Saturday, March 19, 2005

SEAWEED FARMERS


By Daniel Dickinson BBC News, Pemba, Tanzania
Fatima Hamidi is one of Tanzania's new seaweed farmers.

Seaweed is used in cosmetics, cheese, fertilizer and shampoo. Cultivating her new crop at Vumawimbi beach on the northern tip of Pemba island, Fatima hopes it will supplement the meagre income she earns from other sources. "We don't yet know how successful it will be as we have not sold any yet," says Fatima. "But we think it will help us to earn a little money, which we can invest in other small businesses. We are not rich, sometimes we don't even have the money to buy enough food, so selling seaweed will help." Fatima is one of an estimated 5,000 farmers who are cultivating seaweed on the small island of Pemba.
All along the Tanzanian coast and around its many islands, other farmers are doing the same.
They are meeting a worldwide demand for seaweed, which is being used as an ingredient in everything from cosmetics to cheeses, and fertilizers to shampoos.

ON THIS DAY


BRITAIN TRANSPORTED THE FIRST SHIPMENT OF
CONVICTS, ON THIS DAY, TO AUSTRALIA IN 1788.

PUNISHED


MEN ARE NOT PUNISHED FOR THEIR SINS ~ BUT BY THEM !

FEELING FARM ANIMALS.


Farm Animals 'need emotional TLC'
By Julianna Kettlewell BBC News science reporter

Cows enjoy solving problems, according to researchersFarm animals have feelings which should be respected and catered for, academics at a London, UK, meeting have said. They believe animals should not be dismissed as simple automatons - cows take pleasure in solving problems and sheep can form deep friendships. Delegates from around the globe were speaking at the Compassion in World Farming Trust (CIWF Trust) conference. They shared ways of exploring the minds of animals, as well as monitoring their suffering and alleviating their pain.
We have to understand we are not the only beings on this planet with personalities and minds
Jane Goodall"The study of animal sentience is one of the most exciting and important in the whole of biology," said Professor Marian Dawkins, of Oxford University. "My plea is that, when we make decisions and regulations about animals and campaign for them, the animals' voices should be heard and heard strongly." For whatever reasons, we humans tend to draw a charmed ring around ourselves - we suppose we are the only ones that think thoughts and feel feelings. We are happy to ascribe emotions to a tiny flailing inarticulate baby, while denying them in a sheep or even a chimpanzee. Talk of animal sentience is often brushed off as fluffy and sentimental - not the stuff of science or the real world. But perhaps we have been too hasty in our dismissal - perhaps consciousness does not peer through our eyes alone.
Farm animals are more productive if they are treated well"They are not unfeeling objects," said Professor Marc Bekoff, of the University of Colorado, US. "And what animals feel matters very much as they try to negotiate their lives in a human-dominated and often abusive world, in which they are mere pawns in our incessant and obsessive attempts to control their lives for our and not their benefit. "I am incredulous that some sceptics actually question whether animals feel anything."
Now there is a growing weight of evidence to suggest animal minds probably do house emotions quite similar to our own. Professor Donald Broom, from Cambridge University, studies the behaviour of cows. His team put them in a special pen which had a lever that, when pressed, would release the cows into a field with lots of delicious food rewards. Non-human animals probably feel emotions like fear and anger. The researchers found that when the cows finally "clicked" and worked out how to press the lever to reach the food, they showed signs of delight.
"When they learnt it they showed an excitement response," Professor Broom told the BBC. "Their heart rates increased and they were more likely to jump and gallop when they went down towards the food.
"It was as if the animals were saying 'Eureka! I've found out how to solve the problem'."
He continued: "We need to have a certain amount of respect for these animals, and I think most people have more respect for an animal if they feel it's aware of what's going on."
Being kind to farm animals isn't just a moral duty - according to the CIWF Trust delegates; there is something in it for us, too. Cows, for example, produce significantly more milk if their handlers talk to them gently rather than shouting and pushing them around.
"The handlers don't have to be really mean and hit the cows," said Edmund Pajor of Purdue University, US. "It's just a slap on the rump in the way that many farmers would. But the cows don't like it and it makes a real difference. Talk about animals' feelings is often brushed off as fluffy and sentimental"It helps send a message about treating animals in a proper way. A number of dairy farms now have signs up saying 'please don't shout at the cows'."
The famous chimpanzee expert Jane Goodall, in her opening speech at the conference, said we needed to re-define the way we viewed animals, both tame and wild. Dr Goodall, 71, who has spent 45 years studying chimps in Africa, told the CIWF Trust delegates that humans and chimps were strikingly similar - that both shared a capacity for barbarity but were also capable of great altruism. She described how she had seen chimps come to the aid of others who had been frightened, orphaned or injured, demonstrating "a care and compassion indistinguishable from our own". She said: "We have to understand we are not the only beings on this planet with personalities and minds."

Friday, March 18, 2005

TERROR WATCH


Web to have 'terror watch' team.

