One month and counting

I'm working the twincare night shift these days. Mari and Emi head to bed around nine p.m. (in theory), she gets up every three hours to replenish the milk supply, and I stay downstairs changing diapers and playing bartender . . . and sometime paparazzi.

I took these posed photos of Nina and Pablo last week in the wee hours. They don't usually hang out on the couch together. Nor do they usually share one of the deck chair/bassinettes they sleep in, but they are still just small enough to fit into one together in a pinch (or were when I took the photos that appear at the bottom of this post).

It still amazes me how different they are from each other, and not just in terms of their appearance. Pablo has the dilating powers of an anaconda and the lungs of a Pavarotti.
I used to think Pablo looked like John Gielgud, but he's starting to look more and more like his older brother, Emilio.

Lately, Nina (she of the thick head of black hair) has been the quieter of the two, but I don't think there's any reason to expect that these personality traits will necessarily stick with either of them.

My Two Sons

Obviously, I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving--the health of my growing family, our new home, our new wheels, and the financial, emotional and nutritional support that we've received from friends and family. I'm also thankful that I got into the kitchen in time to record this short video of my two sons:
I love the way Emilio quickly goes into nostalgia mode, post-event: "Remember when I was holding Pablo? Remember how he was on this side of the high chair? And I was on that side?" Then he calls for Nina (she was sleeping soundly at the time, so that video will have to be filmed another day).

Peas in a Pod

Pablo Entertains Nina

Apparently, Pablo felt pretty good today after he and Nina got back home following their first doctor's appointment (that's Pablo on the left, smiling, in the photo above). Both he and his sister got a clean bill of health. As may be apparent in the photos below, he spent part of the remainder of the afternoon celebrating and trying to make his sister laugh (even though both were sound asleep).

2 Twins, 2 Grandparents, 2 Minutes

Before flying back to Texas, Nina and Pablo's Granddaddy and Grandmother enjoyed a few final moments together with their youngest grandchildren. That's Pablo with Granddaddy and Nina with Grandmother.

Home at Last

Nina and Pablo made it home Tuesday around 6 p.m., where they were received with open arms by their grandmothers, their older brother (offering to share his Graham Cracker with Pablo in the photo above), and their camera-operating paternal grandfather.

For a close-up shot of the newest members of our family, check out the previous post.

UPDATE: Below is a video of la mama and her babies leaving the hospital.

UPDATE: Below is a video of Pablo with his abuela and Nina with her grandmother. Their grandfather is the shutterbug.

And then there were five

We arrived at 6:30 a.m. and Mari's first dilation measurement was 5 centimeters. The on-call doctor broke Pablo's bag a little after 8:30 in order to induce labor and a little before 9 a.m. strong contractions began. At 9:35 an epidural was administered and not long after ten, dilation was complete and the doctors rolled Mari into the operating room.

Pablo (on the left in the photo at left) was born at 10:51 a.m. after no more than 3 pushes. He weighs 6 pounds, 4 ounces and is 19.5 inches long.

Nina (on the right) was born at 10:55 a.m.. She weighs 6 pounds, 3.5 ounces and is 20 inches long.

As you can see in the photo above, both are beautiful and have straight, dark hair.

All are well and Mama and Papa are oh so happy.

Look for more photos and videos in this blogspace in the coming days.

UPDATE: The following video was taken a mere 4 minutes before Pablo was born:

Can't Wait

Thanks to PUPPP (Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy)—an annoying skin rash that is keeping Mari from sleeping nights—the induction has been moved up from Monday to Sunday the 11th. We’re checking in at 6:30 a.m..

Knocking on the Door

We have names: Emilio’s little brother will be Pablo Ruiz Benton and his little sister will be Nina Ruiz Benton.

On Monday (Week 37, Day One of the Pregnancy), ultrasound gave us an estimate of their current weights. They are guessing that Nina weighs six pounds, 10 ounces and Pablo weighs 5 pounds, 15 ounces. As the “presenting twin,” Pablo will come out first and he is in the head-down position. Nina is in a “transverse” position and should come out a minute or two after Pablo does. We are not planning on a Caesarean.

When she woke up yesterday morning, Mari felt that her belly had shifted down making it easier for her to breathe. This is often a sign of an impending birth.

Today, Doctor Shashoua (see image at right) determined that Mari is now 3 centimeters dilated (nine days ago, she was one centimeter dilated). Until now, we have been expecting/hoping to let nature “take its course,” but today, Doctor Shashoua told us that he had been expecting that the babies would be born by now, and suggested that we induce labor on Monday, if they haven’t come out by then.

