Hiya!
Just a quick follow up on what is going on at the Kenyan/Somali border. On Sunday Kenyan troops moved across the Somali border in a show of strength against al-Shabab, perhaps the most dangerous of all of the militant groups operating in Somalia today. The Kenyans appear to have reached overload point with their Minister of Internal Security stating that Kenya '...is threatened by the most serious level of terrorism' and that government troops would be pursuing al-Shabab across the border and into strongholds in southern Somalia. All this in the wake of yet more kidnappings, this time of 2 Spanish aid workers (see this blog 14th October - http://valencia-peter.blogspot.com/). However, the official Somali government response was to insist that Somali troops are well capable of dealing with al-Shabab and, whilst welcoming 'logistical support' from the Kenyans, the presence of Kenyans troops in Somalia was unnecessary.
However, the Kenyan push was slowed on Tuesday by heavy rain as they began closing in on the town of Afmadow, with the militants fleeing in face of the advance. On Monday al-Shabab denied any involvement in the spate of kidnappings and attempted to turn the tables on the Kenyans accusing them of an act of blatant terrorism following this new advance into Somali territory and threatened severe reprisals. 'Remember what happened in Uganda's capital' it warned. A clear reference to their July 2010 bombing of a hotel in Kampala where 76 people died. That particular act was in response to Uganda's contribution to an African Union peacekeeping force stationed in Mogadishu and on Monday they promised to bring down the skyscrapers and buildings of Nairobi, Kenya's capital in a similar attack.
The Kenyan and official Somali government troops do appear to have settled some differences and were reported to be moving in concert towards the town of Qoqani, some 50 miles from Afmadow, which is expected to be captured within the next 48 hours or so.
The rapidity of the Kenyan push though cannot just be in response to the most recent of the kidnappings (see http://gu.com/p/32ya6 for more details) due to the size of the force and the apparent readiness of their preparations. It seems likely that the Kenyans have been pushed just one step too far and were already preparing a tactical response to the seemingly endless territorial violations of al-Shabab and other militant Somali groups.
All this in the wake of the death of the French woman, Marie Dedieu, a wheelchair bound tetraplegic who had been undergoing cancer therapy for the past two years (http://gu.com/p/32mvp) who had been kidnapped from her home in Kenya's Lamu archipelago. Details on the exact manner of her death have yet to surface but one seriously doubts that they will be pleasant!
And all around the famine continues. People die in their thousands and the world turns its' back. Even other African nations seem to be at a loss about what to do to combat the problems in Somlia. In August the African Union, at a meeting in Addis Ababa, pledged funds to help rebuild the Horn of Africa. However, the pledge was far short of what is truly required and a lack empathy for their fellow Africans meant only 4 African heads of state turned up at the meeting. The funds that were agreed were largely contributed by Algeria, Egypt and Angola, with the continents richest nations (South Africa and Nigeria) completely ignoring the call for help. However, so far only $500,000 of the pledged $46m has arrived, leaving Somalia, ravaged by severe famine in 4 of its' 5 geographical regions, teetering on the edge of complete collapse.
"If we truly believe in 'African solutions for African problems' we need to demonstrate this very clearly, not just in words but in actions," said a spokesperson for Africans Act4Africa. His words before the July congress falling on deaf ears as he called for the visting delegates to 'not just talk shop' and 'not just spend a lot of money on travel, protocol and their entourages.'
The UN do seem to be reluctantly pushing for aid for the region but this blogger feels that it is too little to late. Death, starvation, rape and violence are rampant across the country and the paltry amounts arriving in the country as a result of the UN's push are barely denting the fabric of this rapidly escalating disaster.
And then there's me! What can I do to help? Well, I'm writing this blog and doing my best to raise awareness of this intolerable situation. Also, given the chance and money, I would like to be able to approach Act4Africa and join them on one of their expeditions. Such things do not directly help those suffering in Somalia right now but Africans are suffering in more places than just Somalia and if I can do something that might help, then I'll do it! I do not believe that donations to the various NGO's working in the Dadaab camps will be totally effective and I feel that one's time and efforts would be put to much better use by writing strong letters of condemnation to one's MP and MEP's protesting the complete lack of British and EEC action in putting an end to the problems of Somalia.
Thanks for reading
Peter
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Eta, Spanish nationalism and the future
Hey!
Hope you had a wicked weekend.....I did...somewhat quiet, but to be honest that's the way I like it!
So, what's happening today? Eta have hit the headlines again over here because they are finally expected to renounce violence as a means of achieving their aims. Eta (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna - Basque Homeland and Freedom) have been in slow decline for decades now, their ability to strike fear into the hearts of the Spanish people has lessened gradually to the extent that most people no longer feel scared by the homespun terrorist threat.