Sharing information about terror suspects could get easier. Five European governments are setting up a hi-tech team to monitor how terrorists and criminals use the net. The group will make recommendations on shutting down websites that break terrorism laws. The plans for the initiative came out of a meeting of the G5 interior ministers in Spain that discussed ways to tackle these threats. The five countries also agreed to make it easier to swap data about terror suspects and thefts of explosives. The interior ministers of Spain, Britain, France, Germany and Italy - the G5 - met in Granada this week for an anti-terrorism summit.
To combat terrorism the ministers agreed to make it easier for police forces in their respective states to share data about suspects connected to international terror groups. Information shared could also involve intelligence about money laundering, the forgery of identity papers, stolen cars, DNA data, missing persons and unidentified corpses. Part of this anti-terror work will involve the creation of the technical team that will keep an eye on how organised crime groups and terrorists make of the web. Many criminals have moved many well-known crimes to the web because the returns are so good and the chance of being detected is still relatively low.
The group is also likely to make recommendations on shutting down websites that contravene laws on inciting acts of terror. Although the meeting of the G5 is informal and any decisions they make are not binding, the summits do tend to set the tone for future policy decisions.

ZIMBABWE'S CHILDREN.


Zimbabwe freeze 'hurts children',

Zimbabwe's children have the highest mortality rate, says Unicef. The head of Unicef has criticised international donors who cut off aid to Zimbabwe to punish President Mugabe.
Carol Bellamy says Zimbabwe's children suffer the most from attempts to send signals to the Mugabe government. One child dies every 15 minutes from an Aids-related illness in a country that has seen the sharpest rise in child mortality, the Unicef head said.
But two leading donors - the United States and the World Bank - have disputed the accusation.
Unicef says one child in eight dies before the age of five in Zimbabwe - a rise of 50% since 1990, mostly due to the HIV/Aids crisis.
Zimbabwe receives an average of just $4 per HIV-infected person compared with $74 elsewhere, Ms Bellamy told reporters in Johannesburg on her last tour of Africa as head of Unicef.

ON THIS DAY


THE FIRST WIRE SUSPENSION BRIDGE WAS BUILT, ON
THIS DAY, BY FRENCH ENGINEER MARC SEGUIN IN 1825.

REPUTATION

THE REPUTATION OF A THOUSAND YEARS
MAY BE DETERMINED BY THE CONDUCT
OF ONE HOUR.

KENYA ELEPHANTS

By Ishbel Matheson BBC News, Northern Kenya.
A wild bull elephant strolls across the Kenyan countryside, ears flapping, oblivious to conservationist Ian Craig, creeping up behind him, gun poised. The SIM card is fitted after the elephant has been sedated. This is no ordinary hunt. The gun is not loaded with bullets, but tranquilliser darts. Mr Craig and his fellow conservationists hope to keep a track on the elephants in the Samburu National Park in northern Kenya, by using mobile phones, so they can send SMS messages giving their latest location. The dart hits home, and startled, the elephant careers off. But within minutes, the 20-year-old jumbo is lying on its side, snoring deeply.
A team of wildlife scouts dashes out of the jeep, carrying screws, hammers, measuring tape - and something that looks like a huge dog collar.
The tranquilliser lasts only a few minutes. So in a frantic operation, they heave the collar under the elephant's neck. On the front of the collar, is a box containing a tiny chip which could help to unravel the mystery of where Africa's elephants roam. An elephant going close to a farm, could send a text message, saying: 'I'm about to invade your farm' David GachucheSoftware engineer The chip contains a SIM card "which enables us to follow the movements of the elephants on a minute-by-minute basis," says Ian Craig of Lewa Wildlife Conservancy Trust. A few miles away, at a research station, elephant expert Iain Douglas-Hamilton and software engineer David Gachuche pore over a laptop screen. A map of Samburu flashes up, with dozens of tiny dots marked. Each dot represents the position of a "collared" elephant. Every hour, the SIM card sends a text with the elephant's location. Over months, entire migration routes are being discovered. "It's important for us to learn about elephant movements, because their situation is pretty precarious," says Mr Douglas-Hamilton of Save the Elephants, a Kenya-based research organisation.
"They are an animal with great demands and needs. And they're actually living with another animal with even greater demands, and that's the human species." Before the 1989 international ban on the ivory trade, the Kenyan elephant was on the verge of extinction. The country's herds were cut from 167,000 in 1973, to 16,000 in 1989. Now, conservationists know exactly where the elephants are. Since then, Kenya's elephant population has steadily recovered. But bigger herds increase the potential for conflict with the local, human population. By mapping precise movements, the jumbos' "right-of-way" through the bush can be established.
"I'm really surprised by the variation of elephant range. Some stay in an area of 10 square kilometres. There are others who will range over 500 square kilometres," Mr Douglas Hamilton says.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

ON THIS DAY


THE 3.5-MILLION-YEAR-OLD HUMAN FOOTPRINTS
WERE DISCOVERED IN TANZANIA, ON THIS DAY, IN 1978.

GOODNESS

GOODNESS IS THE ONLY INVESTMENT
THAT NEVER FAILS.

RELIEF FROM DROUGHT.

Thai King aims high over Drought

Thailand's agricultural industry has been hard hit by the drought.
Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej is to oversee personally an artificial rain-making project in a bid to end a severe drought in the country. He is expanding a cloud-seeding technique he patented in 2002, which involves aircraft releasing a chemical into clouds to induce rainfall. He suggested the idea as most of Thailand's 76 provinces face their worst drought for several years. An additional 17 aircraft have been drafted in for the scheme. It has also been expanded from 10 to 22 bases across the country.
"The king has set up a centre for rain-making at Hua Hin [his seaside residence] and will personally command the centre to help alleviate drought," Deputy Agriculture Minister Newin Chidchob told the AFP news agency.

