Latest articles (100)
Seinlife
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CNN Presents: Black in America
Posted: July 23, 2008, 12:27 am by Seinlife
Tonight is the beginning of a two part CNN documentary, researched and hosted by Soledad O’Brien on being Black in America.
The first part, the Black Woman & Family, airs on July 23rd 2008 at 9 pm EST.
explores the varied experiences of black women and families and investigates the disturbing statistics of single parenthood, racial disparities between students and the devastating toll of HIV/AIDS.
The second part, the Black Man, airs on July 24th 2008 at 9 pm EST.
evaluates the state of black men in America and explores the controversial topics of black men and fatherhood; disparities between blacks and whites in educational, career and financial achievement; and factors leading to the dramatic rates of black male incarceration. The documentary also examines the achievements of black men and the importance of the positive influences of black fathers.
For more information and to watch a trailer, go the CNN special reports page, Black in America
tHiNkEr'S rOoM
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Endless Love
Posted: July 23, 2008, 11:05 pm by M
The Alpha Quadrant
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Personal Productivity Tools
Posted: July 23, 2008, 9:51 pm by Josiah
I use both Linux (Ubuntu at home) and Windows (Windows XP at work).
WikidPad
I have found this Personal Wiki software pretty useful (once you get the hang of things). It functions like Notepad only that it allows you to create links between various 'Notes' aka WikiWords and thus maintains a hierarchy of documents that you can easily access.
I'm finding myself using it more and more to note down things instead of Notepad++ (which incidentally replaced the default Notepad). That way, all my 'notes' are in one location and I only need to start up WikidPad to access them.
Its open source too.
Google Desktop
If you have sufficient RAM on your PC, this would be pretty useful. Hitting Ctrl twice pops up a Google Desktop search bar allowing you to search for items on your computer (or your gmail if you've enabled it) and better still, allows you to run applications if you know at least part of the name.
Random Kenyan II
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Nightrunning… with Lesbo Drama…
Posted: July 23, 2008, 6:39 pm by Zax
Last weekend… My initial plan to go home, grab some ice cream and watch some movie flopped right outside the gate to the apartments I stay. Jerry*, a certain pal of mine was in the hood to ‘see’ a certain dudette who had just been given the power to read (Graduated), on spotting me, a [...]
Spin-Digest
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Spank the Riotous Devil Out of the Brats!
Posted: July 23, 2008, 6:33 pm by HLumiti
At the rate of 10 riots a day over the last one month, indiscipline in our schools is clearly running out of hand and brings back to the spot light the ban on corporal punishment effected here in 2001. It is possible that the then touted alternative forms of instilling discipline in schools have been overwhelmed and that the negative consequences of withdrawing the cane far outweigh any goodness that may accrue from maintaining the ban.
At a world conference on education in Dakar in 2000, Kenya had been cited as one of the countries that “institutionalized violence and promoted child abuse by including corporal punishment in its statutes”. The Human Rights Watch had also just released a report on corporal punishment in Kenyan schools in which it painted a gloomy picture of child abuse saying that “Kenyan teachers were licensed to beat their students” and that “infliction of corporal punishment in Kenya is unchecked, widespread, arbitrary and often brutal”. The media, on the other hand, had joined in the anti-caning campaign by picking up incidents of abuse and putting them to daily limelight. Under this pressure, the government gave in and scrapped the laws governing corporal punishment in March 2001.
About 100 countries have banned corporal punishment in schools and at least 23 of them have gone ahead to outlaw it in homes too. Parents in these countries cannot spank, slap or otherwise use corporal punishment on children and anything that goes beyond the occasional smack would constitute a criminal offense. Needless to say, none of the 23 countries is from Africa even though the UN has targeted 2009 as the deadline by which a worldwide ban on corporal punishment will have been implemented, including in the home. The date is just around the corner and will likely pass without much ado in countries like the United States where corporal punishment is still legal in 23 of its states. And it has still not been prohibited in the other half of the countries in the world.
The crisis in our hands suggests that withdrawal of the cane from the arsenal of tools for instilling discipline in schools has spiraled down to this fiery state of lawlessness. A common thread running in the affected areas is that “our hands are tied”. The teachers seem to be watching helplessly where they should be stepping in with a steady cane to nip the unruliness in the bud. And where is the Human Rights Watch now as the fires rage, pupils die? Moved on to the next project.
One of the biggest disservices that HRW and kindred brethren have done to the discourse on school discipline has been to continually equate punishment to violence and abuse. The refusal to distinguish between abusive violence and corrective punishment suggests an inclination to self-serving propaganda rather than a desire to clarify issues. There is an obvious difference between an adult in authority punishing wrong doing and a person indiscriminately beating up another for the purpose of causing injury.
The critical issue to be addressed by our laws is how corporal punishment should be administered and not whether it should be used at all. The failure by authorities to supervise application of these laws is not good enough reason to scrap the law altogether. This ban is simply pandering to the questionable wishes of such groups as the HRW and assorted UN bodies without necessarily addressing the critical situation at hand. Is the current lawlessness and damage in schools worth the indulgence extended to these defiant children? The HRW may well argue that children have a right to deviance but aren’t such rights trampling on those of many well behaved kids who are entitled to an education in a safe environment?
In the haste to comply with lobby group reports, it seems that no questions were asked to test the veracity of the data purporting to justify the ban. For instance the report by HRW, Spare the Child: Corporal Punishment in Kenya Schools, was compiled after a two week survey of 20 schools and 200 pupils. The survey team comprised of 5 HRW staff; three law students and one law lecturer, all from the US. The fifth was a lawyer to HRW children division. An elite team of spin doctors if you ask me. There is nothing in the report that even suggests an attempt to remedy the obvious bias of the entire set up by way of a third party review of their methodology. Strangely, they admit in the report that many of the Kenyans they talked to agreed that corporal punishment should not be severe as to cause injury and that only a few viewed it as a major source for concern. How then do they turn around to give blanket condemnation of caning in schools? Because, as they say in the report, “Kenyan Rights groups have now added corporal punishment to their advocacy agendas”. Somebody say funding! Amen.
Any group of propagandists can collect data to say pretty much what they want to hear. For instance, a pro-spanking lobby can quite easily collect the data from last months rioting to effectively consign the HRW report to the rubbish bin.
While giving advocacy groups due respect and attention, government should be careful not to use their programs as the sole force behind a haphazard tinkering with our laws. Many of the reports by these groups are a little more than subjective opinions and commentaries, not the sturdy stuff that ought to shape laws which can stand the test of time.
Related article; Down Memory Lane - How Were Your School Years?
Kenya Christian
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"Out Tonite" track and vocal
Posted: July 23, 2008, 6:00 pm by Frank
Check out the vocals and the track for Michelle's hit song "Out Tonite."
For all you rappers,producers out there. Send in your remixes/and or freestyles of this track and I'll post up the best ones!
Michelle - "Out Tonite" (Track)
"Out Tonite" (Vocals)
Michelle feat.Kera - "Out Tonite"
Previously "Out Tonite" video shoot
Lost White Kenyan Chick
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Damn, they're clever these politicians ....
Posted: July 23, 2008, 5:22 pm by MZUNGU CHICK
I stand in awe.
Parliament sat yesterday and had a jolly loud debate about what to do about our striking students. And what did they decide was the solution, (besides of course their bright idea of bringing back caning - because of course those annoying "human rights" fellows won't like that one bit!), so no, no, the smashing Minister of Education, the ever so clever "PROFESSOR" (no less) Sam Ongeri announced 'new regulations to stem the wave of unrest in our Secondary Schools' as follows .........
1. No secondary school student will henceforth be allowed to carry a mobile phone to school, and
2. Purchase of school buses with TV sets, DVD players and music systems have been banned.
Phew - glad you've sorted that out then. Don't you worry about those kids exams or the fact that you totally and utterly screwed up the KCSE results for last year. As long as none of them carries a mobile phone or listens to any music on the way to school, all of course shall be well!!
YAY, ALL HAIL THE PROF !!
Chez Moi
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Schools, Strikes and my own schooldays
Posted: July 23, 2008, 5:08 pm by Prousette
I am not very surprised that students are going on rampage seeing that the adults had their share in the limelight late last year and beginning of this year. What is making me wince is the kind of statements being issued by those who should know better. To paraphrase one Bonny Khalwale O cellphones! O single parents! O boarding schools are bad! O caning should be brought back! O blah blah! It
The Night Book
Life, The Universe and Everything
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Funerals are not my thing.
