"Don't be surprised to see Mugabe standing next to God vetting people into heaven" Zanu Pf youth leader

"...We want to assure you President Mugabe that as long as you are alive, you are our life President. No other person’s name qualifies to be on a Zanu PF ballot paper except you. Even if you die, we will hold the Politburo at National Heroes Acre. Truly speaking, in heaven there is God and here on earth there is an angel called Robert Gabriel Mugabe. You are representing God here on earth. But he is an angel. Who doesn’t know that God’s angels are called Gabriel? I promise you, people, that when we go to heaven don’t be surprised to see Robert Gabriel Mugabe standing beside God vetting people into heaven. Gushungo, you are an angel. Amai Mugabe, you are a wife of an angel so when people enter heaven and when it’s Zimbabwe’s turn, you will be seated there, with secretary for administration (Ignatius) Chombo having names, while you will be vetting those whom you know”- Kudzai Chipanga, Zanu PF Youth Leader
2 June 2017

ZANU PF is Zimbabwe's ruling political party.

9 SAD REALITIES OF TYRANNICAL COUNTRIES

This is a list of some of the common gloomy experiences of people living under dictator governments. Throughout history, the world has witnessed loads of dictatorial leaders, their practices and methods of oppressing the people they rule are quite similar to some extent. (Examples are not exhaustive).

9. CITIZENS ARE SUBJECT TO ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND DETENTIONS

Unfair trials leading to arbitrary arrests and detentions almost sum up the justice systems of dictator governed countries. A survey by a North Korean human rights organisation revealed that half of human rights abuses experienced by North Korean defectors under Kim Jong-Un involved arbitrary arrests and detention.

Imprisonment involved guilt by association sentences, a reference to prison terms that extend to the family members of the individuals charged with a crime. The North Korean authorities sentenced people, including foreign, to long term prison terms after unjust trials. A United State's (US) student, Frederick Otto Warmbier was convicted of 'subversion' after he admitted to stealing a propaganda poster.

He was sentenced to '15 years hard labor' on 16 March, 2016 and was denied communication and contact with the US embassy for at least six months. In early January 2016, Kim Dong Chul, a 62 year old US citizen born in South Korea, was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor on 3 April, 2016, on the charges of espionage but the authorities failed to provide details about the alleged spying activities.
And at one time, the United Nations reported up to 120 000 people under arbitrary detention in four known political prison camps.


8. ONE TV CHANNEL OR RADIO STATION STATE IS POSSIBLE

Despite the growth in technology, private broadcasters in some dictator led countries are restricted, citizens depend on government run and censored television and radio stations. In the Spanish-speaking Equatorial Guinea led by Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mbasongo, all broadcast media are state-owned and one time the country's radio described the dictator as 'the country's God'. RTV-Asonga is the only private radio and television network in the country, however it is owned by the president's son Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

In other top dictator countries, North Korea's television receivers in the country are locked to government specified frequencies, in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Television is the only television channel broadcasting on the local frequency, and President Isaus Afwerki's Eritrea is the only sub Saharan country without a single private media outlet.

7. MASSES LITERARY FEED ON GOVERNMENT PROPAGANDA

Dictatorships have robust lie-based propaganda structures to blind masses from the status quo and to conceal their nature from the international community. Germany, during Adolf Hitler's rule from 1933 to 1945, the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda was a Nazi government agency responsible for enforcing the Nazi ideology. It controlled Germany's arts, music, theater, films, books, radio, education and press.

Productions during the era were aligned to reminding the Germans of the 'struggle' against foreign enemies and Jewish subversion. Film, 'The external Jew' portrayed Jews as wandering cultural parasites, consumed by 'sex and money'. 'The Triumph of Will' praised Hitler and the Nationalist movement. Newspapers, 'Der Sturmer' (The Attacker) published anti-Semitic cartoons to depict Jews.

Concentration camps officials compelled prisoners many of whom would die in the gas chambers to contact relatives by postcards and letters telling them that they were treated well and living in good conditions. In 1944, the Theresienstadt camp ghetto, in preparation for an international Red Cross team visit underwent a 'beautification' scheme. Before inspection, camp officials made a film casted by the residents (Jewish) as demonstration of benevolent treatment of the Jewish 'residents' of Thereinstadt, when the film was completed; the 'cast' was sent for killing at the Birkenau Killing Center.


6. POLITICS IS A VIOLENT FIELD

Political support for dictatorial leaders is mostly zealous and the supporters, at times no matter how poor, are ready to physically fight against any opposition sentiment. Yahya Jammeh who was president for 22 years in Gambia from 1996 to 2017 had a strong base for zealous supporters that even included juveniles.

Just after his ousting on 19 January, 2017, prior to the inauguration ceremony for the start of the new president Adama Barrow, on 18 February, the Gambian police detained more than 50 of Yahya Jammeh for harassing the followers of the new leader. Yahya Jammeh's supporters insulted and threw stones at the people returning from Barrow's inauguration ceremony and 26 of those arrested were juveniles.

And also, during his reign he had been known to rely on a close circle of fanatically violent supporters. 'The Junglers' were his 'death squad’; they helped him sow fear in Gambians. The United Nations in 2015 reported that the squad carried out arbitrary arrests, detention, torture, enforced disappearances and extra judicial killings.


5. TORTURES: FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS ARE QUITE MANDATORY

Torture is inevitably a necessity in order to access the truth in dictator country prisons. Notably torture was used in forcing confessions in Stalin's Russia during his reign between 1929 and 1953. In one of Stalin's detention centers, Sukhanovskaya prison or special facility 10, political prisoners were subjected to horrible tortures. A few of the 35, 000 people detained at the prison between 1939 and 1952, came out of the facility alive. Semyon Samuiloic who spent time in the facility said, "Our food for a day was two sugar lumps, a ration of heavy bread, and a bowl of undercooked pearl barley porridge". He also said he heard cries, sobs, women wailing, blows and interrogators shouting "Beat him in the balls".

Vseilod Meyernold, another prisoner at the facility, said he was beaten on the soles of his feet with a rubber strap. He confessed to working for British intelligence, and also incriminated his fellow director, Sergei Einstein, the writer, IIya Ehrenburg a composer, Dimitry Stankovich, including other figures of the arts world. He was later shot dead in the prison on 2 February, 1940. There were reportedly 52 methods of torture in the prison, including, beating prisoners on the most sensitive parts of their bodies, sleep deprivation for 10 to 20 days, during interrogation, prisoners were made to sit on a leg of an upturned stool, so that any slight mistake would send the leg into their rectum, and trussing up inmates with a long towel that was forced between their lips like horse's bridle and then pulled down- then tied under their feet, and forcing needles and pins into their fingernails, while fingers are being crushed on a door, or being forced to drink the interrogator's urine.


