Bookeristas In The News

USA: Artur Davis Supports Religious Symbols On Government Property, School Prayer

Roy Moore made national headlines six years ago by refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Alabama Judicial Building. Again, the role of religion in public life is entering the 2010 Alabama governor's race, especially on the Republican side. Democrats running for governor said less about their feelings on religious matters. U.S. Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) expressed support for religious displays from all faiths on government property. The moderate Democrat added that he would favor nondenominational prayer in schools.

Rep. Davis did not directly answer questions about whether he thinks the Bible is literally true or believes in creationism or evolution. Instead, he said, "I am a Christian who believes that the Bible is divinely inspired and that the evolution of our planet was shaped by a divine God whom I worship." His liberal Democrat opponent declined to answer any questions about religion.

By the way, Rep. Davis is looking for interns to help his gubernatorial campaign. Here is more info if you know someone in the Birmingham, Ala. area, who'd like to work on his campaign.

Uganda: Andrew Mwenda: "The Military Shouldn't Fund Secret Propaganda Training For Journalists"

Eighty-seven upcountry journalists in Uganda are at the center of a national debate on media ethics, after leaked details emerged indicating that the Ugandan government had been secretly given them military training at the National Leadership Institute at their request. Though media ethics are the principal axis of the debate, political science and media experts in the country argue that the move could be President Yoweri Museveni's political card for the upcoming general elections.

"There is no question about it, although the government wants everyone to believe that it's the journalists who asked for it, it is clear that the State was a willing partner transporting them to the institute and were it not for the small fight over allowances and the email sent to Red Pepper (a Ugandan tabloid) by mistake that would have remained a secret, it's also a shame for the profession that is supposed to keep off the romantic affair with the government," Andrew Mwenda an outspoken Ugandan libertarian journalist and magazine owner said.

Ghana: Danquah Institute Predicts Tax Rises In Budget And 17.6% December Inflation

Danquah Institute has predicted that the Ghanaian government is "very likely" to miss its revised end-of-year inflation target of 14.5%, despite projections by the Centre for Policy Analysis that inflation could fall to 14.2% by the end of December. The Accra-based center-right institute also fears that World Bank prediction that another 500,000 Ghanaians would fall below the poverty line by 2010 “may be alarmingly conservative, considering subsequent unimpressive economic indicators since that prediction was made in June.”

With next year’s budget expected this week, the institute has also warned against the temptation of raising taxes as it suspects the government will do due to difficulties the Finance Ministry is facing in bridging huge gaps in financing its spending plans for 2010. Gabby Otchere-Darko, the institute's director, also states that "Government should be cautious about taking too much credit for increasing import cover of Ghana's gross international reserves."