Slog - Comments on 10 Zeros http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros Nothing can save this country. Nothing. The whole of it is dead. HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe will drop 10 zeros from its hyper-inflated currency - turning 10 billion dollars into one - the country's reserve bank said Wednesday. President Robert Mugabe threatened a state of emergency if businesses profiteer from the country's economic and political unraveling. Shop shelves are empty and there are chronic shortages of everything including medication, food, fuel, power and water. Eighty percent of the work force is unemployed and many who do have jobs don't earn enough to pay for bus fare. One third of Zimbabweans... Copyright 2008 Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:16:03 -0800 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:27:32 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by ellarosa whatever could you mean by "dead," charles? everyone in the country is going to die of violence and starvation? mugabe will lose his power and the name of the country will change? the currency is dead? the whole place will be blown to smithereens? your famous inscrutability is not charming. it's just annoying.

]]> ellarosa http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088009 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088009 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:29:47 -0800 Comment by Sir Vic Don't we have some out of work revolutionaries here that we can send over there? How tough can this psycho Mugabe be?

The oppressed must revolt or be killed. There isn't much middle ground anymore. Either way, that country will be awash in blood for several years. Some of it needs to be Mugabe's.

]]> Sir Vic http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088011 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088011 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:30:13 -0800 Comment by tsm How can he possibly be staying in power? Why is there no blood in the streets? Is he still somehow managing to keep the military fed?

]]> tsm http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088021 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088021 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:36:39 -0800 Comment by flamingbanjo Nobody believes he was honestly elected -- the election process was a transparent sham. He has bankrupted the country and brought it international disgrace. He is ruling purely through fear and intimidation, and he refuses to leave. Wait, who are we talking about, again?

]]> flamingbanjo http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088043 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088043 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:51:39 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Yes, he's keeping the military fed. He and his cronies OWN ALL THE FARMS (that they supposedly "liberated" from the evil white overlords), and they're running them with the equivalent of slave labor for the sole benefit of the regime. Even the rumor of opposition to the government is enough to get you torn apart by dogs or shot or at least beat up, women raped in front of husbands and children. The glorious African pastime of necklacing -- an auto tire filled with gasoline placed around your neck and lit -- is making a comeback. Everyone in the country is starved and terrified.

The warning of "profiteering" is bitterly hilarious, as shop owners are not profiting but merely slowing their own rate of starvation. What few goods they have to sell are being exchanged for worthless currency -- it literally loses 90% of its value by nightfall.

Zimbabwe is BAD. This used to be one of Africa's success stories. Now it's destabilizing a third of the continent as millions of refugees pour out. It could tip over South Africa. This is worse than Darfur in many ways, and could be worse than Rwanda in time. It's BAD, and the world, as always, does nothing.

Kill Mugabe. Kill him today.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088091 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088091 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:23:11 -0800 Comment by jebus h. xst Other countries have suffered hyper-inflation. Zimbabwe can be turned around. Zimbabwe will be turned around. As @5 suggests, some key people need to be removed.

]]> jebus h. xst http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088095 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088095 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:28:25 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle Sadly, Charles is right.

And, sadly, Fnarf has the best advice.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088147 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088147 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:53:12 -0800 Comment by max solomon so who kills him? US missile strike? British missile strike? South African invasion? UN invasion?

the devil is in the details.

]]> max solomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088159 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088159 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:57:51 -0800 Comment by NapoleonXIV All this talk of hyper-inflation and economic malaise sounds like just a bunch of whiners!

]]> NapoleonXIV http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088173 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088173 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:04:32 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Ideally it would come from the UN, but the UN is geared more towards protecting tyrants, not removing them. The sad fact is that Zimbabwe, like much of Africa, is turning into a Chinese vassal. China's recolonizing the continent; there are a million Chinese living there now, and they're ferrying money, technology, and arms into countries like Zimbabwe and Sudan as fast as they can. So it's not going to be the UN. It's not going to be SA; they're in bed with Mugabe. It COULD be the USA, if the USA hadn't squandered all its power on certain aimless desert adventures that achieved nothing except spilled treasure and blood. I still think we should do it -- go in, pop the motherfucker, and get out before the sun is up, but that's not going to happen. Nothing's going to happen, I'm afraid. Five million people are going to die.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088218 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088218 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:28:06 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle @8 - my choice would be Polish mercenaries, paid for from Russian funds.

