OF FOREX ISSUES, CAPITAL FLIGHT CONTROL and THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY.

Illicit financial flows, also known as Illegal capital flight from an economy are manifested in different forms and are most likely to be conducted in currencies that are easily exchangeable internationally (US Dollar, UK pound, ROC currency), trying to exchange or sale a couple million Malawi currency notes in for arguments sake London would be a near impossible sale. The Argentine economic crisis of 2001 and Venezuelan crisis of 1980 were arguably to a large extent attributed to massive capital flight. Understandably this is an area of concern for the Malawi authorities, while the reasons for legal or illegal capital flight may vary; their cumulative effect negates the foreign exchange rate of the affected economy/country. Malawi continues to grapple with foreign currency challenges as witnessed via the print media of innovative but blatant foreign currency infringements such as the attempted smuggling of temporary under-garments fashioned out of US Dollar bills.

The author accords due recognition to the many subtle and legal ways of externalising funds, local commentators have cited the importation of items such as toothpicks, chickens etceteras as an unnecessary drain on the country's foreign currency reserves, an area that the author is qualified to comment on however is that of insurance premiums. Insurance companies are tasked with keeping a contractual promise; to repair, replace or reinstate property damaged, lost or destroyed within the definitions of 'damage' as per the agreed insurance contract otherwise commonly termed 'policy' document. Insurance companies usually only keep this contractual promise if due consideration (Premium) is provided or paid by the party requiring insurance (The Insured). It is this premium payment that the author argues must be tied in to Malawi's foreign currency reserves.

Insurers ordinarily take up huge risks such as a state of the art plant costing mega Malawi Kwacha and decide prudently to share that risk with another insurer (re-insurer) to 'hedge' or minimise its loss outlay should a total loss event occur, this practice is called re-insurance and necessitates that the insurer that decides to 'hedge' its losses share its premium as paid by the insured with the elected and accepting re-insurer epitomising the 'sharing of risks' concept. It is common to have bank 'x' insured in Malawi but shared percentage with reinsurers in Zimbabwe, South Africa, the UK, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, USA etceteras. Re-insurance is a rather delicate, technical and usually complicated matter that cannot be discussed in this brief article alone, suffice to say that reinsurance is practiced on truly global scale, it is an utmost necessity and respective insurers in every country need international reinsurers.

The author must argue that there may be times when local capacity can and must be totally satisfied before employing the scarce foreign reserves to purchase re-insurance internationally. The questions the author poses are; when does insurance premium externalisation become detrimental to the Malawi economy? Who is responsible for deciding when to externalise insurance premiums from the Malawi economy? Who should be responsible? Should it be the insurer, a collective body of insurers as approved or the insurance regulatory authority (Reserve Bank of Malawi) responsible for approving externalisation of premium to curb excesses, if any? Is the regulatory authority at present regulating this insurance premium exportation in line with the other 'citizens' and sectors of the economy that seek approval prior to externalising funds?

Rather than provide answers to the questions posed, the author would suggest an alternative scenario, wherein each insurer must be obligated to ensure that all licensed local Malawi insurers are approached to participate or share in the excess risk so offered and their written acceptance or declinature provided before the concerned insurer externalises the insurance premium, in this set-up the insurance regulatory authority (Reserve Bank of Malawi) would then provide consent to enable the insurer externalise the risk. Only then would the insurance industry exemplify responsible foreign currency utilisation. The author was privileged to be part of such a practice at work in the Tanzania insurance market. It worked well although it meant more administrative work for the insurers; it also meant that there was enough 'pie' to go around all licensed insurers. Perfect? Definitely not, but protective of our foreign currency reserves all the same.

UK IMMIGRATION MATTERS- 17 July, 2009.

Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill could become Law next week
By Charles Kelly
17 July 2009

The UK Government's plan lengthen the period immigrants must live in the U.K. before applying for citizenship may become law next week after backing down on stricter passport checks between Britain and Ireland yesterday.

The Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill cleared its final stage in the House of Commons this week with the support of both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat opposition parties. The Government had earlier climbed down plans to impose identity checks on journeys between the U.K. and Ireland.

The House of Lords could grant final approval to the legislation on July 21, allowing the measures to go on the statutes, and receive the Royal Assent, as the Borders, Immigration and Citizenship Act 2009, before Parliament enters its summer recess, a spokesman for the Home Office said this week.
The rules are part of the biggest curbs on migration in six decades and will make it harder for working migrants to settle in the UK. See: Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill will make it harder to settle in the UK

The new citizenship rules will take effect no earlier than July 2011. Migrants who hold permanent residency at that time, or Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), will be able to apply under the old rules for the next two years. Full story and comment.

President Obama needs a refresher course on Africa

By Gerald Caplan
2009-07-16, Issue 442

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/57760

* Gerald Caplan is the author of The Betrayal of Africa.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

The American president made his first official trip to Africa last week when he visited Ghana for two days. In an interview Obama, with no false humility, stated that 'I'm probably as knowledgeable about African history as anybody who's occupied my office.' I'd say two things. First, the bar in that particular competition was not exactly set very high. Second, as the rest of the interview demonstrated, he's not nearly as knowledgeable as he thinks he is. Much of what he believes about Africa, and how it can get out of the many messes it's in, are simply wrong.

In his interview with allafrica.com, the president focused on internal African causes for the continent's woes, highlighting especially the need for good governance and ending widespread corruption. So, for example, he argues that 'you're not going to get investment without good governance.' That's simply wrong. For decades most foreign investment in Africa has gone to South Africa first, even under apartheid, and then to such oil-rich nations as Angola and Nigeria. In all cases, good governance played no role in investment decisions. Making an assured profit, regardless of the governance system, was the only criterion.

Similarly, Obama insisted that business won't invest where 'government officials are asking for 10, 15, 25 per cent off the top'. That too is wrong. Nigeria, Angola and South Africa show that, as do Kenya, Cameroon and the DR Congo, just to name obvious exceptions to his statement. In all cases, foreign businessmen have shown themselves only too eager to play the bribery card. If they didn't, those African government officials couldn't get away with demanding a cut off the top, which also means that high-level corruption in Africa couldn't – and doesn't – happen without Western complicity.

Obama says there is 'a direct correlation between governance and prosperity'. That's why he chose democratic Ghana for his first official state visit, rather than his father's country, Kenya. Heaven knows that the ruling parties in Kenya are brazenly corrupt and show little interest in anything other than enriching themselves and their supporters. Ghana, on the other hand, after years of bad governments following the CIA-instigated coup that overthrew the first president, Kwame Nkrumah, can now be said to be fairly stable and politically democratic. Obama knows lots of things. As he observed, when his father left Kenya in the early 1960s to study in the USA, the GDP (gross domestic product) of Kenya was higher than that of South Korea; today, South Korea is one of the world's great success stories, while Kenya languishes.

The UN's Human Development Index backs this up. In 2008, of 179 countries, Korea was ranked 25th, placing it among the rich developed nations of the world, while Kenya was 144th. But the president should look at these ratings more closely. Despite good governance, Ghana was ranked 142nd, virtually tied with Kenya among the bottom 20 per cent of the world's nations. Something else must be going on here that accounts for this situation, because Obama's analysis can't.

