VIDEO: Tourism in Zimbabwe: visiting the ruins of Rhodesia

Earlier this month we posted "The truth about Rhodesia - a warning to liberals of the AABC", a video explaining how, in 1980, the British betrayed their kith and kin in Rhodesia, and gave the country, now renamed Zimbabwe over to the Marxist-oriented Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, whose ZANU-PF party has ruled the unfortunate country ever since.

"Majority rule" has turned the once-prosperous (pre-1980) country into the sort of place characterized by President Trump as a "shithole". It has been ruined by ignorance, incompetence and corruption. John Edmonds, In the video, John Edmonds presents a potted history of Zimbabwe, then embarks on a tour to see for himself the ruins of Rhodesia and the reality of the failed state today.

 

This video too can well be described as a cautionary tale. This is what happens when you hand your country or state (Hello, California!) over to letting loony lefties whose "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" (DEI) agenda is driven by anti-white racism, gender ideology and a complete ignorance of economics. Keep it in mind when you vote.

The truth about Rhodesia - a warning to liberals of the AABC countries

Rhodesia’s story isn't what you've been told! Today, it's barely mentioned at all. You would be hard-pressed to find, in the AABC countries (America, Australia, Britain and Canada), anyone under the age of 60 who could tell you what or where Rhodesia was. 

For 15 years (1965-1980), the world poured its energy into erasing Rhodesia from the map. But once it was gone, silence! Zimbabwe, like so many "decolonised" African nations, soon collapsed into chaos. Under Comrade Robert Mugabe, the dictator who ruled from independence in 1980 until he was deposted in a coup in 2017, and his successor Emmerson "E.D." Mnangagwa, the country was brought to ruin. Watch this video and ask whether the Rhodesians were really the villains history says they were, and what happens if people of that stripe come to power. FAFO!

Walt first visited Rhodesia, as it then was, some 57 years ago. As the narrator of this video says, the handwriting was on the wall, even then. When I returned to live in Zimbabwe (as Rhodesia had been renamed) in the 1990s, there were still many Africans (as black people like to be called) who said that things were better in the days of Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith. 

After independence, Zimbabwe quickly became a basket case, destroyed by the corruption, ignorance and incompetence of the Marxist government of Comrade Mugabe. One of Walt's agents, who left the sinking ship at about the same time, and now resides in the Disunited Kingdom, returned in January to attend to some legal matters. She reports that things have not got any better in the quarter-century since we left. It is not wrong, she says, to regard Zimbabwe as a failed state, which has hit bottom and can never rise again. What a pity.

ICYMI, Septemer 6th was International Vulture Awareness Day

Walt was unaware of this celebratory occasion, since we receive only sporadically reports from Darkest Africa, where this story originated. Anyway... International Vulture Awareness Day (IVAD) is a campaign aimed at raising awareness about vultures and their critical role in maintaining balance within the ecosystem. 

Vultures provide a vital service by clearing carcasses from the environment, which helps reduce the spread of diseases  Here we see two vultures picking the bones of a dead donkey, once known as the Democratic Party.

According to Benhilda Antonio, a spokesrthingy for BirdLife Zimbabwe, "IVAD is an opportunity to recognise and celebrate nature’s clean-up crew. Without vultures, our environment would be plagued by rotting carcasses, posing a significant risk to human and animal health."

Vultures' stomachs have a pH level that allows them to feed on meat with diseases like rabies and anthrax without getting affected. They can finish a donkey (or other) carcass in a few days due to their feeding frenzies, making them an essential component of ecosystem balance.  However, they are facing numerous threats, including poisoning, electrocution and collision with powerlines. 

Poisoning is a major concern, with intentional poisoning by poachers being a significant threat. Unintentional poisoning also occurs when people poison carcasses to target carnivores that attack their livestock, and vultures end up feeding on the poisoned carcasses.

The illegal trade of vultures and their body parts is also a significant threat. According to Josephine Maringa from the Department of Forest Resources and Wildlife Management at the National University of Science and Technology, "the illegal trade of vultures is driven by belief-based use, with many people believing that vultures have supernatural powers." This has led to the harvest and use of vultures and their body parts without permits, posing a significant threat to vulture populations in Africa.

To contribute to vulture conservation, Ms Antonio emphasises that it is crucial for people to take action. Reporting poisoning cases to relevant authorities is a critical step in preventing further deaths. Additionally, stopping retaliatory killings of carnivores that attack livestock can help reduce the risk of unintentional poisoning. 

People can also play a role by reporting any vulture nests seen in their area and refraining from destroying nests or taking eggs. "Every effort counts," she said, "and collective action can make a significant difference in the long-term survival of vultures."

Save your pennies!

President Donald Trump recently announced that he has instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to have the Treasury Department stop making new pennies, explaining that it costs more than two cents to make them! 

"For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents," DJT wrote in a post on Truth Social. "This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time."

Actually it costs more than three cents per cent. Last month, Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) wrote in a post on X, "The penny costs over 3 cents to make and cost US taxpayers over $179 million in FY2023. The Mint produced over 4.5 billion pennies in FY2023, around 40% of the 11.4 billion coins for circulation produced."

It's worth noting too that the quality of the ersatz copper cents -- they're actually zinc with a thin veneer of copper -- ain't what it used to be, just like everything else in today's America. Check out the example at left.

So full of flaws and errors are America's coins that Lincoln Memorial pennies with errors or in high grades can be rare and valuable. The one pictured is offered on eBay for a mere $25,000.

A 1986 penny with the text "In Sod We Trust" instead of "In God We Trust" is rare and sought-after. A 1986 penny missing the layer of copper cladding is rarer still. Even a cut or nick or extra piece of metal (known as a "cud") on the rim of the coin, also known as a cud can be worth hundreds of times the coin's nominal value.

Although production of new pennies has been halted, the cent has not yet been officially demonetized as it was in Canada in 2012. See "Canada doesn't make cents any more", WWW 20/12/12.

In that piece, Walt had made a very sensible suggestion, which he now passes on to Elon Musk [who we assume reads WWW. Ed.] If the US government, ever decides to follow the lead of the frugal frostbacks, here's Walt's can't-miss cost recovery plan. 

