Those circles aren’t animal pens. They’re burned-down gottias, circular mud huts that had straw roofs, and they’re what’s left of Dalia, a village in Sudan’s Darfur region, one of hundreds of villages that have been destroyed by the Janjaweed in a program of depopulation that has killed perhaps 400,000 civilians since 2003.
Today, Google added recent high resolution imagery of Darfur to Google Earth, taken by DigitalGlobe in January-March 2006. It serves as an unequivocal indictment of the Janjaweed, and of the Sudanese government whose implicit support it has enjoyed, because in these new images each and every burned-out gottia is visible. This is the kind of evidence that puts paid to the claims still coming out of Khartoum that the ethnic cleansing is not widespead, and that accusations of genocide are a mere pretext to wrest sovereignty away from Sudan with the deployment of UN peacekeepers.
But this evidence also makes it harder for us remain complacent. We can no longer pretend we didn’t know. A number of humanitarian agencies have been documenting the tragedy of Darfur, mapping burned out villages and recording oral histories in the refugee camps. Some of these data will soon be published as KML — I used pointers from one draft version to highlight 15 of the destroyed villages visible in the imagery released today. Here it is. Zoom in close. This is just a minuscule subset of the devastation in Darfur.
Hi
Are you sure these GE images can constitute a proof of this tragedy? Because these “gottias” are just 3 meters diameter. For sure, they don’t have a human dimension. It could be some animals places or enclosures, no?
Keep on the nice work.
Those are indeed the dimensions. Further south in Africa these kinds of huts are called rondavels. You can see an image of one here.
Excellent post. I am blogging (in Spanish) about it. Knowledge is the best way we have to fight against these atrocities, let the people know.
I work there, these are destroyed villages. I got a lot of other coordinates for Darfur, collected during field assessments in the last years.
Why does the world, and especially the West need mapped proof? And then they even queston that proof, doubting that human families had existed in a hut about a mere 9 feet in diameter as their home?
This genocide has been taking place for YEARS. Hundreds of thousands slaughtered. Slaughtered like or worse than animals. Millions in refugee camps that truly exist if people were inclined to just look – acknowledge.
I applaud Google for FINALLY taking this step, but as to its impact on hastening the end of this obscene situation? I doubt enough people can be pulled away from “American Idol” or “Dancing With the Stars,” to ever do anything about it. Some talk has taken place. No action.
China pays the murdering Muslim government of Sudan about One Billion dollars for oil and the corrupt and murdering Sudanese government now has more funds for more weapons of death…and shortly? America will be going goo goo gaa gaa over the Olympic’s held in China. A repressive, murdering, lying, communist regime. Boycott everything from China. Period. Pressure your government to do more than mere whispers and few words about this genocide. Speak up so they finally take action before every non-Muslim black native African is killed or dies from starvartion or disease.
Everything is connected.
Just too bad so many are connected to the wrong things, or they live in such ignorant bliss, or doubt.
The genocide – the slaughter has been and continues to be real. Do not doubt it for one nanosecond. Do not believe certain factions, governments, corporations, or people that tell you this is not happening. The same has been said about every genocide that ever happened – and still takes place to this day! Myths are still perpetuated that the Nazi’s were not repsonsible for any genocide!!! Come on people. Now Darfur?
The slaughter in Darfur and Sudan is very real.
And it’s all because of religion and skin color. Period. And America and the rest of the wealthy Western nations do NOTHING. Nothing.
Posting map images is not sparing lives. It really isn’t. Be honest and wise for once, a little evolution please. Increased awareness? Perhaps. Saving lives? An errant boast. We need to do more and do better.
Pressure on Sudan.
Pressure on China.
Pressure on all Western governments.
And less doubt…and a lot more belief and action.
Ken,
People and governments are not waiting for proof. They are actively avoiding the topic. How to change global behavior? Make it harder to avoid the topic. Make the events real in the lives of everyday people. Explain that the victims are exactly like the loved ones of those who are avoiding the topic. What the individuals like Stefan, the museum, and Google are doing is making the truth a little more plain, the facts a little more visible, and the pain a little more real. This seems just the thing that is needed, at least in my opinion.
