date:20040228

Oracha

Just for the record, there is no posting that can get Musaazi's reasoning
if it does not have a sentence including the following words "...Obote is
bad"

- Original Message -
From:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2004 1:15
AM
Subject: Re: ugnet_: Obote and the
Nakulabye Killings\Oracha

In a message dated 2/27/2004 6:38:51 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Oracha, sincerely, has you pal Matek ever put up any piece of
good news on this forum?...or is your accusation of Mr. Nyange just a
case of northern solidarity...i'll give you credit though for accepting
that Mr. Nyange's remarks about Obote are "sensible" albeit bad
news.

Musaazi: Listen, once and for all, I am seeking solidarity with those
that are enlightened and able to lead this country into prosperity with
dignity for all irrespective where they come from. I do not expect you to
attack people from your own area or south as you term it; neither should you
expect me to attack people from the North for no good reason. Do I need to
give any reasons?
There is something that is always appealing to a person to do good. That
is what we are looking for. The use of history is for the lesson learnt from
it. If you misunderstand it, you may repeat the same mistake. Obote worked his
way from the bottom up because of what he stood for and the confidence he gave
the people he dealt with. I am confident that he did not get to where he
became Uganda leader by portraying other people or tribes in negative
light.
So, if you want to work with every tribe and region of Uganda, then you
need to package you message accordingly. No one really want to read this kind
of garbage you are putting on Ugandanet. It may be good for a more parochial
net, maybe Southernet. I would assume that Ugandanet should cater for every
Ugandan in the quest for unity.
So, what is your contribution to uniting all Uganda under one flag?

oracha

ugnet_: the communication group




Testing








The Mulindwas Communication Group"With 
Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in 
anarchy" 
Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans 
l'anarchie"

ugnet_: US INCREASIG MILITARY IN AFRICA




AP: U.S. Increasing Military 
in Africa 
Friday February 27, 2004 
7:31 PM 

By ALEXANDRA ZAVIS 
Associated Press Writer 
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - The United States is scaling up its 
military presence in Africa as concern mounts over terrorist threats - both 
immediate and future - on the continent, the deputy head of American forces in 
Europe said Friday. 
``The threat is not weakening, it is growing,'' Air Force Gen. Charles Wald 
said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press from Luanda, Angola. 
``We can't just sit back and let it grow.'' 
The focus on Africa is part of major restructuring as U.S. forces in Europe 
reposition for the war against terror. 
The European Command oversees U.S. military activities in Africa excluding 
the Horn, site of a U.S. counterterrorism effort for northeast Africa and Yemen. 

Africa is a growing strategic interest to the United States because of its 
terror links and its oil, which is seen as a possible alternative to Middle East 
fuel. 
European Command is not looking to station large concentrations of troops on 
the continent, Wald said. But it intends to make its presence felt through joint 
exercises, training initiatives and other exchanges. 
U.S. forces have also negotiated access to a number of sites, including air 
strips in Angola and Gabon, that can be used for stopovers, refueling, or to 
position troops and equipment. 
Wald said this will allow U.S. forces to respond with light, mobile troops - 
whether for peacekeeping, crisis response or a specific terrorist threat. 
``We're actually going to get more capability with less force because of our 
ability to move around fast,'' he said. 
Key to the effort is supporting the development of regional security groups, 
improving the capabilities of African police and soldiers, and building 
relationships with governments and militaries, Wald said. 
Wald is one of at least three top U.S. commanders to touch down in Africa in 
the past two weeks, following the U.S. commander in Europe, Marine Gen. James L. 
Jones. And Wald said he expects to be back about every three months. 
Wald's trip includes stops in regional military powers Nigeria and South 
Africa; oil-rich Angola, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe; and Algeria and Niger, 
whose vast desert expanses are seen as a potential haven for terrorists. 
At the same time, U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Kohler, the European 
Command's point man on planning for force reconfiguration, has been visiting the 
Saharan nations of Mauritania, Mali and Niger. 
The three generals are leaders in proposals awaiting a decision in Washington 
to shift from Cold War-era troop buildups in Western Europe to smaller 
concentrations closer to the world's trouble spots. 
``We are going to do business differently,'' Wald said. ``Waiting for a 
crisis to occur just isn't the way to do business any more.'' 
The general said there were specific terrorist threats in Africa at the 
moment, which he declined to characterize. But the United States is also 
convinced there will be more threats in the future. 
``Nothing is really immune, particularly areas that traditionally have weak 
government or an inability to control their territory,'' Wald said. 
The al-Qaida terror network has already staged deadly attacks in East Africa, 
bombing U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, and a Kenyan hotel in 
2002. 
Western military and security officials also worry about possible terrorist 
activity along ancient Sahara trading routes linking Arab and African nations. 
They suspect terror groups have already set up training camps in the remote 
deserts of Mali and Niger. 
Of particular concern is the Algeria-based Salafist Group for Call and 
Combat, which allegedly has ties to al-Qaida. The group was blamed in the 
kidnapping of 32 European tourists in the Sahara last year. 
The United States is helping train and equip four Sahara nations - Mali, 
Niger, Mauritania and Chad - to better guard their porous borders against 
terrorists, arms and other trafficking. 
There are also agreements to conduct exercises and training in Algeria, 
Tunisia and Morocco, Wald said. 
Further south, the United States wants to protect oil supplies in the Gulf of 
Guinea, where it gets 15 percent of its oil. 
There is also concern that Africa's major humanitarian crises could develop 
into security threats for the United States and Europe. 
Wald singled out AIDS, which is cutting a swath through many of the 
continent's armies. The European command supports a pioneering treatment program 
run by South African military health services. 
Africa, with its grinding poverty, spiraling conflicts and disenchanted 
youth, is also a recruiting ground for terrorists, Wald said. 
``Africa, we all know, has to work itself out of this situation, which is 
going to take time,'' he said. ``In the meantime, we have to respond to some 
specific threats.''
The Mulindwas Communication Group"With 
Yoweri

ugnet_: Museveni troops Massacre rebels

"But it is difficult to confirm as the news comes from army sources and concerns areas that are difficult for civilians to reach"

1)Museveni's army says they have "massacred" rebels ( notice the choice of word here...implying that the "Rebels" were not even given a chance to surrender ..they were simply massacred.)

