Fast Economic Growth In Africa.

Good news reported by the BBC:

The economic outlook for Africa is improving after a decade of growth of 5.4% for the continent that matches global rates, the World Bank has said.

The trend indicates that a fundamental change is occurring in Africa, a World Bank official told the BBC.

But the bank’s latest report, Africa Development Indicators 2007 (ADI), says ongoing investment is needed to sustain long-term development on the continent.

Otherwise, a split may grow between affluent nations and stagnant ones.

Access to infrastructure

Service

1990s

2000s

% change

The report looked at more than 1,000 indicators covering economic, human and private-sector development, governance, the environment and aid.

It concludes that growth in many African countries appears to be fast and steady enough “to put a dent on the region’s high poverty rate and attract global investment”.

Wide variations

The World Bank’s chief economist for Africa, John Page, said he is “broadly optimistic” that there’s a fundamental change going on in Africa.

“For the first time in about almost 30 years we’ve seen a large number of African countries that have begun to show sustained economic growth at rates that are similar to those in the rest of the developing world and actually today exceed the rate of growth in most of the advanced economies,” he told the BBC.

The key, said Mr Page, was that “Africa has learnt to trade more effectively with the rest of the world, to rely more on the private sector, and to avoid the very serious collapses in economic growth that characterized the 1970s, 1980s and even the early 1990s.”

The report points to wide variations in Africa, however, highlighting three distinct groups of countries:

• The big oil-exporting countries
• Those with expanding, diversified economies
• And those which have few natural resources, are conflict-prone and are experiencing slow or no growth.

Uneven growth rates between these groups risks splitting the continent between countries which become affluent and eradicate poverty and those which continue to stagnate.

For example, 60.5% of total net foreign direct investment in sub-Saharan Africa in 2005 went to oil exporting countries.

South Africa and Nigeria account for more than half of the region’s gross domestic product.

Poor infrastructure and the high cost of exporting from Africa compared to other regions of the world has been holding the continent back rather than any failures of African enterprise or workers.

AFRICA’S ECONOMIC REGIONS The big oil exporters – 27.7% of Africa’s population 18 resource-poor countries with sustained growth – 35.6% of population 17 slow-growth economies – 36.7% of population

Volatility in sub-Saharan Africa has dampened investment, the report says.

Corruption is also a factor that may limit needed investments in education and health.

“Perhaps the easiest illustration of that is in the resource-rich economies where the resources often accrue to a small number of corporations and to government,” said Mr Page.

Pakistani President Musharraf on The Daily Show.

Remember this?

Why You Shouldn’t Watch News On T.V

I only get my news from the internet anymore. BBC, Al Jazeera, and The New York Times. Why?

Here are some reasons:

1. Fluff. Turn on CNN. What are they reporting? A water skiing squirrel? A man who broke the one footed pogo sticking record by 4 hops? Major US T.V news networks are no longer broadcasting news. Instead they show 22 hours of feel good stories that mean absolutely nothing.

2.Forcing Opinions. Instead of broadcasting news, the networks give you two opinions (thus “fair and balanced”) to choose from. What they should be doing is giving you all the facts so you can form your own opinion. They have 1 Democrat and 1 Republican debate for 10 minutes and then move on to the water skiing squirrel.

3.Pundits.These political pundits are usually former strategists for the Democrat and Republican parties and are sometimes referred to as “experts” on certain subjects. These squawk boxes are certainly not experts, and the only reason they are on the air is because it is cheaper to get 2 pundits instead of hiring actual reporters.

If you have to watch the news on T.V, a program that is somewhat good is Wolf Blitzer’s situation room.

Freedom of Speech Denied In Spain.

Two Spanish cartoonists have been found guilty of “offending the royal family” and are now being fined 3,000 euros each.

The cartoonists drew an image of the King and his wife engaging in sexual acts.

Who knew that Spain didn’t allow free expression, and that they still operate under such primitive methods?

With such a modernized nation it’s pathetic that its citizens are denied free speech. How are they going to advance as a civilization when people are denied their born right?

This questionable offense has consequences such as up to 2 years in prison.

