news.amnesty.org — Human rights group Amnesty International (AI) on Wednesday released the first-ever satellite images of the effect of the Zimbabwean government's controversial Operation Murambatsvina, which left 700 000 people homeless last year, according to a United Nations report.(Via: http://www.mg.co.za/)
May 31, 2006 View in Crawl 4
Closed AccountMay 31, 2006
@stony and mikeazorin:Alright, while the dates don't contradict, they don't prove such an eviction occured in 10 months. Also, I can't find where the submitter even came up with ten months. I might be missing something, but i can't find it anywhere.
kosterfieldJun 1, 2006
I understand we can go about military operations for a total of 6 months under the control of only the President under the War Powers Act. But also aren't we trying to do the humanitarian thing elsewhere? We can only be so many places at once... We try to help people in Indonesia after the quakes, we try to help the people in Iraq. The US military can only do so much with Congress pressing down on the budget. We can't all sit here and say "Oh, how horrible!"
julespJun 1, 2006
Sometimes I wonder if it would be illegal to organize a volunteer army for these sorts of situations. I'm sure if we could take Iraq with 150k troops we could take these barbarians with 200k volunteers properly armed of course. The problem would be the situation afterwards, like in Iraq at the moment. We may win wars but what can we do for them afterwards? I would think an infrastructure project would work, instead of focusing on a government, make all the people work in building homes, water systems, schools, hospitals, necessary farms and then work on the government.
Closed AccountJun 1, 2006
in the us you are only concider evil if your country has resources we need. If they could find stuff we need, then i am sure our leadership will tout how evil he is.
artagraJun 1, 2006
To the people with very distinct opinions on African flora - have you been to Africa? The growth of that much greenery in 10 months is not impossible, not by a long shot. Plain and simple. I live in Johannesburg (major city in South Africa) and have travelled extensively in rural South Africa and in neighbouring countries, and that kind of growth is not impossible. Otherwise, as pointed out, if the photos where taken four years apart, it doesn't mean the destruction didn't happen in ten months. Infact, I've visited places where this kind of destruction has taken place in days, not weeks or months. There are serious problems in Zim that need the attention of the international community - I'm embarrassed that our government in SA is not taking a stronger stance. Stewartallen makes some good points - political revolution is not easy when the ruling party is lead not by someone who is merely power hungry, but someone who is truelly willing to see his people being murdered and starving to death so that he can hold onto his power. Our gardener is from Zim, and every 6 months he overloads his old Cressida Stationwagon and double axel trailer with food and supplies for his family.Artagra
mkizzleJun 1, 2006
@popfrogsI think this is a case of hindsight being 20/20. Its pretty clear that what occurred was not an optimal solution but what would have been? Maintaining the status quo doesn't change the fact that less than 1% of the population was essentially in control of the economy. Anyway you look at it, that causes problems. So who's really holding the candy bar? Money talks, bulls**t walks.@ThatsUnpossible do you refer to yourself as a native American? simply stating that while their families may have been in that country for a couple hundred years it would be a stretch to call them natives
herveyJun 6, 2006
This happens in less than 10 minutes....<a class="user" href="http://gallery.phillyburbs.com/albums/Philippines+Landslide.aspx">http://gallery.phillyburbs.com/albums/Philippines+Landslide.aspx</a>
perrygeJun 8, 2006
Holy crap, I didn't see that coming. Though I probably deserved it.To be fair, I completely agree with all of you. I'm a political science student and am very aware that it's a VERY important story, in fact, that was the first thing I pointed out in my comment. And yes, I am aware that digg will be expanding. Mugabe's a crazy lunatic, but to be fair his village destruction happened quite a long time ago; it's only here because of the satellite images.My point was similar to spydabytes; for my political news, I turn to the BBC, the Economist, other news and independent sources, newspapers, and my professors. Digg is currently (yes, I know this will change) my source of tech stories - and to risk getting modded down again (which I probably will), the fact that a satellite is used doesn't really make it tech news.I love the concept of digg, and I'd love to see it applied to broader areas, PARTICULARLY politics, believe me. But at the moment, it's purely tech.And to be honest, looking at how many discussions on Digg tend to very rapidly degrade into 'fanboy' disputes: Linux vs Macs vs Windows, PS3 vs XBox 360 vs Wii, I question whether or not the digg system will really foster healthy discussion and commentary on subjects not pertaining to technology.What happens, in future version of digg, if someone who believes in socialist, leftish values posts a comment? Does he get attacked and modded down by the far more abundant right-wing conservatist capitalist sympathists? Would there honestly be healthy political discussion in a forum where the masses can 'mod down' comments that they disagree with? I don't know...Now go ahead, mod this comment down.