My Africa Today

The Hebrew/Israelites and The African Slave Trade How Do the two Relate?

2008-08-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

The Hebrew/Israelites and The African Slave Trade How Do the two Relate?By Chawviv ben Yisrael

In school, in history classes, students are taught about the African Slave Trade: how the black people were taken from the Continent of Africa to be slaves; how the black people were captured and raped and robbed of their culture; how the black people were forced to accept the religion of their captors; and how the black people had to, and still do, live according to the customs of their slave masters.

But did slavery all start on the continent of Africa? Were Hebrew/Israelites part of this slave trade? Were the Hebrew/Israelites even in Africa? And were the Hebrew/Israelites in Africa during the time of the African Slave Trade? .

George E. Lichtblau, author of "Jewish Roots in Africa," said "Claims of a historic presence of Jewish communities in certain regions of Africa, notably West and Southern Africa, seem esoteric when first mentioned. This presence goes back not just centuries, but even to biblical times." How many children know this? Mr. Lichtblau also said, " . . . the subsequent scattering of a Jewish presence and influence reaching deep into the African continent is less widely acknowledged." Why?.

If everything is left up to the school systems, black people in America will continue to live in darkness, especially, concerning the slave trade and its connection with the Hebrew/Israelites. There is a connection!.

First, it should be understood that the Hebrew/Israelites are black people. If that's not clear, please read "The Hebrew People of the Bible, What Color are they?" This will clearly explain what our captors do not want you to know. .

All through the biblical history of the Hebrew/Israelites, you will read how they disobeyed God, their Father, the God of Israel. In that the children of Israel are His only son (Exodus 4:22), they had to be disciplined by their Father, the Creator ofheaven and Earth, for their wicked deeds..

How did God discipline his children being a spiritual and not a physical being?.

The spanking that the Children of Israel received was through being defeated on the battlefield and by being taken into captivity by the nation or nations that their father, the Creator, raised to power. For example: Judges 2:11&14 says, "The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord . . . and the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that plundered them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies." Judges 3:7&8 says, "The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord . . . Therefore the anger of the Lord burned against Israel and he sold them into the hand of Kushan-rish'atayim, king of Aram: and the children of Israel served Kushan-rish'atayim eight years." And, Judges 3:12-14 says, "The children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel . . . And he gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amaleq, and went and smote Israel . . . So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab, for eighteen years." So as you can see, the discipline came through the other nations by the God of Israel..

As the Children of Israel continued to do evil, and the God of Israel continued to bring other nations against them, knowing that they were going to be persecuted, and forced to serve another nation, they would run into other countries trying and thinking they were fleeing from their captors, that the Lord their God had raised and strengthened against them..

Although, the children of Israel was constantly wicked, they were already warned by the God of Israel that if they disobeyed Him that they would be cursed. As the Christians have the book of Revelations for their last book, the Hebrews have the book of Deuteronomy for their last book of revelations. And their curse is thoroughly outlined in Deuteronomy 28th Chapter. I am not going to quote the 28th chapter because it is very lengthy. But, please read it!.

There were several times when the Israelites, out of defeat, ran for shelter, and the Bible and other history books of the Jews hold the specific details of this matter. .

Second Kings 18:9-13 says, "And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hosea son of Elah King of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, (that is, the ninth year of Hosea king of Israel) Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them. Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them."

Knowing that king Shalmaneser did carry away Israel, and that king Sennacherib did take Judah into captivity, did any Hebrew/Israelites try to escape their wrath? Did any Hebrew/Israelites run into other countries? Is it all possible for them to have also run into Africa? I say Yes!

Solomon Grayzel, a white Jewish historian, wrote in his book, "A History of the Jews," in the ninth century CE (AD), a man appeared in north Africa among the Hebrews there, his name was Eldad from the tribe of Dan, he was a Danite. He said the members of his tribe had escaped Israel after Sennacherib had conquered Israel, and other Hebrews from other tribes also live in the land from where he came from.

Menasseh ben Israel, the author of "The Hope of Israel," said in his book there were Hebrew/Israelites that had been scattered into the Americas since the time of Sennacherib.

Mr Lichtblau, the writer of "Jewish Roots in Africa," speaking of the Jews said, "Pressed under sweeping regional conflicts, Jews settled as traders and warriors in Yemen, the Horn of Africa, Egypt, the Kingdom of Kush and Nubia, North African Punic settlements (Carthage and Velubilis), and areas now covered by Mauritania. More emigrants followed these early Jewish settlers to Northern Africa following the Assyrian conquest of the Israelites in the 8th century B.C.E...."

And, Rabbi Dahton Nasi, the author of the "Basic Jewish Studies Handbook," has placed the Hebrew/Israelites all over the African continent.

Shalmaneser king of Assyria and Sennacherib king of Assyria were not the only kings to have come up against Israel. Another very important time in the history of the Hebrews, and I say important because the Temple was destroyed for the first time, is when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon came and took Israel and destroyed the temple.

Here too, we tried to escape persecution and ran into the continent of Africa. Mr. Lichtblau statement above goes one step further, when mentioning the emigration of the Hebrews to Africa during the conquest of king Nebuchadnezzar. It says, " . . . and again 200 years later, when Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians, leading to the destruction of the First temple."

So, again two hundred years later the Children of Israel ran into Africa trying to flee persecution.

The people, not wanting to serve king Nebuchadnezzar, went into Egypt, even after they were instructed by the God of Israel, their Father, not to. Jeremiah, the prophet, in chapter 42, 43, and 44 tells the people that God said to stay in Babylon because he would be with them. But instead, they went to Egypt and when Jeremiah caught up with them in there, he said, due to them not listening to the God of Israel, he was going to push king Nebuchadnezzar into Egypt and take it and them.

I don't know what my reaction would have been if I had been informed of this by the Prophet. But as Rabbi Nasi stated in his handbook above (regarding this situation, and something I do agree with), "This warning would cause many Israelites to migrate deeper into Ethiopia and the Sahara desert."

After serving the Babylonians for 70 years, the Hebrews returned to Israel to rebuild the kingdom. Thinking that they would have known how to act, they had to be disciplined again because they wouldn't listen to the word of God.

In the year 334 B.C.E., Alexander the Great, came down from Macedonia and took Babylon, Egypt, Israel, and other areas that were occupied by the Persians. After Alexanders death, his kingdom was divide and the Hebrew/Israelites caught trouble again.

Around 176 B.C.E., king Antiochus ruled the Greek Kingdom and came up against Israel. Approximately two years later, the king attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the city, burned it down, and took the women and children captive. He also wrote a decree to all of his kingdom that the people should give up their particular practices and be as the Greeks, to be as one people.

The king told the Hebrews to "put a stop to whole burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings at the sanctuary, and to break the Sabbaths and profane the feasts and to build altars and sacred precincts and idol temples and sacrifice hogs and unclean cattle; and to leave their sons uncircumcised and defile themselves with every unclean and profane practice." The king made it known to the Hebrews, if they did not obey the command, they would be put to death. After the Greeks came, the Romans and around 70CE destroyed Jerusalem again. The Romans, too, refused to let the Jews circumcise their boys, observe the Sabbath, and study the laws of the God of Israel. Here, too, the Roman government said if we were to do the things that we are commanded to do by the God of Israel, that the Hebrews would be put to death.

The restrictions on the Hebrews forced them to emigrate in even greater numbers than before. Rome's vengeance forced the Hebrews that lived in Cyrenaica, which was approximately a hundred thousand and a million in Egypt to flee into the south of Africa and the west of Africa. Solomon Grayzel said, "such is the explanation how the Sahara desert first acquired Jewish tribes . . . "

But it wasn't always another kingdom that forced the Hebrews to flee their homeland.

The first three centuries of the Christian Era weren't easy for the Hebrews. There was a lot of confusion between the Hebrews and the Christians due to instigation by the Roman government saying the Hebrews killed Jesus. And, that false accusation has followed the Hebrews even until this day. But, at that time it did force the Hebrews to flee from persecution, while at the same time we also fled from the Christians due to forced conversion. It was a do or die situation. You either accepted Christianity or you died.

Next was the rise of Islam some several hundred years later, 6th or 7th century. Islam was gaining some dominance but not enough to convert the Hebrews. Mohammed sought the Hebrews, but the Hebrews didn't want to have anything to do with Islam. Eventually, a choice was given to the Hebrews either Islam or die by the sword. The threat of the sword was definitely carried out by the command of Mohammed, killing the Hebrew males and selling the Hebrew women. After the death of Mohammed, his successor (Abu Behr), with a tighter grip than Mohammed, continued with the caravan.

Africa wasn't the only country where the Hebrews dwelled because of them fleeing their captore and wanting to live a life of freedom. Spain and Portugal, to name a few, were two countries where the Hebrews tried to leave.

Life for the Hebrews in Spain was fair until January 2, 1492. This is the year that king Ferdinand and queen Isabella signed an order to deport the Hebrews out of Spain. Christianity had taken a strong hold in Spain and Ferdinand and Isabella approved the expulsion because the Jews were secretly maintaining their faith as Moses had instructed them and not embracing the Christian religion.

Ferdinand and Isabella gave the Jews until August 1, 1492 to get out of Spain or suffer severe slavery for sure. When August 1, 1492 arrived, a great number of Jews had departed Spain, returning to the northern and western parts of Africa, fleeing to the Caribbean islands, and fleeing into Portugal. "But the last group of Jews did not leave until August 2, 1492," said Rudolph Windsor, author of "From Babylon to Timbuktu."

This date should sound familiar to the world because this is the date Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World. And their were Jews on board his carriers. The Jews that stayed behind in Spain were either forced to convert to Christianity, be a slave, or die by the sword. The Jews that fled into Portugal were allowed to stay for thirteen years but no longer, to the year of 1505. To this date, there are a number of dark-skinned Hebrews in the Caribbean Islands, practicing and living the laws of Moses.

When 1505 arrived, the Hebrews that had stayed behind in Portugal were forced into being slavery by the order of the governor of Portugal. Also, the governor gave permission to import the slaves, those negroes, those Hebrews into the Caribbean islands and the West Indies.

But Spain and Portugal weren't the only culprits in this matter. The African people also played a part in the captivity of African slaves.

Although the slave trade began in 1441, at the hands of the Portuguese, it wasn't until 1619, when the first slaves were reported in English America, said Richard L. Green. He went further to say, "The participation of countries in the African slave trade became so profitable that slaves were viewed as black gold' and beasts of burden."

Black gold and beasts of burden is how Affonso I, king of the Congo, must have viewed the Hebrews of Africa because he gained a great deal of wealth from the slave trade. It is noted that Mvemba Nzinga, who was baptized Affonso I, ruled as the Mani Congo (king of the Congo) from 1506 to 1543. "Affonso I attempted to control the slave traffic," and by 1530, at least 5,000 slaves were exported annually from the Congo, said Mr. Green. Richard L. Green is the publisher and editor of "A Salute to Historic African Kings and Queens."

Of course, Affonso I, the king of the Congo, in the continent of Africa, wasn't the only king to get involved in the slave trade. There were other kings in Africa that did it out of profit, and their were some kings that were pitted against each other by the Europeans. But either way it goes, the Hebrews went into slavery by the hands of the kings of Africa and by the hands of the Europeans.

This document makes the connection between the Hebrew/Israelites and the African Slave Trade and explains how and why the Hebrews emigrated or rather fled to the continent of Africa. At the same time, it explains how the Hebrews got caught up in the slave trade. Many of the black people in America want to associate themselves with the African continent, when in fact it actually has nothing to do with the black people of America.

The history of the black people doesn't stop at Africa. There is more to black people than that. Take the time to study black history, and don't stop at Africa. Why, because it will be you who will make a difference in this world..

DJIMON HOUNSOU

2008-08-26T01:17:00.000-07:00

DJIMON HOUNSOU
Once a year, actor Djimon Hounsou visits his family in Benin, where he recently helped rebuild his childhood home. "The goal of the African people is to become self-sufficient," says Hounsou, who served as a consultant on our portfolio, otherwise "sometimes it does feel like the white man's burden. Some of the efforts need to be implemented by Africans who do good for the continent. Then people can see that their own people can really make a difference. We are not looking for a handout.

Djimon Hounsou supports: The ONE Campaign

36 Methods of Mathematical Proof.

2008-08-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

Proof by obviousness

"The proof is so clear that it need not be mentioned."

