[Ugnet] Subject: ugnet_: KAMPALA FLOODS - Any solutions??
KAMPALA FLOODS - Any solutions?? From: ADULE [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: ugnet_: KAMPALA FLOODS - Any solutions?? Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Lately, the hot environmental topics in Uganda and particularly Kampala have centered on flooding and the Nakivubo Channel. Mayor Sebanna Kizito in his December 9th 1999 address to members of NGOs blamed the government for the flooding problem citing its policy of gazzeting lowland areas to industrial developments. In reply, Y. Nkulabo in his 16th December posting on Ugandanet wondered how such a governmental policy would cause the famous Kampala flooding during the rainy seasons. Mwami Nkulabo advocates for a program that will see the swamps in and around Kampala drained with added drainage systems. Kampala\'s valleys were homes to swamps and rivers like Nakivubo, Kitante, Lubigi, and Nalukulongo but to name a few. This changed soon after Dr.Cook discovered in 1903 that mosquitoes spread Malaria. He advocated for the drainage of swamps and rivers all over British\'s colonial territories. Hence, Kampala\'s once open slow flowing rivers (streams) like Kitante, Lugogo, Mulago, Nakivubo, and Nsambya vanished giving way to covered large pipes and open-air drainage channels. Nakivubo was the largest project with all the other channels draining into it enroute to Lake Victoria. This policy at that time seemed to solve Kampala\'s mosquito and drainage problems. On the other hand, Kampala City\'s urbanization program continued to expand as more concrete, stone, brick and asphalt of pavement and buildings capped its surface with a waterproof seal. This urban growth increment meant stormwater runoffs increased in magnitude and destructiveness (urbanization can increase the mean annual stormwater runoff by as much as six times). Unable to penetrate the ground, the rain that falls on unstable construction sites, roofs, streets and parking lots runs off the surface in greater quantities, more rapidly than the same amount of rain falling on the spongy surface of a natural field. The rapid stormwater runoff flows into narrower, shallower floodplains, constricted by buildings and clogged with sediment causing considerable amount of flooding especially around Lugogo, Nsambya, and Mulago. It should be noted that storm sewers transport water from one point to another; they do not reduce or eliminate water, they merely change its location. Traditional storm drainage practice protects local streets, buildings and parking lots from flooding, while contributing to major flood damage downstream. [Please note that for an urban storm drainage system to drain water efficiently from roofs, streets, and sidewalks, the flood control system must be continually augmented to prevent flooding in low lands of Lugogo, Nsambya, and Mulago.] Other effects of storm drainage systems apart from flood hazards are increased water pollution and use. Typically, the storm drainage system aggravates pollution by delivering slugs of sewage and runoff after storms into Lake Victoria. Kampala draws it\'s water from Lake Victoria and must contend with increased contamination. Since the ground, sealed by pavement and drained by pipes, absorbs little water, the amount of water stored in the ground, from which plants obtain their supply, is reduced. This lowered groundwater is insufficient to sustain plants during dry spells. No wonder, urban plants haven\'t been successful in Kampala streets. Kampala can adopt a number of innovative approaches to its flood/stormwater runoff problem by: - Redesigning the straight concrete-lined Nakivubo open-water channel into a waterway with irregularly shaped edges and a gently sloped vegetated bank. This is an opportunity to transform a rubble-strewn, filthy, open channel lined by garbage and derelict land, into a landscaped park lined with pedestrian and bikeways. - Setting up bioswales. (Bioswales are created to capture runoff and hold it until it permeates into the soil or evaporates into the air. The bioswale is also seen as a creative means of controlling runoff, as it has the potential to mitigate wetland loss, preserve open space, and improve the aesthetics of Kampala. As such, the bioswale has hydrologic, chemical and biological functions). - Designing the rooftops, parking lots, open spaces to store stormwater so that it\'s gradually released into the ground. - Preserving open spaces in the headwater areas for natural storage capacity, thereby reducing flooding and the cost of storm drainage systems. - Identifying and designating undeveloped urban wetlands as parkland to soak up and hold water in soil and plants - Exploiting the aesthetic properties of water without wasting it Floodwater storage and recreation are compatible in large open spaces (urban parks
ugnet_: NYTimes.com Article: Tracking Down Cheap Air Fares
The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] /- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight \ I HEART HUCKABEES - OPENING IN SELECT CITIES OCTOBER 1 From David O. Russell, writer and director of THREE KINGS and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER comes an existential comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Hupert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts. Watch the trailer now at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/huckabees/index_nyt.html \--/ Tracking Down Cheap Air Fares August 29, 2004 By SUSAN STELLIN WITH all the rock-bottom sales advertised over the summer - $200 to fly round trip between New York and San Francisco on several airlines or $39 to fly one-way within California on Southwest - it's easy to feel as if you're missing out on a secret if you never come across such cheap fares. For anyone who has ever asked, Why can't I ever find such good deals? the answer is that shopping for plane tickets is a lot like buying shoes, sofas or stereos: Some people just get lucky and happen upon a fabulous bargain, while others are expert shoppers and put a lot of time and effort into the hunt. When buying airline tickets, there is a lot you can do to sharpen your shopping skills. Web sites like Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity are great for comparing fares from multiple airlines, but to root out the best deals, it helps to know a few search tricks and where else to find options that those sites don't display. Of the big three online travel agencies, Orbitz in particular has been adding tools that make it easier for travelers to find the best fares. One Orbitz tool allows you to view and compare fares not just for the travel dates you enter, but also one day earlier or later. On Expedia, you can view fares on alternative dates once you've gotten your initial search results, saving you the trouble of re-entering your search. In general, you can often find lower fares by traveling on Tuesday or Wednesday, when planes are less crowded and cheap seats are more likely to be available. When airlines announce sales, the prices are sometimes valid only for travel on certain days - often, Tuesday or Wednesday - so you can increase your chances of catching a sale by researching midweek prices. For learning about special sales, SmarterLiving.com is a good Web site. One of its handiest features is a free weekly e-mail newsletter listing special Web fares that airlines have announced that week, saving you the trouble of signing up for each carrier's e-mail promotions. You can choose to receive information about specials from your home airport or multiple airports, if you have a few nearby. Most of the Web specials are for travel within two weeks of purchase, so they are best for last-minute escapes, but SmarterLiving does track other airline sales. Smaller Airports Though you can often save money by flying out of alternative airports - say, Oakland instead of San Francisco - most Web sites don't make it easy to search for flights into or out of several airports. One that does is www.itasoftware.com, which lets you search airports at distances ranging from 25 to 300 miles of your first choice. One quirk is that ITA Software doesn't sell tickets. You can search for fares, but you have to buy from the airline or a travel agent. What's different about ITA Software is that it turns up dozens, sometimes hundreds, of fare combinations, generally far more than other sites display. For some, so many options can be overwhelming, but compulsive shoppers thrive on such choice. Another potential pitfall is that the site may display a fare combination that you have trouble actually buying. After an exhaustive search on the ITA Software site for a multi-city trip that turned up a $461 ticket on United Airlines, I begged two United agents to try to recreate the fare I'd found, but both insisted the itinerary I'd chosen would cost $800. Cara Kretz, a spokeswoman for ITA Software, said that because the company's technology finds more fare combinations than software used by other travel sellers, travelers may find that an airline can't recreate a particular itinerary for the price ITA Software found. In that case, she said, seek out a good travel agent or reservation agent who can take the time to figure it out. Despite these issues, the site is worth checking out for its thorough results and nifty search tools. Like Orbitz, ITA Software lets you search for flights on a range of days (for example, Wednesday, Sept. 8, and one day earlier or later); it's also useful for multi-city trips or one-way tickets. Searching for both types of flights recently, I found a lot more options on itasoftware.com than I turned up elsewhere, often for lower prices. The site also displays JetBlue flights, which Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity don't show. But it doesn't display Southwest itineraries.
ugnet_: NYTimes.com Article: Sub-Saharan Africa Lags in Water Cleanup
The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] /- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight \ I HEART HUCKABEES - OPENING IN SELECT CITIES OCTOBER 1 From David O. Russell, writer and director of THREE KINGS and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER comes an existential comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Hupert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts. Watch the trailer now at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/huckabees/index_nyt.html \--/ Sub-Saharan Africa Lags in Water Cleanup August 27, 2004 By SHARON LaFRANIERE JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 26 - Sub-Saharan Africa is lagging far behind the rest of the developing world in access to clean water, with more than 4 out of 10 people still relying on rivers, ponds or other unsafe sources of drinking water, according to a United Nations report issued Thursday. Although about 130 million more of the region's residents have gained access to clean water since 1990, the report states, governments are not moving quickly enough to meet the United Nations' goal of providing three-fourths of the population with safe drinking water by 2015. Only 58 percent of the 684 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have clean water, compared with an average of 79 percent for the entire developing world. The report attributes Africa's slow progress to conflict, political instability, population growth and the low priority that is given to water and sanitation by regional leaders. At least 30 percent of the region's water systems are inoperable because of age or disrepair, according to officials from Unicef, which issued the report with the World Health Organization. The rest of the world is mostly on track to meet the United Nations' targets for clean water, the report said. About 1.1 billion more people have clean water now than in 1990. Another 1.1 billion still lack it, most of them in Asia, home to more than half the world's population. The report credits India with a huge effort. Eighty-six percent of Indian citizens now have clean water - an increase of 18 percentage points since in 1990. By contrast, the percentage of sub-Saharan Africans who gained access to clean water rose by only 9 percentage points. The world has done less well in improving sanitation, according to the report. The latest figures showed that 2.6 billion people - half of the developing world and more than one-third of the world's population - remained without basic sanitation, defined as a latrine with a concrete slab that can be washed down. But that was better than in 1990, when nearly half the world's people used a pit, a bucket or an open field. But the rate of progress is not nearly fast enough to meet the United Nations' goal of sanitation for three-fourths of the world's population by 2015, according to the report. Sub-Saharan Africa again brings up the rear, providing acceptable sanitation for only 36 percent of the population. The W.H.O. estimates that 3,900 children die each day because of dirty water or poor hygiene. Diseases transmitted through water or human excrement are the second-leading cause of death among children worldwide, after respiratory diseases, Vanessa Tobin, chief of sanitation for Unicef, said. An additional 400 million children are infested with round worms or whip worms because of poor hygiene. Using 1990 as a benchmark, the world's governments agreed in 2000 on a plan to increase by 50 percent the share of people with access to clean water and sanitation by 2015. The United Nations hopes not only to reduce the rates of death and disease, but to spare the poor the difficult effort now often required to obtain a basic necessity like water. In nearly half the households in rural Africa, statistics indicate, women and girls devote a half hour or more a day to fetching a bucket of water. Officials also argue that fewer girls would drop out of school at adolescence if more schools were equipped with latrines. Household latrines would spare women often dangerous hikes to fields, roadsides or railroad tracks at night, the officials said. Ms. Tobin of Unicef said African leaders were paying more attention to the critical need for boreholes, wells and standpipes, or community water for more than four-fifths of people in sub-Saharan Africa who live in homes without piped water. The big question is: Are there sufficient resources? she said in a telephone interview. Improving sanitation is a less costly proposition, she said. In countries too poor to build sewage or septic tanks systems, simple latrines can suffice. It is not so much a question of resources, she said. It is a question of giving it the priority it needs. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/27/international/africa/27africa.html?ex=1094897276ei=1en=46bee746255aea9a - Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading
ugnet_: Fwd: NV: Hon. Ocula Nyeko ran out of money, but not checks ...
Note: forwarded message attached. Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses.---BeginMessage--- MP for arrest KAMPALA Buganda Road Magistrate Emmanuel Baguma has for the fifth time ordered the arrest of Kilak MP Ocula Nyeko for reportedly issuing a false cheque to Lt. Julius Barigye, attached to Makindye Military Police Barracks. The prosecutor, Joyce Tushabe, said Nyeko issued the sh1.1m cheque in November last year. Published on: Monday, 30th August, 2004 at leastI am not the one with that syndrome (yeah, misery loves company!)---End Message---
ugnet_: NYTimes.com Article: #39;African-American#39; Becomes a Term for Debate
The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] This is an intersting debate. I am not an American, but if I were a citizen, I'd most probably describe myself as a Ugandan-American. When one studies Hispanics, similar differences emerge, e.g. Mexican-American, Cuban-American, Puerto Rican, Chicano, etc. While many speak the the same language, Spanish, cultural differences are obvious, perhaps even to a casual observer. A curious factoid may be used to highlight the above: among illicit-drug users of Hispanic orgin, there are significant differences in type of drugs used according to national origin. Similar differences in drug-choice have been documented between African-American and American Caucasian drug users. Anyhow, sociologists and/or cultural antrhropologists may be in position to elaborate and characterize the differences among Continental Africans and African Americans. Of course there are differences among Continental Africans ourselves that we know only too well -- extending even to lifestyle here in USA. Musamize [EMAIL PROTECTED] /- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight \ I HEART HUCKABEES - OPENING IN SELECT CITIES OCTOBER 1 From David O. Russell, writer and director of THREE KINGS and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER comes an existential comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Hupert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts. Watch the trailer now at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/huckabees/index_nyt.html \--/ #39;African-American#39; Becomes a Term for Debate August 29, 2004 By RACHEL L. SWARNS SILVER SPRING, Md., Aug. 27 - For a moment, the Ethiopian-born activist seemed to melt into the crowd, blending into the sea of black professors, health experts and community leaders considering how to educate blacks about the dangers of prostate cancer. But when he piped up to suggest focusing some attention on African immigrants, the dividing lines were promptly and pointedly drawn. The focus of the campaign, the activist, Abdulaziz Kamus, was told, would be strictly on African-Americans. I said, 'But I am African and I am an American citizen; am I not African-American?' said Mr. Kamus, who is an advocate for African immigrants here, recalling his sense of bewilderment. They said 'No, no, no, not you.' The census is claiming me as an African-American, said Mr. Kamus, 47, who has lived in this country for 20 years. If I walk down the streets, white people see me as an African-American. Yet African-Americans are saying, 'You are not one of us.' So I ask myself, in this country, how do I define myself? That prickly question is increasingly being raised as the growing number of foreign-born blacks in this Washington suburb and elsewhere inspires a quiet debate over who can claim the term African-American, which has rapidly replaced black in much of the nation's political and cultural discourse. In the 1990's, the number of blacks with recent roots in sub-Saharan Africa nearly tripled while the number of blacks with origins in the Caribbean grew by more than 60 percent, according to demographers at the State University of New York at Albany. By 2000, foreign-born blacks constituted 30 percent of the blacks in New York City, 28 percent of the blacks in Boston and about a quarter here in Montgomery County, Md., an analysis of census data conducted at Queens College shows. In recent years, black immigrants and their children have become more visible in universities, the workplace and in politics, with Colin L. Powell, the son of Jamaican immigrants, serving as secretary of state, and Barack Obama, born to a Kenyan father and an American mother, leading the polls in the race for a United States Senate seat in Illinois and emerging as a rising star in the Democratic Party. The demographic shifts, which gained strength in the 1960's after changes in federal immigration law led to increased migration from Africa and Latin America, have been accompanied in some places by fears that newcomers might eclipse native-born blacks. And they have touched off delicate musings about ethnic labels, identity and the often unspoken differences among people who share the same skin color. This month, the debate spilled into public view when Alan Keyes, the black Republican challenger for the Senate seat in Illinois, questioned whether Mr. Obama, the keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention, should claim an African-American identity. Barack Obama claims an African-American heritage, Mr. Keyes said on the ABC program This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Barack Obama and I have the same race - that is, physical characteristics. We are not from the same heritage. My ancestors toiled in slavery in this country, Mr. Keyes said. My consciousness, who I am as a person, has been shaped by my struggle, deeply emotional and
ugnet_: Fwd: Why is life expectancy longer for women than it is for men?
Note: forwarded message attached. Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!---BeginMessage--- Why is life expectancy longer for women than it is for men? E. BaierlLake Elmo, Minn. Bertrand Desjardins, a researcher in the demography department of the Université de Montréal, explains. Men dying sooner than women makes sense biologically: because 105 males are born for every 100 females, it would assure that there are about the same number of men and women at reproductive ages. But even though women showed a longer life expectancy in almost every human society in the last decade of the 20th century, the size of the advantage varied greatly. For example, in the U.S. male life expectancy was 73.4 years for males and 80.1 years for females, a difference of 6.7 years, whereas in France it was 7.8 years and in the U.K., 5.3 years. The discrepancy was much greater in some countries, with the difference in Russia reaching more than 12 years, but in others, such as India (0.6 year) or Bangladesh (0.1 year), it was much less. The diversity in worldwide longevity alone indicates that the difference in mortality between the sexes is not purely biological and that there are intervening social factors. The current range of situations actually reflects different stages of a three-part historical evolution. Women most probably have a biological advantage that allows them to live longer, but in the past--and in several places, still today--the status and life conditions of women nullified this benefit. Today, given the general progress in female life conditions, women have not only regained their biological advantage, but have gone much beyond it, both because they tend to engage in fewer behaviors that are bad for health than men do and because they better profit from current advances in health care and living conditions. The biological advantage that women have is taken as a certainty, because the mortality of males is higher than that of females from the very outset of life: during the first year of life, in the absence of any outside influence which could differentiate mortality between the sexes, male mortality is 25 to 30 percent greater than is female mortality. The genetic advantage of females is evident. When a mutation of one of the genes of the X chromosome occurs, females have a second X to compensate, whereas all genes of the unique X chromosome of males express themselves, even if they are deleterious. More generally, the genetic difference between the sexes is associated with a better resistance to biological aging. Furthermore, female hormones and the role of women in reproduction have been linked to greater longevity. Estrogen, for example, facilitates the elimination of bad cholesterol and thus may offer some protection against heart disease; testosterone, on the other hand , has been linked to violence and risk taking. Finally, the female body has to make reserves to accommodate the needs of pregnancy and breast feeding; this ability has been associated with a greater ability to cope with overeating and eliminating excess food. Even though many biological and genetic factors have been identified, their overall effect is impossible to measure, especially given the influence of social factors on mortality. The extraordinary economic and social progress that has occurred since the 18th century has been accompanied by a dramatic reduction of the social differences between men and women and of the burden of motherhood, which had previously negated women's biological advantage. But the recent mortality trends have gone much farther than the mere recovery of an original advantage, creating instead a new advantage of greater magnitude for women. Observations indicate that the growing excess male mortality in industrial countries could be explained by the rise of so-called "man-made diseases," which are more typically male. These include exposure to the hazards of the workplace in an industrial context, alcoholism, smoking and road accidents, which have indeed increased considerably throughout the 20th ce ntury. But if these diseases are the only explanation for longer female life expectancy, why has the gap continued to grow even though male and female behavior and life conditions have been converging in recent years? Part of the paradox can certainly be explained by the fact that this convergence is not absolute: male smokers tend to smoke more cigarettes than female smokers do, and men drive more recklessly than females drivers, for instance. French demographer Jacques Vallin has long been monitoring longevity in general and sex differences in mortality in particular. He adds to the above an interesting explanation of women's current mortality advantage that could explain the more recent trends: the dramatic increase in excess male mortality emerged as an equally dramatic progress in the general health conditions of our societies was taking place. He thus
ugnet_: ACHOLI IN US REJECT TALKS WITH MUSEVENI
Acholi in US reject talks with Museveni By Badru D. Mulumba Charles Mwanguhya Aug 29, 2004KAMPALA - A meeting between President Yoweri Museveni (right) and Acholi in diaspora this week faces a boycott a threat Information minister Nsaba Buturo has called unwise.Ugandas ambassador to Washington, Ms Edith Sempala, ostensibly with instructions from State House, reportedly planned the meeting, which is slated for September 3 to 4 when Mr Museveni visits Seattle, USA for the Uganda North American Association (UNAA) convention.Kacoke Madit chairman, Dr Ben Latigo, UNAA Board member, Mr Ben Omara, and UNAA Vice President Moses Nekyon reportedly contacted Dr Ochan Otim, president of Friends for Peace in Africa, to rally the Acholi community in the diaspora to meet Mr Museveni. It was indicated to me that the initiative for this meeting came from the State House in Uganda and Museveni himself via the Ugandan ambassador in Washington DC. "No agenda has been provided for this meeting by Museveni, the person calling it, Mr Ochan says in a statement issued last week on behalf of the Acholi community.The near unanimous decision of the Acholi community in the diaspora I contacted is that we should NOT meet Museveni, adds Ochan. But last Thursday, Mr Buturo told The Monitor: I know about that. They are free to turn down the invitation. But they would be unwise because meeting the President would give them an opportunity to ask questions.However, the Acholi statement argues that from Nairobi Peace Talks to the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative, Museveni has heard everything he needs to know during the hundreds of meetings in the last 18 years. Acholi in diaspora, therefore, have NOTHING new to add to what Acholi at home have told him, the statement says. The people to talk with are at home: the inhabitants of the concentration camps, the Acholi religious leaders, the children on the streets of Acholi towns, Joseph Kony - not us. The Acholi also resolved to press for peace talks, not war. They want northern Uganda declared a disaster area as expressed by a Parliamentary motion, which the president rejected.They also want monitoring teams and peacekeeping forces from the African Union and the UN, in northern Uganda. They also want concentration camps in northern Uganda to be dismantled and their occupants sent home. 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_: Refugees' bitter lesson: no escape from war
Refugees' bitter lesson: no escape from war By Kate Holt and Sarah HughesPages torn out of a child's book, a burnt shoe, a wooden spoon and a small pile of battered cooking pots... A team of people arrived and started to pull down the charred remains of the tents and pick their way through the possessions of the refugees, who once lived at the Gatumba transit camp in Burundi. Their job was to dismantle what little was left. Large tents made of green plastic sheeting flapped in the wind. In some places, the plastic was blackened by smoke, in others it was all but destroyed. Scattered on the ground were the white masks and gloves dropped by the NGO staff who had gathered up the dead. 'We came here to be safe'The men worked in silence and the smell of charred wood and dead bodies still lingered in the air.Two weeks have passed since 160 Banyamulenge refugees were killed in this desolate transit camp, which lies under the shadow of the Democratic Republic of Congo's Kivu mountains. They had come here to the Burundian border seeking respite from the war that continues to ravage the DRC, hoping if not for peace, then at least for a temporary rest from the horrors they have grown up with. They found instead that war cannot be outrun.At the Prince Charles Regent hospital in Burundi, where many of the massacre's survivors were taken, the doctors know the cost of war too well. The hospital is relatively well equipped with medical supplies but the beds are rusty, the sheets are worn, and they hope never to deal with injuries on this scale and in these numbers again. "We were overwhelmed by victims when they arrived," said Dr Nzotungwamayo, the hospital director. "Some had only small wounds, but others had been shot or injured by grenades, others cut with knives and machetes. Two pregnant women who arrived had been kicked in the stomach and both miscarried."In the crowded, narrow wards, women lie groaning, unable to suppress their pain. Others simply turn their backs, expressing their grief internally. Judith Nabeza, 23, is trying not to worry about her only son, Prince. He is seven years old and lost a leg to a grenade during the attack on the camp. 'The soldiers... they just wanted to kill us all'That night, Judith says, she and Prince prepared for bed as normal. They lay down on the small bed in the plastic shelter where they had made their makeshift life with other families. Then suddenly the shooting began."Prince was lying next to me and suddenly we heard all this noise and shooting," she says. "I took Prince to try to leave, but a grenade went off and got his leg and I was injured in the stomach."Judith, a small, softly spoken woman, says she is trying not to think about the moment when her life was thrust back into turmoil. She has known war for most of her life, had made the long, dangerous journey through the DRC to the transit camp in Gatumba on Burundi's border to escape the violence. Her life there was not easy, she says, but it gave some respite and at least she thought that she and Prince would be protected."We came here to be safe. My husband left a long time ago," she says, her quiet, almost resigned voice so at odds with the horrors she describes. "When the soldiers came, we were so scared ... nobody knew what was going on and there was shouting and firing." She stops and briefly shuts her eyes before finishing: "Then the soldiers, they set fire to the tents. It was terrible."The story behind the massacre in Gatumba is one of responsibility and ethnic conflict. It is the story of a country trying to make the transition from war to peace and of the constant internal and external tensions that threaten that transition. But it is also the story of the international community, of how much - or how little - protection they owe to refugees and of how well equipped they are to deal with violence when it begins.The survivors of the massacre have been moved down the road to a former school. With UN soldiers overstretched in the region, the protection of the refugees lies with the Burundian forces. Yet the refugees say they are terrified that the new site is not secure and that another massacre will occur. Despite the deployment of UN military observers in the area, the new site remains under the protection of 40 Burundian soldiers, and women in the camp insist that these soldiers get drunk each night and rape them.The rebel Hutu militia group Forces for National Liberation has claimed responsibility for the massacre on August 15, but controversy is still raging over just who was responsible for preventing them from carrying out their attack.The United Nations carries a chapter seven mandate in Burundi, which allows it to use force should civilians be threatened by violence. Yet both the UN Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) and the United Nations mission to Burundi (Unob) say that they have had their hands
ugnet_: How the west continues to underdevelop Africa-an editorial
How the West under-develops AfricaBy Segun MosesTHE recent success of World Trade Organisation (WTO) members to get the industrial nations to begin winding down export subsidy to their agricultural sector has not come as a surprise. The two previous meetings of the WTO had been deadlocked such that progress in negotiations stalled for some time. Thanks to Brazil that served as a rallying point to champion the demand of the developing countries requiring concrete reforms in the economies of the advanced countries (ACs). The 1994 treaty at Marakesh that established the WTO was, for African countries, a massive sell-out judging by the fact that the decisions were skewed against developing countries. Much of that problem was the fault of African leaders because they did not take the negotiations seriously during the talks 1986-1994 when the decisions were taken. Despite the foreboding, most observers agreed that dissenting countries should remain in WTO while fighting from within for needed changes to be made. This was in the hope that developed countries would see reason and begin a reform of their economies to give developing countries a real chance to move their own economies forward. Rather than capitulate, the developed countries sought undue advantages, goading developing countries to reform as if the world belongs to ACs alone. While the African intelligentsia rallied support for the treaty, countries like China bided their time, sought and utilised the avenue for further negotiation on fundamental changes their economy could live with. History tells us that only those countries that challenged established hegemony in global trade made progress economically. Sometimes not before a war, but certainly a raison d'etre for cooperation had to be established with the hegemonic power before negotiation smoothened the path towards mutual interdependence. One only needs to look at the economic history of the USA and the UK, formerly colonies of Britain and the Roman Empire respectively. Most of the developed countries of today served the indignity of being a vassal at one period of history or the other. This may well confirm the view that there is no morality in comparative development which invariably only comes through some form of colonial domination unleashed through hegemonic power manouvres. Countries seeking to develop must therefore beware not to fall prey to disguised hegemonic behaviour of countries that rose through that way and seeks to entrench the rot. The import of WTO in modern global development is that this should not be so in a just world of fair trade and interdependence. The messianic role of Brazil in WTO meetings has obviously helped to remove, hopefully, the veil from the face of African countries that have paid unduly for the hegemonic growth of Europe starting with the slave trade centuries ago. Whether the private bill going through Nigeria's National Assembly for reparation succeeds is not the point but the confounding realisation that the hegemonic relationship between Africa and Europe must cease and give way to one that permits mutual progress un-skewed against Africa. The umbilical chord between Africa and the Caucasians detrimentally suffocated African development for over 500 years. Unless there is a balance of exchange in favour of Africa in the 21st century, development of the African economies may be doomed. Unfortunately, the more African development strategists push for real change, the more African leaders like President Olusegun Obasanjo seek to strengthen that chord, perhaps inadvertently, to the ultimate disadvantage of African countries. A George Bush or an International Monetary Fund (IMF) cannot praise New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) unless the balance of exchange and the leverage for change remains with the West. About three decades ago Walter Rodney (Of blessed memory) extolled African abundance and ingenuity that were squandered in a one-way relationship with Europe. WTO will become a confirmation of his fears unless African economic historians encourage African leaders to give WTO a fight to change the obnoxious clauses that continue to give the developed countries undue advantage in reaping the fruits of globalisation, a common heritage in global development engineering. The advanced countries must come off the idea that only developing countries need to reform (their policies) and that they can reform theirs (AC) only at their own time and pace. Umbrage from developing countries must be focused on two fronts " reforms in the ACs and change of the offending clauses of WTO treaty. WTO can be reformed from within if developing countries will articulate their long-term interest and pursue them with equanimity and single-mindedness, exactly what the West did during the WTO treaty talks. Significantly, the weakness of reforms in Africa is that the economically disadvantaged bear
ugnet_: Fw: By the way : M7 !