Reader Response: Muslim Manipulation

 Occasionally we post reader comments  on our  articles. Here is an interesting response  to Patrick King’s essay “The Muslim Manipulation”

The above essay appears to be positing that particular Arab and/or Muslim leaders are manipulating “dar al-Islam,” specifically in regards as to attitudes towards Israel; the Jews; and the West, for their own nefarious and apparently “hidden” purposes. The article also suggests that this “manipulation, extortion, and interpretation” did not begin until the 1940’s.

I would suggest that “Islamic fascism” and hatred of Jews and the West (or dar al-Harb, the House of War) began in earnest far before the Nazi rise to power.
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab at-Tamimi, the founder of the fanatical intolerant cult that is today the official State religion of Saudia Arabia and much of the rest of the Sunni world, began preaching in 1744. The Muslim scholar from whom al-Wahhab derived much of his teachings of Jihad and radical intolerance was Taqi ad-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah, who died in 1328 after being imprisoned for his extreme puritanical, anti government, violent viewpoints.
The tribe of al-Saud (later to become the “House of Saud”) allied with Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab and twice tried to violently take over all of the Arabian peninsula, sacking and looting Mecca in the process, before being crushed by the Ottomans and the Egyptian Sultanate.
The third time the Saudis succeeded, in the late 1800’s, slaughtering hundreds of thousands of mostly Shia Arabs and finally overthrowing the Hashemites and annexing the Hijaz, which included both Mecca and Medina.
All through this time period the Wahhabists have preached hatred of “the other;” the West; the Jews; and, finally, of course Israel.
The Saudi Arabia has managed an uneasy truce with its own Wahhabist fanatics and has had, twice, to used the private army of Saudi bodyguards to crush Wahhabist rebellions. They now use their oil wealth to export the hatefilled Wahhabist philosophies to other countries around the globe, including the United States of America.
(In addition, Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the British appointed Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, was preaching total hatred and annihilation of the Jews from 1921, which happens to coincide with the foundation of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, until his death. He incited hundreds of thousands of Arabs to murder Jews and he was responsible for the assassinations of hundreds of “moderate” Muslim leaders who were looking to accommodate both the British and the Jews.)

I would suggest that rather view the present day troubles as a deliberate manipulations by countries such as Syria or Egypt or even Saudi Arabia, that one should view the entire trend toward terrorist chaos and self destruction by the Arab and Islamic world as being akin to the Christian Reformation in Europe from the 1500’s through the 1700’s.
Just as the Christian world then beat itself to death, murdering millions; destroying entire economies of various countries; attacking and destroying vast swaths of countryside, cities and towns until all of Europe was totally spent, so has the Muslim world been involved in its Islamic Reformation since the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, with its attendant new integrations of the secular Republic of Turkey and the Muslim Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Were the entire West to submit to Islam, including Israel and the United States, it would not change a single terrorist or self-destructive act by individual Muslims or the Muslim world at large.
They are undergoing their Reformation.
Each tribe or country or sect or individual has a new “revelation” on how to to establish their Imaginary Caliphate and destroy dar al-Harb. And, dar al-Harb, the House of War, is all those, particularly Muslims, who do not believe in the same way as whatever particular group or individual believes.
This Reformational orgy of death and destruction will not stop until the Arab/Islamic world becomes physically and financially exhausted.
This is not a matter of “manipulation” and “suppression,” but one of intense belief in the “new way” of establishing the Great Caliphate. And, just as Christianity had a new, radical religious cult aborning every minute during the Reformation, so does Islam. And they are willing to murder a planet just to justify their particular beliefs….

Iran Police Target “Moral-Vices”

According to a recent BBC report, Iranian police are now beginning to crackdown even harder on what they call “moral-vices”

Among these vices are wearing make-up and hats instead of headscarves, decadent films, short trousers, shorts skirts, skimpy overcoats, and boots.

This current crackdown is reported to be the most serious in recent years.

In an increasingly Westernized world, I am curious to see how the population will react. I’m not going to say whether it is good or bad since I am not a follower of Islam.

Unless women start getting seriously punished for this, I don’t think the USA should attempt to “free” or “save” them. The USA and Iran have totally different cultures and both governments need to understand that.

What can 611 Billion Dollars Buy?

I usually don’t post things like this, but I found it very interesting-

From The Boston Globe: How Much can 611 Billion Dollars Buy?

