World’s richest woman would prefer to pay her miners $2 a day

[molly bloom]

The damning bit is that the supposed benefit of knowing all these things is to provide context for new data - and yet the very first time we saw molly apply that, he got the context wrong with the whole Xhosa/miners thing.

Ooohhh, that's so right. Or not, as the case may be:

(On the creation of the Bantu 'Homelands')

The Transkei's prospects would seem to be better than those of many independent African territories. However, it is dependent economically on over a million Transkeians who live outside the territory, WORKING IN THE MINES and on white farms because of the lack of employment opportunity at home.

A. T. Grove's 'Africa', Chapter 14 'Southern Africa'.

Why mention Transkeians and the Transkei ?

Well...

The largest and most populous of the reserves was the Transkei which consists of two main blocks of land totalling 42 000 sq km in the south-east corner of Cape Province. This is the homeland of about 4 MILLION XHOSA, a people who have been in contact with whites for a longer period than any other Bantu in southern Africa.

In South Africa and Rhodesia they had railways and public transportation- and also 'housing' of a sort for migrant mineworkers.

[Wezil]

You still owe James Randi an apology.

[molly bloom]

I think I'll respond to this. First, no one ever mentioned Rhodesia.

I was referring to one of his previously inaccurate posts- as is clear from the context and language.

So this rant is nothing but a distraction from your epic pwnage in this thread.

I thought of it as handy reminder, rather than a distraction. But don't let your barely suppressed yearnings for him get in the way of your particular 'interpretation'...

Black people in Zimbabwe are poorer and more oppressed under Mugabe's regime than Ian Smith's.

They are ? How do you quantify this exactly ? By law, the best agricultural land was reserved for the minority of white Rhodesians and black Rhodesians had no say in the matter- I refer you to the Native Land Husbandry Act and the Land Apportionment Act.

A black Rhodesian could not:

own land
live in other than officially approved locations
suffered the usual indignities of the colour bar socially.

They were allowed to travel to work in White Rhodesian areas, but were there on sufferance.

The education of White Rhodesians was much like in the West, universal and free. At one point the State expenditure on the education of a White Rhodesian was twenty times greater than that on a Black Rhodesian.

You seem to take this as some sort of vindication of apartheid or the policies UDI Rhodesia.

Nope. I just noted how you and he phrased it in your posts. Proper little cheerleaders for the days of white rule, with no analysis of what life was like for the majority population in either country during U.D.I. or Apartheid, or how the profits and way of life of the minority were maintained.

Well, no shock there.

In fact, it is simply illustrative of how bad a socialist/communist regime really is--so bad that people would be better off being openly kept down by white supremacists.

But you haven't demonstrated this at all. You've simply made assertions. Again, quelle choc horreur !

Furthermore it would be shockingly ironic for someone of partially Jewish descent such as myself to yearn for the good ol' days of institutionalized bigotry in the South.

Yeah, 'cos that whole skin colour thing is a sure way to spot Jews.

Also, reggie decidedly-below-average is not only a lame insult, you probably don't recognize the origin of the name.

Yeah, thanks, I do, but I'm not interested. I simply think his nom de plume is just a transgression of some trades description or consumer act somewhere- based solely on his posts here.

[molly bloom]

Randi doesn't claim to be psychic so I'm confused by the accusation...

I'm referring to his book 'Flim Flam'- it's great reading. I picked up a copy secondhand a few months ago. Every sceptic should own one.

[Wezil]

Your original phrasing doesn't make that clear. It sounded like you were including him in the group he challenges.

[aliceconer]

No. That is not what she said.