From: To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2004 10:15 PM Subject: By the way : M7 ! Yoweri Museveni - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaDear friend :I just finished reading Museveni'sbook : Sewing the mustard seed .The book was loaned to me by a Munyankoro friend of mine here in Charlotte,North Carolina in the name of Thomas Berao whose father is a US educatedformer official in Uganda and is now a university professor in Columbia, SouthCarolina.I have come to realize that, the man, Museveni is indeed a killer. He shot his wayto power and sacrificed many his friends in a bloody and egoistical well thoughtrebellion with the help of many a leader in the Eastern African Region for him toget into office in Kampala.Someone in misinformed diplomatic circles once said that: Museveni, Kagame,Laurent Kabila were a new brand of African leaders with innovative ideas in the region.For the life of mine: Central Africa is on fire because of these three fellows andsuffice it to say that as long as Museveni and Kagame shall remain in power inKampala and Kigali peace in the region will remain a distant objective.Be good my dear and thanks for your mails.NGOMA
ugnet_: MDC's REASONS FOR POLL BOYCOTT PUZZLING
MDCs reasons for poll boycott puzzling So the MDC has decided to revert to their familiar game of boycotts and this time they have conveniently chosen elections! The party is well known for boycotting, among other things, State occasions and parliamentary sittings. The party is also notorious for encouraging another form of boycott stayaways. This time the MDC has decided to boycott elections because it alleges that Zanu-PF is not acting in the spirit of the recent electoral guidelines set by Sadc in Mauritius. The timing and the reasons given by the MDC are puzzling. Its hardly two weeks since Sadc members agreed to electoral standards designed to eradicate perennial disputes over election results. Among the most enthusiastic supporters of this decision was Zimbabwe. Even before the Mauritius meeting Zimbabwe had already announced its readiness to effect electoral reforms. But these changes can only be effected through an Act of Parliament. This is where Zanu-PF and MDC come in. For it is through Parliament that the MDC can make its views known and if there are sections where they want clarification or amendments, then they are at liberty to make their views known in the august House. To decide to boycott elections this time appears to be premature and misguided. Why put the cart before the horse? The MDC has been participating in general and by-elections all along. In fact, initially the party welcomed the proposed electoral reforms. What is puzzling is why all of a sudden, when their concerns are on the verge of being met, they revert to boycotting? We could be justified to believe that the party is convinced that it will lose the forthcoming elections, by-elections included. To avoid humiliation, the party would rather prefer to stick to the present electoral Act so that it can justify defeat by claiming that the electoral field was not even. After all, this has been their routine practice. The Sadc guidelines are meant to preempt such excuses. Indeed, events on the ground suggest that a crashing defeat awaits the MDC in the March polls. They have lost a series of by-elections to Zanu-PF, including in constituencies perceived to be their strongholds. Notable examples are Insiza in Matabeleland South and the recent urban constituency of Zengeza. Whoever might have advised the MDC of this likely defeat might have been correct. After riding on the negative protest vote in the last general election, the party won 57 seats in 2000. But popularity based on a negative protest vote is never known to last. The mood of the electorate has since changed. Unlike this time, before the 2000 general election, people are now more concerned with the economic turnaround strategy and the long-term results of the positive protests over land. The negative effects of the IMF-induced structural adjustment programme have since been accepted as a bad patch in the countrys economic history. But whoever the adviser might be does not understand the politics on the Zimba-bwean turf. We are tempted to believe that it might have been Tony Blair, who as recently as June admitted in the House of Commons that he was working closely with the MDC to effect regime change in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has a vibrant electorate and this alone determines who governs and not the so-called ill-advised "final pushes", stay-aways or boycotts. Signs that the MDC might have shot themselves in the foot by deciding to opt for an election boycott without consulting their apparently shrinking indigenous base are already there for all to see. For example, a good number of Harare city councillors who are purported to have resigned en masse turned up for council meeting last week, defying an earlier directive by the MDC national executive council not to do so. All the signs are there for an internal rebellion that is likely to signal the final fall of the MDC. The MDC should seek home solutions and an option open to them since the last general election is Parliament. To imagine their leader might end up at State House through boycotts might prove to be a dream in a fools paradise. The Zimbabwean constitution allows for general elections after every five years with or without the MDC. Boycott threats will do the MDC cause no good. In the likely event that they will eventually contest elections, what message are they sending to their dwindling band of supporters when they tell them to forget about elections six months before a general election? After all, they are the first to point out that a general election is a process and not an event. We hope that they are aware that their latest bluff is part of the process they hope will gear up their supporters to go and vote in the March 2005 general election. 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_: Let\'s have Sex - Animals are Stupid
Sex crimes blamed on pornographic material By Charles Ariko and Halima Shaban CRIMES related to sex are likely to escalate if the government does not check pornography. The executive director Family Life Network, Stephen Langa, has said widespread pornography was providing a breeding ground for potential future rapists and serial killers. Addressing the press at the NGOs Kansanga offices last week, Langa said pornography had been found by experts to be very addictive with worse effects than drugs like cocaine. We appeal to all Ugandans to take immediate steps to rid the country of pornography, Langa said. He said CID reports show rape cases shot up by 23% in 2002. Published on: Bwanika http://www.idr.co.ug -- for your consultancy needs http://p201.ezboard.com/fugandamanufacturersassociationfrm1 --- Spela poker mot verkliga människor över Internet. Över 40 000 spelare online http://www.multipoker.com This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: Zimbabwe denied money from Global Fund to fight Aids
Zimbabwe denied money from Global Fund to fight Aids By Dr P. Chimedza The Global Fund was established in 2001 to fight TB, malaria, HIV and Aids wherever these diseases occur around the world. Zimbabwe is unfortunate to be inflicted by all the three conditions. One would expect that distribution of the Global Fund monies will be according to the burden of disease, meaning that those countries which are more affected get more money to enable them fight these diseases. Unfortunately, the people running the fund at the moment have a "fairer" way of distributing these funds and that is according to which side of the political coin a country falls. The Zimbabwe Medical Association at its historic annual congress held in Victoria Falls (August 19-22 2004) decided to break the silence on this important issue. Zimbabwe has been constantly and systematically denied money from the Global Fund to fight HIV and Aids for reasons best known to the funds Technical Review Panel (TRP) and board of directors. To put things into perspective for those not familiar with the issue, Zimbabwe in 2002 put its application to the Global Fund. It applied for US$8,8 million for malaria and US$14,1 million for HIV and Aids. The proposals were so well put that it would have been criminal to reject them. The applications were approved for both malaria and HIV and Aids at the end of 2002. Since then our Government has been battling to get these approved funds. Out of the US$8,8 million approved for malaria, Zimbabwe only received a paltry US$1,4 million and for HIV and Aids we are still chasing our tails and there is no hope for us ever getting this money. Initially, we thought there were too many strings attached to the release of these funds but we have since discovered that they are not strings but ropes attached. The money was initially supposed to have been received by the National Aids Council (NAC), but the Global Funds TRP and board said NAC had no capacity to handle US$14,1 million despite the fact that they receive millions from the fiscus every month. It was then agreed that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) be made the principal recipient on behalf of Zimbabwe, but the money is still to come. Zimbabwe was again told that the fund portfolio manager for some countries in Southern Africa, a Mr Lee Obomeghie, would be in the country during our HIV and Aids congress to give us our monies, but he failed to turn up and sent a message that Zimbabwe had been re-classified as a "risky country" and should be re-assessed to see its suitability to receive the funds. So almost two years down the line, money applied for in round one and approved has still not been disbursed. Meanwhile, millions of people still get infected or die of HIV and Aids everyday in this country while the fund managers are watching. When round two of applications came, Zimbabwe was still battling to get its approved monies, so it didnt put in another application. When round three came Zimbabwe put in another application, this time for US$218 million for HIV and Aids. Just to make sure things were done correctly, some of the best consultants from WHO and UNAids were employed to assist our technical teams prepare the proposals. Successful proposals from Uganda, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique and Tanzania were thoroughly studied so mistakes could be minimised but this time our application was rejected outright and we were asked to appeal. The outcome of the appeal is a foregone conclusion, we will not get the money. Everyone in Zimbabwe is affected or infected by HIV and Aids. Aids is everyones business. Those who have put up a spirited performance to get this money have now realised that Zimbabweans are being sacrificed on the political altar. The powers that be are deliberately withholding funds so that they can gleefully watch Zimbabweans die. This has nothing to do with the way our proposals are being written (a consultant from the moon will not get money for Zimbabwe released from this fund) or who is going to receive the money (even UNDP is not being given the money on behalf of Zimbabwe). But everything is very political. People are being allowed to die because of politics and the people who purport to be champions of human rights are doing this. HIV and Aids is mainly an African disease, Sub-Saharan Africa in general and Southern Africa in particular. Around two million people were living with HIV and Aids in Zimbabwe by the end of 2003 and the figure continues to increase. Around 200 000 Zimbabweans died of HIV in 2003 alone and many continue to die every single day. Unhealthy and impoverished children do not learn well and sick adults cannot earn a living. Therefore, improving health is not only a desirable outcome of sustainable development, especially in the era of HIV and Aids, it is a means of achieving it. It will be hard to achieve our economic turnaround when we
ugnet_: THE GEORGE BUSH BETRAYAL (Pt one)
The Bush BetrayalChapter One: Introductionby James Bovardby James Bovard As we defend liberty and justice abroad, we must always honor those values here at home.~ George W. Bush, October 28, 2003George W. Bush came to the presidency promising prosperity, peace, and humility. Instead, Bush has spawned record federal budget deficits, launched an unnecessary war, and made America the most hated nation in the world. Bush is expanding federal power and stretching prerogatives in almost every area that captures his fancy. Though Bush continually invokes freedom to sanctify himself and his policies, Bush freedom is based on boundless trust in the righteousness of the rulers and all their actions.Truth is a lagging indicator in politics. A president's promises and speeches receive far more publicity than subsequent reports and revelations about how his cherished programs crash and burn. This book does not aim to analyze all Bush policies. Instead, it examines an array of his domestic and foreign actions that vivify the damage Bush is inflicting and the danger he poses both to America and the world.Bush governs like an elective monarch, entitled to reverence and deference on all issues. Secret Service agents ensure that Bush rarely views opponents of his reign, carefully quarantining protesters in "free speech zones" far from public view. The FBI has formally requested that local police monitor antiwar groups and send information on demonstrators to FBI-led terrorism task forces. Thanks to the campaign finance act Bush signed, Americans have also lost much of their freedom to criticize their rulers - at least in the 60 days before an election.After 9/11, privacy is a luxury Americans supposedly can no longer afford. The administration has left no stone unturned, giving itself powers to sweep up people's e-mail with the FBI's Carnivore system, unleash FBI agents to conduct surveillance almost anywhere, allow G-men to secretly search people's homes, bankroll Pentagon research on creating hundreds of millions of dossiers on Americans, expand the military's role in domestic surveillance, and vacuum up personal data to create a federal "color code" for every air traveler. The administration is defining freedom down, pretending that protection from federal prying is no longer relevant to liberty. Americans are supposed to accept that freedom from terrorism is the ultimate freedom - and nothing else matters any more.Bush is dropping an iron curtain around the federal government. The Bush administration is hollowing out the Freedom of Information Act, making it more difficult for citizens to discover government actions and abuses. Bush invoked executive privilege to block a congressional investigation into the FBI's role in mass murder in Boston and in framing innocent men for those murders. The Supreme Court tacitly endorsed the Bush doctrine that the feds may carry out mass secret arrests and suppress all information about the roundup (including names of those detained, charges, and details on prison beatings).Bush is wrapping himself in a flag drenched with the blood of Americans who died due to the failure of the federal government he commanded. The Bush reelection campaign is running television ads showing an American flag flying in front of the ruins of the World Trade Center towers and a flag-draped corpse being carried out of Ground Zero by firefighters. The Republicans will hold their national convention in New York days before the third anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Bush exploits the 9/11 dead while he stonewalls the 9/11 Commission. The Bush reelection team seems convinced that Bush's actions on that day entitle Bush to rule Americans for four more years.KING OF ALL BOONDOGGLESAmericans will be forced to pay trillions of dollars in higher taxes in the coming decades to finance George Bush's 2004 reelection campaign. Bush browbeat Congress into enacting the biggest expansion of the welfare state since Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. The White House blatantly deceived Congress about the cost of the new Medicare prescription drug entitlement, withholding key information that would have guaranteed the defeat of Bush's giveaway. The administration launched a federally financed ad campaign showing a crowd cheering Bush as he signed the new law; federal auditors ruled that the ads were illegal propaganda. The new drug benefit will expedite Medicare's bankruptcy and do nothing to improve medical care for most seniors.Vote-buying is the prime motive of many Bush policies. Bush signed the most exorbitant farm bill in history in 2002, bilking taxpayers for $180 billion to rain benefits on millionaire landowners and other deserving mendicants. Bush repeatedly bragged that his farm bill was "generous" - as if Washington politicians have carte blanche to redistribute Americans' paychecks to any group they choose. Bush imposed high tariffs on steel
ugnet_: THE GEORGE BUSH BETRAYAL (Part two)
cont from one TERRORIZING IN THE NAME OF ANTITERRORISMBush appears determined to force Americans to pay almost any price so that he can be a world savior. He declared in December 2003: "I believe we have a responsibility to promote freedom [abroad] that is as solemn as the responsibility is to protecting the American people, because the two go hand in hand." But the Constitution does not grant the president the prerogative to dispose of the lives of American soldiers any place in the world he longs to do a good deed. Though Bush is adept at destroying freedom in America, he has yet to demonstrate any ability to create it in foreign lands.Bush greatly exaggerates the benefits of his conquests. After the Afghan war, Bush repeatedly told Americans that they had liberated Afghan women and that Afghan girls were now going to school. Yet, women are still heavily oppressed in most of Afghanistan and most Afghan girls still do not attend schools. While Bush portrays Afghanistan as a liberated new democracy, most Afghans are brutalized either by warlords or the resurgent Taliban. But the Bush White House rarely allows cold facts to impede a warm and touching story line.For Bush, the right to rule apparently includes the right to lie. In his 2004 State of the Union address, Bush proclaimed that, as a result of actions such as the U.S. invasion of Iraq, "No one can now doubt the word of America." A year earlier, in his 2003 State of the Union address, Bush rattled off a long list of biological and chemical weapons that he claimed he knew that Iraq possessed. No such weapons have been found. Bush has never shown a speck of contrition for his false prewar statements. Instead, he acts like a clumsy magician who assumes his audience is too feebleminded to recognize the elaborate trick that fell to pieces in front of their eyes.The war in Iraq is the most visible debacle of the Bush war on terrorism. The president pirouetted in a flight suit on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003, in front of a giant banner proclaiming, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED." But Iraq subsequently became far more treacherous. On July 2, when asked about Iraqi attacks on American forces, Bush issued a taunt: "Bring 'em on!" In the subsequent months, more than 600 American soldiers were killed and thousands were wounded and maimed as Iraqis took up the Bush challenge. While Bush continually brags of how the United States "liberated" 25 million Iraqis, the U.S. military government vigorously suppresses television stations and shuts down newspapers that criticize American forces or U.S. policy. While Bush rhapsodizes about winning Iraqi hearts and minds, U.S. troops carry out crackdowns with names such as Operation Iron Hammer, conduct thousands of no-knock raids in people's homes searching for weapons, routinely demolish the houses of suspected resistance fighters, imprison people solely for being relatives of insurgents, and kill hundreds of innocent civilians. Bush-style benevolence was best captured by U.S. Army Lt. Colonel Nathan Sassaman, commanding a battalion that enclosed an entire Iraqi town with barbed wire, when he observed: "With a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here to help them."Bush proudly declared last year: "No President has ever done more for human rights than I have." In reality, Bush has done more to formally subvert rights than any American president of the modern era. Bush claimed the right to label people as enemy combatants and thereby nullify all of their legal rights. Once detainees had no rights, torturing them apparently became permissible - at least in the eyes of some Justice Department and Pentagon officials. The Bush administration ignored warning after warning of the gross abuses that were being committed against detainees in Afghanistan, Cuba, and Iraq. After the torture photos from the Abu Ghraib prison became public in April 2004, Bush repeatedly falsely claimed that the abuses were the result of a few wayward soldiers. In speeches in his reelection campaign, Bush continued to brag about ending Saddam's torture.Foreign military "victories" have done nothing to increase the competence of homeland security. Even though federal agencies' failure to combine terrorist watch lists helped allow two known Al Qaeda members to enter the United States before the 9/11 hijackings, the federal government still does not have a single, up-to-date terrorist watch list. The General Accounting Office concluded in late 2003 that the feds are still doing a lousy job of pursuing terrorist finances, despite a vast increase in the financial surveillance of average Americans. A federal commission on terrorist threats reported in December 2003 that federal, state, and local government agencies are still doing a very poor job of sharing key information about terrorist threats. And
ugnet_: WE HAVE A MEDICAL DISASITER (One)
Medical InsanityBy Mark Sircus Ac., OMDInternational Medical Veritas Association8-28-4 When medical science abandons safe medical practices for highly dangerous ones we have a serious situation that we need to look at under a microscope. When the law protects organizations, people and corporations that inject, for example, mercury containing vaccines into newborn infants and children in the first years of life, a substance that burns their brain [1], sometimes kills [2], or more frequently causes autism and many other neurological disorders [3], we have a huge catastrophic problem that casts a serious doubt on the sanity of those involved. When we contrast this horror with another one that puts people in jail for using a drug fantastically safer, [4] we have a psychological wind shear that highlights, in no uncertain terms, an until now hidden mass insanity creating enormous problems for society. Kids who received 100 micrograms of thimerosal were over ten times more likely to have autism than the kids who received no mercury containing vaccines. Dr. Mark Geier The United States government and most medical organizations will defend to the bitter end the safety of injecting mercury into little children while spending vast resources [5] to arrest and imprison up to 700,000 people a year in the United States alone for the use of one of the safest drug in existence [6] in their war on drugs. [7] According to House of Lords (UK) Report on Cannabis for Medical Purposes, "no-one has ever died as a direct and immediate consequence of recreational or medical use." [8] That makes marijuana the safest drug in the world, safer than Bayer Aspirin when you look at the fact that somewhere between five hundred to one thousand people die each year in the United States from aspirin, [9] (and thousands more from other similar nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). In the United States, more than 100,000 people with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis are hospitalized every year for gastrointestinal problems caused by NSAIDs--and at least 16,500 of them die from internal bleeding. [10] Marijuana is the safest therapeutically active substance known to man, safer than many foods we commonly consume. DEA Judge Francis L. Young. [11] In contrast we have thimerosal which is fifty percent mercury by weight. In what was perhaps the best-kept secret of the 20th century a highly toxic mercury-based chemical named thimerosal, originally developed by the Eli Lilly Company, has been used widely as a preservative in vaccines. "Thimerosal is one of the most toxic compounds I know of, I can't think of anything that I know of that is more lethal," says Dr. Boyd Haley, Chemistry Chairman Kentucky University. [xii] This essay is not pro-marijuana. It is about better medicine and better outcomes for patients, better quality of life and perhaps the saving of lives that would otherwise be lost. Marijuana use is a complex subject and presently there are circulating highly dangerous forms of it. For example, part of the current marijuana in the US is nitrogen based - extremely hallucinogenic and not organic, certainly not medical grade. This and other highly altered types of drugs are very addictive, ravage people,s homes and destroy peoples, lives. [xiii] Many people can use drugs recreationally without much of a problem, some even gain conscious insights and grow. But many more use them to mask and hide feelings and avoid reality. When you include Television as an electronic drug we can begin to see the huge dimension of our present civilization,s need for diversion. What is wrong with modern society and why people take flight in drugs is an important subject but one thing should be clear: The 'drug war' is one of the most insane irrationalities ever prosecuted by medical and other authorities in the civilized world. Robert Priddy Insanity is an interesting word. The greatest thing to understand about insanity is that to the naked eye insanity seems normal. That father who is abusing his daughter or the priest one of his choirboys seems normal, in almost all other regards. The rapist or child molester can be president of a firm, a lawyer, normal college student, or the garbage man from down the street. It is rare the direct perception of insanity. You cannot look at a person and see their insanity. Insane people usually seem and appear normal. And then they do something that is not normal at all. Dictionaries basically define insanity as being a deranged state or unsoundness of mind, lack of understanding, extreme folly, or something utterly foolish or unreasonable. Medical insanity is a psychological disorder that needs definition, needs to be brought into clear focus to insure that medicine does not destroy humanity as it is now doing, in ever increasing numbers, through iatrogenic death and disease. [xiv] Many of the
ugnet_: A MEDICAL INSANITY (Part 2)
From part one Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and public health issue. Senator Pierre Claude Nolin Chairman Committee on Illegal Drugs Recently a government report about the negative effects of antidepressants in children"suppressed by the US Food and Drug Administration"has surfaced indicating that children taking antidepressants were twice as likely to become suicidal as children taking placebo. An expert with the FDA's Office of Drug Safety, Dr Andrew Mosholder, reportedly urged the FDA to follow the lead of British health authorities by warning doctors that the risks of the newer antidepressants might outweigh the benefits when used in children. [xix] A whole case can be made for substituting a relatively safe drug like marijuana for the more toxic drugs offered by doctors and pharmaceutical giants when it comes to many mental and emotional problems in adults and children. There is only one great problem in this. There is no money to be made from a common weed that anybody with two thumbs can grow themselves. In June 2001, a jury ordered GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of Paxil, to pay $6.5 million to the relatives of Donald Schell, who, two days after starting on the drug, murdered his wife, his daughter and his granddaughter before killing himself. Christopher Pittman, who at 12 years of age killed both his grandparents, is said to have done so for a reason beyond the boy's control - a reaction to the antidepressant Zoloft, a drug he had started taking for depression not long before the slayings. [xx] Christopher committed the murders while in a psychotic state induced by Zoloft. Dr. Lanette Atkins Forensic Psychiatrist "It seems to me if one is going to need to use drugs, one ought to consider a relatively safe drug, like marijuana," said Bernard Rimland, Ph.D. of the Autism Research Institute. [xxi] Marijuana, the forbidden medicine, seems to be useful for some people with adult attention deficit disorder, impulse disorders and bipolar disorder. Some families have found marijuana to be nothing short of miraculous. Some of the symptoms marijuana has ameliorated include anxiety--even severe anxiety--aggression, panic disorder, generalized rage, tantrums, property destruction and self-injurious behavior. [xxii] One mother commenting on using marijuana for her autistic child said, "I know it's not the end all answer but it's been the best answer for the longest time for us in regards to ALL the other medications. I cannot tell you how many months we would go on a medication wondering if it was doing anything, anything at all. Here we can see the difference in 30-60 minutes guaranteed." It boggles my mind to think that our government officials are spending so much time and money to obstruct the use of a medication that might actually help cancer patients tolerate their chemotherapy, AIDS patients gain a little weight, glaucoma patients suffer less. Dr. Kate Scannell According to Dr. Rimland, "Clearly, medical marijuana is not a drug to be administered lightly. But compare its side effects to the known effects of Risperdal, [xxiii] which include massive weight gain, a dramatically increased risk of diabetes, and an elevated risk of deadly heart problems, as well as a host of other major and minor problems. Other psychotropic drugs are no safer, causing symptoms ranging from debilitating tardive dyskinesia to life-threatening malignant hyperthermia or sudden cardiac arrest. Of all drugs, the psychotropic drugs are among the least useful and most dangerous, and the benefit/risk profile of medical marijuana seems fairly benign in comparison." He continues, "The reports we are seeing from parents indicate that medical marijuana often works when no other treatments, drug or non-drug, have helped". According to Dr. Lester Grinspoon, "A recent poll conducted by Medscape, a website directed at health care providers, 76 percent of physicians and 89 percent of nurses said they thought marijuana should be available as a medicine. The dramatic change of view is the result of clinical experience. Doctors and nurses have seen that for many patients Cannabis is more useful, less toxic, and less expensive than the conventional medicines prescribed for diverse syndromes and symptoms, including multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, migraine headaches, severe nausea and vomiting, convulsive disorders, the AIDS wasting syndrome, chronic pain, and many others." [xxiv] High-ranking government officials in the United States have referred to the concept of medical marijuana as a hoax. One might ask why the government of the United States, the leading oppositional force to its legalization, clings so tenaciously to its insular and harmful policy? Dr. Kate Scannell writes
ugnet_: MEDICAL INSANITY (Part 3)
Part 3 ends But this is not the real insanity, not really, not by a long shot. What is infinitely sadder is the fact that those who profit, those who drink in the power, those who are deceiving parents are using the love that parents have for their children against them. They are using and manipulating parents, love to scare them into injecting their precious children with the most dangerous substances known to man while thinking they are practically saints for doing so. They are lying to parents and deceiving the world making a mockery of medical science and modern civilization. They are conditioning a generation of doctors, nurses and dentists in a way Rev. Moon could never hope to. The real madness is that 90 percent or more of the human race is with them, true believers, caught up in the madness hook, line and sinker. It does not take a long stretch of the imagination to see where the inspiration for the movie the Matrix came from. Mark Sircus Ac., OMD Executive Director International Medical Veritas Association http://www.imva.info http://www.worldpsychology.net [1] Haley, Boyd. Thimerosal exposure results in toxic biochemical effects that fit very well with the biochemical observations seen in autistics. These are (1) truncated neurons (ethylmercury inhibition of tubulin polymerization) in brain tissue and (2) inability to make methyl-B12 (Dr. Deth's work on thimerosal inhibition of the enzyme methionine synthetase) and (3) the subsequent decrease in methylation of cellular constitutents that require methylation to operate properly. [2] Reported to VAERS from 1999-2002 Adverse Reactions Reported Age 0-6 Hospitalization Reported Age 0-6 Deaths Reported Age 0-6 DPT 16,544 1,631 394 HEP 13,363 1,840 642 Flu 419 41 11 Hib 22463 3,224 843 MMR 18,680 1,736 110 OPV 22,915 2,868 866 Total 94,384 9,604 2,866 As of the end of 2002, the VAERS system contained 244,424 total reports of possible reactions to vaccines, including 99,145 emergency room visits, 5,149 life-threatening reactions, 27,925 hospitalizations, 5,775 disabilities, and 5,309 deaths[2], according to data compiled by Dr. Mark Geier, a vaccine researcher in Silver Spring, Md. The data represents roughly 1 billion doses of vaccines, according to Geier. Dr. J. Anthony Morris, former Chief Vaccine Control Officer at the US Federal Drug Administration agrees that such evidence has great bearing on the entire vaccination question saying, "There is a great deal of evidence to prove that immunization of children does more harm than good" [3] Children's brain development is being impaired by some of the more than 70,000 human-made chemicals on the market, says a new report from the World Wildlife Fund. The report, which surveyed current research in the field, charges chemicals with such neurological effects as poor memory, reduced visual recognition and motor skills, and lower IQ, and cites U.S. research that ties 10 percent of all neurobehavioral disorders to chemical exposure. While it singles out some chemicals by name -- particularly brominated flame-retardants, PCBs, and dioxins -- the report laments that there is little to no safety information available on most chemicals floating about in the environment and in households. "In effect, we are all living in a global chemical experiment of which we don't know the outcome," said WWF's Helen McDade. According to the National Academy of Sciences, many American children are born every year with brains damaged by prenatal exposure to methyl mercury compounds from fossil-fuel and industrial air pollution. Yet vaccines are of special concern for their toxic chemicals are injected directly into the body and some of its components pass directly through the blood brain barrier to affect the nervous system especially the brains own immune system cells, the microglia. Dr. Russell Blaylock, a prominent neurosurgeon, tells us that, "several things can activate microglia, including pesticides, MSG, viruses, mycroplasma, bacteria, stress, aluminum, mercury, and immune adjuvants." [4] CBC News Up in smoke? Canada's marijuana law and the debate over decriminalization. August 20, 2004 The Canadian Medical Association called the health effects of moderate use of marijuana "minimal." [5] The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police has also advocated decriminalization, saying prosecuting people for small amounts ties up scarce resources. [6] Grinspoon, Lester MD. WHY WON'T GOVERNMENT LET US USE MARIJUANA AS MEDICINE? 12/07/2000 Boston Globe Op/Ed [7] The War on Drugs has so changed societal conditions that rural counties, which were once places so safe that people left their doors unlocked, are now quite dangerous. This war has been nothing short of disastrous for civilization; it,s a war not based on any kind of sane rationality, no logical reason, no lines to
ugnet_: knowing more about Africa!
AUTHOR: Wyatt MacGaffey PUBLISHER: Indiana University Press, 601 North Morton Street, Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA. 2000 PAGES: 269 PRICE: US$39.95 From independence to date, Africans have practiced Socialism, Marxism, Communism, and all brands of democracy. Africans have practiced Americas Presidential system, the French system, and Britains Parliamentary system. All these have been imported by Africa's modernizing elite thought by their unsuspecting African followers as educated", learned, brilliant, and all that. From Ghanas Kwame Nkrumah to Guineas Sekou Toure to Ghanas Kofi Busia to Kenyas Jomo Kenyatta to Ethiopias Mengistu Haile Mariam to Malawis Kamuzu Banda to Benin Republics Mathieu Kerekou to Zambias Kenneth Kaunda Africa has seen not only the continuation of colonial values but also the deliberate copying of alien political values on Africans. With their exaggerated images of being brilliant or learned, which most of them would not measure up in todays boom in knowledge and the complicated problems facing Africa, they disregarded African indigenous political system and copied foreign political ideologiesDr. Busia was seen more like a White man by Ghanaians than an African ( Kwame Nkrumah is on record as having spent good ten years in attempting to 'crush' indigenous chieftaincy system and in Zaire Mobutu Sese Seko declared all traditional rulers as civil servants and then rotated them to other domains, a pitiful development if the African Renaissance process is anything to go byits like rotating the Asantehene to the Ga traditional area and the Ga Mantse to the Asanteland). In these unwise practices Africa's own cultural values were alienated from its own cultural bases, thus disturbing the cultural roots massively, and stifling any attempt at indigenous traditional growth, while living other negative cultural practices like juju, marabou and witchcraft intact which should have been uprooted totally for the health of the larger African cultural values and enhance the level of rationality of the African culture (African researchers and thinkers like Dr. Daniel T. Osabu-Kle are advocating for the total destruction of juju, marabou and witchcraft since they are obstacles to Africa's rapid development). In the absence of any African indigenous values informing Africa's political systems, the result is a continent having the most foreign models and theories than anywhere in the world to the detriment of Africas own traditional values, according to Ghana's Mr. Y.K. Amoako, executive secretary of U.N's Economic Commission of Africa, and mired in confusion. Of late as the African crises deepen and African thinkers like Ghanas George Ayitteh proclaim "African solution for African problems," informed by the damages foreign values have done to Africa and Africans own attitudes, the talk of reconstructing the African nation-state, informed by Africas history and culture, and with the consent of the African peoples, as Nigerias Dr. Chinedu Obiora Okafor suggests, and with some modifications from some external sources, as Ghanaian-Canadian Dr. Daniel Osabu-Kle offers, is fast gaining grounds. In this book, Kongo Political Culture, the author cites the Cameroonian philosopher, F. Eboussi Boulaga, as saying the political disorder facing Africa today is due to colonial values imposed on Africa which have no relationship to local values, institutions, and political processes, and which has resulted in shallow nation-states "tricked out with forms of government but lacking the substance, maintaining its control by lies and violence." Trumpeted by many an African modernizing elite, this foreign values justify its demand, says the author, by appealing to universal reasons and values which hide their own historical and political context to the detriment of Africa's historical and native political context. The author indicates that F. Eboussi Boulaga sees the National Conferences, which have become the order of the day in Africa, especially in Francophone Africa, and which Nigerian reconstructionists are calling for same to redress their country's fragile system, despite their denouncement as ineffectual, are forums to discuss indigenous African models, which Boulaga sees as therapeutic séance and rite of passage, "all tending toward the creation of a political community by mobilizing cultural resources from deep in the unconscious." And it is in this deep African cultural "unconscious" that the author takes one particular African example, Kongo Political Culture, as a product of ancient African tradition, or "civilization" to drum home the values of many an African political culture in todays search for solutions to Africas political crisis. The author takes the Kongo political culture as regional studies, and not either the lumpers, who generalise sub-Sahara Africa, or the splitters, who insist on the uniqueness of
ugnet_: FORMATING A WAR ON IRAN
Fomenting a War on Iran Juan Cole08/29/04 "ICH" -- Here is my take on the Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal in the Pentagon.It is an echo of the one-two punch secretly planned by the pro-Likud faction in the Department of Defense. First, Iraq would be taken out by the United States, and then Iran. David Wurmser, a key member of the group, also wanted Syria included. These pro-Likud intellectuals concluded that 9/11 would give them carte blanche to use the Pentagon as Israel's Gurkha regiment, fighting elective wars on behalf of Tel Aviv (not wars that really needed to be fought, but wars that the Likud coalition thought it would be nice to see fought so as to increase Israel's ability to annex land and act aggressively, especially if someone else's boys did the dying).Franklin is a reserve Air Force colonel and former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst. He was an attache at the US embassy in Tel Aviv at one point, which some might now see as suspicious. After the Cold War ended, Franklin became concerned with Iran as a threat to Israel and the US, and learned a little Persian (not very much--I met him once at a conference and he could only manage a few halting phrases of Persian). Franklin has a strong Brooklyn accent and says he is "from the projects." I was told by someone at the Pentagon that he is not Jewish, despite his strong association with the predominantly Jewish neoconservatives. I know that he is very close to Paul Wolfowitz. He seems a canny man and a political operator, and if he gave documents to AIPAC it was not an act of simple stupidity, as some observers have suggested. It was part of some clever scheme that became too clever by half.Franklin moved over to the Pentagon from DIA, where he became the Iran expert, working for Bill Luti and Undersecretary of Defense for Planning, Douglas Feith. He was the "go to" person on Iran for Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, and for Feith. This situation is pretty tragic, since Franklin is not a real Iranist. His main brief appears to have been to find ways to push a policy of overthrowing its government (apparently once Iraq had been taken care of). This project has been pushed by the shadowy eminence grise, Michael Ledeen, for many years, and Franklin coordinated with Ledeen in some way. Franklin was also close to Harold Rhode, a long-time Middle East specialist in the Defense Department who has cultivated far right pro-Likud cronies for many years, more or less establishing a cell within the Department of Defense.UPI via Dawn reports, ' An UPI report said another under-investigation official Mr Rhode "practically lived out of (Ahmad) Chalabi's office". Intelligence sources said that CIA operatives observed Mr Rhode as being constantly on his cell phone to Israel, discussing US plans, military deployments, political projects and a discussion of Iraq assets. ' Josh Marshall et al. have just published a piece in the Washington Monthly that details Franklin's meetings with corrupt Iranian arms dealer and con man Manuchehr Ghorbanifar, who had in the 1980s played a key role in the Iran-contra scandal. It is absolutely key that the meetings were attended also by Rhode, Ledeen and the head of Italy's military intelligence agency, SISMI, Nicolo Pollari, as well as Rome's Minister of Defense, Antonio Martino.The rightwing government of corrupt billionnaire Silvio Berlusconi, including Martino, was a big supporter of an Iraq war. Moreover, we know that the forged documents falsely purporting to show Iraqi uranium purchases from Niger originated with a former SISMI agent. Watch the reporting of Josh Marshall for more on this SISMI/Ledeen/Rhode connection.But journalist Matthew Yglesias has already tipped us to a key piece of information. The Niger forgeries also try to implicate Iran. Indeed, the idea of a joint Iraq/Iran nuclear plot was so far-fetched that it is what initially made the Intelligence and Research division of the US State Department suspicious of the forgeries, even before the discrepancies of dates and officials in Niger were noticed. Yglesisas quotes from the Senate report on the alleged Iraqi attempt to buy uranium from Niger: ' The INR [that's State Department intelligence] nuclear analyst told the Committee staff that the thing that stood out immediately about the [forged] documents was that a companion document -- a document included with the Niger documents that did not relate to uranium -- mentioned some type of military campaign against major world powers. The members of the alleged military campaign included both Iraq and Iran and was, according to the documents, being orchestrated through the Nigerien [note: that's not the same as Nigerian] Embassy in Rome, which all struck the analyst as "completely implausible." Because the stamp on this document matched the stamp on the uranium document [the stamp was supposed to
ugnet_: ISRAEL AGAIN CAUGHT SPYING
Israel Caught Spying Again Gulf News.com8-29-4 Allegations. Denials. Not for the first time has the issue of Israel and espionage in Washington surfaced, as America's closest ally seems to betray its trust. But more damaging is the inescapable fact that if these espionage allegations are proven, US policy regarding the Middle East will have been compromised yet again. The FBI has launched a wide-ranging investigation into a suspected mole with ties to top Pentagon officials who is thought to have supplied Israel with classified material that included secret White House deliberations on Iran. This is a well-travelled road. In 1985 Jonathan Pollard, a specialist in US Navy intelligence, was arrested at the gates of the Israeli embassy. Pollard was given a life sentence. Israel later apologised and disbanded the intelligence cell that he operated under. The operative in this present case is believed to have had ties to top Pentagon officials Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith and there are early indications that Israel has reactivated spy cells in Washington. Considering the close ties between the Bush administration and Ariel Sharon's Likud,(senior officials in Washington proudly proclaim that they are "Likudistas") it is surprising there should be need for espionage. The Bush White House, where Sharon has an open invitation but Yasser Arafat is persona non grata, enjoys a special relationship with Israel that Britain and a host of other nations could only fantasise about. Washington Middle East policy under Bush is based on Likud's which helps explain at least in part why the US has such a muddled, short-sighted, and factually incorrect view of the region. At best this latest scandal will help Washington re-evaluate its Middle East policies and come to the conclusion that Likud is not an ally to American interests but a burden. But, at least under this administration, that is unlikely. http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/Opinion2.asp?ArticleID=130331 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_: UIA to pull out of investor land acquisition exercise
Below is what I wrote sometime back, entitled Simplify Land laws Stop Land Monetarisation http://p201.ezboard.com/fugandamanufacturersassociationfrm1.showMessage? topicID=118.topic As practicing politician and also a sociologist trained in Europe, I had come to a logical conclusion that all-industrial society problems are basically derived from, the devilish moneterisation of land and misinterpretation of the socialistic idea, whereby the state steal land from the people to create wealthy for them. \The concept of wealth creation creeps into work. in form of the notion that wealthy is created only to enrich the state, and that its power is propotionate to this wealth\. Karl Marx Grundrisse; 1973: pp.108 African poverty, as any poverty elsewhere, is not created or to be precise DOES NOT ORIGINATE in lack of land ownership exchange, which bye the way, can change hands even without using financial tools. At times, one has only to sit back and watch in amazement, when Uganda politicians formulate policy after policy without learning from history. Full monetarisation of land acquisition, as solution to industrial deficits, is fascinating if not out right absurd So a monetarist view of land acquisition, where the very rich (the rich also cant buy) buy chunks in mile after miles of land from the poor and bingo - we have modernised, nay rather industrialised. Karl Marx wrote a very interesting thesis on this; see Karl Marx Grundrisse; 1973 pg. 100-111, in part (3) on The Method of Political Economy. I will hasten to add that the entire body of social science philosophy, knowledge and history, in the western world is false and founded on very wrong prepositions. As if it is given - that quickly selling off land the state will automatically build industries. Even the idea of commercialisation of agriculture is a very dangerous one. What do you do with landless armies of workers and propertyless and jobless urban dwellers? This is exactly the fate bedevilling the entire European continent, with now more that 50 million jobless souls. What is the situation in the USA, Russia and indeed WHY IS UNEMPLOYMENT IN THOSE COUNTRIES so pervasive and what do you do with it? Does unemployment affect the developing world in the same way as landless, jobless industrial workers? Years ago there was virtually no unemployment here and why? www.idr.co.ug/5ppoecE.rft a paper present at the International Social Theory Consortium Tampa Bay May 18-21, 2003 North Redington Beach, Florida UIA to pull out of investor land acquisition exercise By David Muwanga Despite the identification of land for investors by the lands ministry, the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), has threatened to pull out of the land acquisition exercise. Much as this land was listed by the lands ministry, the process of acquiring it is so cumbersome. We are supposed to process and acquire titles for that land before allocating it to potential investors, a source from the UIA said recently in an interview. He said, Since the ministry sent the list to UIA, we have not acquired any land title. We are thinking of pulling out of the exercise and advise investors to buy land from private owners. According to the list seen by The New Vision, the identified land includes 80,965 hectares which are occupied by 23 Uganda Prisons farms. District prisons which are used as remand prisons, occupy another 1,000 acres, while Luzira Prison has 900 acres. Idle land in refugee camps was also identified. This includes 13 sq.miles at Oruchinga, 100 sq.miles at Nakivale, 75 sq.miles at Kahunge, 54 sq.miles at Rwamwanya 140 sq.km at Kyaka. Others were 120 sq.km at Kyangwali, 39 sq.km at Kiryandongo, 10 sq.miles at Ibuga while land in Acholi Pii and Agago is very large but not surveyed. Unused land totalling to 51.7 sq.km exists in government-owned irrigation farms of Soroti, Apac, Kasese, Tororo, Kitgum, Lira and Kamuli. Land also exists in agricultural mechanisation workshops in Nebbi, Gulu, Hoima, Iganga, Kasese, Nawago, Suam, Kapchorwa, Moroto, Mbarara, Mbale, Soroti, Tororo, Namalere and other 75 non-operational workshops in 36 districts. The list also includes livestock research facilities and farms in 10 districts with 25,318 hectares (253.18 sq.km). It is not clear whether institutions are willing to release their land. When we go there, we find un-developed land which they claim belongs to the Government yet processing titles is very difficult, the source said. Bwanika http://www.idr.co.ug -- for your consultancy needs http://p201.ezboard.com/fugandamanufacturersassociationfrm1 --- Spela poker mot verkliga människor över Internet. Över 40 000 spelare online http://www.multipoker.com This service is hosted on the Infocom
ugnet_: Simplify Land laws Stop Land Monetarisation
DFWA-U will simplify land laws in four pages and revise the land act: The revised land act has been passed â will it solve African problem where some people live a largely rural life â The Democratic Farmers Workers Alliance âUganda does not believe so. Without any sort of state provision in terms of medical, transport, housing, insurance, and educational and much more to entrust land into the hands of state functionaries is to generate absolute poverty. - Ugandaâs lawmakers should stop creating social and economic problems by merely ignoring facts that ruled here before western civilisation and robbery law emerged. - Ugandans by virtual of their geographical location are basically farmers therefore land is a basic necessity rather than economic and social status for their survival. - Study of communal African land ownership and distribution should be studied and integrated into the national laws. - Land ownership is so basic in human beingâs worldly goods. Every man and woman and their siblings must therefore be able to have ownership to land, irrespective of his or her money disposition. - For centuries land in Africa has been communally owned that is to say individual persons settled on land in trust of the community â indeed there were less conflict and no landless - therefore transmigration was not a crime or hindered. - The solution to land problem is in African organisation structuring blended into modern laws. - There is no land issue in Uganda but rather a misrepresentation of facts and political egoism enjoined with systematic and objective malice. - Politicians and landowners use artificial land shortage for economic, social and political goals conspicuously. - Ownership to land by the citizens of Uganda must NOT be determined by money possession. Ownership to land is ownership to life possibilities. - The state of Uganda must NOT own land and therefore get involved into speculative land distribution but only provide means and ways of arbitration through the district land boards. - District land boards must with 72 hours arbitrate any land conflict- this must be mandatory with legal repercussions. - The state must own land for public utilities; road infrastructures, airports, urban centres, communication infrastructures, sewage, telephony, electricity, public buildings, national parks etc. - With emergency of speculative but not monetary economies since old African societies used money â speculation has created artificial land shortage for speculative monetary rewards. - To solve the landless problematicities, among our people land speculation must not be rewarded but punished and the social behaviour they generate penalised. - Individual people (notice not communities) owning huge chunks of land (more or greater than three square kilometres) that is not classified as containing; minerals, zoological, botanical, aquatic, marine and forest resources and wealth, must be pay a mandatory ground rent up to 33% of the land value plus a value added tax of 17%. All money deducted by Uganda Revenue Authority, which money must be returned to that particular communityâs development project every financial year. - As of the above land which is classified as containing; minerals, zoological, botanical, aquatic, marine and forest resources and wealth must pay value added tax of 17% whether the resources on it are used or not. - Under community ownership the individual person must hold land in trust of the community. - The community composed of a particular society grouping must by law provide any person deemed to be a citizen of Uganda and landless land. - Any community composed of a particular society which does not offer a landless person land or comply with this law and by such act violates that persons birth right to land ownership as enshrined in African social conventions and as per Uganda constitution will be liable to pay that person a fee of not less than one million Uganda shilling. - In case the person subjected to such suffering is a head of a family or pregnant woman each family member will be entitled to a sum of one million shillings each plus rent at 17% until another community can settle or provide such a person land to his or her family. - All land sold or changing hands in Uganda boundaries must be registered with the land registry and co-ordinates of such land clearly stated, surveyed within a period of not less than three weeks - All land sold or changing hands for a profit â land, which is bigger than three-square kilometres must procure a value added tax of 17%, promptly paid to Uganda revenue authority a mandatory one weeks or seven days period from date of transaction. Failure to do so must cost the defaulter 20 % per charge on the price of land. - DFWA-U is not stopping Ugandan citizens from selling land, it to is stopping the greed and injustice brought about by land speculation. - DFWA-U land policy must
ugnet_: Little people in big seats
Sunday comment By Fr Wynand Katende Little people in big seats Aug 29 - Sep 4, 2004 Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. We live in a hierarchical society where protocol must be observed. It is a world where all men are said to be equal, but yet some end up being more equal than others. Organizations and communities are known to comprise junior and senior members. A boss does not share a desk with the secretary. One has to first report to the secretary before seeing the boss. It implies a promotion for one to move from a lower office to a higher one. In which case it would be normal that junior and senior members of the same organisation are not rated the same not only at the level of business, but also in other, matters. Fancy a class system on a plane or a high table at a dinner! It would therefore tantamount to being uncultured, impolite and proud, for an invitee to show up and automatically fix oneself at the high table, even if the invitation indicated so. The person, who waits until he or she is accorded honour, and ushered in, even when it appears obvious, is considered a gentleman or lady. It is with the aim of avoiding embarrassments at formal gatherings that protocol committees and ushers have become imperative. To achieve true honour one must, ironically, first invest a lot in the virtue of humility. Children are taught at a very early age to know their rightful position and to accord due respect to elders. I recall once earning myself a few canes for having been caught sitting in the teachers chair and trying to mimic him. Yet Jesus lesson goes deeper than simple etiquette. It is essentially about life in the kingdom of heaven. He gave accompanying parable in the context of warning the Pharisees against pride, an attitude so much attributed to them. Simply by virtue of their status as religious leaders and elite of the day, they erroneously considered themselves great and automatically eligible of high sits even in the kingdom of God. No one can ever know for sure if one deserves a seat at all at the heavenly banquet. God reserves the right to make the guest list and to allocate the right sit for each one. Those who achieve positions of honour through corrupt means have definitely no place before God. Jesus is, in effect, preparing us for a big surprise when we shall see people that never deserved positions of honour down here being given the VIP treatment. God will delight in exalting the ex-gate keepers, waiters, cleaners and even gatecrashers. He has pulled down the princes from their thrones and raised the lowly, contemplates the biblical Mary and Mother of Jesus. We have all witnessed lives of people like Mother Theresa of Calcutta. Despite her size, she became a celebrity by associating not with the powerful of this world but with the most despised of society, the wretched of the earth. But we also know that such great saints have had none for their role model other than Jesus himself. He parted with the heavenly comfort and glory and stooped lowest in order to associate and redeem the lowest ranking people of society. They are scandalised and hate the gospel. Todays great lesson calls us to learn to walk humbly with God and with one another. We should never presume to be great. As Thomas of Kempis so wisely puts it, One of the best ways to acquire humility is to fix the following maxim in our mind: One is worth what he is worth in the eyes of God. It is for the lesson on humility that Jesus also endeavours to tell us that the door of heaven is narrow. © 2004 The Monitor Publications ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!
