– Friedman a ‘Toontown’ journo

THE NAMIBIAN continues to receive copies of e-mails sent to Fox News in the US frying Roger Friedman’s article ‘Brad and Angelina’s Baby Lucky To Be Alive’, printed in the newspaper on Wednesday.

Namibians are letting fly with vital statistics on their country, taking aim at the CIA, extolling the virtues of the Namibian people and even let Fox News and Roger Friedman know exactly which their favourite Angelina and Brad movies. Some more edited extracts from the responses: * “Dear Editor of Fox News, Being a journalist myself I felt compelled to respond to the drivel written by your so-called columnist, Roger Friedman.His article …is a classic example of shoddy journalism: no research, no authoritative source, sensational, conjecture and guesswork, in short, misleading! As if that were not enough, it smacks of condescension and the ill that plagues many western journalists: they take flying visits to Africa and are suddenly “experts” on Africa and her peoples! The sheer arrogance of Roger Friedman is mind-boggling! “Our telecommunications network is one of only two in the region that has fibre optics! To Telecom Namibia’s credit, you can have a telephone line set up in only two to three days! I’d like to see any country improve on that! We have ISDN lines and broadband that include fast internet connection (kudos to Telecom).I have internet at home and at work as do hundreds of Namibians.Even my son has his own school e-mail address! They link up with other students from around the world and exchange views and experiences.Naturally, you would hardly expect to find an Internet connection in the pristine wilderness of the Chobe National Park.”Please Mr Friedman, where did you get your information? Oops, I forgot, from the CIA of course.The same CIA that informed your President Bush, who in turn informed …Tony Blair, that there were Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, complete with “photos” that Colin Powell paraded at the UN.”As for pregnant Namibian women trading anything to have their babies in the United States: did Mr Friedman speak to or survey Namibian women to arrive at that conclusion? I for one – and I speak for all Namibian women I’m sure – would never again have a child outside Namibia.Our hospitals have state-of-the art equipment …Most of our doctors are trained in neighbouring South Africa – the same South Africa that produced the pioneering heart surgeon, Dr Chris Barnard if you please.The same South Africa that has carried out groundbreaking surgery on separating conjoined twins…successfully! So yes, Mr Friedman, Namibian mothers can fathom the care they would receive in your country because they receive it here too, at a fraction of the price!!! “(I)n what I consider a tribute to the country and people of Namibia is the fact that a former Ambassador of Germany and his wife bought a home in Namibia and retired here; so did the former Director of a German Development Agency; so did the former Italian Ambassador, so did a retired Italian lawyer.The list is endless.All these people have settled here because of the quality of life in Namibia …our people are friendly, we have wide open spaces, there is no pollution, we have vibrant cultures, we respect the privacy of people, we respect human rights and freedom of speech, we’re not junkies or pushers and we’re NOT starstruck! These are some of the qualities that endeared Namibia to the Jolie-Pitt family.”Your article is insulting to them to say the least for insinuating that they would put the life of their unborn child at risk by having Ms Jolie deliver in Namibia.They chose wisely and they have been vindicated.I have always had enormous respect for Ms Jolie.That respect has just gone up 10 notches.”And Namibians’ reaction to your insults Mr Friedman? You are to be pitied …”- Norah Appolus.”Attention Sir Roger Friedman ‘the great’: THANKS TO MY MOTHER WHO DID NOT GIVE BIRTH IN AMERICA.”- Marlien van Zijl, Fourth Generation Namibian, who has given birth twice in Namibia (by choice) * “I know you people would do anything for a ‘good’ story but did you really have to sink that low? You write: ‘HAVE THEY EVER EVEN SEEN A BRAD PITT OR ANGELINA JOLIE MOVIE? IT’S UNLIKELY’.For your information I have seen their movies.Here’s a list of my favourite Brad Pitt movies:1. Oceans 11;2. Troy;3. Oceans 12; 4. Snatch.And of course I’m a big Angelina Jolie fan …”I’m not one of those polite Namibians you mentioned so I’ll tell you upfront that the whole country thinks you are an a** (in donkey lingo)….This e-mail is not directed at all Americans – just you and your like.”- Naufiku Hamunime *”I have understood that I have to be polite with no foul language when replying to articles and all the rest but in reading this piece of condescending, patronising and misinformed rubbish, I find my good manners seriously tested.Firstly I am bowled over by this headline, ‘Pitt-Jolie Baby Lucky To Be Alive’.Lucky to be alive? Did we just experience a 7,1 earthquake, a typhoon, a tsunami, …the black plague; was there a continental shift and did Namibia vanish to lie among the ruins of Atlantis? …Was there a terrorist attack? Did a meteorite hit Namibia while we were not looking? A resounding no …”Frightening thing is with this kind of heading [is that] a whole lot of people are going to start reading it with the impression that Pitt-Jolie baby got saved just in the nick of time from being mauled by a starving and vicious, flea-infested, pavementpounding lion only to be disappointed by mindless ramblings and quotations from an outdated ‘The Wild African Jungle’ survival manual which has now been pasted on the Web as the CIA fact sheet and believed as gospel.”When reading the rest of this article the writer just puts Namibia back into the dark ages which we have only just managed to crawl out from by riding on the backs of toothless crocodiles and hairless hyenas.Come on, this is not even informative journalism, it’s just rubbish.At least to the man’s credit he knew where Namibia was.Pity he knew nothing else and had to resort to some book with was made compulsory reading for all CIA operatives in 1983.”Is Namibia not fit to see mothers giving birth successfully without dying, either at home, in the grazing fields or at the hospital? (Local and foreign women).But you know what? Some of us are so far advanced that we are even choosing to have our babies at home and even better, some are opting for water births.And by the way, can the majority of the American population afford to go to the “Cedars Sinai in West Hollywood or New York Presbyterian in Manhattan” if they do not have comprehensive medical aid? Probably not.”