Sell the old pennies to Zimbabwe! They use US dollars there but they have no coins because they can't afford to import any. So ship them Amereican pennies at, say, half their face value, plus S+H, plus taxes and tariffs, and they should fetch pretty close to... well, millions and millions -- way more than the expected revenue from recycling.

You're welcome, Mr Musk! No need to write a letter of thanks. A check will do nicely.

VIDEOS: USAid defunding leaves African AIDS sufferers stuck for meds

Walt was in South Africa in the mid-90s when the white-run country was handed over to the Marxist African National Congress. Predictably, it has slid downhill ever since, and is now just a small cut above Zimbabwe in terms of standard of living and everything else that matters. Now they want to seize white farms -- what took them so long? -- to ensure starvation.

South Africa is also (and again predictably) home to one of the world's worst epidemics of HIV/AIDS. At least 8.5 million of its people are living with HIV, and Sky News (the woke British version, not the painfully honest Aussie site) is whining that their treatment is in doubt thanks to President Trump's executive order freezing foreign aid for 90 days.

Until the introduction of Dubya's President Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2003, African sufferers from the deadly disease were at the mercy of their witch doctors (not kidding -- look it up!) there was no medication. Nelly Zulu, an activist and mother living with HIV in Soweto told Sky News, "The government would tell us to take beetroot and garlic. It was very difficult for the government to give us treatment but we fought very hard to win this battle. Now, the challenge is that we are going back to the struggle." 

In this video, a prostitute walks up to the security guards outside a shuttered USAid-funded sexual health clinic in Johannesburg's inner-city district. She looks around with confusion when she is told the clinic is closed. She tells Sky's reporter it has only been two months since she came here to receive her usual care. Now, she must scramble to find another safe place for her sexual health screenings and pre-exposure prophylaxis. Like many sex workers, free sexual health clinics are her lifeline. "You don't have to quit working. Just keep taking these pills, provided by those nice Americans." 

  

Too bad, eh. But ask yourself why South Africa, still a comparitively wealthy nation -- compared with Zimbabwe, say -- should be receiving handouts from American taxpayers to mitigate the poor lifestyle... and political... choices of its citizens.

Meanwhile, South African boers (white farmers) say they are deeply worried by a land seizure bill has been signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Basically, this bill gives the government power to take the farmers' land, and even their domestic houses, and not pay any compensation, if there is "good reason" for so doing. What constitutes "good reason" has not been stated, but "to give it to blacks" is Walt's guess. (Lifetime pct .989)

Farmers who choose to move to someplace where they won't experience reverse racism will be looking to Australia, Canada, maybe even the US of A, where their agricultural expertise will be welcome. Souoth Africa's loss will be our gain! And here's a shining example... 

Susanna Heystek's family migrated to Canada around the turn of the century. Things have gotten worse in South Africa since then. They're getting worse in the Great No Longer White North too, but for the time being, it's a better bet than the land they left.

ZANU-PF wins 187th straight Zimbabwe election

Q. When to the Chinese have their elections? A. Just before bleakfast!

Q. When do Zimbabweans have their elections? A. Elections? Wozzat?

Walt's agent in Ha-ha-harare, the fun capital of Africa, sends word that the results of today's presidential election have been announced, to save voters the bother of standing in line to cast their ballots, as well as the embarrassment of being seen by army poll watchers voting for the wrong party.

And the winner is... (drum roll, please)... Comrade Emerson (aka "ED") [no relation. Ed.] Mnangagwa, seen here having a friendly chat with an unnamed mentor.

Mr Mnangagwa's ZANU-PF party (aka the Perpetual Governing Party) received 98% of the vote. The opposition Vasina Tariro received 1%. The bodies of the remaining 1% of the voters have not yet been found.

In Harare for today's festivities was "Doctor" Jill Biden, the wife of... errr... I forget. She is seen here being welcomed by Auxillia Mnangawa, ED's wife, who is understood to have passed along some advice for the Democrats on how to certain of re-election, no matter what (aka Hunter). 

Mrs Mnangagwa should know. Her husband's party has been in power continuously since Zimbabwe won its independence from the evil Rhodesians in 1980. 

True fact: Some years ago, Walt auditioned for a job reading the news on ZBC (the Zimbabwe state broadcaster), but stumbled over ED's name and wasn't hired. Being a white murungu (foreigner) didn't help either!

Whither Trump? Whither the GOP? Cloudy, the vision is

Breitbart News reports that, in a hypothetical 2024 GOP primary matchup, President Trump trounces all his potential Republican challengers, according to Politico/Morning Consult survey released this week.

The survey asked respondents who they would support in the 2024 Republican presidential primary if it were held today. As in previous hypothetical GOP primary polls, Mr Trump wins handily, the choice of  47% of respondents. No other candidate came close, as both former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) tied at 12%. 

If, like Walt, you're a fan of The Donald, that's the good news. The not-so-good news is that the same the survey asked all respondents of all parties what role they believe Mr Trump should play in the Republican Party. 47% said he should no longer play any role! 31% said he should play a "major" role, and 12% said he should play a "minor" role. 

Half of all the voters surveyed -- that includes both Democrats and Republicans, remember -- said he should not run for president in 2024, while a quarter said he "definitely" should and ten percent say he "probably" should. 

One might be tempted to discount the opinions of the Democrats, but keep in mind that they vote too. And many of the Dems responding to the survey may well be thoroughly disenchanted with Sleepy Joe, yet unwilling to bring back "Number 45". So the results of the poll are not all that positive.

What, I wonder, will President Trump do? He hasn't announced his intentions for 2024, but speculation has continued to mount. Speaking to Sean Hannity over the summer, Mr Trump hinted that he already made a decision. And as one rally follows another, one might think -- and his enemies might fear! -- that he's going to go for it.

But we can't be sure. Consider the weird signal that he sent this week by threatening a Republican boycott of the next two elections (the 2022 mid-terms and the 2024 presidential election) unless the "Presidential Election Fraud of 2020" is resolved. 

The former president made the threat in a two-sentence statement posted on his website: "If we don't solve the Presidential Election Fraud of 2020 (which we have thoroughly and conclusively documented), Republicans will not be voting in '22 or '24." 

Seriously? Does Mr Trump not realize that the consequences of boycotting the elections would be to hand America over to the Democrats, undisputably and forever? Does he think the elections would not be held if Republicans said they won't vote? Seriously?

