Drilling for climate bill votes

President Obama is planning to open vast swathes of US coastal waters to oil and natural gas drilling for the first time, says Phil McKenna

Bomb Blast in Southern Afghanistan Kills 17 People

Wednesday, March 31, 2010
13:56 Mecca time, 10:56 GMT

Afghan farmers die in suicide blast

Wednesday’s attack occurred as officials tried to persuade Afghan farmers not to grow opium

A bomb concealed on a bicycle has exploded in a crowded village market in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, killing at least 17 people and injuring 45 others including eight children.

Wednesday’s attack occurred in Babaji, near the town of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand, where farmers had gathered to receive free seeds from government officials.

Local police said that the bomb had been strapped to a bicycle left in the market and detonated remotely.

An earlier report quoting a provincial government spokesman said a suicide bomber had blown himself up.

Farmers ‘killed’

The casualties were all farmers who had gathered in the area to receive free seeds from the government as part of a program to encourage them not to plant opium poppy, Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the provincial government, said.

Lashkar Gah is near Marjah in Helmand province, the focus of a major Nato-led offensive against the Taliban.

Thousands of Nato and Afghan troops have launched a massive offensive in southern Afghanistan - the largest the country has seen since the 2001 US-led invasion.

A major offensive in Kandahar, once a Taliban stronghold, would follow the current military operation in neighbouring Helmand province,which appears to have largely pushed back the Taliban and given the government a chance to take control.

Marjah is also thought to be the hub of the Taliban-controlled opium trade - which provides them with most of their funding.

The Afghan defence ministry has said the anti-Taliban push will be led by Afghan security forces as part of plans to hand over military and police responsibility to the Western-backed government.

The US and Nato have about 113,000 troops fighting in Afghanistan, with another 40,000 being deployed in the coming months.

Source: Agencies

Black Economic Empowerment (BEE): The President of South Africa Says ItHas Failed

Black Economic Empowerment( BEE): The president of South Africa says it has failed

Mar 31st 2010 | JOHANNESBURG
From The Economist print edition

To give more economic clout to the black majority has proved hard

IT IS now widely agreed that “black economic empowerment” (BEE) and affirmative-action laws brought in after apartheid as the star policies of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) have failed. Even President Jacob Zuma seems to agree. Instead of redistributing wealth and positions to the black majority, they have resulted mainly in “a few individuals benefiting a lot,” he says, while leaving the leadership of most big companies in white hands. The black masses, the intended beneficiaries, have hardly gained.

Largely as a result of the emergence of this new BEE elite, post-apartheid South Africa is still one of the most unequal countries in the world. Although poverty has been alleviated by providing welfare benefits to more than one in four of South Africa’s 49m inhabitants, the gulf between rich and poor has widened. The richest 4% of South Africans—a quarter of whom are black—now earn more than $80,000 a year, 100 times what most of their compatriots live on.

Under apartheid, blacks were given an inferior education and on the whole restricted to much worse jobs. The Employment Equity Act in 1998 tried to make the workforce “more broadly representative of our people” across the board. But more than a decade later, whites still hold three-quarters of senior jobs in private business whereas blacks have 12%, the exact reverse of their share in the working population.

Among the 295 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), blacks account for just 4% of chief executive officers, 2% of chief financial officers and 15% of other senior posts. In non-executive ones, they do a bit better, accounting for just over a quarter of board chairmen and 36% of directors, but still nowhere near their share of the workforce. Even so, many whites grumble sotto voce that incompetent blacks are being promoted beyond their abilities.

As whites account for 40% of university graduates, a 12% quota for whites in skilled or top managerial positions is absurd, the South African Institute of Race Relations, a think-tank, says. Its head, John Kane-Berman, argues that BEE, in the way it has so far been implemented, has actually harmed blacks by discouraging self-reliance and an entrepreneurial spirit. Instead it has fostered a debilitating sense of entitlement.

The idea of legislating for black economic empowerment was originally promoted by big white businessmen to ward off post-apartheid calls for nationalisation. If a few well-connected black people were given chunks of the action, big business would, they hoped, be left alone. In that sense, BEE has been a roaring success, as whites still own the bulk of the country’s wealth. Although renewed calls for the nationalisation of the mines and banks have recently been heard within ANC ranks, Mr Zuma, urged on by the new black capitalists, has repeatedly said that this is not on the government’s agenda.

Under BEE laws, white-owned companies with an annual revenue of at least 5m rand are given ratings for enabling blacks to own shares, improve their skills within the company, move up the managerial ranks, and so on. The higher the company’s score, the more likely it is to win lucrative public contracts. Everyone is supposed to win. Black individuals or companies could buy large holdings in white companies in the hope of paying off their debts through dividend payments and rising share prices.