Here's the heart of his diagnosis, as his interview made explicit: While the international community 'has not always been as strategic as it should have been [regarding Africa] … ultimately I'm a big believer that Africans are responsible for Africa … for many years we've made excuses about corruption or poor governance, that this was somehow the consequence of neocolonialism, or the West has been oppressive, or racist. I'm not a believer in excuses.'

Well, this is partially true. Africans have for decades been betrayed by a veritable pageant of monstrous leaders. But another truth is that the United States actively supported the very worst of these African tyrants, and if the US didn't, France did; that's called neocolonialism. This included, by the way, the apartheid government of South Africa, which, with the quiet backing of Britain and the US, only stopped destabilising much of the continent 15 years ago. The West also supplied many of the arms that were used in the terrible internal conflicts that have roiled Africa for so long. Even today, the US, Britain and France continue to remain close allies with many African leaders whose democratic credentials leave much to be desired.

The little-grasped reality is that year after year far more of Africa's wealth and resources pour out of the continent to the rich world than the West provides through all possible sources, from aid to investment to trade.

Beyond that, even if every African country was led by a saint, they could do nothing about the severe environmental damage that global warming – for which Africa has no responsibility whatever – is inflicting across the continent.

Even the best African leaders could do nothing about the destructive impact on African development of the present worldwide economic crisis, for which Africa has no responsibility whatever.

No African leader has the slightest influence on the drastic increase in food prices that is causing such suffering – including outright starvation – to millions of Africans.

Even a continent's worth of Mandelas couldn't change the massive subsidies Western governments provide to their agribusinesses. When they're in Ghana, the Obamas should do some comparison shopping. They may be taken aback to find that it costs more to buy a locally-bred chicken than one that's been shipped all the way from Europe, thanks to subsidies to European chicken farmers.

And nothing will now change the vast damage already done to Africa by the destructive neoliberal policies that were imposed on African governments by the World Bank and IMF (International Monetary Fund) over the past 30 years. Even today, while their rhetoric has changed, these institutions, deeply American-influenced, continue to insist on discredited policies that fail to promote growth while vastly increasing inequality.

At the risk of being pushy, I recommend that President Obama reads my little book, The Betrayal of Africa, which documents the twin burdens that actually account for Africa's situation – the continent's own wretched leaders combined with exploitative Western policies and practices. Unless he grasps this truth, his administration will become yet another in an endless line that has caused Africa more grief than good. And I'm confident that's not what he intends.

* Gerald Caplan is the author of The Betrayal of Africa.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

UK IMMIGRATION MATTERS- 10 July 2009

IMMIGRATION MATTERS
Bankrupt NVQ College leaves thousands of Filipino students stranded
By Charles Kelly
10 July 2009

NVQ college, Precision Training UK Ltd, has gone bust leaving Filipino students "high and dry" after paying hundreds of pounds in upfront fees weeks before the owners pulled the plus on its Wembley office.
Since Precision Training collapsed students have been sent letters by a company called 'Aspire Training', which claims they have taken over from Precision due to 'Precision Training going into liquidation'.
Despite this, the company is offering no refunds and will not take any fees paid into account when "advising" students to sign up with them to continue their training.
According to reports, as many as 4,500 students from the UK, Philippines, Ghana, Bulgaria and other countries may have been scammed by Precision's owners Nichola and Salim Shivji.
Despite the fact that NVQ awarding body EDEXCEL had imposed sanctions against Precision as far back as May 2008, preventing them from taking on new students, some months ago, the company continued to recruit new candidates.
The all too familiar story has echoes of last year's scandal involving Birmingham based bankrupt college, Affinity Training and its Philippine cohort Kirsten...Full story


OTHER STORIES THIS WEEK

7 Steps for overseas students when your college fails
What should you do if you are a victim of precision training or another bankrupt college?
As a student on a student visa, you must be in 'full time study in order to comply with your visa conditions. If your college is not providing you with full time courses, or has gone out of business, you should register with another training provider, which is on the Government-approved Tier 4 Sponsors Register. Cynthia Barker, Immigration adviser and Centre Manager for Majestic College gives you 7 Steps.
Cynthia also said that her team would be as "flexible as possible" on initial fees with students who have lost money with Precision or other failed NVQ colleges.
You can find out more about Majestic College at http://www.majesticcollege.org/ email them at info@majesticcollege.org.Drop in visitors welcome - no appointment needed!

How to check out a UK Limited Company
I am often asked by Immigration Matters readers - overseas students or job hunters - if a company offering them a course or work placement is legitimate. The internet has given birth to millions scams including those offering people bogus jobs, usually requiring applicants to send money in advance for Work Permit applications or flights.

UKBA arrest illegal immigrant on his wedding day
The UK Border Agency (UKBA) has arrested and deported an illegal immigrant on his wedding day last week. There were no "many happy returns" from the UKBA as officers arrested the 29 year Jamaican minutes before he was due to marry his British fiancée on Friday 3 July at Birmingham Register Office.
If you need any immigration advice or help with Sponsorship or Work Permits, Visa or an appeal against a refusal please email:
info@immigrationmatters.co.uk or visit http://www.immigrationmatters.co.uk/

Malawi Budget Statement 2009/2010 link.

http://www.finance.gov.mw/downloads/Bud2009.pdf

U.S. Congress Apologises for Slavery

This Day (Lagos)
Africa: U..S. Congress Apologises for Slavery
Constance Ikokwu

20 June 2009
http://allafrica.com/stories/200906200007.html

Washington, D.c. — The United States Congress has for the first time in its 230-year history issued a formal apology for slavery and segregation, describing the dark period of that country as inhuman.

The apology issued by Senators on Capitol Hill on Thursday, however, did not agree to the payment of reparations, but it condemned centuries of injustice caused by slavery.

In a strongly worded document, the Congress unanimously voted to acknowledge the "fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow laws."

It stated that the US Congress "apologises on behalf of the people of the United States for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow laws."

According to Wikipedia, Jim Crow laws were local and state laws enacted between 1876 and 1965 in the US, mandating segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "equal but separate" status for black Americans.

If the House of Repres-entatives pass a similar measure as expected next week, it will mark the highest effort to apologise for the wrongs of the past.

A similar effort failed to make it to the Senate in 2008 after it was passed in the lower chamber.

The resolution affirmed the "principle that all people are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and calls on all people of the United States to work towards eliminating racial prejudices, injustices and discrimination from our society."

Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, was quoted as saying that "no one pretends that a mere apology or any words can right the wrongs of the past, but it represents our recognition of the past and our commitment to fully live up to our nation's promise."

The sponsor of the resolution, Senator Tom Harkin noted that slavery "is an enduring national shame" for the country.

He added: "slavery and Jim Crow and their continuing consequences are not the historical baggage of one state, one region or one company."

Harkin said the resolution was long over due. He warned that more work lies ahead as the latest move would not wipe out all injustices automatically.

Reacting, some African-Americans said the apology was not enough but is a first step.

