text:
SW Radio Africa
8 February 2008
Posted to the web 8 February
Lance Guma
South African President Thabo Mbeki on Friday
claimed both Zanu PF and the
MDC had managed to resolve their major
differences over a framework for next
month's election.
during his annual state of the nation address Mbeki said the
involved had reached full agreement, 'on all matters relating to the
substantive matters the parties had to address. These include issues
relating to the constitution, security, media and electoral laws, and other
matters that have been in contention for many years.' This contradicts the
facts on the ground because despite the opposition reluctantly agreeing to
contest the March 29th election they have described the talks as a complete
The MDC insisted on a new constitution before the
election but Mugabe
refused to give in to those demands and instead went
ahead to announce an
election day before the conclusion of the talks. This
was seen as a slap in
the face for Mbeki who had to fly into Zimbabwe at one
point to try and
salvage the process. This week Mbeki was eager to gloss
over his failure to
resolve the crisis, claiming that although there was
dispute over 'the
timing and the manner of enactment' of the constitution'
it was a
'procedural matter.' He also used the signing of Constitutional
number 18, by both Zanu PF and the MDC, as a victory for the
process. 'The
relevant laws in this regard have already been approved by
including the necessary constitutional amendments.'
was eager to emphasize that the mediation would continue but his
contrasted sharply with MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa's comment that
'dialogue was already in the mortuary.' Sidney Masamvu, the Southern
analyst for the International Crisis Group, said Mbeki was trying to
his legacy from the ghost of having failed to resolve the crisis. The
Zimbabwe talks had presented the last throw of the dice for him in terms of
leaving a lasting legacy, given his failures on the domestic front.
According to Masamvu the speech on Friday was a desperate bid to sanitize
what has been an embarrassing conclusion to the SADC talks.
Radio Africa (London)
8 February 2008
Posted to the web 8 February
Tichaona Sibanda
Retired army generals Solomon Mujuru and
Vitalis Zvinavashe are reportedly
going to campaign for independent
presidential candidate Simba Makoni, in a
bid to oust Robert Mugabe from
A source close to Zvinavashe, the Zimbabwe Defence Forces' second
after Mujuru, told us he was ready to throw his full weight behind
The retired general has publicly voiced his concern on several
about the state of the country's political and economic
Addressing a meeting in Gutu, Masvingo province in
December last year,
Zvinavashe openly castigated Mugabe for staying in power
too long,
suggesting it was time he passed on the baton to someone
'Everyone in Zanu-PF knows Zvinavashe's position on Mugabe and he's
also on
public record for criticising Zanu-PF legislators for not telling
people the
truth about the critical food shortages in the country,' added
the source.
Makoni's right hand man at the moment is retired army Major,
Kudzai Mbudzi,
a close confidante of Zvinavashe. When visiting his home area
of Masvingo,
Zvinavashe is usually in the company of Mbudzi, a former
spokesman for
Zanu-PF in the province. He was suspended from the party in
October last
year for his refusal to organise the 'million man march' in
Masvingo in
support of Mugabe.
Makoni has stepped up the pressure on
the 84 year-old ruler by accusing him
of intolerance and a 'deep lack of
Political analyst Isaac Dziya believes Makoni's
approach to take Mugabe
head-on has tacit approval from Mujuru, long touted
as the kingmaker in the
ruling party. Mujuru belongs to the Mashonaland East
province that has open
rebelled against Mugabe. It is in this same province
that most cabinet
ministers, including Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi,
lost in the
primaries to emerging young turks in Zanu PF.
But Dziya
warned Zimbabweans not to get carried away with this latest
saying it had the hallmarks of a Zanu-PF plan to confuse the
'He may be genuine but questions will be asked about his
meeting with Mugabe
two weeks ago and his intention to be registered as a
Zanu-PF candidate for
Makoni in Manicaland. I guess people will wait to see
who he names as his
partners in this new project of his,' Dziya
Most of the rebels have been identified as coming from Mashonaland
where all the manoeuvring and planning is believed to be coming
This has prompted the party to scrutinise results of primaries
Didymus Mutasa, the security minister and a top confidante of Mugabe
said the party would in the coming days intensify a campaign to weed
rebels linked to the former finance minister.
'We have rebels in
the party and we will have to look at who is who,'
Mutasa reportedly told
While Mugabe has yet to comment on the latest development,
reports say he is
seething with rage at being betrayed by people from his
own party and its
reported he has promised to crush the rebels.
analyst opined that the biggest problem with a purge is that the plot to
oust him involves people who have strong military backing, people who still
command a lot of respect and support among party cadres than
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP)--Zimbabwe's ruling party is to
investigate the
results of primaries for upcoming national polls in which
several key allies
of President Robert Mugabe were defeated, state media
reported Friday.
The Herald newspaper said there had been widespread
complaints about the
primaries within the Zimbabwe African National Union -
Patriotic Front for
the elections on March 29 and the final results would
now be delayed.
"The complaints include alleged imposition of candidates,
allegedly unfair
disqualification of candidates and candidates who declared
unopposed, " The Herald said.
The primaries were to have
been completed on Monday of this week but they
have now been extended until
next week as the party investigates the
complaints, the paper
Among those surprisingly defeated in the primaries were several
ministers, including Education Minister Aeneas Chigwedere and
Minister Rugare Gumbo.
The Herald said complaints filed
to the party leadership included one by
activists in the northwestern
Chinhoyi province who claimed some candidates
with criminal records had been
allowed to stand.
A former legislator also claimed some senior party
officials, plotting her
downfall, imposed a man in a constituency reserved
for female candidates
while two male candidates complained over the rule
reserving some seats for
The complaints have already been
discussed at a meeting chaired by Mugabe
and attended by vice presidents
Joice Mujuru and Joseph Msika and the
ZANU-PF national chairman John
Mugabe, who has ruled the former U.K. colony since independence in
faces a challenge from a senior ZANU-PF figure, with former finance
Simba Makoni taking him on as an independent at the ballot
The 83-year-old Mugabe is seeking a sixth term of office in the
parliamentary and presidential election at a time when Zimbabwe is
by an inflation rate officially put at 26,000%.
(END) Dow
Jones Newswires
Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones &
Company, Inc.
New Zimbabwe
By Stella
Allberry, MDC national executive secretary for health (Mutamnbara
Last updated: 02/09/2008 04:23:29
WHEN our National Council
(MDC Arthur Mutambara) was requested to attend an
extraordinary National
Council Meeting for the reunification process, there
were mixed emotions as
we travelled to Harare.
Many of us had been deeply hurt in the last
couple of years, and quite
frankly were proud to be part of a sincere and
principled group that were of
one heart and vision, working tirelessly for
the betterment of our country.
We all knew that for the sake of all our
beloved Zimbabweans we had to do
all that was in our power to have a united
front against Mugabe to free the
people of Zimbabwe. We were secure that we
would make the right decision.
Ten of our top leadership had been working
again on some type of agreement
(the last coalition agreement had been
rejected by the Tsvangirai formation
in April last year). This was a
reunification agreement.
On Saturday, February 2, 2008, we were presented
with a document that the
top ten from both parties had agreed upon. They
told of endless debates
being held until the early hours of many mornings,
saying they faced the
hardest negotiations of their lives.
document they showed was a fully comprehensive one, and I submit it here
you may see for yourself what it is all about (CLICK HERE FOR
The reunification process seemed fair and just in every way.
It was supposed
to colminate in a reunification congress shortly after
elections, dissolving
both parties and making one reunited MDC. We debated
vigorously but
sensibly. Our concerns were few and not too major. Our unity
was incredibly
evident, with our desire for freedom and an end to the
suffering of our
nation being our focus.
The new seats allocation
between the two formations was a little
disappointing for our side,
effectively giving the Tsvangirai formation
approximately 70% in 6
provinces, 50% in 1 province and 30% in the three
Matabeleland provinces,
but we recognised that all agreements require a
considerable amount of
compromise and tolerance.
By 12PM on Saturday, we had adopted the
agreement and were ready to meet
with the other team and sign it into
reality. I even had a romantic notion
of the two leaders holding clasped
hands up in the air to a roar of Chinja
Instead, we waited
for four hours while the Tsvangirai formation debated.
Eventually, our top
ten leadership were called back into negotiations. The
formation's National Council had been debating at the same time
as us and
could not accept what their top ten had negotiated for them.
From 4PM
until 8.30PM, we waited and were then told that the Tsvangirai
were sticking over the point of wanting to have two more seats in
We had already compromised in other areas, for example we had
agreed to only
have 28% of seats in Harare, even though we were entitled in
terms of our
agreement to at least 33%.
Mutambara had asked them to make a decision
one way or the other by the next
morning, as we just could not debate
further. The Tsvangirai formation's
Bulawayo contingency were, it seemed,
really fighting the process, and I
couldn't help but cry in my heart:
"Please, please remember the bigger
picture for the people."
Sunday morning, our leadership called us in and we heard that the
formation had brought an entirely new and different demands to
the table.
Funnily enough, the Sunday Mail newspaper heard before us. We
were told that
the Tsvangirai formation wanted 50% of all the Matabeleland
and Bulawayo
seats, including those where our MPs were already sitting and
further, they
would not guarantee not fielding in the other 50%! Where was
the good will
towards a united MDC? We were blown away!
A few of us women cried and I
even had an opportunity of saying with a
broken heart: "Do we give it to
them to stop the suffering of the people?"
But even as I said it, I thought
what will we be doing for the people of
Zimbabwe? If we give them greedy MPs
who think only of themselves anyway,
are we not betraying them more?
Mutambara and Welshman Ncube (our Secretary
General) both looked me directly
in my face and asked if I had an idea of
what to do. They had tried their
absolute hardest, they said.
The press conference was called, and we are
going alone. I see that Eddie
Cross has written of the gloom in our camp.
Yes, that is true, but not
because we cried for ourselves. There is no doubt
that our gloom was shared
by millions of patriotic Zimbabweans who hoped
that people would put
personal interests aside for national interest --
something that the
Tsvangirai formation has failed to do.
Eddie Cross
also has written that the decision not to form a united front
was "received
favourably across the nation..." Whilst I have no doubt it was
favourably by Cross, the people at State House and by Zanu PF
throughout the
nation, I think the truth is that most reasonable Zimbabweans
were deeply
disappointed. Yes Eddie, we are very very sad, but not for
ourselves. In
fact, to stand with principled people is the greatest honour
of my
I will never stop fighting this regime as long as I have breath in
my body
and I have no feeling of guilt or shame in the choices we have made
we gave it our best shot. We must now take on the brutal Zanu PF
divided, but we will do so with courage and determination.
Zimbabwe Independent
8 February 2008
Posted to the web 8 February
Constantine Chimakure
THE MDC may prove to be the biggest
obstacle to its own bid to oust
President Robert Mugabe after unity talks
between the two opposition
formations collapsed at the weekend.
theories have been postulated as to the real causes of the political
stalemate between the two factions. Policy inconsistency, infiltration by
security agents and a leadership crisis are but a few examples of such
theories that seek to explain the MDC's failure to get its act
Suffice it to say divisions in the main opposition party
have left the once
vibrant movement staring at defeat in the presidential,
legislative and
council elections on March 29.
Political analysts
said the failure of the talks meant that the opposition
factions would
contest the polls fragmented -- a move that will result in
the splitting of
votes in favour of Mugabe and the ruling party.
To make matters worse,
the analysts argued, neither one of the MDC camps had
approached the talks
seriously since it was apparent that each faction had
already come up with
its position way before the weekend meetings.
The talks crumbled after
the MDC factions failed to agree on how to select
candidates for the House
of Assembly and Senate elections.
Analysts had predicted a tight victory
for Mugabe if the two MDC factions
had fought the elections as a single
party, but going into the polls divided
they would hand the 84-year old
nationalist a resounding victory.
Political scientist and a critic of
Mugabe's leadership style, John Makumbe,
said the failure by the MDC to
patch up their differences would see Zanu PF
wallopping the
Makumbe said it was regrettable that the MDC formations
failed to agree on
how to come up with candidates when they had initially
devised what appeared
to be a sound formula.
"It is clear to me that
Mugabe will win hands down. He will have the last
laugh," Makumbe said.
"What is needed to confront the current dictatorship
is a united front and
the MDC should know the cost of vote-splitting."
In Kenya in 1998, then
President Daniel arap Moi won his fifth and final
term with 40% of the votes
against a divided opposition in a muddled,
controversial and chaotic
Makumbe, a University of Zimbabwe lecturer, said the MDC have
themselves in the foot by failing to come up with an election
"The opposition has just done themselves in and in fact it would
not be
wrong if one were to suggest that they are becoming another
obstruction to
democratic change," said Makumbe.
Both factions of the
MDC had come up with a formula for selecting
candidates. Under the proposed
pact, the camps would select a single
presidential candidate.
Tsvangirai group was to field candidates in 70% of the seats in Harare,
Manicaland, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East and
Masvingo provinces. It would also field 50% of the candidates in
The faction was expected to contest 30% of the seats in
Bulawayo and the two
Matabeleland provinces.
Mutambara's faction, on
the other hand, was supposed to field 70% of the
seats in Bulawayo,
Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South.
The national council of the
Tsvangirai faction rejected the original
In a dramatic
U-turn, the Tsvangirai camp wanted to have all seats in Harare
Chitungwiza. It also wanted a vast majority of seats in Bulawayo and the
Matabeleland provinces reserved for them.
Political scientist Michael
Mhike was of the opinion that the failure of the
talks was partly because of
parliamentary hopefuls in the Tsvangirai
national council who saw themselves
losing opportunities to occupy political
Mhike argued that
the hopefuls took a stance to reject the proposed formula
way before the two
factions met at the weekend.
"In the end, the meetings at the weekend by
the two formations was more of
an argument of the deaf," Mhike said. "No one
came to the meeting prepared
to give in to the demands of the
He said the MDC had worsened its political predicament by failing
to patch
up differences following the October 2005 split.
voters are convinced that Mugabe will easily romp home to victory in
elections and I think it is a fair prediction," Mhike said. "The MDC has
betrayed the electorate which wanted the two parties to unite or come up
with a loose coalition for the March 29 elections."
Masunungure, a political scientist at the University of Zimbabwe,
said the
collapse of the MDC talks was tantamount to electoral suicide by
"The decision to go separate ways was a self-destruct
button," said
Masunungure. "They will be mince-meat for the ruling
Observers have questioned whether Tsvangirai or Mutambara,
individually or
collectively, could defeat Mugabe. While it is generally
agreed that Mugabe
is much weaker now than ever before given internal
rivalries and an economy
in free-fall, it is also true to say that
opposition leaders are weaker
compared to him in a number of
Mugabe is under siege on many fronts. The collapsing economy is
blamed on
mismanagement by his regime while internal wrangling in Zanu PF
has created
serious fault lines in the party. Mugabe is also isolated inside
his party
and internationally.
However, he has the state machinery on
his side. He also has a lot of
resources at his disposal to prop up his
rule, the sort of things Tsvangirai
or Mutambara can only dream
Other analysts argued that the failure by the MDC to unite would work
against Tsvangirai's faction in the Matabeleland provinces where Mutambara's
camp enjoys more support.
Tsvangirai, the analysts said, cannot win
the March polls without support of
the Matabeleland region, while Mutambara
camp could retain seats in that
region alone.
Tsvangirai enjoys
support in the Mashonaland provinces.
Mutambara's camp, which is the
smaller faction of the MDC, quickly conceded
that unseating Mugabe -- a
tough assignment at the best of times -- look
slimmer after failure to
construct a united front.
Mutambara's faction spokesperson Gabriel
Chaibva blamed Tsvangirai for the
collapse of the united front talks saying
the camp had made unreasonable
"Tsvangirai said his national
council had rejected the original agreement,"
Chaibva said.
(Tsvangirai) has no control over his formation and that is why one day
will agree to reunification under the framework of a document crafted by
teams of 10 people from each side only to renege on it the next
Tsvangirai also admitted at a press conference at the weekend that
failure of the talks was regrettable
"Indeed, I must confirm that
we had agreed on a set of principles, rules and
guidelines. However, the
national council disagreed on the selection of
candidates," Tsvangirai
"On our part, we are still committed to the reunification of the
formations. There is a dispute and disagreement. It's regrettable, it's
unfortunate and that is reality. We have to stand by it."
Zim Online
Nqobizitha Khumalo Saturday 09 February 2008
BULAWAYO – The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association
(ZNLWVA) is headed for a split after a group of former fighters said they
were breaking away in protest over the way the war veterans' body was being
The new group, called the Zimbabwe National Association of
War Veterans Cadres, is said to be linked to a faction of the
ruling ZANU PF
that is vying to unseat President Robert Mugabe from
The group was expected to meet in Bulawayo this weekend to
announce its launch.
The looming split within the war
veterans' body could deliver a
telling blow to Mugabe who has relied on the
former fighters to act as foot
soldiers during election times, beating up
opposition supporters
The emergence of the group
could herald more bad news for Mugabe after
his former finance minister
Simba Makoni announced last Tuesday that he
would stand against the veteran
Zimbabwean leader in next March's election.
Henry Ndebele, an
executive member of the new war veterans group, said
they were deeply
concerned over the image of the war veteran and party that
has been "soiled"
over the past eight years.
"Our mother association is under siege
and our party, ZANU PF, is also
under international scrutiny. There is need
therefore for a group that is
not soiled to show the true colours of the
party," said Ndebele.
ZimOnline could not establish yesterday if
the new war veterans body
were part of Makoni's project to unseat
ZNLWVA chairman, Jabulani Sibanda, who has fiercely
defended Mugabe,
could not be reached for comment on the matter
Sources close to the developments said senior ZANU PF
opposed to Mugabe's continued reign were behind the formation of
splinter war veterans group to dilute Sibanda's influence on war
A dark cloud has engulfed ZANU PF since Makoni's
announcement last
Tuesday that he would stand against his former boss in the
29 March election
in what has been described as the biggest rebellion
against Mugabe in
A mood of fear has gripped the party
amid rumours of plots,
conspiracies and counter-conspiracies after Makoni
clearly stated that he
was not working alone but with like-minded people
within ZANU PF.
Several big names within ZANU PF have been
mentioned as part of Makoni's
bold project as the groundswell of discontent
threatens to erupt into an
open rebellion against Mugabe. -
Zim Online
by Nqobizitha Khumalo Saturday 09 February
HARARE – Zimbabwe civic society leaders are expected to
decide today which
political party to back in council, parliamentary and
presidential elections
next month.
The more than 50 non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) that began their
People's Convention in Harare
yesterday have traditionally supported the
main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party in elections
against President Robert Mugabe's
ruling ZANU PF party.
The 2005 split of the MDC into two rival
formations, one led by Morgan
Tsvangirai and the other by Arthur Mutambara,
makes NGOs' task tricky and
potentially could even split the civic society
groups themselves.
However, some top civic society leaders openly
declared on Friday that they
would not be throwing their lot with former
finance minister Simba Makoni
who has revolted against Mugabe to stand as an
independent in the March 29
"When we make the resolution we
must state to Makoni that (he) can destroy
ZANU PF but not rule the
country," Lovemore Madhuku, who heads the National
Constitutional Assembly
pressure group, said to much applause from
Makoni, a
former member of ZANU PF's inner politburo cabinet until his
revolt, stunned
Mugabe and Zimbabwe when he announced last Tuesday that he
would be standing
as an independent in next month's presidential election.
Analysts say,
Makoni who commands considerable respect across the political
divide, could
offer Mugabe a tougher challenge than a divided MDC.
The former finance
minister has not said whether he will form an alliance
with the opposition.
He has insisted he remains a member of ZANU PF while
urging all "Zimbabweans
yearning for change" to join him in his project to
unseat Mugabe.
director of Bulawayo Agenda, Gorden Moyo, said civic society could not