ugnet_: Museveni and Kony Both Should Face War Crimes Tribunal
Museveni and Kony Both Should Face War Crimes TribunalP. Okema OtikaWorldpress.org contributing editorAugust 18, 2004 A victim of an LRA rebel attack on February 21, 2004. (Photo: Peter Busomoke/AFP-Getty Images)Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni recently asked the International Criminal Court at The Hague to investigate and prosecute rebels and rebel leader Joseph Kony of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA which started as a small group after the demise of Odong Latek's Uganda People's Democratic Army (UPDA) and Alice Lakwena's Holy Spirit Movement rebel groups in the late 1980's, has for decades been known for heartless atrocities against innocent unarmed civilians mostly in the Acholi region of Uganda. The rebels are known for abducting tens of thousands of children, killings and brutalities like the chopping of lips, legs and arms of innocent civilians. The rebels' excuses for these atrocities have always been that the civilians are betraying them by reporting their presence to the government army and therefore deserving the atrocities. To anyone who is unfamiliar with the war in Northern Uganda that started in 1986 when Museveni had just come to power, Museveni's quest to prosecute Kony might sound like a sound idea coming from a responsible person. However, to those who have suffered through the years and experienced atrocities perpetrated by both the rebels and the Ugandan army, the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF), Museveni is just as criminal as the Kony he is trying to prosecute. Since 1986, Museveni's army has been known to commit some of the worst atrocities on the ethnic Acholi people who occupy the regions of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader. The UPDF, also formerly known as the National Resistance Army (NRA) became infamous for burning civilians alive in huts, killings, and the rapes of both women and men in what the Acholi called tek gungu. Tek Gungu referred to rape of men and women by Museveni's soldiers who would force a man or woman to kneel down (gungu) before the rape is committed against the male or female victim. These rape incidents have been documented by Human Rights Watch and yet remain ignored by most so-called mainstream media. Museveni, despite his army's atrocities remains a Western "darling." The period 1987-1988 was the worse in the history of the Acholi and it was also at that time that Museveni's army intensified atrocities on the civilians. It was during this period that Museveni declared a state of emergency. He entrusted his commanders like his brother Salim Saleh and Major General David Tinyefunza to help him do the job. Their atrocities included the terrible forcing of Acholi civilians in a pit dug into the earth in a place called Bur Coro. The top of the pit was then covered with soil and grass, which was then set ablaze. The civilians slowly suffocated from the smoke. These sadistic Uganda 'Children Overboard' Scandal ResurfacesRich Bowden, Worldpress.org contributing editor, August 23, 2004 Foreign Envoys Speak Out on KonyThe New Vision (government-owned), Kampala, Uganda, Aug. 20, 2003 Murder, Money, and Salvation in SerbiaKatarina Subasic, World Press Review correspondent, Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro, May 8, 2002 Serbia: Once Again, Life Under ThreatDragoslav Rancic, Politika (pro-government), Belgrade, Serbia, April 3, 2002 FBI Probes Pentagon for Israeli Spy | Aljazeeranet (English-language), Doha, Qatar, August 28, 2004.Al-Sadr Fighters Leave Najaf Shrine as Peace Deal Takes Hold | Abdul Hussein Al-Obeidi, The Gazette (centrist), Montreal, Canada, August 28, 2004.Money Talks in Afghanistan's Scramble for Reconstruction | Tanya Goudsouzian, The Daily Star (English-language), Beirut, Lebanon, August 28, 2004.Al-Qaeda Outsmarts Sanctions, Says UN | Stephen Fidler, Financial Times (centrist), London, England, August 28, 2004.American Freed From Death Row Says Britons Saved His Life | Audrey Gillan, The Guardian (liberal), London, England, August 28, 2004.Golden Triangle Puts Its Poppies to Sleep | Alan Boyd, Asia Times Online (English-language), Hong Kong, August 28, 2004.Zimbabwe's Moyo in Farm Purchase Row | Dumisani Muleya/Gift Phiri, The Independent (pro-opposition weekly), Harare, Zimbabwe, August 28, 2004. killers have never been punished. Later, the army exported such atrocities into Teso in Eastern Uganda. In an incident that was also documented by international human rights agencies, people were forced into a train wagon in a place called Amakura and were suffocated. This incident is known in Uganda as the Amakura massacre. To make it more effective and unknown to the international community, Museveni banned media reporting on war and no journalists were allowed to enter the war zone. By 1990, Museveni had accomplished most of what he wanted; leaving tens of thousands of Acholi dead and thousands languishing in Luzira prison for alleged treason. All these are well
ugnet_: THE BRITISH ENVOY UNDER SIEGE IN BASRA
British envoys under siege in BasraBy Thomas Harding in Basra(Filed: 27/08/2004) The British diplomatic mission in Basra has been under siege for three weeks, suffering almost daily mortar attacks as security in the southern Iraq city has deteriorated dramatically. The only way in or out of the mission is by military helicopter and the British Army now moves around Basra only in armoured vehicles. Since the start of the uprising in the holy city of Najaf earlier this month there has been a "lockdown" at the Office of the British Embassy in Basra, an extension of the Baghdad embassy, as militiamen loyal to the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have taken control of large areas of the city. The building is a former Saddam Hussein palace on the banks of the Shatt al-Arab waterway. The 50 members of staff are protected by 60 former Gurkhas and a company of soldiers. A further detachment of troops from the Black Watch also guards the area, sealed off by 12ft-high concrete walls, with more than a dozen Warrior armoured fighting vehicles. The roofs of containers, converted to accommodation, are protected by sand bags and blast walls. At night everyone must wear body armour and, after two separate attacks yesterday, when four mortar rounds landed close to the perimeter, staff were forbidden to venture outside. Two British military bases in the north of the city were also attacked and another rocketed yesterday. During a flight into the embassy compound, a Chinook helicopter deployed a series of anti-missile flares in defence against surface to air missiles as it skimmed at 60ft across a highway on the outskirts of Basra. After the aircraft touched down, it was rapidly emptied of its troops and equipment. The Mahdi army rebels have severely dented British plans for the desperately needed reconstruction of the city. Bands of insurgents carrying rocket-propelled grenades and machine-guns roam the streets freely, setting up illegal check-points and imposing curfews. The poorly armed nascent police force has little control in the city and focuses on protecting its stations. The chief of police has allegedly been seen entering the office of Sadr's representative on several occasions. Commander Kevin Hurley, a City of London policeman training Iraqis, said: "It's a question of battening down the hatches and securing the police stations. They just don't have the armoured vehicles and heavy weaponry to take on the militia." Further pressure was put on the security forces after 180 prisoners, including many members of the Mahdi army, escaped from a prison in Amarah, a town north of Basra, during a mass breakout five days ago. The justice system is in danger of collapsing in the city with defendants coming to court armed with rifles and grenade launchers and threatening to kill judges. Written and signed death threats have been delivered. "Judges are understandably concerned about their safety," said Pauline Popp-Madsen, a justice adviser from Denmark. "And, if we lose the judiciary, then basically we are finished. "It's very depressing because we don't want an intimidated judiciary." As the siege continues, medical supplies, water pipes, cement and electrical cabling that are vital to Basra's reconstruction are piling up on the Kuwaiti border. Stocks of medicine were so low at the weekend that a military convoy had to be escorted by British armour to deliver £13,000 of aid to Basra hospital. The whisky has run out in the British office but there is enough food for almost three weeks and an atmosphere of stoicism prevails. "The rations are low but the mood is high," said Paul Briddle, a prison governor training the Iraqis. 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_: WE HAVE A FAILED PRESIDENCY
A Failed Presidency Editorial As Republicans gather in New York City, the Bush campaign will undergo a drastic makeover, camouflaging gutter tactics with a veneer of moderation calculated to help the President win another four-year term. But the hard truth of this campaign is that George W. Bush, while attempting to impose an extremist right-wing agenda on this country and the world, has compiled a record of staggering failure. The debacle in Iraq has already claimed close to 1,000 American and 12,000 Iraqi lives. Far from making America safer or the Middle East more democratic, it has turned out to be what this magazine warned it would be: a reckless abuse of power that has damaged US security, destabilized the region and undercut America's position in the world. The high cost of the war is evident not just in the number of deaths but also in burgeoning federal budget deficits (the war has cost more than $125 billion) and in the record gasoline prices Americans now pay. It is also evident in the reported swelling of the ranks of Al Qaeda-inspired groups and in the rising hatred of America reflected in public opinion polls showing that even among traditional allies like Jordan and Egypt, as much as 95 percent of the population view the United States with disfavor. Meanwhile, the war has diverted resources from urgent international problems ranging from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the widening AIDS pandemic. And there's no end in sight. The US occupation grinds on with both Bush and his Democratic opponent, John Kerry, ignoring the only intelligent alternative: a phased US withdrawal. Iraqi opposition to the occupation remains fierce--expressed even by Iraqi soccer players at the Olympics--while the country's appointed leaders display authoritarian tendencies that undermine the democracy Bush and his aides claim is being built. If the war were Bush's only failure, it would be enough to require his departure. But it is not. By withdrawing the United States from international treaties and conventions, mishandling crises in the Middle East and North Korea and diverting resources from the pursuit of Al Qaeda, Bush has left America more isolated and less secure. And the detention camps made infamous by the crimes of Abu Ghraib have stripped America of the pride we once had in our country and the role it played, however imperfectly, as a champion of human rights, economic opportunity and the rule of law. At home, Bush's failures are equally manifest. He has amassed the worst jobs record of any President since the Great Depression, the worst budget deficits ever and the most precipitous decline in America's fiscal position--from $5 trillion in projected surplus to $4 trillion in projected deficit. Bush's Administration responds to a corporate crime wave with calls for less regulation, embraces the flight of jobs abroad as good for the economy and exacerbates, with top-end tax cuts, the greatest inequality since the Gilded Age. This Administration has also undermined the rights and policies that social movements labored for a century to achieve. Bush has nominated to the federal bench ideologues with a history of antiunion and antichoice decisions. He signed into law the blatantly unconstitutional "partial birth" abortion ban and then watched as his Attorney General sought access to women's private medical records to defend the ban in court. He imposed the policy known as the global gag rule, which forbids foreign groups receiving US aid from even mentioning abortion, and vastly expanded a misinformation campaign about the dangers of sex that has been shown to encourage risky behavior among young people. And to secure his place forever in the hearts of cultural conservatives, he endorsed the gay-baiting federal marriage amendment, framing it as a response to the activism of liberal judges rather than what it was: an attempt to deny civil rights to millions of Americans and to enshrine that discrimination in the Constitution. Civil liberties, too, have suffered, as the "war on terror" has been used to justify acts ranging from detention without trial to snooping into citizens' library records. The list of failures goes on. The Bush years have seen a steady increase in the number of Americans without healthcare while drug company profits have soared. Bush's prescription drug bill prohibits Medicare from negotiating a better price for seniors and bars importing cheaper drugs--with the
ugnet_: Kenyan Minister dies in Germany
Maitha dies in GermanyStandard Team Cabinet Minister Emmanuel Karisa Maitha died of a heart attack in Germany yesterday. Mr Maitha, the Tourism and Wildlife minister, collapsed during a press interview with the Kiswahili service of the German station, Radio Deutschewelle. He was taken to Geist Hospital in Frankfurt, where doctors attempted to resuscitate him in vain. The minister was on official duty in Germany.Maitha, 50, has had a history of heart ailment, and was treated in India early this year. He leaves behind three wives and 10 children.He becomes the fourth Cabinet minister to die in office under the Narc government. President Kibaki received news of Maitha's death soon after jetting back from Mombasa, where he had officiated at the opening of this year's Mombasa International Show, according to the Presidential Press Service. In his message of condolence to the minister's family and constituents, the President said he had lost a friend and a comrade. Maitha was also the MP for Kisauni. A registered clinical officer, Maitha was educated at Utange Primary School and Shimo la Tewa Boys High School before enrolling at the Medical Training College in 1970. In 1973, he obtained a certificate in specialised paediatrics.Before his appointment to the Tourism and Wildlife ministry on June 30, Maitha served as the Local Government minister.He was appointed to the Cabinet in January last year, after Narc won the 2002 General Election, and quickly earned the nickname, `Hurricane', for his abrasive approach to Local Government incompetence and inefficiency.Maitha, a populist politician, had previously been elected as a Democratic MP for Kisauni in 1997, and was the shadow Minister for Local Government.He began his political career as an elected councillor in 1979. Before that, he had been a branch youth leader and Kanu chairman in his Mwikirunge area.He sensationally came into the public limelight during the hearings into the conduct of former Constitutional Affairs Minister Charles Njonjo, when he appeared before the judicial commission in 1983.In 1988 and 1992, he unsuccessfully vied for the Kisauni parliamentary seat on a Kanu ticket. He only made it to parliament when he defected to DP, and worked tirelessly to spread the party's wings in Coast Province.For the 20 months he had been in government, Maitha had hewn himself from a rough Kanu youth winger into a can-do minister.Apart from intervening in the management of the Kenya Wildlife Service by getting the board chairman suspended, Maitha has sought to make himself the pivot of Coast politics.In the run-up to the last General Elections, he said his priorities included development in several sectors including land, education, infrastructure and employment.He wanted to ensure that squatters were given land and absentee landlords surrendered theirs.Maitha goes down in Kenyan history as a colourful and controversial, if canny, political operator.His appetite for political triumph is one of his more notable attributes. His aggressiveness in championing the interests of the Coast and his party and the fact that he has managed to stamp his authority on a whole region had set him apart as a useful political ally.He was also a master of triumphant symbolism: In one of his houses at Majaoni in Kisauni, Mombasa, a black shoe size number nine used to hung on the wall until recently, among his valued pictures.It was a spoils-of-war trophy he had collected from the political battlefield during the heady days of the introduction of multi-patyism in Kenya early in the last decade, when he was a violent Kanu youth winger in Mombasa.The shoe belonged to Cabinet minister Raila Odinga, then one of the Young Turks who took Kanu head-on to lay the groundwork for a fledgling democracy. Raila had gone to Shanzu Primary School, in Maitha's future Kisauni constituency, to witness voter registration for the 1992 elections.Maitha appeared on the scene, at the head of a large army of armed party youths and in the ensuing melee, Raila's entourage was severely beaten up and lost valuables as they scattered. And into Maitha's possession came the treasure from Raila's foot.Since the Narc wrangles started escalating out of control last year, mainly between the National Alliance (Party) of Kenya (NAK) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) factions, he went out with little hesitation to seal his turf for his own faction and for himself.Indeed, those who watched how the he went about bulldozing the Coast ground for his NAK faction saw a man keen to exalt his own and his faction's supremacy.At times, it appeared like in fact it was his supremacy in Coast, and the coerced loyalty of other political leaders, that he craved for more than his NAK faction's victory.Immediately he was appointed minister in the Narc Cabinet last year, it was expected by those who knew him that it was just a matter of time before he sought
ugnet_: Fwd: Is Uganda in Trouble or what?
Can a state or nation become "stateless"? Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now.---BeginMessage--- What kind of thought process could lead one to make(sweeping) statements and/or such view as: The cause of federal demand is purely lack of nationalism and patriotism . The desire to be in power leads to unfairness and injustice So, when we see the Baganda ferociously asking for federal arrangement, we should note that the Baganda are nursing fears. It is not that when they get federo, they will have perfect leadership but that they would sleep comfortably if they mismanaged their resources as Baganda . So by demanding federo, the Baganda are simply being bold. They are saying that the situation in the wider Uganda is getting worse, so give us our own. They are saying that most of the known corrupt government officials are not Baganda yet they loot resources that Buganda also contributes. The Baganda are saying because corruption is with us and government has failed to put a stop to it, give us control of our resources so that those who loot are Baganda, who will remain in Buganda hence in away develop Buganda... Now that the Baganda have started pushing for federo, other tribes will follow suit. The Baganda started by asking for their Kingdom and they got it. Other groups including Iteso who never had a cultural head asked for one. As government continues to be insensitive to voices of caution, one day Kingdoms will become centres of power and the state called Uganda will be no more . These pearls of wismom are culled from: Chris Obore, Monitor's Education Editor, in his article"Federo question; Uganda could become stateless" Monitor, Aug 27, 2004 ---End Message---
ugnet_: AUSTRALIANS DIS-ARM KAGAME'S ESCORT
Rwanda bodyguards in airport 'incident'August 27, 2004 POLICE and customs officers had been involved in an incident with the bodyguards of the president of the African nation of Rwanda at Townsville airport, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said today.It was understood the bodyguards had been carrying weapons to protect the president who was en route to an international think tank held this weekend on an island in the Whitsundays, off north Queensland. Mr Beattie said he would be meeting Rwandan President Paul Kagame tomorrow morning. "There is a think tank on one of our islands," Mr Beattie told radio 4BC in Brisbane. "There was an incident last night. That's a matter for customs and the police to pursue. 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_: AS THE CONGO SAGA GETS BETTER
NewsWire 27/08/2004 DRC: Radicals in ex-rebel group may be gaining control IRIN [ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations] GOMA/KINSHASA, 26 Aug 2004 (IRIN) - A battle is looming in the Democratic Republic of the Congo over who will control a key rebel group-turned-political party. How the battle plays out could determine whether the peace process remains on track. The leader of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma), Azarias Ruberwa, who has been one of the four vice-presidents, left the capital, Kinshasa, last week for Goma, his stronghold in the east, and then this week announced that he was suspending his participation in the country's one-year old transitional government of national unity. But party members are divided over the decision and Ruberwa, himself, seems deeply ambivalent about the action he has taken. "The situation at the moment is tense and fragile," Jacqueline Chernard, a UN information officer in Goma, said. "This is a difficult period and indeed some hard-line elements might seize the opportunity to continue rebelling," she told IRIN. The current crisis was precipitated by a massacre on 13 August of 160 Congolese Tutsis, known as Banyamulenge, who in June had fled across the border into neighbouring Burundi. Ruberwa, who is also a Banyamulenge, described the massacre as "a genocide" and said the transitional process needed to be paused and re-assessed. Divisions within RCD-Goma largely follow ethnic lines and reflect one of major fault lines in the country's on-going conflict. Other Congolese see the Banyamulenge as foreigners since they originally came from Rwanda over a century ago. Ruberwa said he suspended his participation in the transitional government because the peace accord that brought it about may need to be redesigned. However, according to Information Minister Henri Moya Sakanyi, President Joseph Kabila has said renegotiating the agreement was "out of the question". Moya Sakanyi said the signatories of the accord had met earlier this year and agreed that the accord should stand. Senior MPs in RCD-Goma based in Kinshasa and the majority of RCD-Goma members are also opposed to withdrawing from the transitional government. "We feel that pulling out of the institutions of the republic at this time is not going to resolve any of the contradictions we are denouncing," Emile Ilunga, a former chairman of the RCD who is the deputy speaker of parliament, said. "We should rather go to the elections," Ilunga said of the nation's first ever-democratic elections scheduled for 2005. "It's from the inside that we can influence the course of events rather than being on the outside." But the massacre in Burundi has hardened the position of hard-liner Banyamulenge within the RCD-Goma who have long opposed the transitional government and who now accuse the Kinshasa government of supporting the massacre. Already in June, renegade commander Gen Laurent Nkunda led his troops into southern Kivu town of Bukavu saying that the Banyamulenge there were being persecuted. His troops are accused of committing widespread looting and human rights abuses in the week they occupied the town. In an interview with IRIN following the recent massacre, Nkunda vowed to invade Bukavu again. "If the peaceful means of solving the problem have failed we shall resort to forceful measures," he said. "Unless our demands are met of protecting our people, then we will certainly pick up our guns and fight on." Now, according to a number of officials in Goma, a coalition is emerging between Nkunda and former foreign affairs minister Bizima Karaha who was among eight RCD-Goma MPs in the interim parliament who failed to take up their seats recently when the assembly went into session. Many observes say that Ruberwa is caught between showing his colleagues in Kinshasa that he is serious about the peace process and showing his fellow Banyamulenge in Goma that he will stand up for them. Reflecting the competing pressures Ruberwa is under, one of his last acts as vice-president was to issue a decree calling for Nkunda's arrest. Then, the next day, he announced his withdrawal from the government, a position that effectively supported Nkunda. One official within RCD-Goma told IRIN that Ruberwa had wanted to return to Kinshasa but had been overpowered by elements opposed to the transition. An expatriate in Goma agreed. "Ruberwa is seen as a traitor from both sides no matter which decision he
ugnet_: Fwd: Power in Buganda
Note: forwarded message attached. Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now.---BeginMessage--- Holly Elisabeth Hanson 2003 Landed Obligation : The Practice of Power in Buganda (Social History of Africa Series) Book Description Focusing on love's importance to power, Hanson suggests new interpretations of the history of Buganda. She traces an African habit of thought--the idea that people ought to be tied by bonds of affection--to show how people used this idea to knot together a kingdom and criticize colonial practices of power. Scholars and students of Buganda, as well as readers intrigued by comparative study of social structure, power, and power's practices in Africa, will find Hanson's vital analysis extremely valuable.---End Message---
RE: ugnet_: NYTimes.com Article: Paul Ngei, 81, Mau Mau Rebel and Cabinet Minister in Kenya, Dies
Paul Ngei was of the Kamba tribe. From the article one could easily be misled to think that he was a Kikuyu.He was declared bankrupt. Was that because he was never a corrupt man? He always shared his beer with the downtrodden men and women in Nairobi. Go in peace Mzee Paul Ngei. Mitayo Potosi From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: ugnet_: NYTimes.com Article: Paul Ngei, 81, Mau Mau Rebel and Cabinet Minister in Kenya, Dies Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 18:56:05 -0400 (EDT) The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED]/- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight \ I HEART HUCKABEES - OPENING IN SELECT CITIES OCTOBER 1 From David O. Russell, writer and director of THREE KINGS and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER comes an existential comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Hupert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts. Watch the trailer now at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/huckabees/index_nyt.html \--/ Paul Ngei, 81, Mau Mau Rebel and Cabinet Minister i n Kenya, Dies August 23, 2004 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug. 22 - Paul Ngei, a former cabinet minister and one of the heroes of Kenya's independence movement, died here on Aug. 15, an official of the M. P. Shah Hospital said. He was 81. He died after six days in the hospital's intensive-care unit, the official said. Mr. Ngei had been in poor health for years. With Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta, Mr. Ngei was one of the "Kapenguria 6," who served prison terms in colonial days as leaders of the Mau Mau, a secret society of mostly Kikuyu tribesmen who in 1952 led a rebellion against white settlers and British colonial rule. The six were arrested on Oct. 22, 1952, on suspicion of being the leaders of the Mau Mau, whose violent revolt led the British authorities to declare a state of emergency that lasted for eight years. Although th e Mau Mau uprising was finally put down, it pushed Britain toward finally granting independence to Kenya in 1964. Mr. Kenyatta became the nation's first president. Mr. Ngei and the others were convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison for being leaders of the Mau Mau, which had been banned by the British authorities. The day Mr. Ngei and the other five were arrested is a national holiday, named after Mr. Kenyatta, to commemorate heroes of the Kenyan struggle for independence who had been imprisoned or detained by the British colonial government. After his release in 1961, Mr. Ngei won election to a seat in the Kenyan Parliament, and after independence he served for 27 years as a minister in the cabinets of Mr. Kenyatta and Daniel arap Moi, his successor. Among the posts he held were the portfolios for marketing, housing and social services, environment and lands and settlement. He was forced to leave his Parliament seat and cabinet post in 1991 after the Kenyan High Court declared him bankrupt. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/23/obituaries/23ngei.html?ex=1094388165ei=1en=f8bf4989677a1713 - Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://homedelivery.nytimes.com/HDS/SubscriptionT1.do?mode=SubscriptionT1ExternalMediaCode=W24AFHOW TO ADVERTISE - For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug Enjoy 25MB of inbox storage and 10MB per file attachment with MSN Premium. Join now and get the first two months FREE* This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: Religion Feeds Sudan's Fire
Dear Brother Vukoni, You had promised to help us and throw some light on this tragedy in Darfur. We are still waiting. I hate to be on the wrong side of things!! musamize ssemakula [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: August24,200410:58:33PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: ugnet_: Religion Feeds Sudan's Fire | | | Inbox August 22, 2004 Guillaume Bonn for The New York TimesAn unidentified man turned to Mecca to pray at dusk in the desert just outside a displaced persons camp near Abushouk, Sudan. Muslims from opposing sides met in Furburanga to air August 22, 2004 Religion Feeds Sudan's FireBy MARC LACEY URBURANGA, Sudan - In the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, the killers pray toward Mecca. The million displaced people do as well. Marauding men on horseback, the women raped by them, the rebels who incited the fighting and the politicians, soldiers and police officers who have failed to control it, nearly all are Muslim. There was the man from one of Darfur's African tribes who walked into an empty field near the refugee camp he now calls home and prayed - for life to return to normal, for his family's suffering to end, for his fear to dissipate. He stood, then knelt, then touched his forehead to a small mat, and the despair around him faded, he said, if only for a moment. But at some of the burned-out villages that now scar Darfur's landscape there are signs of disregard for religion - charred pages from Korans scattered in the rubble, makeshift mosques leveled. Sudan has a history of Christian-Muslim frictions and war. A rebel movement in the south, dominated by Christians, has fought the Islamic government in Khartoum for decades, largely over religious freedom. That conflict now appears to be petering out, partly because of involvement of the United States. But instead of peace, Sudan is now mired in a grievous conflict in Darfur. Political rivalries, ethnic strife and poverty have fueled the clashes - but that has not stopped combatants from invoking religion and challenging the devotion of their rivals. In the long history of the Muslims, "it is not uncommon for people to question each other's version of Islam," said Arif Shaikh, a representative of Islamic Relief U.S.A. who visited Darfur in April. "But this is really a political, not a religious, dispute. So much animosity has built up, and that's why it's gotten to this level." While the Muslims fight, many Sudanese revert to their historic grudges, directed against Christians, the United States and foreigners in general. Inside the mosques of Khartoum, which follow the Sunni branch of Islam, there has been plenty of discussion about Darfur but little success at finding a way to end the bloodshed. No religious leader has yet publicly chastised the combatants, either Arab or African. But America-bashing, long a theme at Friday Prayer, is as fierce as ever. "We caution our people in Sudan and our people in western Sudan against trusting the U.S.A., that it wants to help them," an imam, Abd-al-Jalil al-Nathir al-Karuri, said in a sermon broadcast on television in early August. "What is being done now is for the interests of one country - Israel." Another imam, Isam Ahmad al-Bashir, in a sermon translated from Arabic by the BBC, urged his followers at another Friday Prayer service to resist foreign intervention. "We must all say, irrespective of our different affiliations and leanings, races and groups, a resounding 'no' to foreign intervention, which is lying in wait for our people," he said. "This is an issue that requires no bargaining. Divinity, morality and humanity is required in denouncing all forms of foreign intervention or we will be committing treason against God, religion and country." Sudan has much experience with religious war. The continuing conflict with the Christians began in 1983 after the president at the time, Gaafar al-Nimeiry, began a campaign to make the country adhere more closely to Islamic law; his effort included amputations as punishments for theft and public lashings for alcohol consumption. The current president, Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, took over in a coup six years later. He replaced non-Muslim judges in the south with Muslims and applied Shariah penalties to many non-Muslims in Khartoum and parts of the north. He also characterized the government's battle with southern rebels as a jihad. The questions remain today: should Shariah, the Islamic legal code, apply to southerners who are not Muslim? Or should the government, dominated by Muslims, accommodate varying faiths? Peace negotiations for the south that have been under way in Kenya have reached compromises: Shariah would remain in effect in Khartoum, under the tentative deal the two sides have signed, but the south would have its own legal code. Another agreement would give southerners the ability to hold a
ugnet_: Fwd: Asians sucking it dry
Note: forwarded message attached. Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now.---BeginMessage--- Asian farmers sucking the continent dry 19:0025August04 Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition. Subscribe and get 4 free issues. The world is on the verge of a water crisis as people fight over ever dwindling supplies, experts told the Stockholm Water Symposium. A generation ago, Indian farmers in the state of Gujarat used bullocks to lift water from shallow wells in leather buckets. Now they haul it from 300 metres below ground using electric pumps. But that technological revolution is about to have devastating consequences. So much water is being drawn from underground reserves that they, and the pumps they feed, are running dry, turning fields that have been fecund for generations into desert. The world's leading water scientists warned this week that this little-heralded crisis is repeating itself across Asia, and could cause widespread famines in the decades to come. Day and night India is at the epicentre of the pump revolution. Using technology adapted from the oil industry, smallholder farmers have drilled 21 million tube wells into the saturated strata beneath their fields. Every year, farmers bring another million wells into service, most of them outside the control of the state irrigation authorities. The pumps, powered by heavily subsidised electricity, work day and night to irrigate fields of thirsty crops like rice, sugar cane and alfalfa. But this massive, unregulated expansion of pumps and wells is threatening to suck India dry. "Nobody knows where the tube wells are or who owns them. There is no way anyone can control what happens to them," says Tushaar Shah, head of the International Water Management Institute's groundwater station, based in Gujarat. "When the balloon bursts, untold anarchy will be the lot of rural India," he says. Shah gave his apocalyptic warning at the annual Stockholm Water Symposium in Sweden last week. His research suggests that the pumps, which transformed Indian farming, bring 200 cubic kilometres of water to the surface each year. But only a fraction of that is replaced by the monsoon rains. China's breadbasket The same revolution is being replicated across Asia, with millions of tube wells pumping up precious underground water reserves in water-stressed countries like Pakistan, Vietnam, and in northern China. In China's breadbasket, the north China plain, 30 cubic kilometres more water is being pumped to the surface each year by farmers than is replaced by the rain. Groundwater is used to produce 40 per cent of the country's grain, and Chinese officials warned this week that water shortages will soon make the country dependent on grain imports. Vietnam has quadrupled its number of tube wells in the past decade to one million, and water tables are plunging in the Pakistani state of Punjab, which produces 90 per cent of the country's food. In India, more farmers now provide their own water via wells and pumps than rely on the government's irrigation system, which is based on a network of canals. Corrupt management, low investment and drying rivers have made the national system increasingly decrepit, and it rarely delivers water to farmers when they need it. In contrast, the $600 pumps are bringing short-term prosperity to much of the country, turning India from a land of famine to a major rice exporter in less than a generation. Indian farmers have invested some $12 billion in the new pumps, but they constantly have to drill deeper to keep pace with falling water tables. Meanwhile, half of India's traditional hand-dug wells and millions of shallower tube wells have already dried up, bringing a spate of suicides among those who rely on them. Electricity blackouts are reaching epidemic proportions in states where half of the electricity is used to pump water from depths of up to a kilometre. Plunging water table At least a quarter of India's farms are irrigated from over-exploited reserves of water that threaten to run dry in the coming decades, says Shah. Hundreds of millions of Indians may see their land turn to desert. "In some areas accessible groundwater supplies could be exhausted within the next five to 10 years." It is already happening in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, says Kuppannan Palanisami of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore. A plunging water table means that only half as much land in the state can be irrigated compared with a decade ago. Large-scale farmers with powerful pumps and deep wells still get good prices growing water-hungry crops like sugar cane and bananas, but 95 per cent of the wells owned by small farmers have dried up, Palanisami says. Some villages now stand empty. Another crisis hotspot is northern Gujarat, where water tables are dropping by 6 metres or more each year, according to Rajiv Gupta, a state water official. Is there a way out of the
ugnet_: Fwd: Kavuyo: 'Lost Counties' Found ... in China