Isn’t strange, that the nation who uses it’s military might to control militarism and terroism up to the point of presenting to the United Nations distortions and false evidence based on the thinist and unsupported claims, if not outright lies. So they may commit an unprovoked war with Iraq to dispose a despot, but does nothing in Sudan? I guess there is no oil in the Sudan for Texas companies to control? I guess the people there are poor third world people? Without corporate benefits to be gained dead African infants do not mean much to those Texas oil corporation who pull the strings of the man in charge of that so called peace keeping world police force. That clown only seems to act when his friends benefit. His retoric sound bites are real good. But his actions are pure corporate profit based decisions or maybe he wants to finish what his dim wit father failed to complete.
You can’t kill and displace your own citizens on such a scale and use the excuse of sovereignity to carry on on your muderous path. It’s a pity the United Nations has been reduced to a barking dog that does not bite – all because some nations have abused its mandate over the recent years and not many people believe it has any moral authority left anymore. For the most part the Secretary General simply echoes the sentiments of those who control the UN. For example, the current Sec. General said it was okay to hang Saddam Hussein even when the UN does not support the death penalty. Instead of representing the manadate of the UN he chose to represent himself and those who control the UN.The first step in restoring the moral authority of the UN is to relocate its headquarters – preferrably to South Africa [because South Africa has some moral clout on the globe given the kind of transition that took place there. Also all the world shares in that victory since participation in bringing about that historic transition was received from around the world]. AND THEN GIVE THE RELOCATED UN TEETH TO BITE.
However,the biting should not be in the form of military force. Rather the Human Rights arm of the UN should be strengthened more than the Security council.More focus should be on the Human Rights Council than on the Security Council. By all means change of governments if necessary should be from the people of a particular country itself and not through external military intervention. And such internal change can be achieved only if the citizenry of a country are made aware of human rights-that kind of awareness which will allow them to risk their lives in their masses to change their own governments. And the Human Rights arm of the UN comes in there. All the UN can do in that regard is to recruit volunteers from all parts of the world who would be allowed into any member country to conscientize citizens on their rights. Any such group that goes into any country should be truly representative of the global community, not just from one country or a few countries as that would make it prone to being corrupted by the country that sends them. If you get people from all over the world chances are very slim that they would be used as a tool by any one government or that they would be spies of any one government. Such groups should be as no-partisan and as representative as possible. There are so many people, young people especially -both employed and unemployed – who would volunteer for such projects in any hot spots on the globe. They should be volunteers who will only be paid for their upkeep, they could even live in camps so that they are provided for as a group rather than give them money.Rather than spend money on the military who just use force and bring about no real fundamental change, spend the money on Human Rights volunteers who would be drawn from all parts of the world – you can be sure that you will find them. Damazio
This is an awful tragedy. There are some more images here http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/12/9/15259/8589
I think this is an important collaboration because it brings together the resources of the public and the resources of a major cultural institution. At the same time, I think this collaboration raises some important issues about the results of such collaborations, including questions of censorship of content, how to maintain the data for future research, etc. I’ve written about this in some detail on my blog.
Randy, you show appalling ignorance, and your anti-Texas bias is just daft. There is oil in Sudan. Biggest owner of leases-France. Who is in charge of running the fields-China. Both have Security Council Veto, and a vested interest in keeping the current meglomaniac’s in power. Damazio, read the last sentence. There is not one country that will give the UN a force large enough, and capable enough to do anything. You might like to read the UN charter about this. It is not allowed a standing army. I feel refreshed, I have just reduced ignorance in the world.
Desmond Taylor Houston. SUV driving, capitalist, oilwell owning, land owning, absolute crazy right wing nut job. Yes I do have a sense of humour
Can’t wait for that massive tornado to destroy Houston, and Desmond is cut to pieces by wind accelerated glass.
Now, now, everyone, play nice.
I sent this comment, meant for Desmond, to the wrong place yesterday and my apologies to Stefan. I also agree with Stefan that let us play nice and not aim at putting one another down.It’s not about right wing or left wing stuff either. We are talking about human lives here. In any case, if you have only the right wing can you fly straight or at all? Here is what I said in my response to Desmond:
I think you should go back to my comment because what you call “reducing ignorance” is absolute nonsense. I don’t talk of a standing army in the comment. In fact I am against the whole idea of external military intervention anywhere. What I talk about in the comment is a worldwide group of human rights activists as volunteers. It may sound clever to bash others but think twice before you comment bacause you may be barking the wrong tree – as you have just done here.
