The head of one of the anti-corruption agencies the Nigerian government set up to tackle the canker of pervasive corruption in the land, Madam Farida Waziri, was so astounded by the enormity of the problem confronting her that she advocated that those aspiring to public office should first take a mental sanity test to determine the state of their mental aptitude. The poor woman was just too flabbergasted by the insane propensity of Nigerian officials to loot the commonwealth.
Nigerian public officials (they are certainly not civil and definitely not servant) are unquestionably among the most pampered civil servants on earth. A World Bank report says that fully 80% of Nigeria's income is used to run the machinery of government (a clear case of a government expanding to meet the needs of an expanding government)! That, however, hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of these officials for looting the treasury at will. Nigerians are no longer inflamed by reports of corruption in high and low places; it has become a way of life. A culture of corruption has descended and it has deepened into levels that simply leave citizens reeling with incredulity.
According to the United Nations, Nigeria is the 13th poorest nation on earth. In terms of all the indices known to developmental statisticians, the nation performs abysmally low. The cost of living is, literally and figuratively, killing the people. Nigerians rely on generators to supply their electricity needs. Many of them go through life without knowing what pipe-borne water tastes like. The road networks are poor and rail lines are antediluvian. In the 1970s, the national airline, Nigeria Airways, had a fleet of thirty-plus aircrafts; today it's moribund. Nigeria's hospitals are more like slaughterhouses than modern health care centers. The country's educational infrastructure is in very dire condition -- rich Nigerians send their wards to schools in neighboring Ghana, while the seriously rich ones dispatch them to schools in the Western world.
What Nigerians know is that their country continues to pump two million or so barrels of oil every day. Even at the relatively low price of US$50 a barrel, the income from oil alone is no chicken change. What Nigerians also know is that their leaders annually perform the rituals of announcing budgets where truly fantastic figures are allocated to road building, schools, hospitals, etc, etc. What Nigerians also see are their leaders jetting off to Switzerland, the Bahamas, Britain, Lichtenstein, and others "safe havens" where treasury looters, especially from poor countries, are assured of, what else, safe havens for their stolen plunder.
So in Nigeria we have a country of some one hundred and forty million people ruled by unconscionable, otiose elites that cannot distinguish between their private accounts and the national treasury. What is worrisome is that the elites continue to live like there's not going to be a day of reckoning!
Amidst the general impoverishment in the land, the corrupt but well-connected elites continue to live lifestyles that would make Arabian monarchs die of envy. The latest craze is the acquisition by the super-rich of private jets. A little historical detour is necessary to put things in good perspective.
Nigeria was among the mishmash of nations fashioned out by drunken European cartographers at their infamous Berlin Conference in 1884. Nowhere else in the world save Africa do you have fine geometric patterns representing countries. European empire-builders threw together 250 or so African tribal and national groups and decided to call them Nigerians (Nigeria was derived from Niger Area -- Niger being the biggest of the two rivers that dissected the country).
Great (?) Britain got Nigeria and colonized it for close to a century. At independence in 1960, Nigeria, like most ex-colonies, inherited a largely agricultural-based economy. Cocoa, rubber, groundnut, and palm kernel were the major income earners. The early 1970s saw Nigeria transformed into a major crude oil exporting nation and things fell apart for the country. As the oil boomed, Nigeria neglected agriculture and started making EASY money from crude oil; so much so that today, the country relies on oil for over 90% of its income. As it happened in several other places, and oil economy saw Nigeria join the league of highly corrupt nations.
readmore.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Feeling sorry for Nigerian Scammers
It is very difficult for me not to feel sorry for and angry at the sad parade of bush-league amateurs that call themselves scammers in Nigeria. There they are, a bunch of incompetent fools, wasting their time, resources, and energies writing stupid letters...
[sample:
FROM MR. PATRICK K. W. CHAN
(pkw_chan26@yahoo.com.hk)
Let me start by introducing myself. I am Patrick K. W. Chan Executive Director & Chief financial Officer of Hang Seng Bank Ltd. I have an obscured business proposal that will be of great benefit to you and me. It involves the transfer of funds and I need you to assist me in executing this business project from Hong Kong to your country. It involves the transfer of money. Everything concerning this transaction shall be legally done without hitch. Please endeavor to observe utmost discretion in all matters concerning this issue. Once the funds have been successfully transferred into your account, we shall share in the ratio to be agreed by both of us. I shall furnish you with more information about this transfer operation immediately I receive a positive response from you.
I will appreciate your earliest response.
Kind Regards,
Mr. Patrick K. W. Chan]
...and getting measly peanuts for their efforts.