4. CORRUPTION IS ALMOST A MUST

The level of corruption is despicable in dictatorial countries. Much of the wealth amassed by leaders and their immediate followers comes through the system of corrupt governance through things like bribes, unlawful seizures, funds diversion etc. Ali Abdullah Saleh the dictator of Yemen from 1979 to 2012, according to a United Nations commissioned sanctions panel acquired an estimated amount of US$60 Billion through corruption.

The panel reported he had his asserts hidden in at least twenty countries with the help of his business associates and front companies. The funds used to generate Ali Abdali Saleh's wealth came from Yemen's gas and oil contracts he asked for money in exchange for granting companies exclusive rights to prospect for gas and oil. Also, his friends, family, and his associates stole money from the fuel subsidy program, which was up to 10% of Yemen's gross domestic product. The panel also received information from a confidential source that Ali Abdullah Saleh had a number of alternative identity passports provided to him by other states which enabled him to hide asserts under false identities.

His wealth would place him 5th in Forbes list of the richest people. And Yemen during his reign was one of the poorest countries in the world, ranked 154 out 187 on the United Nation's Development Index, with more than 54% of the population living below the poverty datum line.


3. LEADER TARGETED SANCTIONS END UP AFFECTING THE COMMON MAN

Throughout history international law enforcers have slapped dictators with economic sanctions in the hope that public discontent arising from the harm produced by sanctions will be channeled to the ruling elite, which is then pressured to conform to the sender's demands (Galtung, J. 1967:388).Thus the leader would be faced with the choice of either giving in to the sender or being unseated. Typically, sanctions cut off trade, and investments. However, widely the effect has been far from the expectation.

During Iraq's Saddam Hussein's reign from 1979 to 2003, the entire Iraq populace suffered from the United Nations imposed sanctions for seven years while the dictator remained in power. United Nations agencies and human rights organisations reported malnutrition due to absence of medicines and water purification systems, blocked shipments to Iraq of harmless but vital goods, ranging from medicines to sewage treatment facilities. On October 28, 1996, UNICEF leader then, Carroll Bellamy held a news conference about the crisis and she said that 4.500 children were dying every month due to hunger and disease conditions imposed by the sanctions. The World Food Program announced that 180.000 children under the age of 5 in Iraq were malnourished.


2. MOST LEADERS ARE ROOTED TO SOCIALISM, BUT ACTUALLY PRACTICE CAPITALISM

Works of Karl Max and Lenin in formulating the theory of socialism undeniably went a long way in influencing most political revolutions around the world. Socialism worked in overturning capitalistic imperialism. It was the founding principle of most freed countries lead by presidents who later became dictators. Surprisingly, rather than having public ownership of national wealth dominate the country’s economic sentiment, closer ties to the eastern bloc of the world that includes most of Asia and Russia became the only socialistic aspect of the governments.

AHosni Mubarak of Egypt who held on to power from 1981 to 2011, adopted the doctrine of Arab socialism carried on from Gamal Abdel Nassa. When the Egyptian crisis arose in the year 2011, on January 25, it emerged that the ruling party National Development Party (NDP), ran a business cartel and used it to monopolize the country's wealth and businesses. 40% of Egyptians were living under the International line, and basically most Egyptians were living on or under US$2 a day, in some cases 300 Egyptian pounds (US$51) per month. And on employment, joblessness was at its toll, each year 700, 000 academic graduates chased only 200, 000 new jobs. Hosni Mubarak himself had an assumed net worth net worth of US$40 - 70 billion.

1. THE LEADER'S NET WORTH IS USUALLY MASSIVE

Despite the poverty endured by most people living in dictator led countries, their leaders are usually filthy rich and at times have a net worth above the country's government budget by a very wide margin.

The Libyan dictator Moammer Ghadafi who ruled the country from 1969 to 2011 had a net worth of over US$200 billion and during his reign the Libyan government budget was always below US$50 billion.

According to the United Nations, 40% of the Libyan population of 6.4 million lived below the International poverty line and considerable cases in extreme poverty. Of all his wealth, little was invested in national infrastructure like schools and hospitals or any kind of economic diversification.

Quadaffi's wealth was kept in government institutions like the central Bank of Libya and the Libyan Investment Authority, and the leader was able to withdraw money at will. Some of his wealth was spent on buying political support from African and European leaders, in late 2006 and 2007 a French-Lebanese business man Ziad Takkieddine, as he told 'Mediapart' a French investigative site, for three times carried suitcases containing cash between €1.5 and €2 million for Nicholas Sarkozy's campaigns.


References

Link 1: mmpz_weekly_media_review_2011_7_110225.pdf

Link 2:  https://books.google.co.zw/books?id=btd9BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA69&lpg=PA69&dq=villagers+are+forced+to+attend+mugabe+zanu+pf+rallies&source=bl&ots=YSunSI9_ny&sig=e9biWUqCqv0vA_DQzImP0W3x8xM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi9sq_pm4DTAhUHahoKHW16DlwQ6AEIFDAD
 (Alternative: http://reliefweb.int/report/zimbabwe/zimbabwe-intimidation-countryside-escalates)

Link 3: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/01/12/north-korea-rights-catastrophe-deepens

Link 4: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2016/04/18/North-Korean-defectors-report-50000-cases-of-rights-abuses/1341460991383/

Link5:https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/asia-and-the-pacific/north-korea/report-korea-democratic-peoples-republic-of/

Link 6:  http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBREA1G0OF20140217

Link7:https://books.google.co zw/books?id=hZVhuV7h5hwC&pg=PA242&lpg=PA242&dq=Teodoro+obiang+nguema+mbasogo+television+and+radio+station&source=bl&ots=FffYoCyzml&sig=iqqyPve8zsnjsFqDxdxzkq1koPU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwipmrjhooDTAhXCPxoKHbT6D4IQ6AEIGDAE#v=onepage&q=Teodoro%20obiang%20nguema%20mbasogo%20television%20and%20radio%20station&f=false

Link 8: www​.afrol.com/articles/19044

Link9:http://www.google.co.zw/url?q=http://students.depaul.edu/~lwagne11/E-Portfolio/Nazi%2520Film.doc&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwiM4vz-poDTAhUsBsAKHavyDzoQFggPMAI&sig2=xrNpBmG9UgJ3CSg3td2WLg&usg=AFQjCNEuIPXQudB4CFy4IjCq0H_C5620FA

Link 10: https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/mobile/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005202

Link 11: https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/mobile/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005202

Link12:http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/02/20/511375/Gambia-Adama-Barrow-Yahya-Jammeh-Foday-Conta-APRC

Link13:https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/03/lets-take-back-our-country/426852/

Link14:https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/09/17/gambia-two-decades-fear-and-repression

Link15:https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/ekaterina-loushnikova/comrade-stalin’s-secret-prison

Link16:https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/ekaterina-loushnikova/comrade-stalin’s-secret-prison

Link 17: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-31632502

Link 18: worldBankfigure.untribune.com/Yemen's_sales.