2) Our fear is that Museveni's troops are murdering abducted Acholi children/and or villagers ( and then claiming that they have massacred "rebels")

3) Indeed, as MISNA has eloquently pointed out, there is NO INDEPENDENT CONFIRMATION of Magazi's claims

Matek



UGANDA28/2/20049:41  
PADER: ARMY ANNOUNCES MASSACRE OF REBELS
General,Brief  


The Ugandan armed forces have apparently killed at least 30 rebels of LRA (lords Resistance Army), military sources have said. The LRA has tormented the civilian population in the northern districts of Uganda under the command of the visionary madman Jospeh Kony for almost 18 years. According to the Kampala army, some of the dead took part in the massacre of over 250 people in the camp for displaced people in Barlonyo, 25 kilometres northeast of Lira) last Saturday. We have killed 30 of these scum, and at least 15 of them are suspected of being part of the group that attacked the Barlonyo camp, Lieutenant Chris Magezi told the French news agency AFP, adding that the government forces have killed at least 290 rebels since the start of the year. Survivors of the Barlonyo massacre have said that at least 100 LRA rebels carried out the attack. MISNA sources contacted by telephone have confirmed that the radio announced this massacre, but it is difficult to confirm as the news comes from army sources and concerns areas that are difficult for civilians to reach. In any case, according to the radio, the rebels were killed not in the Lira district, which is inhabited by the ethnic Lango people, but in the nearby district of Pader, to the north, which is an ethnic Acholi area.[LC]




"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state." 

- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister

ugnet_: CRISIS: PORT-AU-PRINCE UNDER SEIGE, PARIS MEETS WITH ARISTIDE ENVOYS

HAITI27/2/200420:21
CRISIS: PORT-AU-PRINCE UNDER SEIGE, PARIS MEETS WITH ARISTIDE ENVOYS
Politics/Economy,Standard

The French government today receive the representatives of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Paris, France, to seek a solution to the serious crisis devastating Haiti. I can testify that the Foreign Minister Joseph Philippe Antonio, the head of the presidential cabinet Jean-Claude Desgranges and the Minister of Culture and Information Mrs. Lilas Desquiron, were received by French Foreign Minister Dominique del Villepin. This was the news declared to MISNA by the Minister of Haitians abroad, Leslie Voltaire. In a statement of the Quai dOrsay, De Villepin affirmed that the French government will continue seeking a political solution to the Haitian crisis, but accused President Aristide of serious responsibilities in the developments of the situation, inviting him to assume the consequences. France therefore diplomatically invited Aristide to resign, before the nation transforms into a trap without escape. The French foreign ministry also urged the opposition to come to Paris in search of a diplomatic resolution to the crisis. French official sources refer that representatives of the political opposition were not able to find a flight to take them from Port-au-Prince to Paris. Civil society sources had confirmed this difficulty to MISNA; Minister Voltaire however told MISNA over the phone that she believed that the opposition used the impossibility of fining a flight as a pretext, particularly due to its reluctance to negotiate. Meanwhile, all access routes to the Haitian capital are blocked by Aristides supporters. At any moment the 2.5-million residents of the capital are expecting the attack of the armed rebels, headed by the former soldier and police officer Guy Philippe, which in the meantime has seized another city in the northern sector of the nation, Mirebalais, situated around 50km north of Port-au-Prince. No one can leave their homes to go to work because the city is entirely barricaded, referred a MISNA source contacted in the north of the capital. It is also impossible to go shopping and we are consuming our few food provisions.

The circulation of basic necessities has become impossible and the people are forced to lie of small trade, explained the source, adding we are very afraid of what may occur. We all hope in a political solution, or we fear it could turn into a bloodbath. In this regard, Aristides loyalists expressed themselves ready to ensure that the Head of State remains in his post, even to the point of resorting to force against the foreigners present in Port-au-Prince.

We will kill anyone living in Haiti and burn their embassies, threatened in a declaration to the German DPA press agency an Aristide supporter, in reference to French, Canadians and Americans, authors of the peace plan accepted by the government and rejected by the opposition. The French Embassy in Port-au-Prince denied ever having heard such a statement by a supporter of the Head of State. Minister Voltaire declared to MISNA to not have personally heard the threats, but that if they were made it is a horrible thing.

The militias (Chimres) armed by Aristide seem to have already entered in action. The bodies of three men, with shots to the head, were found in the suburban neighbourhoods of Poupelard and Christ-Roi. Like in Port-au-Prince, tension is escalating also in other cities.

According to Radio Mtropole, in Cayes, third city of the nation, a former soldier assumed the command of a group of men that yesterday set fire to the local police headquarters, freeing the detained prisoners. Meanwhile, a MISNA source referred that the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic has been reopened.

Humanitarian sources in the bordering nation refer that some committees for Dominican solidarity in favour of the Haitian population have been set up, while also fifty-some Catholic and humanitarian NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisation) have gathered together to seek a solution to the crisis afflicting neighbouring Haiti.
[BO]

"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state."

- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister

ugnet_: CONFLICT: ENOUGH POLITE CHATTER, THE POPULATIONS IN THE NORTH ARE TO BE PROTECTE

(Translation of an article by Father Giulio Albanese) 




UGANDA28/2/200412:53 
CONFLICT: ENOUGH POLITE CHATTER, THE POPULATIONS IN THE NORTH ARE TO BE PROTECTED, NOT ABANDONED  
Peace/Justice,Standard 


The situation in North Uganda is desperate and the international community cannot go on stalling. Many people within civil society believe that intervention is required to stem the spiral of violence in the northern districts before it is too late. 

The peace negotiations underway between the government of neighbouring Sudan and the rebels of SPLA (Sudan Peoples Liberation Army) may represent the chance to cut off the oxygen supply to Joseph Kony, the visionary madman at the head of the LRA (lords Resistance Army), which has terrorised the ethnic Acholi and Lango populations in northern Uganda for almost 18 years. 

Kony has been receiving arms and ammunition from the Sudanese army since 1994, while Kampala has similarly backed the rebels of SPLA. As if this were not enough, the systematic declarations by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni that the LRA is on the point of defeat are no longer convincing. 

Had his armed forces wanted to protect the population in north Uganda, they could have done so, given that they have the necessary troops and military hardware to fight successfully in foreign lands such as the former Zaire.

 However, Ugandan history also features ancient rivalries in which the north is traditionally pitted against Musevenis leadership. This may be the reason why the LRA could compromise the future of the areas that push up towards Sudan, beyond the evocative Karuma bridge. 

One thing is certain: Khartoum and Kampala must make a joint effort to stop Kony at all costs; otherwise these two governments will have shared responsibility for the disasters perpetrated by the rebels. The United Nations Security Council cannot just stand and watch as if the human rights violations in northern Uganda were somehow marginal to other political choices. 

The international community must support the efforts to mediate made by the northern Ugandan religious leaders  of whom the courageous Archbishop of Gulu, Monsignor John Baptist Odama, stands out  to prevent the LRA from perpetrating further crimes once Kony has been brought to justice. 