Former President Bill Clinton while in office had expressed regret for the act while George W. Bush described it as "one of the greatest crimes of history. But they stopped short of a proper apology.

Some states in the country have also previously adopted resolutions expressing regret for slavery, but no formal bill at the national level was officially passed.

Jim Crow laws were enshrined in the US Constitution to segregate blacks and whites.

The resolution also fell on June 19, being the celebration of the freedom of African-Americans at the end of the Civil War in 1865.

A ceremony to mark the passage of the new resolution is expected next month.

HAS COCA-COLA FINALLY MET ITS MATCH?

Self respecting marketers, marketing novices and the public at large know Coca-cola and its secret recipe as a massive marketing success for 'eons', I even dare think- what would we do without good old coke? Remote villages in nameless countries have the familiar shape Coca-cola bottles pregnant with the dark money making liquid perched invitingly on shelves in local village shops and pubs.

Recent activity in the Health sector though seemingly threaten coke's viability in the healthy eating habits persuasion. Will healthy eating habits affect Coca-colas dominance of the fizzy drinks market? Are we witnessing the slow death of a giant as we have known it ? Or will this just lead to healthier Coca-cola spin-offs? the later makes profitable sense.

In the meanwhile Venezuala has gone ahead and banned a version of Coca-cola citing possible health risks (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090611/twl-venezuela-bans-coke-zero-over-health-3fd0ae9.html). A couple of weeks ago I read a health article in a local london paper that stated that cola drinks deplete the body of some essential mineral if my memory serves me right, and this here now could be termed to be a consequential development ; My steadfast companion through the african heat, Coca-cola, what next?

Racial Discrimination at World Bank?

Report Details Racial Discrimination at World Bank

Published on Jun 9, 2009 - 9:35:50 AM

By: Government Accountability Project
http://yubanet.com/usa/Report-Details-Racial-Discrimination-at-World-Bank.php

WASHINGTON, D.C. June 9, 2009 - Today, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) released a report that investigates and finds evidence of racial discrimination against black professional grade employees at the World Bank. The report, which documents the treatment of these employees in recruitment, retention and internal judicial decisions, finds that a race ceiling exists at the institution, and that the Bank's legal system fails to address racial discrimination adequately. Read further....

http://whistleblower.org/doc/2009/RDWB.pdf

The Economic debate of our time? FT.com

Rising government bond rates prove policy works, The Financial Times Online
June 3, 2009 12:33am
by Martin Wolf

Is the US (and a number of other high-income countries) on the road to fiscal Armageddon? Are recent jumps in government bond rates proof that investors are worried about fiscal prospects? My answers to these questions are: No and No. This does not mean there is no reason for worry. It is rather that there are powerful arguments against fiscal retrenchment right now and strong reasons for welcoming recent moves in the bond markets.

Last week, the Financial Times carried two columns arguing that the US fiscal path was unsustainable, one by Stanford University’s John Taylor and the other by the Harvard historian Niall Ferguson. The latter, in turn, was a comment on a debate with, among others, the New York Times columnist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman at the end of April.
On one point all serious analysts agree: public debt cannot rise, relative to gross domestic product, without limit. To embark on fiscal stimulus in the short run, one must be credible in the long run.

So what is the disagreement? Prof Ferguson made three propositions: first, the recent rise in US government bond rates shows that the bond market is “quailing” before the government’s huge issuance; second, huge fiscal deficits are both unnecessary and counterproductive; and, finally, there is reason to fear an inflationary outcome. These are widely held views. Are they right?
The first point is, on the evidence, wrong. The jump in bond rates is a desirable normalisation after a panic. Investors rushed into the dollar and government bonds. Now they are rushing out again. Welcome to the giddy world of financial markets.

At the end of December 2008, US 10-year Treasury yields fell to the frighteningly low level of 2.1 per cent from close to 4 per cent in October (see chart). Partly as a result of this fall and partly because of a surprising rise in the yield on inflation-protected bonds (Tips), implied expected inflation reached a low of close to zero. The deflation scare had become all too real.
What has happened is a sudden return to normality: after some turmoil, the yield on conventional US government bonds closed at 3.5 per cent last week, while the yield on Tips fell to 1.9 per cent. So expected inflation went to a level in keeping with Federal Reserve objectives, at close to 1.6 per cent. Much the same has happened in the UK, with a rise in expected inflation from a low of 1.3 per cent in March to 2.3 per cent. Fear of deflationary meltdown has gone. Hurrah!

It is true that spreads between conventional US bonds and bonds issued by Germany and the UK have narrowed (see chart). But US yields were extraordinarily depressed during the panic.

Normality returns.
If inflation expectations are not worth worrying about, so far, what about the other concern caused by huge bond issuance: crowding out of private borrowers? This would show itself in rising real interest rates. Again, the evidence is overwhelmingly to the contrary.
The most recent yield on Tips is below 2 per cent, while that on UK index-linked securities is close to 1 per cent. Meanwhile, as confidence has grown, spreads between corporate bonds and Treasuries have fallen (see chart). One can also use estimates of expected inflation derived from government bonds to estimate real rates of interest on corporate bonds. These have also fallen sharply (see chart). While riskier bonds are yielding more than they were two years ago, they are yielding far less than in late 2008. This, too, is very good news indeed.
Now turn to the fiscal policy. The argument advanced by opponents is either that fiscal policy is always unnecessary and ineffective or, as Prof Ferguson suggests, redundant, because this is not a “Great Depression”. Monetarists argue fiscal policy is always unnecessary, since monetary expansion does the trick. Economists who believe in “Ricardian equivalence” – after the early-19th-century economist David Ricardo – argue fiscal policy is ineffective, because households will offset any government dis-saving with their own higher savings.

Economists disagree fiercely on these points. My approach is “Keynesian”: in extreme moments, the excess of desired savings over investment soars. Again, monetary policy, while important, becomes less effective when interest rates are zero. It is then wise to wear both monetary belt and fiscal braces.

A deep recession proves there is a huge rise in excess desired savings at full employment, as Prof Krugman argues. At present, therefore, fiscal deficits are not crowding the private sector out. They are crowding it in, instead, by supporting demand, which sustains jobs and profits.
Prof Ferguson argues that fiscal expansion was unnecessary because this is only a mild recession. The question, however, is why it is only a mild recession, since precursors of a depression were surely present.

The answer, in part, is the aggressive monetary policies of central banks and the rescue of the financial system. But is that all? What would have happened if governments had decided to cut spending and raise taxes? One might disagree on how much deliberate fiscal loosening was needed. But one of the most important reasons this is not the Great Depression is that we have learnt a lesson from experience then, and in Japan in the 1990s: do not tighten fiscal policy too soon. Moreover, historically well-run economies are certainly able to support higher levels of public indebtedness very comfortably.

This, then, brings us to the last concern: the fear of inflation. This is essentially the question of how to exit from current extreme policies. People need to believe that the extraordinarily aggressive monetary and fiscal policies of today will be reversed. If they do not believe this, there could well be a big upsurge in inflationary expectations long before the world economy has recovered. If that were to happen, policymakers would be caught in a painful squeeze and the world might indeed end up in 1970s-style stagflation.

