This Sunday, May 17, 2009, a group of people gathered at Goma Primary
School in Chikhwawa. The bicycle parade to Mgabu Trading Centre, as one
way of sensitizing people about the beauty of taking part in national
elections, was taking too long to start. But everybody kept quiet, no
murmuring, complaints, whatsoever- just some inner, psychological
pain. It was as if everybody, more or less, blamed themselves for
their delinquency, lack of power to make things happen their way or
merely pushed it over to bad luck.
Among this group were Chikwawa group village heads- Goma, Senjere,
Changa, Makande, Linga, Singano, Konzere, Jombo, Mpheza, and Mgabu. At
Mgabu Trading Centre waited Traditional Authority (T/A) Mgabu himself,
and a host of other T/As; Ngowe and Sub-TA Masache, among others. The
meeting at Mgabu Trading Centre was initially slated for 10:00am, but
arrival delays for a Two-toner vehicle carrying the Public Address
System meant 12:00 noon would be the most probable time for departure
to the Trading Centre.
Then, around 11:00am, something happened- unrelated to the event that
was to be, but in the end (it) related, all the same. Made to relate
by the sharp democratically-tuned eye of Maynard Nyirenda, Programmes
Officer for the Sustainable Rural Growth and Development Initiative
(SRGDI), an organisation behind this great gathering of traditional
leaders and other villagers; for most of these, the relatively long
distance they had traveled registered on their bicycles. The village
‘motor vehicles’ had added some dusty colour to their, mostly, black
colour.
Distance speaks. It speaks through dust that clings to such mobile
property as bicycles, vehicles, ferries, even wheelbarrows.
Back to 11:00am, and what happened:
A man in his late 30s was chasing a little dog in, somewhat, lucid
manner from the Southern end of Goma Primary School. He caught up with
it just some two metres from Nyirenda and me, behind the primary
school. The ‘master’ then started whipping the little dog, fiercely,
without mercy, to the extent of even throwing six stones at it (poor
dog!). To Nyirenda’s amazement, the dog did not come anywhere near us
to seek refuge but lied down before him, licking his hands in an
attempt to mollify him.
That is typical of dogs; they often remain close to their master, even
when the master is away. They wait at home for his return, for in the
dog’s mind the master will always return, and then follows him
whenever it is permitted once he returns. The man, who later said his
name was Simeon Makaza, was a good man, according to some of the
villagers who sat patiently under Acacias trees, waiting for the
bicycle parade to Mgabu. He was only infuriated at his dog’s
discourtesy in eating his two mice. He had laboured and toiled really
had to get those two (mice) because, he claimed, eight more had eluded
his seemingly clever hands.
“I wanted to teach it (the dog) a lesson because it is still young,
only nine months old. As they say, Kuongola mtengo ndiukadali waungono
(the best time to straighten a tree is when it is still tender and
young),” said Makaza, seemingly satisfied with the ‘job’ he had done.
We did not leave Makaza at Goma Primary School, he and his dog. He
went home, some 100 metres away, took his bicycle and joined the
bicycle parade for Mgabu when 12:00 noon came and it was time to go.
Every one on the parade wore t-shirts written ‘Ndife Amodzi’ (We are
One). Except some four people because they had come alittle late when
the t-shirts had run out, but they still cycled, fully aware of the
importance of the day.
Any lessons from the ‘master’-little dog scenario at Goma (Primary
School)? I asked Nyirenda.
“Yes,” said Nyirenda. “It is like democracy”.
Here is a master and his little dog, and you talk about democracy. Has
that scenario gone that far?
“It’s not going far (linking the two to democracy); I am just applying
the things we come across in everyday life, like what we saw at Goma,
and relating them to democracy. The symbols we come across in life may
represent so many things, including the relationship between leaders
and their subjects, which I may link to democracy. There must always
be a process through which leaders are made accountable………….”
(Interruption)
I say, how does that relate to democracy?
“It relates. The dog had eaten its master’s two mice, isn’t it?”
He claimed so.
“Right. That applies in democratic systems of government, like ours
here in Malawi, too. The national leaders ‘eat’ our votes because we
cast them (votes) for them (leaders). The votes are not for free. It
is like investing power in them and we expect something back.
“Something in terms of development initiatives, favourable laws and
accountability. By beating up the dog, the owner- I wouldn’t love to
call him master, which does not apply in democracy because the master
is the voter, the purported subject- Makaza was just trying to make it
accountable for the two mice. Everything we see could have lessons to
the systems of our every day life,” said Nyirenda.
That was the reason national leaders have to play to ‘little dog’ once
every five years, he said. Just what happened on May19, 2009.
So, the delays in departing for Mgabu were a blessing in disguise; one
more lesson about democracy. Nyirenda said, for Malawi’s democracy to
grow and attain maturity to the level of the United States of America,
for instance, there was need to gauge the pay we have traveled, and
suggest some of the things we may put in place to make our leaders
accountable, other than instilling in them the spirit that they were
‘masters’.
Malawians needed to find out the impact of the four times (1994, 1999,
2004 and 2009) our national leaders were made to lie down and account
for their political actions. They then got re-elected (positive
sanction) or got the boot (negative sanction). That happens when
little dogs lie down.
Rafiq Hajat, Executive Director for the Institute for Policy
Interaction (IPI) and his counterpart at the Active Youth Initiative
for Social Enhancement, Marcel Chisi, agree with Nyirenda that there
is need to draw some lessons from the 15 years of Malawi’s democracy.
The boat is not half empty because even chairperson for the Public
Affairs Committee (Pac) Fr. Boniface Tamani, Human Rights Consultative
Committee’s (HRCC) chairperson, Undule Mwakasungula and Gender Support
Programme’s Cecilia Mussa agree- a common voice echoed by political
analysts and scientists.
Some of these lessons came out clearly during public lectures
organized by SRGDI with funding from the German institution GTZ. It
came under the ‘Demokalase Yathu’ (Our Democracy) Project, which was
conceived to help Malawians design democratic principles that make
local sense, and tallies with our hopes, wishes and aspirations.
Hajat, Mzuzu University political analyst Noel Mbowela, Chancellor
College lecture in the Department of Political and Administrative
Studies Joseph Chunga, among others, guided Malawians through this
process. Each step towards the whole 15-years process a lesson.
Some of these lessons also came from various other analysts and observers.
Malawi has no parliament, just a national assembly
One of the things that came out clearly was the revelation by Chisi
that Malawi has no parliament, only a national assembly. This took
students from the Catholic University by surprise. There was some
sort of understandable disgust provoked by that revelation, though it
is clear that constructive thinking, ironically, is almost taking the
place in Malawian politics of the politics of patronage as the void-
once filled by the zeal to appease, regionalism and nepotism- is being
filled with pour ideologies.
Having done away with the one party system of government, and thus
one-sidedness in thinking, people can now focus on a myriad of other
issues- truths, half truths, untruths, abuse, ignorance, or prejudice.
Chisi has picked prejudice, saying the events of 1997 in parliament,
when members of parliament (MPs) repelled the Senate, hinged on
prejudice for the people of Malawi because, as the behaviour of MPs
during the 2004 to 2009 House manifested, there was need for checks
and balances.
“Who could check that bunch of MPs? Not the constituents, because
those people were clearly following their party leaders’ bid, but the
senate. That is to say chiefs, minority groups, among others. It is
sad, but true, that Malawi has no parliament because of that action in
1997. Parliament comprises both the senate and the national assembly.
No one way about it,” says Chisi.
Hajat, however, says, as far as he was concerned, the Senate was still
there- at least in his mind- because the 1997 MPs did not call for a
referendum when undertaking such an “enormous task” as to discard off
chiefs and other minority groups in that one mad sweep.
That sounds very much like in 1993. In that year, Malawi’s political
curtain was apparently in tatters and appeared ripe for revolution.
Then came May17, 1994, when came the abrupt, but highly anticipated,
change- a new untried political demand made for a nation of learners.
It was a curious state of limbo buried by a collective barrage of
hope.
“That revolution is not over. We need that spirit to reverse the
damage imposed by a handful people over a nation state. We need the
Senate,” says Hajat.
He may be infuriated because, as it turned out, the hopeful image of
politics of perfection proved merely an illusion. The specter of a
smooth ride and fairness was apparently remote from a country still
dozing from a dictatorship, weakened by a new slanderous, castigating
multiparty regime still nursing the pangs of a shattered economy, an
overtaxed population and rife with traits of regionalism.
We may be lucky now, though, as political analysts and experts have
started replacing the lack of serious dissent, based on the view that
democracy would be perfect and the constitution hole-free. The likes
of Edge Kanyongolo, Boniface Dulani, among others, have contributed a
willingness to do voluntary research that unearths our shortfalls,
which they have presented at various platforms. No longer do members
of the academia, civil society organisations (CSOs), private sector
and the media view the political situation through the same prism.
This pleases Nyirenda, who chips in: “This situation will accord the
curious, progressive citizen a candid view of where our democracy has
come from while, for political scholars, it will supply some footnotes
to the relevance of citizens’ participation and, of course, give more
ammunition to the ‘dyed-in-the-wool’ critic of the Republican
constitution.”
Nobody is willing to relinquish grip over public media
One Bruce Sterling never set foot on Malawi. True. Yet, the practical
machinations of his words render credence in Malawi. If that sounds
unfamiliar, hear him (Sterling): “Knowledge is power. Do you suppose
that (that) fragile little form of yours, your primitive legs, your
ridiculous arms and hands, your tiny, scarcely wrinkled brain can
contain all that power? Certainly not! Already, your race is flying to
pieces under the impact of your own expertise. The original human form
is becoming obsolete.”
Nyirenda agrees that knowledge is power. There are so many ways of
getting this knowledge- through school class rooms, conferences,
meetings, seminars, every day experience. But none, he says, surpasses
the power of radio in Malawi, and to some extent television. And no
radio station surpasses the reach of Malawi Broadcasting Corporation’s
(MBC) Radio One (though Zodiac Broadcasting Station is going that
distance).
“People are being denied balanced knowledge here in Malawi; those
entrusted with the mandate to rule are not loosening their grip over
MBC, and that has an impact on democracy. What it means when we say
‘Knowledge is power’ is that it can change perspectives, it can tilt
results, it can misinform. Our people are being shown one side of the
coin and that is a serious anomaly,” says Nyirenda, an observation
once shared by many.
Dulani, Kanyongolo, Hajat, Mwakasungula, Hajat, international
electoral observers, parliament, former president Bakili Muluzi
(himself an abuser of the same) have all spoken about it. Even the
Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority and Electoral Commission’s
(EC) media monitoring units have pointed it out. No change.
Students who also patronized the Demokalase Yathu Public lectures felt
the same- the need to open up the airwaves to dissenting views.
“Let the people get the power. Whether they have the capacity to
contain that power (knowledge) is irrelevant in democracy. Democracy
means power to the people and knowledge is one way of imparting that
knowledge, power,” says Mwakasungula.
EC Chairperson, Justice Anastasia Msosa, bemoaned it too (patronage of
the public media) in her assessment of the official campaign period.
“The public media has performed miserably in leveling the playing
field for other political parties,” she said.
Democratic governance makes it necessary to provide a time frame,
which in Malawi’s case comes every five years after any other national
election, where it is necessary to unmask, through a secret ballot,
the mass of repressed political wishes lying within the unconscious so
that a new possibility founded on informed knowledge and choices may
be launched to inspire people towards the next course of development.
Two months before this all-important unmasking process, the EC pays
for airtime on public broadcasters so that other political players
should have a platform to share their plans, aspirations, wishes
compressed in manifestos.
It never happened in Malawi this time (2009), though it happened in
1994 when the winds of change drew cracks across the hither to single
wall. This is despite the fact that, with the 2004 general elections
approaching and Muluzi ineligible to succeed himself- having served
the two constitutional terms- people thought things would change.
There is hope, however, as most analysts agree. Chisi and Mwakasungula
agree that 2009 may not be fatefully late a beginning to start the
process of change. We are still learning, says Chisi, as evidenced by
the fact, for example, that it may take Malawi over 228 years to reach
the level of democracy of the United States (if maturity in democracy
was measured by the number of years in it, which is, fortunately, not
the case. Democracy lies in the head- the willingness to learn and
change).
While it may be hard to know the real intents behind people who would
want to abuse their political mandate by monopolizing public airwaves,
Mwakasungula says it becomes less hard to isolate their intents from
the will of the people. It all boils down to intolerance and
selfishness, which is often fortified by their propaganda apparatus
including the use of public broadcasters.
Our liberalized markets need democracy, too
The idea behind democratic systems of government is to avoid monopoly
of power by politicians. Those who opted for democracy over all other
forms must have learnt it the hard way from corporations that
monopolized markets in the past. The corporations originally had power
over every dimension of people’s lives: they produced what they (not
people) wanted; produced whatever quantity or quality they determined;
they fixed prices and costs; they decided on the future of each of
their employees and, sometimes, on the future of entire communities.
They could even determine where people lived; what work, if any, would
do for them (people); what they had to eat, drink and wear; what sort
of knowledge, schools and universities needed to encourage; and what
kind of society children had to inherit. Not only that, they also
affected everybody in their treatment of natural resources and how
they decided to deal with their own factory garbage and residues.
Some of these ills, chips in Hajat, continue to be practiced with our
market players.
“Take our tobacco buyers, for instance; they form cartels and connive
on prices; they refuse to share, let alone disclose, part of their
huge profits with the tobacco farmer in Rumphi, Kasungu, Dedza. The
case is the same with the tea grower in Mulanje, Thyolo; and cotton
growers in Salima, Chikwawa, Nsanje. This shows the clear need for
democracy in our market economy,” says Hajat.
He adds that the British government, for instance, makes more money
from taxes imposed on tobacco products than the ‘real’ man who toils
on the ground in Malawi can ever imagine in his basket. They make
billions, he says, when it remains the same old poverty story for the
African farmer.
His sentiments may emanate from the reality that, while our economic
system is sold to us under the banner of a liberalized, free
enterprise economy, experience shows that free enterprise no longer
exists, if, in deed, it ever did. This because free enterprise, as the
name implies, would have been a system in which buyers and sellers had
equal powers, met at a neutral market in the real village, possess
equal information and make their trade without leaving traces of
poverty behind.
Our markets may not be that neutral, in the words of Hajat, because
tobacco buyers dictate the stakes and government still passes
legislation that rigs the market by giving certain groups investment
tax credits, incentives, depletion and depreciation allowances,
subsidies, rebates and price supports.
Assertions best understood by long time Kasungu farmer, Andrew Bauti:
“We need democracy on the tobacco market, and powers enabling farmers
to vote out players who practice unfair trade. In our system,
currently, neither small and big businesses nor buyers and sellers are
equal in any way. It is very unfair on us because we toil and get
nothing in return.”
That may be true because power is contagious. It can only be fought
with equal, or more, power. Buyers are more powerful than the rural
farmer. That is where democracy comes in when, for once, common
citizens retain their power to fight possible excessive use of power
by those in elected positions. This upon the realization that every
human group that exercises power does so, not in such a way as to
bring total happiness to those who are subject to it, but in such a
way as to increase that power.
That happens when we all pretend to own up to the moral values of
democracy none of us really possesses. And Hajat is against it.
From personal to ideology-based politics
Then comes the question of presidential and parliamentary elections.
Sterling wrote that elections were a means by which people delegated
and extended their mandate to national leaders so that, after a
specific period of time, the people (electorate) get their mandate
back and extend it through the election, or re-election, of new
leaders.
Every thing in life is an extension, he argued: as the wheel is an
extension of the foot; clothing an extension of the skin; the roof an
extension of the sky; synthetic hair an extension of tree leaves;
democracy an extension of choice, to the effect that it is no longer
meaningful to see democracy as a subject. It has even moved from an
object of desire to that of designing.
People have designed elections not as an end, but a means to an end.
And the way Malawians are achieving their means to this end (electing
leaders) has pleased Fr. Boniface Tamani, chairperson for the Public
Affairs Committee (PAC) so much.
“People have moved from the politics of personalities to politics
based on principles and ideologies, something we have been advocating
for all these years. It is pleasing to note that we have started
moving towards that direction,” said Tamani.
It is only natural to appreciate, as he does, because every election
is a complex process. The complexity is compounded by the reality that
it involves a multi-purposed society of ever-evolving egos, a
development that means voting on personal, regional, or ideological
lines may not be out of the complete question. To expect that every
one will vote on the basis of principles is tantamount to thinking
that every citizen thinks alike, says Nyirenda.
