greece, Ethiopia should have done the same. A Co-operative like this would allow total Economic and extended military control over the Indian ocean trade. All of Africa would not benefit directly because they are segmented into petty rivalry, not to mention bitter foreign involvement. You forget that had this been the case Russia an Orthodox nation along with Greece would have powered a huge economic powerhouse branching from Eurasia to Africa. The alliance of most African nations and their governments is away from Orthodoxy and away from Greece.
Many Egyptians still opt for an Arabic Islamic alliance. Ethiopia and africa suffer as a consequence of it. The central African and peninsula nations have opportunities to trade with latin America although doing so is not entirely and clearly seen as a military and economic strategy.
Posts: 104 | Registered: Jan 2007
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One should be very careful and cautious about any World Bank report on economic growth in Africa.
Growth is great but it should be balanced and optimally internally(economists say "endogenously generated). But what's needed now is massive investments in basic infrastructure for the modern age.
Consider: roads, railways, coastal sea travel, solar energy, polytechnics for technology training, local lowinterest cooperative banks, investemnets in more university research centres for exploration in science, medicine and technology, etc.
Also regional currencies and regional integration(as the European Union does with currency,travel and jobs). Forget about nonsense organisations like the Commonwealth, Francophone, Lusitaphone,etc. in favour of the AU.
In short, be as focused as China is.
Posts: 5492 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote: But what's needed now is massive investments in basic infrastructure for the modern age.
Thats what each government is supposed to provide through state revenues. If the revenue is not sufficient it needs to explore international trading options. Do not fall in the trap that foreign countries should invest because that is like selling your sole. You may as well burn your own flag and learn to speak a foreign language like Arabic, English or French.
Posts: 104 | Registered: Jan 2007
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Folks, what is going on in Kenya? Burning church?? Kenya used to be the most stable country in Africa.
How sad it is, that five years ago, president Kibaki was inaugurated in broad daylight in front of millions, now the inauguration was carried out on evening in less than an hour after being declared winner in front of few officials Posts: 2198 | Registered: Jun 2006
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There must be something heavy behind the widespread notion of electoral rigging. As painful as it appears, its a good thing when the populace lets leadership know just what it won't tolerate.
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The more I learn about the problems in Africa, the more I realize the very root of all those problems is colonialism whether from Europeans or Arabs. And the reason why these problems persist is that native Africans continue the legacy of their colonizers in one way or another. Whether it be psychotic racial dogma like the Hamitic Tutsis vs. 'true negro' Hutus and 'Arab' Sudanese vs. African Sudanese, or corrupt African governments and militia that are direct descendants of European colonial puppet governments or the continuing legacy of Arab colonial governments today.
Posts: 26334 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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Africans are not hapless brutes always overcome by any outlander. Africa's problem and solutions lie in the hands of the most talented Africans. Whether they choose to grab hold the rope and get up and climb or lislessly lay back in the status quo is their choice. Big bad Arabs and big bad Euros etc., are just that, bugbears. They are not gods controlling Africans destiny.
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I have to agree with Al. It shows that, the Kenyans care about their country and refuse to live under apathy. That should be a roll model for the rest of Africa. The End of Old Establishment, a product of colonial powers, nears.
I hear this time Mr. Odinga got support from both main groups of the population. A very welcome step!
And btw, here is the reaction from the West:
quote: Kenya may not be as sexy as South Africa, but as a haven of stability and prosperity in eastern Africa
quote:Originally posted by Yonis: First of all kill all these "African leaders", just gather them in a football stadium, and organize a mass executaion. Then its time to start thinking of business with china or whoever. Whats needed is to get to the source of the problems, Europe did not have a standing army in Africa for the last 40-60 years, so they did not rob sh!t. During colonialism yes, but recently no, they only outsmarted these vegatebals who call themselves "Leaders", majority are illiterate fools,some of them are nothing than simple ex-military agents, who have been armed so to keep the status quo which benefits other nations. Untill the people do some mini revolutions here and there, the west will continue and always find ways to get what they want through these dumb hyenas.
What a joke this picture is Look at them losers smiling, its just the same bastards who have got themselves a new pimp. Shame does not exist in their world. real economic freedom comes from inside, not through prostituting yourself around the world and expecting China, or india, or whoever to deliver. This economic meeting is flawed from the get go, you cant expect the same individuals have mentally been gangbanged by the western world, but at the same time enriched themselves for decades and put their own peoples creative ability oppresed to actually make any changes through signing new deals. The problems in Africa does not lie in Europe or China, sorry to say this but it comes from inside. The sooner we realize it the better. china only came this far because of its policy of zero tolerance on corruption, regardless of its human rights record, they were still efficient, they didnt follow the recomendations of the World Bank, IMF and other programs that are suicide. Sometimes you need to sacrifice and make tradeoff. Human rights and other western mumbo jumbo should not be a priority in African countries, such luxory comes later. In order to compete and catch up we need to sacrifice a little bit, forget minimum wage, forget trade unions, for 30+ years africans should work day and night, lower the costs as much as possible, save and utilize its own resources, import only essential products,technology and information for production. Export all kind of consumer bullshit, lift all tarriffs and other stupid trade barriers between African countries and share knowledge, western profit maximising companies will flock to these regions and heavilly invest. All these plus much more disciplined decisions needs to be taken just for the industrial machine to get started, soon enough growth will follow, with enough public savings the finacial instituions will naturally start to get developed, investments will be made people will attain know-how, and this will result in a multiplier effect for the whole continent. Thats how basically economies grow, not by expecting other interess groups to lift you up, economic freedom can only come from inside, not from Europe or China.
The truth. The solutions to the problems lie inside.
Posts: 5555 | From: Tha 5th Dimension. | Registered: Apr 2006
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And to those who say China acts "neo-colonialist" toward their African partners. I don't recall China sent their ships to Africa to enslave millions of Africans or colonized 500 years, when they had every opportunities to do in Zheng He's many voyages to Africa--in stead he offered gifs and trades to them and even some Chinese made Africa their new home.
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Hi,Arwa.
I have correction about something i read here.I did not read all the posters here,just a few.
CHINA did at one time during the ming period of china had the largest navy,but i do not think they would have been able to take over africa back then,maybe a few parts of it,but not all.
When the europeans tried to take over they could not at first.IT TOOK THE EUROPEANS IN THE LATE 1800'S AND EARLY 1900'S TO CONQUER MOST OF IT.
The europeans were able only to take over most parts because of the machine gun.
Remember when china did have the largest navy in the world in the 1400's,africa had alot more powerful empires and kingdoms than ever before.
china's military power was not powerful enough to take over africa in the past.Having the largest navy would not not help.It takes more than that to conquer. You have to have really strong ground troops,and back then,african troops were the best fighters.
Example-nubian,mande or songhay troops,would have destroy any invading chinese force.The arabs learn that lesson well.
Even the troops of italy and british empire learn it later when they got their butts kick by the Ashanti and Menelik.
Posts: 2688 | Registered: Jul 2004
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UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
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interesting indeed! 
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Hey! Gee wiz I wonder why I never see or hear this get mentioned everday during channel one news, but ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
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in front of few officials 
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