Friday, July 31, 2015

A CIRCUS CALLED "ZIMBABWE!"



A CIRCUS CALLED
“ZIMBABWE”

This is how "King Robert Mugabe" Lives in His Palace! Not too Shabby, Huh?!


     In 1980, “Minority Rule” came to an abrupt end in Rhodesia. The country was one of the most stable and  prosperous in the world at the time with its currency worth more than the American Dollar, with no debt, a positive balance of payments and exporting large amounts of agricultural commodities to the world. It attracted a workforce from many areas in Africa. As Ivor Benson, a leader in Rhodesia cautioned, communists were hell bent on destroying the country and they did, sort of. They had help. Ian Smith turned over the reins of the country to a “Native Ruler,” a communist dictator known as Robert Mugabe. Mugabe was and is a tribalist who put his own people in power, shut out others, arrested opposition politician Bishop Abel Muzorewa and threw him in prison for the simple "crime" of questioning his rule. At the time Muzorewa observed that human oppression under Mugabe was worse than under Minority Rule!  It took about three years to ruin the formerly prosperous Rhodesia. Today, after 35 years of this despots shenanigans, the country is dead broke, its currency worthless and its people impoverished. Now they use either the South African Rand as currency, or the Euro (the European currency) and of course, the US Dollar. On November 16, 1982, George Bush, Senior who was then US Vice President, attended a state dinner in Mugabe’s honor in Harare (the renamed former capital of Salisbury) and gushed “…I want to acknowledge that I stand in the presence of a genuine statesman, the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe. His stature in the world is well established, highly respected, and it will be more formidable in the years to come……” And more, “I do want to say on behalf of the Reagan Administration that we support the policy of reconciliation to which you have committed yourself…..We have supported your country because its success is consistent with US principles and US interests…shortly after President Reagan took office my government pledged nearly one quarter of a billion US Dollars in new aid. America has not only avowed its faith in Zimbabwe, but proven it.” At the time, I watched this tragic sideshow with great misgivings, knowing pretty much what was coming! Bush’s moronic statement is almost unbelievable! Since then, former minority farmers were killed, robbed, had their lands stolen and re-distributed to natives, who of course, often left their land lie fallow. They knew nothing of running prosperous farms. The result was that formerly Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe collapsed like a house of cards: all with the help and duplicity of the West. To this day, the loony 90 plus year old, very physically healthy Robert Mugabe continues to rule as dictator and still blames the previous minority government for all of HIS created problems! I suppose it is fair to say that since Mugabe’s people have barely been out of loincloths for 100 years, little else could be expected! But we are not supposed to say things like that!

     Fast forward to July 2015 and what do we find? “Cecil” The Lion King is killed by an American trophy hunter in Zimbabwe! Like Lemmings plunging into the sea to commit suicide because their numbers are too many, the Elite Press and the so-called social media in the West opened the floodgates of the asylum, threatening the hunter with loss of his business, his life and whatever else these morons can get their hands on!

     As reported on Yahoo! News, a Zimbabwean native put it best, “What Lion? Are you saying that all this noise is about a dead lion? Lions are killed all the time in this country," said Tryphina Kaseke, a used-clothes hawker on the streets of Harare. "What is so special about this one?" Lions kill people all the time. So do Crocodiles and other wild beasts. Where is the outrage then? Often the natives who live there lack the means to defend themselves (Gun control?) and are left at the mercy of the natural world. Those who live in boxes called houses, in rows of boxes called cities have absolutely no clue as to what life is really like in the dog eat dog world of Africa! Now it seems the Circus that is Zimbabwe wants to extradite the American for killing a lion?! It would be comical if not for the realities.

     Yes, I enjoyed the Lion King Movie, so did my family. It was a great show. But that’s what it is, a “show!” And while it is too bad the "wrong lion" was killed, it had no way of knowing he was unsafe outside a national park at the time with no sign stenciled on his butt that read “Don’t shoot me!” Suddenly the agenda becomes clear: now they want to ban "trophy hunting" because of this! The poor folks of Zimbabwe need all the foreign currency they can get, so the effect is to ruin everybody in the process. All because of a few agenda driven morons in the so-called civilized world! What is even more bizarre: where were these self-righteous characters, when Mugabe was murdering his opposing tribes and looting the formerly prosperous farmers who provide livelihoods for ALL? Well, they were quiet as church mice, of course!

     Recently a Zimbabwean immigrant to South Africa was knifed to death in PUBLIC and the event broadcast to the world media in all its gory nature. Where were these critics then? Not so much as a PEEP out of them!

     I recall an editor of a newspaper in Nigeria a few years ago, who was concerned about lack of schools kept open, lack of working electricity, lack of running water and lack of everything a civilized country needs to function asked in an editorial TWO absolutely electrifying and forbidden questions: Why is it that Africans cannot do this for themselves? Do we need to have a “Minority Government” come back to save us??! Some agreed and others condemned him! But, HE was thinking, something not popular these days.

     For about ten years I have had a dear friend in South Africa. I cannot even mention his first name here out of respect for his safety. But we became friends partly because as he said; I was "the first American he had met who understood the basic problem in Africa is Tribalism!” In fairness there are others, but the Elite Media will never mention it! He hated Robert Mugabe with a purple passion that can best be described as tribal and I will not quote here what he actually said! It is simply too explosive to print! He graciously shared with me thirteen digital images showing the splendor in which Robert Mugabe lives in his royal palace in Harare. I have reproduced four here. While he basks in riches, his people suffer. My friend who sent me the pictures could not identify the photographer, but obviously he was a man with access to the palace and his pictures speak mountains about what is wrong in Africa! My friend is no dummy. He is highly intelligent, has a family educated in Great Britain; he speaks multiple languages including his native ZULU, Afrikaaner and English. He also is an electrical contractor and commodity trader. In other words, a true example of what CAN BE if the effort is made. So long as morons in the civilized countries continue to support despots like Mugabe, there is little hope for Africa. In the meantime, RIP, Cecil, you are being USED by the worst excuses for “humanity!