We are to report to Illinois Masonic (836 W. Wellington Avenue) on Monday at 6 a.m.

Happy 37th, Mari!

All-Time Tubers

TIME’s James Poniewozik recently posted a list of the top 100 TV shows of all-time. In honor of the interest some in my household have in the 59th annual Emmy Awards (which were given out tonight), and in my Bruddah's new TIVO blog, I offer this response to Poniewozik's list.
Of Poniewozik's 100, 15 are shows I have never heard of or know very little about:
1. The Abbott and Costello Show
2. An American Family
3. Brideshead Revisited
4. Buffalo Bill
5. The Ernie Kovacs Show
6. Felicity
7. The French Chef
8. My So-Called Life
9. Playhouse 90
10. The Prisoner
11. Rocky and His Friends
12. See It Now
13. The Shield
14. The Singing Detective
15. Wiseguy

33 More are Shows I Have Heard Of or Know About, But Have Not Seen
1. 24 2. Alfred Hitchcock Presents 3. Battlestar Galactica 4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer 5. The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite 6. Cheers 7. Dallas 8. Dragnet 9. The Ed Sullivan Show 10. Freaks and Geeks 11. General Hospital 12. The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show 13. Gilmore Girls 14. Hill Street Blues 15. Homicide: Life on the Street 16. The Honeymooners 17. I, Claudius (The first episode of this one has been sitting on top of my DVD player for several months now) 18. The Larry Sanders Show 19. Lost 20. Married... With Children 21. Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman 22. Pee Wee's Playhouse 23. The Real World 24. Roseanne 25. Second City Television 26. Sex and the City 27. Six Feet Under 28. Soap 29. SpongeBob SquarePants 30. St. Elsewhere 31. Taxi 32. What's My Line? 33. Your Show of Shows

I Have Seen Bits of 6 Others (Just Enough to Know I Don't Want to See Any More)
1.American Idol
2. The Beavis and Butt-Head Show
3. King of the Hill
4. South Park
5. Survivor
6. The Wire

28 Others Merit:
a) Shrugs of Indifference;
b) Double-Takes (How did that get on this list?); or c) Shudders of Regret (once upon a time, in the early- and pre-cable days, there wasn’t a lot on TV)
1. 60 Minutes
2. ABC's Wide World of Sports
3. All in the Family. Never got a single chuckle out of this classic, but I like imitating Edith singing the theme song, "And you know who you were then!" I like Meathead much better as a director.
4. Arrested Development
5. The Bob Newhart Show. The apartment Bob and Carol lived in—at 5901 N. Sheridan—is not far from our Chicago home.
6. The Carol Burnett Show
7. A Charlie Brown Christmas. I prefer the claymation Rudolph and Kris Kringle specials.
8. The Cosby Show
9. The Day After
10. Gunsmoke. I don't think I could bring myself to watch another episode of this.
11. Late Night with David Letterman (NBC). During my first couple of years at TCU, I appreciated the way Dave’s bizarre silliness contrasted with Carson’s chuckling schtick. Later I found Dave to be mean, annoying, and not funny. That’s where I am now.
12. Leave It to Beaver . Eddie Haskell was the best part of the Beaver.
13. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
14. The Monkees
15. Moonlighting. It's hard to believe now, but there was a time when Bruce Willis was a fresh and appealing personality.
16. MTV 1981-1992
17. The Odd Couple
18. The Oprah Winfrey Show. I’ve actually enjoyed the couple of visits I’ve made to Oprah’s teleworld.
19. The Price Is Right. Shudders. Bob Barker may visit my nightmares tonight. For what's it's worth, I preferred Monte Hall's Let's Make a Deal.
20. Sanford and Son. Shudders. But the wreckage of Fred Sanford’s living room has become my go-to image when I get disgusted with the mess at my house.
21. Sesame Street
22. Star Trek . Ick. Can’t stand that theme music.
23. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Shudders.
24. The Twilight Zone. I know I've seen a couple of these episodes. I wonder if they were as good as Mystery Playhouse Theater on the radio . . .
25. Twin Peaks
26. The West Wing. Entertaining, but it glorifies the Oval Office a little much for my taste (I don’t want to sympathize with the guys in that room).
27. WKRP in Cincinnati . Huh?
28. The X-Files