Makoni especially after he said he remained loyal to ZANU PF.
Moyo said:
We should state it to one man (Makoni) and his handlers who say
they are
still ZANU PF and owe loyalty to ZANU PF . . . ZANU PF is a party
with a
tradition and history of corruption and rigging elections. We say no
It was not immediately clear whom between Tsvangirai and Mutambara
would get
the endorsement of civic groups and to complicate matters some
civic leaders
privately said they preferred Makoni.
Zimbabwe is in
the grip of an acute economic recession critics blame on
mismanagement by
Mugabe and seen in the world's highest inflation rate of
more than 26 000
percent, 80 percent unemployment and shortages of food,
fuel and foreign
Mugabe, who at one time boasted that no one could have run
economy better than him, denies ruining the country and has
promised a
landslide victory in March to once again prove he has the backing
ordinary Zimbabweans. – ZimOnline
Zim Online
by Mutumwa Mawere Saturday 09 February
HARARE - An election marks a defining stage in any
nation but 29 March 2008
represents not only a landmark day but also a
significant turning point in
the history of post-colonial
If one accepts that no change is change one can easily
appreciate why
President Robert Mugabe's name is on the ballot.
his most ardent and diminishing supporters would agree that Zimbabwe is
the crossroads and a better day is awaiting it.
The last eight years have
failed to produce the kind of change that the
country required to lift it
up, instead the political and economic crisis
has worsened.
It is
generally agreed that the political stalemate of the last eight years
is a
reflection of a leadership deficit that is characteristic of many
post-colonial states in which fear is the optimal currency used to regulate
and manage political behaviour under the guise of consensus and nation
Two political parties, the MDC and ZANU-PF led by Morgan
Tsvangirai and
Mugabe, respectively, have dominated the political scene over
the last eight
years and it is generally accepted that national interest has
sacrificed for political expediency and as a result the frontiers of
and hopelessness have increased and not diminished.
I have no
doubt that both Mugabe and Tsvangirai would agree that Zimbabwe
better than the kind of leadership they have provided over the last
While it is arguable whether it would be fair to compare
Tsvangirai with
Mugabe given that the former has sought courageously to put
his life on the
line to bring the language of change at the forefront of
discourse, it must be accepted that the MDC has dismally failed to
an alternative to the ZANU-PF way of doing things.
It would
be grossly unfair if the history of Zimbabwe failed to acknowledge
efforts of the MDC and its divided factions in helping expose the policy
leadership bankruptcy of ZANU-PF.
However, it must be acknowledged also
that rightly Zimbabweans feel let down
by the amateurish prosecution of the
change agenda and the obvious lack of
cohesion and sense of purpose
displayed by the leaders of the change
The urgency of change
cannot be overstated, as is the need to find a viable
vehicle for delivering
such transformation.
Zimbabwe is pregnant and it is obvious that ZANU-PF
has also invested in
change in so far as it has failed to deliver on the
Zimbabwean promise and
its leader, Mugabe, must be held culpable for failing
to lift the country to
new a destination of opportunity and hope.
to the fact that Zimbabwe has not known of any other leader than Mugabe,
has to start a review of his administration from 1980.
When one looks
back at the journey, one cannot overlook the man-made
disasters and policy
confusion, corruption, mismanagement and above all the
arrogance of absolute
There are many who believe in the face of the most debilitating
crisis and
exodus of the country's brain trust that they can bury their
heads in the
comfort of ZANU-PF desert sand ignoring that the future of the
population is at stake and time for games is over.
there is a belief in the opposition that only the actors on stage
have the
monopoly of reason and have what it takes to remove the cancer.
election date is now known and thanks to SADC, MDC and ZANU-PF were
into co-sponsoring the constitutional and legal changes that were
deemed to
be problematic for any transition and electoral legitimacy.
The election
date is real and so are the choices available to Zimbabweans.
It is
significant that Mugabe sought and obtained a democratic endorsement
his party and not many of his adversaries can claim the same.
What is
refreshing is that a new factor has emerged in the form of Dr Simba
who has been persuaded to throw his name in the ring.
The timing of his
entrance into the political theatre is significant not
only because he
waited to allow the MDC factions to come to an inescapable
conclusion that
they have no consensus leader but also after ZANU-PF had
failed to find a
leader that can look Zimbabweans in the eye and proclaim
that he is offering
change that citizens can believe in.
Makoni did not choose the easy road
of enveloping himself into political
parties and then finding himself
behaving undemocratically like many
opposition parties who wanted to cut a
deal to protect their incumbency
ahead of the people of Zimbabwe as well as
change the constitution under the
cover of SADC mediated
Surely, it would be unfair to conclude that the MDC was not party
to the
legislation passed during the last eight years that many find rightly
draconian and abhorrent to the extent that President Mbeki had to intervene
to make the parliament of Zimbabwe work again.
Makoni has made the
right decision to stand as an independent because
Zimbabwe urgently needs a
new direction and if anything, the last 28 years
have demonstrated that the
fate of a country can be manipulated by one
individual even when the
institutional framework exists for a democratic
One cannot argue that the parliament of Zimbabwe has been
effective in
protecting the interests of the country and, if anything, no
change will be
meaningful if such change does not result in a change of the
head of state.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono has already
exposed that
Zimbabwe can no longer claim to have a constitutional order in
that the
budget under his stewardship of the RBZ is no longer a vehicle for
allocating national resources.
Even the opposition who have been a
constant feature of the state as
parliamentarians must accept the
responsibility for creating a situation
where the state has become
Ordinarily, if all the current members of parliament loved
Zimbabwe they
would not have offered themselves for re-election after
failing the people
of Zimbabwe in providing the critical role of
Many have accepted the existence of corruption in Zimbabwe and
yet the
Parliament of Zimbabwe has failed to expose the true nature of
and, if anything, many of them have already been accommodated in
the gravy
train presenting a challenge for any post-Mugabe
Some have argued that Makoni is not a principal but for him to
succeed, he
necessarily needs the protection of ZANU-PF heavyweights while
that such so-called heavyweights have failed to provide the kind
leadership required to lift up Zimbabwe.
Does Makoni really need
such so-called heavyweights? Do Zimbabweans need a
new face to symbolise the
kind of change they want to see? Does Makoni
represent the face of
Makoni's patience must be acknowledged and it just goes to
demonstrate that
he has thought long and hard about the challenge before
He needs and deserves the support of all the people of Zimbabwe
who rightly
have been disillusioned by the many messengers of hope who have
turned out
to be no better than the people they purported to be fighting
Does Zimbabwe need five more years of political bickering? The
environment in polarised and will remain so if this is left to
Mugabe and
his long time rivalries.
The macroeconomic regression will
continue unabated so will the future of
Zimbabwe be condemned into a cul de
The challenge of restoring legitimacy is before Zimbabwe and I am
convinced that either Mugabe or Tsvangirai will be able to deliver the
of economic revival, national reconciliation, regional stability and
importantly remove the country from its pariah status.
At some
stage, I had underestimated Makoni's courage to subject himself to
the rough
and tumble of Zimbabwean politics of recriminations but I must
give it to
him for taking Zimbabwe first in his agenda.
We can only support such
courage and I do hope that anyone who wants to see
change in Zimbabwe will
take Makoni as his project.
Ibbo Mandaza has earned my respect for having
the courage and vision of
standing up while we all chose to be arm-chair
revolutionaries. I have no
doubt that Mandaza played a key part in helping
convince Makoni to offer
himself for abuse.
Some will ask
legitimately about who is behind Makoni. Please count me in
for in him I see
hope and it would be naïve for me to expect him to make
hope possible while
I choose to pontificate about my role in making tomorrow
a brighter
No change will come out of its own. I have been impressed by Barack
ability to communicate the urgency of now in the context of America
and help
make the most improbable thing in American history become
Can you imagine that in one month his campaign raised US$32
million from
ordinary people hungry for change? I have no doubt that
Zimbabweans will
rise up to the challenge and dig deep into their pockets to
invest in the
kind of change they want to see in Zimbabwe.
does not need any political heavyweight but needs the financial
support and
above all the vote on 29 March 2008.
Can you imagine if every Zimbabwean
in the diaspora and anyone interested in
seeing a different Zimbabwe were to
sacrifice one meal for change in
Zimbabwe, what a difference it will make to
the Makoni candidature.
It is never too late to make the investment. I
will start with my own 1 000
rand and all I need is to find a bank that will
take the money to Zimbabwe
for Makoni and the many prospective
parliamentarians who stand for a new
Together we can make a
difference and construct a new garment of change
fortressed by a common
thread of hope.
Anyone interested in this project, please indicate your
appetite for change
by registering your voice on my website: www.mmawere.com
* Mutumwa Mawere is a
Zimbabwean-born South African businessman
By Blessing Zulu
Washington & Harare
08 February 2008
Advisors to Simba Makoni, the former
Zimbabwean finance minister who threw
down the gauntlet to President Robert
Mugabe this week by announcing his
candidacy for president in March
elections, have urged him to forge a
strategic alliance with the opposition
given signs he may not garner much
open ruling party support.
said Tuesday when he announced his candidacy that senior ZANU-PF
would soon join him, but sources close to Makoni say this was a
error given a harsh ruling party response that could sway others
declaring open backing.
ZANU-PF insiders told VOA that the Central
Intelligence Organization has
submitted a report to Mr. Mugabe advising him
that Makoni's bid to displace
him from the highest office in the land is not
likely to shake the ruling
party to its foundations.
The report
warned the ZANU-PF leadership not to send new supporters to
Makoni by
mishandling its ongoing primary elections, which could alienate
The ZANU-PF elections directorate is said to have been flooded
complaints about alleged irregularities in primaries, including
announcements saying that candidates were unopposed though primaries were
still being organized. Sources said that the president has taken direct
charge of the party response to the complaints.
A number of Mr.
Mugabe's ministers have been defeated in party primaries,
reflecting disenchantment at the party's grass roots.
Political analyst
Dewa Mavhinga told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio
7 for Zimbabwe
that it is not surprising ZANU-PF members are not prepared to
join Makoni as
they have traditionally stuck with President Mugabe through
thick and
Harare correspondent Thomas Chiripasi reports that civil society
opening a two-day convention dubbed the "People's Convention"
Makoni's candidacy on Friday, issuing the warning that Zimbabweans
should be
on their guard against what they called a ruling party scheme to
divide the
opposition in March elections.
Makoni's candidacy has
drawn mixed reactions across the political spectrum.
The ruling party has
reviled him as a "traitor" while one leading liberation
war veteran issued a
thinly veiled threat. The opposition Movement for
Democratic Change faction
led by MDC founder Morgan Tsvangirai has called
him an "opportunist," while
the rival faction headed by Arthur Mutambara has
welcomed Makoni's entry as
a candidate.
There have been persistent rumors of a Makoni-Mutambara
alliance in the
Reporter Caroline Gombakomba sought
perspective on Makoni's positioning
from two political observers: columnist
Pius Wakatama, a spokesman for the
Christian Alliance, and Chido Makunike, a
political commentator and blogger
based in Senegal.
Though many have
voiced reservations about Makoni's intentions, Wakatama
said the former
cabinet member's bid to become Zimbabwe's next president has
generated a lot
of excitement on the ground and changed the very nature of
the contest.
By Blessing Zulu
08 February
The U.S. government has expressed "very serious concern"
about the elections
set for March 29 in Zimbabwe, saying the Harare
government's past
performance did not encourage optimism as to the conduct
of the elections in
a free and fair manner.
State Department
spokesman Tom Casey told journalists in a briefing Thursday
that the
Zimbabwean government's record "doesn't leave us with a lot of
hope" that
the presidential, parliamentary and local council elections will
be free and
Casey added that the United States would like to see international
deployed to monitor the elections "not only just as a matter of
principle but because there have been so many problems and concerns"
the political process.
In the country, the Zimbabwe Election
Support Network again expressed
reservations about the electoral process.
ZESN issued a statement earlier
this week saying that the delimitation or
redistricting process carried out
by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission was
not constitutional, as parliament
was not given a chance to debate the
ZESN followed up Friday with a warning about the national voters
saying that it is a "shambles." The civic group, which deployed
thousands of
monitors during the 2005 general election, said the names of
many voters
have mysteriously disappeared from the roll in the midst of a
reorganization of constituencies and wards.
In an interview
with reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe,
ZESN Chairman
Noel Kututwa reviewed the issues plaguing the elections,
beginning with the
way in which the ZEC delimitation report was tabled in
parliament just days
before it recessed. Only one copy was made available to
the entire
With registration and voter roll inspection a focus of public
some residents of the capital were distressed this week to find
their access
to a registration office in the center of Harare obstructed by
a sudden
influx of soldiers and police officers.
Registration centres in urban areas are supposed to open at 7am
and close at
6 pm daily, INCLUDING SATURDAY & SUNDAY.
OR CHANGE YOUR DETAILS. Take your ID (ID card or
passport, NOT drivers
licence, because it does not have your citizenship
status so is no longer
accepted) and proof of residence if changing address.
Proof can be a utility
bill or bank statement etc to you at that address.
If you rent
accommodation, you should produce letter from your landlord with
his/her ID
number ,stating that you reside at that address, and a utility
bill etc to
the landlord or you at that address.
Please note that you will not be
allowed to vote unless you are a CITIZEN,
under the law passed in 2005. If
you wish to remain a Zimbabwe citizen and
vote but have not renounced the
other citizenship you are deemed to be
entitled to, you should renounce that
citizenship - contact citizenship
office at Makombe Building. Your ID or
passport must have "CIT" and not
"Alien" for you to be able to register and
Please tell everyone you know to register or check.
Mt Pleasant - Wards 7
& 17
Alex Park Primary
Avondale Primary
Beit Hall, Tomlinson Depot
Belgravia Sports Club
North Park Primary
Vainona PrimaryHarare West - Wards 16 & 41
Warren Park 7
Masaisai Primary
Haig Park Primary
Alfred Beit Primary
Avonlea Primary
Hallingbury Primary
Emerald Hill
Marlborough High
Marlborough District Office
*Also Every Day
at MARKET SQUARE and MAKOMBE BUILDING
Zimbabwe Independent
8 February 2008
Posted to the web 8 February
Vimbai Walker
THIS has been a week of political drama. No
bookmakers would have got this
one right at all: the seemingly converging
MDC formations finally breaking
irretrievably apart and the reluctant Simba
Makoni's shock challenge for the
highest office.
First we had the
following developments: "Deadlock in MDC talks," screamed
the Sunday Mail
headline of February 3. The Standard carried a more subtle
"MDC factions
deadlocked" on Page 2. Then of course the Herald on Monday
headlined "MDC faction talks collapse".
That this news was painfully
received by the majority of Zimbabweans --
including some moderates in Zanu
PF -- is completely lost on the amateurish
and hopelessly incompetent MDC
Certainly, many people all over the world -- non-Zimbabweans
included -- had
hoped that the one event that would galvanise Zimbabweans
into rushing to
last-minute voter registration and voters' roll inspection
would be the
weekend announcement of a coherent, unified MDC to face
President Robert
Mugabe and his Zanu PF.
That this seemed inevitable,
given the intense lobbying and cajoling the
feuding parties had been
receiving from every corner of the globe as well as
the common-sense
necessity of doing so, had been premised on the fact that
never has the
ruling party been so vulnerable, especially on the economic
and social
The national blackouts, the cash shambles and banking crisis, the
stratospheric inflation rate and trebling prices -- the whole general mess
the country is in would surely have been enough motivation for any
opposition leadership to cast aside any differences and go for the
A sharp, short, shrill and united campaign would have been all
that was
required to capture the state presidency, even at this late hour
where many
people had not bothered to register to vote. Never mind the
and senatorial posts.
And then Makoni does what
everyone has been coaxing him to do: join the
fray, and with that single
move, he has ripped the hitherto solid Zanu PF
image to shreds.
right-thinking Zimbabweans need to see this move by Makoni in its right
context -- that of rescuing Zimbabwe from a further five-year misery. It has
certainly not been an easy decision, and there is no guarantee that it will
be a successful challenge, but this is the greatest hope Zimbabweans have
for change now.
The timing of course has been spot-on. If the
disappointing MDC formations
had indeed re-united, then it would have been a
mistake for Makoni to dilute
the new enhanced chance of electoral success by
the united opposition.
Zimbabweans need to cast aside the habit of
criticising new entrants and
people who make realistic sacrifices for the
betterment of all, and desist
from destructive conspiracy theories. Already,
Makoni's move is being touted
as a Zanu PF intelligence creation. This is
not helpful at all.
The MDC leadership, if it can be called that,
inexplicably fails to grasp
that by its arrogant and misguided insistence to
approach the elections as
separate formations they are alienating whole
swathes of voters, the
international community and their capacity to lobby
for support.
As it is, the MDC's urban support base has been shrinking
considerably over
the years, mainly due to perceived bungling, policy
failures, dithering and
indecisiveness, and Zanu PF is steadily capitalising
on that. If the chances
of the MDC winning the elections had been 55% as a
united front, they will
have dropped to less than 30% as a result of this
own goal.
It has become clear that the MDC has the following
* Incompetence: the MDC has consistently failed to convert
situations to its advantage. In particular, they behaved
inexplicably when
the presidential election was stolen in 2002, with Morgan
Tsvangirai failing
to provide solid leadership to the population which was
clearly angry and
indignant. Subsequently, they failed to capitalise on
Murambatsvina, the cash queues and now the national blackouts,
among many
other disasters which the despondent and angry population would
responded to in a unified show of defiance.
* Greed: it is clear
to any discerning potential voter (read urban
Zimbabwean) that the MDC has
become a career movement for its senior
leadership, hence the silly
squabbling about non-existent national posts.
How can you immobilise
yourselves before a crucial election by arguing about
cabinet posts,
vice-presidencies etc instead of wooing the voters and
drumming the point
home for everyone to register to vote even at this late
hour? It is has
become disgustingly obvious that all the focus and
motivation are now
centred on parliamentary perks (4x4 vehicles and fat
allowances) and the
"fame" of being MPs. And the donor cash for the top
Arrogance and naivety: the Sadc mediation effort, which the MDC typically
had no Plan B for, should really not have been just between Zanu PF and the
MDC formations only. This really stemmed from the arrogance the MDC has that
it represents the entirety of disgruntled Zimbabweans. Maybe this would have
been true six years ago, but not anymore. The constant bungling and
squabbling have left many Zimbabweans disillusioned and hopeless, and the
only reason most would vote for them is that they see the need to break the
Zanu PF stranglehold on the country, and hope to sort out the MDC soon after
There is no doubt that the shocking performance of Zanu PF
in the 28 years
it has been in power -- the economic mismanagement, the
kleptocracy, the
violence and corruption -- would make anyone with a normal,
functioning brain not want to return them to office.
But this
does not make the MDC saints. Tsvangirai naively thinks he is the
alternative Zimbabweans have to Mugabe. How incredible! His behaviour
alienates many Zimbabwean voters, including most in the diplomatic
community. Certainly, the MDC is now just as guilty of failure to renew its
leadership as Zanu PF.
Tsvangirai has led the party through three
failed elections since its
formation, and anywhere else in the world he
would have stepped aside for
someone to give the party a new shot at power.
It doesn't have to be Arthur
Mutambara he has to defer to; even Tendai Biti,
Lucia Matibenga, Welshman
Ncube, Elias Mudzuri or whoever would have added
new flavour to the party
image. There is nothing that beats rejuvenating an
opposition party than
timely and transparent leadership renewal.
is obvious that there are deficiencies in both MDC formations. The
faction has its own serious shortcomings, not least its perceived
slant and cleverly contrived sympathetic treatment by state media.
Even some
of its senior leaders have failed to come clean on allegations of
from patronage extended by Zanu PF.
But the formation is undeniably a
major player in the opposition arena. And
ignoring or belittling its role
and influence in a major election is a
recipe for disaster.