Founded in 1959, at the height of Franco's power, Eta has fought for over 4 decades for Basque self-determination. The Basque region is surprisingly small when viewed on a map and encompasses 4 small Northern Spanish provinces and a part of South-West France. From such humble beginnings they have gone on to kill over 800 people in a reign of terror lasting 53 years. There have been several abortive attempts at some sort of reconciliation in the past, the latest of which came in September 2010 when there was a called for a 'permanent ceasefire.' However, as on previous occasions the Spanish government rejected the ceasefire as worthless without an acknowledgement that they would renounce violence as a method of achieving their aims. This was not forthcoming and the ceasfire has remained unratified.
But now comes the news, that with Kofi Annan's visit to the Basque region this week, that Eta may be finally ready to agree an end to violent campaigning. There have been calls from convicted Eta members, as well as Sinn Fein leader Jerry Adams, to embrace the cause of peace and I fervently hope that this week they may finally see the light.
As an Englishman living in the Iberian peninsula it has been hard to sometimes get a handle on the Spanish psyche. Each region appears to be fanatically introverted in its' political persuasions and affiliations. The Basque region, with all the (negative) publicity and interest in the region because of Eta is perhaps the best known of these political and cultural entities.
In all there are 17 provinces in Spain, similar to the counties of England or the States of America. In many of these regions there are distinct dialects which are spoken only locally. In Valenciana, for example, the local language is, not surprisngly, Valenciano. It is a language with an Indo-European heritage that I'm told has many similarities to French. Not that I am able to spot any of those...to see Valenciano written down is like looking at Welsh - you just have no idea at all how to even begin to pronounce the words - but if you're French then you can just waltz in, chat away and most people will understand you. The Iberian peninsula is hotbed of dialectic activity with 6 major Indo-European languages being spoken. If you then count each separate dialect the number balloons to (depending on who you read) perhaps more than 20 distinct languages/dialects!
The Basque language though stands out as being distinctly un-Indo-European. Its' origins are still unclear but the Basque language is perhaps most similar to that historically spoken in the French region of Aquitaine. It is thought to pre-date all the other Spanish and Iberians tongues and go back to a time before the Roman conquest of the peninsula. This would make enormous sense to me. Whilst the other languages all have a common antecedent, probably dating back to the Romans, the Basque region (and also that of Galicia) remained largely untouched by the Romans simply because of the difficulty of accessing the region. The Roman influence was inevitably stronger closer to the Mediterranean coastline and waned the further inland they attempted to go. Following the decline of the Romans the various Iberian tribes sub-divided the peninsula and over the following 4-500 years re-inforced local cultures, traditions and languages, so that by the time the Moorish invasion began in the early 700's Iberia was a mosaic of different peoples, cultures and languages.
Once again during the African occupancy both the Basque regions and Galicia were left largely alone and so in these regions local culture and language were able to ingrain themselves even further. Even up to the time of the Napoleonic Wars Spain, although a single nation under a single monarch, was still largely regionalised. The vastness of the country and the endless mountainous terrain went to make travel from one region to another difficult in the extreme, and helped to reinforce local differences and cultures.
Since the death of Franco in 1975 Spain has undergone huge mechanical and structural changes. The infrastructure, for example, has improved beyond all recognition. There are now very good road and rail links between the various regions that have had the effect of improving trade and making the course of any journey much more comfortable. But the Spanish themselves though, remain hugely introverted in their social and business lives. Very few young Spanish go travelling, for example, preferring to stay at home where things are much safer and more secure. Even fewer ever leave the town of their birth to go and live and work elsewhere, let alone move to another region of the country. And whilst I applaud the family values that still pervade every level of Spanish society, this 'homebody' attitude has led to a dearth in Spanish patriotism with people more likely to wave their regional flag than that of their nation (except during the World Cup), with many commentators citing this as the reason that a unified Spanish identity is all-but absent. In my local schools they teach in Valenciano a lot of the time and not Castellano (the national language) once again reinforcing the local factor. If you go 50km down the road inland from my house they wouldn't understand a word of it! People take their holidays and stay at home to be with family. All very nice but the spirit of adventure is completely lacking, especially in the young which I find somewhat disturbing.
And in a roundabout way that brings me back to Eta. If that announcment is indeed forthcoming and they opt for a more peaceful way of promoting their ideas then I am all for it. The Basque people are a tough, uncompromising lot, who value their solidarity and uniqueness in a world which is becoming evermore homogenous and same-y! But for me though, an alien in a strange land, I will continue to be amazed and puzzled by attitudes that differ so greatly from those I grew up with. That Eta have fought so strongly and for so long for their own cultural identity can be explained largely by their unique history and cultural heritage. Their methods have been gravely wrong and I in no way support or advocate this. Peaceful and organised protest is the way. If you want things to change do it through the polss and elections. Stand up and counted if you feel that strongly. And that i what I hope they intend to do in the future.
