http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=20

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=20

US Embassy Outreach Efforts in Zimbabwe

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/28/embassy-row-265273656/

Six Signs of Excessively Controlling Behavior - How to Spot Control Freaks

Six Signs of Excessively Controlling Behavior - How to Spot Control Freaks

Earthquakes and Hurricanes: Mother Nature's Talking; Anyone Listening

Earthquakes and Hurricanes: Mother Nature's Talking; Anyone Listening

It Should be about True Empowerment

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/zimbabwe/8875-%E2%80%98zanu-pf-wants-to-loot-zimbabwe%E2%80%99s-economy%E2%80%99-us.html

I Was Not Denied a Chance to Deliver Condolences to the Mujuru Family

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news250811/ray250811.htm

A Photographic Journal of Zimbabwe and Southern Africa

My latest eBook, a photo journal of my travels around Zimbabwe and southern Africa, is now available at Lebrary.com.

http://www.lebrary.com/view.php?id=461

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-PowerShot-SX130IS-Stabilized-3-0-Inch/dp/B003ZSHNG8

On-line Education

This link to Saylor's history course is just one of the many on-line courses available.

http://www.saylor.org/courses/hist301/

For more information, go to http://www.saylor.org/

   http://www.amazon.com/Fall-Roman-Empire-History-Barbarians/dp/0195325419

How My Dog Taught Me to Communicate | The Real Owner

How My Dog Taught Me to Communicate The Real Owner

    http://www.amazon.com/PetZoom-Park-Indoor-Potty-25-5/dp/B002ZHRTAK

Cricket for Dummies: an American’s Guide to England’s Famous Game | Sportales

Cricket for Dummies: an American’s Guide to England’s Famous Game Sportales

   http://www.amazon.com/Cricket-Explained-Robert-Eastaway/dp/0312094116

The New Scramble for Africa – Will History Repeat Itself? | Socyberty

The New Scramble for Africa – Will History Repeat Itself? Socyberty

Zim Journalist Reports on Somalia

http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2011-08-07-a-journalists-story-of-the-anguish-of-somalias-famine

White House on the new Debt Ceiling

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/08/04/myths-and-facts-about-debt-ceiling-compromise

Creating Computer Passwords That Offer Extra Security Without Driving You Mad | Computersight

Creating Computer Passwords That Offer Extra Security Without Driving You Mad Computersight

Why Cloud Computing? Why Not?

http://computersight.com/software/successful-business-people-must-have-their-heads-in-the-cloud/

http://www.amazon.com/Apple-first-generation-MB292LL-Tablet/dp/B002C7481G

Dial Up the Heat this Summer to Restore the Gulf Coast

Dial Up the Heat this Summer to Restore the Gulf Coast

The War of Work is Over: Men and Women Work The Same Number of Hours

The War of Work is Over: Men and Women Work The Same Number of Hours

http://www.amazon.com/Gender-War-Arthur-Carey/dp/0615422829

The Five Worst Airports in The World

The Five Worst Airports in The World

My Five Favorite Airports

My Five Favorite Airports

Walter Reed Army Medical Center Closing - Gone, But Never Forgotten

Walter Reed Army Medical Center Closing - Gone, But Never Forgotten

Beware The Sharks! Don’t Become a Victim of Credit Card Fraud | Gomestic

Beware The Sharks! Don’t Become a Victim of Credit Card Fraud Gomestic

An Urban Fantasy for Older and Younger Readers

An urban fantasy for the Nook, "Wallace in Underland" is a coming of age story that will appeal to young and old.  Check it out at:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/wallace-in-underland

News About Zimbabwe and Southern Africa

A link to New Zimbabwe, an online site with news of Zimbabwe and southern Africa:

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/index.aspx

Presiding Bishop of Episcopal Church Visits Zimbabwe's Anglicans

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79425_129307_ENG_HTM.htm

http://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Episcopal-Church-Introduction-History/dp/0819218200

When Myth is Treated as Reality

There’s a danger when someone has grown up in an environment where they’re subjected to distorted, inaccurate propaganda.  That danger is further compounded when such individuals have access to such information platforms as the Internet.

This was driven home to me quite clearly recently when, after I’d made a presentation to a local Harare think tank, during the question and answer session that followed, a young man tried to present to me a “Wikileaks document that is the U.S. plan to invade Zimbabwe.”  Now, I’d not previously heard of the so-called document and wasn’t prepared to debate it with him, but I did later do some research and discovered the ‘truths’ that this young man so zealously presented.  Herewith is the result of my research.

Operation Shumba, the document the young man claimed was the US Government’s plan for an invasion of Zimbabwe, was taken directly off the Internet.  Now, that in itself had aroused my suspicions when he brought it up.  We don’t usually put our military plans on the Internet for all to peruse.  Secondly, with 20 years in the military, I’d never heard of us giving such a name to an operation – what American can even pronounce it correctly.  Then, there’s the document itself, which can easily be found through Google.

It was on the University of Indiana page – also not a place where official government documents can be found – and contained the names of a professor and several students. Well, guess what folks?  It was a class project that, like many class documents these days, was put on the university Web site for other students and researchers to read.  Never did they think someone in faraway Zimbabwe would download their class paper and try to use it to claim it as proof that the US has nefarious intentions toward their country.  Of course, they’ve never had to deal with paranoid propagandists who routinely mold facts to fit their ideology and who haven’t even a nodding acquaintance with that old concept called honesty.

Anyone reading the document with an open mind will see immediately that it is not an official government document.  It might take a little to figure out that it’s not even real – but, common sense would lead a rational person to come to that conclusion eventually.  When, however, one has for a lifetime been subjected to lies and distortions by a regime that tries to block any other sources of information – branding anything that it disagrees with as ‘illegal’ – it is probably understandable that one could misunderstand.  I’m being generous here – chances are the misunderstanding in this case was quite deliberate and meant to put me on the spot.

I hope that young man reads this and has had time to see where he erred.  If you make a public claim, you’d better have all your facts straight and unassailable.  If you make an accusation based on something you find on the Internet you must remember, others can access that same information.  Furthermore, they might also think to contact the author of the document to verify its nature – that’s what I did.

Don’t play too loose with the truth – lies can become a noose that entangle you.  Operation Shumba is like a lot of the other urban legends that fly around that have no basis in reality.  There are no black UN helicopters zipping around Utah; no American prisoners in tiger cages in Southeast Asian jungles; and there is no plan to invade Zimbabwe.

Conspiracy Theorists Are Everywhere

I was cleaning out my email inbox and found this link from five years ago.  The way of processing information and dealing with truth of this group reminds me of my present circumstances in Zimbabwe.

http://www.usvetdsp.com/jun07/charles_ray_coverup.htm