The United Arab Emirates is to block sending emails, accessing the internet, and delivering instant messages to other Blackberry handsets.

Saudi Arabia is to prevent the use of the Blackberry to Blackberry instant messaging service.

Both nations are unhappy that they are unable to monitor such communications via the handsets.

The BBC:

The number of people being infected with cholera is rising and nearly 9,000 cases have now been confirmed, the United Nations says.

Aid agency Oxfam earlier called on Zimbabwe’s government to declare a national health emergency.

It said ordinary Zimbabweans were desperately short of food, health care, clean water and safe sanitation, and the crisis is set to worsen significantly in December.

The economy is in free fall, with inflation last listed in July at 231,000,000%.

“The situation is under control, there is no need to declare it [an emergency],” Zimbabwean Deputy Health Minister Edwin Muguti told AFP news agency on Wednesday. ”These are results of punitive illegal sanctions imposed on us by the West… I am sure they like what they are seeing from this outbreak.”

Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights believes many people are dying at home where they are not being treated.

200,000 Zimbabwean dollars is the equivalent of $0.12 — yes, twelve cents — in US dollars. And that was yesterday.

The African National Congress chose the Zulu politician Jacob G. Zuma as its new leader on Tuesday, handing South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki, a resounding defeat. The African National Congress chose the Zulu politician Jacob G. Zuma, center, as its new leader on Tuesday.

After three days of furious politicking at a national conference here, the A.N.C.’s 3,900 delegates voted to oust Mr. Mbeki as leader of the party and award the job to Mr. Zuma, whose popularity has surged despite facing corruption and rape charges last year.

ZWNews.com reports:

Politburo [Zanu-PF's decision-making body] members argued that the eviction of more farmers would bring the economy to its knees because they were the ones providing the little supplies that were still trickling onto the market.

No shit! They couldn’t have guessed this was going to happen before they started systematically kicking 4,000 farmers off their land?

The website continued:

[The members] further argued that the [reform act] was driven by nothing other than racism since swathes of land were lying idle following the emotive fast-track land reform programme.

Did anyone argue these land grabs were anything other than racism to begin with when they started back in 2001? Of course not. Africa is all about right now. Not yesterday. Not tomorrow. Not even about this afternoon. Right now.

My favorite argument of all:

“Other [Politburo members] pointed out that a further purge of white farmers would cause an unnecessary international outcry.”

Translation: Sssh. Don’t tell anyone — especially anyone outside our crumbling country — we’ve screwing this up big time!!!

So far, the government’s only solution to its inflation problem has been to have the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe print more money.

Twelve months ago, a Zimbabwean might have paid Z$750,000 for a particular item. After Gono’s first striking of zeros, that same item would’ve cost Z$750. Great plan, right? Wrong. Inflation has been rising exponentially — reaching levels near 20,000% earlier this year — and the Z$750 product might now cost Z$75,000,000. If the zeros were still there, that would be a staggering Z$75 billion! Not too worry though, as Mr. Gono comes to the rescue once again. We’re back in the millions. Phew.

Zimbabweans will have 24 hours to exchange their supply of notes — if they even have one — for the new currency hot off the printing presses.

As a side note, I’m happy to say, my wife and I have been millionaires, billionaires and trillionaires all in the same year. And on our most recent trip to Zimbabwe just last week, the unofficial exchange rate increased from US$1 : Z$250,000 to US$1 : Z$550,000 in only 13 days. Shit, it’ll probably hit Z$600,000 before this article is even published.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/robots.txt

That’s a lot of “Disallow” if I’ve ever seen it.

Speaking of raw excitement, look closely at this official picture of the OPEC — oops, I mean APEC — leaders I saw on the White House’s website. Everyone, including Australia’s PM, John Howard (photo center), has an arm raised high in the air waving at photographer Chris Greenberg. George Bush can be seen at the front right mustering barely enough energy to raise his left arm above his waist. What a loser.

Credit: WhiteHouse.gov

There is one thing more wicked in the world than the desire to command, and that is the will to obey.

Ralph R. Reiland writes about Robert G. Mugabe’s actions — with a little Russian and Chinese history tossed in — for ZWNews.com.

And, as if murder and corruption weren’t bad enough, Harare’s director of health services told Reuters over 900 cases of diarrhea are recorded every day in the city’s 60 free clinics. Why? Zimbabwe’s infrastructure is failing; sewer pipes are bursting, water is contaminated and the power company, ZESA, is broke.