Perhaps The Donald didn't read "How an election was stolen", WWW 4/11/20. I was talking about the totally fraudulent presidential election in Zimbabwe in 2008. That post , I told how that country's ruling ZANU-PF party stopped the vote count when it appeared that the president, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, might lose. When the results were announced several days later, lo and behold, Uncle Bob had the most votes, but not quite 50%, so a run-off election was necessary.

At that point, Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition candidate, announced that his party would boycott the run-off election. Why? Because he feared that his supporters would be the targets of government-sponsored violence. This was not an unreasoning fear. Several members of his party were abducted, tortured and even murdered in the run-up to the first election.

The result of the opposition boycott was exactly what you would expect. The run-off went ahead, with President Mugabe as the only actively participating candidate, although Mr Tsvangirai's name remained on the ballot. Comrade Bob won the second round by an overwhelming margin -- 85.3% to 9.3% -- and was sworn in for another term on 29 June 2008. He remained President until November of 2017, when, at the age of 93, he was ousted by his own party in a bloodless coup.

That, dear reader, is what Mr Trump should expect if Republicans boycott the 2022 and 2024 elections. If you're a Republican (or anyone else who thinks America can't afford even two more years of Dumbocrat misgovernment) and in a position to draw Mr Trump's attention to this lesson from history, I suggest you do so immediately! And tell him Walt sent ya....

How an election was stolen

The events in this true story took place not in the Excited States of America, but in the Land of Bambazonke, aka Zimbabwe, a southern Afican shithole where I lived and worked in the 1990s. I left Zimbabwe on the Flying Dutchman in 2001, but kept in touch with an ever-decreasing number of colleagues and friends, until they too left... or died.

The People's Republic of Zimbabwe had been ruled since its independence in 1980 by Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, a neo-Marxist anti-colonialist dictator who tolerated the presence of an opposition party so he could say his country wasn't a one-party state, although in fact it was.

Having an opposition means you have to have an election every now and then, just for show, and Uncle Bob decreed that his people should vote for him again in March 2008. Because of Zimbabwe's dire economic situation, the elections were expected to provide the incumbent and his ZANU-PF party with their toughest electoral challenge to date. 

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, accused the government of planning to rig the election. Human Rights Watch said that the election was likely to be "deeply flawed", and so it was. As election night, March 29th, wore on, unofficial counts showed MDC-T building up big leads in the cities of Harare and Bulawayo, but the more populous rural areas were slow to report. In the wee hours of the morning of March 30th, counting was halted, with no explanation.

No official results were announced for more than a month thereafter. The failure to release results was strongly criticized by the MDC, which unsuccessfully sought a court order to force their release. After a recount and "verification" of the results, the government-controlled Zimbabwe Electoral Commission announced on May 2nd that Mr Tsvangirai won 47.9% of the vote and President Mugabe 43.2%, necessitating a run-off, to be held on 27 June 2008.

Political violence ensued, for which  ZANU-PF and MDC each blamed the other's supporters. On June 22nd, Mr Tsvangirai announced that he was withdrawing from the run-off, describing it as a "violent sham" and saying that his supporters risked being killed if they voted for him. The second round of elections went ahead with President Mugabe as the only actively participating candidate, although Mr Tsvangirai's name remained on the ballot. 

Comrade Bob won the second round by an overwhelming margin -- 85.3% to 9.3% -- and was sworn in for another term on 29 June 2008. He remained President until November of 2017, when, at the age of 93, he was ousted by his own party in a bloodless coup.

Any similarity between the events described above and last night's goings-on in Philthydelphia and Allegheny County PA and Atlants and Fulton County GA is purely coincidental.

VIDEO: Wm. F. Buckley talks with Ian Smith, Prime Minister of Rhodesia

Regular readers of WWW will know that I have an abiding interest in Zimbabwe, a dictatorship in southern Africa which went from being the second-most prosperous on the Dark Continent to what Still-President Trump would now call a "shithole".

I lived and worked in Zimbabwe in the 90s, and could see the handwriting on the wall after the former Big Man, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, decided to pay all his "war veterans" gratuities of Z$50,000 each after they had staged a series of protests, claiming that they had not received the "benefits" of their revolt against the "white settler regime", viz: white cars, white houses and white women.

The unbudgeted payouts saw the Zimbabwe dollar lose its value by 70% in one day -- I remember it well -- and analysts say the move signalled Zimbabwe's well-documented economic collapse. Banknotes were issued in denominations of billions and even trillions of dollars and were literally not worth the paper they were printed on.

The Mugabe government abandoned the "Zimkwacha" because of hyperinflation in 2009 -- 1 US dollar was worth around Z$35 quadrillion at the time -- and started using American dollars and South African rand. 

But I digress. I was about to tell you that when I first went to Africa, there was no Zimbabwe. The country was then known as Rhodesia, a former British colony which declared its independence from No-longer-great Britain on 11 November 1965. I went there about four years later, over five years before William F. Buckley Jr. went there to record this interview with Prime Minister Ian Smith. 

I went to Rhodesia on a fact-finding mission, to see for myself whether the Africans (by which was meant "blacks") were so badly off under white minority rule as was argued by the "progressives" at the United Nations, the World Council of Churches and elsewhere. I concluded that it would be a mistake -- detrimental to the well-being of the Africans -- to overthrow the "white settler government" and impose "majority rule". But it was clear even then, in 1969, that the mistake was going to be made, in the name of "freedom and equality, yada yada yada. The mistake was made, and the result is the shithole that is Zimbabwe today. 

In this interview, recorded in April of 1974, Ian Smith makes the case for the continuation of minority rule until the majority population should be ready to govern themselves. Mr Smith was right, but of course that doesn't matter now, does it. 

One thing to note, at about the 38-minute mark, is that Mr Smith asserts that the black revolutionaries were financed and trained by Communist China. Of course today's China would never do that kind of thing.

Further viewing: Thames Television documentary visit to Rhodesia, June 1975. Includes interview with Ian Smith.  

Government minister cuts ribbon to open new public toilet

We've all heard stories of politicians so hungry for voters' approval (and votes) that they would open a two-hole shithouse, if asked. In our western democracies, these stories are exaggerations, of course. Not so in Zimbabwe -- the land of bambazonke -- from whence Walt still receives reports from an agent who wishes to be not just unnamed but unnumbered.

