http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ster-says.html


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On Wednesday 30 January 2013 11:14 The Natural Philosopher wrote in uk.d-i-
y:



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...6132/Zimbabwe-
has-just-138-left-in-the-bank-finance-minister-says.html



Compared to the UK with minus 1.2 trillion pounds?


--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://www.dionic.net/tim/

If you are reading this from a web interface eg DIY Banter,
DIY Forum or Google Groups, please be aware this is NOT a forum, and
you are merely using a web portal to a USENET group. Many people block
posters coming from web portals due to perceived SPAM or inaneness.
For a better method of access, please see:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Usenet

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ster-says.html


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.
---

That's £138.00 plus a few billion more than we already have in our bank
account.

Paul DS.

On 30/01/13 12:51, Paul D Smith wrote:
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ster-says.html



Its unwise to post followups below the IOPs sig

That's £138.00 plus a few billion more than we already have in our
bank account.

Paul DS.

I th8ink you will find there is a difference between what's in the bank
count and what's owed..

No one will lend Zimbabwe anything.

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 30/01/2013 11:14, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ster-says.html

Does that include the numbered bank accounts in Switzerland?

Colin Bignell

On 30/01/13 13:00, Nightjar wrote:
On 30/01/2013 11:14, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ster-says.html


Does that include the numbered bank accounts in Switzerland?


They are not government ones. They are personal ones.

Colin Bignell



--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On Wednesday 30 January 2013 12:58 The Natural Philosopher wrote in uk.d-i-
y:

On 30/01/13 12:51, Paul D Smith wrote:
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...6132/Zimbabwe-
has-just-138-left-in-the-bank-finance-minister-says.html



Its unwise to post followups below the IOPs sig

That's £138.00 plus a few billion more than we already have in our
bank account.

Paul DS.

I th8ink you will find there is a difference between what's in the bank
count and what's owed..

No one will lend Zimbabwe anything.


I rather think that could be a good thing here. It would hurt, but
eventually we'd have a robust economy that *had* to balance.

Unlike Zimbabwe, we do actually have some income - we just need to stop the
****ers in number 10 wasting it.
--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://www.dionic.net/tim/

If you are reading this from a web interface eg DIY Banter,
DIY Forum or Google Groups, please be aware this is NOT a forum, and
you are merely using a web portal to a USENET group. Many people block
posters coming from web portals due to perceived SPAM or inaneness.
For a better method of access, please see:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Usenet

"She got her looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon."

"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...

On 30/01/2013 12:51, Paul D Smith wrote:

nothing!

(if you post under someone else's signature line, most news software
will trim off your post completely when replying)

That's quite amusing. I wonder how they figure out what a signature line
is? As someone who writes software for a living I'm always amused to see
new ways for software authors have helpfully shot themselves in the foot.
As far as I am aware (and "News" is not my field so I'm ready to be
additionally educated) a News item is simply text, with no implied
interpretation of any part of the item.

Paul DS.

In article ,
Tim Watts wrote:
Unlike Zimbabwe, we do actually have some income - we just need to stop
the ****ers in number 10 wasting it.

Zimbabwe should be one of the better African countries - lots of natural
resources and very fertile soil.

--
*You can't have everything, where would you put it?*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Paul D Smith wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...

On 30/01/2013 12:51, Paul D Smith wrote:

nothing!

(if you post under someone else's signature line, most news software
will trim off your post completely when replying)

That's quite amusing. I wonder how they figure out what a signature
line is? As someone who writes software for a living I'm always amused
to see new ways for software authors have helpfully shot themselves in
the foot. As far as I am aware (and "News" is not my field so I'm ready
to be additionally educated) a News item is simply text, with no implied
interpretation of any part of the item.

A standards compliant newsreader looks for a line in the body of the
post which contains only "-- (line feed)" (ASCII codes
&#x2D,&#x2D,&#x20,&#0A, if I've read the table correctly. ). It then
assumes that any lines after this are a signature. It will then,
according to user preference or possibly as hard coded, either strip
these lines from the reply when composing, or ignore it.
--
Tciao for Now!

John.

"Paul D Smith" wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message o.uk...

On 30/01/2013 12:51, Paul D Smith wrote:

nothing!

(if you post under someone else's signature line, most news software
will trim off your post completely when replying)

That's quite amusing. I wonder how they figure out what a signature line
is? As someone who writes software for a living I'm

.... poor and starving if the skills you are showing here are anything to go
by.


always amused to see new ways for software authors have helpfully shot
themselves in the foot.

Always amused to see some ignorant braggart making a fool of himself.