Not all of the remaining 18 would make my Top 25 All-Time List, but many would and all of them have been good to me.
1. The Daily Show . It took some time for John Stewart to grow on me. I credit Jack for getting this one onto our DVR schedule.
2. Deadwood. I still haven't seen Season Two, but I hope to.
3. The Dick Van Dyke Show. My favorite episode: "It May Look Like a Walnut." Bizarre and wonderful. I learned how to do the Ostrich from watching an episode guest-starring Jerry Van Dyke.
4. Friends. I have a conflicted relationship with Friends. I don't know what I like about it. I don't see my values in it. But I can't deny that it is easy to watch and it sometimes strikes me as funny. Maybe a "best lines" list would help me . . . The only funny moment I can think of now is Ross imitating the sound he imagines a dinosaur once made. (I can't stand Ross's son and have always thought Joey was the weakest Friend).
5. I Love Lucy . I loved Tennesse Ernie Ford's guest appearance.
6. M*A*S*H. Most memorable final episode (Hawkeye and the chicken strangler).
7. Monty Python's Flying Circus. Maybe better in memory than in actuality and I never liked the cartoons.
8. Mystery Science Theater 3000 . I haven't seen many of these, but the ones I've seen have been very good (though I don't care much for the spacecraft set-up scenes).
9. The Office [American] . I credit Lisa and Melissa for getting me to give this one a second chance.
10. The Office [British]
11. Prime Suspect . I look forward to seeing the last episode (which Helen Mirren won an Emmy for this year).
12. Roots . I don't think time has been kind to Roots, but it was great in its day. As was the Emmy-winning The Holocaust, starring James Woods and Meryl Streep (first time I'd seen her), which came out one year later.
13. Saturday Night Live
14. Seinfeld. This is another one that had to grow on me. I was originally turned off by the fact that the studio audiences thought Kramer's entrances were so hilarious.
15. The Simpsons
16. The Sopranos
17. SportsCenter
18. The Super Bowl (and the Ads) . My interest in the Super Bowl as an "event" (and not merely a football game) probably peaked some time between Super Bowl XIV (1980) and Super Bowl XVI (1982). Dallas Cowboy appearances on Monday Night Football have probably meant more to me over the years.

Other Shows That Would Have to Be Considered for My List
1. Da Ali G Show.
2. Northern Exposure.
3. Lou Grant.
4. The Andy Griffith Show. I spent a lot of afternoons with Andy, Gilligan and the Clampetts, but only Andy has survived the test of time.
5. Warner Brothers cartoon half-hours. I especially like the ones that feature caricatures of Hollywood celebs like Bing Crosby, Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart. Daffy Duck's my favorite featured character (I love the way he uses a kiss as a weapon and closes some episodes by going crazy and hooting off into the distance).
6. The Flight of the Conchords. It's young, but I'm digging it.
7. Ebert and Roeper.

Aught Seven, Act Two, Scene Six: The Middle East

In May, officials from Iran and the United States hold their first talks since 1980 with the topic being the future of Iraq. (ITV)

In June, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dissolved the Palestinian unity government and declared a state of emergency after masked Hamas gunmen seized control of the Gaza Strip.

On July 22nd, the still-to-be-completed Burj Dubai (see photo at left) becomes the world's tallest building overtaking Taipei 101 in Taipei. (NDTV)

In August, a curious 1994 interview with Dick Cheney regarding the first Gulf war was released to the web. Asked whether U.S. forces should have invaded Baghdad in an attempt to oust Saddam Hussein, Cheney said, “No . . . we would have been all alone . . . It would have been a U.S. occupation of Iraq. Once you got to Iraq and took it over, took down Saddam Hussein's government, then what are you going to put in its place?” Cheney described Iraq as a “quagmire,” predicting sectarian conflict and the pointless loss of American lives. “How many additional dead Americans is Saddam worth? Our judgment was, uh, not very many, and I think we got it right.” You can see the video below (thanks for the link, Brian).

In May, thirty-seven American soldiers were killed in Iraq, ending the deadliest month for U.S. forces in the past two-and-a-half years.

According to Iraqi government records, bombings, sectarian slayings and other violence related to the war killed over 6700 Iraqi civilians over the past 3 months. (1949 in May, 1227 in June, 1753 in July, and 1773 in August). By comparison, (2076 in January, 1646 in February, 1872 in March, 1500 in April). That’s an average of over 1700 a month over the first 8 months of this year, or more than 450 a week, in a nation with a population of approximately 27 million. The U.S. population –over 300 million—is more than 10 times that of Iraq, so as Jack noted in a comment on a previous post on this blog, an equivalent casualty rate in the U.S. would be over 4500 a week. 3,000 were killed in the attack on the U.S. on September 11th, 2001 (which Iraq had nothing to do with), so you could say that Iraq has been suffering a 9/11 event every week of this year so far. If you include deaths that may be attributed to increased lawlessness, degraded infrastructure, poorer healthcare, etc., the numbers may be 10 times as high (so approximately three 9/11’s every two days).

