This Time Rockets Will DEFINITELY Work

Yesterday Israel opened the crossings to Gaza which had previously been blockaded by the Israeli Defence Force, and for the first time in months allowed aid through to the beleaguered Hamas stronghold-town. This was an unusual move, since the six-month truce that both parties were following ended a few days prior when some Gazans decided it would totally hilarious to fire rockets into Israeli settlements. 

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli PM, warned on Thursday that Gazans should stop all rocket attacks. On Friday, Gazan authorities assured Israel that they were investigating the truce-breaking rocket attacks. 

Today, dissatisfied that Gaza was not completely pacified in the period between Thursday and Saturday, the Israeli military launched a series of air-strikes and missile attacks which have killed 155 people, including the Gaza police chief, who was presiding over the graduation ceremony at the Gazan Police Academy. It is their hope that this will encourage Gazans take control over their own territory and stop attacking Israelis.

A military spokesman for Israel today said that "this is only the beginning". 

MSF Releases Top Ten Humanitarian Crises List

Medecins Sans Frontieres has released their annual list of the ten most underreported humanitarian crises in the world. In the spirit of giving these crises a bit more exposure, I'll reprint the list here with a few comments. What's good about this list is that it specifically avoids the temptation of numbering them on an ascending scale of importance. It's difficult enough to draw attention to unsexy and unexciting humanitarian issues, but it would be equally unhelpful to start a "countdown" to the "number one most underreported humanitarian crisis". 

Somalia

Somalia's humanitarian catastrophe has been chronic and pervasive. The entire country essentially disintegrated years ago in 1991, and for a long time the only semblance of order the country found was in the fundamentalist, milita-enforced rule of the Islamic Courts of Justice, until they were ousted by Ethiopian troops. The country is basically off limits to international aid agencies because no one can guarantee them even a provisionally safe environment in which to deliver aid.

Ethiopia

Neighbouring Somalia, Ethiopia is not doing  much better. The population is largely nomadic, and combined with tensions between rebel and government groups and an incipient civil conflict, delivering aid to this incredibly poor country has become very difficult. This is one of those examples where there has been no catalyst, no major newsworthy event that can be used as a lens through which to see the poverty of the country. Instead a series of boring and complex structural factors contribute to the suffering of Ethiopia's people, relegated to anonymity with the occasional exception of a "special report" in the news.

Myanmar

In May this year, the typhoon that wrecked much of Myanmar dominated the news very briefly. What was equally important at that time was how the military government was completely blocking off a lot of foreign aid that the news coverage of the crisis spurred. Several months on, the situation has returned to a semblance of normalcy, and so Myanmar has once again been forgotten. Normalcy, though, in the case of Myanmar, means destitution and crushing military rule. There is a full blown AIDS epidemic in the country, with over 75 000 people needing anti-retro viral treatment, yet the country has the lowest amount of foreign aid per capita in the world.

Zimbabwe

See previous articles on the topic. But just to add to the chorus, because of the appalling health situation there (especially the prevalence of AIDS), the UN found that the country now has a life expectancy of 34 years.

Democratic Republic of Congo

This again is a crisis that has been fairly well reported, but consistently remains second- or third-tier news. The renewed fighting in the eastern portion of the country, spurred by a dickhead warlord Laurent Nkunda, has caused massive displacement and dislocation of thousands of villagers. Without even mentioning the deaths, the child soldiers, the cholera and malaria outbreaks due to nonexistent sanitation and healthcare, this situation pushes hopes for any sort of progress for the country far into the future. 

Pakistan

The federally administered tribal areas in Northwest Pakistan, bordering on Afghanistan, have long been problematic for the country's security situation, as their goals are sharply opposed to the modernising government of the country. The resulting clashes, combined with the proximity to Afghanistan, brings conflict, poverty, the Taliban, and US explosives onto the scene. The whole area is basically the USA's battleground, so MSF and other NGOs have understandably found it difficult to provide aid and services.