It is known that many baby-soldiers serving under Kony would like to lay down their weapons; for this to happen, the conditions need to be created for their reintegration into society, as was the case in Sierra Leone. 

At the end of the day, it is the children who are the main victims of this terrible war, which continues to be largely ignored by the international press. Incidentally, it seems that Kony has opened a shop in Khartoum selling spare parts for automobiles and that he also has a number of properties throughout the Sudanese capital, as well as in the city of Juba. 


He must be captured at all costs, otherwise, as Father Guido Oliana, superior of the Comboni Fathers in Uganda, told MISNA, the polite chatter of the prim will continue, stuffed with pathetic rhetoric, which disgusts those who experience the tragedy in the refugee camps. (Translation of an article by Father Giulio Albanese) [LC]




"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state." 

- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister

ugnet_: ARLPI: INTER-RELIGIOUS CARTEL OF NORTH AWARDED INTERNATIONAL PEACE PRIZE

"The ARLPI is presided by Monsignor John Baptist Odama, Catholic Archbishop of Gulu, main city of North Uganda, "
=
Citizens:
Archbishop Baptist Odama and the ARLPI should be commended for the tireless effort they have put in to work for peace in Northern Uganda.
We congratulate Odama and the ARLPI, for obtaining this international recognition.

Matek

UGANDA27/2/200417:31
ARLPI: INTER-RELIGIOUS CARTEL OF NORTH AWARDED INTERNATIONAL PEACE PRIZE
Peace/Justice,Brief

The ARLPI (Acholi Religious Peace Leaders Initiative), the inter-religious cartel that unites Catholics, Protestants and Muslims of North Uganda, won the 21st edition of the Niwano Peace Prize. The news was referred by the spokesman of the Award in Italy, Hiroshi Miyahira, explaining that the Ugandan organisation was chosen among around a thousand indications from 125 nations of the world and of every religion and culture.

The ARLPI is presided by Monsignor John Baptist Odama, Catholic Archbishop of Gulu, main city of North Uganda, where the organisation is based. For some time the religious leaders have been engaged in a complex and difficult mediation aimed at ending the death and destruction perpetrated for over 17 years in the northern districts of the African nation by the rebels of the LRA (lords Resistance Army).

Over 400 volunteers are engaged in the ARLPI non-violence programme, in the promotion of peace and assisting the victims of the conflict. The award accompanied by a monetary prize of 157.500 Euro will be consigned in Tokyo on May 11. The initiative began in 1983: since then the Niwano Peace Foundation each year assigns the international award to honour and encourage single individuals and organisations that have contributed significantly to world peace through inter-religious dialogue.

The Foundation also seeks the less known individuals and organisations to bring international attention to their activities. In the past the prestigious award was assigned also to the Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salam Israeli community, to Brazilian Cardinal Arns, the Mexican Catholic Bishop Ruiz Garcia and the Sant'Egidio community.
[BO]

- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister

Re: ugnet_: Test

2004-02-28 Thread Chris Opoka-Okumu




Your posting to Semakula did not come through opn 
Ugandanet or Fedsnet.

Chris

  - Original Message - 
  From: 
  The Fugee 
  To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; FedsNet 
  Sent: Saturday, February 28, 2004 3:24 
  AM
  Subject: ugnet_: Test
  
  Are my postings coming through?
  
  The Fugee

ugnet_: ALLOW FAMERS TIME TO BUILD CAPACITY




IMPLEMENTERS of land reform 
had a clear vision of what the programme sought to achieve and within a short 
space of time, the black majority had been empowered. There is no other 
resource that can lead to full empowerment of the people than land. The vision 
hinged on land redistribution and agricultural production. Land reform has 
turned many people into landowners, something unimaginable some three decades 
ago. What has been disturbing though are stories about land not being 
fully utilised. In fact, what has been more worrying is the failure to explain 
the reasons for land under-utilisation. We have seen Government land 
audit teams visiting farmers to check the level of land utilisation This in 
itself is not bad. What is worrying however is the impression we get 
from the audits  that the visits are not carried out with a positive intent and 
that they assume everything is going wrong on the farms. While audit 
teams have been going round the farms, the same cannot be said of Government 
extension officers. We expected the land utilisation audit exercise 
would only be carried out after extension officers had played their role of 
advising farmers. This has however not been the case. There has 
been a tendency to push farmers beyond their capacity, yet capacity cannot be 
built overnight. There should be a transitional period allowed for 
farmers as they build up capacity. It is naive to think that once allocated land 
then a boom in agricultural production should be recorded. When farmers 
applied for land, they filled in five-year cash-flow projections, showing how 
much they had in savings, among other things. But before the five years are even 
over, threats to repossess under-utilised land have heightened. We would 
have thought that the situation needed to be fully explained. What seems to have 
taken place is that the millions of dollars the new farmers expressed in their 
applications have become worthless now because of rising inflation. When 
the empowered farmers applied for land then, the money was probably adequate for 
40 hectares but now it is not even enough for half the hectarage. So it becomes 
unfair to continuously pin farmers against the cash-flow projections. As 
a matter of fact, the savings that most people expressed in the applications had 
not been made entirely for farming but were used to show interest for farming. 
There is no one, farmers included, who can claim to have money at any 
given time, to beat any level of inflation. That is not realistic. The 
land audit should not be concerned about repossessing under-utilised land but 
with the way forward and giving explanation to a host of problems that farmers 
face. It should not follow that the failure by a farmer to fully utilise 
land allocated means the land should be repossessed. If the farmer fully 
utilises 20 hectares out of 30 or 40 then the farmer must be given time to 
develop his potential. After all, we do not hope to see all new farmers 
being transformed into fully fledged commercial farmers overnight. 
Agricultural production should be seen as a development cycle where 
farmers are allowed time to build capacity before any drastic action is taken. 
Confidence is important in farming. The new land owners need confidence 
and there is no way they can have it when the threat of repossession is hovering 
over them. We hope the audit teams will take the issues we have raised 
into account, lest we lose the vision of land reform. The vision is not 
to give and take, but to allocate and help farmers build capacity so that they 
become self-reliant and reduce dependency on Government handouts. We 
have no doubt that the majority of beneficiaries of land reform have the 
capacity to make it and bring back the country to its status as the breadbasket 
of southern Africa. After all, Zimbabweans are inherently farmers. The 
season, which at one stage looked bleak, has suddenly sprung to life owing to 
the rains lashing across much of the country. 
The Mulindwas Communication Group"With 
Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in 
anarchy" 
Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans 
l'anarchie"

ugnet_: Re: [theafricanobserver] Northern Uganda is a Disaster Zone

In a message dated 2/28/2004 11:55:40 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:

"From the daily down-playing of numbers of people killed by the Lord's Resistance Army rebels, propaganda pronouncements on rebel strength to blatant lies about the situation on the ground, it has become clear that the government has chosen rationalisation as the standard procedure.You now have a contemptible preference to bury heads in the sand instead of facing up to the painful truth.As the government rationalises, innocent Ugandans continue to die with insufficient attention being paid to their plight." 


