Normal times in an abnormal country

THE country has returned to normal after the two-day strike that more or less shut it down at the beginning of the month. But what passes for normal in Zimbabwe these days is pretty weird. Cars, queuing for petrol, snake slowly through the cities, Robert Mugabe's supporters threaten factories with violence and army units beat up people in Harare's townships. Farm occupations continue (more than 5,000 farms, representing over 90% of all white-owned farms, have now been designated for seizure), and farm owners and their workers continue to be attacked. Opposition activists are beaten, murdered or sometimes just disappear.