It's best not to know how it happened.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088247 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088247 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:48:16 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Russia has no interest in freeing Zimbabwe. And the chances of Poland doing Russia's dirty work for them are about the same as you winning the new Nobel Prize for blog commenting.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088337 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088337 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:39:17 -0800 Comment by Sir Vic Let China get sucked into overseas empire. It destroyed the French, German, Spanish, British, Italian, Dutch, and Portugese empires in their times. They'll find out soon enough that the raw materials extracted aren't worth the cost in life or treasure.

]]> Sir Vic http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088356 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088356 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:50:48 -0800 Comment by Greg Don't forget the American empire in your list.

]]> Greg http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088362 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088362 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:53:36 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle I didn't say they want to do it.

I said use them as the cover.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088419 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088419 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:30:51 -0800 Comment by Fnarf Tell the truth, Will: are you a Secret Agent?

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088433 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088433 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:47:18 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle No. I have never worked directly for CSIS or CIA or NSA. But I did work with Intel. Both kinds.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088493 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088493 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:27:46 -0800 Comment by Cookie W. Monster How to kill Mugabe? Gather up a SWAT team comprised of several pit bulls, Critical Mass, and the meanest of the regular SLOG commenters, airlift 'em from Sea-Tac Airport, fly 'em to Zimbabwe, drop 'em on Harare.

That'll kill the tyrannical li'l fucker dead, ya sure ya betcha!

]]> Cookie W. Monster http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088505 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088505 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:37:38 -0800 Comment by Fnarf @17, did they give you a number and take away your name? I'll bet they did. Don't worry, your secrets are safe with us.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088512 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088512 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:42:21 -0800 Comment by lark Charles,
My understanding is you were born in the country when it was known as Rhodesia, its capitol, Salisbury, its head of state, the Queen of England and its Prime Minister, Ian Smith who passed away last year. Mr. Smith was unfortunately remarkable for two things: he was racist and he predicted accurately that natives couldn't govern and the country would descend into chaos.

However repellent this sounds, one does wonder would the country be better off if the British recolonized Zimbabwe at their behest? The same would apply for those former French, Portuguese and Spanish colonies whose present condition is intolerable. Of course, I don't endorse that nor do I believe all of the conditions of those countries are intolerable. But, after spending 3 years on the continent of Africa (I admit, I have not rendered southern Africa a visit yet) and reading extensively about its affairs, it appears to me nearly 50 years after colonial independence many countries (right now, Zimbabwe is arguably the worst off) are worse off than at independence. Lower life expectancy, increasing HIV infection and a stubborn retention of autocratic and/or dictatorial governments has made Africa, in the words of one African (Kenyan?) economist to remark that "Africa is the Third World's Third World." Clearly, that's tragic. But, Charles, I'm up for some suggestions.

]]> lark http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088604 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088604 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:54:49 -0800 Comment by lark Charles,
My understanding is you were born in the country when it was known as Rhodesia, its capitol, Salisbury, its head of state, the Queen of England and its Prime Minister, Ian Smith who passed away last year. Mr. Smith was unfortunately remarkable for two things: he was racist and he predicted accurately that natives couldn't govern and the country would descend into chaos.

However repellent this sounds, one does wonder would the country be better off if the British recolonized Zimbabwe at their behest? The same would apply for those former French, Portuguese and Spanish colonies whose present condition is intolerable. Of course, I don't endorse that nor do I believe all of the conditions of those countries are intolerable. But, after spending 3 years on the continent of Africa (I admit, I have not rendered southern Africa a visit yet) and reading extensively about its affairs, it appears to me nearly 50 years after colonial independence many countries (right now, Zimbabwe is arguably the worst off) are worse off than at independence. Lower life expectancy, increasing HIV infection and a stubborn retention of autocratic and/or dictatorial governments has made Africa, in the words of one African (Kenyan?) economist to remark that "Africa is the Third World's Third World." Clearly, that's tragic. But, Charles, I'm up for some suggestions.

]]> lark http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088605 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1088605 Money Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:55:17 -0800 Comment by GK I don't think it's repellant at all.

Why are so many African countries brutally corrupt, hellish places?

]]> GK http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1089935 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/07/10_zeros#c1089935 Money Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:27:32 -0800