Me “Jesus white people are dumb.”

The Missus “Uh…we’ve been over this. You’re white.”

Me “I am NOT white.”

The Missus “You are white.”

Me “No, I am not white.”

The Missus “You are white. I am white. The kids are white. We’re all white.”

Me “I am NOT white.”

The Missus “We both have blue eyes, white skin, two white kids. We’re white.”

Me “I am NOT white.”

The Missus “You’re British.”

Me “So?”

The Missus “You’re white. You are what happens when white meets bread. You are white.”

Me “I am NOT white. I don’t like hockey, I don’t try to dance, I don’t go to The Hard Rock Cafe, hang out in food courts, I don’t watch Oprah, I don’t swim, fish or hunt, own a small yappy dog or listen to Steely Dan. I don’t drive a Volvo, have any vanilla scented candles, go to yoga, wear Dockers or even vote. I am NOT white.”

The Missus “Cracker.”

Me “Really? Okay so if I am white then why don’t we have any U2 albums?”

The Missus “That has nothing to do with being white, that is just good taste and common sense.”

Me “I am NOT white. White people do weird things and their houses smell different. Like why do white people ski or bobsled? Have you ever seen me put mayonnaise on french fries or grow a ponytail? I don’t own a fanny pack, golf and we do not microwave Uncle Bens rice. I am NOT white.”

The Missus “Look in the mirror Whitey. That is a honky staring back at you.”

Me “That proves nothing. I don’t go kayaking and never watched Everybody Loves Raymond.”

The Missus “You built an Ikea cabinet last weekend. It doesn’t get much whiter than that.”

Me “Okay I will concede the Ikea and spraying Febreeze and I will even volunteer that I secretly occasionally enjoy Robbie Williams, but that doesn’t make me white. White people do stupid shit. See?”

Shear lunacy: No beating about the bush for gardener who trimmed his privet hedge… with a ride-on lawnmower and a crane

The man was spotted during his mid-air feat by a bemused passer-by in Cambridge, New Zealand earlier this month.
Bart Dinger managed to snap the pictures of the perilous pruning manoeuvre.
‘I couldn’t work out why cars were slowing down until I caught sight of the crane,’ he explained

The Missus “That doesn’t count. He was from New Zealand. They’re nuts.”

Me “True, but how about this?”

Climate change fears spark ‘new nuclear age’
Even some green groups now see power source as ‘part of the answer’

From China to Brazil, 53 plants are now under construction worldwide, with Poland, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia seeking to build their first reactors, according to global watchdog groups and industry associations. The number of plants being built is double the total of just five years ago.

Me “And now, that they are finally getting it, let’s take a peek at white those same people who are finally beginnng to understand have accomplished by fighting against this for so many years and the damage that THEY could have prevented in the first place.”

Climate ‘is a major cause’ of conflict in Africa

Northwestern Kenya’s drought has brought conflict between pastoralists
Their study shows an increase of about 50% over the next 20 years.

Kittens the folks in Africa and around the world can at least partially thank the non-science and publicity stunts of the folks in Greenpeace and their kind for making sure climate change happened with their propagandist fear mongering.

You don’t have to be a fan of nuclear energy to understand how the dots have connected and who has been responsible for helping climate change destroy our planet. We could have at least partially prevented climate change if it weren’t for the years of fear mongering from Greenpeace because they refused to accept science, much the same way some people refuse to accept the works of Darwin, usually with the same fear tactics.

Fighting against nuclear power has helped them raise a hell of a lot of funds. Funds that paid the for the cheap stunts which raised more funds and ultimately went into the pockets of those working for Greenpeace exactly the same way televangelists have picket the pockets of people who possibly though well intended are content to merely cut a cheque and mail it to the people that claim to have simple and easy to understand answers rather than inform themselves and ask the hard questions to the people who actually study these things.

It has been this blissfull ignorance and willingness to accept the sideshow antics of a few people who’s stock and trade is fear and cheap stunts that has mankind scrambling to erase the damages caused by propaganda spewed out by people who are raking in a shitload of of money by keeping people terrified.

If you don’t believe me or agree, then spend 47 seconds watching this.

Sick to your stomach yet?

That my Kittens is just one of their many very slickly produced anti-nuclear energy commercials. It suggests that the biggest act of terrorism ever committed is something to be used as a marketing tool.

These are the folks protecting you from yourself and keeping the world safe from scientists who actually have science on their side.

It is one thing to rape the people who send in donations to these glorified hecklers, but it is another for them to have played a major part in contributing to climate change because of their fear mongering and to not accept that because of this, people in Darfur and around the world are dying right now….and now….oooh there goes a few more….and no…….yup, now too….and so on because of them.

Like I said Kittens, you don’t have to be or not be a fan of nuclear energy or even care about dying Africans. Believe me though, those folks in Africa sure could use the money that Greenpeace takes in every year to feed themselves and having clean water and a power grid would allow them to raise themselves out of poverty, disease, famine and slavery.

If Greenpeace were to donate all of their money that they have ever received from their anti nuclear campaigns, they could build hospitals, farms and a clean energy power grid.

Where is their commercial asking you to send money to African charities for those causes instead of them?

You will never ever see one because there isn’t any money in it for them and starving Africans don’t need their commercials to act scary. Famine, disease, war and human suffering is scary enough without Greenpeace’s help and besides, you won’t see many Greenpeace stuntmen trying to hang a banner on a man with a machete saying “save the planet.”

Bookmark this on Delicious

Me “Jesus white people are dumb.”

The Missus “Uh…we’ve been over this. You’re white.”

Me “I am NOT white.”

The Missus “You are white.”

Me “No, I am not white.”

The Missus “You are white. I am white. The kids are white. We’re all white.”

Me “I am NOT white.”

The Missus “We both have blue eyes, white skin, two white kids. We’re white.”

Me “I am NOT white.”

The Missus “You’re British.”

Me “So?”

The Missus “You’re white. You are what happens when white meets bread. You are white.”

Me “I am NOT white. I don’t like hockey, I don’t try to dance, I don’t go to The Hard Rock Cafe, hang out in food courts, I don’t watch Oprah, I don’t swim, fish or hunt, own a small yappy dog or listen to Steely Dan. I don’t drive a Volvo, have any vanilla scented candles, go to yoga, wear Dockers or even vote. I am NOT white.”