For Museveni and the NRM, there is rational to explain every UPDF/"government" incompetency when it comes to protecting citizens of Uganda. Museveni has a whole plethora of excuses. 

 Museveni says the donor community are to blamed for the continued wars in northern Uganda..why, Mbhu Donor have placed limits on Uganda defense budget ..and thus making it impossible for the regime to import more weapons for the army...and yet the reality is that Museveni has spent billion of shilling on arms. Other donors, including some major supper power, went as far as offering Museveni a lot of funds to supplement Museveni's defense budget.others relax the law pertaining to the export arms ... so that Museveni can buy even more weapons. 

All this measures, as events have now proved, did not improve UPDF's capability to protect citizens. ...and now Museveni has the audacity to blame donors for UPDF incompetency.!!!

That Museveni and the NRM would deliberately under count the number of dead Ugandans, is yet another clear indication of the evil nature of the Kaguta regime It is as if Kuguta is trying to hide the death of our citizens from members of the International Community and Ugandans. Simply as a means of political expedience.

In his deranged mind, Kuguta seems to think that if somehow he says that only 84 people died in Barlonyo...somehow this would be acceptable to Ugandans and Members of the International community.

Matek




"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state." 

- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister

ugnet_: Uganda Beats UK Arms Ban - Report


Felllow Citizens:

"And British Prme minister Tony Blair is busy wondering as to why African Countries cannot achieve sustained economic development. 

The answer, Mr. Prime Minister Tony Blair, is steering you right in your FACE... and you still cannot SEE IT!

In other words, Tony Blair's Britain has circumvented laws/controls placed on exports of weapons from Britain to countries such as Uganda. This in turn, has lead to unprecedented proliferation of weapons into conflicts area. ..result: wars and instability. ..and amidst wars and instability , there can be no meaningful sustainable economic development.

Matek 


Uganda Beats UK Arms Ban - Report

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The Monitor (Kampala)February 28, 2004 
Posted to the web February 27, 2004 

Badru D. Mulumba  Agencies

Kampala International rights activists are calling on the UK to plug the loopholes Uganda has reportedly exploited to import arms.In a new report, Lock, Stock and Barrel, written by Oxfam on behalf of the Control Arms Campaign, the civil rights activists say that countries like Uganda have exploited a loophole that places weak controls on import of arms' components rather than full military hardware
   
Previously, Britain based its arms exports solely on human rights, conflict and poverty considerations.But in 2002, the Foreign Office reportedly introduced new criteria including weighing the implications for the UK defence industry in forcing it to discontinue existing contracts."

This means that British-supplied weaponry could continue to be serviced and updated by British companies, even if it were being used in the conflict," Amnesty says in a February 25 statement.Yesterday, army spokesman, Maj. Shaban Bantariza said: "That is their [UK] problem. What I know is that they tried to put difficulties in our way to purchase arms."The European Union had an embargo on the DR Congo and the countries involved in the crisis that has reportedly left up to three million people dead since 1998.A similar US embargo was lifted last year after Uganda pulled out of the DR Congo.

Oxfam, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms jointly released the report on February 25."Components for deadly weapons are being sold to known human rights abusers," Amnesty (UK) media director Lesley Warner said."It doesn't take much to re-assemble them. And from there it takes even less to kill, to torture or to rape at gunpoint. 

This loophole must be closed immediately."The report, allegedly the first of its kind, says that since 1998 the number of arms components licensed for export have increased eleven-fold from 1,600 in 1998 to 18,948 in 2002."The report reveals that the government is applying weaker controls to the export of components, compared to the export of full weapons systems," Amnesty says."

These double standards allow British-sold weapons components to end up in countries where they could ultimately be used to violate human rights."British military components are reportedly reaching countries like Zimbabwe, Israel, Indonesia, Uganda, Colombia, Nepal and the Philippines even though the sale of complete weapons systems to these countries is banned.Licences issued for the export of assault rifle components alone have reportedly risen from 10 in 1998 to 41 in 2002, including 23 "open" licences that allow multiple shipments.

In a statement reacting to Oxfam's report, UK's junior Foreign Office minister Baroness Elizabeth Symons said on Wednesday: "The report provides no evidence for its claim that we are not as tough on components of defence equipment as we are on complete systems."We simply would not issue a licence [for the export of a weapons component] where there was an unacceptable risk of it being misused or diverted."




"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state." 

- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister

ugnet_: The 'Carnival' killing in Uganda - BBC

2004-02-28 Thread Omar Kezimbira

Last Updated: Saturday, 28 February, 2004, 12:08 GMT

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Printable version

The 'carnival' killing in Uganda

By Andrew Harding BBC correspondent, Lira

The LRA are accused of killing 200 people in the refugee campAndrew Harding travelled to Lira after a massacre in the area of 200 people by rebels a week ago which led the Ugandan parliament to declare the northern part of the country a disaster zone.

I have seen lynch mobs before. But from a distance. This was the first time I have been caught up in the middle of one.
Two things stand out in my memory, like scabs you can't help picking.
One is the laughter. The sound of men giggling and cheering as they casually picked up stones and chased their victims down the street. At times there was almost a carnival atmosphere.
The other is the sheer number of women involved. Not just those being attacked - no surprise there - but the ringleaders of the mob.
I watched an elegant lady in a beautiful green and yellow dress go to hut after hut, directing the violence. "Smash this bicycle" - she ordered a group of teenaged boys.
"Here, let's throw all this inside that hut. Now stand back - I'm going to set fire to it. OK. Let's go this way."
Just before the frenzy started, I felt a small hand grab my own. We were in the middle of a huge crowd - a peace rally marching through town.

About 10,000 people marched through Lira calling for protection They were families demanding that Uganda's military do more to protect them from the Lords Resistance Army - killers who are terrorising the countryside, massacring and abducting.
I was busy. I nearly pushed the hand away.
But I looked down and a skinny boy stared at me and immediately started crying. He blurted out that his parents, his brother and his sister, had just been killed by the LRA. " I don't know what to do," he said.
I told him to stick close to me. We will try to help. But I need to work right now. A few minutes later, the boy, Innocent Odongo, tugged at me. Those men over there, he said. They want to fight. I heard what they're saying. We should go.
And then it started.
Lynch mob
The next hour was a blur of adrenalin. And snap decisions. As a journalist - the impulse is to follow the action. And so my cameraman, Phil Davies, and our producer, Nawaz Shah, ran with the crowd.
But to begin with, we were not sure what impact our presence would have. Cameras can incite people. But they can also scare them. And what if the mob turned on us?