Posted: July 23, 2008, 4:12 pm by egm
This morning found me outdoors in a cemetry covering a funeral. This was my first time ever doing this. And my last. I have decided that funerals I won't do. Even if I get offered good money. It's just not my thing. I mean, how do you go snapping away at people grieving even if it's them that want it? If someone enquires about it from me, I'll direct them to other photographers.
Today's funeral was extreme. 5 cameramen: 3 still, 2 video. And that's just the official ones. Of course the papparazzi were out in full force. I saw 3 at the cemetry. (An aside, one of the cameramen had Raul's twin. Right down to the flash, vertical grip and missing flash sync connection cover. Had I not being carrying Raul in my hands, I could have sworn he stole it from me!).
If you think the above was bad, there was a funeral next to the one I was covering where, eh, I just got bemused. You know the way after a wedding service people pose with the bride and groom outside the church? That's exactly what was going on. Complete with the person co-ordinating the posing. I kept hearing, now it's the siblings. Okay, after siblings, let us have the uncles and aunts. Okay, now the cousins. I couldn't believe it.
And so, as a PSA, let it be known Raul will never ever cover funerals. At least not while being handled by yours truly. If someone wants to borrow the camera to cover one, by all means let them do so after having left me a sizeable deposit to replace Raul should the grave suddenly appear too attractive to him, as well as paying a good use fee. Big enough to deter anyone from using Raul thus.
I follow Alain Briot's outlook on photography. I will not cover things that evoke negative emotions. That's why I didn't take shots during the chaos earlier this year. That is why I am choosing not to cover funerals. Others that have no problem covering that can and are very welcome to do so.
Kenya Environmental & Political News Weblog
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Q&A: How Not to Resettle IDPs
Posted: July 23, 2008, 3:48 pm by Phil
Interview with Prisca Kamungi, Director of the Internal Displacement Policy and Advocacy Centre NAIROBI, Jul 22 (IPS) - Operation Rudi Nyumbani (Return Home, in Kiswahili), designed to help about 350,000 IDPs living in camps across the country go back to their homes and farms has achieved its primary objective, at least according to the Kenyan government. [...]
A Mzungu who loves Kenya
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Guilty as charged ...
Posted: July 23, 2008, 3:17 pm by Dad Mzungu
I plead guilty, as charged. I have been wasting my time, not only writing a blog, but also reading others' blogs.
And it struck me. Why are all the best blogs [in my humble opinion] written by the females of the species?
There are a few good blogs written by males, but the majority tend to be rather dry. Have we men lost our sense of humour? I look at my past efforts and shudder.
I look at the blogs written by Mzungu Chick, Mom de Plume, Nutty Cow, Reluctant Memsahib, etc., and in every case, there is humour, usually about little things that happen in life, or just life in general.
Conclusion? I need to get a life.
Learning Kenyanese
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Pre-MOCK Violence
Posted: July 23, 2008, 3:08 pm by willpress
The past few weeks have not been the best period to become a High School principal in Kenya. The entire secondary school administration system in the country is practically under siege as students all over the country are on a rampage. The casualties so far: close to 200 schools closing indefinitely and a student from Upper Hill High School dead after a dormitory fire. The government, as usual has been caught flat-footed. In fact, it took the Upper Hill incident to startle Sam Ongeri, Minister for Education, out of his swivel chair to gather his boys in a rush to "assess the gravity of the situation". And indeed, it is grave.
These chilling (exciting to some) events have sparked a wave of paranoia among school heads. St. Georges has appently been closed indefinitely following what some students call "a practical joke" on their teachers.
More baffling is the fact that a random Commission of Inquiry will be set up to look into the student unrest. We all know Commisions of Inquiry are a way for corrupt vile people to gain publicity (ask Pattni or the Arturs) to the level of even being a political launch pad and also a waste of taxpayer's mulas since the resolutions passed never go past the ink and paper. Meanwhile, the striking students, unchanged and perhaps having regained more arsonist vigour, will be back when the schools re-open. Even if the the ring leaders are expelled, like suicide bombers, they will have left behind a legacy and disciples who will only be too willing to join the pipeline of infamy. Matyrdom is that sexy, i tell you. There has been no outright attempt as to establishing the cause of this pandemonium from the students themselves. What we have now is a throng of "education experts" (who were only last week wearing the tag "political analyst"), school heads and under-motivated DEOs flapping they gum endlessly on KTN and NTV.
The governments response tempts me release a string of laughter challenging the recent longest laugh record on Ripley's. A report released yesterday by KBC, reeking of Government boot-lick Alfred Mutua's input, is quick to attribute the riots to the fiasco of the 2007 KCSE exam results where KNEC was pissing in its pants when "computer errors" awarded D+s to born geniuses and such like HUMAN errors.
Hon. Sam Ongeri's take is different. These kids are just being spoilt brats, he says. In yesterday's ministerial statement, he ordered that students be banned from handling cellphones in school, and banned the purchase of buses with DVDs and TV screens. Clearly these statements presents the current paradox. . .people who have not been in school uniform in the past ten years purpoting to run Education in this country. Am yet to hear a statement from the Youth Ministry. . . Oh well, guess they are asleep until reminded that its the youth who occupy these schools.
I believe the issues lie deeper than jus the fear of MOCK exams or last year's results.
This is an outward manifestation of a paradigm shift in society. The first question should be what has changed in schools from the primbottom discipline of the colonial days through to the 70s to the chaos it is today? Are High Schools stuck in a time capsule while outside its walls society keeps changing? Are we approaching education all wrong in this day and age?
Let me continue to ponder.
In a related story, I couldnt hide my joy on learning that my former school, Maseno was the first school to riot in 1908. But then the joy died down as it hit me that that was also the last time we had ever gone on strike. Gosh, what a shame! Pioneers but not lifetime achievers! By now we should have come up with an entire book on the methods and strategies of going on strike. . .that must have been one hellova beating they got in 1908 to elicit 100 years of. . .umm. . .discipline. So much for a bad record!
Kenya Environmental & Political News Weblog
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Hundreds Still Displaced in Nairobi
Posted: July 23, 2008, 3:02 pm by Phil
Photo: Allan Gichigi/IRIN IDPs at the Mathare Chief’s camp in Nairobi. NAIROBI, 22 July 2008 (IRIN) - Hundreds of Kenyans displaced during post-election violence in early 2008 in the capital, Nairobi, are still in camps more than two months after the government launched a countrywide resettlement programme. “Many of the displaced were tenants whose houses [...]
Rugby in Kenya
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Weekly Ramble
Posted: July 23, 2008, 2:31 pm by DataMiner
Today, a departure from the norm. A storm seems to have been raised about the level of officiating during the Impala vs. Harlequins match over the weekend. To me it is a bit belated since I have variously posted on the level of officiating in this country but then it did not seem to matter. Let me ponder about our referees. Refereeing is a very difficult task. It is one of those jobs that
Wanjiku Unlimited
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Down Memory Lane - How Were Your School Years?
Posted: July 23, 2008, 1:46 pm by Shiko-Msa
300 hundred Kenyan schools have gone on the rampage in the last one month! And the reasons they’re giving for burning their schools and in some cases killing and injuring their own makes you want to weep. Bad food, power outages, difficult exams, inadequate entertainment, use of mobile phones, DVD, Music systems, unlimited visits to girls’ schools etc etc. Others want their boarding schools converted into day schools. What are our youngsters up to?
I don’t know much about the conditions in schools currently but I don’t think they’re any tougher than those of yesteryears. I’m not by any chance suggesting that modern kids should be put through what we went through but it’s no harm to go down memory lane. I remember we used to celebrate blackouts because we got a chance to break the monotony of evening preps. Our food was not any chef’s pride. It was maize and beans, sima and cabbage, rice and cabbage and then more maize and beans. Sometimes there was the distinct taste of paraffin in our food. Rumour had it that it was added deliberately to curb sexual urges – God only knows sexual urges for whom. It was a girls only school and we were confined in there for 3 months with no half term. There was no homosexuality. Besides, back then high school age was still too young.