The Missus “Cracker.”

Me “Really? Okay so if I am white then why don’t we have any U2 albums?”

The Missus “That has nothing to do with being white, that is just good taste and common sense.”

Me “I am NOT white. White people do weird things and their houses smell different. Like why do white people ski or bobsled? Have you ever seen me put mayonnaise on french fries or grow a ponytail? I don’t own a fanny pack, golf and we do not microwave Uncle Bens rice. I am NOT white.”

The Missus “Look in the mirror Whitey. That is a honky staring back at you.”

Me “That proves nothing. I don’t go kayaking and never watched Everybody Loves Raymond.”

The Missus “You built an Ikea cabinet last weekend. It doesn’t get much whiter than that.”

Me “Okay I will concede the Ikea and spraying Febreeze and I will even volunteer that I secretly occasionally enjoy Robbie Williams, but that doesn’t make me white. White people do stupid shit. See?”

Shear lunacy: No beating about the bush for gardener who trimmed his privet hedge… with a ride-on lawnmower and a crane

The man was spotted during his mid-air feat by a bemused passer-by in Cambridge, New Zealand earlier this month.
Bart Dinger managed to snap the pictures of the perilous pruning manoeuvre.
‘I couldn’t work out why cars were slowing down until I caught sight of the crane,’ he explained

The Missus “That doesn’t count. He was from New Zealand. They’re nuts.”

Me “True, but how about this?”

Climate change fears spark ‘new nuclear age’
Even some green groups now see power source as ‘part of the answer’

From China to Brazil, 53 plants are now under construction worldwide, with Poland, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia seeking to build their first reactors, according to global watchdog groups and industry associations. The number of plants being built is double the total of just five years ago.

Me “And now, that they are finally getting it, let’s take a peek at white those same people who are finally beginnng to understand have accomplished by fighting against this for so many years and the damage that THEY could have prevented in the first place.”

Climate ‘is a major cause’ of conflict in Africa

Northwestern Kenya’s drought has brought conflict between pastoralists
Their study shows an increase of about 50% over the next 20 years.

Kittens the folks in Africa and around the world can at least partially thank the non-science and publicity stunts of the folks in Greenpeace and their kind for making sure climate change happened with their propagandist fear mongering.

You don’t have to be a fan of nuclear energy to understand how the dots have connected and who has been responsible for helping climate change destroy our planet. We could have at least partially prevented climate change if it weren’t for the years of fear mongering from Greenpeace because they refused to accept science, much the same way some people refuse to accept the works of Darwin, usually with the same fear tactics.

Fighting against nuclear power has helped them raise a hell of a lot of funds. Funds that paid the for the cheap stunts which raised more funds and ultimately went into the pockets of those working for Greenpeace exactly the same way televangelists have picket the pockets of people who possibly though well intended are content to merely cut a cheque and mail it to the people that claim to have simple and easy to understand answers rather than inform themselves and ask the hard questions to the people who actually study these things.

It has been this blissfull ignorance and willingness to accept the sideshow antics of a few people who’s stock and trade is fear and cheap stunts that has mankind scrambling to erase the damages caused by propaganda spewed out by people who are raking in a shitload of of money by keeping people terrified.

If you don’t believe me or agree, then spend 47 seconds watching this.

Sick to your stomach yet?

That my Kittens is just one of their many very slickly produced anti-nuclear energy commercials. It suggests that the biggest act of terrorism ever committed is something to be used as a marketing tool.

These are the folks protecting you from yourself and keeping the world safe from scientists who actually have science on their side.

It is one thing to rape the people who send in donations to these glorified hecklers, but it is another for them to have played a major part in contributing to climate change because of their fear mongering and to not accept that because of this, people in Darfur and around the world are dying right now….and now….oooh there goes a few more….and no…….yup, now too….and so on because of them.

Like I said Kittens, you don’t have to be or not be a fan of nuclear energy or even care about dying Africans. Believe me though, those folks in Africa sure could use the money that Greenpeace takes in every year to feed themselves and having clean water and a power grid would allow them to raise themselves out of poverty, disease, famine and slavery.

If Greenpeace were to donate all of their money that they have ever received from their anti nuclear campaigns, they could build hospitals, farms and a clean energy power grid.

Where is their commercial asking you to send money to African charities for those causes instead of them?

You will never ever see one because there isn’t any money in it for them and starving Africans don’t need their commercials to act scary. Famine, disease, war and human suffering is scary enough without Greenpeace’s help and besides, you won’t see many Greenpeace stuntmen trying to hang a banner on a man with a machete saying “save the planet.”

Bookmark this on Delicious

I dag har vi bättre kunskap än någonsin att förhindra överexploatering av naturen och de klimatorsakade konflikter som följer därpå. I strävan efter ett globalt klimatavtal inger också valet av Barack Obama stort hopp. Vi står inför vår största prövning någonsin med ett globalt klimathot. Men vårt största dilemma ligger i att omsätta kunskaper och vilja i handling.

Det första dokumenterade kriget någonsin var ett klimatkrig som utspelades i Sumer för 4 500 år sedan, ett språkområde i södra delarna av nuvarande Irak, och pågick i 200 år. Nederbörden i regionen var begränsad varför civilisationerna var beroende av vatten från floderna Eufrat och Tigris. Detta behövdes för att driva det konstbevattnade jordbruket. I takt med ökande behov uppstod stridigheter om de livsviktiga tillgångarna. Militära kraftmätningar och medling var de konfliktlösningsverktyg som tillämpades, på det området har det inte skett någon förbättring än i dag. Påskön är ett annat exempel. Mellan 1500-talet och 1700-talet minskade befolkningen med 70 procent genom total avskogning och de konflikter som följde på försämrade livsmöjligheter.
I dagens Sudan har de omfattande klimatförändringarna varit en del av orsakerna till årtionden av krig. De senaste fyrtio åren har öknen spridits hundra mil mot landets södra, tidigare fruktbara del. 40 procent av skogen har försvunnit och avverkningen fortsätter med 1,3 procent årligen. I ett land där 70 procent av befolkningen lever av lantbruk är detta förödande. Markkonflikter har lett till våldsamma stridigheter som dessutom förvärrat situationen genom att man bland annat förstört växtligheten runt bosättningar som en del av krigföringen. I den västliga Darfurprovinsen har striderna om livsutrymme resulterat i ett regeringsunderstött folkmord i vilket mellan 200 000 och 500 000 människor mördats. Sudan är det land i dag där kopplingen mellan klimatförändringar och krig är tydligast vilket kan ge en inblick i vad som kan följa framtida klimatförändringar i stora delar av världen.

