Rasna,

I so wish you had informed yourself better about Kevin Carter, the photojournalist who took the famous photo of the starving Sudanese child while the vulture watched. Your opinion piece would have carried a lot more weight had you noted his explanation for why he did not help, what his thoughts were on the subject afterward and the fact that he committed suicide only months after receiving the prize.

All of that would have supported your opinion in a very compelling way. But it seems short sited how you ended it with just the facts of his winning the Pulitzer prize.

http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Images%20of%20the%20Dying%20African%20border%20on%20pornography/-/440808/952042/-/gcvyrqz/-/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Carter

Read the explanation for the rise in fees. I find this extremely contrary to the current President's way of doing business in America. A few are being charged incredibly high taxes to pay for many others (health care & pretty much everything in gov't & society). This would seem to apply to everything, but for some reason it doesn't apply to embassy service fees. Don’t get me wrong, I am a HUGE fan of paying what you get for. I actually think the new fees are a great idea and the reasoning even a better one. But it should apply to all of the Fed Gov’t business, not just embassies. Pay for your own healthcare, your own education, your own housing, food, etc.

For those who disagree, why should I have to pay the full fees at my embassy? Why aren’t they subsidized? I live within the very bottom income bracket of my country. Why shouldn’t everyone else be helping me out?

I received the following in an email recently....
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Embassy of the United States of America
Nairobi, Kenya
June 30, 2010

  Warden Message

  Effective July 13, 2010, the schedule of fees will be changed to ensure that the Department of State recovers the true costs of consular services through user fees, as required by law.  The proposed changes to our fee schedule reflect more accurately the true expenditure of doing business.   This way, services of direct benefit to individuals, organizations, or groups are paid for by the users rather than by taxpayers in general.

  The following fees will be changed:

  PASSPORT AND CITIZENSHIP SERVICES:

  - The application processing fee for adult passport applications will change from $55 to $70.

  - The passport book security surcharge will change from $20 to $40.

  - The application fee for passport cards will increase, from $20 to $30 for adults, and from $10 to $15 for minors.

  - A new fee of $82 for additional passport pages will be imposed.

  - The fee for file search and verification of U.S. citizenship (generally conducted only by domestic passport agencies) will increase from $60 to $150.

  - The fee for a Consular Report of Birth Abroad will change from $65 to $100.

  - A new fee of $450 is being established for documentation of formal renunciation of U.S. citizenship, which applies only to those persons who choose to take the Oath of Renunciation pursuant to Sec. 349(a)(5) INA.

  OVERSEAS CITIZENS SERVICES:

  - The fee for making arrangements for a deceased non-U.S. citizen is changing from consular time (Item 75 on the Schedule of Fees) plus expenses to $200, plus expenses.

  IMMIGRANT AND SPECIAL VISA SERVICES:

  - The immigrant visa (IV) application fee - which must be collected from all IV applicants who are not fee-exempt – will now be tiered.  The new fees will be $330 for immediate relative and family preference cases (processed on the basis of an I-130, I-600 or I-800 petition), $720 for employment- based cases (processed on the basis of an I-140 petition), and $305 for other cases (special IVs, Diversity Visas (DVs), self-petitioned cases, and all other IVs).

  - The IV security surcharge - which must be collected from all IV applicants who are not fee-exempt - will increase from $45 to $74.

  - The DV fee (which is charged in addition to the application processing fee and security surcharge) will change from $375 to $440.

  - The fee for domestic (NVC) review of affidavits of support is changing from $70 to $88.

  - The fee for determining returning resident status is decreasing from $400 to $380.

  DOCUMENTARY SERVICES:

  - Notarial and authentication services, which now range from $20 to $30, will all be $50.

  JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE SERVICES:

  - The fee for processing of letters rogatory will increase from $735 to $2,275.

  - Fees for taking depositions and executing commissions to take testimony will change as follows: scheduling/arranging appointments for depositions, from $475 to $1,283; attending or taking depositions or executing commissions to take testimony, from the consular time charge of $265/hour to $309/hour plus expenses; swearing in witnesses for telephone depositions and  supervising telephone depositions, from the consular time charge of $265/hour to $231/hour; providing seal and certification of depositions, from $70 to $415.

  ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES:

  - Consular time charges will decrease from $265 to $231.

--
tm

Please excuse the short reply as I am writing from my mobile.