Today he passes along a report that Apolonia Munzverengwi, the Minister of State for Mashonaland East Province, recently commissioned new maintenance equipment at Chikomba Rural District Council offices, and, in the highlight of the ceremonies, cut the ribbon to open a new pay toilet.

Mrs Munzverengwi, who was the guest of honour at the event, urged local authorities to consider the needs of the residents before utilising government devolution funds. She told the assembled throng, "President Mnangagwa initiated the devolution programme to enhance a bottom-up communication process [sic] which ensures that the real problems faced by the people are addressed at local level."

The Chikomba RDC used revenue from ratepayers to construct the pay toilet and purchased a grader and a refuse truck using a government devolution grant. Praising them, the Minister said, "It is important that before utilising the devolution grants from the government, authorities should inquire from the residents how they want the fund to be used. I am happy that Chikomba RDC managed to purchase a refuse truck and a grader, equipment key for efficient service delivery.

"I also applaud the council for being business-minded and construct a pay toilet which will serve the community at the same time generating more revenue for the local authority."

After commissioning the toilet and equipment, Mrs Munzverengwi also toured the various projects being carried out by the council which include construction of schools and clinics. She also had an "interface" [meeting? Ed.] with councillors, heads of government departments and business people. Where the interface took place was not reported.

When it comes to such commissioning ceremonies (read: photo-ops), Zimbabwean politicians, of the ZANU-PF party which has ruled the African shithole since independence from the evil white settlers in 1980, have form. In 2018, since-disgraced Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa made headlines when he was caught on camera commissioning a garbage bin (read: dumpster) in Rusape. Sadly, no pictures of the event have survived.

UPDATED AGAIN: Iowa caucuses: BIG RIG in progress

As a watery sun rises over the frozen, snow-covered cornfields of Iowa, [Get on with it. Ed.] voters, observers and the commentariat are waiting to pick over the entrails of the Iowa Democratic caucuses to determine who won, who lost, and who was most likely to become the Democratic candidate for the presidensity. Will it be (((Bernie Sanders))), Old Joe Biden, Fauxcahontas, or the paler, gayer version of the Prez, Pete Buttigieg?

But Houston, we have a problem! Hours after the polls closed, the number of precincts reporting results was 0 (ZERO). Dumbocratic officials told skeptical onlookers that there were "reporting issues" and "inconsistencies" which meant that vote tallies, and the number of convention delegates to be allotted to each candidate, would not be available until, errr, later today. Translation: We didn't get the result we wanted so we're bringing in experts from Chicago and Philadelphia to sort things out. Shorter translation: Rigging is still in progress.

I'm reminded of the 2008 presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Zimbabwe, which has been ruled by one party, ZANU-PF, ever since the country was "liberated" from the hated colonialists in 1980. In 2008, ZANU-PF's Comrade R.G. Mugabe was opposed by Morgan Tsvangirai, candidate of the Movement for Democratic Change. The waters were muddied by the presence of an "independent" candidate put up by ZANU-PF to split the opposition vote.

Early results from the first round of voting showed Mr Tsvangirai in the lead, to the consternation of the government-controlled Electoral Commission, which responded by suspending counting so that certain "reporting issues" and "inconsistencies" could be cleared up. Sound familiar?

Weeks later it was announced that Comrade Bob had topped the polls, but had failed to garner 50% + 1 of the votes, so a second round would need to be held. The election process was marred by violence against and intimidation of voters and opposition party workers, which eventually led to Mr Tsvangirai's withdrawal from the poll, leaving Mr Mugabe the winner.

Back to Iowa now. As Thomas Luongo wrote yesterday in "Can Bernie and Tulsi Survive Hillary's 'Urge' to Save the DNC?", the Democratic National Committee has its hair on fire at the prospect of (((Bernie Sanders))), a certified [certifiable? Ed.] anti-establishment democratic socialist, becoming the party's nominee. Even the 1/1028th Native American Senator from Massachusetts would be marginally more acceptable to American voters, they reckon, than the Brooklyn-born Jew.

Trouble is, Iowa Democrats didn't appear to agree. A number of polls showed Senator Sanders neck-and-neck with Mr Biden for the lead, with Senator Warren and Mayor Pete battling for third place, well behind the leaders.

What to do?! How about taking advantage of confusion caused by new rules to delay any announcement until paper ballots, tally sheets etc could be collected and "verified", in order to be certain that their preferred candidate -- step forward, Joe Biden -- had indeed won.

Wasn't it just last week that Rep. Adam Schiff  (D-CA) told the Senate that they must take away from Still-President Trump the power to rig elections, because the American people can't be depended on to make the right decision? The voters, he suggested, could be led astray by, for instance, the interference of foreign powers, and might be fooled into re-electing Mr Trump. So the Senate, Mr Schiff said, should pre-empt that possibility by removing Mr Trump from office and ensuring that he could never run again.

Is it possible that the DNC likewise doesn't trust Iowa Democrats to make the right decision? Is that why we're still waiting, as a watery sun rises over the frozen, snow-covered cornfields [Enough! Ed.] for the officially approved results of caucuses which began over 12 hours ago? Just askin'...

Footnote: The Iowa Democratic Party is saying now that the problem was a "coding issue" found in the app used to record and report votes. Robby Mook [Who he? Ed.] had nothing to do with it! Mr Mook was a campaign manager for Hellery Clinton, and was part of the project Defending Digital Democracy (DDD) — an initiative aimed at protecting elections from cyberattack — that tested the app ahead of the botched caucus.

UPDATE ADDED 5/2/20: The New York Post reports that the Democratic National Committee is "taking over" the accounting of results from Monday's botched caucus count as state party operatives remain unable to provide a timeline for releasing the remainder of the tally. I think we all know what that means! (((Bernie Sanders))) came close to winning so the vote tallies will have to be "verified" to bolster the totals for Mayor Pete. Stay tuned...

UPDATE ADDED 6/2/20: In case you didn't stay tuned, here's the latest from the backroom boyz at the DNC. This morning, chairman Tom Perez demanded that Iowa state officials immediately recanvass the caucus vote, amid fears that the delayed results could be "inaccurate or inauthentic." [Ya think? Ed.]