ORANG-UTAN BIRTH


Baby joy for rescued orang-utan

Hsiao-Quai gave birth on Tuesday. An orang-utan saved from an amusement park in Taiwan has given birth at a Dorset ape rescue centre. Mother Hsiao-Quai, 11, gave birth on Tuesday at Monkey World in Wool. Keepers were worried if she would know how to take care of the baby, as she was orphaned at a young age when her parents were shot by poachers. But the centre's owner Alison Cronin said: "She has been attentive from the moment he was born. She cleaned him up and has cuddled him and kept him warm."
We are just so pleased about something positive coming out of all this tragedy Alison CroninThe apes are one of the world's most endangered species, with biologists estimating they could become extinct in the wild within the next 20 years.
The baby's father, 16-year-old Tuan, was also rescued from Taiwan.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

AUGUSTO PINOCHET


Pinochet 'stowed $13m in banks'.

The general's financial dealings are coming under further scrutiny. The former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet stowed away more than $13m (£6.8m) in 125 bank accounts, according to a US Senate investigation. It found a range of top banks helped Gen Pinochet hide his funds or broke regulations over his accounts. Bank officials say the accounts were opened under false names and have vowed to co-operate with investigators. Gen Pinochet's military regime killed and tortured thousands of political prisoners in the 1970s and 1980s. He is also being investigated in Chile over allegations of human rights abuses and embezzlement of state funds.
The senate investigation revealed Gen Pinochet and his family members used scores of bank accounts to hide and launder funds over the course of at least 25 years. It found some of the banks allowed the general to use assumed names on accounts, arranged international wire transfers and set up offshore companies. Among the institutions named in the report are Bank of America, Coutts, Riggs Bank and the world's largest financial services group, Citigroup. "Some banks actively helped him hide his funds, others failed to comply with US regulations requiring banks to know their customers," Democrat Senator Carl Levin said.
All of the accounts have since been closed.

ON THIS DAY


THE FIRST F.A. CUP FINAL TOOK PLACE, ON THIS DAY,
IN 1872 : WANDERERS 1 - 0 ROYAL ENGINEERS.

VALUE


TRY NOT TO BECOME A MAN OF SUCCESS,
BUT RATHER TRY TO BECOME A MAN OF VALUE.

BLOG AWARDS

'Best blogs on the web' honoured

Boing Boing won the coveted overall best blog prize. The best of the web's blogs - online diaries or websites where people publish their thoughts - have been recognised in the annual Bloggies.
Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things took the top overall blog prize.
The prize for the best British blog and the lifetime achievement award went to plasticBag.org, a site dedicated to musings about people and new media.
The winners from 30 categories were announced at the SXSW Interactive Festival in Texas, US.

CRASH


The rise and fall of the Nile Perch
By Alexis Masciarelli BBC News, Kisumu

Karen can only afford leftovers. Karen Onyango is waiting by a not very well refrigerated truck near the Kenyan lakeside town of Kisumu for leftover scraps of fish. Her face is being splashed by bits of head, bones, tails and sometimes a little bit of pink flesh as well. This morning, she is buying 200 pieces of Nile Perch leftovers to fill her handcart. All of this comes from one of the three fish processing factories operating in Kisumu. The introduction of the Nile Perch to Lake Victoria some 50 years ago was controversial and fearsthat the lake's indigenous species would suffer have been proved right.
It did, however, lead to an economic boom - but over-fishing has since lead to a crash.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

LUCY'S ELECTION BLOG.


Harare election blog: Food fears
In the run-up to Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections on 31 March, 22-year-old receptionist Lucy Gomo (not her real name) is keeping a diary about life in Harare. Tuesday 15 March
A huge rain storm on Saturday has brought some relief to us in the Harare heat. I was shocked to see three guys walking outside my office wearing T-shirts showing an open palm - the symbol of the opposition But water has been a source of complaint, as most homes in the low-density areas of the capital were without water for three days last week. My cousin, who lives in these northern suburbs, says it's quite common for the water to be cut off there. Meanwhile, rumours about maize meal, sugar and cooking oil shortages are making people jittery, especially those with large families. The police have been checking garages to make sure petrol - which costs about $3,600 Zimbabwean dollars (70 US cents) a litre - is not being hoarded. I've not seen any evidence of fuel shortages so far: there are long queues each morning as I wait to catch my buses to work - but this has always been the case. There never seems to be enough transport.
Yesterday I was shocked to see three guys walking outside my office wearing opposition white, red and black T-shirts showing an open palm - the symbol for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). They didn't seem worried about wearing them at all, but it's unusual to see people casually supporting the opposition unless they're gathered in numbers at a political meeting.
There are reports of many Zanu-PF rallies outside the capital. On the other hand, ruling party supporters - usually young men - go about their business around town wearing white T-shirts with black Zanu-PF slogans slashed across them. I usually see them when I pop into the town centre as I did over the weekend to check my emails at an internet café where I have an account. It costs Z$250 (5 US cents) a minute to log on - and the café was packed, with most of the 50 computers being used. I've heard there are political meetings for both Zanu-PF and MDC going on and the state-run Herald newspaper says there have been plenty of Zanu-PF rallies outside Harare - some taking place in schools - where large donations are given.
A friend of mine phoned to say she'd tracked down a cleaning product similar to the one I usually use - which I had been fruitlessly searching for - in a shopping centre near where she works. So instead of going to church this Sunday, I spent the day washing, ironing... and cleaning the stove.

