Free Republic

'The race card is maxed out." That was the punch line for a re cent hilarious exchange on "The Daily Show" in which Larry Wilmore, the faux news program's "senior black correspondent," reported that the race card is not only over its credit limit but is in fact "void during a black presidency." This discovery came in the wake of Maxine Waters' allegation that her political problems stem from a racially biased congressional ethics investigation. Wilmore said he should have seen this coming, given that "the Congressional Black Caucus has been overusing the race card for years." Like when it...

Has anyone seen the documentary "Mugabe and the White African?" I watched it last night after downloading it and it's brilliant. What do you think of it, if you've seen it?

Robert Mugabe has threatened to flood the world's diamond markets - despite being slapped down by the world's diamond control body. The Zimbabwean president said his nation's massive reserves of diamonds have 'huge potential' to revive the shattered economy. He said Zimbabwe can account for one-fourth of the world's diamond supply

The washing machine cycle takes about 45 minutes _ and George Washington comes out much cleaner in the Zimbabwe-style laundering of dirty money. Low-denomination U.S bank notes change hands until they fall apart here in Africa, and the bills are routinely carried in underwear and shoes through crime-ridden slums. Some have become almost too smelly to handle, so Zimbabweans have taken to putting their $1 bills through the spin cycle and hanging them up to dry with clothes pins alongside sheets and items of clothing. It's the best solution _ apart from rubber gloves or disinfectant wipes _ in a...

ZIMBABWE'S coffee production has hit a record low since Independence following the chaotic land reform exercise that reduced coffee growing estates to four from 120. Statistics gathered after a high level coffee stakeholder conference held last week in Mutare show that organic coffee production mostly in Zimbabwe's Eastern Highlands pl-unged to 300 tonnes in 2010 from a peak production of 15 000 tonnes in 1990 when farmers raked in US$37,5 million from sales. Production has been in freefall for the past 10 years, signalling a threat to the livelihood of both commercial and communal farmers ... Today the coffee sector...

HARARE - A ZIMBEBWEAN woman killed her infant son and sold one of his ears for US$20 (S$27.95) to a traditional healer wanted for ritual murders in neighbouring Mozambique, police said on Thursday. 'We can confirm that the woman Christine Hofisi from Chipinge (near the Mozambican border) strangled her 18-month-old son to death and cut off his left ear,' deputy national police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka told AFP. 'Hofisi sold the ear to a traditional healer notorious for ritual murders in Mozambique. She sold the ear for US$20 but was given US$10 with the balance to be paid later. 'She is...

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Germany's government said Friday it will cut off aid to Zimbabwe unless illegal and violent occupiers are removed from a farm owned by a German national. In a Friday protest note to the Zimbabwe foreign ministry, Germany noted the occupation of the eastern Zimbabwe property owned by German investor Heinrich von Pezold violates a decade-old investment agreement between the two countries.

A Pakistani suspect in the 2008 Mumbai attacks has been arrested in Zimbabwe as he tried to cross into World Cup host South Africa... Imran Muhammad, 33, was arrested at the Beitbridge border post along with another Pakistani national, the state-run Herald newspaper reported, saying Muhammad was wanted for the Mumbai attacks. the two were arrested on June 20 after they found using fake Kenyan passports. Muhammad was normally based in the Chilean capital Santiago. The daily said Muhammad and 39-year-old Chaudry Parvez Ahmed flew from Saudi Arabia to Tanzania, before connecting to Zimbabwe by road.

RUSTENBURG, South Africa — Two Pakistani men, including one who is wanted by Interpol on terrorist activities, were arrested by Zimbabwe police on June 20 when they attempted to cross the border into South Africa. News of the arrest was first released by Zimbabwe police on Friday. According to Zimbabwe’s government-run newspaper, The Herald, the two men are Imran Muhammad, 33, and Chaudry Parvez Ahmed, 39. They were arrested on suspicion of terrorism when they tried to enter South Africa with fake Kenyan passports. Muhammad is wanted in Pakistan for alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks which killed 166 people,...

The white-owned farms have reported a surge in violent attacks against them by President Robert Mugabe's loyal supporters within the past week, which saw at least 16 farming lands raided. Since Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe ordered white-owned farm owners to transfer majority of their land to blacks in 2008, violence among Caucasian farmers has soared. Similar legislation was approved in February whereby white-owned companies must transfer majority of shares to black Zimbabweans because it would benefit those racially discriminated. According to the Associated Press, white farmers have reported an increase in violence against them within the past week. They say...

A South African woman who worked at Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage in Zimbabwe was killed when she was attacked by an adult lion... Robyn Lotz, 26, from Pretoria, whose life's mission was caring for and rehabilitating neglected and injured wild animals, was attacked after a worker presumably didn't close the gate to the lion's cage properly. Clinton Lubbe, 37, Lotz's brother-in-law, said on Wednesday the workers had apparently been cleaning the lion cages. According to a post on the Facebook page of the animal rehabilitation centre, the lion pushed the gate open and crawled through a smaller gate, used to throw...