Occasionally, a few brainless morons, with more money than brain cells, respond to these obviously bogus letters and send the SOBs a few thousand dollars, laptops, and other pathetic stuff. These mindless idiots, apparently too befuddled by the sudden windfall, become instant Capitalist Niggers. Instead of investing (that word!) in productive ventures they will start splashing money around like they've got private mint at home. It does not take long for tongues to start wagging -- gossip is a favorite pastime of idle minds, and it has been perfected to scientific form in many parts of Africa. When eventually the arms of the law grab them, they are given a long stretch of jail terms since many African governments have at the instigation of the West passed legislation against these types of crimes. After all, crime does not pay, most especially when perpetrated by evil-minded black men against white people.
For these stupendously pathetic efforts and rewards the scammers succeeded in turning their country into a world-class pariah state. Holding a Nigerian passport has become a sentence to the long stretch of interrogation at border posts. People around the world now look at Nigerians with suspicion, contempt, and disdain.
Even Colin Powell, George W. Bush's secretary of state, chipped in. He famously called Nigeria a nation of scammers. We, of course, should pity that war criminal with absolutely no sense of shame, as he appeared not to have read his history well. This Uncle Tom and his criminal gang launched a colonial war of aggression that killed (who is counting?) Iraqis in order to steal their oil wealth. And he had the audacity to insult another country as being made up of thieves! I wonder what the scallywag thinks his nation's multinational corporations have been doing in the non-white world if not scamming the natives. I wonder whether the idiot has ever read the famous speech of another general, Smedley D. Butley: "War is a Racket."
Let's leave our inane Uncle Tom alone for a while.
As usual, the Western media, vigorously pursuing the agenda of their corporate bosses, come to town to bash Nigeria. From London through Paris to Washington and down under in Australia, Nigeria becomes the butt of jokes. Even talk-show hostess Oprah Winfrey has been recruited in the endeavor. Nigerians are portrayed as evil-minded people whose only desire in life is to swindle decent, innocent, Christian, God-fearing, hard-working, and honest white folks. But is this the reality? I shall tackle that issue another time.
Some Africans get defensive when white folks give their usual sanctimonious speeches about crimes and things. I do not. I suffer from no complex that would make me listen to the children of pirates, gun-boat diplomats, slavers, colonialists, and continent stealers giving me any lecture on morality. Since the dawn of time, as history bloodily attests, Euro-Americans have done nothing but steal, loot, plunder, and expropriate the resources of other people -- if only people will read! "Blessed is he that readeth." Revelation 1:3.
readmore.
[sample:
FROM MR. PATRICK K. W. CHAN
(pkw_chan26@yahoo.com.hk)
Let me start by introducing myself. I am Patrick K. W. Chan Executive Director & Chief financial Officer of Hang Seng Bank Ltd. I have an obscured business proposal that will be of great benefit to you and me. It involves the transfer of funds and I need you to assist me in executing this business project from Hong Kong to your country. It involves the transfer of money. Everything concerning this transaction shall be legally done without hitch. Please endeavor to observe utmost discretion in all matters concerning this issue. Once the funds have been successfully transferred into your account, we shall share in the ratio to be agreed by both of us. I shall furnish you with more information about this transfer operation immediately I receive a positive response from you.
I will appreciate your earliest response.
Kind Regards,
Mr. Patrick K. W. Chan]
...and getting measly peanuts for their efforts.
Occasionally, a few brainless morons, with more money than brain cells, respond to these obviously bogus letters and send the SOBs a few thousand dollars, laptops, and other pathetic stuff. These mindless idiots, apparently too befuddled by the sudden windfall, become instant Capitalist Niggers. Instead of investing (that word!) in productive ventures they will start splashing money around like they've got private mint at home. It does not take long for tongues to start wagging -- gossip is a favorite pastime of idle minds, and it has been perfected to scientific form in many parts of Africa. When eventually the arms of the law grab them, they are given a long stretch of jail terms since many African governments have at the instigation of the West passed legislation against these types of crimes. After all, crime does not pay, most especially when perpetrated by evil-minded black men against white people.
For these stupendously pathetic efforts and rewards the scammers succeeded in turning their country into a world-class pariah state. Holding a Nigerian passport has become a sentence to the long stretch of interrogation at border posts. People around the world now look at Nigerians with suspicion, contempt, and disdain.
Even Colin Powell, George W. Bush's secretary of state, chipped in. He famously called Nigeria a nation of scammers. We, of course, should pity that war criminal with absolutely no sense of shame, as he appeared not to have read his history well. This Uncle Tom and his criminal gang launched a colonial war of aggression that killed (who is counting?) Iraqis in order to steal their oil wealth. And he had the audacity to insult another country as being made up of thieves! I wonder what the scallywag thinks his nation's multinational corporations have been doing in the non-white world if not scamming the natives. I wonder whether the idiot has ever read the famous speech of another general, Smedley D. Butley: "War is a Racket."