As to whether a separate Basque state would be a viable entity I am not qualified to answer. I merely observe and wonder. I am still in a position where the Spanish mentality is somewhat perplexing, but the anwers are all there I believe, if you take the time to look. The Spanish cherish family, friends and local culture, appearing to care little for the outside world, let alone what happens on the other side of Spain. It is introverted and it is simplistic in the basic of ways, but it retains a certain charm that I love.
I understand the feeling one must have when, out for an evening stroll (as families do here) you know everyone that you bump into, intimately, as you have known them from the day you were born. The attractions are manifold, but I do wonder if this small town mentality will serve Spain well in a world awash with globalisation. Everyone is suffering because of the 'Crisis.' That is nothing new. But still people refuse to travel 30km down the road for work because it takes them away from the bosom of their family! Still they show no interest in changing a financial and fiscal system that plainly does not work. And why? Because they cannot see beyond the ends of their noses. But a change is what is needed here.... a radical change...to get the country up and running again. But apathy among the electorate is a rampant disease and I fear that the villagers and short-sighted businessmen who refuse to look beyond their own borders, will find very soon that this Crisis has a lot bigger bite than any of them could ever have anticipated.
Levels of unemployment, particularly in the under 25s is criminal. But still the system does not change. Starting your business here is a mission in futility. The red tape, the soaring costs and the lack of help and benefits make it difficult in the extreme for any budding entrepreneurs to even take their first step towards success. So, like everyone else, they take the easy route because financially, that is the only route the government leave open to them - they work, yes! But they work in the black economy, so therefore pay no taxes at all, whilst all the time many continue to collect healthy unemployment benefits and other social payments and then everyone wonders why the country is going bankrupt!!! Doh!
If the Spanish want their unemployment figures under control they must change the system. But I, like everyone else, know that won't happen. Why should it? If you were working, paying no tax, but earning good money and were still able to collect ample free payments on top, would you want it to change? Not me!!
Where else in the EEC can one go into a builders merchants, or a garage, or a large retail outfit or a garden centre and be offered 2 prices for what you wish to purchase. One with tax. And one without. As to which you choose might depend largely on whether you may wish to make a 'guarantee claim' at some point in the future, in which case the taxable option is best. But, in many cases and particularly with large purchases, the short term gain by paying between 15-18% less on your items is a very attractive proposition. As I write no doubt, millions of Euros in lost taxes are just disappearing this way simply because the system allows it. It´s incredible, really! And it has to be seen to be believed!
So, to some extent I understand and sypathise with those Basques who want to change the system. I would only disagree with their methods in the past.
Reading back over this blog now I´m not quite sure what my point was, or even if I had one to begin with, not it really matters I suppose. I've had my say and that is what blogging is all about.
Back again soon
Peter
Hope you had a wicked weekend.....I did...somewhat quiet, but to be honest that's the way I like it!
So, what's happening today? Eta have hit the headlines again over here because they are finally expected to renounce violence as a means of achieving their aims. Eta (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna - Basque Homeland and Freedom) have been in slow decline for decades now, their ability to strike fear into the hearts of the Spanish people has lessened gradually to the extent that most people no longer feel scared by the homespun terrorist threat.
Founded in 1959, at the height of Franco's power, Eta has fought for over 4 decades for Basque self-determination. The Basque region is surprisingly small when viewed on a map and encompasses 4 small Northern Spanish provinces and a part of South-West France. From such humble beginnings they have gone on to kill over 800 people in a reign of terror lasting 53 years. There have been several abortive attempts at some sort of reconciliation in the past, the latest of which came in September 2010 when there was a called for a 'permanent ceasefire.' However, as on previous occasions the Spanish government rejected the ceasefire as worthless without an acknowledgement that they would renounce violence as a method of achieving their aims. This was not forthcoming and the ceasfire has remained unratified.
But now comes the news, that with Kofi Annan's visit to the Basque region this week, that Eta may be finally ready to agree an end to violent campaigning. There have been calls from convicted Eta members, as well as Sinn Fein leader Jerry Adams, to embrace the cause of peace and I fervently hope that this week they may finally see the light.
As an Englishman living in the Iberian peninsula it has been hard to sometimes get a handle on the Spanish psyche. Each region appears to be fanatically introverted in its' political persuasions and affiliations. The Basque region, with all the (negative) publicity and interest in the region because of Eta is perhaps the best known of these political and cultural entities.