RADIO JAMMED

Zimbabwe private radio 'jammed'.

Parliamentary elections are due to take place on 31 March.
SW Radio Africa, a private radio station broadcasting to Zimbabwe, said its broadcasts from the UK were being jammed by the government. Listeners in Zimbabwe have not been able to receive the station for a week, station founder Gerry Jackson said. "Our communications provider said they have rarely experienced such efficient jamming," she added. The government denies the accusations, a state run newspaper reports. Only state-controlled media are allowed to broadcast in Zimbabwe. Ms Jackson set up a radio station in Harare in 2000 but it was immediately closed down by the police.

REMEDIES

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE SAID IN "ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL"

"OUR REMEDIES OFT IN OURSELVES DO LIE"

EUROPA

Europe tells US: 'Come to Europa'
By Jonathan Amos BBC News science reporter

Europa may have oceans and micro-organisms under its ice. The next big co-operative European-US space mission will be to Europa, the ice-crusted moon of Jupiter. A joint working team is being set up to consider what sort of spacecraft would be needed and what each side could do.
Officials in Washington and Paris are keen to follow up the spectacular success of Cassini-Huygens at Saturn. "It was a beautiful marriage and we really are looking to do a repeat," said Professor David Southwood, from the European Space Agency (Esa). Southwood told the BBC News website that "Europe could do Europa on its own", but that a cooperative venture was extremely attractive. It's a natural for the next big international collaboration in space.
Prof Fred Taylor, Oxford UniversityMany scientists agree that Europa is now a high priority target for a major mission. The moon, discovered by Galileo, is slightly smaller than the Earth's Moon. Its covering of white and brownish-tinted ice is riven with cracks that are probably the result of stressing caused by the contorting tidal effects of Jupiter's strong gravity.
Researchers speculate that tidal heating may even have produced vast oceans of water under the ice sheet and that this environment could harbour micro-organisms.

Monday, March 14, 2005

ELEPHANTS DIE FOR CHINA

SUDAN IS 'CENTRE OF IVORY TRADE'.

Africa is currently home to an estimated 400,000 to 660,000 elephants. Thousands of elephants are being killed in central Africa to supply an illegal ivory market in Sudan, a report says.
Dr Esmond Martin, who led the research, said three-quarters of the poached ivory ends up in China - now the major market in the world for ivory. He said he has visited 50 shops in Khartoum and Omdurman where ivory is being illegally bought and sold. He says the trade in ivory is being openly conducted and threatens the very survival of the elephant in Africa. Dr Martin, who released the report on behalf of Care for the Wild International, said some 150 people are working in Khartoum, carving the ivory. He says he counted more than 11,000 ivory pieces on sale, even though the trade is against Sudanese law. "All the Sudanese need to do is enforce their own laws," He said.

Some 75% of the ivory is bought by Chinese customers, many of whom are working in Sudan in the oil industry.

"They are not buying small quantities, they are buying huge quantities to take back home," he said. According to Dr Martin, the elephants are being killed in their thousands in central Africa, principally in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Chad and southern Sudan. To supply the market for illegal ivory in China and the Far East it is estimated that 6-12,000 elephants are killed each year. It is not known what percentage passes through Khartoum but Dr Martin says it is significant.
THIS MUST BE STOPPED - PLEASE!

PROVOCATION





Taiwan blasts China 'provocation'.

China's leaders fear Taiwan could formally declare independence. Taiwan has condemned a new Chinese law giving Beijing the legal right to use force against the island if it moves towards declaring formal independence. Such "serious provocation" gravely affects regional security, said Joseph Wu, chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council. The White House said the adoption of the new law was "unfortunate". China sees Taiwan as its territory and says it reserves the right to use force if "peaceful reunification" fails.
The new law was passed in the final session of the Chinese parliament's annual National People's Congress by a margin of 2,896 to zero, with two abstentions. The Congress broke into applause at the passage of the so-called anti-secession law which allows for the use of "non-peaceful and other necessary measures".

ON THIS DAY


"THE MIKADO" BY GILBERT AND SULLIVAN OPENED AT
THE SAVOY THEATRE IN LONDON ON THIS DAY IN 1885.

CHARACTER

CHARACTER IS DOING THE RIGHT THING,
WHEN NOBODY'S LOOKING.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

ON THIS DAY

MICHELANGELO FINISHED PAINTING, ON THIS DAY,
THE CEILING OF ROME'S SISTINE CHAPEL IN 1512,

TYPING ERROR.

Typing error causes nuclear scare.

Sudan thought it had been used as a test site...

The Sudanese government had a nasty shock this week, when it read on a US Congress website that the Americans had conducted nuclear tests in the country. A House of Representatives committee report mentioned tests conducted in Sudan between 1962 and 1970. However, when alarmed Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail raised it with US officials in Khartoum, it turned out to be a typing error. The report should have said Sedan, a test site in the US state of Nevada. "There is nothing that makes us so far doubt the explanations we have received from the US Administration," said Mr Ismail.

... but the Americans actually did their testing in Nevada. He said he was very relieved to find that it was a simple error. "Our first concern of course was for the people of Sudan," he said. The American embassy in Khartoum issued a statement confirming that the US had never conducted nuclear tests in Sudan.

NO WRONG


LOVE ALL,
TRUST A FEW,
DO WRONG TO NONE.