Mugabe government's plans to reap benefits from 2010 soccer World Cup are not materializing. Zimbabwe’s government is busy planning for spinoffs from the 2010 soccer World Cup, just three weeks away. Zimbabwean officials are hoping that the huge soccer tournament hosted this year by South Africa will boost this neighboring country with tourists and training camps. But the benefits do not appear to be coming. Already one of the planned visitors, North Korea, has pulled out. President Robert Mugabe's government is dreaming of an influx of tourists as international fans coming to South Africa for the World Cup extend their...

May 19, 2010 Zimbabwe: Officials Defend Sale of Animals to North Korea By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Wildlife authorities in Zimbabwe on Wednesday defended the decision to sell two baby elephants and other animals to North Korea, and they said veterinary experts were satisfied that North Korea was equipped to care for them. The two 18-month-old elephants each cost $10,000. Officials said the other animals purchased by the North included breeding pairs of giraffes, zebras, antelopes, hyenas, monkeys and birds.

Mugabe's 'Noah's Ark' gift for North Korea May 15, 2010 10:00 PM| By Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe has ordered that two of every animal species in the Hwange National Park be sent to North Korea as a gift to that country's leader, Kim Jong Il. FACING DEATH: Experts say young elephants are unlikely to survive without their families, especially in a strange environment : Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force chairman Johnny Rodrigues said the animals had already been captured and were being kept in a boma in the park, waiting to be flown to North Korea. Neither the Zimbabwean government, nor...

Gukurahundi victims to protest N. Korea soccer team By: Geoff Hill Published: Thursday April 29, 2010 ZIMBABWE-Lucy Dube recalls the day in the mid-1980s when her Zimbabwean village encountered Gukuranhundi — “the wind that blows away the chaff.” “I was only 10 years old at the time, but I watched my parents, my grandmother and two of my brothers being locked into a hut by those soldiers,” she said. “They lit the grass roof, and I could hear my family screaming, but there was nothing I could do.” Mrs. Dube said she had been sleeping at a friend’s hut less...

Dumbo drop: Zimbabwe to give NKorea baby elephants By ANGUS SHAW (AP) HARARE, Zimbabwe — Two baby elephants intended as a gift to North Korea are unlikely to survive the journey by air, Zimbabwean conservationists said Thursday. The independent Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said the 18-month-old elephants were being held in pens in the western Hwange National Park, along with pairs of most of the park's other animal species bound for North Korea. The country is a longtime ally of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Johnny Rodgrigues, head of the task force, said elephant experts do not think the young elephants...

Last Sunday marked 30 years of Communist rule of Rhodesia, which was renamed Zimbabwe after being taken over. At a public ceremony marking the occasion, Marxist dictator Robert Mugabe, responsible for the wholesale slaughter of Matabele tribesmen who opposed his rule and the racist eviction of Whites from their farming homelands, called on his subjects to “foster an environment of tolerance.” Mugabe then announced he would continue with a new program whose objective is to steal White-owned businesses and hand them over to Black Zimbabweans. Rhodesia, a first-world country that produced its own television sets and was “the Breadbasket of...

7th May 2010 Dear Friends. The apparent tragedy of some five million Zimbabweans exiled from their own country may not be as great as it appears if those of us in exile are able to gain something from the experience. Providing one has an open mind, seeing how thing are done in another country can be a positive learning experience and something that will ultimately benefit Zimbabwe when or if the exiles return to the motherland. Watching the electoral process in the UK over the last few weeks has certainly made me think about the nature of democracy and...

HARARE - A stray cat paws through a heap of refuse between blocks of flats in Harare's upmarket Avenues area, sending rats squealing and scurrying for cover among the rubbish. Across the road, cars take turns to skirt a swelling mound of garbage nearly blocking one of the two lanes. Informal dumpsites have become a familiar sight in sections of Harare where residents are resorting to emptying bins in open spaces as the municipal authorities fail to collect refuse, causing residents to fear disease outbreaks. The ubiquitous heaps are breeding grounds for rats and mice, posing a health threat as...

A bill to review the targeted sanctions imposed on members of the Mugabe regime (Zimbabwe Transition to Democracy and Economic Recovery Act) has been tabled in the US congress to try to encourage democratic reforms in Zimbabwe. Senators Russ Feingold, John Kerry and Johnny Isakson introduced the legislation on Tuesday and it will mean a revision of the Zimbabwe Economic and Democracy Recovery Act (ZEDERA), a US sanctions law imposed on Zimbabwe in 2001. Since the formation of the coalition government early last year, the US and other Western countries have been urging the Zimbabwean government to fully implement the...