As far as I am aware (and "News" is not my field so I'm ready to be
additionally educated) a News item is simply text, with no implied
interpretation of any part of the item.

Then you are ignorant.

The sig separator is "-- " as below.

--
€¢DarWin|
_/ _/

"John Williamson" wrote in message ...

Paul D Smith wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...

On 30/01/2013 12:51, Paul D Smith wrote:

nothing!

(if you post under someone else's signature line, most news software
will trim off your post completely when replying)

That's quite amusing. I wonder how they figure out what a signature line
is? As someone who writes software for a living I'm always amused to see
new ways for software authors have helpfully shot themselves in the foot.
As far as I am aware (and "News" is not my field so I'm ready to be
additionally educated) a News item is simply text, with no implied
interpretation of any part of the item.

A standards compliant newsreader looks for a line in the body of the
post which contains only "-- (line feed)" (ASCII codes
&#x2D,&#x2D,&#x20,&#0A, if I've read the table correctly. ). It then
assumes that any lines after this are a signature. It will then,
according to user preference or possibly as hard coded, either strip
these lines from the reply when composing, or ignore it.

John, can you indicate the RFC? I've not managed to find an RFC which
interprets the body in any way.

Thanks,
Paul DS.

Paul D Smith wrote:
"John Williamson" wrote in message
...

Paul D Smith wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...

On 30/01/2013 12:51, Paul D Smith wrote:

nothing!

(if you post under someone else's signature line, most news software
will trim off your post completely when replying)

That's quite amusing. I wonder how they figure out what a signature
line is? As someone who writes software for a living I'm always
amused to see new ways for software authors have helpfully shot
themselves in the foot. As far as I am aware (and "News" is not my
field so I'm ready to be additionally educated) a News item is simply
text, with no implied interpretation of any part of the item.

A standards compliant newsreader looks for a line in the body of the
post which contains only "-- (line feed)" (ASCII codes
&#x2D,&#x2D,&#x20,&#0A, if I've read the table correctly. ). It then
assumes that any lines after this are a signature. It will then,
according to user preference or possibly as hard coded, either strip
these lines from the reply when composing, or ignore it.

John, can you indicate the RFC? I've not managed to find an RFC which
interprets the body in any way.

I haven't checked in the RFCs. It's just the way I understand that this
is done both by custom and usage.

There's an article in Wikipedia:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signature_block

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

Paul D Smith wrote:

John, can you indicate the RFC? I've not managed to find an RFC which
interprets the body in any way.

Later I found this:-

http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1849#section-4.3.2

Which mentions signature separators and has other stuff about how to
format Usenet articles.


--
Tciao for Now!

John.

On 30/01/2013 16:54, Huge wrote:
On 2013-01-30, John Williamson wrote:
Paul D Smith wrote:
"John Williamson" wrote in message
...

Paul D Smith wrote:
"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...

On 30/01/2013 12:51, Paul D Smith wrote:

nothing!

(if you post under someone else's signature line, most news software
will trim off your post completely when replying)

That's quite amusing. I wonder how they figure out what a signature
line is? As someone who writes software for a living I'm always
amused to see new ways for software authors have helpfully shot
themselves in the foot. As far as I am aware (and "News" is not my
field so I'm ready to be additionally educated) a News item is simply
text, with no implied interpretation of any part of the item.

A standards compliant newsreader looks for a line in the body of the
post which contains only "-- (line feed)" (ASCII codes
&#x2D,&#x2D,&#x20,&#0A, if I've read the table correctly. ). It then
assumes that any lines after this are a signature. It will then,
according to user preference or possibly as hard coded, either strip
these lines from the reply when composing, or ignore it.

John, can you indicate the RFC? I've not managed to find an RFC which
interprets the body in any way.

I haven't checked in the RFCs. It's just the way I understand that this
is done both by custom and usage.

There's an article in Wikipedia:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signature_block

http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3676#section-4.3


And:

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3676.txt

4.3. Usenet Signature Convention

There is a long-standing convention in Usenet news which also
commonly appears in Internet mail of using "-- " as the separator
line between the body and the signature of a message. When
generating a Format=Flowed message containing a Usenet-style
separator before the signature, the separator line is sent as-is.
This is a special case; an (optionally quoted or quoted and stuffed)
line consisting of DASH DASH SP is neither fixed nor flowed.


--
Rod

On Wednesday 30 January 2013 15:47 Paul D Smith wrote in uk.d-i-y:

"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...

On 30/01/2013 12:51, Paul D Smith wrote:

nothing!