Sudan

The situation in Sudan has been fairly well depicted in the media, despite excessive obsessing over the possibility of "genocide" in the region. What is more pressing than the questionable assertion that concerted ethnic cleansing is going on is the complete lack of infrastructure, stability, or security in Darfur, and the constant spasms of violence that wrack the region. The world's largest humanitarian operation is in place there, but the needs of Darfuris far outweight the services provided. 

Iraq

Iraq has truly become a third world country since 2003, subject to a systematic dismantling of first its government (with the US-led disintegration of the Baathist state following the war), then the economy (with the massive internal displacement and complete lack of security which makes planning and investment impossible), and finally, society (with the USA playing Shia, Sunni and Kurd factions against each other). 

Childhood Malnutrition

This is really a deceptively vital problem, and I didn't really consider it before I read the report. 178,000,000 children worldwide suffer from severe malnutrition problems. The tragic thing about this in particular is that malnutrition as a child stunts your prospects as an adult. It causes mental and physical problems which go on to replicate themselves in following generations. A starved child will grow up into a weak and dull-minded adult, who will be less likely to provide food for his or her children. Ensuring that children get enough food is such an incredibly basic thing, and it definitely requires more attention.

HIV/TB Co-Infection

The AIDS pandemic has been widely reported on and recognised. An important link that MSF emphasises is that between Tuberculosis and AIDS. TB is the most frequent killer of people with AIDS, and it is especially prevalent in countries which happen to have high incidences of AIDS, which is the reason countries like Botswana and Zimbabwe have life expectancies of 37 and 34, respectively. AIDS does more damage than the sum of its parts, as well, since the deaths fall disproportionately on the sexually active, which happen to also be the productive adults in society, leaving societies populated entirely by children and the elderly. 

It's easy to be overwhlemed by all this suffering and seemingly ingrained conflict crisis. But as a starkly editorial comment, I want to exhort both my readers to seriously, seriously not give up. Good work is being done, and the mere recognition of these problems is a step forward, not an admission of defeat. 

To view the excellent MSF feature on this, which has a lot more facts and a lot less opinionated rhetoric, go here.

Taking All Comers

Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe (pictured above indicating the size of his turds as a public reassurance to his supporters of his health) has upped the ante in his latest invective-suffused public address, turning his ire and paranoia from his traditional enemies, the Western powers and the UK in particular, to other African countries. Al-Jazeera English reported on two self-referential gems of his:

"How could African leaders ever topple Robert Mugabe - organise an army to come? It is not easy."

"I do not know of any African country that is brave enough to do that."

Mr. Mugabe is still trying to broker a power-"sharing" deal with his chief rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, who ostensibly won the incredibly broken elections that ran recently. Mr. Tsvangirai is understandably pissed off since Mr. Mugabe has been brazenly abducting dozens of MDC party members and harassing civilian supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change. 

Amid the intense international opprobrium of Mr. Mugabe's regime, his comments are presumably an open challenge to all comers, and an especial reminder that African countries are more than welcome to have a crack at it as well. 

The interesting thing about the Al-Jazeera English article that reported on these comments is that they had absolutely nothing to do with the body of the story, which was about the collapsing Zimbabwean economy and the cholera epidemic that has killed over a thousand so far. The quotes from Mr. Mugabe were a perfunctory indication of the well-known fact that Mr. Mugabe is batshit crazy. 

For some reason it's bad form to imply that the reason Zimbabwe has completely fallen down is Mr. Mugabe's demented rule, so Al-Jazeera English felt it was more appropriate to simply juxtapose the two pieces of information and let the readers connect the dots. Good job, Al-Jazeera English!

In other news, I will do my very best to write more about people, ideas, and countries from Latin America that I don't like, as I have been harping on about Zimbabwe and Thailand enough. Fingers? Crossed.

Bush vs. Shoe

Totally worth publishing the worst quality picture of Bush in motion this blog has ever seen (left), the by now ubiquitous story of how Iraqi reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi threw a shoe at lame-duck president Bush prima facie very funny. The story is even funnier if you take a look at the wider shot. The fact that Mr. al-Zaidi threw both shoes, the first while running and the second without pause is very, very funny. Also funny are the juxtaposed responses from the Iraqi government, which called it a "barbaric and ignominious act" that "insults the Iraqi state"; and from Mr. al-Zaidi's brother, Usain, who said "Thanks be to God, Muntazer's act fills Iraqi hearts with pride."

