The Bush Disconnect

In a telling and witty article by Bob Geldolf in Time Magazine last month, Geldolf brings attention to President Bush's successes in Africa but in doing so shows the tragic disconnect between Bush's wisdom on Africa and his policies both at home and abroad and his understanding of himself.

Bush states things in the article like,

• "One thing I will say: Human suffering should preempt commercial interest."
• "Stop coming to Africa feeling guilty. Come with love and feeling confident for its future."
• "When we see hunger we feed them. Not to spread our influence, but because they're hungry."
• "U.S. solutions should not be imposed on African leaders."
• "Africa has changed since I've become President. Not because of me, but because of African leaders."
• "[Evil] people prey on the hopeless. Hopelessness breeds terrorism. That's why this trip is a mission undertaken with the deepest sense of humanity, because those other folks will just use vulnerable people for evil."

Why these thoughts never bled into his actions in the rest of the world, we may never know. Bush's legacy will not be remembered for his aid to Africa but rather for his pride, mismanagement, co-opted religious messaging, Constitutional violations, destruction of America's moral platform in the world, and all-out crimes against humanity.

Part of me wants to celebrate Bush's successes in aiding Africa more so than any other US President in the past, but I end up more distressed because it makes me unable to write him off as insane. He's not, (no more than anyone else at least). But why the leader of the free world can't see the disconnect in his actions is mind-blowing. It makes the sins of his presidency all the more tragic.


Geldof and Bush: Diary From the Road
By BOB GELDOF
Time Magazine - Feb. 28th 2008

I gave the President my book. He raised an eyebrow. "Who wrote this for ya, Geldof?" he said without looking up from the cover. Very dry. "Who will you get to read it for you, Mr. President?" I replied. No response.

The Most Powerful Man in the World studied the front cover. Geldof in Africa — " 'The international best seller.' You write that bit yourself?"

"That's right. It's called marketing. Something you obviously have no clue about or else I wouldn't have to be here telling people your Africa story."

It is some story. And I have always wondered why it was never told properly to the American people, who were paying for it.

Continue reading the rest of the article here.

The Next Big Thing...

Nigeria Chosen To Host 2008 Genocides

December 15, 2004 | Issue 40•50

ABUJA, NIGERIA—At a celebratory press conference Monday, President Olusegun Obasanjo announced that Nigeria's troubled but oil-rich city of Warri has been chosen to host the 2008 Genocides.

Annan congratulates Obasanjo.

"Nigeria is excited for this chance to follow in the footsteps of Somalia, Rwanda, and Sudan," Obasanjo said. "Much work remains to be done, but all of the building blocks are in place. Nigeria has many contentious ethnic groups, a volatile economy, and a dependence on food imports. We are well on our way to making 2008 a genocidal year to remember in Nigeria!"

Obasanjo acknowledged that many people considered Nigeria, a relatively stable West African nation, an unlikely candidate to host the Genocides.

"With a multi-party government transitioning from military to civilian rule, Nigeria is not a shoo-in to host the Genocides," Obasanjo said. "But last week's municipal election—with ballot shortages and multiple accusations of vote tampering—showed the world that Nigeria is, indeed, geared up for the unimaginable."

Oni Radhiya, a spokesman from the 2004 Genocide Board, said September's crippling polio outbreak may have helped Nigeria beat out the competition.

"Sudan was a fantastic host this year—the 2004 Genocides have really raised the bar," Radhiya said. "For 2008, many of us on the committee had our eyes on Tajikistan. The country's ongoing ethnic and religious strife made it a strong contender. But there was some concern that the conflict was as likely to simmer down as it was to boil over."

Radhiya added that Iraq was ruled out because the country is unlikely to exist three and a half years from now.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said that, after a close examination of all bids, a Nigerian genocide "began to seem almost inevitable."

"Nigeria's stability has been repeatedly threatened by fighting between fundamentalist Muslims and Christians," Annan said. "Five of Nigeria's seven political parties are extremist groups. The nation's ethnic Yoruba, Hausa, and Ibo populations of the oil-rich Niger Delta area also show genocidal promise."

A newly erected billboard in Makurdi.

Annan said he first noticed the full genocidal potential of soon-to-be embattled Nigeria in September, when the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force threatened to shut down oil production.

"With so many poor and powerless people involved in messy, years-old conflicts, the situation is likely to be ignored long enough for things to get really ugly," Annan said. "And, of course, the slow-to-move, ineffectual UN will do everything it can to help shepherd Nigeria into a combined religious, political, and economic disaster of horrific proportions."

According to Nigerian officials, now that their country has secured the bid, the government has much work to do.

