June 27, 2003
		A little status report about  Africa: - The entire continent seems to be engulfed in tribal warfare.  Government, as horrid as it is in the rest of the world, seems downright virtuous compared to the thugs running things in Africa. - Various factions routinely use starvation and periodic famine as a political device to further their ends.   Poverty and despair are everywhere. - It is estimated that nearly a third of Botswana's adult population has the HIV virus.  Their neighbors aren't far behind. - The attempted genocide in Rwanda in the early 90's is being re-enacted in the Congo on an even larger scale, as opposing groups rape, pillage, and plunder.  Death by machete is common, though many are now being mowed down by machine gun fire - often by boy soldiers, many under the age of 10. Well, you get the idea. So how does Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, respond to this nightmare?  He wants Western nations to give away WiFi devices to the poor!  I kid you not.  Check this out: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3025734.stm It hasn't dawned on the secretary that many of these people are completely illiterate.  Finding the next meal is a daily struggle.  Disease and premature death are rampant, yet he wants us to fork over hundreds of millions to provide them with useless gadgets. Is this not proof that the UN and its leaders are not only socialist to the core, but extraordinarily stupid and out of touch?  We ought to send this band of crooks packing to the shitty countries from which they came, then raze the building and auction off the land.  I'd be willing to send the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders or some other worthy charity that is on the ground in those festering hell holes trying to save innocent lives.  I'd even pay for Annan's one way trip home. Political power mixed with stupidity makes for a very dangerous combination.