Note: forwarded message attached. Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!---BeginMessage--- The New York Times The Kingdom of Koguryo vanished from maps 1,300 years ago. Lee Jae-won/Reuters Costumed protesters at a rally in Seoul. South Korea's love affair with China has dissipated and given way to a national furor over the dispute. You Sung-Ho/Reuters South Korean history teachers prayed at a rally to protest China's claiming the ancient kingdom of Koguryo. August 25, 2004 China Fears Once and Future KingdomBy JAMES BROOKE EOUL, South Korea, Aug. 24 - Highlighting history's weight in modern Asia, China and South Korea, two of the region's closest economic partners, tried to patch over the sharpest crisis in 12 years of diplomatic relations by agreeing Tuesday to discuss calmly the boundaries of a kingdom that disappeared from maps 1,300 years ago. China may be South Korea's largest trading partner and South Korea may be China's largest source of new foreign investment, but that did not prevent South Koreans from taking on their huge neighbor this summer over the boundaries of Koguryo, a kingdom of hunting tribes that ruled much of modern-day North Korea and northeastern China from 37 B.C. to A.D. 668, when it was conquered by China's Tang dynasty. Koreans see the kingdom as the forerunner of their nation, a flourishing civilization that bequeathed to modern Korea its name. In July, Koguryo tombs and murals in North Korea were given World Heritage status, the first such listing by Unesco for the Communist country. But while protesters dressed as ancient Koguryo horsemen picketed the Chinese Embassy here, China's state-controlled New China News Agency recently called the kingdom a "subordinate state that fell under the jurisdiction of the Chinese dynasties and was under the great influence of China's politics, culture and other areas." Earlier this year, the Chinese Foreign Ministry deleted references to Koguryo from the Korean history section on its Web site. For two years, a Chinese government study group, the Northeast Project, has been issuing academic papers bolstering the position that the ancient kingdom was merely a Chinese vassal state. Behind the campaign, China fears that one day the two million ethnic Koreans in northeastern China will support a "greater Korea" that will spill over modern borders. "The history of Koguryo is related to Korea's politics, society, diplomacy and security today and in the future," Kim Woo Jun, a diplomatic history professor at Yonsei University, said in an interview on Tuesday. "Fundamentally, China wants to have complete control over the areas where ethnic Koreans reside. They are getting ready for the future." Suddenly, this summer, South Korea's love affair with China soured. In a survey early this year, 80 percent of South Korean parliamentarians said China was South Korea's most important economic partner. By contrast, in a survey of lawmakers this month, only 6 percent of the respondents showed a similar esteem for China. Now, editorialists routinely warn South Koreans about "Sinocentrism," the rise of "Chinese nationalism" and the return of a Middle Kingdom to dominate Asia. "The anti-U.S., pro-China atmosphere has changed recently as we saw the hegemonic side of China," Professor Kim said. "China has tried to conclude the issue as quickly as possible because they were concerned they would be surrounded by anti-China sentiments. Anti-China sentiments could quickly lead Korea to take a pro-U.S. stance and cooperate more with Japan." Turning on a neighbor with a population 27 times their own, South Korean history teachers have demonstrated here, radio commentators have said that half of South Korea's air pollution comes from China, and some South Koreans even cheered for Japan's soccer team during a Japan-China soccer match this month. Some South Korean lawmakers have urged that Koreans ally with Tibetans, Mongolians and Vietnamese to "refute Sinocentrism." Others prepared a bill in the National Assembly to repudiate a 1909 treaty that established the boundary between China and what is today North Korea. "The recent 'China bashing' in South Korea should be harnessed into a new opportunity not only to rethink China's strategic intentions toward the Korean Peninsula but also to dispel the self-centered 'China fantasy' many of us have held up to now," Kang Jun Young, a Chinese studies professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, wrote in the Tuesday issue of Korea Herald newspaper. With anti-Chinese sentiment growing daily, Chinese diplomats moved this week to soothe feelings before they damage a thriving economic relationship that is expected to record $100 billion in bilateral trade next year, 16 times the level of 1992, when diplomatic ties were established. On Thursday, Jia Qinglin, one of the top figures in China's governing Communist Party, is to visit here to mark the booming economic relationship,
ugnet_: Fwd: NYTimes.com Article: Tunes, a Hard Drive and (Just Maybe) a Brain
Note: forwarded message attached. Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now.---BeginMessage--- The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] /- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight \ I HEART HUCKABEES - OPENING IN SELECT CITIES OCTOBER 1 From David O. Russell, writer and director of THREE KINGS and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER comes an existential comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Hupert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts. Watch the trailer now at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/huckabees/index_nyt.html \--/ Tunes, a Hard Drive and (Just Maybe) a Brain August 26, 2004 By RACHEL DODES WHILE Bob Angus was presiding over a summer dinner party at his Upper West Side apartment in Manhattan, his Apple iPod decided to reveal its softer side. Mr. Angus, a second-year graduate student at Columbia Business School, had selected the Shuffle Songs mode on his iPod, which was connected by an adapter cable to his stereo receiver. By doing this, he relinquished control of his 1,300-song music library - and, as he would soon find out, of his party. The Guns N' Roses song Paradise City blared from his speakers. It was followed by the melodic piano solo at the beginning of Elton John's Your Song. Mr. Angus's 10 guests burst into laughter. Everyone was rocking out, Mr. Angus said. Then Elton comes on and kills it - it was like strike No. 1 against my manhood. Such are the perils of using Shuffle, a genre-defying option that has transformed the way people listen to their music in a digital age. The problem is, now that people are rigging up their iPods to stereos at home and in their cars, they may have to think twice about what they have casually added to their music library. Shuffle commands have been around since the dawn of the CD player. But the sheer quantity of music on an MP3 player like the iPod - and in its desktop application, iTunes - has enabled the function to take on an entirely new sense of scale and scope. It also heightens the risk that a long-forgotten favorite song will pop up, for better or for worse, in mixed company. There is an unintended consequence of the allure of Shuffle: it is causing iPod users to question whether their devices prefer certain types of music. Revere Greist, a doctoral student and amateur bicycle racer in Los Angeles, has concluded that his iPod's Shuffle command favors the rapper 50 Cent - and perhaps more important, that it knows exactly the right time to play 50 Cent's biggest hit, In Da Club. He finds the dramatic beat, coupled with the lyrics Go Shorty, it's your birthday, inspirational. Mr. Greist rides his bike 15 hours a week, often more than three hours at a time. To get him through the tedium of this workout, he created a 40-song mix called What It Takes, a name derived from a quotation on a documentary film about Lance Armstrong's training for the 2000 Tour de France. (After Armstrong defies his team manager's orders and races up a snowy mountain, his team manager says into the camera, Now, that's what it takes to win the Tour de France.) The iPod knows somehow when I am reaching the end of my reserves, when my motivation is flagging, Mr. Greist insisted. It hits me up with 'In Da Club,' and then all of a sudden I am in da club. For Mr. Angus, though, Shuffle can be a workout killer. He said that while working out at the gym, his portable music player invariably drifts toward the Billboard Top 40. It really likes Ruben Studdard, the winner of American Idol's second season, Mr. Angus said. This, despite the fact that he only has one song of Mr. Studdard's - the soulful ballad Sorry 2004 - stored on his 20-gigabyte player. There's nothing worse than when you are having an intense workout and Ruben comes on, he said, but it seems to always happen to me. Lucy Shaw, a social worker in New York, has stopped using Shuffle altogether. It was totally not reading my moods, she said. It would play upbeat music when she was feeling low, and dark, somber selections when she was feeling upbeat. Furthermore, she said, her device had a penchant for picking songs containing four minutes of dead air followed by a bonus track - like Brian Ferry's More Than This (the song to which Bill Murray sings karaoke in Lost in Translation, a bonus track on the film's soundtrack album). These people are not the only ones who think that iPods have minds of their own. IPod enthusiasts are throwing all manner of Shuffle conspiracy theories around on Internet message boards, ranging from the somewhat plausible to the absurd. At the macslash.org discussion site, one posting said: I'm pretty sure iTunes is not sorting my songs randomly. It seems to learn. I'd say it's using some Bayesian logic and/or simple neural networks to vary probabilities of songs to be selected and adjust
ugnet_: Israel lays claim to Palestine's water
Access to fresh water Israel lays claim to Palestine's water 10:1527May04 Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition. Subscribe and get 4 free issues. Israel has drawn up a secret plan for a giant desalination plant to supply drinking water to the Palestinian territory on the West Bank. It hopes the project will diminish pressure for it to grant any future Palestinian state greater access to the region's scarce supplies of fresh water. Under an agreement signed a decade ago as part of the Oslo accord, four-fifths of the West Bank's water is allocated to Israel, though the aquifers that supply it are largely replenished by water falling onto Palestinian territory. The new plans call for seawater to be desalinated at Caesaria on the Mediterranean coast, and then pumped into the West Bank, where a network of pipes will deliver it to large towns and many of the 250 villages that currently rely on local springs and small wells for their water. Israel, which wants the US to fund the project, would guarantee safe passage of the water across its territory in return for an agreement that Israel can continue to take the lion's share of the waters of the West Bank. These mainly comprise underground reserves such as the western aquifer, the region's largest, cleanest and most reliable water source. For Israelis, agreement on the future joint management of this aquifer is a prerequisite for granting Palestine statehood. Global funding The first public hint of the plan emerged earlier in May in Washington DC. Uri Shamir, director of water research at the Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, told the House of Representatives Committee on International Relations that the desalination project was "the only viable long-term solution" for supplying drinking water to the West Bank. Shamir told New Scientist this week that the project could be complete in five to seven years. "The plant will be funded by the world for the Palestinians. Israel will not be willing to carry this burden, and the Palestinians are not able to." But other leading hydrologists contacted by New Scientist point out that desalinating seawater and pumping it to the West Bank, parts of which lie 1000 metres above sea level, would cost around $1 per cubic metre. "The question is whether an average Palestinian family can afford it," says Arie Issar, a water expert at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Sede Boker, Israel, who helped green the Israeli desert a generation ago by finding new water sources in the region. "It would be foolish to desalinate water on the coast and push it up the mountains when there are underground water resources up there, which cost only a third as much." Tony Allan of King's College London, a leading authority on Middle East water, agrees: "Pumping desalinated water to the West Bank is not the best technical or economic option." But the project is being supported by Alvin Newman, head of water resources at the Tel Aviv office of USAID, the US international development agency, which would fund the desalination project. "Ultimately it's the only solution," he said in an interview with New Scientist. Unusual cooperation Water supply is one of the few areas where cooperation between Israel and Palestine has survived the current intifada. Every day on the West Bank, Palestinian engineers help repair and maintain Israeli water pipes, and vice versa. But Palestinian water negotiators are deeply uneasy about the plans being drawn up on their behalf, especially if they involve abandoning claims to the water beneath their feet. "We cannot do that. We don't have the money or the expertise for desalination," Ihab Barghothi, head of water projects for the Palestinian Water Authority, told New Scientist. Palestinians badly need more water. Under the Oslo agreement they have access to 57 cubic metres of water per person per year from all sources. Israel gets 246 cubic metres per head per year. And in the nearly 40 years that Israel has controlled the West Bank, Palestinians have been largely forbidden from drilling new wells or rehabilitating old ones. The region's sources of water are the West Bank aquifers; the river Jordan, which rises in the Golan Heights and flows into the Sea of Galilee, where it is largely tapped by Israel; and the coastal aquifer, an increasingly polluted reserve of underground water that extends south to the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip. Sewage effluent Over the years, Israel has developed a good reputation for using water efficiently, and in the 1980s it began recycling sewage effluent for irrigation. In 2004, Israel signed a deal to buy water shipped by tanker from Turkey. Meanwhile, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip depend almost exclusively on small wells tapping the coastal aquifer. As the water table falls, the aquifer is becoming increasingly polluted by salt water from the sea. UN scientists say Gaza will have no drinkable water within 15
ugnet_: Mengo, look at history again - Ofwono Opono - New Vision 27/8/2004
Mengo, look at history again SAYING IT WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOUR Ofwono Opono Federalists at Mengo, seeking to fuse monarchism with democratic political power, ought to read the German history of 1870. In that year, the Vatican Council proclaimed the dogma of Papal Infallibility which declared that when the Pope, in discharge of his office, states a doctrine in regard to faith and morals, he is infallible, and does not require Church consent. However, a minority of Catholics in Germany refused to accept the new doctrine, whereupon the Bishops excommunicated them and tried to remove similar minded university professors and school teachers from their posts. But Prince Otto von Bismarck rejected the dismissals, and instead stopped religious inspection of schools. He then forced religious colleges to accept examinations set by the state, and also made civil marriages legal thus reducing the extent to which the church could control the family. This has re mained the world practice to-date! For Buganda it is nearly forty years now since November 1964 when rowdy Baganda monarchical protesters forced Katikkiro Michael Kintu and ministers at Mengo to resign over the lost counties. They accused Kintu of collaborating, with the sly UPC to dismember, Buganda kingdom following its defeat in the referendum over Bugangaizi and Buyaga. Kintu was replaced with Joash Mayanja Nkangi who was accosted a few weeks ago by a similar rowdy crowd, although Nkangi ceased being Katikiro in 1994. Nkangis offence according agitators gathered at Lubiri was he declined to state his position, at the seminar since the organisers didnt give him advance notice. Aggressive conduct, said former US President J.F. Kennedy, if allowed to go un-checked and unchallenged, ultimately leads to war. Aggression seems to be both a political and cultural practice of Mengo agitators over the years: no wonder Prince K iwewa was denied the throne because he professed Islam and Katikkiro Martin Luther Nsibirwa was murdered at Namirembe cathedral in the 1950s on suspicion that he quietly supported the Namasoles (Mutesa IIs mother) quest to remarry contrary to Buganda tradition. The conduct by fringe groups at Mengo over demands for federo, political power, and the purported 9,000sq miles of land, passes the test of aggressive conduct, and need to be checked early or may be challenged by other forces. While negotiation between government, and different parties over various issues, proceed, it is prudent that no one is allowed to instill fear to extract concessions. Judging from their tone, language, and actions, it will be a tall order for federo agitators to market their demands beyond the gates of Bulange, their cultural seat! To pass, federo requires at least 196 of the 294 votes in parliament. Fundamentalists at Mengo should realize that vested interests root ed in vestiges of the past may not appeal to wider Buganda, although they share cultural history. At the centre is a deliberate effort to subject democracy to feudalism, and for the small but vocal circle of business middlemen at Mengo, to cash on royal connections to feather their nests. These groups ought to be exposed and isolated from genuine quests of people living in Buganda. These are trading in royal names, land, estates, property, law firms, and broadcasting media among others. Like the validity of biblical literalism was challenged, it is time that the entrenched monarchical and cultural dogmas be questioned! Science and democracy have challenged and relegated previously claimed infallibility of the scripture. The inerrancy of scripture, the virgin birth of Christ, his atonement of our sins on the cross, his bodily resurrection, and the objective reality of his miracles are being challenged daily. The celibacy of Catholic pries ts is being challenged through theological doctrines and world pressures as cases of priests in sexual encounters come to light. Evolution science has disapproved biblical teachings that the earth is one thousand years old, and that it was created in only six days. So, Kabaka Mutebis call, We want Buganda to be as mighty as it was in the past, based on the pillars handed to us by our ancestors, and all the properties they left for us with our abilities, wisdom and strength, on politics should be examined. Firstly Bugandas ancestors never handed over a mighty Buganda, but a colonised fiefdom, with its head and peoples rendered powerless, and cash crop growers, and colonial service clerks like most parts of the Protectorate! The statement strength and property draws extreme if not negative response from the Banyoro and others who lost land and power, courtesy of Mengos treachery to colonialism. In fact, Mutebi has un-wittingly re-armed Buganda kingdoms opponents and may not run away from responsibility in case of a political flare. Again, it should be restated that in order to liberate and develop resources under
ugnet_: Fwd: NV: Everybody loves Kiggundu
Note: forwarded message attached.__Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ---BeginMessage--- CP backs Kiggundu on presidency By Jude Etyang THE Conservative Party (CP) faction led by MP Nsubuga Nsambu has resolved to back former Bank of Uganda governor Dr. Sulaiman Kiggundu as its presidential candidate for the 2006 elections. The party made the resolution at a National Executive Committee meeting at Fairway Hotel on Saturday. The partys national vice-chairman, Ray Obedi Bwana, said in an interview that Kiggundu, who was not present at the meeting, was chosen because he had a vision to transform the country. The meeting endorsed Dr. Kiggundu as the party presidential candidate for 2006 because the delegates saw him as a person with a vision to restore the socio-economic and political atmosphere of Uganda, Obedi said. Kiggundu joined active politics recently and declared that he was ready to lead an opposition coalition against President Museveni in the 2006 polls. Obedi said Kiggundu, who had been mediating reconciliation talks between th e CP factions, had expressed willingness to be the party candidate. Published on: Thursday, 26th August, 2004 ps: is Kiggundu a member of CP, DP or both? At least CP is trying hard to revitalize itself. What is DP upto?---End Message---
ugnet_: Fwd: NV: Emorimor to get palace
Note: forwarded message attached. Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now.---BeginMessage--- Emorimor to get palace By James Ekweu A fifteen-man task force has been appointed to spearhead a fundraising drive for the construction of a palace for the Teso paramount chief, Emorimor Papa Iteso. The decision was taken on Saturday during the Iteso Cultural Union (ICU) cabinet meeting chaired by the premier (Ekirigi), Robert Irigei, in Tororo Municipality. Chaired by one of the ICU deputy premiers, Meslam Olupot, the task force was mandated to mobilise all Iteso to contribute resources for the task and work out modalities for easy collection of resources. At the meeting, President Yoweri Museveni was unanimously suggested as chief guest at the fundraising function slated for November 6, in Soroti. The committee that hopes to raise sh200m was also asked to officially invite the President and all Teso Members of Parliament in Uganda and Kenya. This committee is to obtain Police permission for the drive. I therefore want to ask every ICU official t o mobilise resources to ensure a successful function, Martin Owako, the ICU finance minister, said. Published on: Thursday, 26th August, 2004---End Message---
Fwd: ugnet_: Israel lays claim to Palestine's water
Note: forwarded message attached. Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail is new and improved - Check it out!---BeginMessage--- Access to fresh water Israel lays claim to Palestine's water 10:1527May04 Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition. Subscribe and get 4 free issues. Israel has drawn up a secret plan for a giant desalination plant to supply drinking water to the Palestinian territory on the West Bank. It hopes the project will diminish pressure for it to grant any future Palestinian state greater access to the region's scarce supplies of fresh water. Under an agreement signed a decade ago as part of the Oslo accord, four-fifths of the West Bank's water is allocated to Israel, though the aquifers that supply it are largely replenished by water falling onto Palestinian territory. The new plans call for seawater to be desalinated at Caesaria on the Mediterranean coast, and then pumped into the West Bank, where a network of pipes will deliver it to large towns and many of the 250 villages that currently rely on local springs and small wells for their water. Israel, which wants the US to fund the project, would guarantee safe passage of the water across its territory in return for an agreement that Israel can continue to take the lion's share of the waters of the West Bank. These mainly comprise underground reserves such as the western aquifer, the region's largest, cleanest and most reliable water source. For Israelis, agreement on the future joint management of this aquifer is a prerequisite for granting Palestine statehood. Global funding The first public hint of the plan emerged earlier in May in Washington DC. Uri Shamir, director of water research at the Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, told the House of Representatives Committee on International Relations that the desalination project was "the only viable long-term solution" for supplying drinking water to the West Bank. Shamir told New Scientist this week that the project could be complete in five to seven years. "The plant will be funded by the world for the Palestinians. Israel will not be willing to carry this burden, and the Palestinians are not able to." But other leading hydrologists contacted by New Scientist point out that desalinating seawater and pumping it to the West Bank, parts of which lie 1000 metres above sea level, would cost around $1 per cubic metre. "The question is whether an average Palestinian family can afford it," says Arie Issar, a water expert at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Sede Boker, Israel, who helped green the Israeli desert a generation ago by finding new water sources in the region. "It would be foolish to desalinate water on the coast and push it up the mountains when there are underground water resources up there, which cost only a third as much." Tony Allan of King's College London, a leading authority on Middle East water, agrees: "Pumping desalinated water to the West Bank is not the best technical or economic option." But the project is being supported by Alvin Newman, head of water resources at the Tel Aviv office of USAID, the US international development agency, which would fund the desalination project. "Ultimately it's the only solution," he said in an interview with New Scientist. Unusual cooperation Water supply is one of the few areas where cooperation between Israel and Palestine has survived the current intifada. Every day on the West Bank, Palestinian engineers help repair and maintain Israeli water pipes, and vice versa. But Palestinian water negotiators are deeply uneasy about the plans being drawn up on their behalf, especially if they involve abandoning claims to the water beneath their feet. "We cannot do that. We don't have the money or the expertise for desalination," Ihab Barghothi, head of water projects for the Palestinian Water Authority, told New Scientist. Palestinians badly need more water. Under the Oslo agreement they have access to 57 cubic metres of water per person per year from all sources. Israel gets 246 cubic metres per head per year. And in the nearly 40 years that Israel has controlled the West Bank, Palestinians have been largely forbidden from drilling new wells or rehabilitating old ones. The region's sources of water are the West Bank aquifers; the river Jordan, which rises in the Golan Heights and flows into the Sea of Galilee, where it is largely tapped by Israel; and the coastal aquifer, an increasingly polluted reserve of underground water that extends south to the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip. Sewage effluent Over the years, Israel has developed a good reputation for using water efficiently, and in the 1980s it began recycling sewage effluent for irrigation. In 2004, Israel signed a deal to buy water shipped by tanker from Turkey. Meanwhile, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip depend almost exclusively on small wells tapping the coastal aquifer. As the water table falls, the aquifer is
ugnet_: WHO PROTECTS THE MEN IN NORTH AMERICA?
A wife's terror as husband strikes LINDA DIEBEL AND ANDREW MILLSSTAFF REPORTERSMarlene Brookes is a shirt-presser, a quiet, conscientious woman who has looked after Bay Street's demanding clients for more than eight years. She was on her way to work yesterday morning at Preeners Custom Fabricare, deep in the sub-basement of the Canadian Pacific Tower, at York and Wellington Sts., unaware that her life was about to change forever. Not only her life would change, but also those of people whose paths intersected, by design and by chance, in the bustling, early-morning heart of the city. It began around 8, as Marlene, 45, stepped off the escalator and walked towards the food court, perhaps intending to pick up a coffee. Suddenly, her estranged husband, Sugston Anthony (Tony) Brookes, also 45, appeared out of nowhere. He had a sawed-off .22-calibre rifle. He started firing at her. Marlene bolted, screaming, but tripped and fell. He caught up and began pistol-whipping her as blood poured from her head. Eli Shiminov, preparing for the day at his Pumpernickel Deli and Café, heard her screams and then, two gunshots. He quickly bustled his two daughters into a walk-in refrigerator and, at precisely 8:02, his wife called 911. When he came out, Marlene was lying outside his shop, her left temple bleeding. She was "gushing," he recalls, and asking for a pillow, but all he could do was bandage her head with aprons and sop up the blood with towels. Together, they waited for an ambulance. Marlene didn't tell him who assaulted her, or that he had beaten her before. Tony Brookes had worked at the Bay for 23 years, in later years as a chef, until he was fired in 2001 with $110,000 in severance pay; he took the company to court and won $37,000 more. On July 29, Marlene filed for divorce, seeking support for their two children. Court documents reveal a terrible saga of terror and abuse, which she, perhaps, believed had ended when she moved out of their Ajax home on March 13. According to these documents, he "beat her, pushing (her) down stairs, held a knife to her throat, punched her and choked her, and carried gasoline into the (their) house and threatened to burn it down." He drove through Ajax with an iron fireplace poker, looking for their 16-year-old boy. He threatened their daughter, 18, with a knife and beat her until her "eye turned black and blue." And, they say, last February, he pushed Marlene down the stairs, holding her down with a knife to her windpipe and telling her he was going to "cut her f-g throat." The abuse had been going on for years, but she didn't report it to police until recently. She had always lied about her injuries, even to doctors at the hospital. When, on March 13, he again held a knife to her throat, she called police and had him arrested. On his release from jail, he was put on probation, ordered to attend anger-management classes and put under a restraining order that forbid him to go within 100 metres of any family member. After the 911 call, Toronto police put out a bulletin describing the shooter. It almost certainly described him as armed and dangerous, urging officers to approach with extreme caution. Brookes, sometimes known simply as "T," was black, bearded and wearing a pale shirt with baggy sleeves to the elbows. Police converged on the food court, but he had already taken the stairs up to street level at the corner of York and Wellington Sts., fleeing east before running down an alley east of the Fairmont Royal York. At about 8:05 a.m., a young constable from 52 Division, with four years on the force, was directing traffic around construction on Wellington near Bay when he spotted a man matching the suspect's description. He ordered him to stop, but the man kept running. Then he saw the weapon. The streets were full of people on their way to work. "GUN!!!" he yelled. The officer pulled his own Glock semi-automatic pistol and followed the suspect to the north side of Front St., heading toward the hotel. Several times, the suspect turned and pointed his sawed-off rifle at his pursuer. Later, a senior police officer would comment admiringly: "He did everything by the book." The suspect, who of course was Brookes, crossed to the south side of Front St. By now, the time was 8:10 and, to the officer's horror, Brookes grabbed a woman 20-year-old Nicole Regis and wrapped his left arm around her throat in a death grip. His right hand held the gun, which he propped almost casually over her shoulder. Heidi Laverick, an account manager for HSBC Bank, saw Brookes take her. "I just froze. I wasn't sure what was going on. There I was with my briefcase in my hands and my sunglasses on and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. ... I just think to myself, he could have turned around and shot anybody. He could have taken that gun and pointed it anywhere." Regis brought her two hands
Re: ugnet_: Fwd: Study Suggests Language Shapes Thoughts
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 08/25/04 12:33AM an aside: In Luganda anaimals are generally uncountable. Thus enkoko can mean 1 or many chickens, and so it is with cattle and many animals (empologoma, embizzi, embuzi , etc) However, as a friend told me, in Lugwere -- with which Luganda has about 68% lexical similarity, onkoko is one chicken and enkoko is 2 or more. Likewise, onte is one cow, and ente are 2 or more cows. What about counting in other languages? Compatriot Ssemakula, I thought you would take that observation to its logical conclusion, which in line with the thesis of the summarised report should suggest that there are differences in the way the Bagwere and Baganda think. Not that I expect any such inference to stand to scrutiny. On a more serious note,don't you think your example is out of context to the extent that it suggests that one can never know whether a Muganda is talking about one chicken or more than one? My chicken is lost is certainly understandably different from My chickens are lost - Enkoko yange vs Enkoko zange.., not so? After all, even English,ever confused as it is, has one sheep, 2 sheep.; but I thought the point of the report (as summarised) was that when it comes to 1,2,3, the group studied did not make a fine distinction between fairly large numbers. Interesting stuff! Best regards, Yoswa New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: Can President Museveni do without Buganda? - Monitor 25/8/2004
Can President Museveni do without Buganda Kingdom? By Samuel Makanga Aug 25 - 30, 2004 - Monitor President Yoweri Museveni sent ripples across the country last week, when he declared that he can win an election without the support of Buganda kingdom. Coming in the wake of unease in the talks between the Central Government and Buganda over federal status, the President's declaration raises a fundamental question: can Museveni really do without Mengo? Some don't think so. "The President is nearing hell. He needs Mengo, and without it, he is doomed," says Kawempe North MP Sebuliba Mutumba. "The President is committing political suicide and we all know that he cannot live without Buganda," Kyadondo South MP Issa Kikungwe adds. THE MAN WITH THE KEY: President Museveni EAGER, BUT UNCERTAIN QUEST: Kabaka Ronald Mutebi President Museveni and Buganda go back a long way. He used Buganda as his stronghold for five years (1981-1986) during the guerrilla war that brought him to power, ousting the Okello junta in January 1986. Throughout the war, it is the Baganda peasants that sustained his rebel army and sacrificed not only property but also their lives. Many were killed by the state at the slightest association with Museveni and his National Resistance Army. That was beginning of Musevenis love affair with the peasants, especially those in Buganda. In 1993, President Museveni gave back Buganda what Milton Obote had taken away in 1966 - the Kabakaship. In 1998, when Parliament passed a new Land Act, pro-royalist Mengo top shots in Buganda frowned because they couldn't evict any squatters at free will and had to compensate them if evicted. But the peasants who are mostly squatters, smiled. Little wonder that even though in urban Buganda, Museveni scored poorly; he triumphed where it mattered most - among the peasants deep, in low down Buganda. To Museveni now what matters is not Mengo per se, but the fragile lots of Baganda so oblivious of what their rights are, who only care about salt and sugar, plus food being at the table. Issue is, the Mengo establishment only has limited grip; nothing compared to Museveni's machinery in the local councils and resident district commissioners that control the grass roots. No wonder when the President met the local government leaders from Buganda last week, they voted in unison to have two legislative councils for Buganda. Not surprisingly, the President reportedly said that Government had tried to accommodate Buganda's demands, though Mengo was not appreciating. The President has obviously read the situation thus: Mengo may rouse sentiments in some areas around Buganda; but the hearts of the peasants lie in President Museveni's hands and they would not easily choose another over him, just because the other is promising federo. Apparently certain that he is getting his mathematics correct, the President now feels he can now ditch the kid gloves, handle Buganda with bare hands - and get away with it. MP Issa Kikungwe feels that the President is on a divide and rule policy specifically to taint Mengo as a bunch of greedy, unthankful lots. The President is in a strong position. Cabinet is obviously backing him. In Parliament where a vote on federalism would take place, the President has no real worries. Three quarters of the Buganda Caucus owe allegiance more to the Movement than to Mengo. MP Kikungwe calls them 'snakes within the caucus, who will at whatever cost vote in the government favour'. The rest of the House (the majority at least) so far don't seem to be impressed with Buganda's demands. In a national plebiscite, as recent opinion polls show, it's highly unlikely that federo would carry the day. President Museveni remains the most important factor in whether Buganda realises its aspirations. Within the Parliament corridors however, MP's are bracing themselves for the task ahead: a final solution to the federo question. MP Salamu Musumba contends, "This generation must live to the challenge and solve the Federo issue once and for all. What don't we have? Is it the brains or what?" So far this seems ominously certain to be only one thing: hammering the last nails into the federo coffin. © 2004 The Monitor Publications Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now.
ugnet_: Museveni's Latest Position Leaves Opposition Guessing
Regional- EastAfrican - Nairobi - KenyaMonday, August 23, 2004 Museveni's Latest Position Leaves Opponents Guessing A JOINT REPORT THE EASTAFRICAN PRESIDENT YOWERI Musevenis elevation last week to interim chairman of the National Resistance Movement Organisation (NRM-O), a proposed successor to the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) when Uganda finally reverts to multiparty democracy, has left political observers guessing about the president's plans after his current term expires next year. After daylong deliberations in Kampala last Tuesday, the party, which was registered last May, elected Museveni to replace long-serving Movement chairman Al Hajji Moses Kigongo, who was relegated to first vice chairman. In another intriguing development, former local government minister Jaberi Bidandi Ssali, who only a fortnight ago was threatened with expulsion from the party he helped found because of making statements that were contrary to the party line, was elected second vice chairman. Museveni, who is serving his second elective term in office, is constitutionally barred from taking another shot at the presidency, but recent months have been dominated by agitation for a constitutional amendment to allow him to stand. The president has adopted an ambiguous stance, failing to say whether he is interested in another term or not. However, by getting elected to head the NRM-O, Museveni is seen as having made a move that would leave him with considerable influence in case the quest for a third term fails because of unforeseen circumstances. "Although I dont believe his becoming chairman of the NRM gives him any advantage over us, the position could allow him to hit two birds with one stone," said an MP, Michael Mabikke, who is also the secretary general of the DP radical wing, the Uganda Young Democrats. Museveni could not participate in the interim executive earlier because, being a serving officer of the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces, he was barred by law from doing so. He consequently retired from the army in April. Speaking to The EastAfrican last week, however, Ssali said there had not been any elections. "What happened is that the interim executive committee of the founders met and absorbed President Museveni into the office of the chairman of the interim committee." He added that there cannot be a substantive party chairman or elections for that matter until the relevant party organs such as branches, whose initiation the interim committee is charged with, are in place. It is from these branches that national and other party officials will ultimately emerge. He said the formation of the NRM-O as a party and Musevenis future role in politics were still a subject of intense internal debate. "The third term is being debated both nationally and internally within the Movement. There are those such as me who are opposed to it and those who are irrevocably for it," Bidandi told The EastAfrican from his home in Kiwatule, a Kampala suburb. Although the NRM constitution is silent on the selection of the partys presidential candidate, many observers say Musevenis elevation to the chair could either serve to position him to take over that role or, as is normally the case in other parties, block him from running for the presidency. "I see it as a psychological rallying point for all Movement supporters as it sends the message that objective leadership is about compromise and team work." Coming just weeks after some NRM diehards had threatened to block Ssali from assuming a leadership role in the party, his appointment as vice chairman is being seen as an attempt by Museveni to hold the Movement together in the face of an onslaught by the recent merger between the Parliamentary Advocacy Forum and Reform Agenda, which has triggered a series of defections from both sides. As interim chairman, Museveni has been authorised to fill the vacant positions in the interim executive that were caused by the death of past members such as former Attorney General Francis Ayume and Foreign Affairs Minister James Wapakhabulo. The meeting also mandated him to tour the country to consolidate the task force ahead of the 2006 general election, while the promoters will now embark on a countrywide recruitment of supporters ahead of the anticipated approval of a new political system in February 2005. The opposition has criticised Musevenis elevation to NRM-O chairmanship, with the Uganda People's Congress (UPC) saying they saw it as a contradiction for a president who is opposed to pluralist politics to agree to lead a political party. "The same Museveni who dislikes political parties has now made a U-turn to head the NRM-O, a party that is positioning itself to compete for power alongside other political parties in 2006," UPC Presidential Policy Commission chairman Dr James Rwanyarare said in a statement. Comments\Views about this article Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish.