The photo above on the right is of a wounded Iraqi child crying as U.S. doctors treat his wounds at the emergency room of 28th Combat Support hospital in Baghdad on August 21, 2007. Medics there treat U.S. and Iraqi combat casualties and some Iraqi civilians.

Aught Seven, Act Two, Scene: The Americas, Beyond the Beltway

Venezuela: Bad Hugo
In July, President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela visits Tehran and calls Iran’s Holocaust-denying anti-Semite President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad his “ideological brother.” On August 16th, Chávez announces plans to change the Constitution in order to abolish term limits for the President.

Brazil’s da Silva: What We Need is a Nuclear Sub
In July, leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announces plans to build a nuclear-powered submarine to patrol the waters off Brazil's coast at a cost of US$500 million. (Reuters Alertnet)

Gaucho Billary?
Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the first lady of Argentina, will run for president instead of her husband. One important difference between Cristina and Hillary: Cristina's career as a Senator began eight years before her husband won the Presidency (in 2003). That's Cristina with Nestor and their children, Maximo and Florencia in the photo at left.

Your Tax Cuts at Work
On August 1st, the bridge carrying Interstate 35W in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapses into the Mississippi River late in the afternoon rush hour, killing thirteen. (Star-Tribune) (CNN)

Peru’s Garcia: No Friend to Teachers
In July, striking teachers in Trujillo, Peru, threw eggs and tomatoes at President Alan Garcia.

Chile’s Bachelet: No Friend of the Have Nots
August 29: Thousands of people protest in Chile against the economic policies of the President of Chile Michelle Bachelet. Within days, more than 450 people have been arrested after protests in which police used tear gas and water cannons in Chile's capital, Santiago. (BBC) The country’s top union leader claims that the President is mishandling the economy and has failed to keep her campaign promise of shrinking Chile's gap between the haves and have-nots, which according to UN figures is the region's second largest behind Brazil.

Honduras, Venezuela and Colombia are so violent . . .

According to the Global Peace Index , the United States is the 96th most peaceful nation (out of 121), which is less peaceful than other American nations such as—no surprise here--Canada (#8), Chile (#16), Uruguay (#24), Costa Rica (#31), Panama (#45), Argentina (#52), Paraguay (#55), Cuba (#59), Nicaragua (#66), Bolivia (#69), Peru (#70), The Domenican Republic (#74), Mexico (#79), Brazil (#83), Ecuador (#87), El Salvador (#89), and Guatemala (#93). The U.S. may, however, take pride in being more peaceful than Honduras (#98), Venezuela (#102), and Colombia (#116).

National Birds May Now Be Seen at Lesbian Weddings in Dubuque
On a positive note, in June, the Bald Eagle is removed from the endangered species list. (National Geographic) And on August 30th, an Iowa district court rules that same-sex couples can marry based on the Iowa constitution guarantee of equal protection. (CNN)

Aught Seven, Act Two, Scene Four: The Americas, D.C. Division

George W. is the Will of America (at least its voters)
On May 1st, President Bush vetoes an Iraq spending bill that includes a timetable for troop withdrawal. Later in May, the Democrat-controlled Congress passes a bill allocating $100 billion for war spending without a timetable for troop withdrawal. Some say Congressional Democrats allowed the vote to reach the House and Senate floors despite widespread opposition among their ranks because they didn't want to go on Memorial Day break while soldiers remained wanting. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi tells reporters she will “never vote for such a thing” just before finalizing the bill with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (on the right in the photo above on the right), who calls the legislation proof of “great progress.” Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin of Illinois tells his Democratic colleagues that he will reluctantly support the measure because “we do not have it within our power to make the will of America the law of the land.”

Libby Walks
On June 5th, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Jr., the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney is sentenced to 30 months in prison after being convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in the investigation into the identity of the government official who revealed the identity of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame (whose husband criticized the Bush administration). (CNN) On July 2nd, Bush commutes Libby's prison sentence with a Grant of Executive Clemency. (Reuters) (Whitehouse.gov) At a press conference later in July, Bush admits for the first time that someone in his administration may have leaked Plame's name of CIA agent. (WSJ)

Oh, yes he can!
On June 11th, a federal appeals court rules that President George W. Bush cannot indefinitely imprison U.S. residents on suspicion alone, and orders the government either to charge Qatari national Ali Saleh Kahla Al-Marri, a university student who was arrested in December 2001 and declared an enemy combatant, or release him. “The President,” the panel says, “cannot eliminate constitutional protections with the stroke of a pen.”

