(no subject)

[abe-kroenen.livejournal.com]

The Council Counsel of Elrond...

"Africa should stand on its own two feet" - An African Economist's Perspective on Aid to Africa

[dirae.livejournal.com]

Given the ongoing cause-celeb blather about giving aid to Africa, some of you may be interested in an African economic expert's point of view on the issue: "For God's Sake, Please Stop the Aid!"

Some highlights include:

"If the industrial nations really want to help the Africans, they should finally terminate this awful aid. The countries that have collected the most development aid are also the ones that are in the worst shape. Despite the billions that have poured in to Africa, the continent remains poor."

"Africans are taught to be beggars and not to be independent."

"Development aid is one of the reasons for Africa's problems. If the West were to cancel these payments, normal Africans wouldn't even notice. Only the functionaries would be hard hit. Which is why they maintain that the world would stop turning without this development aid."

"Africa is always only portrayed as a continent of suffering, but most figures are vastly exaggerated."

Regarding AIDS in Africa: "It's not three million Kenyans that are infected. All of the sudden, it's only about one million. Malaria is just as much of a problem, but people rarely talk about that... AIDS is big business, maybe Africa's biggest business. There's nothing else that can generate as much aid money as shocking figures on AIDS. AIDS is a political disease here, and we should be very skeptical."


Regarding clothing sent to Africa: "and they flood our markets with that stuff. We can buy these donated clothes cheaply at our so-called Mitumba markets. There are Germans who spend a few dollars to get used Bayern Munich or Werder Bremen jerseys, in other words, clothes that that some German kids sent to Africa for a good cause. After buying these jerseys, they auction them off at Ebay and send them back to Germany -- for three times the price. That's insanity ... Why do we get these mountains of clothes? No one is freezing here. Instead, our tailors lose their livlihoods. They're in the same position as our farmers. No one in the low-wage world of Africa can be cost-efficient enough to keep pace with donated products. In 1997, 137,000 workers were employed in Nigeria's textile industry. By 2003, the figure had dropped to 57,000. The results are the same in all other areas where overwhelming helpfulness and fragile African markets collide."

"Currently, Africa is like a child that immediately cries for its babysitter when something goes wrong. Africa should stand on its own two feet."

Discuss amongst yourselves.

SCOTUS nom short list?

[tappanga.livejournal.com]

Can someone point me to a good article or website on the possible noms and their pros and cons? Everything I run into is either, "There is no short list," "Everyone is on the short list," or "GAH! NOT GONZALEZ! ANYONE BUT GONZALEZ!!! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE! THE SKY IS FALLING! WE'RE STILL PISSY THAT KERRY LOST! GAH!!"

Thank you, my dears.