She said it with a straight face.

REUTERS: 'Clinton warns against "new colonialism" in Africa'

Meanwhile...

The New Scramble for Africa

Colonialism is alive and well among US academic institutions. Helpful Humanitarian intervention? No way, Zaid! Africa needs another revolutionary like Basil Davidson to blast this western hypocrisy to smithereens.

"No one should believe that these investors are there to feed starving Africans, create jobs or improve food security," said Obang Metho of Solidarity Movement for New Ethiopia. "These agreements – many of which could be in place for 99 years – do not mean progress for local people and will not lead to food in their stomachs. These deals lead only to dollars in the pockets of corrupt leaders and foreign investors."

"The scale of the land deals being struck is shocking", said Mittal. "The conversion of African small farms and forests into a natural-asset-based, high-return investment strategy can drive up food prices and increase the risks of climate change.

Radio Netherlands: Is the World Cup too expensive for Africa?

"The investments were budgeted at a few million. The real cost will be a thousandfold; 3 to 5 billion. And that in a country where a large part of the population still lives in deep poverty."



(Apologies for the lousy embedded video obtained from RNW's site.)

See this related report from Democracy Now! (an interview made prior to the start of the matches) - Raj Patel on How South Africa Has Cracked Down on the Poor and the Shack Dwellers’ Movement

ILLEGAL TOXINS DUMPING BY WEST IN AFRICA

DUTCHNEWS.NL [Tuesday 5 August 2008]

The illegal dumping of used electronic goods by the Netherlands and other Western countries is causing serious soil pollution in Ghana, according to tests carried out by the environmental organisation Greenpeace, reports ANP news service on Tuesday morning.

Large quantities of toxic materials, including lead and dioxins, have been found in the ground at scrap metal dumps in Ghana, says Greenpeace.

Almost 80% of the used electronic equipment that is sent to Ghana comes from west Europe and much of this is from the Dutch manufacturer Philips, the organisation says.

The dumping of used electronic devices is illegal but the Dutch system for collecting this waste is ‘as leaky as a colander’ Greenpeace campaign leader Kim Schoppink is quoted as saying by ANP.

Schoppink calls on Philips to make sure that all electronic equipment is recycled in the Netherlands.

In a reaction, a Philips spokeswoman told ANP that the company condemns the illegal transport of used electrical appliances which she says is outside its control.

The opposition Green Left party on Tuesday called on the cabinet to take a tougher stance on the dumping of electronic appliances. The party wants to know whether Greenpeace’s claim that only 15% of the annual 300,000 tonnes of the Netherlands’ electronic waste is recycled, reports ANP.

A report published in June by the by NVMP, which is responsible for the recycling system of electronic goods, concluded that 80% of the country’s used electronic equipment is recycled. Some 9% remains unaccounted for, the report said.

Willem Canneman, chairman of the NVMP told ANP that ‘the solution is not with producers but with the law’.

One solution could be to tackle the system for exporting second hand goods, he told ANP. ‘But that must be on a European level,’ he said.

'A MUCH LARGER DISCOURSE OF HATE'

MARK VERNON

Sudan is at war: should Gene Robinson resign?

I've not been down to Canterbury, to get a hands on feel for the Lambeth Conference. Beneath the headlines, there are no doubt many humane and humbling encounters being experienced by participants. But the headlines do seem to be taking a nosedive.

Yesterday, the Archbishop of Sudan called for his fellow American and openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson, to resign. He spoke of the difficulty gay bishops and blessings causes him in his war torn country. 'We are called infidel by the Islamic world,' he said. 'Immediately it gives them the way out to tell the other people, these people are evil and they can even harm our people more.'

This is no doubt a serious charge. That recognised, it clearly isn't the case that Robinson is the cause of strife in Sudan. Rather, his name has become a slogan within a much larger discourse of hate. If Robinson did resign, you can bet your bottom dollar there are other sticks that Muslims in that place would pick up to beat the 'infidel'.

Moreover, homophobia kills many too. As a reminder of this, Robinson is at Canterbury, if not at Lambeth, accompanied by body guards and wearing a bulletproof vest.

In short, two evils do not make a good: ostracising a gay bishop to tackle religious violence is not a recipe for peace. Difficult though it is, the only hope must be to keep firmly focused on what you believe to be true - or, as one would hope a Christian should say, on what you believe to be godly. Violence is not godly. Homophobia is not godly. Gene Robinson should stay.

And this uncharitable behaviour doesn't help, either.

UNBATHED

Of course, it’s all part of international diplomacy to hand out these honours like candy, but it I think it undermines the whole point of having them in the first place. Ceaucescu did not suddenly become a vile dictator (he already was one) when he was honoured as Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. That knighthood was taken back by the Queen later on. Emperor Hirohito of Japan was removed from the Garter rolls, and his shield removed, during WWII. He received it back during a state visit in 1971. This week Queen Elizabeth II (on the advice of a very hypocritical British government) has revoked the Order of Bath given to Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe.