Re: ugnet_: Can President Museveni do without Buganda? - Monitor 25/8/2004
Netters This in a nutshell is why M7 is going down. Theclown thinks he has the Baganda piizanti over the Kabaka !! This has to be the best article I have seen about what is really going on. NumeOmar Kezimbira [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Can President Museveni do without Buganda Kingdom? By Samuel Makanga Aug 25 - 30, 2004 - Monitor President Yoweri Museveni sent ripples across the country last week, when he declared that he can win an election without the support of Buganda kingdom. Coming in the wake of unease in the talks between the Central Government and Buganda over federal status, the President's declaration raises a fundamental question: can Museveni really do without Mengo? Some don't think so. "The President is nearing hell. He needs Mengo, and without it, he is doomed," says Kawempe North MP Sebuliba Mutumba. "The President is committing political suicide and we all know that he cannot live without Buganda," Kyadondo South MP Issa Kikungwe adds. THE MAN WITH THE KEY: President Museveni EAGER, BUT UNCERTAIN QUEST: Kabaka Ronald Mutebi President Museveni and Buganda go back a long way. He used Buganda as his stronghold for five years (1981-1986) during the guerrilla war that brought him to power, ousting the Okello junta in January 1986. Throughout the war, it is the Baganda peasants that sustained his rebel army and sacrificed not only property but also their lives. Many were killed by the state at the slightest association with Museveni and his National Resistance Army. That was beginning of Musevenis love affair with the peasants, especially those in Buganda. In 1993, President Museveni gave back Buganda what Milton Obote had taken away in 1966 - the Kabakaship. In 1998, when Parliament passed a new Land Act, pro-royalist Mengo top shots in Buganda frowned because they couldn't evict any squatters at free will and had to compensate them if evicted. But the peasants who are mostly squatters, smiled. Little wonder that even though in urban Buganda, Museveni scored poorly; he triumphed where it mattered most - among the peasants deep, in low down Buganda. To Museveni now what matters is not Mengo per se, but the fragile lots of Baganda so oblivious of what their rights are, who only care about salt and sugar, plus food being at the table. Issue is, the Mengo establishment only has limited grip; nothing compared to Museveni's machinery in the local councils and resident district commissioners that control the grass roots. No wonder when the President met the local government leaders from Buganda last week, they voted in unison to have two legislative councils for Buganda. Not surprisingly, the President reportedly said that Government had tried to accommodate Buganda's demands, though Mengo was not appreciating. The President has obviously read the situation thus: Mengo may rouse sentiments in some areas around Buganda; but the hearts of the peasants lie in President Museveni's hands and they would not easily choose another over him, just because the other is promising federo. Apparently certain that he is getting his mathematics correct, the President now feels he can now ditch the kid gloves, handle Buganda with bare hands - and get away with it. MP Issa Kikungwe feels that the President is on a divide and rule policy specifically to taint Mengo as a bunch of greedy, unthankful lots. The President is in a strong position. Cabinet is obviously backing him. In Parliament where a vote on federalism would take place, the President has no real worries. Three quarters of the Buganda Caucus owe allegiance more to the Movement than to Mengo. MP Kikungwe calls them 'snakes within the caucus, who will at whatever cost vote in the government favour'. The rest of the House (the majority at least) so far don't seem to be impressed with Buganda's demands. In a national plebiscite, as recent opinion polls show, it's highly unlikely that federo would carry the day. President Museveni remains the most important factor in whether Buganda realises its aspirations. Within the Parliament corridors however, MP's are bracing themselves for the task ahead: a final solution to the federo question. MP Salamu Musumba contends, "This generation must live to the challenge and solve the Federo issue once and for all. What don't we have? Is it the brains or what?" So far this seems ominously certain to be only one thing: hammering the last nails into the federo coffin. © 2004 The Monitor Publications Do you Yahoo!?Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now. Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now.
ugnet_: Bunyoro Land Suit 'Not Linked' to Federo
Regional- EastAfrican - Nairobi - KenyaMonday, August 23, 2004 Bunyoro Land Suit 'Not Linked' to Federo By BAMUTURAKI MUSINGUZI SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT THE CAMPAIGN for a federal system of government by the Buganda kingdom has hit stormy waters as some communities demand the return of land given to Buganda a century ago by the British colonialists, a move that would cut the size of Ugandas most populous kingdom by half. Those being sued are the Kabaka (king) of Buganda, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi, 3,636 absentee Baganda landlords and the Uganda government. The complainants are demanding that the 1900 agreement with the British colonial government, which gave their land to Buganda, be nullified. A case has been instituted in the High Court by lawyers acting for the people of Kibaale district in the Bunyoro kingdom. The case was instituted on August 13 and registered in the Uganda High Court as civil suit number 595. The defendants received summons to file their defence last week. Officials of the Buganda kingdom said that they could not rule out the possibility that the suit was being engineered by people opposed to the quest for a federal system of government by the kingdom. President Yoweri Museveni last week concluded talks with officials from Buganda, ruling out the possibility of giving them a federal system of government. Bunyoro is insisting that before the 1900 agreement Buganda owned only 13 counties but subsequently its territory increased to 20 after seven counties Buyaga, Bugangaizi, Buheekura, Buruuli, Bugerere, north Singo (Kiboga) and Bulemeezi were taken from Bunyoro. It was not possible to get an official comment from the Buganda kingdom, as the official spokesman, Peter Mayiga was reported to be in meetings. The Banyoro are seeking the nullification of the 1900 Buganda Agreement through which the British Government annexed the seven counties. Henry Ford Mirima, press secretary to the king of Bunyoro-Kitara, dismissed claims by proponents of federalism that they are being used to derail talks on "federo," saying the two issues are not related. "We started this case a year ago before the current demands for federo kicked off," he said. Ayena Odongo, the lead counsel of the plaintiffs, said the issues were not connected. "This is a fundamental issue that was not addressed legally. Government after government glossed over the fundamental land interests of the Banyoro. They only addressed the political and administrative aspects of the injustices wrought upon the Banyoro by the unlawful signing of the 1900 Agreement," Mr Odongo said. "Returning the political administration to Bunyoro and leaving the land behind was like returning the body and leaving the spirit behind," he added. The plaintiffs, residing in Kibaale and Kampala districts, are suing in their representative capacities on behalf of all indigenous people of Kibaale district. It shall be averred and contended that since the forefathers of the plaintiffs and by extension, the plaintiffs, were not privy to the so-called Uganda Agreement, there is no way their land could have lawfully formed consideration for and therefore part of the said Agreement. The plaintiffs argue that there was no compliance with the 1962 Constitution in relation to the lost counties and with the Referendum (Buyaga and Bugangaizi) Act 1964. And the land policy consistently employed by the government in the seven counties is sectarian, discriminatory, and therefore unconstitutional. According to the plaint, "the government has failed to take affirmative action to redress the plaintiffs' land problems created by history as provided under Article 32 (1) of the Uganda Constitution 1995." Kyabangi Katta Musoke, Rev Canon Erica Kiiza, Leo Ssebalaba and Karoli Sentalo are also among the plaintiffs. Bunyoro has threatened to sue the British government over what they call plundering of the kingdom. The Banyorosay they were customary owners of land, which they used for settlement, cultivation, hunting, burial, religious and other cultural performances and ceremonies, grazing, wood harvest and herbal medicines. The plaintiffs claim they lost properties estimated at over Ush500 billion ($285 million) as a result of the "invasion, pillage, destruction, looting and final occupation for over 65 years" and are therefore entitled to damages for trespass and loss of life. The plaintiffs shall contend that by an Agreement between the Kabaka and the British Crown dated March 10, 1900, the Kabaka, without the Banyoro being privy to the said agreement and without the consent of their forefathers, purported to cede or alienate the land from the kingdom of Bunyoro-Kitara and transfer and incorporate it into the kingdom of Buganda. By the above said Agreement, the British Crown purported to donate the land as a reward to the Kabaka and the 3,636 landlords as Mailo Land and as a punishment of the Banyoro for resisting British imperialism. During the Independence
ugnet_: Fwd: Movt to bribe MPs
I do not know anymore where we are going as a country when bribery is no longer illegal. I just cannot believe it when one is not ashamed at even boasting about it. Ochan At 05:55 PM 8/25/2004 +0100, you wrote: Movt to bribe MPs By Cliff Lule Wednesday, 25 August 2004 The Popular Resistance Against Life Presidency has set aside over 10 billion shillings to mobilize Members of Parliament to join the movement political wing. The National Coordinator Muwanga Kivumbi says the funds have been put aside to bribe MPs to vote for the Presidential term limit. Muwanga Kivumbi has been addressing journalists at the Democratic Party offices in Kampala. Muwanga Kivumbi claims that the funds are being controlled by the office of the Investment State Minister Hon. Sam Kuteesa. Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 August 2004 ) M7 government sectarian-Odonga By Dick Nvule Wednesday, 25 August 2004 Aru County MP Odonga Otto has tabled a document in Parliament that exposes President Musevenis government as the most sectarian of all regimes. In the document Odonga Otto says 40% of Ministers hail from Western Uganda contrary to the national objectives spelt out in the Constitution. He also hints at senior posts in the army and other key government institutions. The MP says now that there is a pending reshuffle; government should reflect the social diversity of the country. 16 injured in Karuma accident By Onno Columbus Wednesday, 25 August 2004 16 passengers on Wednesday sustained serious injuries in a bus accident near Karuma Bridge along the Gulu-Kampala Highway. The driver of the bus belonging to OTADA Bus Company is said to have lost control about 300m to the bridge. Our correspondent there reports that the injured passengers have been rushed to Atapara Hospital in Apac district. source: RADIO SIMBA. Ochan Otim NB: I hope you will find time to read and sign a petition to stop the Northern Uganda carnage at: http://www.petitiononline.com/savacoli/petition.html inline: 359bb7.jpginline: 359c07.jpginline: 359c44.jpginline: 359c80.jpginline: 359cb2.jpginline: 359d16.jpginline: 359d5c.jpginline: 359d98.jpginline: 359dd4.jpg
ugnet_: Movt_to_bribe_MPs_
"The Popular Resistance Against Life Presidency has set aside over 10 billion shillings to mobilize Members of Parliament to join the movement political wing." What is wrong with this Statement? How can Resistance Against Life Presidency be the one setting aside money to support alife president? Kandekye Kagyenzi.Ochan Otim [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I do not know anymore where we are going as a country when bribery is no longer illegal. I just cannot believe it when one is not ashamed at even boasting about it.OchanAt 05:55 PM 8/25/2004 +0100, you wrote:Movt to bribe MPsBy Cliff Lule Wednesday, 25 August 2004The Popular Resistance Against Life Presidency has set aside o ver 10 billion shillings to mobilize Members of Parliament to join the movement political wing.The National Coordinator Muwanga Kivumbi says the funds have been put aside to bribe MPs to vote for the Presidential term limit.Muwanga Kivumbi has been addressing journalists at the Democratic Party offices in Kampala.Muwanga Kivumbi claims that the funds are being controlled by the office of the Investment State Minister Hon. Sam Kuteesa.Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 August 2004 ) M7 government sectarian-Odonga By Dick Nvule Wednesday, 25 August 2004 Aru County MP Odonga Otto has tabled a document in Parliament that exposes President Musevenis government as the most sectarian of all regimes. In the document Odonga Otto says 40% of Ministers hail from Western Uganda contrary to the national objectives spelt out in the Constitution. He also hints at senior posts in the army and other key government institutions. The MP says now that there is a pending reshuffle; government should reflect the social diversity of the country. 16 injured in Karuma accident By Onno Columbus Wednesday, 25 August 2004 16 passengers on Wednesday sustained serious injuries in a bus accident near Karuma Bridge along the Gulu-Kampala Highway. The driver of the bus belonging to OTADA Bus Company is said to have lost control about 300m to the bridge. Our correspondent there reports that the injured passengers have been rushed to Atapara Hospital in Apac district. source: RADIO SIMBA. Ochan Otim NB: I hope you will find time to read and sign a petition to stop the Northern Uganda carnage at: http://www.petitiononline.com/savacoli/petition.html Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish.
ugnet_: Why Leonard Peltier is the BEST candidate for US President...
Platform Statement from Leonard Peltier Luther Standing Bear, a Sioux Chief, stated: "Out of the Indian approach to life came a great freedom -- an intense and absorbing love for nature; a respect for life. and principals of truth, honesty, generosity, equity, and brotherhood as a guard to mundane relations." These values will guide me as president. I am a Native American, deprived of my language, culture, and traditions; yet, I have survived the genocidal government policies against Indigenous Peoples. I will ensure equal rights to liberty, education, employment, housing, and health care, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. I will work towards conflict resolution without the use of violence and ensure self-determination for all peoples. I live with injustice every day. Caged for over 28 years for a crime I did not commit, I am a political prisoner wrongfully convicted by a government that indisputably withheld and fabricated evidence, as well as coerced witnesses. No branch of the government will correct this injustice. At the root of this injustice are the oppressive policies of the U.S. government against people of color and those with dissenting opinions. I pledge to eliminate such policies. I will abolish the federal death penalty and restore the constitutional protections which ensure justice for all people. Our environment is the essence of our life, but our government -- in partnership with greedy corporations -- haphazardly destroys it for the monetary benefit of a few. I will protect our environment to ensure our survival and the survival of our future generations. In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, Leonard Peltier
Re: ugnet_: Fwd: Study Suggests Language Shapes Thoughts
Mr. Dambisya: Now, I do know that there are differences in the thought process of a UPC-supporter vs, say a DP supporter. But that is neither here nor there, with respect to counting. My point in Luganda vs Lugwere was simply that enkoko in Luganda is uncountable in that it can denote 1 or more birds, whereas in Lugwere one knows immediately that it is reference to 2 or more birds. If you careto delve intoLuganda grammara bit, I'll oblige you. There are several (5?) classes of nouns in Luganda, e.g. mu - ba class -- ergo: muntu - bantu mu - mi class musota - misota etc. So as soon as I say miti, a Luganda speakers knows that I refer to 'trees'; wheras muti is tree (in singular). Thus mu- denotes singular, and mi- denotes plural. in this class. There several good texts on Luganda grammar, e.g. 1. Nsimbi et al Tuyige Oluganda -- a series of 5 or so books used in primary school. 2. J.D. Chesswas 1967Essentials of Luganda 3. Dan Kyagaba1997 Ggulama W'Oluganda Omusengejje And, for the web-enabled, www.buganda.com (click on Language). Further, R.A. Snoxall's 1967 Luganda-English Dictionary has several pages, at the beginning, about Luganda grammar. Incidentally, Snoxall's dictionary which is now out of print, is available online as part of UC Berkeley's CBOLD project(Comprehensive Bantu Online Dictionary?). Snoxall also wrote a Swahili-English Dictionary. Musamize ps: how is counting done in your mother-tongueYOSWA DAMBISYA [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 08/25/04 12:33AM an aside:In Luganda anaimals are generally uncountable. Thus enkoko can mean 1or many chickens, and so it is with cattle and many animals (empologoma,embizzi, embuzi , etc) However, as a friend told me, in Lugwere -- with which Luganda hasabout 68% lexical similarity, onkoko is one chicken and enkoko is 2 ormore. Likewise, onte is one cow, and ente are 2 or more cows.What about counting in other languages?Compatriot Ssemakula, I thought you would take that observation to itslogical conclusion, which in line with the thesis of the summarisedreport should suggest that there are differences in the way the Bagwereand Baganda "think". Not that I expect any such inference to stand toscrutiny.On a more serious note,don't you think your example is out of contextto the extent that it suggests that one can never know whether a Mugandais talking about one chicken or more than one? "My chicken is lost" iscertainly understandably different from "My chickens are lost" - Enkokoyange vs Enkoko zange.., not so?After all, even English,ever confused as it is, has one sheep, 2sheep.; but I thought the point of the report (as summarised) wasthat when it comes to 1,2,3, the group studied did not make afine distinction between fairly large numbers.Interesting stuff!Best regards,Yoswa Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers!
ugnet_: Kenyan land struggle-Kenyan gov. uses violence to maintain settler's land theft
1. One killed, four wounded as land protests erupt in Kenya NANYUKI (Kenya). KENYAN police shot dead a 70-year-old Masai man and wounded four other herdsmen grazing their cattle on private land given to British settlers 100 years ago, a local leader said on Sunday. The shooting took place outside the Ole-Naishu Ranch owned by coffee farmer Jeremy Block, 40km north of Nanyuki town in central Kenya on Saturday. Ben Ole Koisaba, a local Masai leader, said Kenyan paramilitary police from the General Service Unit (GSU) opened fire after herdsmen were forced by drought to graze their cattle on private ranchland. Police and farmers say the grazing is part of a Masai campaign to illegally seize land. "GSU personnel, who had been in the area for about a day, opened fire and used brute force against the Masai," Koisaba said. "One person was killed and four were critically injured." In the past week, the Masai vowed to intensify protests calling for the return of their ancestral land given to British settlers under a 1904 colonial treaty which expired last weekend. Kenyas government rejected their demands. Laikipia district police chief David Musau said officers were at the scene investigating the circumstances surrounding Saturdays shooting. Block said: "The information I have is that two people were injured and that no one was killed." Block, a descendant of British settlers, said that Masai had brought between 30 000 to 35 000 head of cattle to graze on his land. "They have invaded all the ranches around here. They have destroyed an awful lot of property and it is time for law and order to take control," he said. Police said 71 people, all believed to be Masai land protesters, had been arrested. Kenyas government has taken a tough stance against Masai demands for land reform, and has warned it will act to ensure private land was protected. Sapa-AP. 2. Tribesmen want their lush land returned August 26, 2004 Confrontation ... police in plain clothes struggle in Nairobi with Masai tribesmen demonstrating against past wrongs. Photo: AP/Sayyid Azim In scenes reminiscent of Zimbabwe's land seizures, angry Masai tribesmen have begun marching onto ranches held by white settlers in Kenya's lush Rift Valley and claiming the tracts as their own. But while President Robert Mugabe backed - and even encouraged - the forced redistribution of land in Zimbabwe as a way of righting colonial wrongs, the Kenyan authorities are rebuffing the Masai trespasses. Police in riot gear, who are forcibly removing the men and their cattle, have arrested more than 100 in recent days. At least one person, an elderly Masai man, was shot dead during a confrontation with the police. Police also fired tear gas at a group of Masai who tried to march from a Nairobi park to the British High Commission on Tuesday to highlight their rejection of colonial-era agreements that stripped them of their land. The Masai were carrying their traditional wooden staffs, knives and wooden clubs. Kenyan officials have no intention of following Mr Mugabe's example. Uprooting the ranchers, government officials said, would be disastrous for the economy, which relies heavily on Western assistance and on tourism. On top of that, acceding to the Masai might encourage similar demands by scores of other ethnic groups, many of which have their own historic grievances. The Government has adopted a cautious approach to land reform. A new constitution being drafted proposes that the long leases granted to some wealthy ranchers, some of which exceed 950 years, should be reduced to 99 years. When those leases expire, the land may be reallocated, the Minister for Lands and Housing, Amos Kimunya, said. The controversy started this month around the centenary of an agreement reached between British colonialists and Masai elders. The deal pushed the Masai far from their traditional turf in the Rift Valley, where a railway was being built, into reservations on less desirable land. It is not clear what the Masai leaders got in exchange, but as the years have passed and the Masai population has grown, rangeland has become scarcer. Masai leaders say the agreement ought to be invalidated because their predecessors were taken advantage of by the white settlers. "We're now squatters on our own land," said Ratik Ole Kuyana, a Masai tour guide who narrowly escaped arrest at the protest in Nairobi on Tuesday. "I'd rather spend my days in prison than see settlers spend their days enjoying my motherland. I think Mugabe was right." The New York Times
ugnet_: US trying to pull together a front group to disguise aggression against Zimbabwe
US seeks 'coalition' to force Zimbabwe regime change By Basildon Peta, Southern Africa Correspondent, The Independent of London 25 August 2004 The United States has called for the building of a "coalition of the willing" to push for regime change to end the crisis in Zimbabwe. The new American ambassador to South Africa, Jendayi Frazer, said quiet diplomacy pursued by South Africa and other African countries in its dealings with the Zimbabwe president needed a review because there was no evidence it was working. She said her country would be willing to be part of a coalition if invited. The US could not act on its own, "put the boot on the ground" and give President Robert Mugabe 48 hours to go as requested by beleaguered Zimbaweans but the US would be willing to work in a coalition with other countries to return Zimbabwe to democracy. Ms Frazer, in a meeting with journalists in Johannesburg yesterday, said: "There is clearly a crisis in Zimbabwe and everyone needs to state that fact. The economy is in a free fall. There is a continuing repressive environment. There needs to be a return to democracy. "She said the US believed that South Africa could play a positive role in returning Zimbabwe to democracy and that it had the means to do so. "It [South Africa] has the most leverage probably of any other country in the sub-region and should therefore take a leadership role," said Ms Frazer, a protege of President George Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice. Ms Frazer's _expression_ of a more aggressive US line towards the Mugabe regime came the day before the British Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, arrives in South Africa for series of bilateral meetings with the Mbeki government during which he intends to raise the question of Zimbabwe. The International Parliamentary Union (IPU) released a report yesterday accusing the regime of doing nothing to stop its violent youth militias from persecuting and torturing parliamentarians of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The report was released after the IPU's three-month mission to Zimbabwe. Mr Mugabe has approved new legislation that will ban foreign non-governmental organisations working in the human rights field in Zimbabwe and the banning of foreign funding to Zimbabwean NGOs. Churches have warned the proposed law would hinder their efforts to feed hungry Zimbabweans. Ms Frazer said it was particularly important to have Zimbabwe returned to democracy because the New Partnership for Africa Development talked about Africa's responsibility for democratic governance across the continent. "The African Union (AU) and South Africa had already accepted the responsibility to promote democracy and they should do so specifically in the case of Zimbabwe," she said.She noted that repression in Zimbabwe had worsened and was making it impossible for the opposition to operate ahead of elections next year. "So we have got to re-look at the approach, that South Africa is taking in terms of quiet diplomacy ... It's not evident that it's working at this point"We have always talked about building coalitions of the willing and I, for one, believe that the coalitions of the willing are going to be the new force in global affairs ..."Instead of quiet diplomacy, Ms Frazer suggested an open admission by regional countries that there is a crisis in Zimbabwe. That was an important first step followed by pressure to force Mr Mugabe to return the country to democracy. The anti-Western bashing that was carried out by SADC leaders at their summit in Mauritius last week would not help change President Mugabe, she said. The Tanzanian President, Benjamin Mkapa, had lashed out at the West saying it cannot lecture democracy to African countries which it oppressed through a policy of colonialism in the first place. U.S. To Push For Regime Change in Zimbabwe, Democracy Now Report, Aug. 25, 2004 This news from Zimbabwe. The Independent of London is reporting that the United States has called for the building of a "coalition of the willing" to push for regime change to end Robert Mugabe's presidency in Zimbabwe. The new U.S. ambassador to South Africa -- Jendayi Frazer -- said the US couldn't diplomatically act on its own but would join a coalition of other countries. The ambassador, who is considered to be a protégée of Condoleeza Rice, said, "We have got to re-look at the approach, that South Africa is taking in terms of quiet diplomacy ... It's not evident that it's working at this point."
ugnet_: Fw: Scorpions arrest Mark Thatcher in Cape Town
For the record This is the same man who was arrested and charged in the States for racketeering, the same Thatcher was arrested for small arms smugglingto Africa. This British has fade on any African lives. This same Thatcher was working with the terrorists arrested in Zimbabwe. The Scorpions of South Africa have a very good success in their cases, we hope this man can be got this time, at least for the lives of Africans lost in his hands. Em Toronto The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" - Original Message - From: Godfrey To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 4:44 AM Subject: Scorpions arrest Mark Thatcher in Cape Town Scorpions arrest Mark Thatcher in Cape Town August 25 2004 at 08:48AM Scorpions detectives have arrested Briton Mark Thatcher at his Cape Town home on allegations that he was involved in a planned coup in Equatorial Guinea.Scorpions spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said the unit, part of the National Prosecuting Authority, arrested the son of former British prime minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher on Wednesday morning."The Scorpions have arrested the son of a prominent former British politician. We are investigating charges of contravening the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act. This is in relation to the possible funding and logistical assistance in relation to the attempted coup in Equatorial Guinea. We have conducted a search and seizure operation at his home in Cape Town," Nkosi said.He added that Thatcher would appear in the Wynberg magistrate's court later in the day. - Sapa
Re: ugnet_: Can President Museveni do without Buganda? - Monitor 25/8/2004
The problem is not with Museveni it is with Buganda Em Toronto The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie" - Original Message - From: Simon Nume To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2004 8:07 AM Subject: Re: ugnet_: Can President Museveni do without Buganda? - Monitor 25/8/2004 Netters This in a nutshell is why M7 is going down. Theclown thinks he has the Baganda piizanti over the Kabaka !! This has to be the best article I have seen about what is really going on. NumeOmar Kezimbira [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Can President Museveni do without Buganda Kingdom? By Samuel Makanga Aug 25 - 30, 2004 - Monitor President Yoweri Museveni sent ripples across the country last week, when he declared that he can win an election without the support of Buganda kingdom. Coming in the wake of unease in the talks between the Central Government and Buganda over federal status, the President's declaration raises a fundamental question: can Museveni really do without Mengo? Some don't think so. "The President is nearing hell. He needs Mengo, and without it, he is doomed," says Kawempe North MP Sebuliba Mutumba. "The President is committing political suicide and we all know that he cannot live without Buganda," Kyadondo South MP Issa Kikungwe adds. THE MAN WITH THE KEY: President Museveni EAGER, BUT UNCERTAIN QUEST: Kabaka Ronald Mutebi President Museveni and Buganda go back a long way. He used Buganda as his stronghold for five years (1981-1986) during the guerrilla war that brought him to power, ousting the Okello junta in January 1986. Throughout the war, it is the Baganda peasants that sustained his rebel army and sacrificed not only property but also their lives. Many were killed by the state at the slightest association with Museveni and his National Resistance Army. That was beginning of Musevenis love affair with the peasants, especially those in Buganda. In 1993, President Museveni gave back Buganda what Milton Obote had taken away in 1966 - the Kabakaship. In 1998, when Parliament passed a new Land Act, pro-royalist Mengo top shots in Buganda frowned because they couldn't evict any squatters at free will and had to compensate them if evicted. But the peasants who are mostly squatters, smiled. Little wonder that even though in urban Buganda, Museveni scored poorly; he triumphed where it mattered most - among the peasants deep, in low down Buganda. To Museveni now what matters is not Mengo per se, but the fragile lots of Baganda so oblivious of what their rights are, who only care about salt and sugar, plus food being at the table. Issue is, the Mengo establishment only has limited grip; nothing compared to Museveni's machinery in the local councils and resident district commissioners that control the grass roots. No wonder when the President met the local government leaders from Buganda last week, they voted in unison to have two legislative councils for Buganda. Not surprisingly, the President reportedly said that Government had tried to accommodate Buganda's demands, though Mengo was not appreciating. The President has obviously read the situation thus: Mengo may rouse sentiments in some areas around Buganda; but the hearts of the peasants lie in President Museveni's hands and they would not easily choose another over him, just because the other is promising federo. Apparently certain that he is getting his mathematics correct, the President now feels he can now ditch the kid gloves, handle Buganda with bare hands - and get away with it. MP Issa Kikungwe feels that the President is on a divide and rule policy specifically to taint Mengo as a bunch of greedy, unthankful lots. The President is in a strong position. Cabinet is obviously backing him. In Parliament where a vote on federalism would take place, the President has no real worries. Three quarters o
ugnet_: Neocolonialism's polite facade
Pan-Africanists have been warning for several decades of the sinister designs and machinations of neo-colonialism, and how we must organize to resist its mult-prong methods, incuding mass violence, cultural and psychological warfare, financial, commercial and economic domination. It is time for Africans to face the facts and prepare ourselves adequately to finish the uncompleted part of the African liberation striuggle. Immediately following you will find an article from the Herald, in which you will note a quote from the Speaker of the Zimbabwean Parliament, Emmerson Mnangagwa: "We should be mindful of the fact that debt has become one of the most powerful tools that multilateral, bilateral and private creditors are using to continue haemorrhaging the continent and keeping it in bondage with dire political and social consequences" This is an eloquent and direct comment on one of the preferred "non-violent" forms of neo-colonialism. It is this kind of reasoning on the part of Zimbabwe's patriots that has the west and sell - outs working overtime to overthrow the current government, in the name to returning of democracy to Zimbabwe...Africans I will repeat again, we must prepare for war, because our enemies are determined to foister it on us, whether we wish it or not. -- Creditors using debt as tool of bondage Herald Reporter THE African debt crisis is being exploited by neo-colonial forces to keep the continent in servitude, thereby compromising its sovereignty and independence, Speaker of Parliament Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa said yesterday. "We should be mindful of the fact that debt has become one of the most powerful tools that multilateral, bilateral and private creditors are using to continue haemorrhaging the continent and keeping it in bondage with dire political and social consequences," he said. Cde Mnangagwa said this at the official opening of a two-day joint Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Parliamentary Forum and African Civil Society Organisations dialogue. The dialogue is aimed at influencing Sadc parliamentarians to take a more proactive role in the loan contraction process. Sub-Saharan Africas external debt has over the years ballooned to US$330 billion. Cde Mnangagwa said the principal factors contributing to the debt crisis in Africa included deteriorating terms of trade, shrinking market shares for major crops, poor lending practices coupled by the nature of economic management by governments. "It is, therefore, critical to appropriately locate the loan contraction process in Africas development in order to evolve a more sustainable and lasting solution to the problem," he said. It was also critical that the process by which debtor countries agree to accept the terms and conditions were open to scrutiny by parliamentarians, civil society and other formal democratic structures. This would, in turn, assist in avoiding lending and borrowing mistakes which often led to the build-up and increase of unsustainable debts. Parliaments, Cde Mnangagwa said, had an obligation to scrutinise and monitor the terms and conditions that were imposed by major financial institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, when advancing loans. However, he said, most African countries had not lived within their constitutional and stated policy framework in terms of debt management. "The mere creation of such instruments without proper monitoring and evaluation is, therefore, inadequate as they have an important role to ensure that debt borrowing limits, as prescribed in each countrys constitution, are not exceeded," Cde Mnangagwa said. Borrowing for recurrent expenditure as opposed to capital outlay, he said, had made it difficult for most countries to repay their external debts. Responding to questions from the participants, Cde Mnangagwa said there was need for the Sadc region to collectively fight corruption as this had a bearing on the debt crisis. He said sometimes governments were penalised by multilateral or private creditors over the failure by parastatals or line ministries to follow procedures as articulated in the contractual agreement. Contributing to the dialogue, Malawi Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mr Jones Chingola said the loan contraction process should be more open to public scrutiny as it affected their livelihood. MPs, he said, should be empowered so that they play an active role in the debt management process and not just to ratify loan agreements. He said the tendency by MPs to vote along political party lines on crucial national issues was tantamount to advancing political agendas at the expense of public interest. The dialogue is being attended by at least 30 parliamentarians and representatives of civil society from Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Ghana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. It was organised by the Sadc Parliamentary Forum in conjunction with the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development
ugnet_: UGANDA MUSIC IN TORONTO TRANSIT SYSTEM
It's true underground musicWould-be TTC buskers face judges'World class' group vying for licences KEVIN MCGRANTRANSPORTATION REPORTERGuitarist Daniel Huezo, from El Salvador, was strumming to a Latin beat. Achilla Orru, from Uganda, was thumbing his kalimba while singing about Africa. Alexander Sevastian, of Belarus, was playing his accordion. A Musical Olympics? A Subway Idol competition? It could be either, since the TTC's 26th annual competition for busker licences which continues today and tomorrow at the Canadian National Exhibition is surprisingly entertaining. "I'm amazed at the talent; it's world class," said judge Brian Blain, editor of three music magazines. "In terms of their musical ability, they're all at a high level. It becomes a matter of what may work in the subway." While the competition is keen, it's also obvious the musicians treat each other like family. Orru, blind since age 7, made his way around the stage with help from his rivals and friends. "I love playing in the subway," said Orru, who has been playing his kalimba, a traditional African instrument also known as a thumb-piano, in the subway for three years. "It affords us the facility to practise and get the audience to listen to our music, which is new to this part of the world, and gives us exposure." Orru whose stage name is King Achilla Orru Apaa Idomo says Torontonians appreciate him and his music and that he's almost become a fixture in the subway. "They call me by name and say `Hi' in the morning." Urban folk guitarist John Brooks was surprised by the talent on display. "It's really eclectic and adept and international. It's a much better representation of what goes on in the basements in the city than what you hear on the radio. It's interesting. It is underground." Winners of the 74 licences can sell their self-produced CDs and get gigs for weddings, corporate functions and other affairs. "We have 1 million customers a day; that's high exposure," said the TTC's Rick Ducharme. The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
Re: ugnet_: Army explains Museveni uniform
Netters The clown puts on the uniform to bully. This is supposed to show how powerful militarily he is. hehehe NumeOwor Kipenji [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Army explains Museveni uniform By Alex Atuhaire Aug 24, 2004 KAMPALA - The army spokesman, Maj. Shaban Bantariza, yesterday defended President Musevenis continued wearing of military fatigues despite having quit the army early this year. Bantariza said Museveni still holds the position of Commander-In-Chief and the position entitles him to the uniform among other things. There is no contradiction, he said. His retirement from the army was a fulfillment of the law. What he does now is not in any contradiction of the legal provisions of our statute, Bantariza told The Monitor in a telephone interview last evening. President Museveni who was officially retired from the UPDF on April 1, has continued to don military fatigues in public, the latest being when he was addressing public rallies in Gulu and when he was pictured meeting the Buganda delegation during the federo talks. This has raised questions over why the president was still behaving as a serving officer. Bantariza, however, yesterday dispelled such questions. Once a soldier, always a soldier unless you have been expelled from the army, he said. He said the President Museveni is entitled to ceremonial uniform, which he publicly said he doesnt like putting but there is no law barring him from putting on the combat uniform because he is the Commander-In-Chief. Bantariza said the president is only not entitled to salary from the army. © 2004 The Monitor Publications ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now.
ugnet_: Fwd:UIA To Pull Out Of Investor Land Acqusition Project - (Case for National Federo?)