“Elections and democracy in other words, counters the myth that we
live as autonomous individuals, as islands unto ourselves, without
rights balanced by duties. Our ‘Demokalase Yathu Project’, for
instance, is premised on the realization that every decision each and
every Malawian makes-whether it be to sell yourself into slavery or to
sell yourself into prostitution- adds to and creates the telos of
communities you are part of. You do not exist as an island, in
democracy, you live in the context of majority wishes,” said Nyirenda.
Not that the majority should take everything for themselves, he adds,
but must employ selflessness, compromise, servility and understanding
to improvise the minority population (voters), the social-economically
disenfranchised, the socially and politically marginalized and the
psychologically weak. When people vote on ideology lines, it feeds
into their nature that they must consider the wishes of others without
being tainted by partisanship, nepotism, regionalism, or whatever,”
according to Nyirenda.
Many analysts have hailed Malawians for voting along ideological lines
this time around, though sentiments by Malawi Congress Party leader,
John Tembo, seemed to suggest he wanted people to maintain the status
quo.
What does the sentence, “Those who know the politics of this country
will understand that the way (Bingu wa) Mutharika has amassed the
number of votes he has is very, extra-ordinary”, mean? (That is an
issue for next time).
People get the government they deserve
This is Rafiq Hajat’s tirade against none-voters. During the 2004
parliamentary and presidential elections, only one in every two
registered voters trekked to the polling station, while the rest
stayed home, some remained on the wheel (track and bus drivers). It is
called voter apathy, a term referred to a scenario where eligible
voters decide to stay out for various reasons. There has, however,
never been a comprehensive study on the reasons voters opted to stay
out of the polling station even before voting (when you vote, you are
not supposed to linger around the polling station. Before you vote,
you are most welcome).
“Some of these people were then heard murmuring and complaining about
all sorts of things. If you don’t vote, the government and
administration that comes in is the one you deserve. The solution lies
in voting,” he said.
He may be backed by fact. In 2004, people gave Mutharika, then
standing on United Democratic Front ticket, 36 per cent of the
presidential vote. The policies, ideologies and principles he brought
into office were the things that the people deserved, those who voted,
but more importantly, those who did not.
Come May19, 2009. There was a huge turn out, which Muluzi has equated
to the situation and enthusiasm of 1994. It can not be ruled out that
most of the voters that shunned voting in 2004 came out this time
around, and voted for Mutharika.
Mutharika has chalked 2, 946, 103 votes, translating into 50.7 per
cent of the total votes. Tembo, his staggeringly insignificant runner
up, got 24 per cent of the vote when he got 1, 370, 044 votes. EC
statistics indicate that 5.8 million people registered to be in that
lonely house, polling booth, for some 10 seconds or more.
Why do we say that? “Because Mutharika has amassed an overwhelming
number of votes than anyone else in multiparty democracy since 1994.
The people who stayed out have understandably contributed to this,
after discovering that, may be, Mutharika’s style of leadership could
be something they have wanted all along and deserve,” says Gender
Support Programme’s Cecilia Mussa.
The youth have a great role to play in Malawi’s democracy
It came out clearly, from the minds of Chancellor College’s Chunga and
Mbowela of Mzuni, that Malawian youths form a political bloc that can
be dismissed at one’s own peril. The youths, especially those pursuing
higher education, are taken as role models in rural areas, are
flexible to new ideas, have more access to communication channels, and
have the energy to pursue their dreams, said Chunga, and could
therefore influence political change.
Mbowela cited last year’s election in the United States of America,
where he said the youth, as a bloc, influenced the election of Barack
Obama, as the first African American president. This influence lies
not in voter apathy, but in the ways their goals and aspirations are
employed and the common end to which they are directed. In the USA,
this common end came in their hope for change, and voting for it.
It lies in action, youths’ power, according to Mbowela and Chunga.
Action Chunga said was evident during the nationalist period when
university youths formed a universities’ revolution group that
influenced political change across the width and breadth of the
continent.
A power still evident in current development initiatives. The youth
contribute towards farming in Malawi, they have helped in Malawi
Social Action Fund work, as well as the income generating public works
programme, adds Chunga.
But their main power and influence lies in their numbers. If only they
redirect their energies (from violence) to leadership participation,
their influence could work well for the country’s development agenda,
in the reckoning of Chunga.
Gender equality, too, is a great issue
A long, long battle that represents, in a way, the short of human
rights advocacy. The United Nations has mechanisms that ensure that
minority groups are not suppressed by the majority- some form of
guarantee that the majority will not take everything to themselves but
employ selflessness, compromise, servility and understanding on the
needs of the minority.
Nowhere do they talk about the suppressed majority, like women, and
how the powerful, influential minority should handle them
(selflessness, compassion, compromise, servility, understanding), a
magnanimous sort of international oversight because women comprise a
whooping 52 per cent of the Malawian population.
The suppression of women arose originally on grounds of economics,
which held that cultural and moral change derive from changes in
economic structure. This perceived suppression got perpetuated with
the concept of private property; mainly because women could reproduce,
they, like animals, were defined as property.
Mussa feels that this practice is continuing in Malawi, looking at the
nature of positions our women hold in society. It is evident in the
continued second class status most women are subjected to, especially
in rural areas where the husband is very much the patriarch to be
feared and worshipped in equal measure.
“It is also clear in the difficulties women continue to face in so
many areas- their continued difficulty in regulating such matters as
sex, marriage, procreation and divorce,” she says, one of the reasons
gender activists may have almost turned gender equality advocacy into
women empowerment campaigns.
Mussa is convinced this practice is also rampant in employment because
it allows employers to get two workers for the price of one as there
are huge disparities between salaries men and women get at the
workplace. The man is paid wages but his wife, who performs the
services necessary for him to live a decent life during the many hours
he spends at work, is not paid (by the husband).
Women also provide a cheap reserve of labour, which helps keep wages
down and profits up.
Will this change?
Emma Kaliya, NGO Gender Coordinating Network’s chairperson sees no
reason why it should not. She says, through advocacy work, things were
now improving- raising the hopes even higher for women is the fact
that the black clouds may ascend even further and live room for light.
This light comes when women are elected, or appointed, into decision
making decisions.
“That is why we have applauded President Mutharika for choosing Joyce
Banda, a reputable woman, as his running mate and, consequently, vice
president of this country. We are really happy. Now we want a female
speaker,” said Kaliya.
Some 40 seats have gone to women in parliament, following the May19
elections. This goes against the target for the 50-50 campaign for
women meant to catapult more women into decision making positions.
Only that the secret ballot may not be the best of catapults.
Gender activists are not worried, though. They say ensuring that women
get to the same level as men, in terms of numbers and influence, is a
process. But it is not a one-day process.
As Malawi moves more and more towards the island of democratic
maturity, women shall finally make it, according to Kaliya, who sums
up:
“We know for sure it will happen, and society will be an improved lot
because women are known for their caring nature, their unsurpassed
love.”
The battle for women empowerment, a majority that suffers suppression,
is a battle of love, and care.
Democracy is Malawian
Chisi further dispelled suggestion democracy was foreign. He said it
was both local and foreign, but more local than foreign.
“Our chiefs practiced it over a long period of time, even before
colonialism. In fact, colonialists found democracy here (in Malawi)
because our chiefs used to delegate cases to their counselors (Nduna
zamfumu). Isn’t that democracy?”
Local government elections are an integral part of democracy
Hajat says the absence of councilors has been felt for the past four
years, one that shows that their presence fills some void in the
democratic open space. He says failure to hold local government
elections violates people’s development and political rights, as the
duty of MPs was not to initiate development activities in their areas
but make laws.
Nyirenda and the others agree. How can we help the common Malawian
understand the tenets and principles of democracy when there is no
democracy near him (meaning councilors). He says councilors were
“democracy brought to the people”,- a form of living democracy that
sits and chats with the people and sleep with the people.
“Unlike most MPs, councilors live with the people they represent; they
know them personality. Isn’t that not democracy near the people?”
This has been one of the shorts so far; democracy that stays with the
people. The distance from Salima to Capital Hill is too huge to be
covered on foot. The distance to the councilor’s house is not, enthuses
Nyirenda.
The journey to explore the lessons from our fifteen-year old
democracy, too, is too long to be covered on foot. It is like walking from
Salima to Capital Hill.We may be forgiven for being at Mvela in Dowa, and not Capital Hill yet.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Locals still shun tourism sites
The level of locals’ patronage to Malawi’s acclaimed tourism sites remains ‘horribly’ low, a development blamed on prevalent perceptions that tourism is for foreign nationals.
But Director of Tourism, Isaac Katopola, said this was set to change following increased levels of public awareness about the ‘vast’ advantages of visiting local tourism sites.
Katopola said government has been carrying out public mobilization campaigns aimed at changing prevalent perceptions. He said the country was also working on price modalities to make sure Malawi remained a competitive tourism destination for many of the world’s citizens.
There are concerns over Malawi’s price competitiveness, with a majority of foreign tourists complaining over high accommodation and traveling prices.
Government maintains Malawi remains one of the cheapest destinations in Africa, with her wide variety of endemic natural diversity. Lake Malawi is Africa’s third largest lake and contains more aquatic bio-diversity than any other fresh lake in the world.
While fossil fish can not be found in the lake, archaeological evidence indicates the lake, also known as the Lake of Stars, has not always been without fossil fish. Just some 200 years ago, it was there in abundance- now forced out of existence by man’s pervasive activities.
“We are worried that locals continue to shun tourism site. The thinking is that only foreign nationals are best-suited for tourism. It is sad, but we are working on it,” said Katopola.
Malawi joined the rest of the world in commemorating ‘Tourism Week’ whose theme was ‘Cerebrating Diversity’. The week brought to light some of the country’s attractive places, which included the Kandewe Cultural Heritage Site. There, at Zuwulufu, a traditional suspension bridge built in 1904 stands strong in the air.
Something happened there some fifteen years ago. An unsuspecting Hippopotamus walked through the suspended bridge that needs faith in one’s legs to cross, as it is made up of mere bamboos, and- mid way through- fell through, down into the Zuwulufu River.
The Hippo plunged some fifteen metres down, breaking its two hind legs. School children, who cross the suspended bridge daily in their quest for a honey comb called education, could not cross the river as their link was torn asunder mid way through the river. They reported to their parents, and the parents called game rangers.
The rangers task was simple: shoot the Hippo that had burst through Goodwin Mkandawire’s idea of a bamboo suspended bridge).To the villagers, the Hippo was good news. The spirits of their (Khoka people, who lived in the area and can still be found) ancestors had brought them ‘Ndiwo’ (relish).
The Hippo died, relish for all villagers, but the suspended bridge was repaired.
Katopola said this, and many other tourism attractions, were good for both the foreign national and local citizen.
“Tourism, like music, is universal,” he said.
But Director of Tourism, Isaac Katopola, said this was set to change following increased levels of public awareness about the ‘vast’ advantages of visiting local tourism sites.
Katopola said government has been carrying out public mobilization campaigns aimed at changing prevalent perceptions. He said the country was also working on price modalities to make sure Malawi remained a competitive tourism destination for many of the world’s citizens.
There are concerns over Malawi’s price competitiveness, with a majority of foreign tourists complaining over high accommodation and traveling prices.
Government maintains Malawi remains one of the cheapest destinations in Africa, with her wide variety of endemic natural diversity. Lake Malawi is Africa’s third largest lake and contains more aquatic bio-diversity than any other fresh lake in the world.
While fossil fish can not be found in the lake, archaeological evidence indicates the lake, also known as the Lake of Stars, has not always been without fossil fish. Just some 200 years ago, it was there in abundance- now forced out of existence by man’s pervasive activities.
“We are worried that locals continue to shun tourism site. The thinking is that only foreign nationals are best-suited for tourism. It is sad, but we are working on it,” said Katopola.
Malawi joined the rest of the world in commemorating ‘Tourism Week’ whose theme was ‘Cerebrating Diversity’. The week brought to light some of the country’s attractive places, which included the Kandewe Cultural Heritage Site. There, at Zuwulufu, a traditional suspension bridge built in 1904 stands strong in the air.
Something happened there some fifteen years ago. An unsuspecting Hippopotamus walked through the suspended bridge that needs faith in one’s legs to cross, as it is made up of mere bamboos, and- mid way through- fell through, down into the Zuwulufu River.
The Hippo plunged some fifteen metres down, breaking its two hind legs. School children, who cross the suspended bridge daily in their quest for a honey comb called education, could not cross the river as their link was torn asunder mid way through the river. They reported to their parents, and the parents called game rangers.
The rangers task was simple: shoot the Hippo that had burst through Goodwin Mkandawire’s idea of a bamboo suspended bridge).To the villagers, the Hippo was good news. The spirits of their (Khoka people, who lived in the area and can still be found) ancestors had brought them ‘Ndiwo’ (relish).
The Hippo died, relish for all villagers, but the suspended bridge was repaired.
Katopola said this, and many other tourism attractions, were good for both the foreign national and local citizen.
“Tourism, like music, is universal,” he said.
Stigma still rampant against Malawi’s deaf population
Malawi’s deaf population still suffers from rampant cases of stigma and discrimination, a trend largely perpetuated by employers who continue to shun the deaf even when best qualified for occupational positions.
This has forced the Malawi National Association for the Deaf (Manad) to intensify the campaign for the enactment of pro-disability friendly legislation, hoping for the better against a strong negative tide of stigma and discrimination.
Manad Executive Director, Juliana Likomba, said she was disappointed that despite increased public awareness campaigns about the rights of people with disabilities, specifically the deaf, cases of child rights abuses still went on unabated.
“It is a very sad situation for the deaf and people with other forms of disability at the moment. It is as if we are still the outcasts and we blame all this on delays to put in place disability-friendly legislation. We need disability issues to be incorporated in the Republican constitution,” said Likomba.
She said, without requisite legislation pertaining to people with various forms of mental and physical challenges, life would continue to be full of bumps and despair.
“We are very worried. The deaf are not being employed by private companies as well as government. They always find excuses to deny us our rights and freedoms. Life cannot go on like this,” said Likomba.
Malawi’s deaf population has not been sitting idle, waiting for the occasional help. They have taken the leading role helping others, according to Likomba.
Just last week, they have been to three major hospitals in Southern Malawi cleaning wards and yards and helping patients. They have also given out assorted items to those who have nobody to look up to, in one of the many attempts to shed off the helpless tag attacked to their being.
“We are able and capable. Only that Malawians often let us down. The good thing is that we are willing to fight for ourselves and children,” she said.
Minister responsible for the Elderly and People with Disabilities, Reen Kachere, has vowed to do all she can to bail the deaf out of their current quagmire.
“Government is committed to putting in place requisite legislation aimed at making the lives of people who are deaf, or have other forms of disability, smooth. Life is supposed to be fair for everybody, though people have sometimes tried to make it unbearable for others. We care,” said Kachere.
Malawi currently has no pro-disability legislation, leaving the fate of the disabled at the mercy of human devices. Some government offices also lack disability friendly structures.
A disability policy formulated in as many as ten years ago now gathers dust at the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, angering the Federation for Disability Organizations in Malawi.
This has forced the Malawi National Association for the Deaf (Manad) to intensify the campaign for the enactment of pro-disability friendly legislation, hoping for the better against a strong negative tide of stigma and discrimination.
Manad Executive Director, Juliana Likomba, said she was disappointed that despite increased public awareness campaigns about the rights of people with disabilities, specifically the deaf, cases of child rights abuses still went on unabated.
“It is a very sad situation for the deaf and people with other forms of disability at the moment. It is as if we are still the outcasts and we blame all this on delays to put in place disability-friendly legislation. We need disability issues to be incorporated in the Republican constitution,” said Likomba.
She said, without requisite legislation pertaining to people with various forms of mental and physical challenges, life would continue to be full of bumps and despair.
“We are very worried. The deaf are not being employed by private companies as well as government. They always find excuses to deny us our rights and freedoms. Life cannot go on like this,” said Likomba.
Malawi’s deaf population has not been sitting idle, waiting for the occasional help. They have taken the leading role helping others, according to Likomba.
Just last week, they have been to three major hospitals in Southern Malawi cleaning wards and yards and helping patients. They have also given out assorted items to those who have nobody to look up to, in one of the many attempts to shed off the helpless tag attacked to their being.
“We are able and capable. Only that Malawians often let us down. The good thing is that we are willing to fight for ourselves and children,” she said.
Minister responsible for the Elderly and People with Disabilities, Reen Kachere, has vowed to do all she can to bail the deaf out of their current quagmire.
“Government is committed to putting in place requisite legislation aimed at making the lives of people who are deaf, or have other forms of disability, smooth. Life is supposed to be fair for everybody, though people have sometimes tried to make it unbearable for others. We care,” said Kachere.
Malawi currently has no pro-disability legislation, leaving the fate of the disabled at the mercy of human devices. Some government offices also lack disability friendly structures.