In all there are 17 provinces in Spain, similar to the counties of England or the States of America. In many of these regions there are distinct dialects which are spoken only locally. In Valenciana, for example, the local language is, not surprisngly, Valenciano. It is a language with an Indo-European heritage that I'm told has many similarities to French. Not that I am able to spot any of those...to see Valenciano written down is like looking at Welsh - you just have no idea at all how to even begin to pronounce the words - but if you're French then you can just waltz in, chat away and most people will understand you. The Iberian peninsula is hotbed of dialectic activity with 6 major Indo-European languages being spoken. If you then count each separate dialect the number balloons to (depending on who you read) perhaps more than 20 distinct languages/dialects!
The Basque language though stands out as being distinctly un-Indo-European. Its' origins are still unclear but the Basque language is perhaps most similar to that historically spoken in the French region of Aquitaine. It is thought to pre-date all the other Spanish and Iberians tongues and go back to a time before the Roman conquest of the peninsula. This would make enormous sense to me. Whilst the other languages all have a common antecedent, probably dating back to the Romans, the Basque region (and also that of Galicia) remained largely untouched by the Romans simply because of the difficulty of accessing the region. The Roman influence was inevitably stronger closer to the Mediterranean coastline and waned the further inland they attempted to go. Following the decline of the Romans the various Iberian tribes sub-divided the peninsula and over the following 4-500 years re-inforced local cultures, traditions and languages, so that by the time the Moorish invasion began in the early 700's Iberia was a mosaic of different peoples, cultures and languages.
Once again during the African occupancy both the Basque regions and Galicia were left largely alone and so in these regions local culture and language were able to ingrain themselves even further. Even up to the time of the Napoleonic Wars Spain, although a single nation under a single monarch, was still largely regionalised. The vastness of the country and the endless mountainous terrain went to make travel from one region to another difficult in the extreme, and helped to reinforce local differences and cultures.
Since the death of Franco in 1975 Spain has undergone huge mechanical and structural changes. The infrastructure, for example, has improved beyond all recognition. There are now very good road and rail links between the various regions that have had the effect of improving trade and making the course of any journey much more comfortable. But the Spanish themselves though, remain hugely introverted in their social and business lives. Very few young Spanish go travelling, for example, preferring to stay at home where things are much safer and more secure. Even fewer ever leave the town of their birth to go and live and work elsewhere, let alone move to another region of the country. And whilst I applaud the family values that still pervade every level of Spanish society, this 'homebody' attitude has led to a dearth in Spanish patriotism with people more likely to wave their regional flag than that of their nation (except during the World Cup), with many commentators citing this as the reason that a unified Spanish identity is all-but absent. In my local schools they teach in Valenciano a lot of the time and not Castellano (the national language) once again reinforcing the local factor. If you go 50km down the road inland from my house they wouldn't understand a word of it! People take their holidays and stay at home to be with family. All very nice but the spirit of adventure is completely lacking, especially in the young which I find somewhat disturbing.
And in a roundabout way that brings me back to Eta. If that announcment is indeed forthcoming and they opt for a more peaceful way of promoting their ideas then I am all for it. The Basque people are a tough, uncompromising lot, who value their solidarity and uniqueness in a world which is becoming evermore homogenous and same-y! But for me though, an alien in a strange land, I will continue to be amazed and puzzled by attitudes that differ so greatly from those I grew up with. That Eta have fought so strongly and for so long for their own cultural identity can be explained largely by their unique history and cultural heritage. Their methods have been gravely wrong and I in no way support or advocate this. Peaceful and organised protest is the way. If you want things to change do it through the polss and elections. Stand up and counted if you feel that strongly. And that i what I hope they intend to do in the future.
As to whether a separate Basque state would be a viable entity I am not qualified to answer. I merely observe and wonder. I am still in a position where the Spanish mentality is somewhat perplexing, but the anwers are all there I believe, if you take the time to look. The Spanish cherish family, friends and local culture, appearing to care little for the outside world, let alone what happens on the other side of Spain. It is introverted and it is simplistic in the basic of ways, but it retains a certain charm that I love.
I understand the feeling one must have when, out for an evening stroll (as families do here) you know everyone that you bump into, intimately, as you have known them from the day you were born. The attractions are manifold, but I do wonder if this small town mentality will serve Spain well in a world awash with globalisation. Everyone is suffering because of the 'Crisis.' That is nothing new. But still people refuse to travel 30km down the road for work because it takes them away from the bosom of their family! Still they show no interest in changing a financial and fiscal system that plainly does not work. And why? Because they cannot see beyond the ends of their noses. But a change is what is needed here.... a radical change...to get the country up and running again. But apathy among the electorate is a rampant disease and I fear that the villagers and short-sighted businessmen who refuse to look beyond their own borders, will find very soon that this Crisis has a lot bigger bite than any of them could ever have anticipated.
