Yes this is the News – More than we want to believe.. sad but true

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More of the News – Autotuned, except this time we add the prez and some of his highranking friends at the UN.

for our Right Wing Friends – a Lil Glenn Beck Remixx

WE have a special wrap up for you – The VP JOE, Smokin Lettuce

and we couldn’t leave out the SS, Hill Kick It My Girl

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Today we again add our voices to the chorus singing that ole’ Zimbabwean spiritual – “Fuck Fuck Fuck Mugabe“

except we’d like to add a new chorus to that old refrain today.

“You Thought it was over till you met our new head man; then you saw that this man isn’t workin the same plan – not until then did you know, it wasn’t a game.

the rules have changed and there’s no need to rebutt; cause out of the gate our Headman smacks this nut. throw your hands in the air and wave em around; cause they stand as a testament to those he’s put in the ground. always wantin to gank you; when he can’t even thank you. the end has come Zimbabwe – it’s over mugs; and to this there’s no doubt.

yes the rules have changed and there’s no need to announce; You See this time around we smash and then bounce. You Mugabe are being Knocked the Fuck OUT, so pack it up now Mugs, Cause you’ve been warned. next step baby is the Big Obama bout”

~RE Ausetkmt copyright 01/29/09

The U.N. food program said Thursday that 7 million Zimbabweans — 80 percent of the population by some estimates — need food aid.

State control of foreign currency has allowed a ruling clique to enrich themselves by buying U.S. dollars at lower government rates and selling them at the much higher black market rate.

There is no reason why Russia and China “are unable to separate themselves from the regime of Robert Mugabe. … Their interests no longer, frankly, coincide,

“Yeah Yeah Yeah – Fuck Fuck Fuck Mugabe“

Lets Do It Already,

Efforts to Pressure Zimbabwe Continue Under Obama

Stephen Kaufman – 29 January 2009
(AllAfrica.com)

Zimbabwe’s longtime ruler, Robert Mugabe, is not getting a reprieve from President Obama, who is actively continuing U.S. efforts to convince the international community, and particularly Zimbabwe’s neighbors, that they must not stand by as the country’s people continue to suffer from humanitarian and economic catastrophe and a lack of political freedom.

The United States increased targeted sanctions against leaders and supporters of Mugabe’s regime in response to the country’s sham presidential runoff election in June 2008 and the failure of Mugabe to negotiate with good faith in power-sharing talks with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). MDC won the March 2008 parliamentary elections and its presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, received the most presidential votes, but he was forced to withdraw from the runoff election as the result of violent attacks against his supporters.

Both the Obama and Bush administrations have recognized that although bilateral sanctions have had an impact, they have not convinced Mugabe to either step aside or share power in a meaningful way. Peaceful democratic change in the landlocked country is much more likely to occur when Zimbabwe’s neighbors in the Southern African Development Community take action.

U.S. leaders, including Ambassador James McGee in Harare, have pointed out that the continued deterioration of Zimbabwe is presenting significant risks to its neighbors. (See “Zimbabwe Approaching ‘Failed State’ Status, U.S. Ambassador Says.”)

The country’s cholera epidemic has begun to spread to neighboring South Africa. Zimbabwe’s neighbors have been challenged to absorb millions of refugees who have fled disease, economic hardship and political repression.

OBAMA REACHES OUT TO SOUTH AFRICA DURING HIS FIRST WEEK

In a January 27 telephone call to South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, President Obama emphasized Pretoria’s role as a regional leader and one of Africa’s strong democracies. According to a White House statement, the two leaders discussed the situation in Zimbabwe and Obama “noted that South Africa holds a key role in helping to find a resolution to the political crisis” there.

Likewise, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken with South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping. According to acting State Department spokesman Robert Wood, Clinton “is very interested in what’s going on in Zimbabwe.”

USAID has supplemented its food aid to Zimbabwe with emergency assistance due to the cholera epidemic.

“We are going to do what we can, working with countries in the region, to try to put additional pressure on Mugabe to basically … negotiate seriously” in power-sharing talks with the MDC, Wood said January 28. But Mugabe “clearly is not interested in … an equitable solution to the political crisis in the country, and we need to see further pressure coming from the region.”