A disability policy formulated in as many as ten years ago now gathers dust at the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, angering the Federation for Disability Organizations in Malawi.
Artificial bushfires threaten government plantations
Ridiculous, A worker at Raiply Plantations in Northern Malawi is not happy with the way his boss nagged him for making some careless mistake; he wears the robe of darkness and goes on rampage, setting part of the plantation ablaze!
Another plantation worker quarrels with another over food at lunch- the other worker has eaten more than his fair portion of collective lunch, and things go asunder. The offended party sets part of the plantation ablaze as part of his anger-healing process.
It is Monday, September 28, 2009. Pay day.The bosses delay payment by one more day and the workers, incensed, raze part of the plantation.
Anyone sacked from the plantation is sure to vent their anger on the plantation as well, and that has always been the striking fate of Vipya Plantations, government tree plantations concessioned to privately-owned Raiply.
Just last year, 300 hectares of forest went up in flames under similar circumstances, and this has angered Raiply Chief Executive Officer Thomas Comen.
“The cost for such behaviour is huge. These bushfires are destroying a lot of biological diversity in the plantation, apart from causing huge losses of money because we cannot sell trees that have been badly burnt for timber purposes,” said Comen.
Comen said cases of burning plantations were becoming common place, largely perpetuated by the angry employee, sacked worker, disgruntled community member, clueless hunter, and cigarette smoker.
“The situation is really bad. It takes 30 years to raise a tree, but only uncontrollable anger to go back to square-one. Why destroy something that has taken up more resources in a single sweep of anger, frustrating the country’s economic prospects?” he queried.
Comen said, however, Raiply was doing what it can to bring sanity where anger reign, and has established new grievous handling mechanisms to bring sanity home.
“We want everyone to report their grievances. This way, we will be able to resolve all grievances amicably, and in a way that does not bring destruction to the forests and losses to the company. Communities must own up to the fact that the plantations, in a way, belong to them. They will bear the brunt of climatic changes arising from distortions in weather patterns emanating from the effects of destroying the plantations,” said Comen.
Daulosi Mauambeta, Executive Director for the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (Wesm), blames community ignorance for the trend. He said most community members were still unaware of the effects of destroying natural resources even in face of tangible climatic changes taking place around us.
“People even think that climatic change is a Western phenomenon that has nothing to do with us. The truth is that the changes are here with us, and may not be reversed should we continue with our old ways. We need to change people’s attitudes,” said Mauambeta.
Traditional Authority Karonga, one of the prominent chiefs in Northern Malawi, where Vipya is located, has vowed to mete out strong punishments to people who cause bush fires and destroy the environment willy-nilly.
“These resources are not for us but our children. Anyone who punishes an unborn child will surely be punished heavily. Setting Vipya ablaze is like killing the unborn child and I will not tolerate that,” said Karonga.
Government has for the past two years increased budgetary allocations to natural resources and environmental management, raising hopes that, perhaps, what remains of Malawi’s environment and natural resources may not be lost forever.
Another plantation worker quarrels with another over food at lunch- the other worker has eaten more than his fair portion of collective lunch, and things go asunder. The offended party sets part of the plantation ablaze as part of his anger-healing process.
It is Monday, September 28, 2009. Pay day.The bosses delay payment by one more day and the workers, incensed, raze part of the plantation.
Anyone sacked from the plantation is sure to vent their anger on the plantation as well, and that has always been the striking fate of Vipya Plantations, government tree plantations concessioned to privately-owned Raiply.
Just last year, 300 hectares of forest went up in flames under similar circumstances, and this has angered Raiply Chief Executive Officer Thomas Comen.
“The cost for such behaviour is huge. These bushfires are destroying a lot of biological diversity in the plantation, apart from causing huge losses of money because we cannot sell trees that have been badly burnt for timber purposes,” said Comen.
Comen said cases of burning plantations were becoming common place, largely perpetuated by the angry employee, sacked worker, disgruntled community member, clueless hunter, and cigarette smoker.
“The situation is really bad. It takes 30 years to raise a tree, but only uncontrollable anger to go back to square-one. Why destroy something that has taken up more resources in a single sweep of anger, frustrating the country’s economic prospects?” he queried.
Comen said, however, Raiply was doing what it can to bring sanity where anger reign, and has established new grievous handling mechanisms to bring sanity home.
“We want everyone to report their grievances. This way, we will be able to resolve all grievances amicably, and in a way that does not bring destruction to the forests and losses to the company. Communities must own up to the fact that the plantations, in a way, belong to them. They will bear the brunt of climatic changes arising from distortions in weather patterns emanating from the effects of destroying the plantations,” said Comen.
Daulosi Mauambeta, Executive Director for the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (Wesm), blames community ignorance for the trend. He said most community members were still unaware of the effects of destroying natural resources even in face of tangible climatic changes taking place around us.
“People even think that climatic change is a Western phenomenon that has nothing to do with us. The truth is that the changes are here with us, and may not be reversed should we continue with our old ways. We need to change people’s attitudes,” said Mauambeta.
Traditional Authority Karonga, one of the prominent chiefs in Northern Malawi, where Vipya is located, has vowed to mete out strong punishments to people who cause bush fires and destroy the environment willy-nilly.
“These resources are not for us but our children. Anyone who punishes an unborn child will surely be punished heavily. Setting Vipya ablaze is like killing the unborn child and I will not tolerate that,” said Karonga.
Government has for the past two years increased budgetary allocations to natural resources and environmental management, raising hopes that, perhaps, what remains of Malawi’s environment and natural resources may not be lost forever.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Zachimalawi endorses Mbona for 2014 Presidential Elections
Zachimalawi is pleased to inform you that, as the debate on who to represent various political parties rages on in the country, it has settled for Mbona- Great son of Khuluvi!
Oh, yes. And, there are 10 grounds to boot, in favour of this great guy. Here they are:
1. Unlike Professor Peter Mutharika, President Bingu wa Mutharika, Honourable John Zenus Ungapake Tembo, Friday Jumbe, Amunandife Nkumba, James Nyondo, and whoever may impress you, Mbona is the only guy who can bring us rain.
After all, we have heard people like President Mutharika asking people to pray for rains (he has even attended various prayers for rains over the past six years), and that is cowardise. These guys know they can't bring rains.
Not with Mbona; in fact, he drinks fresh water direct from the sky. What we call rain! So, we will be guaranteed the prospects of fresh water and good rains through and through.
Mbona woyeee!
2. Professor Peter Mutharika, President Mutharika, for instance, have unMalawian heights! Aren't we told that the early inhabitants of Malawi were the Akafula or Abathwa? So, you want to tell me that these guys were as 'tall' as these guys?
Even Tembo, though said to be very much on the 'short' side' is unMalawian in height. But Mbona is different. He has always remained short, even his spirit! He will thus restore Chimalawi here, and take us back to the days we used to respect our ancestors.
The 'boys' of today (don't mind their heights) respect the World Bank, International Monetary Fund; but never Mlauli or Kalonga or paramount chiefs. Spoilt folks!
3. Mbona will go to New York, UK, Canada on foot, saving the country from unnecessary foreign travel expenditures. He will also need just a bag made from goat skin for his food rations while enroute, unlike our modern folks (which Prof. Peter Mutharika, Tembo, Jumbe, Nyondo, among others, will probably do)who buy expensive jets just to look over our heads as they fly to wherever Benzine may take them. Of course, they travel everywhere except to heaven. Only Mbona can go where these folks only dream of.
It is Zachimalawi's sincere hope that Mbona is the only guy who can run from Nsanje boma to Khuluvi on foot, taking the form of ordinary birds or an owl wherever necessary. If you doubt, you can ask Achimwene CheMlauli. The guy suffered before catching up with fast-runner Mbona.
Thus, Mbona is his own jet, and will not need our money as taxpayers just to fly to New York and taste mowa wakumeneko!
4. Mbona will cut costs on State Houses, since he will be spending much of his time in the bushes, talking to spirits and looking for herbs. Our foreign dignitaries will be getting him there, in the bush, without partaking of our expensive State Dinners. Let's see if they can eat masamba achitimbe as cuisine.
In fact, Mbona is more likely to turn the so called State Houses into Makola aNg'ombe; or else, he will put nkhalamba there, zidzithira ufa kwamizimu yamakolo athu. The security details will be banished from there to the baracks, so that we will not need an appointment to meet Mbona.
5, Government will reduce expenditures on bullet proof 'this', bullet proof 'that' since Mbona is 'well-fortified'. So, nobody will go about over-dressed, loooking like a Penguin in the process.
After all, we vote for human beings, not penguins!
6. STIs, including HIV and AIDS, will disappear since everyone found doing abominable 'sins' will be stoned to death for tying to 'sempha' mudzi. Those with 'hot' blood will be 'served' by the powerful Mbona himself! Malawi will be a no-go zone for sexually transmitted infections in deed.
7. No convoys on presidential entourage. Mbona just needs two counselors to tackle State matters, and these, as usual, will be using bicycles. Thus we will serve on fuel costs. After all, Prof. Peter Mutharika was heard defending the trip to Iran on MBC Television, a sure sign that the guy may not know how to 'ride' a bicycle, or may not do so for long- like, from Limbe to Thyolo.
8. Mbona will close Universities and establish Masimba using State Reources. Our 'kids' will then stop wasting time kusukulu instead of kumathandiza makolo awo kulima. The result is food security.
9. Reduced electricity bills at State residences. Mbona does not believe in Western style suits; he will be wearing Nyanda. No need to keep the guys who sita President's suits, even when the President has a wife. These guys are killing trust between Presidents and their wives, since they create the impression that Presidents' wives cannot be trusted. All in the name of keeping their job. Spoilt brats!
10. Mbona will not marry while in power, or get divorced when out of power. After all, he already married at the age of 11, and can grab any lady he wants, even if married, without going through the hussle of 'kufunsira'. You see, when people get married while in power, children ask what the 'two' want to be doing, and this degrades the 'sacred' ordinance of marriage. No, we want leaders who choose ladies with their fingers.
By the way, if a leader goes through the process of 'kufunsira', mwina kumaopa kuti akanidwa, isn't that cowardise? No, dictators just chose without formalities. It is a dictator we need, and Mbona, unlike these 'guys', is one.
With Mbona, all of us will be safe. Baba, Mbona amapezeka paliponse. Talk ill about Mbona, and you lose the rains. With Mbona, also, we will not need fertilisers. 'His' rains come ready with 'heaven' fertiliser.
Oh, yes. And, there are 10 grounds to boot, in favour of this great guy. Here they are:
1. Unlike Professor Peter Mutharika, President Bingu wa Mutharika, Honourable John Zenus Ungapake Tembo, Friday Jumbe, Amunandife Nkumba, James Nyondo, and whoever may impress you, Mbona is the only guy who can bring us rain.
After all, we have heard people like President Mutharika asking people to pray for rains (he has even attended various prayers for rains over the past six years), and that is cowardise. These guys know they can't bring rains.
Not with Mbona; in fact, he drinks fresh water direct from the sky. What we call rain! So, we will be guaranteed the prospects of fresh water and good rains through and through.
Mbona woyeee!
2. Professor Peter Mutharika, President Mutharika, for instance, have unMalawian heights! Aren't we told that the early inhabitants of Malawi were the Akafula or Abathwa? So, you want to tell me that these guys were as 'tall' as these guys?
Even Tembo, though said to be very much on the 'short' side' is unMalawian in height. But Mbona is different. He has always remained short, even his spirit! He will thus restore Chimalawi here, and take us back to the days we used to respect our ancestors.
The 'boys' of today (don't mind their heights) respect the World Bank, International Monetary Fund; but never Mlauli or Kalonga or paramount chiefs. Spoilt folks!
3. Mbona will go to New York, UK, Canada on foot, saving the country from unnecessary foreign travel expenditures. He will also need just a bag made from goat skin for his food rations while enroute, unlike our modern folks (which Prof. Peter Mutharika, Tembo, Jumbe, Nyondo, among others, will probably do)who buy expensive jets just to look over our heads as they fly to wherever Benzine may take them. Of course, they travel everywhere except to heaven. Only Mbona can go where these folks only dream of.
It is Zachimalawi's sincere hope that Mbona is the only guy who can run from Nsanje boma to Khuluvi on foot, taking the form of ordinary birds or an owl wherever necessary. If you doubt, you can ask Achimwene CheMlauli. The guy suffered before catching up with fast-runner Mbona.
Thus, Mbona is his own jet, and will not need our money as taxpayers just to fly to New York and taste mowa wakumeneko!
4. Mbona will cut costs on State Houses, since he will be spending much of his time in the bushes, talking to spirits and looking for herbs. Our foreign dignitaries will be getting him there, in the bush, without partaking of our expensive State Dinners. Let's see if they can eat masamba achitimbe as cuisine.
In fact, Mbona is more likely to turn the so called State Houses into Makola aNg'ombe; or else, he will put nkhalamba there, zidzithira ufa kwamizimu yamakolo athu. The security details will be banished from there to the baracks, so that we will not need an appointment to meet Mbona.
5, Government will reduce expenditures on bullet proof 'this', bullet proof 'that' since Mbona is 'well-fortified'. So, nobody will go about over-dressed, loooking like a Penguin in the process.
After all, we vote for human beings, not penguins!
6. STIs, including HIV and AIDS, will disappear since everyone found doing abominable 'sins' will be stoned to death for tying to 'sempha' mudzi. Those with 'hot' blood will be 'served' by the powerful Mbona himself! Malawi will be a no-go zone for sexually transmitted infections in deed.
7. No convoys on presidential entourage. Mbona just needs two counselors to tackle State matters, and these, as usual, will be using bicycles. Thus we will serve on fuel costs. After all, Prof. Peter Mutharika was heard defending the trip to Iran on MBC Television, a sure sign that the guy may not know how to 'ride' a bicycle, or may not do so for long- like, from Limbe to Thyolo.
8. Mbona will close Universities and establish Masimba using State Reources. Our 'kids' will then stop wasting time kusukulu instead of kumathandiza makolo awo kulima. The result is food security.
9. Reduced electricity bills at State residences. Mbona does not believe in Western style suits; he will be wearing Nyanda. No need to keep the guys who sita President's suits, even when the President has a wife. These guys are killing trust between Presidents and their wives, since they create the impression that Presidents' wives cannot be trusted. All in the name of keeping their job. Spoilt brats!
10. Mbona will not marry while in power, or get divorced when out of power. After all, he already married at the age of 11, and can grab any lady he wants, even if married, without going through the hussle of 'kufunsira'. You see, when people get married while in power, children ask what the 'two' want to be doing, and this degrades the 'sacred' ordinance of marriage. No, we want leaders who choose ladies with their fingers.
By the way, if a leader goes through the process of 'kufunsira', mwina kumaopa kuti akanidwa, isn't that cowardise? No, dictators just chose without formalities. It is a dictator we need, and Mbona, unlike these 'guys', is one.
With Mbona, all of us will be safe. Baba, Mbona amapezeka paliponse. Talk ill about Mbona, and you lose the rains. With Mbona, also, we will not need fertilisers. 'His' rains come ready with 'heaven' fertiliser.
International Day of Democracy
P R E S S
PRESSE 240
Declaration by the High Representative Catherine Ashton on
behalf of the European Union on the occasion of the
International Day of Democracy on 15 September
The EU pays tribute to all defenders of democracy who suffer threats, persecution, and even risk imprisonment and attempts to their lives whilst standing up for democracy and democratic principles. Democracy is at the core of what the European Union is about. It is not only one of the founding principles of the European Union but democracy support is a declared policy objective of the EU’s External Policy, as recently confirmed by the Council of the European Union1.
Democracy, human rights, security, governance and sustainable development are intrinsically linked. Democratic principles have their roots in universal norms and values,and democracy itself has been affirmed as a universal value by the UN Summit Outcome Document of 2005. Democratic principles and values are also key to sustain poverty alleviation, economic development and gender equality in the long term. They are a prerequisite for government accountability and transparency, to sustain an independent judiciary, free media and a framework for protecting human rights. They are also the most basic form of crisis management and conflict prevention.
1 Council Conclusions on Democracy Support in the EU’s External Relations – Towards Increased Coherence and Effectiveness adopted on 18 November 2009
The EU, with its unique history and experience, itself demonstrates that democracies bring about peace, development and prosperity. The EU does not believe that democracy can be exported or imposed, but democratic development and consolidation in third countries can be supported. There is no one single model of democracy. Democracy must come from within and be shaped by each society, based on universal principles, but taking into account the unique historic, geographic and cultural context of that society. The EU has many instruments at its disposal to support democracy and democratic actors around the world, and is looking forward to a more coherent, consistent and efficient use of these instruments.