"Don't think we'll just sit on our hands and wait for a crippling drought to pit neighbor against neighbor," Nigerian Minister of State Bello Usman said. "No, the next two years will be crucial. We need to default on our $2 billion IMF loan, invest the entire treasury in the overhead-heavy petroleum business, and turn a blind eye to regional guerrilla groups. That'd be a good start. After that, food shipments must fall into rebel hands, armed forces must go unpaid, and the emerging national infrastructure must be allowed to deteriorate."

Added Usman: "There's a lot to accomplish, but I promise you this: By early 2008, ashes will blacken the sky and blood will run in the streets."

According to Red Cross programming director Ellen Schumacher, genocide, once a spectacle that drew the attention of the entire world, has received less attention in recent years, drawing an ever-diminishing Western audience.

"The most glaring problem has been a time-zone issue, since most of the proceedings take place during inconvenient, off-peak viewing times," Schumacher said. "But, as an oil-rich nation, Nigeria is much more likely to build a viewer base in the West. Perhaps the country will even be able to get one of the networks to pony up for exclusive rights."

If you read my blog...

...and my last post, there is a charge now:

We have a chance to bring our voices to a conversation about the next steps in ending the genocide in Darfur. Everyone (I mean it) should write a short letter saying that you care about the people of Darfur, and want the U.S. to be a part of the initiative to end the violence taking place in the Sudan. This is our time to weigh in, and show them we care. Tell President Bush, he can't campaign saying, "Not on my watch," and then do nothing. Tell him to keep his promise. Sudan's not an OPEC nation, but supposedly the man is supposed to have some ounce of conviction in him somewhere. Let's see if we can't find it, shall we? Time is running out.

mail to: comments@whitehouse.gov

or make a phone call to President Bush: 202 456-1111

"Not on my watch"??

Clooney & Wiesel: U.N. choice in Darfur is troops or death

POSTED: 5:01 a.m. EDT, September 15, 2006

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Actor George Clooney on Thursday told the U.N.'s most powerful body that if it did not send peacekeepers to Sudan's Darfur region millions of people would die in what he called the first genocide of the 21st century.

"After September 30 you won't need the U.N. You will simply need men with shovels and bleached white linen and headstones," the actor warned.

The mandate of African Union peacekeepers in the region expires at the end of the month and the Sudanese government has refused to approve their replacement by a U.N. force. (Watch Clooney plead the case for Darfur -- 1:26)

The Oscar-winner said if U.N. forces were not sent to replace them, all aid workers would leave and the 2.5 million refugees who depend on them would die.

"The United States has called it genocide," Clooney told council members. "For you it's called ethnic cleansing. But make no mistake -- it is the first genocide of the 21st century. And if it continues unchecked it will not be the last."

Clooney was addressing Security Council members at an informal briefing organized by the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, which recently set up a Darfur Commission of Nobel Laureates.

Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner, also appealed to council members: "You are the last political recourse of Darfur victims and you can stop it."

He urged them to send peacekeepers.

"Remember Rwanda," Wiesel said. "I do. Six hundred thousand to 800,000 human beings were murdered. We know then as we know now they could have been saved and they were not."

He said it was terrible that the U.N. let the 1994 killings in Rwanda happen and urged the U.N. to "restore its honor" by taking action in Darfur.

Earlier Thursday, Wiesel told The Associated Press: "If the Security Council does not act it will be blamed for history."

Clooney and his journalist father, Nick Clooney, spent five days in Darfur in April, gathering personal stories of the death and suffering that has ravaged the African region. Both Clooneys have continued working since their return to publicize the plight of refugees.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million have fled their homes since 2003, when ethnic African tribes revolted against the Arab-led Khartoum government.

A May peace agreement signed by the government and one of the major rebel groups was supposed to help end the conflict in Darfur. Instead, it has sparked months of fighting between rival rebel factions that has added to the toll of the dead and displaced.

Sudan is resisting attempts by the U.N. to take over a 7,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force that has been unable to stop the violence in the western Darfur region.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has said the change in peacekeepers would violate the country's sovereignty and has warned that his army would fight any U.N. forces sent to Darfur.

"The fact is Bashir is a war criminal... I think he should be warned that if he does not stop he will be accused of crimes against humanity," Wiesel said.

The Save Darfur Coalition, an alliance of more than 170 faith-based, humanitarian and human rights organizations, has organized a rally in New York's Central Park on Sunday. There will also be dozens of other events across the United States and around the world.

The African Union's Peace and Security Council will meet on Monday in New York, just before this year's U.N. General Assembly speeches, to discuss breaking the deadlock in Darfur.

Wiesel, who survived the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald during World War II, has worked for human rights in many parts of the world and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.

