Sex, Drugs, And Congress , plus a letter from Africa

CBS News | Sex, Drugs, And Congress | June 29, 2005�12:00:05

An extra quickie today. This link goes to CBS news and is an article that covers US congressional attitudes to pharmaceuticals. Good read.

The rela reason I'm back is to give you this copy of a mail from Channel 4 newsman Jon Snow direct from Africa. Report will be on TV news tomorrow.

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I'm standing on top of the Sheraton hotel in Kampala as the sun sets on
a bustling city beneath African skies.

There is none of the reek of tear gas that briefly and unusually
punctuated proceedings here yesterday. Of that, more tomorrow - but suffice
it to say parliament has been voting on letting President Museveni run
for a third term in contradiction to the two term limit set out in the
constitution.

The protestors charge that he is going the way of so many other African
leaders - from freedom fighter to elected dictator. A point that I
shall be putting to him on Channel 4 News tomorrow night.

Two tonnes of satellite dish and 73 boxes arrived today to facilitate
our live transmission from Africa - value several hundred thousand
pounds, insurance on the customs bond a good few thousand pounds alone. Did
you ever wonder why Africa is so rarely reported on television? The
will may be one thing, but no-one ever discusses the cost.

In making poverty history someone should think of putting some
satellites above the African continent to enable Africa to talk with Africa and
to talk with the outside world. For whilst the internet and the mobile
have already made a profound difference to this continent bypassing a
generation of technology - television remains an essential medium, and
footage from here is all but absent from screens in the northern
hemisphere.

Here in the south they are talking about democracy; they are talking
about governance and in a strange way they are looking north to
Gleneagles but with considerable diffidence.

"I mean who are they to tell us what to do?" some people say to me.
"What do they know? How about evening up the odds to let us compete?"

So it's all to play for here and tomorrow night we'll be coming live 73
boxes, 2 tonnes and God willing. We'll also be bringing you a truly
remarkable report out of Congo, a major interview with President Museveni
and much else.

And we shall continue right up to the moment the G8 kicks off and then
we'll transfer to the northern hemisphere and look back south again.

See you soon, best wishes as ever

Jon Snow

PS: We had another puncture on the way from Gulu and this time we
discovered the jack was too small. A wonderful truck driver stopped to fix
it all and an hour later refused to take a dime…

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As for me ...

Later