The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia*, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Iceland+, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine,
the Republic of Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia align themselves with this declaration.
Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
Iceland continues to be a member of the EFTA and of the European Economic Area.
PRESSE 240
Declaration by the High Representative Catherine Ashton on
behalf of the European Union on the occasion of the
International Day of Democracy on 15 September
The EU pays tribute to all defenders of democracy who suffer threats, persecution, and even risk imprisonment and attempts to their lives whilst standing up for democracy and democratic principles. Democracy is at the core of what the European Union is about. It is not only one of the founding principles of the European Union but democracy support is a declared policy objective of the EU’s External Policy, as recently confirmed by the Council of the European Union1.
Democracy, human rights, security, governance and sustainable development are intrinsically linked. Democratic principles have their roots in universal norms and values,and democracy itself has been affirmed as a universal value by the UN Summit Outcome Document of 2005. Democratic principles and values are also key to sustain poverty alleviation, economic development and gender equality in the long term. They are a prerequisite for government accountability and transparency, to sustain an independent judiciary, free media and a framework for protecting human rights. They are also the most basic form of crisis management and conflict prevention.
1 Council Conclusions on Democracy Support in the EU’s External Relations – Towards Increased Coherence and Effectiveness adopted on 18 November 2009
The EU, with its unique history and experience, itself demonstrates that democracies bring about peace, development and prosperity. The EU does not believe that democracy can be exported or imposed, but democratic development and consolidation in third countries can be supported. There is no one single model of democracy. Democracy must come from within and be shaped by each society, based on universal principles, but taking into account the unique historic, geographic and cultural context of that society. The EU has many instruments at its disposal to support democracy and democratic actors around the world, and is looking forward to a more coherent, consistent and efficient use of these instruments.
The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia*, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Iceland+, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine,
the Republic of Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia align themselves with this declaration.
Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
Iceland continues to be a member of the EFTA and of the European Economic Area.
Press Conference Schedule: AIDS VACCINE 2010
AIDS Vaccine 2010 Press Conference Schedule 22 Sep 10 / SUBJECT TO CHANGE 1
PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
AIDS Vaccine 2010
All press conferences will be held in the Magnolia Room (Level M2) of the Omni Hotel at CNN Center.
Embargoes on research presented in AIDS Vaccine 2010 press conferences lift at the end of the press
conference or at the end of the conference session in which the study is presented, whichever is earlier
Tuesday, 28 September, 3:15 – 4:15 pm (15.15 – 16.15)
State of the Field and Overview of AIDS Vaccine 2010
CHAIRED BY:
Eric Hunter, Center for AIDS Research, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Future directions of HIV vaccine research
Alan Bernstein, Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise New York, NY, USA
The path to an HIV vaccine: Follow the science
Anthony Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, US National Institutes of
Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
The critical role of Africa in the development of an AIDS vaccine
Malegapuru William Mkgoba, University of KwaZulu‐Natal, KwaZulu‐Natal,
South Africa
Status of the US epidemic and CDC support for HIV prevention research
Thomas Frieden, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
The role of community in vaccine development
Dazon Dixon Diallo, Sisterlove, Inc., Atlanta, GA, USA
AIDS Vaccine 2010 Press Conference Schedule 22 Sep 10 / SUBJECT TO CHANGE 2
Wednesday, 29 September, 12:00 – 1:00 pm (12.00 – 13.00)
Progress Toward an HIV Vaccine
CHAIRED BY:
Alan Bernstein, Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise New York, NY, USA
Overview of the 2010 Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise Scientific Strategic Plan
Jose Esparza, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA, USA (TBC)
Catherine Hankins, UNAIDS, Geneva, Switzerland
Glenda Gray, HIV Vaccine Trials Network, Johannesburg, South Africa
Advances in Basic Science
Affinity maturation allows VRC01‐like antibodies to converge on a common mode of effective
HIV‐1 neutralization (OA05.06 LB)
Peter Kwong, Vaccine Research Center, NIAID/NIH Bethesda, MD, USA
Clues from the isolation and structural analysis of broadly neutralizing anti‐HIV‐1 antibodies
(PL01.01)
John Mascola, Vaccine Research Center, NIAID, NIH Bethesda, Maryland, USA (TBC)
AIDS Vaccine 2010 Press Conference Schedule 22 Sep 10 / SUBJECT TO CHANGE 3
Thursday, 30 September, 12:30 – 1:30 pm (12.30 – 13.30)
Challenges in HIV Prevention Research
CHAIRED BY:
Linda‐Gail Bekker, Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa
Cost‐per‐HIV infection averted in Africa by couples’ HIV testing vs antiretroviral treatment: HIV
prevention in a 2010 global economy (OA07.06)
Susan Allen, Emory University/Rwanda Zambia HIV Research Group, Atlanta, GA, USA (TBC)
Innate‐mucosal immune interactions during acute infection (PL02.01)
Ashley Haase, Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota Medical School,
Minneapolis, MN, USA (TBC)
Correlates of immunity: RV144 – Lessons learned (PL03.01)
Nelson Michael, US Military HIV Research Program (MHRP)/Walter Reed Army Institute of
Research, Rockville, MD, USA
The need for more efficient efficacy trials of HIV vaccines (PL03.03)
Lawrence Corey, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
Impact of biomedical prevention approaches on the implementation of HIV vaccine efficacy
trials (PL03.05)
Salim Abdool Karim, CAPRISA, University of KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa
Making GPP come alive: Experiences from implementing Good Participatory Practice
Guidelines for biomedical HIV prevention trials (S08.04)
Mitchell Warren, AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, New York, NY, USA
PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
AIDS Vaccine 2010
All press conferences will be held in the Magnolia Room (Level M2) of the Omni Hotel at CNN Center.
Embargoes on research presented in AIDS Vaccine 2010 press conferences lift at the end of the press
conference or at the end of the conference session in which the study is presented, whichever is earlier
Tuesday, 28 September, 3:15 – 4:15 pm (15.15 – 16.15)
State of the Field and Overview of AIDS Vaccine 2010
CHAIRED BY:
Eric Hunter, Center for AIDS Research, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Future directions of HIV vaccine research
Alan Bernstein, Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise New York, NY, USA
The path to an HIV vaccine: Follow the science
Anthony Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, US National Institutes of
Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
The critical role of Africa in the development of an AIDS vaccine
Malegapuru William Mkgoba, University of KwaZulu‐Natal, KwaZulu‐Natal,
South Africa
Status of the US epidemic and CDC support for HIV prevention research
Thomas Frieden, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
The role of community in vaccine development
Dazon Dixon Diallo, Sisterlove, Inc., Atlanta, GA, USA
AIDS Vaccine 2010 Press Conference Schedule 22 Sep 10 / SUBJECT TO CHANGE 2
Wednesday, 29 September, 12:00 – 1:00 pm (12.00 – 13.00)
Progress Toward an HIV Vaccine
CHAIRED BY:
Alan Bernstein, Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise New York, NY, USA
Overview of the 2010 Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise Scientific Strategic Plan
Jose Esparza, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA, USA (TBC)
Catherine Hankins, UNAIDS, Geneva, Switzerland
Glenda Gray, HIV Vaccine Trials Network, Johannesburg, South Africa
Advances in Basic Science
Affinity maturation allows VRC01‐like antibodies to converge on a common mode of effective
HIV‐1 neutralization (OA05.06 LB)
Peter Kwong, Vaccine Research Center, NIAID/NIH Bethesda, MD, USA
Clues from the isolation and structural analysis of broadly neutralizing anti‐HIV‐1 antibodies
(PL01.01)
John Mascola, Vaccine Research Center, NIAID, NIH Bethesda, Maryland, USA (TBC)
AIDS Vaccine 2010 Press Conference Schedule 22 Sep 10 / SUBJECT TO CHANGE 3
Thursday, 30 September, 12:30 – 1:30 pm (12.30 – 13.30)
Challenges in HIV Prevention Research
CHAIRED BY:
Linda‐Gail Bekker, Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, Cape Town, South Africa
Cost‐per‐HIV infection averted in Africa by couples’ HIV testing vs antiretroviral treatment: HIV
prevention in a 2010 global economy (OA07.06)
Susan Allen, Emory University/Rwanda Zambia HIV Research Group, Atlanta, GA, USA (TBC)
Innate‐mucosal immune interactions during acute infection (PL02.01)
Ashley Haase, Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota Medical School,
Minneapolis, MN, USA (TBC)
Correlates of immunity: RV144 – Lessons learned (PL03.01)
Nelson Michael, US Military HIV Research Program (MHRP)/Walter Reed Army Institute of
Research, Rockville, MD, USA
The need for more efficient efficacy trials of HIV vaccines (PL03.03)
Lawrence Corey, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
Impact of biomedical prevention approaches on the implementation of HIV vaccine efficacy
trials (PL03.05)
Salim Abdool Karim, CAPRISA, University of KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa
Making GPP come alive: Experiences from implementing Good Participatory Practice
Guidelines for biomedical HIV prevention trials (S08.04)
Mitchell Warren, AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, New York, NY, USA
Zachimalawi endorses Mbona for 2014 Presidential Elections
Zachimalawi is pleased to inform you that, as the debate on who to represent various political parties rages on in the country, it has settled for Mbona- Great son of Khuluvi!
Oh, yes. And, there are 10 grounds to boot, in favour of this great guy. Here they are:
1. Unlike Professor Peter Mutharika, President Bingu wa Mutharika, Honourable John Zenus Ungapake Tembo, Friday Jumbe, Amunandife Nkumba, James Nyondo, and whoever may impress you, Mbona is the only guy who can bring us rain.
After all, we have heard people like President Mutharika asking people to pray for rains (he has even attended various prayers for rains over the past six years), and that is cowardise. These guys know they can't bring rains.
Not with Mbona; in fact, he drinks fresh water direct from the sky. What we call rain! So, we will be guaranteed the prospects of fresh water and good rains through and through.
Mbona woyeee!
2. Professor Peter Mutharika, President Mutharika, for instance, have unMalawian heights! Aren't we told that the early inhabitants of Malawi were the Akafula or Abathwa? So, you want to tell me that these guys were as 'tall' as these guys?
Even Tembo, though said to be very much on the 'short' side' is unMalawian in height. But Mbona is different. He has always remained short, even his spirit! He will thus restore Chimalawi here, and take us back to the days we used to respect our ancestors.
The 'boys' of today (don't mind their heights) respect the World Bank, International Monetary Fund; but never Mlauli or Kalonga or paramount chiefs. Spoilt folks!
3. Mbona will go to New York, UK, Canada on foot, saving the country from unnecessary foreign travel expenditures. He will also need just a bag made from goat skin for his food rations while enroute, unlike our modern folks (which Prof. Peter Mutharika, Tembo, Jumbe, Nyondo, among others, will probably do)who buy expensive jets just to look over our heads as they fly to wherever Benzine may take them. Of course, they travel everywhere except to heaven. Only Mbona can go where these folks only dream of.
It is Zachimalawi's sincere hope that Mbona is the only guy who can run from Nsanje boma to Khuluvi on foot, taking the form of ordinary birds or an owl wherever necessary. If you doubt, you can ask Achimwene CheMlauli. The guy suffered before catching up with fast-runner Mbona.
Thus, Mbona is his own jet, and will not need our money as taxpayers just to fly to New York and taste mowa wakumeneko!
4. Mbona will cut costs on State Houses, since he will be spending much of his time in the bushes, talking to spirits and looking for herbs. Our foreign dignitaries will be getting him there, in the bush, without partaking of our expensive State Dinners. Let's see if they can eat masamba achitimbe as cuisine.
In fact, Mbona is more likely to turn the so called State Houses into Makola aNg'ombe; or else, he will put nkhalamba there, zidzithira ufa kwamizimu yamakolo athu. The security details will be banished from there to the baracks, so that we will not need an appointment to meet Mbona.
5, Government will reduce expenditures on bullet proof 'this', bullet proof 'that' since Mbona is 'well-fortified'. So, nobody will go about over-dressed, loooking like a Penguin in the process.
After all, we vote for human beings, not penguins!
6. STIs, including HIV and AIDS, will disappear since everyone found doing abominable 'sins' will be stoned to death for tying to 'sempha' mudzi. Those with 'hot' blood will be 'served' by the powerful Mbona himself! Malawi will be a no-go zone for sexually transmitted infections in deed.
7. No convoys on presidential entourage. Mbona just needs two counselors to tackle State matters, and these, as usual, will be using bicycles. Thus we will serve on fuel costs. After all, Prof. Peter Mutharika was heard defending the trip to Iran on MBC Television, a sure sign that the guy may not know how to 'ride' a bicycle, or may not do so for long- like, from Limbe to Thyolo.
8. Mbona will close Universities and establish Masimba using State Reources. Our 'kids' will then stop wasting time kusukulu instead of kumathandiza makolo awo kulima. The result is food security.
9. Reduced electricity bills at State residences. Mbona does not believe in Western style suits; he will be wearing Nyanda. No need to keep the guys who sita President's suits, even when the President has a wife. These guys are killing trust between Presidents and their wives, since they create the impression that Presidents' wives cannot be trusted. All in the name of keeping their job. Spoilt brats!
10. Mbona will not marry while in power, or get divorced when out of power. After all, he already married at the age of 11, and can grab any lady he wants, even if married, without going through the hussle of 'kufunsira'. You see, when people get married while in power, children ask what the 'two' want to be doing, and this degrades the 'sacred' ordinance of marriage. No, we want leaders who choose ladies with their fingers.
By the way, if a leader goes through the process of 'kufunsira', mwina kumaopa kuti akanidwa, isn't that cowardise? No, dictators just chose without formalities. It is a dictator we need, and Mbona, unlike these 'guys', is one.
With Mbona, all of us will be safe. Baba, Mbona amapezeka paliponse. Talk ill about Mbona, and you lose the rains. With Mbona, also, we will not need fertilisers. 'His' rains come ready with 'heaven' fertiliser.
Oh, yes. And, there are 10 grounds to boot, in favour of this great guy. Here they are:
1. Unlike Professor Peter Mutharika, President Bingu wa Mutharika, Honourable John Zenus Ungapake Tembo, Friday Jumbe, Amunandife Nkumba, James Nyondo, and whoever may impress you, Mbona is the only guy who can bring us rain.
After all, we have heard people like President Mutharika asking people to pray for rains (he has even attended various prayers for rains over the past six years), and that is cowardise. These guys know they can't bring rains.
Not with Mbona; in fact, he drinks fresh water direct from the sky. What we call rain! So, we will be guaranteed the prospects of fresh water and good rains through and through.
Mbona woyeee!
2. Professor Peter Mutharika, President Mutharika, for instance, have unMalawian heights! Aren't we told that the early inhabitants of Malawi were the Akafula or Abathwa? So, you want to tell me that these guys were as 'tall' as these guys?
Even Tembo, though said to be very much on the 'short' side' is unMalawian in height. But Mbona is different. He has always remained short, even his spirit! He will thus restore Chimalawi here, and take us back to the days we used to respect our ancestors.
The 'boys' of today (don't mind their heights) respect the World Bank, International Monetary Fund; but never Mlauli or Kalonga or paramount chiefs. Spoilt folks!
3. Mbona will go to New York, UK, Canada on foot, saving the country from unnecessary foreign travel expenditures. He will also need just a bag made from goat skin for his food rations while enroute, unlike our modern folks (which Prof. Peter Mutharika, Tembo, Jumbe, Nyondo, among others, will probably do)who buy expensive jets just to look over our heads as they fly to wherever Benzine may take them. Of course, they travel everywhere except to heaven. Only Mbona can go where these folks only dream of.
It is Zachimalawi's sincere hope that Mbona is the only guy who can run from Nsanje boma to Khuluvi on foot, taking the form of ordinary birds or an owl wherever necessary. If you doubt, you can ask Achimwene CheMlauli. The guy suffered before catching up with fast-runner Mbona.
Thus, Mbona is his own jet, and will not need our money as taxpayers just to fly to New York and taste mowa wakumeneko!
4. Mbona will cut costs on State Houses, since he will be spending much of his time in the bushes, talking to spirits and looking for herbs. Our foreign dignitaries will be getting him there, in the bush, without partaking of our expensive State Dinners. Let's see if they can eat masamba achitimbe as cuisine.
In fact, Mbona is more likely to turn the so called State Houses into Makola aNg'ombe; or else, he will put nkhalamba there, zidzithira ufa kwamizimu yamakolo athu. The security details will be banished from there to the baracks, so that we will not need an appointment to meet Mbona.
5, Government will reduce expenditures on bullet proof 'this', bullet proof 'that' since Mbona is 'well-fortified'. So, nobody will go about over-dressed, loooking like a Penguin in the process.
After all, we vote for human beings, not penguins!