Damazio
Norma, what is it about “liberal’, ‘progressive people that being unkind or using invective is their first retort? Do you really want me flayed alive? Would anyone else in a City of 5 million be killed, or is it a personal tornado sent by your own demons? Damazio, thank you for your comments. I am afraid that your idea of human rights activists going into Sudan, reminds me of the Childrens Crusade in the middle ages. I cannot but commend you on your thoughts. Reality is different. We are dealing with the usual blood thirsty megalomaniacs here. Nothing more, nothing less. Let us assume that the people of Sudan do not like being slaughtered, raped etc;. Let us assume they are natural human rights acivists. Get the NGO’s who are there tell them to rise up and subdue the bad guys. I realise you would not want the bad guys killed-correct? What is happening now would look like a picnic. This is what would happen to your volunteers. I expect you will say the worlds press etc; would be there to see what happens. Momentarily true. The bad guys would fade into the hills, and come back and wreak terrible retribution. Do not forget Man is the only animal that kills for fun. My right wing is incredibly limber, and double jointed, so it can flap both sides. I think you will find my tree has zero dogs
Desmond Taylor. Actually no wings, normal human.
Something constructive from Desmond at last. Bravo! I thought he never cared for people’s feelings, least of all his own. But I can see he takes offense at people using invective against him.To “bark a wrong tree” refers to the process of ring-barking trees when clearing a forest for other uses, not the act of a dog barking at a tree as Desmond has chosen to interpret it. I know he enjoys some humour after all. I also noticed he realizes that his right wing needs to flap on both sides which means that it alternates between being a right and left wing – so it is not wholly a right wing after all, one moment it is a rightwing,the next moment a left wing. The thing is,binarist thinking limits our possibilities as it prevents us from seeing issues from other points of view.
Anyway, back to the issue at hand. Of course I agree with Desmond that it would be a little difficult to send volunteers to a place like Darfur right now. But in most cases we know about human rights abuses and the possibility of genocidal activities long before real trouble erupts. So if we were pro-active enough, it would make a difference. Talk of Burma for instance or the plight of women in Iran or the human rights situation in Iraq before the invasion – we knew what was going on there before even a pretext had to be found for invasion. That is what I refer to about human rights education. The NGOs are a good idea, but do you know that most governments are suspicious of NGOs as being stooges of their external sponsoring countries and organisations? If the UN can raise the money for military intervention, surely it can raise funds for human rights education.It would also provide something useful for millions of young people who do nothing and so end up being used by terrorists and other repressive regimes around the world.Desmond, you seem to have too little faith in humanity but bear in mind that even the most ruthless dictator can be brought to his or her knees eventually.
Keep up the debate.
Damazio
Damazio,sorry about the tree reference. I saw what I wanted to see, not what was there. “barking up the WRONG tree”.Very presumptive to think you know my beliefs. We could have a problem with ‘invective’. I have not used this in anything on this thread. I am however, very good at it! Check me out on Londontimesonline. My hobby is getting letters printed-about 3-4 a day. Binarist, I cannot find this word in my dictionary. Binary, yes, two different parts.therefore capable of seeing from at least one other point of view. However, it it such a strong wing asymetrical flight is no big deal. Glad you agree about the folly of sending people to Sudan. The problem with Dictators is they do not allow dissent. Talk about Burma, ask Ann Song Sui Kee. (I hope I spelt it correctly). It is only in free, or semi free countries that dissent occurs without penalty. Over 90% of Dictators are overthrown by their own guards or children. I admit that Stalin and Mao died in their beds, but they were real good at paranoia!!
I am going to blast another of your dreams. Most countries that supply soldiers to the UN do so for foreign exchange,i.e. $’s. The Government gets the money, the soldiers get their normal pay. As we have seen from some of the latest “Peace Keeping” efforts they are not of the highest quality. Usually the US or NATO supply logistics, at zero cost to the UN. As the US pays 25% of the UN dues, it would be silly to pay ourselves. I was involved in a peace keeping mission a long time ago. All I can remember are beach parties, and driving drunk through the locals road blocks. M 113’s will do that. The pre conditions for a society to function are:-Laws equitable to all, free elections, respect for property rights. This is a start. Human rights education, however laudable is a bit too “visionary” at this stage. The forces of reaction are always there.” Fredom, human rights”, are very modern concepts. Very few countries can claim to have either. or both.