Uganda security forces opened fire on the protestersThe first test came within seconds.
A woman was dragged out of her hut, wailing with fear. Rocks bouncing off her tin roof. Flames already licking at the walls.
We moved in close.
Phil shouted to me: "Stay with her." The ringleaders saw us, and the camera, and started to wave the crowd back. "Leave her alone," they said. "That's enough."
And off they ran...to the next street.
Lynch mobs are not uncommon in east Africa. If you shout "thief" in some parts of Nairobi, you might as well shout - "kill that man".
Vigilante justice is what you get when you mix poverty with a society that knows the police will do nothing.
In Uganda - there was an extra ingredient. Tribalism.
The mob was attacking members of the Acholi minority, accusing them of being linked to the LRA.
It is nonsense.
A lot of LRA members are indeed Acholi - but almost all of them have been abducted against their will.
This was just an angry crowd, looking to take out its frustration on the easiest scapegoat.
Eventually, the army arrived. It took them a good hour to get from their barracks half a mile away. We heard gunfire in the distance. Later, a colleague told us they had shot into the air and into the crowd. Slowly, the morgue and the hospital filled up, and the town calmed down.
We hired some bicycle taxis, and headed back to a guest house on the edge of Lira.
Innocent came with us. We called a small Dutch charity that I'd heard about and two women came round almost immediately. They run an orphanage and promised to look after him. I have spoken to them by phone a couple of times since, and Innocent is doing OK
Narrow escape

The day before the riot, we'd driven out into the countryside.
Uganda's President, Yoweri Museveni, had invited us to see what his army was doing to crush the LRA.
We went with the President in a heavily armed convoy. But by the time we got to the army camp, it was time to head back to the capital, Kampala. We had deadlines to meet.
"That's OK", said the President. "The cars can go back in the same armed convoy. You can stay a bit longer and fly home in my helicopter."
We agreed to stay on. The decision probably saved our lives. Our car hit a landmine on the way back to Kampala. The soldier sitting in my seat, was killed.

From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Saturday, 28 February, 2004 at 1130 GMT on BBC Radio 4. Please check

ugnet_: Pop Star ; Moi and the flight of time

2004-02-28 Thread dbbwanika db

Interesting insights at Ouko inquiry
By LUCAS BARASA
and MARK AGUTU
The parliamentary inquiry into the 1990 murder of Foreign Affairs Minister Robert Ouko finally got underway this week.

And as was anticipated, names of top officials in the former government featured prominently in testimonies of witnesses who took the stand in the first five days.

At the core of the evidence adduced before the committee was the fall-out the former minister had with fellow senior government officials over his stand against high-level graft and gross human rights violations at the time prior to his disappearance and murder 14 years ago..

Witnesses traced the genesis of the ministers' trouble to a "corruption dossier" he was preparing and which heavily implicated top government officials. The report catalogued vices within government which included millions of dollars stashed in foreign accounts by leading figures close to retired President Moi. Demands for kick-backs by top government officials before approving investment in the country were some of the damning information said to be in the minister's dossier. The rehabilitation of the stalled Kisumu Molasses Plant was one of the projects cited in the kick-backs scandal.

Witnesses said Dr Ouko maintained that the country risked total collapse if the vices were left to continue. Rampant human rights violations said to have tainted Kenya's image abroad included detention without trial and police torture.

The stand-off between Dr Ouko and his opponents in government worsened during January 1990 trip to the US for the annual breakfast prayer meeting.

Although Dr Ouko was against the trip, citing Kenya's bad image abroad and expressing fear the 82-member delegation might receive unpleasant reception, he was over-ruled by former President Moi.

In the US Dr Ouko however managed to secure an appointment between Mr Moi and President George Bush (senior) through then Secretary of State James Baker.

Upon returning to his hotel, Dr Ouko was met by then powerful cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott who chided him with the remark: "So you are back, Mr President" to which Dr Ouko replied that he was not the president but just a minister, the inquiry was told.

The temperatures went a notch higher when Dr Ouko went to President Moi's suite to brief him on the impending meeting with President Bush.

An angry President Moi never gave him time to say anything on the appointment but instead roared at him: "What is this report I am hearing you are writing about corruption in my government?"

The President ordered him out of the suite even as Dr Ouko attempted to assure him the report was for the good of the country and they would discuss it as soon as they got home.

Following the row Dr Ouko was left behind and forced to find his own way back to the country. His passport confiscated on arrival. He was upon arrival on February 4, 1990 summoned by the President who ordered him to proceed to his rural home in Koru for his leave.

His subsequent efforts to see the President were blocked by Internal Security permanent secretary Hezekiah Oyugi.

On the night of February 12, 1990, Dr Ouko was picked from his home only for his charred remains to be recovered on the foot of Got Alila four days later.

According to the inquiry's third witness, Mr Barack Mbajah, Dr Ouko's step-brother, a note left behind by Ouko listed former District Commissioner Jonah Anguka, Nairobi lawyer George Oraro, bank official Paul Gondi and businessman Eric Onyango as the people who picked him up.

A former policeman Mr David Mburu Mukhwana - the fourth witness on his part named Mr Oraro, Dr Ouko's chief campaigner a Mr Koyoo and Mr Anguka as those who lured the minister out of his house.

He said the Administration Policeman guarding Dr Ouko's home, Mr Zablon Agalo Obonyo was given Sh4 million by Mr Anguka to conceal information on what transpired the night the minister disappeared.

Other witnesses who have so far testified but might be recalled are Ms Selina Were (Ouko's house-help) and Kisumu Town West Kanu chairman, Eliud William Ndalo, a worker at Ouko's farm.

Ms Were, the first to testify said Mr Oyugi and Mr Anguka were present in the compound on the night Dr Ouko was kidnapped .

And only four days before the minister was seized and bundled out of his compound, one of Mr Oyugi's officers- an inspector in-charge of a nearby police camp-held a meeting with Dr Ouko's workers...and afterwards all the workers seemed to be in money.

The second witness, Mr Were also said Mr Anguka, Mr Oyugi and a third man took positions around the minister's house shortly before he disappeared.

Scotland yard detective Superintendent John Troon, Ms Marianne Briner Mattern,an international investment consultant with a Swiss registered company -BAK Group and Mr Anguka have also been summoned.

Mr Oraro and Mr Gondi have since denied any involvement in Dr Ouko's disappearance and murder and said they were

ugnet_: 1962 unworkable arrangement!