Levels of unemployment, particularly in the under 25s is criminal. But still the system does not change. Starting your business here is a mission in futility. The red tape, the soaring costs and the lack of help and benefits make it difficult in the extreme for any budding entrepreneurs to even take their first step towards success. So, like everyone else, they take the easy route because financially, that is the only route the government leave open to them - they work, yes! But they work in the black economy, so therefore pay no taxes at all, whilst all the time many continue to collect healthy unemployment benefits and other social payments and then everyone wonders why the country is going bankrupt!!! Doh!
If the Spanish want their unemployment figures under control they must change the system. But I, like everyone else, know that won't happen. Why should it? If you were working, paying no tax, but earning good money and were still able to collect ample free payments on top, would you want it to change? Not me!!
Where else in the EEC can one go into a builders merchants, or a garage, or a large retail outfit or a garden centre and be offered 2 prices for what you wish to purchase. One with tax. And one without. As to which you choose might depend largely on whether you may wish to make a 'guarantee claim' at some point in the future, in which case the taxable option is best. But, in many cases and particularly with large purchases, the short term gain by paying between 15-18% less on your items is a very attractive proposition. As I write no doubt, millions of Euros in lost taxes are just disappearing this way simply because the system allows it. It´s incredible, really! And it has to be seen to be believed!
So, to some extent I understand and sypathise with those Basques who want to change the system. I would only disagree with their methods in the past.
Reading back over this blog now I´m not quite sure what my point was, or even if I had one to begin with, not it really matters I suppose. I've had my say and that is what blogging is all about.
Back again soon
Peter
Friday, 14 October 2011
I´m back; I´m bad; I´m meaner 'an hell!
After what seems like an absolute eternity I am back with a regular internet connection and perhaps...able to move forward with this bloody blog!
The weather here in sunny Valencia...is, not surprisingly, sunny.... although today promises to be a touch more hazy than the rest of the week. But hey, who wants to talk about the weather when we have so much more interesting fish to fry.
Having now got a regular internet connection I find myself darwn ineveitably towards news stories on Africa. I'm married to a beautiful African woman and despite being white, I have always had the strong sense that somewhere deep, down inside that I am more African than anything else. Is that a primal, evolutionary hangover from our our shared genetic lineage or something that has grown inside of me; a metaphorical African ghost that possesses and steers my attention ever-southward, ever drawn to the chaos that is Africa? Or is it something much simpler? I used to think it was just the wildlife. Nothing compares to watching game on an African plain, but now after many trips I know that, as stunning, as wonderful as the flora and fauna are they could not possibly snare me the way that I have undoubtedly been snared. It's not just the wildlife, it's everything that is Africa; the colours, the people, the smells, the chaos, the history, the culture, the wildlife and more...so much more. And so in some mild-mannered way I take offence when someone seeks to destroy yet more of of this crumbling, delapidated continent and one of the most destructive forces in Africa today is Robert Mugabe.
With the news today that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is to seek an audience with the despotic leader Zimbabwe's plight once again surfaces onto the front pages. Why though, this wholly unacceptable situation is not on the front pages every day is beyond me. Mugabe is without doubt a ruthlessly, efficient leader. I do not doubt his intelligence or his leadership skills persay....anyone who can remain in power in the political hothouse that is Africa is obviously succeeding in some way or another. One doubts that his longevity is down to his kind and generous spirit! His is a regime built on fear and destruction, coercion, bribery, corruption and pure, unadulterated evil.
Mugabe first came to prominence in the 1970s where, as a freedom fighter (against Ian Smith's fading colonial and pertinently, white regime) and thence to power as leader of Zanu-PF in 1979. In the early days of his reign Mugabe entered into a short-lived and ultimately destructive coalition with Joshua Nkomo. He wished to improve the lot of his people, to make Zimbabwe into a modern, shining example of black African government. But very quickly after the collapse of that initial coalition (following the discovery of a cache of arms at Nkomo's HQ) his bright new world descended into darkness. Early promises of democracy and political unity failed miserably in the aftermath of a country supposedly free from the tyrannical yoke of imperialist colonialism. Political rivals were rounded up, captured, tortured or killed as Mugabe sought to tighten the political noose. The post-colonial economy went from being one of the most profitable and productive in Africa to one the the worst performing in the world, a fact that Mugabe, now 84, continually refuses to acknowledge hiding behind a ream of paper-thin denials, insisting that Zimbabwe is still the powerhouse it once was. Deluded is not the word! The last journalist to interview Mugabe in December last year must have wanted to laugh when Mugabe insisted that Zimbabwean economy was "a hundred times better" than that of most African countries!