For as long as buoyant stock markets were rising, this worked nicely. But when the global financial crisis caused shares to plummet, many BEE companies crashed, making new investors wary. In 2007 there were a record 111 BEE deals, worth 105 billion rand, involving companies listed on the JSE. In 2008 this fell to 84 deals, worth 61 billion rand. Last year, however, there were just 13 deals, worth 20 billion rand.

Moeletsi Mbeki, an analyst and entrepreneur who is a brother of the former president, Thabo Mbeki, claims that BEE has struck a “fatal blow against the emergence of black entrepreneurship by creating a small class of unproductive but wealthy black crony capitalists.” Yet most leading businessmen, white and black, still regard the policy as vital for the country’s future, though they admit it has been badly implemented. All seem to agree that the policy should be made to benefit a wider range of blacks, not just business people.

President Zuma promises a review. He complains that the country’s economic “transformation”, meaning the redistribution of power and wealth to the black majority, has been “disappointingly slow”. Last month he launched a new council to advise on a much “broader-based” BEE. Meanwhile, worried whites, whose skills are still sorely needed, are continuing to emigrate in droves.

Gullah Descendant Roger Ross Williams Discusses Oscar-winningDocumentary

Gullah descendant Roger Ross Williams discusses his Oscar-winning documentary Music by Prudence

Music Man
by Kinsey Gidick

Ingrid Michaelson brings TV-friendly pop to Charleston

Most people who watched the 82nd annual Academy Awards this year probably remember Roger Ross Williams as the director who got “Kanye’d” during his acceptance speech. Williams approached the microphone and only managed to get a few thank-yous out before the film’s producer, Elinor Burkett, took the microphone.

The kerfuffle became the ultimate unintentional publicity stunt, one that would garner international attention, launch Williams’ career, and become a life-changing event for the star of one of last year’s most poignant films, Music by Prudence.

“We got 165,000 hits in one day on the movie’s website,” Williams says, talking from his home in the Catskills.

A former television producer who grew up in Philadelphia, Williams spent his summers in Charleston with his family who have Gullah roots; he is still shocked by the big win. “I have paparazzi following me around,” he says, sounding mystified.

Once you hear Williams tell the tale of Music by Prudence however, it’s no surprise at all why this amazing true story and its compassionate director prevailed on Oscar night.

According to Williams, in 2007 his neighbor Burkett told him about the musical group Liyana she’d seen perform in Zimbabwe. Burkett, who was living part-time in the southern African nation, put Williams in touch with the King George VI School, where the members of Liyana lived. “I requested some mini DVDs of the band performing. I got the tapes, popped them in, and I burst into tears. I was so blown away and moved by the band and their message.”

Within minutes of watching the seven disabled musicians and their charismatic lead singer Prudence perform, Williams knew he’d found his documentary subject.

On Christmas Day 2007, his plane touched down in Zimbabwe, and he went to meet the members of Liyana. “As soon as I started talking to Prudence, it was obvious that this was her film, her story,” he says.

The movie’s star, Prudence Mabhena, was born in a small village in Zimbabwe with a condition called arthrogryposis. The disease caused Prudence to be born with both legs and arms twisted backwards. “Because of this, her legs were amputated when she was a baby,” Williams says. Her family was so horrified by Prudence’s condition, a condition they thought to be a curse, that the new mother was told not to breast-feed her child so that she would die.

And that was only the beginning.

“Her mother left her to make money in South Africa, so she was raised by her maternal grandmother. But by age four, her grandmother couldn’t afford to care for her, so she was sent to her father who had remarried,” Williams explains. There, Prudence was treated like a pariah.

Neglected and unable to care for herself, she slept in her own urine and feces. Williams says, “Her stepmother told her, ‘You’re no better than an ant.’”

Living a reality few could comprehend, Prudence barely survived. Every day she’d crawl under a mango tree and sing to console herself, but it was not enough to blot out the pain. She attempted suicide twice.

Yet somehow fortune interceded and Prudence got a scholarship to King George. Prior to Williams’ arrival and his subsequent interviews and filming, Prudence had never shared her harrowing life story with anyone.

“That journey is unbelievable,” Williams says. “She says in the movie that she was at her lowest point when she arrived at the school. She had no self confidence and could barely look at anyone. She was a shell. You would never know that to see her now, but that’s because the school teaches students to be independent.”

Although it’s a government-run operation, King George depends upon donations mostly from Europeans. Williams explains that Prudence was shocked upon her arrival at the school to discover other disabled people. Sounding equally amazed, he says, “She thought she was the only one!”

