Editor's Blog Mar 09th 2012
It’s Friday! TGIF as they say… And it’s a Loooooooong weekend too, does it get any better?
Yesterday’s blog seems to have had a lot of hits; it’s very nice that you so many of you support my ranting and raving. So today, going on from yesterdays, I wanted to mention what happened in Nigeria. An unfortunate set of events that resulted in the UK Government deciding to try and rescue a Briton and an Italian who were being held hostage.
The failed rescue attempt shows us once again that the nature of the beast, Africa that is, is not what we would like to think. It is not a problem with one country, one man or one crazy leader. The continuing problems, be it Somali pirates, hidden terror camps or just complete unbelievable corruption within the governments, make this continent one of the scariest places ever.
Yesterday’s action by the UK government, Cameron in particular, has resulted in two more deaths. The SBS (Special Boat Service), the UK’s elite, went in to find both hostages dead. What does this come from? Desperation?
The development of these countries, the governments that run them and the “freedom fighters” that end up becoming worse dictators than their predecessors, are the doomed future for the African Continent and all the countries within. Although not all the stories make the headlines, it is a frequent occurrence that “pirated” ships are brought to Somali Waters, that terrorists often intimidate governments such as in Mauritania by blowing up trucks in the middle of towns and the impoverished starving locals are the last to receive anything we may have thought we were sending them.
If you really want to help, stop sharing videos on the net, how about saving up some money, rolling up your sleeves, put some sun block on and get out to Africa, experience it for yourself and get involved helping the poorest of the poor and the neediest of the needy. I have a very good friend who spent six months in Uganda doing precisely that, helping to teach new farming techniques, informing people of health risks and trying to help them develop technological advances that we would call “ancient”.
There are ways to help, but if you really want to make a difference, YOU have to do it!
In the mean time, for those of us who are here, lets not TGIF, let’s thank whomever for what we have, a society that lives without fear of oppression, without fear of where our next meal will come from, without having to worry about people stealing our children at night and most importantly that no matter how bad a day we are having, it could be ALOT worse!
Ed.
