Fade Out

Bad Vista, Bad

This one is for the children... Considering Vista? Heard something about the problems with Digital Rights Management (or perhaps DRM and Vista together)? Take a look at BadVista for a description of a few of Vista's not so strong points and see DefectiveByDesign for more information about the scourge that is DRM.

Zimbabwe facing severe food shortages

From the "never saw that one coming..." department:

The Famine Early Warning System says the cereal balance sheet projects a shortfall in maize - the staple food - of some 850,000 tonnes.
By December only 152,600 tonnes had been delivered, meaning widespread hunger looks set to continue.
The monitors say Zimbabwe's lack of foreign currency is a key problem.

Full BBC story here.

This one is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Mugabe's actions have directly lead to Zimbabwe falling off the map of world media attention, for better and for much worse. The inability of everyone in the SADC region to say anything (read Thabo Mbeki) has only served to further this. Bob passed years ago.

I think that many know that Zimbabwe's situation and the inevitable course of resolution (whatever that may be) is going to be something akin to a watershed moment for Southern Africa. The politics of Zimbabwe have always been sticky, but oh how the mighty have fallen and now everyone finds that their tongues are tied when it comes to speaking about Bob.

This op-ed piece from Kigali serves to highlight some of the issues and shows how messy the situation is.

Millions have fled Zimbabwe or died from hunger, disease and violence. The life expectancy is barely half what it was 15 years ago and the economy has shrunk by 40 per cent this century. And it is all the work of dictator Robert Mugabe and his partners in crime who have entrenched their political power and economic authority by torturing, starving and killing their own people.

On a related note South Africa deported 109,532 Zimbabweans in 2006. Here.

Lesotho, SADC is watching you

According to this sardc.net article, the upcoming elections and the subsequent results (well we hope that results ensue...) are being closely watched by SADC.

The Lesotho elections will be significant in that they will be the litmus test on whether the SADC region is indeed on a permanent path towards democratization of its political systems.

In other words, we hope Lesotho does not engage in full scale rioting like 1998 which would not be the best thing to ever happen to the SADC PR department. I suppose one could also see this as a sign that SADC is going to have a presence in the country ready to make sure that the elections do not lead to 1998 levels. And, of course, you can rest assured that the Katse Dam will be well defended...

In other election news, a Public Eye story has Mosisili questioning the ABC's funding sources, here.

The LCD leader accused ABC of working in cahoots with foreign elements to destabilise the country. “Let me warn them that we have enough capacity to deal with any dissent.”

Mosisili went on to explain the Libyan Ambassador situation:

Mosisili said soon after ABC was formed, the Libyan ambassador to Lesotho Mohamed Algamudi became unruly and was getting out of hand. “We then decided to take him back home because we did not want to sour our relationships with our Libyan friends.”

Yeah I am sure that is exactly the way that the Libyan delegation feels about the whole situation. But the best part of the article is this:

Talking to Public Eye on condition of anonymity, a worried member hit at his leadership saying: “Mosisili must change his attitude and control his tongue if he has to lead this party."

Good luck Lesotho, you may well need it.

Christmas 2006 Photos!

Oh yeah! Got some Smith family photos from my Aunt. Check it out here.

Eskom Sucks... Lesotho Rules?

Apparently Eskom's complete incompetence may lead to a few jobs for Lesotho. Recent power problems have hit the Durban Textile industry especially hard.

The cuts, which Eskom attributed to power station maintenance and the shut down of one unit at the country's only nuclear power plant, caused outages stretching from Cape Town to Johannesburg. South Africa's power woes have raised political temperatures in the past, with critics accusing the government of failing to address the energy crunch plaguing Africa's biggest economy as it gears up to host the Soccer World Cup in 2010.

Prominent textile industry businessman Rory Macpherson said further power cuts may well lead to textile businesses packing up and heading for Lesotho. "There is a general sentiment from textile manufacturers that they would move to Lesotho where there are fantastic incentives. The amount of money they are losing due to power cuts is difficult to quantify, but remains considerable," Macpherson said.

Somehow I doubt that massive amounts of jobs are going to suddenly become available in Lesotho, but I suppose crazier things have happened. Full story here. You can read about Eskom's load shedding policy here. Eskom was having some serious problems in Cape Town when I was still around, so it is good to see that things have only gone downhill since then.
Supposedly Eskom is working on a pebble bed reactor (PBR), which among other things would be an implementation of new nuclear technology.

