"Do you know where the cafeteria is?" I asked raising an eyebrow at them both.
"Nope!" She said brightly to Lily. "Not a clue!"
Rei then turned to the new girl. A soft, translucent white aura. She wanted to see it, but no one knew what her eye looked oike since...since the incident.
sweet,so any ideas where food might be?
"I'd assume it was near the main school building," I said, glancing towards it, "Probably attached to it or inside."
I passed a small group of people, three females and pathetic looking male. Most men would be happy to be in his position. They were talking about food, first years. You would think people would remember a map at least. I took a small pleasure in knowing where to go where they didn't as I turned a corner.
Okay now it was three of them to little old me, too many people too many people too many people. Without saying a word, I turned tail and walked away, head hung low in a mix of embarrassment and shame, stammering as I walked. "S-sorry bu-but I'm ac-actually not fee-feeling all that hun-hungry right now."
Petra walked for some time, before noticing Orion just walking, most likely back to his dorm. She decided to walk faster, in an attempt to catch him up.
William slung his leather scabbard over his shoulder, having it hang on his back. He grabbed his Falchion with his right hand and sheathed it between the leather. Looking up to the clock he thought.
Probably almost time for lunch.
Will exited his room and began walking down the second year hall, toward the cafeteria.
Orion turned, hearing the sound of feet behind him. The suddenly growing pace made him turn, and he saw Petra, the girl who had been with Nick earlier. He turned fully, facing the girl and smiling at her as he stood in the hall, not exactly thinking too much. He never did understand these sort of situations. He wasn't in them all too often out of school.
"Hey there!" He said as happily as always.
"Hey," Petra said smiling, "What are you up to?" She asked.
He shrugged, looking down at her a little.
"Nothing really. Was thinking of heading back, but even then I'd probably be bored in my room." He looked over his shoulder then back to Petra. "You?"
"Oh, well, I was just walking around, really, trying to find something to do." Petra said. Of course walking around wasn't her initial plan, the sleeping plan had of course been interrupted.
"Hm. What happened to Nick? I didn't see him head back to the dorms." Orion began to walk, in the direction of his dorm, beckoning Petra to walk with him.
"Oh, urm, Nick fell asleep." Petra said, following Orion, blushing slightly, despite there being almost nothing to be actually ashamed about.
Orion looked at her with a raised brow, smiling cheekily as he did so.
"Oh really? Well, it's none of my business." He chuckled a little, looking ahead once more.
As he was walking down the hall, William had passed a couple people, a guy and a girl. Will avoided eye contact best he could as he walked by the two. Hands deep in his pockets and his shoulders raised a bit awkwardly.
"It's not like that! He just fell asleep, somehow..." Petra said, attempting to stop Orion from getting the wrong idea. As she spoke she noticed somebody walking by, although he didn't seem to look at either her or Orion.
Orion gave the passer by a nod, before laughing and patting Petra on the back, shaking his head a little.
"Hey hey, I was teasing. Awfully defensive about the subject, aren't ya?"
"Well... Urm..." Petra couldn't think of anything to say, and just continued walking.
He smiled a little, puffing his chest out a little.
"Were you trying to ignore the fact that you were so comfortable with it, or were you trying to prove to me you were available?"
Will had stepped out of one of the building's exits, that lead outside. He walked around the school, to the main courtyard, where some of the other students were clowning around. One of them had been sitting ontop of one of the roofs, that Will saw as he walked to the main entrance to the academy.
Petra glared at Orion for a few seconds, not even bothering to answer him.
Orion smirked, catching her glare and nudging her a little. "So, what made you wanna come looking for me? Or was it just pure coincidence?"
"I was just walking around, and I just happened to see you. So you were sort of a 'lucky last resort'." Petra replied, no longer glaring of course.
Orion laughed at the last remark, walking past his dorm as he did so and scratching his neck a little. "I wonder how long till dinner is prepared. I'm getting much hungrier than I expected."
"I'm not sure, probably soon, or not." She shrugged. "Didn't you eat anything on the train?"
"I uh, I mostly slept. Or spoke to people. Forgot to eat I guess." He sighed, his stomach rumbling angrily. He hated this feeling, he wasn't too used it as he used to be.
"Like me then, except without the speaking to people. So, how do you know Nick?" She asked Orion.
Orion shrugged, shaking his head a little.
"I don't really know him. We're in the same year, we've been in some classes. I get to know most people on a general basis, names and stuff, but... that's not really knowing someone. Nicks one of those people."
"Ah, so this is your last year then?" Petra asked, even though she was certain it was all things considered, she just wanted to make conversation.
Letting ago, she spun around.
She watched Jason go sadly, and tuned to Lily.
"Yep. After this, on to being an Angel. I can't wait."
He looked at Petra for a moment, blushing a little as he did so. "You know, you don't needa talk if you don't want too. You can go find someone else."
"What? I'm fine here, talking to you." Petra replied.
"Mkay." He said, sighing and clearing his throat a little. She'd been awfully quiet.
Stupid.....stupid stupid stupid cowardly child. Turn around and join them, at least as far as the damn lunch room. Then if you still want to leave, leave, grab some food, and find a table for yourself. It was actually a decent enough idea.....but there were still more of them than I could really deal with. Three of them together had me nervous as hell. So....I elected for a different course. I rounded the next corner, and stopped as I pressed against the wall. I'd follow them to the lunch room, out of sight.
"How did you do last year? In terms of academics." Petra asked Orion.
"Uh... not bad, as far as I can recall. I passed at least." He said, thinking for a moment. He'd never much paid attention, just gotten lucky. Probably wouldn't help much this time round.
Nick wakes up and stretches, an enormous yawn escaping from his mouth. He sits up in Petra's bed. "Uh, Petra?" He says, looking around the room, find himself alone.
"You probably did better than me, Orion." Petra laughed slightly.
I smile and laugh a bit. "Maybe... It's this year I'm worried about though..."
"How come? If you passed last year, this year can't be much harder." Petra replied.
"This year is the last year, Petra. The big one, no breaks, more training. You should see how some third years come out of this... It's insane."
"I'm sure you'll be fine. Not perfect, but not bad either." She said, rather jokingly.
He scoffed, sighing happily as he spoke.
The size of the main building was much bigger in contrast to the side buildings that connected to it. It has some of those ancient Greek pillars around it to add some life to the plainness of the architecture. I opened to the door a mass of student walking around inside. The main building contained most of the core need of this academy: student resources, Principle's office, staff housing and such, the Cafe. I made a left at the entrance towards my goal dodging and sneaking past the groups that flocked the halls. I entered the double door into the cafeteria and was drawn back by its appearance. It was bigger than I had originally thought although most of the floor was filled with tables both big and small. The color of the walls were more inviting utilizing colors not seen on the outside. The next thing I realised was that there were two stories, first floor was first and second years while the second floor held the rest. On the far back wall from the entrance was established for anything that had to do with service. A place with plates, utensils, condiments, the basic stuff. Right next to it was a long line of food, an assembly line of sorts. There were metal stanchions placed a couple feet in front of the it. The assembly line consisted of three long metallic shelves with food placed neatly and in an organized manner. There was something that caught my eye, a note, it was placed at both ends of the line and meant to be read. Taking a couple seconds to read I finally understood. While taking a glance at the line it was obvious how it was set up, the food on the first line was that of normalcy or food you would find at home while the two shelves above it has food that looked that it could be from a four or five star restaurant. Before every item right above them consisted a little place where a small sign or slip of paper would be placed which on a regular basis contain a price. The sign that I has read was a notice that after the third day of school there would be prices placed on the more exquisite food while those on the first shelf were free.
"Interesting. I did read somewhere that we do get an allowance every end of the week, albeit small. I guess this is one small thing they allow you to use it on."
Taking that into consideration I started grabbing food that I had never had. It was grandeur, they had food from all over the place so everyone can get a taste of home if they pleased to do so. They even placed the same rules on desert. Things like ice cream and cake were free, but stuff like creme brulee, tiramisu , and some I never even knew of they looked like there were going to be priced. At the end of the line there was a staff member who, on a normal day, stood where you would pay for your food if you bought something nice. He nodded at me and I walked toward an empty table on the right side of the cafe.
Lynki ran all over the rooftop, exploring and inspecting all of the things on it, checking for things he could use to either get around or stash away items or other such things. He laughed loudly, loud enough for someone to hear him from the ground, and he ran along the edge, daring gravity to take him.
She and Orion talked for a while, before Petra excused herself to go and wake up Nick, and well, finish sorting out her room. It was only a short walk back to the dorm, and after heading up the stairs she knocked on the door, to see if he was awake.
Nick looked at the door. What if it was one of Petra's friends from last year? It'd be a pretty awkward encounter. On the other other hand, it could be Petra. He frowned, put down Petra's bag of school stuff, not her clothes, and quietly moved to the door. If it was Petra, she'd open the door and walk in, if not, then not.
why not check the main building and see if cafeteria is there?


