Miko: You make some excellent points. I am seeing a real downturn in people’s mood today, mostly because of this. I personally agree with you that he is looking weak. The challenge though is for people to shake past memories of gross violence inflicted on people with impunity. Or times when elections were rigged and he got away with it. We do need to remember that we are winners and that the ‘scores on the doors’ support that.

Ginny: We have a team pulling this blog and our site together. Sharing information and helping each other to do the posting. Sharing access to comms and relying on those who have power at different times etc. It would be impossible to do this alone. A lot of work is offline too.

Henrik: All those people need to do to change their minds in an instant is visit our country. A day or two queuing for food or just trying to survive quickly sets them straight on the reasons why Mugabe must go. He has destryed our country: we vote on the same grounds anyone else would anywhere else in the world. We need someone else in charge of our country because he can no longer do the job. It’s that simple.

Thabo: Our peaceful response is going to show Africa that Zimbabweans do not conform to that African cliche of violence and misery. we must be proud of the example we are setting, even as it is hard to do it.

Malcolm: This blind loyalty we think we see from so-called ‘war-vets’ is often bought and paid for with bribes from Mugabe and Zanu PF. They have a vested interest. Our country is running out of money though, and the bribes are drying up. What then?

exbulawayo: It will be great to have you and everyone else back!

Hope

It’s obvious why Mbeki is taking this stance. He wants to keep his marxist buddy to the north in power.

I have been moved to express an additional perspective to the challenge of freeing Zimbabwe from the “anaconda-like” grip of Zanu-PF and Mugabe.

In everyway suffering Zimbabweans certainly have nothing to look forward to.

Does the MDC and suffering Zimbabweans legitimize Zanu-PF’s manipulation of results such that there is a run-off election?

Do suffering Zimbabweans participate in something that in itself is not legitimate to their own peril?

Or do suffering Zimbabweans resist the run-off and loose the opportunity to re-assert themselves through a vote that might cost blood and life itself?

What a conundrum?

Or do compatriots in the cause of peace and prosperity for all humanity stand up with Zimbabwe?

Standing up with Zimbabwe such that any access of evil or violator of the vision of a free thinking new age will not be able to wrench freedom from Zimbabwe?

To the United Nations Security Council, the African Union, the G8, United States of America, the United Kingdom and any other regional grouping or domain that has any significance to be mention, should Zimbabwe bleed in order to be understood?

MUST ZIMBABWE BE BROKEN THIS FAR FOR CAUSES UNKNOWN?

Suffering Zimbabweans have only one thing they can do given the distance of the international community.

Given there is no international intervention in Zimbabwe to protect Zimbabweans as they go through this situation.

Given the international community is watching Zimbabwe at an arm’s length.

Sad to say – “No greater love hath a man than that they lay down their life for a friend”

Do not make Zanu-PF and Mugabe’s run-off election legimate because this run-off election is not for Zimbabweans, the MDC has won this election – TRUTH SHINES EVEN IN DARKNESS.

Peaceful resist Zimbabwe.

Why handle a serpent?

Why entertain a roaring lion?

Keep a peaceful distance Zimbabwe.

Quietly and peacefully may the flame of human rights be covered and protected.

It will not be allowed to burn while Mugabe and Zanu-PF behave the way the do, with all the amensty Zanu-PF and Mugabe enjoy through the modern world’s ineffective actions.

Zimbabwe has nothing to fear lest it forgets things will not be like this forever.

Sincerely

Thabo Nkalakatha

What bothers me is that other African leaders from neighbouring countries don’t seem to do anything. How on earth is the UN ever going to be able to react, when the all important neighbours just say “wait” or say nothing at all…

My experience is (sadly) that many Africans – even educated people – continue look at Mugabe as a hero. My girlfriend is Ugandan, and she defends Mugabe and says (like Zanu-PF) that it is just the British who wants to get back in control… Same thing was expressed by some Zimbabwians that BBC talked to just outside the border…

It’s in my local paper, it’s the top-left lead article on the NY Times online site, it’s on the front of the International Herald Tribune, the older story about the arrested journalists is at Agence France Presse/English, it’s all over GoogleNews,
you got BoingBoinged the other day, and here’s where this post shows up in Technorati, along with a lot of other people blogging about events in Zimbabwe.