Despite the watchful eyes of Italian Nuns, we were naughty like any other teenagers. But other than making noise and laughing in class, the most truant we ever got was stealing bananas and avocadoes in the school farm on weekend nights. Never mind that mother dorm would always find them in our mabati boxes - when the bananas started ripening, she would smell her way to the culprit box in minutes. Never mind too that the said fruits were officially for student’s consumption anyway and were served every few days in the dining room. Punishment, depending on the crime, could be anything from strokes of the cane to uprooting a tree. Or kneeling on gravel for hours with hands raised up. Strokes of the cane were regardless of chilblains (Purple fingers) which were the order of the day. The area was so cold that water sometimes froze in the taps.
As far as entertainment went, every Saturday night from 8-10 pm, anyone who wanted to be entertained would gather in the dining hall and dance to music of mother dorm’s choice. At 60 years of age, she was the official school DJ. She loved ‘Night Shift’ and ‘Chosen Few’ to bits. Either that or those were the only santuri’s the school provided. There was also television on the opposite end of the hall where we could watch habari and current affairs programs on KBC. Dunia wiki hii or something like that. Television was only switched on on Saturdays. Wednesday mornings we gathered in the dining hall and belted out songs from Golden Bells.
Still back then, strikes, though not entirely unheard of were rare. Nobody died and no dormitories were burnt. Older boys grew up rearing rabbits and feeding cows. The modern Brayoos and Stanoos are growing up on a diet of chicken and rice and other such goodies? Television, play station and the internet? Mobile phones and discos? Well, some of them may have but not all. Unfortunately many innocent parents, some of whom can barely afford the school fees will be forced to pay for damage caused by their sons. And that is just after they bail out their sons who have been charged with murder and arson.
The blame game is now in top gear, poor parenting being the major one. Parents are too busy scaling the corporate ladder to know how their children are growing up. Some are mostly drunk and their kids are learning that it’s actually ok to abuse alcohol. Media influence has not escaped the blame either. Television has become the official baby sitter in many homes and kids are growing up on a visual diet of violence and hard core movies. Sexually explicit music videos on Channel O have replaced nursery rhymes and lullabies. Some have even blamed our current politics. Kids have learnt the beauty of impunity. They feel they can get away with anything.
Bottom line I think it’s the general rot in society that is manifesting in the kids.
Related Post: Susan Akinyi's Sad Story
VIOLA's IRIS
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FAREWELL OGILVY…
Posted: July 23, 2008, 12:40 pm by Vee
It has been real… …I say that with every element in my being about my time here in Ogilvy. I have learned from everyone & every moment. Whether it was the fun/crazy O-bar /Christmas party moments or the tough, nerve wrecking, “you can go faint!” and pull-my-hair-out deadline/pitch moments – I have always taken something positive [...]
Life and its General Nonsense
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Short Commentary
Posted: July 23, 2008, 12:21 pm by Movie Buff
As a friend of mine said, it took 300 schools for the government to realise that there was something wrong with the students. Yes, I said there is something wrong with the students. And I dont think banning cell phones in schools is going to help much. Reinstating corporal punishment wont do it either. Drugs and Alcohol.....and seriously intense peer pressure.
These kids as far as I am concerned, lack a sense of responsibility. They lack common sense......
How do you think, burning your OWN STUFF, stuff that your folks have worked to get for you,..... What point does that make other than the fact that you are an idiot? Seriously?
And do you seriously think that having DVDs in your bus will help you remotely?
And saying that mocks are hard? Who didnt do mocks? Wait... Had you even done the mocks yet? Were you striking about the fear of mocks being hard? WHAT THE HELL??? Who didnt have to go back to school for holiday classes? WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?.......
Do these people realise that come November, they will still have to seat for the KCSE and that the result of this determines their tertiary education after?
Honestly, I have never seen such imbecilic behaviour!!!
Oh... and there was some guy who called into classic and said that its because kids are being brought up by single mothers...... That is the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard.... What about those kids who have an absentee fathers? Fathers who treat their homes are a bed and breakfast??
PS: That school where a teacher made 10 girls pregnant.... thats another story....
PPS: RIP Estelle Getty [Sophia in Golden Girls]
Kenya-Byte
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OUR CHILDREN ARE HOME ALONE - UNSUPERVISED AS THEY EXPLORE THE DIGITAL JUNGLE
Posted: July 23, 2008, 12:08 pm
By Muthoga Kioni (Published in the EAStandard 23rd July 2008)
Some time back parents were content to leave their kids in the hands of domestic workers. They would be fed, educated and entertained with dubious songs and games initiated by our child minders. A few years later the television (with even more dubious content) substituted one key activity, entertainment. No longer would our domestic workers have the entertainment monopoly.
Today we are witnessing a move away from the television to the internet, especially in urban centres. Parents are increasingly leaving their children with the internet as a source of education and entertainment. This is a security issue.
One might argue that internet penetration, in Kenya, is negligible and subsequently the risk to our children is minimal. This is a false assumption. According to the Internet World Stats, Kenya is currently among the top ten countries in Africa in internet usage.
Latest data on the number of internet users in our country indicates that approximately 3,000,000 Kenyans use the internet frequently (as at March, 2008). Most of these users are the youth. Proof of this can be found in the ubiquitous cyber cafes where a vast majority of internet users are aged below 23 years. It is not uncommon to even find ten year olds ‘surfing’ in these cybers.
In a few decades they will become parents and will invariably have internet access at home. Their children will be exposed to technology from a very early age. Currently, a significant proportion of the 30-40 year old middle class segment in Nairobi has internet access at home. Their children are internet-savvy and are able to exchange ring-tones, download movies and play online games with alacrity. They are sometimes home alone, unsupervised and unmonitored as they explore the digital jungle.
This digital jungle is as equally dangerous to unsuspecting youngsters as the more familiar forests in Kenya. This is because parents considerably underestimate the risks their children are experiencing online. These risks range from exposure to pornographic and adult material and giving out of personal information. Children are also exposed to receiving unwanted sexual or nasty comments, meeting unsavoury online characters and unwittingly exposing their home computers to hackers.
Our youngsters have impressionable minds and just as you would restrict television content, one should also restrict which websites your children access. It is however important to appreciate that the internet is a treasure trove for our children. They use it for various activities for example, as a research library for their homework, playing games that develop cognitive skills and for communication through e-mail and chat rooms. It is therefore not reasonable to fully restrict access to the internet. Our children’s future is intertwined with ICT and availing them the opportunity to access this technology early equips them with a long-term competitive edge.
As a parent you are obliged to securing the internet for your children. There are a few measures, social and technical, that you have at your disposal. The first is the need to raise awareness among the children and your fellow parents on the risks that can be encountered online. These discussions should respect children’s online privacy and should be aimed at raising awareness and educating all concerned.
You have a number of technical options available to you as a parent. One of them is requesting your Internet Service Provider to filter adult content to your home computer(s). A more specific measure would be setting up permissions in your browser (a browser is a computer application program that is used to view and navigate the World Wide Web and other internet resources. Popular browsers are for example Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox). Internet Explorer has a feature called Content Advisor that can assist parents control the type of content a home computer can gain access to in the internet.
With Content Advisor you can view and adjust rating settings to reflect what you think is permissible content in each of these four areas: language, nudity, sex and violence. You can adjust a slider to specify what users are allowed to see for example, in language, Level 0 ensures access is allowed for web sites with no profanity. Level 4, on the other hand, means that the internet user can access sites that contain extreme hate speech or crude language.
Apart from Ratings you can also specify which web sites are always viewable or never viewable, regardless of how they are rated. This means that you can prohibit unpleasant websites and prevent your children from getting exposed to offensive material.
Ensuring that your children safely navigate through the digital jungle is a security concern and a fundamental responsibility of every techno-savvy parent.
A Nairobian's Perspective !
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Is Google Algorithm Relevant to African Content
Posted: July 23, 2008, 10:15 am
This post is in the way of a question for good reason and i hope Google Africa will have an answer to it!I write around four blogs, but siku-moja is my main blog, the number of backlinks to this blog the last time i checked was around 170, im sure it has grown!This blog is featured and has been featured in various forum's relevant to the African Diaspora i.e:- Blog Africa
- Global Voices online
- Afrora
- Kenyaunlimited
- A post in Mashada
- Kenyaimagine
- World bank Blog etc...