Protecting White Schoolchildren from Brown
On June 28th, The United States Supreme Court rules that plans to admit students to schools based partially on their race violate constitutional guarantees of equal protection. (CNN) The majority opinion was written by Roberts (b. 1955) with Alito ('50), Kennedy ('36), Scalia ('36) and Thomas ('48) joining (Kennedy dissented on some points). Breyer ('38) wrote the dissenting opinion, with Justices Ginsberg ('33), Souter ('39) and Stevens ('20) joining. More bad news: liberal Ford-appointee Stevens (see photo at right) will likely be the next Justice to go.

Alberto: ¡Vaya con Dios! (a una calle oscura donde sufrirás justicia divina)
In May, James B. Comey, deputy for former attorney general John Ashcroft, testifies to the Senate Judiciary Committee that on March 10, 2004, Alberto Gonzales and Andrew Card attempted to persuade Ashcroft to reauthorize the Bush Administration's domestic surveillance program, even though the Justice Department had just determined that the program was illegal. Ashcroft, who was hospitalized and had temporarily given up his authority as attorney general to Comey at the time, refused. Senate Democrats called for a vote of no confidence in Gonzales.

On July 31 Gonzales testifies that no one in the Bush Administration had voiced objections to the NSA's wiretapping program. FBI director Robert Mueller testifies that the surveillance program was “much discussed” by other officials. Senate Judiciary chair Patrick Leahy of Vermont sends Mr. Gonzales a transcript of his testimony and asks him to “mark any changes you wish to make to correct, clarify or supplement your answers so that, consistent with your oath, they are the whole truth.”

On September 10th TIME summarizes Gonzalez’s record as: 1) Approving torture; 2) Domestic spying; 3) Politicizing justice; 4) Limiting habeus corpus and 5) “executive records” (Gonzalez drafted an Executive Order allowing Bush to refuse to release papers from previous administrations, allowing him to cover for his father and other Reagan Administration officials).

Aught Seven, Act Two, Scene Three: Europe

France: Living the American Dream
With 53% of the vote, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy (on the left in the photo at right), the son of a Hungarian immigrant, beats Socialist Ségolène Royal (on the right in the photo at right) on May 6th to become France's president. Unpopular among France's black minorities, Sarkozy seldom ventures into the suburbs for fear of inducing violence. Sarkozy promises to improve relations with the U.S.

Northern Ireland: Pack Up Your Troubles
On May 8th, Home rule returns to Northern Ireland when Protestant leader Ian Paisley and Catholic Martin McGuinness (Sinn Fein) take office as First Minister and Deputy First Minister, respectively (that's McGuinness on the left and Paisly on the right in the photo at left). (BBC) The Northern Ireland peace process concludes when the deployment of British Army soldiers in Northern Ireland ends at midnight on July 31st. (BBC) In 30 years of violence known as the Troubles, more than 3,700 people have died in sectarian fighting and conflict in Northern Ireland.

El Pais Vasco: Old Dogs, Old Tricks
On June 4th, the Basque separatist group ETA announces it will end its 15-month ceasefire at midnight (CEST). On August 24th, the explosion of a car bomb outside a police station in the Basque city of Durango, Spain, is believed to be the first attack by the separatist group ETA since it called off a ceasefire in June. (AP via CNN)

The Break-up: Tony B. and The U.K.
On June 27th, Queen Elizabeth II accepts the resignation of the Labour Party’s Tony Blair as Prime Minister after Blair spent 10 years in the office. Labour MP Gordon Brown accepts Queen Elizabeth II's invitation to form a new government, becoming the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Spain: Still a Monarchy, After All These Years
On July 21st, Spanish judge Juan del Olmo orders the confiscation of an edition of the Spanish satirical magazine El Jueves (reminiscient of MAD)for cover cartoon depicting the heir apparent Crown Prince Felipe having sex with his wife, Letizia Ortiz. (Guardian) (Times Online) The cartoon makes reference to a recent Spanish government proposal to pay families approximately $3,000 for each newborn child. The prince says to his wife Letizia : "You see, if you get pregnant, it’ll be the closest thing to working that I've done in my entire life!".