text:
Dita Asiedu
In this edition of Mailbox: letter from Franz Kafka, Italian bus accident, low birth rate. Listeners quoted: Gusta Bloemhof, Massimo Bernardi, Samuel Ashi
Download: RealAudio
Gusta Bloemhof from Rotterdam, in the Netherlands has sent us an e-mail asking:
"Could you tell us more about a new letter that was apparently written by Franz Kafka to his girlfriend? I think it was found here in Holland."
Yes, that is true. A letter written in 1917 by the Jewish Czech-born but German-speaking writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was recently found in the Netherlands. However, it was not written to his girlfriend but rather to a friend of his sister Ottla. Ruzenka Wettenglova's name has appeared in several of Kafka's letters to his sister Ottla and his girlfriends Felice and Milena but it is the first letter that was written to Ruzenka directly. What is also interesting is that it was written in Czech and not in German.
The content of the letter itself is not as interesting. Unfortunately, only the first and last pages of what seems to have been a three-page letter were found. Kafka writes that he hopes to get a flat in Prague's Mala Strana or Hradcany district, thanks Ruzenka for some fruit she sent to his sister, Ottla, and tells her that Ottla herself cannot thanks her in writing. That is where the first page ends; the page that probably talks about why his sister cannot write to her friend. On the last page, he says that Ottla will be sending her some potatoes as soon as they are harvested.
Massimo Bernardi is from Naples, Italy and writes:
"I heard that a bus from Italy had an accident in the Czech Republic. What happened?"
Well, last week, on January 15, a bus from Naples on route to Poland crashed near the Moravian city of Brno. The accident occurred in the early hours of the morning when roads were icy and motorists were advised to drive carefully and respect speed limits. However, the bus driver failed to control the vehicle on an icy stretch, skidding off the road and into a ditch. All 38 passengers managed to crawl out of the bus through the ventilation window on the roof. Twelve luckily got away with light injuries but one Polish woman and the driver suffered serious injuries. Witnesses saw the driver recklessly overtake cars minutes before the accident. He has therefore been charged with being a danger to public safety and could face up to eight years in prison, if found guilty.
Samuel Ashi lives somewhere close to Prague and sent us an e-mail with the following comment:
"I just read in the newspaper that only 92,786 children were born in the Czech Republic in 2002. I come from Africa and I am shocked to see that you have so few children."
It's true that the number of children born here is very low and it has decreased dramatically since 1991 - by over thirty thousand children. In fact, the last ten years have seen the lowest birth rate in three hundred years. The simple reason is the fact that today's younger generation wants to have a career or at least a stable job that ensures security before starting a family. Instead of getting married and settling down in their early twenties, they now do so in their late twenties. While it is tradition in most of Africa to have children so that they support the family, in the Czech Republic, parents feel they have the responsibility to support their children throughout their lives. But you are right, Mr Ashi, when you say that the figures here are quite alarming. The government has noticed it too and promises to take steps in its next wave of public finance reform that would encourage young couples to have children earlier.
It's time for our listeners' competition. You have just about a week left to "name the distinguished Czech composer who lived from 1874 to 1935, whose 130th anniversary of his birth is being celebrated this month." Please send your answers to the Radio Prague English Section, 120 99 Prague 2, the Czech Republic or by e-mail to english@radio.cz. Your answers should get to us by January 31.
Love of Kafka unites artists in show marking 30th anniversary of Velvet Revolution
An exhibition marking the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution has just got underway at Prague's Municipal House. Called Nezlomní,…
Number of animals killed on Czech roads shoots up in five years
Statistics show that the number of collisions with animals on Czech roads has increased markedly in recent years. What is more, experts…
Better training for new drivers perceived as key to making Czech roads safer
Although billions of crowns are spent on the modernization of Czech roads every year, being on the road in this country is not always…
Choose Karel Gott´s greatest hit
Carnival (Lady Karneval)
Forever Young (Být stále mlád)
The Safe (Trezor)
I´ll sweeten my coffee (Kávu si osladím)
Where might your nest lie, little bird? (Kdepak ty ptáčku hnízdo máš?)
Choose Karel Gott´s greatest hit (More)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Survival mode against zombies where you can earn money and gems.
More vehicles more SWAT vehicles and military vehicles please helicopters also!
Thanks and please reply ASAP please add this stuff! I love your game!
We will consider your suggestions, thank you!


text:
Q: can't connect to postgres after restarting mac PG::ConnectionBad It's been a long time since I restarted my mac, and now that I have restarted it, my rails apps will no longer connect to postgres.
PG::ConnectionBad
The problem is, i can't remember how i installed postgres, I'm not sure if i used homebrew or not... I know it was a later version of postgres as I am using Hstore.
Is there any way to tell or find which version I WAS using, and start the server?
--
I found 9.2
/usr/local/var/PG_VERSION = content of file says 9.2
/usr/local/var/global = has a lot of numbered files. I am guessing these are my databases?
I also found 9.2.2
/usr/local/Cellar/postgresql/9.2.2 but i cant find data files.

A: Run the command brew list to see what packages you have installed, then run brew info postgres for detail on the package...
That should tell you what you need to do, and (as you found out) run command:
pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres -l /usr/local/var/postgres/server.log start

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
package com.ckjava.io.command.server;

import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
import java.util.concurrent.Future;
import java.util.regex.Matcher;
import java.util.regex.Pattern;

import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;

import com.ckjava.io.command.ClassInstanceHelper;
import com.ckjava.io.command.client.ClientInfo;
import com.ckjava.io.command.constants.IOSigns;
import com.ckjava.io.command.server.handler.BlockAble;
import com.ckjava.io.command.server.handler.Handler;
import com.ckjava.io.command.thread.ThreadService;
import com.ckjava.utils.StringUtils;

/**
 * 处理每个用户的一次连接请求
 * @author chen_k
 *
 */
public class ServerHandleClientConnectionRunner implements Callable<String> {

	private static Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ServerHandleClientConnectionRunner.class);
	private static final String COMMAND_REG = "(\\$\\{.*\\})";

	private ClientInfo clientInfo;
    private ServerConnectionAction connection;
    private Map<String, String> handlerMap;

    private boolean isRunning;

    public ServerHandleClientConnectionRunner(ClientInfo clientInfo, Map<String, String> handlerMap) {
        this.clientInfo = clientInfo;
        this.handlerMap = handlerMap;

        connection = new ServerConnectionAction(clientInfo.getSocket());
        isRunning = true;
    }

    @Override
    public String call() throws Exception {
    	long start = System.currentTimeMillis();
    	// read message from socket
    	BufferedReader reader = null;
    	try {
    		reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(clientInfo.getSocket().getInputStream()));
		} catch (Exception e) {
			logger.error("client is "+clientInfo.getClientInfo()+", ServerHandleClientConnectionRunner read InputStream from Socket has error", e);
		}