(if you post under someone else's signature line, most news software
will trim off your post completely when replying)

That's quite amusing. I wonder how they figure out what a signature line
is? As someone who writes software for a living I'm always amused to see
new ways for software authors have helpfully shot themselves in the foot.
As far as I am aware (and "News" is not my field so I'm ready to be
additionally educated) a News item is simply text, with no implied
interpretation of any part of the item.

Paul DS.

I'm afraid you are mistaken Paul.

The dash-dash-space-newline ("-- \n") is a long accepted sig separator in
USENET posts and to a significant extent, emails.

And most correctly programmed clients will treat it specially.

That precludes, sadly, Google Groups, which makes a complete hash of any
interaction with USENET.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signature_block

Cheers

Tim
--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://www.dionic.net/tim/

If you are reading this from a web interface eg DIY Banter,
DIY Forum or Google Groups, please be aware this is NOT a forum, and
you are merely using a web portal to a USENET group. Many people block
posters coming from web portals due to perceived SPAM or inaneness.
For a better method of access, please see:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Usenet

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."

Nope, no govt as incompetent as that is anywhere near me.

The Natural Philosopher wrote

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ster-says.html

How can you have less than nothing?
Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ster-says.html


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc'-ra-cy) - a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members
of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded
with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

Ah but we pay the interest, I wonder what it is, Hope it was not borrowed
from Wonga.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"Tim Watts" wrote in message
...
On Wednesday 30 January 2013 11:14 The Natural Philosopher wrote in
uk.d-i-
y:



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...6132/Zimbabwe-
has-just-138-left-in-the-bank-finance-minister-says.html



Compared to the UK with minus 1.2 trillion pounds?


--
Tim Watts Personal Blog: http://www.dionic.net/tim/

If you are reading this from a web interface eg DIY Banter,
DIY Forum or Google Groups, please be aware this is NOT a forum, and
you are merely using a web portal to a USENET group. Many people block
posters coming from web portals due to perceived SPAM or inaneness.
For a better method of access, please see:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Usenet

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."

Tim Watts wrote
The Natural Philosopher wrote
Paul D Smith wrote
The Natural Philosopher wrote

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ster-says.html

Its unwise to post followups below the IOPs sig

That's £138.00 plus a few billion more than we already have in our
bank account.

I th8ink you will find there is a difference between
what's in the bank count and what's owed..

No one will lend Zimbabwe anything.

I rather think that could be a good thing here.

Nope, we'd see full depressions again.

It would hurt,

Very badly indeed in fact.

but eventually we'd have a robust economy that *had* to balance.

Nope, just a ruined one. Britain would never have
survived the complete implosion of much of the
world financial system if no one would ever lend
it anything and it couldnt print money.

Unlike Zimbabwe, we do actually have some income -
we just need to stop the ****ers in number 10 wasting it.

Its MUCH more complicated than that once the **** has hit
the fan very comprehensively indeed as it did just recently.

Huge posted
On 2013-01-30, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:59:15 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Zimbabwe should be one of the better African countries - lots of natural
resources and very fertile soil.

I was once told that if the countries around Lake Victoria (Uganda,
Zimbabwe, Kenya ?) could get their act together, they could feed all of
Africa.

At one time, they did. I'll leave it to you to work out why that is
no longer so.

No need to work it out, once you understand that Zimbabwe is the victim
of stringent international sanctions. Oddly, the FCO and the BBC almost
never mention this on air, hoping instead that the sheep will believe
it's all Mugabe's fault.

--
Les

On 30/01/13 18:17, Brian Gaff wrote:
How can you have less than nothing?
Brian

Ask an economist or a mathematician.


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 30/01/13 16:07, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:59:15 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Tim Watts wrote:
Unlike Zimbabwe, we do actually have some income - we just need to stop
the ****ers in number 10 wasting it.

Zimbabwe should be one of the better African countries - lots of natural
resources and very fertile soil.

I was once told that if the countries around Lake Victoria (Uganda,
Zimbabwe, Kenya ?) could get their act together, they could feed all of
Africa.

for about 10 years, and then there would be another round of little
black babies..


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On Jan 30, 5:49*pm, "Rod Speed" wrote:
Nope, no govt as incompetent as that is anywhere near me.


East Timor?
Papua New Guinea?

On 30/01/13 18:55, harry wrote:
On Jan 30, 5:49 pm, "Rod Speed" wrote:
Nope, no govt as incompetent as that is anywhere near me.


East Timor?
Papua New Guinea?

Julia bitchface?

She is exactly as incompetent. Australia is just richer, that's all.

