IF DAFUR WERE PLUTO.

Mankind has always been plagued by a kind of myopia; that of mistaking its ideal for reality. This shortsightedness could properly be referred to as the original sin of misplaced priorities. It is not as if we are suffering from attention deficit disorder, but if as all who investigate the matter must admit, we are engulfed by a tempest of narcissistic personality syndrome, which is an obsession with fantasies of unlimited success, power and brilliance. Or, it may be that we have unconsciously and ingeniously fashioned out a system in which events of momentous importance have the misfortune of being placed not only under the same taxonomic tent as events of little or no importance, but the latter have the prerogative of being treated with an unbecoming preference and reverence and the former with a posthumous crocodile apology, as if that is something.

The maxim "matters of great concern should be treated lightly," ascribed by the samurai author Yamamoto Tsunetomo to Nabeshima Naoshige, a feudal potentate in ancient Japan, struck me as something of a paradoxical conundrum the first time I read the book "Hagakure," a manual for the samurai classes consisting of a series of short anecdotes and reflections that give both insight and instruction in the philosophy and code of behaviour that foster the true spirit of Bushido -- the Way of the Warrior. But the author went on to explain that to face an event and solve it lightly is difficult if you are not resolved before hand. It was at that point that understanding dawned on me. You are supposed to have done your homework properly so that when the time comes to call a spade a spade, you will go straight to the point without beating about the bush like George.

It is a matter of fact (truth?) that as far back as October 2004, the then Secretary of State, Colin Powell, while testifying before the American Congress, minced no word in concluding that GENOCIDE has been committed in Darfur. Although his reputation for veracity of statement has been seriously impugned by his now infamous declaration that weapons of mass destruction existed in Iraq (another case of misplaced priorities), Powell remains the only person to date that has come out boldly to give the evil that is being perpetrated by the Arab militia, high on ganja and weed, against the black African population in Darfur, its real name: GENOCIDE. It is noteworthy to point out that this systematic killing has been going on since February 2003, and it has brought along in its wake hunger, diseases, rape, deaths and displacement of millions of people.

The United Nations in its characteristic diplomatic tongue-in-cheek doublespeak has described the pogrom as the worst humanitarian disaster in the world today. This declaration is followed by eternal silence, prompting the Black-eyed Peas to ask "where is the love?" Endless conferences and peregrinations, but no action. Maybe the courage with which to just utter the word GENOCIDE is lacking. But when collateral damages are inflicted on the United Nations' structures and personnel either in Baghdad, Beirut or elsewhere on this crazy planet, the Factotum General is faster than Ben Johnson in running to the television, goateed and coated before a barrage of microphones to condemn the mishap. Sometimes, he even beats the gun. But action on Darfur where over 100,000 have been killed, has been shoven to the back burner. The only insignificant action is in the form of a ragtag contingent of 7,000 soldiers sent by the struggling-to-be-seen as concerned and important African Union to keep peace, meaning not to halt the violence but to monitor it.

And then, just yesterday, thursday, 24 August, the International Astronomical Union (not United Nations) after a tumultous week of agreeing to disagree over the essence of the cosmos, stripped poor Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. I must confess that I fail to understand how Pluto's demotion which was effected with such indescribable alacrity and ruthless efficiency, might affect the issues of hunger, rape, genocide, war, joblessness, homelessness, destitution, oppression, and the problems posed by Nigeria, Congo, Darfur and Somalia on planet earth. This is exactly where the ailments plaguing mankind come to the fore: attention deficit disorder and narcissistic personality syndrome. Our leaders who like to refer to their gathering as the comity of nations (instead of a den of thieves) are all suffering from Alzheimer's disease, real or imagined. My only wish and prayer is let the United Nations become desolate and its office, let the International Astronomical Union assume. Let Dafur be transformed into a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, with sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium shape, and has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.