In 1992 I was lucky enough to visit Zim (as it is affectionately known amongst travellers) at a time when the situation was still reasonably progressive and the people of Zimbabwe still had cause to hope that their future would be as bright as they had once believed only a few years before. I saw a country with (by African standards) an excellent infrastructure; good roads, trains that ran almost on time and flourishing agricultural and tourism industries. It seemed to me at the time that of all the countries I'd visited in Africa (and there are more than a few) that Zim had indeed been singled out for a prosperous and settled future. The game parks were well run. There was food on the supermarket shelves and in the markets. People drove modern vehicles and trade seemed good. But as a toursit you often become blind to the deficiences of the places you are visiting just because you are so happy to be there. Perhaps that was me. At the time I knew all about Mugabe but the (shall we say) unpleasant face of his regime had yet to emerge internationally. He was still being wined and dined by world leaders as a 'freedom fighter' and hero whilst at the time performing political slight-of-hand to make his rivals disappear from under the very noses of those.
Now, by all accounts the supermarket shelves are empty, the fields produce no crops and the game parks have no animals. This horrid, little, detestable man is running the country into the ground and lining his pockets at the expense of his own people. Of all the evil and corrupt regimes that have come about in Africa since the collapse of colonialism roughly 50 years ago, Mugabe´s may not be the worst but it can certainly lay claim to be the most resilient. And still the powerful politicians of the world just seem to be content to let these atrocities continue. Africa always seemed to be a place apart politically. A place so far removed from the affluent West that most people, politicians included, cannot even contemplate relating to the problems of a nation so different and so poor that to save them from further suffering seems to be just too much effort to bear! How can we bring realsisation home to the people of the world? I have no idea. But something needs to be done. The politicains turn a blind eye so it is left to the likes of Sir Richard Branson who, by all accounts tried and failed to 'buy' Mugabe out of power (http://gu.com/p/32gqk). But at least he tried which is a damn site more than most men of power have! Or the campaigning Archbishop of Canterbury, who after arriving in Zim last week was kept waiting and waiting before finally being granted an audience with the despot. No doubt promises made about saving the Zimbabwean Anglicans from further persecution were warmly recieved by the Archbishop, Rowan Williams (http://gu.com/p/32gfm), but in truth I don't doubt for one minute that it is just another bucketful of Mugabe's verbal pigswill that the world seems only to grateful to swallow!
Zim is definitely a subject I shall return to. Often!
And now for Spain today....here´s the good news! This morning Standard and Poor have cut Spain's credit rating from AA- to AA causing yet another drop in the value of the Euro. The reasons cited include Spain's exceptionally high unemployment, tightening credit and high private sector debt.
They said....."Despite signs of resilience in economic performance during 2011, we see heightened risks to Spain's growth prospects due to high unemployment, tighter financial conditions, the still high level of private sector debt, and the likely economic slowdown in Spain's main trading partners."
They went on to say that they did not have confidence in Spain's projected growth for 2012, which had been predicted to be only 1.5%, but is now expected to be less than 1%. Further credit rating drops may well follow should Spain actually fail to meet it´s projections and fall in line with that S&P expectations.
This is bad news for all of us. Not just for us in Spain but for Europe as a whole. The severity of the economic climate in Spain was brought home to me last week when the various projects at the company I work for were put on hold or, at the very least, delayed because creditors were unable to pay their debts to us. It´s a vicious circle ...one cannot the other who cannot pay the other and everyone in the line falters! Companies here seem to be taking bigger than usual risks in order to swell their books and gain new business. Manufacturers and suppliers are slashing prices and taking on new clients without the usual credit considerations because they have no choice but to take the risk. The climate is desperate and shows all the signs of getting much worse. As one of the plebians, all I can do is keep my nose to the grindstone and hope that things begin to turn round. Everyone is struggling. Everyone is juggling debts and credit, deciding who to pay and when. I am lucky in that, to some extent my job is more international and so I am still able to see a future for myself, but other co-workers are not sure. They work on projects for the Spanish market and these seem more precarious than ever. The amazing thing is atht in the streets and the bars and the cafes no-one seems to be the slightest bit worried. Wednesday was national fiesta day ...again!..... and everyone was out drinking, eating and making merry. Whatever the economic situation nothing, it seems, can dampen the Spanish need for a party!
In Kenya yesterday 2 female Spanish aid workers from Medicins sans Frontieres were kidnapped from the Dabaab humanitarian camp by Somali gunmen who shot their driver in the neck (though amazingly he lives still) and escaped back over the nearby border (http://gu.com/p/32tmq). In the wake of the recent kidnapping of two French and British women the aid workers are now, understandably, feaful for their safety. OXFAM said last night that this new incident may well affect the aid missions in and around Dabaab whislt security conditions are reassessed.
To say I don't understand this madness that seems to have affected the Somali people is to only voice what everyone else is surely thinking. These gunmen have no respect for anyone or anything and to abduct aid workers such as this again and again shows that they have no understanding or apprecaition of how the rest of the world thinks or behaves. It is a hotbed of violent, criminal activity that the rest of the world seem quite happy to just let continue. I cannot help thinking that if there were exploitable resources in the country then such a situation would not be allowed to roll on endlessly. We would have been in there years before sorting things out and tying up the re-construction contracts before the last bullet had been fired. But since Somalia is of little economic value the situation endures and the innocent continue to suffer. There must be something that can be done to end this cycle of bloodshed and violence before the disease spreads and infects the rest of East Africa. Please write to your local MEP with your suggestions.