The exceptional policies used to deal with extreme circumstances are working. Now, as a result, policymakers are walking a tightrope: on one side are premature withdrawal and a return to deep recession; on the other side are soaring inflationary expectations and stagflation. It is irresponsible to insist either on immediate tightening or on persistently loose policies. Both the US and the UK now risk the latter. But their critics risk making an equal and opposite mistake. The answer is both clear and tricky: choose sharp tightening, but not yet.

Write to martin.wolf@ft.comMore columns at www.ft.com/martinwolf

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

Avoid e-mail mistakes with a single setting

Avoid e-mail mistakes with a single setting

* Date: June 9th, 2009
* Author: Susan Harkins
* Category: Outlook


We’ve all done it, and regretted it — sent an e-mail to the wrong person, sent an angry e-mail in haste, or sent an e-mail with mistakes. I don’t mind confessing my most humiliating e-mail mistakes because they’re so old:

• I sent an article to the wrong publisher. Now, that’s not horrible and as a freelancer, all my editors know that I work for other publishers, but it was still unpleasant because I looked stupid.
• I used the wrong publication name when corresponding with an editor. She responded with a curt, “I work for… ,” and I never received another assignment from her.

Most e-mail clients send e-mail as soon as you hit Send in the message window, and that’s why we get into trouble. Instead of sending each e-mail immediately, let them sit in the outbox. Later (usually a few hours or so), review the messages one last time and then send them. I often find small and seemingly unimportant mistakes, but mistakes nonetheless. Occasionally, I find something more important and I count my lucky stars! Letting a message sit for a while, especially if you’re angry when you respond, will give you a bit of time to rethink and perhaps, even save face.

Outlook is configured to send mail when you click Send in the New Message window. To reset this option so that you control when Outlook sends mail, do the following:

1. From the Tools menu, choose Options.
2. Click the Mail Setup tab.
3. Click Send/Receive in the Send/Receive options.
4. Uncheck the Include This Group In Send/Receive (F9) option in the Setting For Group “All Accounts” section. Most of us will set this for all accounts, but you can configure Outlook to handle each account differently.
5. Click Close and then OK.

After unchecking the Send/Receive option, you must remember to click Send/Receive on the Standard toolbar to send mail. You can also set Outlook to send e-mail when you launch or close Outlook, or schedule it to send and receive e-mail at regular intervals, so be sure to consider those options as well. You’ll still have to find the mistakes, but putting a little time between creating and sending messages makes it easier to catch mistakes you might otherwise miss.

OF EU ELECTIONS AND BRITISH LIFE.

I followed the arrows. I walked through the open south transept door, glancing around like a stranger usually does into the St Peters church hall crossing converted into a polling station; I felt some huge dissapointment at the scene unfolding before me, I had expected the sophistication of 'Europe', technical gadgets etceteras but there before my eyes was a basic electoral scene not dissimilar to that of my African home country, facing me were 5 makeshift open ended wood booths, to my immediate left sat three English ladies on a lone table with three heaps of differently coloured paper, the 25 years young silent one was far younger than the other two. The wall clock said 11 am UK time, yet I was the lone voter and undeservedly got more than the attention I needed; I looked the smiling one in the eye, smiled back and handed in my poll certificate, I confirmed my name as Kapito and my address of abode, was rewarded with a long voting card folded into three, with which I pranced on my black loafers silently to the first left wood booth.

I fished out a pen from my shirt pocket, unfurled the voting card, and heard the two ladies yell to my back 'you have to open it up to see all your options', I thought 'I have already sodding done that mai!' but mouthed a respectful 'thank you' instead, my eyes caressed the 10 or so parties listed on the firm black and white thin board paper and settled for a choice with an 'X' mark before walking to the right facing the church chancel, alter and sacristy, where just before the step stood a middle aged Englishman busy with something in his hands, he glanced at me briefly as I stuffed my vote into an opening in the black 'toolbox' like container atop a metal table and muttered something friendly, I muttered back. I had voted for my choice of a UK member of EU parliament (fondly called MEP's by mainstream media).

Like me millions across the UK partook a similar ritual, millions less than elections years before, the Sky News election results of this morning mention the historic low turnout of a mere 37.5% of registered voters. The economy, parliamentarian expenses scandals have taken their toll, the population has voted with their backsides, they sat the elections out, stayed home or pretended them away. How did the UK get here? now thats a long long story.

For me though the first answer was the top deck window seat ride of route 279 towards Enfield Borough, Zone 4, London. Not a single of the loud conversations around were in English, I wondered, perhaps aloud if I was really in London, the advertising boards that slowly flashed by as the bus motored ahead confirmed I was in London, so I thought instead about how the indigineous Englanders felt about this sustained 'invasion' of economic and academic migrants, it must be uncomfortable I thought, and indeed it was, since then I have seen the Home office push forward unprecedented reforms in immigration, strikes by British workers over immigrants 'taking' their jobs, have heard countless stories of people being deported ( 'ali mmanja mwa Boma'), visas refused, scandals of asian forgers of academic certificates at £4000 pounds, British driving licences, British passports caught and brought to book, I have seen the quiet tide turning against 'foreigners'. This is not the UK my father lived in way back in 1975, it is under siege mental or otherwise; anti EU sentiment, centuries of immigration and the opening up of the EU migration are taking its toll and the ordinary British fear for their way of life.

The UK has offered qualitative education for a long while now, on a comparative scale British education ranks better than other 'developed' nations. The reality on the ground though indicates that society is grappling with the realities of opening its borders to the outside world. The biggest issue affecting the UK now is immigration asides from the state of the economy, the guilt trip the UK took for colonising, harvesting and shipping all the goodies out of the colonies and then more by taxing the colonised locals is biting back. The indigenous UK population has spoken through this 2009 election, by voting in the far right party BNP and such parties into the European Parliament for the first time, some say its a protest vote against the main parties for their abuse of the system, I say its a real vote and a sign of things to come. Some non-UK visitors have long abused the system, illegally claiming benefits, working full time on student visas, falsifying documents, perpetuating various crimes, terrorising and bombing innocent people, all culminating in higher costs (security, social welfare, health etc) for the state, a deepening mistrust and now a xenophobic culture albeit in its infancy.

The future will see less students from african countries study in the UK, as student number intakes by approved educational institutions are closely monitored by the Home Office, scholarship numbers reduce, and the 'fees upfront' immigation policy weeds out undesirables before they reach the British shores, it will only serve to make British education more attractive, good old supply and demand laws at work, scarcity breeds value. So what next for UK Educational Institutions? Franchising? Supply the students in their home countries?

So whats my rant about? Its about voting, its about rising xenophobic tendencies, its about a closing door to access of education on British soil by non-EU citizens, its about private thoughts about immigrants now being made public. Alarmists are at play, in the media, in the dailies, everywhere and even on youtube, sample this if you may as an example of whipping up of the anti-immigration frenzy or rationalising depending on which side of the railtrack you are on:

OBAMA CAIRO, EGYPT SPEECH IN FULL.

Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda biography.

