Month: July 2014

Zimbabwe: The End is Nigh

Zimbabwe: The End is Nigh

by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

chappatteZimbabwe is on the brink of a new and violent crisis. Stay clear of the Zimbabwean side of Victoria Falls.

The ailing dictator, Robert Mugabe, is in Singapore for medical treatment. Yesterday he issued an unexpected and terrifying statement that all the remaining white farmers “had to go” by August.

There is an element of unusual desperation in the statement which I believe could lead to a series of very violent events.

These may not just involve white farmers. It could indeed be that Mugabe is very sick and is trying to hasten his mad policies before the end.

When he dies, or because it’s known he’s dying, a fight among the ruling elite to succeed him could be violent.

There are somewhere between 4-5000 white farmers who have survived Mugabe’s wrath for the last 14 years since the original 50,000 white farmers were told to leave. They have compromised their land ownership and production capabilities time and again and have lived terrified lives.

Almost weekly there is a brutal killing of white farmers.

It may seem amazing that any white farmers remain at all but it’s important to understand that many of these “hangers-on” as Zimbabwe politicians are apt to call them, were either extremely wealthy to begin with, capable of buying off ministers and police; or had absolutely no connections left anywhere else in the world to go to.

Now, every single one of them must leave.

“There are white farmers who are still on the land and have the protection of some cabinet ministers and politicians as well as traditional leaders,” Mugabe said in his statement from Singapore.

“That should never happen and we will deal with ministers but as for our chiefs we do not want to harass you.

“Chief Charumbira (Fortune and president of chief’s council), you need to help us on this one because we respect you and your members. We do not want trouble.”

To Mugabe the fiscal implication of his dictum – which will finally and totally destroy the tidbits that remain of the agricultural sector – doesn’t matter a hoot. His bankrupt nation survives on aid from South Africa and China. His agriculture minister, Joseph Made, is currently in Iran seeking more assistance.

Poverty, disease and life expectancy are only some of the metrics together with the economy that have exceeded crisis levels in the last decade.

During and just before the Arab Spring there were movements of reform and activism that were surprisingly successful. Large demonstrations which suffered countless killings and injuries forced the government into a new constitution which created the first ever opposition party.

But that party has been cajoled and coopted and is today totally powerless.

Historically Zimbabwe’s wealth was based on tobacco farming and mining, both controlled almost exclusively by the descendants of white settlers and colonists, the first of whom arrived in the 1890s.

The enmity between whites and blacks and among ruling tribes has been profound throughout all of Zimbabwe and Rhodesia’s existence.

By the mid 20th Century whites controlled virtually every aspect of the nation’s economy and wealth, yet they represented less than 6% of the overall population.

Never before or since in Africa has such a small percentage of a society’s ethnic population ruled so exclusively.

Britain hastened independence on its African colonies in the 1960s and tried to engineer a fair political plan that was scheduled to take effect in 1962. Any notion of fairness, of course, would have completely marginalized white control.

So a group of white politicians led by Ian Smith staged a coup and declared independence, and for 18 years whites continued to rule the country.

The civil war which developed was tedious and long, because the whites were so powerful. Finally in 1980 the U.K. and the U.S. brokered an end to the war that resulted in Mugabe coming to power.

He’s never left, and he’s never forgotten. He’s hell bent on retribution that stretches back to precolonial times when the maverick Cecil Rhodes tricked tribal leaders into giving them their territories in 1888.

But Mugabe has proved impotent in replacing the white-dominated economy with anything but aid. Strong sanctions from the west limit Zimbabwe’s growth to be sure, but numbers show that any investment is squandered.

The next chapter in Zimbabwe’s history is very near. And I’m afraid is likely to be very bloody.

GuestPost: New African Species!

GuestPost: New African Species!

by Arusha ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

migrationcongestionThanks below to a great client, John Kohnstamm!

The common Toyorangabeast (Toyus rangus touristanus) is an invasive species to East Africa first observed in the mid 1900’s.