And finally....Mark Cavendish...perhaps the greatest British cyclist of his generation and, of course, the new World Road Race Champion, has announced his arrival at Team Sky for the start of next season (http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,15264_7235754,00.html). This is fantastic news....Team Sky is primarily a British outfit (though there are many international riders on the team) with British management and now British stars! I cannot wait for next year to come and to see a British cycling team pushing all before them and sweeping the board. Go Cav!
See you soon
The weather here in sunny Valencia...is, not surprisingly, sunny.... although today promises to be a touch more hazy than the rest of the week. But hey, who wants to talk about the weather when we have so much more interesting fish to fry.
Having now got a regular internet connection I find myself darwn ineveitably towards news stories on Africa. I'm married to a beautiful African woman and despite being white, I have always had the strong sense that somewhere deep, down inside that I am more African than anything else. Is that a primal, evolutionary hangover from our our shared genetic lineage or something that has grown inside of me; a metaphorical African ghost that possesses and steers my attention ever-southward, ever drawn to the chaos that is Africa? Or is it something much simpler? I used to think it was just the wildlife. Nothing compares to watching game on an African plain, but now after many trips I know that, as stunning, as wonderful as the flora and fauna are they could not possibly snare me the way that I have undoubtedly been snared. It's not just the wildlife, it's everything that is Africa; the colours, the people, the smells, the chaos, the history, the culture, the wildlife and more...so much more. And so in some mild-mannered way I take offence when someone seeks to destroy yet more of of this crumbling, delapidated continent and one of the most destructive forces in Africa today is Robert Mugabe.
With the news today that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is to seek an audience with the despotic leader Zimbabwe's plight once again surfaces onto the front pages. Why though, this wholly unacceptable situation is not on the front pages every day is beyond me. Mugabe is without doubt a ruthlessly, efficient leader. I do not doubt his intelligence or his leadership skills persay....anyone who can remain in power in the political hothouse that is Africa is obviously succeeding in some way or another. One doubts that his longevity is down to his kind and generous spirit! His is a regime built on fear and destruction, coercion, bribery, corruption and pure, unadulterated evil.
Mugabe first came to prominence in the 1970s where, as a freedom fighter (against Ian Smith's fading colonial and pertinently, white regime) and thence to power as leader of Zanu-PF in 1979. In the early days of his reign Mugabe entered into a short-lived and ultimately destructive coalition with Joshua Nkomo. He wished to improve the lot of his people, to make Zimbabwe into a modern, shining example of black African government. But very quickly after the collapse of that initial coalition (following the discovery of a cache of arms at Nkomo's HQ) his bright new world descended into darkness. Early promises of democracy and political unity failed miserably in the aftermath of a country supposedly free from the tyrannical yoke of imperialist colonialism. Political rivals were rounded up, captured, tortured or killed as Mugabe sought to tighten the political noose. The post-colonial economy went from being one of the most profitable and productive in Africa to one the the worst performing in the world, a fact that Mugabe, now 84, continually refuses to acknowledge hiding behind a ream of paper-thin denials, insisting that Zimbabwe is still the powerhouse it once was. Deluded is not the word! The last journalist to interview Mugabe in December last year must have wanted to laugh when Mugabe insisted that Zimbabwean economy was "a hundred times better" than that of most African countries!
In 1992 I was lucky enough to visit Zim (as it is affectionately known amongst travellers) at a time when the situation was still reasonably progressive and the people of Zimbabwe still had cause to hope that their future would be as bright as they had once believed only a few years before. I saw a country with (by African standards) an excellent infrastructure; good roads, trains that ran almost on time and flourishing agricultural and tourism industries. It seemed to me at the time that of all the countries I'd visited in Africa (and there are more than a few) that Zim had indeed been singled out for a prosperous and settled future. The game parks were well run. There was food on the supermarket shelves and in the markets. People drove modern vehicles and trade seemed good. But as a toursit you often become blind to the deficiences of the places you are visiting just because you are so happy to be there. Perhaps that was me. At the time I knew all about Mugabe but the (shall we say) unpleasant face of his regime had yet to emerge internationally. He was still being wined and dined by world leaders as a 'freedom fighter' and hero whilst at the time performing political slight-of-hand to make his rivals disappear from under the very noses of those.