Briefly about property rights. If what I have can be taken arbitarily, then what do I have? Faith in Humanity What kind of faith.? I do not know where you are,but you might want to get hold of books by Thomas Sowell. A great economist and an even greater philosopher. His book ‘Knowledge and Decisions’, has been called one of the top 100 books of the last Century. I would advise
A Conflict of Visions” to start. Not an easy read, but I will take the liberty of saying it might give you food for thought. I will leave you now and strap on my .357 Magnum loaded with hollow points, get into my pick-up truck, and see the good o’boys at the beer-joint. Bon Soir, Guten nacht etc;.
I do not mean to deny that there is a horrific genocide occurring or that our idiotic administrations has not already missed this boat and there has been terrible suffering beyond which I think that Americans can not understand.
But, I did a google “fly by” other areas of Sudan and saw similar villages of hut foundations with no roofs and no apparent inhabitation. I hope that people are not making irresponsible claims about specific images that are incorrect. This would only confound our already weak conviction to help.
I the list of destroyed villages is far short of being comprehensive. And don’t forget that in Southern Sudan there has been _another_ war raging.
On village destruction- please share the areas and specific locations in other parts of sudan, I would definitely like to take a look! Curious where you are finding this outside Darfur, as most of the country is not in high-resolution.
It may be that the villages you saw were also destroyed- remember that Darfur is not the only conflict to have graced the Sudan. South Sudan has suffered even more in the past 20 years.
Taken one by one each village seen to be destroyed in Darfur could be taken as an accident, an isolated event, or abandonment as you suggest. But taken together, more than 1,600 damaged and destroyed villages, the enormous scope of Khartoum’s campaign is undeniable.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0704120644apr13,1,5591205.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
To illustrate the point, take a look at the area along this river between these two sets of coordinates:
12.951164º
22.904865º
12.931923º
23.445084º
There are around 2 dozen villages along this 40 mile stretch- every single one is destroyed, comprising more than 11,000 homes and other buildings. These are just 24 of the 1,600 villages attacked.
Desmond,it is baffling that you did those things on your posting as a peacekeeper; it was a trivialisation of your mandate to say the least.That was more of an invasion rather than peacekeeping – exactly the practice the world is deploring. But that is your way of doing things anyway and I should not censure you severely.But there are other points of view.
I will read the books you have suggested. I am quite an avid reader – no matter how hard a text might be I make a go at it.A few months ago I finished reading Kan’t Critique of Pure Reason -a book many people find daunting – as part of my PhD in Philosophy – a programme which I hope to conclude soon. I have checked in my college’s library and I see we have quite a few of Thomas Sowell’s. But I am in the academy and I know that books are written from particular points of view, from the experiences of specific people and no author can make a blanket statement about the world-that would be a very hegemonic exercise but ultimately a futile one. My specific experience is that when I was 17- which was about 12 years ago I helped bring down a dictator in my country, a dictator who was so ruthless and fierce he would kill his opponents or feed them live to crocodiles which he kept on a farm specifically for the purpose.He would then boast about it at his political rallies. We did it,and noone in my country will take us back to those days, he or she would be asking for a very bloody fight.I’m sure any other peoples can do it too. So you can see that if I was to write a book on liberation it would be more positive than the ones you have cited. The ones you have cited seem to continue the Machiavellian or Nietzschean or Hobbesian Traditions as presented in ‘The Prince’ ,’Beyond Good and Evil’ and ‘Leviathan’ respectively. But the greater part of the world rose up against Nietzsche’s Germany under Hitler and in my country we outdid a Machiavellian dictator so we need to revise Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’ and Nietzsche’s ‘Beyond Good and Evil’ or the grim pessimism of Hobbes to accommodate their converse. More recently, South Africans of all races and ethnicities overcame the racism of Apartheid at the same time as the Rwandans were butchering one another. Human beings are capable of both barbarism and heroism and it depends on which quality one chooses to emphasize. Cheers.Damazio
Get real. Not everyone lives in a 5000 sq ft home.