Hastings Kamuzu Banda Biography - Detoured on Road to Become a Doctor, Pursued Degrees with Diligence, Spoke Out Against Racism

Dambisa Moyo vs. Jeffrey Sachs in The Huffington Post. Does Africa really need aid?

Dambisa Moyo's thesis is an interesting and fresh approach to the perennial issue of donor aid. Originally from Zambia, Dambisa argues against the ills of aid in its current disbursement form, she outlines convincingly why donor aid is being abused and how the donors have used aid to dictate their policies on how recipients should run their countries, and how ultimately this African community fixation on aid will do Africans more harm than good. She cites the Marshall plan as assisting particular nations of that post-war era through one time injections of targeted aid rather than the now ritual annual doses of 'foreign aid' to African presidents holding out begging plates.



Huge debates have ensued online, and the simplistic and easiest responses I have seen in some cases ridicule her outright, some even blame her for Italys state aid withdrawal from a country in Africa. Being a lifetime student of history I am reminded of people that dared question the status quo in times past, the societal discomfort thus created by their thinking 'outside the box' resulting in their being excommunicated by their churches, barred by their communities or indeed for lack of a better word martyred by society on burning stakes. Picture this if you may; a way of life built on a false premise, the powerful were bound to lose clout, respect and a culture destroyed due to new insights, new technology, new thinking, this new revolution challenged the comfort of their way of life, all that they had lived and died for, it was unacceptable,the easiest way was and is to chuck out the revolutionary new thinking and stick with the tried and tested, as they say 'dont rock the boat', 'if it aint broke, dont fix it', and a coordinated character assasination of the revolutionary inclusive of expletives ensues, culminating with 'death to the revolutionary' chants by masses whipped into a frenzy by the change resistance brigade.


My take is we hear her out, she has very valid points, a response to the question she raises has to be multi-dimensional, yes or no answers may be too simplistic, while most arguments articulate the benefits of aid, that's the easy part, no one seems to be commenting on the negative end of aid, the fact that the donors pick and choose recipients (Pakistan, India, Israel and Egypt, a case in point), the abuse by governments, the loss of innovation, I believe Dambisa is daring to take the road less taken, to shift the paradigm, albeit with academic reserach prowess, she has a message that if you read her book without prejudice and avoid the urge to take sides before hearing her out is quite balanced.

Analyse if you may, the growth in Africa that has come about since China came up with aid formulas in spite of the west, its all around us, Dambisa argues that governments in impoverished states epitomise wealth hence the infighting and perpetual 'crying for votes' after elections, because that's where the wealth and power is concentrated, every self respecting politician wants that POWER, that government post that is funded by donor aid. Dambisa argues that governments should be judged on innovation and improved citizen welfare without factoring utilisation of foreign resources that would have still poured into particular economies irregardless of who won the election or who is at the helm........give her a chance, lets not behave like our ancestors in being afraid to be challenged by a different way of looking at things, at some point aid will dry up, we have to ready ourselves........shes just blowing the horn, as uncomfortable as she may make us the future is heading our way....

I am in love again, totally smitten, this time with Dambisa's way of thinking, Go girl Go!

Dambisa's website: http://www.dambisamoyo.com/

Huffington Post debate: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dambisa-moyo/aid-ironies-a-response-to_b_207772.html

If you are on Facebook search for her page.

New Insurance Law introduced in Tanzania

FARAJA MGWABATI, Dodoma, 25th April 2009 @ 11:30.
THE DAILY NEWS (TANZANIA)

New insurance law to benefit public
Tanzanians stand to benefit from the new Insurance law that has been passed by the National Assembly this week whereby Insurance Companies (Insurers) will be forced to pay their customers’ claims within 45 days of occurrence of an accident.

The new law, Insurance Act 2009, has come at the moment when there are many cases of accidents happening in the country while victims are left without compensation, otherwise the compensation process takes years.

The Deputy Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Omary Yusuf Mzee told the National Assembly on Friday that the new law is meant to protect the users of insurance services who for long have been complaining about how they were treated by Insurers.

“This law gives teeth to the Commissioner of Insurance (CI) to make sure that the insured get their claims within 45 days...We have done calculations and found that 45 days are enough to process payments,” he said.

Mr Mzee said if the Insurers fail to pay claims within the stipulated period the CI has power to assess the reasons, if proved genuine, the CI is entitled to add a few days (not exceeding 45) or if the reasons are not genuine, the Insurance company will be fined not more than 5m/- on top of the claim.

He said under the new law, the Insurance Appeal Tribunal and Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority would be established to enable Insurers, brokers and customers to file their appeals when they are not satisfied by CI’s decisions and customers submit their complains.

To give Tanzanians a chance to participate in the insurance business, he said the law requires Tanzanians to have at least 33 per cent of the stake in those companies. “Insurance is a business, if we (Tanzanians) can not invest in it, the whole industry will be dominated by foreign investors that is why we are giving at least one third of companies ownership to Tanzanians,” he said.

He said Insurance companies would be forced to declare to the public their financial accounts to enhance accountability and good governance within the industry. “Another good thing about this law is that it provides wide ranges of insurance cover including the marriage cover…We are used to seeking help from colleagues for donations when you want to get married, but with marriage insurance when you are 18 you start saving,” he said.

The Deputy Minister said the government would finalize reforms to stabilize the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) to enable it to compete efficiently in the market and provide better services to the public. Debating the Bill, some Members of Parliament advised the Minister to provide education to Tanzanians on the importance of insurance services in life and attract them to participate as investors.

Responding to the comments, he said it was true many Tanzanians including MPs did not give greater importance to insurance services and those who cared about their health or properties only took third party insurance which does not help them much. “Its true we need to educate our people...I hope MPs you will help the government to sensitize the public on that,” he said, adding that people should take a comprehensive insurance covers. The new law if endorsed by President Kikwete would replace the Insurance Act of 1996 chapter 394.

STAFF WRITER, 5th May 2009 @ 00:00, (Excerpts).

After a decade since its liberalisation, the insurance industry is now poised for robust and sustainable growth following changes on the law to boost efficiency and accountability.The National Assembly recently pass the Bill for the Insurance Act 2009, which among other things, provides for settlement of claims after 45 days and establishment of the appeals tribunals.Tanzania's insurance industry had for three decades since 1967, been under the hegemony of the state, where there were only two players in the market.

The market in Tanzania mainland was the monopoly of the National Insurance Corporation (NIC), while in the the Isles, the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation (ZIC) was the sole operator. Tanzania’s Insurance Industry was liberalized in 1996 with the objective of making it a sound and competitive agent for national saving mobilization and development of investment channeling.

Other reasons included promoting insurance sector as an effective catalyst for enhanced economic growth, strengthening and promoting the industry health and orderly growth through establishment of operating performance standards and prescriptions.There are now about 18 insurers, a reisurance company, dozens of brokerage firms and over 500 agents and loss adjusters in the domestic market.

Some of the insurance companies and brokerage firms operating in the country have connections with world-class houses that provide a myriad of products."We are in a situation where you are covered for various risks. You have life and health assurance, motor and property coverage. There is now more security," said Salum Hussein a Dar es Salaam agent.