Link 19: galtung_67.pdf

Link 20: https://www.globalpolicy.org/global-taxes/41475.html

Link 21: https://www.unicef.org/media/media_pr_nutrition.html?p=printme

Link 22: K019866971.pdf

Link 23: http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/reign-of-egypts-mubarak-marked-by-poverty-corruption-despair/

Link 24: http://theweek.com/articles/487229/hosni-mubaraks-stolen-70-billion-fortune

Link 25: https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwindurgy/2011/10/25/did-moammar-gadhafi-die-the-richest-man-in-the-world/#7a49bf3b76cf

Link 26: Libya Full PDF Country Note.pdf

Link 27: http://m.thenational.ae/news/world/africa/poverty-persists-in-libya-despite-oil-riches

Link 28: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22220272

Plane makes emergency landing because of a Laptop battery

A JetBlue plane made an emergency landing in Michigan after smoke was detected from an overhead bin on a flight from New York to San Francisco.
And it was because of a lithium laptop battery of a passenger's laptop battery. After two and a half hours on flight, kaily Honnibal, 18 a passenger on the plane, head a message on the PA system. "Sounds like fire in 25!"

She looked back and saw smoke.

"I was scared," she told CNN.

"When you see a fire on the plane and you're in the air air, there's nothing you can do."

The plane, a JetBlue Airbus A321, with 158 passengers and crew on board landed safely at Gerald Ford International Airport in Grand Rapid, Michigan, at around 8 pm.

The fire had been extinguished by the time the plane landed.

So far this year, there have been 12 fire related incidents on flights caused by lithium batteries or lithium battery powered devices, according to the FAA.

Source RT News.

Britain bans troubled Air Zimbabwe

Britain's government site has said, Air Zimbabwe has been refused permission to operate flights to the EU because the airline has been unable to demonstrate that it complies with international air safety standards."

The site further says, "British government employees travelling to and within Zimbabwe has been advised to use careers that aren't subject to the EU operating ban."

This is despite comments by Minister of Transport J. Gumbo that only two flights had been affected.

"It should be noted that the ban is on two specific aircraft that fly long haul to Europe," he said.

"The airline has not been banned from-flying to Europe. If we corrected that ban on the two planes will be lifted. The previous management was found wanting on the way they maintained those two. It's politics at play but its set conditions on those aircrafts which we have to correct. It is good for Air Zimbabwe, there are some checks and balances which are for our benefit."


Zimeye

In this country, a boss should always be bald and have a big belly. My uncle isn’t bald,

With acclaimed Congolese writer Alain Mabanckou joining Africa Writes on July 2nd,  we’ve teamed up with AFREADA to run a global writing competition with the chance to win £100!

We are inviting writers, anywhere and everywhere, to participate in a 500-word short story competition which is loosely based on Mabanckou’s amusing and heart-warming story, Tomorrow I’ll be Twenty. Told from the perspective of 10-year-old Michel living in Pointe Noire, Congo, the story begins:

In this country, a boss should always be bald and have a big belly. My uncle isn’t bald, he hasn’t got a big belly, and you don’t realise, the first time you see him, that he’s the actual boss of a big office in the centre of town…

The rules are simple: …open a Word Document and continue the story.
We want you to pick up where Mabanckou left off, but you are not bound by the circumstances of this particular story. Go wherever the spirit leads but be mindful of our one and only rule: the story must be told from the perspective of a child living somewhere in Africa.

We are offering a £100 cash prize to the winning story, which will be published in AFREADA , and announced at the Africa Writes opening R.A.P party on June 30th.

If you think you’ve got what it takes, read the guidelines below and get to work!

Entry Guidelines:

• All entries MUST start with the opening lines of Tomorrow I’ll be Twenty, by Alain Mabanckou.
• All entries must be no more than 500 words (including the excerpt)
• All entries must be emailed to
editor@afreada.com as Microsoft Word attachments.
• Please put “AFREADA x Africa Writes Competition – Your Full Name ” in the subject line.
• In the body of the email, please include your contact details, social media handles and a short bio (100 words max).
• Deadline: Sunday, 18th June. 23:59 BST.
Questions? Click here and go straight to the comment section!

Mahindra keenMahindra keen to lead E-vehicles race to lead E-vehicles race

Mahindra electric vehicle

India's Mahindra announced on Wednesday that it will be setting up a new facility to make battery packs to power e-vehicles. The plant will be located in Pune, Chakan (India) and will increase Mahindra's production of battery packs by 10 times more.

Mahindra is working on new technologies that will lead into production of high powered vehicles with a maximum speed of 200 km/ph and will travel in between 350-400 km on a single charge.

The company hopes to "lead the electric mobility revolution" in India according the senior executives.

We're taking a leap of faith as we expect a steep ramp up in demand in the coming year,"  said M&M managing director Pawan Goenka.

Currently, M&M imports battery cells and assembles 400-500 units per month in Bengaluru, against the dependence of electric car production.

The new facility will have a capacity of 60 000 units, approximately 5 000 per month.

P. Goenka said Mahindra will work towards bringing down manufacturing costs of electric vehicles by 20% in order to reach sustainable pricing. And Mahindra hopes the cost of imported battery cells to soon come down by two thirds.

Source ET: OA by Vatsala Gaur

India plans make all its cars electric by 2030

India's government announced plans to make all of its cars electric by 2030. "By that year, not a single petrol or diesel car should be sold in the country," said Piyush Goyal who is the power minister of India while speaking at a confederation of Indian Industry last month.

India currently imports $150 billion in oil making it the 3rd largest oil consumer among all the countries in world. The numbers of 'fuel' powered vehicles has been growing with its economy and is expected to continue rising. NITI Saying, India's 'think tank', said replacing fuel powered cars would save India $60 billion in energy by 2030-and reduce carbon emissions by 37%.

India hopes to pair an increase in electric car use with solar power, "the reason is likely due to deep connection being drawn between the future of EVs and the future of solar pwer, including using EV batteries as storage for solar energy, which helps with grid balancing".

The NITI Ayoong 15 year plan includes limits on the registration of gas cars, subsidies for the EV industry, and the use of taxes from gas car sales to create electric charging stations.

Source Quartz

Police use teargas to disperse MDC-T supporters in rural area

From Washington- A Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) meeting was dispersed using teargas by the Zimbabwean Republic Police.

MDC-T supporters, and party vice president Thokozane Khupe ran for survival when police used the teargas to stop the meeting.

Some elderly women are reportedly hospitalised following the incident. Police were not immediately available for comment.