Damazio, congratulations on your soon-to-be Ph D. I also contgratulate you on what you were able to achieve in your Country. Not mainly can do what you did, and come out in one piece. The Prince and Art of War. Could have been printed on one page. San Tzu is better, and more interesting. My 19 year old is joining the USAF soon as a crypto person. Just like his old Dad. Actually he could teach Military History at College level, it is his avocation. He made his own coif for a Medieval Pageant. His Grandfather was a Colonel in WW11. One of his cousins member of an unnamed agency, another not only Captained a ” Boomer”, but an attack boat. But hope is not lost for us, here is the Dark Secret. Ramsey Clark is also a cousin.!!! Hobbes, there are always lost, twisted souls around.! I think you will enjoy the ‘Vision” trilogy. I believe it explains a lot of how people with different visions react. I refer you to Norma. Sowells book ” Black Rednecks and White Liberals”, is not only informative, but funny. The people in the Race Relations Industry should read his books. Especially Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan etc. They are called ” poverty pimps ” here. Let me give you an example of now a person with ‘vision’ speaks. Nancy Pelosi on Iraq. “There is a problem in Iraq. and we have to find a solution”. Now why did no-one else see, or know that?. Vision people have solutions to everything. The problem is this. The people who are given these tasks are not as intellectually gifted as those with the Vision. Never their fault, just the peons. When the results do not match the dream, someone did not follow the vision. The thought of going past stage one thinking is anathema to them. It is Holy writ, there can be no discussion. A prime example is the new Religion of Global Warming. It is a settled fact. Scientists need facts, that can be checked and then evidence is produced to suport the theory, not consensus. Do not get me going on this subject. I was the one that named Al St Al Gore of Green. Even the Times uses it. I have a couple of letters in there today. Enjoy. We saw “Wicked” last night, wonderful. Houston Pops tonight, Spamalot and Aida next month. My wife sings with Houston Masterworks Chorus. Last year they performed with Houston Ballet in Carmina Burana. We ain’t all real rednecks bubba.
It’s hard to stay with the heartbreak in Darfur.
Linda, I understand your heartbreak, I share it:the indiscriminate killing in Darfur is simply shocking, it’s a war like those fought in the stone age where the marker was simply “Us” and “Them”, nothing whatsoever about who is a soldier or who is a civilian.And the displacement and all those people in camps. What is more shocking is that arguments of sovereignty can be used as an excuse to keep the UN out when such a war is raging. Why do we have the UN at all? The African Union can provide more soldiers if funding were made available but the problem would then be that the Khartoum government will think it is black Africans against Arab Africans, not a good prospect. That is why I think more broad-based approaches are better. What the Ethiopians did in Somalia at the end of last year, for instance, has only further complicated matters for the African Union. Damazio
Damazio, it looks like you will get your wish..Question, who will man the gunships, and what are the rules of engagement? I have a plan, but I have to leave. ‘Til the ‘morrow. As Shakespeare said “cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs or war”.
Desmond, let’s have the plan. Just to note that there are capable guys who can man the gunships even within African armies. I hope you know that recently Bush and Americans honoured Black pilots who fought in the Second World War at a time when such a thing was regarded as unthinkable by the larger American society. However, we should be focussing and insisting on a UN force here so the gunships can be ‘manned’ or better still ‘humanned'(trying to give due respect to women too) by anyone capable of doing so from anywhere on the globe.The rules of engagement would, among other things, involve the creation of a buffer zone between Darfur and the larger Sudan. But, let’s have your plan, Desmond – I can see it will be an exciting one.Damazio
I am not quite sure where the Tuskegee airmen come in here.? I feel sure that there are capable pilots in African Armies..A couple of questions. What is the quality and maintainance of the gunships.? What is the training of the pilots.? The ability to spray the bondu is not enough. What is the logistical train.? Gunships are thirsty animals. It is going to require all the gunships in Africa to even make a dent in this ‘problem.’ Whoops, (social worker speech.). The way to do this job is the ‘spot’ way. Isolate an area. Anyone in a ‘technical’ is a target. It is destroyed. NGO’s and UN troops move in as area is being ‘cleared’. Fire on the help, you are dead. Patrols will still have to be done as some of the bad guys will not have all gone. Killing is inevitable. Sorry Dimazio, but you should know that one cannot have a clean war.!! This will require a lot of money, troops, and AID workers. It would be nice if the UN would NOT turn up in $60,000 SUV’s and imported luxury food.!! The cost will be in the $ Billions. Get hold of the Swiss Banks and ask them to expatriate the Foreign Aid that landed there.! The political cost will be enormous, and there is not one politician with guts in the world, especially if you have been involved in the killings and now have to change. Reality willbe different, that is my plan.