Proof by general agreement

"All in favor?. . . "

Proof by imagination

"Well, we'll pretend it's true. . .

Proof by convenience

"It would be very nice if it were true, so . . .

Proof by necessity

"It had better be true, or the entire structure of mathematics would crumble to the ground."

Proof by plausibility

"It sounds good, so it must be true."

Proof by intimidation

"Don't be stupid; of course it's true."

Proof by lack of sufficient time

"Because of the time constraint, I'll leave the proof to you."

Proof by postponement

"The proof for this is long and arduous, so it is given in the appendix."

Proof by accident

"Hey, what have we here?!"

Proof by insignificance

"Who really cares, anyway?"

Proof by mumbo-jumbo

" (B Ì P ) , $ (C Î W )

Proof by profanity

(example omitted)

Proof by definition

"We define it to be true."

Proof by tautology

'It's true because it's true."

Proof by plagiarism

"As we see on page 289......"

Proof by lost reference

"I know I saw it somewhere......"

Proof by calculus

"This proof requires calculus, so we'll skip it."

Proof by terror

When intimidation fails ...

Proof by lack of interest

"Does anyone really want to see this?"

Proof by illegibility

(scribble, scribble) QED

Proof by logic

"If it is on the problem sheet, then it must be true!"

Proof by majority rule

Only to be used if general agreement is impossible

Proof by clever variable choice

"Let A be the number such that this proof works. . "

Proof by tessellation

"This proof is the same as the last."

36 Methods of Mathematical Proof

Proof by divine word

"And the Lord said, 'Let it be true,' and it was true."

Proof by stubbornness

"I don't care what you say-it is true!"

Proof by simplification

"This proof reduces to the statement 1 + 1 = 2."

Proof by hasty generalization

"Well, it works for 17, so it works for all reals."

Proof by deception

"Now everyone turn their backs. . ."

Proof by supplication

"Oh please, let it be true."

Proof by poor analogy

"Well, it's just like . . . "

Proof by avoidance

Limit of proof by postponement as it approaches infinity

Proof by design
If it's not true in today's math, invent a new system in which it is.

Proof by authority
"Well, Don Knuth says it's true, so it must be!"

Proof by intuition

"I just have this gut feeling. . ."

Untapped: The Scramble For Africa's Oil .

2008-08-13T04:31:00.000-07:00

The following is an excerpt from the book Untapped by John Ghazvinian Published by Harcourt, Inc.; April 2007;$25.00US; 978-0-15-101138-4 Copyright © 2007 John Ghazvinian

Since 1990 alone, the petroleum industry has invested more than $20 billion in exploration and production activity in Africa . A further $50 billion will be spent between now and the end of the decade, the largest investment in the continent's history -- and around one-third of it will come from the United States . Three of the world's largest oil companies -- the British-Dutch consortium Shell, France's Total, and America's Chevron -- are spending 15 percent, 30 percent, and 35 percent respectively of their global exploration and production budgets in Africa. Chevron alone is in the process of rolling out $20 billion in African projects over a five-year period.

The overwhelming majority of this new drilling activity has taken place in the so-called "deep water" and the "ultradeep" of the Gulf of Guinea , the roughly 90-degree bend along the west coast of Africa that can best be visualized as the continent's "armpit." Its littoral zone passes through the territorial waters of a dozen countries, from Ivory Coast in the northwest down to Angola in the south, and a good deal of its geology shares the characteristics that have made Nigeria a prolific producer for decades. Indeed, a number of unexpectedly productive fields have been discovered in the Gulf over the past decade. But although the Gulf of Guinea has lately been sub-Saharan Africa 's most exciting region for the oil industry, it is hardly the only "prospective" part of the continent (to borrow the industry term). The parched semideserts of southern Chad and southern Sudan have recently added hundreds of thousands of barrels a day to global markets, and a growing chorus of voices is now touting the East African margin as the industry's "next big thing."

But be it east or west, jungle or desert, it is a safe bet that where the drillers go, the politicians, strategists, and lobbyists are not far behind. Washington in particular has taken a keen interest in Africa 's growing significance as an oil-producing region since the headline discoveries of the late 1990s. In December 2000 the National Intelligence Council, an internal CIA think tank, published a report in which it declared unambiguously that sub-Saharan Africa "will play an increasing role in global energy markets," and predicted that the region would provide 25 percent of North American oil imports by 2015, up from the 15 percent or so at the time. (This would put Africa well ahead of Saudi Arabia as a source of oil for the United States .) In May 2001 a controversial and fairly secretive energy task force put together by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney declared in its report: " West Africa is expected to be one of the fastest-growing sources of oil and gas for the American market."

In the following months, a group of congressmen, lobbyists, and defense strategists came together under the umbrella of the African Oil Policy Initiative Group, and began preaching the message that the Gulf of Guinea was the new Persian Gulf, and that it should become a strategic priority for the United States, even to the point of requiring an expanded military presence. A series of well-placed articles in the American media followed, some breathlessly announcing the inauguration of a new Middle East off the shores of Africa . Before long, the influential Center for Strategic and International Studies had chimed in with a couple of reports, its most recent, in July 2005, claiming that "an exceptional mix of U.S. interests is at play in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea ."

During these years, a number of prominent lawmakers in Washington began getting excited about the possibility of shifting some of America 's oil dependence from the Middle East to Africa . One former senior official charged with African affairs recalls Kansas Senator Sam Brownback rushing up to him one afternoon in October 2002, positively glowing with excitement. "What do you think about bases in Africa ?" Brownback asked. "Wouldn't that be great?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But does Africa measure up to the hype? After all, the entire continent is believed to contain, at best, 10 percent of the world's proven oil reserves, making it a minnow swimming in an ocean of seasoned sharks. Africa is unlikely ever to "replace" the Middle East or any other major oil-producing region. So why the song and dance? Why all the goose bumps? Why do so many influential people in Washington let themselves get so carried away when they talk about African oil?

The answer has very little to do with geology. Africa 's significance as an oil "play," to borrow the industry lingo, lies beyond the number of barrels that may or may not be buried under its cretaceous rock. Instead, what makes the African oil boom interesting to energy security strategists in both Washington and Europe (and, increasingly, Beijing ) is a series of serendipitous and unrelated factors that, together, tell a story of unfolding opportunity.

To begin with, one of the more attractive attributes of Africa 's oil boom is the quality of the oil itself. The variety of crude found in the Gulf of Guinea is known in industry parlance as "light" and "sweet," meaning it is viscous and low in sulfur, and therefore easier and cheaper to refine than, say, Middle Eastern crude, which tends to be lacking in lower hydrocarbons and is therefore very "sticky." This is particularly appealing to American and European refineries, which have to contend with strict environmental regulations that make it difficult to refine heavier and sourer varieties of crude without running up costs that make the entire proposition worthless.

Then there is the geographic accident of Africa 's being almost entirely surrounded by water, which significantly cuts transport-related costs and risks. The Gulf of Guinea , in particular, is well positioned to allow speedy transport to the major trading ports of Europe and North America . Existing sea-lanes can be used for quick, cheap delivery, so there is no need to worry about the Suez Canal , for instance, or to build expensive pipelines through unpredictable countries. This may seem a minor point, until you look at Central Asia, where the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, stretching from Azerbaijan through Georgia and into Turkey , and intended to deliver Caspian crude into the Mediterranean, had to navigate a minefield of Middle East politics, antiglobalization protests, and red tape before it could be opened. African oil faces none of those issues. It is simply loaded onto a tanker at the point of production and begins its smooth, unmolested journey on the high seas, arriving just days later in Shreveport , Southampton, or Le Havre .

A third advantage, from the perspective of the oil companies, is that Africa offers a tremendously favorable contractual environment. Unlike in, say, Saudi Arabia, where the state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco has a monopoly on the exploration, production, and distribution of the country's crude oil, most sub-Saharan African countries operate on the basis of so-called production-sharing agreements, or PSAs. In these arrangements, a foreign oil company is awarded a license to look for petroleum on the condition that it assume the up-front costs of exploration and production. If oil is discovered in that block, the oil company will share the revenues with the host government, but only after its initial costs have been recouped. PSAs are generally offered to impoverished countries that would never be able to amass either the technical expertise or the billions in capital investment required to drill for oil themselves. For the oil company, a relatively small up-front investment can quickly turn into untold billions in profits.

Yet another strategic benefit, particularly from the perspective of American politicians, is that, until recently, with the exception of Nigeria , none of the oil-producing countries of sub-Saharan Africa had belonged to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Thus they have not been subject to the strict limits on output OPEC imposes on its members in an attempt to keep the price of oil artificially high. The more non-OPEC oil that comes onto the global market, the more difficult it becomes for OPEC countries to sell their crude at high prices, and the lower the overall price of oil. Put more simply, if new reserves are discovered in Venezuela , they have very little effect on the price of oil because Venezuela 's OPEC commitments will not allow it to increase its output very much. But if new reserves are discovered in Gabon , it means more cheap oil for everybody.

But probably the most attractive of all the attributes of Africa's oil boom, for Western governments and oil companies alike, is that virtually all the big discoveries of recent years have been made offshore, in deepwater reserves that are often many miles from populated land. This means that even if a civil war or violent insurrection breaks out onshore (always a concern in Africa ), the oil companies can continue to pump out oil with little likelihood of sabotage, banditry, or nationalist fervor getting in the way. Given the hundreds of thousands of barrels of Nigerian crude that are lost every year as a result of fighting, community protests, and organized crime, this is something the industry gets rather excited about.

Finally, there is the sheer speed of growth in African oil production, and the fact that Africa is one of the world's last underexplored regions. In a world used to hearing that there are no more big oil discoveries out there, and few truly untapped reserves to look forward to, the ferocious pace and scale of Africa 's oil boom has proved a bracing tonic. One-third of the world's new oil discoveries since the year 2000 have taken place in Africa . Of the 8 billion barrels of new oil reserves discovered in 2001, 7 billion were found there. In the years between 2005 and 2010, 20 percent of the world's new production capacity is expected to come from Africa . And there is now an almost contagious feeling in the oil industry that no one really knows just how much oil might be there, since no one's ever really bothered to check.

All these factors add up to a convincing value proposition: African oil is cheaper, safer, and more accessible than its competitors, and there seems to be more of it every day. And, though Africa may not be able to compete with the Persian Gulf at the level of proven reserves, it has just enough up its sleeve to make it a potential "swing" region -- an oil province that can kick in just enough production to keep markets calm when supplies elsewhere in the world are unpredictable. Diversification of the oil supply has been a goal -- even an obsession -- in the United States since the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s. Successive U.S. administrations have understood that if the world is overly reliant on two or three hot spots for its energy security, there is a greater risk of supply disruptions and price volatility. And for obvious reasons, the effort to distribute America 's energy-security portfolio across multiple nodes has taken on a new urgency since September 11, 2001. In his State of the Union address in January 2006, President Bush said he wanted to reduce America 's dependence on Middle East crude by 75 percent by 2025.

Copyright © 2007 John Ghazvinian

Top 10 Craziest Science Facts You Didn’t Need To Know

2008-08-13T03:20:00.000-07:00

Top 10 Craziest Science Facts You Didn’t Need To Know

1. You can Hypnotize Chickens

by S0Cal

A chicken can be hypnotized, or put into a trance by holding its head down against the ground, and continuously drawing a line along the ground with a stick or a finger, starting at its beak and extending straight outward in front of the chicken.

If the chicken is hypnotized in this manner, it will remain immobile for somewhere between 15 seconds to 30 minutes, continuing to stare at the line.

2. You can have an erection once dead

A death erection (sometimes referred to as “angel lust”) is a post-mortem erection which occurs when a male individual dies vertically or face-down – the cadaver remaining in this position. During life, the pumping of blood by the heart ensures a relatively even distribution around the blood vessels of the human body. Once this mechanism has ended, only the force of gravity acts upon the blood. As with any mass, the blood settles at the lowest point of the body and causes edema or swelling to occur; the discoloration caused by this is called lividity.
Sorry, no photo for this one!

3. Your hand can have a life of it’s own

Alien hand syndrome (or Dr. Strangelove syndrome) is an unusual neurological disorder in which one of the sufferer’s hands seems to take on a life of its own.

AHS is best documented in cases where a person has had the two hemispheres of their brain surgically separated, a procedure sometimes used to relieve the symptoms of extreme cases of epilepsy. It also occurs in some cases after other brain surgery, strokes, or infections. The HAND is after you!