Perhaps that just my case, so i decided to visit some of the authoritative A-list blog sites in Kenya to see how my fellow bloggers are ranked and this is what i found( i am of the opinion that the Google algorithm is not authoritative in Africa and rates sites in a manner that does not capture "the African Spirit" or experience online:- Bankelele Page Rank 2
- Al Kags 5
- Afro Musing 5
- hapa Kenya 3
- Jikomboe 6
- Gathara's World 4
- Wanjiku Unlimited 0
- Kenyan Pundit 6
- Mentalacrobatics 5
- Kikuyu Moja's Realm 4
Its time we advocated for google to rank African websites according to their relevancy in Africa and how the same is perceived locally.I know that is quite a task but getting their current algorithm was indeed a task but they were succesful,i therefore believe such a move is within their means.As they continue to open more offices in Africa , i hope they will also continue to customize the African experience online!
Kenya Christian
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Video: Washington Projects channel MJ
Posted: July 23, 2008, 7:19 am by Frank
LOL....The Washington Projects give us an inside peek of their recording process.
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Why is the Ntimama confession being ignored?
Posted: July 23, 2008, 6:20 am by Frank
Ntimama Watch - Day 1
Clearly...I am not the only one who has noticed something very fishy going on with the press,politicians and civil society who have totally buried and ignored the fact that a whole minister last week admitted on National Television to wiping out between 600 and 1000 Kenyan citizens.
So today, I am starting a Ntimama Watch that will keep this issue alive until some action is taken on the minister either by parliament,the police, the President, PM or whoever. Parliament seemed so eager to take action former Finance Minister Amos Kimunya regarding the Grand Regency deal. Why the silence on this and the minister made a direct confession on National Television? If you did not see the confession, watch it here.
So this is Day 1 of Ntimama Watch. we urge the Police Commissioner Hussein Ali to take action on this minister. Such impunity is unacceptable in modern day Africa. This is not the first time William Ole Ntimama has been accused of being part of tribal cleansing or hatred. We demand action!
(Feel free to add Ntimama Watch to your blog and lets get some action)
You Missed This
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Did Visa Ban Force Kibaki to Skip London Trip?
Posted: July 23, 2008, 5:15 am by Phil
While Prime Minister Raila Odinga is currently on a high profile working tour of the United Kingdom at the invitation of his British counterpart Gordon Brown, questions are now being raised as to why President Kibaki opted to snub an official invitation of a foreign government to attend an exclusive investment conference in which leading European investors will be present to network with Kenyan businessmen and listen to the Kenyan delegation present the country' s case as 'open for business' and as the region's investment hub. Even more importantly, the Kenyans are expected to outline opportunities under the recently unveiled and ambitious Vision 2030 aimed at driving Kenya into the middle economy.
Despite belated explanations by government spokesman that that the President Kibaki had ‘mandated’ Raila to lead the delegation of seven cabinet ministers, it is emerging that the president was advised to opt out of the trip due to failure by the British government to recognize his government earlier this year and noting that to date no official recognition has been forthcoming.
Secondly, Kibaki’s advisors are of the opinion that the overzealous British press was waiting to ‘pounce on Kibaki like vultures’ given their government had announced they do not recognize him. Additionally, Kibaki’s handlers feared constant harassment from the media (in a similar manner Mugabe has been relentlessly pursued each time he travels out of Zimbabwe) may have ended up in a confrontation with his guards and consequently embarrassed the head of state.
Thirdly, the highly publicized visa bans on politicians whom were linked to post-election violence and also to individuals whom were accused of subverting democracy have also never been officially withdrawn. Precedents exist where even some Heads of State have been barred from entering the some Western countries. Sources reveal that foreign governments have so far not rescinded their decisions on visas because they are monitoring the GCG while awaiting the successful completion and implementation of the all important agenda 4 of the Koffi Anan peace talks.
Fourthly, the PM’s trip to Europe included a scheduled address the House of Commons, a privilege normally reserved to Heads of State and respected statesmen. It will be recalled that in February this year, two senior British ministers had given ministerial statements in the same House of Commons where they reiterated that the British Government have not recognised the Kenyan Government. Kibaki’s advisors feared that some House of Commons MPs may boycott his address to protest the way in which the disputed elections were conducted.
Although names have never been revealed, senior personalities in both PNU and ODM have been expressly barred from entering Europe and the US since 2006. With the passage of time, those who have been barred from leaving Kenya have slowly but surely been sieved from the rest. For instance Uhuru Kenyatta was recently in the US and is currently in London as part the PM’s entourage. Musalia Mudavadi is in Geneva leading Kenya’s delegation to the Universal Postal Union Congress whereby he is expected to preside over the official opening of conference. William Ruto was in Rome about two months ago to represent Kibaki at an UN-FAO food conference. Interestingly, all ODM pentagon members have been to Europe on official and personal visits in the last few months, while a good number of the 40-strong grand coalition cabinet and members of their families have never dared to set foot out of the country inspite of the relevance of their individual ministerial portfolios or business interests overseas.
When one takes a casual glance at Raila’s official itinerary, then considers the size of his entourage and that the main purpose of the trip was to attend a significant investment conference organized by the British government; all these seem to suggest that this was a far too important trip for the president to skip. Indeed, going by past experience where the first lady Lucy Kibaki has always been by the side of the president during all his international trips, this time she is prominently missing in action and curiously, the government took it upon itself to announce that Raila would be accompanied by his wife Ida Odinga.
The high profile visit coupled with Raila’s elaborate motorcade and British bodyguards, have already resulted into some major international news channels erroneously referring to Raila as the President of Kenya.
A day in the life of a muthenya...
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Memories...
Posted: July 23, 2008, 4:42 am by Disco Muthenya
All things bright and beautiful
All creatures great and small
All things bright and beautiful
The Lord God made them all
Each little flower that opens
Each little bird that sings
He made their glowing colours
He made their tiny wings
All………………………………….
The purple headed mountain
The river running by
The sunset and the morning
That brightens up the sky
All…………………………………
The cold wind in the winter
The pleasant summer sun
The ripe fruits in the garden
He made them every one
All……………………………….
The tall trees in the greenwood
The meadows where we play
That rashes by the water
To gather everyday
All……………………………
He gave us eyes to see them
And lips that we might tell
How great is God almighty
Who has made all things well?
All…………………………………
You Missed This
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How Long Will We Remain The White Man's Burden?
Posted: July 23, 2008, 4:08 am by chris
Many years ago, someone wrote a book by that title. The White Man's Burden. The premise of the book was that the task of bringing the world up to speed on civilization was on the shoulders of the white man. For primitive people like the Africans to see the light, the white man had to act. Then there was the book Out Of Africa, by Ms. Blixen, which went on to become a blockbuster in Hollywood when it was adapted into a movie. All you have to do is read the condescending narrative of that story to get a glimpse into the mindset of the whites in Kenya back in the years. If I say they thought we were savages, no better than the animals that roamed the vast savannah, I'm being generous.
Now, before I plod into my thesis, let me warn that this is not a piece written to bash whites. No, a nice guy like me wouldn't do that. The whites have done a lot to help us make sense of this world, and in many cases have saved us from ourselves. The least we can do is be grateful. That said, I bring this matter up because this question needs to be answered: How Long will We remain The White Man's Burden? It's understandable that some of the difficulties Africans have had to endure have stemmed from forces outside their control, like the dreadful experiments of the Structural Adjustment programs in the eighties and early nineties...and the weather-related acts of God. But on matters of self-governance, who do we have to blame? Take a walk with me across the continent today. Let's start in South Africa. Out there, one of the world's most inspiring figures just celebrated his ninetieth birthday. Nelson Mandela is a symbol of African resilience and latent genius. Yet you go down a notch from him and you meet Thabo Mbeki. This is the man who battled the global medical community about the physics of AIDS. He's presided over an administration that has failed to spread the vast wealth in South Africa...make it trickle down to the lowly people of that nation. Is it any wonder that anti-immigrant sentiment in that country is palpable these days? One can only hope that South Africa is not about to go down the path other African nations have. But before we walk away from this magnificent nation, we must call it, as of right now, one of the brightest spots on the continent.
From South Africa, let's climb up to the Southern African region. Most nations are doing relatively well here. But then there's Zimbabwe. The latest embarrassment in Africa. This nation is emblematic of African failure. The economy has collapsed. No social life to talk about. People now worship God, but wonder about His power to save them. And in politics Robert Mugabe has found a way to pull a Kibaki. What you may not realize is that the solution President Mbeki took to Zimbabwe was crafted in capitals out of Africa. Thabo was the Kofi Annan of Zimbabwe. That's why I ask, how long will we remain the white man's burden?