Killings at US College. We have enough home grown crazies. We do not need to import them. This man was a 23 year old Korean national with a ‘green’ card. Legal alien. In the last 2 years, all mass killings/ attempts have been committed by non-natives. All have been Muslims. I hope this man does not turn out to be one as well. Nearly as many children have been killed in London by knives in the last two months. My wife has the same gun as this man. We have to pass all sorts of background checks, and pass gun and legal tests. 70 million legal owners did not kill anyone yesterday. Bad guys with illegal guns.? Check incidence of gun laws to murder by state. Very interesting answers. Murder rate is far higher in mosy other countries. If guns cause murder, matches cause arson. Have fun.
Desmond, I am elated at the prospect of the UN finally deploying in Darfur – I didn’t know that that is what you were referring to when you said I’m about to get my wish-and the gunships have indeed been mentioned as part of the weaponry. Your plan sounds good too.But I’m only cautiously optimistic; past promises have been broken. Besides, if the UN can go into a country only on the invitation of that country, it would seem to me that such a country can also tell the UN to pack and go when they feel like it. It presents the UN as a ‘whimpering’ body that holds no real sway on world matters.
About the fatal shootings at Virginia Tech. While gun possession alone will not make someone shoot others (and in most cases oneself) it does contribute towards the occurence of such shootings.While in the present case you can see a lot of pre-meditation some shootings happen “in the heat of the moment”. And when guns are in the hands of youngsters who have not yet learnt to control their tempers then you know what that means. Someone said while they had seen young intellectual geniuses, they had never come across a young person who is an ethical genius.That should tell you what it means for young people to have access to guns especially.But even some old people continue to be young in mind and I really don’t know how the tests you have mentioned detect that. Socrates had to undergo 35years of schooling in Egypt before he could take up his position as a philosophical pundit in Greece. But even so, he was so intellectually humble he would protest his ignorance, for which the oracle at Delphi called him the wisest man living in all of Greece at the time, because at least he acknowledged that he did not know everything when most of his compatriots, even the most ignorant of them all, wanted to come across as very wise. But in the Western world today, the greatest beneficiaries of the efforts of the likes of Socrates, everyone who lives there wants to appear very wise without proving himself or herself.In short, I think guns are good only in the barracks and when you are out camping in a national park or somewhere there, not on people’s bodies 24/7. There should be places where you can hire a gun when you go camping, like you hire a car. Private individuals should not be allowed to own guns. Knives are good in the kitchen and in a butchery. I know Desmond will find this difficult to take because he so loves his .357 Magnum; he said just a few days ago about how he took this Magnum to a drinking joint – exactly the place where sometimes tempers flare even over simple matters.
Damazio, you need to get a sense of humour.! No-one is allowed to carry a gun into any place that has 51% of its sales from liquour. There are other restrictions as well, church’s, Government buildings ( of course! ). If there is a sign saying you cannot go in, you cannot. Part of private property, rights of. Texas is a concealed handgun State. Others, the weapon has to be in view. A more sensible idea in my mind. A gun is a deterrent. Guns also deter the Government from thinking it can take them away. Remember, if the good guys don’t have guns, only the bad guys will. Think of your own country. The US Constitution was all about controlling the Government, not the people. Seems to have been forgotton, along with most of the Constitution.!!
Your comments about about gun owmers shooting themselves. I do not know anyone that stupid.. Hunters who are drunk, also illegal shoot other hunters. See Dick Cheney. I doubt if he was drunk, but that is why they call them ‘accidents.
If a person is a fool there is nothing one can do about it. I have found if you act stupidly as a child, you do not grow out of it. LEGAL gun owners who use their guns for hunting, target practice know that they are dangerous things.
Tritism. There are no dangerous guns, just dangerous people. I will be carry my guns next week. I will be on the Mexican Border. If you are NOT carrying, you are really stupid. It is very dangerous. Coyotes and drug smugglers. They are as well armed as any soldiers in Sudan. It is war zone. Check out Laredo for violence
RE the UN, if they can get there act together….
However, “IF is for children”. But, remember what was at the bottom of Pandora’s box.!!
PS. I am such a wimp, I do not even drink and drive. Even on my own land.