4. Don’t laugh too much, it can kill you

Fatal hilarity is death as a result of laughter. In the third century B.C. the Greek philosopher Chrysippus died of laughter after seeing a donkey eating figs (hey, it wasn’t THAT funny).

On 24 March 1975 Alex Mitchell, a 50-year-old bricklayer from King’s Lynn, England, literally died laughing while watching an episode of The Goodies. According to his wife, who was a witness, Mitchell was unable to stop laughing whilst watching a sketch in the episode “Kung Fu Kapers” in which Tim Brooke-Taylor, dressed as a kilted Scotsman, used a set of bagpipes to defend himself from a psychopathic black pudding in a demonstration of the Scottish martial art of “Hoots-Toot-ochaye”. After twenty-five minutes of continuous laughter Mitchell finally slumped on the sofa and expired from heart failure. His widow later sent the Goodies a letter thanking them for making Mitchell’s final moments so pleasant.

5. A weapon could make you Gay

Gay bomb is an informal name for a potential non-lethal chemical weapon, which a U.S. Air Force research laboratory speculated about producing.

In one sentence of the document it was suggested that a strong aphrodisiac could be dropped on enemy troops, ideally one which would also cause “homosexual behaviour”. So that’s how they got Saddam!

6. It’s true, Men can breastfeed

The phenomenon of male lactation in humans has become more common in recent years due to the use of medications that stimulate a human male’s mammary glands.

Male lactation is most commonly caused by hormonal treatments given to men suffering from prostate cancer. It is also possible for males (and females) to induce lactation through constant massage and simulated ’sucking’ of the nipple over a long period of time (months).

7. Bart Simpson’s Tomacco ( Half Tomato Half Tobacco) was possible

A tomacco is originally a fictional hybrid fruit that is half tomato and half tobacco, from the 1999 episode “E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)” of The Simpsons; the method used to create the tomacco in the episode is fictional.

The tomacco became real when it was allegedly produced in 2003. Inspired by The Simpsons, Rob Baur of Lake Oswego, Oregon successfully grafted a tomato plant onto the roots of a tobacco plant, which was possible because both plants come from the same family.

8. It’s OK to have a third nipple

A supernumerary nipple (also known as a third nipple) is an additional nipple occurring in mammals including humans. Often mistaken for moles, supernumerary nipples are diagnosed at a rate of 2% in females, less in males. The nipples appear along the two vertical “milk lines” which start in the armpit on each side, run down through the typical nipples and end at the groin. They are classified into eight levels of completeness from a simple patch of hair to a milk-bearing breast in miniature.

9. You can die on the Toilet

There are many toilet-related injuries and some toilet-related deaths throughout history and in urban legends.

In young boys, one of the most common causes of genital injury is when the toilet seat falls down while using the toilet.

George II of Great Britain died on the toilet on 25 October 1760 from an aortic dissection. According to Horace Walpole’s memoirs, King George “rose as usual at six, and drank his chocolate; for all his actions were invariably methodic. A quarter after seven he went into a little closet. His German valet de chambre in waiting heard a noise, and running in, found the King dead on the floor.”

10. .Picking one’s nose and eating it might be healthy

View Mikkel Elbech’s map

Taken in a place with no name (See more photos or videos here)

Mucophagy (literally mucus-eating, also referred as picking one’s nose and eating it) is the consumption of the nasal mucus, boogers, and other detritus obtained from nose-picking.

Some research suggests that mucophagy may be a natural and even healthy activity, which exposes the digestive system to bacteria accumulated in the mucus, thereby helping to strengthen the immune system.

H.H Shah Karim Aga Khan

2008-08-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

6 September 1963 - The Opening of Nurses Home in Nairobi with President of Kenya Jomo Kenyatta and Ismaili nurses

Prince Sadruddin - Deputy U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees presented President Kenyatta with a new recording of the "International Piano Festival", the proceeds of which were to benefit refugees from all over the world. The festival featured many famous international musicians.

March 1981 - Hazar Imam with Kisumu Mayor Ezra Gumbe and Nyanza P.C. Francis Cherogony

H.H Shah Karim Aga Khan with President Nyerere share a joke. Welcoming the Tanzania leader to the opening of the New IPS Building H.H said he was deligthted that people of Tanzania had once again overwhelmed re-elected Ar. Nyerere as President.

You know you're African if...

2008-08-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

You know you are a TRUE African IF

1) You can eat rice everyday for a week without getting tired.

2) Your event starts 4 hrs after the start time on the invitation card/flyer

3)Your mother (living in the U.S) is a Nurse

4) You like Reggae more than the people from the Carribean

5) A discount is not enough, you want things for FREE

6) 90% of the international calls you receive are from people asking for money

7) You know the names of at least 2 different international calling cards

8) Everytime you get into a fight, you always ask the person "Do you know who I am?" and the accent comes out.

9) Taking trips to Islands and warm places don't impress you (Your homeland was HOT ENOUGH!)

American women will bring out the WORST in you.

2008-07-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

Feminists believe that all men are evil abusers.

When a man abuses them, deep down they feel a creamy sense of satisfaction. Their belief has been validated.

Therefore they carefully craft a life, and surround themselves with people who will create more of this abuse.

Thus further confirming their belief structure.

This type of mentality has been studied and explored by countless psychologists, and is well-understood by all people with common sense.

Also, there is a more dangerous issue, here.

Men are very "susceptible" to women's opinions of us. Let's face it guys, when we get married, we are very likely to start changing in response to our woman's needs. We can't help it...her emotions are so strong, and our sense of responsibility to her is so deep, that we can't help but slowly become the man she envisions us to be.

That can be good, or bad. A man who is married to an angry feminist will often become more abusive, fulfilling her expectations of him. She accuses him of shit he didn't do...finally he thinks "well, if she's going to treat me like a scumbag, then by golly I should just go ahead and be a scumbag."

On the other hand, a man who marries a loving woman (who trusts men) will usually become more worthy of trust, thus fulfilling her expectations of him.

The old cliche of "behind every great man is great woman" is so true.

Men, choose your wife carefully. Her mental image of men will probably become your destiny. Avoid women who think badly of men (which as you know, includes the vast majority of American women).

American women have been born and raised in the corrosive negative world of feminism. They can't help but think like a feminist and view the world like a feminist.

So they have learned to always emphasize the negative things about men, never the positive. In any given opportunity...

instead of saying "he's protective" they'll say "he's oppressive"

instead of saying "he's smart" they'll complain "he demeans my intelligence"

instead of saying "he's hard-working" they'll say "he's obsessed with work"

instead of saying "he's confident" they'll say "he's an ego-monster"

The bottom line...every one of your qualities will be spun as a NEGATIVE, not a positive.

Of course, they don't do this when you are dating. All women put up a good face early on. Later, after a few years of marriage, suddenly the real woman will emerge, and you will subjected to negative diatribes about you, day in, day out, like a constant weight on your shoulders.

So when you marry a feminist, you will slowly change to become the bad man that she sees. All the negative aspects of you (which you've probably learned to suppress and minimize) will suddenly start to crop up again. Eventually you'll say "well, fuck it, if she's going to attack me for a bad habit anyway, I might as well indulge in it."

She will bring out the worst in you.

And of course, she'll be happy, because then she can scamper off to her feminist-asshole friends and say "SEE! We're right! Men really ARE as bad as we've said!"

Top 10 Popular Used Car in Tanzania

2007-12-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

1.SUZUKI / ESCUDO
2.TOYOTA / COROLLA SEDAN
3.TOYOTA / LANDCRUISER PRADO
4.TOYOTA / RAV4
5.TOYOTA / MARK II
6.ISUZU / BIGHORN
7.TOYOTA / HIACE
8.MITSUBISHI / PAJERO IO
9.HONDA / CR-V
10.LANDROVER / DISCOVERY

Google, Yahoo Sued For Stealing Names From Tanzanian Tribes

2007-11-27T22:35:00.000-08:00

If you liked our report on the bizarre handwritten lawsuit against Google from a guy worried that his social security number was too similar to Google's name, here's another one for you. Once again, special thanks to Eric Goldman for passing this one on. This time, at least, most of the lawsuit is typed (there are some handwritten parts at the end), though, there are numerous typos. The lawsuit is being filed against both Google and Yahoo by a guy who is apparently being detained by Immigration services in Houston. He claims that both Google and Yahoo stole their names from Tanzanian tribes -- and now they should pay up. Specifically, he claims that Google took its name from the Gogo tribe and Yahoo took its name from the Yao tribe. Conveniently, this guy happens to be a descendant of both tribes. He's merely asking for both companies to pay $10,000 each to every member of both tribes, going back three generations. Simple!

While it is true that many companies are using foreign words (Swahili is especially popular) in choosing company and product names (Kijiji, Joomla, Renkoo, Wiki, Tafiti, Jambo, etc.), both Google and Yahoo have pretty well-documented histories of their names, and the names of these Tanzanian tribes clearly have nothing to do with either one. Not that the guy doesn't try: "The court is now been asked to answer a common sense question: Is "Google" much more related, semantically and lexically, with "Gogo" or with "Googol"?" Once again, the chance of this lawsuit getting anywhere is basically nil (even if they had taken their names from the tribes, which they clearly did not), but as Goldman points out to us: "There is, of course, a serious problem here about the courts getting clogged up with lawsuits brought by prisoners/detainees with too much time on their hands and nothing to do but file lawsuits, and companies having to spend money to stomp out these lawsuits." In the meantime, this seems mighty close to life imitating The Onion।

Genetic Nondiscrimination Bill Stalled in U.S Senate

2007-11-19T21:43:00.000-08:00

With several private companies launching businesses to provide customers with unprecedented access to their genomes' secrets, legislation protecting people from genetic discrimination is more timely than ever. But Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oklahama) is single-handedly stalling federal legislation to do just that.

The Senate passed earlier versions of the bill twice before, but they were blocked from coming up for House floor votes. This year, the House passed it by a bipartisan landslide, but Coburn has held up the legislation in the Senate, saying it could place too much strain on businesses.

"We're not really clear on what Coburn wants, because his excuses don't make sense," said the bill's original sponsor, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-New York). "But if this bill got to a floor vote in the Senate, I think it'd pass almost unanimously."

Coburn spokesman John Hart said his boss supports the intent of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, known as GINA. Coburn voted for a nearly identical bill in 2005, but now says the bill's language exposes employers to too much liability. Supporters of the bill see Coburn's new beef as another in a string of inconsequential objections to the legislation.

23andMe, Navigenics and Decode Genetics have recently launched programs to scan individual's genomes and provide access to the information online. Customers will have to spend a for 23andMe's service.

In the absence of federal legislation, most states provide some degree of protection against discrimination. Many have gone further, explicitly providing genetic-privacy protections. Alaskan law (.pdf), for example, says DNA samples are an individual's private property. Still, companies offering personal genome scans, as well as biotechs offering genetic diagnostic tests, worry that their businesses will not gain traction without a federal law.

Slaughter introduced GINA in the House 12 years ago, but Republican leadership repeatedly blocked a vote, even as it passed the Senate twice. Under this year's new Democratic majority, the House passed GINA, 420-3 (H.R. 493), and it appeared ready to sail through the Senate (S. 358). But Coburn, exercising a prerogative available to all senators, placed it on hold, which requires a supermajority of 60 senators just to bring the bill up for a relatively rare floor debate.

An internal memo obtained Thursday from Coburn's office said the senator's make-or-break objection was the possibility that an employer who provides health insurance for its workers could be sued both as an insurer and as an employer. That means employers could be hit for much higher damages than insurers.

Representative Slaughter said she'd never heard that particular objection from any company in 12 years of campaigning on behalf of GINA. "But it's pretty creative," she said.

Coburn is a physician. He picked up the nickname "Dr. No" from pundit George Will, because of his frequent contrarian positions and use of the hold prerogative. Coburn has consistently opposed bills that enable lawsuits against businesses and his fellow medical doctors.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and trade associations like the National Retail Federation are GINA's main opponents, claiming it would spur frivolous lawsuits.

Michael Eastman, executive director of labor policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, applauded the Senator's move to stop the bill.

"Coburn has been willing to put his name out there," he said.

Kenya: Raila gets Clinton advisor for campaigns

2007-11-15T19:48:00.000-08:00

South Africa national anthems.

