sarcasm

Was listening to the BBC this morning on the radio and all I can say is thank god Zimbabwe got rid of all those evil, venal white people. Really. Because cholera, poverty, torture, corruption, starvation, dehydration, and the constant stress of watching everyone around you wither and die are so much better than hospitals, sanitation, a food supply, a stable government, a robust economy, employment, and one of the highest literacy rates in the world (90%). I mean, really, who needs loathesome colonial overlords when you can have a 1 in 10 mortality rate from an epidemic of an easily preventable disease? This is the 21st century -- there is no reason for anyone to die of chlolera. There is no reason for anyone even to have cholera. You clean the water. Of course, first you have to have water . . . but this is Zimbabwe, once reknowned for its thriving agricultural industry. And agriculture depends on . . . water. Systems of irrigation. For Zimbabweans to be dying from malnutrition and filthy water is just mind boggling.

Doctors without Borders has said

"the problems are long-term. In Beitbridge, 'the water station does not have the parts to properly repair its pumps. Even if it did, it depends on electricity to pump water from the tower to the city. Electricity depends on a coal mine that has not been paid in over a year and can no longer supply coal. There is no fuel to run the garbage trucks; there is no money to pay salaries for people to collect the garbage. There is no equipment, or supplies, to fix the sewage system, nor money to pay personnel to do it. There are no quick solutions.'

And the news from Harare is no better. But thank god that Zimbabwe is free of the jackboot of oppressive white values. Thank god.

And yes I do know that formerly Rhodesia was not a paradise for the majority black population in the way that it most definitely was a paradise for the extremely minority white population. But people were not dying en masse in the mud outside the closed health center. So go ahead, call me a racist, but I think that's better than what they have now. And call me a cock-eyed optimist, but I think there had to have been a better way of achieving equity among the various interests in the country and preserving stability than what was done. In 20 years the country has gone from being the bread basket of Africa to a cholera epidemic and, even absent the epidemic, the lowest life expectancies in the world (age 37 for men, 34 for women) -- and that isn't because satanic western white folks bombed them back to the stone age.

tribute

15. The Tradition of Patriotism

“A nation, our parents believed, should be judged in much the same way as an individual: by deeds, not words. Politicians and the government show their regard for our society, our community, and our fellow human beings by what they do – by their efforts to stop trouble before it starts, and to restore order or repair damage when it’s over. Mother and Dad were aware that songs, symbols, and pledges, however sincerely meant, were often used as shortcuts, as substitutes for the hard work of democracy, the sweat it takes to pursue justice. And they would not be intimidated from pointing this evasion out again and again, in part because they knew that inaction plays into the hands of the barons of power and money. They intuited what Marcus Cicero said over two thousand years ago in ancient Rome: “Freedom is participation in power.”

from: The Seventeen Traditions by Ralph Nader

And that's about all I have to say about the election.

Now back to arting around.

early and often

pack a thermos,

set the alarm,

and

GET OUT AND VOTE TOMORROW.

If you don't vote, you can't complain,

and I expect

to be doing a whole heap o' complaining

no matter who gets in,

so look out.