Less funny are the jokes everyone else is making about "bringing a whole new meaning to duck and cover!" and "shoe-do!". But that's no big surprise.

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY, POLITIC BLUNDER!

Yes, this is Politic Blunder's 50th post, and celebrates approximately four months of giving it to you straight (platonically). No one said we'd make it this far, and now that we have, no one is commenting on the fact, so I'm officially declaring all the critics SILENCED. 

This issue we're bringing you four stories and a birthday present. The birthday present is this fantastic video, which you should all definitely watch (link here). It's about the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, how much sense it makes, and how little that sense is actually listened to. It's also got some flashy Flash effects and a bit at the end about Aung San Suu Kyi that nearly ruins it. But that bit's only a few seconds long, so seriously, watch the video.

Everyone in Britain will remember this picture of Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian civilian who was shot seven times in the head by the police while sitting on the tube, suspected of being a July 21 bomber. The picture was revolutionary because Menezes looked like a nice guy, a guy possibly contemplating a shoulder or bicep-tattoo, but a nice guy nonetheless. The inquest which was launched following his killing revealed a disastrous failure of intelligence, a tragic incompetence on the part of the police, and as it just emerged today, an open verdict.

The open verdict means that the jury was not allowed to reach a verdict of "unlawful killing" because of the coroner's report on the shooting, and thus had a choice between "lawful killing" and "open verdict". By choosing "open verdict", the jury is affirming that a shooting did take place, but is abstaining from passing judgment on anything else, officially making this a cock-up from beginning to end. 

Following in the theme of "people the police were not supposed to kill but killed anyway" is the

 issue of the Greek 15 year-old who was shot by policemen after pelting a police car with stones with his friends. The killing, which has not yet been confirmed as intentional (There's a persuasive ricochet theory floating around) has nonetheless sparked a week of intense rioting and destruction across the country. Athens has been ground to a standstill on more than on

e occasion. This doesn't look nearly as bad as the de Menezes shooting, as even if it was intentional, the killing looks to have been a matter of imprudence and unprofessionalism, rather than seven bullets fired into the head. Still, the anger of the Greek mobs is thought to be relating to more than just the shooting, as Greece isn't doing so well economically. Let's hope the situation cools down.

Rome, meanwhile, is seeing the beginning of the apocalypse. Torrential downpours amounting in one night to the entire average rainfall of December, one of Rome's rainiest months, have completely flooded parts of the city, with officials predicting that the banks of the river Tiber will overflow by the end of the week (the picture of Castel Sant'Angelo to the left should have a lot more land and people in it.). The fascist mayor, Alemanno, unnecessarily characterised

 the flooding as "like an earthquake", when in fact it was a lot more like flooding. As far as intelligence reports show, former-SBR headquarters on Via Stresa have been undamaged, with no comment from the six Jamaican women living there. 

Also in Italy is president-elect Barack Obama... in plastic form! Yes, Barack Obama plastic figurines are now adorning the nativity scenes of Italians in the South. The tradition of the nativity scene is important to Italians, being somewhat of a surrogate for the pagan ritual of Christmas trees. Barack Obama's meteoric rise to celebrity must have had enough parallels with Jesus to warrant his place in the manger. Let's just hope he's not pictured cleaning the place up and serving drinks. 

And that concludes Politic Blunder's 50th birthday. Remember to check out the blogs linked to on the right of the page, they're most excellent, especially the Osu! Tatakae! Nippon!, which recently reached the lofty heights of fifty posts itself. 

Also, a shout out to my lovely girlfriend, who had her wisdom teeth carved out of her jaw a few days ago. I know you can't eat solid foods yet, but hopefully this blog has given you something to digest. Eh?

New Blog Feature Discreetly Sweeps Dead Blog Feature Under The Rug

In the spirit of neverending innovation Politic Blunder has brought both its readers a brand new Blog Feature to feast their four eyes upon. A prize of scorn and sexual rejection will be awarded to the author of the insipid or "puntastic" headline featured in the "Name and Shame" box on the right of the blog, which will be updated with quivering restraint. 