Hey, Damazio, where are you? I have an exuse. my hard-drive was ‘fried’
Hello Desmond, I’m sorry I was away for the past three weeks without saying bye and worse, I was in a place with such a saggy internet service I did not have to bother logging in.I have been out of touch; I don’t even have the latest on the UN deployment in Darfur, what is the latest. At least I had occasional access to radio but I did not hear anything along those lines on the radio during any of those times.I told you I was only cautiously optimistic about the whole thing. But maybe there’s something going, do you kniow anything?Please update me. Damazio
Hello Damazio, what a week.! It has been non-stop Politics. I know, it is a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Our Governor Rick ‘Goodhair’Perry is trying to end run us on the Trans Texas Corridor. The TTC would be path 1,200 ft wide from Mexico to Canada, with a Customs clearance in Kansas.!! The place in Kansas would be Mexican Government property.!! Can you imagine the chaos.? Farms gone, pipelines re-routed etc. This what happens with people with ‘visions’ get one. This is part of a protocol signed by Bush,Fox and whoever was Canadian Prime Minister at the time. We only got to hear about it after a Freedom of Information request. As they say, the s-it hit the fan. Also the amnesty bill is coming up. Anybody who signs off on this will never be elected to anything again. I know America is rich. Let me give you some figurs. New York, aliens cost $5,600,000,000 per year, and going up.Here in Houston, illegals cost our school system One BILLION a year. It is hard to teach people who are illiterate in their own language.!!I would love to know what the Mexican Gov has on Bush. He was never this politically stupid when he was Governor. I knew him and Bush Snr in those days. Well, enough of me whining, you will think me a ‘Katrina’ victim. How are your PhD coming along.? What were you doing that there was no internet? Is it some dark, macabre secret you swore on a blood oath not to reveal? Are you a full time student, or post Grad.? We are going to see Spamalot next friday. We saw it in New York last year. If you do not know who, or what Monty Pythons Circus is then the last couple of lines have mystifyed you completly. It is the funniest show. I had a bit of luck the other week. We were at Fund Raiser for Houston Masterworks and there was a nice looking watch. No reserve price. I put $150 and got it. I looked up the price-$1,275. Now that is a bargain. That is all now I am so worn out talking to idiot politition.!!! Phisophical question, can ther be an intelligent pol? Or did I mean hypothetical? Ponder.
Damazio, sorry about the spelling, when I am tired I think in German and spell in Dutch. Have a great night.!!
Quote: “What were you doing that there was no internet? Is it some dark, macabre secret you swore on a blood oath not to reveal?”unquote. Desmond,you have gallons of humuor in you and I like you for that;you make it lively. Let me get back to you on the same wavelength by telling you a few home “truths”.I am smiling -of course while maintaing a serious outlook- as I write this so don’t think I am ranting at you at all. First, maybe you didn’t know -I am from Africa and in these parts the internet, while a basic need, remains a luxury. People are doing their best to set up internet cafes but the problems are enormous.However, I am not going to abandon my continent, I love it here.I have done all my studies on this continent and even my passport says: “Valid for all countries in Africa”. If I have to come to the US I would have to apply for a special provision.I am certainly not an immigration threat to your country – of course there’s some evidence that suggests that long ago even your own ancestors came from these parts of the world alongside mine. Fact of the matter is that your country has brought the immigration problems that you complain about on itself.The blame lies squarely on its shoulders.The economic systems in place have led to badly skewed development patterns and that explains why you have that immigration problem.Just look at the wrangles over who should head the World Bank after the former “Mr Clean” Wolfowitz was found to be not so clean after all. Why this obsessive need for an American at the helm of the World Bank? And you expect the rest of the world to take you on your face value? But hey, you complain about immigration: are not all of you – apart from the American Indians- immigrants in that country? Let me make concessions to you: Your people(Westerners) have good ideas, quite industrious and progressive in most cases.But this bright side is soiled by some very disturbing tendencies:control, domination, discrimination,exclusion,rampant commodification,individualism (Life is about the “Self” against the “Other”). Actually I am working on a theory that wants to prove philosophically that the whole Cartesian ontology(I hope you are familiar with that French Rene Descartes’s work)is a sham. We in Africa developed philosophy and a philosphical cast of mind in ancient Egypt.The Greeks came to learn from us and took it to Greece from which point, upon the fall of Egypt, it was spread to the rest of Europe. Now some of us are coming into our own, claiming our heritage and wanting to take an active role in shaping its future direction. As I do my research I marvel at how far the western world has advanced on our intellectual capital, but I also see how that capital has in some cases been badly adulterated such that I cannot just stand aside and look, hence my project of restoration of the bastdardized aspects of that heritage.And it is going well.Now Desmond, it would be a very good idea if you guys that side acknowledged that contribution from us and reciprocated accordingly.It’s a huge debt you owe us. Without the philosophy we developed in Egypt the Western world would not be where it is today, it would all be chaos and savagery – witness what happened to most of us after the fall of Egypt.After Egypt fell all traces of our former civilisation fell with it – except for a few fragments of that civilisation which some among us retained and the evidence of which can be seen in the various places we first settled in as we were moving southwards from Egypt and its sorrounding regions.I have no illusions about how fallen my people have been for some time now. I am not the type that will try to stand at some hilltop and indiscriminately defend what is going on on my continent as the best we can be, we can do better. But it would have been a better world if only some aspects of that philosophy were not so badly shaped by the likes of Descartes – which has prevented your people and my people from cordial relations for centuries now. Any views?
