By Timothy B. Hurst •
January 10, 2009
Faced with skyrocketing inflation, a tanking economy, and incredible political instability, the government of Zimbabwe is turning to elephant meat in a desperate attempt to feed hungry soldiers.
A senior officer in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces told ZimOnline that Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority struck a deal resulting in the slaughter of elephants to feed soldiers at army barracks across the country. The officer, who remained anonymous, said there were six elephant carcasses delivered to military barracks last week and that the delivery was a welcome relief.
The ZDF has been instrumental in keeping embattled President Robert Mugabe in power, despite his having lost in a general election to the main opposition party of Morgan Tsvangirai in April of 2008. But the economic turmoil in Zimbabwe is putting considerable strain on a government that had little money to effectively govern in the first place.
By Ranjit Arab •
March 21, 2008
[UPDATE: After posting this, I was introduced to a wonderful piece on the same topic written by A Siegel for his blog Energy Smart. Please be sure to check out his post, too--it contains lots of great information.]
We’ve got five years, stuck on my eyes
Five years, what a surprise
We’ve got five years, my brain hurts a lot
Five years, that’s all we’ve got
Okay, so maybe the above
David Bowie lyric was about alien invasion and the impending end of humankind as we know it, but it’s been playing on a loop inside my head ever since Wednesday, when we “celebrated” the fifth anniversary of our war in Iraq.
Five years. My brain definitely hurts a lot.
While the current administration will have us believe that the surge is working and that stability has returned to once volatile regions, the truth is probably closer to a “whack-a-mole” strategy that shows no signs of leading to a peaceful resolution for this ongoing nightmare.
A majority of Americans now say this war was a mistake, and we continue to hear reports—be it from the peripheries—of civilian lives lost, soldiers’ lives lost, soldiers injured, vets suffering from PTSD, tax dollars spent, etc. Still, perhaps one of the greatest casualties of this war gets very little mention.
I’m speaking, of course, of the environment.
