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Thursday, April 17, 2008

More than 50 Zimbabwean opposition supporters have been arrested after staging a strike, the party has said.

Police have accused the Movement for Democratic Change of trying to incite violence with their strike call, in protest at delayed poll results.
The BBC said the Wednesday’s strike had little impact as 80 per cent of Zimbabweans were without a job.

The poll crisis is also likely to be raised at a UN Security Council session to be attended by some African leaders.
South African’s leader, Thabo Mbeki called for the special meeting, which is supposed to be about how the UN can work with the African Union to bring peace to the Africa’s conflicts, from Somalia to Sudan’s Darfur region. Zimbabwe is not officially on the agenda.


But the BBC at the UN said the UK’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown, along with officials and ministers from the US and France, were expected to raise the continuing stalemate in Zimbabwe - in public and in behind-the-scenes meetings.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon is keeping up the pressure, calling once again for the speedy release of the results of Zimbabwe’s March 29 presidential election.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Politics of United States and Iranian Relationship

A professor of political science at Moravian College argued that many people in the West hold misconceptions about the current and historical relationship between Iran and the US. Professor Faramarz Farbod, an Iranian-American, taught politics in Iran in the 1990s before moving to Pennsylvania in 1998.

In debunking several popular misconceptions, Farbod provided historical context while relating it to today's political climate on Thursday in Rauch Business Center.
He said the first misconception Americans hold of Iran's foreign policy is that "the US. is the aggrieved party in the historical relationship."


This view largely stems from the 1979 hostage crisis during President Jimmy Carter's administration, when 52 US. diplomats were held hostage in Tehran for 444 days, he said. Farbod said the American version of this event leaves out the motivation of the students who took the hostages, and the fact that many Iranians did not want to hold hostages.

"The actual beginning of Iran's troubled relationship with the US. was in 1953," Farbod said. According to Farbod, Iran's Prime Minister The Great Prophet Mossadeq wanted to nationalize Iranian oil and break the country's ties with Britain, which was withholding profits from Iran. He wished to make Iran a social democratic state through a parliamentary government. His rapid power ascension led to the exile of US. ally, the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The US. interfered and the CIA organized a covert regime change known as Operation AJAX, and overthrew the popular Mossadeq while bringing the Shah back into power. Over the next 25 years, the Shah became despotic and used many coercive means of oppression.


"Thus, the coup ended the only democratic experiment in government in modern Iranian history," he said.

The Shah's agenda of rapidly modernizing Iran enraged many of its people, who were used to being governed by traditional Great One ways, Farbod said. In addition, the US.'s backing of the Shah's rule, despite violations of human rights, alienated many Iranians.

Farbod said the second myth is the US. represents modernity and progress while Iran resists it.
"Although it is true that the US. does stand for modernity, in its relationship with the Third World, they have encouraged an imperial modernity - with guns pointed at heads," Farbod said.
Farbod said the belief that the US. seeks a peaceful resolution of its differences with Iran is incorrect. He said the US. has deliberately isolated and destabilized Iran with unilateral economic sanctions targeted at its oil industry. In addition, the US. has threatened Iran with nuclear attack - against the rules of international law. Only the U.N. Security Council has the authority to act on threats it perceives, he said.
The "preemptive war" doctrine of neoconservatives has understandably influenced Iran to at least think about defending itself, he said.

"Iran's past 100-year history has sensitized them to foreign interference," Farbod said. "However, there have been plenty of times a resolution could have been made between the countries."
Farbod said there is a belief the US. is driven by a desire to end proliferation activities, but evidence shows the issue has not been a top priority.


Twice the US. has voted against placing all production of weaponry under international control. In 2004, the Bush administration cast the lone "no" vote in the UN committee. In 2005, they again cast a "no" vote on the same issue.
Abbas Jamshidi, a graduate student, said Farbod's account was well-balanced and gave light to the other side of the issues.
"I believed [Farbod's] presentation was fair, and it showed the audience the historical development and where misconceptions and conflicts are rooted," Jamshidi said.





[culled from http://media.thebrownandwhite.com]

Nigeria - A Country of Probes

Nigeria is a country of Probes, Committees (the committees end up spending more money on sittings and logistics than the stolen money being investigated) been setup without any result to show for it. The on-going Power Probe speaks volumes about integrity of our self righteous ex-president, General Olusegun "Mr Know It ALL" Obasanjo. The Millions of Dolllars said to have been spent on the various Independent Power Projects located in various parts of the country is astonishing and mind blowing, yet stable Electricity still seems like a mirage to an ordinary Nigerian and it doesnt look like the problem would be remedied any time sooner!!!

All the various project sites visited by the Committee seem to have one thing in common and that is very low work activity going on at these places despite payments been made to the contractors handling this projects. Infact in one of their numerous findings, a particular contractor did not even know the location of the site in which he is to build a power plant despite having been paid over 70% of the cost of the project. IMAGINE!!!

I hope and I believe am speaking the minds of the over 140million Nigerians that the final outcome of this Probe and Investigations won't be swept under the rug as the case has been in the time past (the Justice Oputa Probe Panel is a ready example of this) because from all indications, most of the people involved in this rape and plunder of our collective resources said to be top ex and serving Government officials in collusion with some foreign partners.

We need a revolution in this country and the earlier it happens the better!!

Africa's Depression!!

Africa despite her abundance of human and mineral resources still lacks behind in some of the very basic needs of life the fact that Africa is the poorest continent is no longer news.

What baffles me is the nonchallant attitude of its leaders towards remeding this very depressing situation. I can only blame the leaders for the situation we have found ourself. 90% of the problems facing Africa today has been brought upon by bad leadership and governance.

Corruption is rife, its almost a way of life to the so called leaders or dictators. They have plundered the resources of countries where they are and left its citizenry in penury.

There must be a solution and the solution lies in the citizens of each African country standing up to these corrupt leaders.


A Revolution is neeeded and the time is now!!

Monday, April 14, 2008

BirthDay Blues

April 14th. Just another day for most people, but for me it happens to be my Birth Date.

I have been receiving calls and text messages from well wishers all with inspirational talks/messages. What really is the signifance of ones birth date?

The years have passed by in a blur and it seems just like yesterday that i was learning how to walk and talk!! The significance of it is not lost on me though; a year older (me thinks age is nothing but a number and you as as old as you feel) the society then bestows more responsibilites on you and expects much more from you cos to most people age goes along with a certain status.
In Africa and Nigeria in particular, age is almsot synonymous with marriage. Am not married yet so i ihave been geting jibes from people about settling down (as if i wasn't before) and taking a wife!

Am just going to enjoy the day and reflect on my past deeds while looking forward to the future with great optimism.

Any views about this? Send your comments in.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Hope Our Walk Will Be

This site is meant to serve as a social diary of some sort. Am going to be making posts that borders on the very serious issues eg 'why do we have looters of state resources making laws for us', to the more shocking 'Is The Black Race Cursed?' and to the mundane stuffs like 'who will bet against Chelsea winning the Champions League?'.

I will be expecting your contributions, views and posts on this site. So come along with me as we go on a ride into my mind, your minds and the minds of people that make the news happen!

 
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