Let's not dwell on Zimbabwe, though. CNN and the BBC told the story in detail. So we come to the eastern Africa region. Tanzania is moving forward at a decent pace. Uganda is a stable, strong-man democracy. Djibouti, Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia are nations ravaged by hunger and wars. Because of their strategic insignificance, though, nobody seems to care what goes on there. Which leaves Kenya. The elections there were a sham. They left in place a deeply unpopular president and the worse tribal relations Kenya has ever seen. When the world bulked at the possibility of one of Africa's most strategic nations disintegrating, Dr. Annan was sent in with ready-made solutions from washington, London, Paris and Berlin. Even the IMF and the World Bank weighed in. And this is the twenty first century? Just how long will it take for us to get our act together? When do we stop being the white man's burden?
Let's drive up to Central Africa. Chad, a mess. Sudan, under sanctions, a president that's more murderous than the Nazis, a nation split between the North and South. In the end, the United Nation's, under the thumb of the United States, has had to act to save the southern blacks. And the International Court has followed the UN lead by indicting El Bashir...that monster. The question is, why can't this region's leaders feed and lead its people well? Why do they have to wait for the white man to tell them what to do?
I'll leave the Western and Northern African regions for another day. What you've witnessed as we've walked across South Africa and the wider sub-Saharan Africa is a continent that's either in decline, as if we'd ever made any significant strides, or just running in place. The tragedy of what's going on is that Africa is blessed with enormous natural resources and an abundance of human resources. But more than anything, the good Lord has seen to it that Africa's sons and daughters are now well educated and capable of excellent leadership. So how do we explain the incessant decay in Africa? Why do we keep goofing around, looking to capitals outside Africa whenever we need solutions to our problems? If the African Union can't move Africa forward, why have it? Why not replace it with a more responsive body?
The time for Africa to rise up is now. We may not successfully organize into a superstate like the emerging European Union, or the big kid on the block, the United States, which has been around for years, but we can start by strengthening the regional economic blocs, integrating the financial institutions, expanding the existing markets, having a military unit answerable to a single command, and moving steadily toward the eventual emergence of the African superstate. Am I a dreamer? Well, how did man get to the moon without dreaming? How did one man in a research facility somewhere give birth to the atomic bomb without dreaming? And how did our freedom fighters kick the colonialists' butt out of Africa without dreaming of freedom?
We must dream.
Dream big.
The biggest dream of all must be that Africa has come to the point where continued reliance on the white man's brain must end. We are capable of taking care of ourselves. So let's thank the good people of Europe and America and Asian for the good they've done, but while at it, we must be firm that from now on, we'll take care of our own problems. All we have to do is...the right thing!
How hard can that be?
God bless Africa. Guest post by Sam O. Okello
a search for sanity or..........
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Of the obvious
Posted: July 23, 2008, 3:25 am by gal africana
Which 11 letter word does everyone always spell incorrectly?
(The truth of our existence is as obvious as the answer to this question)
Sikiliza
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AIC Kijabe Mission Hospital – Replenishing Life & Hope to All
Posted: July 23, 2008, 2:22 am by Sikiliza
Images by Jerry Riley Driving down the escarpment on the Nakuru-Nairobi highway past Limuru, the road opened up to the great escarpment view point. Curio shops eager for tourist stopovers are set up by the cliff displaying bright coloured kikoys all set against the substantial drop of the valley with Mt Longonot at the horizon. Specks of iron sheet roofs shimmer in the dull noon sun
The Displaced African
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Pursue your Passion: Mwangi Interviews Kirk Nugent (Part 1)
Posted: July 23, 2008, 2:01 am by Mwangi
Technical Difficulties
For some unforeseen reason, I am unable to put this out as a podcast for the time being, however the audio file works just fine. It’s an absolutely wonderful interview, enjoy.
The Podcast
[See post to listen to audio]
Do You Use Twitter?
If so, please follow me by going to my twitter page:Twitter.com/masmilele
Things Covered
1) Brief introduction: Just who is Kirk Nugent?
2) His life story beginning in Kingston and how he arrived in the States.
3) Comparisons between education levels in White schools and Black schools in the States
4) How he ended up dropping out of University
5) Interesting story of how he got his first job in sales while his friend ended up on America’s Most Wanted
6) His super difficult transition from a successful job in sales sales to a spoken word poet and speaker via a long period of destitution.
Much much more
Websites Mentioned
1) Kirk Nugent’s website: [www.kirknugent.com]
2) Kirk Nugent’s Myspace page: [profile.myspace.com]
Seinlife
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EPA Says You’re Worthless
Posted: July 22, 2008, 12:13 am by Seinlife
a search for sanity or..........
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Of greatness
Posted: July 22, 2008, 11:39 pm by gal africana
Great: of major significance or importance
The greatest achievement is selflessness.
The greatest worth is self-mastery.
The greatest quality is seeking to serve others.
The greatest precept is continual awareness.
The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything.
The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways.
The greatest magic is transmuting the passions.
The greatest generosity is non-attachment.
The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.
The greatest patience is humility.
The greatest effort is not concerned with results.
The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.
The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances. - Atisha
Sukuma Kenya
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4613 Kenyans say you are greedy!!
Posted: July 22, 2008, 11:06 pm
Yes Mr. President and fellow cronies posing as leaders. There are over 4000 Kenyans across the world and more and more joining everyday with one simple message to you:
YOU ARE SHAMELESS!
Kenyans online have joined hands on Facebook:
"How sad and frustrating is it to find that our MP's earn the highest salary compared to all the other countries in the world. While 20 million Kenyans are in abject poverty; living on less than $ 1.00 a day.
As Kenyans we need to stand for our rights to live and prosper in our country.
Therefore please join us to bring change in our country by reducing our MP's salaries and privileges, so as to improve the life of the mwananchi.
OUR GOAL IS TO UNITE AND GET HALF A MILLION KENYANS IN THIS GROUP.....can we do it?....lets try"
And here is the proof:
This group started on June 5th 2008
06/05/2008- 33 members
06/06/2008- 91 members
06/07/2008- 117 members
06/08/2008- 131 members
06/09/2008-150 members
06/10/2008-200 members
06/11/2008-233 members
06/12/2008-255 members
06/16/2008-370 members
06/17/2008-458 members
06/18/2008-495 members
06/19/2008-550 members
06/20/2008-630 members
06/21/2008-668 members
06/22/2008-720 members
06/23/2008-891 members
06/24/2008-1174 members
06/25/2008-1365 members
06/26/2008-1545 members
06/27/2008-1741 members
06/28/2008-1904 members
06/29/2008- 2000 members
06/30/2008- 2230 members
07/02/2008- 2671 members
07/03/2008- 2857 members
ok i got tired......wow! we are at 4000 + members
lakini
Bado mambo!"
And there are many more out there that can sign and will sign.
click HERE to join the Facebook campaign
click HERE to sign a similar petition online.
Don't you get it Mr. President and company (whichever party you are in is obviously irrelevant because you all sit smug in your 4wd or asleep in parliament while your people starve), you are all guilty.
HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT?
Where Else!
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The Pain of Defect
Posted: July 22, 2008, 11:00 pm by Bryo
That metallic taste in the mouth just won't fade away.
Tears are welling within eyes with the singular expression of disbelief
Lost; they can't choose their destiny,
Between the warm, salty free flow down the cheeks,
And the pain of the effort it takes to keep them locked in.
My knees are fluid
Miraculously they hold up my weight
Together with the additional grindstone weighing on my neck
With the Pain of Defeat
Suspended
I can't feel deliberate control,
Thank providence
The autonomic system has taken over,
I shudder wondering what happens when it too shuts down.
Mind like a broken mirror,
Each fragment trying to outdo the other
None standing out from the montage of light.
Bobbing like a cork on a stormy.
With each step...
Not knowing how it happened
But knowing I missed, just!
I couldn't reach the mark,
Not this time.
'NO!'
'Yes! It did happen', the truth retorts
My lot landed on the wrong side of the draw.
Oh! The cruelty of the draw.
I must come down to reality,
Must press on,
Dwelling on this,
I lose the initiative
And run the risk of being off the mark
Further than I think my mortal soul can bear.
...TBC -
The Pain of Defect
Posted: July 22, 2008, 11:00 pm by Bryo
That metallic taste in the mouth just won't fade away.
Tears are welling within eyes with the singular expression of disbelief
Lost; they can't choose their destiny,
Between the warm, salty free flow down the cheeks,
And the pain of the effort it takes to keep them locked in.