Rodents in High Places


'Ghosts' scare off Malawi leader.

Footsteps and other strange noises reportedly disturbed MutharikaGhosts - some taking the form of rodents - have forced the president of Malawi to move out of his state mansion, officials have said. Bingu wa Mutharika has been sleeping away from the 300-room building in the capital, Lilongwe, and only comes there to work during the day, an aide said. Christian clergy have been asked to help exorcise the "evil spirits" there. Controversy has raged over the costly palace which housed parliament until Mr Mutharika's election last year.
"The president is no longer staying there and we have asked clerics from several Christian churches... to pray for the New State House to exorcise evil spirits," said Malani Mtonga, the presidential aide for religious affairs. Another aide who did not want to be named told the Associated Press: "Sometimes the president feels rodents crawling all over his body but when lights are turned on he sees nothing." Mr Mutharika is believed to be staying temporarily at another palace in Mtunthama, about 100km (60 miles) from Lilongwe.
Critics have accused him of going back on election promises to trim government spending in the impoverished state. MPs are having to rent a venue for when parliament reconvenes at the end of March, after a gap of six months. At one stage, it appeared they might have to meet in a sports stadium and parliamentary committees have met in a motel. The president justified his decision to evict parliament by arguing that the New State House had originally been built as a presidential residence.
Kamuzu Banda, Malawi's founding president, spent only 90 days in the palace which took 20 years to build and cost $100m. With its 300 air-conditioned rooms, it is set in 555 hectares (1,332 acres) of land outside the capital. When Bakili Muluzi, Mr Mutharika's predecessor, came to power in 1994 he refused to live there, condemning its "obscene opulence".
Instead, he used the Sanjika Palace in Malawi's commercial capital, Blantyre.

Saturday, March 12, 2005

WISDOM

WISDOM IS KNOWING WHAT TO DO NEXT ~ VIRTUE IS DOING IT!.

S.A. COURT BANS BLOCKADE


SA court bans Zimbabwe blockade

Cosatu is a vocal critic of human rights abuses in ZimbabweSouth Africa's High Court has upheld a police ban on a blockade of its border with Zimbabwe by trade unionists. It said South African Cosatu members calling for democratic reforms in Zimbabwe could protest but must remain at least 200m from the border post. The court eased police restrictions on the number of people picketing, increasing it from 200 to 500. Three border protests are planned, set to finish with an all-night vigil on the eve of Zimbabwe's 31 March poll. Cosatu is an ally of South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC), but unlike the government, has been a vocal critic of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. 'Free and fair' A Cosatu organiser said at least 200 people had turned up at the border at Beit Bridge carrying placards with slogans such as: "All in solidarity of the Zimbabwean people".
"More are still coming. We expect 500 protesters here. We are standing 200m from the border," Cosatu's Jan Tsiane told the South African Press Association. Police have warned protesters they will be arrested if they attempt to stop traffic passing over the border. "This not a precedent. We will be continuing our programme of action," Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven told AFP news agency after the ruling. On Wednesday, a group of Cosatu members protested outside the Zimbabwean High Commission in Pretoria against human rights abuses. In the last five months, Cosatu delegations on an election "fact-finding" missions have twice been deported from Zimbabwe. South Africa is seen as the key player in attempts to resolve Zimbabwe's problems, and some have called for it to stop supplying subsidised electricity to put pressure on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
Last week, South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki said he thought the elections would be free and fair. Mr Mugabe has promised that the 31 March parliamentary elections would be held according to new regional guidelines to ensure full transparency. But the opposition says the few changes which have been made are "superficial", while police harassment continues.

Friday, March 11, 2005

U.K. TERROR BILL.


The U.K. Terror Bill Passed.

Mr Blair says the new bill would allay 'genuine concerns'. The marathon debate over the anti-terror bill has finally ended after more than 30 hours with the Government's bill being passed.
The end to the stalemate came after the Tories accepted a compromise offered by Prime Minister Tony Blair. His promise to allow MPs to review the bill in a year's time succeeded, although the Conservatives claimed it as their victory.
The Bill prompted the third longest recorded sitting of the House of Lords.

DEMOCRACY AT WORK ?


Clarke urges peers to give way.

U.K. Home Secretary Charles Clarke has urged peers to give way over anti-terror laws following all-night sittings in both Houses of Parliament.
He accused Lords of having a "stick in the mud response" to measures that would "prevent terrorism". MPs and peers are locked in battle over plans to limit the life of the bill and to raise the standard of proof before restrictions can be placed on suspects.
Tory Dominic Grieve told Mr Clarke peers would not budge. Tory leader Michael Howard told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the parliamentary battle would "take as long as it takes".

RULES

THERE ARE NO RULES OF ARCHITECTURE
FOR A CASTLE IN THE CLOUDS.

ZIMBABWE ELECTION BLOG

Harare election blog I: Invisible poll
In the run-up to Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections on 31 March, 22-year-old receptionist Lucy Gomo (not her real name) is keeping a diary about life in Harare.
Wednesday 9 March.

Election campaigning here in Harare is surprisingly quiet at the moment. There has been little campaigning in the capital. There are just a few posters up around town, but people just don't seem interested. Politics is not discussed among my colleagues at work, on the commuter buses or among my friends. The only real sign of campaigning I've seen was last weekend when I travelled to Kwekwe (180km south-west of Harare). There I saw some people singing and wearing T-shirts supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Thursday, March 10, 2005

ON THIS DAY

Graham Bell made, on this day, his historic
telephone call to Thomas Watson in 1876.