Aught Seven, Act Two, Scene Two: Asia

Pakistan: Musharraf Melting?
Throughout the early summer, thousands of Pakistanis rally to protest the decision made by George Bush's buddy President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s to suspend Chief Justice Muhammed Chaudhry, whose court had made rulings against governmental corruption. In early July, Musharraf ordered the army to lay siege to the radical Red Mosque, whose leaders had called for his assassination.

By the time all the militants (including the fellow with the gun at right) had been cleared from the mosque a week later, 102 people had been killed, including many students at the mosque's madrassa. Afterwards, exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto says she will return to Pakistan and is considering contesting the next presidential election. (IHT) Also considering a return is Bhutto’s rival, Nawaz Sharih, whom General Musharraf overthrew in a a bloodless coup in 1999.

On July 20, 2007, Chief Justice Chaudrhy was reinstated to his position.

Korean Peninsula: Slow Thaw
In May, a train (that's it in the photo at left) traveled between North and South Korea and a North Korean cargo ship docked in a South Korean port for the first time since the Korean War.

Kazakhstan: Nursultan Nazarbayev says, “Get to Know Me!”
Also in May, Kazakhstan's parliament voted to allow President Nursultan Nazarbayev (on the left in the photo below) to stand for unlimited terms.

Ukraine: Let’s Vote
On May 25, Ukraine's political crisis worsens after the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko (on the right in the photo at right) fires the prosecutor general Svyatoslav Piskun. Piskun defies the order and his supporters occupy government buildings. (BBC) One day later, several thousand Ukrainian Interior Ministry troops head for Kiev in defiance of orders to support Yushchenko. (BBC) The next day, Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych agree to a compromise, with early parliamentary elections to be held on September 30. (AFP via The Australian)

China: No Pardons for Bigwigs
On May 29, Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of the China's State Food and Drug Administration, is sentenced to death for taking bribes to approve untested medicines as Chinese authorities introduce a recall system for unsafe food products. (AP via Houston Chronicle) (BBC). On July 10th, Xiaoyu is executed.

Fiji: You Can Go Out and Play Now
On June 1st, Fiji lifts the state of emergency which was imposed during the 2006 Fijian coup d'état. (The Australian)

India: It’s a Girl!
On July 25th, Pratibha Patil (see photo at left) is sworn-in as the first woman President of India. (AndhraNews.net)

Aught Seven, Act Two, Scene One: Africa

Zimbabwe: Invade Us, Please

In June, inflation in Zimbabwe reaches 9,000%, the highest in the world. (CNN), the International Monetary Fund estimates that it could reach 100,000% by the end of the year (ABC) , and the nation's secret police arrests almost 400 soldiers for allegedly plotting to overthrow President Robert Mugabe. (ZWNews) By the end of the month, the head of the Catholic church in Zimbabwe, Archbishop Pius Ncube (see photo at left), calls on the British government to invade and overthrow Mugabe. (Times Online) (ten percent of Zimbabweans are Catholic). In mid-August, the British government is preparing to evacuate all Britons (about 22,000 people) from the nation, due to increasing violence and a shortage of food.

Darfur: Getting China to Play
In August, under pressure from human-rights activists (including, most famously, Mia Farrow), Steven Spielberg threatened to quit his post as artistic adviser to the 2008 Beijing Olympics unless China, which buys 65% of Sudan’s oil exports, took a harder line toward the genocide in Sudan's Darfur region. Just days after Spielberg's threat, China finally backed a U.N. resolution that will send 26,000 peacekeepers to Darfur, subsuming the 7,000 African Union peacekeepers who have failed to have any significant impact on the conflict.

According to Richard Dowden, director of the Royal African Society, writing in TIME, the conflict “began as a rebellion by two local movements; the government responded by arming Arab-speaking militias who attacked civilian communities of the same ethnicity as the rebels. Today the rebel movements and the militias have splintered, and more than 20 gangs range across the harsh terrain seeking loot and land. Now, thanks in no small part to the intervention of China, there are glimmers of hope, but what is still needed is mediation to establish some peace for the peacekeepers to keep.” Dowden explains that “The new resolution means humanitarian aid workers will be safer, and so will the 1.8 million displaced people living in camps in Sudan. But to impose peace on all of Darfur would require a force several times larger, and with a mandate to attack militias and confiscate guns.”

And finally, to follow up on Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia (mentioned in Act One): Ethiopia and the new Ethiopian-friendly government in Somalia continue to fight Islamist insurgents in Southern Somalia.