Note: forwarded message attached. Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!---BeginMessage--- UIA to pull out of investor land acquisition exercise By David Muwanga Despite the identification of land for investors by the lands ministry, the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), has threatened to pull out of the land acquisition exercise. Much as this land was listed by the lands ministry, the process of acquiring it is so cumbersome. We are supposed to process and acquire titles for that land before allocating it to potential investors, a source from the UIA said recently in an interview. He said, Since the ministry sent the list to UIA, we have not acquired any land title. We are thinking of pulling out of the exercise and advise investors to buy land from private owners. According to the list seen by The New Vision, the identified land includes 80,965 hectares which are occupied by 23 Uganda Prisons farms. District prisons which are used as remand prisons, occupy another 1,000 acres, while Luzira Prison has 900 acres. Idle land in refugee camps was also identif ied. This includes 13 sq.miles at Oruchinga, 100 sq.miles at Nakivale, 75 sq.miles at Kahunge, 54 sq.miles at Rwamwanya 140 sq.km at Kyaka. Others were 120 sq.km at Kyangwali, 39 sq.km at Kiryandongo, 10 sq.miles at Ibuga while land in Acholi Pii and Agago is very large but not surveyed. Unused land totalling to 51.7 sq.km exists in government-owned irrigation farms of Soroti, Apac, Kasese, Tororo, Kitgum, Lira and Kamuli. Land also exists in agricultural mechanisation workshops in Nebbi, Gulu, Hoima, Iganga, Kasese, Nawago, Suam, Kapchorwa, Moroto, Mbarara, Mbale, Soroti, Tororo, Namalere and other 75 non-operational workshops in 36 districts. The list also includes livestock research facilities and farms in 10 districts with 25,318 hectares (253.18 sq.km). It is not clear whether institutions are willing to release their land. When we go there, we find un-developed land which they claim belongs to the Government yet processing titles is very difficult, the source said. Published on: Saturday, 14th August, 2004 Do you Yahoo!? Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FedsNet/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. ---End Message---
ugnet_: Fwd: More on the Tri-Star Heist
Note: forwarded message attached. Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages!---BeginMessage--- Tri-Star complex costs sh5b By Mary Karugaba THE Government has spent sh5.8b on the Tri-Star complex in Bugolobi, the Auditor Generals report dated June 30, 2003 has said. Tri-Star manufactures garment for export to America under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The report on the Uganda Property Holdings Limited said sh4.1b was spent on construction and renovation, professional fees (sh500m), management fees (sh300m), feeding costs (sh248.9m) and furniture (sh169.8m). Other costs include accommodation in Namboole (sh97.4m), travel and transport (sh66.2m), mattresses (sh52.5m) and misceleneous. The parliamentary finance committee, led by Bright Rwamirama (left), said though the report was supposed to highlight rehabilitation expenses, some of the items were not connected to rehabilitation. The items included entertainment (sh4.1m), advertising (sh5.3m), security (sh27.6m) and office expenses (sh15m). The report says more sh1.3b is yet to be spent, while sh544.5m was paid to different contractors with a balance of sh739.9m. Published on: Saturday, 21st August, 2004 And, to spread misery to all corners of Uganda .. Govt to start more factories FEW LOSSES: Information state minister Nsaba Buturo and Obel discuss By Anne Mugisa The Government is using Tri-Star Apparel industry as a pilot project from which other similar factories will be set up in different parts of the country to feed the American and other international markets. The senior Presidential Advisor on AGOA and Trade, Dr. Onegi Obel told journalists yesterday that the Government is planning to set up at least 10 such factories after the US extended AGOA to 2015. The Tri-Star plant in Bugolobi is a pilot plant because we are trying to see if we can replicate it with 10 or 15 similar factories, Obel said. Obel said Tri-Star was making losses but the losses were not increasing. He said it was unrealistic to expect Tri-Star Apparel to make profits within its initial year of operation because that never happens even in the developed countries. Obel said when Tri-Star starts using Ugandan made yarn and fabric, the factorys losses will stop. He said the Governments involvement in product ive ve ntures is not entirely bad as the country had been misled to believe. Ends Published on: Friday, 20th August, ---End Message---
Re: ugnet_: Army explains Museveni uniform
In another forum,Mr Kyijomanyi,both rightly and wrongly stated that Museveni does not need Buganda/Baganda for his evil plans for Uganda. He was right in the sense that Mu7 actually relies heavily on this misnomer called the UPDF which is a masquerade for his clansmen clothed unfortunately on the so called UPDF uniform to maintain his stranglehold on power. That a supposedly retired self made Army General should continue to adorn military fatigues in official capacities well after retirement attests to this.His infatuation with the army is too much for him to let go and so to continue to remind others of his might he dresses like them. That some buffoon within the UPDF is trying to give educative explanation about this indicates how intellectually depraved some of our people are. On the hand hand Mr Kyijomanyi was wrong to state that Mu7 does not need Baganda for his survival. He actually very much needs them and it is due to their implied support that he has been able to entrench himself this far. To the outside world as long as the members of the diplomatic missions in Uganda are comfortable in Kampala without the fear of losing their lives or limbs within the neighbourhood,Uganda remains a peaceful place to be emulated by the rest of Africa. This is what Mu7 has projected himself all along with the support of the very people he now wants many to believe he does not need them. Look at what happenned during the Luwero insurgency,if Luwero was say in Kabale or West Nile just as Gulu has been for the past 18 years would the international community cared?. This is where,Buganda/Baganda are very quintessential for Mu7's survival and thus having been told what Mu7 has all along taken them to be,they surely need to let the Ogre find his demise,where it should for ever rest. So fellow citizens, this is what we have to learn from this very expensive method of supporting "angels" we do not know. KipenjiSimon Nume [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Netters The clown puts on the uniform to bully. This is supposed to show how powerful militarily he is. hehehe NumeOwor Kipenji [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Army explains Museveni uniform By Alex Atuhaire Aug 24, 2004 KAMPALA - The army spokesman, Maj. Shaban Bantariza, yesterday defended President Musevenis continued wearing of military fatigues despite having quit the army early this year. Bantariza said Museveni still holds the position of Commander-In-Chief and the position entitles him to the uniform among other things. There is no contradiction, he said. His retirement from the army was a fulfillment of the law. What he does now is not in any contradiction of the legal provisions of our statute, Bantariza told The Monitor in a telephone interview last evening. President Museveni who was officially retired from the UPDF on April 1, has continued to don military fatigues in public, the latest being when he was addressing public rallies in Gulu and when he was pictured meeting the Buganda delegation during the federo talks. This has raised questions over why the president was still behaving as a serving officer. Bantariza, however, yesterday dispelled such questions. Once a soldier, always a soldier unless you have been expelled from the army, he said. He said the President Museveni is entitled to ceremonial uniform, which he publicly said he doesnt like putting but there is no law barring him from putting on the combat uniform because he is the Commander-In-Chief. Bantariza said the president is only not entitled to salary from the army. © 2004 The Monitor Publications ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! Do you Yahoo!?Win 1 of 4,000 free domain names from Yahoo! Enter now. ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!
ugnet_: Kibaki has lost his grip,says lawyers boss
NEWS EXTRA Kibaki has lost his grip, says lawyers boss Story by DAVID MUGONYI Publication Date: 8/25/2004 A withering attack on President Kibaki's handling of the Constitution review has come from the Law Society of Kenya. The Head of State had lost his grip and failed to give the country direction, said its chairman, Mr Ahmednasir Abdullahi. The Government lacked a vision for the country and ruled on the basis of what would happen in the next two weeks or less. "The greatest weakness of the Kibaki administration, as shown by his silence on the review, is that the President and his advisers don't have a strategic and tactical roadmap for the country," explained Mr Abdullahi. And he went on: "The average Kenyan gets the sad and sinking feeling that he is ruled on ad hoc plans that have a projected application or lifespan of probably a fortnight or less." The LSK chief asked the President to rise and give the Constitution review the leadership it critically needed. "This means that for any country to realise a Constitution either during peace or war time, the country must have a leader who in the eyes of the masses appears as the symbolic representative of the people's yearning for constitutional redefinition of the country," he said. Mr Abdullahi's harsh criticism came during a meeting called to discuss the review, by the Centre for International Centre for Constitutional Research and Governance. He told President Kibaki frankly that he should take a more active role in the review and other state duties. "President Kibaki, due to his legendary laid back style of governance, has a 'lack of grip' problem. "This is shown by a crippling inability to shepherd his Cabinet and Government in his direction so that he can lead the country authoritatively on issues like the constitutional review," he said in a speech entitled A Call to National Duty. Mr Abdullahi accused the President of failing to theorise and explain his vision of the Constitution to Kenyans, as his opponents had done. As LSK boss, he joined the chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee, Mr William Ruto, and the Katiba Watch lobby group in calling for the dissolution of of the review commission. Their views were shared by Dr Gibson Kamau Kuria and lawyer Peter Onalo. However, Kabete MP Paul Muite asked for restraint, saying the commission's role was critical. Mr Muite and Mr Abdullahi, however, agreed that Parliament had no role in making a Constitution for Kenya. But Mr Muite defended the President, saying he could not deliver a Constitution alone. "We are being unfair to him. We cannot cede the right to make a Constitution to the President however competent he is," he added. The LSK boss described some of the commissioners as a group of people "who believed in nothing" and were "mercenaries for hire". The three institutions of the presidency, Parliament and the commission, according to Mr Abdullahi, were responsible for the review stalemate. Mr Abdullahi also said ministers who disagreed with their boss should either toe his line or quit. The failure to insist on either action was a sign of weakness. "Their refusal to resign and the inability of the President to dismiss them underscores a fundamental weakness of the governance structures in the country," he said. He reminded the President that the review could not be addressed through "platitude and general promises". Neither could his "stoic silence" help quell the growing noise on the review. "It needs leaders who have reflective influence on issues and who can take decisive steps to address them to the satisfaction of the subject," Mr Abdullahi added. Paraphrasing Sir Winston Churchill who unwaveringly declared his role during war, the LSK boss told the President: "Mr President, your subjects have a lion's heart; you have the luck to be their President give the nation the roar." Mr Abdullahi said despite views from opponents within Mr Kibaki's Government and the Opposition, the President had remained silent. "Until the public hears his views on the way forward the country will continue to be engulfed in the current constitutional whirlpool," Mr Abdullahi added. And he said: "The President ought to know that history is the biography of great men who addressed great issues and rose to challenging occasions." He said the best leaders prepared a Constitution concept that was attractive and revolutionary which they could sell to the people through "a combination of charisma and vision". He listed such leaders as Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Charles de Gaulle and George Washington. "If a leader doesn't have this constitutional plan or fails to articulate to his people his constitutional vision for the country, then it is very difficult for that country to realise a new Constitution," he commented. Then he continued: "The country must have a leader who in the eyes of the masses appears as the symbolic representative of the people's yearning
ugnet_: We're Not Yet Free from Slavery-Minister
We're Not Yet Free from Slavery - Minister From Julcit Onigbogi in Abuja August 24, 2004 http://www.thisdayonline.com/ As Nigeria yesterday joined the rest of the world in celebrating the International Day for the Remembrance of Slave Trade and its Abolition, Minister for culture and Tourism Mr Franklin Ogbuewu, said the nation is not yet free from slavery.Addressing the forum in Abuja, the minister said, "We are yet to be freed from slavery even though the slave routes have stopped. We are still suffering from economic and technological slavery, women and children are still taken out of the country to work and prostitute, while at home sometimes we are not treated equally with our expatriate counterparts"Ogbuewu described slavery as "a most peculiar form of violence that violates the sanctity of human life. It violates the inalienable rights of man, which cannot be negotiated nor mortgaged at any price under any circumstances. This is an act, which can only be remedied by the government, the governed, the civil society, the family and the individual."Looking at the over-riding need for self-examination, Ogbuewu said it is more compelling if we take into cognizance the fact that today, slavery and slave trade has taken a more invidious, sophisticated and hydra-headed dimension. This he listed as: trafficking in children with its attendant abuse, the threats facing the idea of the 'virtuous' African woman as she has become an article of trade, and the harrowing experience our athletes face as they are shackled in the bondage of obnoxious contracts.August 23 was proclaimed international year to commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition by the United Nations General Assembly. The purpose is to remind humanity of the fight for freedom, dignity and justice by the slaves which led to the independence of Haiti and the 1804 proclamation of the 1st black republic.The day gives the opportunity to reflect on the historical causes, processes and consequences of the unprecedented tragedy that slavery and the slave trade was, a tragedy which the Director General of the UNESCO represented by Mr Reuben Charles described as "one that was concealed for many years and is yet to be fully recognized."In conclusion the forum said that for us Africans, the slave trade could be a catalyst for change, progress and development, and globalization need not be a source of cultural discontinuity but a super highway to reinforce cultural identity. And in order to make the international community form a collective vanguard against the emerging modern variants of slavery, there must be a stop to the destruction of important monuments and the collective patrimony of a people and their rights during international and internal conflicts." ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!
ugnet_: Fwd: Study Suggests Language Shapes Thoughts
Note: forwarded message attached. Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!---BeginMessage--- Scientific American, August 20, 2004 Study Suggests Language Shapes Thoughts Shakespeare once wrote that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet. But does the fact that it's called a rose actually affect how people perceive the flower? That's a question that has been puzzling scientists since the 1930s, when Benjamin Lee Whorf proposed his linguistic theory that language can influence the nature and content of thought. Findings published online today by the journal Science support the Whorfian hypothesis and indicate that the language of numbers shapes how members of a small South American tribe count. Peter Gordon of Columbia University spent years studying an isolated Amazon tribe called the Pirahã that has fewer than 200 members. Pirahã people use a counting system in which quantities beyond two are not differentiated but are instead referred to simply as many. In addition, the word for one can actually mean approximately one. To test whether this systems limits how the Pirahã perceive larger amounts, Gordon gave tribe members numerical tasks in which they were asked to match small groups of items based on how many objects were present. Although the adults performed well when there were one, two or three items, their accuracy declined when there were eight to 10 things. With larger groups, they always answered incorrectly. The results indicate that language can define cognition, at least when it comes to numbers. Whether one language chooses to distinguish one thing versus another affects how an individual perceives reality, Gordon says. But he cautions that the situation may be unique, and that the linguistic determinism theory may not hold for all types of thought. --Sarah Graham --- an aside: In Luganda anaimals are generally uncountable. Thus enkoko can mean 1 or many chickens, and so it is with cattle and many animals (empologoma, embizzi, embuzi , etc) However, as a friend told me, in Lugwere -- with which Luganda has about 68% lexical similarity, onkoko is one chicken and enkoko is 2 or more. Likewise, onte is one cow, and ente are 2 or more cows. What about counting in other languages? ---End Message---
ugnet_: NYTimes.com Article: Everybody Loves Obama
The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] Has Keyes connected with radical blacks to be a threat to the Obama juggernaut? [EMAIL PROTECTED] /- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight \ I HEART HUCKABEES - OPENING IN SELECT CITIES OCTOBER 1 From David O. Russell, writer and director of THREE KINGS and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER comes an existential comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Hupert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts. Watch the trailer now at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/huckabees/index_nyt.html \--/ Everybody Loves Obama August 23, 2004 In a remote East African village, an old woman in a tin-roof hut spoke recently of welo mang'eny maok ang'eyo - that's Luo, her tribal language, for many strange visitors. Yes, the media have descended on the farm of Sarah Hussein Onyango Obama, the 80-something grandmother of Barack Obama, the new star of the Democratic Party, front-runner for the United States Senate seat from Illinois, the Hawaii-born, Harvard-educated son of a Kenyan and a Kansan. Will she be traveling to her grandson's victory bash in Chicago in November? If he invites me, she told Reuters. Obamania is sweeping Kenya. The Kenyan press, rapturous after Mr. Obama's keynote address at the Democratic convention, speculates on a future presidential bid. Parents are naming their newborns Obama, following a tradition to honor great Africans that produced an earlier generation of Kenyans named Lumumba and Nkrumah. Bar patrons in Nairobi reportedly ask for Obamas when ordering the barley beer called Senator, while tribal elders are planning to slaughter bulls for a celebratory feast after the election. As John F. Kennedy was to Ireland, Mr. Obama is to Kenya, living proof to a nation that its children have it within themselves to achieve great things. The melancholic note is that Kenya itself is no longer a land of opportunity. Heralded a generation ago as a model for post-colonial Africa, Kenya is today locked in a desperate struggle against poverty and corruption. People of all nations are proud when their kin thrive elsewhere, but for many Kenyans, it must often seem as if elsewhere is the only place to thrive. That accounts in part for Obamania. Kenyans understand, perhaps better than Americans, what Mr. Obama meant when he spoke of the audacity of hope. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/23/opinion/23mon2.html?ex=1094387373ei=1en=fb263bf763aa0911 - Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://homedelivery.nytimes.com/HDS/SubscriptionT1.do?mode=SubscriptionT1ExternalMediaCode=W24AF HOW TO ADVERTISE - For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: NYTimes.com Article: The Political Brain
The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] Are the brains of anti-federalists different from the rest of us? Anti anti-federo also pro-Swahili? Just wondering ... [EMAIL PROTECTED] /- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight \ I HEART HUCKABEES - OPENING IN SELECT CITIES OCTOBER 1 From David O. Russell, writer and director of THREE KINGS and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER comes an existential comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Hupert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts. Watch the trailer now at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/huckabees/index_nyt.html \--/ The Political Brain August 22, 2004 By STEVEN JOHNSON A few months before retiring from public office in 2002, the House majority leader Dick Armey caused a mini-scandal when he announced during a speech in Florida, ''Liberals are, in my estimation, just not bright people.'' The former economics professor went on to clarify that liberals were drawn to ''occupations of the heart,'' while conservatives favored ''occupations of the brain,'' like economics or engineering. The odd thing about Armey's statement was that it displayed a fuzzy, unscientific understanding of the brain itself: our most compassionate (or cowardly) feelings are as much a product of the brain as ''rational choice'' economic theory is. They just emanate from a different part of the brain -- most notably, the amygdala, the almond-shaped body that lies below the neocortex, in an older brain region sometimes called the limbic system. Studies of stroke victims, as well as scans of normal brains, have persuasively shown that the amygdala plays a key role in the creation of emotions like fear or empathy. If amygdala activity is a reliable indication of emotional response, a fascinating possibility opens up: turning Armey's muddled poetry into a testable hypothesis. Do liberals ''think'' with their limbic system more than conservatives do? As it happens, some early research suggests that Armey might have been on to something after all. As The Times reported not long ago, a team of U.C.L.A. researchers analyzed the neural activity of Republicans and Democrats as they viewed a series of images from campaign ads. And the early data suggested that the most salient predictor of a ''Democrat brain'' was amygdala activity responding to certain images of violence: either the Bush ads that featured shots of a smoldering ground zero or the famous ''Daisy'' ad from Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 campaign that ends with a mushroom cloud. Such brain activity indicates a kind of gut response, operating below the level of conscious control. Could the U.C.L.A. researchers be creating the political science of the future? Consider this possibility: the scientists do an exhaustive survey and it turns out that liberal brains have, on average, more active amygdalas than conservative ones. It's a plausible outcome that matches some of our stereotypes about liberal values: an aversion to human suffering, an unwillingness to rationalize capital punishment and military force, a fondness for candidates who like to feel our pain. What would that kind of insight tell us that we didn't know already? One thing is certain: evidence of a neurological difference between liberal and conservative brains would not be another instance of genetic determinism, since patterns of brain activity are shaped by experience as much as by genes. (Those who suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome also show unusual patterns of amygdala activity, but those patterns are almost inevitably the imprint of a specific event, and not the long arm of DNA.) Nonetheless, opening up the brain's black box might provide new explanations for how people become Republicans or Democrats, not to mention libertarians or Maoists, in the first place. It's pretty to think that we all decide our political affiliations by methodically studying each party's positions on the issues. But a recent study by Paul Goren at Arizona State found that voters typically formed their party affiliations before developing specific political values. They become Democrats first and then decide that they, say, oppose capital punishment and support trade unions. But how do they make that initial decision to be a Democrat? The most likely indicator of political preference is your parents' party affiliation, but if everyone simply voted along family lines, the dominant party would simply be the one whose members had the most voting offspring. The real question is why someone would ever break from the family tradition -- without feeling strongly either way about specific issues. Those M.R.I. scans suggest an explanation. Perhaps we form political affiliations by semiconsciously detecting commonalities with other people, commonalities that ultimately reflect a shared pattern of brain function. In the
ugnet_: NYTimes.com Article: 2 Companies to Make Gear for Phoning Over Internet
The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] /- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight \ I HEART HUCKABEES - OPENING IN SELECT CITIES OCTOBER 1 From David O. Russell, writer and director of THREE KINGS and FLIRTING WITH DISASTER comes an existential comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Hupert, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts. Watch the trailer now at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/huckabees/index_nyt.html \--/ 2 Companies to Make Gear for Phoning Over Internet August 24, 2004 By MATT RICHTEL Linksys and Netgear, two competing providers of home networking equipment, plan to announce today that they are entering the business of making equipment used to place telephone calls over the Internet, according to industry executives. In both cases, Linksys and Netgear plan to announce that they are selling equipment designed specifically for use by Vonage, a start-up company that has become a pioneer in providing so-called Internet telephony. The announcements underscore the continued growth of Vonage, which is based in Edison, N.J. More generally, the development underscores the idea that Internet calling is slowly beginning to creep out of the fringes and into the mainstream, according to Michael Wolf, an analyst with In-Stat/MDR, a market research firm. Mr. Wolf noted that Internet calling was used by only a small fraction of people in the United States, compared with the hundreds of millions who rely on traditional phone service. But he expects the number of users to grow from around 600,000 at the end of this year to 1.5 million at the end of 2005. Internet-based calling has the potential to be less expensive than traditional service because it takes advantage of the same underlying network and infrastructure used to send other information, like e-mail. The convergence of the networks requires less specialized equipment for telephone service. For individual consumers, use of Internet-based calling entails plugging a standard phone into the Internet. Linksys and Netgear are joining a handful of other companies that offer devices that serve as adapters, which convert a voice signal into a digital format so that it can travel across the Internet. Malachy Moynihan, the vice president for engineering and product marketing for Linksys, said he expected to see an avalanche in demand for Internet-based calling. Linksys, based in Irvine, Calif., was acquired last year by the network equipment giant Cisco Systems. Last week, Linksys began distributing two new Vonage-compatible devices to Staples stores nationwide, Mr. Moynihan said. He said the company expected to develop similar adapters for other Internet telephony providers and to distribute them in major retail chains. Netgear, based in Santa Clara, Calif., plans to begin distributing two Internet telephony products but does not expect to have them available until at least October, according to the company. Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research, said the challenge for providers of these adapters was to make them simple enough to use. The technology, he said, can be complicated, and not very user- friendly. The question, he said, is whether the companies do a good job of pulling all the parts together. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/24/business/24cisco.html?ex=1094388064ei=1en=3cddf3c97a0514c7 - Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://homedelivery.nytimes.com/HDS/SubscriptionT1.do?mode=SubscriptionT1ExternalMediaCode=W24AF HOW TO ADVERTISE - For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: Religion Feeds Sudan's Fire
August 22, 2004 Guillaume Bonn for The New York TimesAn unidentified man turned to Mecca to pray at dusk in the desert just outside a displaced persons camp near Abushouk, Sudan. Muslims from opposing sides met in Furburanga to air August 22, 2004 Religion Feeds Sudan's FireBy MARC LACEY URBURANGA, Sudan - In the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, the killers pray toward Mecca. The million displaced people do as well. Marauding men on horseback, the women raped by them, the rebels who incited the fighting and the politicians, soldiers and police officers who have failed to control it, nearly all are Muslim. There was the man from one of Darfur's African tribes who walked into an empty field near the refugee camp he now calls home and prayed - for life to return to normal, for his family's suffering to end, for his fear to dissipate. He stood, then knelt, then touched his forehead to a small mat, and the despair around him faded, he said, if only for a moment. But at some of the burned-out villages that now scar Darfur's landscape there are signs of disregard for religion - charred pages from Korans scattered in the rubble, makeshift mosques leveled. Sudan has a history of Christian-Muslim frictions and war. A rebel movement in the south, dominated by Christians, has fought the Islamic government in Khartoum for decades, largely over religious freedom. That conflict now appears to be petering out, partly because of involvement of the United States. But instead of peace, Sudan is now mired in a grievous conflict in Darfur. Political rivalries, ethnic strife and poverty have fueled the clashes - but that has not stopped combatants from invoking religion and challenging the devotion of their rivals. In the long history of the Muslims, "it is not uncommon for people to question each other's version of Islam," said Arif Shaikh, a representative of Islamic Relief U.S.A. who visited Darfur in April. "But this is really a political, not a religious, dispute. So much animosity has built up, and that's why it's gotten to this level." While the Muslims fight, many Sudanese revert to their historic grudges, directed against Christians, the United States and foreigners in general. Inside the mosques of Khartoum, which follow the Sunni branch of Islam, there has been plenty of discussion about Darfur but little success at finding a way to end the bloodshed. No religious leader has yet publicly chastised the combatants, either Arab or African. But America-bashing, long a theme at Friday Prayer, is as fierce as ever. "We caution our people in Sudan and our people in western Sudan against trusting the U.S.A., that it wants to help them," an imam, Abd-al-Jalil al-Nathir al-Karuri, said in a sermon broadcast on television in early August. "What is being done now is for the interests of one country - Israel." Another imam, Isam Ahmad al-Bashir, in a sermon translated from Arabic by the BBC, urged his followers at another Friday Prayer service to resist foreign intervention. "We must all say, irrespective of our different affiliations and leanings, races and groups, a resounding 'no' to foreign intervention, which is lying in wait for our people," he said. "This is an issue that requires no bargaining. Divinity, morality and humanity is required in denouncing all forms of foreign intervention or we will be committing treason against God, religion and country." Sudan has much experience with religious war. The continuing conflict with the Christians began in 1983 after the president at the time, Gaafar al-Nimeiry, began a campaign to make the country adhere more closely to Islamic law; his effort included amputations as punishments for theft and public lashings for alcohol consumption. The current president, Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, took over in a coup six years later. He replaced non-Muslim judges in the south with Muslims and applied Shariah penalties to many non-Muslims in Khartoum and parts of the north. He also characterized the government's battle with southern rebels as a jihad. The questions remain today: should Shariah, the Islamic legal code, apply to southerners who are not Muslim? Or should the government, dominated by Muslims, accommodate varying faiths? Peace negotiations for the south that have been under way in Kenya have reached compromises: Shariah would remain in effect in Khartoum, under the tentative deal the two sides have signed, but the south would have its own legal code. Another agreement would give southerners the ability to hold a referendum for self-rule sometime in the future. Some trace the conflict in Darfur to a power struggle among top Muslim leaders in Khartoum. In 1999, Mr. Bashir stripped his rival, Hassan al-Turabi, an Islamic hard-liner, of his positions as speaker of the Parliament and leader of the governing party. Two years later, Mr. Turabi was arrested and charged with being a threat to national security for signing a peace deal with the southern
Re: ugnet_: NYTimes.com Article: Paul Ngei, 81, Mau Mau Rebel and Cabinet Minister in Kenya, Dies
The Mau Mau weren't so secretive. Dennis Holman in his 1964 book, Bwana Drum (London, W.H. Allen) describes how a very white David Drummond(and hence the title)in the Kenya Police Special Forceinfltrated them, apparently by simply darkeninghis skin with shoe polish and the like. Drummond led a band Kikuyus who betrayed their brethren for various reasons. It has, however, crossed my mind that the book was just white propaganda.[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The article below from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED]/- E-mail Sponsored by Fox Searchlight \I HEART HUCKABEES - OPENING IN SELECT CITIES OCTOBER 1From David O. Russell, writer and director of THREE KINGSand FLIRTING WITH DISASTER comes an existential comedystarring Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Hupert, Jude Law, JasonSchwartzman, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg and Naomi Watts.Watch the trailer now at:http://www.foxsearchlight.com/huckabees/index_nyt.html\--/Paul Ngei, 81, Mau Mau Rebel and Cabinet Minister in Kenya, DiesAugust 23, 2004By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug. 22 - Paul Ngei, a former cabinetminister and one of the heroes of Kenya's independencemovement, died here on Aug. 15, an official of the M. P.Shah Hospital said. He was 81. He died after six days in the hospital's intensive-careunit, the official said. Mr. Ngei had been in poor healthfor years. With Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta, Mr. Ngei wasone of the "Kapenguria 6," who served prison terms incolonial days as leaders of the Mau Mau, a secret societyof mostly Kikuyu tribesmen who in 1952 led a rebellionagainst white settlers and British colonial rule. The six were arrested on Oct. 22, 1952, on suspicion ofbeing the leaders of the Mau Mau, whose violent revolt ledthe British authorities to declare a state of emergencythat lasted for eight years. Although the Mau Mau uprising was finally put down, itpushed Britain toward finally granting independence toKenya in 1964. Mr. Kenyatta became the nation's firstpresident. Mr. Ngei and the others were co nvicted and sentenced to 10years in prison for being leaders of the Mau Mau, which hadbeen banned by the British authorities. The day Mr. Ngei and the other five were arrested is anational holiday, named after Mr. Kenyatta, to commemorateheroes of the Kenyan struggle for independence who had beenimprisoned or detained by the British colonial government. After his release in 1961, Mr. Ngei won election to a seatin the Kenyan Parliament, and after independence he servedfor 27 years as a minister in the cabinets of Mr. Kenyattaand Daniel arap Moi, his successor. Among the posts he held were the portfolios for marketing,housing and social services, environment and lands andsettlement. He was forced to leave his Parliament seat andcabinet post in 1991 after the Kenyan High Court declaredhim bankrupt. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/23/obituaries/23ngei.html?ex=1094388165ei=1en=f8bf4989677a1713-Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imaginereading The New York Times any time anywhere you like!Leisurely catch up on events expand your horizons. Enjoynow for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here:http://homedelivery.nytimes.com/HDS/SubscriptionT1.do?mode=SubscriptionT1ExternalMediaCode=W24AFHOW TO ADVERTISE-For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact[EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfoFor general information about NYTimes.com, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Copyright 2004 The New York Times CompanyThis service is hosted on the Infocom networkhttp://www.infocom.co.__Do You Yahoo!?Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
ugnet_: Re: [DPNet] Re: Seya in news
I thnk there is a tendency to over-tate education in politics. Here are the simple facts: If you lack the knack for administration, no number of doctorates will cure that defect. Case in point: Amin and colleagues -- unread vs Mu7 and his gang many with paper qualifications:which regimehas made the most mess of Uganda's infra-structure? Which regimehas driven Uganda intogreater depths of indebtness and biting personal poverty? Which regime has nurtured thivery of Uganda's wealth? Which regime is more corrupt? Which regime is more secterian? Which regime has generated more economic refugees (aka kyeyos)? Which regime generated more political refugees? Which regime has to be perennially bailed out by donors, to the tune of 50%+ of the budget? Take the almost read Obote Mu7 vs Amin: Which regimes has kept Ugandans in concentration camps, aka "Internally Displaced People' s Camps"? No, no. Do not be fooled! Reading books does not imbue anyone with the ability to govern anymore than watching Keino on TV24x7 imbue me with the ability to sprint in the Olympics. MusamizeGodfrey Sekisonge [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Sebaggala ajereze Muvumenti Mukula (ku kkono) ne Sebaggala Bya Alex Mwangu HAJI Sebaggala agambye nti musanyufu okulaba aba muvumenti ababadde bamuyeeya bwataasoma ate bwe bakyukidde ne munnaabwe Minisita Mike Mukula ne babuusabuusa diguli ye. Muvumenti eyenjebuse. Kati etandise kulya baana baayo ba Mukula bamubuuza bwe baasomye diguli eyookubiri nga talina esooka. Ensi mugirabye! bwe yagambye ku Ssande. Yabadde mu kivvulu ekyategekeddwa Betty Nambooze okutongoza akatabo ke akayitibwa Bonna bakomboozi ke yawandiikira mu kkomera gwabadde mu Colline Hotel e Mukono. Mwamanya aba muvumenti bwe bannwanyisa era beesunga okunnemesa nti ssaakola siniya yakuna neyomukaaga era bannemesa kyokka kati bavudde ku nze balandukidde mu mwana waabwe Mukula, bwe yagambye. Mukula eyabadde omugenyi omukulu teyanyeze ku bya buyigirize bwe kyokka yagambye nti gavumenti ekyateesa ne Mmengo nasaba Abaganda okubeera abagumu kubanga Museveni ye mukwano gwa Buganda mu bapulezidenti bonna abaali bafuze Uganda. Published on: Tuesday, 24th August, 2004Karoli Ssemogerere [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Exposed: Scandal of double voters With debate over the 2000 election still raging, thousands of people illegally register in both New York City and Florida, which could swing an election. By RUSS BUETTNERDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER With debate over the 2000 election still raging, thousands of people illegally register in both New York City and Florida, which could swing an election. Some 46,000 New Yorkers are registered to vote in both the city and Florida, a shocking finding that exposes both states to potential abuses that could alter the outcome of elections, a Daily News investigation shows. Registering in two places is illegal in both states, but the massive snowbird scandal goes undetected because election officials don't check rolls across state lines. The finding is even more stunning given the pivotal role Florida played in the 2000 presidential election, when a margin there of 537 votes tipped a victory to George W. Bush. Computer records analyzed by The News don't allow for an exact count of how many people vote in both places, because millions of names are regularly purged between elections. But The News found that between 400 and 1,000 registered voters have voted twice in at least one election, a federal offense punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. One was Norman Siegel, 84, who is registered as a Republican in both Pinellas Park, Fla., and Briarwood, Queens. Siegel has voted twice in seven elections, including the last four presidential races, records show. Officials in both states acknowledge that voting in multiple states is something of a perfect crime, one officials don't have the means to catch. "I can't imagine how the supervisors would have access to that information," said Jenny Nash, spokeswoman for the Florida secretary of state. "As far as I know, cross-state registry has not been discussed." The News' investigation also found: Of the 46,000 registered in both states, 68% are Democrats, 12% are Republicans and 16% didn't claim a party. Nearly 1,700 of those registered in both states requested that absentee ballots be mailed to their home in the other state, where they are also registered. But that doesn't raise red flags with officials in either place. Efforts to prevent people from registering and voting in more than one state rely mostly on the honor system. New registrants are required to supply a prior address, which kicks in a notification process to election officials in the other jurisdiction. Officials also cross-check change-of-address records from the U.S. Postal Service. Both procedures largely count on the honesty of the person registering. And neither would catch people who have homes in both places -
ugnet_: Fwd: Black Masculinities - Call 4 papers
Note: forwarded message attached. Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!---BeginMessage--- Black Masculinities Friday, February 4, 2005 The Graduate Center, CUNY Black Masculinities is an all-day conference organized and sponsored by the Africana Studies Group of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. This conference seeks to clear a space for a strategic, systematic interrogation of Black masculinities, exploring the complexity of representations and performances of Black masculinity, and analyzing the simultaneous commodification and dehumanization of Black males. We recognize that theories of Black masculinities effect cultural critique, public policy, and community activism. Black masculinity should represent (and often has represented) a complex, disruptive, and liberating theoretical and political stance. Despite this radical potential, Black masculinity often remains a problematic vacancy, both inside the academy and in its lived experience in the world. The papers at the conference will, we hope, contribute to the identification and articulation of a progressive Black Masculinity. We invite papers and panel suggestions from academic and independent scholars from all fields in the social sciences and humanities, as well as artists and activists. Topics may include, but are not limited to: Fictional Black Masculinities Political Black Masculinities Performative Black Masculinities Theorized Black Masculinities Comic Black Masculinities Queer Black Masculinities Statistical Black Masculinities Visual Representations of Black Masculinities Applied Black Masculinities Feminist Black Masculinities Transnational Black Masculinities Generational Black Masculinities Black Masculinities and the Military Black Masculinities and Prison Black Masculinities and Labor Nationalist Black Masculinities Multiethnic Black Masculinities Genealogies of Black Masculinities Please submit abstracts (300-500 words, please) by September 15th 2004 to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---End Message---
ugnet_: Sebaggala's degree is air
Article Published on: 19th August 2004. Sebaggalas degree is air By Emmanuel N. MugaruraWEEKLY OBSERVER Hajji Nasser Ntege Sebaggala, the man who wants to be president of Uganda in 2006, did not graduate from Ruskin College in Oxford as he claims. The former mayor of Kampala has been telling his supporters and critics alike that he graduated with a degree in Political Science and Economics from Ruskin College. However, The Weekly Observer has established that Ruskin College does not offer any degree courses in Politics and Economics; neither does it hold any such graduation ceremonies. Nasser Ntege Ssebagala All the courses we currently offer are outlined on our website [www.ruskin.ac.uk], from which you will see that we do not offer a BA in Political Science and Economics, Ruskin College Academic Registrar, Ms Jackie Cameron, told The Weekly Observer. Sebaggala had told The Weekly Observers correspondent in the United Kingdom, Kyle Evans, in an exclusive interview on July 10, that he graduated with a masters degree in Politics and Economics from Oxford University on June 10. Evans interviewed Sebaggala on Saturday, July 10, 2004 at Deptford, London. Moreover, according to the unedited transcript of the interview, Sebaggala claims he was at Oxford University: Evans question: Congratulations on completing your studies. What qualifications have you attained? Sebaggalas unedited answer: I came here as somebody who does not have the required qualifications and then submitted my qualifications to Oxford for assessment which came out to the equivalent of a diploma. So I was allowed one year as a bridge then studied for three years to attain a masters degree in Politics and Economics of Oxford University. In an apparent change of story, Sebaggala recently told the local media that he obtained a [first] degree in Political Science and Economics from Ruskin College, having first attended Oxford College and Plater College before joining Ruskin. However, the colleges academic registrar, Ms Cameron said, Since we do not offer degrees, we do not have a graduation ceremony. During his graduation party in London, Sebaggala said a Mr Surinders Biant was instrumental in getting him enrolled at Ruskin College. It is not clear who Biant really is, but that name does not appear anywhere on the Ruskin staff list. The three colleges Sebaggala claims to have attended are all in the Oxford area, but they are not in any way associated with the prestigious University of Oxford. The former mayor has not been keen to make that clarification either. There is also no chance that Sebaggala could have obtained a masters degree in Politics and Economics as he implied in the July interview with The Weekly Observer. We do offer two MA courses: in Womens Studies and in Public History [part time], but their exam board is not held until September and there is no graduation ceremony, Ms Cameron, told The Weekly Observer. The college also runs a Diploma of Higher Education in Social Change. The rest of the programmes are community courses, leading to the award of ordinary certificates. Courses within the Certificate of Higher Education include Community and Youth Work, Computing, Creative Writing, Economics, English, Employment Studies, History, Law, Politics, Sociology and Womens Studies. It is possible, perhaps, that Sebaggala enrolled for one of these especially because the college also targets adults with few or no academic qualifications. Ruskin College will introduce, for the first time, a BA Honours in Social Work starting in September 2004 to replace the existing Diploma in Social Work programme. The course will run over three years for full time students and four years for part time students. In other words, if Sebaggala ever earned any degree at all, it was definitely not from Ruskin College. Interestingly, he will not say from where else. Sebaggala, who returned to Uganda two weeks ago with much pomp after three years in the United Kingdom, has been waving around some form of papers and adorning himself in academic gowns as a sign of successful completion of his studies. Caps and umbrellas, among other paraphernalia, bearing the presidential aspirants portrait in an academic gown have been widely distributed. Sebaggalas presidential ambitions evaporated in thin air in 2001 after the flamboyant politician failed to produce the required academic qualifications, a minimum of A-levels or its equivalent. He subsequently left for the United Kingdom, ostensibly to improve his academic standing to a level that would enable him contest in presidential elections. It now appears that Sebaggalas degree is a kicupuli, the term applied to fake cheques and bank fraud for which the ex-mayor was famously convicted in the United States in 1998. Citing British data protection law, Ms Cameron could not confirm or deny that Sebaggala ever enrolled at the college. Sebaggalas official spokesman, who is
ugnet_: Army explains Museveni uniform
Army explains Museveni uniform By Alex Atuhaire Aug 24, 2004 KAMPALA - The army spokesman, Maj. Shaban Bantariza, yesterday defended President Musevenis continued wearing of military fatigues despite having quit the army early this year. Bantariza said Museveni still holds the position of Commander-In-Chief and the position entitles him to the uniform among other things. There is no contradiction, he said. His retirement from the army was a fulfillment of the law. What he does now is not in any contradiction of the legal provisions of our statute, Bantariza told The Monitor in a telephone interview last evening. President Museveni who was officially retired from the UPDF on April 1, has continued to don military fatigues in public, the latest being when he was addressing public rallies in Gulu and when he was pictured meeting the Buganda delegation during the federo talks. This has raised questions over why the president was still behaving as a serving officer. Bantariza, however, yesterday dispelled such questions. Once a soldier, always a soldier unless you have been expelled from the army, he said. He said the President Museveni is entitled to ceremonial uniform, which he publicly said he doesnt like putting but there is no law barring him from putting on the combat uniform because he is the Commander-In-Chief. Bantariza said the president is only not entitled to salary from the army. © 2004 The Monitor Publications ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!