Let's leave our inane Uncle Tom alone for a while.
As usual, the Western media, vigorously pursuing the agenda of their corporate bosses, come to town to bash Nigeria. From London through Paris to Washington and down under in Australia, Nigeria becomes the butt of jokes. Even talk-show hostess Oprah Winfrey has been recruited in the endeavor. Nigerians are portrayed as evil-minded people whose only desire in life is to swindle decent, innocent, Christian, God-fearing, hard-working, and honest white folks. But is this the reality? I shall tackle that issue another time.
Some Africans get defensive when white folks give their usual sanctimonious speeches about crimes and things. I do not. I suffer from no complex that would make me listen to the children of pirates, gun-boat diplomats, slavers, colonialists, and continent stealers giving me any lecture on morality. Since the dawn of time, as history bloodily attests, Euro-Americans have done nothing but steal, loot, plunder, and expropriate the resources of other people -- if only people will read! "Blessed is he that readeth." Revelation 1:3.
readmore.
Zimbabwe: Constructive Engagement
"What then did you expect when you unbound the gag that muted those black mouths? That they would chant your praises? Did you think that when those heads that our fathers had forcibly bowed down to the ground were raised again, you would find adoration in their eyes?" - Jean Paul Sartre
"We seriously hope that incoming US president (Barack) Obama and his new team will depart from this ignorant, ruinous and ineffective foreign policy that effectively undermines its intended beneficiaries, strengthens the targeted villains, while blighting the US standing in the world." — Professor Arthur Mutambara, Zimbabwean opposition leader, The Herald, January 05, 2009.
What exactly do you Africans want?
What type of question is that? Of course we want what every decent and normal human being wants. Food in our stomachs; a shelter over our heads; clothes on our bodies; love of our well-endowed women; a drink now and then...
Don't put your tongue in your cheek, my friend. That's not what I mean.
What do you mean, then?
We are damned if we do, and we are damned if we don't!
Obroni [ed. Obroni: a term use in Ghana for white people, not unlike Musungu in Eastern Africa or Oyinbo in Nigeria.], tell me what is agitating you?
It is about Zimbabwe. Why are you people not supporting us in finding a solution to the problems?
You people? And what problems?
Yes, you Africans! In one breath you're begging for our assistance in sustaining your nascent democracy and in another breath you're collaborating with ignoble and brutal dictators like Robert Mugabe.
Umh...
That's all you got to say, umh, that's all, ehn? The man has gone totally bonkers. He has ruined his country's economy and has reduced his people to eating grass, rodents, and things. The opposition is muzzled and the press is gagged. What more crimes do you want him to commit before you people start to take positive action against the monster? Former President Mbeki all but licks his ass, pardon my scatological term.
Obroni, the last time I checked the people of Zimbabwe were settling their problems. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has joined the government. What more do you want?
Ha, you call that joining the government? The Southern African Development Community and your useless African Union blackmailed him. Why should he join a government headed by that ancient monster, tell me? Didn't you hear that Mugabe recently tried to kill the opposition leader in a so-called accident that claimed the man's wife?
Ah! I thought they said it was an accident. Accidents do happen everywhere, you know?
Accident! You called that an accident?
Obroni, you are really worked up! I don't know what else to call it, but is yours not the case of crying more than the bereaved? Maybe it's a philosophical thing?
Philosophical thing -- what philosophy are we talking about when a brutal dictator is messing up the lives of his own people?
Obroni, one of your Western thinkers opined that you have no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests. We in Africa do not hold such cynical views about humans, or any relationship for that matter; hence our saying that a dog does not forget its benefactor. Maybe you should try to understand the African perspective on the issues of Zimbabwe, especially the South Africans' views.
Are we not getting into deep denial here now? Are you not playing the usual blame the foreigner on anything and everything that is going bad game?
I am playing no game. I'm just telling you some plain facts of life here in Africa. Has it occurred to you that we are simply tired of you people playing games with us and with your fiddling our intelligence?
readmore.
"We seriously hope that incoming US president (Barack) Obama and his new team will depart from this ignorant, ruinous and ineffective foreign policy that effectively undermines its intended beneficiaries, strengthens the targeted villains, while blighting the US standing in the world." — Professor Arthur Mutambara, Zimbabwean opposition leader, The Herald, January 05, 2009.
What exactly do you Africans want?