2007-11-07T18:29:00.001-08:00

South Africa - nationalanthems.info

South Africa

Words by: Enoch Sontonga and Cornelius Jacob Langenhoven
Music by: Enoch Sontonga and Marthinus Lourens de Villiers
Adopted: 1994

At the time that South Africa's multi-racial system of government was adopted, there were two anthems in use among the people, divided by the old racial lines. "N'kosi Sikelel' iAfrica" (God Bless Africa), written and composed by Enoch Mankayi, which also has the same melody and nearly the same words as the anthems of Tanzania and Zambia, (and, formerly, Zimbabwe), was popular with the black population since it was first composed in 1897 for Mankayi's music students. The song was quickly adopted as the "people's anthem" and made the anthem of the African National Congress (ANC), a group that would become the first majority black political party to lead the country. The white South Africans, however, had been using "Die Stem van Suid Afrika" (The Call of South Africa) since the 1920s on an unofficial basis, and was made the state's official anthem in 1957. Even though the latter anthem was seen as too closely tied to the apartheid system by the majority black population, it was decided in the interim to make both anthems the national anthem, "God Bless Africa" was usually played in its entirety followed by the complete "Die Stem".

In 1997, the two anthems were combined, starting with "God Bless Africa" in Xhosa, followed by Sesotho, then a few lines of "Die Stem" in Afrikaans, and finishing the anthem with another few lines from "Die Stem" in English. (The English lines actually do not appear in the official English version of "Die Stem", but are an abridgement of the last few lines of the first verse, with the words slightly altered to reflect South Africa's new freedom.)

Special thanks to: Ermano Geuer for some of this information.

See also: South Africa (1957-1994).

Zendesk. Help Desk 2.0.

Tanzania says ‘08 tourism earnings to pass $1 bln

2007-10-31T23:11:00.000-07:00

Tanzania, popular for its wildlife and beaches, expects tourism earnings to exceed $1 billion in 2008 thanks to marketing in North America and Europe.

“This year, we are going to embark on an aggressive marketing campaign in our major source markets,” Peter Mwenguo, managing director of the state-run Tanzania Tourist Board, told Reuters on Friday.

—-snip—-

Mwenguo said the accommodation problem was being tackled.

“For instance in the Serengeti there are four new areas that are being offered for investment for lodges. Already there is a lodge being constructed,” he said.

“I know the Aga Khan Group is due to put up three new properties in the southern part of Tanzania.”

The Aga Khan Group has shares in Serena Hotels, which has two hotels and four lodges in mainland Tanzania and one hotel on the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar.

Tanzania’s visitors come to enjoy its beaches, scale Africa’s highest mountain Mount Kilimanjaro or watch animal migrations, to and from Kenya, in its renowned Serengeti National Park, in the north of the country.

Tourists also have a chance to pursue sport hunting, which Mwenguo said brings an average of $14 million in licence fees.

Reuters Africa

Nigerian banks begin eating into South African dominance

2007-10-30T19:26:00.001-07:00

Africa is changing and it is not just $11.7bn of Chinese investment in
recent years that is making a difference. Nigeria’s banks are bulking
up as a result of central bank governor Charles Soludo’s new capital
requirements, and are becoming bigger and stronger through multiple
mergers and acquisitions.

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10 REASONS WHY THE VOTE SHOULD NOT BE FOR RAILA!.

2007-10-29T09:38:00.000-07:00
10 REASONS WHY THE VOTE SHOULD NOT BE FOR RAILA!!!!!!!!

WOULD YOU MAKE PRESIDENT A MAN WHO NAMES HIS SON AFTER A DICTATOR?
Raila�s son, Fidel Castrol Odinga, is named after the world�s longest serving dictator. Fidel Castrol (the Cuban head of state) is the communist who turned Cuba into a third world slum. Why should this be a point of concern for Kenyans? Fidel Castrol (the Cuban head of state) is Raila�s role model. Raila is a communist and a dictator at heart. If we make the mistake of giving him the presidency now he will never let go. This guy will be a life president.

RAILA IS A TRIBALIST AND PARTICULARLY HATES KIKUYUS PASSIONATELY
When someone says something is not about money, it usually is about money, when they say something is not about power, it is about power. Raila is denying -without being accused, at least publicly - that he hates Kikuyus. His earlier comments tell a different story. Remember the comment he made that Uhuru was the only good Kikuyu when they were both in ODM?

Raila tries to defend himself with quips such as �even my son (Fidel) is married to a Kikuyu�. Lets all remember the rumors that were flying around that Raila was actually opposed to the wedding/marriage on tribal grounds! He saw it as a betrayal by his own son. When the young Odinga held his grounds, Raila had no option but to play along to avoid a public spectacle.

Raila is accusing the PNU of creating Raila-phobia among the Kikuyu. Raila is creating Kikuyu- phobia among everyone else as did Moi throughout his rule.

A SYSTEM IS ACCEPTABLE TO RAILA ONLY WHEN IT FAVORS HIM
Let�s go back to Kanu�s infamous Kasarani One. The blatant Injustices were being done to Kamotho, Saitoti and the rest; they were being robbed of their positions in what Kamotho referred to as �uchaguzi wa kupiga makelele�. Since things were going Raila�s way, the great defender of the oppressed did not raise a finger. A few weeks later when the same injustices were to be done to him � Raila � in Kasarani Two, he was running all over the place crying foul. Had he been President Moi�s choice, would he have said anything?

A more recent case is when Kalonzo and Raila were both in ODM-Kenya and the party was trying to come up with the best formula to pick its presidential candidate. Kalonzo favored consensus while Raila said delegate were the only way. He made all manner of threats if the delegates system was not going to be used. Then, Raila and Ruto ambushed Kalonzo at Ruto�s house and tried to arm-twist him into agreeing that Raila be president, Kalonzo be VP and so forth. Kalonzo refused, but Raila and Ruto mischievously went ahead and leaked news to the media that Kalonzo had agreed to a �winning formula�. The point is that Raila was ready to agree to the consensus method only if he was going to be the presidential candidate. After Kalonzo�s refusal, Raila was latter insisting on delegates while Kalonzo stuck to consensus. Kalonzo later intelligently posed, �The meeting in Ruto�s home, was that a delegates conference?�

Ask yourself this: would there have been �the pentagon� is Raila had not been made the presidential candidate. The only reason why Raila agreed to the nominations at Kasarani was because everything had been agreed upon beforehand. The �Nominations� were just for show.

�KIBAKI TOSHA� WAS JUST A STRATEGIC MOVE
�Kibaki Tosha� statement was not an act of martyrdom as Raila would like to have us believe.

When Raila and the LDP brigade left Kanu, they had two choices: either join forces with the best established opposition outfit at the time, NAK or become politically irrelevant. Why Raila chose to go �Kibaki Tosha� way had nothing to do with his love for Kenya or his love for Kikuyus as he claimed during the launch of his presidential bid in Uhuru Park . It was the most appealing (and may be only) choice he had at the time. Consider this:

i) Raila and the LDP team could not have gone it alone � they had tried in �97 before the �Cooperasion� � and failed.

ii) The then opposition � NAK perceived Raila as a traitor. The only way he could change this perception was through a seemingly selfless act.

iii) Raila wanted to take his revenge on Moi � the only way to do this was to make sure that Moi�s �Project� did not succeed � even if it meant joining forces with the tribe he hated most. An enemy of my enemy is my friend.

iv) Raila felt he could extract his pound of flesh from the tired and desperate Mwai Kibaki�s NAK group � as he did through the infamous MOU, which was simply unimplementable.

DON�T POINT YOUR DIRTY FINGERS AT MY SPOTS
ODM is a story of a corrupt family that brought down the molasses plant among other ills. It is a story of bishops who lie without battling an eyelid. It is about people who brought down parastatals such as the Kenya National Assurance. Now since all the scum is defecting to ODM and ODM has no vetting policy for its civic and parliamentary candidates � how can ODM tell us they are going to make a difference?

RAILA SEES CAPTURING THE PRESIDENCY AS AN END UNTO ITSELF
If you have ever listened to Raila�s famous football commentaries, the �goal� is usually Raila getting the presidency not what he plans to do for the people of Kenya with the presidency.

Raila has been consistent about one thing: his hunger for power. This should not be confused with struggle for the country or for the people of Kenya . Raila has never told us how he plans to use power to better our lives. All Raila is doing now is to make all manner of promises to everyone. Here are some of them:

a. Constitution within 6 months

b. Make Ruto Executive prime minister within 6 months

c. Majimbo

d. Free primary and secondary education

e. 13% economic growth (he promises double the current growth rate)

f. Reduce taxes

g. Make Mombasa a free port like Dubai

h. Dual carriage way roads throughout Kenya

i. Free housing for slum dwellers

j. Employment for all

k. Eradication of poverty

Quite a nice list, isn�t it? But there is no mention about how he is going to achieve these things. Saying that he �knows where the money is going to come from� is not enough.

Take the constitution for example. If its making is going to be a people driven, all inclusive process, how can he guarantee that all the interested parties are going to agree on one document within six months? Is he going to ram whatever he likes down our throats in the name of giving us a new constitution? Remember Kenyans are not going to accept any constitution without a referendum.

Take the free secondary and primary education. How are we going to pay for the education and reduce taxes at the same time without running to the donors? And if we go to the donors, isn�t that what we are trying to run away from?

Let�s be wary about these extravagant promises. Remember: a pessimist is an optimist on his way back from the casino.

RAILA WILL MESS UP THE NSE AND THE ECONOMY
Raila sees the NSE as a symbol of the Kikuyu dominance of the economy. He would like to bring it down as soon as possible. This is why he labeled it a hub of insider trading and money laundering. His reason of doing this is that he will have enough justification when tearing it apart.

ODM is portraying the PNU as a bunch of people who know nothing about constitution making. The PNU is painting the ODM group as a bunch of people who know nothing about the economy. I don�t know much about constitution making, but I know that Raila appears to understand very little about the economy.

�Chungwa ni chungu�

RAILA�S SUPPORTERS A DANGEROUS BUNCH
"My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular."

These are the words of Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.

Anybody who is not pro Raila is seen as an enemy by Raila�s supporters. Several cases in point are what happened to Tuju, Nasleem and Livondo in different instances in Kisumu and Kibera. Just imagine that happening in the whole country. All the democratic space we have gained over the last few years will go down the drain. Any anti-Raila comment in the radio, on the street or on TV will earn you a proper beating if this man was president.

The tragedy here is that Raila has never condemned this behaviour by his supporters which means he condones it,i hate to say he is tribalist!!!.

Now imagine such people in positions of power. If you need a preview, remember how Gor Sunguh handled Nicholas Biwott during the Sunguh read committee on Ouko. Sunguh shouted down Biwott and hardly allowed him to say anything. In the end all he managed to do is to make Biwott appear like a modern day saint.

I LOVE KENYA
Giving the government to this Raila will be the biggest mistake of our lives. We will be throwing away the gains made so far. Raila�s extremism is not good for the Country. With Raila in power, tribalism will be felt in every aspect of our lives starting with the plot or kijiji we live in. The words �our government� will no longer mean what it means now. The bragging has already started with utterances like �the government is going to be ours� being said by members of a certain community. The cartoonist Gado captured the mood perfectly in a recent issue of the Daily Nation. Whatever you do, make sure you vote. Make sure you vote against Raila. Vote for anyone but Raila. Let�s block this communist from ruining our country. The age of dictators in this Kenya is over. Let�s keep it buried.

RAILA CANNOT BE TRUSTED

We know very well that thousands of Kenya lost their lives in the 1982 attempted coup and that raila was involved somewhat,his toture by moi was called- for,for this reason i mean which sitting president wuldnt want to punish such an act of over throwing the govt.
The controversial Armenian brothers Artul margayan were his friends he knew them first introduced them to kibaki's kinsmen.
Raila studied i russia ,he is famous even in countries you wuldn't magin like the balkan states,with communist systems of governing a principle that he adores.

I would like to know how Raila feels about the following issues. If he became president will he:

Assure John Githong�o of his security and give him his job back?
Put his portrait on our money?
put to bars or pardon all alleged corrupt leaders some of them in Odm like Hon. Ruto?
How will be his relationship with u.s.a and u.k?
What will be his relationship with Kenyan muslim??he seems to be confused religiously.

Some advice for Raila and ODM:

"If the attack is going well, it probably means you are walking into an ambush."

- Murphy�s Law:

"IS THE WORLD PREPARED FOR TWO LOU PRESIDENTS? RAILA .ODINGA AND BARRACK OBAMA?".........Quoted Prof. ALI MAZRUI

The writer is a very concerned Kenyan.

