Free Fall

I, along with the rest of the world, am watching Zimbabwe in free fall. It's the ultimate train wreck. Hyperinflation, corruption, cholera. You wonder if Mugabe even knows what's going on, or is he firmly sealed in his bubble.

What is your day like when one of the most important things you will do all day is find clean water to drink.

And at what point do ordinary Zimbabweans rise up and say, "Enough!"

They will eventually. And there will be more bloodshed. Of that we can be certain.

The real interesting thing is watching how the rest of the world is standing by. I think people want to intervene but lack the will. You can't interfere in a sovereign country. So we will have more Cambodias, more Darfurs and on and on.

And more people will die. Not funny.

Elsewhere in the world.....

According to a piece on the BBC website, some guy is building an exact replica of the Taj Mahal in Bangladesh to the tune of $58 million dollars.

Yes. Really.

When I think of a list of things that Bangladesh needs, "exact replica of Taj Mahal" is not in the top five on that list. Truth be told, it doesn't even make the list.

Here a couple of items about Bangladesh that I gleaned from the CIA's World Factbook:

• much of the country is routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season

I'm thinking $58 million might be a good start on a system of dikes.

• many people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land; waterborne diseases prevalent in surface water; water pollution, especially of fishing areas, results from the use of commercial pesticides; ground water contaminated by naturally occurring arsenic; intermittent water shortages because of falling water tables in the northern and central parts of the country; soil degradation and erosion; deforestation; severe overpopulation

Rubber boots anyone? Again, the term dike comes to mind. Maybe use some of that $58 million to bring in a couple of Dutch guys who have some experience with the whole dike/water thing.

Don't get me wrong, I like the Taj Mahal. I've been there. Seen it. Nice building. But it's been done. Bangladesh needs dikes. Or a dam. At the very least... a couple of ambitious beavers.