2004-02-28 Thread Lugemwa FN


From the 1962 Constitution:

(1) Uganda consists of Federal States, Districts and the territory of Busoga.
(2) The Federal States are the Kingdom of Buganda, the Kingdom of Ankole, the Kingdom of Bunyoro, the Kingdom of Toro and the territory of Busoga.
(3) The Districts are the Districts of Acholi, Bugisu, Bukedi, Karamoja, Kigezi, Lango, Madi, Sebei, Teso and West Nile

2004 Fedsnet's 13 States model for an 'all-inclusive' Federal system


Acholi 
Ankole 
Buganda 
Bugisu/Sebei 
Bukedi 
Bunyoro 
Busoga 
Karamoja 
Kigezi 
Lango 
Teso 
Toro 
West Nile 
www.federo.com
FN Lugemwa
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ugnet_: Charles lost his arms after a severe beating by soldiers IRIN Special

Charles (25) amputee undergoing treatment at the AVSI rehabilitation centre, Gulu Hospital
Charles lost his arms after a severe beating by soldiers
I worked as a cook at a primary school. I lived in the school compound. Some UPDF soldiers guarded the school. One afternoon, I went back home from work and sat outside my house. Some soldiers came and surrounded me. They said I was a rebel and demanded that I show them the gun I was hiding. I told them I was a civilian and didn't have a gun. But they did not believe me. They insisted that I was a rebel. They tied my hands tightly behind me with a rubber strap and began beating me till I was unconscious.

They only left me when they thought I was dead. I woke up in hospital some days later. The doctors told me they had been forced to amputate my arms to save my life. I have been trying to follow up the matter with the authorities through a human rights organisation, which sent a letter to the UPDF Fourth Division. There have been threats to prevent me from pressing the case.

I still see all of the soldiers who attacked me. Nothing has been done to them.This is a new life for me. I now have to depend on people to help me with everything. I cannot even dress or eat on my own. I am tired of this. The school only helped me meet my medical costs, but now I have no job. I cannot go back to my old job with both hands amputated. I have two children to feed. My wife left me when I returned home without my hands.

- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister

Re: ugnet_: 1962 unworkable arrangement!

Apart from the naming of the proposed 13 states,is there anything
fundamentally different from the 1962 unworkable arrangement?
Just wondering aloud.
Kipenji.
===
		  
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ugnet_: L I F E A T P O I N T Z E R O

L I F E A T P O I N T Z E R O
Labongo-Layamo camp in Kitgum District

"The people in the camps are very poor. I mean, the life is horrible. The people here are not living, they are existing. They are next to dead."

Charles Uma, the chairman of the Gulu Disaster Preparedness Committee.Over 1.2 million people in northern Uganda live in protected villages and camps. Some went there voluntarily to escape LRA attacks, others at the instructions of the authorities.In Acholi, the area that has borne the brunt of the rebellion in the north over the past 17 years, the camps are home to between 70 and 80 percent of the population.

The number of people in each camp varies greatly. As at September 2003, Pabbo, the largest of the 33 camps in Gulu District, had about 50,000 residents, while Olwal and Olwiyo camps held approximately 25,000 and 2,050 respectively.As the insecurity spreads, more and more camps are built. Labongo-Layamo, just outside the town of Kitgum, was set up in August 2003. It already accommodates over 12,000 people, mainly from the Labongo area in Cwa County, whose residents had long resisted calls by the government for them to relocate.Life in the camps is one of abject poverty.

Food is short, and many infants suffer from malnutrition. Water is scarce since camps often do not have enough boreholes. There is little access to health care. In some camps there are schools, but not enough teachers. Moreover, school life is constantly disrupted by the insecurity.IDPs complain that life in the camps has had a disastrous effect on their society. Signs of social breakdown include high levels of promiscuity, substance abuse, unprotected sex and increased numbers of child mothers, they say. As people stay longer and longer in the camps, what is left of their dignity is gradually eroded.

Disrespected by the traumatised youth, forced to look on, powerless, as their society is turned inside out by violence and fear, some of the older adults become mentally ill, according to camp leaders.While the authorities say the residents of the north have been relocated for their own protection, the camps themselves have become LRA targets. District officials in Gulu said that between April and July 2003, rebels burned four camps in the district alone. Pabbo was attacked 17 times between January and July of this year.
Children at the Kilak Corner IDP camp in Pader
T
"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state."

- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister

ugnet_: If you thought women were the weaker sex,just think again

Opinion Analysis Sunday, February 29, 2004

If you thought women werethe weaker sex, just think againBy SIMWOGERERE KYAZZE
So much for the characterisations of women as the weaker sex. If that may be so, Ugandan women, supposedly crafted from a mans rib-cage, were obviously not clued in.
In little and big ways, Ugandan women are on a roll. They are doing better in school, they are first in line for plum jobs, they are joining politics, they own big properties, a few have kept men they are generally taking charge.
The babes are also causing some big waves. A recent report published in Mukono District, south of Kampala, revealed that at least 1,682 men were battered by their wives in 2003. The mens crimes were mostly drunkenness and the inevitable lack of interest in bed.
"The trend of women battering their husbands is increasing. We are soon going to carry out sensitisation seminars about the dangers of this," the District Probation Officer was quoted in the local press.
The irony of a statement about seminars for rampaging women must have been lost on the gentleman. But the larger truth is that Ugandan women, once content to lie back and be used by drunken spouses, now expect them not only to be up for it, but also be coherent and respectful, or woe betide the thick-headed among them.
Kenyans might be familiar with the so-called acid attack, where a woman attacks her rival with acid with the intent of disfiguring her, making her ghastly and undesirable for the man they share.
Lately, however, more and more Ugandan men are turning up in hospital with acid burns mostly the handiwork of wives, fed up with their cheating ways, or girlfriends tired of feeding on the same tired line of: "I am about to leave her for you."
The girls are also sticking it to the men through the judiciary. They no longer fade into the night once the man has sated his pelvic hunger, thank you!
The most recent and probably most famous case is that of a big man in President Yoweri Musevenis government who was being hauled before a judge early this month. He was forced to show cause why he should not be declared a 'dead-beat dad'.
See, like many men, Mr Big Man had an affair with a beautiful and unworldly young woman. Four years and two little ones later, however, the big man was good to go. His paramour was probably good to go too, but demanded that he pay her fare. With a little help from the Federation of Ugandan Women Lawyers, the woman ascertained through DNA testing what she already knew her former lover was 99.99 per cent the father of her two children. She demanded child support worth about Ksh650 per month, and when he reneged on the hush-hush January deal, took him to open court. The jury is still out, but there is no doubting the ramifications. In any case, the media has already hang him out to dry with banner headlines of the woman and her young children.
Of course our big man will not lose his job for being unfaithful to his wife. But that he has not been reprimanded, first for denying his obvious paternity, and later for child neglect, is now the fodder for radio talk shows. Its also indicative of the long road Ugandan men still need to travel before good sense catches up with the fruit of their exertions.
Anyway, with men like these, is it a wonder that women are experimenting? First with their own bodies (they are doing pretty well in San Francisco), and then with attempts to replace man as the other factor in procreation equation (male scientists around the world are feverishly cloning themselves out of importance).
The Ugandan women will not scale that scientific plateaux for a while yet. But they are doing it just like James Bond would. They are becoming what Susan Mushart referred to as the "sperm thieves" in her book Wife Work; What Marriage Really Means for Women.
Ms Mushart is a middling woman with two children from two previous marriages. She contends that instead of women going into marriage with an eye on the lived-happily-ever-after, they should start off with the assumption that it wont work, and get the lasting symbol of mans union with woman. Enter her sperm thieves.
Some Ugandan girls have already heard Ms Mushart. They enter relationships with the specific intention of getting out. They dont need money or security because they are young, educated, they hold nice jobs, and quite frankly, prefer the company of "the girls" to that of drooling men on a Friday night. "So this is what he really wants? Well, let him have it and we can all be on our merry way!"
The flood-gates are closed still yet, but there is no doubting the trend: more and more young women prefer getting a child with a man with good bones and no history of mental illness nothing more. Because Ugandan law allows mothers to keep the child until it is 18, it would be too late for the donor to make a male impression.
For the young Ugandan men in question, nothing is more humiliating than being led to the