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On 30/01/2013 18:17, Brian Gaff wrote:

How can you have less than nothing?
Brian

Perhaps a good line to try on the bank when next overdrawn ;-)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"Paul D Smith" wrote in message
...
"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...

On 30/01/2013 12:51, Paul D Smith wrote:

nothing!

(if you post under someone else's signature line, most news software
will trim off your post completely when replying)

That's quite amusing. I wonder how they figure out what a signature line
is?

Its got a line with just --space on it in front of it.

As someone who writes software for a living I'm always amused to see new
ways for software authors have helpfully shot themselves in the foot. As
far as I am aware (and "News" is not my field so I'm ready to be
additionally educated) a News item is simply text, with no implied
interpretation of any part of the item.

Thats just plain wrong. Not only is there the body of the post,
there is also the headers as well, and conventions about bits
of the body as well. There is also a mechanism to embed some
other stuff in the body of the post as well like the no archive flag.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Tim Watts wrote:
Unlike Zimbabwe, we do actually have some income - we just need to stop
the ****ers in number 10 wasting it.

Zimbabwe should be one of the better African countries - lots of natural
resources and very fertile soil.

Pity about the clowns looting the place.

"Jethro_uk" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:59:15 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Tim Watts wrote:
Unlike Zimbabwe, we do actually have some income - we just need to stop
the ****ers in number 10 wasting it.

Zimbabwe should be one of the better African countries - lots of natural
resources and very fertile soil.

I was once told that if the countries around Lake Victoria (Uganda,
Zimbabwe, Kenya ?) could get their act together, they could feed all of
Africa.

Unlikely given that they wouldnt have any way of paying for that food.

"Huge" wrote in message
...
On 2013-01-30, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:59:15 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Tim Watts wrote:
Unlike Zimbabwe, we do actually have some income - we just need to stop
the ****ers in number 10 wasting it.

Zimbabwe should be one of the better African countries - lots of natural
resources and very fertile soil.

I was once told that if the countries around Lake Victoria (Uganda,
Zimbabwe, Kenya ?) could get their act together, they could feed all of
Africa.

At one time, they did.

Like hell they ever did.

I'll leave it to you to work out why that is no longer so.

harry wrote
Rod Speed wrote

Nope, no govt as incompetent as that is anywhere near me.

East Timor?

Nope, nothing like as incompetent as Zimbabwe.
And they will have lots of income from gas too.

Papua New Guinea?

Nope, nothing like as incompetent as Zimbabwe.
While they were stupid enough to let the locals
take over the Bougainville mine and kick the
miners out and have a full civil war, they
haven't been that stupid anywhere else.

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
On 30/01/13 18:55, harry wrote:
On Jan 30, 5:49 pm, "Rod Speed" wrote:
Nope, no govt as incompetent as that is anywhere near me.


East Timor?
Papua New Guinea?

Julia bitchface?

Juliar cant last for more than 8 months now.

And she's one of yours anyway.

She is exactly as incompetent.

Mindlessly silly.

Australia is just richer, that's all.

Even sillier.

We didnt even get a recession when you clowns completely
imploded most of the world financial system, AGAIN.

On 30/01/13 20:44, Huge wrote:
On 2013-01-30, Big Les Wade wrote:
Huge posted
On 2013-01-30, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:59:15 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Zimbabwe should be one of the better African countries - lots of natural
resources and very fertile soil.

I was once told that if the countries around Lake Victoria (Uganda,
Zimbabwe, Kenya ?) could get their act together, they could feed all of
Africa.

At one time, they did. I'll leave it to you to work out why that is
no longer so.

No need to work it out, once you understand that Zimbabwe is the victim
of stringent international sanctions. Oddly, the FCO and the BBC almost
never mention this on air, hoping instead that the sheep will believe
it's all Mugabe's fault.

Oh, that's really funny. I didn't think there were any Mugabe apologists
in the world, but like they say; "Usenet - the great kook concentrator".


yeah: one of the 'I punch your face, you lock me up, so it's your fault'
type mental conditions.

--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:59:15 +0000 (GMT) Dave Plowman (News) wrote :
Zimbabwe should be one of the better African countries - lots of
natural resources and very fertile soil.

Plus massive tourist potential, English language and the legacy of
empire in (once?) good rail and road infrastructure.

I have been to Zimbabwe twice, first time in 1987. After Zambia, which
really was third world, Zimbabwe was a revelation: no shortages in the
shops, international dialling from my hotel room, shops that took
credit cards, perfect climate and lovely people.