My knees are fluid
Miraculously they hold up my weight
Together with the additional grindstone weighing on my neck
With the Pain of Defeat
Suspended
I can't feel deliberate control,
Thank providence
The autonomic system has taken over,
I shudder wondering what happens when it too shuts down.
Mind like a broken mirror,
Each fragment trying to outdo the other
None standing out from the montage of light.
Bobbing like a cork on a stormy.
With each step...
Not knowing how it happened
But knowing I missed, just!
I couldn't reach the mark,
Not this time.
'NO!'
'Yes! It did happen', the truth retorts
My lot landed on the wrong side of the draw.
Oh! The cruelty of the draw.
I must come down to reality,
Must press on,
Dwelling on this,
I lose the initiative
And run the risk of being off the mark
Further than I think my mortal soul can bear.
...TBC
Kwani Trust
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Missionaries, Mercenaries and Misfits - a new anthology edited by Rasna Warah
Posted: July 22, 2008, 10:22 pm by Kwani
Africa is worse off today than it was 30 years ago, despite being among the biggest recipients of development assistance and foreign aid. The reason, says a new book, is not because the aid is not enough, or that it does not reach the intended beneficiaries, but rather because the aid industry works in ways [...]
tigritude is dead !
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Software developers modern day sharecroppers
Posted: July 22, 2008, 9:46 pm
Tim Bray talks about developing Iphone applications and its similarities with sharecropping .
Thinking about the whole software devloping world all the large companies are trying to make us into sharecroppers - google with its API's. Facebook with it's API's and every other new company has a scheme to turn developers into sharecroppers. - Software sharecropper.
White African
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Testing the new WordPress iPhone App
Posted: July 22, 2008, 9:43 pm by HASH
So, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the new iPhone WordPress app [iTunes link]. Not because I forsee creating a lot of new content with my thumbs, but because it’ll make it easier to add images straight from my phone and easier to edit old posts. Lastly, the team behind WordPress tends to put out good stuff, so I want to see what it’s like.
Setup is simple and intuitive, just enter domain, username and password. Choose how many old posts to archive on the phone, and then get writing.
Now, I’m going to try to add pictures from my phone. Hmmm, not possible to just add an image inline, seems I can only create a gallery. I’d like some way to add individual images easily. I wonder if they could do this by allowing you to hide the keyboard?
I like how the screen automatically scrolls to the bottom when you revisit a draft.
Overall, this is going to be a useful app and will stay in an honored position of page 1 on my iPhone.
UPDATE: looks like the photos were not added correctly as a gallery, but inline. Not good. Let’s see if manually adding the gallery tag will fix it.
Update 2: that fixed it. Now to delete all the code injected. The last 2 images show the frontside and editor-side of this mess.
Black Looks
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Remember Olive Morris? - History of Black Britain
Posted: July 22, 2008, 9:13 pm by Sokari
I was not here in the 70s so no, I don’t remember Olive Morris but do remember the Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent (OWAAD) in the early 80s which she was a founder member. Morris was part of the Brixton Black Panther Party and early post -WWII Black struggle in Britain. [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Remember Olive Morris? - History of Black Britain", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/07/remember_olive_morris_-_history_of_black_britain.html" });
You Missed This
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Perils of Managing Own Succession
Posted: July 22, 2008, 8:57 pm by Taabu
Times have changed but not our politicians. Kibaki is finding it hard mould PNU into an outfit for his political schemes. Beholden to his club of moneyed and greying buddies it is payback time and he has to deliver before he quits State House. With Jomo Jr. salivating in the wings for coronation, Iron Lady and Prof Kiarie cannot sit down and watch.
With economic deals on Kenya at high stakes Kibaki cannot afford the luxury of experimenting with less endowed chaps around him. But true to character he is trying to keep all relevant lest they leave the king exposed for what he is – SPINELESS MARIONETTE. It appears the next four years are very short to accomplish the national looting and auction hence the early political positioning of pretenders to the throne. While the bank behind Kibaki’s politics and presidency are demanding quick results, the route is proving unpredictably bumpy.
The new wineskins have vehemently rejected the old wine. We are in new age and Kibaki’s time tested fraudulent tricks are being overtly and covertly resisted by people who would otherwise be playing ball. Ford-K and Narc-K have proved good and fast students of history and have vowed never to provide their backs for a piggy political ride for the heir apparent.
Curse of last term
Outright dissent is a known byword for last term presidents and Kibaki is no exception. His authority and spinelessness will be tested to the core and the dissenters are determined to go all the way. Already Karua and her gang have scored a significant victory in having the proposal to dissolve affiliate parties and merge them into one shelved. Forming a committee to study such a viability is just diplospeak to but time in the face of a determined opposition.
DECEPTION and FRAUD are very costly vices. Kibaki is finally paying the ultimate price of cheating his way into his second term. The truth be told, PNU was a gimmick for a party formed under the wrong premise and with the wrong purpose. Passengers boarded the vehicle for selfish reasons as evident in the present rudderlessness.
That the more things change the more they remain the same has never been an apt phrase as applied to Kenyan politics. Now the Wekesa-led PNU committee are back to the trouble laced twin proposal of individual and corporate membership. Boy, don’t we love repeating the same mistakes that previously refused to work. So Kibaki has finally discovered in his sunset political life that he needs to be the chairman of a party called PNU and for good measure have a trusted lieutenant as a deputy. Whether that will work is anybody’s guess. But the scheming betrays IMPUNITY as a defining label for the players. In their minds damn the consequences and what Kenyans think provided their wicked plans are laid no matter the human price.
aaarrrggg
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experiences in Nairobi
Posted: July 22, 2008, 8:11 pm by Mwananchi Mkenya
So I absolute love being here. Every time I land I wonder why i’m not already living here permanently. But there are still some things that drive me nuts. Like the maid at the apartment where i’m staying stealing my jewlery including a prized gold and sapphire ring! And management seemingly uninterested in doing anything about it [...]
Kenyanpoet
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Women Behaving Badly
Posted: July 22, 2008, 7:53 pm by N.W
I am your typical girl from the Slopes
Who was taught that trousers are for men
Shorts for boys
And well
Dresses and skirts are for women and girls.
My grand mother always insisted
Red ink appeared on the lips of those who drank blood
Paint on nails was as rare to see as the occasional chapattis made over the festive season
I am your typical woman from the village
I wake up when the sun is still hiding far in the horizon.
Walk hours on end to the river to put water in the 2 mitungis
5 times I go back and forth,
The cows need to drink, Chicken, pigs, goats
Clothes washed,
The utensils from last night washed
Njeri & Kamau will bathe tomorrow
My husband
Snoring like a pig
Wakes up and shouts
Wanjiru Winaku ?
Wewe ni mwanamke ama mfano!
“ I am going to Nairofi to rook for a real woman”
A woman who is learned
A woman with kirathi
Not rike you
Everytime I want
Always compraining
Head, back, feet, stomach, teeth, hair, ah!
I want a Nairofi woman
I hate Nairofi women, those whish my husband wants
Yet he can’t have for more than a night
These women, is rike their eyes have been ricked by wild cats
They oroways want things
I want pizza (what in God’s name is that?),
I want a ndesigner handbag,
I want clothes,
I want money,
They only return his smiles when they can smell money on him
Like dogs on heat they follow him everywhere
Kwamaiko bar, sirikiso, they even have no shame
Coming into the compound asking for Mike!
Ati -Mathe ako wapi Mike?
Is micheal your mother
Micheal ni nyukwa!
Look at them, these women,
They behave so badly like its going out of style
Like the solea I still apply to my face
Like the hotcomb I still use to fry my hair
These women behave like wild cats
With painted faces, like Wangu the witch
Torn clothes like a cow was eating it
With tight trousers I wonder if they were poured into them
And panties peeping out like they want to come out and be worn on top
But they say, I am not a well behaved woman,
That I am a shame to real women
They say, my covered hair in mother’s union headscarf,
Long dress, cracked fee and plain face
Should be cultural artifacts in the National museum
I say
They can go jump in a river
They are the real WBD (Women Behaving Badly)
--------------------------------------------------
N.W
All rights Reserved©
Inspired by a theme event at the GoDown Art Center some while back
--------------------------------------------------“As to the pure mind all things are pure, so to the poetic mind all things are poetical” -
Foreign Correspondent's Literary Image of Africa - From Stanley To Kapuscinski
Posted: July 22, 2008, 7:51 pm by N.W
FROM STANLEY TO KAPUSCINSKI - How foreign correspondents have formed the literary image of Africa.