- Skye ReynekeSome more edited extracts from the responses: * “Dear Editor of Fox News, Being a journalist myself I felt compelled to respond to the drivel written by your so-called columnist, Roger Friedman.His article …is a classic example of shoddy journalism: no research, no authoritative source, sensational, conjecture and guesswork, in short, misleading! As if that were not enough, it smacks of condescension and the ill that plagues many western journalists: they take flying visits to Africa and are suddenly “experts” on Africa and her peoples! The sheer arrogance of Roger Friedman is mind-boggling! “Our telecommunications network is one of only two in the region that has fibre optics! To Telecom Namibia’s credit, you can have a telephone line set up in only two to three days! I’d like to see any country improve on that! We have ISDN lines and broadband that include fast internet connection (kudos to Telecom).I have internet at home and at work as do hundreds of Namibians.Even my son has his own school e-mail address! They link up with other students from around the world and exchange views and experiences.Naturally, you would hardly expect to find an Internet connection in the pristine wilderness of the Chobe National Park.”Please Mr Friedman, where did you get your information? Oops, I forgot, from the CIA of course.The same CIA that informed your President Bush, who in turn informed …Tony Blair, that there were Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, complete with “photos” that Colin Powell paraded at the UN.”As for pregnant Namibian women trading anything to have their babies in the United States: did Mr Friedman speak to or survey Namibian women to arrive at that conclusion? I for one – and I speak for all Namibian women I’m sure – would never again have a child outside Namibia.Our hospitals have state-of-the art equipment …Most of our doctors are trained in neighbouring South Africa – the same South Africa that produced the pioneering heart surgeon, Dr Chris Barnard if you please.The same South Africa that has carried out groundbreaking surgery on separating conjoined twins…successfully! So yes, Mr Friedman, Namibian mothers can fathom the care they would receive in your country because they receive it here too, at a fraction of the price!!! “(I)n what I consider a tribute to the country and people of Namibia is the fact that a former Ambassador of Germany and his wife bought a home in Namibia and retired here; so did the former Director of a German Development Agency; so did the former Italian Ambassador, so did a retired Italian lawyer.The list is endless.All these people have settled here because of the quality of life in Namibia …our people are friendly, we have wide open spaces, there is no pollution, we have vibrant cultures, we respect the privacy of people, we respect human rights and freedom of speech, we’re not junkies or pushers and we’re NOT starstruck! These are some of the qualities that endeared Namibia to the Jolie-Pitt family.”Your article is insulting to them to say the least for insinuating that they would put the life of their unborn child at risk by having Ms Jolie deliver in Namibia.They chose wisely and they have been vindicated.I have always had enormous respect for Ms Jolie.That respect has just gone up 10 notches.”And Namibians’ reaction to your insults Mr Friedman? You are to be pitied …”- Norah Appolus.”Attention Sir Roger Friedman ‘the great’: THANKS TO MY MOTHER WHO DID NOT GIVE BIRTH IN AMERICA.”- Marlien van Zijl, Fourth Generation Namibian, who has given birth twice in Namibia (by choice) * “I know you people would do anything for a ‘good’ story but did you really have to sink that low? You write: ‘HAVE THEY EVER EVEN SEEN A BRAD PITT OR ANGELINA JOLIE MOVIE? IT’S UNLIKELY’.For your information I have seen their movies.Here’s a list of my favourite Brad Pitt movies: 1. Oceans 11;2. Troy; 3. Oceans 12; 4. Snatch.And of course I’m a big Angelina Jolie fan …”I’m not one of those polite Namibians you mentioned so I’ll tell you upfront that the whole country thinks you are an a** (in donkey lingo)….This e-mail is not directed at all Americans – just you and your like.”- Naufiku Hamunime * “I have understood that I have to be polite with no foul language when replying to articles and all the rest but in reading this piece of condescending, patronising and misinformed rubbish, I find my good manners seriously tested.Firstly I am bowled over by this headline, ‘Pitt-Jolie Baby Lucky To Be Alive’.Lucky to be alive? Did we just experience a 7,1 earthquake, a typhoon, a tsunami, …the black plague; was there a continental shift and did Namibia vanish to lie among the ruins of Atlantis? …Was there a terrorist attack? Did a meteorite hit Namibia while we were not looking? A resounding no …”Frightening thing is with this kind of heading [is that] a whole lot of people are going to start reading it with the impression that Pitt-Jolie baby got saved just in the nick of time from being mauled by a starving and vicious, flea-infested, pavementpounding lion only to be disappointed by mindless ramblings and quotations from an outdated ‘The Wild African Jungle’ survival manual which has now been pasted on the Web as the CIA fact sheet and believed as gospel.”When reading the rest of this article the writer just puts Namibia back into the dark ages which we have only just managed to crawl out from by riding on the backs of toothless crocodiles and hairless hyenas.Come on, this is not even informative journalism, it’s just rubbish.At least to the man’s credit he knew where Namibia was.Pity he knew nothing else and had to resort to some book with was made compulsory reading for all CIA operatives in 1983.”Is Namibia not fit to see mothers giving birth successfully without dying, either at home, in the grazing fields or at the hospital? (Local and foreign women).But you know what? Some of us are so far advanced that we are even choosing to have our babies at home and even better, some are opting for water births.And by the way, can the majority of the American population afford to go to the “Cedars Sinai in West Hollywood or New York Presbyterian in Manhattan” if they do not have comprehensive medical aid? Probably not.”- Skye Reyneke