6. STIs, including HIV and AIDS, will disappear since everyone found doing abominable 'sins' will be stoned to death for tying to 'sempha' mudzi. Those with 'hot' blood will be 'served' by the powerful Mbona himself! Malawi will be a no-go zone for sexually transmitted infections in deed.
7. No convoys on presidential entourage. Mbona just needs two counselors to tackle State matters, and these, as usual, will be using bicycles. Thus we will serve on fuel costs. After all, Prof. Peter Mutharika was heard defending the trip to Iran on MBC Television, a sure sign that the guy may not know how to 'ride' a bicycle, or may not do so for long- like, from Limbe to Thyolo.
8. Mbona will close Universities and establish Masimba using State Reources. Our 'kids' will then stop wasting time kusukulu instead of kumathandiza makolo awo kulima. The result is food security.
9. Reduced electricity bills at State residences. Mbona does not believe in Western style suits; he will be wearing Nyanda. No need to keep the guys who sita President's suits, even when the President has a wife. These guys are killing trust between Presidents and their wives, since they create the impression that Presidents' wives cannot be trusted. All in the name of keeping their job. Spoilt brats!
10. Mbona will not marry while in power, or get divorced when out of power. After all, he already married at the age of 11, and can grab any lady he wants, even if married, without going through the hussle of 'kufunsira'. You see, when people get married while in power, children ask what the 'two' want to be doing, and this degrades the 'sacred' ordinance of marriage. No, we want leaders who choose ladies with their fingers.
By the way, if a leader goes through the process of 'kufunsira', mwina kumaopa kuti akanidwa, isn't that cowardise? No, dictators just chose without formalities. It is a dictator we need, and Mbona, unlike these 'guys', is one.
With Mbona, all of us will be safe. Baba, Mbona amapezeka paliponse. Talk ill about Mbona, and you lose the rains. With Mbona, also, we will not need fertilisers. 'His' rains come ready with 'heaven' fertiliser.
10 'points' in support of new pension Bill
Many people have yapped about the new pension bill, saying it is unheard for someone to wait until they rich 60 years to access their own money. It makes sense to you, perhaps; to me, it is unanderstandable!
In the first place, for you married folks, did you marry your spouses at the age of 12? Definitely no.
So, how long did you wait to get hooked up in marriage with them? On averege, it must have been some 20-or-something years after you were born. What is wrong, therefore, to wait until you reach 60?
For you to overcome your worse fears about the Bill, imagine that 60 (years) is a beautiful lady or hundsome guy waiting for your embrace. Surely, you will not feel the pain of waiting!
Well, that was just a preamble. To dive straight into the so-called controversial matter, here are the 10 grounds I support the Pension Bill.
1. It will solve the problem of divorce in Malawi, since husbands and wives will be nudged by the fear that they may not 'taste'pension benefits if they run away from their spouses. In short, the Bill will keep people together for long, even unto the grave. Amen.
2. HIV prevalence rate will decline further. This is so because people with concurrent multiple sexual partners will think twice, afraid that they may lose out on their own, or spouse's, benefits. Anthu ndiadyera baba! Sangalole kumwalira mwachangu iyayi!
3. It will deliver government from the headaches associated with Social Benefits, in countries where the unemployed receive government 'something' to sustain themselves. Old people (at 60 in Malawi, you have eaten more Nsima than 10 Under-Five children) will have enough money to cry for government help. The government is thus killing two birds with one stone. Clever government. Are you angry? Osaphulika bwanji?
4.President Bingu wa Mutharika, being over 60, is already safe. So, you are the only one crying! Even Prof. Peter Mutharika is 'safe'. Munthu sulira wekha. Tontholani bambo, mayi!
5. Companies keeping your benefits will invest the 'idle' cash in coffin workshops. There won't be anything like burrying people under bath tabs. This will lead to increased employment opportunities for those who don't fear the sight of an empty coffin, or dead bodies. Companies selling airconditioners will also make a killing.
6. People will stop to die. Yes, people will be kept glued to the hope of 'tasting' their own sweat and will not 'afford' to die. So, we will maintain a large population, full of men and women who know how to protect themselves from 'death'. Therefore, condom manufacturers will make more money since anthu ambiri adzipherela waiting for that large chunk of cash rotting as they toil in the sun, just to harvest fresh vegetables ndiwo zamasamba!! Didn't you know there is a farmer in you?
7. Malawians will become 'hopeful' people. A hopeful nation is a happy nation, so there won't be things like UDF task force sealing the party's headquarters in Limbe, as if it belonged to them and their grandfathers. This will reduce cases of gender, and home, based violence since even the tax collector from Malawi Revenue Authority will go about their duties smiling. The tax evader will also get fined smiling! What better deal there is than this?
8. There will be an abandance of cheap labour in Malawi. Let's face it, guys; most of the 'old' guys will have to grapple with the fact that they have to fend for themselves and their families, otherwise achinyamata ena akumalanda magrandmothers mkugwa nawo in love. So, the papa-granny will not take chances but work in the cotton and tobacco fields at woeful wages. This will be good for foreign direct investors and will turn Malawi into a haven of investors because of the cheap labour. The good thing about employing an old man is that there won't be charges of child abuse! We will beat the USA at that, as the folks are fond of yapping that child labour is high in Malawi.
9. The 'idle' cash will be invested in Treasury Bills, and the like, giving government the opportunity to service domestic and foreign debt. Boma lobweza ngongole limalemekezeka kulikonse. So, why are you crying, mpaka thovu kukamwa zomwezi? Iya!
10. Because so many people will be complaining, cases of High Blood Pressure will rise, posing more problems to our public healthcare delivery system. Medical staff will, therefore, go on strike and get their pay raised. After all, the guys who work when demand is high must receive an equal share. It's more pay for doctors, including my uncle. Since the Germans have promised us a 'large' hospital in Zomba, as Prof. Bingu wa Mutharika said the other day, it's our Malawian doctors who will benefit from more pay. Good news, really.
Now, if you feel the Bill is a bad thing, why don't you take some 10 minutes to go outside and cry to Mbona? I am watching you in prayer!
In the first place, for you married folks, did you marry your spouses at the age of 12? Definitely no.
So, how long did you wait to get hooked up in marriage with them? On averege, it must have been some 20-or-something years after you were born. What is wrong, therefore, to wait until you reach 60?
For you to overcome your worse fears about the Bill, imagine that 60 (years) is a beautiful lady or hundsome guy waiting for your embrace. Surely, you will not feel the pain of waiting!
Well, that was just a preamble. To dive straight into the so-called controversial matter, here are the 10 grounds I support the Pension Bill.
1. It will solve the problem of divorce in Malawi, since husbands and wives will be nudged by the fear that they may not 'taste'pension benefits if they run away from their spouses. In short, the Bill will keep people together for long, even unto the grave. Amen.
2. HIV prevalence rate will decline further. This is so because people with concurrent multiple sexual partners will think twice, afraid that they may lose out on their own, or spouse's, benefits. Anthu ndiadyera baba! Sangalole kumwalira mwachangu iyayi!
3. It will deliver government from the headaches associated with Social Benefits, in countries where the unemployed receive government 'something' to sustain themselves. Old people (at 60 in Malawi, you have eaten more Nsima than 10 Under-Five children) will have enough money to cry for government help. The government is thus killing two birds with one stone. Clever government. Are you angry? Osaphulika bwanji?
4.President Bingu wa Mutharika, being over 60, is already safe. So, you are the only one crying! Even Prof. Peter Mutharika is 'safe'. Munthu sulira wekha. Tontholani bambo, mayi!
5. Companies keeping your benefits will invest the 'idle' cash in coffin workshops. There won't be anything like burrying people under bath tabs. This will lead to increased employment opportunities for those who don't fear the sight of an empty coffin, or dead bodies. Companies selling airconditioners will also make a killing.
6. People will stop to die. Yes, people will be kept glued to the hope of 'tasting' their own sweat and will not 'afford' to die. So, we will maintain a large population, full of men and women who know how to protect themselves from 'death'. Therefore, condom manufacturers will make more money since anthu ambiri adzipherela waiting for that large chunk of cash rotting as they toil in the sun, just to harvest fresh vegetables ndiwo zamasamba!! Didn't you know there is a farmer in you?
7. Malawians will become 'hopeful' people. A hopeful nation is a happy nation, so there won't be things like UDF task force sealing the party's headquarters in Limbe, as if it belonged to them and their grandfathers. This will reduce cases of gender, and home, based violence since even the tax collector from Malawi Revenue Authority will go about their duties smiling. The tax evader will also get fined smiling! What better deal there is than this?
8. There will be an abandance of cheap labour in Malawi. Let's face it, guys; most of the 'old' guys will have to grapple with the fact that they have to fend for themselves and their families, otherwise achinyamata ena akumalanda magrandmothers mkugwa nawo in love. So, the papa-granny will not take chances but work in the cotton and tobacco fields at woeful wages. This will be good for foreign direct investors and will turn Malawi into a haven of investors because of the cheap labour. The good thing about employing an old man is that there won't be charges of child abuse! We will beat the USA at that, as the folks are fond of yapping that child labour is high in Malawi.
9. The 'idle' cash will be invested in Treasury Bills, and the like, giving government the opportunity to service domestic and foreign debt. Boma lobweza ngongole limalemekezeka kulikonse. So, why are you crying, mpaka thovu kukamwa zomwezi? Iya!
10. Because so many people will be complaining, cases of High Blood Pressure will rise, posing more problems to our public healthcare delivery system. Medical staff will, therefore, go on strike and get their pay raised. After all, the guys who work when demand is high must receive an equal share. It's more pay for doctors, including my uncle. Since the Germans have promised us a 'large' hospital in Zomba, as Prof. Bingu wa Mutharika said the other day, it's our Malawian doctors who will benefit from more pay. Good news, really.
Now, if you feel the Bill is a bad thing, why don't you take some 10 minutes to go outside and cry to Mbona? I am watching you in prayer!
Voices in a flame
Let fly the defaced flag,
Cutting across the Southerly winds,
As the Malawi sun,
Passes through some black back ground.
Let the world behold the unfurling of a white sun,
Because darkness no longer roams the Blantyre,
Lilongwe,
Mzuzu,
Dedza,
Salima,
Nkhata-bay,
Rumphi,
Chitipa,
Kasungu,
Nkhota-kota,
Nsanje,
And Mulanje
Night.
Red no longer lives,
Where once the rising sun peeped through the cloud.
It is black in its stead,
A symbol of the tarred miles we have walked,
Under the professor,
A professor without real students.
As naughty University of Malawi students scuffle for limited space,
And lecturers eat chips marked with chalk dust,
The professor without students has made a classroom out of the nation,
Filling the Makiyolobasi Director General's mouth with some weighty verbage
At the mention of the professor without students's name.
As the flag waves at the passing sun,
Making friends with everyday winds,
Chasing sanity from the solemn sky,
Some contemporaries of the professor without students wave good-bye,
To the national-class that stares above from below,
Making do with the thumbing of the professor without students' s feet.
The flag huggs the night owl,
Looking perplexed at its lazy flow,
And the professor with students says 'No',
See you somewhere beyond the blue sky,
Having been failed by the Ocean vehicle I pushed,
To promote your well-being.
So the flag waves again,
Waving bye to the man no longer being,
Having lost his invisible life flag,
Somewhere Down South,
Whence he trodded to seek new life,
Perhaps a new breath.
The sound of the new flag howls no more,
As now it is the professor without students's howl,
Condoling the morning star,
Over the other real professor's over-flown soul.
'Flags, like poles that hoist them, do not live long'
He reminds the class-of-a-nation that nothing is eternal under the new flag,
And that flying from Down South will not make it eternal.
But knows the class-of-a-nation that the professor without students through an invisible arrow,
Into the soul of the gone sparrow,
Sending him up yonder,
Beyond the new flag
Cutting across the Southerly winds,
As the Malawi sun,
Passes through some black back ground.
Let the world behold the unfurling of a white sun,
Because darkness no longer roams the Blantyre,
Lilongwe,
Mzuzu,
Dedza,
Salima,
Nkhata-bay,
Rumphi,
Chitipa,
Kasungu,
Nkhota-kota,
Nsanje,
And Mulanje
Night.
Red no longer lives,
Where once the rising sun peeped through the cloud.
It is black in its stead,
A symbol of the tarred miles we have walked,
Under the professor,
A professor without real students.
As naughty University of Malawi students scuffle for limited space,
And lecturers eat chips marked with chalk dust,
The professor without students has made a classroom out of the nation,
Filling the Makiyolobasi Director General's mouth with some weighty verbage
At the mention of the professor without students's name.
As the flag waves at the passing sun,
Making friends with everyday winds,
Chasing sanity from the solemn sky,
Some contemporaries of the professor without students wave good-bye,
To the national-class that stares above from below,
Making do with the thumbing of the professor without students' s feet.
The flag huggs the night owl,
Looking perplexed at its lazy flow,
And the professor with students says 'No',
See you somewhere beyond the blue sky,
Having been failed by the Ocean vehicle I pushed,
To promote your well-being.
So the flag waves again,
Waving bye to the man no longer being,
Having lost his invisible life flag,
Somewhere Down South,
Whence he trodded to seek new life,
Perhaps a new breath.
The sound of the new flag howls no more,
As now it is the professor without students's howl,
Condoling the morning star,
Over the other real professor's over-flown soul.
'Flags, like poles that hoist them, do not live long'
He reminds the class-of-a-nation that nothing is eternal under the new flag,
And that flying from Down South will not make it eternal.
But knows the class-of-a-nation that the professor without students through an invisible arrow,
Into the soul of the gone sparrow,
Sending him up yonder,
Beyond the new flag
Friday, September 17, 2010
More responses from Media Council of Malawi
NOTE TO THE READER:
Please, don't mind the grammatical mistakes from Media Council of Malawi.
Dear Richard,
As somebody who is studying in school, you must appreciate to different between an individual and an institution. I can sense some anger in your email. In my view that anger is misplaced . I am not MCM for your information. I am Eric and I work for MCM. MCM is owned by the media houses in Malawi and not an individual journalist and is governed by the Board of Trustees and the NGC which comprise eminent persons in the media, like Mr. Osman, Mr. Chitsulo etc .These are the employers.
The decision to accredited journalist is in the MCM constitution. And it did not just come from the blues neither was it created by the Executive Director.
Its unfortunate that the very people whom one would assume would have no problems is understanding an issues are find it tough to understand a simple thing like accreditation. Accreditations is not a license and MCM is not stopping you from practicing journalism. It is your constitutional right. BUT its is for your own credibility as an individual.
If you hold a card that it shall mean that you are a credible journalist.
By the way media practitioners at MBC have been accredited, so too at BNL,ZBS,NPL, Joy, Radio ABC, Montfort Media in Balaka and many others.
My dear its unfortunate that you believe in treats. Nthawi ya ma threats inapita kale kale ndi Kamuzu Banda.This is an institution and not an individual. It is SYSYTEM AND NOT AN INDIVIDUAL.
You may wish to note that as we get along some media houses shall only employ journalists that are accredited. This is what the media owners are saying and not MCM.
Although baba mwaphya mtima but I would like to congratulate you for going back to school for having discovered some missing papers in the portfolio of your credentials.
Gook Luck
Eric Mcheka,
Programmes Officer
Media Council of Malawi
Please, don't mind the grammatical mistakes from Media Council of Malawi.
Dear Richard,
As somebody who is studying in school, you must appreciate to different between an individual and an institution. I can sense some anger in your email. In my view that anger is misplaced . I am not MCM for your information. I am Eric and I work for MCM. MCM is owned by the media houses in Malawi and not an individual journalist and is governed by the Board of Trustees and the NGC which comprise eminent persons in the media, like Mr. Osman, Mr. Chitsulo etc .These are the employers.
The decision to accredited journalist is in the MCM constitution. And it did not just come from the blues neither was it created by the Executive Director.
Its unfortunate that the very people whom one would assume would have no problems is understanding an issues are find it tough to understand a simple thing like accreditation. Accreditations is not a license and MCM is not stopping you from practicing journalism. It is your constitutional right. BUT its is for your own credibility as an individual.
If you hold a card that it shall mean that you are a credible journalist.
By the way media practitioners at MBC have been accredited, so too at BNL,ZBS,NPL, Joy, Radio ABC, Montfort Media in Balaka and many others.
My dear its unfortunate that you believe in treats. Nthawi ya ma threats inapita kale kale ndi Kamuzu Banda.This is an institution and not an individual. It is SYSYTEM AND NOT AN INDIVIDUAL.
You may wish to note that as we get along some media houses shall only employ journalists that are accredited. This is what the media owners are saying and not MCM.