What type of question is that? Of course we want what every decent and normal human being wants. Food in our stomachs; a shelter over our heads; clothes on our bodies; love of our well-endowed women; a drink now and then...
Don't put your tongue in your cheek, my friend. That's not what I mean.
What do you mean, then?
We are damned if we do, and we are damned if we don't!
Obroni [ed. Obroni: a term use in Ghana for white people, not unlike Musungu in Eastern Africa or Oyinbo in Nigeria.], tell me what is agitating you?
It is about Zimbabwe. Why are you people not supporting us in finding a solution to the problems?
You people? And what problems?
Yes, you Africans! In one breath you're begging for our assistance in sustaining your nascent democracy and in another breath you're collaborating with ignoble and brutal dictators like Robert Mugabe.
Umh...
That's all you got to say, umh, that's all, ehn? The man has gone totally bonkers. He has ruined his country's economy and has reduced his people to eating grass, rodents, and things. The opposition is muzzled and the press is gagged. What more crimes do you want him to commit before you people start to take positive action against the monster? Former President Mbeki all but licks his ass, pardon my scatological term.
Obroni, the last time I checked the people of Zimbabwe were settling their problems. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has joined the government. What more do you want?
Ha, you call that joining the government? The Southern African Development Community and your useless African Union blackmailed him. Why should he join a government headed by that ancient monster, tell me? Didn't you hear that Mugabe recently tried to kill the opposition leader in a so-called accident that claimed the man's wife?
Ah! I thought they said it was an accident. Accidents do happen everywhere, you know?
Accident! You called that an accident?
Obroni, you are really worked up! I don't know what else to call it, but is yours not the case of crying more than the bereaved? Maybe it's a philosophical thing?
Philosophical thing -- what philosophy are we talking about when a brutal dictator is messing up the lives of his own people?
Obroni, one of your Western thinkers opined that you have no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests. We in Africa do not hold such cynical views about humans, or any relationship for that matter; hence our saying that a dog does not forget its benefactor. Maybe you should try to understand the African perspective on the issues of Zimbabwe, especially the South Africans' views.
Are we not getting into deep denial here now? Are you not playing the usual blame the foreigner on anything and everything that is going bad game?
I am playing no game. I'm just telling you some plain facts of life here in Africa. Has it occurred to you that we are simply tired of you people playing games with us and with your fiddling our intelligence?
readmore.
Ghana: The Audacity of Looting!
Ghanaians who had thought that their long-drawn December 2007 polls, which spoiled their yuletide celebrations, confounded their New Year revelry, exacerbated the ethnic tensions in their country, polarized their body politics, and ended in the record books as the presidential polls decided by the narrowest of margin possible was the worst thing they could imagine, were soon to be sorely disappointed.
They were sufficiently discombobulated when it emerged that, a day before the handover to the new government on January 7, 2009, a mind-bending and super-extravagant presidential and parliamentarian retirement package had been approved by the outgoing parliament. The package was so excessive in its generosity that it left Ghanaians totally flabberwhelmed (a contraption of flabbergasted and overwhelmed).
Ghanaians are long used to insensitive politicians taking good care of their stomachs, while exhorting the ordinary people to tighten their belts and make sacrifices in the interest of the nation. But the sheer magnitude of the new package just took the breath of the people away -- literally and metaphorically. In order to put things in their proper context, it is necessary to throw some statistics around.
Ghana is a small country with a population of some 23 million people and a land mass of 238,500 square kilometers. A paltry GDP of US$10.7 billion gives the nation a measly GNP of some US$478. Ghana has a high illiteracy rate and the infant mortality rate is also very high. By all the indices known to statisticians, Ghana is a poor country. Many Ghanaians struggle to get just one meal a day, and many folks still live in conditions of shocking poverty. Many villages, especially in the northern part of the country, rely on NGOs for their education and health care.
The paradox is that Ghana is a nation immensely blessed with natural resources (gold, manganese, bauxite, diamond and, now, oil, among others), yet many Ghanaians are very poor, even by Africa's low standards. Yet, the poverty of a vast numbers of the citizens did not stop Ghanaian MPs (230 of them) from taking a car loan from the state. It did not stop the president of the Republic from tooling around town in an expensive 4-wheel-drive Jeep cavalcade. It did not stop ministers and other political jobbers from taking from the state free houses, free cars, free fuel, and other emoluments! And they go around shamelessly mouthing the outrageous lies that they are the "servants of the people!"
A debt of some US$7 billion emphatically compounded the country's economic woes. This made the former government embrace the Highly Indebted and Poor Country (HIPC) initiatives of the IMF and World Bank. HIPC was one in the long stream of acronyms the twin Breton Wood institutions foisted on poor countries in order to allow Western multinationals to continue the rape of their resources.
