Penis theft and ballooning priests

A Brazilian priest tried to set the world balloon flying record last week. He floated up, up, up over the Atlantic ocean, and disappeared, leaving in a his wake the mass of deflated balloons.

In Kinshasha, Congo, police are cracking down amid a penis theft panic. Sorcerers have been allegedly using black magic to steal or shrink mens’ penises. Police arrested the accused sorcerers.

Inflation in Asia passes to us

Manufacturing-based economies in Asian developing countries are more vulnerable to dollar inflation, says this article on rising costs in Asia. And the effect of higher fuel and food costs in places like Vietnam is increasing prices on exports to America. Pottery makers in Vietnam have to charge more because they the ink they buy from Europe jumped 30%, a combination of Euro strength and dollar weakness. Workers in motorbike-crazy Vietnam are having to pay more for diesel fuel, which is pegged to the dollar.

Exports to America, a places like Pier I Imports, are now rising. The price increase is two-fold: these countries now produce half of American imports (hello Wal-Mart), and the weakening dollar means that it can buy less.

It’s about time the American consumer is forces to adjust spending habits to world economic patterns. This inflation is not a trend, but a permanent increase in prices, and Americans are going to have to buy less at Wal-Mart and, gasp!, monitor how much fuel they consume.

more stalling in Zimbabwe

We’ve yet to see any progress from the election commission in Zimbabwe, where the nine days agao the people voted in a responsible and peaceful manner. Early exit polls predicted a win for opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). In a series of events ominously similar to what happened in Kenya, Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party has done everything short of inciting violence to stall the release of the official results.

Mr. Tsvangirai has gone to regional power South Africa to try to bring more international attention to the situation. Meantime, Mugabe has called for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission  (ZEC) to recount votes following allegations that there were errors and miscalculations in the first vote.

The likely scenario is continued stalemate for 21 days, after which a run-off is required by law. Skeptics contend that Mugabe will exercise presidential authority and extend the deadline to 90 days, enough time to assemble the military for a clamp down.

The UN has not taken a stance on this so far, save for 2 statements from Ban Ki Moon urging “all actors to act responsibly, exercise restraint and calm, and to address all issues regarding the election through recourse to legal means and dialogue.”

The international community needs to act to prevent another Kenya, where a fractured election left 1,000 dead, 300,000 homeless, and a fragile political power-sharing agreement that’s doomed to fail.

The UN in Darfur, 4 years on

Today marks the 4th anniversary of the Security Council’s first meeting on the situation in Darfur. In that time, they’ve agreed on almost a dozen resolutions, many presidential statements, and, as recently as last year, finally oversaw a peacekeeping operation in the region. These are laudable accomplishments, especially in light of China’s power to veto. But the security council has yet to influence progress on the ground.

The most recent report by the Secretary General on the AU/UN joint operation in Darfur is disappointing at best. The “security situation in Darfur deteriorated dramatically” in February, and the PKO is unable to move around the region. Scores of civilians are still dying, and thousand are being displaced. The UN forces need helicopters. So far, one country, Ethiopia, has agreed to send 4, but it will likely be months before they are used. Meantime, the 9,000 UN/AU troops are in charge of saving lives in an area the size of France.

In addition to helicopters, more forces are needed in Darfur. Today there are 9,212 there, mostly Africans. This is far shy of the proposed 12,000 that were promised to be there by the end of 2007. Now, the Secretary General says the UN is “accelerating the deployment of Egyptian and Ethiopian battalions” but there is no word on how many and by what date. Thai and Nepalese units are also expected to prepare for deployment, though this runs counter to the Khartoum government’s decree that all peace keepers must be from African countries. Sensing no end to the delay, the US Department of State sent a letter to the Secretary General on March 27 imploring the UN to partner with the US to “focus on the deployment of the Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Rwandans by June” of this year. The letter requested 3,600 of these troops.

At this point, who knows when more troops or helicopters will go to Darfur? This should not be our concern. We should be more worried about the mandate these troops will have. Sudan needs a ceasefire between the rebel factions in Darfur and the Bashir’s government in Khartoum. With peace to keep, more countries will be willing to send troops and resources into Darfur, and once there, they will have more chance for success.

In the absence of a ceasefire, the West’s inflammatory allegations of genocide may actually be stoking the fires in Darfur. OK, take a step back. Seen from the perspective of the government in Khartoum, the Sudanese government’s action in Darfur could be justifiable, as they believe they are taking the correct steps to counter ethnic insurrection in Darfur. Most of the world disagrees. However, by lambasting the regime in Khartoum, we in the West may be convincing the rebels in Darfur that they’re attacks are serving some purpose, when in actuality they are inviting ceaseless retaliation from Khartoum. We should be flexible in denouncing the genocide, not so much by lessening the blame on the Sudanese, but by convincing the rebel forces to consolidate, cease attacking, and seek negotiations with the government.

Until then, the government in Khartoum has the resources and time to slowly destroy life in Darfur.

draft PRST on Myanmar

The Myanmar government must allow all political opponents to hold meetings and participate in the constitutional referendum in May, says a draft of a Presidential Statement prepared by the United States, Britain and France. The statement, which was released yesterday afternoon, has not been formally submitted to the rest of the Security Council’s members.

Myanmar has been ruled by the autocratic military junta since 1962. Transparency International has listed it as the second most corrupt country in the world. According to Professor Sean Turnell, a Myanmar expert, the country survives economically on its natural gas reserves, which bring its coffers about $1-2 billion per year. The state is flush with foreign money and black markets abound, but this isn’t a case in which natural resources led to corruption. On the other hand, says Professor Turnell, the “institutions were bad to begin with.” Since its takeover in the early 60s, the government has pursued a path of terrible policy and massive corruption.

The only action taken at the UN so far has been an October 11, 2007 Presidential Statement, equal in significance to the current draft, which was adopted after the crackdown on the monk-led protests. The new statement follows in the footsteps of the previous one, with more current events in mind.

The newest draft is a reaction to UN envoy Professor Gambari’s unproductive visit to Myanmar in mid March. Upon his return to the UN on March 18 of this year, US permanent ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad remarked that he was “disappointed by the lack of any concrete achievement by the last visit,” and announced that the US would pursue a presidential statement.

The statement will also address the upcoming May referendum, for which many Security Council members have expressed their concern. The government of Myanmar contends that the referendum will give the country a new constitution and set a course for democratic elections by 2010. Officials at the UN are not so convinced. UK ambassador John Sawers admonished that junta’s plan lack transparency and inclusion, as it has not been shared with the public and “any criticism of it is illegal.”

The US-authored draft statement also calls on the government to allow Aung San Suu Kyi and other political actors to speak freely and hold meetings.

It will be submitted to all of the council’s 15 members in the next few days, and will not be official until it is unanimously adopted by all members. Skeptics contend that the statement will die in the council, as it will most definitely encounter resistance from China and Russia. They and some other detractors will argue that the October 2007 statement is fine as is. And, a new statement is superfluous, as the UN effort in Myanmar is not an event, but a process in which the UN must continue engagement.

Whatever the outcome at the Security Council, don’t expect any grand change in Myanmar any time soon. Even sanctions, which some have proposed, are no panacea. The only road to progress in Myanmar involves the dismantling of the junta, which is next to impossible at this point.