2007 Index of Economic Freedom

Lesotho's economy is 54.1 percent free, according to our 2007 assessment, which makes it the world's 118th freest economy. Its overall score is 2.8 percentage points lower than last year, partially reflecting new methodological detail. Lesotho is ranked 23rd out of 40 countries in the sub-Saharan Africa region, and its overall score is equal to the regional average.

This is according to the study by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal. Full rundown of Lesotho here. Lesotho's ranking puts it one place ahead of China and one behind Cameroon. However when you see Lesotho on the map and see how it's neighbors stack up, you realize how much higher that number should be. SouthAfrica comes in at #52 and Botswana is #38.

The top ten countries:

1) Hong Kong
2) Singapore
3) Australia
4) United States
5) New Zealand
6) United Kingdom
7) Ireland
8) Luxembourg
9) Switzerland
10) Canada

Basotho Democratic National Party (BDNP) vs. Leabua Jonathan

The family of Leabua Jonathan is taking the Basotho Democratic National Party (BDNP) to court in order to try and prevent the usage of Chief Jonathan's image in BDNP campaign materials. Here.

The BDNP’s general secretary Pelele Letsoela, who felt “uncomfortable” divulging the contents of the matter, said: “The daughter of Ntate Jonathan and his wife have taken us to court. They are objecting to the use of his pictures.”

"Uncomfortable"? How about confused and concerned. I have a feelig this is not exactly a case with groundings in Lesotho copyright law. I doubt the BDNP has more than forty dollars available in their legal fund, if Chief Jon's family doesn't want his likeness used it probably will not be...

Chief Jonathan was the first PM of Lesotho and held that post until the 1986 military coup. For more information on the "rule" of Chief Jon and his dealings with the BCP see here.

Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, Lesotho, and the United States of America

A Harvard study of 168 countries found that only 4 don't offer some form of paid leave for new mothers--Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, Lesotho, and the United States of America.

Oh nice. Full story here.

EDUN Shirts

Ali Hewson will be speaking at Miami University today about EDUN, article here. Cool. Ali is Bono's wife. MU is my school. Lesotho is my country. Coincidence?

Update: Article here.

The Farmer School of Business at Miami University announced today that its Center for Social Entrepreneurship has officially launched edun LIVE on Campus, a new student-run business that will create partnerships between the socially conscious clothing brand, edun LIVE and other colleges throughout the country interested in selling the edun LIVE label to help drive trade with Africa.

Re: Hugh Masekela and the ABC

Well Hugh perhaps you will hold your tongue next time, as you have perhaps been banned from the Lesotho airwaves? Here.

This stems from his alleged public support for the Lesotho opposition party, the All Basotho Convention (ABC).
Masekela reportedly used ABC slogans during his recent performance at the Setsoto Stadium in Maseru, Lesotho.

This is so dumb on so many levels. Of course it is annoying on the governmental level as it relates to the fact that the LCD is resorting to tactics like this, but also on the level of music in Lesotho. Does Hugh really care if he is banned in Lesotho? He might think roughly as I do and think that it is annoying, but I doubt that Lesotho is his money maker stop of Africa.
Way to go Mosisili...

Bill Gates is (insert here)

Evil, good, evil good...


According to the LA Times regarding the Gates Foundation's investment doings in Africa he is currently semi-evil. Article here.

Mosisili says "Oh snap!"

From the Public Eye article here:

“I warn those who think they can cross swords with (Lesotho Congress for Democracy) LCD that we have seen all these particles breaking down as we were traveling this road and one of them is the ABC,” he said sending a message to the 18 members of parliament who defected from the ruling party to form All Basotho Convention (ABC). He warned the floor-crossers that he will meet them on February 17 as that will be the day “when it will shine upon them. That’s when it will be clear if they crossed or drowned”. Mosisili said: “I was disappointed to hear that even the man I respect made ABC signs.” He was referring to Hugh Masekela and warned all other musicians that by aligning themselves with ABC they are riding on a tiger.

Mosisili went on to say "Aaaaaahhh." and "I like Bryan Adams the best anyway. I certainly hope he will not have to suffer my hurtful remarks as well." Mark the 17th down on your calendar folks.