According to its apostles, the HIPC initiative would, among other things, allow the adhering countries to get some relief from their unbearable debt burden. The leaders of the poor countries were made to swallow their pride and proclaimed their countries HEAVILY INDEBTED AND POOR! Ghana was among them, and the man that took his nation into the HIPC club was ex-president John Kufuor. And it was the same president who, on retiring after his two terms, was to enjoy a bonanza that would enable him to live like an Arabian sovereign.
Ghanaians were not amused. In calls to their numerous radio stations, they searched and reached for the most uncomplimentary adjectives to describe the unconscionable actions of their elected leaders. And the reasons should be understandable.
readmore.
They were sufficiently discombobulated when it emerged that, a day before the handover to the new government on January 7, 2009, a mind-bending and super-extravagant presidential and parliamentarian retirement package had been approved by the outgoing parliament. The package was so excessive in its generosity that it left Ghanaians totally flabberwhelmed (a contraption of flabbergasted and overwhelmed).
Ghanaians are long used to insensitive politicians taking good care of their stomachs, while exhorting the ordinary people to tighten their belts and make sacrifices in the interest of the nation. But the sheer magnitude of the new package just took the breath of the people away -- literally and metaphorically. In order to put things in their proper context, it is necessary to throw some statistics around.
Ghana is a small country with a population of some 23 million people and a land mass of 238,500 square kilometers. A paltry GDP of US$10.7 billion gives the nation a measly GNP of some US$478. Ghana has a high illiteracy rate and the infant mortality rate is also very high. By all the indices known to statisticians, Ghana is a poor country. Many Ghanaians struggle to get just one meal a day, and many folks still live in conditions of shocking poverty. Many villages, especially in the northern part of the country, rely on NGOs for their education and health care.
The paradox is that Ghana is a nation immensely blessed with natural resources (gold, manganese, bauxite, diamond and, now, oil, among others), yet many Ghanaians are very poor, even by Africa's low standards. Yet, the poverty of a vast numbers of the citizens did not stop Ghanaian MPs (230 of them) from taking a car loan from the state. It did not stop the president of the Republic from tooling around town in an expensive 4-wheel-drive Jeep cavalcade. It did not stop ministers and other political jobbers from taking from the state free houses, free cars, free fuel, and other emoluments! And they go around shamelessly mouthing the outrageous lies that they are the "servants of the people!"
A debt of some US$7 billion emphatically compounded the country's economic woes. This made the former government embrace the Highly Indebted and Poor Country (HIPC) initiatives of the IMF and World Bank. HIPC was one in the long stream of acronyms the twin Breton Wood institutions foisted on poor countries in order to allow Western multinationals to continue the rape of their resources.
According to its apostles, the HIPC initiative would, among other things, allow the adhering countries to get some relief from their unbearable debt burden. The leaders of the poor countries were made to swallow their pride and proclaimed their countries HEAVILY INDEBTED AND POOR! Ghana was among them, and the man that took his nation into the HIPC club was ex-president John Kufuor. And it was the same president who, on retiring after his two terms, was to enjoy a bonanza that would enable him to live like an Arabian sovereign.
Ghanaians were not amused. In calls to their numerous radio stations, they searched and reached for the most uncomplimentary adjectives to describe the unconscionable actions of their elected leaders. And the reasons should be understandable.
readmore.
Cry Palestine!
"Everyone is crying now for peace, none is crying now for justice. I don't want no peace, all I need is Equal Rights and Justice." — Peter Tosh (from the album "Equal Rights.")
"When a people assume their God approves of their criminal action against another people, they have made God ungodly." — Dr. John Henrik Clarke
There is an African saying to the effect that Tortoise, on visiting its in-laws, was asked when it'd return. Tortoise was said to have replied: "When I'm disgraced!"
It is difficult to imagine what strategic reason informed Israel's insane war of aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza last December. But the images of Israeli war machines (mostly US supplied) smashing into defenseless Palestinian homes; the rocketing of UN facilities; the bombing of schools and mosques; only painted the state of Israel in the worst possible hue. About fourteen hundred Palestinians (400 children among them) were massacred to satiate Israel's lust for blood.
The ostensible reason the Israelis gave was to stop Hamas from firing its puny rockets, which are more of a nuisance than a threat to the Middle East's sole hyperpower. Aside from die-hard Zionists, no one believes it any longer when Israel claims that it is fighting a war of survival. And that the state of Israel contemptuously rejected UN entreaties only showcases the country as a lawless state governed by reprobate brigands with scant regard for international laws and norms. The West did itself grievous injury when its leaders appeared to be groveling to the Israelis. The international standing of the United States was dealt a serious blow when the prime minister of Israel, Olmert, arrogantly boasted about how he ordered President George W. Bush to make US Secretary of State Rice comply.