6.3 Promoting Tourism and Film Industry for Employment Creation
102. First, Mr. Speaker, as Hon Members are already aware, our tourism sector was adversely
affected by last year’s post election violence. This was compounded later in the year by the ongoing
global economic recession. In order to revive and promote growth of this important sector, I
propose to grant an exemption of import duty on all four wheel drive motor vehicles specially
designed and built for tourist purposes.
103. Second, Mr. Speaker, our film industry has lagged behind other destinations such as
South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria. To encourage growth of this industry that has the potential to
create employment to our youth, generate income and promote entertainment industry, I propose
to remove the current import duty of 25 percent and VAT of 16 percent on television cameras,
digital cameras and video camera recorders.
104. Third, Mr. Speaker, Kenyans are leisure-loving people who enjoy watching Television
Programs, but unfortunately the many programmes available to them are foreign programmes
and movies. Many film makers find Kenya expensive yet an attractive destination for shooting
and making movies. To promote the film industry in Kenya and also attract foreign film makers
so as to profile Kenya as a film making destination of choice, I propose to zero rate for VAT
taxable goods and services offered to film producers.
105. Fourth, Mr. Speaker, the Government fully recognizes the pool of talents we have in our
country and the need to provide appropriate incentives to this upcoming industry to create
employment opportunities for the youth. In this regard, Mr. Speaker, I also propose to grant a
one hundred (100%) per cent investment deduction on capital expenditure incurred by a film
producer on purchase of any filming equipment.

I don’t know exactly what all this means, but it’s clear I can import any kind of video or still camera for zero duty/VAT. What I’m unclear about is other production equipment. Editing/lighting/sound, etc.

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content will be modified or deleted at my discretion.

Economics 101...

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the
milk away...

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.

ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of
credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a
debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all
four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a
Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who
sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one
more.
You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving
you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release.
The public then buys your bull.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want
three cows.

A JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and
produce twenty times the milk.
You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market
it worldwide.

A GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and
milk themselves.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don't know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 2 cows.
You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
No-one believes you, so they bomb you and invade your country.
You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy....

A SOUTH AFRICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
One is stolen overnight and the government redistributes the other to the
previously disadvantaged.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go out to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.

These are pretty common in Africa, but my first time seeing a 6-wheeler. I also saw a tandem as well as a version with D cell batteries. No function, but interesting.

A boy making a sling shot out of old bike tubes.

I think these are groupies but they sure were happy about something.

1. Zulusafari was NOT born in Africa
2. Zulusafari, the handle, came from my first Africa experience in South Africa
3. Zulusafari, while not socialist, does have a soft heart and is compassionate toward those in need.

1. Perhaps the most common misperception by those in the twitter community and other social spheres. I grew up in a very urban, American setting. While I can get along in the ‘hood’ I can hold my own quite well in the rural spaces of America. I actually think of my heart as being quite ‘country.’ I love the outdoors and I connect with myself and with God in a much deeper and more authentic way when I’m out of the city space.

2. My first Africa experience took me to the bush of South Africa for 2 months. I spent the whole time with an Afrikaans and group of Zulus. They truly took me into their culture and ‘family’ and I had a very eye opening experience. I chose the handle ‘zulusafari’ shortly after that trip and first used it for an excite.com email address. Excite died shortly after, along with the zulusafari handle, but was resurrected with the social media landscape for my anonymous adventures online.

3. I critique ‘aid’ quite harshly. I am stanchly a free market capitalist. I can hardly call myself a Republican/Conservative any more these days and I am coming to prefer the title ‘libertarian’ or constitutionalist. I grew up with a father who graduated from Wharton with an Economics degree. So I’ve known my way around how economy works since I could walk.
My faith in Christ makes up the very deepest part of who I am. I feel strongly that anything I believe in should be backed up by scripture. I may not be able to site and quote the verse(s), but I can discuss it thoroughly. I believe strongly that the US gov’t does not exist to provide for it’s people, only to give the framework of freedom to let us work hard for ourselves. It is through individual and PRIVATE collective groupings (church, charities, etc.) that we give financially for the needs of others. Not once did Christ ever call on gov’t to provide for those in need. He often called on the church (private group) and those who make up the church (individuals) to help those in need.
Not only do I give financially to my church both locally and my ‘home’ church in the states, but I also give in non-financial ways as an individual. I’d like to think of my entire life as living that out. There is no other reason for me to be living far from ‘home’. I DEEPLY love and enjoy what I do and would choose to do nothing else, but I would not be doing it without the blessing of God and for his Glory!