• Blogs Wot I Read - Hot Off The Presses

    Zimbabwe: An Yue Jiang Lost, Stolen, or Strayed?

    The An Yue Jiang, the Chinese ship that’s supposed to be carrying tons of arms for Zimbabwe left Durban for port or ports unknown; some thought it was headed for nearby Mozambique, but the Mozambicans pulled an Amy Winehouse and denied it access (after first denying it was headed their way, hmm). Now it’s thought to be headed to Angola (there’s a lovely thought, how much of the cargo will actually stay in whatever port eventually accepts it?). The BBC News site has some smuggled video footage (they are banned from officially reporting from within Zimbabwe, but get around it).…

  • Hot Off The Presses - Religion - SABRE2th Tigress: Book 'em, Dano.

    Prayer Can Move Mountains And Get You De-Boarded

    7online.com: Praying passenger is removed from plane 4/17/08 I don’t want to be too dismissive and need to know more specifics, but on the face of it this smacks of the kind of prayer that’s less private piety and more public propriety. I don’t know if it could have been started earlier or not to be considered right and proper, but it sure sounds like an attention-getting device.

  • Hot Off The Presses

    3 Million Rounds For A Nation

    SW Radio Africa News Story – News story Pray for Zimbabwe. Pray hard. China has secretly shipped tens of thousands of small arms to the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, raising fears the consignment has been brought in to crush any attempts to unseat Robert Mugabe from power. The consignment has cost the regime millions of United States dollars and came through Durban harbour in a Chinese registered vessel, An Yue Juang. It includes 3 million rounds of ammunition for AK47 rifles, the standard assault weapon for the country’s defence forces. There were also 1,500 rocket propelled grenades, a support weapon for…

  • Blogs Wot I Read - Hot Off The Presses

    Chinese soldiers and arms in Zimbabwe?

    Sokwanele reports a new and disturbing development in the “little” Zimbabwe story: it seems a group of about 10 Chinese soldiers and/or officers, armed with revolvers, checked into the Holiday Inn in Mutare, and are going about with Zimbabwean police for some reason. Meanwhile, a Chinese ship called the An Yue Jiang just cleared customs in Durban with a few containers said to contain arms consigned to the Zimbabwean army. The timing is pretty disturbing; if it’s a long-planned training exercise, with some new toys for Mugabe’s bully boys, it couldn’t come at a more dangerous time. Also, there are…

  • Hot Off The Presses

    General Strike in Zimbabwe 15APR08

    This is Zimbabwe The General Strike is on, starting tomorrow. Please can everyone spread the news as widely as possible. Zimbabweans, phone everyone you can think of and tell them to phone everyone they can think of and just pass on and on and on. If you are in the diaspora, please phone home and tell them and do the same.

  • Hot Off The Presses - Politics, Schmolitics

    Petition: Democracy for Zimbabwe

    Here’s a petition worth “signing,” if only to help them make a point. Avaaz.org – The World in Action Robert Mugabe’s government has withheld the results of the national elections–and threatens to use violence and fraud to hold on to power. Mugabe has resisted international pressure–but South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki, who has Mugabe’s ear, might listen. A global outcry is needed to ensure that Mbeki knows his status as a global and regional leader is on the line: the world is turning to him to help bring justice for the people of Zimbabwe. This petition will be delivered through diplomatic…

  • Geek Out! - Hot Off The Presses

    Solar Systems look-alike found: Planet Ogle-Blog

    BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Solar Systems look-alike found The newfound planetary system, which orbits the star OGLE-2006-BLG-109L, is more compact than our own and is about five thousand light-years away. The Ogle-Blogarians are a species of compulsive documenters. Every aspect of their lives, every passing interest, every offbeat opinion, every odd theory gets placed on their planetary net. They are extremely interested in their own doings and thus are both happy and agitated that other beings have also taken an interest. Pro- and anti- observationists are even now gearing for the inevitable protests, net-wide opinion surveys, and arts/music/Blogarian introspection…