Read full story

Source: Voice of America (Zimbabwe)

China sells more electric vehicles than the US

352, 000 new electric vehicles (EVs) were registered in the year 2016, and only 159, 000 EVs were registered in the United States of America (50%+ in the state of California).

Analysts cautioned Chinese numbers in EVs sold could decrease due to subsidies, however estimates of the remaining (fair) much higher than the United States.
A consulting firm, Navigant, put Chinese sells at 250, 000, but predicted registrations would double in 2017.

Rebecca Lindland, a Kelly Blue Book analyst said, "It was inevitable that China's EV adoption was going to surpass the US's mostly because we're so resistant to EV's". According to Lindland many Chinese drivers' first cars will be electric and the younger generations may never own a gas powered vehicle.

China has now taken the lead in the EV industry and use. China reportedly wants 11% of all car sales to be electric by 2020-which will likely add up to nearly 3 million EVs yearly. "New Energy Vehicles," accounted for about 50% of all plug-in electric vehicles sold in 2016.

The US car market stood at around 17.5 million units yearly, while China sold over 28 million vehicles last year and increased its market share.

China has also been injecting capital in charging infrastructure and financial incentives.
Xinhua News reported the Chinese government will deploy 100, 000 EV charging stations in 2017, to bring a new total of 250, 000. The US has 41000 vehicle charging stations.

Electric vehicles- in China are exempted from the $6000-$ 10. 000 (per car) excise taxes, while giving special lane access and other perks, says the International Energy Agency.

And the US is planning reducing the EV tax break amounting up to ($ 7 500 in estimate, for buyers).

Other factors to consider; Tesla and Chevrolet are racing to release their mass-market EVs in 2018 that cost around $35 000, but China is manufacturing simpler versions at very low price, however the vehicles aren't classified as mass-market. The Chinese "low-speed electric vehicle" (LSEV) uses basic battery (usually lead- acid) and electric motor technologies.

The low-speed electric (LSEVs) have a top speed of about 40mph (70 km) and cost about $5000.

"The whole Shading province (population 90 million) is riding LSEVs" says Dennis Zuev a mobility researcher at Lancashire University.

"Even in big cities" he says.

LSEV cost around $5 000 and can travel up to 40mph and do not require a driver's license or license plates to operate.


Source: Quartz

United Airlines froze giant rabbit to death

Owners of a giant rabbit that mysteriously died on board of United Airlines flight from London to Chicago in April are seeking compensation from the airline. The owners say it was frozen to death after it was ‘literally’ frozen to death by United Airlines staff.
The airline has disagreed saying the 3ft (90cm) animal, which died on the plane in April, was frozen to death after it was mistakenly kept in a freezer by airline employees who also allegedly went on to cremate its corpse without the knowledge of the owners.

The Iowa group that owned Simon, a 10-month-old continental giant rabbit, sought compensation from the airline as they believe that ‘Simon’ would become the biggest rabbit on the planet, inheriting the trait from his 4ft 4 father, ‘Darius.’ As of 9 May the airline was given 7 days to respond before legal action could be taken.
“United Airline can issue any statement they like but their company’s credibility is under question when they immediately cremated the giant rabbit, Simon without anyone’s consent,” Cook said, according to Reuters. “They destroyed proof”.

Charles Hobart the airline’s spokesperson denied that Simon died in a freezer, adding that when Simon arrived in Chicago, he was apparently in good condition and was seen hoping around in his kernel 35 minutes after landing.

RT News

BBC: A look at Karl Marx’s Das Kapital, What is it? Realistic theories that shape our economies

UK’s Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell believes there is so much to learn from reading Das Kapital. What is it?
The book was written in the middle of the 19th century by the renowned German philosopher and economist Karl Marx. Das Kapital is essentially an explanation of how the capitalist system will destroy itself.

Following his set ideas on class struggle in the Communist manifesto and other writings-how the workers of the world would seize power from the ruling elites.

Das capital is hard to read. It is a product of 30 years of work, Marx’s study the condition of the mid 19th century factory workers in Britain at the peak of the Industrial revolution. Das Kapital is part history, part economics and part sociology.
Francis Wheen, Marx’s biographer, pointed out it reads at times like a Gothic novel “whose heroes are enslaved and consumed by the monster they created.”

Marx argues that capitalism is an unstable way to structure the society for it will eventually collapse because of its own contradictions. He is unclear about the time this collapse will loom.
And he doesn’t explicitly state the structure of the communist society that will overtake and replace capitalism, only that it will free workers from their servitude (he did not complete work on the theory, he died in 1883).

Das Kapital was first published in 1867, he had settled in London with his family at the time, and Friedrich Engels a rich son of a cotton mill owner was his financial sponsor.
Marx continued to refine the ideas set out in the first volume for the rest of his life, although the next two volumes would not appear in print until after his death.

Ds Kapital ‘contained’ ideas that went on to inspire revolutions in Russia, China and many other countries around the world in the 20th century as ruling elites were overthrown and private property seized on behalf of the workers.

The book also would exert a powerful influence over many in the Labour Part and trade Union movement, even if they did not always share his vision of a global worker’s revolution.
Marxism became a way of interpreting the world-the simple idea at its core was that history was a battle between opposing social classes could be applied to everything from study of literature and film to the education system.

It also became a byword for totalitarianism as one-party states and dictators proclaimed Marxism as their guiding philosophy.
Some argued that this was a perversion of Marx’s ideas as  set out in Das Kapital, and that the Soviet Union, for many-the ultimate example of Marxist state, was really just a form state capitalism, where the factory owners had been replaced by government bureaucrats.

But the Soviet’s Union’s collapse in the early 1990’s dealt a major blow to the credibility of Marxist theory and it went out of fashion on university campuses and in mainstream left wing political parties that inspired to gain power in the west, such as the labour party.

Marxism underwent a revival in the wake of the 2008 global financial crash, however, which some saw as a classic example of capitalism in crisis just as Marx had predicted.
You can obtain a copy here.
This article is a BBC publication.

Private plane with 4 people aboard goes missing: Bermuda Triangle

US authorities were on Tuesday in a deep search in Bahamas for a small overdue plane carrying 4 New Yorkers (two adults and two kids).

The US Coast guard said the thin-engine MU-2B was east of the island of Eleuthera on Monday when the traffic control in Miami lost radar and radio contact with plane. The plane was on its way from Puerto Rico and never reached its destination of Tutusville, along the north eastern coast of Florida.

The plane boarders were identified as Nathan Ulrich and Jennifer Blumin of New York, along with her 4 year-old and 10 year old sons.

The plane was at about 24 000 feet & travelled at 300 knots when air traffic control lost contact.

"There's no indication of significant adverse weather at the time," said Lt. Commander. Ryan Kelly, a coast Guard spokesperson.

Coast guard aircraft were searching along with customs and Boarder Patrol and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force about 40 miles east of Eleuthera.

A Coast Guard Cutter was dispatched to the area to assist with the search.

Daily Mail

Air Zimbabwe: Airline banned from flying into European Union due to safety standards

Safety concerns have seen Zimbabwe's national career banned from flying to the European Union.

Yesterday, (16, May), the European Commission issued its updated Safety List and Air Zimbabwe was listed as incapable of operation within the European Union due to its lower safety standards.

The EU Commission's statement reads,

"All airlines certified in Benin and Mozambique are cleared from the list, following further improvements to aviation safety situation in these countries. On the other hand, the airlines, Med-View (Nigeria), Mestique Airway (St-Vincent and the Grenadines), Aviation Company Urga (Ukraine) & Air Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe) were added to the list due to the list due to unaddressed safety defiances that were detected by the European Aviation Safety Agency during the assessment for a third country operator authorisation."

Commissioner for Transport Violera Bulc said;

"This also a signal to the 16 countries that remain on the list. It shows that work and cooperation pays off. The commission and the European Aviation Agency are ready to assist them and raise the safety standards worldwide."

Peace Loving Elephant breaks up fighting Ostriches in Tanzania

An elephant felt compelled to play a pacifier role in an Ostrich bust-up that was recorded on camera in a Tanzanian National Park, Tarangire.

 The two ostriches were filmed in an outrageous fight, throwing kicks at each other in April last year.

The huge elephant approached the scene in order to get a better view at the cause of commotion-it looked on for quite a while before flaring its ears to signal a possible aggression mode on its side.
The elephant went on to charge at the battling pair and the birds sensibly scattered, bringing an abrupt end to their conflict.

Watch Video here.
Source: Mail Online

THE DEADLINE FOR THE ETHIOPIAN WORKSHOP HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 20 MAY.

Short Story Day Africa in partnership with the Goethe-Institut invite submissions to attend a series of one day workshops in the following cities:

Johannesburg, South Africa | 27 May 2017
Cape Town, South Africa | 27 May 2017
Nairobi, Kenya | 3 June 2017
Windhoek, Namibia | 3 June 2017
Yaoundé, Cameroon | 3 June 2017
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 10 June 2017
Kigali, Rwanda* | 3 June 2017 | By Invitation Only.

Writers working on entries for the prestigious 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize, or wanting to begin drafting an entry for the prize, are invited to submit an application.

Send a 200 word sample of your original writing, along with a short biographical statement of no more than 100 words, to
info@shortstorydayafrica.org with the subject line ID FLOW and the country you are applying for, i.e. ID FLOW KENYA if you are applying for Kenya, ID FLOW NAMIBIA if you are applying for Namibia. If you do not use this subject line your submission will be missed. Submissions close 2 May 2017. The writing sample need not be from your ID entry, but must be unpublished. Please read the Terms and Conditions below carefully before applying.

The workshop is free for selected participants, however space is limited. Successful applicants will be notified by 10 May 2017. If you have not heard from us by 10 May 2017, your application has not been successful.

*Please note the Kigali workshop is by invitation only.
Details of the 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize are available on the website: http://shortstorydayafrica.org/the-ssda-prize/
We are grateful to our Flow Workshop partners, the Goethe-Institut.

Additionally, we would like to thank The Miles Morland Foundation, Worldreader, Huza Press and our many smaller yet equally vital patrons, without whom the 2017 Short Story Day Africa Prize and ID Anthology would not be possible. A full list is available on our Sponsors page.

Terms and conditions of entry:

1. Only African citizens, as well as persons residing permanently (granted permanent residence or similar) in any African country, are eligible to attend the workshops.
2. The workshops are free, and refreshments will be provided. However, only selected participants may attend.
3. Travel costs costs to the workshop are not covered. Applicants are entirely responsible for their own travel arrangements to and from the venue.
4. Any person granted a place at the workshop who does not then attend will be disqualified from entering the 2017 SSDA Prize and any SSDA Prize in the future, excepting where 48 hours notice is given or in cases of extreme emergency.
5. Previous Flow Workshop participants may not apply.
6. To apply, submit a 200 word sample of your original work, and accompanying 100 word bio to info@shortstorydayafrica.org with the subject line ID FLOW and the country you are applying for, i.e. ID FLOW KENYA if you are applying for Kenya, ID FLOW NAMIBIA if you are applying for Namibia etc. If you do not use this subject line your submission will be missed. The sample must be unpublished, but need not be from your ID entry.
7. Submissions close 2 May 2017. However, the deadline for the Ethiopian Flow Workshop has been extended until 20 May.
8. The Kigali Workshop is held in association with Huza Press, and only writers who are part of the Huza Press mentorship programme are invited to attend.
9. Samples must be submitted in English, and any writers wishing to attend the workshops or enter ID must be able to write in English.
10. Successful applicants will be notified by 10 May 2017. The judges decision is final.

Zimbabwe government waives duty on airplane spares

Zimbabwe:

The Zimbabwean government has waived duty on all aircraft spare parts imports in a bid to help ease pressure on the troubled national airline Air Zimbabwe. Air Zimbabwe owes lenders over $330 million and is loosing market share to emerging private airlines.

In a government gazette published last week Friday it was said that 'Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa has in terms of section 235 of the Customs & Excise Act rescinded duty on engine spares for Air Zim.'

'Subject to this section & to such conditions as the Commissioner General may, fix a rebate of duty, shall with effect from the 1st of January to 31 December 2017, be granted on engine spares and components for Air Zimbabwe,' the gazette reads.

There are numerous engine spares' tariff heading which have been approved by Chinamasa to benefit from the rebate in a bid to to avert departure and arrival delays.

Source: Daily News

Fake News: U-Turn Trafigura rejects any involvement in Zimbabwe 1.1 billion funding

Trafigura (group), a Singaporean global commodities firm denied reports that it is set to bail out Zimbabwe with US$1.1 billion meant cover areas to the World Bank.

Zohra McDoolley-Aimone, who is the Trafigura regional head of corporate Affairs for Africa spoke to Voice of America's Studio 7 and denied reports that the group has anything to do with the Zimbabwe debt clearance plan.

"Trafigura Group is aware of report in the Zimbabwe media suggesting the company has provided significant financing in support of the Zimbabwean government's effort to repay debt arrears to the World Bank and the African Development Bank," he said.

He added, "Trafigura is not involved in any discussions or funding activity related to the government's relations with the International Financial Institutions, but we continue to engage with appropriate authorizes in support of our ongoing commercial business in the country."

Air Zimbabwe unfit to service international airlines

Air Zimbabwe last week appealed to the European aviation safety agency after its application for accreditation to service international airlines flying into Zimbabwe got denied as established.

The application had been to the Aviation Safety Authority (Easa) in a bid to broaden revenue sources through establishing a technical hub for the region.

The purported reason for the rejection was the airlines' inability to even service its own aircraft as revealed in an (Easa) audit.
With that, the airline can't qualify to maintain equipment from other airlines,

"During Edmund Makoni's tenure as acting CEO, the airline resolved to widen its revenue by setting up a maintenance hub for the region and beyond. They were basically imitating the likes of South African Airways whose technical department is profitable" a source said.

"After its application was turned down, the CE; quality assurance manager Onias Moyo and the director in charge of technical services Joseph Makonese flew to Brussels to make an appeal on this decision."

And the application had also been made just a after a month after all five of AirZim aircraft more grounded due to technical problems, forcing the airline to live a South African plane to cover scheduled flights.

Also, Air Zimbabwe is in a debt of US$330 million that has incapacitated the airlines' full performance. The company has since the start of the Zimbabwean cash-crisis struggled to procure its own crucial spare parts for its five planes.

Source: B24N

Zimbabwe: general increase in human rights violations (ZPP)

The month of April according to Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) saw a general increase in the total number of human right violations in the country with 123 cases being reported. In March the numbers stood at 112.

'Of these victims, those affiliated to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) stood at 3.4℅ which translates to 27 people while those affiliated to ZANU-PF are 19," it reported.

Quotes (ZPP),

"A total 798 victims & 188 perpetrators were recorded. 62.2% of the victims were male while 37.8% were females. 87.6% of the perpetrators were male while 12.4% were female. 146% perpetrators were affiliated to the ruling party which 77.7% of the figure. Only one of the perpetrators could not be established which party they were affiliated to"

"ZPP said 18 perpetrators were police officers while 7 of the perpetrators were Central Intelligence Organization operatives and 14 perpetrators were from the MDC-T."

"There was a drastic decrease in the number of unknown perpetrators this month."

Source: Bulawayo 24 News

New airline seeks Zimbabwean Permit: Tiny Read

A new commercial airline, Zimskies Airlines has applied for a Zimbabwean air service permit to operate in local, regional and international routes.

This comes as some big local airlines are struggling to remain afloat due to tough economic environment- characterised by high airport taxes and debilitating cash crunch among other things.

Bulawayo 24 News

Zimbabwe's unemployment rate is just despicable

The Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions says Zimbabwe's unemployment rate is now at 90%.

The Unions believe a government change is solution to unemployment crisis.

Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai believes President Robert Mugabe's government has destroyed the life of workers.

And while addressing the workers day celebrations in Harare, he said President Robert Mugabe won't accept defeat in the next year's elections.

The MDC-T leader says it's clear that the nation is fed up with the 93-year old leader. He says the country has been turned into a nation of street vendors.

Currently, most companies are shutting down.

However, Mugabe has blamed the economic crisis in the country on sanctions imposed by the 'west'.

Source: ENCA

Youngest African Woman with a PhD

Zimbabwean, Musawenkosi Saurombe, 23, became the youngest African woman to attain a PhD.

She now has a PhD in industrial psychology from North-West University Campus in Mahikeng, South Africa. She was honoured on the 25th of April 2017.

Her thesis was titled: The management perspectives on a talent value proposition for academic staff in a South Africa Higher Education Institution.

Dr. M. Saurombe started school at the age of 4 in Botswana, Gaborone. Remarkably Musawenkosi Saurombe went on to be promoted from a grade 3 class into a grade 4 stream after only completing one schooling term.

"My parents had to explain to my teachers after wanting to promote me to other grades that I needed time to mature and it was true because when I got to University I struggled," she said in one of her interviews.

Source: Chronicle.

21 Year Old Pilot Turns Hero After Emergency Landing

A young trainee pilot has earned himself a 'hero' title after he made an amazing emergency landing that saved three lives.

The young hero, Zachary Cox, aged 21, was in the plane along with two other trainee pilots in New South Wales, Coffs Harbor when the landing gear faulted.

A video revealed Mr. Cox keeping steady while skidding the nose of the plane across the runway.

In his 9 News interview he said,

"I was ready for what came at me."

He said he has put the incident past him and expected to get to be back to the skies this week.

"As pilots, there's always going to be problems. We train for it; it's not going to affect me." He said.

His instructor talked him through the landing by ensuring they could escape if the plane overturned.

Watch Video Here

Mail On-line

Zimbabwe: Top Airline Issued Handwritten Tickets

Air Zimbabwe last week resorted to handwritten boarding passes revealing the extent of rot the parastatal is on the verge. The whole of last of week was awash with bad jokes about the development.

The situation came against the standard electronic ticketing system used in the aviation industry approved by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), a body that ensures airline safety, security and efficiency.

One passenger detailed that the issued documents do not have any security features such as a barcode, and appeared "very fake."

And Air Zimbabwe sales and marketing manager Christopher Kuenda confirmed that all flight details, including names and seat numbers, were written in ink for some passengers travelling to Johannesburg to Bulawayo and Victoria Falls.

"What is happening is that we're combining flights, Joburg - Bulawayo and Joburg - Victoria Falls. It becomes difficult to combine loads because of capacity.

"The printing pass system is programmed for one flight, so we print for the flight with more passengers. The rest is handwritten.

"It is not like the system is down or the airline is facing any problems and it's not like this is happening with all our flights, it's just one flight," he said to the Daily News.

Source: Daily News Zimbabwe

China expecting electric a vehicle owners to experience efficient charging

China is hoping for more impact in its fight against air pollution. The country is putting more electric vehicles on the road each year and also putting fresh focus on making sure drivers don't struggle to power their engines.

Electric Vehicle (EV) sales including both fully electric and hybrid versions, surpassed 500 000 units in 2016 - with aid of government subsidies meaning the country surpassed the level of sales in Europe (221 000) by double and US sales (157 000) by four times. China is looking forward to adding to the numbers.

It aims to reach 2 million in sales in 2020, and for the range to amount for a 1/5 of all vehicle production by 2025. China would have about 5 million (EVs) on its road in 2020 and according to its National Energy Administration (NEA), what's been dropping has been the car-to-charger ratio. In 2015, the ratio was 9 cars: 1 charger.

At the end of 2016, China had more than 1 million EVs and around 150 000 charging stations, or some seven vehicles to every station according to (NEA). China wants to add 900, 000 charging stations by the end of 2017. In year 2020, China plans for a 1:1 charger for each car.

However, that doesn't mean people won't have-that depends on how well distributed existing and new chargers are.

China's Beijing Land Resources Department proposed in December that there should have one charging station in every 5 kilometers (three miles). Another 'unnamed agency' has said the city should aim for one station in every Kilometer or so on in its central areas by 2020.

Source: RT News

What's Wikitribune for?

WikiTribune is meant to combine the work of professional journalists & volunteers. 'Evidence based journalism is its moto.

The goal of the service is to offer 'factual and neutral' articles to help combat the problem of "fake news."

Wikitribune target to become a trusted site and it is intended to run on ad-free and free-to-read plan. The service will rely on supporters making regular donations.

Wikitribune contributors (mainly professional journalists) will in the news articles, detail the source of each fact and also rely on public users for editions.

However, while anybody can make changes to a page, they will only go live if a member or trusted community volunteer approves their contribution.

And its core writer community is set to be made up of paid members.

The founder of Wikitribune is Jimmy Wales who is also the founder of Wikipedia.

Zimbabwe: 14 Human rights violations recorded in the first half of April 2017

An organisation, Heal Zimbabwe recorded 14 human rights
violations in 9 districts of the country in between 08-19 April 2017. The violations were grouped into three categories: Intimidation with threats of withdrawal of food aid or agricultural inputs, forced participation (in political meetings, polling stations, financial or material contributions) and destruction of political gatherings.

The report reads

"Intimidation remains prevalent in local communities with 79% (11 cases) recorded this week followed by forced participation to political gatherings with 14% (2 cases) and disrupted meetings which recorded 70% (1 case)".

The continued prevalence of intimidation can be largely attributed to the ongoing restructuring exercise of ZANU PF structures country wide.

The continued intimidation and harassment particularly of opposition members is likely to intensify as the nation approaches the 2018 national Elections.

Source: Bulawayo 24 News


Theme: Authority

Zimbanwe: Journalists arbitrary arrests up by 130%

Unlawful arrests of journalist s by the Zimbabwean police have increased by 130% in the past 12 months says the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ). This reflects on the government’s intensification of the suppression of freedom of expression and guard to the electronic media from private players.    

The statistics were released by the organisation during a Press conference in Harare as the World anticipates for Media Freedom Day that is celebrated on 3 May.

The organisation said stats of journalists arrested, beaten, or tortured by the police in 2016 were put together by the Media Institute of Southern Africa- Zimbabwe in their 2016 state of the media report.  

"There was an upsurge in media violations with at least 23 journalists unlawfully arrested or detained in the last year," MAZ said.    

"The report notes that there were 12 journalists assaulted by either the police or by unruly political activists while professionally covering news events translating to a shocking 130% & 70% increase in the number of journalists arrested and assaulted, respectively, while on duty." The organisation further stated that it was concerned by government threats against media and switching-off of online social-media during political disturbances.            

"We implore the government to create a safe working environment for the media and to provide leadership within and outside government in raising awareness on the need to ensure safety of journalists and media workers," MAZ said.

"We buttress the calls for the government to address the sustainability challenges within the media industry by reviewing the multiple tax regimes and to further facilitate for the viability of the media industry."    

Source: Bulawayo 24 News  

Afrimex: Trafigura extends US$1.1 billion bailout to Zimbabwe

Singaporean group, Trafigura, has agreed to bailout the Zimbabwean government with US$1.1 billion which is meant to go towards the repayment of the country's arrears to the World Bank.

This is part of the government's international re-engagement process agreed in October 2015 in Peru, Lima between Harare and three international financial institutions, the IMF, World Bank and AFDB.

Source Bulawayo 24 News

Kenya Airways to launch Victoria Falls flights

Kenya Airways beginning on Monday, May 1, 2017, will begin three weekly flights to Victoria Falls. This comes after the Victoria Falls Airport underwent a $150 million upgrade.

The carrier posted on its Facebook page that, "From May 1, we will have direct flights to Victoria Falls. This is our second destination in the country of Zimbabwe. Talk about expanding our reach!"

Flights will be available on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

The route will be connected to Cape Town and it will be Kenyan Airways 53rd route.

Other direct flights to Victoria Falls include, South African Airways and the Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian Airways began three weekly flights on March 26.

Source: Bulawayo News

Zimbabwe: Bread prices won't be going up

Current bread prices of 90c-$1.00 will remain the same despite soaring costs of flour. Consumers are assured there won't be changes by the Grain Marketing Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) national chairperson Tafadzwa Musara.

(GMAZ) & (NBAZ), millers and bakers associations are jointly in negotiations with central bank (RBZ) for an immediate availing of foreign currency to settle all outstanding wheat import payments, but the industry personnel are confident they will be settled in the next few days.

In his statement Mr. Musara said, "This, we are confident, will be settled in the next few days."

"Consequently, the milling industry wishes to advise that supply of flour, and by extension supply of bread, will remain more than adequate and consumers must not be worried."

"Secondly, prices will not go up on the account of costs of flour." He said.

Source Bulawayo News 24

United Airlines rated as the worst large US airline in the US

180 000 consumers of US flight services responded to the American Customer's Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey in March, 2017 and the airline was rated the of the big airlines.

The survey analyzed data from all business sectors and it was carried out prior to the Dr. David Dao incident.

United is ranked bottom among the legacy airlines with a score of 70 points, up by two from last year's score of 68.

The lower rating is highly regarded to flight delays, fees and cancellations. 4 out of 10 passengers revealed that this year they paid a fee to check in their luggage, while a third of business class travelers filled a complaint with the company they flew with.

ACSI Top 10 US Airlines

1). JetBlue

2) Southwest

3). Alaska

4). American

5). Delta

6). All other

7). Allegiant

8). United

9). Frontier

10). Spirit

Core to the success of British Imperialism in Africa

Quote: Lord Macaulay's on his address to the British parliament of 2nd February 1835.

"I have travelled across the length and breadth of Africa and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief, such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage and therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Africans think that everything foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation."

Indeed, to public knowledge, the mentality still shapes Africa and looks like it won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Billionaire, Jack Ma predicts decades of global economy ‘pain’ caused by the internet

Alibaba leader, billionaire, Jack Ma has put forth a warning that the world should brace for decades of social upheaval and pain as the internet disturbs the global economy.

“In the next thirty years, the world’s pain will be much greater than its happiness,” Ma said at an entrepreneurial conference in Zhengzhou, China.

“Social conflicts over the next thirty years will hugely impact every industry.”

According to Ma, the world must change the way people are taught and establish how to work with robots to help soften the blow caused by automation and the internet.

“Machines should only do what humans cannot,” he said, adding that “Only in this way can we have the opportunities to keep the machines as working partners with humans, rather than as replacements.”

He gave reference to his earlier warnings about how the internet would impact industries.
“Fifteen years ago I gave speeches 200 or 300 times reminding everyone that the internet will impact all industries, but people didn’t listen because I was nobody,” he said.
He has called for traditional industries to stop complaining about the internet’s effects on the economy. He believes Cloud-computing and artificial intelligence are essential for business.
Source RT News

Zimbabwe Anticipating 'Bumper Harvest of Maize'

Maize is the staple food for the country. For almost two decades Zimbabwe will produce enough maize to be able to export the grain, said Vice President Emerson Mnangagwa on Friday last week.