    	String command = null;
        while(isRunning) {
            // Check whether the socket is closed.
            if (clientInfo.getSocket().isClosed()) {
                isRunning = false;
                break;
            }
            try {
            	if (reader.ready() && StringUtils.isNotBlank((command = reader.readLine()))) {
            		if (StringUtils.isBlank(command)) {
            			stopRunning();
            			return "client send unsupported command";
            		}
            		// TODO 这里以后增加客户端权限校验功能
                	logger.info("{} send command = {}", clientInfo.getClientInfo(), command);
                	String detail = getCommandDetail(reader.readLine());
                	if (StringUtils.isNotNullAndNotBlank(detail)) {
                		logger.info("{} send command detail = {}", clientInfo.getClientInfo(), detail);
                	}

                	if (command.equals(IOSigns.CLOSE_SERVER_SIGN)) { // 关闭 当客户端发送数据,读取响应后,不仅关闭自己的socket,还要通知服务器端关闭自己的socket
                		stopRunning();
                		logger.info("{} want server close, server close socket", clientInfo.getClientInfo());
    					break;
                	} else {
                		// 从 handlerMap 中取出对应的 handler, handler 的约束名称为 command + Handler
                		// 比如 	command 为 GetFileFromServer, 那么对应的 handler 为  GetFileFromServerHandler
                		String handlerName = handlerMap.get(command);
                		if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(handlerName)) {
                			Object handlerObj = ClassInstanceHelper.getInstance(handlerName, new Object[] { connection, detail });
                    		if (handlerObj != null && handlerObj instanceof Handler) {
                    			Future<?> future = ThreadService.getExecutorService().submit((Runnable) handlerObj);
                    			if (handlerObj instanceof BlockAble) { // 实现了 BlockAble 的 Handler 将会导致服务器端阻塞并且不再接受新的命令
                    				future.get();
                    			}
                    		}
                		}
                	}
                }
			} catch (Exception e) {
				stopRunning();
				logger.error("client is "+clientInfo.getClientInfo()+", ServerHandleClientConnectionRunner read InputStream from Socket ready() or readLine() has error", e);
				break;
			}
        }

        long totalConsume = System.currentTimeMillis() - start;
        return "total consume time is:" + totalConsume + "ms";
    }

    public String getCommandDetail(String message) {
    	if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(message) && message.contains("${") && message.contains("}")) {
			Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile(COMMAND_REG);
			Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(message);
			if (matcher.find() && matcher.groupCount() == 1) {
				connection.writeUTFString(IOSigns.FOUND_COMMAND);

				String matcherStr = matcher.group(1); // 获取匹配的数字,从1开始
				return matcherStr.replaceAll("\\$\\{", "").replaceAll("\\}", "");
			} else {
				connection.writeUTFString(IOSigns.NOT_FOUND_COMMAND);
			}
    	} else {
    		connection.writeUTFString(IOSigns.NOT_FOUND_COMMAND);
    	}
    	return null;
    }

    public void stopRunning() {
        isRunning = false;
        try {
        	if (!clientInfo.getSocket().isClosed()) {
        		clientInfo.getSocket().close();
        	}
        } catch (IOException e) {
        	logger.error("client is "+clientInfo.getClientInfo()+", close socket has error", e);
        }
    }

	public boolean isRunning() {
		return isRunning;
	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Meet The American Who Called Into Putin's Marathon Question And Answer Session
Arizona resident Jeremy Bowling loves reviewing movies, and trying to get Americans to understand that they've got Vladimir Putin all wrong.
By Hayes Brown and Anup Kaphle
Hayes Brown BuzzFeed News Reporter Anup Kaphle BuzzFeed Staff
Posted on June 15, 2017, at 5:52 p.m. ET
Russian President Vladimir Putin is nothing if not a man of tradition. And one of his favorites is his annual call-in show, where he marathons through questions from his citizens.
Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP / Getty Images
Among this year's highlights: a rousing chorus from "singing shamans on Siberia's Lake Baikal, an oath ceremony for army conscripts in Volgograd," and a seemingly sarcastic offer to former FBI director James Comey to find asylum within Russia's borders.
But this year, something a little different happened: Putin took a question from a random American, and answered it on live TV.
Mikhail Klimentiev / AFP / Getty Images
The question came from Arizona resident Jeremy Bowling, who described himself in the YouTube video he posted with his question as "a very big supporter" and "very pro-Russian."
"As an American who sits here and sees the racist Russophobia that running crazy in my country, what advice would you give me to help set the record straight?" Bowling asked. "To help my fellow Americans to understand that Russia is not the enemy?"
"As the current head of state, I know the feelings of our people," Putin said, stressing that he doesn't see the US as an enemy of Russia.
"We don't think of America as our enemy," he said. "Even more to it — twice in history, when it was especially hard, we joined our forces and were allies during two world wars." (The Russian Revolution led to Russia pulling out from World War I, but whatever.)
"The Russian Empire at the time played a big role in the United States becoming independent," he continued. "We see that Russophobia is spreading right now but we think it is more of a result of an internal political struggle. We know that we have lots of friends in the US, too. I've been told this by my American colleagues as well as some polls said so, at least the ones that were published a month ago."
The exchange got us curious though. Who is this guy, we asked ourselves, who seemingly fits the mold of the Soviet-era concept of a "useful idiot," someone who promotes propaganda without being fully aware of it?
Bowling has been a fan of Russia for a while judging by the videos posted to his YouTube channel — an eclectic mix of pro-Russia videos, Bollywood film reviews, and reviews of FX's The Americans.
In this video, Bowling lays out his high level of regard for President Donald Trump, who he sees as smashing Russophobia, and defends his firing of Comey.
"You have been vindicated, people of Russia, by Donald Trump," he said. "He just rolled on them, like Bratva-style," he added, seemingly referring to the largest syndicate in the Russian mafia.
Bowling has been publishing skepticism of the idea that Russia interfered in the 2016 election since at least January, when he released a blog post calling it "the return of the Red Scare."
"Just as [Sen. Joseph] McCarthy went on a rampage of over-exaggerations and false accusations that every opposition was a communist/Soviet plant," Bowling wrote. "So, too, the modern-day McCarthyites (Democrats) are inventing new ways to fabricate 'news stories' via their surrogates in the drive-by - I mean - the mainstream media.
"Dems and the media have not learned their lesson of lying to the American people," Bowling, who also runs online radio station Dark Sky Radio, continued. "At this rate my guess is it will be a generation before they have power again! To my liberal god-hating friends, Donald Trump is not your enemy. Putin and Russia are not your enemies. The flyover population is not your enemy. Your enemy is your failed policies! Putting transgender politics over jobs is your enemy, persecuting small business owners who have the right to refuse service to whomever they please is your enemy. Treading on the Constitution with no regard is your enemy."
A fan of pro-Russia and pro-Trump memes, Bowling also hosts a podcast called We Are The Remnants, which discusses matters of faith, along with previously mentioned faves like Bollywood films.
BuzzFeed News has reached out to Bowling via email and VK, the Russian social media site, to ask about his views on Putin and the response to his TV appearance.
Facebook: remnantxradio.thepride
Bowling may have raised eyebrows with his virtual one-on-one with Putin, but he's not the only American accused of making eyes at the Russian president.
Charley Gallay, / AP, Alberto E. Rodriguez
The phrase "useful idiot" may not actually have come from Lenin, but it's definitely Russian, and has seen a huge resurgence since the 2016 US election. Among those hit with the tag include Russia Today personalities like Sean Stone, the son of filmmaker Oliver Stone who, himself, just released a lengthy set of interviews with Putin and the president himself.
Hayes Brown is a world news editor and reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.
Contact Hayes Brown at hayes.brown@buzzfeed.com.
Anup Kaphle is a deputy world editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in London. His secure PGP fingerprint is AA69 A7F0 91A0 8CF9 F06A 8343 05EE 4615 8CD5 33D8.
Contact Anup Kaphle at anup.kaphle@buzzfeed.com.