BROKEN


WHEN PATTERNS ARE BROKEN - NEW WORLDS EMERGE.

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

BELIEVE

PEOPLE MAY DOUBT WHAT YOU SAY,
BUT THEY WILL BELIEVE WHAT YOU DO.

CHINA ONLINE.

China's tight rein on online growth
By Mark Ward Technology Correspondent, BBC News website

The net is taking off in China. In less than 10 years China has gone from a net newcomer to the country with the world's second-largest online population. The first international internet data from China started travelling across the net in 1994, yet now the country has more than 100m net users. That puts its second only to the US with its 185m web users. But China looks set to pass that within a few years - especially when you consider that China's net users represent barely 8% of its population. If Chinese net use grows to the levels seen in many Western nations, it could end up with 750m people regularly going online. But currently the experience of the average Chinese net user differs greatly from that of many in the West.
Part of the net's allure to Western users is the sense of freedom it gives them to look at, read, and say almost anything they want. By contrast, Chinese net use is much more circumscribed.
Much has been made of the so-called Great Firewall of China that censors what people see using technology built in to the country's basic net infrastructure. The Chinese authorities have used several methods to "sanitise" what people see online, according to a report from US firm Dynamic Internet Technologies, which watches net use in the country. On the most basic level, the firewall blocks net addresses hosting webpages that the authorities would rather people did not see. Anyone trying to visit these pages gets told that the page cannot be found or does not exist.
Surveillance is much easier in cyberspace than in the real world - Julien Pain, Reporters Without Borders.
More sophisticated firewall technology spots when people are searching the web for particular words and hijacks their session to stop them getting the information. Also China has changed its core net address books, known as Domain Name Servers, which tell a user's computer where to find a particular webpage on the net. The sites blocked by these techniques include the many dealing with taboo subjects such as Tibet and Falun Gong as well as the BBC News website, search engine Google, sex sites such as Playboy and many blogs. There is also an entire department of the police force that patrols online. But despite the sophistication of these technologies, they are not infallible. To begin with, blocking an entire net address can stop people getting at all the information on a webpage, some of which might be relatively neutral.
Many Chinese people use net cafes because PCs are costlyNumerous reports show that many of China's net users know how to get around these restrictions. The web addresses of proxies, that help users see banned pages, are well known. Many activist organisations in the West help pass on the addresses of these pages and set up new ones when old ones are shut down. Equally there are programs produced by firm such as Dynaweb and Ultrareach that let people see banned sites and get e-mail from overseas.
The technology also has some embarrassing holes.
For instance a version of the Google website called Elgoog (Google spelled backwards) that accepts queries also written backwards apparently slips through the firewall. But what does make a difference is the responsibilities the Chinese authorities heap upon native net service firms, said Xiao Qiang, head of the China internet project at the University of California Berkeley and a contributor to the China Digital News blog. "The government makes every digital enterprise, online hosting service and commercial portal accountable for what they publish," he said. "If they don't, they won't be able to do business in China." This stands in contrast to many Western nations which regard net service firms as common carriers, which like postal services, are not responsible for what customers do. Net cafes have to abide by a strict series of guidelines that govern where they can be sited, what services they can offer and how they must monitor what customers do. Those that do not comply are shut down. In 2004, more than 47,000 net cafes were shut for breaking these laws. This leads to a lot of self-censorship and a willingness by private firms to co-operate with government monitoring of what people do online, said Julien Pain, head of the internet freedom desk at Reporters Without Borders.
Surveillance is easy via the net warn activists "The intention is to clear the web of subversive material," he said. T he monitoring of comments posted in chat rooms and on bulletin boards is quite aggressive, said Mr Pain. Now, he said, thanks to automatic censoring systems undesirable postings only last a few minutes. Less than 18 months ago, such posts would survive for up to 30 minutes, he said. The consequences of posting subversive information, be it about Tibet, Falun Gong, or even Sars can be severe. This week Amnesty International released a report that highlighted the number of people imprisoned for championing human rights in China. Many were jailed for posting information online. Currently 54 people are thought to be in jail because they were judged to distributed "illegal" information via the net. Many activists used to think that the more people that were online the harder it would be to censor, said Mr Pain.
But, by contrast, censorship of political debate in China seems to be getting more effective.
"We are talking about software that's really efficient," he said, "and when you have 100 million or 200 million people it does not make any difference." The resources that the Chinese government puts in to monitoring dwarfs the efforts of the activist groups working to combat it.
Said Mr Pain: "Surveillance is much easier in cyberspace than in the real world."

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Extinction





Is Nelly the ellie heading for an elephants' graveyard?
Surely there's room on the planet for both of us.

