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Dear Readers and Fellow-Apes; 2008 was a Murky and Hapless Year! Let us hope that 2009 does not turn out to be even  More Murky and Hapless!

I intentionally did not wish you a Merry Christmas, because Christmas is another story for another Posting at another time; and I do not wish you a Happy New Year, since I believe that ONLY FOOLS ARE, OR CAN BE, HAPPY ALL YEAR ROUND. I do, however, wish all of you A GOOD YEAR! With a little Good in one's life, one can be a little happy, which is all one can ask for in one's short sweet dream one calls a life-time. BY GOD AND SATAN! 

A Jack of many trades and master of all; I am honest to the core and I hate lies, deceits, pretensions, hypocrisy, treachery, betrayal, and stoic compliance; and I despise – and actually pity – Human-Apes who follow-the-herd-or-pack

I expose and reveal the lies, deceits, pretensions, hypocrisy, treachery, betrayal, and blind, deaf, and stoic compliance, and Human-Apes who follow-the-herd-or-pack; I tell or write the truth; and I say what I mean and mean what I say

I fear nothing; least of all, death

If I must fear anything at all in life, then let me fear what I think and  know of myself; because, in the end, one’s knowledge and opinion of oneself is what counts most. All the world may think and believe one is such and such, but one knows one is such and such. Also, I like to look in the mirror and like what I see and know about me.

I invite comments, remarks, criticisms, and even insults – so long as they are straight to the point, in order for me to correct or adjust myself accordingly. What I do not welcome and won’t accept or tolerate is HORSE-SHIT!

Dear readers and felow-Apes; with every page, every report or article, every paragraph, every sentence, every word, and every letter; I thank you for taking the trouble and the time to read My Not-So-Humble Comments.

363: SWAZILAND-DE-SWINDLE-LAND – Most Are Dying; Few Are Flying
03 September, 2008

SWAZILAND-DE-SWINDLE-LAND – Most Are Dying; Few Are Flying. Most Are Starving; Few Are Carving! Freedom and Justice for Royalty; Poverty and Just-this for Peasantry

IRIN / Plus-News Friday 22nd August 2008MBABANE:

Several hundred Swazi – including people living with HIV – marched, on Friday 21st August, in protest to highlight the need for government to prioritize funding to alleviate the humanitarian crises in the country. The protestors had been spurred by reports that 8 of King Mswati's 13 wives had taken a trip to the Middle East and Asia. The King's Office at Lozitha Palace, 30km east of the capital, Mbabane, would not reveal the nature of their trip, but the Swazi media noted that the wives were taking advantage of the school holidays to travel with their children.

Two-thirds of Swaziland's people live in chronic poverty, according to the UN Development Programme, and 26 percent of adults are HIV-positive, giving Swaziland the highest HIV prevalence rate in the world.

After the worst ever harvest in 2007, production improved in 2008 but is still below the national requirement, while the global food and fuel crisis has further contributed to the chronic food insecurity affecting more than 20 percent of the population.

The Director of Swazi for Positive Living (SWAPOL), an AIDS support organisation founded by HIV-positive women and the protest organiser, was dismayed to learn that not only had the wives travelled, but their bodyguards, maids, and children, too.

There are many problems engulfing the country and there is a shortage of not only antiretroviral drugs but other drugs in hospitals. The elderly do not get their pensions, but public funds are used for the queens’ and their entourages’ travel.

The first-ever march to protest royal activities drew blistering attacks from royal and government officials. A Government spokes-person and the traditional Prime Minister condemned the marchers' plan to wear black as an affront to traditional mourning customs.

Women should not take to the streets! Did they have permission from their husbands to do that?

Without revealing how the queens' trips were financed, King Mswati's older brother, Prince Jahmnyama Dlamini, said: People always think that the royalty uses taxpayers' money at all times; the royal family has its own properties and is wealthy. Daniel: They may be wealthy, but where did they get the wealth and properties from if not from the people? Also, 13 wives!? JEEZ! AND BY GOD! I would have thought that one wife – or Woman-the-Ape – is more than any Man-the-Ape could possibly handle, or satisfy, or appease in its life-time, but 13 wives!? Those body-guards and male-servants must be having the times of their lives! BY GOD AGAIN! I wonder how many wives the King’s older brother has! JEEZ AGAIN! And I thought Lebanon was a Fucked-up country.

The march moved through the streets of downtown Mbabane at a slow pace to accommodate marchers who were HIV-positive, while some women lay down on the pavement to demonstrate the effects of starvation.

The Secretary-General of the Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) said a major workers' demonstration was planned for 3rd September, today, three days before King Mswati's 40th birthday celebration, which has been declared a national holiday and will be marked by publicly financed celebrations, but was detained and questioned by police while the march was taking place and could not participate.

The daily Times of Swaziland newspaper commented on the protest: Whether the King and his monarchy have another 40 years to celebrate will depend on how they intend to move this country forward – through power-and-wealth-sharing or absolute control.

Notes:

The Kingdom of Swaziland is a country located in Southern Africa, at approximately 26o49'S, 31o38'E. It is relatively small in area, similar in size to Kuwait. Swaziland is a landlocked country, bordered by South Africa on three sides except to the east, where it is bordered by Mozambique. The country is inhabited mostly by Bantu-speaking Swazi people, and is named after the 19th century king Mswati II, from whom the people also take their name.

Swaziland is renowned among visitors for its serenity, scenic beauty, and rich cultural heritage, but has been under a State of Emergency since 1973.

The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in Swaziland is the highest in the world at 38.8%, and is much higher than that of sub-Saharan Africa overall (7.5%) and globally (1.1%). Life expectancy at birth in Swaziland is less than forty years.King Sobhuza II, who died in 1982, is listed as among the worlds longest reigning monarchs of all time.

History:

Artifacts indicating human activity dating back to the early Stone Age 200,000 years ago have been found in the kingdom of Swaziland. Pre-historic rock art paintings date from 25,000BC and continue up to the 19th century.

The earliest inhabitants of the area were Khoisan hunter-gatherers. They were largely replaced by the Bantu tribes during Bantu migrations. Evidence of agriculture and iron-use date from about the 4th century, and people speaking languages ancestral to current Sotho and Nguni languages began settling no later than the 11th century.

The ruling Dlamini lineage had chieftainships in the region in the 18th century. An enlarged Swazi (occasionally also written as Suozi kingdom was established by Kin Sobhuza I in the early 19th century. Soon thereafter the first whites began to arrive and settle in the area. In the 1890s the South African Republic in the Transvaal claimed sovereignty over Swaziland but never fully established power. After the Second Boer War of 1899–1902, Swaziland became a British protectorate. The country was granted independence within the Commonwealth of Nations on September 6, 1968. Since then, Swaziland has seen a struggle between pro-democracy activists and the monarchy.

Politics:

The head of state is the king or Ngwenyama (Lion), currently King Mswati III, who ascended to the throne in 1986 after the death of his father King Sobhuza II in 1982 and a period of regency. By tradition, the king reigns along with his mother or a ritual substitute, the Ndlovukati (She-Elephant). The former was viewed as the administrative head of state and the latter as a spiritual and national head of state, with real power counter-balancing that of the king, but during the long reign of Sobhuza II the role of the Ndlovukati became more symbolic. As the monarch, the king not only appoints the prime minister – the head of government – but also appoints a small number of representatives for both chambers of the Libandla (parliament). The Senate consists of 30 members, while the House of Assembly has 82 seats, 55 of which are occupied by elected representatives – Daniel: All toadies, no doubt – elections are held every five years in November.

Posted by akill 17:16 | General | Comment(0) | Permalink

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