Although baba mwaphya mtima but I would like to congratulate you for going back to school for having discovered some missing papers in the portfolio of your credentials.
Gook Luck
Eric Mcheka,
Programmes Officer
Media Council of Malawi
Pope cover up of gay Cardinal Newman
Letters reveal Newman loved Father Ambrose St. John
"He was my earthy light...I was his first and last," wrote Newman
London - 16 September 2010
This Sunday, Pope Benedict will make a saint of the nineteenth century English theologian, Cardinal John Henry Newman, while denying the strong evidence that Newman was gay and loved Father Ambrose St John.
The Pope's sainting of Newman will take place near Birmingham, England, on Sunday, during his current Papal tour of Britain.
"Newman and St John were mentally and spiritually in love; sharing a long-term same-sex relationship. They were inseparable. They lived together for over 30 years, like a married husband and wife," said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who has studied the evidence of Newman's homosexual orientation.
See here:
http://www.google.co.uk/books?id=b6O01T7JsvQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Alan+Bray,+The+Friend&lr=&as_brr=0&ei=YYi2SNrXCJWyyQSXuZSGBw&sig=ACfU3U3yK482o_HYMtOEdWS5WlnllgqrmQ#PPA290,M1
"Newman wrote in his diary about Ambrose's love for him: 'From the first he loved me with an intensity of love, which was unaccountable.' He later added: 'As far as this world was concerned, I was his first and last,'" added Mr Tatchell.
"Newman also stated that St John had come to him as the angel Raphael came to Tobias, as Ruth to Naomi.
"Reflecting on St John's death, Newman stated: 'This is the greatest affliction I have had in my life....he was my earthly light.'
"Newman and St John were buried side-by-side in the same grave when Newman died in 1890. It was what Newman wanted. He wrote to his executors shortly before his death stating emphatically: 'I wish, with all my heart, to be buried in Father Ambrose St John's grave - and I give this as my last, my imperative will.'
"It is impossible to know whether the relationship between Newman and St John involved a sexual dimension. Equally, it is impossible to be certain that it did not. There is no proof that Newman was heterosexual or that he abstained from sex. The Pope cannot substantiate these claims.
"To err on the side of caution, it is likely that both men had a gay orientation but chose to abstain from sex. Sexual abstinence does not, however, alter a person's orientation. A person can be gay and sublimate their gayness into spiritual and other non-sexual relations and pursuits.
"Ahead of making Newman a saint, the Vatican has sought to suppress knowledge of Newman's relationship with St John. Last year, against Newman's wishes, it ordered that his grave be dug up, in order to separate the two men and to turn Newman's bones into holy relics. However, the grave was empty. His remains had fully decomposed. The Vatican's heartless plans were thwarted by nature.
"This homophobic desecration of Newman's grave and the denial of Newman's gayness is entirely consistent with the Vatican's long-standing cover up of its many past and present gay priests, bishops, cardinals and popes. Pope Benedict has a well-known anti-gay agenda. He is too bigoted to concede that Newman loved a man.
"Newman was, of course, unaware that he might one day achieve sainthood. But he was mindful that the church might, after his death, seek to intervene in determining the placement of his remains. Although a modest man, he was conscious of his international status as a Cardinal and an esteemed Catholic theologian. He feared there might be attempts after he died to transfer his body to a mausoleum. That is why Newman three times added notes to his instructions to his executors which, according to the scholarship of the Christian historian Alan Bray, variously "confirm", "insist" and "command" that he be buried with St John.
http://www.google.co.uk/books?id=b6O01T7JsvQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Alan+Bray,+The+Friend&lr=&as_brr=0&ei=YYi2SNrXCJWyyQSXuZSGBw&sig=ACfU3U3yK482o_HYMtOEdWS5WlnllgqrmQ#PPA290,M1
"Nothing could be clearer. Newman was absolutely insistent that should be buried forever alongside the man with whom he shared his life, home and love.
"The Pope's spin doctors have gone out of their way to rubbish claims that Newman was gay. He was a cardinal and deeply devout, they say; claiming that such a person would never have a gay relationship. This is nonsense. Thousands of Catholic priests, and even some bishops and cardinals, are gay and have active same-sex relationships.
"The Catholic hierarchy denies the Newman's homosexuality in the same way that it denies the existence of thousands of gay clerics and in the same way that it has lied about sex abusing priests and has covered up their crimes against children.
"The Vatican is well known for lying and suppressing the truth. It lied, for example, in its anti-safe sex propaganda which claimed that condoms have tiny holes through which the HIV virus can pass.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/oct/09/aids
"The lies and denials about Newman should be treated with the same contempt.
"Although we cannot know for certain, it is not unreasonable to believe that Cardinal Newman might have had a loving, stable, long-term same-sex relationship. The passion of his letters and writings about Ambrose suggest this possibility.
"Down the ages, lots of clergy have had gay relationships. Indeed, at least a quarter of the current Catholic priesthood is estimated to be gay. Many are in long-term gay relationships. Why should anyone be surprised by the suggestion that Cardinal Newman might have had a same-sex relationship? It would not be extraordinary. It is fairly normal in the priesthood.
"Newman was not exactly macho. His soft, gentle, effeminate demeanour is typical of what we often associate with some gay men (and some straight men too). There were allegations during his lifetime about his circle of young homosexual friends. Platonic relations and close friendships with women did not feature at all in his life," said Mr Tatchell.
Perhaps we should look to Newman's memorial stone at Birmingham Oratory for clues. It has an inscription that could be read as a posthumous coming out concerning their relationship:
"Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem" (from shadow and images into truth)
Some people say that Newman's body lying in a grave with the body of Father Ambrose reveals the truth about their love and relationship.
"He was my earthy light...I was his first and last," wrote Newman
London - 16 September 2010
This Sunday, Pope Benedict will make a saint of the nineteenth century English theologian, Cardinal John Henry Newman, while denying the strong evidence that Newman was gay and loved Father Ambrose St John.
The Pope's sainting of Newman will take place near Birmingham, England, on Sunday, during his current Papal tour of Britain.
"Newman and St John were mentally and spiritually in love; sharing a long-term same-sex relationship. They were inseparable. They lived together for over 30 years, like a married husband and wife," said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who has studied the evidence of Newman's homosexual orientation.
See here:
http://www.google.co.uk/books?id=b6O01T7JsvQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Alan+Bray,+The+Friend&lr=&as_brr=0&ei=YYi2SNrXCJWyyQSXuZSGBw&sig=ACfU3U3yK482o_HYMtOEdWS5WlnllgqrmQ#PPA290,M1
"Newman wrote in his diary about Ambrose's love for him: 'From the first he loved me with an intensity of love, which was unaccountable.' He later added: 'As far as this world was concerned, I was his first and last,'" added Mr Tatchell.
"Newman also stated that St John had come to him as the angel Raphael came to Tobias, as Ruth to Naomi.
"Reflecting on St John's death, Newman stated: 'This is the greatest affliction I have had in my life....he was my earthly light.'
"Newman and St John were buried side-by-side in the same grave when Newman died in 1890. It was what Newman wanted. He wrote to his executors shortly before his death stating emphatically: 'I wish, with all my heart, to be buried in Father Ambrose St John's grave - and I give this as my last, my imperative will.'
"It is impossible to know whether the relationship between Newman and St John involved a sexual dimension. Equally, it is impossible to be certain that it did not. There is no proof that Newman was heterosexual or that he abstained from sex. The Pope cannot substantiate these claims.
"To err on the side of caution, it is likely that both men had a gay orientation but chose to abstain from sex. Sexual abstinence does not, however, alter a person's orientation. A person can be gay and sublimate their gayness into spiritual and other non-sexual relations and pursuits.
"Ahead of making Newman a saint, the Vatican has sought to suppress knowledge of Newman's relationship with St John. Last year, against Newman's wishes, it ordered that his grave be dug up, in order to separate the two men and to turn Newman's bones into holy relics. However, the grave was empty. His remains had fully decomposed. The Vatican's heartless plans were thwarted by nature.
"This homophobic desecration of Newman's grave and the denial of Newman's gayness is entirely consistent with the Vatican's long-standing cover up of its many past and present gay priests, bishops, cardinals and popes. Pope Benedict has a well-known anti-gay agenda. He is too bigoted to concede that Newman loved a man.
"Newman was, of course, unaware that he might one day achieve sainthood. But he was mindful that the church might, after his death, seek to intervene in determining the placement of his remains. Although a modest man, he was conscious of his international status as a Cardinal and an esteemed Catholic theologian. He feared there might be attempts after he died to transfer his body to a mausoleum. That is why Newman three times added notes to his instructions to his executors which, according to the scholarship of the Christian historian Alan Bray, variously "confirm", "insist" and "command" that he be buried with St John.
http://www.google.co.uk/books?id=b6O01T7JsvQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Alan+Bray,+The+Friend&lr=&as_brr=0&ei=YYi2SNrXCJWyyQSXuZSGBw&sig=ACfU3U3yK482o_HYMtOEdWS5WlnllgqrmQ#PPA290,M1
"Nothing could be clearer. Newman was absolutely insistent that should be buried forever alongside the man with whom he shared his life, home and love.
"The Pope's spin doctors have gone out of their way to rubbish claims that Newman was gay. He was a cardinal and deeply devout, they say; claiming that such a person would never have a gay relationship. This is nonsense. Thousands of Catholic priests, and even some bishops and cardinals, are gay and have active same-sex relationships.
"The Catholic hierarchy denies the Newman's homosexuality in the same way that it denies the existence of thousands of gay clerics and in the same way that it has lied about sex abusing priests and has covered up their crimes against children.
"The Vatican is well known for lying and suppressing the truth. It lied, for example, in its anti-safe sex propaganda which claimed that condoms have tiny holes through which the HIV virus can pass.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/oct/09/aids
"The lies and denials about Newman should be treated with the same contempt.
"Although we cannot know for certain, it is not unreasonable to believe that Cardinal Newman might have had a loving, stable, long-term same-sex relationship. The passion of his letters and writings about Ambrose suggest this possibility.
"Down the ages, lots of clergy have had gay relationships. Indeed, at least a quarter of the current Catholic priesthood is estimated to be gay. Many are in long-term gay relationships. Why should anyone be surprised by the suggestion that Cardinal Newman might have had a same-sex relationship? It would not be extraordinary. It is fairly normal in the priesthood.
"Newman was not exactly macho. His soft, gentle, effeminate demeanour is typical of what we often associate with some gay men (and some straight men too). There were allegations during his lifetime about his circle of young homosexual friends. Platonic relations and close friendships with women did not feature at all in his life," said Mr Tatchell.
Perhaps we should look to Newman's memorial stone at Birmingham Oratory for clues. It has an inscription that could be read as a posthumous coming out concerning their relationship:
"Ex umbris et imaginibus in veritatem" (from shadow and images into truth)
Some people say that Newman's body lying in a grave with the body of Father Ambrose reveals the truth about their love and relationship.
March against Pope's intolerance
Sat 18 September, Protest the Pope
Assemble 1.30pm, Hyde Park Corner, W1
March to Downing Street for rally
Cameron urged to "distance" from Pope's "bigoted" views
Saturday 18 September 2010
Assemble 1.30pm Hyde Park Corner, London W1K 1QZ (by the start of Piccadilly)
March to Downing Street for a rally at 3.30pm
This Saturday's Protest the Pope march and rally will condemn the Pope's sexism and homophobia, his collusion with the cover up of child sex abuse, and his welcome back into the church of the holocaust-denying bishop, Richard Williamson.
The British government is being urged to publicly distance itself from the Pope's "bigoted, backward" teachings.
Speakers at the rally include Richard Dawkins, Catholic priest Father Bernard Lynch, President of the National Secular Society Terry Sanderson, Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association Andrew Copson, LGBT human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, science writer Ben Goldacre, sex abuse survivor, Sue Cox, Iranian secularist Maryam Namazie and Asian feminist campaigner Pragna Patel of Southall Black Sisters.
Protest the Pope co-organiser Peter Tatchell said:
"We are urging David Cameron and Nick Clegg to disassociate the British government from the Pope's often harsh, intolerant views.
"Pope Benedict XVI does not deserve the honour of a State Visit. He says women are unfit to be priests, childless couples should be denied fertility treatment and potentially life-saving embryonic stem cell research ought to be banned. The Pope insists that rape victims should be denied an abortion, using condoms to stop the spread of HIV is immoral and gay people are not entitled to equal human rights. On all these issues, Benedict is out of step with the majority of British people, including many Catholics.
"Most shockingly, the Pope is accused of covering up child sex abuse by clergy. In 2001, he wrote to every Catholic bishop in the world, ordering them to report all child sex abuse cases to him in Rome. They did. He therefore cannot claim that he was unaware of sex abuse. Moreover, his letter to the bishops demanded that they observe 'Papal secrecy.' It did not advise them to report abusers to the police.
"Even today, the Pope refuses to open the Vatican's sex abuse files and hand them to the relevant police forces worldwide. Many people see his inaction as collusion with sex crimes against children. Such a person should not be feted by our government," said Mr Tatchell.
Assemble 1.30pm, Hyde Park Corner, W1
March to Downing Street for rally
Cameron urged to "distance" from Pope's "bigoted" views
Saturday 18 September 2010
Assemble 1.30pm Hyde Park Corner, London W1K 1QZ (by the start of Piccadilly)
March to Downing Street for a rally at 3.30pm
This Saturday's Protest the Pope march and rally will condemn the Pope's sexism and homophobia, his collusion with the cover up of child sex abuse, and his welcome back into the church of the holocaust-denying bishop, Richard Williamson.
The British government is being urged to publicly distance itself from the Pope's "bigoted, backward" teachings.
Speakers at the rally include Richard Dawkins, Catholic priest Father Bernard Lynch, President of the National Secular Society Terry Sanderson, Chief Executive of the British Humanist Association Andrew Copson, LGBT human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, science writer Ben Goldacre, sex abuse survivor, Sue Cox, Iranian secularist Maryam Namazie and Asian feminist campaigner Pragna Patel of Southall Black Sisters.
Protest the Pope co-organiser Peter Tatchell said:
"We are urging David Cameron and Nick Clegg to disassociate the British government from the Pope's often harsh, intolerant views.
"Pope Benedict XVI does not deserve the honour of a State Visit. He says women are unfit to be priests, childless couples should be denied fertility treatment and potentially life-saving embryonic stem cell research ought to be banned. The Pope insists that rape victims should be denied an abortion, using condoms to stop the spread of HIV is immoral and gay people are not entitled to equal human rights. On all these issues, Benedict is out of step with the majority of British people, including many Catholics.
"Most shockingly, the Pope is accused of covering up child sex abuse by clergy. In 2001, he wrote to every Catholic bishop in the world, ordering them to report all child sex abuse cases to him in Rome. They did. He therefore cannot claim that he was unaware of sex abuse. Moreover, his letter to the bishops demanded that they observe 'Papal secrecy.' It did not advise them to report abusers to the police.
"Even today, the Pope refuses to open the Vatican's sex abuse files and hand them to the relevant police forces worldwide. Many people see his inaction as collusion with sex crimes against children. Such a person should not be feted by our government," said Mr Tatchell.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Are gay couples a family? New study tracks shifting US views
(New York) As much as Americans revere the family, they differ sharply on how to define it.
New research being released Wednesday shows steadily increasing recognition of unmarried couples – gay and straight – as families. But there’s a solid core resisting this trend who are more willing to include pets in their definition than same-sex partners.
How “family” is defined is a crucial question on many levels. Beyond the debate over same-sex marriage, it affects income tax filings, adoption and foster care practices, employee benefits, inheritance rights and countless other matters.
The new research on the topic is contained in a book-length study, “Counted Out: Same-Sex Relations and Americans’ Definition of Family” and in a separate 2010 survey overseen by the book’s lead author, Indiana University sociologist Brian Powell.
Between 2003 and 2010, three surveys conducted by Powell’s team showed a significant shift toward counting same-sex couples with children as family – from 54 percent of respondents in 2003 to 68 percent in 2010. In all, more than 2,300 people were surveyed.
Powell linked the changing attitudes to a 10 percent rise between 2003 and 2010 in the share of survey respondents who reported having a gay friend or relative.
“This indicates a more open social environment in which individuals now feel more comfortable discussing and acknowledging sexuality,” Powell said.
Only about one-third of those surveyed said they considered same-sex couples without children to be a family. And in 2006, when asked if gay couples and pets count as family, 30 percent said pets count but not gay couples.
“The sheer idea that gay couples are given less status than pets should give us pause,” Powell said in an interview.
In the 2010 survey, 83 percent of the respondents said they perceived unmarried heterosexual couples with children as a family; only 40 percent extended that recognition to unmarried straight couples without children.