I’ve added your blog to my blogroll, and I encourage other bloggers to do the same, as this raises the visibility of your blog.

The other night I was listening to BBC World and there was a feature from a reporter inside Zimbabwe who recorded a series of audio diaries dealing with how difficult it is to get the simplest things done in Zimbabwe, with constant power cuts, poor-to-nonexistent Internet service, and other challenges. However do you do it? You obviously could school the young man on strategies for keeping his laptop and cell phone charged up (he was unable to file stories via email one night but his digital recorder still had a charge). The same reporter also noted how difficult it is to find out what’s really going on, and how rumors seem to be the only source of news.

In case you can’t connect to any of the links above – you can be assured that the world is watching, listening, reading, blogging, writing, and waiting for news about Zimbabwe – and hoping too.

He won’t show electoral results because these are in fact Mugabe’s “rejectoral results.”

It is not up to a party clique to call for a second round, as some media reported. This decrepit group of liberation relics chose their relic candidate — a bizarre drama from the court jester, considering that the loser of round 1 goes to round 2, should a second round be determined by the rejectoral results.

Why did he choose the politburo? Not because he’s strong, but weak — one of the last institutions to reliably carries out his will.

After a career of violence and macho fist-pumping, to see Mugabe so afraid! of a war, an air force, and invader? No, of numbers on paper! Simple numbers show that nobody cares about him anymore, that he is irrelevant, that he is the past, that yes, he CAN be buried in Heroes Acre now that he has been buried by public opinion.

He’s too afraid to show his numbers, a fading despot that treats his nighttime prescriptions as a state secret equal to his rejectoral numbers. Only the worst sort of self-centeredness prevents a man from going on TV and sayin, “I lost, congratulations.” Boxers usually hug at the end. This is not sporting behavior. These are the maneuvers of a coward.

Mugabe is a paper tiger afraid of paper, of numbers that number his days, of the overwhelming rejection by Zimbabweans that show they don’t want to go along in remote control following his will.

On Friday, slobs pretending to be war veterans were hung out by Mugabe like worms on a hook for Zimbabweans to attack. The story is not their intimidation. Rather, a disciplined, peaceful people did not take the bait. That’s remarkable. Somebody yelled out to the worms that they smelled of old fish and Grace Mubage perfume.

Now, can somebody provide these remarkable, patient, peaceful, determined people with what to do to replace remote control habit? Is there an alternative where they can safely display their displeasure without giving Mugabe an excuse to start the flow of blood?

Expect more provocations from the liberation relic; responsible reaction from people in a set of clever actions that retake the initiative.

It may be easier than imagined to shadow box the fading despot who pumps his fist a minute a day and calls it a boxing match.

He claims a knockout punch but misuses people to deliver his violence. He campaigns on land but has left it barren. He campaigns on sovereignty while millions move to functioning countries. Give the red card to the man in Italian socks who claims through the dull Bright Matonga he wants extra time.

Mbeki was at at the same conference as Brown outside London today and has published a Wait:everyone agreed to a runoff statement. I was disappointed as MDC had already been turned away from the HC.

Thanks so much for posting. Is the prayer “chain” going ahead? I tried to map world times on my blog but wordpress took this moment to overhaul its system and nothing much is working.

There was an old fool in Harare
Who stashed stolen cash and Ferraris
But when he got caught
All his plotting for naught
He rotted in **** with his sorries

One suggestion might be to take advantage and do 12 things at once around the country for one hour. They might be able to respond to one of those, but the other 11 go unchecked. They are barely anywhere, so they can’t be everywhere. Blocking the court this morning is probably the one thing they were capable of focusing on. Here the principle of action and not waiting for reaction could be useful. But not usual Zimbabwe bold action — march down the street until beaten. Times call for a little more evasive action.

I connect the country dying with the thinning circles: If the country is dying, the regime is fading faster.

There was a call a week ago to not do anything illegal, to not help government commit a crime, to not steal elections, to not do anything wrong. To not do anything you won’t be proud of in the very near future. That’s still a valid call.

To those who have remaining strength, act. To those who understandably do not have remaining strength, fail to act. Watching and wishing you all the gift of wisdom!