Clipmarks | Zimbabwe Clips

BUSH'S BANANA REPUBLIC

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:34:49 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: The steady slide down the hill of history

America the Banana Republic

The ongoing financial meltdown is just the latest example of a disturbing trend that, to this adoptive American, threatens to put the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave on a par with Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and Equatorial Guinea.

by Christopher Hitchens WEB EXCLUSIVE October 9, 2008

In a statement on the huge state-sponsored salvage of private bankruptcy that was first proposed last September, a group of Republican lawmakers, employing one of the very rudest words in their party’s thesaurus, described the proposed rescue of the busted finance and discredited credit sectors as “socialistic.” There was a sort of half-truth to what they said. But they would have been very much nearer the mark—and rather more ironic and revealing at their own expense—if they had completed the sentence and described the actual situation as what it is: “socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the rest.”

another term

would be “banana republic.”

231,000,000% inflation rate

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:38:47 GMT

clipped by: mona

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Zimbabwe inflation hits new high

Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate - already the world's highest - has soared to 231,000,000%, newly released official figures for July show.

The new banknotes have failed to curb inflation

UN says it needs $140m for food aid over the next six months.

The UN World Food Programme estimates that two million people are in need of food aid, and that the figure will rise to 5.1 million - or 45% of the population - by early 2009.

Zimbabwe's inflation rate hits 231 million percent

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:30:53 GMT

clipped by: tommy2balmy
clipper's remarks: A warning sign for others?

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate - already the world's highest - has soared to 231,000,000%, newly released official figures for July show.

The new banknotes have failed to curb inflation

The rise - from 11,200,000% last month - was largely due to increases in the prices of bread and cereals.

A landmark power-sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has failed to ease the country's economic crisis.

Meanwhile, the UN says it needs $140m for food aid over the next six months.

The UN World Food Programme estimates that two million people are in need of food aid, and that the figure will rise to 5.1 million - or 45% of the population - by early 2009.

"Millions of Zimbabweans have already run out of food or are surviving on just one meal a day - and the crisis is going to get much worse in the coming months," said WFP official Mustapha Darboe.

Some outlets have been licensed to sell goods in US dollars

Tags: zimbabwe, inflation rate, extreme inflation

Millions, Billions and Trillions: Zimbabwean Confusion.

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:23:22 GMT

clipped by: petercasier

Clip Source: www.theroadtothehorizon.org

A few weeks ago, the Zimbabwe National Bank dropped 10 zero's from the Zimbabwe Dollar (ZWD).

Blogger "This is Zimbabwe" is in despair and describes some of the confusion between old and new currency.

Tags: zimbabwe, inflation, africa, news

Iceland in Meltdown Disaster

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 08:47:47 GMT

clipped by: abailart
clipper's remarks: Man-made global economics change.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The party's over for Iceland, the island that tried to buy the world

Almost overnight, its population became the wealthiest on Earth.

The bars and restaurants of Iceland's capital are packed, the Range Rovers and BMWs are parked nose to tail all along the streets of the central 101 district, and music is pumping from a black stretch Hummer limousine cruising by.

Iceland is on the brink of collapse. Inflation and interest rates are raging upwards. The krona, Iceland's currency, is in freefall and is rated just above those of Zimbabwe and Turkmenistan. One of the country's three independent banks has been nationalised, another is asking customers for money, and the discredited government and officials from the central bank have been huddled behind closed doors for three days with still no sign of a plan. International banks won't send any more money and supplies of foreign currency are running out.

Icelanders drink more Coca-Cola than anyone else in the world.

Tags: iceland, economics

Wait For Useless Money

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:26:21 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The guard on the graveyard shift gave them a number. They were the 29th to arrive, all hoping for a chance to withdraw the maximum amount of Zimbabwean currency the government allowed last month — the equivalent of just a dollar or tw

The people of this once proud capital have been plunged into a Darwinian struggle to get by. Many have been reduced to peddlers and paupers, hawkers and black-market hustlers, eating just a meal or two a day, their hollowed cheeks a testament to their hunger.

“It’s survival of the fittest,” said Mrs. Moyo, 29, a hair braider who sells the greens she grows in her yard for a dime a bunch. “If you’re not fit, you will starve.”

“It’s scary and it’s pathetic,” said Tendai Chikowore, president of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, the largest and least radical of the teacher unions

“This is a collapse of the system, and it’s not only for teachers,” she said. “At the hospitals, there are no nurses, no drugs.”

inflation

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:21:13 GMT

clipped by: davecancer

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Economists here and abroad say Zimbabwe’s economic collapse is gaining velocity, radiating instability into the heart of southern Africa. As the bankrupt government prints ever more money, inflation has gone wild, rising from 1,000 percent in 2006 to 12,000 percent in 2007 to a figure so high the government had to lop 10 zeros off the currency in August to keep the nation’s calculators from being overwhelmed. (Had it left the currency alone, $1 would now be worth about 10 trillion Zimbabwean dollars.)

Zimbabwe

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 02:50:49 GMT

clipped by: viewpoint
clipper's remarks: Badass

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

South African President Mbeki to quit

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 08:55:24 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

South African President Mbeki to quit

Mbeki has been South African president since 1999.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) -- South African President Thabo Mbeki agreed Saturday to resign, clearing the way for his longtime political rival, Jacob Zuma, to run for the office next spring.

