Tuesday, May 29, 2012

A Second Earthquake Hits Italy One Week Later With Reported 17 Dead

Posted by Peter Quennell

Posted by Peter Quennell on 05/29/12 at 11:02 PM in The wider contextsItalian context

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More on the quakes coming up. Plus please expect one or two posts on some things that is ultra important for Italy to know if it is ever to get growth right. We’ll be posting some tips for Italy on TJMK as its justice system is under great stress, along with everything else.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 05/30/12 at 01:01 PM | #

So ex President Charles Taylor of Liberia goes to jail for 50 years. http://allafrica.com/stories/201205301228.html

There is more to this story than anyone presently seems to be saying.

I was in Liberia several times when he was in power firing up a growth program and I was dragged along to the opening of a hospital wing where I sat right opposite him about 30 feet away. He and his flamboyant wife stared at me curiously as I was the only non-Liberian in the crowd.

He was a teacher by trade and resolutely against the group mostly in power in Monrovia who are descended from the slave returnees from the United States.

He rose up to be head of government supply and he was accused when on a trip to the US of skimming money off the top which may or may not have been true. He was locked up in Boston pending extradition, but was mysteriously sprung and disappeared. 

Next thing he appears in eastern Liberia starting a war mysteriously funded which ultimately he won. Then he was freely elected as president and US President Jimmy Carter was there to certify the results.

His thinking on development for Liberia was extremely good which is why I happened to be there.  Liberia could have been the fastest growing country in Africa as education levels are exceptionally high. It is resource-rich like you can hardly believe.

But he certainly did get involved in the Sierra Leone civil war with a vengeance and even his friends thought he was pushing too far for comfort. He fought two ruthless bunches of people and I doubt that their crimes were any less than his.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 05/30/12 at 08:00 PM | #
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