ugnet_: MPs ask minister to explain Mukula degree
MPs ask minister to explain Mukula degree By Emma Mutaizibwa Gerald Walulya Aug 24, 2004 PARLIAMENT- MPs yesterday asked the Minister of Education, Dr Khiddu Makubuya, to clear the air over State Minister for Health, Mr Mike Mukulas Masters Degree he obtained at Nkumba University. How could Capt. Francis Babu who flies big planes be denied entry at Makerere University and Mukula who flies small planes, be admitted for a Masters degree? The ministry should quickly produce a report on Mukula, Budadiri West MP Nandala Mafabi said. Deputy Speaker, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, chaired the plenary, where the matter was resurrected after a spell of silence. Mukulas academic credentials came under the spotlight after he graduated this year with a Masters degree in Business Administration. Several MPs have cast doubt over Mukulas degree. The matter arose after a report was presented by the Social Services Committee on the budgets for several ministries, by Tororo Woman MP Dorothy Hyuha. Samia Bugwe North MP, Aggrey Awori, had asked the Ministry of Education to institute a body that should vet the prerequisite qualifications for tertiary institutions. We dont want dilution of academic standards because people can pay, Awori said. He also hinted that there is a minister in the House whose recent degree could be hot air. Awori turned his guns to the Butabika saga that in the past caused uproar in the House. He compelled the minister of Health, Brig. Jim Muhwezi, to produce a report on the matter. The saga was sparked off about three months ago after the Minister of Lands, Col. Kahinda Otafiire, said he would sell off the Butabika land that belongs to the ministry of Health, to investors. © 2004 The Monitor Publications ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!
ugnet_: The Warlords of America: Bush May Be the Lesser Evil
The Warlords of America Bush May Be the Lesser Evil By JOHN PILGER Most of the US's recent wars were launched by Democratic presidents. Why expect better of Kerry? The debate between US liberals and conservatives is a fake; Bush may be the lesser evil. On 6 May last, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution which, in effect, authorised a "pre-emptive" attack on Iran. The vote was 376-3. Undeterred by the accelerating disaster in Iraq, Republicans and Democrats, wrote one commentator, "once again joined hands to assert the responsibilities of American power". The joining of hands across America's illusory political divide has a long history. The native Americans were slaughtered, the Philippines laid to waste and Cuba and much of Latin America brought to heel with "bipartisan" backing. Wading through the blood, a new breed of popular historian, the journalist in the pay of rich newspaper owners, spun the heroic myths of a supersect called Americanism, which advertising and public relations in the 20th century formalised as an ideology, embracing both conservatism and liberalism. In the modern era, most of America's wars have been launched by liberal Democratic presidents - Harry Truman in Korea, John F Kennedy and Lyndon B Johnson in Vietnam, Jimmy Carter in Afghanistan. The fictitious "missile gap" was invented by Kennedy's liberal New Frontiersmen as a rationale for keeping the cold war going. In 1964, a Democrat-dominated Congress gave President Johnson authority to attack Vietnam, a defenceless peasant nation offering no threat to the United States. Like the non-existent WMDs in Iraq, the justification was a non- existent "incident" in which, it was said, two North Vietnamese patrol boats had attacked an American warship. More than three million deaths and the ruin of a once bountiful land followed. During the past 60 years, only once has Congress voted to limit the president's "right" to terrorise other countries. This aberration, the Clark Amendment 1975, a product of the great anti- Vietnam war movement, was repealed in 1985 by Ronald Reagan. During Reagan's assaults on central America in the 1980s, liberal voices such as Tom Wicker of the New York Times, doyen of the "doves", seriously debated whether or not tiny, impoverished Nicaragua was a threat to the United States. These days, terrorism having replaced the red menace, another fake debate is under way. This is lesser evilism. Although few liberal-minded voters seem to have illusions about John Kerry, their need to get rid of the "rogue" Bush administration is all-consuming. Representing them in Britain, the Guardian says that the coming presidential election is "exceptional". "Mr Kerry's flaws and limitations are evident," says the paper, "but they are put in the shade by the neoconservative agenda and catastrophic war-making of Mr Bush. This is an election in which almost the whole world will breathe a sigh of relief if the incumbent is defeated." The whole world may well breathe a sigh of relief: the Bush regime is both dangerous and universally loathed; but that is not the point. We have debated lesser evilism so often on both sides of the Atlantic that it is surely time to stop gesturing at the obvious and to examine critically a system that produces the Bushes and their Democratic shadows. For those of us who marvel at our luck in reaching mature years without having been blown to bits by the warlords of Americanism, Republican and Democrat, conservative and liberal, and for the millions all over the world who now reject the American contagion in political life, the true issue is clear. It is the continuation of a project that began more than 500 years ago. The privileges of "discovery and conquest" granted to Christopher Columbus in 1492, in a world the pope considered "his property to be disposed according to his will", have been replaced by another piracy transformed into the divine will of Americanism and sustained by technological progress, notably that of the media. "The threat to independence in the late 20th century from the new electronics," wrote Edward Said in Culture and Imperialism, "could be greater than was colonialism itself. We are beginning to learn that decolonisation was not the termination of imperial relationships but merely the extending of a geopolitical web which has been spinning since the Renaissance. The new media have the power to penetrate more deeply into a 'receiving' culture than any previous manifestation of western technology." Every modern president has been, in large part, a media creation. Thus, the murderous Reagan is sanctified still; Rupert Murdoch's Fox Channel and the post-Hutton BBC have differed only in their forms of adulation. And Bill Clinton is regarded nostalgically by liberals as flawed but enlightened; yet Clinton's presidential years were far more violent than Bush's and his goals were the same: "the integration of countries into the global free- market community", the terms
ugnet_: We\'ve different Ideologies -NRM,DP etc./ DFWA-U
http://www.idr.co.ug/dfwa-u/Nymapp/justice.htm 21 Aug 2004 13:16:43 Our position remains the same that is to compete for power win and reclaim our country from discrimination of farmers and workers labour, exploitation by a small group infected with political thuggery, corruption, criminality, incompetence and cultural perversion. http://www.idr.co.ug/dfwa-u/gallery.htm Our data bank, has now a wealth of information and if it will be assumed much has changed. Nothing has changed so far, so DFWA-U members stand firm and watch the situation closely. From bodaboda esanja, through ssebagala we see the same yearning of the masses and a repeated pattern of events - that still informs our position against exploitation of our people for greedy and power. We don\'t guess our political line of thinking. As I have written our news letter into the past, so it remains the same position today. We are not joining any party or any government- we have our own ideological base and reasoning around crucial issues, the DFWA- U party will be registered in time and when what we originally wanted, is or has fully reached its potential climax. Co-ordinator DFWA-U, Sat, 3 Jul 2004 18:01 DFWAs as the discussion goes on- please notice that the issue is not to have power for powers sake. The issue must and should be JUSTICE FOR UGANDANS. Visit the web site and understand our cultural, environmental, social and political goals. We have managed to circumvent all threats and intimidation, on our members so let us wisely move on in that direction, we set ourselves to attain. Certainly the situation on ground is very positive and dramatic, as you have noticed but we MUST not be involved in any sort of lies and misguiding the citizens. Let them have their party talks we have our independent mind, socio-economic and political goals. Our goal should remain righteousness and getting to power - if other forces other than us can attain what we want, so far so good. But we MUST not deviate as moneychangers, peddlers and criminally embedded, thought we could be so easily bought off. That has not worked and will not work in the future. A clear consciousness must prevail, despite the handles. Now, you have seen it all, with your own eyes, so be steadfast and sustain your own efforts to success. Co-ordinator DFWA-U, Sun, 20 Jun 2004 22:47 After a thorough initial and second study of the social and political environment in Uganda the democratic farmers workers alliance-U wish to inform its members to come up with suggestions on what has been discussed before intruders interventions into our political work. The situation has become so crucial, its necessarily essential that before we go public and take our next political action, every one of you knows and grasps the situation under which we are operating. Remember that gathering data on murdered people, murky business ventures and general corruption among government functionaries is still in progress. This is absolutely necessary for future political and social events- take note. Our position still remains the same there will be no working with any government official those will to do so, might as well join them. Discuss these issues among yourselves and others as we prepare ourselves. All necessary working material fully secured and in place. You can contact us privately, Co-ordinator and founder Bwanika. Bwanika http://www.idr.co.ug -- for your consultancy needs http://p201.ezboard.com/fugandamanufacturersassociationfrm1 --- Spela poker mot verkliga människor över Internet. Över 40 000 spelare online http://www.multipoker.com This service is hosted on the Infocom network http://www.infocom.co.ug
ugnet_: Fw: Social classes are a reality even today
From: Godfrey To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 4:28 AM Subject: Social classes are a reality even today Social classes are a reality even today Beti Kamya Turwomwe Beti Kamya Turwomwe Uganda not yet ready for (political) parties Museveni screamed Sunday Visions front page last week! While closing a leadership training course for East African Students at Makerere University on August 13, President Museveni reportedly reiterated his overplayed and long outdated song on the relevance of political parties in Africa, saying, The environment in African countries is not conducive for multipartyism to thrive because THERE IS NO RIGHT SOCIAL BASE FOR IT... (emphasis mine). And if you think that is shocking, it is because you havent heard him say that the right time to discuss political parties would be in 1789 during the French Revolution... because France had four distinct social classes, each one struggling to protect their interests . In other words, according to the only person in Uganda with a vision, only social classes categorically defined as feudalists, capitalists, industrial workers and peasants, as they existed during the period of the French Revolution, have the legitimacy to freedom of association and to express their various interests through formation of political parties! Knowing the poor reading culture in Uganda, M7 always awes his listeners by daring them to read the emergence and formation of political parties in Europe, as if there is any fundamental difference between social classes in the Europe of 1789 and Uganda today. A famous story of the 1789 French Revolution goes that Queen Marie Antoinette, who, watching the hungry, rioting peasants outside her husbands palace was baffled why anybody should make so much fuss over bread. Protected all her life from the harsh realities of life outside the nobility, Marie Antoinette said, If there is no bread, give them cakes. Lucky Marie didnt even know that if you cannot afford bread, the peasants food, certainly you cannot afford cakes. What is the difference between Marie Antoinette of 1789 and Musevenis daughter of 2004, who, without a thought about the medicine-less clinics and hospitals of Uganda, takes a whole plane to herself to have her baby in Germany? Or, what is the difference between a resident of the Kasubi slums whose family went to bed hungry last night and the hungry peasant of the French Revolution? Although centuries apart, Marie Antoinette and Musevenis daughter live in the same world, very far removed from that of the Kasubi slum dweller and the French revolution peasant. Museveni successfully marketed his anti-political parties view during the honeymoon years of his rule, when most Ugandans, like the young, adoring, naïve bride, just took in whatever he said. Unfortunately, he has failed to realise that while he has remained static in his deception, Ugandans are 18 years older, wiser and have developed independent views on democracy. Political parties may have their beginnings in the Europe of the 18th century, but they are just an _expression_ of the principle and concept of organised alternative ways of seeing, saying and doing things differently by different political players, in a free and fair environment. Thus, different people with common interests organise themselves into a group, historically known as a political party, define their background, articulate their interests, propose ways of achieving them and
ugnet_: WHY OBOTE DID NOT MEET MUSEVENI
Why I did not meet Museveni By Dr. Milton Obote Aug 22 - 28, 2004What is the real story behind the recent failed meeting between you and President Museveni in Lusaka? The meeting failed and it is Museveni who wanted it that can possibly give the real story behind it had it not failed. The letter by Stephen Mila already published by The Monitor to Dev Babbar gives it clearly that it was Babbar on behalf of Museveni who wanted to arrange a meeting and who gives it clearly that Milton Obote had not consented to meeting to be held tomorrow. Since the meeting failed the real story behind it can also be seen from what the people who desperately wanted the meeting are now saying.What do you think of Musevenis gesture in agreeing to meet you?I do not know from where this question arises. It was Museveni who wanted to meet me and I did not want to meet him. Museveni later came to want to meet my emissaries and did meet three of them. I have no opinion on why he wanted to meet them.How do you know Mr Dev Babbar? Had you dealt with him before?Dev Babbar was introduced to me in 1986 by Gurdial Singh. Babbar kept on coming to my residence mostly to enquire about Gurdials condition. Gurdial has been very sick for years.Are you the one who asked to meet Museveni and if so why did you opt out at the last minute?I never asked anyone to arrange a meeting with Museveni. I would not do so because I was confident that there was nothing the UPC leaders led by Dr James Rwanyarare could not handle. Papers and documents from the UPC leaders already published by The Monitor show that it was not me who asked for a meeting.When do you plan to come back to Uganda?I have no idea what you may call plans to return home. I have said that I hope to return when Uganda is no longer ruled by a one-party cum military dictatorship.Under what circumstances do you hope to return?As stated above, it is not easy to guess when the one-party cum military dictatorship will come to an end.Do you have any specific demands that must be fulfilled before you can return? I am a politician and a citizen. I have no personal special demands. I only demand as a politician and citizen that competitive multiparty politics and elections be restored.Is it true that you are contemplating quitting politics? How soon?There is nothing I have so far experienced or experiencing that will make me quit politics.Give us a comment on the new political party in Uganda, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). The launch of the FDC is to be welcomed. Museveni is opposed to opposition Parties and the launch of FDC to join UPC, DP and CP formed many years ago but now in servitude was a defeat of Musevenism.Will UPC join the group in a merger or a coalition?Dr James Rwanyarare has already issued a statement, which I support, covering the question on the position of the UPC.Can UPC on its own manage to go into contest on one side and the merger on the other?The question is not clear to me. If by contest you mean the elections of 2006 then Dr Rwanyarares statement has covered it.Will you meet Museveni if he invites you? No. I will not. I have much foreboding in meeting the person who ordered his army to kill my father and mother to whom I was very close.Do you plan to write your memoirs? Not for the present.If President Museveni does not stand or loses the election in 2006, will you come back? My idea to return home when the one-party cum military dictatorship has ended has no relation to Museveni standing or losing as a candidate in 2006.Since you are over age now and therefore cannot stand for the presidency in Uganda, which activities would you want to be associated with on your return? Will you become a community worker, church activist, human rights crusader, environmental activist or farmer? If a farmer, what will you engage in? If you believe in the scare-crow provision that Museveni put in the Constitution, then you must also believe that Uganda presently is a dictatorship which will not change. I have no mental or physical disability and Musevenis scare-crow provision does not scare the UPC because I am not a crow and jobs for a person of my calibre and experience are not limited to the presidency and include those you have enumerated except under the Movement system.What lessons have you learnt over the 17 or so of your exile? Any lesson I have learnt will first be given to the UPC when the party is released from servitude and I can speak.What lessons has UPC as a party learnt in the 19 years its been out of power? Put the question to Dr James Rwanyarare.Any comment on the on going transition period in Uganda? There can be no meaningful transition when the rulers have not put forward the roadmap for people to know and discuss what transition is to include. 2004 The Monitor PublicationsThe Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas
ugnet_: JESUS IS THE ANCHOR OF MY SOUL
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 9:44 AM Subject: [congokin-tribune] JESUS IS THE ANCHOR OF MY SOUL Folks:How am I surviving in this toubled world where wars, genocides, famines and insecurity are rampant? Jesus is the anchor of my soul. Without him I would be blown away like chaff in the wind. In this time of uncertainty one should pray more. In view of what is going on in the country, I encourage my fellow congoleses to pray all the more for a long lasting peace in our beloved Congo, that God will surround the country with the blood of Jesus as an hedge of protection against the blood- thirsty axis of evil rwanda-burundi-uganda. We must confront all demonic forces, principalities and powers that have been waging wars against Congolese people since 1998 through the hands of Kagame and Mu-7, hands that have killed 5 millions of fellow countrymen including beloved mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts, fathers, uncles, grand-pa...folks who just wanted to live longer and enjoy God's blessings. Their lives were cut short by those two greed-driven criminals and "natural born killers" whom God will surely cast in the lake of Fire on judgment Day. Do you know how long it will take to rebuild what those individuals have destroyed in the Congo? Only a strongly united Congo can bring those criminals before an international court of justice. UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL.God bless the beloved Congo.Axel Luyengi
ugnet_: IMEDIATE POSTING
Netters We are getting un confirmed reports that Elly Wamala has passed away, can any one confirm please or tell us other wise? Em Toronto 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_: THE DEATH OF ELLY WAMALA
We are confirmingthe passing of Elly Wamala, a one of the oldest and best singers Uganda has ever had More information will follow Em Toronto 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_: Crisis in Sudan
Crisis in Sudan: Thorny Issues Underlying CarnageIn Darfur Complicate World's ResponseBy Somini SenguptaThe New York Times Monday 16 August 2004 NDJAMENA, Chad, Aug. 15 - There is no disagreement about the consequences of the war under way in Sudan, Africa's largest country: tens of thousands killed, cholera outbreaks, severe malnutrition, more than a million people forced to flee their homes, many into neighboring countries like Chad. Yet there is deep disagreement among world leaders over how to respond. The stalemate comes from issues underlying the conflict in Darfur, a region in western Sudan: questions of racial identity, competition for natural resources and the imperatives of a powerful sovereign state. Unfortunately for the victims of the war, the international response is also complicated by issues that reach beyond this conflict. First, in pitting Arab herders against black African farmers, the civil war in western Sudan underscores a larger struggle for power, land and water that cuts across borders in this arid part of Africa. Second, efforts to address the Darfur crisis have become entangled in the larger grievances of the Arab world - not least, the United States-dominated war in Iraq. The result? The Arab Islamist government of Sudan, joined by its allies in the Arab League, has angrily accused Western countries of ganging up against an Arab-led government to exploit its oil and gold reserves. The Bush administration has dismissed that contention, and the United States Congress has accused the Arab militias, backed by Sudan and known as the Janjaweed, of genocide against Darfur's black Africans. Nearly 150,000 black Africans have fled to seek refuge on the barren eastern frontiers of Chad. The United Nations, meanwhile, has threatened unspecified penalties if Sudan cannot prove by Aug. 31 that it can restore stability. Sudan and its allies have resolutely opposed outside intervention, like the deployment of foreign peacekeeping forces. And Europe and the United States have left it to the fledgling African Union, which represents the continent's governments, to handle matters on the ground. The Darfur crisis has presented a stark challenge to African leaders: How is Africa to live with its diversity, specifically its Arab and black African mix, and how are the continent's leaders, in fashioning a response in Darfur, to balance the claims of a sovereign state and an emergency facing ordinary Africans? Fortunately, for African leaders, this conflict has no religious divide: both sides are Muslims. The African Union has dispatched monitors to Darfur to oversee the cease-fire declared in April and has invited the Sudanese government and the two Darfur rebel groups to peace talks, starting Aug. 23, in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. It is also sending a few hundred peacekeepers to Darfur, but only to protect its monitors, not Sudanese civilians. On Sunday, about 150 Rwandan troops were en route. Nigerians are scheduled to arrive in 10 days. "The Sudan government sees the A.U. as their best option," said one Western diplomat here. "Wider international intervention is a bigger problem for Sudan than the A.U." Clearly, the biggest potential threat for Sudan is the United Nations Security Council's deadline and the prospect of penalties. With little more than two weeks left, the United Nations secretary general's special representative for Darfur, Jan Pronk, described conditions as bleak and dangerous. "There is no improvement in terms of safety, there is more fighting, the humanitarian situation is as bad as it was," Mr. Pronk said Friday in a telephone interview from his office in Khartoum, Sudan's capital. Since February 2003, the war in Darfur, sparked by a rebel insurgency demanding political and economic rights for the people of western Sudan, has killed 50,000 civilians and displaced more than a million Sudanese, the United Nations estimates. Mr. Pronk said he met with Sudanese authorities on Thursday and laid out a timetable: Instruct local authorities in Darfur to disarm the Janjaweed in the next 10 days and demonstrate "a substantial improvement in security" in the 10 days after that. "Local authorities should be forced to do what the national government has decided," Mr. Pronk added. "It cannot be done in Khartoum only. It has to be done in Darfur. No attacks by the army. Exercise restraint. Even if the army is attacked by rebels, no retaliation." Also on Friday, the government ordered tribal leaders in Darfur's three provinces to start disarming the Janjaweed, The Associated Press reported. Mr. Pronk credited President Omar el-Bashir of Sudan with having ordered the military to refrain from air raids and other attacks, but blamed the government-allied militias for violating the April cease-fire. "There are Janjaweed militia under the influence of the government," he said. "We do not know how many. However, they are under influence of government, and they are continuing attacks." Sudan
ugnet_: 'Mao, Ogwal, Lukyamuzi potential Movt converts'
Mao, Ogwal, Lukyamuzi potential Movt converts By Alex B. Atuhaire, Oketch Bitek, Moses Odokonyero Aug 23, 2004 GULU- President Museveni has named MPs Mr Nobert Mao, Mr Reagan Okumu, Ms Cecilia Ogwal and Mr Ken Lukyamuzi potential converts to the Movement. The President who flew to Gulu in the afternoon to address big political rallies said he could not kill the trio, renown to be leading critics of his rule because the Movement has the capacity to woo them. Museveni warned leaders who want to gain power through the gun and advised all people who want to be leaders to wait for elections and contest instead of looking at violence as an option. Mao, Okumu and Ogwal are potential Movement converts. In the Movement we can never compromise with killers, if you are a killer, we must use all means to suppress you, he said. The president said the 1995 Constitution solved the question of political power. After the 1995 Constitution which was made by delegates which you people elected, there is no need for use of violence in politics. It is now a war of words - speaking in a nice way, the President told a rally in Bungatira sub-county in Aswa. These people who have been having guns have been making a very big mistake. To kill people who dont agree with you is a very big mistake, he said.I have been in power for 18 years and I have a lot of power - guns, so if I was to use it to kill, I would have finished people, he said. I would have killed Okumu, Mao, Cecilia Ogwal and Ken Lukyamuzi and people would have run away from Uganda because I would be using wrong means, he said. Okumu and Mao, in whose constituencies the president addressed the rallies, were visibly absent. The president recently said he hated the named MPs because they also hate him. Their absence could only confirm the seriousness of their love-hate relationship with the president. The president virtually announced the insurgency, which has rocked northern Uganda for the last 17 years, was over and said government was to embark on a big rehabilitation of the Acholi. He said he was ready to forgive LRA leader Joseph Kony and his deputy Vincent Otti. © 2004 The Monitor Publications ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!
ugnet_: Depleted Uranium: Dirty Bombs, Dirty Missiles, Dirty Bullets
Depleted Uranium: Dirty Bombs, Dirty Missiles, Dirty Bullets by Leuren MoretSF Bay View A death sentence here and abroad Military men are just dumb stupid animals to be used as pawns in foreign policy. - Henry Kissinger, quoted in Kiss the Boys Goodbye: How the United States Betrayed Its Own POWs in Vietnam Vietnam was a chemical war for oil, permanently contaminating large regions and countries downriver with Agent Orange, and environmentally the most devastating war in world history. But since 1991, the U.S. has staged four nuclear wars using depleted uranium weaponry, which, like Agent Orange, meets the U.S. government definition of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Vast regions in the Middle East and Central Asia have been permanently contaminated with radiation. And what about our soldiers? Terry Jemison of the Department of Veterans Affairs reported this week to the American Free Press that Gulf-era veterans now on medical disability since 1991 number 518,739, with only 7,035 reported wounded in Iraq in that same 14-year period. This week the American Free Press dropped a dirty bomb on the Pentagon by reporting that eight out of 20 men who served in one unit in the 2003 U.S. military offensive in Iraq now have malignancies. That means that 40 percent of the soldiers in that unit have developed malignancies in just 16 months. Since these soldiers were exposed to vaccines and depleted uranium (DU) only, this is strong evidence for researchers and scientists working on this issue, that DU is the definitive cause of Gulf War Syndrome. Vaccines are not known to cause cancer. One of the first published researchers on Gulf War Syndrome, who also served in 1991 in Iraq, Dr. Andras Korényi-Both, is in agreement with Barbara Goodno from the Department of Defenses Deployment Health Support Directorate, that in this war soldiers were not exposed to chemicals, pesticides, bioagents or other suspect causes this time to confuse the issue. This powerful new evidence is blowing holes in the cover-up perpetrated by the Pentagon and three presidential administrations ever since DU was first used in 1991 in the Persian Gulf War. Fourteen years after the introduction of DU on the battlefield in 1991, the long-term effects have revealed that DU is a death sentence and very nasty stuff. Scientists studying the biological effects of uranium in the 1960s reported that it targets the DNA. Marion Fulk, a nuclear physical chemist retired from the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab and formerly involved with the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid malignancies in soldiers from the 2003 war as spectacular and a matter of concern. This evidence shows that of the three effects which DU has on biological systems - radiation, chemical and particulate the particulate effect from nano-size particles is the most dominant one immediately after exposure and targets the Master Code in the DNA. This is bad news, but it explains why DU causes a myriad of diseases which are difficult to define. In simple words, DU trashes the body. When asked if the main purpose for using it was for destroying things and killing people, Fulk was more specific: I would say that it is the perfect weapon for killing lots of people. Soldiers developing malignancies so quickly since 2003 can be expected to develop multiple cancers from independent causes. This phenomenon has been reported by doctors in hospitals treating civilians following NATO bombing with DU in Yugoslavia in 1998-1999 and the U.S. military invasion of Iraq using DU for the first time in 1991. Medical experts report that this phenomenon of multiple malignancies from unrelated causes has been unknown until now and is a new syndrome associated with internal DU exposure. Just 467 U.S. personnel were wounded in the three-week Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991. Out of 580,400 soldiers who served in Gulf War I, 11,000 are dead, and by 2000 there were 325,000 on permanent medical disability. This astounding number of disabled vets means that a decade later, 56 percent of those soldiers who served now have medical problems. The number of disabled vets reported up to 2000 has been increasing by 43,000 every year. Brad Flohr of the Department of Veterans Affairs told American Free Press that he believes there are more disabled vets now than even after World War II. They brought it homeNot only were soldiers exposed to DU on and off the battlefields, but they brought it home. DU in the semen of soldiers internally contaminated their wives, partners and girlfriends. Tragically, some women in their 20s and 30s who were sexual partners of exposed soldiers developed endometriosis and were forced to have hysterectomies because of health problems. In a group of 251 soldiers from a study group in Mississippi who had all had normal babies before the Gulf War, 67 percent of their post-war babies were born with severe birth defects. They were born with missing legs, arms, organs or
ugnet_: White police claim racism
White police claim racism · Force faces wave of lawsuits· Met 'favouring' black officersGaby Hinsliff, chief political correspondentSunday August 22, 2004The Observer http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1288367,00.html Record numbers of white police officers are launching legal actions claiming they have been victimised because of the colour of their skin, The Observer can reveal today. This reflects an alarming backlash against the Metropolitan Police crusade to encourage ethnic minority recruits, with resentful whites now convinced they are the ones being overlooked for promotion. Yesterday Ray Powell, the president of the National Black Police Association, warned that moves to end the culture of casual prejudice were backfiring. Attacking 'a ridiculous' pressure to hit strict targets for recruiting black officers, Powell told The Observer there was a risk of undeserving candidates being hired to boost the force's record on race. Around half of the long-running race cases being taken to employment tribunals by Met officers now involve white complainants, according to evidence submitted to the Morris inquiry, which is examining the force's treatment of its staff. The inquiry has uncovered a bitter undercurrent of resistance to change in anonymous interviews with officers, one of whom complained that 'if you are from a [visible ethnic minority] whatever you want, you can have.' The Met has been under intense pressure to hire more black officers since the Macpherson inquiry into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence, which concluded the force was 'institutionally racist'. It has a target for 25 per cent of the force to come from the ethnic minorities by 2009, so that it reflects London's population as a whole. However, Powell said with current progress that would require up to 80 per cent of new recruits to be black and Asian, 'which is ridiculous'. He would rather see targets reduced and black recruits rising through the ranks on merit, than allowing substandard applicants to be taken on: 'There is a danger of black officers being set up to fail: human nature being as it is, there is a risk that the standards may be lowered. 'I would rather see work on a sustainable environment first of all for black officers within the police, as opposed to carte blanche recruiting people into an environment where they won't be able to be sustained.' The process of change had been mishandled, with ordinary officers confused and suspicious about the Met's tactics of 'so-called positive action' policies stopping short of deliberately favouring black candidates, but seeking to encourage recruits by combating racism in the ranks, the black police leader said. 'If you were to ask anybody in the police service what positive action is, they don't have a clue: therefore they interpret it as action against them. 'They feel "we have got these black officers getting everything, and apparently getting a leg up" when in fact they are not.' The warning is borne out by evidence to the Morris inquiry, which is now considering its verdict after six months of hearing testimony from more than 50 witnesses. Led by Bill Morris, the former Transport and General Workers' Union leader, it has received a string of complaints of black officers being victimised for trivial offences, such as appearing on parade in a short-sleeved shirt instead of a long-sleeved one. Women officers told of a macho 'lads and dads' culture that forced them to watch porn during breaks, refused them permission to work part-time or have shifts to fit around childcare and even barred them from expressing breast milk at work. Anonymous interviews conducted on visits to London police stations exposed the hidden resentment among white officers. One complained: 'The perception is that black officers are only getting a promotion because they are black'. Others urged the Met to 'slow [its reforms] down a bit and look at white officers. They are forgotten.' The problem is not confined to the Met, according to the Nottinghamshire branch of the Black Police Association, which told the inquiry that the promotion of one local Asian sergeant prompted six white rivals to sue for racial discrimination. Jan Berry, chair of the Police Federation, reported complaints from white officers in Greater Manchester about the handling of disciplinary proceedings following a BBC undercover documentary, which filmed a recruit at a training centre wearing a Ku Klux Klan-style outfit. Esme Crowther, head of the Met's employment tribunal unit, told Morris that seven out of 15 race cases of more than two years' duration now involve white officers claiming to have been victimised. Most objected to being disciplined when they claimed visible ethnic minority officers had not been. The inquiry was set up by the Metropolitan Police Authority following the cases of Sergeant Gurpal Virdi - sacked for allegedly sending himself hate mail, but
ugnet_: CONGO: THE WAR WITHOUT BATTLES
CONGO: THE WAR WITHOUT BATTLESBy Gary BrecherWriting up the Congo is like dying: you have to deal with it sooner or later,but you're not looking forward to it. I've tried to get out of talking about Congo every way I could, but the timehas come. It's just too big and bloody a mess for an honest war-fan to ignore.Nobody knows exactly how many people have been slaughtered in Congo over thepast few years, but the BBC estimates 2.5 million. That's a lot of zeroes, alot of bodies - especially for a war without battles. These people didn't diein the trenches. They died African-style: chopped to death with machetes, moweddown by squads of stoned twelve-year-olds, or just driven into the bush to dieof hunger or malaria. [picture]UPC troops There's this term for what's going on in the Congo: "Primitive Warfare." Itdoesn't mean simple weapons or illiterate soldiers. It means the way peoplefought before there were any nation states. It's not pretty. It means avoidingcombat, slinking around looking for unguarded villages, and then going in andkilling everybody in the place, except a few you think you can sell at thenearest slave market. "Ethnic cleansing" is just a soft word for primitive warfare. It's always beenthe way people fight. I once took a first-year course in "World Literature" atSCS - it was required - and I pissed off the professor good when he had us reada piece of the Iliad. It was about Achilles fighting with Agamemnon about aslave girl, and I just said, "Hey, that's just the way they fight in Africaright now!" He made me pay for that, the PC bastard. Naturally he was white,and naturally he made a big speech that had "racism" in it about a hundredtimes - you know, looking around at all the "people of color" in the room tomake sure nobody was going to turn him in. But I wasn't being racist at all, he was. And I still say if people thoughtabout Congo when they were reading "Classics" they'd understand it better.Achilles raids a village, grabs the best-looking girl, moves on to ambushanother village. In the meantime one of Achilles's friends, some otherganja-smoking kid with an AK, decides he wants the girl instead. They settle itout in the bush somewhere. Boom: that's the Iliad. But damn it, the one thingpeople don't want to do is connect the Classics with war, Congostyle-"primitive warfare." First thing: borders. In primitive warfare there are no borders. You know,these spoiled "Anarchy" kids who like to draw a big "A" in a circle, they talkabout "no borders" like it's a good thing. You think so? Go to Africa. Congoisn't really a country at all. It's lines on a map. The lines were drawn up byEuropean colonizers at Berlin in 1884-5. Most of the people at the table, themen chopping up Africa, had never even been there. They didn't know or careabout tribal boundaries, they were just playing politics. The Congo borders gotdefined by where the colonies around it ended. It wasn't worth much back then,so they let King Leopold of Belgium take it. I mean, for himself. Privateproperty. The whole frickin' country. A few years after they gave Leopold the country, rubber got big. SuddenlyLeopold's jungle was worth something, and he pushed his luck as far as he could- drafted every thug he could get in Europe or Africa to go in there and breakheads to make sure the rubber quota was filled. Leopold was what you call abottom-line guy. His goons had this habit of chopping off hands when peoplewere slow getting their rubber. Maybe that sounds familiar? You may remember alunatic named Foday Sankoh, up in Sierra Leone, who told his "soldiers" to chopoff hands and feet to keep villagers in line. Maybe you think that's just theAfricans being primitive, but it was the cute li'l Belgians who showed'em how. Look at Central Africa with the borders erased. Hundreds of tribes, overlappingdistricts like Bosnia. Worse still, some of the tribes have millions of peopleand others amount to some schmo and his cousin and their dog. Not exactlynation-building material, even if the fucking Europeans had had the decency toleave them alone. The tribe that gave Congo its name, the baKongo, don't evenlive in Congo - most of them are down south in Angola, where they were one sideof the big triangular US/Soviet proxy war they had in the 70s. There are atleast 280 tribes in the Congo, and the dense rain forest means most are prettysmall, isolated groups. A lot of African countries got lucky when independence came in the 60s. Eitherthere was one dominant tribe covering most of the country, or there'd been acentury or so of "civilization" that built some sort of educated class who wereready to take over. Congo didn't have either. Leopold hadn't even bothered toteach the Congolese a thing. He just wanted the rubber - or the hands. Most ofthe country was thick jungle, with the river the only way to travel. [picture]Lt. Col. Freddy Ngalimo (MLC) The biggest, strongest tribes in
ugnet_: We Could Have Stopped Him
We Could Have Stopped Him By Julian BorgerThe Guardian Friday 20 August 2004 The CIA has taken much of the blame for the security lapses that led to 9/11 and the false intelligence on Iraq's WMDs. But now one spy has broken ranks to point the finger at the politicians - and warn that the war on terror could plunge the US into even greater danger. These are not happy times at the CIA. In the space of a few short months, two official reports have found the agency principally to blame for failing to prevent the September 11 al-Qaida attack and for claiming that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt there is a lot of blame to go round. The twin fiascos rank as the worst intelligence failures since the second world war. But the two reports, by the September 11 Commission and the Senate Intelligence Committee respectively, were also testaments to political expedience. Both panels were made up of Republican and Democratic loyalists who reached a political compromise by going relatively easy on both Clinton and Bush administrations, and focused on institutional culprits. The CIA, without a defender after the resignation in July of its long-serving director, George Tenet, presented the easiest target. Yet most of the agency's rank and file believe they have done little wrong. They were the first to raise the alarm over the danger posed by Osama bin Laden, long before the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa. In 1996 they set up a unit called the Bin Laden Issue Station, codenamed "Alex", dedicated to tracking him down, only to have one operation after another aborted as too politically dangerous. There are a lot of angry spies at Langley, and one of the angriest is Mike Scheuer, a senior intelligence officer who led the Bin Laden station for four years. While some of his colleagues have vented their frustrations through leaks, Scheuer has done what no serving American intelligence official has ever done - published a book-length attack on the establishment. His book, Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror, is a fire-breathing denunciation of US counter-terrorism policy. In it, Scheuer addresses the missed opportunities of the Clinton era, but he reserves his most withering attack for the Bush administration's war in Iraq. He describes the invasion as "an avaricious, premeditated, unprovoked war against a foe who posed no immediate threat but whose defeat did offer economic advantage". He even goes so far as to call on America's generals to resign rather than execute orders that "they know [...] will produce more, not less, danger to their nation". Bin Laden, he believes, is not a lonely maverick, but draws support from much of the Islamic world, which resents the US not for what it is, but for what it does - supporting Israel almost uncritically, propping up corrupt regimes in the Arab world, garrisoning troops on the Saudi peninsula near Islam's most holy sites to safeguard access to cheap oil. "America ought to do what's in America's interests, and those interests are not served by being dependent on oil in the Middle East and by giving an open hand to the Israelis," Scheuer argues. "If we're less open-handed to Israel over time we can cut down Bin Laden's ability to grow. Right now he has unlimited potential for growing." What makes these comments the more challenging to the Bush administration is that they come from a self-described conservative and instinctive Republican voter. It seems extraordinary that Scheuer's bosses allowed him to publish his book at all. They had already permitted him one book, Through Our Enemies' Eyes, written anonymously, but that was a more analytical work on Bin Laden and al-Qaida. Imperial Hubris is altogether different: a bitter polemic against orthodoxy and the powers that be. Scheuer was given the green light only on condition that he stuck to a set of ground rules: he would continue to write as Anonymous, he would not reveal his job or employer, and he would refer only to information that is already "open source" - ie in the public domain. Inevitably, however, given the controversy surrounding the book, his identity has been leaked (first by a liberal weekly, the Boston Phoenix, then this week by the New York Times). Even now, he sticks closely to his employers' guidelines, refusing formally to confirm his identity, while describing his employers vaguely as "the intelligence community". (It is for this reason that he is not permitted by the CIA to be photographed except in silhouette.) Having initially been allowed to give media interviews to promote his book, Scheuer was told earlier this month that he has to ask permission for every interview and to submit an outline of what he is going to say. So far, no interviews h ave been granted under the new guidelines. His interview with the Guardian is one of Scheuer's last before being gagged. Burly, bearded and in jeans and a loose shirt, his forceful vocabulary is a far cry from
ugnet_: Who did this rude interview with Mzee AM Obote?