It's been a while since I read a book non-stop, but I found myself home-alone, recovering from a stomach bug, and my youngest brother's copy of the Silmarillion lying ignored on the desk. Perfect conditions for a read-a-thon, which lasted for 14 hours! And happily took little effort, as J.R.R. Tolkien is one of my favourite authors.
For the uninitiated,the events of Silmarillion come before the Hobbit, before the Lord of the Rings, much before most of the characters of either book existed. And if you are so uninitiated that you haven't heard of any of them, well, then dont bother reading any further. For you are not one who can comprehend the world of fantasy, there where my mind often flees for solace and silence,to dabble in awe and wonder, and to leave the suffocating bonds of reality. Fantasy is my favourite genre by far, and this is my first fantasy book review, so do forgive me if I get carried away.
So back to the book. Tolkien is in a wonderful position at the start, for he has carte blanche. Imagine writing a tale that takes place before the Big Bang occurred, before time or space as we know it existed. Such was the empty canvas upon which Tolkien painted his universe. So he describes a God, Iluvatar, and His vassals whose song creates out of the void, Midlle-earth as we know it. Some of these vassals, christened the Valar, enter Middle-earth to govern it and make it fit for the children of God, elves and men. Then one of the Valar decides that he wants to possess all Middle-earth for himself. Enter Melkor, aka Morgoth, the antagonist for the most part, and the book describes deeds that were done by the Elves in their war against him. For Melkor stole from the elves the Silmari, three perfect Jewels crafted by the elf Feanor, in whom is preserved the Light of the Two Trees created by the Valar. Feanor and his sons swear an oath to wage war on whoever possesses a Silmaril, for in them too the darkness of possession is awakened. Thus Feanor and his people turn their back on the Valar and embrace a dark path of war, destined to consume their kin, and come to Middle-earth, where Melkor has entrenched himself.
The book goes on to tell many tales of valour, heroism, sacrifice and love, and just as many of deceit, betrayal and malice. For me, most moving of all were the tales of the fall of Fingolfin and the story of Beren and Luthien.
Fingolfin, half brother of Feanor, faced with certain defeat and possibly the obliteration of his race, challenges the Lord of darkness Morgoth to single combat. The venture, although hopeless (for Morgoth is one of the Valar, and Fingolfin, no matter how great, is an elf), showcases the bold and limitless self belief that the elves had in themselves, and armed mostly with this belief, and a love for the elves of whom he was King, Fingolfin fought, gave Morgoth seven wounds, cleaved off his leg, but fell in the end.
The tale of Beren, a man, and Luthien the elf maiden almost made me cry at the end, hopeless romantic that I am. For theirs is THE epic amid all the many love stories in the book, and theirs was the first union between man and elf. Beren, in order to win the right to marry Luthien, does as her father asks and seeks to wrest a Silmaril from the clutches of Morgoth. In this he is assisted by Luthien herself, for she cannot bear to be apart from him. The two achieve the impossible, not once, but twice, for not only do they manage to escape Morgoth's fortress with a Silmaril, but Beren also comes back from the land of the dead, as the sorrow and love of Luthien moves even the hardest hearts of the Valar.
One of the recurring concepts in the book I really enjoyed reading was The Gift of Men, that is death and mortality, which is also spoken of as the Doom of Men. This Gift the God Iluvatar gave only the race of men; the elves he made immortal. Death, which we humans fear so often, becomes an objecct of wonder for the Elves, for it signified a freedom from the cycles of the world, which they had not been granted. For them it truly is a gift, but few mortals would look at it that way. How many of us can really think of death as a gift? Can we keep in mind that our mortality should drive us to value every second, and make something beautiful of it. And isn't death, to the organised mind "the next great adventure"(Yes, I'm quoting Dumbledore, in a Tolkien book review)? If you, like me believe that the soul is eternal, its not that hard to see. Funnily though I don't think Tolkien believes in rebirth et al. For he does speak of a place where the souls of elves go after death, but never what happens to the souls of men, and never that any soul returns to be born again.
And so if you are a fantasy fan, and haven't read the Lord of the Rings yet, I strongly suggest you read the Silmarillion first. The stories are just as rich and the narrative just as enchanting (though the chapter on the children of Hurin seemed to drag a bit). It will fill some of the gaps that the reading of the Lord of the Riongs presents, for in that book, the events of the Silmarillion are spoken of in the way we would speak about the Mahabharata, as myth and legend alone. If, like me, you have read the Lord of the Rings already, still I suggest that you go back and read the Silmarillion. I can promise you, at the very least, a lot of "Ah thats what he was talking about" moments.


This was the website for GG Infinite News. The content is from the site's 2011 archived pages.
If you are interested in purchasing any of the product GG Infinite offers, go to their current website at: http://www.gginfinite.com/. If you are not familiar with GGInfinite, since 2010 their mission is to provide their customer base from the Gundam model & collectibles communities with the latest and greatest offerings from the Japanese toy & hobby manufacturer Bandai.
Both of my children (ages 4 & 7) are huge fans of these characters, and are able to spend hours on end fantasizing stories and activities imagined and inspired by them. Even though the characters may or may not be modeled after real creatures, my kids are able to make some assumptions regarding what each represents. For example, several remind them of our own pets, even though they are clearly not animals. They have been given their own unique names, like Cat Lady, and Scary Friend who are seen as pet replicas - Cat Lady has her own litter box and Scary has his very own dog bed inside the rocket ship in which they reside. Both are able to converse and my kids are very comfortable imagining them as super pets who can go from simple play activities to saving lives and using the super powers to help one another. I suspect this kind of imaginary play action is how many younger children engage with these characters, regardless of their original roles in the fantasy realms created by Bandai. As parents, we love to see this, and encourage it. The models are truly unique, creative and inspire kids to bring them to life.
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Is Andrew Luck an Elite Fantasy QB Again?
It is obvious to see. Andrew Luck does not have his entire arm strength back since his 18-month absence from the NFL. It was on display Week 3 against the Eagles when he was removed from the game on a last-second Hail Mary attempt.
Then in Weeks 4 and 5, we see him throw the ball 121 times over the course of just five days and look like his old self. So, what are we really to believe? Is he compromised in his arm talent or is he getting back to health and it is just slow-going?
This is not going to be answered probably for quite a long time. But there are a few things we do know for sure that might factor into our decision about Andrew Luck's fantasy value going forward.
First, the running game. Wait, what running game? The Colts have had a suspension to Robert Turbin, prolonged injury to Marlon Mack and lack of expected rookie influx in the rushing game by Jordan Wilkins and Nyheim Hines, who have been unable to run the ball effectively in any game this season. At 74.0 rushing yards per game, the Colts are currently ranked 29th in the NFL in rushing. This has directly led Andrew Luck being required to throw a ton. And throw it he has. In the first five games of the season, he is number one in completions with 163, first in attempts with 245, third in touchdown passes with 12 and is throwing for an average of 283 yards per game. While these numbers are great for your fantasy teams and we love to see it, if they do develop a running game of any sort these numbers could regress, especially against teams with solid secondaries like Jacksonville. Luck looks elite right now, but could lead you to disappointment in crucial times of the season, like when trying to secure a playoff berth in your fantasy leagues.
Saying this, it looks like the run game is not going to get a handle on things, so the Colts may have to deploy the New England approach and use the short pass out of the backfield to keep Nyheim Hines involved. This has been working the past few weeks and should continue going forward. Luck could be in store to continue leading the league in pass attempts and completions, making for big fantasy production.
The second factor which helps Andrew Luck be viewed as a possible elite quarterback for the remainder of the season is the defense in Indianapolis. While the defense has been playing better than expected in 2018, it can be said that they are playing over their heads and will soon come down to Earth. The points are still there for opposing teams as the Colts give up an average of 27.6 points per game on the defensive side of the ball and Luck is still having to throw to keep up. When the defense finally does come crashing down there will be a need for the offense to pick it up even more and propel Luck to new heights. Currently ranked 27th in the league in points allowed and 23rd in the league in yards allowed per game, the Colts defense will struggle to even meet these meager numbers by the end of the season.
Combine these facts with the Colts upcoming schedule and the future seems bright for Luck to have an elite season, at least in terms of final numbers. With games upcoming against the Jets, Bills, and Raiders, Luck will continue to flourish this season and we have two main things to thank for his sudden resurgence. His defense and his running game, or lack thereof. If someone in your league panicked and dropped him to waivers or if you can get him in a trade, Luck would make a great trade target to help get you to the playoffs. With playoff matchups against the Texans, Giants, and Redskins, his matchups down the stretch are nothing to be afraid of either so go get him and feel set at quarterback with the return of a top-tier fantasy QB.