"Enough is enough," tweeted Chairman Tom. "In light of the problems that have emerged in the implementation of the delegate selection plan and in order to assure public confidence in the results, I am calling on the Iowa Democratic Party to immediately begin a recanvass." Looks from here like they're going to keep doing it until they get it "right" (read: not left).

Zimbabwe: Bob's not your uncle any more

So, farewell at last, Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, former tinpot dictator of what he turned into a shithole country. "Uncle Bob" (as no-one called him, ever) died early today in Singapore at the age of 95.

Most Zimbabweans would say (in whispers, if not out loud) that his death did not come soon enough to save his country from its precipitous descent into chaos and bankruptcy. Your Obdt Servant laboured in Zimbabwe during the late 1990s, trying to help its businesspeople learn modern, Western management techniques. But they couldn't adopt or adapt the things they learned, because they were stymied at every turn by Comrade Bob's Marxist policies, which turned the once-prosperous Rhodesia into an economic basket case.

"Things will be better once Bob goes," people said. But Bob replied, "Handiende!" It means "I will not go!" And he didn't, ruling the country with the proverbial iron fist from its independence in 1980 until, late in 2017, he was finally deposed by Comrade ED [No relation! Ed.] Mnangagwa (pictured below) in a bloodless coup. Since then, things have gotten no better, proving yet again that there is not one country in Africa who leaders -- black or brown -- are capable of managing an economy.

Instead, they rely on massive injections of foreign aid supplied by us chumps in the West, and latterly the Chinese, who still have a lot to learn about Africa, the land of bambazonke. Incompetence and corruption come naturally to African leaders. When mismanagement and kleptomania become too much for even the Swedes and the Brits to stomach (see "Reform or no support, UK tells ED", Zimbabwe Newsday, 6/9/19), the aid money stops flowing and the people starve.

Comrade Bob, who took power after the perfidious Brits sold out their Rhodesian kith and kin in 1980, said more than once that he wanted to rule for life. In that he was typical of the African "Big Man" syndrome, in which the people of shithole countries acquiesced in one-man rule by the likes of Hastings Banda (Malawi), Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (Congo/Zaïre/Congo), Jean-Bédel Bokassa aka Emperor Bokassa I (Central African Republic) and Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi (Libya - not all the Big Men were black Africans). But growing discontent about his government's maladministrationd a military intervention, impeachment proceedings by the parliament and large street demonstrations for his removal.

The November 2017 announcement of Comrade Mugabe's resignation (after he initially ignored escalating calls to quit, and take his lovely and fragrant wife Grace with him) triggered wild celebrations in the streets of the Ha-ha-harare, the fun capital of Africa. Well into the night, cars honked and people danced and sang in a spectacle of free expression that would have been impossible during his years in power and reflected hopes for a better future. But there has been no change for the povo (= poor people) of Zimbabwe, only more of the same, with an even Bigger Man ruling the roost. Prognosis? Dim and getting dimmer. Don't bother to stay tuned.

Further reading: The picture above was scraped from the Associated Press article "A look at the shattered Zimbabwe that Mugabe left behind", as posted on the CTV News site, 6/9/19. Quote from one of the povo: "Life was not that good [under Mugabe], but it was never this bad."

South Africa "Freedom Day" -- not much to celebrate

Yesterday, black South Africans celebrated the 25th anniversary of "Freedom Day", the day in 1994 when they were allowed to cast ballots in the country's first "one person one vote" election. President Cyril Ramaphosa said, "On this day 25 years ago, we founded a new country defined by the principles of equality, unity, non-racialism and non-sexism. Despite the passage of time, we remember vividly...the exhilaration of seeing nearly 20 million South Africans of all races waiting patiently at polling stations around the country to cast their ballots."

Walt was there at the time -- based in Ha-ha-harare, the fun capital of Zimbabwe -- and remembers opening a book (read: started taking bets) on how long it would take for the most prosperous nation in Africa to regress to levels of poverty and inequality like those of Zimbabwe, the Congo, Sudan and other shithole states of the Dark Continent.

It didn't take that long. Today, widespread poverty and corruption mean that, 25 years after the end of apartheid, many South Africans are still not free. In yesterday's speech, President Ramaphosa praised the work of South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela, but said that the country could not be free "when so many live without enough food, without proper shelter, without access to quality health care, without a means to earn a living."

South Africa's black majority were promised that once they were "empowered", they would have white cars, white houses and white women. Pictured above is what they got.

Yesterday, President Ramaphosa (who replaced Jacob Zuma, President No. 3, who was forced out over a string of corruption scandals and a penchant for polygamy) said, "As we celebrate 25 years of democracy, we need to focus all our attention and efforts on ensuring that all South Africans can equally experience the economic and social benefits of freedom."

The reality of post-apartheid South Africa is that any progress made to fulfill the promises made to the country's blacks has been undone in just five short years. Today, South Africa is one of the most consistently unequal countries in the world. More than half the population lives in poverty, while a staggering 27% of people are unemployed. And that's according to the government's statistics, which are believed to be wildly over-optimistic.

Since 2011, three million more South Africans have been pushed below the poverty line, according to a study by the national data agency, Statistics South Africa, released this week. More than 30.4 million South Africans (55.5% of the population) live on less than 992 rand (about $75) per person per month.

Those figures, collected in 2015, are actually more optimistic than numbers from 2006, when two-thirds of South Africans were living in poverty. But it captures the painful one-step-forward, two-steps-backwards dance the country has been engaged in over the last decade trying to improve the lives of its population. In 2006, 28.4% of the country was found to be living in extreme poverty. That number had only inched downwards to 25.2% by 2015.

Those numbers aren't likely to improve. In the last year alone, South Africa has entered recession and seen its sovereign debt rating adjusted to junk status, making life harder for everyone, especially the poor. The national power supplier, Eskom, is effectively bankrupt. With massive power outages threatened, those who can afford to are rushing to buy generators and storage batteries. The "povo" (= truly poor) are buying or making candles.

Because of the seizure of productive white farms (and the murder of the white farmers, detailed previously on WWW), millions of South Africans are now facing "food insecurity" -- shortages of food, hunger, even the prospect of starvation -- the crisis which now besets Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi and other black-run states to the north. This in a country which was once a net exporter of foodstuffs.