Cathy's letter from Zimbabwe

Dear Family and Friends,
"Everyone here is sket, coz last time they chaya'd us all." This little sentence said to me by a local shop worker, says it all for the atmosphere in Marondera just 26 days before parliamentary elections. Everyone in the town is scared because we are all waiting for the beatings, stonings and burnings that have characterized every single election here in the last five years. Our town is full to bursting with strangers, luxury cars, vehicles with no number plates and people with pockets full of money.There are burly youths swaggering four abreast on the main roads, men in dark glasses sitting in the sun just watching and every day literally hundreds of people queuing outside the passport offices. The atmosphere in the town is extremely tense. Most days I have to go past the house which was petrol bombed in the last elections; the house that I watched burn for hours through the night but which the fire brigade said they could not come and attend to. Every week I see friends, both black and white, men and women, who have been beaten and tortured in the last five years, lost their homes, possessions and jobs and had to literally run for their lives. None of us have seen justice done, yet, and the memories are still fresh.Memories in Marondera are still very real, not only of burnings, beatings and even human branding carved into men's backs at the last election, but of a litany of abuse and decay that has become every day life. Less than a year ago our schools were closed down and the head teachers arrested. AsI write our government hospitals and clinics do not even have phenobarb to control epilepsy, patients have to take their own food and outpatients queue outside in the open, sitting on the ground, for up to four hours before they are seen. Many of our suburban roads are now almost unusable; the edges steeply eroded, wide gullies ripped across the centres and literally scores of pot holes. In a 2 kilometre stretch of road leading to my home only two street lights still work, none of the storm drains have been cleared for over a year and grass is growing in the middle of tarred roads. I don't know anyone in the town who doesn't boil their drinking water, more often than not it has a brown or green colour, almost always it has specks floating in it and always it smells bad. So, having to tolerate all these things every day, we are all smiling at the mad flurryof activity in the last few days, and we are all, equally, not being fooled.This week, suddenly, our town is being cleaned up. Just 26 days before elections, local officials have appeared out of the woodwork. Suburban roads which have not had pot holes filled or edges repaired for the entire rainy season, are being graded. Across the road from the main Marondera hospital this week all the fruit and vegetable vendors' home-made shacks have been pulled down and replaced with treated timber structures. In 2000 I used to stop there and buy a banana for four dollars. Now, the bananas are one thousand dollars each and on the lamp post there, next to the women who sell bananas, is an election poster. On every fourth or fifth street light, regardless of the fact that the bulbs and tubes dont work anymore, posters of the Zanu PF candidate have been erected. The pictures are very familiar to me, they show the same face that "war veterans" put up on the trees on our farm in 2000 when they set up their headquarters and "re-education camp" in our cattle paddocks.It is five years later, everything else has changed, but that face on the election poster is still the same. There are no opposition posters on trees or lamp posts in Marondera yet. There are no people wearing opposition hats or T shirts and the reason is because "here everyone is sket because last time we all got chaya'd." Until next week, with love,cathy. Copyright cathy buckle 5th March 2005http://africantears.netfirms.comMy books on Zimbabwe, "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available from:orders@africabookcentre.com ; www.africabookcentre.com ; www.amazon.co.uk ; inAustralia and New Zealand: johnmreed@johnreedbooks.com.au ; Africa:www.kalahari.net www.exclusivebooks.com

Monday, March 07, 2005

NATURE


NATURE HAS GIVEN US TWO EARS, TWO EYES, BUT ONE TONGUE ~
TO THE END THAT WE SHOULD HEAR AND SEE MORE THAN WE SPEAK.

Quote from Socrates.

ON THIS DAY

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION BEGAN ON THIS DAY IN 1917.

Sunday, March 06, 2005

IMMORTALITY - Heywood Broun

The belief in Immortality rests not very much on the hope of going on,
as few of us would want to do that,
but we would like very much to begin again.

Greenhouse Gases

Scientists say they have "compelling" evidence that ocean warming over the past 40 years can be linked to the industrial release of carbon dioxide. US researchers compared the rise in ocean temperatures with predictions from climate models, and found human activity was the most likely cause. In coming decades,the warming will have a dramatic impact on regional water supplies, they predict. Details of the study were released at a major science meeting in Washington DC. The conference is the annual gathering of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Saturday, March 05, 2005

ON THIS DAY

JOSEPH STALIN, ON THIS DAY DIED, AGED 73 IN 1953.

FREE

AND WHO WOULD DISAGREE
THAT ALL THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE
ARE FREE?

FROM THE SANSKRIT

LISTEN TO THE EXHORTATION OF THE DAWN!
LOOK TO THIS DAY FOR IT IS LIFE, THE VERY LIFE OF LIFE!
IN ITS BRIEF COURSE, LIE ALL THE VERITIES
AND ALL THE REALITIES OF YOUR EXISTENCE;
THE BLISS OF GROWTH,
THE GLORY OF ACTION,
THE SPLENDOR OF BEAUTY;
FOR YESTERDAY IS BUT A DREAM AND TOMORROW IS ONLY A VISION;
BUT TODAY WELL LIVED
MAKES EVERY YESTERDAY A DREAM OF HAPPINESS,
AND EVERY TOMORROW A VISION OF HOPE.
LOOK WELL, THEREFORE, TO THIS DAY!
SUCH IS THE SALUTATION OF THE DAWN.

Friday, March 04, 2005

BEST THING

I was thinking of all the good things that have happened in my life, and I find it hard to come to a decision as to what the very best thing to have ever happened to me is. The birth of my two children, my life in Africa, a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon, and a lot of love from various people - far too difficult to select only one.
How does anyone manage to select only one thing, if so what has been the best thing that has ever happened to you?

ON THIS DAY

THE AMERICANS' VOYAGER 1, ON THIS DAY, SENT BACK THE
FIRST PHOTOGRAPH TO SHOW RINGS AROUND JUPITER IN 1979.

EMPTY

NONE ARE SO EMPTY AS THOSE
WHO ARE FULL OF THEMSELVES.

