September 16, 2008, - 9:48 am
The Third World . . .
By Debbie Schlussel
. . . Reminds us again why it’s called “The Third World”:
KINSHASA, Congo–Thirteen people are dead after a stadium riot was apparently sparked by accusations that a soccer player used witchcraft during a match in Congo, a UN-funded radio station reported Monday.
Most of the dead ranged in age from 11 to 16 and were suffocated in the fracas Sunday in Butembo, in eastern Congo’s North Kivu province, Radio Olapi said.
The Nyuki System soccer club was losing to rivals Socozaki when Nyuki’s goalkeeper reportedly ran up the pitch chanting “fetishist” spells in an attempt to change the course of the match, Radio Olapi said. The station provided no more details.
Fighting soon broke out between the opposing teams. When a police officer tried to intervene, spectators pelted him with rocks, wounding him on the head, the radio station said.
Police then retaliated by firing tear gas into the crowd, where 13 are believed to have died in the ensuing rush for the exits.
Many Congolese use charms and other objects to practise witchcraft as part of their traditional animist beliefs, Reuters news agency reported.
Dozens of teenagers marched through Butembo’s dirt streets Monday in protest
Oh, no, they put a curse on us. Let’s riot. Quick, where’s my VooDoo doll and pastel-colored pins?
So close to civilization. And yet, so far.
More U.S. funding and “debt forgiveness” just won’t change certain, um, “regional habits.”
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Here’s some appropropriate musical video accompaniment:
Dear Debbie:
If you’re going to lecture us on “debt forgiveness” you might want to start with the former Soviet Union. Hopefully, you’ll recall that during the 1970’s and 1980’s the United States provided massive guaranteed loans so the Russians could purchase U.S. grain and avoid massive starvation.
Apparently, Vlad Putin has forgotten that his country defaulted on all these loans. To show his gratitude, however, he has been busy trying to form a natural gas cartel to plunder Russia’s trading partners in the west. (Do you hear that T. Boone Pickens?) Moreover, in spite of all kinds of newfound wealth from Russian petroleum (found largely with U.S. and western technology) Mr. Putin seems rather uninclined to consider paying back those loans. Instead, he and his buddy Medyvev (sp?) are busy occupying Georgia and threatening strategic petroleum pipelines from Azerbaijan to Turkish ports.
Sooooo… if you’re going to bring up the subject of “debt forgiveness”, start with Russia because it just doesn’t get worse than that.
There is NO Santa Claus on September 16, 2008 at 10:38 am