Sambaza this people. May God bless Kenya and rescue us from the jaws of Raila and ODM.
.........AMEN

SOURCE: http://www.kenyanlist.wanderi.com/klist-view-listings.php?listings_by=5
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BLACKWATER: THE RISE OF THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL MERCENARY ARMY

2007-10-26T10:45:00.000-07:00
On September 16, 2007, Blackwater contractors, during a complex confrontation in downtown Baghdad, shot and killed Iraqis in the crowded Nisour Square.

The FBI and State Department are currently investigating the incident, yet it further sheds light upon a growing private sector security force in Iraq and elsewhere, that many fear has not been held accountable to the same degree as have US military officials.

Jeremy Scahill has been covering Blackwater for THE NATION and other publications for more than three years. He is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute, and is the author of BLACKWATER: THE RISE OF THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL MERCENARY ARMY, published by Nation Books. He is also an award-winning investigative journalist and correspondent for DEMOCRACY NOW!.

According to THE NEW YORK TIMES, there are between 160,000 and 180,000 private contractors in Iraq, including about 30,000 armed security forces. Blackwater employees represent about 1000 of these armed contractors. There were only about 9,200 total private contractors during the Persian Gulf War.

Few Americans had even heard of Blackwater before March 31, 2004, when four of its contractors were ambushed and brutally killed in Falluja, and days later, a US siege of the region began. It was "what would be one of the most brutal and sustained US operations of the occupation," explains Scahill, who believes the US Military response to the killings sets a dangerous precedent.

Before the September 16, 2007 confrontation, Blackwater employees had been implicated in similar incidents involving questionable force, including in December 2006, when a drunk Blackwater contractor allegedly shot and killed a bodyguard for Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi. The contractor was subsequently fired by Blackwater, yet was sent back in the region with another private firm.

"[State Department] officials said that Blackwater's incident rate was at least twice that recorded by employees of DynCorp International and Triple Canopy, the two other United States-based security firms that have been contracted by the State Department to provide security for diplomats and other senior civilians in Iraq," writes THE NEW YORK TIMES.

Still, as Blackwater's founder Eric Prince reminded Congress a few weeks ago, "Blackwater personnel are subject to regular attacks by terrorists and other nefarious forces within Iraq." As the WALL STREET JOURNAL reports, "The company has said it has done 16,000 missions for the State Department since June 2005, using its weapons just 1% of the time." And recently two Blackwater helicopters helped evacuate the Polish Ambassador to Iraq after his convoy was attacked.

But questions about accountability still abound: when mistakes are made, to which rule of law should contractors answer, military or US criminal law? Officials in the State and Defense Departments are currently debating this very question.

Blackwater's State Department contract expires next May, and according to the AP, officials in the Department intend to "ease out" Blackwater since many share "a mutual feeling that the Sept. 16 shooting deaths mean the company cannot continue in its current role." Yet according to the WALL STREET JOURNAL, even if Blackwater was forced to leave Iraq, they would simply be replaced by another private security firm, since the State Department does not have the personnel available to step in:

"'There's just no way our system could handle trying to get hundreds of new people trained and sent to Iraq,' said a State Department official. 'That would be a multiyear process.'"
Guest photo by Robin Holland

Published on October 19, 2007
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The Faces behind HIV/AIDS In Africa.

2007-10-24T10:01:00.000-07:00
Seventy per cent of adults and 80 percent of children with HIV/AIDS live in Africa. The total number of Africans living with HIV or AIDS has reached 25.3 million, and during the year 2000 alone, 2.4 million Africans died of HIV-related causes.

Here are some of the faces behind the statistics.

Villagers in Masogo, Kenya attend a funeral for a suspected AIDS victim.

Family and friends pay their respects to a dead relative in Masogo, Kenya, an area with an exceptionally high AIDS rates.

A suspected AIDS patient rests in bed at her home in Masogo, in western Kenya. Many of the villagers are HIV-infected but few acknowledge it because of the stigma of AIDS.

A religious healer in Lagos, Nigeria talks to women infected by HIV. Without access to medical treatment, many Africans put their faith in spiritual cures.

A prostitute stands outside her home in Nairobi, Kenya. She is one of a small group of prostitutes at the center of AIDS research because they fail to become infected by HIV despite repeated exposure.

Family members visit a patient at the main hospital in Kinshasa, Congo. Almost half the patients in this ward have AIDS.

A girl holds her baby sister at the edge of a sugarcane field near Hlabisa in South Africa's Kwazulu-Natal province, one of the world's worst AIDS hotspots. AIDS has left many children here without parents.

A sick woman sits at home with her son at a housing project in Kinshasa, Congo for people affected by AIDS.

A man with terminal AIDS-related tuberculosis sits on his hospital bed in Gulu, northern Uganda.
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History of Tanzanian Cartoons.

2007-09-30T07:18:00.000-07:00

In the past decade, the art of cartoons and comics has really taken off in Tanzania. At present there are dozens of cartoonists, some of whom are well known throughout the country. From the 1960's on, a number of artists prepared the way, and their names are cited by today's artists as essential influences (also see the excellent history of cartoons in Tanzania at the Worldcomics website).

Cartoon (right): If you register for voting, don't forget to vote for me! If you do, I will make sure it will rain every day.
- We are tired of those false promises!
(Christian Gregory, in Uhuru of 14 August 1980)

Among the early cartoon characters was Chakubanga, drawn by Christian Gregory for Uhuru newspaper from 1967 on. Stylistically, the cartoons of Philip Ndunguru made a big impact. The characters he created, such as Madenge, Komredi Kipepe and Lodi Lofa, live on in today's humour comic magazines. When he passed away in 1986, other artists were needed to draw in Ndunguru's style. That's where Ibra Radi Washokera came up, and after him John Kaduma.

Initially, Sani controlled the market of humour mags but when Kaduma switched to Bongo magazine, competition intensified. In the mid 90's, Kaduma moved again to Tabasamu. By the time he died, all the comic magazines had come to prefer the new Tanzanian style of drawing. Other popular cartoon artists that emerged in the 80's and 90's include Gayo, whose Kingo cartoon strip became quite popular throughout East Africa.

Cartoon (left): This is the ninth day that I haven't drunk, it seems like I am no longer an alcoholic.
- Without a doubt you were simply broke all the time! I know this...
(Christian Gregory, in Uhuru of 5 May 1980)

THE AGE OF POLITICAL CARTOONS
Ours is to caricature people, politicians especially. But this doesn't mean that government officers should come after us with big sticks. Nor should newspapers editors manipulate us
- Kenyan cartoonist Maddo (Paul Kelemba)

In the late 90's, the comic magazines and newspapers publishing cartoons got fresh company from the cartoon weeklies of Sanifu, Risasi and others styled on the same ideas. They were instant hits and created a new outlet for the expressions of more openly political cartoonists such as Masoud Kipanya, Kijasti and Fred Halla. Their views didn't go unnoticed: both their audience and the subjects of their cartoons agreed that cartoons present a powerful message.

Masoud explains how the opportunities for cartoonists changed:
"Let me say 5, 6, 7 years back we used to have a lot of cartoon publications. We started with Sanifu, after that a lot of newspapers came up. At Business Times we had Sanifu but it was published nearly every day. And by then a lot of artists had a place to show their skills, to air our views.
By then we were doing political cartoons. The government took us as these people are just playing, you see. But then the impact started to be seen. Because cartoonists became the voice of the poor people. We predicted things, spoke to the politicians, we told them things, we made them understand what is happening, what they were supposed to do as politicians, as leaders.

For the past 10 years I have seen the impact, I got feedback from the people saying that Massoud you are doing great, at least we see you are talking on our behalf. People seem to understand, the politicians sometimes also change, whenever they look at these artworks they feel ashamed to be drawn. So some say: we are not gonna [cause] any problems, because otherwise I will be punished in the newspapers. So I think the impact has been there and I think it will always be there.
As cartoons became more popular, some cartoonists were faced with restricted artistic freedom. Mickey recalls: "I used to work with Business Times and Majira newspaper in the past and I used to freelance as a cartoonist. Professionally I was not an artist, but out of interest, when Sanifu was first published inside Majira newspaper - it used to be published once a week on Sunday. In the first four issues I used to take part in the publication. We were quite free to express ourselves. But these days we are too limited. And this is because the truth is always powerful. Even if someone has got maybe economical or political power, but the truth is more power[ful] than that. So you find that cartoonists are taken as people who are threatening those people who are abusing power. And when it comes to justice they say that all people are equal before justice there is fairness. But there are some people who are above the law."

The cartoonists who have gathered in PACT have good hope that the internet will help them to freely discuss matters that can't be discussed in the Tanzanian papers. As Masoud puts it: "There are so many things that are taking place in the world right now, in Tanzania and the world. I'd like to talk about these things, Nathan, Mickey and Fred as well and the rest of the cartoonists. To me at least I have a space though I am being censored. But some of these people don't have a place where they can express for the benefit of society."

Partly based on interviews with Fred Halla, April 2003, and with Masoud Kipanya and Mickey, February 2002
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Fear of bio-theft at centre of the storm

2007-09-09T11:00:00.001-07:00
Fear of bio-theft at centre of the storm
By JOHN MBARIA
Special Correspondent

As KWS exudes confidence over the deal, critics have asked it to tread with caution, particularly because it does not have the capacity to catalogue the extent and nature of the country’s biological resources that might be of industrial value and will be banking on Novozymes to supply such knowhow.

They point to the numerous instances of Kenya’s biological wealth having been stolen from the country’s nature reserves even with KWS personnel on the beat there.

One example was when industrially important microbes (or extremophiles) were stolen from Kenya’s Lake Bogoria and other Rift Valley lakes in 1992 and ended up being patented by a California-based company, Genencor International. This newspaper carried the story of how the microbes were used in manufacture of industrial enzymes that were then used to give blue jeans a trendy, faded “stonewashed” look, while others were used by a US multiproduct giant, Procter & Gamble, in the manufacture of one of its Tide detergents.

Last year, a 42-page document released by a US-based non-profit organisation, Edmonds Institute, reported that the microbes are now owned by Genencor, for which they have generated $3.4 billion in annual sales.

It further said the actual collection of the microbes from the Kenyan lakes was made in 1992 by an unnamed British researcher and later patented by Genencor.

According to the report, the Kenya government did not get a cent even after filing a suit against the company in US courts in September 2004 for compensation. But KWS Director Dr Julius Kipnge’tich told The EastAfrican that they are still negotiating with Genencor. “Negotiations are still going on,” he said, adding that if the negotiations failed to yield results, KWS would explore other options including taking “legal measures.”

Invariably, after developing industrial products from natural materials sourced from Kenya and other African countries, global biotech giants have been reluctant to share the billions with these countries even after being exposed. This has been a highly contentious issue related to the development and commercialisation of biological resources (bioprospecting) throughout Africa.

The Edmonds Institute’s report also detailed how one of the biggest drug manufacturers in Europe, Bayer of Germany, acquired a strain of bacteria from the Ruiru Dam in Central Kenya, and ended up developing a drug that is able to inhibit the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream of diabetic patients. The report said that although the drug had generated over $300 million by the end of 2004, Kenyans got nothing.

With all this history of sharp dealing, observers are now wondering why KWS failed to wait for proper legal and policy guidelines to be put in place before signing the MoU. The EastAfrican has learnt that the Science and Technology Ministry has been spearheading the drafting of a policy and a Bill to regulate how organisations like KWS enter into agreements with international biotech companies.

The policy will apparently offer a “radical” way of tackling past and ongoing bio-robbery in Kenya and detail guidelines on how to enter such agreements. When implemented, the law will also make it possible for Kenyans to take public bodies to court if they believe that the latter have played a role in the spiriting away of local knowledge and technology or have aided bio-theft.

But Dr Kipng’etich says the MoU with Novozymes was guided by the Kenya Access and Benefit Sharing Regulations issued by the National Environment Management Authority last year. He also says the deal adhered to the provisions of the Wildlife Act (Cap 376) and is also “in line with the Convention on Biological Diversity, which Kenya ratified in 1992.”
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The Kroll Report : The looting of Kenya.