Mbeki plans to meet with his Cabinet on Sunday to discuss his decision, and some Cabinet members might leave in a show of solidarity.

The party's request to Mbeki came after a judge on September 12 threw out the corruption, fraud and racketeering case against Zuma, calling it invalid and accusing Mbeki's government of political interference in the case.

Zuma had been facing at least 15 years in jail if convicted of accepting bribes from a company that got a contract in a multibillion-dollar arms deal.

Mbeki, 66, succeeded Nelson Mandela as president in June 1999. Critics of Mbeki alleged he pushed for the corruption charges against Zuma.

Tags: south africa, johannesburg, zimbabwe, mbeki, zuma, nelson mandela

What it costs to sack a worker in various countries

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:05:25 GMT

clipped by: hitchhiker08

Clip Source: www.economist.com

What it costs to sack a worker

AFTER years of fat profits and bonuses, cost-cutting is once again at the top of the corporate agenda. For companies wanting to chop out middle-management dead wood or sack factory workers, costs can vary enormously across the world. America, New Zealand and Tonga are among the most company-friendly countries, requiring no penalties or compensation to fire a full-time employee of 20 years. By contrast, a business in Zimbabwe must shell out well over eight years' worth of pay to sack a worker. But companies in Venezuela and Bolivia are even more tied—workers there cannot be fired at all.

Tags: worker, management, hr, human resources, firing

Russia rebuilds arms trade to Africa

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:23:22 GMT

clipped by: tommy2balmy
clipper's remarks: Hibernation time for the bear appears to be over.

Clip Source: en.rian.ru

CAPE TOWN, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has successfully reestablished military-technical cooperation with African countries, which saw a decline after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the head of Russia's state arms exporter said on Wednesday.

"We have recently revived our contacts with all African countries that used to be traditional buyers of Soviet weaponry," Rosoboronexport General Director Anatoly Isaykin told a news conference at the Africa Aerospace & Defence-2008 (AAD-2008) exhibition near Cape Town.

Russia's arms trade customers in Africa include Algeria, Libya, Angola, Ethiopia, Uganda, Morocco, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and Burkina Faso. African countries are attracted to the reliability and competitive prices of Russian arms.

Russia has been striving in recent years to regain its competitive edge in the global arms trade.

Russia exports arms to about 80 countries. Among the largest buyers are China, India, Algeria, Venezuela, Iran, Malaysia, and Serbia.

Tags: russia, arms sales

World vision alternative gifts

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:50:35 GMT

clipped by: jimbo1000
clipper's remarks: This looks like a really good idea. If you need to buy a wedding gift for your friends who already have everything, why not send a goat to Africa

Clip Source: www.greatgifts.org

Gifts that make a world of difference
World Vision Alternative Gifts are life-changing. Friends and family receive greeting cards with details of gifts that they know will make a big difference. Communities in developing countries request the essentials they need to change their lives. You can be sure your gifts will be really appreciated both here and by families around the world.

meal for 70 children £12

Part of Drop In Centre for Working Children, Cambodia

Almost half of all children living in Battambang City, Cambodia have to work to help support their families. Your gift will mean that 70 of these children can eat a nutritious meal at World Vision’s drop-in centre.

a goat £17

Part of Livestock Loans, Zimbabwe

vaccinations for 2 children £20

care kit for a child orphaned by AIDS £31

Tags: charity, development, gifts

Gender gaps suggested

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:59:29 GMT

clipped by: sarahevans

Clip Source: content3.clipmarks.com

As Barriers Disappear, Some Gender Gaps Widen

When men and women take personality tests, some of the old Mars-Venus stereotypes keep reappearing. On average, women are more cooperative, nurturing, cautious and emotionally responsive. Men tend to be more competitive, assertive, reckless and emotionally flat. Clear differences appear in early childhood and never disappear.

It looks as if personality differences between men and women are smaller in traditional cultures like India’s or Zimbabwe’s than in the Netherlands or the United States

The biggest changes recorded by the researchers involve the personalities of men, not women

Removing the stresses of traditional agricultural societies could allow men’s, and to a lesser extent women’s, more ‘natural’ personality traits to emerge

If he and Dr. Schmitt are right, then men and women shouldn’t expect to understand each other much better anytime soon. Things could get confusing if the personality gap widens further as the sexes become equal.

Tags: gendergaps

H.I.V. in Africa

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 03:54:40 GMT

clipped by: horst

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Zimbabwe Lifts Ban on Aid Groups, but Its Effects Linger

A 17-year-old H.I.V. patient in a rural Zimbabwe hospital. The suspension of aid operations deprived more than a million people of assistance, aid donors said.

Zimbabwe lifted an almost three-month-old ban on the work of aid groups on Friday.

Barriers shrink, gaps widen

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:44:11 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: Interesting and counterintuitive results...

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

As Barriers Disappear, Some Gender Gaps Widen

It looks as if personality differences between men and women are smaller in traditional cultures like India’s or Zimbabwe’s than in the Netherlands or the United States

The biggest changes recorded by the researchers involve the personalities of men, not women

Removing the stresses of traditional agricultural societies could allow men’s, and to a lesser extent women’s, more ‘natural’ personality traits to emerge

Tags: gender