A panel discussion featuring
Binyavanga Wainaina, Jonathan Ledgard, Maryanne Fitzgerald
Moderated by Steve Bloomfield
23rd July 7 pm, start at Alfajiri, Maalim Juma Road, opposite Royal Media
"We went into the heart of Africa self-invited — therein lies our
fault." (Henry Morton Stanley)
Since Stanley became the first man to cross Africa and write about it
for the New York Herald, the literary image of Africa has been inked
by foreign correspondents turned writers - Mark Twain, Ernest
Hemingway, Graham Greene, and Evelyn Waugh among them.
Can the continent ever escape the dark romantics?
“As to the pure mind all things are pure, so to the poetic mind all things are poetical” -
Rwanda Special;July 22nd, 24th & 29th @ Goethe-Institut
Posted: July 22, 2008, 7:50 pm by N.W
Screenings of movies from Rwanda eg. 100 days will take place at the at Goethe-Institut, Nairobi Library Lounge, July 22nd, 24th and 29th, from 6pm, free entrance. More from NairobiNow“As to the pure mind all things are pure, so to the poetic mind all things are poetical” -
Kwani? Special at Kenya National Library,Nairobi
Posted: July 22, 2008, 7:32 pm by N.W
Kwani? will host an interactive session featuring poetry performances, prose readings and story telling this Thursday at the Kenya National Library in Upper Hill Nairobi from 2 - 4pm.
The event will feature Binyavanga Wainaina, Cindy Ogana, Njeri Wangari and Samuel Munene(whose work 'Obama My Uncle has been featured on this blog).
This is a great opportunity to get information on how to participate in the Kwani Literary Festival and register for the writers' workshops.“As to the pure mind all things are pure, so to the poetic mind all things are poetical”
Loud Silence
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SIIIIGGGGHHHHH….
Posted: July 22, 2008, 7:16 pm by boinah
SO my boyfriend has manged to overtake Ntimama on making me angry. thats just a story for another day…aaahhh young love!! i have been sitting on my ass all weekend trying to come up with a strategy on how to go about the Ntimama Business i can tell you i have had many a sighs on that one. i want to do something but am not sure what or if it will make a difference. a petition of either face book or any other social site will only be that a petition! am getting increasingly agitated by my lack of a solution to this. none of the other bloggers seems too keen to take this up and am all alone wondering if there is anything i can do to make it even remotely count. am just one person with no backing and no real idea how to handle this. am a lawyer but am not sure my lawyerly skills will help me out. can i bring charges as an ordinary citizen? what will that inmvolve? do i have that kind of money? where are the big mouths who jump at a hotel being sold but cant even speak at the death of 600 people?
this is really getting to me, whose help can i enlist and how far can i take this?????? most of you will have forgotten the incident, and like me your personal lives may overtake this but am not sure i can perosnally forget even when the man i love has decided to act like a complete idiot for reasons best known to himself, i just have one question does he really want to take me on???? he may be older by 6 years but i have dealt with far worse people than him to gain enough confidence to show him am not one of those nice girls you treat the way you want and get away with it. he will come around. unfortunately i wish dealing with Ntimama was as easy as dealing with my boyfriend….
maybe its time i got down on my knees and asked God to please give Mr. Ntimama a disease that wont kill him but leave him permanentle in pain and useless…..a stroke maybe?
Kei Kei's Random Observation
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Candidly refreshing
Posted: July 22, 2008, 5:50 pm by KK
I always wondered why people in New-England were so cold and impersonal.... figured it must be something to do with the cold winters. Now I think I know the truth. Its because they are not happy.
Nah.. I shouldn't say that. Perhaps they are happy in their own peculiar way. What I should say is that they have not known true joy. That joy that you can only find in the en(joy)ment of a good ripe mango.
I sat outside in the muggy heat at lunch today; armed with a knife, a bowl and a bottle of ice-cold water. I had me a medium sized mango.... perfectly ripened, which I proceeded to carve up expertly with the little pairing knife I had.
You should have seen the curious ogling I got from all around me as I proceeded to indulge myself in what I am finding out is a peculiarly 'third world' pleasure.... Three ladies (not together) actually stopped and voiced what all the rest must have been wondering.
'OMG Kei, what in the world are you eating?'
Now, in all honesty, if the closest you've come to having a tropical fruit is a pinacolada at your local watering joint, then you truly are missing out on some of life's greatest pleasures. That ten or so minutes gave me a refreshing satisfaction that can only be rivalled by similar enjoyment of equally firm and succulent mango shaped breasts of a young woman.
Ok... Maybe I shouldn't have gone there...
tHiNkEr'S rOoM
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Presidency For Dummies (African Edition) - Elections
Posted: July 22, 2008, 4:48 pm by M
Chapter 9: Incumbency: Your Best Friend
Technorati tags: Africa, Presidency, Elections© M for tHiNkEr'S rOoM, 2008. | Permalink | 8 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:
Kwani Trust
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Countdown to Kwani Litfest 2008
Posted: July 22, 2008, 3:57 pm by Kwani
Kwani Litfest 2008 is almost here…starting Friday, August 1 with an opening night party at the fabulous Acapulco restaurant (hosted by Just A Band), the festival begins in earnest the very next day. Get ready for two weeks of workshops, symposiums, panel discussions, writers retreats, and so much more. On August 10, the Litfest decamps [...]
Lost White Kenyan Chick
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Today's view
Posted: July 22, 2008, 3:11 pm by MZUNGU CHICK
stranded in me
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Update
Posted: July 22, 2008, 2:38 pm
As I wait for big brother I wonder what measures have been put in place to ensure that no one is finger raped?
A few things have happened since the last time I was here, I have created a second tv series and in the process of figuring out how to market it. Loan sharks are invited to send suggestions coz i'm seriously considering taking a loan. Maybe equity will give me money? The worst that could happen is for the show to flop and considering the subject matter that's not likely, they can lend me the money make it back and hopefully i get some change.. good idea huh?
Still on creating, I think I have a show that will make apprentice look like child's play and I mean the trump experience coz I want to put a group like no other and give them a challenge, my challenge again is marketing maybe i should enroll in a class!! Ama look for Mark Burnett and pitch it to him..(from my keyboard to God's ears). The creation is coming really well I have like many ideas in paper need to get them on screen chap chap! I should become an arsonist for hire i'm sure after all the schools getting burnt kids can't purchase fuel!
I've been happy in love. Happy. The weight gain I can't explain maybe chips and the cold as a reason for not working out is tedious but for real I haven't discovered a route in the new neighborhood I like(more excuses huh!)
Had auditions this weekend for my mnet series still don't have cast! The 'wow' factor was lacking in people, it got me thinking since most of the performing artists can't live off acting alone then things like working out daily for hours to get six packs is out of the question, question is six pack=beautiful body is that a western concept of beauty straight out of fhm or is it now ours? I appreciate a six pack coz I know just how much work goes into developing and of course it looks good!
I have met some amazing people and been disappointed by others I looked up to, any regrets? Just one but it can't be changed so I have decided to move on and learn from the mistake. All in all its been more of good than bad..
Kenya Christian
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Video: Talanta Awards coverage
Posted: July 22, 2008, 1:52 pm by Frank
KenyanGospel.com covered the Talanta Awards held in Raleigh,North Carolina on July 19th. Talanta Awards is an annual event that celebrates Kenyan gospel artists based in the U.S.
To watch the full coverage click here.
For a full list of the winners, click here
A Mzungu who loves Kenya
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I will always be white ...
Posted: July 22, 2008, 1:44 pm by Dad Mzungu
During my stay in Kisii, Josephat frequently asked (through an interpreter) why I was so pale. As he is a Luuya, his skin is very dark, and I was particularly pale, having just escaped from a British winter.So Josephat took it upon himself to make me dark. After I had bathed him and Vaselined him, he decided that if he greased me, I would become dark like him.
[Note: The character that resembles a European Buddha is, unfortunately, me. However, I was happy to find that after a month in Kenya, I lost about a stone - no biscuits or cake, no chocolate, a lot of walking, only fresh food!]
[Note 2: Josephat was abandoned at 6 months and deposited with Mercy Gate Children's Home, Kisii. On my first visit in September 2007, Jojo adopted me, calling me his Baba Mzungu. Whenever I am in Kisii now, Jojo is an almost permanent attachment to my hand, shoulders, neck or lap.]