The reality of post-apartheid South Africa is that the majority of its citizens live in grinding poverty. The full effect of the 2008 global financial crisis, initially hidden by the euphoria and capital injection of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, is now being felt. The country has also fallen victim to the sluggish growth seen by other commodities-driven economies, unable to improve on 3.3% growth in 2011, the highest GDP has peaked since the financial crisis.

The real problem, though, is South Africa’s inability to implement its own policies. In other words, the black government is incapable of managing the economy or the country. In 2012, the country launched a "National Development Plan" with much pomp and an explanatory animated video showing how much better life would be once they got organized. (18 years after the end of apartheid, they couldn't blame the whities any more.) But a lack of political will and simple competence have left the plan adrift. By almost all measures, South Africa is going to miss the goals -- reduction of poverty from 39% in 2009 to 0%, and the complete eliminate of hunger, by 2030 -- it set for itself in the plan.

Even the commission tasked with seeing the plan through is frustrated by the lack of government support to do so, despite having an office a few doors down from the president. The group's deputy commissioner told the meeja recently, "We have a plan, we like it very much, we take it to parliament, the whole world praises it... And we are the ones that don't implement it." Nothing more need be said. Mother Africa Wins Again.

Zimbabwe parliament a model for Africa... and America ???

Comrade ED (Erectile Dysfunction?) Mnangagwa, President of Zimbabwe, listens attentively as the shithole country's parliament discusses how much foreign aid money (Thank you, America!) to pay its members for rubber-stamping whatever acts of profligacy or repression his kleptocratic "government" puts before them. Here is Zimbabwe Newsday's report of their "debate".

Members of Parliament yesterday arm-twisted Finance minister Mthuli Ncube into raising their budgetary allocation by 44% and demanded the latest 4×4 luxury Toyota Land Cruisers, among other perks, despite the government implementing austerity measures to contain its runaway spending. Parliament bid for $163 million in the 2019 budget, but was allocated $101 million.

Yesterday, MPs from across the political divide threatened that they would not pass Ncube’s 2019 National Budget unless they got things their way. After haggling, the MPs eventually settled for $145 million after they demanded that their welfare be improved to equal that of members of the Executive and the Judiciary. They also want Parliament to be equipped with state-of-the-art gyms, vehicles, computers, and other such luxuries.

In his "Austerity for Prosperity" budget, Ncube sought to cap government borrowing, cut spending on flagship projects as command agriculture, end all quasi-fiscal expenditure and limit borrowing from the central bank to 5% of the prior year’s revenue. He also cut salaries for the President and senior government officials by 5% and will fire the nearly 4000 "youth officers" by year-end. Ncube also cut the amount of bonuses paid to civil servants, but the wage bill is still expected to go up by 5% to $4.05 billion in 2019, constituting 61% of total revenue from 73% this year.

The budget, however, piled the weight of austerity and more taxes on the ordinary citizen, who, in addition to the 2% tax on all electronic transactions, will also pay more in excise duty for fuel and cigarettes, while imports of vehicles and other goods is now levied in foreign currency. After getting their demands met, the MPs ignored the debate on the vote of the Public Service Commission, which takes care of the country’s impoverished civil servants, including teachers and doctors, despite doctors being on strike and teachers threatening one.

Norton MP Temba Mliswa (independent), who was instrumental in canvassing MPs to demand good perks, said, "MPs are handicapped and we are talking of only one car, a Land Cruiser, which is the only car good enough for MPs to do their work because the Mazdas and Toyotas we get are not good enough."

Mliswa said MPs were looked down upon because they did not even have iPads, adding that the $75 per diem was a pittance, and needed to be reviewed. Mliswa said the diet of MPs, where they eat a one course meal with a banana or apple for desert, was not proper as other Parliaments had more savoury desserts like trifles and ice cream. "MPs must have world-class gyms and recreational facilities to play golf. MPs must also be given diplomatic passports," Mliswa said.

Mbizo MP Settlement Chikwinya (MDC Alliance) said Parliament was so underfunded to the extent that it relied on development partners to finance the work of its committees. He added there was need to finance constituency information offices for MPs, and employ more staff in Parliament to assist in research and committee businesses.

Zanu PF's Goodlucky Kwaramba said MPs were impoverished as the Ford Ranger vehicles they were given last time were already broken down. Chegutu West MP Dextor Nduna (Zanu PF) said MPs were given fuel coupons in a humiliating manner. Wedza North MP David Musabayana (Zanu PF) said MPs were the poorer cousins of the Executive and Judiciary, to the extent that they begged for fuel coupons at ministers' offices for resale, as well as soliciting for allowances and gifts from organisations that fund parliamentary trips and committees.

Ncube promised that MPs would comparatively [sic] get their vehicles, but said the agreed model was a Toyota Hilux twin cab vehicle. Ncube said he would also look at the issue of pensions for MPs who have served for a term, and also suggested to increase Parliament's budget from $101 million to $120 million. But Binga North MP Prince Dubeko Sibanda (MDC Alliance) said it was not the duty of the Executive to appropriate finances, but Parliament, also adding legislators were not going to allow the budget to pass if it did not increase Parliament’s vote.

Sibanda said the $163 million that Parliament wanted did not even consider inflation. "If the minister does not allocate Parliament what it requests, then he should have his 2019 budget passed elsewhere," Sibanda said. After the increase, there was jubilation in the House, with MPs from across the political divide hugging Ncube.

And they say [you say! Ed.] Africans are incapable of governing themselves. Ha! Methinks there are lessons there for the Congress of the Excited States of America and for Still-President Donald Trump.

Mr Trump threatens a partial shutdown of government -- maybe not such a bad idea? -- unless the latest spending bill includes money for the much-needed wall to keep out the alien hordes. Yesterday, the House of Representatives voted 217-185 for a version of the bill which includes such funding. On Wednesday the Senate passed a different version, with no "wall money". 

As the honourable senators now consider the House version, they would do well to consider the advice of Prince Dubeko Sibanda. Give the President what he wants, but don't be afraid to demand additional tons of pork for yourselves and your families, friends and supporters! It's not just the African way, but the American way too!