ugnet_: It's women's day to propose

It's women's day to proposeBy CHRIS HART
February is always a romantic month and especially this year. Not just St Valentine's Day but Leap Year's Day too. You do remember what that means, don't you? The 29th of February is the one day, every four years, when traditionally it is the turn for women to propose to men.
Watch out guys! Scotland actually passed a law in 1288 that not only allowed women to propose marriage on February 29 but laid down that any man who declined must pay a fine to the woman in question...
There has always been something special about Leap Year's Day. On February 29, 1940, the movie Gone with the Wind, the most romantic film ever, won eight Oscar, including Hattie McDaniel's, the first African American to win one.
The Playboy Club opened on the same day in 1980. In 1996 Kenya defeated the West Indies in the Cricket World Cup!
A good number of countries in the West recognise February 29 as the one day when a woman can propose and woe betide the man who refuses!
Legend has it that it all started in the Fifth Century Ireland when St Bridget complained to St Patrick about women having to wait so long for their men to say the word. So St Patrick said they could propose on this one special day every four years.
But the right of a woman to propose on February 29 goes back hundreds of years. In those times the day was not recognised in English law it was ignored and 'leapt over', which is why we call it the 'leap year day'.
Aas the day had no legal status, traditions like 'only a man can propose' were suspended and women started to take the initiative... Of course, everything about proposing is romantic and symbolic, no matter who says the word. The engagement ring seals the promise of a future together.
The diamond engagement ring has been around since 1477 and first appeared in Medieval Italy. In the 18th and 19th centuries rings with gemstones were popular chosen so their first letters spelled out the giver's name or a word such as 'dearest': Diamond, emerald, amethyst, ruby, epidote, sapphire, turquoise.
Some couples celebrated their engagement with a Gimmal Ring, a three-part ring with two clasped hands on it. One part was worn by the bride-to-be, one by the groom-to-be, and the third by a witness. It was reunited as the bride's wedding ring, on the day of their marriage.
But the diamond became the traditional symbol of betrothal. Its clarity represents innocence and purity, and its strength the hope of enduring love. Wedding and engagement rings are traditionally worn on the third finger, usually on the left hand. The vein in this finger was once believed to go direct to the heart, which is closely associated with love.
But the 'heart shape', seen everywhere in February, looks nothing like the real thing, does it? Do you know what it actually represents? A naked female bottom! Much more deeply symbolic and a broad hint.
And ladies, that's exactly what the 29th is all about. Not just an opportunity to pop the question. The perfect time to take the initiative in bed. Let's face it, most relationships get a bit stale after a while. Maybe you're disappointed because your marriage isn't what you expected it to be. Perhaps you think other marriages don't experience boredom, loneliness or lack of sex. You find yourself thinking 'Is this all there is?'
Completely normal, believe me. But that doesn't mean you have to put up with it! In a successful relationship you have to forget the myth of 'happily ever after' and work hard. Love even when you don't feel like it. People who tell you they're happy all the time in their marriage are either lying or they don't see their spouses all that much! Marriage is tough, whatever the adverts say. So accept the daily routine and that marriages are never perfect.
But if the thrill is gone or so it seems Leap Year's Day gives you permission to do something dramatic about it! Men get lazy. So if your man's glued to the TV most nights, or in a bar, or his bump and grind routine leaves much to be desired, don't get mad. Get him going!
Start by treating yourself to some perfume, massage oil, scented candles and sexy lingerie. Believe me, men really do love sexy lingerie. It's the broadest possible hint that tonight's special... So leave off those practical white knickers. And wear nothing but a garter or suspender belt and stockings. That'll do the trick every time. And high heels! It sounds corny, but high heels do something special. They don't just make your legs look longer they emphasise your bottom and make it look tighter.
Don't worry if you feel silly walking around the house in stilettos. You'll only be on your feet for a couple of minutes. And while you're choosing your romantic treats, remember that the sexiest accessory of all is self-confidence. So wear things that make you feel good. Do your hair the way you want it. Smile a lot to yourself, and imagine how successful you're going to be. It's a

ugnet_: check out this site!!

Fellow citizens:

 Please checkout this IRIN webspecial site below.(posted today 02/28/2004 ( warning: you must be strong at heart ..If you are emotional get a box of paper napkin.) Check out the slide. Notice the suffering .This, then, is what Yoweri Museveni's NRM has reduced our country . 

Matek 


http://www.irinnews.org/webspecials/northernuganda/

===

"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the state." 

- Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels - Hitler's propaganda minister

ugnet_: Why it's such a rare occasion

Why it's such a rare occasionBy GAVIN BENNETT
Today is the most unique day on the calendar. February 29 has occurred only 103 times in history, and only 14 of those occasions have been a Sunday. That makes today pretty unusual.
But while many much more "common" days like Christmas and New Year cause a global frenzy, Sunday, February 29, 2004, for all its rarity, will pass virtually unnoticed.
To the best of my knowledge, it will be celebrated only as "World Hash Day", like every other February 29, by that rag tag army of folk who call themselves "The Hash House Harriers".
It's a sort of club, with no formal membership or subscription. The "Hash" in hundreds of cities throughout the world (including Nairobi and Mombasa) simply passes the word around that there will be a fun run, a sort of joggers mix-in, on a regular day of each week, in one of the suburbs.
If you want to run, you simply turn up at the appointed rendezvous, say hello, and off you go. Each week's course is set by someone with serious lungs and leg muscles, who runs ahead leaving a trail (of little scraps of loo paper or little piles of posho).
No one knows where he's gone, so the Hashers spread out in all directions looking for the first trail clue. When someone finds it, he or she shouts "on, on", or something, and everyone follows the sound and the trail. The best runners tend to do all the scouting and finding, and the rest cover a much smaller distance at much lower speed while waiting for the next shout and then taking a short-cut. The net result is that a course of eight to 10 km takes nearly two hours, and almost everybody, athlete and arthritic alike, finishes at about the same time. All then shout "Jolly Hockeysticks", or something, agree where they'll meet the following week, and then go home.
You will have guessed that such a pastime must have British origins (the world's most prolific inventors of peerlessly eccentric games), but like cricket and football before it, the "Hash" now has a worldwide following. Today they'll all be saying hello, on-on, and jolly hockeysticks in unison as they scale the Mt Longot.
And that is perhaps appropriate, for February 29 is quintessentially eccentric; always has been and always will be. It's completely crazy. It's also incredibly important.
If February 29 was not necessary, we would not exist. Let me explain:
The first precise measure of time man discovered was the Day. The time it took for the earth to rotate once on its own axis. This is exact, consistent, and it relates to our natural physical environment. No problem with the Day.
And no problem with how we divide up that Day into smaller parts; the concepts of hours, minutes and seconds are pure human invention (based on equally arbitrary degrees of angle) and all we have to do is agree what they are and have a way of defining them. It's just a pity we didn't choose 10 hours, each containing 10 minutes, each divided into 100 seconds.
No problem, either, if we just invented terms and definitions for collections of Days ideally, 10 days = 1 week; 10 weeks = one month; 10 months = one year. Everything would then be related, precisely, to the natural, physical, real, Day. Metrically.
Unfortunately, in our search for bigger time blocks than the Day, we discovered the Moon and the Sun before we invented metric maths.
We worked out how long it took for the Moon to go round the Earth once, and how long it took the Earth to go round the Sun.
Had there been an exact number of Days in the Moon's orbit, and an exact number of Days and/or lunar cycles in our regular circuit of the Sun, we could have had a very sensible calendar not metric, but manageable.
Unfortunately there are 27.3 days in a moon cycle, and it takes the Earth 365.2422 days to orbit the Sun. Any attempt to have all three units Days, Moons and Suns in the same calendar was arithmetically doomed. Yet that is what man did, continued to do, and still does.
Julius Caesar and his astronomer buddy Sosigenes tried to repair the cumulative damage by announcing one year (the one we call 46 BC) would have 445 days and that every third year thereafter would be a Leap Year. Thus began the Julian Calendar.
Interestingly, 46 BC became known as "the year of confusion", and the Leap Year frequency meant calendars were gaining on real solar time by 2 hours and 11 minutes. With a fellow whose name sounded like Sausage Knees in charge of the abacus, the mad maths is hardly surprising.
In 8 BC, Emperor Augustus cut the error to 11 minutes by revising the Leap frequency to every fourth year, but by the 16th Century, even that little quirk had accumulated to an error of 11 days.
So in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII decreed that October 4 should be immediately followed by October 15, and with a nifty bit of foresight he built in a future correction by saying that the years 1700, 1800 and 1900 (the century years not divisible by 400) would not be Leap Years cutting the error to

ugnet_: God's cosmic pus and why we need a rest day each week

God's cosmic opus and why weneed a rest day each week
By JOE BABENDREIER
Astronomers tell us we need the 29th day of February from time to time. The Ten Commandments tell us we need a day for God once every seven days. A schoolboy once asked: If God is so powerful, why didn't he create everything on the first day and take the rest of the week off? He would have six days dedicated to him and life would be much easier.
Centuries before Christians decided to make this the Lord's Day (because of Jesus' resurrection), a curious phenomenon took hold of the human psyche and has ruled the world ever since. Ancient man could see seven heavenly lights forever changing their position against a background of fixed stars. The Babylonians came up with the idea of naming a day for each one, thinking they were gods. We have stuck to a seven-day week ever since, using more or less the same names: Sunday for the sun, Monday for the moon, Saturday for Saturn. The Anglo-Saxon equivalents for the other visible planets (Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus) are Tiw, Woden, Thor and Freya. Add the possessive "s" and you get Tiwsday, Wodensday, Thorsday and Freyasday.
Since the seven-day week has an unapologetically pagan pedigree, some people feel a bit embarrassed by the whole thing. They fret when atheists accuse Christianity of being nothing more than a pious elaboration on creation myths and fertility cults. The first page of Genesis starts to look less like divine wisdom and more like a heretical holdover. It looks even worse when considering the scientific data. Coherent believers had to abandon the idea that God's cosmic opus was neatly squeezed into half a dozen 24-hour periods. Since it took a lot longer than six days to get from "Let there be light" to Adam and Eve, a lot of ink has covered a lot of pages trying to explain where that leaves the "seventh day" of the "first week".
When revealing everything to Moses on top of the mountain, God may have been content to go along with the Israelites' cultural prejudices about the proper number of days for a week as long as one day was dedicated to him. Or maybe there is a mysterious parallel with the seven angels standing before God's throne. In either case, the Law of Moses stresses an equally odd element in the story, namely, rest. Which brings us back to the main question. Why do we need to rest every seven days? Why not every twelve? Why not every three?
The ultimate proof that the biblical notion of the seventh day transcends anything Abraham picked up from his days in Babylon lies here. It enshrines not only a custom that helps us relax in a hectic world but a belief that this world will come to an end to be followed by another world where nothing ever changes. No other civilisation came up with this idea. The Jews were unique in holding this faith. They insisted that God has a plan and that we are the plan. God wants a creature who is as perfect an image of his infinite, immutable being as anything finite and fragile can possibly be. Once he gets what he wants, creation will be finished, this world will come to an end and eternity will take over.
It is good to worry about constitutions and presidential powers. Peace and justice depend on having good laws and keeping them. It is good to go to Mars and all the planets. We might find signs of life and get a better idea of how God created it. But the day is coming when none of this will matter any more. The only law will be the law of love. The only ruler will be the Prince of Peace. No more Bomas. No more Goldenberg. No more politics. No more evolution. No more births. No more deaths.
Take a day off, God seems to say to us every Sunday, and remember: "I shall make the earth shake once more and not only the earth but heaven as well. The things being shaken are created things. They are going to be changed, so that the unshakeable things will be left."
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ugnet_: God's cosmic pus and why we need a rest day each week