It is
common cause that the Tsvangirai formation is generally the aggressor
it comes to negotiations, stemming from its overstated larger support
It is also obvious that Tsvangirai himself panders to the whims
interests of a lot of his close advisers, most of whom manifestly do not
have the national interest at heart.
There is no doubt that by
quibbling and prevaricating, and as a result
failing to prevail on his
power-hungry camp, Tsvangirai has dented his own
chances of victory and thus
condemning Zimbabweans to prolonged misery.
And when all is said and
done, the MDC should bear some responsibility for
the economic and social
mess Zimbabwe is in now. Wait, this is not because
of the ridiculous
oft-repeated statement that they invited economic
sanctions on the country,
but simply because they dared challenge Zanu PF
and failed to complete the
History will acknowledge how recklessly Mugabe reacted to the threat
losing power when the MDC was formed in 1999, and the subsequent loss of
referendum in February 2000. The Zanu PF response is well-documented:
farm invasions, the destruction of sound economic practice, social
standards, including absolute control of the media, the violence and murders
Now, will all that fight for normalcy, the ensuing suffering and
destruction of the economy be in vain simply because of selfish
Thus the entry of Makoni in the presidential race breathes new
interest and hope into the election.
Perhaps the more moderate
of the MDC formations, plus all other practical
change-seeking institutions,
will campaign for Makoni as president. Surely
this is the only realistic way
of achieving electoral success.
Vimbai Walker is the nom de plume of a
Harare based writer.
Jonathan Manthorpe,
Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, February 08, 2008
I suspect I am not
alone in being surprised at the backbone and hitherto
invisible reservoir of
political principle Simba Makoni has discovered as he
tries to unseat
Zimbabwe's malevolent old dictator Robert Mugabe.
For some months the
spotlights of hope have focused on Makoni as the most
attractive potential
candidate from within the ruling ZANU-PF party to
unseat Mugabe, now 83
years old, in power since 1980 and bucking to remain
president for the rest
of his life.
The fracturing of the main opposition party, the Movement
for Democratic
Change, under the relentless assault of Mugabe's secret
police and political
militias has left many to conclude the only hope for
salvation in Zimbabwe
is if Mugabe is ousted by a challenger from within
So far Mugabe has arranged the political castration of all
ZANU-PF grandees
who have hinted they are candidates for the
But with yet another renewal of Mugabe's tenure in what in
Zimbabwe are
laughingly called "elections" due next month, Makoni, 57, a
former finance
minister forced out of office in 2002 when he tried to
devalue the
Zimbabwean currency, took the courageous step this week of
announcing he
will run for the presidency.
The response of Mugabe's
coterie of razor-toothed catamites to Makoni's
announcement has been swift
and violent. The entire machinery of Mugabe's
putrid regime has been set in
motion against Makoni, starting with his
expulsion from
Makoni has been a sometimes overly loyal member of ZANU-PF since
the 1970s
when, as a student in Britain, he was its representative in Europe
in the
war to end white minority rule in Zimbabwe.
media have been all over Makoni in a style that makes
Britney Spears'
relationship with the paparazzi look calm and courteous.
The Harare
Herald newspaper poured contemptuous scorn on the attention given
the Makoni
candidacy by independent and international media. In reality, the
suggested, Makoni is a political embarrassment and his candidacy for
president "the loud fart all silently agree never happened."
threatening was the reaction of the so-called veterans of Zimbabwe's
against the white regime of Ian Smith in the 1970s. Most of these thugs
too young to have fought in the war and are in reality a murderous
militia used by Mugabe against his opponents.
The "veterans" have branded
Makoni a traitor in line with propaganda on
state-controlled radio
insinuating that he is an agent of the British
government. Mugabe claims
Zimbabwe's problems (inflation is at 150,000 per
cent and unemployment over
70 per cent) stem from a secret British
government campaign to make Zimbabwe
a colony again.
I first came across Makoni about 20 years ago when he was
one of the chosen
elite riding the gravy train of foreign donor money aimed
at undermining
apartheid in South Africa.
It could be a lucrative
business, fighting apartheid.
Makoni's corner of this windfall was as the
executive secretary of the
Southern African Development Community (SADC), an
alliance of the nine
so-called "frontline states" adjacent to South Africa
and dedicated to
overthrowing the apartheid regime there.
SADC was
too internally divided to be a real threat to Pretoria. But Makoni
adopted the haughty demeanor of someone at the controls of a
powerful organization. Makoni was shuffled to SADC after being
minister, at age 30, in Mugabe's first government in 1980.
His former
liberation war fighter colleagues found Makoni too clever, too
sharp and too
intellectually arrogant. They persuaded Mugabe to get rid of
That mistrust of Makoni is still around, especially among the
leaders of ZANU-PF who have experienced Makoni's intellectual
Outside the party Makoni has some following, especially among
those with the
benefit of not knowing him.
Those who know Makoni
continue to hold he is driven by shallow ambition and
does not have the
qualities to pull Zimbabwe back from Mugabe's destruction.
And his chances
of beating Mugabe are nil.
International Affairs Columnist
Radio Africa (London)
7 February 2008
Posted to the web 8 February
Tererai Karimakwenda
Thirteen Zimbabweans from the
Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg that
was raided by South African
police last week are still in detention, facing
charges of being illegal
immigrants. They are the last out of a group of
1,500 refugees who were
arrested at the church shelter run by Bishop Paul
Verryn said the remaining 13 detainees are due to appear in court on
Tuesday. Most possess legal documents but they had not yet been given the
opportunity to produce them. The Bishop confirmed that a small number had no
documents at all. It had been feared that they would be deported but the
Bishop said none had been sent back to Zimbabwe.
At the time of
the late night raid, police said they were looking for
criminals, drugs and
guns. Nothing illegal was found on the premises and it
is now the actions of
the police themselves that are in the spotlight. Some
refugees who were
released last week accused the police of forcing them to
pay bribes for
their freedom. This was after Bishop Verryn reported that the
police had
used excessive force during the raid, assaulting him and his
As a result the Independent Complaints Directorate is
investigating the
conduct of police officers who took part in the raid.
Verryn said he is
shocked at police treatment of foreigners in South Africa,
both with and
without legal papers. He explained: "One of the things that
happened to some
of the people that did have papers is that their papers
were torn up by
police officers and what was said to them was these papers
came from the
Mbeki government and he is no longer in power. Some of the
stuff that is
happening around the rest of the country is very, very
difficult to
understand in a human rights concept," said Verryn.
Bishop said the Zimbabweans arrested last week were released with
from prominent human rights lawyer George Bizos and lawyers from
private firms who volunteered their services. Bizos has represented
opposition officials in Zimbabwe, including MDC President Morgan
International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies
Date: 08
Feb 2008
By Mark South
In the wake of floods which have left
thousands homeless, the Zimbabwe Red
Cross are seeking long-term solutions
to the humanitarian disaster. The
Muzarabani region, close to the border
with Mozambique in the north east of
the country, experiences minor flooding
in most years, but this year heavy
rains have resulted in the highest water
levels for two decades. Many
farming families are new to the region,
attracted by Muzarabani's famously
productive soil, and, according to
Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Red
Cross Emma Kundishora, their lack of
awareness of the flood threat made them
particularly vulnerable.
lot of people have moved to the area quite recently because the land is
fertile. Crops grow very well there, sometimes farmers don't even need to
use fertilizer, and a lot of the people affected by the flooding are new
arrivals. It's a very attractive place to live as far as agriculture is
concerned,' she said. 'People who have lived there a long time know how to
build only on the higher ground but recently a lot more huts had been built
close to the river and on the low-lying fields. These huts could not
withstand the flooding and the people who lived there are now
Working in conjunction with the local authorities and other
aid agencies the
Red Cross had been encouraging people not to build on the
vulnerable flood
plains and to move to higher ground. With their houses
wiped from the face
of the land, many families now have no choice but to
head to higher ground
where the Red Cross has been distributing shelter and
other practical aid.
The challenge now is, as Kundishora sees it, to make
this short-term
relocation to higher land permanent. 'We're helping people
move to higher
ground temporarily and in the long term we need to look at
resettling people
on higher ground permanently, away from the danger of
flooding,' explained
Kundishora. 'In Muzarabani and other areas we know that
if there are heavy
rains then they will flood – we were aware of the danger,
we were prepared
and because of this we were the first humanitarian agency
on the ground.
'A lot of people have already moved to higher ground but
the danger is that
as the waters subside they will begin creeping back into
the vulnerable
areas.' Even in the face of ruinous flooding, the secretary
general knows
that convincing people not to return to the site of their
former homes will
be a hard sell, but because many of those affected are new
Kundishora hopes that they will have yet to develop the strong
ties to their
land which has made relocation schemes in other areas so
difficult to
The biggest challenge she sees is one of
practicality, with the need for new
settlements on the high ground to be
equipped with sufficient infrastructure
to attract the farming families.
'After these latest floods I think those
who are new to the area will now be
ready to move, but they need to have
somewhere to move to,' she said.
'People need shelter, they need places to
rebuild, they need clean water,
they need access to schools, and they need
food now and food security for
the future. 'These are all strands of the Red
Cross response and we are
cooperating across the board to ensure this is a
successful, sustainable
long term recovery.'
Steven Price in Harare
February 8,
The ongoing problems faced by the media inside Zimbabwe continued
with the
barring of a senior cricket writer from Queens Sports Club in
Mehluli Sibanda, who writes for the Sunday News, was told
earlier this week
by Stanley Staddon, the Bulawayo Metropolitan Cricket
Association (BMCA)
chairman, that he would not be allowed to cover the
one-day match between
Zimbabwe and the Warriors on Sunday (February
Sibanda was given no reason, and the move is all the more surprising
in that
usually no accreditation is needed for a match which will attract
spectators and almost no journalists. A BMCA source said that Staddon
acting unilaterally and the issue had not been raised with the
The source told Cricinfo that Staddon and Sibanda have fallen out
before. A
few years ago Sibanda wrote a scathing article following Staddon's
as Matabeleland Cricket Association vice-chairman. It is believed
that at
one stage Staddon threatened legal action over the article but it
never came
to anything. Last year, during the Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka A match
in Bulawayo,
Staddon unsuccessfully attempted to ban Sibanda from joining
journalists claiming he was improperly dressed.
Staddon is a
somewhat controversial character who was appointed to the
Zimbabwe Cricket
Union board in 2004 and the following year was named on the
committee put in pace by the Sports and Recreation Commission.
However, when
a new board was elected in 2006, Staddon's name was a notable
absentee. An
attempt to regain his place last year failed when there was a
clerical error
in his application.
Steven Price is a freelance journalist based in
© Cricinfo
With more than 3,000 inmates, Chikurubi maximum security prison in Zimbabwe
is a place of disease, brutality and death. Mann, an old Etonian and the son of
a former England cricket captain, had spent the past four years incarcerated
there, enduring beatings, inedible food and plagued by illness and lice. This week, after being secretly extradited from Zimbabwe to the fetid west
African state of Equatorial Guinea, he must now wish he was back in Chikurubi,
despite such awful conditions. Scroll down for more... Captured: Simon Mann, left and another alleged conspirator, after their 2004
arrest Mann had originally been jailed in Zimbabwe in 2004 for plotting with a team
of mercenaries under his command to stage an armed coup in Equatorial Guinea,
once dubbed the 'Dachau of the Continent' due to its state-sponsored brutality.
This week, after he was paraded in manacles on state television by his new
Equatorial Guinea captors, Mann's wife, friends and British diplomats anxiously
demanded guarantees that the 55-year-old would not be harmed. Ordeal: Simon's wife Amanda The extraordinary saga of Simon Mann has been shrouded in lies, secrecy and
misinformation. Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea, both international pariahs,
refuse to provide details of this week's hand-over. Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe, his country in ruins with inflation at
25,000 per cent and worthless bank notes fluttering through the streets, has
banned all foreign journalists. But as Mann was about to be bundled out of
Chikurubi last week, I clandestinely entered the country to discover the truth.
It is estimated that one in five of Zimbabwe's 13million population work for
the Central Intelligence Organisation, a fearsome security network originally
trained by the East German Stasi and interrogation specialists from North Korea.
After secretly interviewing prisoners, jail officials, lawyers and
intelligence officials, I can tell the story of how Mann had hoped to carry off
the biggest pay-day in the history of private warfare. It is a tale of greed, treachery and betrayal. It is also laced with
allegations that Western intelligence agents tacitly sanctioned Mann's audacious
- and ultimately doomed - attempt to take control of Equatorial Guinea - a
country with some of the world's biggest oil reserves. After initially being arrested in Zimbabwe, Mann endured a dehumanising time
in Chikurubi. For 18 hours a day, he was shackled in leg and wrist irons, which
caused gangrenous sores. Although he had a chronic hernia problem, he was
repeatedly refused medical treatment. Suffering from a bad hip - the price of dodging bombs and bullets when he
fought as a mercenary in wars throughout Africa and the world - he was in
constant pain. His poor diet also caused problems with his teeth and eyes. He
feared he was going blind. But Mann had powerful friends. After being placed in a single cell with 40
other prisoners, where male rape was widespread and many of the inmates HIV
positive, he was moved to another, less harsh, wing. There, he was allowed a
cell - with no bed and a concrete floor - shared with only six other inmates.
Holton Mackenzie, a Zimbabwean serving an indeterminate sentence for 'crimes
against the state', said the Englishman fitted in well: 'We all liked him. He
was a good man.' With huge bribes being passed to prison staff by unnamed Mann supporters, the
mercenary worked on boosting his popularity by sharing magazines and other
contraband smuggled in by prison officers. Jonathan Samkange, his solicitor and close friend, ensured that special food
parcels were smuggled in three times a week, containing beef, chicken, eggs and
vegetables. Although Mann's hip and hernia still caused him problems, these packages were
lifesavers and his health improved. Scroll down for more... A cell at Equatorial Guinea's notorious Black Beach prison As a result, he avoided having to eat prison food - a diet of filthy rice
once a day or a small bowl of kapenza (a watery gruel supposedly flavoured with
small dried fish). 'He would give us what he didn't want,' said Mackenzie. After serving three years of his sentence, he was released on parole - to be
re-arrested immediately after Equatorial Guinea launched the High Court action
in Harare demanding his extradition. Mann took the news badly. 'He knew he would die if he was extradited,' one
Chikurubi inmate said. 'He said it made him sick to think about what would
happen if he was taken to Equatorial Guinea.' But his lawyer then tried to convince him that the Zimbabwe courts were
relatively independent and it wasn't a foregone conclusion that he would be
extradited. Samkange said: 'He became quite optimistic and thought he would be saved.'
Mann had even started planning for life after prison. Between trying to
exercise, by limping up and down his tiny cell, he began to write a book on
pieces of paper smuggled in by corrupt guards. Mann believed his writings would make him a fortune, revealing his role in an
audacious real-life coup attempt in the country that Frederick Forsyth visited
before writing his best-selling thriller about mercenaries, The Dogs Of War.
However, his hopes of avoiding extradition to Equatorial Guinea proved an
illusion. Hope is a foolish thing in Africa, a continent scarred by corruption,
treachery and bloodshed in battles over vast reserves of oil, diamonds and gas.
There was to be no 'fair play'. With chronic shortages of petrol and electricity, Mugabe was offered a deal
by Equatorial Guinea: oil in return for the English prisoner. Cunningly, Mugabe said he would allow the courts to decide while, privately,
he had decided Mann's fate. He regarded the Englishman, a former friend of Lady
Thatcher's son, Mark, who had once joined the former Prime Minister for
Christmas dinner, as a 'white devil'. Ten days ago, at the High Court in Harare, a judge ruled against Mann's
claims that it was unlawful to send him to a country where he would almost
certainly be tortured and killed. His lawyer, Samkange, hadn't anticipated that
a judge linked to Mugabe's Cabinet would preside over the hearing. 'I am
horrified by what has happened,' he said. Even so, Mann hoped an appeal would succeed. At the very least, it would buy
him time. Elections in Zimbabwe are scheduled for next month. Amid rumours of
rivals plotting against Mugabe, who has reduced the life expectancy of the
average Zimbabwean by three decades since coming to power in 1980, there was
also the slim prospect that he would be forced from power. Scroll down for more... Black Beach, Equatorial Guinea:There are no human rights, no proper access
for lawyers, no regular family visits and no medical supervision Yet, it was not to be. Hours after the judgment against him, Mann was
sleeping under a coarse prison blanket in Chikurubi when thugs from Zimbabwe's
feared Law and Order Section burst into his cell. Groggy, but realising what was
happening, Mann shouted for help. Accounts of what occurred next differ. According to some inmates and prison
officers, he struggled with the soldiers. He was shouting that he wanted his
lawyer. He was also punched and 'roughed up'. After being overpowered, he was
dragged outside and bundled into a white Nissan 4x4 vehicle with blacked-out
windows. His spectacles were lost in the struggle as he was wedged in the back of the
Nissan, still in shackles. Escorted by three other vehicles full of armed thugs, he was taken to the
Manyame air force base, just south of Harare. A jet was waiting to fly Mann
through the night to Equatorial Guinea. But, in extraordinary scenes on the airstrip, sources claim Zimbabwean forces
started arguing over what to do with Mann. According to some, a fight broke out
between officers charged with handing him over. Aware of the money they could make out of this prize prisoner, some wanted to
fly him to a different country, where he could be held hostage until his friends
in Britain could pay them a lucrative ransom for his release. There was a
struggle between the rival factions. Shots rang out. According to one
eye-witness account, Mann was slightly injured. What is not in dispute is that it took more than four hours to get Mann on to
the waiting aircraft, which was operating illegally and had not registered a
flight plan. The aircraft did not take off until after 5am. Friends claim that Mann was 'sold out' by Western intelligence agencies
anxious to distance themselves from a plot which they had been involved in to
seize control of vast oil reserves in Equatorial Guinea. Adam Roberts, the former Africa correspondent of The Economist and author of
The Wonga Coup, a book about the affair, said: 'Western governments - including
Spain, Britain and the United States - knew that mercenaries were cooking up a
plan to carry out a coup in Equatorial Guinea. 'The plotters believed not only that they had permission to go ahead with the
coup, but that Spain would provide military assistance once it had succeeded.
"Britain and America would have gone along with regime change in Equatorial
Guinea quite happily, as long as oil supplies were assured. But this was not the
case and the support never materialised." Such arguments are academic to Mann now, who must bitterly regret his
decision to put together a party of 70 mercenaries, intent on overthrowing
Equatorial Guinea's dictatorial president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. The coup was to have set him up for life. He had arrived in South Africa in
1997 and persuaded Mark Thatcher, a Cape Town neighbour, to invest £75,000 in
the operation, using the codename 'Scratcher'. (Thatcher claimed later he did
not know a coup was planned.) The plan was to pick up weapons in Zimbabwe and then fly to Equatorial
Guinea, meeting with a small advance party already there. A separate aircraft
would fly in Severo Moto Nsa, an exiled opposition politician, who would take
over the government and give Mann a slice of all oil profits as well as a
diplomatic passport. But agents from the South African government had infiltrated the operation
and Mugabe was tipped off about the stop-over in Zimbabwe. Mann and the other
mercenaries were arrested. Today, as he faces treason charges for his failed coup, some believe
Equatorial Guinea's President Obiang, despite his blood-thirsty threats, may
spare Mann - if he reveals who was really behind the plot. The president's
lawyers this week launched a civil case for damages in London, trying to flush
out the truth about Mann's alleged prominent backers. Meanwhile, Mann must hope that somewhere, whether in Britain, France or South
Africa, a group of his mercenary friends are plotting an audacious raid on Black
Beach prison. For hope is all that Simon Mann may now have left.