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Indonesia Soccer Deaths
People peek inside one of the gates at Kanjuruhan Stadium where where a soccer stampede killed more than 100 people on Oct. 1, in Malang, East Java, Indonesia, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Indonesia's president said the country will not face sanctions from soccer's world governing body and will remain the host of next year's U-20 World Cup after the firing of tear gas after a match inside the half-locked stadium caused the deadly crush at the exits. (AP Photo/Dicky Bisinglasi)
Photographer: Dicky Bisinglasi
Subject: Men's sports, Men's soccer, Men's soccer, Sports, Soccer, International soccer
Location: Malang, INDONESIA
Transmission Reference: XJAK102
Byline Title: STR
Caption Writer: DA


Stromae, whose real name is Paul Van Haver was born March 12, 1985 in Brussels (Belgium) a Rwandan father and a Belgian mother. He took his first lessons in music theory at the age of eleven and quickly developed a passion for composition. He invents his nickname by reversing the syllables of the word maestro and began the report in 2003 by forming a duet with rapper JEDI The duo recorded a few tracks before separating. Stromae starts when solo. In 2007, he recorded an EP 4 tracks, which allows him to get noticed on the music scene and opens the door to professionalism. He composed some tracks for artists like Anggun, Kery James or Melissa M. In 2009, Stromae out the song "So They Dance" that is experiencing tremendous success in Germany, Belgium and France. This success allows Stromae to launch his career and especially to record his first album released in 2010. His music, a blend of hip-hop and electro, attracted a large audience and the charisma of the character does the rest.