Who did this interview with Mzee AM Obote? Why does the Monitor hide the identity of this rude interviewer? Thank you Dr AM Obote for, once again, coming out so clearly on these issues which are so fundamental. == Why I did not meet Museveni By Dr. Milton Obote Aug 22 - 28, 2004 What is the real story behind the recent failed meeting between you and President Museveni in Lusaka? The meeting failed and it is Museveni who wanted it that can possibly give the real story behind it had it not failed. The letter by Stephen Mila already published by The Monitor to Dev Babbar gives it clearly that it was Babbar on behalf of Museveni who wanted to arrange a meeting and who gives it clearly that Milton Obote had not consented to meeting to be held tomorrow. Since the meeting failed the real story behind it can also be seen from what the people who desperately wanted the meeting are now saying. What do you think of Musevenis gesture in agreeing to meet you?I do not know from where this question arises. It was Museveni who wanted to meet me and I did not want to meet him. Museveni later came to want to meet my emissaries and did meet three of them. I have no opinion on why he wanted to meet them. How do you know Mr Dev Babbar? Had you dealt with him before?Dev Babbar was introduced to me in 1986 by Gurdial Singh. Babbar kept on coming to my residence mostly to enquire about Gurdials condition. Gurdial has been very sick for years. Are you the one who asked to meet Museveni and if so why did you opt out at the last minute?I never asked anyone to arrange a meeting with Museveni. I would not do so because I was confident that there was nothing the UPC leaders led by Dr James Rwanyarare could not handle. Papers and documents from the UPC leaders already published by The Monitor show that it was not me who asked for a meeting. When do you plan to come back to Uganda?I have no idea what you may call plans to return home. I have said that I hope to return when Uganda is no longer ruled by a one-party cum military dictatorship. Under what circumstances do you hope to return?As stated above, it is not easy to guess when the one-party cum military dictatorship will come to an end. Do you have any specific demands that must be fulfilled before you can return? I am a politician and a citizen. I have no personal special demands. I only demand as a politician and citizen that competitive multiparty politics and elections be restored. Is it true that you are contemplating quitting politics? How soon?There is nothing I have so far experienced or experiencing that will make me quit politics. Give us a comment on the new political party in Uganda, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). The launch of the FDC is to be welcomed. Museveni is opposed to opposition Parties and the launch of FDC to join UPC, DP and CP formed many years ago but now in servitude was a defeat of Musevenism. Will UPC join the group in a merger or a coalition?Dr James Rwanyarare has already issued a statement, which I support, covering the question on the position of the UPC. Can UPC on its own manage to go into contest on one side and the merger on the other?The question is not clear to me. If by contest you mean the elections of 2006 then Dr Rwanyarares statement has covered it. Will you meet Museveni if he invites you? No. I will not. I have much foreboding in meeting the person who ordered his army to kill my father and mother to whom I was very close. Do you plan to write your memoirs? Not for the present. If President Museveni does not stand or loses the election in 2006, will you come back? My idea to return home when the one-party cum military dictatorship has ended has no relation to Museveni standing or losing as a candidate in 2006. Since you are over age now and therefore cannot stand for the presidency in Uganda, which activities would you want to be associated with on your return? Will you become a community worker, church activist, human rights crusader, environmental activist or farmer? If a farmer, what will you engage in? If you believe in the scare-crow provision that Museveni put in the Constitution, then you must also believe that Uganda presently is a dictatorship which will not change. I have no mental or physical disability and Musevenis scare-crow provision does not scare the UPC because I am not a crow and jobs for a person of my calibre and experience are not limited to the presidency and include those you have enumerated except under the Movement system. What lessons have you learnt over the 17 or so of your exile? Any lesson I have learnt will first be given to the UPC when the party is released from servitude and I can speak. What lessons has UPC as a party learnt in the 19 years its been out of power? Put the question to Dr James Rwanyarare. Any comment on the on going transition period in Uganda? There can be no meaningful transition when the rulers have not put forward the
ugnet_: Is it all about money or God's message?
NEWS They promise miracles: Is it all about money or God's message? Story by MWANGI GITHAHU Publication Date: 08/22/2004 Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Ching Ching! Ring the tills, the miracle merchants are open for business. If anybody is looking for a miracle, there are people who are ready to promise them one. For a fee, of course. They invoke the name of God, they paint vivid pictures of fire and brimstone scenarios and then they use their charisma and charm to worm their way into the hearts, minds and wallets of their followers. However, the way they get money from you is subtle. Not as subtle as the offertory in the mainstream churches where they seem to still operate on the Biblical parable of the Widow's Mite, but using all sorts of corporate gimmicks. For instance, Pastor Pius Muiru's Maximum Miracle Centre has a website which invites wellwishers to be what they call covenant partners. The detailed form gives details of a US Bank business checking account. In Kenya, churchgoers at the Maximum Miracle Centre who want to donate money are given a variety of pre-printed envelopes. One such envelope bears the legend: TESTIMONY SEED IN JESUS NAME Sh500. Another envelope encourages donors to give either a cheque or a money order payable to the Maximum Miracle Centre and leaves a space for the donor to fill out their name, address and telephone contact. It also has little boxes where the donor can tick which of the Maximum Miracle Centre's projects he wants to give to. Either a Tithe, a Thanksgiving offering, a TV and Radio offering or to finance a Crusade. According to the site, "...covenant partners are those who have answered to the call to share the vision of touching the world with the message of gods saving and healing power to the lost and suffering around the world. You can make a commitment to join with Pastor Pius in reaching the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can stand in prayer and support the ministry financial today... "It is true that every good work done will be rewarded in heaven and on earth (give and it shall come back to you) as a Covenant partner you will not only be blessed by knowing that you are a vital part in this ministry but your name will enter in the ministries prayer line. You will also receive the teaching of Pastor Pius through the monthly magazine Maximum Miracle Times and an anointed audio message. Thousands of testimonies on healing, promotion and financial break through are received every day in our offices about what God has done through giving to this fertile ground. To become a Covenant Partner you can register on-line now!" Donors are told that the money pledged is for the "support of crusades, TV and radio Ministry and the Maximum Children's Home." Weekly or monthly pledges are welcome. Other details given are a US telephone number and an e-mail address. Another aspect of the miracle merchants is their prophesying. They see themselves as latter day prophets and make prophesies, which like their promises of miracles are too vague for them to ever be pinned down on but which like horoscopes, could fit various people and apply in varying situations. ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun!
ugnet_: KINDLY LOOK FOR THESE BOOKS
Netters I want to encourage you to read as much information from the books of Noam Chowsky he is a Jew and a son of a Rabbi, the best I have loved is Class Warfare and Understanding power, they were educative books to me hope to you. I would especially encourage Matekopok, Brother Walker, Chifu Wa malindi, Professor Ayittey, Dr Val Ojjo,Fugee, C. Opoka, Lisa Toro and Kipenji to read them. If you are not able to get these books for some reason, let me know and I will see how I can help but they are important especially if you want to understand the way American democracy works. Em Toronto 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 MUST LEAVE IRAQ ASAP
Leach says U.S. needs to leave Iraq as soon as possibleBy Kristin Hoelscher .DES MOINES Instead of focusing on his campaign like other stump speakers at the Iowa State Fair this week, U.S. Rep. Jim Leach emphasized the need for the United States to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible. .Leach, who voted in 2002 against the resolution that gave President Bush the authorization to use force in Iraq, said, Sometimes force is used to establish order, but sometimes force becomes a magnet for instability, and Im afraid, with each passing week, the magnet aspect of the use of force in Iraq may be increasing. .He called the case for finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq frail and pointed to a worldwide consensus that the American-led hunt was unsuccessful. .Leach, a Davenport native who has represented parts of eastern Iowa in Congress for 28 years, believes the next step in Iraq should be a push for democratic elections in hopes of pulling out American troops by the end of the year. .My sense is that the basis for disengagement should be advancing democracy, he said. The longer we stay in Iraq, the more troublesome the circumstances will be in that country. in the United States and in other parts of the world. .While Leach supports the call for a strong military in America, he believes that muscle should be balanced with caution and restraint rather than a tendency toward intervention. .Leachs opponent in this years 2nd Congressional District election, Democrat Dave Franker, said in his speech at the fair that the heart of the race is not focused on international politics, but rather on domestic issues directly affecting southeastern Iowans. .Franker challenged many of Leachs recent political decisions, insisting he would have voted differently. .Franker called the 2003 Medicare prescription drug bill, which Leach supported, confusing and comparable to crumbs for Iowa seniors. Leach agreed that the voluntary program is confusing and imperfect, but not trivial. .The choice between food and medicine for poor Americans will disappear, Leach said. This is the first and only time that something significant has happened after almost two decades of debate on the subject. From a progressive perspective, it is not trivial. .In 2006, when the bill is fully implemented, low-income citizens will be able to obtain prescription drugs for a $1 co-payment, a benefit Leach considers absolutely extraordinary, if not revolutionary. .The program, which Leach said is structured to be most beneficial to members of the lowest income bracket, is expected to assist almost half of the underprivileged elderly residents of rural Iowa. .Franker also disagreed with the incumbents vote for the No Child Left Behind Act, which Leach said he supported because it included a 20 percent increase in funding for education. .Any opponent of mine can point out any area of federal spending and say that they would have supported more, Leach said. One of the dilemmas is, when you go to war, all the increases in spending are related to national security, externally and internally, which puts a great constraint on the capacity to do other things. .Contact the city desk at (563) 383-2245 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]. The Mulindwas Communication Group"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy" Groupe de communication Mulindwas "avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
Re: ugnet_: KINDLY LOOK FOR THESE BOOKS
Br. Mulindwa, Chomsky is very good, and often has some very useful things to say on the human condition.
ugnet_: AMERICAN DOCTORS AND ABU GHRAIB
US Doctors Tied To Iraqi Prisoner Torture, DeathFaked death certificates, report says helped design torture at Abu GhraibBy Sandro Contenta Toronto Star8-21-4 LONDON-U.S. military doctors and medics at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad were "complicit" in the torture of Iraqi detainees and faked death certificates to try and cover up homicides, says a report in a top British medical journal. The scathing analysis in The Lancet puts the spotlight on the role of medical professionals in a torture scandal that has so far focused on the abuse committed by U.S. soldiers. The report, written by University of Minnesota professor Steven Miles, says U.S. military doctors, nurses and medics at Abu Ghraib grossly violated medical ethics and international treaties on human rights. "There was a fundamental breakdown of the military medical system for these prisoners," Miles, a doctor in the university's bioethics centre, said in an interview yesterday. "The medical professionals failed to provide basic medical health care to the prisoners. And not only were they aware of human rights abuses, they were actually complicit in them." Using evidence from U.S. congressional hearings, sworn statements of detainees and soldiers, and reports from military investigators, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the media, Miles concluded that doctors were involved in the torture from the start. "The medical system collaborated with designing and implementing psychologically and physically coercive interrogations," Miles writes in this week's edition of The Lancet, regarded as a leading international journal on medical ethics. "Army officials stated that a physician and a psychiatrist helped design, approve, and monitor interrogations at Abu Ghraib." The report cites an example of a "medically monitored interrogation" where the prisoner "collapsed and was apparently unconscious after a beating. "Medical staff revived the detainee and left, and the abuse continued," the report says, citing the sworn statement of an Abu Ghraib detainee. In another instance, "a medic inserted a intravenous catheter into the corpse of a detainee who died under torture in order to create evidence that he was alive at the hospital," the report says, citing evidence from a military police officer. A U.S. military spokesperson told the Associated Press the incidents recounted by Miles came primarily from the Pentagon's own investigation. "Many of these cases remain under investigation, and charges will be brought against any individual where there is evidence of abuse," said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson. Military officials in Washington also said a high-level army inquiry will cite medical personnel who knew of abuse at Abu Ghraib but did not report it up the chain of command. The inquiry will also criticize senior U.S. commanders for a lack of leadership that allowed abuses to occur, but finds no evidence they ordered the abuse, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Photographs of U.S. soldiers torturing and humiliating prisoners at Abu Ghraib were first published in April and caused international condemnation. Miles says he has no idea how many doctors were involved in the Abu Ghraib abuse. But his report suggests medical abuse was widespread, and argues that similar failures occurred in U.S. prisons in Afghanistan. He says "death certificates of detainees in Afghanistan and Iraq were falsified" and medical investigators "routinely" attributed deaths to natural causes when proof of abuse was glaring. "In one example, soldiers tied a beaten detainee to the top of his cell door and gagged him," Miles writes, citing an Abu Ghraib case noted by New York-based Human Rights Watch. "The death certificate indicated that he died of `natural causes ... during his sleep.' After news media coverage, the Pentagon revised the certificate to say that the death was a `homicide' caused by `blunt force injuries and asphyxia.'" In an interview, Miles said he decided to investigate the role of doctors in the torture scandal because of a nagging question: "Why were the doctors quiet?
ugnet_: AMERICANS ARE COWARDS
New Najaf Fighting - 'Americans Are Cowards' Say Sadr's MenBy Michael Georgy8-21-4 NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - Fighters loyal to Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr clashed with U.S. troops in Najaf on Saturday after talks with religious authorities to end a siege at the city's holiest shrine ran into difficulties. Explosions from mortar bombs and rocket propelled-grenades echoed through the alleyways of the old city in Najaf, wrecking a day of relative calm in a two-week Shi'ite Muslim uprising that has helped drive world oil prices to record highs. Militiamen had earlier brandished weapons around the Imam Ali mosque, dampening hopes that an offer by Sadr to hand the shrine over to the clerical establishment would end the siege, the biggest challenge yet faced by Iraq's interim government. "Bring those Americans here to fight hand to hand," one of Sadr's followers said before the latest outbreak of fighting. "They are cowards. They stay thousands of feet away in their airplanes. They are scared, they know we will slaughter them," he said, biting his finger for emphasis. In nearby Kufa, where Sadr has in the past led prayers at the mosque, witnesses said U.S. forces had also clashed with militiamen on Saturday. A top Sadr aide said talks between the firebrand cleric's representatives and Iraq's top Shi'ite religious authorities were continuing with a view to handing the shrine over to the control of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Sistani, the most influential cleric in the majority Shi'ite country, is in London recovering from surgery. But the aide, Ali Smeisim, said the talks had hit a snag over a request by Sadr's side that Sistani send a delegation to perform an inventory of precious items in the mosque -- thought to include jewelry, relics and carpets -- to head off any claim that Sadr's men had stolen anything from the shrine. The Imam Ali Mosque is the holiest Shi'ite shrine in Iraq. "We were told by people in Sayyed Sistani's office that they cannot form the committee in the current circumstances. We told them that Sayyed Sistani has representatives in Najaf ... and we believe a committee can be formed," Smeisim told reporters. Sadr's aides had earlier said that his militia would continue to guard the mosque after any handover, precisely the outcome that the two-month-old government wants to prevent. "TRAITORS" In the shrine, a teenager hacked with a pick at a block of ice to help cool Sadr's fighters, who yelled slogans vilifying Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who has called on them to lay down their weapons and leave. "We are winning, we will win over Iyad Allawi and the traitors collaborating with the Americans," they chanted. Some held banners that said: "Where is the bullet that will grant me martyrdom?" Sadr's uprising has fueled fears of disruption to Iraqi oil production and has helped push crude prices to new highs. Saboteurs detonated an explosive near an oil pumping station in southern Iraq on Saturday but caused only minor damage, witnesses said. Confusion over control of the mosque swirled on Friday as the revolt, in which hundreds have died, entered its third week. The Interior Ministry said police had entered the shrine without firing a shot, a claim quickly denied by Sadr's aides. A bloodless seizure of the mosque would have been a big political victory for Allawi. Since taking over from U.S. occupiers on June 28 he has struggled to end an insurgency and the Sadr-inspired Shi'ite rebellion in eight cities. Iraq's Health Ministry said on Saturday morning that at least 21 Iraqis had been killed and five wounded in Najaf over the past 24 hours. Three people were killed in Baghdad, where U.S. troops have fought Shi'ite gunmen in the Sadr City slum. The U.S. military said insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a U.S. military vehicle in southern Baghdad on Saturday, killing one soldier and wounding two others. In a separate attack, two U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded on Friday by a roadside bomb near Samarra. The attacks brought to 711 the number of U.S. troops killed in
ugnet_: Govt To Multiply Tristar Disaster
Govt to start more factories FEW LOSSES: Information state minister Nsaba Buturo and Obel discuss By Anne Mugisa The Government is using Tri-Star Apparel industry as a pilot project from which other similar factories will be set up in different parts of the country to feed the American and other international markets. The senior Presidential Advisor on AGOA and Trade, Dr. Onegi Obel told journalists yesterday that the Government is planning to set up at least 10 such factories after the US extended AGOA to 2015. The Tri-Star plant in Bugolobi is a pilot plant because we are trying to see if we can replicate it with 10 or 15 similar factories, Obel said. Obel said Tri-Star was making losses but the losses were not increasing. He said it was unrealistic to expect Tri-Star Apparel to make profits within its initial year of operation because that never happens even in the developed countries. Obel said when Tri-Star starts using Ugandan made yarn and fabric, the factorys losses will stop. He said the Governments involvement in product ive ventures is not entirely bad as the country had been misled to believe. Ends Published on: Friday, 20th August, 2004 Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!
ugnet_: How can Tutsi and Hutu divisions be resolved?
How can Tutsi and Hutu divisions be resolved?Refugees in Gatumba camp fled fighting in DR Congo in June The massacre of over 160 Congolese Banyamulenge Tutsis in Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi has once again brought to the fore the ethnic problem in Africa's Great Lakes Region. The Burundi Hutu rebel group the National Liberation Forces (FNL) has claimed responsibility for the attack, but some commentators say evidence suggests the group was not acting alone. Fingers have been pointed at lower ranks of the Congolese army and other groups operating from inside the Democratic Republic of Congo like the Mai Mai militia and the Hutu Interahamwe, blamed for the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The UN is concerned about retaliation attacks, while Burundi and Rwanda have threatened to send troops back into DR Congo if more is not done to protect ethnic Tutsis. How do you think the long-running problem between the Tutsis and Hutus can be settled once and for all? Are Burundi and Rwanda right to say they will attack the DR Congo if attacks on Tutsis continue? What should the DR Congo government do to avert another war? What role should the UN and African Union play in all this? Let us know your views using the form on the right. A selection of your views will be broadcast on BBC Focus on Africa at 1700 GMT on Saturday 21st August 2004. The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far: The solution to Hutu-Tutsi conflict in Burundi-Congo-Rwanda is clear except that the so-called "International Community" does not want to hear it: 1) Fight impunity and bring to justice those who have committed genocide and crimes against humanity. This must be done before any "peace processes" in the region. 2) "Democracy" in that region must be must be well redefined so as to protect minorities rights otherwise minorities will always react negatively to a majority rule; for minorities "it is a fight for survival." If DR Congo or any other country for that matter continues to ignore the right to life of the Tutsi minority; there will not be peace in the region. I believe that tomorrow if Burundi or Rwanda enters Congo for the ONLY purpose of dislodging those negative forces, their actions will be justified. Rukubiranya Kirongo, Burundi/USAThe division among Hutu and Tutsi of Rwanda and Burundi can be solved by giving them equal power sharing in their government policies. The Tutsi who currently hold military power in Burundi inherited it from the colonial power and don't want to share fully with the Hutu. The Tutsi who currently hold power in Rwanda inherited from the colonial power and don't want to share with their brothers with whom they accuse of genocide. The Tutsi who claim to be Congolese are at least 3% of the population but they have more privileges in the current Congolese government compared to other tribes or ethnic groups in Congo - they have a vice-president .The massacre of Gatumba shouldn't be a pretext of invading DR Congo again.Marsmunel, Hull, UKIt is very sad that the blight of colonialism is still killing the people of the Great Lakes Region. The German and Belgian invaders shrewdly manipulated the Tutsi and Hutu with the age-old, highly effective "divide and rule" strategy. Before the invasion, Tutsi and Hutu lived side by side quite peacefully for centuries. It is too bad that people's memories do not go back that far, and all those alive today know no better. Tutsi and Hutu need to stop allowing colonialism to harm them even now 40 years after independence. It is high time they get themselves out from under that cloud, and work toward a new era of peace, stability, equality, and consequent prosperity for all.Marianne, Victoria, BC, CanadaThe 1994 atrocities continue to haunt Rwandan and Burundian societies. The international community must intervene to neutralise this volatile region. Tutsis and Hutus must work together to end hatred. What remains to be seen is the actions of the DR Congo and their proxy armies laying down their vicious weapons and ending propaganda.Mubarak Salah, London, United KingdomThe conflict between Tutsis and Hutus tears my heart apart. The solutions to this conflict lie in the hands of world leaders. They should participate with the United Nations and see to it that the term "genocide" is erased from the dictionary of humanity in the 21st Century. Organisations and governments that support perpetrators of genocide all over the world should be exposed and alienated. If this goal is achieved, then hope is restored. Humanity, lets not fail ourselves, let's join hands and preserve what is rightfully sacred, "Human Life." Ronald Mugabo, Columbus, Ohio USAAlthough I understand why Rwanda and Burundi may send troops into DR Congo, I hardly think this will solve the problem. The question of Hutus and Tutsis must be
ugnet_: WE DID NOT NEED AN OPINION POOL we knew it long time ago
If 67% oppose federo, why does Museveni negotiate? OPINION POLL ANALYSIS: By Joseph Were Aug 20, 2004 The results of a new poll should interest President Museveni, who was yesterday scheduled to lead his side into yet another meeting with the Buganda Kingdom officials. Basing on a survey of 1,800 respondents, the poll reveals that 66.5 percent of Ugandans do not want a federal system of government. Strategic Public Relations Research Limited of Nairobi conducted the national survey on opinions and attitudes of Ugandans on recent political and social developments in the country. The call for federalism, especially by Buganda, emerged as an issue in the survey done between August 1 and 5 on behalf of The Monitor. Significantly, most respondents also oppose the granting of federalism to Buganda or any other region that desires it. Only 20.9 percent said they would like federalism granted only to regions that are demanding it. Some 24.2 percent say that it should be introduced to the whole country. And 54.9 percent say that federalism should not be granted at all. The survey asked the question: Should Uganda adopt a federal system of government, yes or no? Respondents were then asked to explain why. They were also asked whether a federal system of government be given only to the regions that demand it, or the whole country, or not given at all. Supporters of federalism say it will make regions develop using their own resources, improve governance and democracy, and enhance unity in the country. Those against federalism say it will bring imbalance in development, lead to tribalism and disunity, and increase insecurity. On the face of it, therefore, the findings of the poll should leave Museveni, who was yesterday set to meet the Buganda officials for the fourth time in as many weeks, feeling comfortable. After all even Buganda local council leaders on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in his favour against the demands of their monarch. Museveni also likes to remind Buganda at every opportunity that the Constitutional Review Commission found that only 30 percent of all people who made submissions on the issue support a federal system. Buganda counters with what their katikkiro, Mr Joseph Ssemwogerere, recently told The Monitor; that Justice Benjamin Odokis Constitutional Commission of 1993 found that 95 percent of the people of Buganda and 65 percent of Ugandans wanted federalism and the Ssempebwa Commission also found that all districts of Buganda wanted to be governed under a federal system. These pro-federalism statistics are accurate but of little negotiating value for Buganda in Uganda today. Bugandas only negotiating plank is that Museveni fears to alienate them because he wants a pro-government vote in Buganda come 2006. On the face of it, therefore, although Museveni does not want to give Buganda a federal status and the country is on his side, he must appear to be giving the kingdom what it wants. Therefore, although his strong position allows him to secure a quick agreement with Buganda officials, Museveni also recognises that such an agreement is byoya byanswa or a puff of hot air, unless it delivers the Buganda vote. Without support in the northern region and his western bloc vote being clawed at by the opposition, Museveni needs the central vote to add to the eastern one to be assured of a win for his side in 2006. His strategy, apparently, is that although his interface with Mengo cannot deliver a quality deal, the number of meetings it takes to be reached must be the quantitative measure of its success. Critics say that is the reason Museveni continues to call for more meetings with the kingdom officials over issues that could have been resolved at one sitting. But supporters say Musevenis continued presence at the negotiating table signifies his determination to settle what many now consider the ancient question of the relationship between the kingdom and the republic. Consider this: the most significant development in the current quest for a federal status has been the Kabakas leaving his throne to trudge the village paths with a clarion call for a restoration of Bugandas mighty past. Since the erstwhile mild Kabaka Mutebi began to roar, it has emerged that he wants the federal arrangement secured by Buganda monarchists under Ugandas first post-independence constitution of 1962
ugnet_: AL QAEDA DOES NOT EXIST AND NEVER HAS
08/19/2004 13:31 The basic truth is that Al Qaeda does not exist and never has. Al Qaeda is a manufactured enemy who was created by the Bush Administration in order to have an excuse to wage a war for the control of the world"s oil resources. Did an American even hear the words "Al Qaeda" before 9-11? Or were we told that its alleged leader Osama Bin Laden has family who themselves have personal business relationships with George W. Bush"s family and that both families had financially profited considerably from the "War on Terror"? If "Al Qaeda" was such an organized group terrorists as we are being told then why weren"t we the people notified of this evil threat when the US Cole was bombed a few months before 9-11? "Al Qaeda" is nothing more than a broad euphemistic umbrella classification used to group any Middle Eastern fighter under the Sun as an enemy. The most diabolical aspect of this public relations stunt is that it enables the current Administration to label any group it feels necessary to attack to appear to be related to an unprovable organized enemy while at the same time actually increasing its approval ratings by exploiting the basic primal fears of the American public. Furthermore when one realizes the questionable motivations that this Administration has used previously to attack an enemy, as what is now surfacing about the Iraq War, one begins to get the strange feeling that this Orwellian double-speak is nothing more than a smoke and mirror illusion whose true intentions would of made Goebbels himself jealous. Think about it: How could a bunch of technologically unadvanced group of people from third-world nations such as "Al Qaeda" ever have any real central organization structure? If they had any real organization they would have most certainly attacked us again after September eleventh. Where are all the terrorist cells in this country? Contrary to what has been implicitly presented in the media there HAS NEVER been a single domestic terror cell caught since Bush has been in office! The majority of suspects that have been arrested and detained in the immediate aftermath of 9-11 with the exception of a handful have not been charged with crimes in anyway associated with terrorism. All of their crimes are minor and for the most part are ! related to immigration violations of some sort. There is some ambiguity in all of this though because to this day the Ashcroft Justice Department has been less than forthcoming with the specifics of these arrests. Why would this be the case if the justifications for these arrests were really legitimate? We have been bombarded by the media with every indignity from the duck-tape chronicles to the crop dusting threat. You would think that with all this seeming sensitivity by our government about informing the general populace about possible terror threats, especially when some of their sources came from "unnamed and confidential secondary sources", that the Ashcroft Justice Department would have gone out of it"s way to mention to the public any terrorist connections that the people detained after 9-11 had and would of sworn by it on a stack of Bibles. To date the only really suspicious activity of people detained after 9-11 were a group of Israelis who were caught in Jersey City, New Jersey filming themselves in the foreground of the burning World Trade Center with "looks of jubilation on their faces". It was later confirmed that two of the gentlemen detained had known Mossad ties. While they were detained it is of no matter now as they were subsequently released from jail a few! weeks later and were allowed to go back to Israel with no questions asked by the direct authorization of the Justice Department. I guess they were just dropping off a box of cigars to Governor McGreevy? What is even more illuminating about all of this is that to this day nobody has taken responsibility for the attacks of 9-11, including "Al Qaeda". The only thing to link these attacks to anyone is the video tape of Osama Bin Laden that was conveniently found in a cave in Afghanistan that had him talking about the physical structure of the World Trade Center and the plane strike. The audio quality of this tape is so poor that any objective Arab-speaking analyst who was asked to give their opinion was unable to do so! as they claimed that just about all the words on it were inaudible. I believe an objective investigation into this original tape"s authenticity could verify if this admission is in fact genuine and could shed some light on the truth of the existence of "Al Qaeda". But even if this tape is genuine what would this really prove? As I have already mentioned it is common knowledge that Osama Bin Laden is connected to George W. Bush"s family by a minimum of two degrees of separation. So in the grand scheme of things what does this really matter? That the Cobra Commander said he did it? In summary, "Al Qaeda"
ugnet_: Is Buganda bribing Museveni now?
New Vision Aug. 20, 2004 3rd term campaign gets sh1b By Charles Kazooba PRINCE Kimbugwe Foundation has pledged sh1b to facilitate President Yoweri Musevenis third term campaign. The director of the Foundation, Edward Kimbugwe, told the press on Monday that the money would be used to design campaign posters for the President. We have started mobilising the funds internally. There are several other tycoons injecting in money, he said. Prince Kimbugwe Foundation has a network of branches throughout the country. If we have managed to care for over 28,000 orphans, we can afford to contribute significantly to kisanja (third term) We want Museveni to come back in 2006. For the start, Museveni should be assured of 60,000 votes from us (royals), Kimbugwe said. He said some of the funds would come from their farm, which he said was the best in Africa and the third in the world. Kimbugwe threatened to sue Museveni, should he decline to contest in the 2006 elections. I will drag him to the Constitutional Court. He should respect our request, he said. Ends Published on: Friday, 20th August, 2004