text:
Doug Johnson of PuckBuddys writes for Russian Machine. Tweet tweet.
Anyone who's had the misfortune to spend time in Ottawa has had the quintessential Canadian city experience: clean, cultured, and quietly disappointing. All the maple doughnuts and Labatt's in the world can't hide the fact that Ottawa is as appealing as lap dance from Marcus Bachmann. Puzzlingly, everyone seems mostly OK with this… albeit in a polite, deferential way. Ottawantarians seem to take civic pride in their shared, outstanding blahness. Just look the Senators.
Fedor Fedin checks in again with a translated article published in today's Soviet Sport. The article is written by Dmitry Chesnokov and is titled, "When I speak, do not stare at the ceiling!" It refers to Alex Ovechkin and a joke he makes about his new-found Captaincy. Honestly, could there be no greater title to an article? I think not.
In the text below, Ovechkin talks about Russia's Failures in the WJC, defends Nikita Filatov, and discusses what it will be like as Captain of one of the best teams in the NHL. Let's go:
Russian Machine Never Breaks is not associated with the Washington Capitals; Monumental Sports, the NHL, or its properties. Not even a little bit.
All original content on russianmachineneverbreaks.com is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)– unless otherwise stated or superseded by another license. You are free to share, copy, and remix this content so long as it is attributed, done for noncommercial purposes, and done so under a license similar to this one.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
We have over 2,500 lawyers worldwide who work wherever our clients need us. We can put together tailored, multi-skilled, international teams at very short notice. Our relationships with leading local firms enables us to deliver a truly seamless service. This means you get an unbeatable combination of international experience and understanding, tailored advice, and reliable local knowledge and contacts – whenever and wherever you need it. Find out more about our global network by choosing a country or region
To find out more about our global network please contact us
For region-specific media enquiries please contact the relevant person below. For other enquiries the London switchboard can be reached on T +44 20 7936 4000, or select a country below for specific office contact details.
Please see general contacts.
Jan Bessling+49 69 2730 85 53
Julia Griep+49 221 20 50 74 90
Jennifer Kennedy+32 2 504 7233
Eleonore Collin+32 2 504 7145
Cécile Roche+33 1 44546 2911
Marta Panizza+39 02 625 301
Matthew Harries+971 4 509 9172
Simone van Wissen+31 20 485 7560
Maite Cuerda+34 91 700 3716
Christine Kim+1 212 277 4043
If you have any queries regarding the website please email our Digital Communications team.
Login | Register
To find out more about our regional career opportunities, select from the list below
Accessibility | Legal notices | Privacy | Cookies | Ts & Cs | Responsible procurement | Transparency in Supply Chains | Attorney advertising: Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome |


text:
Guernsey hospital clears water system of legionella
- 14 March 2012
- From the section Guernsey
Legionella bacteria have been eradicated from the water system at Guernsey's Princess Elizabeth Hospital, according to the health department.
Ed Freestone, from the department, said: "We have basically cleared it out of the system and that is a really good result. We have cracked the problem."
Heat treatment was used after chemicals failed to solve the problem.
Unacceptably high levels of bacteria were found in January following the implementation of new, routine checks.
"We've found taps we never knew we had," he said.
The source of the bacteria has not been identified.
However, Mr Freestone pointed to the number of phases of development at the hospital over 80 years, leading to water lying stagnant in some lengths of redundant pipe-work.
Mr Freestone said all the plumbing in the hospital would now be "flushed at regular intervals".


text: View Full Chapter Figures Only Tables Only Videos Only Print Share Email Twitter Facebook Linkedin Reddit Get Citation Citation AMA Citation Federico MJ, Baker CD, Balasubramaniam V, Deboer EM, Deterding RR, Halbower A, Kupfer O, Martiniano SL, Sagel SD, Stillwell P, Zemanick ET. Federico M.J., Baker C.D., Balasubramaniam V, Deboer E.M., Deterding R.R., Halbower A, Kupfer O, Martiniano S.L., Sagel S.D., Stillwell P, Zemanick E.T. Federico, Monica J., et al.Respiratory Tract & Mediastinum. In: Hay WW, Jr., Levin MJ, Deterding RR, Abzug MJ. Hay W.W., Jr., Levin M.J., Deterding R.R., Abzug M.J. Eds. William W. Hay, Jr., et al.eds. CURRENT Diagnosis & Treatment: Pediatrics, 22e New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2013. http://accessphysiotherapy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=1016§ionid=61598249. Accessed March 26, 2017. MLA Citation Federico MJ, Baker CD, Balasubramaniam V, Deboer EM, Deterding RR, Halbower A, Kupfer O, Martiniano SL, Sagel SD, Stillwell P, Zemanick ET. Federico M.J., Baker C.D., Balasubramaniam V, Deboer E.M., Deterding R.R., Halbower A, Kupfer O, Martiniano S.L., Sagel S.D., Stillwell P, Zemanick E.T. Federico, Monica J., et al.. "Respiratory Tract & Mediastinum." CURRENT Diagnosis & Treatment: Pediatrics, 22e Hay WW, Jr., Levin MJ, Deterding RR, Abzug MJ. Hay W.W., Jr., Levin M.J., Deterding R.R., Abzug M.J. Eds. William W. Hay, Jr., et al. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2013, http://accessphysiotherapy.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=1016§ionid=61598249. Download citation file: RIS (Zotero) EndNote BibTex Medlars ProCite RefWorks Reference Manager © Copyright Tools Search Book Top Return Clip Chapter 19: Respiratory Tract & Mediastinum Monica J. Federico, MD; Christopher D. Baker, MD; Vivek Balasubramaniam, MD; Emily M. Deboer, MD; Robin R. Deterding, MD; Ann Halbower, MD; Oren Kupfer, MD; Stacey L. Martiniano, MD; Scott D. Sagel, MD; Paul Stillwell, MD; Edith T. Zemanick, MD ++ RESPIRATORY TRACT ++ Pediatric pulmonary diseases account for almost 50% of deaths in children younger than age 1 year and about 20% of all hospitalizations of children younger than age 15 years. Approximately 7% of children have a chronic disorder of the lower respiratory system. Understanding the pathophysiology of many pediatric pulmonary diseases requires an appreciation of the normal growth and development of the lung. ++ GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT ++ The lung has its origins from an outpouching of the foregut during the fourth week of gestation. The development of the lung is divided into five overlapping stages. ++ Embryonic stage (3–7 weeks' gestation): During this stage, the primitive lung bud undergoes asymmetrical branching and then subsequent dichotomous branching, leading to the development of the conducting airways. This stage of lung development is dependent on a complex interaction of various growth factors originating in both the pulmonary epithelium and the splanchnic mesenchyme. It also sees the development of the large pulmonary arteries from the sixth aortic arch and the pulmonary veins as outgrowths of the left atrium. Abnormalities during this stage result in congenital abnormalities such as lung aplasia, tracheoesophageal fistula, and congenital pulmonary cysts. Pseudoglandular stage (5–17 weeks' gestation): During this stage, which overlaps with the embryonic stage, the lung has a glandular appearance. The conducting airways (bronchi and bronchioles) form over these 12 weeks. The respiratory epithelium of these airways begins to differentiate, and the presence of cartilage, smooth muscle cells, and mucus glands are first seen. In addition, the pleuroperitoneal cavity divides into two distinct compartments. Abnormalities during this stage lead to pulmonary sequestration, cystic adenomatoid malformation, and congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Canalicular stage (16–26 weeks' gestation): This stage witnesses the delineation of the pulmonary acinus. The alveolar type II cells differentiate into type I cells, the pulmonary capillary network develops, and the alveolar type I cells closely approximate with the developing capillary network. Abnormalities of development during this stage include neonatal respiratory distress syndrome and lung hypoplasia. Saccular stage (26–36 weeks' gestation): During this stage further branching of the terminal saccules takes place as well as a thinning of the interstitium and fusion of the type I cell and capillary basement membrane in preparation for the lungs' function as a gas-exchange organ. This stage sees the beginning of an exponential increase in the epithelial surface area for gas exchange. During this stage of lung development the lung is able to fulfill its function, in terms of a gas-exchange organ. Alveolar stage (36 weeks' gestation to 3–8 years of age): Controversy surrounds the length of this stage of lung development. During this stage, secondary alveolar septa form to increase the surface area for gas exchange, the capillary network has a rapid phase of growth, and true alveoli develop. Abnormalities during this stage lead to lung hypoplasia and can result in the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). ++ At birth, the lung assumes the ... Log In to View MoreIf you don't have a subscription, please view our individual subscription options below to find out how you can gain access to this content. MyAccess Sign In Username Password Create a Free MyAccess Profile Forgot Password? Forgot Username? Want remote access to your institution's subscription? Sign in via OpenAthens Sign in via Shibboleth Want remote access to your institution's subscription? Sign in to your MyAccess profile while you are actively authenticated on this site via your institution (you will be able to verify this by looking at the top right corner of the screen - if you see your institution's name, you are authenticated). Once logged in to your MyAccess profile, you will be able to access your institution's subscription for 90 days from any location. You must be logged in while authenticated at least once every 90 days to maintain this remote access. Ok About MyAccess If your institution subscribes to this resource, and you don't have a MyAccess profile, please contact your library's reference desk for information on how to gain access to this resource from off-campus. Ok Subscription Options AccessPhysiotherapy Full Site: One-Year Subscription Connect to the full suite of AccessPhysiotherapy content and resources including interactive NPTE review, more than 500 videos, Anatomy & Physiology Revealed, 20+ leading textbooks, and more. $595 USD Buy Now Pay Per View: Timed Access to all of AccessPhysiotherapy 24 Hour Subscription $34.95 Buy Now 48 Hour Subscription $54.95 Buy Now


