Everybody knows what they don’t want, but no one is sure about what they want. That’s the news from the U.K. and South Africa and Washington, today, and it doesn’t bode well.
When Boris’ landslide was assured late last night, the committee expected to vote impeachment adjourned. The South African Rand jumped a healthy 2% on cynicism that the rich, developed world doesn’t have a clue about what it’s doing.
The contentious struggle about what to do about lion has heated up. Two UN agencies, including CITES, are teaming up to categorize lion as endangered as rhino.
That would end most lion hunting as well as pave the way for local governments to seriously criminalize interfering with lion. There is an awful lot to unbundle from this.
Victoria Falls without falls is disturbing enough but there are even more disturbing aspects to the viral dissemination of the falls turned off.
More than several times I’ve seen the falls this way. It reflects a severe drought to the west. But right now really destructive torrential rains are destroying large towns and major agricultural areas to the west as the drought breaks. In several months the falls will be running wild. No one seems to mention that… this time.
Early Wednesday I bemoaned Democrats for impeachment because their Republican opponents argued the facts weren’t egregious enough. By Wednesday afternoon Republicans said they weren’t the facts.
Last May Nairobi housing officials declared a large number of residences “safe” for habitation. Yesterday one of those collapsed. Last August Kenyan police declared they had disarmed holders of illegal assault weapons in the northwest. Sunday Kenyan reporters revealed children as young as ten years old were proudly talking of the number of people they had recently killed. (Watch this unbelievable video.)
Hoisted by their own petard. I love that phrase and I think that’s what the Democrats are unfortunately being forced to do.
In Africa and other newer societies the body of law is less than in our “ancient” country (as one African commentator recently called us). That means two things: there’s less to consider and less to interpret.
Trump apparently can make about a third of America believe any falsehood he imagines and do anything he asks up to sacrificing their farm for his pockets. But Trump cannot tell Mother Nature how to act.
A pitiful world conference begins today in Madrid on climate change. It doesn’t matter if there are paper ballots in Georgia or not for the future’s elections there, if there’s no soil or water. Africans find a wry twist to all of this: the greedy power-brokers are suicidal.
Today begins the long Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. (Canada celebrates it earlier.) Festivities continue throughout the week with many people not returning to normal work routines until Tuesday or Wednesday next week.
For many Americans this has become a bigger holiday than Christmas and other end-of-the-year celebrations, which are considered more religious than familial. In large part, this is because of BLACK FRIDAY.
It’s very hard to write about Africa when America is in such crisis. But there’s one topic that stitches the two together perfectly: corruption.
Corruption is at the heart of America’s disintegration, today. And corruption was always pervasive in Africa until just recently. But it’s not an exaggeration to say that corruption in America, today, is greater than it was ever anywhere in Africa that I can remember.
Monday Kenyan Amos Wako was denied entry into the US by Mike Pompei, US Secretary of State. Reason: corruption.
Wako was Kenya’s Attorney General, today a Senator. Among his many alleged offenses: using his powers as Attorney General to stifle his political opponents. Makes me wonder: Sen. D. Trump from the Great State of Alabama? He does have a property there, right?
Last week East African countries were scolded by the IMF and World Bank for their high debt.
The EAC Monetary Protocol signed by the nine African countries in 2013 restricted them from exceeding a 50% debt-to-GDP ratio. All but Uganda and Tanzania have breached that, and those two countries aren’t far behind.
Oh by the way, in 2018 the U.S. debt to GDP rose to 110% of its GDP.
All South African Airways flights for the next two days have been cancelled. A two-day strike which is unlikely to be resolved could continue indefinitely.
In today’s big, interconnected world, only big carriers make good business sense. That’s why South African Airways is about to implode and fail.
The first news reported in South Africa early this morning after the first impeachment hearing: “Gold, silver prices score first gain in 5 sessions.”
South Africa’s economy is founded on metals. It’s not been doing well recently. The analyst at South Africa’s Investing.com attributed the rise to “uncertainty over the outlook for a U.S.-China trade deal and the first day of public impeachment .”
Today is only the 4th time in the history of America, but the third time in my life time, that impeachment begins against a sitting president. In the last several years seven African leaders were deposed by legal proceedings or mass demonstrations.
Yesterday the former leader of Bolivia fled to Mexico. Brazil’s imprisoned last president is out, rallying the troops against his incarcerators. Ecuador’s president has fled his capital. Zimbabwe’s president may soon be ousted by his Army.
Today is controversial: a very revered American holiday that many of us are reluctant to celebrate because we are so ashamed of America’s wars. Yet we can’t ignore the life stories of those who are conflated with them.
During my life time, which began just after World War II, America has fought many wars and not a single one was justified. I hoped Obama would end some of them, but instead he started new ones. Today, it’s terrifying.
The populism which snuck Trump into power will not alter its vehement refusal to engage globally, and that includes warring. So the Trump administration has made almost as many efforts to end America’s fighting abroad as it has to build a wall between Mexico and our southern border. Neither has been successful.
And the efforts have divided America even further and increasingly stressed our government and culture.
Consider this. America for good or bad was instrumental bringing down the Berlin Wall under what had been its most conservative president to date, Ronald Reagan. Trump refused to join the celebrations a few days ago. It’s unclear whether this was his decision or the Germans’. Either way he is clearly not seen or does not want to be known as a peace maker.
His bumbling missteps in the Mideast do not look promising. NATO is in tatters. Defense strategy is non-existent. His attempts to negotiate peace in North Korea have resulted in a dozen new North Korean missiles and his arrogance with Iran have fueled Iranian mischief.
Worse, our Commander-in-Chief has implied he will use nukes.
South African playwright, Chris Pretorius, just published