När klimatförändringar diskuteras så är det oftast i naturvetenskapliga termer och hur man rent tekniskt ska lyckas minska utsläppen. Men de utsläpp som vi redan bidragit med kommer, oavsett hur mycket vi lyckas minska våra utsläpp nu, att orsaka stora klimatförändringar med genomgripande sociala konsekvenser. Hur ska man förhindra de konflikter som uppstått och kommer att uppstå i spåren av klimatförändringar? Hur ska man se till att alla människors basbehov blir tillgodosedda när livsmedelsförsörjningen och tillgången till rent vatten tryter?
Här krävs samverkan mellan olika vetenskapsområden för att komma fram till långsiktiga handlingsmodeller. För att klara detta krävs en politisk vilja som kan motstå kortsiktiga ekonomiska intressen. Utarmning av naturresurser, arbetskraftsutsugning, krig och miljöplundring kan inte tillåtas fortskrida som en lönsam verksamhet.

Det krävs därför gemensamma ansträngningar och att Sverige återtar en offensiv position för internationell solidaritet och hållbar utveckling. Internationellt fackligt samarbete är en nödvändighet för att stävja fortsatt utnyttjande av arbetskraft. I kontrast till den sittande regeringen, som dragit in delar av biståndet och skyfflar över miljöansvaret på mindre resursstarka stater, har de rödgröna klargjort en tydlig inriktning för att minska utsläppen och tänker även agera internationellt i rättvisefrågor. Det är vad som krävs för att Sverige ska ta täten för en lösning på våra gemensamma problem.

|Robin Enander, ordförande SSU Arvidsjaur
|Tidigare publicerad i Piteå-Tidningen 19:e November 2009

IRIN reports that there will be a one-week delay in Sudan’s 2010 presidential elections. In and of itself that may not seem like a big deal, but it points to real problems with electoral logistics – voter registration efforts have met with serious frustrations, and this is the major reason for the delay – and does not bode well, given earlier delays.

President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, President Omar al-Bashir

Hints that the 2011 referendum might also shift to a later date could also cause unease among Sudanese and international actors, and the threat of an opposition boycott in the 2010 elections looms:

Last month the opposition parties and the SPLM agreed following a political conference held in Juba to boycott the election if the Sudanese parliament does not pass before November 30, a number of laws aiming at creating an appropriate environment for the multi-party elections.

The declaration spoke precisely about the National Security Law, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law, the Trade Unions Act, the law of immunities, the law of personal status, press and publications law, the laws of public order.

The conference asked to allow the national electoral board to control the media during the election period in order to ensure equal time to all the political forces.

However, the Sudanese parliament went into recess on November 18 till December 7th without adopting the draft laws in a session boycotted by the SPLM while the opposition parties said they would announce their final decision at the end of the month.

Tensions around the elections are not new. Earlier this month, election monitors at the Carter Center expressed concern about regime behavior toward both observers and voters. Rebels in Darfur have threatened to attack election officials. Meanwhile, violence in South Sudan raises questions about what instability the approach of elections will bring. Finally, concerns are growing about the political stability of the Nuba Mountain region, located near the North-South divide.

I take talk of delays more seriously than some of these other problems, though, precisely because a delay could exacerbate problems across the board. If actors in different regions of the country – whether the South, Darfur, or the center – lose faith in the political process even more than they have already, I fear the consequences. It’s only a week delay, so likely I’m overreacting, but if more delays follow I will take it as a very bad sign.

As you read this blog I want you to take out your cell phone if you dont have it where you can see it.  Now, scroll in your call log and texts.   You called your mom, texted your best friend, got on UberTwitter and maybe sent an email.  Harmless, right? Wait…..keep scrolling.  Look between the call home and the call to work.  Somewhere along the lines today you (and me also) contributed to an on going war, rape and child slavery?  All of a sudden that sidekick or Motorola doesn’t look so harmless. Your cell phone contains tin, tungsten, tantalum (The 3Ts).  Over 80 percent of the world’s 3Ts are located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Those minerals are funding an on going and needless genocide.  How? Keep reading.

Sadly, all of us have contributed to an on going war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Daily groups  from Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda use the money they get from trading these ill-gotten minerals to fund themselves. Who are they trading with? Internal and international businesses. Most of the minerals go straight to where our beloved technology is made.

We are the ultimate users of these seemingly innocent goods we carry around in our purses, messenger bags and pockets.  It’s not just jargon, our governments have documented these trails and remained silent.

Let’s really think about it. The tin in your phone other technological  products is used to  solder on circuit boards.  The Congolese armed groups use about 85 million dollars yearly to fund themselves.  Nearly every function of your phone, ipod and digital camera fund these crimes.  For example,  when you turn your blackberry to vibrate,  that’s tungsten.  That function is apart of the estimated $180 million used by armed groups to continue their violence against women and children.  This stuff is sold daily, used hourly and most of us have no clue.

Look at it.  Hold you phone. It’s contributing the a war that has the highest rate of sexual violence in documented history. Children mining hours upon hours.  Women raped. So we can be connected.  Does it look the same?

Sadly, reaches before cell phones. To rubber. Villagers  who failed to meet the rubber collection quotas were required to pay the r in cut hands.  In some cases, hands of children where cut off and sent to their mothers, because they didn’t meet the quota.  Sexual violence was present then also. Something must be done.

where each hand would prove a kill. Sometimes the hands were collected by the soldiers of the Force Publique, sometimes by the villages themselves. There were even small wars where villages attacked neighboring villages to gather hands, since their rubber quotas were too unrealistic to fill.

What can we do

People that follow me on twitter can attest to the fact that I constantly urge them to contact their elected officials.  Trust me, it speaks volumes. They do hear you.   Email, call, or write.

