Morons, idiots and fools the lot of them. Perhaps we ought to do a surgical strike on these people. I feel nothing but contempt, scorn and anger at their protest.
Regards, Ivan
Posted on 08/31/2002 1:06:08 PM PDT by MadIvan
Thousands of demonstrators have marched to the World Development Summit venue in Johannesburg, in the first mass protest to take place since it opened on Monday.
Singing apartheid-era songs, an estimated 20,000 people protesting about issues ranging from Aids to globalisation, arrived at the convention centre in the rich white suburb of Sandton from the shanty township of Alexandra.
At their head were some of the most radical groups - Muslims marching in support of the Palestinians, and members of the Landless People's Movement, demonstrating for jobs, land and everything they say they were promised before the change of government in South Africa.
Police were out in force, with helicopters, dogs and water canon, but there had been no sign of any serious trouble by the time the rally began to break up.
South African President Thabo Mbeki, at a separate pro-government rally, described the eight kilometre (five mile) route taken by the march as a symbol of the "global apartheid" between rich and poor.
"We must liberate the poor of the world from poverty," he said. "It is easy for all of us to agree on nice words. Now has come the time for action."
Mr Mbeki did not join the main march and discouraged his ministers from doing so, for fear that radical protesters may cause violence.
Defiant messages
A small wooden platform set up just outside the perimeter as a speaker's corner, was used as the stage for protest leaders to make their points within earshot of the delegates inside.
"Hello Sandton!...It's a pity you're barricaded, preventing us from coming in and showing you the real world!" organiser Virginia Setshedi yelled across the razor wire at the convention building.
The crowd sang and danced as they waved banners with messages which included "Factory gases and waste are killing", "Hands off Iraq", "Globalise the Intifada", "Stop Thabo Mbeki's Aids genocide" and even "Osama bin Laden - Bomb Sandton".
Many chanted anti-American slogans and bore banners ridiculing US President George W Bush.
"What is the summit doing for us? It is providing for the rich, not the poor," protester Mathius Ledwaba told the Associated Press.
Unresolved issues
Inside the convention centre, meetings were going on to try to resolve fundamental differences between rich and poor nations.
There is concern that these will prevent delegates from approving a draft document before heads of state arrive next week.
Some representatives believe that if the final plan of action is not agreed by 4 September, when the summit is due to end, discussions could drag on for several more days.
Keen to avert a deadlock, South Africa - the summit host - has put forward a list of seven topics it says delegates should now focus on.
Washington is refusing to contemplate binding targets for introducing renewable energy technologies like wind and solar power, which do not pollute the planet.
Greenpeace has accused the US and Japan of horse-trading behind closed doors.
US delegates, it alleged, were offering to promote access to clean water in exchange for Japan supporting a removal of renewable energy targets.
Morons, idiots and fools the lot of them. Perhaps we ought to do a surgical strike on these people. I feel nothing but contempt, scorn and anger at their protest.
Regards, Ivan
Precisely why I find them hideously disgusting. Also why I find the delegates at the UN Summit hideously disgusting too.
Regards, Ivan
Thousands protest at World SummitAbout 10,000 protesters have marched on the World Summit in South Africa to press demands ranging from land redistribution to a Palestinian state.
Environmentalists, anti-globalisation protesters, social activists and Palestinian supporters danced, sang and shouted their way to the Sandton suburb of Johannesburg where the summit is taking place.
Police in riot gear lined up shoulder to shoulder across intersections along the way, as helicopters circled overhead.
They were backed by soldiers in fatigues carrying machine guns and camouflage-painted armoured personnel carriers.
Many of the marchers chanted anti-American slogans and carried banners portraying President George Bush as a "toxic Texan". Others had signs attacking Israel and demanding "Osama: bomb Sandton".
Intelligence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu later called some of the protest chants "unacceptable" and possibly "unconstitutional".
Later dozens of civic groups meeting at a forum running parallel to the summit took part in a smaller march along a similar route to submit their demands to world leaders.
Addressing a rally before that march, South African President Thabo Mbeki attacked "global apartheid," which he said divided the rich and poor.
"We must liberate the poor of the world from poverty," said Mbeki, calling on the summit to set clear timetables for reaching its goals.
South African authorities said both marches went off without incident, though one marcher was taken to the hospital after suffering a heart attack.
Mbeki, with his £2000 suits has some gall talking about demanding wealth from anyone. You give up your personal fortune first, me old son.
Regards, Ivan
Let's try this sentence again:
"-these hand-wringing whiners blaming the United States for all their problems".
Sorry, it's been a long day!
Probably 50 percent will illegaly enter the United States or England over the next ten years. The other 50% will be pissed they still haven't found a way to do it.
US delegates, it alleged, were offering to promote access to clean water in exchange for Japan supporting a removal of renewable energy targets.
Ah. We're supposed to simply accept the agenda in toto, as a sort of fait accompli. Why are we there again?
Police were out in force, with helicopters, dogs and water canon...
Even the Beeb is a bit over-reliant on spellcheckers, I see ;)
They are trying to make the UN look moderate.
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