2007-09-01T05:29:00.000-07:00

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World Entrepreneur Awards - The South African Chapter

2007-09-01T05:09:00.000-07:00
Stephen Saad – Aspen Phamacare Holdings Limited
Stephen Saad has reason to be proud. In little longer than seven years he has made Aspen Pharmacare, Africa’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer.
Stephen’s greatest achievements in the healthcare sector relate to his pioneering ability in combating HIV/AIDS. Stephen has secured voluntary licenses from multinational pharmaceutical giants for the manufacture of desperately needed antiretroviral (ARV) medicines. Aspen is one of only three pharmaceutical companies worldwide to be selected by the Clinton Foundation as capable of manufacturing antiretroviral (ARV) medicines at the stipulated quality and price.
In addition to this, Aspen’s manufacturing facilities have recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as being suitable for the manufacture of generic anti-retrovirals to meet the needs of President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The President’s organisation has pledged $15bn to assist developing countries as they address the crisis of HIV/AIDS over the next five years.
Aspen presently has a market capitalisation in excess of R5 billion and is Africa’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer and the continent’s largest manufacturer of generic pharmaceutical products.

Koos Bekker – M-Net
Koos Bekker is the visionary who dreamt up M-Net. In 1985 M-Net was one of the first two pay television ventures to be created anywhere outside of the United States. M-Net broke even in 1988 and the group has since grown into one of the most successful pay television operations worldwide.
Koos overcame some initial mistakes and several hurdles to make it work. From this base he then led the launch of Supersport, MultiChoice across Africa, MIH internationally, M-Web, Irdeto in Holland, the creation of the cellphone operator MTN, the drive into China with the conception of SportsCN and the buy-in into Tencent (QQ), as well as the recent setting up of Entriq, a broadband technology provider in San Diego.
All these companies fall under what is today known as MIH Holdings, which operates pay television and Internet subscriber platforms in Africa, China, Thailand, Greece and Cyprus. They constitute some 80% of the total value of the Naspers group, the biggest media group in Africa by far, which Koos now heads up.

Glenn van Heerden – Avis Southern Africa Limited
Glenn van Heerden not only embodies the cheery personality of the Avis brand in South Africa, but is also a pioneer of car rental and fleet services in our country.
Avis Southern Africa, one of the leading Car Rental Agencies on the continent, was founded some 37 years ago in Bloemfontein by 25-year-old Glenn and a colleague named Noel de Villiers. With a fleet of only three cars and R20 000 worth of loan capital, they started a business that is today a household name.
Avis is now spread out in most of southern Africa including Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Avis Southern Africa’s operations also span countries like Norway and Sweden, and it ranks as the largest licensee outside the USA in the worldwide Avis group. It runs a rental fleet of some 20 000 cars, and its leasing arm has more than 60 000 vehicles under management.
In 2003, during a period marked by delistings from the JSE, Barloworld acquired Avis, worth R2,2bn. Van Heerden, who was CEO and later chairman of Avis, is now a non-executive director of Barloworld Motors.

Pam Golding – Pam Golding Properties
Pam Golding regards her availability and her vast network, built up over 45 years of personal contact, as her most valuable attribute in business.
After having worked for Syfrets for five years, Pam started her business on her own with no capital in the midst of economic uncertainty. At that time the political situation in South Africa was driving foreign investment out of the country and the property market was deemed to be a very high-risk investment for both buyers and sellers.
Founded in 1976, Pam Golding Properties has grown from being a single woman “out-of-my-garage”-property business, to a leading South African organisation employing over 1 800 people.
Today Pam Golding Properties is South Africa’s premier property group, boasting a turnover of R9,7bn in residential sales in 2004. Providing the international investment community with credible South African business infrastructure, Pam Golding Properties currently has operations in 3 European countries as well as franchises in several Southern African countries.

Dempsey Naidoo – PD Naidoo & Associates

Dempsey Naidoo left South Africa in 1976 under trying circumstances and won a United Nations scholarship to complete his engineering degree in the UK. On his return to South Africa in 1981, Dempsey worked for mining giant Anglo American where he was invited to join Anglo’s prestigious Executive Training Scheme.
It was during this time that Dempsey realised that he needed to make a contribution to black technical advancement.
With the help of his wife Jackie, and the support of businesspeople in Lenasia, Naidoo established a part-time community organisation. The role of the organisation was to comment on technical issues in black townships and to serve as a forum for black technical people to get together and share their dreams and aspirations. The business people supported the organisation by giving it engineering work in the area. This resulted in Dempsey leaving the security of a flourishing career at Anglo American to start PD Naidoo & Associates and all money generated by the company in those early days was reinvested in order to grow the business.
Today PD Naidoo & Associates, a consulting engineering firm, employs over 300 people, has 11 offices in South Africa and offices in Mozambique, Mauritius, Botswana and Angola.

Raymond Ackerman – Pick 'n Pay
“Building a successful business is 90% guts and 10% capital”. This is the firm belief of Raymond Ackerman, founder and Executive Chairman of what is today the most successful retail supermarket chain in South Africa, Pick ‘n Pay.
In 1967, Raymond left an established retailing firm in Cape Town and started a retail corporation with the purchase of four small shops. Under his leadership, Pick ‘n Pay grew rapidly and in the 1970s branched into the hypermarkets that offered South Africans one-stop shopping. Pick ‘n Pay is now one of South Africa’s pre-eminent FMCG retailers, consisting of over 450 stores including 121 supermarkets and 14 hypermarkets. Operations are in food, clothing, and general merchandise sectors as well as financial services. The company operates throughout South Africa, southern Africa and Australia.

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The visionary that brought us M-Net: Koos Bekker’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs

2007-09-01T04:44:00.000-07:00
We’ve all heard of M-Net; most of us grew up watching K-TV, then came Carte Blanche, the Sunday night movie and satellite TV. But what about the man behind it all?
Koos Bekker went to the US in the 1980s to do an MBA and wrote his thesis on pay television. Then he came back to South Africa and, with the help of Naspers and a few other media companies, started M-Net.

In 1997, Bekker became the CEO of Naspers which then owned most of the initial M-Net company (Electronic Media Network).

Since then, he’s grown the group into a multinational, multi-channel (DStv) media house that has operations in China and South America, and is Africa’s largest media company. Naspers also owns pretty much all the Afrikaans daily newspapers in the country (Beeld, Rapport, Die Burger), some English ones (Daily Sun), almost every magazine (from FHM to Huisgenoot) and the “24” brands (News 24, etc). Oh, and they own 30% of cellphone messaging service MXit.

He is not your average entrepreneur.

For one thing, he is currently on sabbatical – not something CEO’s usually do when the company is roaring ahead.

But as he explained to us late last year: at the age of 54, he has already been the CEO of a JSE-listed company for 16 years.

He is also unafraid to admit that he has faults, “People often get stale in their later quarters. You know, many presidents of the US, for example, had a poorer second term than a first term. I think you start believing your own wisdom and you lose your daring. So I’d like to refresh myself. But also there are many interesting things in media, and what tickled me particularly are Korea, Japan and the West Coast of the States, where young people are inventing new technologies. So I’d like to spend some time there.”

It is this sort of understanding of self and the desire to constantly innovate that comes through in his discussion of entrepreneurship.

Asked, if he defined himself as an entrepreneur, he told Tycoon “I think entrepreneurs are not very good at explaining themselves I think what makes them entrepreneurs is something that maybe you don’t even yourself recognise it could be a defect, for example, Bill Clinton’s father was a drunk; sometimes a defect creates a need to compensate by showing the world.”

He adds that probably the worst environment in which to nurture an entrepreneur is in a happy, well-balanced family “Where do you develop your will power or your skill in getting out of trouble if you have no challenges? You have to be tossed challenges regularly and in fighting those challenges you learn how to control your self and then you learn how to run a company,” he says.

In order to be successful though, you need to learn how to take the punches and keep on coming. “You have the loneliness of the king, you might have a team of people around you, but if things go really bad, they all look at you and if you panic the business goes down the drain,” he says, adding, “Quite often entrepreneurs don’t care very much what the world thinks but they have one thing in common and that is the ability to take knocks and keep smiling.”

But sometimes the punches can be useful, “If we have a success all we learn from it is how smart we are and we carry on doing the same thing the next morning and we don’t learn anything but, if we mess up, we can learn some very valuable lessons.” - Geoff Candy
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Jacqueline Novogratz: Tackling poverty with "patient capital"

2007-08-21T05:08:00.000-07:00
Jacqueline Novogratz is pioneering new ways of tackling poverty. In her view, traditional charity rarely delivers lasting results. Her solution, outlined here through a series of revealing personal stories, is "patient capital": support for "bottom of the pyramid" businesses which the commercial market alone couldn't provide. The result: sustainable jobs, goods, services -- and dignity -- for the world's poorest.

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George Ayittey: Cheetahs vs. Hippos for Africa's future

2007-08-21T04:35:00.000-07:00
This grab-you-by-the-throat speech by Ghanaian economist George Ayittey unleashes an almost breathtaking torrent of controlled anger toward corrupt leaders and the complacency that allows them to thrive. These "Hippos" (lazy, slow, ornery) have ruined postcolonial Africa, he says. Why, then, does he remain optimistic? Because of the young, agile "Cheetah Generation," a "new breed of Africans" taking their futures into their own hands.

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Euvin Naidoo: Africa as an investment.

2007-08-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

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China over Africa.

2007-08-20T15:30:00.001-07:00
When Yang Jie left home at 18, he was doing what people from China’s hardscrabble Fujian Province have done for generations: emigrating in search of a better living overseas.

What set him apart was his destination. Instead of the traditional adopted homelands like the US and Europe, where Fujian people have settled by the hundreds of thousands, he chose this small, landlocked country in southern Africa.
“Before I left China,” said Yang, now 25, “I thought Africa was all one big desert.” So he figured that ice cream would be in high demand, and with money pooled from relatives and friends, he created his own factory at the edge of Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital. The climate is in fact subtropical, but that has not stopped his ice cream company from becoming the country’s biggest.
Stories like this have become legion across Africa in the past five years or so, as hundreds of thousands of Chinese have discovered the continent. The Xinhua News Agency recently estimated that at least 7,50,000 Chinese were working or living for extended periods on the continent, a reflection of deepening economic ties between China and Africa.
Even when Yang arrived here in 2001, he said, he could go weeks without encountering another traveller from his homeland. But as surely as his investments in the country have prospered, he said, an increasingly large community of Chinese migrants has taken root, and now runs everything from small factories to health care clinics and trading companies.
Today, in many of the countries where the new Chinese emigrants have settled, like Chad, Chinese-owned pharmacies, massage parlours and restaurants serving a variety of regional Chinese cuisines can be found; the Western presence, once dominant, has steadily dwindled, and essentially consists nowadays of relief experts working international agencies or oil workers, living behind high walls in heavily guarded enclaves.
At first, this new Chinese exodus was driven largely by word of mouth, as pioneers like Yang relayed news back home of abundant opportunities in a part of the world where many economies lie undeveloped or in ruins.
Conditions like these often deter Western investors, but for many Chinese entrepreneurs, Africa’s emerging economies are inviting precisely because they seem small and accessible. Competition is often weak or nonexistent, and for African customers, the low price of many Chinese goods and services make them more affordable than their Western counterparts.
You Xianwen sold his pipe-laying business in Chengdu, in southwest China, this year to move to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, to join a startup company with a Chinese partner he had met only online. His new business, ABC Bioenergy, builds devices that generate combustible gas from ordinary refuse, providing what You said would be an affordable alternative source of energy in a country where electricity supplies are erratic and prices high.
This Chinese activity reflects an intense appetite for African oil and mineral resources needed to fuel China’s manufacturing sector, but big Chinese companies have quickly become formidable competitors in other sectors as well, particularly for big-ticket public works contracts. China is building major new railroad lines in Nigeria and Angola, large dams in Sudan, airports in several countries and new roads, it seems, almost everywhere.
Africans view the influx of Chinese with a mix of anticipation and dread. Business leaders in Chad, a central African nation with deepening oil ties to China, are bracing for what they suspect will be an army of Chinese workers and investors.
“We expect a large influx of at least 40,000 Chinese in the coming years,” said Renaud Dinguemnaial, director of Chad’s Chamber of Commerce. “This massive arrival could be a plus for the economy, but we are also worried. When they arrive, will they bring their own workers, stay in their own houses, send all their money home?”
In Zambia, where anti-Chinese sentiment has been building for several years, merchants at the central market in Lusaka, the capital, said that if Chinese people wanted to come to Africa, they should come as investors, building factories, not as petty traders who compete for already scarce customers for bottom-dollar items like flip-flops and T-shirts.
“The Chinese claim to come here as investors, but they are trading just like us,” said Dorothy Mainga, who sells knockoff Puma sneakers and Harley Davidson T-shirts in the Kamwala Market in Lusaka. “They are selling the same things we are selling at cheap prices. We pay duty and tax, but they use their connections to avoid paying tax.”
Although Chinese oil workers have been kidnapped in Nigeria and killed in Ethiopia, the growing Chinese presence around the continent has produced few serious incidents.
Misunderstandings are common, however, and resentments inevitably arise. Africans in many countries complain that Chinese workers occupy jobs that locals are either qualified for or could be easily trained to do. “We are happy to have the Chinese here,” said Dennis Phiri, 21, a Malawian university student who is studying to become an engineer. “The problem with the Chinese companies is that they reserve all the good jobs for their own people. Africans are only hired in menial roles.”
Another frequent criticism is that the Chinese are clannish, sticking among themselves day and night.
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African MiGs : Tanzania