Some analysts say the proposed law comes at a moment when there are many road, fire and other kinds of accidents happening in the country, while victims are left for long without compensation.

“This law gives teeth to the Commissioner of Insurance (CI) to make sure that the insured get their claims within 45 days...We have done calculations and found that 45 days are enough to process payments,” Deputy Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Omar Yusuf Mzee told Parliament in Dodoma while moving the bill for its second reading.

Mr Mzee said the proposed law empowers the commissioner to extend the period for settling a claim upon being furnished with genuine reasons, as well as punishing defaulters.

An insurer, for example, may end up coughing 5m/- on top of the claim for non-compliance.The proposed law has adopted the principle of the industry's ombudsman, under which stakeholders with complaints against the commissioner could be handled.

It provides for establishment of the Insurance Appeal Tribunal and Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority to enable Insurers, brokers and customers file appeals when they are not satisfied by commissioner's decisions.

The law requires firm's to allocate at least one-third mandatory stake to Tanzanians for it to secure registration. "This is a deliberate move to empower Tanzanians take part in the lucrative industry," Mr Mzee noted.

Analysts say the proposed law consolidates the regulatory framework enshrined in the Insurance Act 1996 and Insurance Regulations 1998. The law had set strict prudential guidelines to ensure that the nascent insurance industry was established on strong foundations.

This strictness manifests itself in rules that govern the operation of insurance firms: Insurance firms must meet paid-up share capital and solvency margin requirements and must hold certain percentage holdings of various investments.


The insurance business faces a number of challenges including failure by some firms to maintain minimum solvency margin which impedes their ability to meet their financial obligations. Other challenges include lack of training facilities for professionals within the country especially actuarial science and other related risk management studies.

The insurance industry at end of 2007 employed 2,530 staff, out of whom 982 (39 per cent) were working in insurance firms, while 1,548 (61 per cent) were engaged by insurance agencies, broking houses and loss assessors and adjusters.

AFGHANISTAN WAR OVERFLOWS DURATIONS OF WW1 & WW2

First world war: 1914-1918
Second world war: 1939- 1945
Afghanistan: 2001-2009 2 US presidents, 2 British prime ministers and still going.....

Just stats, thats all, who's winning? Would be great to see the back of this though, let me spin a conspiracy theory- the indian bombings were a tactic to draw further confusion in the region, thank God the Indian government did not take the bait otherwise Afghanistan, India and Pakistan would all be festering with warring hot-points, not a beautiful sight at all, now who would that benefit? I'll leave that to you but definitely not the NATO.

Thats what happens when coins overflow in the wrong pockets, funding chaos, destabilisation. New World order! My foot! The games humans play..... in the meanwhile

THE MISSING HUMAN LINK

10:16pm UK, Wednesday May 20, 2009

Alex Watts, Sky News Online
Scientists have unveiled a 47-million-year-old fossilised skeleton of a monkey hailed as the missing link in human evolution.

Fossil

This 95%-complete 'lemur monkey' is described as the "eighth wonder of the world"

The search for a direct connection between humans and the rest of the animal kingdom has taken 200 years - but it was presented to the world today at a special news conference in New York.

The discovery of the 95%-complete 'lemur monkey' - dubbed Ida - is described by experts as the "eighth wonder of the world".

They say its impact on the world of palaeontology will be "somewhat like an asteroid falling down to Earth".

Researchers say proof of this transitional species finally confirms Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, and the then radical, outlandish ideas he came up with during his time aboard the Beagle.

Sir David Attenborough said Darwin "would have been thrilled" to have seen the fossil - and says it tells us who we are and where we came from.

Pictures From Atlantic Productions



"This little creature is going to show us our connection with the rest of the mammals," he said.

"This is the one that connects us directly with them.

"Now people can say 'okay we are primates, show us the link'.

"The link they would have said up to now is missing - well it's no longer missing."

A team of the world's leading fossil experts, led by Professor Jorn Hurum, of Norway's National History Museum, have been secretly researching the 1ft 9in-tall young female monkey for the past two years.

And now it has been transported to New York under high security and unveiled to the world during the bicentenary of Darwin's birth.

Darwin caused storm with his theory

Later this month, it will be exhibited for one day only at the Natural History Museum in London before being returned to Oslo.

Scientists say Ida - squashed to the thickness of a beer mat by the immense passage of time - is the most complete primate fossil ever found.

With her human-like nails instead of claws, and opposable big toes, she is placed at the very root of human evolution when early primates first developed features that would eventually develop into our own.

Another important discovery is the shape of the talus bone in her foot, which humans still have in their feet millions of lifetimes later.

Ida was unearthed by an amateur fossil-hunter some 25 years ago in Messel pit, an ancient crater lake near Frankfurt, Germany, famous for its fossils.


She was cleaned and set in polyester resin - and incredibly, was hung on a mystery German collector's wall for 20 years.

Sky News sources say the owner had no idea of the unique fossil's significance and simply admired it like a cherished Van Gogh or Picasso painting.

But in 2006, Ida came into the hands of private dealer Thomas Perner, who presented her to Prof Hurum at the annual Hamburg Fossil and Mineral Fair in Germany - a centre for the murky world of fossil-trading.

Prof Hurum said when he first saw the blueprint for evolution - the "most beautiful fossil worldwide" - he could not sleep for two days.

A home movie records the dramatic moment.

"This is really something that the world has never seen before, this is a unique specimen, totally unique," he says, clearly emotional.

The missing link fossil

He says he knew she should be saved for science rather than end up hidden from the world in a wealthy private collector's vault.

But the dealer's asking price was more than $1 million (£660,000) - ten times the amount even the rarest of fossils fetch on the black market.

Eventually, after six months of negotiations, he managed to raise the cash in Norway and brought Ida to Oslo.
Attenborough: The Link Is No Longer Missing


Prof Hurum - who last summer dug up the fossil remains of a 50ft marine monster called Predator X from the permafrost on Svalbard, a Norwegian island close to the North Pole - then assembled a "dream team" of experts who worked in secret for two years.

They included palaeontologist Dr Jens Franzen, Dr Holly Smith, of the University of Michigan, and Philip Gingerich, president-elect of the US Paleontological Society.

Researchers could prove the fossil was genuine through X-rays, knowing it is impossible to fake the inner structure of a bone.

Through radiometric dating of Messel's volcanic rocks, they discovered Ida lived 47 million years ago in the Eocene period.

This was when tropical forests stretched right to the poles, and South America was still drifting and had yet to make contact with North America.

During that period, the first whales, horses, bats and monkeys emerged, and the early primates branched into two groups - one group lived on mainly as lemurs, and the second developed into monkeys, apes and humans.

The experts concluded Ida was not simply a lemur but a 'lemur monkey', displaying a mixture of both groups, and therefore putting her at the very branch of the human line.

This little creature is going to show us our connection with the rest of the mammals. This is the one that connects us directly with them.

Sir David Attenborough

"When Darwin published his On the Origin of Species in 1859, he said a lot about transitional species," said Prof Hurum

"...and he said that will never be found, a transitional species, and his whole theory will be wrong, so he would be really happy to live today when we publish Ida.