President Obama named Susan Rice as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Rice has an extensive background in the African region, having served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs during the Clinton administration.

At her January 15 confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate, Rice said the Obama administration would be pressuring Zimbabwe’s neighbors. She added her belief that there is potential to work with both China and Russia, which previously vetoed U.N. Security Council resolutions targeting Zimbabwe, by maximizing common bilateral interests.

There is no reason why Russia and China “are unable to separate themselves from the regime of Robert Mugabe. … Their interests no longer, frankly, coincide,” Rice said. (See “U.N. Ambassador-designate Urges Cooperation Against Autocrats.”)

MORE U.S. ASSISTANCE TO COMBAT CHOLERA

Meanwhile, the United States is working with others in the international community to try to alleviate the cholera epidemic and provide assistance to those who have been affected. The epidemic began in August 2008 and has affected all of the country’s provinces, with 48,000 reported cases and 2,755 deaths from the disease as of January 22.

On January 28, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said it is consigning nearly 440,000 bars of soap, valued at nearly $365,000, to the U.N. Children’s Fund. Cholera is a preventable disease, and clean drinking water and improved hygiene can help prevent it from spreading. (See “Zimbabwe to Receive $6.2 Million from U.S. Aid Agency.”)

Humanitarian organizations will distribute the soap as part of a hygiene education program, USAID said.

The cholera epidemic occurred on top of continued food shortages in Zimbabwe, which was once a major food exporter. According to the World Food Programme, 7 million Zimbabweans, or more than half of the population, will need food assistance to survive until the next harvest in April.

USAID said it has provided more than $264 million in food and health assistance to Zimbabwe since October 2007. The agency has also pledged $6.8 million in emergency water, sanitation, hygiene and health assistance since the cholera epidemic broke out.

Zimbabwe’s water, sanitation and health systems have collapsed

The death toll from the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has now passed the 3,000 mark, the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

The latest figures represent an increase of more than 1,000 deaths in just two weeks.

Meanwhile, the MDC’s leader sounded more upbeat about power-sharing, a day after his party denied it had agreed to join a unity government next month.

He said it would go ahead if the rivals resolved their long-running disputes.

“Everyone agrees that, subject to the clearing of all the issues that are outstanding, a coalition government can be formed,” Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai told South African newspaper The Star.

As the stalemate continues, Zimbabwe is lurching towards economic collapse.

The WHO said on Wednesday a total of 3,028 people have died from the cholera outbreak and 57,702 have been affected since August 2008.

STATE OF ZIMBABWE Five million people – almost half population – need food aid Central bank introduced Z$100tr note, worth about US$30 (£20) Unemployment more than 80% Nearly 3,000 people dead in cholera outbreak Many teachers, doctors and nurses not working Teacher: ‘I can’t afford to work’

The epidemic of the water-borne disease has been fuelled by the collapse of Zimbabwe’s water, sanitation and health systems.

Aid workers say the focus of the cholera outbreak has now moved to rural parts of the country.

South Africa insisted the MDC had said it would join a unity government with President Robert Mugabe next month, despite the opposition’s denial that it had agreed to do so at a regional summit this week.

Frank Chikane, director-general of South Africa’s presidency, told reporters that observers should not “read too much” into the MDC’s complaints.

Monday’s 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting in Pretoria said the MDC was ready to form a unity government with Zanu-PF by mid-February.

SADC leaders also concluded that Zimbabwe’s contentious home affairs ministry, which runs the police, should be controlled jointly and reviewed six months after the new government was inaugurated.

Home affairs has been a key sticking point, with the MDC insisting it should run the ministry if Zanu-PF is to administer the defence and national security departments.

The MDC also wants a share of regional governor and diplomatic posts.

President Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai agreed to share power last September but the rivals have not been able to agree on how to allocate key government jobs.

The MDC, along with Western nations, accuses Mr Mugabe of not being sincere about power-sharing, pointing to a spate of abductions of opposition officials and human rights activists.

A cholera epidemic is sweeping across Zimbabwe, causing further suffering to millions of people already struggling to survive in a country close to systemic collapse as food shortages and hyperinflation continue to take their toll.