text:
How much exposure? by DavidBarker, AMVETS : Ohio The fact is if you were in Long Binh during that period you had a higher exposure to Agent Orange than most veterans. Agent Orange Duty Officers Logs I obtained back in 1983 when I was writing a series of articles on Agent Orange. The VA doesn't concern itself with how much concentration of Agent Orange was used in a certain area. The VA conceded many years ago that if you were in-country from 1965 to 71 you were exposed. The fact is if you were in Long Binh during that period you had a higher exposure than most veterans.Agent Orangefrom Duty Officers Logs I obtained back in 1983 when I was writing a series of articles on Agent Orange. Most of them are in the book you have on your computer. The problem we have with conditions is the VA agreed to abide with the findings of the National Academy of Sciences/Institute of Medicine. Their reports are slow coming out and every two years (or so) a report is issued. The VA complicates it by asking for rare (most don't have) conditions to be developed first. This does two things. First it shows progress. Second the progress will be less costly, as it goes to the minimal amount of veterans. An example is the birth defects. The study recognizes spina bifida (SB), but not cerebral palsy (CP). There is a higher rate of incidence on CP than SB but many more children with CP. The VA has shown they are doing something. However it is for far less people than they could. So we have the age old problem of we all know the situation; but, those in power only do what is required and the politicians go on their merry way reaping all they can and leaving the veteran outside looking in. We need action on these issues and we need it now!
Response to David Barker I thought your post was very interesting about Long Binh and the fact that if you were stationed there during this certain period, you had a higher exposure to Agent Orange. My husband, who recently passed away, was stationed at Long Binh in 1969-70 and was the first family member ever diagnosed with colon cancer. He was diagnosed in 2000. Just wondering if this is worth pursuing with the VA or just another statistic.
tippy: In theory If your husband died of one of the conditions presumptive of AO exposure you could file posthumously and be awarded DIC at around $1,000/mo. The only problem with that is that I don't believe cancer of the colon qualifies. Go here and look at the list of presumptive conditions: http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/benefits/herbicide/#bm05 OTOH, there's noting to stop you from filing a direct claim that exposure to AO caused/contributed to your husbands death from colon cancer. In that case the burden would be on you to prove a scientific link between colon cancer and AO exposure. Up to you.