It’s been an absolutely shocking few weeks in Zimbabwe. And the last few days on the news wire has revealed a country not in desperation but in complete chaos. It started when President Robert Mugabe decided to force retailers, grocery stores, gas stations — every person or business that sells something — to cut their prices back to levels found a month before. In nearly every case, this meant slashing prices by as much as 75% forcing business owners to take tremendous losses on their products.

Inflation in June reached 10,000%. Now the middle of July inflation is reported to have reached 20,000%. Mugabe doesn’t practice “bookish economics” — instead his own version which employs new tactics to stave off inflation. Of course, it’s having the reverse effect. In light of recent economic changes (to put it mildly), Mugabe has stated his government will no longer be releasing economic data to stave off embarrassment.

I read this morning widescreen HDTVs at Makro (think Sam’s Club or Costco) which were selling for $800 million Zimbabwean previously could be had for as little as Z$1 million.

Car dealerships are getting hit the hardest. A US$30,000 car was selling for US$60 (if you’re exchanging money on the black market).

Just a few weeks ago, simple purchases like a bus fare across Harare (the capital city) cost riders more than they could earn in a week. People waiting in queues to buy goods held their breath hoping the price wouldn’t change dramatically by the time they reached register. A tire salesman could only quote in 30-minute intervals; the value of the money was changing too quickly.

Anyone trying to turn a profit — or sell their goods at a break-even price — during the indefinite price cuts imposed by Mugabe’s government is arrested. Hundreds were jailed last week alone. Police line the aisles at grocery stores enforcing — in some cases with brute force — Mugabe’s orders.

Just when we think it’s impossible for the country to slip further into the world’s deepest economic recession — ever — Zimbabwe’s Mugabe pulls another rabbit out of his hat and shocks the world with his stupidity and callous treatment of humankind.

I hate to see children suffer, but in the hope of spreading some good news, try this: U.S. to Expel Zanu PF Chiefs’ Children

I wonder what will happen next. And, when people will start caring enough to actually step in and save this magical country and it’s starving people.

These photos just released by the U.S. Geological Survey Landsat Project show the glacier covering Greenland has receeded enough to reveal the world’s newest land mass, Warming Island.

CNET News.com reports “Scientists are concerned because the glacier on Greenland contains enough water to raise global sea levels by about 23 feet.”

I say you are wrong.

There was a YouTube video (which now appears on Han’s website, too) going around a few months ago that showed Jeff using “blob” — an interactive lava lamp application — as well as a photographer’s lightbox and 3-D Google Maps interaction. There’s no mouse. The multi-touch sensors interpret finger tips and “gestures” as input. For example, a small counter-clockwise circle gesture instantly creates a context menu of sorts anywhere on the screen; say goodbye to the File Edit View menus ever-present in today’s standard interfaces. Using your index finger and thumb, moving them away from one another instantly zooms out on an object, and pinching them together zooms right back in. Han kept repeated it was “intuitive” for users to walk up and start using the MTMU screen, especially the Google Maps application, because it was so similar to a real paper map. Drag, pan, zoom, tilt, scan — all possible with quick finger gestures. It certainly looks easy enough, but then again this is the guy that actually invented the thing.

“Multi-touch inherently implies multi-user,” Jeff said. During his demonstration, two sets of hands were working with the 8′ screen simultaneously. Cool.

Where this is going is limited only by imagination. It’s such a new toy here at the Weapons Station that everyone’s chomping at the bit for a chance to play with it. When things cool down and we start designing actual applications is when the real fun begins. Watch this space.

On a related note, regarding Apple’s new OS, I read this a while back:

“I’d love to see some implementation of Jef Raskin’s ‘interfaceless interface’ principles in Leopard as well. For instance, if you sit down at the computer and start typing ’59 x 20′, the calculator should just automatically pop up and compute it for you. Same thing if you type something like ‘Dear John’; your word processor should pop up and begin a well-formed letter.”

Not a bad idea while we still have a keyboard and mouse.

Zimbabwean president Mugabe does it again, and it looks like his days could finally be numbered. Rejoice!

Zimbabwe Opposition Leaders Appear in Court

“The number of Zimbabwe dollars that bought a three-bedroom house with a swimming pool and tennis court in 1990 will buy a brick today.” BusinessWeek

Zimbabwe’s inflation is now 1,600%. Yes, you read that correctly: one thousand six hundred percent.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, or MDC — Mugabe’s only offical opposition party — tried to stage a political rally to announce his candidacy for president in the election due next year, but it was thwarted by tear gas- and water cannon-enabled police officers.

We’re spending $1 billion a day “fighting a war” in the Middle East, but because Zimbabwe doesn’t have any oil, no one will say or do a thing.

Read more. Get angry.

NYT: In Washington, Contractors Take on Biggest Role Ever
(First article in series)