"This fossil is really a part of our history; this is part of our evolution, deep, deep back into the aeons of time, 47 million years ago.

"It's part of our evolution that's been hidden so far, it's been hidden because all the other specimens are so incomplete.

"They are so broken there's almost nothing to study and now this wonderful fossil appears and it makes the story so much easier to tell, so it's really a dream come true."

Up until now, the most famous fossil primate in the world has been Lucy, a 3.18-million-year-old hominid found in Ethiopia in 1974.

She was then our earliest known ancestor, and only 40% complete.


But at 95% complete, Ida was so well preserved in the mud at the bottom of the volcanic lake, there is even evidence of her fur shadow and remains of her last meal.

From this they concluded she was a leaf and fruit eater, and probably lived in the trees around the lake.

The absence of a bacculum (penis bone) confirmed she was female, and her milk teeth put her age at about nine-months-old - in maturity, equivalent to a six-year-old human child.

This was the same age as Prof Hurum's daughter Ida, and he named the fossil after her.

The study is being published and put online by the Public Library of Science, a leading academic journal with offices in Britain and the US.

Dr Hurum also found Predator X

Co-author of the scientific paper, Prof Gingerich, likens its importance to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, an ancient Egyptian artefact found in 1799, which allowed us to decipher hieroglyphic writing.

One clue to Ida's fate - and her remarkable preservation as our oldest ancestor - was her badly fractured left wrist.

The team believes this stopped her from climbing and she had to emerge from the trees to drink water from the 250-metre-deep lake.

They think she was overcome by carbon dioxide gas from the crater, and sunk to the bottom where she was preserved in the mud as a time capsule - and a snapshot of evolution.

But amazingly this final piece of Darwin's jigsaw was almost lost to science when German authorities tried to turn Messel into a massive landfill rubbish dump.

Eventually, after campaigning by Dr Franzen, the plans were rejected and the fossil-rich lake was designated a World Heritage Site.

But no doubt there would have been one person happy for the missing link to have remained hidden.

When Darwin famously told the Bishop of Worcester's wife about his theory of evolution, she remarked: "Descended from the apes! My dear, let us hope that it is not true, but if it is, let us pray that it will not become generally known."

Now, it certainly is.

:: Ida's discovery has been made into an Atlantic Productions' documentary, presented by Sir David Attenborough. See more at www.revealingthelink.com/.

Treasury Agrees To Aid US Insurers

Treasury Agrees To Aid Insurers, Six Firms Gain Access to Funds- Washington Post.

By David S. Hilzenrath and David Cho, Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, May 15, 2009

The Treasury yesterday granted preliminary approval for some of the nation's largest insurance companies to receive capital infusions under the government's Troubled Assets Relief Program, Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams said.

Recipients are Hartford, Prudential, Allstate, Ameriprise, Lincoln National and Principal Financial Group, he said. The insurers notified yesterday are among hundreds of financial institutions in the pipeline "that are being reviewed and funded as appropriate on a rolling basis," Williams said.

The money could shore up the life insurance industry, which plays a major role in the economy and has been weakened by the financial crisis. In addition to paying death benefits, life insurers deliver retirement income in the form of annuities. They are big investors in corporate bonds and commercial real estate.

However, the erosion of their investments -- and the possibility of further declines in the value of stocks, bonds and mortgages -- raised concern in some quarters about the outlook for the industry.

"These funds would further fortify our capital resources and provide us with additional financial flexibility during one of the most volatile market climates in our nation's history," Hartford chief executive Ramani Ayer said in a statement.

Hartford said it received preliminary approval for an infusion of $3.4 billion, the full amount it estimated last year that it might obtain.

Until now, the government had used the capital purchase program to support the struggling banking industry. With the recent completion of stress tests assessing the continued needs of the banking system, the government was in a clearer position to address insurers.

Insurers applied for the federal support last year and had been in suspense for months as to whether they would get it. The Treasury had been evaluating their applications in consultation with state regulators.

Though the legislation creating TARP suggested that insurers could participate, the Treasury said that to qualify they had to be bank or thrift holding companies, which would put them under federal supervision.

The federal money has strings attached. If they take it, insurers would have to submit to restrictions on executive pay and other matters.

Spokesmen for Lincoln and Prudential declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Principal Financial, Susan Houser, said by e-mail yesterday afternoon that Principal had received no response from the Treasury to its application.

UK POLITICIANS LOSE MORAL HIGHGROUND PERHAPS IRREPARABLY

They are quick to label as negative other parts of the world especially developing nations, they blast corrupt regimes out of the water, they talk of regime change with clout of all manner etceteras, The Daily Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/ has however revealed that UK parliamenterians are not quite squeaky clean. The British public are hopping mad.

Faith is lost, people talk of never voting again, labels such as fraud by abuse of postion, sleaze, fraud by failing to disclose information, 'flippin' are tossed around. Its a right total mess and a shame really......adult movies , gardeners, non-existent mortgages charged to the taxpayer. What will the world say? the next few days will tell, meanwhile MP's issue apologies, repayment cheques and get suspended. Its a whole darn mess!

Did Martin Luther King know about Gandhi’s racism?

Did ML King know about Gandhi’s racism? Excerpt from: http://www.zimbio.com/Ghandi%2Bquotes/articles/23/ML%2BKing%2Bknow%2BGandhi%2Bracism
Written by moinansari
From: rupeenews.com

We think that Martin Luther King was one of the greatest heros of our time. He accomplished more than any of his contemporaries. Martin Luther King lived during troubled times. He was in search of turth and find a mentor in Thoreau. He was a Christian minister so he did believe in Jesus Christ.

Martin wanted to keep up the family tradition, so he decided to become a minister. He graduated from Morehouse College in 1948 and then went to Crozer Seminary to become a minister. It was at Crozer that Martin learned about the Disneyland version of Gandhi. He must have learned that Gandhi was an important leader in India. It is very doubtful if Dr. King did any depth study of Gandhi’s action in South Africa.

It is doubtful if The Reverend Martin Luther ever heard about Gandhi’s support for all the British wars, and that Gandhi was the self-proclaimed “Recruiter in Chief” for the Empire sending thousands to be used as connon fodder.

GANDHI ON BLACKS AND RACE RELATIONS (Zulus and Kaffirs were African tribes in South Africa)

• “A general belief seems to prevail in the colony that the Indians are little better, if at all, than the savages or natives of Africa. Even the children are taught to believe in that manner, with the result that the Indian is being dragged down to the position of a raw Kaffir.” (Reference: The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Government of India (CWMG), Vol I, p. 150)
• Regarding forcible registration with the state of blacks: “One can understand the necessity for registration of Kaffirs who will not work.” (Reference: CWMG, Vol I, p. 105)
• “Why, of all places in Johannesburg, the Indian Location should be chosen for dumping down all the Kaffirs of the town passes my comprehension…the Town Council must withdraw the Kaffirs from the Location.” (Reference: CWMG, Vol I, pp. 244-245)
• His description of black inmates: “Only a degree removed from the animal.” Also, “Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilized - the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals.” - Mar. 7, 1908 (Reference: CWMG, Vol VIII, pp. 135-136)
• The Durban Post Office: One of Gandhi’s major “achievements” in South Africa was to promote racial segregation by refusing to share a post office door with the black natives.
• Sergeant Major Gandhi: Learn how Gandhi became a Sgt. Major in the British Army and eagerly participated in the 1906 British war against the black Zulus.
• Gandhi and South African Blacks: Gandhi wrote extensively about his experiences with the blacks of South Africa. He always termed them “Kaffirs” and his writings reveal a deep-seated disdain for these African natives.