text:
Jessica and James are hosting a selection of new art from some of their favorite locals (including Libby & Steeb) at dear edison and the lucky dumpster. This Saturday July 15th 5pm-close.
Dear Edison and the Lucky Dumpster are located at 14011 mctaggart ave in charming edison, washington. (just south of chuckanut drive, near the longhorn saloon.)
Monday, July 10, 2006
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
gallery walk friday july 7th
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)


text:
The following is a list of online courses currently scheduled. Participants will have one or two weeks depending on the course to progressively complete the readings, watch the videos, answer the instructor's questions on the discussion board, post at least two replies to peers' comments, complete the assessments, and complete any supplementary assignments. It is expected that participants will dedicate time every day, throughout the week, for a total time of at least 5-7 hours per week, depending on the individual's pace. You may log in at anytime each day to complete the assignments.
Take all of the courses in this schedule in online modality or mix and match courses in online and face-to-face modalities. If you intend to take at least one online course listed, also select the Technology Fee. Only pay the technology fee once, which will give you the access to the online system for one year from the activation of your personal code. Flyer for Online Courses Offered in English
Cursos En Línea En Español All courses: www.cathdal.org/affevents


text:
Dead Snow 7/10 Nazi zombies in the snow. Quite amusing although I've see too much zombie/found footage/monster/comedy horror stuff lately so I was not really in the mood for it. |
#9060311, By Max_Powers Rate the last film you watched out of 100
Max_Powers 1,209 posts
Seen 9 hours ago
Registered 13 years ago