At King George, Prudence quickly discovered that there were many people just like her living and thriving. More importantly, it didn’t take them long to discover her incredible voice. As the Music by Prudence website explains, Prudence was encouraged to audition for the school choir by administrators. Soon she began leading it and quickly rallied eight other fellow musicians at the school to start the afro-fusion band Liyana, which means “it’s raining” in Ndebele.

“She’s not just a talented singer, she’s a gifted songwriter and composer as well,” Williams says.

Even before the documentary, Liyana was making a name for itself. In 2006, the group had the opportunity to perform in Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands after winning the Crossroads Africa Inter-Regional Music Festival and even had the chance to tour and perform in America this past summer.

While Williams recognized he had a fantastic story to tell, it was his decision to limit the film to the documentary short that ultimately won him the prize. “I could have made a feature that would have been OK, but I knew as a short it would be really, really strong,” he says. “It’s really hard and really competitive in the feature category, especially with movies that have $500,000 budgets like The Cove and Food Inc.”

With that in mind, the intrepid director whittled the golden pieces of footage down to 30 minutes. The big payoff? A shiny new Oscar and the ultimate prize of widespread distribution.

On May 12, everyone with cable can get a look at Music by Prudence when it airs on HBO2. But that’s not all for Williams. “I want to do outreach and educational work, too. I want to create an educational version of the film for classrooms,” he says.

On a grander scale, Williams hopes to take the show on the road. “One of the things that I’m doing now is organizing a tour around the country. We’ll show the film, then have the curtain pull back and the band will be there ready to perform. I think it would be really powerful,” he says.

One might assume that after two-and-a-half years of working on the project Williams would be burnt out, but his passion for his subjects and their plight remains undiminished. Though he’s enjoying fame, he plans to continue his humanitarian efforts on behalf of the disabled, along with his creative endeavours.

“This past week, I was with Prudence in New York doing interviews, and I took her to see Fela! on Broadway. After the show we tried to find a place to eat on the famous Restaurant Row, and we couldn’t get into any because they didn’t have handicap access,” Williams says. “I couldn’t believe it. I told a reporter from [the New York Post’s] Page 6, ‘Apparently New York is just as bad as Zimbabwe.’” Williams and Prudence eventually made their way to B. Smith’s restaurant, which happily accommodated the duo and Prudence’s electric wheelchair. “They were so nice they sent over a bottle of champagne.”

The director reports that Prudence is handling the recognition with all the poise of a seasoned celebrity. “When we arrived at the Governor’s Ball [after the Oscars], we were being interviewed, and there was Oprah,” Williams says. “I can’t believe it, but I tapped her on the shoulder.”

Ms. O turned around and without flinching bowed down. “She said, ‘Oh my God!’ Then turned to the crowd and announced, ‘Ladies and gentleman of the press, Prudence.’ It was amazing.”

However, Williams worries about the singer’s return home. “She’s now the most famous woman in Zimbabwe,” he says. It’s hard to believe that the same girl who was taught that she was cursed is now an international superstar.

“There’s going to be a huge welcome home party at the airport when she lands,” Williams says. Along with dignitaries and press from all over Africa and Europe, Prudence will have to face her family as well. “I know she’s torn about that. Culturally you must respect your elders, so Prudence can’t really say anything to her parents.”

However, the director knows that she’ll persevere. “There’s no reason why Prudence shouldn’t go on to be a successful singer-songwriter,” Williams says.

The Oscar winner notes that Prudence writes and composes music in five different languages and has the pipes of a young Aretha Franklin. “HBO threw a pre-Oscar party, and Prudence performed an original song she’d written about going to the awards show. She sat down with the pianist about an hour before the performance and taught him how to play her piece,” Williams says. “She was even singing on the red carpet.”

Yet, one can’t help but wonder how this incredible film may change the young woman’s life along with her fellow musicians. “It brings you to tears seeing these happy kids, who had these not-so-happy lives at home,” Williams says. While the movie has opened doors for the eight members of Liyana, as well as shed light on the mission of King George, the fact remains that prospects for children with disabilities in Zimbabwe are grim.

“Most villages don’t have running water or electricity,” Williams says. The government is even worse. “The country is essentially bankrupt, so the currency is worthless.”

Add to that the superstitions surrounding those born with disabilities and the existence of a school such as King George seems like a miracle. In fact, the school struggles each month to survive. “I had a friend donate $20,000 and that managed to keep the school operational for two months,” Williams says. He encourages all interested parties to consider donating to the school via the film’s website.

As for Burkett, Williams says he hasn’t talked to her. Apparently her interruption stemmed from creative differences in production. Burkett, according to MTV News, was actually removed as a producer from the film a year ago, but under Academy provisions, she still qualified as an Oscar nominee. Williams asserts that he has full ownership of the film and Burkett has no claim to the property. The original disagreement resulted in a lawsuit that has since been settled out of court. Suffice it to say, he’s over it.