Gathara's World
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Tuning Out Kenya
Posted: July 22, 2008, 12:39 pm
Vagabond Realities
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Before I Was a Mom
Posted: July 22, 2008, 12:09 pm by Vagabond
Before I was a Mom
I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.
Before I was a Mom,
I slept as late as I wanted
And never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.
Before I was Mom
I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words of lullabies.
Before I was a Mom
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom
I had never been puked on
Pooped on
Spit on
Chewed on
Peed on
Or pinched by tiny fingers
Before I was a Mom
I had complete control of:
My thoughts
My body
And my mind.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom
I never held down a screaming child
So that doctors could do tests
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
When I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
Could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a Mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
Could make me feel so important.
Before I was a Mom
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay
I had never known the warmth
The joy
The love
The heartache
The wonder
Or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.
KCB Rugby Football Club
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Lions beaten at home
Posted: July 22, 2008, 11:32 am by KCBRFC
The Lions were beaten 25-35 by Nakuru RFC in a Kenya Cup clash on Satruday at the Lions Den. They trailed 15-18 at half time in a game that they never looked like dominating . Tries from Neil Dick, Meso Ahenda and Kelvin Kimutai as well as two penalties and two conversions from Peter Mutai were not enough for the Lions who slipped to third in the leagu standings following their second loss of the season. Impala lead the league despite losing 18-19 to Quins who move to second.
TEAM P W D L FOR AG DIFF B PTS
Impala 12 10 0 2 357 173 184 8 48
Quins 12 8 1 3 345 193 152 9 43
KCB 11 8 1 2 372 154 218 7 41
Nakuru 11 9 0 2 246 147 99 5 41
Mwamba 12 5 1 6 230 274 -44 4 28
Strathm 11 4 1 7 170 335 -165 2 20
Mean Mac11 3 0 8 190 148 42 5 20
Mombas 11 2 0 9 71 310 -239 2 8
Nondescr11 0 2 9 115 284 -169 1 5
Viceroy of Kenya (VoK) Crew
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Education kitu gani?
Posted: July 22, 2008, 9:19 am by Mgema the skilled Cooper
This post was inspired from a very sincere outlook on school unrest in Kenya characterized by over ten riots and numerous closures - in one weekend! Published on behalf of My-Key.
Am fucking tired and disgusted with what is happening in our schools. Whatever happened to discipline? What is the problem – parenting or the system?
I remember when we was growing up,the lectures we used to get of the repurcussions of fucking up in school was incentive enough to keep us reading. I remember it was worth it to read – things were tough. We had more subjects to study, and we didn’t have any calculators to use – we had to think.Weevils were a delicacy – fuck St G for rioting ati the food is bad.
These new generation of kids have no log books & have cell phones. Parents don’t want their kidz touched because it will ‘affect their confidence in future’ – so white and gay. The government has made it worse by making education free - with all due respect,education is key and its unfortunate that some people are not able to afford it,yet kidz deserve to be educated – but imagine if shindes were free – what would be the value? And then guys - lets add more to the flip side. You make it free,fill classrooms,pay teachers crap,remove corporal punishment – wtf do you expect to happen? Teachers don’t wanna teach, kidz think the world owes them something(fuck you!) and the list goes on and on…….
My suggestions:
- All students in 3rd and 4th who were involved in the riots should be suspended for two years before they are allowed to sit KCSE. All their names will be circulated to all high schools
- Corporal punishment should be reinstated and made legal
- Cellphones should be banned in all schools. We never had cellphones for ‘my folks to check if am ok’ - we had God,our teachers and ourselves, This is the shit they are using to coordinate the ‘mass action’. This goes for ipods and all the silly gizmos they use
- The number of subjects should be increased – these guys are idle
- The governement should not contribute to the anxiety of students by politicizing education – see KCSE results for 2007 for more details
- The cut off point for public and private universities should be raised – making it harder and making these kidz take life seriously
And we have to treat them like children – not adults. Who was that intelligent individual who came up with the idea of giving tois D.L’s and ID’s at 16?
Guys, please note that these are the first generation of the ‘free education’ system. Like Mutahi Ngunyi said, there is NOTHING for free….
…….from a very disgruntled Kenyan. Man, am happy I went through the tough life….
Maria Ofelia sez:
Hear! hear!!! Especially suggestion No. 1
How can students strike ati because exams are hard? boo effing hoo!!! Suspend a couple of those yobs and the rest will think twice before they decide to set their dorms a blaze!!!
Mgema sez:
Oh, you're not disgusted - I saw my alma mater - Dagoretti - prominently displayed on news last week after they started this whole round of strikes! That hurts and makes you sick to your stomach - you want to go there and tell all those kids they would all be reading over night if they knew what is good for them!! As you cane them.
Mr. Kamunge, one of Kenya's most respected and eminent educationists sat on one of the many 'commissions' to try and come up with suggestions for sorting unrests, and it sits in a polished office somewhere unopened! Part of similar 'get-togethers' have recommended miriad changes, some as radical as overhauling the education system as constituted, reducing subjects, training teachers on psychology, removing 'pre-mocks' and 'mock' exams, scraping the quota system, amongst others. Very soon, another piece of 'brilliant' suggestions will come up, but we all know our government's record with commissions.
Back to My-Key's gists: I do agree with some and others I see differently.- The two year ban - I agree totally!
- Someone said when the corporal punishment was abolished, nothing was established as a punishment mechanism to replace it - I concur. That could have left a big vacuum where students have taken advantage. That said, they don't beat you in Strath, dunno bout Starehe (Migz -enlighten), Mso, Kianda, etc etc. Look at the products, both as institutions and students that come through their gates. That's not to mean there are no hardheads in those schools (My-Key, Samurai, Nduati, Tibo, we all see how bad it gets...), but THEY NEVER RIOTED, BURNT SCHOOL BUS, WENT TO BURN SAINTS WITH PETROL..
- There should be a shoot-to-kill order if one is spotted with a cellphone is school.. don't even get me started on that one!
- I think subjects should be relevant - then number can be asmany or little as possible, but relevant.
- Increase the numbers of public Unis. That will definately reduce the hustle of cut-offs et al. I see very many guys going to private unis to do the same but weaker course that they could've done in Main, and some are not daft, just a tard unlucky. Others come from the wrong regions, so quota locks them out. From the number of colleges offering degree and dips from registered unis, you'll see where I'm coming from. Raising the cut-off might work as a ruse, but support the kids who would miss out on mainstream business courses but are gifted technically (Mgema, Wodu Wakiri, Kaz).
- Depoliticizing education HAS TO STOP! PERIOD.
- Invest cash in education - I'm sure if we had a refurendum on who's salo to ongeza, between a teacher's or an MP's; whether to vote-in the Speakers chase car for KShs. 650m orbuilt more classes; computerize schools and have e-learning or build the PM a digz for KShs 100m... the answer would be simple.
Teachers are a frustrated lot, and more than their salos, I don't think they are appreciated enuff. Guys bomoka a P1 teacher's salo on binge shopping in a few minutes - HOW CRAZY IS THAT?!!!!!! You leave me with your rogue kids and want me to WHAT?!! MOULD them? Ehe?!! If he can't vent on your kid by chapaing him, he sits back and waits for the 'world' to take it's course, and we can see the fruits..
That's my take - I was once a student, once a teenager, did a crap education system, is part of a failed experiment, and I can see without being in any commission, that we are doomed..there's no political will for any such changes, so this will just take a back-seat for now. Mark my words.
I end on controversy. How coincidental is it, that all these riots and unrests have taken place at the same EXACT time countrywide, and they all seem to have come just after the Headtechers' meeting in Mombasa about two weeks ago?
ExtatikPoetix
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Halting the Hiatus
Posted: July 22, 2008, 8:13 am
The road ahead is seemingly growing more and more tumultuous as I seek for the ultimate consolation destiny will offer me, happiness.
I have been ensconced in the midst of virtue and sheer selfishness for the past few moons and now I am left to wonder if indeed this was the way my story was to unfold. If someone would have given me a precursory glance, I would have probably taken the road less traveled just to be a little bit a peace. The continuum as it presents itself is a rather mind boggling fiasco that seems to become more and more intrinsically complicated when simple situations turn volatile when a thought process is exponentially magnified. The total sum of which would be avoidable if the elements were to take greater care of the negatives without having to inflict mental frustrations.
It dawned on me in the midst of my tormenting meanderings, mentally that is, I have