 

“According to World Bank estimates, $54 billion a year would eliminate starvation and malnutrition globally by 2015, while $30 billion would provide a year of primary education for every child on earth. At the upper range of those estimates, the $611 billion cost of the war could have fed and educated the world’s poor for seven years”

Lebanon-The Black Sheep of The East: From The Westphalia Blog

Written by our friend Patrick King, from the Westphalia Blog.

Caressing the edge of the Mediterranean with its sandy beaches that can be seen from the neighboring Lebanese mountains, the two terrains juxtaposed together makes a brilliant site to see.

In fact, Lebanon’s name derives from semitic root which means “white, milky” referring to the majestic snow capped mountains in the center of the small country.

In Lebanon, the variety isn’t just found in the landscape, but in the ethnicities that inhabit it.

It is estimated that about 40% are Christians (mostly Maronites, Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Melkite Greek Catholics, Chaldean Catholic), 35% are Shia Muslims, 21% are Sunni Muslims and 5% are Druze. A small minority of Jews live in central Beirut, Byblos, and Bhamdoun.

Lebanon has been for thousands of years, a vast melting pot for cultures and ethnicities.

Originally home to the business savvy Phoenicians, who sailed the seas trading with the Egyptians and Greeks, Lebanon later came into the hands of the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the Ottoman Turks and most recently the French.

Yes, Lebanon has been a stomping ground for imperialistic nations, but it has only helped the Lebanese develop it’s own culture. The Lebanese would take the best of the ruling empires culture and add it to their own, developing a most advanced society.

In fact, compared to other Middle Eastern nations, Lebanon as a whole, is a very well educated society. As of 2003 87.4% of the population was literate. [1]

In the 1960’s, Lebanese capital, Beirut was a metropolitan, upscale city. Street cafes could be found on every corner overwhelmed with intellectual chatter in 5 different languages. Fancy hotels would be filled with A-list guests. In the book “Lebanon- A House Divided” By: Sandra Mackey she describes Beirut as the “Paris of the east”. The center of culture.

However throughout the prosperity of Lebanon, the country was stuck in a cultural tug-of-war between Europe and the Middle East.

Many radical Muslims felt as though Lebanon was betraying it’s roots in the Arab world.

Lebanon’s major source of income before it’s civil-war was through tourists. Tourists did not come for Lebanon’s numerous religious sites but for it’s European since of fashion and cuisine. Travelers did not see an Arab country while vacationing. Very rarely did the common tourists brush against Arab culture. Despite it’s location, Lebanon was not an Arab nation.

It is through Arab dictators that Lebanon is how it is today though.

Nations such as Syria and Egypt saw how much Lebanon was succeeding through it’s western styled economy and government.

Those nations under tyrannical command were scared of possible uprisings that could take place in their own state. What if their population saw another middle-eastern country living lavishly even with hundreds of ethnicities, while they were in slums?

Countries like Syria and Egypt incited an Islamic uprising in Lebanon. Syria and Egypt used religious propaganda with the help of radical Islamic institutes to spread the ideas of ultra-conservative Islam to Muslims in Lebanon.

The governments of those countries also used the thousands of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to incite a civil-war. It is well known that during the civil war Syria and Egypt created puppet PLO factions to attack Lebanese and Israeli forces without actually officially getting involved.

Because certain nation’s governments were scared of their citizens finding out they are being suppressed they went through the great lengths of destroying a succeeding, prosperous country.
Lebanon could have changed the world if it wasn’t for the dictators scared of freedom.

What India and China Need.

It is well known that both China and India are having tremendous growth in the field of technology among many others. Americans are currently squirming about out sourcing to Indian IT specialists and Chinese computer programmers.

Since thousands of Indians and Chinese have a tremendous knowledge of tech related subjects, how come there are not many Indian or Chinese OWNED tech companies? Instead of creating their own companies, India and China have relied on outside employers.  That is exactly their downfall.

What India and China are both lacking are inventors. The Indian and Chinese have enough knowledge and experience for their governments to start encouraging inventions and company start ups.

If both governments did try to nurture inventions rather then being employed by foreign companies, there would be a huge economic climb for India and China.

It seems though, unfortunately that both nations have chosen stability over growth.

Women Equality: The Economist

From The Economist: