Why I don’t support Invisible Children’s Stop Kony campaign

Invisible Children may have the best of intentions, but I wouldn’t part with my money until they address a couple of issues:

• The Lord’s Resistance Army has a presence in South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as Uganda. How will Joseph Kony be arrested with American military “advisors” in Uganda?
• Looking at the breakdown of their expenses, Invisible Children appear more concerned with lobbying than investing funds directly to benefit children in Central Africa. Only 37.14% of their expenses for Fiscal Year 2011 went to Central Africa programs.

The cost for a simple meal in Zimbabwe

If you find all the doom and gloom about the world economy a bit depressing, spare a thought for the people of Zimbabwe, where inflation now runs at %11.2 million per annum, according to the CIA World Fact Book. Below is a receipt for a simple meal at a hotel in Zimbabwe, which came to a total of Z$1.2 billion.

Zimbabwe's economy lays in ruins after farms owned by whites were seized in a brutal land reform program. It now has an unemployment rate of 80% and a GDP per capita of US$200, the lowest in the world. The GDP per capita of Australia for 2008 was US$39,300.

Just like Groundhog Day

The never ending cycle of violence between Israel and Palestinian militants with the endless string of ceasefires, unsuccessful peace proposals and vows to open the gates of Hell and exact retribution are so familiar that they leave you feeling that they are trapped in a repeating time loop, just like that in Groundhog Day. Unlike the war in Iraq, this conflict has been raging for decades and a lasting resolution still seems remote in the foreseeable future.

It isn't difficult for Israel to eliminate Hamas as such; it is difficult for Israel to eliminate Hamas without doing likewise for the civilian population. Israel has one of the world's most powerful and modern armies, but the Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

While Israel is able to target individuals within the Hamas leadership with their laser-guided bombs, Hamas can only aim their crude rockets at population centres and hope that they will inflict casualties. Whether they are terrorists depends on whose side you're on, however the main effect of these weapons is to create terror because of their great inaccuracy.

The conflict poses one of the greatest security challenges of our generation. The continual stream of footage of devastation we receive in our lounge rooms every evening might be tiresome, but the stability of the region always hangs in the balance. Iran has called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

The conflict between American-backed Israel and Palestinian militants has always strained relations between the United States and its allies and the Muslim world. The Muslim world sees the United States as part and parcel of what they perceive as the oppression of the Palestinians by Israel.

Charge Bush, Blair and Howard with war crimes: Mahathir

It seems former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad still won't let go of his grudge against the West and he is more out of touch with reality than ever. He has called for US President George W Bush, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Australian Prime Minister John Howard to be charged with war crimes. No, he won't attempt to bring them before The Hague, he will try them in absentia in a war crimes tribunal of his own creation. While the tribunal won't have any legal authority, he hopes to make some mark on history:

"The accused may disregard. There will be (other) people who will take it seriously, and historians will attach an epithet that they will not like. They will go down in history as war criminals."

The only thing that anyone would care to notice or remember is that Mahathir was the clown who set up this do-it-yourself war crimes tribunal.

Mahathir still doesn't get it. Those who have heard of him outside of Malaysia just see him as a corrupt ex-Prime Minister who dismally failed to influence the international community with his theatrical tirades against Australia and the West in general. Outside of Malaysia the convictions would just be received with amusement.

Australians might remember this outburst from Mahathir in 2002:

"This country stands out like a sore thumb trying to impose its European values in Asia as if it is the good old days when people can shoot aborigines without caring about human rights."

Howard, as always, gave Mahathir the harshest response of all: none. Mahathir was constantly seeking attention with his provocative rhetoric and he never got it.