2007-08-20T09:24:00.000-07:00
Mwanza AB, Tanzania, early 1980s; Contrary to what is usually reported, Tanzania never purchased any J-7Is from China. Instead, the Jeshi La Wananchi La Tanzania (Tanzanian People's Defence Force Air Wing, TPDF/AW) was given 14 MiG-21MFs and two MiG-21Us by the USSR in 1974. Many of these were lost in different accidents due to the poor training, and two were said to have been lost when their pilots defected. Nevertheless, the few surviving examples took part in the war against Uganda, in 1978-1979, when they saw much action, even if one was shot down in a case of fratricide fire (it was lost to SA-7s fired by Tanzanian troops). The Tanzanian Army captured seven MiG-21MFs and one MiG-21U trainer from the Ugandan Air Force, as well as a considerable amount of spare parts. All of these were flown out to Mwanza AB, to enter service with the TPDF/AW. In 1998, Tanzania purchased four additional MiG-21MFs from the Ukraine, but these were reportedly in a very poor shape, and not used very often. Meanwhile, in 1980, an order for 10 F-7Bs and two TF-7s was issued to China, and in 1997 also two F-7Ns were purchased from Iran, together with four ex-Iraqi Air Force transports of an unknown type. Today, no Russian-supplied MiG-21s remain in service with the TPDF/AW, and only three or four F-7s remain operational.

The TPDF/AW MiG-21MFs are now confirmed to have carried serials - in black or green - underneath the cockpit, but no details about these are known.

Tanzania, place and time unknown; exactly how many MiG-15UTI (or, according to other sources, FT-2s) Tanzania acquired, or when, remains unknown. Supposedly, by the early 1990s two remained intact, even if it is unknown if even these were operational. The markings and serials shown here were applied according to instructions from a decal sheets of the Ukrainian company Kanga, and the Canadian Hobbycraft. The exact details about their placement remain unconfirmed.

Daresalam IAP, 2004: seen at Daresalam IAP in 2004, preparing for celebrations of Tanzanian People's Defence Forces' 40th Aniversary, this F-6A is one of two that arrived from Mwanza together with three F-5s. It wears a disruptive camouflage pattern in sand, brown and green on upper sides, and light blue underneath. All the planes appeared in imacualte condition, considering they are in service since almost 30 years. No national markings or serials were apparent on either of F-6As.
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Greenville Man Charged In 'Nigerian' Money Scam.

2007-08-20T03:50:00.000-07:00
The Greenville Sheriff's Office said that they arrested a man at an Upstate motel who was setting up a deal commonly referred to as a Nigerian money scam.Sheriff's investigators said that they were tipped off to the potential scam by a doctor from Texas who said he had been e-mailed a request to help an African businessman get into the United States. The doctor sent approximately $27,000 to Kenneth Ojua, who lives in an apartment on White Horse Road. The doctor said Ojua had told him he would $2 million in return for his investment.Investigators said that they set up a meeting between the doctor and Ojua at the Holiday Inn on Augusta Road. The doctor was to give Ojua additional money.

Deputies arrested Ojua when he arrived at the motel. He is being held without bond.Sheriff's investigators said evidence in Ojua's apartment led them to believe that there are others who have been victimized.Anyone who has had contact with Ojua is asked to call the Greenville Sheriff's Office at 864-467-5300.
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African super-rich grow richer, move to Richistan

2007-08-17T05:05:00.000-07:00
As part of my research on the African brand, I interviewed a Nigerian Hollywood public relations professional recently. Though his clientèle doesn’t consist purely of Africans, being a Hollywood connector he frequently encounters Africans with a bit of money looking to use his services for something or another. As we talked, the topic of money came up and the gentleman expounded on the different groups of Africans with money and their attitudes towards wealth. What I found interesting was how the Nigerian connector classified the groups: hustlers, who will do anything for a buck, and dignitaries, whose source of wealth is questionable. In his experience these were the two types of people who make up the affluent African class. Of course I found his tales of the affluent African a little disheartening, but it brought to light the issue of options for African wealth. We all know that the continent is rich with resources, however the access to those resources and who benefits from it’s potential revenue is another story.

The Wall Street Journal’s Informed Reader points to the recent release of Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini’s 2007 World Wealth Report which reveals:

Globally, the HNWI (High Net Worth Individuals) population grew by 8.3% in 2006, to a total of 9.5 million individuals. HNWI population gains were particularly strong last year in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, advancing by 12.5%, 11.9% and 10.2%, respectively, and outpacing more developed nations. These gains came amid these emerging markets’ attempts to solidify their infrastructures and become more developed economies.

While this means there is more African representation in Robert Frank’s Richistan, many of us in lower to not-even-close Richistan, are beginning to ask even more questions about what role Africans play in the scramble for Africa’s resources. A BIG question raised in the conversation about African billionaires on Forbes’ list was, where are those billionaires getting their money? The wealth report hints that, China has been an active player in Africa, investing heavily in various sectors and showing particular interest in mining. Taken together, these factors bolstered the continent’s HNWI population, helping it grow by 12.5 percent in 2006 and increasing its wealth by 14 per cent.

While this seems like a good answer, I’m not sure many Africans will buy it. But I don’t want to be labeled a “player hater” so I will point you to this statement by the Informed Reader:

So when it comes to business and markets, the firms that cater to the top of the high end will continue to do the best in the coming years. Think megayachts instead of yachts, beachfront estates instead of McMansions, and Bentleys and Maybachs instead of Mercedes and BMWs.

Paul Redfern adds, “The report says much of the income is spent on luxury items, art collections, jewelery and charitable causes.” Maybe this growing area will give enterprising Africans such as my Hollywood connector friend a green card to Richistan. As another hustler friend of mine said, “Don’t hate, participate” - legitimately of course.
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African countries on 2007 list of 50 most desirable outsourcing destinations

2007-08-13T05:01:00.000-07:00

BusinessWeek’s recent article on rising outsourcing destinations highlights what many African entrepreneurs have proposed for years. Outsourcing to parts of Africa can be a win-win situation. The BusineesWeek article refers to consultancy A.T. Kearney’s 2007 list of the 50 most desirable outsourcing destinations worldwide. For the list countries were ranked by a) financial attractiveness, based on such measures as compensation and infrastructure costs; b) a so-called people score, measuring a nation’s people skills, availability of language and educational skills, and the size and quality of the IT industry; and c) their economic/political environment, infrastructure quality, cultural exposure, and IP security. While India remains the top outsourcing destination many African countries are learning from their example. (Note: Scores are in parentheses.)

Rank - Country (overall - financial - people - environment)

#13 - Egypt (5.6 - 3.2 - 1.1 - 1.3)

#25 - Mauritius (5.4 - 2.8 - 1.0 - 1.6)

#26 - Tunisia (5.4 - 3.0 - 0.9 - 1.5)

#27 - Ghana (5.5 - 3.3 - 0.9 - 1.3)

#31 - South Africa (5.3 - 2.5 - 1.2 - 1.6)

#36 - Morocco (5.1 - 2.9 - 0.9 - 1.3)

#39 - Senegal (5.1 - 3.2 - 0.8 - 1.1)

Other factors which add to a countries’ attractiveness are language and education skills and the reliability of a nation’s telecommunications infrastructure. But the the key underlying factor for many African countries’ successful bid for new business is the lack of infrastructure. While the African digerati are continuously ramping up their skills and making themselves available for business they continuously run into infrastructural limitations. But who is to blame? Is it the governments who are overrun with bureaucracy? or the people themselves, who often do not hold their leaders accountable?

"Offshoring upstarts are making so many inroads, in fact, that by 2012, they’ll significantly dilute India’s dominance, says consultancy Gartner (IT). The consulting firm says that by 2010 about 30% of Fortune 500 enterprises will outsource to three or more countries, from less than 10% today. “So many governments have realized what an opportunity this is and there’s a lot of effort being spent in promoting their countries to the market,” says Johan Gott, manager of A.T. Kearney’s Global Services Location Index.

…Kenya, for instance, is trying to become a destination for business process and IT outsourcing. The Kenyan government has worked in recent years to liberalize its telecom sector, which has lured more operators and helped drive telecom services prices down by 70% in a short time, according to the World Bank. Yet the country relies on satellite connections to link to the rest of the world. That makes it costly for outsourcers to do business."
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The Top 12 Names of the Year 2006

2007-08-13T04:33:00.000-07:00

“Pluto” wins 2006 Name of the Year

In its meeting in Anaheim, California, on January 5, 2007, members of the American Name Society voted “Pluto” as the Name of the Year for 2006. The runner-up for Name of the Year was “Macaca”, which received only one vote less than “Pluto.” The second runner-up was “Flickr”. The final vote was taken among the five nominees “Blue Dog Democrats,” “Flickr,” “Macaca,” “Pluto,” and “Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt,” which had been chosen from twelve original nominees by a committee. All twelve original nominees, along with the rationales for their nominations, were:

Ahmadinejad -- The President of Iran became a prominent character for the United States in 2005-2006. He is repeatedly being denounced for developing his country's nuclear facilities. His religious affiliation with the Shiites in Iraq affects the United States involvement in Iraq. He has repeatedly made public statements for attention by the people of the United States. His eligibility for nomination for Name of the Year is reinforced by his potential future importance, either as a constructive or destructive leader of a nation of special importance in the Middle East.
Barbaro -- After a year of rebuilding lives in the hurricane stricken southern states, floods and devastating fires out west and a sad and controversial war in Iraq, this name represents all what we are seeking as humans. Barbaro in his peak as a race horse brought happiness, excitement, courage, bravery, strength, good sportsmanship and sheer beauty. When he was injured and near death, he got humans to pray, appreciate life and ask for hope. Now with his amazing recovery, he does all of those things for humans all over again.

Beatrice -- This name is VERY important in the best-selling Lemony Snicket books. Through all of the books, Snicket keeps the name Beatrice exactly the same, but treats it in a different way in each book. She is the mysterious woman who in the dedications is the recipient of his fondest feelings. The humor comes in the way Snicket creates variations on the theme of missing her. He starts with alliteration and surprise: “To Beatrice—darling, dearest, dead.” Then he plays with switching from literal to metaphorical meanings as in “For Beatrice—You will always be in my heart, in my mind, and in your grave.” “For Beatrice—When we were together I felt breathless. Now you are,” and “For Beatrice—Our love broke my heart, and stopped yours.” Judging from Book the Twelfth, she died in a house fire as did the Baudelaire’s parents: “No one could extinguish my love, or your house.” He uses contrast in “For Beatrice—When we met, my life began. Soon afterwards, yours ended,” and comparison in “For Beatrice—Summer without you is as cold as winter. Winter without you is even colder.” “Book the Fourth” has the longest dedication:

To Beatrice—My love flew like a butterfly,

Until death swooped down like a bat.

As the poet Emma Montana McEllroy said:

“That’s the end of that.”

Books Tenth and Eleventh, respectively, are perhaps the most enigmatic. “For Beatrice—When we met, you were pretty, and I was lonely. Now, I am pretty lonely,” and “For Beatrice—Dead women tell no tales/ Sad men write them down.” In the final Book the Thirteenth, he writes, "I cherished, you perished, The world's been nightmarished." Here he hints that Beatrice was the mother of the Baudelaire children, but readers are still left with lots to wonder about.