text:
Your dad had let us have the blog number and have thoroughly enjoyed reading about you trip and looking at the photos. Ended on the Noma one
and does not seem as though there is anything yet on where you are now.
Will keep looking in hopes. Love Lyn
Noma... If only.
Trip Start
Aug 12, 2011
Trip End
Jan 31, 2012
Where I stayed
Generator Hostel
We also enjoyed a pleasant coincidence in Copenhagen - we had been chatting by skype to Mim's cousin in Bergen (see Norway leg still to come) and discovered his parents were in Copenhagen. Rapid text messages were exchanged and Mim's aunt and uncle, Graham and Rosa met us at the train station when we arrived. A family friend of theirs living in Copenhagen took us out to a traditional Danish meal after we had dumped our gear. Salmon and Carlsberg? Pretty Danish. We had to laugh at the Carlsberg brewery advertisements claiming that it was probably the best beer around. After dinner, we discovered that Copenhagen has an amazing feel to it at night. There were wide cobblestone streets, waterways with stone statues, copper fountains and curiously beautiful shopfront displays lit up. Turns out they quite like copper, and a lot of the buildings and public edifices had roofs or ornaments that had a greenish patina. Combined with the red brick the overall look was beautiful.
The next morning we took an obligatory canal cruise to get the feel of the city better, and saw Nyhaven with it's yachts and bright colored shop fronts and Noma - right on the wharf in a converted warehouse . We went to a museum that houses the work of Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen. After a salmon sandwich (more salmon, always more salmon) we visited the national museum- which had massive stockpiles of flint axes and knives and so on, bronze swords, shields and ancient horns (the musical instrument) along with Viking boats, people and aurochs that had fallen in bogs and been preserved. The rune stones from around the time of conversion to Christianity ~1000ad had been uprooted and were also there.
Not sure what it is that is so tiring about museums, but we were so afflicted we sought out table and chairs on the cobblestones with a pick-me-up and watched the Danish foot traffic go by with Graham and Rosa. Every now and then there'd be a super sized Dane with blond or red hair, very tall and in fact just all round large. We figured they were of Viking stock. We had been a bit excited up until then, because we had heard so much about the Tivoli gardens and now it was time! The atmosphere is difficult to describe without being there - they're not really gardens, although they have lots of fountains and garden beds. Mostly it's an old-school amusement park with rides, side show alleys and nice restaurants. Copenhagen was Hans Christian Andersens old home; the master of fairy tales, and the Tivoli gardens felt as if they had been heavily influenced by him - in a good way!
Catching the ferry to Oslo seemed like a good idea, so we booked the cabin the next morning and spent our last day in copenhagen feverishly trying to fit in all the things that we wanted to. We did pretty well considering; we skidded here and there around town not wanting to miss out on such a stylish city. Mim got sized up for a very nice hat by milliner and had to be steered away. It was an amazing shop and the milliner's wooden hat molding tools were all out on the floor. We thought this very atmospheric but it turned out to be because they were there to dry out after some bad flooding in Copenhagen recently. We didnt make any purchases because the hats were in Mary Donaldson's price range. We found an amber store (theres lots of lumps of it washed up on denmarks coast with insects trapped inside, so they make jewelry out of it), our food nose located a wharfside luncheon spot (fish, of course) and then whizzed down to the botanical gardens and saw the best castle in town. Still made it to our cruise ship to Oslo in time, and up on the deck for evening drinks as the sun went down. It was freezing cold out there but people were sitting with their beers, and a few Danes were swimming on a lower deck. Neither of us being casino goers or hsving brought any clothes remotely acceptable, we moved inside for cocktails. Our cabin was notably bigger than the train equivalent, one could swing a moderately sized moggy at least a half-circle in this one.
Miriam insisted on being up for the dawn so up we went, got coffee, planned some of our Norway leg quite distracted by the tiny towns and islands off Oslo with their houses all painted in different colours.


text:
In the light
13.12.10This beautiful Boston home was featured in Traditional Home, and I couldn't resist sharing it for the incredible amount of light that floods in. The home is a Georgian colonial which typically has plenty of windows, but here they seem over sized and facing the right direction. The interior designer who worked on this is Michael Carter of Carter and Company, and he did a fabulous job of really playing up the light with soft walls, and bold accents. I love that the family room, has a little pocket of fun within it's neutral scheme; a games table and chairs covered in red velvet! The master bedroom with it's blue rug, headboard and bead skirt, just pops out against the creamy walls and upholstery. A fabulous home, with many details to admire.
6 comments
Dreamy creamy! I am always in awe at how designers use just the right splash of colour plus just the right colour to work with the over all look
Check out my great "Wool And The Gang" Give away


text:
Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files - Dark Tournament Saga: Deadly Toguro [Edited] (DVD 18)
Title: Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files - Dark Tournament Saga: Deadly Toguro [Edited]
Volume: DVD 18
Running time: 60
Distributor: FUNimation Entertainment
Release date: 2003-11-04
Suggested retail price: $19.95
Age rating: MA13
After being informed of Genaki's death, Kuwabara strikes in rage at the elder Toguro only to learn of his amazing defensive ability. Kuwabara must somehow control his rage and keep his wits if he is to defeat the bizarre adversary in the most intense battle of his life. Sakyo proposes that Yusuke and the younger Toguro settle the finals themselves. If Yusuke wins, Sakyo will sacrifice himself! Not to be outdone, Koenma makes the same promise should Toguro win! Yusuke's dream of making the finals of the Dark Tournament has become reality. Walking away in one piece might not be so easy!
(added on 2010-02-03)
- Encyclopedia information about Yu Yu Hakusho: Ghost Files (TV)


text:
Laura Marling
Where Can I Go?
With its rich, reedy organ and Marling's (pictured) wise-beyond-her-years voice, this is a truly wonderful comeback single. Timeless and uncomplicated Anglo-Americana.
The Knife
A Tooth for an Eye
This song is reliant on an off-kilter Afro-beat rhythm that distracts and disorientates as much as it drives the track forward. Smart, subtle and sophisticated songwriting.
Demon to Lean On
Nathan Williams isn't the most likeable character in the overtly obnoxious garage rock scene but, as his music deepens emotionally, he sounds less Beavis and Butthead and more Neutral Milk Hotel.
5AM in Toronto
Never one for modesty, Drake rages at "haters" while boasting of his own Sinatra-lifestyle. As always, accidental comedy ensues; this time when he spends a verse complaining of people not "feeling themselves" enough'.
1939 Ensemble
Sad French Song
Complex time-signatures and a snare so high in the mix it actually makes you jump. Needless to say this is a project by two drummers – namely The Breeders' Jose Medeles and Portland based drum instructor David Coniglo.
Smith Westerns
The lead single from the band's new 'Soft Will' LP sees them move further into melodic indie pop.
- More about:
- Alternative Rock
- Artists
- Garage Music
- Garage Rock
- Indie Music
- Music
- Toronto


text:
On Wednesday, my contra calling class had a meeting to plan our May 2 graduation dance. I got some insight into dance programming by listening to Merri think out loud as she placed callers in the lineup.
I spent time on Tuesday and Wednesday researching dances on line. There are a lot of sources, including a Filemaker database (American Country Dances On Line, served on a Mac), that is downloadable. Which I did. And then started adding other dances. Here's a list of sources of dances, both online and off (scroll for online resources).
I find myself attracted to dances by name, which is probably dangerous. But how could I resist a dance called "24th of October" (my birthday). I can't give you a URL directly to the dance; it's in the American Country Dances On Line database. So here it is:
24th of October
By Don LennartsonLevel | med (assigned by the editor) |
Type | Contra |
Formation | Becket |
A1 | (8) Long lines go forward and back (8) Ladies chain |
A2 | (8) Left-hand star This is the progression (8) With a new neighbor allemande right 1 1/2 to long waves with gents facing in |
B1 | (4) Balance the wave (4) Circulate to new waves (gents cross into P's place; ladies arc right into N's place) (4) Balance (4) Circulate to new waves (gents arc, ladies cross) |
B2 | (4) Balance (4) Circulate (gents cross, ladies arc) (8) Partners swing |
Editor's Notes:
Based on Steve Schnur's 24th of June.
This dance is from American Country Dances On Line
All rights reserved by the author; used by permission.
Added to database 3/19/1997; last revised 3/5/1999; edited by Russell Owen
As an MWSD dancer and caller, the circulates look pretty trivial. But Merri thought this would be pretty hard to call...spitting out the "balance" and "circulate" (plus any helper words to get the dancers through an unfamiliar figure) will be challenging. I'm looking forward to it. And I'm practicing.


text:
A sign informs travelers about Millimeter Wave Detection technology used in full body scanners at Midway Airport in Chicago. The scanners produce less-revealing images than those that use X-rays. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Scott Olson/Getty Images The Two-Way 'Invasive' Body Scanners Will Be Removed From Airports January 18, 2013 Body scanners that have been criticized as producing images of travelers that are too revealing are being removed from airport security check points, after a supplier did not rewrite the machines' software to make the images they produce less revealing.
The Two-Way Stranded Jet Skier Breaches Multimillion Dollar Security System At JFK Airport August 14, 2012 A jet skier runs out of gas in water near JFK airport. So he swims to shore, climbs an airport fence and walks across two runways to find help. He is never detected by security officials.
Blog Of The Nation Truth Squad-ing TSA Security December 6, 2010 We've heard rumors in recent weeks that TSA scanners show and store nude pictures and can cause cancer, among other concerns. Popular Mechanics uncovers 'The Truth About TSA Airport Scanning.'


text:
LG launches Vu 3 smartphone with 4:3 aspect ratio, 5.2-inch display
LG has launched a new addition to its Optimus Vu smartphone range, one which uses a 4:3 aspect ratio display. The LG Vu 3 retains almost the same screen dimensions of its predecessor, as previously rumored, with a 5.2-inch 1,280x960 IPS display and the addition of a Rubberdium stylus bringing it closer to being competition for the Samsung Galaxy Note range.

 Running on Android 4.2.2, it uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor running at 2.26GHz with 2GB of RAM, reports FoneArena. On the back is a 13-megapixel camera with LED flash, cellular connectivity extends to the 150Mbps LTE-Advanced, and Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS are also included. An optional Quick View translucent case shows some notifications to the user through the front cover while protecting the screen, its Notebook app uses the stylus with eight drawing tools, and a Knock On mode wakes the Vu 3 with a double screen tap.

 The LG Vu 3 will shipping in South Korea from September 27th on the three major carriers though pricing has yet to be revealed. Though the Vu has been released further afield in the past, it is possible that this will remain a domestic release. |
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 04:11 AM. |
Copyright © 2005-2007 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
Copyright ©2000 - 2017, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.


text:
Art in the kitchen can be a fun thing to play around with. Creative prints can be adorable. Large art canvases can be surprising. Heck, even collections of favorite items can become art for the kitchen. But if you're looking for something a little tongue-in-cheek and literal to add to the place where you make food, you might be searching for a clear directive to hang on your wall: Eat.
1. EAT Mid-Century Large Vintage Inspired Sign – $375
2. Eat Sign for Kitchen – $58
3. Retro Black Eat Sign – $29
4. EAT Yellow Wood Kitchen Sign $28
5. EAT Vintage-Inspired Wood Sign – $45
Want some literal art for the bathroom? Water Prints for the Bathroom
Images: As linked above