Migrating from Northern Europe and East Asia, it was first believed to be one species. On closer examination and exhaustive genetic testing performed by scientist from the Toyus Rangus society of the Invasive species center at the University of Scotland in Edinborough, it was proven that in fact they are two distinct species: Rangus arrogantus, the first to evolve and the much more common Toyus copicatus that didn’t occur until later in the century.

The two are easily identifiable. The Rangus occur in brighter colors, usually white or yellow. They tend to be much more finicky and only present themselves during bright daylight hours. Never at dawn and certainly not at dusk.

The more common Toyus occur in drab colors, usually brown or dull green. They are a more robust creature and are known to have great endurance. Usually present early in the morning and late into dusk they have been observed at great speeds racing from the Ngorongoro crater at sunset.

These beasts tend to migrate with the great migrating herds of East Africa. They occur most densely where predatory animals are present. They nosily come together at these sites where they immediately become quiet and docile.

To the practiced observer, it is easy to hear their calming clicks and oos and ahs that scientist believe is caused by the symbiotic relationship between Toyorangabeast and the predatory animals. The effect is, however only temporary and the Toyorangabeasts become restless and disperse most likely never to come together in the same group again.

Getting Grandma’s Necklace

Getting Grandma’s Necklace

by Arusha ♥ 3 Comments

gettinggrandmasnecklaceIf you want to dispose of Grandma’s necklace, you better do it before August.

Last week Fish & Wildlife inched towards final new August regulations on the sale and use of ivory within the U.S. Orchestras were elated, piano vendors were piqued, and the Wall Street Journal was furious.

The Thursday announcement is based on agency findings made the previous month but only published last week.

The Thursday announcement relaxed previously proposed regulations that would have prevented any musical instrument composed of endangered animal products (like ivory piano keys) to be brought into or taken out of the U.S.

At the same time, though, the agency reenforced proposed regulations that will prevent any individual owner of ivory less than a hundred years old from selling or trading it, unless of course if it is part of a musical instrument.

Other petitioners, like museums seeking the ability to produce exhibitions that include foreign works of art (like ivory that are not musical instruments), were not addressed.

In claiming victory for its lobbying, The League of America Orchestras said the adjustment was “in response to urgent appeals from the League.”

At the same time the revised proposed regulations tightened restrictions on the commercial sale of pianos with ivory keys.

“These regulations … place a burden on the piano industry,” a leading blog contended.

And it might be time to quickly sell your grandma’s ivory on eBay. If current regulations hold to August when officially implemented, individual owners of ivory less than a century old will not be able to trade or sell their products.

This effects personal ownership of jewelry, for example, and would restrict an estate from liquidating such ivory items in probate. It would also forbid any commercial transactions, such as selling Grandma’s “newer” ivory necklaces on eBay.

The agency has yet to specify, though, how an old piece of ivory can be certified to be more than a hundred years old, and it’s very likely that most individual owners of old ivory will not have adequate documentation to be certified.

This infuriated the increasingly irrational Wall Street Journal which somehow bundled into its ire Botswana’s ban on hunting as well, concluding that these two actions will hasten elephant extinction.

In sum it looks like the August regulations will be pretty tough, stiffing capitalists (Grandma) while ameliorating socialists (community orchestras).

I like this attitude, but I remain skeptical that it will help solve the “elephant problem.” I worry that the increasingly complex regulations further American political interests while distracting real conservationists from the problem that there are too many elephants in our increasingly developed world.

If I’m right and this tedious and laborious march to August regulations is mostly political if a tad ideological, it’s not so bad in an era of center ring political fighting. But don’t forget that Obama had no qualms about issuing the only waiver ever for a Wisconsin politician to kill and import an endangered rhino.

Extracted from the bare knuckles of American politics, I wish Americans would focus more on the real problem: what to do about a contentious elephant population in a world where there are too many elephants.

Real and profound questions like should elephants be culled or poachers executed are much more important than whether Emily sells Grandma’s necklace.