Zimbabwe: land of animal lovers

Although it has been 17 years since he lived there, Walt still has contacts in the Land of Bambazonke, aka Zimbabwe, in the southeast part of darkest Africa.

Zimbabwe is full of wildlife. Tourists come from the four corners of the earth to see the animals before they are poached and eaten. The locals -- notice I didn't say "natives" -- are great animal lovers too, as evidenced by a case heard in the court at Marondera this week.

Not pictured above is Tawanda Rangwani, aged 18, of Kuwarega village in Masomera, who pleaded not guilty to a charge of bestiality, after (allegedly) having been caught with his pants down having relations with a neighbour's goat.

The court was told that the complainant Ndaizivei Mero tied her goat to a tree and left it grazing. The accused allegedly untied the goat and took it to a nearby bush where he sexually abused it. He was allegedly caught in the act by another villager, Chamunorwa Mhimha, and fled from the scene. Mr Mhimha pursued the accused and apprehended him before filing a police report.

In his defence, Mr Rangwani said he had been framed. Magistrate Sharon Mashavire will give her judgment on December 4th. The state was represented by Marvelous Machacha, whose name has been entered in Walt's collection of marvelous African monikers.

Florida, the new Zimbabwe

Regular readers of WWW [as oppoed to "irregular" border-crossers. Ed.] will know that Walt has an abiding interest in Zimbabwe, the failing African state whose name has become a metaphor for incompetence and corruption -- two nouns which have been much in use since November 8th as journalists and pundits struggle to describe the gubernatorial and senate elections in the Not-so-great State of Florida.

The ZANU-PF party has ruled the Land of Bambazonke since independence, thanks to its expertise in the rigging ["running", shurely! Ed.] of elections. For instance, when their candidate is trailing in the vote count, they simply stop counting! That's what happened in 2013 when weeks after polling day it was announced that President Mugabe had received the most votes, but not enough to prevent a run-off. The opposition candidate then withdrew from the race, leaving Comrade Bob to win in a landslide. See "'Incidences' from the Zimbabwean election", WWW 2/8/13.

They didn't risk having to compete in a run-off this year. All the results of July's polls were announced within 48 hours, except for that of the contest for the presidensity. After a couple of days of "They're coming just now," the government-appointed Zimbabwe Electoral Commision announced that Bob's successor, Comrade ED [No relation! Ed.] had won 50.8% of the vote, just enough to avoid a runoff. See "ED wins Zimbabwe presidential election - quelle surprise!" WWW 2/8/18.

Does this remind you of any election in any place you've been hearing about lately? How about Florida? In particular, how about Broward and Palm Beach Counties? I have no bias against those counties -- used to live there myself -- but can't help but notice that the stench of electoral corruption is worse than usual this year.

"Preliminary results" announced in the wee hours of Wednesday showed Republican Governor Rick Scott leading incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson in the contest for a US Senate seat, and Republican Ron DeSantis ahead of Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum in the race for the state house.

To nobody's surprise, the lamestream media refused to "project" a winner, saying it was too close to call, absentee ballots hadn't been counted, a recount was possible, and so on. Why? Because the election machinery was in the control of "non-partisan" officials such as Broward County's Supervisor of Elections, Brenda Snipes, who President Trump said "has had a horrible history..."

Here, from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, is what POTUS was talking about.

• In 2004, approximately 58,000 mail-in ballots were not delivered to voters.
• In 2012, nearly 1,000 uncounted ballots were discovered a week after the election.
• Election results in the 2016 primary were posted on the election office's website before the polls closed.
• A court ruled Snipes had broken election law when she destroyed ballots from the 2016 election 12 months after it, instead of the 22 months required by federal law.

Republicans blamed problems in Broward County on the design of the ballot there. “The ballot was laid out in an incompetent fashion by the incompetent supervisor of elections,” said Mr Scott's attorney, Bill Scherer, apparently referring to Mrs Snipes.

The analysts at FiveThirtyEight questioned whether the position of the Senate race on the Broward County ballot (at the bottom left-hand corner of Page 1) meant some voters skipped over the race. In Broward, some 26,060 fewer people casts voted in the Senate race compared with the governor’s race, a difference of 3.7%.

Mr Nelson's attorney, however, said he believes the problem was with the machine counters -- nothing to do with Mrs Snipes. "I am pretty confident what you are going to see are markings that were not picked up by the machines or a calibration issue that was not registering that part of the ballot," he said.

Reports that Brenda Snipes received her training in public administration in Zimbabwe are untrue. She comes from that hotbed of democracy, Talladega County AL. It's just a coincidence that the start of a statewide recount, which began Sunday morning, has been delayed by a series of technical glitches with the counting machines... in Broward County.

Stay tuned for the revised and improved results, due at 1500 EST on Thursday. Or call Mrs Snipes' office for the official figures. If you can't wait, call anytime!

Further reading: "What can we expect from Florida recount — 2018 edition?" by Brendan Swisher, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 10/11/18.

Good news from South Africa, thanks to President Trump

It's very rare that there's any good news out of Africa, but Walt does have some to pass on, and it appears to be due to the intervention of President Donald J. Trump. (Eat your hearts out, gliberals.)

Only six (6) days after POTUS warned the government of South Africa that he had instructed the Secretary of State "to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and the large scale killing of farmers", the SA government has withdrawn its white farmland redistribution (read: land grab) bill, passed by its parliament in 2016, for "further consideration".

The fact that land seized from the Boers (= "farmers", in Afrikaans) would almost certainly have been handed over to friends of the ruling African National Congress, who would have let it go back to bush, just as happened in neighbouring Zimbabwe (see "What happens when black Africans turf out white farmers", WWW 24/8/18 - includes two videos), probably had something to do with the decision as well, but for now Walt will give credit not just to President Trump but to the new South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who seems to have a degree of sense uncommon to the Big Men of Africa.

Further reading: "Land reform in South Africa has been slow and inept", The Economist, 23/8/18.

Zimbabwe "con court" upholds election result -- surprised?

On August 2nd, Walt reported that Comrade Emmerson "ED" Mnangagwa (pictured with his crocodile smile) won the presidential election in the banana Republic of Zimbabwe by a slim majority -- 50.8% -- just enough to avoid a run-off election.

