Rift Over Zimbabwe Unity Plan – New York Times But on Wednesday, The Herald, the state-run newspaper often used as a mouthpiece for Mr. Mugabe and the ruling party, described the country’s political dynamics as “so distorted that holding a free and fair election runoff in the immediate term is literally impossible.†Swiftly disavowing that position, Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told the BBC on Wednesday that the editorial had not been sanctioned by the government, and that the ruling party, ZANU-PF, was still gearing up for a runoff. Hey, here’s a handy definition of electioneering, ZANU-PF style:  Gearing up…
-
-
Obama chose right word: Who wouldn’t be ‘bitter’ about being Bushed? – Salt Lake Tribune Ah, snarky goodness. Via Salt Blog
-
File this under “not good.” This is Zimbabwe » Blog Archive » New consignment of arms to be flown in; apparently due to arrive within the next week
-
The problem is being discussed at the highest levels of the UN and the African Union… it’s being solved by ordinary Africans who’re in a position to say “no can do.” In multiple African countries! Angola to bar Zim bound weapons of “mass destruction”
-
The An Yue Jiang, the Chinese ship that’s supposed to be carrying tons of arms for Zimbabwe left Durban for port or ports unknown; some thought it was headed for nearby Mozambique, but the Mozambicans pulled an Amy Winehouse and denied it access (after first denying it was headed their way, hmm). Now it’s thought to be headed to Angola (there’s a lovely thought, how much of the cargo will actually stay in whatever port eventually accepts it?). The BBC News site has some smuggled video footage (they are banned from officially reporting from within Zimbabwe, but get around it).…
-
Sokwanele reports a new and disturbing development in the “little” Zimbabwe story: it seems a group of about 10 Chinese soldiers and/or officers, armed with revolvers, checked into the Holiday Inn in Mutare, and are going about with Zimbabwean police for some reason. Meanwhile, a Chinese ship called the An Yue Jiang just cleared customs in Durban with a few containers said to contain arms consigned to the Zimbabwean army. The timing is pretty disturbing; if it’s a long-planned training exercise, with some new toys for Mugabe’s bully boys, it couldn’t come at a more dangerous time. Also, there are…
-
Archaeology in Europe: 04/01/2008 – 05/01/2008 Popular British archeology series Time Team is coming to America, as a joint production with Oregon Public Broadcasting. Cool! I’ve been envious of the reports about Time Team digs and episodes ever since I’ve been reading Archeology in Europe, which is written by the partner of a dear college friend of mine. The first series will cover six episodes, with the team of experts on Time Team, USA (working title) exploring some of America’s most intriguing archaeological sites, with locations under consideration including the pre-historic Mounds of Mississippi, earth pyramids outside St. Louis, Missouri…
-
Daily Kos: State of the Nation The United States got itself in to a strange situation with Musharraf, in which the structure of its aid to the Pakistan government essentially incented the government not to find Bin Laden because if they found him they had reason to fear that the US would end this flow of more than $10 billion that it was providing directly to the army. The democratic government came to power arguing to Washington that constitutional democracy was a better counterterrorism strategy than reliance on an authoritarian military leader. So, I think they understand, if they can…
-
I can hardly wait to get my hands on the beautiful new coins of the realm on our next trip to Britain! The New Designs Revealed Via mediatinker
-
Wow! A friend of mine has a connection with this story, which I had scanned briefly via RSS/newsfeed a few days ago. Thus when she mentioned it, I recognized the painting immediately. Just as an aside, I love the hat. Every naked lady should wear one. A Painting With a Nazi Past Britain’s National Gallery announced Thursday that new research has disclosed that a painting in its collection, “Cupid Complaining to Venus,” by the German Renaissance artist Lucas Cranach the Elder, was once part of Hitler’s private collection. “We’ve never had anything like this before,” said museum spokesman Thomas Almeroth-Williams.…