Another reason why I love Mozambique and remain skeptically optimistic about the U S. Mozambique now has better press freedom than the United States.

I knew there were many reasons why I enjoyed my time in Mozambique and here is just one more to add to the list. Thanks once again to AllAfrica.com I was alerted to the new Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index for 2006 which recently was released and ranks Mozambique above the United States in terms of press freedom. The initial article I found which is simply called “Mozambique: More Press Freedom in Mozambique than in US” is worth a read. Mozambique is ranked 45 (tied with 3 other countries) and the US is 53 (tied with 3 other countries) and the list has countries such as Cuba, Eritrea, Turkmenistan and North Korea at the bottom of the rankings. Maybe Mr. Bush the US got this rating to help you remember that Africa is a continent with 53 INDIVIDUAL countries and not a country as you have said on at least one occasion. I also see the irony in Cuba’s rating as I am still interested in going there and besides my father my good friend Francisco has also expressed interested in a trip there.

The Press Freedom Index itself can be seen on the Reporters Without Borders site along with the past PFIs and other information on the state of reporting around the world. You might be interested to know that the US was ranked 17^th in 2002, the first year this index was compiled so you can see there has been quite a decline. Mozambique was ranked 70th. I feel guilty wondering if my departure from the States to live and work in Moz might not have been part of the reason that the state of press freedom declined in the States. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Or maybe it was that our president took the chance to unite our nation and country after 9/11 and decided to start invading sovereign nations, silencing the press, giving false reports and taking many more liberties with his job and responsibility.

I thought it would be good to end on a note about the United States gradual decline since 2002. I think we know what we (United States citizens) can do next Tuesday at the ballot box to start to turn this downward trend around. The article that accompanies the index says of the US: “The United States (53rd) has fallen nine places since last year, after being in 17th position in the first year of the Index, in 2002. Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of “national security” to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his “war on terrorism.” The zeal of federal courts which, unlike those in 33 US states, refuse to recognise the media’s right not to reveal its sources, even threatens journalists whose investigations have no connection at all with terrorism.”

Mc $h!t....globalization gone wild.

McFree since 1998! I been avoiding/boycotting McDonald's for 8 plus years and people from Austria to South Africa to the US have wondered why. Some of my happiest years were when I lived in Mozambique, which as of yet has not fallen victim to McTrash. KFC has "colonelized"...uh I mean colonized Maputo after coming across the border from South Africa but so far Moz has remained McFree. If there is talk of moving there I will be at the front of the protest line against this multinational corporate giant that is more concerned with profits than people and promoting globalization over protecting the planet. You might say well it tastes good, their regulations ensure healthy food and it tastes the same wherever I go. But to me variety is the spice of life and I can’t see the reason of traveling in Europe, South America, etc. and stopping at McDonald's along the way just to satisfy your craving and passing up the “traditional/local” dishes wherever you may be.

If you haven’t seen Morgan Spurlock’s brilliant movie “Super Size Me” I would highly recommend that you do. Some of you will look on the internet and find dissenting views to Spurlock’s such as Wikipedia’s* article on Super Size Me which lists objections and alternative views on Spurlock's experiment. Also of note is an article published just last week in the Guardian Unlimted called “Only another 5,500 calories to go ...” which tells of another recent experiment conducted in Sweden with interesting results.

Even with those that are against Super Size Me, I would still recommend that you see it. I have provided you alternate viewpoints so that you know that I have done my research and know that there is not always one side to a story. There are some other websites that are interesting to visit and read. First, is McSpotlight.org which highlights some of the underhanded and unethical things that McDonald's has done over the years. This site was born in part out of the infamous McDonald's Restaurants v Morris & Steel popularly known as the McLibel trial. I especially recommend looking at this page of Mc Spotlight to see how McDonald's is not alone as a multinational abusing the rights of the people and the planet.

Also, at Harpers.org you can find out more stories written over the years on McDonald's. For some fun go to play this McDonald's game and see how you too can contribute to global warming, globalization and world domination.

Finally, read this article from The Nation to see how the US treats Frenchmen who don’t agree with US politics or McDonald's tightening grasp on society. Read the following for a taste of what you will find.

“Jose Bove's Not Welcome in Bush's USA

Few figures have contributed more to the debate about corporate globalization than Jose Bove, the French farmer whose dismantling of a McDonald's restaurant that was under construction near his sheep farm was something of a "shot-heard-round-the-world" in the struggle against the homogenization of food, culture and lifestyles.”

* I am well aware that Wikipedia is a potentially dangerous and unreliable site on the internet due to being "open source", yet it seems to be a good place to start ones research.