Bloggers Note: Underlined emphasis of George Bush's comments is added!


Additional comments on August 27, 2015

     CNN reported a GUIDE was mauled to death by a LION in the same park that Cecil called home! He was credited with using all his strength and training to save the people on the lion walk. However, there was no hue and cry for the lion's head because of the killing of a human. As a matter of fact, not a word was heard from the "Hypocrite Corner" regarding his death. No calls for the lion to be brought to justice. No indignation about maintaining parks where people can get killed! It is amazing to see how far people have become removed from reality!

Additional comments October 13, 2015

     CNN and other Elite Media sources report that Zimbabwe has decided NOT to prosecute the great white hunter from America. Is this an example of improvements in Zimbabwe's way of dealing with others? Not likely. It simply means that Zimbabwe cannot afford to LOSE the huge amount of foreign exchange it receives from the hunting business which is a bright spot in the whole circus. In the meantime, a legitimate hunter has been vilified, his family and business threatened by first class idiots. It a simple matter: If you don't like hunting, don't hunt. But making threats and doing intimidation on the scale shown in this whole madcap affair is completely uncalled for.

Harald Hesstvedt Scharnhorst
              Copyright 2015 

 

Thursday, July 30, 2015

MEDIA BIAS AND DISTORTION




MEDIA BIAS AND DISTORTION






     In my experience, newspaper editors are a big problem in the Elite Media. They have a tendency to assume they know everything and the World has to conform to their way of thinking, OR ELSE! If they get a letter on an inconvenient subject, they censor it. Well, actually they don’t say that, of course. They just don’t print it and it is always for a “good” reason like “we just did not have room!” That covers a multitude of sins! If they do print it, they edit out anything that irritates them and print the balance; often times that will change a letter writer’s intent and meaning. The result is he may look stupid. Other times they will belittle a writer with little nit-picky stuff with the intent of marginalizing him. It is so common that it is seldom worthwhile to try to “compete” with them. Perhaps that is the biggest reason the Alternative Media is doing so well. With the coming of the internet, publishing is easier than ever without the huge expenses associated with print media and the freedom of expression (in most countries) is unlimited. There are those who would like to muzzle the internet and the Alternative Media, but so far they have not met with much success. In some countries certain thoughts are subject to prison terms. Truth is not accepted as a defense! That always raises the question of why the draconian measures? Or is it proof that truth is a dangerous thing?! Such speculation is, of course, completely justified. If something is true, why is there a need to punish the writer? Or does that really give a clue as to who runs the show?! Thought provoking questions that deserve some consideration!
     As a broadcaster I had a policy of NEVER writing letters to editors. Even after I left the business full-time I continued the practice. However, settling in a rural community gave me a chance to observe local editors at work. I found them to be the usual college-brainwashed clever boys who know what they are supposed to say and what they are not supposed to say. Heaven help a writer who opposes them. I noticed one smart upstanding businessman was always writing well-informed, thoughtful letters on inconvenient subjects and the editor did his best to marginalize him. I thought, what the heck, I will tease the editor a bit and see if he takes the bait! He did! My letter noted my background and how I had little use for biased editors, so I gave him fair warning that I knew his game. The arrogant clown proceeded to marginalize me with a bogus headline. I sent him a second letter which he not only printed, but he spread it across three columns in his paper as a PHOTOCOPY! I have never seen an editor do that before; it is a classic. Unfortunately, it does not reproduce well here, so I will just print the content of the letter. The material in it was just too hot for him to handle and he wanted nothing to do with it. But in all honesty, at least he displayed the whole thing word for word! Here (in bold type) is the text of his headline (completely different from the first one!) and the content of my letter:
Get facts straight before you print them in your rag.
 Dear Editor:
     Thanks for printing my recent comments and confirming their accuracy with the biased headline: IDAHO BIRTHER DISAPPROVES OF FACTS! Congratulations on a marvelous juvenile smear job! Who verified I am from “Idaho?” When it comes to “facts,” you are not as particular as claimed! Everyone needs a place to get mail. For me (town name deleted) is convenient. It does not make me an “Idahoan!”
      Did my “President Nobama” comment cause you to slip? I never actually mentioned his birth, but you brought it up! I questioned his legal qualifications: “Nobama” ignores his obligations as president and assumes an air of king or dictator, a conclusion I draw from his actions. Qualified Statesmen do not need Teleprompters, either. They are for commercial actors!
     Since alleged “birth certificates” for “President Teleprompter” is so important to you, it is fair to remember there were no computer generated certificates then. It was an era of paper documents, mimeograph machines, carbon-paper copies and data cards. Newspapers and books were offset printed; there were no computers or digital printing. Race classification was “Negro,” not “African American!” His “birth certificate” raised questions in the minds of us who were young adults at the time. Perhaps you were too young to remember, but not me. Yet you continue to smear and push an agenda. It’s a clever but sinister strategy: “you read your book of facts and I’ll read mine” as a broadcast executive once told me! What are you, a budding amateur (town name deleted) version of network “news prefabricator” Brian Williams? Facts are only what you say they are, dear Editor, nothing else.
     He still had to have the last word, noting someone had earlier sent in a news release about me teaching a class in language indicating where I was from (it was actually in error!) so he used that as a pretext for covering his butt! The whole affair was hilarious and caused quite a stir. No one, including him, was brave enough to challenge the letter’s content!

 Harald Hesstvedt Scharnhorst
           Copyright 2015