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Tag Archives: Andrew Hartnack
Labour and Zimbabwe's new agrarian structure
Walter Chambati, acting director of the Sam Moyo African Institute for Agrarian Studies, has probably contributed more than anyone to our understanding of how wage labour relations have changed following land reform.
His most recent paper, in the Agrarian South special issue dedicated to the life and work of Sam Moyo, makes the case that wage labour exists across farms of all scales in Zimbabwe, and is not the preserve of large-scale capitalist agriculture. Indeed, as processes of differentiation occur in the new resettlement areas, demand for wage labour – often as short-term piecework – has grown.
Based on studies in Goromonzi and Kwekwe in 2006 and 2014, the paper shows the different patterns of labour utilisation across sites and farm types. In Goromonzi and Kwekwe, 87% and 81% of A2 households hired permanent workers, with 5.5 and 2.7 hired on average. In the A1 areas, 32% and 22% households hired permanent labour, with 0.9 and 0.7 workers hired on average. Casual, temporary labour was much more important in the A1 areas, although with greater rates of hiring than nearby communal areas with around 60% of households hiring regularly.
In other words there is a vibrant labour economy in the resettlement areas, but it is highly differentiated. It also varies in terms of the conditions offered. Chambati argues that the focus on 'work' as paid wage work may underestimate the extent of labour hiring, as cash wages are combined with in-kind arrangements very often. Yet, he argues such 'informal' wage labour has a very different character and conditions of employment compared to the full and part-time labour of the past. He concludes:
"There is continuation of the super-exploitation of agrarian wage labourers that is reflected by the payment of poor wages and differing degrees of the institution of the residential labour tenancy in both the old and new farm compounds. Landlessness and/or land shortage continues to be a key characteristic of farm wage labourers as in the past suggesting the persistence of the labour reserve dynamic."
This is an important conclusion, with major implications for policy. If land reform has simply replicated the inequalities of the past, but in a new form, then the progressive gains of land redistribution have to be qualified. A key challenge then is to think hard about how labour becomes incorporated into the new agrarian system. Not just in the precarious, temporary, informal ways described in this paper (and seen across our study areas too), but allowing labourers to have rights and so the provision of minimum conditions, as well as rights to land.
This is after all not a simple replication of the old wage labour reserve economy but a new dynamic where wage labour combines with small-scale agriculture, disturbing old class positions and identities. The old 'farm worker', trapped in a paternalistic relationship with a large-scale capitalist farmer, is rarer these days; instead those supplying labour to diverse new farms have different livelihood profiles and are constructing new identities, often as 'worker-peasants', combining part-time wage work with farming. This dynamic remains poorly understood, and varies dramatically across the country, by gender and age.
Studies of new labour dynamics and the implications for rights, welfare, livelihoods and economy remain priorities for post-land reform research and policy debate. The work of Chambati – alongside Andrew Hartnack, Leila Sinclair-Bright and others – offers some important pointers on the way forward, getting us beyond the unhelpful characterisations of much commentary.
This is the seventh in a series of short reviews of new work on agriculture and land in Zimbabwe. Nearly all of these studies are by Zimbabwean researchers, reflecting the growing research capacity and ability to comment on important issues of policy in the post-Mugabe era. If there are other papers or books that you think should be included, please let me know!
Tagged as Andrew Hartnack, farmworker, goromonzi, kwekwe, labour, Leila Sinclair Bright, SMAIAS, walter chambati, zimbabwe
From 'ordered estates' to 'crooked times': farmworker welfare in Zimbabwe
A new book is just out – Ordered Estates: Welfare, Power and Maternalism on Zimbabwe's (Once White) Highveld – by Andrew Hartnack, and published by Weaver and UKZN Press. It addresses many of the themes highlighted in the blogs of the past two weeks, and is based on research carried out over the last decade on a number of Highveld farms, as well as with farm worker welfare NGOs. Once you peel away the layering of sometimes unnecessary theory (it was originally an anthropology PhD so that's the excuse!), the empirical stories shared in the book's pages have much to offer our emerging understandings of post-land reform Zimbabwe (see also earlier blogs on his work).
The book fills an important gap in the literature, as it offers a nuanced account of the history of farm workers' rights, as well as a reflection on changing fortunes since 2000. The 'ordered estates' of the colonial era have been much described. Blair Rutherford's classic work from Karoi/Hurungwe told this story well, describing the constrained 'domestic government' that disciplined and controlled in the narrow, paternalistic world of white farms. Post-independence this reformed somewhat, and the limited sovereignties of the farms were extended as the state insisted on labour laws and other regulations, and NGOs took up the plight of farmworkers, creating new, more technical-bureaucratic, 'practices of rule'.
This book deepens this analysis, particularly with a focus on 'farmers' wives' and their role in welfare organisations – hence the reference to 'maternalism' in the title. It also shows of course that there was not one single approach to labour in white farming areas; not surprisingly all farms were different, depending on characters and contexts. The post-independence developmental attempts to modernise, civilise and improve resulted in a range of initiatives on the farms from schooling programmes to orphanages, often with heavy involvement of 'farmers' wives'. But by 'rendering technical' the inequalities of land and labour regimes, such welfare efforts did not address the underlying challenges, and welfare was more sticking plaster rather than fundamental reform. Following land reform in 2000, such NGOs have not found a new role, focusing on displacement, but not on the new lives and livelihoods of their former 'beneficiaries'.
However, it is in the examination of the post-land reform period that this book cuts new ground. Building on, but also critiquing (as with some other recent literature somewhat gratuitously and inaccurately in my view), the important work of Walter Chambati, Sam Moyo and others, the book paints a detailed ethnographic picture of how farm workers carve out new opportunities in an highly challenging economic, social and political environment. This is the period of 'crooked times', where a 'zig-zag' approach to the kukiya-kiya economy is vital to survive. This is the world where there are no standard jobs – in the form of regular wage work – and where entrepreneurial informality emerges, with new forms of distribution, dependence and personhood, as James Ferguson describes for South Africa. Whether in the case of the Harare peri-urban settlement described in Chapter 5 (discussed previously in this blog) or the biographies of former farm workers profiled in Chapter 7, mixing new farm work with urban living, the new precarities of life in the post land reform age are well described. New 'modes of belonging' must be generated, very different to the ordered safety, if extreme exploitation, of what went before.
What was missing from the book I felt was more detailed information who moved to what new occupations and where they ended up to provide the bigger-picture context to make sense of the fascinating detail. The book acknowledges the problems with the existing statistics, quoting both the CFU and other sources, and (somewhat bizarrely) just takes an average number, as a 'middle way'. Getting a national picture may be impossible, but it would have been good to know what happened on those on the farms studied, and get a sense of how outcomes for farm workers were differentiated and why, in order to locate the few, if fascinating, individual cases.
There are hints though at wider patterns. Those few white farms that have persisted have often maintained a network of loyal farm workers, some who provide protection and support through their links, and the book offered an interesting case of this dynamic in Chapter 7. At various points, the book suggests (I think very accurately) that turnover on A2 farms was particularly damaging to farmworkers, as production collapsed and some A2 farmers did not maintain their operations. But it also suggests that 'successful' A2 farms nearby took on workers, and so there is often a regional labour economy that is important to understand on the new farms. The book did not however get into any detail on what happened post land reform to groups of farmworkers in farm labour compounds, and especially on the A1 farms (after all the largest areas), as we have been trying to do in Mvurwi. It therefore missed out on the dynamic described in the blogs over the last two weeks, of farmworkers becoming farmers – along with much else – in the new 'crooked times' of the last 16 years.
Despite shortcomings (this was after all a single researcher doing a research degree, so no blame there), this is a most valuable contribution, and coming from a white Zimbabwean (as he admits not from a farming background) perhaps especially powerful. When you next hear misinformed statements about Zimbabwe's former farmworkers, please turn to this book for an informed, nuanced account that sets an important agenda for future research and policy debate.
Tagged as Andrew Hartnack, blair rutherford, james ferguson, land, land reform, mvurwi, sam moyo, walter chambati, weaver press, zimbabwe
What are former farm workers doing 16 years after land reform?
There has been much debate about the fate of 'farm workers' following land reform, with discussion focused on displacement and dispossession (and many dodgy numbers touted around), but relatively little about what has happened to this group since (although this blog has tried). Today we must ask, is the term 'farm worker' now irrelevant, and do we need a more nuanced characterisation? Our research in Mvurwi area in Mazowe district suggests the answer is yes.
Those who were once workers on white commercial farms are now carving out new livelihoods on the margins of the resettlement programme, often under very harsh conditions. Their challenges are barely represented in wider debates on future rural policy, with the focus being on the new settlers. How they are surviving, and how they are integrating within new farming communities following land reform, remains poorly understood, and under-researched.
Fortunately there is new research emerging which paints a complex picture across the Highveld farming communities. In a couple of weeks I will review Andrew Hartnack's excellent new book, Ordered Estates, for example. Our own research shows some similar patterns. On the three former large scale commercial farms where we are working near Mvurwi, now each subdivided into multiple A1 resettlement farms (a total of 220), there are three farm worker compounds, housing 370 families. Before land reform these families worked on farms across the district and beyond. Around half formerly worked on one of the three farms where we are working, the others came from 23 other farms, displaced by the land reform as compounds were closed and new farmers, particularly A2 farmers taking over larger farms, dismissed workers, and replaced or downsized their workforce.
In the last 15 years, these families – and now their descendants – have had to carve out a living on the margins. The old system of employment, under the paternalistic 'domestic government', so well described by Blair Rutherford, has gone. In its place is a much more precarious existence, based on a range of unstable sources of income. Many work for the new settlers, others farm their own land, others do a range of off-farm activities, from brickmaking to mining to fishing. We interviewed 100 household heads, sampled randomly across the compounds, and asked whether they thought their life had improved, stayed the same or got worse since land reform. Contrary to the standard narrative about former farmer workers, we were surprised to find 56% of informants saying that things had improved. IM commented: "Life in the past was very hard. It's definitely an improvement today. I didn't even have bicycle then, no cattle. Now I farm a bit, and have both".