Urge your representative to sponsor  The Conflict Minerals Trade Act of 2009, HR 4128.  You can call them at  (202) 224-3121 ask for your representative.

Tell your the industry to make conflict free products.  Now, you’re asking how will we know that the phone’s are conflict free?  The Conflict Minerals Trade Act of 2009, HR 4128 will help ensure that.  Think about it this way.  If enough people were to tell BlackBerry that they would buy a conflict free BlackBerry phone, BlackBerry would make it. Or if enough people  said they would  STOP using BlackBerrys if Apple  made a conflict free phone.  See the room for competition? You have a lot of power.  The email can be sent here.

You can do this:  Take the pledge2protect We can stop this.  Take 10 minutes and help someone.

Finally, you can   Text the word “Congo” to 228488 (spells ACTIV8) to get updates.

There is much work to be done, but we can all make a difference.  You know now, this isn’t even a tip of the iceberg.  This conflict is deep and complicated.  Now that you know, what will you do.

Knowledge is power. Ignorance is bliss. We must do all we can to end this crisis.

I’ve been editing a short film on climate change with my good friend and talented director Taghreed Elsanhouri. This is the fourth project I have worked with her on, and as always it is a fascinating process.

It is part of a batch of 10 films that the British Council have commissioned for the UN conference on climate change in Copenhagen. Taghreed has travelled to a remote part of Western Sudan to film with a community that have been scratching a living making agricultural salt.

With the war in Darfur, the routes of the nomads who were their principal market have been disrupted. This, combined with the other pressures of a global market, has caused the price of salt to plummet. In addition the forest that provided the wood they used to process the salt has been almost completely destroyed, leaving them only the slower method of salt-beds in the baking sun. So with the salt industry hitting hard times, the community are left dependent on their subsistence farming for survival, selling their dairy herds to buy extra food, clothing and school fees for their children.

And then the rains failed. For three years running.

Next year, if the rains fail again (which looking at projected trends they probably will) these people will have exhausted their supplies of livestock and money: those buffers that we all keep against lean times. They will be facing starvation.

We all saw the news footage of starving children in Ethiopia in the 1980’s. Many of us bought the Band Aid record. And now East Africa is facing a famine, easily as big, again.

My own circumstances -  having a family to support, as well as the recession (which has hit the Media industry hard) – has put this into sharp perspective for me. I know that feeling of panic when you hit the end of your savings and you’re not sure where next months rent is going to come from, let alone money for food. Often there’s nothing for it but to trust that the future will provide, that somehow work will come in. And work did come in this time, ironically in the form of this film.

Taghreed, as always, has brought her unique sensibility to this piece, which is really not much longer than an extended news feature. This is no wallpapery reportage with an anxious sunburnt correspondent telling us how things are. Taghreed talks to everybody, from the poorest child-labourer to the local environmental scientist who is struggling to improve things. Why are your children not in school? What crops did you plant? What are your hopes for the future? The result is a moving, human and all too real portrait of a community in peril.

There isn’t going to be a light at the end of the tunnel for these proud, intelligent, hard-working people. The salt industry is unlikely to improve, their subsistence crops will not see them through, and gradually they will deplete their resources until they face death.

But these people aren’t just sitting there with flies in their eyes waiting for handouts. They are working, thinking, puzzling over the state of the economy. Like us they trust that the lean times will be over one day, they just need to see it through.

From my comfortable studio in London I can see that this is not the case. Our world is changing, and we will need to adapt to survive, even though this might mean making some tough sacrifices and difficult decisions. That’s why the conference in Copenhagen in December is probably the most important thing that is happening on the planet right now, and any pressure we can put on our government to help deliver a tough and fair deal will help. I’m going to link to Oxfam’s page on the subject – as their courses of action seem pretty sensible to me.

It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from yoooooouuuuu

There’s nothin’ that a hundred men or more could ever dooooooo

I bless the rains down in Aaaaafricaaaaaaa

Hi everyone,

President Obama was in China earlier this week. Many of us in the anti-genocide movement were hoping he would discuss genocide and Sudan with President Hu Jintao. But he chose not to. This was disappointing. Undoubtedly, the President has a full plate with a whole host of important issues that need attention. However, genocide continues because of apathy and “business as usual”. The United States needs to live up to it’s ideals of justice and freedom and advocate for those whose voices do not get heard; who suffer through the consequences of genocide and such gross violations of their basic humanity.

To continue the pressure on the government, GI-Net, in collaboration with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum is launching a national campaign to get people to join the movement and Pledge 2 Protect. The goal is to gather 100,000 signatures during the first week of December (1-7). Orange County for Darfur is participating in this effort. And we would love to have your support. If you’d like to help, please attend the meeting this week.

Our next planning meeting is this Tuesday, Nov 24th at 6:30p. We will meet at Patty’s office in Newport Beach. Here is the address.

Patty’s office @ 6:30p
2424 SE Bristol Street, Suite 300
Newport Beach, CA 92660

We will discuss:

• Update on what’s going on in Darfur, Burma and the Congo.
• Launch of the National Canvas in the first week of December.
• Planning for the screening of The Greatest Silence in early 2010.

If you’d like to get involved and help with the planning of any of these activities, we would love to have you come and attend

See you on Tuesday.

Anshul Mittal
Orange County for Darfur
ocfordarfur.org | calendar | photos | shop | blog | facebook | twitter

Soon Sudan will cease to be the largest country in the continent. It won’t even be the second or third biggest. Soon the language of junubi, kaffirs and slaves in Sudan will die. Soon the newly baby born will be seen.  And soon, the much ignored, exploited and looked down at will take their future in their own hands. It’s just soon and very soon.

Recent rhetoric by the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit, who’s also the Vice President of Sudan, that southern Sudanese have two choices come next elections-cum- referendums about the future of this biggest country in Africa. Mayardit offered his people two option for their good and peril, to vote for total freedom or to vote for being second class citizens in their own motherland. This can not be something to pooh pooh.

Mayardit was quoted as thus: “When you reach your ballot boxes the choice is yours: you want to vote for unity so that you become a second class in your own country, that is your choice,” Kiir said addressing worshippers Saturday at Juba cathedral. “If you want to vote for independence so that you are a free person in your independent state, that will be your own choice and we will respect the choice of the people.”