The map below shows the extent of hunger and cholera in Zimbabwe. Click on the towns to read more about the situation on the ground.

The BBC does not have permission to report from Zimbabwe, so the names of some contributors have been changed to protect identities.

HARARE: BRIAN HUNGWE

A strong odour pounces up your nose, choking it stone dry, as you drive into Harare’s Mbare township past hostels and its popular market, Mbare Musika.

The stomach-churning stench is enough to kill your appetite for a week.

Raw sewage flows through Mbare Musika – Harare’s rendezvous for farmers selling their produce.

Apostolic worshippers walk near a burst sewage pipe in a suburb of Harare

East of the township, more sewage flows effortlessly into the Mukuvisi River, one of the city’s main suppliers of water.

Communal toilets in the surrounding hostels hosting hundreds of families have broken down.

As pumps are not working, sewage waste from burst pipes flows from the hostels’ third floor down, leaving waste traces on the windows.

There are many sick people inside, they can’t walk and relatives don’t have money to send them to hospital Mbare resident Majorie

And on the walls below, a thick dark layer of waste, hanging loose on windows has been accumulating over the past months.

It is a recipe for disaster, and a health scandal, according to a local priest.

“Even now, there are many sick people inside, they are frail, they can’t walk and relatives don’t have money to send them to hospital, so they are left to suffer,” said Majorie, a middle-aged woman carrying a child on her back.

In the streets, piles of uncollected refuse are commonplace with flies feasting on the rubbish.

In this chaos, vendors selling tomatoes, mangoes and vegetables rove around.

Customers are still available. Some buy the produce and walk leisurely, eating mangoes, alongside streams of raw sewage to their hostels.

There is nothing they can do about it.

Most imported goods have to be bought with foreign currency

In this crisis, statistics of people dying of cholera rise each day.

But it is not just killing people, it is devouring Africa’s traditional norms and values.

When Ruth Huni, a woman living in Glen Norah township died last week there were just six relatives seated outside when I visited her home.

Zimbabwean funerals used to be huge affairs with hundreds of friends, family and well-wishers. But no more.

It was common knowledge she had died of cholera.

“Where are our values as Africans?” asked John Mkwananzi, her brother and a famous musician with the popular Runn Family group.

There is a feeling here that people are being punished for supporting the opposition Budiriro resident Claudios Mkwati

“They know she died of cholera. There are many friends, even relatives, around yet they are not visiting. Out of fear. I suppose,” he said.

“What are we doing to our culture, if we can’t pay condolences? Cholera is there, but we should rise above the problem and respect our cultural values that bind us together,” he said.

Christians are not taking chances either.

At St Peter’s Catholic Church in Mbare, there is something special missing during and after fellowship.

“Our usual shaking of hands which is a sign of peace and reconciliation – our custom to do during mass, during the holy service – we had to abandon it because people are afraid it might lead to more transmission of the virus,” says Father Oskar Wermter, of the Catholic Church.

“People refrain from it so we just nod at each other in a friendly manner or just clap our hands to ourselves [the] traditional [way],” he says.

After the Sunday service this week, there were hardly any hugs, handshakes, or kisses.

Raw sewage running behind the church, a few yards away, left an unsettling odour.

Rubbish has not been collected from the streets of Harare

Budiriro is Harare’s worst hit township, recording close to 200 cholera-related deaths.

It is an opposition MDC stronghold.

“There is a feeling here that people are being punished for supporting the opposition,” says resident Claudios Mkwati.

“Our local councillors and legislators can’t do much, because the buck stops at the ministry of local government which provides the money,” he explained.

The township has over 300,000 families.

Schools here in Harare are now officially closed for the Christmas holidays but most have been closed for months now.

The past schooling year has basically been one long break for the majority of pupils who have not attended a class in months because of the lack of teachers and unaffordable fees.

Most shop shelves remain empty of foodstuffs except for the few supermarkets in a position to sell imported goods, mostly available to those with foreign currency.

Their shelves are full but the items are so expensive that they are beyond the reach of most city dwellers.

Zimbabwe abandons its currency

Zimbabweans will be allowed to conduct business in other currencies, alongside the Zimbabwe dollar, in an effort to stem the country’s runaway inflation.