"Because we went through that period of suffering and humiliation we must do something so that other people should not go through any suffering and humiliation," he said.

http://www.savedarfur.org/
Take Action by sending an email through the above address.

Bono Fatigue

Ok, this is the funniest fake blog I've ever seen. Even down to the little sub-cultural Christian inside jokes, it's bloody brilliant. Here's a screen shot:


This site is for U2 fans suffering from Bono Fatigue as a result of an over-consumption of U2 music, Bono interviews, Africa-related relief ideas etc. (BF can manifest in many ways. If you don't have it, you'll know it when you get it.) Since people at this site are recovering from BF, and are hoping to work through it and re-introduce U2 back to their lives, please do not post band photos, art or quotes unless absolutely necessary to your comment. Give others a chance to walk through this at their own pace. Thanks! Heal and enjoy.

Author	Post
Allen_Williams29	4:06 AM 1/03/2006 Reply | Edit
Newark, NJ 9 posts [100%]	First, thanks to Andrew for creating this safe haven! My Bono Fatigue started shortly after "Atomic Bomb" was released. I listened to the enhanced CD for 302 hours straight, even while sleeping. It was a total binge and I knew better. I also read that book of interviews with Bono, "Conversations," about six times. During that same time I got "hooked" on the Africa cause really bad. I made myself feel sick about AIDS and poverty, to the point where I couldn't think about anything else. I OD'ed pretty bad and got the biggest case of BF. I couldn't even hear Bono's voice without feeling totally self-righteous and prophetic. I thought I was way hipper than all my non-U2 loving Christian friends. I even quit going to church and listened to U2 music on Sunday mornings as my "church." I finally realized I had a problem, so I went cold turkey for 5 months, then weaned back onto their stuff. I have earned my family and friends back, and now I moderate my U2 intake. BF can be beat, people!
Audrey464always	1:36 AM 1/11/2006 Reply | Edit
Jacksonville, Fla. 549 posts [100%]	I guess I'm in the middle of some bad BF. I dreamed last night that Bono, Bono's wife, Bob Geldof and the Edge were hiding around every corner and jumping out to frighten me and play "I'm gonna getcha" while pinching and tickling me. It was awful to have my favorite band in a nightmare! When I ran away from them I felt guilty, like I wasn't doing the "right thing." The weird thing is, I don't even know who Bob Geldof is. It must have come into my head subliminally. Is he the Live Aid guy? Or Band-Aid? Even typing the word "Aid" is bringing on symptoms. Agh!
TheFLY3244	5:42 AM 1/13/2006 Reply | Edit
Seattle 91 posts [100%]	I relapsed last night and listened to the first three songs of Achtung. By the time The Fly rolled around I was back to thinking Bono was Elijah. It's amazing how long it takes to get over distorted thoughts. I can't wait 'til my detox is done and I get back to regular listening. I miss U2, but I can't have them right now!
OlderNWiserihope	5:45 AM 1/22/2006 Reply | Edit
Calgary, Alberta 494 posts [100%]	Peace, bro. You'll recover. Have you tried Delirious in the meantime?
DanTheMan132	10:22 AM 1/24/2006 Reply | Edit
Nowhere 33 posts [100%]	Can Christian magazines let up on the Bono hagiographies already? Okay, so you figured out that he's a Christian, you think he's a prophet. Big deal. Can we get off the rock star kick? Or am I suddenly uncool? I hope this site is about free expression.

The American World

click to enlarge
& Also, I think Canda was supposed to read, "moose heads" NOT "mouse heads" although it could be a pronunciation joke or a very subversive crack at America, which is even more funny.

First Annual Blood:Water Mission Banquet

"Neil makes me laugh though, because, you know, it's his interfering, it's his timing. Going on about he wants some report doing - it's Red Nose Day! You know. Ooh, what's more important: you, Neil, with your report, or some starving children? Oh, I dunno. Oh, what would Lenny Henry say? I think we know. Imagine him going out of the door on Comic Relief day and Dawn French is going 'Where you going, you haven't done the washing up. You haven't put the rubbish out.' 'DO IT YOURSELF, I'VE GOTTA SAVE SOME AFRICANS!'." - david brent
Seriously, I just went for the food though. What Jena doesn't know is that she was actually my first "real" friend in Nashville as well. I can't stand the rest of these idiots.

Myself, Aaron, Collin with his beardy-beard and Elizabeth all the way from CA.

I must have said something witty.

Yea! Julie came!

Little known fact: Julie's head is really that much bigger than the rest of ours.

It only cost me $20 for this pic with the Jars guys, but they wouldn't sign it. They're real snobs you know (jena even charged me $5).