Mayardit aired this in South Sudan’s capital Juba recently, as his Government of South Sudan (GoSS) in it’s mission in Nairobi, spokesperson John Duku weighed in with more flavours saying categorically that they’ll boycott presidential elections. This is after the semi-Arab dominated government in Khartoum excluded countries from which Sudanese in diaspora would vote from. To make matter worse, many of these countries are neighbouring and strategical ones thanks to being neighbours hosting many southern Sudanese.

Logically, any and all sane people will vote for freedom. Mark my words. This will be followed to letters by southerners. For apart from being their leader’s vision, they are tired of thuggish and exploitative North. Though this might be seen as preemption of what is to come, the truth is, the South does not have any reason of solemnizing any marriage with the bullish and thuggish North.

However, Khartoum skeptics are wrongly thinking that if the South goes solo it will be orphaned. The fact of the matter is the South has a good partner in Kenya, even Uganda. Presently, the South is getting almost all supplies from and through Kenya. Thus, South Sudan will be more at home doing with a reliable and supportive partner than the suspicious and bully one.  Being a baby in making, the South has a very brighter future in the East African Community than in Khartoum. After all, Khartoum needs the South more than the South needs it, thanks to how it underdeveloped, degraded, neglected and exploited it for so long.

When the vulture is cornered it cries wolf. There is nothing that gears the North to support the re-unification of Sudan but the South’s resources, especially oil. But will the South allow itself to be bitten twice in the same hole?

Kenya has a big chance to spoil this though not by premeditation. For it hosted Southerners since the inception of the concept of emancipation. Nairobi was a hub and bastion for leaders of southern freedom fighters. So, warm and strong relationship with Kenya, that used to host John Garang and Riek Machar will greatly add up.

The other side of the matter revolves around stinking racism and huge ideological differences between North Africans that regard themselves as Arabs and their brethren in the South. Northerners segregate Southerners for two reasons. One, Southerners are either Christians or traditionalists and two, they’re blacker than they. But as the days go, the perception of colour, though artificially conceived (for even Northerners are Africans) and influence from Arab world, the hatred between the duo is likely to go even deeper. Northerners do not like Southerners. But given that the South is awash with oil, they’ve no way. What can they do whilst they are caught between the devil and the deep sea? So incorporating South Sudan in the East African Community should be done with all assurance and urgency that it has more to offer than Burundi and Rwanda put together.

Another thing that is likely to force Khartoum regime to its knees is the whole burden of Darfur. There are fears that Darfur may team up with the oil rich South so as to circle the North and assume power of the whole Sudan, thereby the used to be dominant Northerners would end up becoming subjects of their former subjects. This shocks Sudanese dictator Omar Bashir to the bone. As the days go by, his position is tested and weakened thanks to secession and the court order by ICC.

Though separation defeats the spirit of African unity, it is better than wasting time wrangling and scheming against one another. Hither we can borrow a leaf from Eritrea. Its secession from Ethiopia enhanced peace and tranquility in the region as it will be in this case in point.

On the one hand, some people are blaming Mayardit as being myopic and a separatist different from his predecessor, the late John Garang de Mabior Atem, who wanted to take Khartoum through ballot box. On the other hand, it must be appreciated that things have changed since the untimely demise of Garang. By then it was easy to take Khartoum by the way of referendum. But currently, it is easier to take Khartoum and re-unify Sudan by going solo, so as to team up with Darfur and reclaim it. Khartoum without oil will be nothing but a sitting duck. Though many fear that marriage of convenience with China can hamper its reclamation, this is hogwash. China , just like any other money maker, will bet on the winning horse.

This being the situation, it remains to be seen if going solo for South Sudan means gain or peril.

Nkwazi Mhango is a Tanzanian living in Canada. He writes regularly for “The African Executive” and also has a blog entitled “Free Thinking Unabii”. He is a regular contributor to AfroSpear.

Holocaust Invention In progress
Next to the myth of a Palestinian Holocaust in 1948 in El Nabka; the most prevalent myth is the Palestinian Holocaust being created right now. This element of propaganda is so popular that it actually drives a real actual genocide in Darfur off the front pages.Its easy to measure. Just put genocide into Google and you will Darfur being relegated to obscurity while the Palestinian Holocaust or genocide had more entries. I find that amazing. The power of a fraudulent ethnic cleansing actually eclipses a real ethnic cleansing.
You have four parties attracted to the invented genocide as with much propaganda favorable to the Palestinians. The first are liberals and leftists who consider the oppression of the Palestinians unconscionable and that exaggerating the casualties and distorting the facts permissable as long as it stops Israels efforts. The second are those unfamiliar  with the conflict and its history. They are just horrified by any war and since its easy to condemn Israel in a reactionary knee jerk fashion they go along with the crowd. They cannot believe that transplanted civilized Europeans would go down to the level of savage Arabs. This group includes phony liberals and what I call boo hoos. The third group are right wing white supremacist types. They include Neo Nazis, Aryan Nations, Christian Identity, Christian Fundamentalists (Not to be confused with Christian Zionists)and the like. The fifth group are the broad range of Islamists who will lie, produce hoaxes, disinformation, and of course exaggerations. This includes the Palestinian Media which actually manufactures tales of abuse that is commonly known as Pallywood. The famous Muhammad Al-Dura affair,the Gaza Beach munitions explosion, numerous fake accounts of Israeli cruelty and killings and exaggerations that transform gun battles into massacres like the Jenin operation. This is of course identical to the invented 1948 incidents. Why not; those were created not that long ago as well.  The Arab Press like al-Arabiya and al-Jazeera dutifully reports and repeats the Palestinian tales of woe. And then there is the Iranian media which also invents news stories like the CIA predicts the fall of Israel in 20 years. That too gets repeated in the Arab medias as well although most informed Arabs are actually skeptical of the Mullah mafia propaganda mouthpiece. In addition you have various Western medias with some Anti-Israel stance.
The  British media  is driven by a large Muslim population to cater to. Leftist and liberal papers with their “Jews shouldn’t resort to violence” mentality exist in Europe. But the right wing press especially in nationalist Russia also has no punctions repeating Palestinian and Arab propaganda masquerading as news. This gives the impression that Israel is in the wrong and has no friends. Despite this onslaught, that is not true.In the USA the trend is bucked. Right wing, liberal. mainstream AND left wing press favors Israel although its mainly concerned with internal affairs. In the USA reports of a Palestinian Holocaust whether now or in 1948 rightfully do not see the light of day.
The Palestinian strategy is derived from exposure to the Jews and THE POST HOLOCAUST sympathy from the world.The Jews were seen as victims so that image MUST be broken. Either by Holocaust denial, false portrayal as Nazis reincarnated or by the new image of Palestinian victimhood and genocide. Having two pillars of fraud, 1948 and the present, its plumbed for boo hoo treasure. After the PLO terror wars of the 1970’s and 1980’s the image had to change. The first intifada worked as it was not a PLO sanctioned operation at first. So when with Oslo and Hamas taking over the terror campaign there was the beginnings of the victimhood strategy. Only the US press pointed out this great hypocrisy in detail and frequency. This accelerated in the organized terror-emphasized Second Intifada as well as the Hezbollah and Hamas wars. You have internet agents filling up google with hoaxes such as the Palestinian Holocaust as well as forums, groups and other message boards.I usually reply “the Palestinian Holocaust is the Only Holocaust where the victims tripled in population, I wish the Jewish people had THAT kind of Holocaust.” This lie is usually followed by false descriptions of Gaza as a concentration camp. My reply again is ” Gaza is a huge piece of territory where people have self-rule. There are fields, farms, towns and beaches.”I wish the Jewish people who suffered in Auschwitz, Dachau, Buchenwald, Birkenau had THOSE kinds such concentration camps as  Palestinian Gaza.”
However as I said its the disenfranchised internet trolls who spent hours on the web cursing out Jews and Israelis in forums and groups. When confronted this leftist, liberal and right wing diminutives vanish as the either cannot confront the facts or know the facts and seek to preserve the lies.

The climate deal won’t happen at Copenhagen in December. The work will continue. And as more people become aware of and motivated by the links between climate change on the one hand and conflict, peace and security on the other, both the possibility and the necessity of clarity about those links increase. It is an area of discussion where making an extra effort of care and precision is justified.

The risks of imprecision

There are three basic issues at stake in the need for this precision. They all hinge round the precarious state of debate on climate change at present. Denying the reality of climate change so far and its likelihood into the future has become an article of faith for some very vocal people. Putting up arguments that are difficult to sustain is an unwise strategy.

The particular risks in the security, conflict and peace dimension of the issue seem to me to be:

• First, security fears can mobilise people but apocalyptic scenarios demobilise, especially when on closer examination they turn out not to justified by the evidence.
• Second, treating the conflict and security issues as if they will produce direct threats from one country against another, or even one group against another, which is the language of military security will distort the debate and the policy response; at worst, the response will be militarised, inappropriate and wasteful.
• And third, basing the argument on an over-simplified linkage could generate policies that miss their targets in other ways and simply lead to confusion and uncertainty about what the problem is and why anyone should care.

No simple cause-and-effect

There is little point in even trying to base policy on a straightforward cause-and-effect relationship between climate change and violent conflict or political instability. To begin with, there is a striking lack of research findings on the topic. What there is does not offer robust conclusions. Nor are there reliable findings about parallel linkages between conflict and other environmental changes (such as deforestation or deteriorating freshwater supply) that could be used to make a proxy argument about climate change.

And there are some good reasons for this lack of a ready made body of research findings, reasons that taken together tell us not to put much energy into looking for a neat cause-and-effect explanation.

• First, the evidence base is necessarily weak; there has been too little time since the effects of climate change began to make themselves felt for adequate research data to have accumulated of the kind needed for large-scale quantitative studies that can reliably depict trends. It seems likely that there will always be methodological difficulties in completing such studies because, at present, the state of knowledge in the natural sciences does not let us attribute a specific event such as a hurricane or typhoon to climate change. Trends in frequency and intensity of natural events will form a relatively soft foundation in a potential database on conflict and climate. Similarly, the slow onset changes in climate such as changes in growing seasons and more extensive droughts do not easily lend themselves to use in a large scale quantitative study.
• Second, given these problems in constructing large scale studies of trends over time, there is a case for turning instead to case studies. These, however, while individually suggestive, do not offer much by way of establishing causal connections except against a reasonably well established quantitative background, which brings us back to the first problem.
• Third and, in my view, most importantly, causality is always complex. Normally, armed conflicts not only have several different causes but several different types of causes. These are often conflated, obliterating the differences between background or root causes (e.g., regional poverty and a history of discrimination), the aims of the conflict parties (e.g., secession or national power), the immediate trigger (e.g., the assassination of a respected leader of a minority group or increased world food prices), and influences on how the conflict is fought out (e.g., ‘blood diamonds’ or other illicit trade, or the role of the UN or regional powers). The fact is that simple cause-and-effect is rarely if ever enough to explain the genesis of violent conflict.

Faced with all of this, the very sparse research literature on the theme contains some that happily declares that no link can be proven, earning approving reference from climate change sceptics. But the fact that no link can be proven is not the same as saying none exists. And the real limitation of positivist social science approaches is that, bound by evidence, they necessarily work by reflection on the past – whereas the key point to understand about climate change is that the future will be different from the past.

The complex causes of Darfur

The tragedy in Darfur during this decade has often been attributed to climate change. In fact, the conflict and the scale of the tragedy exemplify the complexity of causation and the importance of understanding how different factors interact and jointly lead to conflict.

Satisfactorily explaining the violence in Darfur necessitates reference to a wide range of factors including historical grievance, local perceptions of racial difference, group power dynamics in the region, the proliferation of small arms in the context of long-lasting civil war in Sudan, the weakness of state institutions and the arbitrary way in which power is taken, held and wielded, and decades of disputes and violent conflicts between pastoralists (herders) and agriculturalists (settled farmers) over access to and control of fertile land fresh water. An analytical narrative must also include the impact of 20 years of drought, placing this alongside the political and economic marginalisation of the area. Such an analysis needs to explain how these factors interacted to destroy so many lives and cause so much misery.