In the meantime, what’s an Academy Award-winning filmmaker to do next? Williams is actually considering a trip to the Lowcountry. “I’ve always been interested in the area, since my family is from there,” he says. “I’ve been thinking about doing a documentary in the Charleston area for a while.”

Williams’ mother and her three sisters grew up in the Holy City. “My aunt, Victoria Bowden, still lives in the same house in Charleston that we’d visit growing up,” he says.

He recalls long summer days spent playing on a Lowcountry relative’s farm. His cousin, Valerie Erwin, took the family traditions up north and owns and operates a Lowcountry-themed restaurant, Geechee Girl Rice Café, in Philadelphia.

A sense of pride in their Southern roots has always been in the family. Williams knows they were descendants of slaves who, like almost all captives of the Carolina slave trade, came from the West Coast of Africa. His family can trace their roots back to the Sea Island Gullah community and part of Williams’ wish to return to the area is to uncover more of his family history.

For now though, he’s going to enjoy the buzz surrounding Music by Prudence. “Many, many Zimbabweans sent me letters saying thanks for telling this story,” he says. “I wanted to tell a positive story about Africa. Not a story about AIDS, famine, or genocide. I wanted to tell a story about an African who’s taken her fate into her own hands through the arts. It’s a hopeful story.”

Here’s hoping Williams films another hopeful story soon, one set in our own backyard.

UN official joins condemnation of deadly subway bombings in Moscow

The United Nations refugee chief has added his voice to the chorus of international condemnation at this week’s suicide bombings in the Moscow subway system, describing the twin attacks as “an appalling and heartless crime.”

Ban opens donor conference with call for wholesale rebuilding of Haiti

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called for the wholesale rebuilding of Haiti as he urged donors to provide $11.5 billion over the next 10 years for the reconstruction of the Caribbean nation that was devastated by a massive earthquake in January. | LIVE WEBCAST

Outbreak of Rift Valley fever affecting humans in South Africa - UN agency

Dozens of farmers, veterinarians and farm workers have been infected with Rift Valley fever in South Africa, and at least two people have died, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) reported today.

ICC gives green light for probe into Kenya’s post-election violence

The International Criminal Court (ICC) today granted the prosecutor’s request to investigate crimes against humanity allegedly committed in Kenya in post-election ethnic violence two years ago, when some 1,000 people were killed and 300,000 others forced to flee their homes.

Donors gather at UN for high-level meeting on Haiti’s post-quake recovery

Delegates from more than 130 nations are gathering at United Nations Headquarters in New York today for a high-level meeting aimed at securing the financial resources necessary to help Haiti recover and rebuild after January’s devastating earthquake.

Report: Central African gorillas may go extinct

Gorillas may go extinct in much of central Africa by the mid-2020s — victims of a meat trade, of logging and mining, and even the Ebola virus, a new report says.

Unless action is taken to guard the gorillas’ habitat and counter poaching, the dire prediction will come to pass, said the joint report from the United Nations and Interpol released Wednesday.

Until now, the Congo Basin in Central Africa had been a rainforest refuge for gorillas and other apes.

But the threats to the gorillas’ survival are so acute that a similar study that predicted only 10 percent of the gorilla population will remain by 2030 is now considered too optimistic.

That study — conducted in 2002 — did not take into account the rise in the demand for timber and metals destined for Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

The situation is especially critical in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

There, militias have seized large chunks of gorilla land and logged and mined it. They have done so because the illegal trade in timber and in metals such as gold and coltan (left) — used in cell phones — generates between $14 million and $50 million a year for them, the report says.

The money helps fund the militias’ battle against the Congolese army.

As the militia fight the army, the insecurity in the region has driven thousands into refugee camps. Professional poachers have taken to providing “bush meat” — wild animal meat — to the refugees and to the workers in the mining and logging camps. And increasingly, that meat comes from apes, the report says..

Adding to the gorillas’ woes are outbreaks of the Ebola virus that have killed thousands of great apes. By some estimates, 90 percent of the infected animals will die.

Among the good news in the report: A survey in one conflict zone in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo discovered 750 critically endangered Eastern lowland gorillas.

Also, mountain gorillas in the Virungas, an area shared by Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, found that the apes survived during several periods of instability.

The report credited the survival to stepped up patrols by park rangers who targeted poachers and loggers.

But this has come at a price, the report said: More than 190 Virunga National Park rangers have been killed in recent years allegedly at the hands of militias concerned about a loss of revenue.

The report ‘The Last Stand of the Gorilla - Environmental Crime and Conflict in the Congo Basin‘ can be accessed at http://www.unep.org/

Source:
Cable Network News, “Report: Central African gorillas may go extinct“, accessed March 30, 2010