The announcement was made by acting Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa.

BBC southern Africa correspondent Peter Biles says the Zimbabwean dollar has become a laughing stock. A Z$100 trillion note was recently introduced.

Until now only licensed businesses could accept foreign currencies, although it was common practice.

The country is also facing a deepening humanitarian crisis as well.

A cholera outbreak has killed over 3,000 people according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

And the World Food Programme (WFP) has revised up the number of people it says need food aid.

Our people are now using multiple currencies alongside the Zimbabwean dollar Patrick Chinamasa Acting Finance Minister

It now says seven million Zimbabweans are in need of food aid, up from 5.1 million in June.

WFP regional spokesman Richard Lee said the situation had deteriorated rapidly.

“The economic situation has worsened more dramatically than we had anticipated,” he told AFP.

“The agency is being forced to halve the cereal rations given to hungry Zimbabweans so that all the people in need can receive aid.”

Hyperinflation

Mr Chinamasa made the announcement as he delivered the annual budget to parliament.

“In line with the prevailing practices by the general public, [the] government is therefore allowing the use of multiple foreign currencies for business transactions alongside the Zimbabwean dollar,” he said.

The country is in the grip of world-record hyperinflation which has left the Zimbabwean dollar virtually worthless – 231m% in July 2008, the most recent figure released.

Teachers, doctors and civil servants have gone on strike complaining that their salaries – which equal trillions of Zimbabwean dollars – are not even enough to catch the bus to work each day.

Worthless

A 40-year-old Zimbabwean primary school teacher from the capital Harare, told the BBC news website earlier this week it cost nearly US$2 a day to travel to work, but inflation had reduced the average teacher’s wage to the equivalent of US$1 a month.

He said he now made a living reselling maize to families in high density areas, as it made more money than teaching.

Before the announcement, shops in Zimbabwe were increasingly demanding payment in US dollars – a reality acknowledged by Mr Chinamasa.

“In the hyper-inflationary environment characterising the economy, our people are now using multiple currencies alongside the Zimbabwean dollar. These include the [South African] rand, US dollar, Botswana pula, euro and British pound among others.”

A Harare resident said even street vendors were refusing to accept Zimbabwean notes.

Last year, the Central Bank was forced to slash 10 zeros from the local unit in an effort to make the currency more manageable.

Correspondents say that although the local currency will still be printed, all prices will be set in US dollars, making the Zimbabwe dollar irrelevant.

The country’s economy is now on the brink of collapse – a situation worsened by the political crisis that resulted from last year’s disputed presidential elections.

Why do We Continuously have these instances of Trailer Park Rage every few weeks ?  This SUB Urban, (and I say that Loosely) undoubtedly Alcohol/Meth fueled Moronic Fassy Posse’; had fantasies that made them believe they were here to Save All White Man Kind..

Geeeee,,, That’s Soooooo Unique, Soooo Totally Like Wowww..

so it appears white folks in new york are off the hook again. damn can’t y’all just behave like the rest of the country ?  this is plain ridiculous. what do we have to do, Call Hillary Clinton ?

Alternately We say the state need to put them under the strong influence of a group of  Brooklyn Jamaican Church Mothers. let the deacons lead em in, and put em on that ole’ time Mournin Bench. you know, the place they put you when you got outta wack and needed “A  Layin On Of Hands..”

should they feel the need to move, those Mothers would undoubtedly lay the Rod of Jesus firmly upon their wicked Fassy’s.  these aforementioned deacons would also be immediately employed to baptize and then conduct an immediate testimony from these Devil Pickneys.  We Jamaicans’ don’t play when it comes to Jesus, and Right and Wrong; nor Fassy. if you is a Fassy, We Gon Treat You Like a Fassy.

These Guys are FAASSSSSSSSYYYYYYYYYYYYSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Three Are Charged in Attacks on Election Night

John Marshall Mantel for The New York Times

Ralph Nicoletti, 18, is accused of conspiracy to “injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate” black people on Staten Island on Nov. 4.

Like countless other Americans that night, a group of young Staten Island men gathered on Nov. 4 to watch election results, and then took to the streets when it became clear that the country had elected its first black president.