Interaction and risk

In short, what is necessary in order to understand the conflict dimension of climate change is to understand how the pressures of climate change interact with other features of a country’s social, economic and political landscape to increase conflict risk. Absent climate change, those other features of the national landscape also generate risk of violent conflict and could lead its eruption; climate change makes a bad problem worse.

The uncomfortable fact is that many countries – especially in Africa but also in other regions – are already at the brink of failure in the fulfilment of basic needs such as food, water, shelter and, above all, peace and stability. Climate change will generate pressures on already weak systems of government and perhaps push them over the edge. The pressures will be transmitted via linking mechanisms such as harvest failures and food insecurity, depletion of fresh water supplies, migration from non-viable areas to locales that are barely viable. These pressures will produce conflict and a state whose capacity is weak and whose authority is arbitrary will be unable to contain those conflicts except through coercion, likely generating a responding violence and leading to sharp conflict escalation.

This scenario is not inevitable in any one place but is, rather, a generic risk across the board of fragile and conflict-affected states.

Policy

Faced with a problem based on risk and interaction of different factors, the appropriate policy response is risk management by addressing the inter-linkages. The issue in Nepal, for example, is not floods alone, but floods and the difficulty the government has in generating an adequate level of preparedness for and resilience against the impact of predictable flooding. The response is not only to put improved flood preparations in place but to develop greater capacity in government and greater trust between government and governed – between the authorities and the people. And Nepal is not unique in this regard.

Even more when we look at issues such as migration from areas made non-viable by climate change, the response cannot be developed in purely technical terms. There is an enormous task of information dissemination, sensitive awareness raising about shared problems, exploration of what problems could be generated if migrants move into a given area, and an imaginative search for creative solutions to problems that the discussion identifies.

Adaptation to climate change is always social; sometimes climate change generates a need for social adaptation to a new and largely social development, such as migration, but potentially also others such as the need to learn new skills for new types of farming or altogether new skills.

Local

The further issue to be considered here is that this response cannot be up to the task if it is centrally generated, dictated and owned – and far less if it is generated, dictated and owned by an international body. Adaptation to climate change will be local or it will not happen.

It is at local level – in villages, towns, provinces, neighbourhoods – that the interaction of the different risk factors will be addressed. It is there, locally owned, that effective interventions will be made to break the perilous linkages. Of course, that local action must also be coordinated within a national framework of policy and it will often need to be internationally supported with money, hardware, skills and knowledge.

Local action, coordinated by national policy, internationally resourced as necessary.

October 28^th – November 11^th

The Thursday of the 29^th the lawyer from the German women’s NGO came in to speak with my kids about her job. With it being the first presentation, I was a tad nervous about the outcome – how would it go over with my kids? To promote more participation, I said my kids had to at least ask one question for every speaker (there will be one for every week we have left in the school year).

I had to send one of my students to get the speaker, but once she showed up, my apprehension over whether or not this sort of activity would work went right out the window. This woman was in her mid-twenties, successful for a Nicaraguan, and a super dynamic speaker. This wasn’t something I was counting on, but it just made the activity that much easier. Furthermore, due to the energetic manner in which she presented herself and her career, the girls in my class were asking tons of questions, which was an effect I hadn’t anticipated. This activity was in fact fighting gender roles all by itself. My girl students were able to see that they could be independent and happy.

Over the weekend, I put a big dent in the book I was reading, as well as a book about Buddhism. Unfortunately, during this time I had a spur of breathing attacks that made it hard for me to sleep. This, coupled with the inner debate over whether to get a puppy or not just made things that sleep that much harder. As a result, I fell asleep around 3 AM every night out of pure exhaustion.

The first 3 days of the week I did a bunch of reading, celebrated Johani’s 30^th birthday, and on the 5^th, the director of a big NGO we have in town came and spoke to my classes. My public school kids didn’t really take to him because he didn’t engage them the way my first speaker did, but he interacted with my private school kids in the most successful way that I’ve ever seen. He also did an opening activity where each student would mention some things about themselves, including their favourite foods. When my turn came around, he asked my students what it was that I liked to eat – and they knew everything. I had no idea that my culinary choices were such hot gossip topics. Following his presentation, I hopped on the bus headed to Malpaisillo so I wouldn’t have to go straight to Managua the following day.

The next morning, Brie and I headed to Managua early so she could work and I could head to the dermatologist (for the first time in a while). This visit to Managua also coincided with the small business cocktail party. That being said, I intentionally planned my appointment for that day for one reason – Peace Corps would put me up in a hotel if I had another reason to be there. Doing what I can to save money.

I had my appointment at the dermatologist late – 4 PM. Her office hours start at 2 PM, which is when I’ve generally had an appointment for in the past. However, the later hour made me feel that maybe that she’d actually see me on time – and I wouldn’t have to wait. And I’d be wrong. When I arrived, I saw that all the people who had an appointment from 2 PM until 4 PM were still waiting for her. Talk about irresponsible. While I waited for her to attend to me (which finally rolled around at 5:30), I chatted with some lady who too was appalled at how late the doctor was running. She was even more appalled when I told her that she’d been late to the 5 appointments I’d had with her in the past.

My plantar warts were burned off for the millionth time (or so it seems), and I was able to catch a bus back to the PC office awfully quickly. From there, I dropped off my stuff at my hotel and chatted with my roommate a bit while I got dressed. Generally, when the warts get burned off, my foot swells up in a gigantic blister, but while it hurt and was swollen a bit, I could still fit on my shoes. So I threw them on and headed to the Holiday Inn, where the majority of the people attending the cocktail party were staying.

Having waited so long in the hospital, I was unable to grab some dinner, so I did just that when I arrived. While the Holiday Inn is a modest and average hotel in the U.S, in Nicaragua it’s the complete opposite. It has the presentation of a high-class hotel, like a Hilton. That said, while in their dining hall, I was super impressed. I felt so classy, being dressed up and whatnot, and in such a “glamorous” location. It was a nice feeling being dressed up and in a uber clean and fancy setting. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy events like that, if only to look superficially elegant.

The night was a good one that even saw me get up and dance (about as rare as seeing two moons in the sky). However, while I enjoyed it, it was disappointing to see so many people (not PC volunteers) swimming around in the pool in their clothes. I feel it compromises our reputation as being serious about striving for progress. Furthermore, how does it look to the staff of the Holiday Inn to have a bunch of people completely trashed and swimming in their pool with their clothes on? Booze happens, and so do things. Oh well.