Three farms near Mvurwi
How are people improving their livelihoods, and what is happening to those who see a deterioration in their livelihoods? Our studies have aimed to find out. What is clear is that a single designation of former farm worker is insufficient. Today, this is a much more differentiated group. In the past there were grades of different jobs, with drivers, cooks, foremen and others with managerial posts getting better conditions and pay than field workers. But today, the differentiation is not based on jobs, but on a range of livelihood options being followed. Access to land in particular is crucial. In many ways, the people living in the compounds are not so much workers in the classic sense, but more represent the 'fractured classes of labour' that Henry Bernstein has described, mixed in with aspiring peasants and petty commodity producers.
Across our three farms there is a clear difference between those with plots of land, and those without – or with only small gardens. Some former farm workers gained land during the land reform. Across our sample 19 A1 households are headed by former farm workers or their sons, representing 8.6 per cent of plots. For those who remained in the compounds in two of the farms, access to 1 ha plots was negotiated following land reform, with the approval of local politicians, the District Administrator and the Department of Lands. This arose out of major disputes, particularly around the 2008 election, between the A1 settler farmers and those living in the compounds. For others small garden plots are available, and these can be vital for household survival. In addition, there is a growing rental market in land, as A1 farmers unable to use their full allocation of land, rent out small plots (usually 0.1-0.2 hectares) to compound residents. This helps hook them into labour relations, and means that often highly skilled workers are on hand.
Before land reform farming was not possible for those living in the compounds. The white farmers on these 3 farms sometimes offered 'lines' within their fields as an alternative to rations, but farm workers were not allowed independent incomes. This was a highly controlled setting, with paternalistic, sometimes violent and brutal, control creating a system of dependence and fear. Of course former farm owners were very different, and some were better than others, as the testimonies of farm workers clearly show (see next week's blog for some extended case studies), but the expectation was that those living in the compounds were under the control of the farmer, and expected to work in return for pay, housing and some amenities. Today the housing has to be maintained by the residents, there is no regular pay (except for a few who have been employed permanently by the new settlers) and school or clinic fees must be paid for.
Differentiated livelihoods
The table below offers some basic data, contrasting four different groups: those who got land under land reform and are now A1 settlers but were formerly farm workers (or their sons); those living in the compounds with plots of more than 1 ha; those with plots/gardens of up to 1 ha; and those without land (or just small gardens by their houses).
A1 farmers, who were former farm workers Compound dwellers with more 1 ha or more of land Compound dwellers with land areas less than 1 ha Compound dwellers with only small home gardens
Land owned (ha) 3.5 1.5, plus 0.3 rental 0.4, plus 0.3 rental A few sq metres, plus 0.2 ha rental
Cattle (nos) 2.1 0.7 0.5 0.1
Maize (kg in 2014) 1569 735 418 66
Tobacco (kg in 2014) 1045 470 232 27
Cattle purchased in last 5 years 0.9 0.3 0.2 0.0
The contrasts are stark. Those who managed to get land during the land reform are doing relatively well (21 households of the 220 settlers across the farms). Their skills learned on the commercial farms are paying off. Even though they have much lower land areas than others in the A1 settlements, they have reasonable production and on average cultivated 2.5 ha in 2014. This resulted in a surplus of maize being sold, and tobacco being marketed. As a result, they are accumulating cattle and other goods, building homes and employing people themselves from the compounds.
But those living in the compounds are not all the same. There are some (26 per cent of our compound sample) who are more akin to the poorer settlers, or those in the communal areas, who have on average 1.5 ha, renting in a further 0.3 ha. They produce about three-quarters of annual family food requirements from maize, while also selling tobacco and engaging in other work. Their reliance on selling labour is limited, although at the peak of the farming, curing or grading season they may be hired. Many had higher grade jobs before, and may be sought out for advice. They have started accumulating and are investing in cattle in particular (but also a whole range of other goods, including solar panels, water pumps, bicycles, and a few have bought cars).
Then there are those with some land but under a hectare, although also renting in land (52 per cent). This group is more reliant on labouring and other off-farm activities. Many are engaged in trades, including building, carpentry and so on, servicing the A1 areas, but on their own terms.
And finally there are those who have only home gardens, although some are renting in land (average 0.2 ha, hence some maize/tobacco production), and are highly reliant on selling labour to land reform farmers (22 per cent). Labour organisation may involve farmers turning up with a pick-up and recruiting on the day, or may be mediated by a local broker (often a compound member) who is in mobile phone connection with a number of farmers, both A1 and A2, and directs people to work openings, again by mobile phone.
The proportions in these categories of compound dwellers is not fixed, however. Proportions change season by season and over time. What we see is an emerging class differentiation among former farmer workers, driven in particular by access to land. In discussions around whether lives have improved or deteriorated, everyone mentions land, as well as employment conditions. Land access is however limited, and political gatekeeping means that not everyone can benefit. Allocations of land since the land reform within the three farms we have studied have depended on complex negotiations between those in the compounds and local political leaders. New settlers are suspicious of those in the compounds. Cheats, thieves, foreigners, MDC supporters and worse are the descriptors often used.
This antagonism is not universal however, as settlers are well aware they need the labour and skills of those living there for their tobacco production. Good relations in the end are necessary, and accommodations have to be found. Brokering by local politicians and traditional leaders resulted in the concessions of the 1 ha plots; and land deals with nearby A2 farms to avoid antagonism have also occurred. Compound leaders, usually with connections in ZANU PF, have been able to create opportunities, but only for some. Usually it is the older, male, better educated, previously higher grade employees have benefitted, while the youth, single women and others with fewer connections have not, as profiles in next week's blog will show.
New questions for research and policy
While the policy discourse continues to focus on displacement and farm worker rights amongst the NGOs and human rights community, those who used to be farm workers themselves have had by necessity to get on with life. They know the situation has changed and have to negotiate the new reality. As discussed, some have benefited, others not. But right now, there is an urgent need for a more informed policy discussion about what next, and move the policy debate on. Tobacco production, now the mainstay of Zimbabwe's fragile agricultural economy, is being grown by a large number of new land reform settlers (amongst others). This production is reliant on labour, yet its organisation is very different to what went before. This suggests new challenges and priorities for policy and advocacy.
Some important new questions arise. What labour rights do those living in the compounds have? What land is required as part of a national redistribution to sustain their livelihoods? What is the future of the compounds, sitting as an anomaly in the new resettlements, a reminder of a now long-gone past? These questions are barely being discussed, and much more research and informed debate is urgently needed. The next couple of blogs will offer some more on this theme, with the aim of raising the debate.
Tagged as Andrew Hartnack, farm worker, labour, land reform, mvurwi, walter chambati, zimbabwe
Farm workers: reconstructing lives and livelihoods
There is little doubt that farm workers lost out with the land reform, but what has happened to them since, particularly those who remained on the farms?
Too often commentary on farm workers has portrayed them as passive victims. But new work demonstrates their agency in a variety of ways. They were of course active agents, both before and after the land reform. Based on in-depth ethnographic exploration, this work tries to explore how different farm workers (not after all a uniform category) have reconfigured their lives in response to the new agrarian structure. There is, as ever, a complexity to the story not offered in standard accounts. In particular I can recommend an often overlooked 2009 paper by Andrew Hartnack that offers a particularly nuanced account. He shows how "through local responses to displacement, displaced workers are able to counter the discourses of the powerful by subverting global, national and local representations, using local agency to create their own practical discourse of displacement".
Farm workers have always been represented in particular ways by public, media and political commentary. In the past, as Blair Rutherford has described, white farmers often related to labour in hierarchical and paternalistic ways, constructing citizenship and identify outside the influence of the state within the confines of the farm. Hartnack argues that the limited earlier research on farm workers often projected a simplistic image of workers as victims of racial discrimination and capitalist agriculture or, in direct contrast, they were characterised by commentators such as R.W. Johnson as having lived under a 'cosy arrangement' or 'protective umbrella', now disrupted by land reform. In the 2009 paper Hartnack comments: "While undoubtedly well meaning, much of it [the literature] essentially denied farm workers agency or cultural competence, portraying them largely as poverty stricken, illiterate and powerless, giving the impression that they were passive victims of their circumstances". In the post 2000 discourse, farm workers are again seen as victims, this time of ZANU-PF expulsions, while the nationalistic discourse presents farm workers as 'foreign' and stooges of white farmers and the opposition.
Yet in all of these discourses, agency, capacity, innovation and practice is denied. This is why a deeper, ethnographic understanding of farm worker lives and livelihoods is required. Hartnack's emerging studies offer one among a number of important contributions to this. He highlights for example how:
"…workers used their ingenuity, skills and resourcefulness to manipulate the farm system to their own advantage. Farm workers may have been subordinated within capitalist relations of power, dependent on paternalism for survival, marginalized and stigmatized within society in general and made to feel insecure, but this did not stop them from learning how to benefit from and adapt to their situation".
And this experience helped farm workers and their families to cope with and respond to displacement when farm invasions took place. The experience of displacement is of course not uniform. Workers living on a farm came from diverse locations, often from outside Zimbabwe, they had formed communities on farms, but with linkages between and outside that differed between families, men and women. In a number of papers Hartnack describes the process of displacement and the living conditions of former farm workers living in a 'holding camp' on the outskirts of Harare. The insecurities, the poor health conditions, the oppressive patronage relations and political impositions, not least Operation Murambatsvina, are documented.