But, the authorities say, they were not out to celebrate. Armed with a police-style baton and a metal pipe, they attacked a black teenager, pushed another black man, harassed a Hispanic man and, in a finishing flourish, ran over a white man who they thought was black, leaving him in a coma, the authorities said.

A federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday charged the men, Ralph Nicoletti, 18; Michael Contreras, 18; and Brian Carranza, 21, with conspiracy to interfere with voting rights in their efforts to “injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate” black people on Staten Island on election night.

The men were arrested on Tuesday night and arraigned in Federal District Court in Brooklyn on Wednesday. All three pleaded not guilty.

Mr. Nicoletti remains in jail. Mr. Carranza was released after his mother agreed to put up a house as security for a $200,000 bond. He will be confined to his home and must wear an electronic bracelet. Mr. Contreras’s case was postponed until Thursday; he was kept in jail. If convicted, each of the men faces a maximum of 10 years in prison, the United States attorney’s office said in a statement.

Prosecutors requested that Mr. Nicoletti, in particular, be held in jail, saying he was a member of a violent group called the Rosebank Krew, named after the group’s Staten Island neighborhood. A search of Mr. Nicoletti’s dresser drawers by F.B.I. agents turned up weapons and a note that said the “Boss” had 10 brothers behind him and that he could kill a person’s family, prosecutors said in a court memo. They said they believed that the note had come from Mr. Nicoletti’s brother, Anthony.

The memo said that Ralph Nicoletti had engaged in criminal activity since he was 14. He faces state charges of committing a hate-crime assault in connection with the first attack on the night of Nov. 4. While out on bail, the authorities said, he punched one of his co-defendants, Mr. Contreras, believing he had been cooperating with the authorities.

According to prosecutors, the men gathered at a “makeshift outdoor clubhouse” to watch the election results on the Internet. Shortly after learning that Mr. Obama had won, they and a fourth man “decided to find African-Americans to assault in retaliation for an African-American man becoming president,” the prosecution papers said.

The papers do not name the fourth man, but another teenager, Bryan Garaventa, was charged with Mr. Nicoletti in the first attack, on Alie Kamara, a 17-year-old black resident of Staten Island.

Prosecutors said that Mr. Nicoletti drove the group to the Park Hill neighborhood, which has a large black population, and that the four men got out of the car to assault Mr. Kamara, using a metal pipe and a collapsible police baton. Mr. Kamara said that his attackers shouted “Obama!”

The group then carried out a series of other assaults, the statement said: They pushed a black man in Port Richmond to the ground; accosted a Latino man and demanded to know for whom he had voted; and yelled profanities about Mr. Obama as they drove past black people at a hair salon.

They then spotted a man, Ronald Forte, in a hooded sweatshirt, on Blackford Avenue. Believing that the man was black, the group decided that one of them would hit him with the baton, prosecutors said. Instead, Mr. Nicoletti “decided to hit him with the car,” and Mr. Forte, 38, was thrown onto the hood and into the windshield, shattering it.

His mother, Eileen Forte, told the court, “Every day for the last two months I’ve watched my son in a coma.” The defendants, she said, planned “to leave him in the gutter to die.”

As she spoke, relatives of the defendants got up and quickly left the courtroom. None would speak with reporters.

Outside court, Jeneba Lapedo, Ali Kamara’s mother, said: “I told the judge my son didn’t deserve what happened to him. They beat him up and he was screaming and he had to jump over a fence for his life. After that he was bleeding and he called me.

“He called me and said, ‘Mama please don’t let me die.’ And that’s the only child I have.”

Ms. Lapedo was accompanied by Aliya Latif, civil rights director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in New York.

“We are deeply disturbed,” Ms. Latif said, “by these instances not only because of the bias motive but because of the possible negative impact on equal participation in the political process. As such we trust this case will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

and now for a lil Vintage Ice Tea,,

Do you remember this from Pulp Fiction ?

“Thou Shalt Not Kill..”
but where does it say – thou shalt BE Killed ?

Today We Ask You to Listen to This Statement By a Ruthless but Wise Woman – Dr Condelezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State.