In line with several recent national opinion polls, Powell’s 2010 survey showed a near-even split on same-sex marriage – with 52 percent supporting it and 48 percent opposed.
Even though five states and the District of Columbia now allow same-sex marriages, the federal government doesn’t recognize them. The Census Bureau definition of “family” remains traditional: “A family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together.”
Many religious conservatives hope the government sticks by that definition, even in the face of shifts in public opinion.
“Same-sex marriage is a dangerous social experiment,” said Glenn Stanton, director of family formation studies for Focus on the Family. “A lesbian couple who legally married in Massachusetts – are they family? We would say, ‘Absolutely not.’”
Stanton said it was increasingly difficult to engage in serious debate on the definition question.
“We’re moving in this headlong direction toward same-sex families without any intelligent discussion about whether it’s actually good for the children and the adults,” he said. “This whole issue has boiled down to, ‘Are you a bigot or not?’”
The shifts described in Powell’s research pleased Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, which advocates on behalf of same-sex families.
“People are taking a more expansive view of what a family is,” said Chrisler. “But for any family that doesn’t fit the 1960s Ozzie and Harriet mold, slow and steady doesn’t feel fast enough.”
Chrisler and her wife, Cheryl Jacques, a former Massachusetts state senator, are raising twin boys.
The Family Equality Council has been lobbying on behalf of a bill pending in Congress that would prohibit states and child welfare agencies from denying adoption or foster care placements solely based on the sexual orientation or marital status of the potential parents.
The bill is targeted at states such as Florida, which bans gays and lesbians from adopting – a policy now being challenged in court.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., has been applauded by the Alternatives to Marriage Project because it encompasses single people as well as same-sex couples,
“I get frequent letters and e-mails from people who find the political rhetoric of ‘family’ to be extremely exclusive of singles,” said the project’s executive director, Nicky Grist. “For singles, it might be a code for ‘You don’t count.’”
For Powell, the major finding of his new research is the shifting view of same-sex families – which he compared to the gradual acceptance of interracial marriage.
“We envisage a day in the near future when same-sex families also will gain acceptance by a large plurality of the public,” he wrote.
His book was published by the Russell Sage Foundation, a social science research center, as part of a series overseen by the American Sociological Association.
The surveys were conducted by telephone, among a random selection of households, and the characteristics of the samples were compared with census data to verify that they were representative. There were 712 interviews in 2003, 815 in 2006 and 830 this year.
Who’s a family? New study tracks shifting US views
(New York) As much as Americans revere the family, they differ sharply on how to define it.
New research being released Wednesday shows steadily increasing recognition of unmarried couples – gay and straight – as families. But there’s a solid core resisting this trend who are more willing to include pets in their definition than same-sex partners.
How “family” is defined is a crucial question on many levels. Beyond the debate over same-sex marriage, it affects income tax filings, adoption and foster care practices, employee benefits, inheritance rights and countless other matters.
The new research on the topic is contained in a book-length study, “Counted Out: Same-Sex Relations and Americans’ Definition of Family” and in a separate 2010 survey overseen by the book’s lead author, Indiana University sociologist Brian Powell.
Between 2003 and 2010, three surveys conducted by Powell’s team showed a significant shift toward counting same-sex couples with children as family – from 54 percent of respondents in 2003 to 68 percent in 2010. In all, more than 2,300 people were surveyed.
Powell linked the changing attitudes to a 10 percent rise between 2003 and 2010 in the share of survey respondents who reported having a gay friend or relative.
“This indicates a more open social environment in which individuals now feel more comfortable discussing and acknowledging sexuality,” Powell said.
Only about one-third of those surveyed said they considered same-sex couples without children to be a family. And in 2006, when asked if gay couples and pets count as family, 30 percent said pets count but not gay couples.
“The sheer idea that gay couples are given less status than pets should give us pause,” Powell said in an interview.
In the 2010 survey, 83 percent of the respondents said they perceived unmarried heterosexual couples with children as a family; only 40 percent extended that recognition to unmarried straight couples without children.
In line with several recent national opinion polls, Powell’s 2010 survey showed a near-even split on same-sex marriage – with 52 percent supporting it and 48 percent opposed.
Even though five states and the District of Columbia now allow same-sex marriages, the federal government doesn’t recognize them. The Census Bureau definition of “family” remains traditional: “A family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together.”
Many religious conservatives hope the government sticks by that definition, even in the face of shifts in public opinion.
“Same-sex marriage is a dangerous social experiment,” said Glenn Stanton, director of family formation studies for Focus on the Family. “A lesbian couple who legally married in Massachusetts – are they family? We would say, ‘Absolutely not.’”
Stanton said it was increasingly difficult to engage in serious debate on the definition question.
“We’re moving in this headlong direction toward same-sex families without any intelligent discussion about whether it’s actually good for the children and the adults,” he said. “This whole issue has boiled down to, ‘Are you a bigot or not?’”
The shifts described in Powell’s research pleased Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, which advocates on behalf of same-sex families.
“People are taking a more expansive view of what a family is,” said Chrisler. “But for any family that doesn’t fit the 1960s Ozzie and Harriet mold, slow and steady doesn’t feel fast enough.”
Chrisler and her wife, Cheryl Jacques, a former Massachusetts state senator, are raising twin boys.
The Family Equality Council has been lobbying on behalf of a bill pending in Congress that would prohibit states and child welfare agencies from denying adoption or foster care placements solely based on the sexual orientation or marital status of the potential parents.
The bill is targeted at states such as Florida, which bans gays and lesbians from adopting – a policy now being challenged in court.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., has been applauded by the Alternatives to Marriage Project because it encompasses single people as well as same-sex couples,
“I get frequent letters and e-mails from people who find the political rhetoric of ‘family’ to be extremely exclusive of singles,” said the project’s executive director, Nicky Grist. “For singles, it might be a code for ‘You don’t count.’”
For Powell, the major finding of his new research is the shifting view of same-sex families – which he compared to the gradual acceptance of interracial marriage.
“We envisage a day in the near future when same-sex families also will gain acceptance by a large plurality of the public,” he wrote.
His book was published by the Russell Sage Foundation, a social science research center, as part of a series overseen by the American Sociological Association.
The surveys were conducted by telephone, among a random selection of households, and the characteristics of the samples were compared with census data to verify that they were representative. There were 712 interviews in 2003, 815 in 2006 and 830 this year.
New research being released Wednesday shows steadily increasing recognition of unmarried couples – gay and straight – as families. But there’s a solid core resisting this trend who are more willing to include pets in their definition than same-sex partners.
How “family” is defined is a crucial question on many levels. Beyond the debate over same-sex marriage, it affects income tax filings, adoption and foster care practices, employee benefits, inheritance rights and countless other matters.
The new research on the topic is contained in a book-length study, “Counted Out: Same-Sex Relations and Americans’ Definition of Family” and in a separate 2010 survey overseen by the book’s lead author, Indiana University sociologist Brian Powell.
Between 2003 and 2010, three surveys conducted by Powell’s team showed a significant shift toward counting same-sex couples with children as family – from 54 percent of respondents in 2003 to 68 percent in 2010. In all, more than 2,300 people were surveyed.
Powell linked the changing attitudes to a 10 percent rise between 2003 and 2010 in the share of survey respondents who reported having a gay friend or relative.
“This indicates a more open social environment in which individuals now feel more comfortable discussing and acknowledging sexuality,” Powell said.
Only about one-third of those surveyed said they considered same-sex couples without children to be a family. And in 2006, when asked if gay couples and pets count as family, 30 percent said pets count but not gay couples.
“The sheer idea that gay couples are given less status than pets should give us pause,” Powell said in an interview.
In the 2010 survey, 83 percent of the respondents said they perceived unmarried heterosexual couples with children as a family; only 40 percent extended that recognition to unmarried straight couples without children.
In line with several recent national opinion polls, Powell’s 2010 survey showed a near-even split on same-sex marriage – with 52 percent supporting it and 48 percent opposed.
Even though five states and the District of Columbia now allow same-sex marriages, the federal government doesn’t recognize them. The Census Bureau definition of “family” remains traditional: “A family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together.”
Many religious conservatives hope the government sticks by that definition, even in the face of shifts in public opinion.
“Same-sex marriage is a dangerous social experiment,” said Glenn Stanton, director of family formation studies for Focus on the Family. “A lesbian couple who legally married in Massachusetts – are they family? We would say, ‘Absolutely not.’”
Stanton said it was increasingly difficult to engage in serious debate on the definition question.
“We’re moving in this headlong direction toward same-sex families without any intelligent discussion about whether it’s actually good for the children and the adults,” he said. “This whole issue has boiled down to, ‘Are you a bigot or not?’”
The shifts described in Powell’s research pleased Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, which advocates on behalf of same-sex families.
“People are taking a more expansive view of what a family is,” said Chrisler. “But for any family that doesn’t fit the 1960s Ozzie and Harriet mold, slow and steady doesn’t feel fast enough.”
Chrisler and her wife, Cheryl Jacques, a former Massachusetts state senator, are raising twin boys.
The Family Equality Council has been lobbying on behalf of a bill pending in Congress that would prohibit states and child welfare agencies from denying adoption or foster care placements solely based on the sexual orientation or marital status of the potential parents.
The bill is targeted at states such as Florida, which bans gays and lesbians from adopting – a policy now being challenged in court.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., has been applauded by the Alternatives to Marriage Project because it encompasses single people as well as same-sex couples,
“I get frequent letters and e-mails from people who find the political rhetoric of ‘family’ to be extremely exclusive of singles,” said the project’s executive director, Nicky Grist. “For singles, it might be a code for ‘You don’t count.’”
For Powell, the major finding of his new research is the shifting view of same-sex families – which he compared to the gradual acceptance of interracial marriage.
“We envisage a day in the near future when same-sex families also will gain acceptance by a large plurality of the public,” he wrote.
His book was published by the Russell Sage Foundation, a social science research center, as part of a series overseen by the American Sociological Association.
The surveys were conducted by telephone, among a random selection of households, and the characteristics of the samples were compared with census data to verify that they were representative. There were 712 interviews in 2003, 815 in 2006 and 830 this year.
Who’s a family? New study tracks shifting US views
(New York) As much as Americans revere the family, they differ sharply on how to define it.
New research being released Wednesday shows steadily increasing recognition of unmarried couples – gay and straight – as families. But there’s a solid core resisting this trend who are more willing to include pets in their definition than same-sex partners.
How “family” is defined is a crucial question on many levels. Beyond the debate over same-sex marriage, it affects income tax filings, adoption and foster care practices, employee benefits, inheritance rights and countless other matters.
The new research on the topic is contained in a book-length study, “Counted Out: Same-Sex Relations and Americans’ Definition of Family” and in a separate 2010 survey overseen by the book’s lead author, Indiana University sociologist Brian Powell.
Between 2003 and 2010, three surveys conducted by Powell’s team showed a significant shift toward counting same-sex couples with children as family – from 54 percent of respondents in 2003 to 68 percent in 2010. In all, more than 2,300 people were surveyed.
Powell linked the changing attitudes to a 10 percent rise between 2003 and 2010 in the share of survey respondents who reported having a gay friend or relative.
“This indicates a more open social environment in which individuals now feel more comfortable discussing and acknowledging sexuality,” Powell said.
Only about one-third of those surveyed said they considered same-sex couples without children to be a family. And in 2006, when asked if gay couples and pets count as family, 30 percent said pets count but not gay couples.
“The sheer idea that gay couples are given less status than pets should give us pause,” Powell said in an interview.
In the 2010 survey, 83 percent of the respondents said they perceived unmarried heterosexual couples with children as a family; only 40 percent extended that recognition to unmarried straight couples without children.
In line with several recent national opinion polls, Powell’s 2010 survey showed a near-even split on same-sex marriage – with 52 percent supporting it and 48 percent opposed.
Even though five states and the District of Columbia now allow same-sex marriages, the federal government doesn’t recognize them. The Census Bureau definition of “family” remains traditional: “A family is a group of two people or more (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together.”
Many religious conservatives hope the government sticks by that definition, even in the face of shifts in public opinion.
“Same-sex marriage is a dangerous social experiment,” said Glenn Stanton, director of family formation studies for Focus on the Family. “A lesbian couple who legally married in Massachusetts – are they family? We would say, ‘Absolutely not.’”
Stanton said it was increasingly difficult to engage in serious debate on the definition question.
“We’re moving in this headlong direction toward same-sex families without any intelligent discussion about whether it’s actually good for the children and the adults,” he said. “This whole issue has boiled down to, ‘Are you a bigot or not?’”
The shifts described in Powell’s research pleased Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of the Family Equality Council, which advocates on behalf of same-sex families.
“People are taking a more expansive view of what a family is,” said Chrisler. “But for any family that doesn’t fit the 1960s Ozzie and Harriet mold, slow and steady doesn’t feel fast enough.”
Chrisler and her wife, Cheryl Jacques, a former Massachusetts state senator, are raising twin boys.
The Family Equality Council has been lobbying on behalf of a bill pending in Congress that would prohibit states and child welfare agencies from denying adoption or foster care placements solely based on the sexual orientation or marital status of the potential parents.
The bill is targeted at states such as Florida, which bans gays and lesbians from adopting – a policy now being challenged in court.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., has been applauded by the Alternatives to Marriage Project because it encompasses single people as well as same-sex couples,
“I get frequent letters and e-mails from people who find the political rhetoric of ‘family’ to be extremely exclusive of singles,” said the project’s executive director, Nicky Grist. “For singles, it might be a code for ‘You don’t count.’”
For Powell, the major finding of his new research is the shifting view of same-sex families – which he compared to the gradual acceptance of interracial marriage.
“We envisage a day in the near future when same-sex families also will gain acceptance by a large plurality of the public,” he wrote.
His book was published by the Russell Sage Foundation, a social science research center, as part of a series overseen by the American Sociological Association.
The surveys were conducted by telephone, among a random selection of households, and the characteristics of the samples were compared with census data to verify that they were representative. There were 712 interviews in 2003, 815 in 2006 and 830 this year.
The Political Violence of the Bible and the Koran
September 10, 2010
One of the most frequently used arguments heard in the defense of Islam is that the Bible is just as violent as the Koran. The logic goes like this. If the Koran is no more violent than the Bible, then why should we worry about Islam? This argument is that Islam is the same as Christianity and Judaism. This is false, but this analogy is very popular, since it allows someone who knows nothing about the actual doctrine of Islam to talk about it. “See, Islam is like Christianity, Christians are just as violent as Muslims.” If this is true, then you don’t have to learn anything about the actual Islamic doctrine.
However, this is not a theological argument. It is a political one. This argument is not about what goes on in a house of worship, but what goes on the in the marketplace of ideas.
Now, is the doctrine of Islam more violent than the Bible? There is only one way to prove or disprove the comparison and that is to measure the differences in violence in the Koran and the Bible.
The first item is to define violence. The only violence that matters to someone outside of either Islam or Christianity or Judaism is what they do to the “other”, political violence. Cain killing Able is not political violence. Political violence is not killing a lamb for a meal or making an animal sacrifice. Note, however, a vegan or a PETA member considers both of these actions to be violent, but it is not violence against them.
The next item is to compare the doctrines both quantitatively and qualitatively. The political violence of the Koran is called “fighting in Allah’s cause”, or jihad.
We must do more than measure the jihad in the Koran. Islam has three sacred texts: Koran, Sira and Hadith, the Islamic Trilogy. The Sira is Mohammed’s biography. The Hadith are his traditions—what he did and said. Sira and Hadith form the Sunna, the perfect pattern of all Islamic behavior.
The Koran is the smallest of the three books, the Trilogy. It is only 16% of the Trilogy text . This means that the Sunna is 84% of the word content of Islam’s sacred texts. This statistic alone has large implications. Most of the Islamic doctrine is about Mohammed, not Allah. The Koran says 91 different times that Mohammed is the perfect pattern of life. It is much more important to know Mohammed than the Koran. This is very good news. It is easy to understand a biography about a man. To know Islam, know Mohammed.
It turns out that jihad occurs in large proportion in all three texts. Here is a chart about the results:
It is very significant that the Sira devotes 67% of its text to jihad. Mohammed averaged an event of violence every 6 weeks for the last 9 years of his life. Jihad was what made Mohammed successful. Here is a chart of the growth of Islam.
Basically, when Mohammed was a preacher of religion, Islam grew at the rate of 10 new Muslims per year. But when he turned to jihad, Islam grew at an average rate of 10,000 per year. All of the details of how to wage jihad are recorded in great detail. The Koran gives the great vision of jihad—world conquest by the political process. The Sira is a strategic manual and the Hadith is a tactical manual of jihad.
Now let’s go to the Hebrew Bible. When we count all of the political violence, we find that 5.6% of the text is devoted to it. There is no admonition towards political violence in the New Testament.