The spectacle of Israel's political leaders jostling to position themselves as the best killers is straight from the Old Testament. Listening to Israeli officials and their Zionist supporters, one is left with the impression that they all possess a one-track mind.
"Look at us," they keep yelling at the world, "we are the only democracy in the whole of the Middle East. Terrorists, ever prepared to do us in, are constantly besieging us. Look at our neighbors, the Palestinians, we have GIVEN them everything they asked for and yet they are killing our INNOCENT people. We are the victims of aggression. The whole world is against us. The UN is nothing but a club of terrorist states whose sole aim is to destroy the State of Israel. We have to DEFEND ourselves"
That the facts contradict them do not seem to bother these Zionists.
The only "democracy" where rioting children are regularly shot to death without compunction. The only "democracy" where "collective punishment" is the norm; where olive groves of Palestinian farmers are routinely destroyed; where schools, hospitals and places of worship are fair game for armed settlers; where Palestinian homes are routinely bulldozed for the offence of a single member of the family; where Palestinian properties are illegally confiscated by military authorities; where text containing the word Palestine is forbidden; where books (including those of one of their ex foreign ministers, Abba Eban) are banned; where occupied lands are brazenly stolen. Sing me another song, please!
The behavior of the Israelis begins to make sense only after one has read the Jewish Pentateuch or the five books of Moses. The books show the Jewish god, Jehovah, as a totally amoral, blood-thirsty, and implacable tyrant. Aggression, vindictiveness, pettiness and callousness were some of the attributes of Jehovah. The Jewish god knows only the language of aggression and unbridled violence. Jehovah was a god that would stay the movement of the sun to allow his general to utterly destroy his enemies. He was god who visited a vicious war on the Midianites killing all the virgins, all the men, all the babies, all "creatures that breathe," all houses, all cities. Jehovah was a god that will promise his people stolen land. The books informed us that: "And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the first-born of Pharaoh that sat upon his throne unto the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the first born of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians: and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead." Exodus XII, 29, 30.
And Jehovah gave his people clear instructions on morality: "When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her... thou shall go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. And it shall be, if thou hast no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will." Deut. XXI, 10-14.
readmore.
"When a people assume their God approves of their criminal action against another people, they have made God ungodly." — Dr. John Henrik Clarke
There is an African saying to the effect that Tortoise, on visiting its in-laws, was asked when it'd return. Tortoise was said to have replied: "When I'm disgraced!"
It is difficult to imagine what strategic reason informed Israel's insane war of aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza last December. But the images of Israeli war machines (mostly US supplied) smashing into defenseless Palestinian homes; the rocketing of UN facilities; the bombing of schools and mosques; only painted the state of Israel in the worst possible hue. About fourteen hundred Palestinians (400 children among them) were massacred to satiate Israel's lust for blood.
The ostensible reason the Israelis gave was to stop Hamas from firing its puny rockets, which are more of a nuisance than a threat to the Middle East's sole hyperpower. Aside from die-hard Zionists, no one believes it any longer when Israel claims that it is fighting a war of survival. And that the state of Israel contemptuously rejected UN entreaties only showcases the country as a lawless state governed by reprobate brigands with scant regard for international laws and norms. The West did itself grievous injury when its leaders appeared to be groveling to the Israelis. The international standing of the United States was dealt a serious blow when the prime minister of Israel, Olmert, arrogantly boasted about how he ordered President George W. Bush to make US Secretary of State Rice comply.
The spectacle of Israel's political leaders jostling to position themselves as the best killers is straight from the Old Testament. Listening to Israeli officials and their Zionist supporters, one is left with the impression that they all possess a one-track mind.
"Look at us," they keep yelling at the world, "we are the only democracy in the whole of the Middle East. Terrorists, ever prepared to do us in, are constantly besieging us. Look at our neighbors, the Palestinians, we have GIVEN them everything they asked for and yet they are killing our INNOCENT people. We are the victims of aggression. The whole world is against us. The UN is nothing but a club of terrorist states whose sole aim is to destroy the State of Israel. We have to DEFEND ourselves"
That the facts contradict them do not seem to bother these Zionists.