We do not believe incoming Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be so eloquent, or kind. We trust that she will finally take the initiative and clean up where the doctors left off – in the parliment of Zimbabwe. America always meddles in the affairs of other less meaningful countries; so why not Zimbabwe, finally.

Dick and Dubya, why not let er rip for Old Time Sake. you don’t like that rhino, and we have it on good authority that the Zimbabweans are Backing You; if you decide to let Dick do a lil “Last Holiday Hunting Trip” -  in Harare.  Mr Obama would probably consider it a holiday gift in parting;  And guess what Mr President – all the good warmongering Americans Would Too !

Bust a Cap in His Ill Intentioned Alzheimers Cabinet. call it “Operation Granting A Sick Childs’ Christmas Wish”

Do It In The Name Of Love for Mankind – Peace and Goodwill.

Yes Mr President, we’re asking you to take a stand and wack Black Hitler. Just let Dick Load up Ol’ Bessy in the Back of Airforce Three and Head his posse on down to Harare’. they could back the airstream out and have full use of what’s left of the roads, to ride up to Victoria House and Bust a Cap in Black Hitlers Ass.

It Will Be Glorious, as a Ride or Die Move – His Ass Will Die and You Will Ride On Out in Glory.. My Prez; more than just a member, the Real Playa Prezident. (just like ya bwoy, Notorious Big )

Today We Again Ask For Prayer For ZIMBABWE.

We need to pray that Cholera Finds Black Hitler, and Holds Him Down while Dick gets that Red Dot action goin from the side by side.. Oh Yeah, a lil holiday decorating, Shady Palin Stylie.

“Black Hitla Throw ya hands in the air, and wave em like they just ain’t there.. Now one two three everybody hit the gully, MC Dick gon put the Hamma Down Fully,, Black Hitla Screammm. now stop, It’s Hamma Time”

it is not in our agenda to call for the murder of anyone – but instead to point out their genocide, and to ask for reciprocity.

“Lord Let The Righteous Not Suffer Under Fools and Heathens”..

So today we look to the Old Testament and remind you all that it says “An Eye For An Eye”. Which is a quotation from Exodus 21:23–27 in which a person who has taken the eye of another in a fight is instructed to give his own eye in compensation.

At the root of the non-Biblical form of this principle is that one of the purposes of the law is to provide equitable retaliation for an offended party.

If We All Think About This Hard Enough This Can BE MUGABE

Zimbabwe blames ‘chemical war’ for cholera

Mugabe’s regime claims Western countries deliberately started health crisis

HARARE, Zimbabwe – The Zimbabwean government on Saturday accused the West of deliberately starting the country’s cholera epidemic, stepping up a war of words with the regime’s critics as the humanitarian crisis deepened.

The state-run Herald newspaper said comments by the U.S. ambassador that the U.S. had been preparing for the outbreak raised suspicions the West had waged “serious biological chemical war.”

Zimbabwean officials often blame their country’s troubles on the West. Their stranglehold on most sources of news to which ordinary Zimbabweans have access makes such rhetoric an important tool for a regime struggling to hold onto power.

After the first cholera cases, U.S. and other aid workers braced for the waterborne disease to spread quickly in an economically ravaged country where the sewage system and medical care have collapsed. Zimbabwe also faces a hunger crisis, the world’s highest inflation and shortages of both the most basic necessities and the cash to buy them.

‘Genocidal onslaught’
The Herald quoted the information minister, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, as blaming cholera on “serious biological chemical war … a genocidal onslaught on the people of Zimbabwe by the British.”

“Cholera is a calculated racist terrorist attack on Zimbabwe by the unrepentant former colonial power which has enlisted support from its American and Western allies so that they invade the country,” Ndlovu was quoted as saying.

Experts, however, blame the epidemic on Zimbabwe’s economic collapse. The World Health Organization said Friday the death toll was at 792 and that the number of cholera cases that have been reported since the outbreak began in August was now 16,700. The epidemic has reached a fatality rate of 4.7 percent. To be under control it would have to be less than 1 percent, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said Friday.

Aid agencies have warned that the outbreak could worsen with the onset of the rainy season and the disease has already spread to Zimbabwe’s neighbors.