Entrants will have to be writing for broadsheet or otherwise reputable newspapers, in order to cut down the number of applicants and add a frisson of betrayal and disillusionment to the proceedings. Readers can nominate headlines they find and have their fifteen minutes of dizzying celebrity by sending them to my email or posting them as a comment. Any good ones will be put up, along with the submitter's name, in a separate box, "Name and Fame", which will be extremely close to the "Name and Shame" box.

A Misplaced Criticism of American Justice

The New York Times ran an article a few days ago concerning the ongoing trial of five mercenaries belonging to Blackwater company who shot 17 civilians dead in Nisour Square, Baghdad. The article is called "Blackwater? So Many Others", and it argues that the Blackwater prosecution is just a photo-op, a show to prove the USA is taking care of business, but that it obfuscates the hundreds of other similar killings that are perpetrated by lawless gangs and terrorists in the country.

But there is a difference between Blackwater killing 17 civilians and one of Sadr's lackeys blowing him (or her) self up to kill as many. And the USA is justified for treating this case much more seriously, and at a much higher profile. 

Iraq's army and police force are nowhere near being able to secure the country of their own accord, and thus the US Army, along with all the UN troops, all international troops, and all mercenaries such as Blackwater contracted by them, are acting as provisional law enforcement for Iraq. As such, it is a much, much bigger deal when these people, invested with the trust of civilians, instead end up massacring the people they are supposed to protect. In addition to the obvious question of justice this raises, it is symptomatic of a failing state agency, which is a much more serious problem than sporadic, if vicious, terrorist attacks. The dozens that die in terrorist attacks in Iraq undoubtedly need to be covered more. 55 died just today in one blast in Kirkuk. But this trial, and the persecution of justice with regards to these murderers, needs to be even more closely watched.

What's that, Lassie? Zimbabwe's in trouble?

780 dead is the latest count from most news sources concerning the amount of lives Zimbabwe's burgeoning cholera epidemic has taken. The World Health Organisation estimates that 16 000 people are infected with the disease, and up to 6 million people, half the country's population, may be at risk due to the almost ubiquitous raw sewage in the streets. This should be utterly unsurprising, coming from a country with a non-existent political system, a vicious, incompetent and insane autocrat, and an inflation rate of 8,000,000,000,000,000,000% (eight quintillion). 

So now is yet another good time for the world community to remember what an incredible shit-hole Zimbabwe is. There have been the usual shows of shock and horror for how such abject poverty can exist in the world, the clucking of historians who remind us that Zimbabwe used to be "Africa's breadbasket", and the wistful hope that the octogenarian Mugabe will die soon. But this is not how the story should end.

The UN has 17 000 troops attempting to secure the chaos in the Congo, and many are pressing for more. Foreign troops need to enter Zimbabwe as well. The assumption that Zimbabwe is somehow less of a completely dire crisis zone is untenable. A man in a suit shouting angrily from a podium draped in a flag does not a state make. Mugabe's Zimbabwe should be recognised for what it is: 12 million scared, starving sick people hemmed in by a madman's ailing military cadres. There is no state, there is no sovereignty or right to non-intervention, only an overwhelming obligation to act. 

The New Original Politic Blunder!

You might be thinking, what has your Politic Blunder correspondant been doing for the past 6 hours? Why was he not covering such juicy headlines as "Abandoned Tower sows dismay in Riverdale, NY", or "Belgian car dealer offers 2-for-1 offer on cars" before they were snapped up by young pretenders New York Times and Reuters? What price idleness?!

My time was well spent. A Politic Blunder now has a slightly modified look! Among the more prominent changes are different (hopefully more readable) fonts and colours and a new sidebar widget so that I can keep track of the names and nationalities of people visiting my blog. Also, the now-famous Politic Blunder banner photo of me has now been justified to the right considerably. My position on the banner will denote, in real time, my current political stance on the left-right axis. I ask you to note that although I appear to be on the right at the moment, I am in fact on my left. The opposite rule applies when I appear on the left, making the banner a questionable gauge of my particular politics. 