"Indicators from the areas I have toured to date suggest that we're herding for a bumper harvest," he said while speaking at a meeting in the country's capital city Harare.

He cited the above-average 2016/17 rainfall amount and command agriculture for the projection. The yields expected are two million seven hundred thousand maize tons. And farmers are expected to earn $USD390.00 per metric ton. However, comments on the national pricing have shown that farmers are dissatisfied and in the near future are more likely to ditch maize farming in favor of cash crop farming which is more profitable.

Source: DW
Read in detail: DW

4 Absurd Mobile Applications

Like we haven't enough of the crazes going around the world; recently, application developers have adopted into their hands to develop 'literary' digital applications that have done nothing in recognition besides bearing the label 'grotesque'.

There are lot of absurd applications in the digital pool and these are some of the most reputable.

Rumblr ''Tinder for fighting app" (dismissed as a hoax)

Recreational fighting, a punch is not really something that is enjoyable to anyone. But for some who might feel it's something they have to do, well. It would have been a wonderful chance for them to experience ‘hook up fight’ with 0% level of altercation required. Obviously, the self-reckoning tinder first hit the internet somewhere around late October 2015; it turned out to be a hoax.

The purpose of this application was to connect users for a recreational fight. The fight would occur on a mutual venue and it would be broadcasted live on the 'Rumbler' website- with proof of course.

Places I've pooped

"I literary track all the places I have pooped" is one of the lines in the application's customer reviews. Another one says "After log in update I lost all my poops" I had poops. I had poops in Hawaii and all over the states", that there is an outraged user after his 'Places I've Pooped' crashed.

Up to date the application boasts of over 200 000 users that are enjoying tracking the places they have pooped. 

The application allows its users to record each and every place they pooped. As if that's not crazy enough, you get to share your 'Maps' on social media that means there is a chance for you to see where your friends did it too.

Poop Analyzer

There are a lot of poop games found in this application. It is a prank game that is made for fun, not really meant to analyze your poop if that's what you thought. But have fun with poop? No! You press your finger on the app's scanner and the application will 'see' what sort of poop you'll leave at the restroom.

Cuddlr (Changed Name)

With Cuddlr, depending on who's 'near your location' you ‘could’ find individuals who are up for a cuddling session. The application was launched back in September 2014, and it got huge number of users, supposedly, just looking for a cuddling session, without any other expectations of course. 

Though a lot of reviewers have had seemingly negative things to say like "it's quite creepy..." it seems like you never really know with some things a real 'goodie' might be in a cuddle.

4 Examples of good propaganda

In most cases, propaganda is used to serve for the purposes of minorities. There have been detrimental and highly fatal propagandas like the ones during the Holocaust and those leading to the wide reshaping of the world through imperialism by ‘super- powers’. Propaganda has been in existence since the earliest of time in World’s history and operates almost at the same level of sternness at whatever given time. Though most individuals are not well informed on what propaganda is, it still affects their lives. Propaganda is widely defined as ‘information especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view’. Propagandas are controlled by minorities in societies. They exist in every corner of the globe and precisely influence how people view things, and behave, you name it. For instance how African leaders portray the western world, imperialistic, or how the Asian leadership speaks of the world outside of Asia, loose. The list goes on.

But, these are four of some of the times propaganda is used for the benefit of the masses.

‘Women’ are the weaker sex. (Most societies are patriarchal)

Mostly used in the studies of literature and social studies, the view has enabled an unending number of groups around the world to address the general challenges that are faced by women. Patriarchy, which is the dominance of men in many societies supposing the belittling of women, has been slowly overturned since the turn of the 21st century. The slowly natured claim has met an awakening of powerful groups fighting gender cases to overturn the woman’s ‘fate’.

The other 98% ‘Oligarchy’

Well expert theorists say 98% of the populations are ‘controlled’ by the remaining 2%. 1% of the 2% representing the political leaders and the remaining 1% making up the numbers of the rich societies that have influence on a country’s economy hence a hold on the politicians. And it is the case everywhere around the world. But only with sort of eye opening propaganda of the 98% that has spread mostly through social media urging masses to overturn the system by fighting against the minority rules in pursuit of actual democracy.

Black Lives Matter

‘Black-people’ throughout the course of history have always been known as an oppressed group of people-in racial terms. They are oppressed in one way or the other, directly in the time of slavery and the post slavery eras, colonialism, and all the way to post colonialism. The black lives matter campaign seeks to make people conscious on how the world’s ‘black’ people are plighted by structural marginalization.

Disease Awareness’s

Diseases cause a lot of trouble for the world. World-health-organisation(s’) immersion of energy in fighting chronic and incurable diseases has helped a lot of people in the whole world to take steps to preserve their health as well as taking preventive measures against diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Zica and Ebola. There have been countless disease awareness campaigns around the world. This sort of propaganda is directly beneficial to the masses from anywhere around the world as it protects people from likely detrimental disease situations.

List of Harry Potter Words to join English Dictionaries

A small list of words associated with the Harry Potter book we ies are on the Oxford University Press watchlist, which decides on the words likely to gain inclusion in its dictionaries.

Potterhead: fan of a Harry Potter.

Wrock: short for (Wizard Rock)- it is a genre of Harry Potter related music.

Bellatrix: is the name of a character in the series, which Rowling named after a star in the Orion constellation.

Source: BBC

Care for Someone

Care for someone is a Zimbabwean Children's charity. It was opened in 2001. Its prime focus when it started were girls, but however they have since moved to the inclusion of boys.

In the face of challenges like, unavailability of education to some Zimbabwean children, higher HIV/AIDS prevalence rates, as much as 1.6 million children without parental care, many juveniles becoming breadwinners, high unemployment rates and almost 0% welfare support. It is almost as most of the children are destined for a life of destitution, exploitation, prostitution, mental health problems and substance abuse.

Care for Someone notes vulnerable young people from poor families and rolls out a care plan. However, the organization discourages the 'dependency-culture' by supporting families up to a time of self support.

One of their methods include- providing agricultural seeds and tools for growing crops that will be sold and the money used for paying school fees. But, prior to the families' self-sustenance, Care for Someone will be providing schooling and uniforms; books and stationery and in some cases, food and clothes.

The organization has no 'administration costs', and all donations go to help support a family and educate children.

They're currently operating in Ruwa, Harare, Murewa & Kwekwe and they're supporting children aged 5-18 years old (In preschool, primary and secondary education).

To read more click here. Http://careforsomeone.co.uk/our-students/

For donation information click here.

Source: Zimeye