The only "democracy" where rioting children are regularly shot to death without compunction. The only "democracy" where "collective punishment" is the norm; where olive groves of Palestinian farmers are routinely destroyed; where schools, hospitals and places of worship are fair game for armed settlers; where Palestinian homes are routinely bulldozed for the offence of a single member of the family; where Palestinian properties are illegally confiscated by military authorities; where text containing the word Palestine is forbidden; where books (including those of one of their ex foreign ministers, Abba Eban) are banned; where occupied lands are brazenly stolen. Sing me another song, please!
The behavior of the Israelis begins to make sense only after one has read the Jewish Pentateuch or the five books of Moses. The books show the Jewish god, Jehovah, as a totally amoral, blood-thirsty, and implacable tyrant. Aggression, vindictiveness, pettiness and callousness were some of the attributes of Jehovah. The Jewish god knows only the language of aggression and unbridled violence. Jehovah was a god that would stay the movement of the sun to allow his general to utterly destroy his enemies. He was god who visited a vicious war on the Midianites killing all the virgins, all the men, all the babies, all "creatures that breathe," all houses, all cities. Jehovah was a god that will promise his people stolen land. The books informed us that: "And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the first-born of Pharaoh that sat upon his throne unto the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the first born of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians: and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead." Exodus XII, 29, 30.
And Jehovah gave his people clear instructions on morality: "When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her... thou shall go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. And it shall be, if thou hast no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will." Deut. XXI, 10-14.
readmore.
Understanding Nigerians
Do you know what?
What, my friend?
Nigeria is the most misunderstood country in the world and Nigerians the most misinterpreted people on earth.
Ah, my friend, are we not exaggerating here?
No, my friend; Nigeria is the most undeservedly abused, the most pathologically hated, the most improperly maltreated, the most unjustifiably misunderstood, the most irrationally...
Easy, easy, take it easy. I get the picture, but why all this big grammar?
Just look at the facts...
Facts, where are they?
Do you know what Winston Churchill said?
My friend, what type of question is that? Churchill was a wordsmith and the question ought to be what Churchill didn't say. Did he say something about Nigeria?
Not exactly, but the quote is very relevant here. He said that the Soviet Union was an enigmatic puzzle wrapped in mystery, or something to that effect. I think that the man meant Nigeria. Nigeria surely comes close to that description.
Really?
Yes, really!
And don't you think that Nigerians deserve some of the opprobrium being thrown at them? All that everyone knows is that yours is a country where only very bad news emanates. When it is not soldiers taking over the reins of government, it's your 419 scammers stealing money from innocent people. Your youth are notorious for kidnapping expatriates and setting fires to oil wells. And we know how you people are prepared to cut throats during your not so infrequent religious riots. And your elections are always so fraudulent that it leaves everyone reeling. You certainly cannot blame anyone for that, can you?
readmore.
What, my friend?
Nigeria is the most misunderstood country in the world and Nigerians the most misinterpreted people on earth.
Ah, my friend, are we not exaggerating here?
No, my friend; Nigeria is the most undeservedly abused, the most pathologically hated, the most improperly maltreated, the most unjustifiably misunderstood, the most irrationally...
Easy, easy, take it easy. I get the picture, but why all this big grammar?
Just look at the facts...
Facts, where are they?
Do you know what Winston Churchill said?
My friend, what type of question is that? Churchill was a wordsmith and the question ought to be what Churchill didn't say. Did he say something about Nigeria?
Not exactly, but the quote is very relevant here. He said that the Soviet Union was an enigmatic puzzle wrapped in mystery, or something to that effect. I think that the man meant Nigeria. Nigeria surely comes close to that description.
Really?
Yes, really!
And don't you think that Nigerians deserve some of the opprobrium being thrown at them? All that everyone knows is that yours is a country where only very bad news emanates. When it is not soldiers taking over the reins of government, it's your 419 scammers stealing money from innocent people. Your youth are notorious for kidnapping expatriates and setting fires to oil wells. And we know how you people are prepared to cut throats during your not so infrequent religious riots. And your elections are always so fraudulent that it leaves everyone reeling. You certainly cannot blame anyone for that, can you?
readmore.
Bush's Last Hurrah
My fellow Americans and citizens of our great nation, it has been a great and humble, em, eh, humbling to have been your Commander in Chief in this turbulent two years, eh, eight terms, em, eight years of my administration against our homeland. I have been wonderful for my administration to steer the affairs of our great American nation, especially at this dangerous times when al Qaeda and their affiliations are preparing and are ever prepared to cause collateral damage to our freedom and liberty. The battle is great and it is wage to the survival of our way of life. We are a people nation. But we are also a fighting nation. We are a strong nation and people. Our soldiers, troops, marines, and sailors are helping to ensure the liberty of our safety and guarantee our love and freedom.