When we count the magnitude of words devoted to political violence, we have 327,547 words in the Trilogy and 34,039 words in the Hebrew Bible . The Trilogy has 9.6 times as much wordage devoted to political violence as the Hebrew Bible.
The real problem goes far beyond the quantitative measurement of ten times as much violent material; there is the qualitative measurement. The political violence of the Koran is eternal and universal. The political violence of the Bible was for that particular historical time and place. This is the vast difference between Islam and other ideologies. The violence remains a constant threat to all non-Islamic cultures, now and into the future. Islam is not analogous to Christianity and Judaism in any practical way. Beyond the one-god doctrine, Islam is unique unto itself.
Another measurement of the difference between the violence found in the Judeo/Christian texts as opposed to that of Islam is found in the use of fear of violence against artists, critics and intellectuals. What artist, critic or intellectual ever feels a twinge of fear if condemning anything Christian or Jewish? However, look at the examples of the violent political threats and murders of Salman Rushdie, Theo van Gogh, Pim Fortune, Kurt Westergaard of the Danish Mohammed cartoons, and many others. What artist, critic or intellectual has not had a twinge of fear about Islam when it comes to free expression? The political difference in the response to the two different doctrines is enormous. The political fruit from the two trees is as different as night and day.
It is time for so-called intellectuals to get down to the basics of judging Islam by its actual doctrine, not making lame analogies that are sophomoric assertions. Fact-based reasoning should replace fantasies that are based upon political correctness and multiculturalism.
One of the most frequently used arguments heard in the defense of Islam is that the Bible is just as violent as the Koran. The logic goes like this. If the Koran is no more violent than the Bible, then why should we worry about Islam? This argument is that Islam is the same as Christianity and Judaism. This is false, but this analogy is very popular, since it allows someone who knows nothing about the actual doctrine of Islam to talk about it. “See, Islam is like Christianity, Christians are just as violent as Muslims.” If this is true, then you don’t have to learn anything about the actual Islamic doctrine.
However, this is not a theological argument. It is a political one. This argument is not about what goes on in a house of worship, but what goes on the in the marketplace of ideas.
Now, is the doctrine of Islam more violent than the Bible? There is only one way to prove or disprove the comparison and that is to measure the differences in violence in the Koran and the Bible.
The first item is to define violence. The only violence that matters to someone outside of either Islam or Christianity or Judaism is what they do to the “other”, political violence. Cain killing Able is not political violence. Political violence is not killing a lamb for a meal or making an animal sacrifice. Note, however, a vegan or a PETA member considers both of these actions to be violent, but it is not violence against them.
The next item is to compare the doctrines both quantitatively and qualitatively. The political violence of the Koran is called “fighting in Allah’s cause”, or jihad.
We must do more than measure the jihad in the Koran. Islam has three sacred texts: Koran, Sira and Hadith, the Islamic Trilogy. The Sira is Mohammed’s biography. The Hadith are his traditions—what he did and said. Sira and Hadith form the Sunna, the perfect pattern of all Islamic behavior.
The Koran is the smallest of the three books, the Trilogy. It is only 16% of the Trilogy text . This means that the Sunna is 84% of the word content of Islam’s sacred texts. This statistic alone has large implications. Most of the Islamic doctrine is about Mohammed, not Allah. The Koran says 91 different times that Mohammed is the perfect pattern of life. It is much more important to know Mohammed than the Koran. This is very good news. It is easy to understand a biography about a man. To know Islam, know Mohammed.
It turns out that jihad occurs in large proportion in all three texts. Here is a chart about the results:
It is very significant that the Sira devotes 67% of its text to jihad. Mohammed averaged an event of violence every 6 weeks for the last 9 years of his life. Jihad was what made Mohammed successful. Here is a chart of the growth of Islam.
Basically, when Mohammed was a preacher of religion, Islam grew at the rate of 10 new Muslims per year. But when he turned to jihad, Islam grew at an average rate of 10,000 per year. All of the details of how to wage jihad are recorded in great detail. The Koran gives the great vision of jihad—world conquest by the political process. The Sira is a strategic manual and the Hadith is a tactical manual of jihad.
Now let’s go to the Hebrew Bible. When we count all of the political violence, we find that 5.6% of the text is devoted to it. There is no admonition towards political violence in the New Testament.
When we count the magnitude of words devoted to political violence, we have 327,547 words in the Trilogy and 34,039 words in the Hebrew Bible . The Trilogy has 9.6 times as much wordage devoted to political violence as the Hebrew Bible.
The real problem goes far beyond the quantitative measurement of ten times as much violent material; there is the qualitative measurement. The political violence of the Koran is eternal and universal. The political violence of the Bible was for that particular historical time and place. This is the vast difference between Islam and other ideologies. The violence remains a constant threat to all non-Islamic cultures, now and into the future. Islam is not analogous to Christianity and Judaism in any practical way. Beyond the one-god doctrine, Islam is unique unto itself.
Another measurement of the difference between the violence found in the Judeo/Christian texts as opposed to that of Islam is found in the use of fear of violence against artists, critics and intellectuals. What artist, critic or intellectual ever feels a twinge of fear if condemning anything Christian or Jewish? However, look at the examples of the violent political threats and murders of Salman Rushdie, Theo van Gogh, Pim Fortune, Kurt Westergaard of the Danish Mohammed cartoons, and many others. What artist, critic or intellectual has not had a twinge of fear about Islam when it comes to free expression? The political difference in the response to the two different doctrines is enormous. The political fruit from the two trees is as different as night and day.
It is time for so-called intellectuals to get down to the basics of judging Islam by its actual doctrine, not making lame analogies that are sophomoric assertions. Fact-based reasoning should replace fantasies that are based upon political correctness and multiculturalism.
Bulletin of Christian Persecution
August 26-September 14, 2010
August 26, 2010
Pakistan
Christians affected by the devastating floods in Pakistan face "systematic discrimination" in the distribution of aid. Update HERE. (hat tip to JihadWatch)
August 28, 2010
Pakistan (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
Suspected Islamic militants have killed three American Christian aid workers who were helping victims of Pakistan's worst floods in recent memory.
August 31, 2010
Iraq
The Christian minority in Iraq has little faith in the peace-keeping abilities of the police force when the U.S. armed forces leave.
September 1, 2010
Pakistan
Muslims resumed building on a Christian cemetery desecrating more graves in spite of a local government order to halt construction.
September 6, 2010
Israel
Jerusalem's Garden Tomb is in endangered by a Muslim construction project.
September 12, 2010
Indonesia
Assailants stabbed a Christian worshipper in the stomach and pounded a minister in the head with a wooden plank as they headed to morning prayers Sunday outside Indonesia's capital. Update HERE.
September 13, 2010
Kashmir
Indian police shot dead 13 people in Kashmir on Monday as stone-throwing rioters defied curfews and torched a Christian school in a surge of anger stoked by the desecration of the Koran.
Punjab, India
Muslims in India reportedly attacked a church late Sunday night after they heard reports that a Quran had been burned in Michigan, according to Indian media outlets.
September 13, 2010
Italy (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
Italy will present a resolution to the United Nations that protects the rights of Pakistan's religious minorities, Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini said in Rome on Monday. He made the announcement following a meeting with Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's minister of minority rights, who is a Catholic.
September 14, 2010
Iran (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
14, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered a fiery address on Monday accusing the United States government of orchestrating desecrations of the Koran by right-wing American Christian groups last weekend.
August 26, 2010
Pakistan
Christians affected by the devastating floods in Pakistan face "systematic discrimination" in the distribution of aid. Update HERE. (hat tip to JihadWatch)
August 28, 2010
Pakistan (Hat tip to InfidelsAreCool)
Suspected Islamic militants have killed three American Christian aid workers who were helping victims of Pakistan's worst floods in recent memory.
August 31, 2010
Iraq
The Christian minority in Iraq has little faith in the peace-keeping abilities of the police force when the U.S. armed forces leave.
September 1, 2010
Pakistan
Muslims resumed building on a Christian cemetery desecrating more graves in spite of a local government order to halt construction.
September 6, 2010
Israel
Jerusalem's Garden Tomb is in endangered by a Muslim construction project.
September 12, 2010
Indonesia
Assailants stabbed a Christian worshipper in the stomach and pounded a minister in the head with a wooden plank as they headed to morning prayers Sunday outside Indonesia's capital. Update HERE.
September 13, 2010
Kashmir
Indian police shot dead 13 people in Kashmir on Monday as stone-throwing rioters defied curfews and torched a Christian school in a surge of anger stoked by the desecration of the Koran.
Punjab, India
Muslims in India reportedly attacked a church late Sunday night after they heard reports that a Quran had been burned in Michigan, according to Indian media outlets.
September 13, 2010
Italy (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
Italy will present a resolution to the United Nations that protects the rights of Pakistan's religious minorities, Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini said in Rome on Monday. He made the announcement following a meeting with Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's minister of minority rights, who is a Catholic.
September 14, 2010
Iran (Hat tip to JihadWatch)
14, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivered a fiery address on Monday accusing the United States government of orchestrating desecrations of the Koran by right-wing American Christian groups last weekend.
Why is he curtain closing on Bakili Muluzi?
I am just wondering.
However, let me ask 'situations' to realise that Mulzi is not 'Makatani' be getting 'finished' like this.
Is he a prophet, perhaps, mapping his own road?
I was just wondering.
However, let me ask 'situations' to realise that Mulzi is not 'Makatani' be getting 'finished' like this.
Is he a prophet, perhaps, mapping his own road?
I was just wondering.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Steven Monjeza regrets being pardoned by President Bingu wa Mutharika
Pardoned gay, Steven Monjeza, has for the first time come out in the open to declare that he 'regrets being pardoned by the State President, Ngwazi Professor Bingu wa Mutharika'.
Monjeza was speaking to Zachimalawi in an exclusive interview before entering the Chilangoma First Grade Magistrate Court o answer to charges of theft and burglary.
Monjeza said he has always had the impulse to steal, "even when I have everything I need", a "longtime problem" he blamed for his latest scratch with the Penal Code.
"I regret being pardoned by the State President, Professor Bingu wa Mutharika. I say this because, by doing what I did (stealing a cellphone and charger), I have behaved in a way that seems to mock his good intentions. I regret doing this," said Monjeza.
He said, upon reflecting on whatever he has done after being pardoned by he African Union chairperson, he finds that he would have benefited more had he remained in prison.
"I would not have stolen, he way I have done. Again, I would have enjoyed the support of many well-wishers because ours (being convicted for unnatural sex) was a human rights issue. My fear, now, is that nobody will help me and I may starve in prison," said Monjeza.
Monjeza has been convicted by the Chilangoma First Grade Magistrate Court on two counts of theft and burglary.
He stole a phone belonging to a friend, Tony Chirwa, along with its charger.
Monjeza was speaking to Zachimalawi in an exclusive interview before entering the Chilangoma First Grade Magistrate Court o answer to charges of theft and burglary.
Monjeza said he has always had the impulse to steal, "even when I have everything I need", a "longtime problem" he blamed for his latest scratch with the Penal Code.
"I regret being pardoned by the State President, Professor Bingu wa Mutharika. I say this because, by doing what I did (stealing a cellphone and charger), I have behaved in a way that seems to mock his good intentions. I regret doing this," said Monjeza.
He said, upon reflecting on whatever he has done after being pardoned by he African Union chairperson, he finds that he would have benefited more had he remained in prison.
"I would not have stolen, he way I have done. Again, I would have enjoyed the support of many well-wishers because ours (being convicted for unnatural sex) was a human rights issue. My fear, now, is that nobody will help me and I may starve in prison," said Monjeza.
Monjeza has been convicted by the Chilangoma First Grade Magistrate Court on two counts of theft and burglary.
He stole a phone belonging to a friend, Tony Chirwa, along with its charger.
Pardoned gay Steven Monjeza convicted, sentencing Friday
Steven Monjeza was yesterday, September 14, 2010, convicted by the Chilangoma First Grade Magistrate Court on two counts of theft and burglary after he stole a TNM handset valued at K2,000.
State Prosecutor Christopher Daluni said Monjeza will be sentenced this Friday after pleading guilty.
Monjeza, the gay famed for having staged Malawi’s first ever public gay engagement in December 2009, broke into the house of a friend, Tony Chirwa, on September 8, 2010 where he stole the phone and a charger.
He sold them at Mankhoko Trading Centre in Blantyre.
The incident happened after Chirwa and Monjeza went on a drinking spree the previous night, after which the former pleaded with the Monjeza to sleep at his house since it was too late.
But Monjeza came back the next day, having spent the night peacefully, and broke into the house of Chirwa.
State Prosecutor Christopher Daluni said Monjeza will be sentenced this Friday after pleading guilty.
Monjeza, the gay famed for having staged Malawi’s first ever public gay engagement in December 2009, broke into the house of a friend, Tony Chirwa, on September 8, 2010 where he stole the phone and a charger.
He sold them at Mankhoko Trading Centre in Blantyre.
The incident happened after Chirwa and Monjeza went on a drinking spree the previous night, after which the former pleaded with the Monjeza to sleep at his house since it was too late.
But Monjeza came back the next day, having spent the night peacefully, and broke into the house of Chirwa.
Pope's visit: pontiff should not be 'honoured' with state visit
Figures such as Stephen Fry and Terry Pratchett criticise honour over Vatican's record on gay rights, abortion and birth control
Stephen Fry, Terry Pratchett, Philip Pullman and Richard Dawkins are among more than 50 public figures who have signed a letter to the Guardian arguing that the pope should not be given the "honour" of a UK state visit.
The signatories, also including Ken Follett, Stewart Lee and Sir Jonathan Miller, call for "Pope Ratzinger" to be stripped of the right because of the Vatican's record on gay rights, abortion and birth control.
The letter blames the Catholic church's opposition to the use of condoms for aiding the global spread of Aids and criticises its failure to properly tackle the clerical sexual abuse scandal.
Benedict XVI begins the first-ever state visit by a pope to Britain tomorrow. While his predecessor, John Paul II, visited the UK in 1982, his was officially a pastoral visit. As well as meeting the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and David Cameron, the pontiff will visit Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Birmingham.
The letter argues: "We believe that the pope, as a citizen of Europe and the leader of a religion with many adherents in the UK, is of course free to enter and tour our country. However, as well as a religious leader, the pope is a head of state, and the state and organisation of which he is head has been responsible for: opposing the distribution of condoms and so increasing large families in poor countries and the spread of Aids; promoting segregated education; denying abortion to even the most vulnerable women; opposing equal rights for lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people; and failing to address the many cases of abuse of children within its own organisation."
The letter adds: "In any case, we reject the masquerading of the Holy See as a state and the pope as a head of state as merely a convenient fiction to amplify the international influence of the Vatican."
The lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC argues that Britain is wrong to afford the pope a state visit because the sovereignty of the Vatican and Holy See are based on a 1929 Lateran treaty, which was signed by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini
Organising the visit will cost taxpayers an estimated £12m, with policing costs expected to total an extra £1m.
Stephen Fry, Terry Pratchett, Philip Pullman and Richard Dawkins are among more than 50 public figures who have signed a letter to the Guardian arguing that the pope should not be given the "honour" of a UK state visit.
The signatories, also including Ken Follett, Stewart Lee and Sir Jonathan Miller, call for "Pope Ratzinger" to be stripped of the right because of the Vatican's record on gay rights, abortion and birth control.
The letter blames the Catholic church's opposition to the use of condoms for aiding the global spread of Aids and criticises its failure to properly tackle the clerical sexual abuse scandal.
Benedict XVI begins the first-ever state visit by a pope to Britain tomorrow. While his predecessor, John Paul II, visited the UK in 1982, his was officially a pastoral visit. As well as meeting the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and David Cameron, the pontiff will visit Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Birmingham.
The letter argues: "We believe that the pope, as a citizen of Europe and the leader of a religion with many adherents in the UK, is of course free to enter and tour our country. However, as well as a religious leader, the pope is a head of state, and the state and organisation of which he is head has been responsible for: opposing the distribution of condoms and so increasing large families in poor countries and the spread of Aids; promoting segregated education; denying abortion to even the most vulnerable women; opposing equal rights for lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people; and failing to address the many cases of abuse of children within its own organisation."
The letter adds: "In any case, we reject the masquerading of the Holy See as a state and the pope as a head of state as merely a convenient fiction to amplify the international influence of the Vatican."
The lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC argues that Britain is wrong to afford the pope a state visit because the sovereignty of the Vatican and Holy See are based on a 1929 Lateran treaty, which was signed by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini
Organising the visit will cost taxpayers an estimated £12m, with policing costs expected to total an extra £1m.
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