HIV IN AFRICA


The UN says the worst is yet to come with the Aids epidemic. Nearly 90 million Africans could be infected by HIV in the next 20 years if more is not done to combat the epidemic, the UN has warned. Some 25 million Africans have HIV, which causes Aids, at present. The world body estimates the next two decades could see 89 million new cases of the disease in Africa - or up to 10% of the continent's population.
The UN recommends a committed campaign against HIV/Aids - and $200bn (£105bn) of investment - to stem its spread. We are being shown the future and unless we act now it is very stark
Simon Wright, ActionAid
Tough challenges in Aids fight
At best, taking more action against HIV/Aids could save 16 million people from dying of the disease and a further 43 million people from contracting it, the UN says. "Millions of new infections can be prevented if Africa and the rest of the world decide to tackle Aids as an exceptional crisis that has the potential to devastate entire societies and economies," said UNAids chief Peter Piot. The UN report concludes that if millions of Africans are still being infected by HIV by 2025, "it will not be because there was no choice"."It will be because, collectively, there was insufficient political will to change behaviour at all levels... and halt the forces driving the Aids epidemic in Africa." The study, entitled Aids in Africa, was compiled over two years using more than 150 experts. The report offers three different models of how the disease could affect the continent in 20 years, based on how much money and effort is invested in fighting it.
The disease has already affected millions of lives in AfricaThe worst-case scenario, in which funding and policies stay as they are now, foresees a fourfold increase in the total number of people dying from Aids. The report also looks at two more positive outcomes. In the best-case scenario, international aid flows to Africa are doubled, investment in health systems is increased and agriculture and education and treatment is dramatically improved.
The report says that even in this case the total number of deaths would continue to rise.

Thursday, March 03, 2005

ON THIS DAY


ELVIS PRESLEY MADE HIS FIRST TELEVISION
APPEARANCE, ON THIS DAY IN 1955.

TRUTH


SPEAK THE TRUTH,
BUT LEAVE IMMEDIATELY AFTER !

FOSSETT SETS SOLO RECORD




Watch Fossett land US adventurer Steve Fossett has achieved the first solo, non-stop flight around the globe. He completed his mission despite a fuel shortage, landing the Virgin GlobalFlyer at 1948 GMT in Salina, Kansas, where he took off on Tuesday.

The millionaire had considered aborting the trip and landing in Hawaii, but he decided to press on because of favourable tail winds. "What a day," he said as he emerged from the plane after a 67-hour journey.

GLOBALFLYER NEARS THE END


Fossett nears flight record goal.

The attempt is progressing well despite some hitchesUS adventurer Steve Fossett is on the brink of achieving the first solo, non-stop flight around the globe. Despite a fuel shortage, the pilot had crossed the coast of California just before 1400 GMT and is expected to land in Kansas at about 1920 GMT. The millionaire had considered aborting the trip and landing in Hawaii, but he decided to press on because of favourable tail winds.
Mr Fossett said he was "really starting to perk up" as he neared the end.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

AND......

........ON THIS DAY IN 1949 CAPTAIN JAMES GALLAHER AND HIS 13 STRONG AIR FORCE CREW COMPLETED THE FIRST ROUND THE WORLD NON-STOP FLIGHT (23,452 MILES IN 94 HOURS AND ONE MINUTE)

ON THIS DAY

THE BRITISH TRANS-ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION, LED BY DR. ADRIAN FUCHS, COMPLETED THE FIRST SURFACE CROSSING OF ANTARTICA ON THIS DAY
IN 1958.

SECURE


IT IS ALWAYS THE SECURE WHO ARE HUMBLE !

UPDATE ON GLOBALFLYER


Last Updated: Wednesday, 2 March, 2005, 14:27 GMT
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Fossett plane bid in fuel worry

The attempt is progressing well despite some hitches Steve Fossett's attempt to fly solo, non-stop around the globe without re-fuelling is in trouble. His GlobalFlyer plane has reached China - half way around the world - but he has insufficient fuel to get him home to Kansas without favourable winds. Mission controllers will have to decide whether to call off the attempt before Fossett heads out over the Pacific.
The adventurer left the US on Tuesday at 0500 GMT and was expected to return to the Salina airport on Thursday. "I don't have a high level of confidence at the moment," Steve Fossett said from GlobalFlyer. "This is a huge setback. Immediately I started thinking about what the alternatives were - whether a route could be taken through Mexico, and I began to think how far I could fly with the engine out [just gliding] just to make the landing."
There are two ways of calculating the fuel load on GlobalFlyer - fuel burn sensors and fuel probes in the tanks. The latter show the vehicle is missing 1,200kg (2,600lbs) of fuel. Mission controllers are at a loss to explain the discrepancy - whether the plane was incorrectly filled on the runway or it burnt off too much fuel in the early stages of the flight - but they say they have to work on the basis that the probes' (lower) measurement is correct.
This means Fossett has 15% less fuel than he thought, and he will now struggle to complete the mission without good tail winds over the next day. Fossett reached the half-way point in his flight at 0705 GMT on Wednesday. As of 1440 GMT, just after briefing the media on his fuel worries, he was moving out over the East China Sea, just east of Shanghai, travelling at an altitude 13.7km (45,100ft) and a speed of 618km/h (384mph). Mission controllers may decide to bring Fossett down in Japan or Hawaii rather than risk sending him right across the Pacific.