Now, by all accounts the supermarket shelves are empty, the fields produce no crops and the game parks have no animals. This horrid, little, detestable man is running the country into the ground and lining his pockets at the expense of his own people. Of all the evil and corrupt regimes that have come about in Africa since the collapse of colonialism roughly 50 years ago, Mugabe´s may not be the worst but it can certainly lay claim to be the most resilient. And still the powerful politicians of the world just seem to be content to let these atrocities continue. Africa always seemed to be a place apart politically. A place so far removed from the affluent West that most people, politicians included, cannot even contemplate relating to the problems of a nation so different and so poor that to save them from further suffering seems to be just too much effort to bear! How can we bring realsisation home to the people of the world? I have no idea. But something needs to be done. The politicains turn a blind eye so it is left to the likes of Sir Richard Branson who, by all accounts tried and failed to 'buy' Mugabe out of power (http://gu.com/p/32gqk). But at least he tried which is a damn site more than most men of power have! Or the campaigning Archbishop of Canterbury, who after arriving in Zim last week was kept waiting and waiting before finally being granted an audience with the despot. No doubt promises made about saving the Zimbabwean Anglicans from further persecution were warmly recieved by the Archbishop, Rowan Williams (http://gu.com/p/32gfm), but in truth I don't doubt for one minute that it is just another bucketful of Mugabe's verbal pigswill that the world seems only to grateful to swallow!
Zim is definitely a subject I shall return to. Often!
And now for Spain today....here´s the good news! This morning Standard and Poor have cut Spain's credit rating from AA- to AA causing yet another drop in the value of the Euro. The reasons cited include Spain's exceptionally high unemployment, tightening credit and high private sector debt.
They said....."Despite signs of resilience in economic performance during 2011, we see heightened risks to Spain's growth prospects due to high unemployment, tighter financial conditions, the still high level of private sector debt, and the likely economic slowdown in Spain's main trading partners."
They went on to say that they did not have confidence in Spain's projected growth for 2012, which had been predicted to be only 1.5%, but is now expected to be less than 1%. Further credit rating drops may well follow should Spain actually fail to meet it´s projections and fall in line with that S&P expectations.
This is bad news for all of us. Not just for us in Spain but for Europe as a whole. The severity of the economic climate in Spain was brought home to me last week when the various projects at the company I work for were put on hold or, at the very least, delayed because creditors were unable to pay their debts to us. It´s a vicious circle ...one cannot the other who cannot pay the other and everyone in the line falters! Companies here seem to be taking bigger than usual risks in order to swell their books and gain new business. Manufacturers and suppliers are slashing prices and taking on new clients without the usual credit considerations because they have no choice but to take the risk. The climate is desperate and shows all the signs of getting much worse. As one of the plebians, all I can do is keep my nose to the grindstone and hope that things begin to turn round. Everyone is struggling. Everyone is juggling debts and credit, deciding who to pay and when. I am lucky in that, to some extent my job is more international and so I am still able to see a future for myself, but other co-workers are not sure. They work on projects for the Spanish market and these seem more precarious than ever. The amazing thing is atht in the streets and the bars and the cafes no-one seems to be the slightest bit worried. Wednesday was national fiesta day ...again!..... and everyone was out drinking, eating and making merry. Whatever the economic situation nothing, it seems, can dampen the Spanish need for a party!
In Kenya yesterday 2 female Spanish aid workers from Medicins sans Frontieres were kidnapped from the Dabaab humanitarian camp by Somali gunmen who shot their driver in the neck (though amazingly he lives still) and escaped back over the nearby border (http://gu.com/p/32tmq). In the wake of the recent kidnapping of two French and British women the aid workers are now, understandably, feaful for their safety. OXFAM said last night that this new incident may well affect the aid missions in and around Dabaab whislt security conditions are reassessed.
To say I don't understand this madness that seems to have affected the Somali people is to only voice what everyone else is surely thinking. These gunmen have no respect for anyone or anything and to abduct aid workers such as this again and again shows that they have no understanding or apprecaition of how the rest of the world thinks or behaves. It is a hotbed of violent, criminal activity that the rest of the world seem quite happy to just let continue. I cannot help thinking that if there were exploitable resources in the country then such a situation would not be allowed to roll on endlessly. We would have been in there years before sorting things out and tying up the re-construction contracts before the last bullet had been fired. But since Somalia is of little economic value the situation endures and the innocent continue to suffer. There must be something that can be done to end this cycle of bloodshed and violence before the disease spreads and infects the rest of East Africa. Please write to your local MEP with your suggestions.
And finally....Mark Cavendish...perhaps the greatest British cyclist of his generation and, of course, the new World Road Race Champion, has announced his arrival at Team Sky for the start of next season (http://www.skysports.com/story/0,,15264_7235754,00.html). This is fantastic news....Team Sky is primarily a British outfit (though there are many international riders on the team) with British management and now British stars! I cannot wait for next year to come and to see a British cycling team pushing all before them and sweeping the board. Go Cav!
See you soon
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