Forthcoming: A fuller feature on the Mumbai terrorist attacks and their implications, and a gallery of aborted blog templates that I could have inflicted on you.

Kim Jong-CHILL!

This week we're revisiting the absurdity of North Korea's military regime with a surreal story of petulance and some behind the scenes pictures of the side of North Korea they don't want you to see! (pictured left) 

The ritual illusion that is the six-party nuclear talks in Beijing is being held again next week, and North Korea is kicking it off in style by stating that it will be ignoring Japanese delegates at the meetings. A foreign ministry spokesman said:

"We will neither treat Japan as a party to the talks nor deal with it even if it impudently appears in the conference room, lost to shame"  

The reason for this childishness is Japan's intimation that the problem of the dozens of Japanese citizens the North Korean government has abducted over the years would need to be solved if aid was going to be given to the military dictatorship.

North Korea clearly feels that its national dignity is being impugned by this request, and has instead repeated its demands for exorbitant amounts of money in reparations for 

the Japanese occupation of Korea that ended in 1945. These funds, Kim Jong-Il hopes, will be the silver bullet that will allow North Korean scientists to crack the problem of complete 180 degree splits in North Korean female officers' goose

-step (insufficiently pictured right).

African Democracy Shames Italians

Slightly more heartening news this week comes from Ghana. A continent that's usually written off as an aggregation of helpless peasants led by unhelpful kleptocrats, a lot of people's eyes glaze over whenever African politics are mentioned. Understandably, too. What's the point of taking the time and mental effort to remember an unreasonably complicated name when the politician in question will probably be thrown to the dogs by the end of the month?

Today, though, Ghana is seeing its fifth consecutive general election, with the outgoing president, John Kufuor, willingly relinquishing power because he has reached his maximum service of two presidential terms. He has groomed a potential successor, Nana Akufo-Addo, who will be standing against seven other candidates. A domestic organisation of election observers, CODEO, have noted some irregularities with the voter register, but are otherwise satisfied.

It's not the kind of news that really excites and delights, especially where it concerns Africa. But for the continent to be seeing this kind of stable power transition is incredibly impo-

rtant. Ghana is very much part of the African experience and progression. North African countries like Algeria and Egypt are ruled by different political cultures and norms. They are affected by Arabism and their proximity to oil and the Mediterranean Sea. Likewise, South Africa had its experience with Apartheid, and its flirtation with wealth. 

Ghana's experience was mirrored by half a dozen other sub-Saharan African countries. Initially socialist after independence, Ghana suffered greatly when it mistakenly tried to starve its blooming cocoa industry in pursuit of "true industrialisation". Since then it has had a tough time with its structural adjustment plan, and has been enjoying the relatively steady, if uneven, growth that marks all liberalised developing countries.

That Ghana has managed to maintain such a healthy democracy for so long is cause for great hope, and a harsh rejoinder to all the dickheads who say that Africa is a "lost continent", beyond hope.

The Triumph of The Loud Over the Voiceless. Again.

Today a nine-member panel of judges in Thailand decided that Somchai Wongsawat's ruling party will be disbanded, and Somchai himself banned from politics for five years, due to ambiguous charges of electoral fraud. Also disbanded are two other parties from Somchai's six-party ruling coalition. This will mean more chaos and instability in Thai politics for the foreseeable future, with the end result probably being another general election. 

The head judge of the panel that decided this stated that ''the court has decided to dissolve the party to set a political standard and an example''. This would be an acceptable statement were it not for the thousands of yellow shirted jackals quite literally at the door of the government buildings when this ruling was made. It is not setting any sort of example when a bunch of armed protesters get to decide who stays and who does not stay in power completely aside from any sort of institutionalised political process. What about the millions and millions of rural poor who didn't have the resources to mobilise, wear snazzy yellow shirts, and blockade the airport? The example that has been set is a profoundly undemocratic one, where those with the power, resources and influence to attack the state and its functions get to decide who remains in power. Make no mistake, this was a coup.

An open letter to the PAD, the bourgeois funded and elite-led organisation which took up arms to unseat the popularly elected government through extra-legal means: Fuck you.

More on this turn of events later. Maybe.