My fellow Americans, you know that we are a peaceful people. We love our neighbors and we care deeply about Africa. Why? some of you may genuinely ask me. It is something I love to do and it is very close to my heart and affection. When I went to Africa and see those wonderful people and met their kings and presidents, Laura and I said: Enough, never again shall a child go hungry. Africa is an incredible place of hostility, ehm, ehm, hospitality. When we invite the African kings to go and meet me at the White House, we retaliated their own hospitality for kind. Because when we went to Africa, Laura and me were treated like royal. The people have very little but they gave generously. So, Laura and I and officials from State and Defense departments welcome advice and said to ourselves, we shall encourage the growth of liberty in Africa. In recognition we gave freedom medals to some African chief. We shall help Africa to build frontiers of liberty and freedom in places like Zimbabwe and Sudan. Our effort is genuine and our work is great but together Africa shall march forward to posterity not in want and hatred but love and concern for her wonderful people.
Thanks to our gallant soldiers and troops and their fine commanders, we have extended the fire, em, eh, torch of liberty, to corners where dictators once roam. Democracy have prevailed in Iraq and Saddam Hussein is gone. So are his two terrible sons. The Iraq people are grateful to us for letting the light of liberty and freedom shine through the dark Arabic night and illuminate their houses. Today Iraqis go about their business not being afraid of secret police knocking on their houses, ehm, doors, at the middle of nowhere in the night to kill them off with poison gas and other weapons of mass murder at the hands of Saddam Hussein and his killers. Today Americans walk tall and proud in Iraq and elsewhere. Thanks to our vigilance and endurance Muslim killers are no longer in control in Iraq.
We shine our liberty light in Pakistan and in India where we helped prevail upon people between two antagonistic nuclear people, nations. Today, India is at peace with her neighbors. Pakistan has just elected a democratically elected President and the country is fighting side by side with the international community and NATO troops to convince down the Islamic terrorists who are destroying the name of the great religion of the Islam people. Islam is a great religion of peace and is one of the three great religions in the world. But al Qaeda people hid behind this great religion to spread intolerance propaganda among the people and children at their schools in Pakistan. I have ordered our Special Forces to initiate infiltrate to known terrorist cells in Pakistan and across. I say to al Qaeda, you cannot run but you can hide. Like they say in my Texas: "The Sheriff gonna get you."
readmore.
My fellow Americans, you know that we are a peaceful people. We love our neighbors and we care deeply about Africa. Why? some of you may genuinely ask me. It is something I love to do and it is very close to my heart and affection. When I went to Africa and see those wonderful people and met their kings and presidents, Laura and I said: Enough, never again shall a child go hungry. Africa is an incredible place of hostility, ehm, ehm, hospitality. When we invite the African kings to go and meet me at the White House, we retaliated their own hospitality for kind. Because when we went to Africa, Laura and me were treated like royal. The people have very little but they gave generously. So, Laura and I and officials from State and Defense departments welcome advice and said to ourselves, we shall encourage the growth of liberty in Africa. In recognition we gave freedom medals to some African chief. We shall help Africa to build frontiers of liberty and freedom in places like Zimbabwe and Sudan. Our effort is genuine and our work is great but together Africa shall march forward to posterity not in want and hatred but love and concern for her wonderful people.
Thanks to our gallant soldiers and troops and their fine commanders, we have extended the fire, em, eh, torch of liberty, to corners where dictators once roam. Democracy have prevailed in Iraq and Saddam Hussein is gone. So are his two terrible sons. The Iraq people are grateful to us for letting the light of liberty and freedom shine through the dark Arabic night and illuminate their houses. Today Iraqis go about their business not being afraid of secret police knocking on their houses, ehm, doors, at the middle of nowhere in the night to kill them off with poison gas and other weapons of mass murder at the hands of Saddam Hussein and his killers. Today Americans walk tall and proud in Iraq and elsewhere. Thanks to our vigilance and endurance Muslim killers are no longer in control in Iraq.
We shine our liberty light in Pakistan and in India where we helped prevail upon people between two antagonistic nuclear people, nations. Today, India is at peace with her neighbors. Pakistan has just elected a democratically elected President and the country is fighting side by side with the international community and NATO troops to convince down the Islamic terrorists who are destroying the name of the great religion of the Islam people. Islam is a great religion of peace and is one of the three great religions in the world. But al Qaeda people hid behind this great religion to spread intolerance propaganda among the people and children at their schools in Pakistan. I have ordered our Special Forces to initiate infiltrate to known terrorist cells in Pakistan and across. I say to al Qaeda, you cannot run but you can hide. Like they say in my Texas: "The Sheriff gonna get you."
readmore.
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