Yet the situation was not hopeless. It could not be: people had to survive. And the new farmers needed labour, and particularly skilled labour. Indeed some former farm workers then quite quickly (indeed within the same season) acquired jobs, but again this was not uniform. It was differentiated by levels of skills/education, gender and age. Hartnack explains that the first jobs available were:
"….piecework jobs that required either some measure of skill or experience, such as spraying for the flower-growing companies, or the capacity for heavy manual labour. Some men with experience in the Brylee flower nursery thus got jobs with the three different flower companies in the area. Others became builder's assistants at the local housing cooperative and on private building sites. Some loaded bricks at the nearby brickfields, while other young men sought jobs as security guards. However, even those who found alternative employment soon after displacement found their wages inadequate to meet their increased need for cash, while their job security was poor in comparison to what they had enjoyed at the farm. Many of the available jobs were not easily accessible to women, being in the traditional realm of men. This meant that women, along with the elderly, struggled to maintain access to an income after displacement. Casual workers (traditionally women) had not had much work in 2002, as the disruption of the farm's operations in the first three months of the year had reduced the need for their labour. Having had no wages, many casual labourers found themselves with very little cash at the time of displacement, as did retired workers. Female-headed households, which had relied on casual labour for an income, thus suffered badly as they did not have savings, and their members were often not able to find alternative jobs easily".
Four years later follow up research found a small number of senior, skilled workers had gained employment on their former farm, while others had used skills and connections to get jobs or land elsewhere, and had moved on. Others remained vulnerable, and were reliant on piecework, small-scale gardening, trading and other activities. In the context of new settlements new forms of patronage emerged, with displaced farm workers finding protection by church leaders, war veterans and others. Responses included a range of strategies of the 'weapons of the weak' – trickery, foot-dragging, feigning ignorance and more – and farm workers developed representations of themselves as compliant, pious, weak or ignorant in order to get by. All this allowed some room for manoeuvre in nevertheless highly constrained circumstances, allowing them to 'blend in' yet 'remain apart'. Conflicts and jealousies existed between the new arrivals and those residents of the informal settlement to where the farm workers were displaced. This involved a tricky negotiation, especially at the beginning, although as time progressed greater integration took place.
As readers of this blog will know, I have mostly worked in Masvingo province where large numbers of farm workers were not displaced, and there were few compounds of the sort found on the large-scale tobacco or horticulture farms in the Highveld. So it was fascinating for me to learn what had happened on such farms as part of an ongoing study in Mvurwi, Mazowe district. Here large compounds still exist, often housing hundreds of families; these are the 'in situ' displaced described by Godfrey Magaramombe, contrasting with those who were forced to move.
But unlike in the early 2000s, a decade on these former workers are carving out new relationships with the farms that surround them, as Walter Chambati and others have shown. This has not been straightforward, and stories of conflict abound, but these farm workers are now finding work in a more flexible way than before. Today they move around between farms looking for work, often able to strike deals to their advantage. Given the skills many possess, they have become valuable resources in the new farm economy, providing useful agronomic and marketing skills. Women and men engage in this new labour economy in different ways. Employment is usually poorly paid and insecure, and the lack of an organised voice is a constraint. Most households based at the compounds also farm. Negotiating small plots of land from the neighbouring farm owners has been a key part of their strategy, and many will survive off such gardens, even marketing surpluses to supplement wages. Some have been lucky to get larger areas, as part of official allocations within the resettlements. We met several former farm workers who were now farming tobacco with great success.
For new farmers with compounds within their farm boundaries, there are challenges too. With residents now incorporated into schools in surrounding areas, there is less of an obligation to provide services, but there are issues of welfare and security. A new farmer must deal with his neighbours well to avoid an escalation of theft or trespass. Thus many have started up relationships with committees within the compounds to negotiate access to land, water, electricity and to discuss issues such as the upkeep of farm buildings. These compounds are of course anomalous inheritances from an earlier agrarian structure, but have to be accommodated, as people, often second or third generation migrants, have nowhere to go.
While not denying hardship and vulnerability, the experience of former farm workers was not simple victimhood, characterised by passivity and lack of agency, but a much more active struggle. However despite this variety of strategies, access to new livelihood opportunities was again highly differentiated. Just as there is no single or simple story for land reform and the successes or otherwise of the 'new farmers', there is no standard story for farm workers, as is sometimes suggested. Detailed study of particular places and people, always contextualised, is essential for revealing the highly variegated experiences and outcomes.
Tagged as Andrew Hartnack, blair rutherford, employment, farm worker, Godfrey Magaramombe, land, land reform, masvingo, mazowe, Operation Murambatsvina, RW Johnson, walter chambati, zanu-pf, zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's country clubs: the changing social life of Zimbabwe's farming areas
David Hughes' book, Whiteness in Zimbabwe, has come in for some stick in various reviews for painting a too uniform view of Zimbabwean 'whites'. Not everyone was a white farmer in Mashonaland they argue. Whiteness has and had much more complexity. An excellent review essay by Andrew Hartnack is just out that covers this ground in a nuanced way. This argument is of course correct, and these admonitions are appropriate if there was a sense in Hughes' book – which I liked a lot (as do others) – that what he was talking about were all white Zimbabweans, and not a smallish but highly influential group of white older male farmers around Marondera (see Angus Selby's nuanced history of white farming).
But that said, I think there is an important job to be done in documenting the lives and views of this admittedly small but powerful group. For it is this group that has successfully generated a narrative around land and commercial agriculture that has captured the imagination and policy attention of many, generating multiple myths along the way. Yet in this narrative the racial basis and narrow economic role, as well as the massive state support, of white agriculture is rarely mentioned. These silences and biases are well captured in another excellent book that I have reviewed by Rory Pilosoff.
The social isolation and lack of integration with the wider (black) community in Zimbabwe's rural areas created a distance that the rhetoric of post-Independence reconciliation could not close. These were maintained by a range of social, cultural and economic processes for twenty years after Independence, until land reform shattered this sheltered existence. To understand how this could have happened, when the writing was so obviously on the wall (and had been for decades, as of course urban, liberal whites knew full well), we have to understand the day-to-day lives and practices of rural whites (and perhaps especially men of a certain age), and how these generated particular ideas so out of kilter with reality.
One place to get a sense of this were Zimbabwe' country clubs. They existed across the white commercial farming rural areas, and in the estates, and were exclusive realms where outdated and outrageous attitudes and cultural mores could be maintained. If you visited these places in the 1980s and 1990s (and I did a few times), you would have thought time travel was possible. The shocking views, the bizarre dress codes, and the drinking habits portrayed a vision of rural, male whiteness that would make you think you were in a particularly non-PC film from the 1950s. These were the places where racial superiority was confirmed, and the trials and tribulations of commercial farming were discussed, sometimes in the exclusive men's only bar, where a suitable evening dress code was required, and the conversations were overheard by a silent black staff who served the drinks.
Adrian Nel kindly pointed me to a great article in the M and G by Sean Christie focusing on what happened to Zimbabwe's country clubs after land reform. It's a fascinating read, and very telling on a number of fronts. In the reconfigured countryside, there is still a need for (mostly men) to socialise (drink) and play sports (mostly golf it seems). So now they are populated by a rather different crowd – military officials who have grabbed land, politicians carrying out their 'cell phone farming' and war veterans. But also there are still rural whites who have not abandoned their old haunts. Some are integrating in the new agricultural system with great agility, and have often taken over important roles in contract farming. They need to make connections over a beer or three, and some have revived once foundering clubs.
As the article shows, these clubs are being transformed for the new era. While the 'glorious anachronisms' (or actually rather shocking ones) persist, the new, post-land reform Zimbabwe also penetrates. I loved the story of the famous Shurugwi Saunders Park golf course now abandoned and under pressure from gold panners, only kept at bay by the Zimasco security guards. I equally enjoyed the story about the Norton Country Club, now rebranded as the 'Norton Golf Resort', with the wonderful by-line 'Preserving Nature, Preserving Rural Golf', being taken over by a new pig farm and with its 18 hole course being in favour with the new politically well-connected local elite: all part of a no doubt complex local political bargain about who is allowed to do what where. And finally, while the Enterprise Country Club's tennis courts may be overgrown, it still maintains its restaurant, and its facilities are used by the Goromonzi War Veterans Association for a weekly meeting in the tearoom.
Even if land reform displaced whites from most farms, it did not remove them from the rural areas. Indeed many whites remain engaged in agriculture in new ways, although often shunned by others cast as a 'mad' or 'crazy', as Lea Kalaora describes. In another nice article Christie documents the reopening of the Chinoyi Country Club by a new group of younger mostly Afrikaner whites, all engaged in contract farming, land leasing, agricultural marketing and transporting. The next generation of 'white sharecroppers' are relaxed about this new arrangement, and indeed think that owning land and farming it oneself as their fathers did may be much harder work. They dismiss the CFU as a 'restitution lobby' for former landowners. The club is the focus for their male-oriented beer drinking social life, but it is not an exclusive, racially defined hang out, and the new now black farmers who have the land mix there too, striking contract deals and negotiating market and transport deals.
All of these anecdotes are small parables about life in the new Zimbabwe. A new configuration of elites, new social conventions, but also pressures on elite privilege from the masses from behind the barbed wire, who are threatening the golf courses, tennis courts and the manicured lawns. For it is not just the material transitions that are important in the process of agrarian reform, but also the social spaces and the cultural conventions that go with this.
If the country clubs are revived for a new A2 farmer elite, then I wonder what biases and distortions will be recreated in the Zimbabwean countryside that managed to persist untamed for so long in the same Country Clubs among the old white (male) rural farming elite in the past?
Tagged as agriculture, amanda hammar, Andrew Hartnack, David Hughes, land, land reform, Lea Kalaora, zimbabwe