There’s nothing honourable about these honours, especially since the Queen has named Abdullah II of Jordan and Abdullah of Saudi Arabia as Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. Media attention is now on elections in Zimbabwe and Mugabe as dictator of the moment, but the two Abdullahs are monarchs of decidedly undemocratic lands. You won't read MSM calls for democratic elections in their countries, and don’t expect them to be thrown out of the bath any time soon, either.

'THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR WATER'

Ladies and gentlemen, more than 7500 people die every day because they lack adequate access to clean drinking water and safe sanitation. Only 62% of Africans have access to safe water and only 43% have access to adequate sanitation. Clean water and sanitation are not only about hygiene and disease. Sanitation is about health, dignity and development. If we invest in clean water and sanitation we invest in people and their social and economic development.

Steve Biko, the forgotten martyr, 12 September 1977

Thirty years ago today Steve Biko, the South African trade unionist, was murdered in police custody.

If the townships revolt undermined the myth of white omnipotence, Biko's death destroyed any claim the regime had to morality. Not only was he beaten unconscious while being detained without trial in Port Elizabeth, he was then carried nearly 1,000 miles in a police van, naked and in a coma, to Pretoria, where he died of a brain haemorrhage on 12 September, 1977.

Today in 1935

Today - seventy-two years ago, Queen Astrid of the Belgians was killed in an auto accident in Switzerland. She was popular, even in Holland - my father collected Astrid memorial postage stamps, unfortunately destroyed when his house was bombed during the 1939-45 war.

To commemorate this event and her short life, the BRMB has posted some old photos.

Wow, I bet there is a story behind the photo above, on the right, of Astrid and Leopold during a 1933 trip to the Belgian Congo. Fascinating, when you consider how the Belgians raped Africa and you see this kind of paternalistic, colonial (1930s) view of Belgium over the Congolese. These kinds of souvenir photos of the rulers with the local indigenous people are typical. We know what happened to Astrid, Leopold, and the Congo. But what did the future hold for the six children in this photograph? What were their stories? They have names, but remain nameless.

Arguing for a middle way from the extremes

In the current chaotic mess that is the Anglican Communion, I'm glad I found this bit of sanity (thanks to Mad Priest and Max Rainey).

An alternative African perspective, in the Anglican tradition of via media - The Anglican Communion: crisis and opportunity - read the full text of a speech by Bishop Musonda Trevor Selwyn Mwamba of Botswana.

The late Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie, wrote in a foreword to a book, Grow or Die in 1981, that "…no single form of Christian experience, conviction or organisation is going to prevail over others. Conservative and radical, contemplative and activist, pietist and social reformer, all must learn to live together. They may and should see much to criticize in their own and others’ position. The critical faculty must not be lost. Reverence for truth must still be paramount. But all must learn to live together, for in religion, as in all else, the same things do not appeal to everybody".

James Kauluma, Bishop & Freedom Fighter

Episcopal News Service - The Rt. Rev. James Kauluma, the former and longest-serving bishop of Namibia, died April 16 after battling with prostrate cancer for several years. He was 75.

Kauluma was greatly admired for his courage and determination on behalf of Namibia and her people. He served as the sixth Anglican Bishop of Namibia from 1981 to 1998 and led the church through the liberation struggle under apartheid in South Africa, which ruled Namibia -- formerly South West Africa -- under a League of Nations mandate dating from the end of World War I until the country's independence in 1990.

The Prince's Crazy Dream: The Sahel Opera Project

With all the despair, the story report below makes room for light amid the darkness of our world. Only connect, the writer, E. M. Forster, wrote. Here we connect through music.

My friend, David Swatling, introduces The Princes's Crazy Dream on Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep/Vox Humana (English):

Prince Claus, the Dutch Queen's late consort, had what some would call a crazy idea. Right up until his death in 2002, he dreamed of creating an opera in the Sahel; the band of African countries along the southern Sahara stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. Now, some of the Sahel's most talented musicians and artists have come together to bring his idea to the stage.

On Saturday 17 February, members of the Dutch Royal family presented the 2007 Prince Claus Award at the world premiere of "Bintou Were: A Sahel Opera" at the spectacular open-air theatre of the Palais de la Culture on the banks of the Niger River, in Bamako, Mali.

On June 7, 8 & 9 it will premiere in Europe at the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, as part of the Holland Festival, and in October, at Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, France.
Prince Claus Fund: The Sahel Opera Project (English)

Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep: Prince Claus, the unknown prince --

Frans Bieckmann says the ideas he presented were not revolutionary, but they were progressive:

"Basically, Prince Claus thought that people in developing countries should be allowed to handle their own development. It is not for the West to prescribe how people in those countries should develop […] Richer nations should enable them to develop on their own by creating the right kind of international conditions for them to do so."

Towards the end of his life, Prince Claus became increasingly bitter about the results – or lack thereof – achieved by and with development aid. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Dutch development aid in 1999, he wrote a damning speech in which he said a celebration was inappropriate because of the failure of aid to achieve anything significant in the preceding decades. His speech was so critical that he was not allowed to use it.