Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and ex-US president Jimmy Carter said on Saturday that they had been forced to cancel a trip to Zimbabwe because they had been denied visas.
"We had to cancel our visit because the government made it very clear that it will not cooperate," Annan told a press conference in Johannesburg.
Carter said the government of President Robert Mugabe would not "let us in."
#2
Shoulda given 'em the visas, then during the visit they coulda canceled them until some departure tax was paid - it woulda been interesting to see what they were 'worth.'
#3
Quite understandable actually, it's the apartheid thing haunting them yet. Wait just a few more years Kofi and you won't be broadcasting from Johannesburg as either. Zuma will see to that. Enjoy the Jacarandas and Kingclip Jimmah, not many of either in Plains.
#1
Very informative.
If you assumed that Azerbaijan is just another impoverished Muslim country in caucasus, guess again:
"Azerbaijan is experiencing a unique period in its history. Not only is it independent for the second time but it is for the first time stable, prosperous, and investing in its future. Indeed, the past 18 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of 15 newly independent republics in the territory of the empire have brought magnificent transformation for Azerbaijan from a poor, unstable, and chaotic country into an island of peace, stability, and prosperity in the sensitive region of the South Caucasus.
The present regime in Azerbaijan is reaping big dividends from the hard geopolitical work done in
the mid-1990s, namely: establishing a cease-fire with Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict;
signing oil contracts with Western multinational oil and gas companies; investing in new pipelines
that bypass Russia and Iran; forging normal, working relations with all powers in the region; and stabilizing the country from within.
Since 2003, these investments have started producing results, and billions of dollars in oil revenues started pouring into the country. The living conditions of people have improved significantly in comparison to the 1990s, and the countrys overall development seems to be on the right track.
The Azeri government has been able to utilize oil revenues to further upgrade the countrys infrastructure.
Given the current prices in the world markets for oil and gas, it is expected that Azerbaijan
will generate more than $200 billion in revenues from energy projects.
More than $10 billion has already been accumulated in the State Oil Fund and a significant amount of that money has been spent for social and infrastructure projects. More than 1600 new public schools were built in the past 5 years and more than 600 were repaired. New hospitals, sports facilities, culture houses, theaters, and parks have been built across the country. More than $1 billion has been invested in roads, bridges, and underpasses. New residential buildings are emerging in Baku and other cities every day.
The Azeri economy has been expanding at a rate of 25-30% GDP growth annually. Three years
ago the budget of Azerbaijani government was approximately $3 billion. In 2008 it reached $12
billion. Poverty has been reduced from 50% to 16%, and unemployment has virtually disappeared.
On the streets of Baku, one increasingly comes across migrant workers from China and India. Not
only is Azerbaijan the fastest growing economy in the world, but it is also the one undergoing the
most significant reforms: indeed, according to the World Banks Doing Business 2008 report,
Azerbaijan made significant improvements in its business climate, jumping a record 66 points in
the reports rankings."
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/22/2008 15:21 Comments ||
Top||
It was only a matter of time. A New York school has been renamed in honor of President-elect Barack Obama. The former Ludlum Elementary School, in Long Island's Hempstead Union Free School District, was renamed at a school board meeting Thursday--effective immediately. School officials say most of the 440 students there are black or Hispanic, and Obama's victory is a source of great pride.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Every time I read of something or the other being named after a living person I'm reminded of RJ Reynolds. In 1911 Reynolds considered naming his company's first brand of cigarettes after Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm. Reynolds ultimately changed his mind and named his cigarettes "Camels." But Reynolds hesitated to name the product after a living figure because "you never know what the damn fool might do." That was just before the start of WWI in 1914.
#5
RJ Reynolds was an entirely different era. Our ability at least here in the United States to rewrite history has progressed. We now have liberal judges who can direct that the FBI seal the files on public figures until 2027, or until some future date when no one is alive to remember the truth.
#6
Anyone note the irony of a half-black Hawaiian being the purported source of pride for Hispanic students???
No. Given the anti-American anti-West anti-White propaganda given in our public school system. And did I mention the anti-male propaganda. Anything that had to do with those who believe in real democracy [where the rights of majority are elevated above those of special interest groups], real values of the individual [versus the state and collective], or the most successful cultural present on the planet [which sustains all the others in anything above historic pervasive poverty] is the object of self loathing and intolerance.
#7
School officials say most of the 440 students there are black or Hispanic, and Obama's victory is a source of great pride for school teacher unionists and liberal school board members.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
It was only a matter of time. A New York school has been renamed in honor of President-elect Barack Obama. The former Ludlum Elementary School, in Long Island's Hempstead Union Free School District, was renamed at a school board meeting Thursday--effective immediately. School officials say most of the 440 students there are black or Hispanic, and Obama's victory is a source of great pride.