The result, attributable to massive vote-rigging and intimidation, was challenged by the major opposition party, the MDC, who moved in the country's Constitutional Court (aptly nicknamed the "Con Court") to set aside the result.

This morning Deutsche Welle reports that the Con Court upheld the results of the election. Encore une surprise, non? Expectations of any change in the ultra-left ruling party's disastrous social and economic policies -- e.g. the land grab that dispossessed hundreds of white farmers, as mentioned below -- should therefore be set aside. Mother Africa Wins Again!

VIDEOS (2): What happens when black Africans turf out white farmers

The day before yesterday, President Trump (Yes, lefties, he's still POTUS!) tweeted that he had directed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to investigate the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and large-scale killing of farmers.

The lamestream media, not to mention the gliberal media (Hello Clinton News Network and MSNBC) are having a field day (no pun intended) saying that the President is doing this only to deflect attention from the supposed problems created for him by the legal embroglio into which Messrs (((Cohen))) and Manafort have sunk or been dragged. The rabid anti-Trumpers at Vox call the dispossessing and murder of South African farmers "a virulent, racist conspiracy theory that has been a pet cause of hardcore white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the alt-right."

In fact the reports are true. Walt, who has considerable experience of southern Africa, called attention to them months ago. See "Aussies welcome Boers fleeing South African land grab", WWW 14/3/18, and "South Africans won't slaughter white farmers... at least not right now", WWW 3/3/18.

Since I posted those, a number of videos have appeared which tell the truth about what's happening in South Africa, and why its far-left government (not to mention its hungry people) will soon regret turfing out the boers (= farmers) responsible for the majority of SA's food production. Here's the first of them, asking a very good question.



And here's the second, produced by an Australian news team, in which we learn that Zimbabwe (known in more prosperous days as Rhodesia), where the landgrab idea was applied at the turn of this century, is now begging the "white settlers" to come back and restart its moribund agricultural sector.



The speaker in the first video asks if the South Africans have learned nothing from the example of their neighbours to the North. Walt answers: apparently not, but they will learn... the hard way. While they're learning, millions of dollars in food aid will be supplied by the western democracies, because to let them starve would be, errr... you know... racist... wouldn't it.

Prof. Schwab explains African elections

Zimbabwe's capital Ha-ha-harare (the Fun Capital of Africa) was calm today, hours after the government-appointed Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) declared Comrade Emmerson "ED" Mnangagwa winner of the presidential election held July 30th. See "ED wins Zimbabwe presidential election - quelle surprise!", WWW 2/8/18.

The voting itself was peaceful enough, but things got ugly when the ZEC delayed announcing the results of the presidential race for three days, while making sure that they got their numbers right, to avoid a repeat of the 2008 contest in which Comrade Bob Mugabe failed to win an outright victory on the first ballot. As reported here yesterday morning, six people were killed in the melee when the army rolled in tanks to disperse rock-throwing demonstrators who denounced "the Crocodile" and and alleged vote-rigging.

Harare's roads appeared to be free from the troops today, but water cannons and police remained present at the headquarters of the Movement for Democratic Change (the main opposition party), which police raided yesterday, making 18 arrests. Ed. has obtained for us a picture of the authorities announcing the results to obviously disappointed MDC Alliance leaders.

Opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, who received more than 44 per cent of the vote, said on Twitter that "unverified fake results" had been announced by the electoral commission. The ZEC "must release proper and verified results endorsed by parties," Mr Chamisa tweeted. "The level of opaqueness, truth deficiency, moral decay and values deficit is baffling."

Well, it's only baffling to those who expect an African election to bear some resemblance to an election in western democractice, like the US of A. [Eh? Ed.] By the sheerest coincidence, I just read Africa: A Continent Self-destructs (Palgrave, New York, 2001) by Professor Peter Schwab, of SUNY Purchase. Here's what the "authority on human rights" has to say about how the process works in the parts of Africa where they even bother to hold elections.

Within Africa, certainly, elections have taken place.... But elections are merely one indicator of the democratic process, and they are not worth very much if one leader, party, or group totally dominatees the system and if opponents are harassed, intimidated, often shot at, even arrested, and obligated to campaign fearing for their very lives. Sometimes they are even killed.

That's what happened in Zimbabwe in the presidential election of 2008, mentioned above. When early results on polling day put the MDC candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, ahead of Comrade Robert Mugabe, counting was stopped. Just stopped, that's all. More than a month later, the ZEC announced that Mr Tsvangirai won 47.9% of the vote to Uncle Bob's 43.2%, necessitating a run-off. Faced with the likelihood that his supporters would be the victims of the mayhem described by Prof Schwab, Mr Tsvangirai withdrew from the race, and the only ruler Zimbabwe had known since independence was "democratically re-elected".

Old Africa hands know the saying "MAWA" -- "Mother Africa Wins Again" -- and that's exactly what happened in Zimbabwe this week. End of lesson.

Footnote: I do not recommend Professor Schwab's book. The introductory and concluding chapters are nothing more than a rehash of the usual white liberal American apologies for the abject failure of black government. The way the prof tells it, the all-but-hopeless mess that African is in today, half a century after independence, is the result of centuries of slavery, colonialism and systemic racism, all the fault of the evil whites -- Europeans, not Americans, of course.

In between the first and last chapters is a potted history of the political and humanitarian disasters visited upon their people by the leaders of black Africa, "big men" like Comrades Mugabe and Mnangagwa. In the chapter headed "Civil Wars, Wars, and Political Collapse", Prof Schwab concedes (without once mentioning the race of "modern" Africa's leaders):

...it should be obvious that...western nations, and in particular the United States, would be foolhardy to jump into the bog that is currently Africa. [Yes, that's what he called it. Walt] Unless and until indigenous leadership arises that is intent and willing to put its nation's interests above personal aggrandizement, there is little that can be done to resolve the complex and bloody civil strife operative in so many African states....

In the final analysis, it is up to Africa and Africans to finally take the initiative to fix what is broken and to address the problems confronting their respective states. These are clearly not nations where there is public loyalty to established politically legitimate institutions.... There are many cultures, many loyalties, and few national structures that are not riddled with graft and at the mercy of wanton leaders. No conspicuous anchor is available to tie the ship of state to while exploring solutions.

To repeat... MAWA.