Slideshow

Dying for clean water Thousands in Zimbabwe are battling cholera and hundreds have died since August due to unclean water. more photos

Video

Cholera under control, Zimbabwe president says Dec. 11: Responding to calls for international action on the current cholera crisis in Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe claims the situation is now under control. NBC News Web Extra

Video

Cholera crisis escalates in Zimbabwe Dec. 9: A cholera epidemic is sweeping across Zimbabwe and leaving horror in its wake. Channel 4’s Jonathan Miller reports. (Editor’s note: Images in this report may be disturbing to some viewers.) Nightly News

AP	Images: Zimbabwe, a nation in decline Images: Zimbabwe’s one-man election

Suffering
President Robert Mugabe claimed Thursday that his government, with the help of international agencies, had contained the epidemic. That sparked accusations he was out of touch with his people’s suffering.

Zimbabwe’s decline began in 2000, when Mugabe began an often violent campaign to seize white-owned farms and give them to blacks; most of the land ended up in the hands of his cronies, and production has dropped. Hungry Zimbabweans scrounge for corn kernels spilled from trucks carrying the harvest to market in a nation that once exported food.

Zimbabwe once had among the best health care systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Now most hospitals have been forced to close their doors as they can no longer afford drugs, equipment or wages for their staff. Officials are also unable to afford spare parts and chemicals for water systems.

Mugabe has ruled his country since its 1980 independence from Britain and refused to leave office following disputed elections in March. U.S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have called recently for the 84-year-old leader to step down.

Zimbabwe seeks “all support we can get” on cholera

By Nelson Banya

HARARE (Reuters) – A huge international aid effort is needed to help Zimbabwe combat a cholera outbreak that has killed hundreds, the government said on Friday, even though President Robert Mugabe has said it is now contained.

“We need all the support we can get from peace-loving nations,” information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu told reporters.

The main opposition MDC also called for more help in fighting the epidemic.

Mugabe, under Western pressure to step down as Zimbabwe’s economy and health system collapse, had said on Thursday that “we have arrested cholera.”

But the United Nations said the death toll, now nearly 800, was rising.

Ndlovu said the media had misrepresented Mugabe’s comments, and presidential spokesman George Charamba said they were taken out of context.

The outbreak follows months of violence and political turmoil in Zimbabwe. Coupled with chronic food shortages, it has highlighted the economic collapse of the southern African country.

The health system is ill-prepared to cope and there is not enough money to pay doctors and nurses or buy medicine. The water system has collapsed, forcing residents to drink from contaminated wells and streams.

Neighboring South Africa is worried about conditions as thousands of Zimbabweans cross the border each day.

DEATH TOLL RISING

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday the death toll from cholera had risen to 792, with 16,700 cases.

“I don’t think that the cholera outbreak is under control as of now,” WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said in Geneva.

“We are not commenting on President Mugabe’s assertion because it’s not the place to discuss politics now.

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe for the past 28 years, has accused Western countries of trying to use the cholera outbreak to force him out of power.

“Now that there is no cholera there is no case for war,” he said in Thursday’s remarks.

Western leaders and some within Africa have called on the 84-year-old leader to step down as the epidemic compounds Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Mugabe on Friday to agree to a rapid deal on a new government.

Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai reached a power-sharing deal brokered by regional mediator Thabo Mbeki, South Africa’s former president, in September. But they are deadlocked over how to implement it.

The MDC said while it was still committed to the talks, it would not be a part of a unity government unless positions were allocated freely and a new National Security Council was created.

Ban said he had pressed Mugabe in “very tense” private talks two weeks ago in Doha to accept the September 15 agreement.

Asked whether he backed calls for Mugabe to leave office, Ban told a news conference in Geneva: “He should really look for the future of his country and his own people who have been suffering too much and too long from this political turmoil now coupled with very serious humanitarian tragedies.

“I am really appealing and urging him again.”

Britain on Friday questioned a U.S. proposal to seal Zimbabwe’s borders to hasten the collapse of Mugabe’s government, saying the move could have far worse consequences.

Mark Malloch Brown, senior British official for Africa, said if neighboring countries closed their borders, Zimbabweans would have no escape route and the crises would worsen.