The problem is The West and the rest of non Muslim Arabs are AFRAID to put the blame on ISLAM, and you can see that the way it is reported ” MILLIONS OF MUSLIMS KILLED IN DARFUR” NO, it is MILLIONS OF INFIDELS KILLED IN DARFUR, just like the world over, just like Iraq, Muslim Arabs claim they are the “REAL MUSLIMS and everyone else is a Infidel , Kofi Anan….scared to death…wetting his pants every morning he awakes. …The problem is that the world is being duped people are being killed in Darfur but they are not being told WHO and Why are doing the killing, how many informed people do you think really know why the Black Africans are being killed?. The Media claims Muslims are being killed ,but the Arab Muslims do not accept them as Muslims only Infidels. You are all talking in and out and around the issues as millions DIE.If you do not wake up and smell the blood on the sword ,it will be to your own peril,now Darfur, then where the world cannot see them, then Iraq where there is a little more light, then France, Britten, then the grand finalie AMERISTAN!!!
Fatcha, you are correct in all your comments. The Religion of Peace is behind all the mass killings in the World today. It would appear that dhimmitude is being applied without consulting the details of the Pact of Umar. Damazio, at last I have the time to get around to you. No offense!!
I have had such a two weeks, I need a holiday. I have been fighting the President and the RINO’s ( Republicans in Name Only). This amnesty bill will be a huge mistake. The Government is on a collision course with the people. I really think we could have a revolution over this.!
Re your theory about where Humankind originated, I assume you are basing this on the Mytochondrial evidence from Africa? I actually believe that there could have been several locations where we started. That is just me. World Bank. As the US puts up more money than any other country, I think we need to have an American as head for one reason only. The crooks we give the money to should be our crooks. I think that the Bank and IMF is merely a clearing House for sending the money to Switzerland. I am not quite sure that your theory about Africa being the fount of all wisdom is correct. The Barbarians are, and have been everywhere. Each succeeding group seems to want to try to destroy the previous group. The Miracle is that anything gets saved.!! Dark Ages in Egypt, Dark Ages in Europe 500-1500. Everywhere. Which sort of supports my idea of Humans appearing in several places. I do not have a clue about Descartes and antipathy towards Africans? comes from. We have contributed to the illegal problem here. Once again the people are over 80% against the illegals. When the Government supplys free schooling, health covereage, food and shelter, who in their right mind would not break in ?. We do not need any more gangs or diseases etc. We need to qualify everyone. Check out the rules for illegals in Mexico and the Protocols to live in Mexico. As the Worlds most hated country, why to people want to come here.Good news time. My older son is now in the Air Force. He is quite brilliant, and I believe the Air Force will bring the best out of him. Special arrangements were made for him to join. Now I have to wind up my 15 year old. All Air Force basic is done in San Antonio so we can go over to watch him Graduate from basic training. We will find out where he is will do his training. My wife and Phillip are of to Ireland and England July/August. In London we will be staying at the Commonwealth Club. Check it out if you are from the Commenwealth. In one hour I take my 15 year old for a driving lesson. My wife tried to give him one by herself in a Church car park. In ONE MINUTE he traveled less than one hundred yards and smashed the front, and BACK of the car. $7,000 damage. We do all this training at the Jewish Community Center. That proves how bad this country is, as this place should have been destroyed years ago. Re Norma, back in April. We have had a lot of rain the last week-about a foot, but I have not drowned-yet. The most we have had was 36′ in 24 hours. TS Allison 5 years ago. Have fun, sorry I have been tardy