It is a tragedy to see what has befallen the country and more than a
little blame attaches to the government of South Africa. In apartheid
days they (then the ANC) told the rest of the world that they couldn't
stand by and let the abuse of black people continue. But when it's
black on black in Zimbabwe, they couldn't care less.

--
Tony Bryer, Greentram: 'Software to build on',
Melbourne, Australia www.greentram.com

Huge wrote:
On 2013-01-30, Big Les Wade wrote:
Huge posted
On 2013-01-30, Jethro_uk wrote:
On Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:59:15 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
Zimbabwe should be one of the better African countries - lots of natural
resources and very fertile soil.

I was once told that if the countries around Lake Victoria (Uganda,
Zimbabwe, Kenya ?) could get their act together, they could feed all of
Africa.

At one time, they did. I'll leave it to you to work out why that is
no longer so.

No need to work it out, once you understand that Zimbabwe is the victim
of stringent international sanctions. Oddly, the FCO and the BBC almost
never mention this on air, hoping instead that the sheep will believe
it's all Mugabe's fault.

Oh, that's really funny. I didn't think there were any Mugabe apologists
in the world, but like they say; "Usenet - the great kook concentrator".

The Smith regime was subject to more stringent sanctions than the Mugabe
government. Despite this Rhodesia managed to avoid becoming an economic
basket case. However Smith didn't have a policy of shutting down working
businesses and handing the remains to his corrupt mates. Nor did he slice
off his nose to spite his face.

--
€¢DarWin|
_/ _/

Huge posted
On 2013-01-30, Big Les Wade wrote:
No need to work it out, once you understand that Zimbabwe is the victim
of stringent international sanctions. Oddly, the FCO and the BBC almost
never mention this on air, hoping instead that the sheep will believe
it's all Mugabe's fault.

Oh, that's really funny. I didn't think there were any Mugabe apologists
in the world, but like they say; "Usenet - the great kook concentrator".


Far be it from me to worry your poor little head. Please go on believing
exactly what FCO tells you to believe. You'll feel so much more
comfortable than if you try to think for yourself.

--
Les

On Wed, 30 Jan 2013 22:23:53 +0000 (UTC) Steve Firth wrote :
The Smith regime was subject to more stringent sanctions than the Mugabe
government. Despite this Rhodesia managed to avoid becoming an economic
basket case. However Smith didn't have a policy of shutting down working
businesses and handing the remains to his corrupt mates. Nor did he
slice off his nose to spite his face.

In the case of Zimbabwe the way I was told it was that the sanctions
actually strengthened the economy by making the country more self
sufficient.

--
Tony Bryer, Greentram: 'Software to build on',
Melbourne, Australia www.greentram.com

"Tony Bryer" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 30 Jan 2013 22:23:53 +0000 (UTC) Steve Firth wrote :
The Smith regime was subject to more stringent sanctions than the Mugabe
government. Despite this Rhodesia managed to avoid becoming an economic
basket case. However Smith didn't have a policy of shutting down working
businesses and handing the remains to his corrupt mates. Nor did he
slice off his nose to spite his face.

In the case of Zimbabwe the way I was told it was that the sanctions
actually strengthened the economy by making the country more self
sufficient.

That may be true, but it also crippled the exports of their cash crops like
tobacco etc.

On Jan 30, 8:24*pm, "Rod Speed" wrote:
harry wrote

Rod Speed wrote
Nope, no govt as incompetent as that is anywhere near me.
East Timor?

Nope, nothing like as incompetent as Zimbabwe.
And they will have lots of income from gas too.

Papua New Guinea?

Nope, nothing like as incompetent as Zimbabwe.
While they were stupid enough to let the locals
take over the Bougainville mine and kick the
miners out and have a full civil war, they
haven't been that stupid anywhere else.

I have been to PNG.
They are stupid everywhere. Things are getting worse too.

On Jan 30, 10:11*pm, Tony Bryer wrote:
On Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:59:15 +0000 (GMT) Dave Plowman (News) wrote :

Zimbabwe should be one of the better African countries - lots of
natural resources and very fertile soil.

Plus massive tourist potential, English language and the legacy of
empire in (once?) good rail and road infrastructure.

I have been to Zimbabwe twice, first time in 1987. After Zambia, which
really was third world, Zimbabwe was a revelation: no shortages in the
shops, international dialling from my hotel room, shops that took
credit cards, perfect climate and lovely people.

It is a tragedy to see what has befallen the country and more than a
little blame attaches to the government of South Africa. In apartheid
days they (then the ANC) told the rest of the world that they couldn't
stand by and let the abuse of black people continue. But when it's
black on black in Zimbabwe, they couldn't care less.


They brought it on themselves. That's why no-one cares.