(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Luke Baker in London, editing by Angus MacSwan)

Driving Miss Obama.. well if these car companies don’t get a bail out soon – what’s gonna be driving Miss Obama to school ?

and what about Mrs. Obama ?  what’s gonna be ferrying her about her daily duties in dc ? if not the Ford Box; (that’s King Bui’s name for the Ford Flex – he says it’s looks like a box)  are they bringing theirs from home when they move on up ? I know they have those special limo’s, but I mean co’mon, lets get real here..

O-man, the campaign promoted flex fuel and flex fuel vehicles; so show us you mean it and save some petrol. Lead By Example in This Government;  this is why we believe in Change, cause its gonna happen.. if you make it happen

as part year residents only 3 miles from the headquarters of gm, we’re really interested in hearing all about the bailout.  we know what the aig and wall st bail outs brought – happy days at an arizona spa for lot of happy executives. we’d just like to see our tired autoworkers be able to go home at night without wondering when they are gonna loose their jobs, houses and vehicles. many of these folks helped make this change; do it for those you promised a good life to Shrub.. and You Too Mr O-Man. We’re Depending On Ya, Really Doh !

Here in the ‘Motortown’, as we’re affectionately refered to by Mr Mandela; we need to hear some reassurances on our statement of financial fitness; as things are pretty dim right now. winter is hardly started and today the news reports said there wouldn’t be enough salt, or gas to keep the roads clean through the entire winter season – what are they talking about ? this whole region is ontop of a Salt Mine – and there are Refinery’s that dot the freeways in this area.  so why will there be a shortage ?  no tax dollars to pay for the Gas and Salt to keep the highways clean and safe.  Are You Starting to see what interconnected problems we’re approaching here My Presidents.. this is no joke, no sir ree bob.

King Bui tonight labeled them post bailout already – with the pronouncements of them being renamed to Government Motors and Federal Motors; he had no words for Chrysler. I added Crying Motors; cause they always cryin, and broke.  incidentially where is Lee Iacocca when you really need him. somebody get snoop-dogg on the phone, I know he knows where big pimpin is..

the Auto industry is so much a part of the US financial picture; that to let it fail, would be catastrophic. it’s estimated that for each job directly lost at the automakers, there are 6 jobs lost in the supplier industries. lest we forget, you need folks to make the radios, seats, and repair those vehicles once they are purchased. Auto Insurance is the biggest segment of the insurance picture; so without those cars, that industry will also be soon seeking a bailout -

and what of the skrippers, coney island folks, gas stations;  jiffylube,; kfc; party stores, grocery stores; payless shoes; and of course red lobster and ihop; they depend on these workers to help keep them afloat. even mickey d’s will take a hit if the big three go under. we didn’t even mention the farmers and producers who supply these stores with their products for these workers to purchase. is it getting clearer to you as a picture now ??  we live in a circular economy, and it is going to experience a domino like crash if something does’t stem the momentum of collapse. recession is in full swing, no doubt, but a depression; we need to avoid that at all costs.

I personally don’t wanna see Miss Obama being Driven anywhere in anything except an American product, and with that said, I’m issuing this proclaimation as Queen of Lutaloland; and Empress of ASID – Our Miss Obamas’ will not be driven in any product not manufactured in Their Homeland By Their Fellow North Americans.

Flex Fuel Development Credits aside, the auto manufacturers need a stabilization package, like yesterday.

so listen here folks in DC, do not test me on this one. I will make it rain, on both your parades if you do -

Bail out the Auto Companies Right Now. either do it, or your next presidents will be the team of Pelosi and Clinton.

Think I’m Kiddin – just go ahead and test me, because I want everybody to know that I – Mama ASID will go into my kitchen and cook up the hottest gumbo these mouths will ever taste, and then they will have nothing but time whilst they enjoy the Halo or Holiness; while considering how they Will Be Driving Miss Obama.

Nuff Said, so Shrub and O-Man Get This Done, cause I want Miss Obama’s Ford Boxes delivered before 1/17/09.

(in the words of bounty killer) Hol Dat !

Bush, Obama camps clash over aid for ailing auto makers