Magic Statistics

The Zimbabwe dollar is worthless, and even rural cattle farmers know it.

There is no meat in Harare shops since price controls were imposed last summer, so a journalist and four friends journeyed to the countryside to purchase live meat on the hoof.  They brought along a huge stack of Zimbabwean currency to buy a load of steaks, but no one would deal.

Our money was no use. "What will I do with that pile of useless paper?" one old man shouted at me. "I want South African Rand or Botswana Pula, not that rubbish!" And he waved his axe at me angrily.

Bongani Dlomo, a villager in Lupane, explained a little more politely: "If I sell you a beast today for Zimbabwean dollars  I will have to go to town and spend it immediately, at least within a couple of days, before it loses its value."

He said a goat would cost me 200 rand or 160 pula, and an ox around 800 rand or 700 pula. He didn't want to know about the Zim dollar.

When someone offers acceptable currency for a beast, the seller buries the money in the family cache until they need to travel to town for supplies.  Other currencies appreciate as the Zimbabwe dollar continues to fall, so the hidden cash earns a capital gain.  Better than keeping it in a bank.

Previous related posts:

• Zimbabwean currency crashes
• Beer shortage forces Mugabe to retreat on price controls
• Zimbabwe now officially a socialist kleptocracy

It has been reported that a young Christian evangelist and shepherd was murdered by Hindu priests at a temple dedicated to the goddess Kali.  The priests are said to have been angered by his conversion to Christ and, for that reason, gave him as a sacrifice to the Hindu deity.  His body was dumped in a lake, but there was blood all over the temple.

The Global Council of Indian Christians(GCIC), an advocacy group representing church and mission groups, said Vipin Mandloi, 27, was shot dead near Aamkut village in the Jhabua District of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
 
Mandloi had reportedly been missing since October 14 when he left his house to a nearby mountain to graze his goats and sheep near a Hindu temple. "There was a new temple of Kali the 'goddess' of the Hindus [and he] was in its premises…Three ‘Pujaris’, or ‘Hindu Priests’ came there and they shot [and killed] Vipin Mandloi with a…pistol," GCIC President Sajan K. George told BosNewsLife.

The priests admitted responsibility to the police but claimed that Mr Mandloi stole coconuts and money offered at the temple.

Previous related posts:

• Christian converts “lose their right to be Indian”
• Indian Christians carry a heavy cross
• Hindu extremists acting more like Islamic jihadists all the time

Al Green is one of the very greatest soul singers of all time, IMHO.  Unlike some other popular singers of the 60s and 70s who continue to make records, his voice is as sweet and powerful as ever.  Check out this amazing performance, recorded in 2005.

I’ve bought many of his albums over the years, beginning in the early 1970s.  His wonderful recordings of  "Tired Of Being Alone", "Let's Stay Together", "I'm Still In Love With You", and, especially, "Love & Happiness" are, to me, as compelling as ever.

In October 1974, he turned to Jesus Christ after a jilted girlfriend broke into his home, scalded him with boiling grits, and shot herself to death.  By 1976, he was the ordained pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis, a ministry he still exercises today.

He fell off the stage during a 1979 concert performance, narrowly avoiding serious injury.  He took this as a sign from God to stop singing popular R&B-soul music and devote himself entirely to preaching and gospel singing.  During the 1980s, he recorded a string of great gospel records that earned him eight Grammys for soul gospel performances.

Since the late 1980s, he has been singing both soul and gospel.  “Perfect To Me” is from his latest CD, Everything’s OK.

Al Green has been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (1995) and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2004).  He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Recording Academy in 2002.

By the by, if bluegrass is your thing, Mrs Falstaff has posted a session of banjo pickin' that will get your blood moving.