If Dr. King had known about about the Zulus (African tribe) and the Kaffirs (African tribe), he surely would have voiced his concern.Gandhi condones Zulu massacres and defends the British. Aug 4 1906

Dr. King may not have read Time Magazine and the explosive stories about Mr. Gandhi’s personal life. The sex life of Mr. Gandhi, and his failures as a politician

Dr. King probably knew only about the propoganda clips of Mr. Gandhi and never really knew the man. The myth of Mohandas K. Gandhi debunked. He gets an “F” on South Africa, Salt Match, Non-Violence, and independence

Dr. King on moral high ground condemned wars. He would have been shocked to find out that Gandhi supported the British wars extending the British empire. Which war did Mohandas Gandhi support. All of them. There wasn’t a war that the prophet of Non-Violence did not support. He was Sergeant Major in the British Army and won a medal for his war duties

Dr. King was probably unaware about Gandhi’s open racism.Gandhi’s racism. The truth behind the mask. Behold Sergeant Major Gandhi who supported the British during the Boer war, Zulu rebellion. Behold the prophet of peace who worked to stratify the South African society.

Dr. King did not know that Gandhi did not bring the British Empire down.

Dr. King would have been appalled if he knew that Gandhi insisted on calling Hitler his “friend” and that his advice to the Jews was horribe piece of Anti-Semitism Gandhi’s letter to his friend Hitler.

!! Shocking!! Astonishing!! The more I read, the more this world turns out to be a different place altogether.......

INDIAN RACISM.

I watched a documentary on Indian Daliks in SKY news yesterday, extremely disturbing is the level of poverty in India but most disturbing is the type of apartheid they still practice.....explains a lot really.

Indian Racism: Are we racists? Excerpts from the blog: http://sujaiblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/indian-racism.html
Saturday, June 14, 2008

"I have always maintained that Indians are one of the most racist people on this planet. It is just that many of us don’t know that we are racist, and those who do know never acknowledge it. We have been practicing racism for ages and have institutionalized it into our daily lingo and even the religion.

When the word ‘racism’ was introduced into Indian media, most Indians thought it was an ‘artificial Western construct’, that is applicable only to the White people of the West when treating the people of other color, but definitely not applicable to Indians. It is something people in the West do to people like us and not the other way around. Their ideas on lofty ideas on Sanatana Dharma have deluded them into believing that we are not racist and definitely not discriminatory.

Indians are not racist

The golden rule is – We Indians are not racist. If we said something racial, it’s just the cultural and linguistic differences. However, when somebody does it to us, we feel really bad, get onto the TV and protest and cry till you apologize. [Refer to Shilpa Shetty’s case on Big Brother].

Cheerleaders at IPL

Now, in a new incident, few black cheerleaders were pulled out of a IPL cricket game at Mohali. The organizers pulled them out saying ‘the people here don’t want to see the dark people’. According to the cheerleaders, they used ‘n’ word and wanted see only ‘beautiful white girls’.

One of the cheerleaders said, "We were offended. This shouldn't be happening - especially after they made such a fuss over Big Brother."

To start with, the whole idea of hiring black cheerleaders for our IPL games is a gross mistake. It is too much of politically-correctness to handle for Indians. I mean, ‘Come on! Can we cut the crap, stop all this politically-correct bullshit and get back to enjoying the beautiful white girls? Why do we have to put up with these black girls?’

Look at our heroines in the South India. We all know we have many dark women here, but do we allow them to get onto the screen? NO! Why? Because we don’t want to pay money to see dark women on screen! The same holds for IPL cheerleaders. We just want to see fair women. And if that means we have to import them from the North India, so be it. We have been doing this in our Cinema for many years now. And if we have to import them from other countries, it’s even better. That way we can ogle at them without having to worry about blemishing our sacred Bharat Nari.

And look at us in the North India. Why do you think we treat these dark girls this way? Do you see us vying for them ever? There are some dark girls in the North and we are usually ashamed of it. And yes, gori pari from firang is any day welcome in our midst.

Too much of politically-correctness

I think this whole globalization is taking a toll on us. It is putting too many demands on being politically-correct. I don’t think we can keep straight face for too long.

Hiring these black cheerleaders and asking them to dance on national TV is like making the village Brahmin sit next a Dalit. It’s just too uncomfortable. The village Brahmin can tolerate it for few minutes, to be politically correct, but you can’t push it too far. Eventually, he will just burst out and use the language that he is really used to, kick that Dalit out and show him his place.

I don’t think we should try to break or change the natural order of things. Didn’t you know that our caste system and our preference for color schemes actually bring order to the nature? Do you want to upset the natural harmony our villages? Do you want us to go against all our teachings for all these centuries to see the distasteful black women dancing around on TV?

You must be kidding.

Thank you, but no thanks. Please take this political correctness to your West. It’s not for us Indians. We are like this only. And don’t try to change us!"

Holy crap!!!

Quotations from the inimitable Oscar Wilde.

I have nothing to declare except my genuis.

The only difference between a saint and a sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.

In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.

Those whom the gods love grow young.

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.

The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.

Ordinary riches can be stolen; real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.

There is only one class in the community that thinks more about money than the rich, and that is the poor. The poor can think of nothing else.

There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up.

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them as much.

Talk to every woman as if you loved her, and to every man as if he bored you, and at the end of your first season, you will have the reputation of possessing the most perfect social tact.

It is only shallow people who require years to get rid of an emotion. A man who is master of himself can end a sorrow as easily as he can invent a pleasure.

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.

The English have a miraculous power of turning wine into water.

Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.

I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.

Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.

Fathers should be neither seen nor heard. That is the only proper basis for family life.

The English country gentleman galloping after a fox - the unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable.

Elections- The price for peace.

Elections must never be taken for granted, elections are an ingenious invention, they are the price for peace, they enable a population to buy into a feeling of being important from time to time by virtue of their vote, they allow for a renewal of direction, a check on overruns and excess, a measure of suitability of elected office bearers and much more.

Malawi runs its elections in a week, which I won't participate in but whatever the result, the main players both fit the technical profile of what I would want in a leader of a nation that seeks economic empowerment, both can read economics, so I leave the task to my countrymen and will respect their choice. Which horse will win? the odds say horse Bingu, but as Kenny Rogers sang "You never count your money when youre sittin' at the table, there'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done". I on the other hand will try the MEP elections for EU Parliament come June 4th.

Let peace and prosperity prevail. A better future must be the motto.

Benjamin Disraeli- We are creators of circumstance

We are not creatures of circumstance; we are creators of circumstance. Benjamin Disraeli.