I spent the weekend in Malpaisillo and headed back to Achuapa on Sunday where I did nothing but work on the new MINED curriculum and edit the business plan of Brie’s student group that was going to the national competition on Thursday. The week held much of the same that I did on Sunday – more editing of the business plan and the MINED curriculum for the class.

The dog I “rescued,” and contemplated naming Broken Dog (I instead named him Buddy), started walking around. I had been convinced that it was going to die and I was just making him comfortable till he finally did succumb to the adverse situations he continually encountered. Since he was healthier, I decided to deparasite him. The pill went down and came up an hour later, but hey – that’s better than nothing.

Wednesday I went to Malpaisillo where I helped Brie’s group prepare for their presentation the next day at the national competition.

The Buddha In Your Mirror - A. Buddhism looks more and more interesting after reading this book.

What is a What – B. A book about the Lost Boys of Sudan (in Darfur) and their struggle to survive and escape the country. I think what has happened to them is a tragedy, but the way the story was presented really wasn´t necessary. “You´ve never suffered what I´ve suffered.” That is the tone of the story – not something I disagree with, but I don´t feel it needs to be mentioned over and over in the 500+ pages of the book.

One of the first things that puzzled me about Darfur was why the West cared about what was happening in Sudan’s western region, when it gave such little attention to conflicts in Somalia, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and others that I’ve forgotten about. Now it seems that Darfur is going the way of those other wars. My regular Google Trends search shows that news outlets (in the lower of the two graphs) are now paying more attention to Somalia – predominantly its pirates – than Darfur, represented by the blue line which has now slipped beneath that of Congo too. Its last spike came in March, when President Bashir was indicted by the ICC and responded by expelling 13 aid agencies.

Now it is in danger of becoming just another forgotten crisis. Its pulling power was always based on its status as the first genocide of the 21st century – a dubious claim and one that is clearly no longer true. The outgoing AU-UN hybrid force commander has declared the war is over, and the statistics provided by Alex de Waal at Making Sense of Darfur have long suggested that simmering tribal conflicts – over land or livestock – are the biggest cause of violent death. In his latest update, he reports 67 violent deaths during the month of October, the biggest contributor being clashes between the Zaghawa and Birgid around Muhajiriya (although these are the aftershocks of fighting earlier this year, part of the higher-level rebels versus government conflict).

The question now, given that the humanitarian crisis continues, is what next for advocates? There’s no longer a genocide button to push. How do we keep people interested in just another African disaster?

Babelor,

Conspiraţiile sunt ceva mişto. Mai ales că se găseşte câte una pe gustul fiecăruia: cu evrei, cu arabi, cu americani, cu mafie, cu cubanezi, cu ruşi, cu englezi, cu spanioli, cu francezi, cu români, cu biserica catolică, cu nemţi, cu servicii secrete, cu multinaţionale, cu industria farmaceutică, cu industria de armament, cu NASA, cu arbitri, cu Platini, cu Băsescu, cu Bush… trebuie să recunoaşteţi că avem de unde alege. Îmi amintesc de un film cu Mel Gibson, Conspiracy Theory, în care Gibson joacă un tip care crede într-o mulţime de conspiraţii. Într-o bună zi, cineva încearcă să-l omoare, şi tipul începe să se întrebe care dintre conspiraţiile în care crede este cea adevărată.

Ei, şi cam aşa suntem şi noi. Credem în conspiraţii clasice, cum ar fi cea cu uciderea lui Kennedy, conspiraţii moderne (11 Septembrie), conspiraţii progresiste, etc. etc. etc. Ne uităm la tot felul de filme, unele mai bune, altele mai proaste, absolut toate cretine (Zeitgeist, anyone?), citim cărţi, articole, site-uri, şi nu avem încredere în nici o sursă oficială, bineînţeles.

Cum eu sunt o babă mai aparte, e normal să nu mă înebunesc după conspiraţiile astea în care crede toată lumea, cum ar fi că atentatele din 11 Septembrie au fost de fapt făcute de CIA. Nu, babelor, de multă vreme îmi doresc o conspiraţie nouă, unică, specială, numai a mea.

Şi se pare că în sfârşit am găsit-o. Este una dintre cele mai tari conspiraţii din toate timpurile, conspiraţia perfectă, dacă o pot numi aşa. Sute de mii de victime, o grămadă de guverne implicate, are tot ce-i trebuie. Teoria mea este următoarea:

În anul 2003, trupele miliţiilor Janjaweed, susţinute de guvernul sudanez, au început să izgonească şi să ucidă populaţiile etniilor Fur, Zaghawa şi Masalit, care îşi duceau veacul în Darfur, o provincie din nordul Sudanului. De atunci, deci în ultimii şase ani, au murit în total, fie în urma actelor de violenţă, fie de foame (provocată de faptul că trebuiau să fugă, şi deci nu aveau timp să încălzească o cană de orez) între 300.000-450.000 de persoane. Dar acum vine partea cea mai tare: toate guvernele din lume ştiau ce se întâmplă în Darfur! Ba mai mult de atât, miliarde de oameni aveau acces la informaţii despre acest genocid! Printre care şi noi! Da, noi, toate babele de pe blogul ăsta, toate babele şi toţi moşii din blogosferă! Închipuiţi-vă, această conspiraţie nu era câtuşi de puţin secretă! Toată lumea avea la dispoziţie toate informaţiile, şi nimeni nu a făcut nimic! Am închis ochii frăţeşte, ca nişte adevăraţi creştini, şi am aşteptat să se termine naibii masacrul, ca să nu mai trebuiască să ne simţim de căcat că nu l-am oprit, deşi am fi putut face asta oricând. Măreaţa armată americană, impunătoarele oştiri europene, toate au stat cu mâinile în sâni. Nu pentru că nu ar fi ştiut, ci pentru că nu le-a păsat.
Nici nouă, dealtfel, deşi dacă îmi amintesc bine am semnat pe net două petiţii în care era vorba de Darfur.

Ă, babelor, asta da teoria conspiraţiei, ce ziceţi?
Ba am găsit chiar şi un cântec care s-ar potrivi situaţiei:

Mda, cam aşa deci.