White farmers cashing in as Zimbabwe crumbles

SF Chronicle ^ | Saturday, January 5, 2002 | Gavin du Venage, Chronicle Foreign Service

[testforecho]

Harare, Zimbabwe -- A one-legged black man, clinging to a Chinese businessman for support, hops to the beat of a Congolese reggae band. In a nearby corner, a solitary tourist orders a drink for a local prostitute while men, mostly drunk and in high spirits, crowd around several pool tables.

[testforecho]

On the one hand, I strongly oppose fraud. But on the other, if everything you own is going to be expropriated, why not stick it to the banks - especially if Mugabe is going to loot them eventually?

[AppyPappy]

The terrible thing is that some whites will stick around to get the last dime and end up being the scapegoats. Rather like people who stick around the volcano until it erupts.

[headsonpikes]

"Mugabe is crazy, no question."

So why should free people maintain respect for institutions of state. There are too many 'cannibal kingdoms'.

Mugabe should be shot like the Ceaucescus, and burnt on a rubbish heap.

[Zorobabel]

Another formerly prosperous African nation circles the bowl. Those universities, and churches, and corporations in America, and elsewhere that divested their holdings in these countries because of the evils of apartheid, must be so proud of the progress they've fostered among the formerly "oppressed indiginous people."

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Got that right. You probably don't remember, but there was a time when the SA Rand was worth $4.

[Frances_Marion]

"White farmers cashing in as Zimbabwe crumbles"

Read as: "San Freak Chronicle waits until after the fact to report the news so that they can portray white farmers in a bad light". Really, where has the SF Chronicle been all the while Zimbabwe's been going down the sh**ter?

[Cold Heat]

No mention of the looting and killing. No mention of the disenfranchisment of the white farmers, all of them. No mention of the fact that those who can are leaving via the best way possible or have left.

Another well balanced article by the CRONIC PAIN.

[testforecho]

I couln't find exchange rate data before 1990, but that jibes with my recollection.

http://www.uta.fi/~ktmatu/rate-curres.html

http://www.google.com/search?q=foreign+exchange+historical+table

[backhoe]

Indexed- also found this source:
http://communities.msn.com/adrianastuijtsjournalismduringapartheidsite

[rockfish59]

africa is beautiful!

[denydenydeny]

"It is the poor who suffer the most," said Llewellyn.

An iron rule of socialism.

[America's Resolve]

The World Food Program estimates that at least $54 million in short-term aid is needed to ward off widespread starvation.

Why bother? It's just OUR taxdollars down another african rat-hole. They should spend years tearing down their country so that we can rebuild it for 'em? Bah. Let em starve.

[Barnacle]

THE 45 GOALS OF THE AMERICAN COMMUNIST PARTY from "The Naked Communist", pp 259-262, Author W. Cleon Skousen, Nov. 1961.

43rd Goal Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

[Prodigal Son]

Houses in the affluent northern suburbs that cost 5 million Zimbabwe dollars ($14,285 U.S., at the black market rate) at the beginning of 2001 now fetch 70 million, according to a survey by Zimbabwe's independent business paper, the Financial Gazette.

They didn't say how much the 70 mill was now in Zim on the black market. I went to yahoo and did the calculation on their currency converter and 70 mill Zim equals $1,251,117. Now something is damned fishy about that. From $14,000- to $1.2 million in one year? That would have to be one of the best returns on a one year investment I have ever seen. Can anyone shine some more light on this?

[beowolf]

Maybe they are using the houses to get home equity loans, if inflation is truely 100 percent/month...it's still just treading water.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

A whole article on Zimbabwe with no mention of black racists killing white farmers? Oh yeah. This is from Californika.