“Blue Dog Democrats” -- The name comes from the fact that they represent the “blue states,” but they’re not typical Democrats. They’re sort of “dogs” as “Democrats. On National Public Radio they explained that before the “Blue Dog Democrats” there were the “Yellow Dog Democrats.” These are the Democrats located at the far left. They are called “Yellow Dog Democrats” because “they would vote for a Democrat even if it were a Yellow Dog.” It is said that when the moderate democrats heard about the “Yellow Dog Democrats,” they “turned blue,” and that is how they became the “Blue Dog Democrats.”

Flickr -- Flickr was a little-known website when it came on the scene in early 2004, but a blog post (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2005/10/the_new_rules_o.html ) by Seth Godin in October of 2005 pointed out the apparent greatness of the name to marketers around the world. Marketers are now often asked by their business clients if dropping a letter from a real word makes a good corporate name. All of this is because of that one name. How has this affected the world? Well, in less than an hour of searching on the internet over sixty companies that use exactly the same naming convention (dropping the penultimate vowel before a closing "r".) were found by the original nominator of this name. Poems have been written as an homage to the practice - composed entirely from real website and company names.
Jack -- It’s been the #1 most popular name in the UK for a decade and is steadily rising in the US. On television it belongs to the protagonists on the popular shows 24, Lost, Stargate and Alias, and it is also the name of the main character from this year's most successful movie, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Jack Sparrow. This traditional name for an “everyman” now has a modern sophisticated and popular image all around the English speaking world.

“Macaca” -- Early in the Senate race in Virginia, incumbent republican George Allen was leading democratic challenger Jim Webb by double-digit margins. Most political pundits, as well as most Virginians themselves, thought Allen was unbeatable in what was in 2000 and 2004 a solidly republican state. That changed on August 11, at a campaign rally in southwest Virginia, where Allen pointed out a Webb campaign worker of Indian descent in the crowd using a racial slur: "This fellow here...Macaca, or whatever his name is. ...Lets give a welcome to Macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia." The young man to whom Allen referred was taping the event, and overnight Allen's insensitivity and potential bigotry were important campaign issues. His lead over Webb vanished within a week. Today Allen conceded the race, resulting in the U.S. Congress changing from republican to democratic control for the first time in nearly two decades. The term "Macaca moment" now seems to be headed for permanent status as an item in America's political lexicon. The spread of the incident and the name over You Tube also illustrates the new power of that Website in spreading cultural phenomena.

“Penguin Space Shuttle” -- This was the nickname given to a recent space shuttle which was black and white, and which couldn’t fly because of many delays. The illustrates both normal processes of nicknaming, but also the recent fashionable place penguins seem to have had in American society, as exemplified by cartoon characters such as Opus and films such as The March of the Penguins and Happy Feet.

Pluto -- In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union, meeting in Prague, decided that Pluto did not meet a strict scientific definition of “planet” and said that Pluto should be called a “dwarf planet”, with the term “planet” reserved for objects whose gravity has cleared the neighborhood around their orbits. This decision immediately caused an uproar in the general public around the world; even some astronomers were upset. The word “plutoed” has already entered the English language to mean “to downgrade, demote, or remove from a prestigious group or list.” The great emotional reaction that many had to the demotion, often expressed as feeling angry or sorry for Pluto, also shows how naming an inanimate object or a place with a personal name, even of an ancient Roman god, helps human beings to become personally attached to them.

Restless Leg Syndrome -- Since it is impossible to prescribe medicine for a medical condition that has no name, it is necessary to provide this condition with a name before anyone can sell medicine to treat the condition. For years we’ve all had “restless legs,” but now that it is named the “Restless Leg Syndrome” we can buy medicine to make it better.

Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt -- This name symbolized the cult of celebrity gossip. When this child was born in Namibia in May, many joked that this was the most anticipated birth since the Christ child, and then "Brangelina" gave her a Messiah-like name, with a biblically significant place name first and "new" in the middle. The rarity and creativity of the given names, combined with the hyphenated surname, to exemplify the characteristics of today’s celebrity baby names for many Americans.
Suri -- When Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes gave this name to their daughter in April 2006, no one really knew if it had a connection with LRON or Scientology. Many believe it was a reference to LRON's hometown, Surrey, England. Cruise’s publicists claimed it was Hebrew for “princess” (perhaps possible as a Yiddish form of Sarah) or Persian for “beautiful red rose.” Whatever its derivation, the speculation surrounding the name is another example of the present cult of celebrity.
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Opportunities in Kenya’s Communications sector

2007-08-10T06:46:00.000-07:00
Opportunities in Kenya’s Communications sector

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Mod a $5 flashlight into a $95 light

2007-08-10T06:09:00.000-07:00

$10 Police Flashlight Hack! - video powered by Metacafe
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14 Great African American Artists

2007-08-09T07:39:00.000-07:00

Throughout American history, Africans and their descendants have contributed richly to the visual arts, producing some of our country's finest paintings, sculptures, collages, prints, and other works.

Among the many great black artists, the following are some of our favorites. You can learn more about these and hundreds of other famous black Americans in Encarta.

Articles marked with a (*) are available to those with access to MSN Encarta Premium. Learn more.

1. Edward Bannister (1826-1901) One of the first African Americans to receive national recognition as a painter, Bannister was also the only major black artist of the 19th century who did not study art in Europe. Raised in Boston, a barber and hair stylist by trade, Bannister exhibited his works at the Boston Art Club and Museum. Bannister's painting Under the Oaks took the first-prize medal at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876, although the judges tried to rescind the award when they discovered he was black. Many of Bannister's most notable works have been lost.

2. Edmonia Lewis* (1844?-1911?) Believed to be the first woman sculptor of African American and Native American heritage, Lewis attended Oberlin College in Ohio, where her talent for drawing emerged. Lewis left for Italy while in her early 20s and spent much of her career working in Rome. Lewis is best known for The Death of Cleopatra, a piece she created in 1876 for America's first centennial celebration. The two-ton sculpture, which caused a sensation at the exhibit for its realistic portrayal of death, dropped out of sight and remained undiscovered until the late 1970s. Lewis's life after 1890 remains a mystery, and her place of death unknown.

3. Henry Ossawa Tanner* (1859-1937) Called by a contemporary art historian "the first genius among Negro artists," Tanner, a painter, was raised in Pittsburgh and attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. He later relocated to Paris, largely to escape racial prejudice in America. With a style rooted in the techniques of romantic realism and impressionism, Tanner is best known for his scenes of African American life, including The Banjo Lesson, and his works focusing on Biblical subjects, including The Raising of Lazarus. Tanner's Sand Dunes at Sunset, Atlantic City was acquired for the art collection of the White House in Washington, D.C., in 1996; it was the first work by an African American painter to be chosen for the collection.

4. Augusta Savage (1892-1962) Specializing in portraits of African American leaders--including W. E. B. Du Bois and Frederick Douglass--Savage was a dedicated arts educator as well as a sculptor. She began working with clay at age six, and received formal art training in New York City. After returning to America from several years' study in Paris, Savage opened an arts school in Harlem in 1932. Among her students were painters Jacob Lawrence and Norman Lewis. Savage campaigned for the empowerment of black artists, petitioning the Works Progress Administration to hire them for commissions. She opened New York's first gallery devoted to African American art in 1939.

5. Hale Woodruff (1900-1980) A gifted teacher as well as a fine artist, Woodruff founded the art department at Atlanta University, where he helped to promote African American artists and develop and strengthen a black arts community. Woodruff is most famous for the Amistad Murals (1939-1942), which depict key events of the 1839 incident in which enslaved Africans rose up against their captors. Woodruff's work includes elements of abstract expressionism and African art and is influenced by Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, with whom Woodruff studied briefly in 1934.

6. William Henry Johnson* (1901-1970) Raised in South Carolina, Johnson studied art in New York City before moving to France, then Scandinavia. His European influences included Paul Cézanne and Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch. Upon returning to New York in 1938, Johnson switched from expressionism to a conscious primitivism, and he thereafter concentrated on portrayals of African American subjects in a spare, simplified style. Johnson sold few works in his lifetime, and spent his last two decades confined to a hospital, never realizing the eventual enormous popularity of both his expressionist and his primitive work.

7. Richmond Barthé (1901-1989) A prolific sculptor, Barthé's work focuses on representations of African Americans, including such famous figures as George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington. Raised in New Orleans and denied acceptance to art school because of his race, Barthé eventually won recognition in New York City, becoming a principle figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Although Barthé's career spanned more than 60 years, and his work has been incorporated into many major U.S. museum collections, his financial rewards never matched the acclaim his work received.

8. Charles H. Alston (1901-1977) Known for paintings that focus on the experiences of African American families of the 1950s and 1960s, Alston first gained recognition for his illustrations for The New Yorker and Mademoiselle magazines. In the 1930s Alston taught at the Harlem Art Workshop and directed the Harlem Hospital murals for the Federal Arts Project. In 1950 he became the first African American teacher at the Art Students League in New York City. Alston's colorful, figurative paintings convey a sense of racial pride and dignity.

9. Romare Bearden (1912-1988) Depicting various aspects of the African American experience, Bearden's paintings and collages include elements of the 20th-century art movements of cubism, social realism, and abstraction. His best-known works incorporate images from magazines and newspapers. Raised in New York City's Harlem district, Bearden attended the Art Students League in the 1930s, where he worked with German American expressionist artist George Grosz. Bearden produced some of his most innovative works in the late 1960s, often incorporating life-size imagery and combining collage with acrylics, oils, and mosaics.

10. Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) One of the most widely known and consistently successful African American artists, Lawrence's career spanned nearly six decades, from the Harlem Renaissance era to the end of the 20th century. An educator for much of his career, Lawrence is best known for his narrative series of paintings of African American historical figures and topics, as well as individual works that center on street life and families. Lawrence's style was influenced by a variety of artistic traditions, including expressionism and cubism. Among his more famous works is The Migration Series (1941-1942), a collection of 60 panels that chronicles the mass movement of African Americans to urban centers in the North.

11. Elizabeth Catlett* (1919- ) Sculptor and printmaker Catlett's work combines African and Mexican stylistic elements in exploring themes of injustice, endurance, and the relationship between mother and child. Catlett became the first female teacher at the School of Fine Arts at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1958, and much of her career has been spent working in that country. After retiring from teaching in 1976, Catlett focused on large-scale sculpture.

12. John T. Biggers (1924-2001) A painter best known for his complex, symbolic murals based on African and African American cultural themes, Biggers's works reflect his interest in the spiritualism of Africa and of the injustices inherent in American history. Biggers founded and chaired the art department at Texas Southern University, and was instrumental in launching the careers of a number of African American artists. In 1957 he was awarded a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) fellowship.

13. Robert Colescott* (1925- ) Colescott is known for his lively, colorful paintings, many of which are parodies of famous depictions of historical events. In these witty, expressive works, Colescott substitutes African Americans for white figures in an ironic commentary on racial inequality, as in his painting George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware (1975). In his early career, Colescott explored abstract and representational painting, and studied with French cubist artist Fernand Léger. His later work focuses on racial issues such as urban violence and women's subjugation.

14. Jean-Michel Basquiat* (1960-1988) Blending imagery from African, Caribbean, European, and popular American art, Basquiat's work first appeared as graffiti on the streets and subways of New York City. His career began its meteoric rise in 1980 when Basquiat was 20 and virtually homeless; his work quickly became sought-after and he was befriended by such celebrity artists as Julian Schnabel and Andy Warhol. Basquiat died of a heroin overdose at age 27.
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The Hebrew/Israelites and The African Slave Trade How Do the two Relate?

2007-08-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

In school, in history classes, students are taught about the African Slave Trade: how the black people were taken from the Continent of Africa to be slaves; how the black people were captured and raped and robbed of their culture; how the black people were forced to accept the religion of their captors; and how the black people had to, and still do, live according to the customs of their slave masters.
But did slavery all start on the continent of Africa? Were Hebrew/Israelites part of this slave trade? Were the Hebrew/Israelites even in Africa? And were the Hebrew/Israelites in Africa during the time of the African Slave Trade? .
George E. Lichtblau, author of "Jewish Roots in Africa," said "Claims of a historic presence of Jewish communities in certain regions of Africa, notably West and Southern Africa, seem esoteric when first mentioned. This presence goes back not just centuries, but even to biblical times." How many children know this? Mr. Lichtblau also said, " . . . the subsequent scattering of a Jewish presence and influence reaching deep into the African continent is less widely acknowledged." Why?.
If everything is left up to the school systems, black people in America will continue to live in darkness, especially, concerning the slave trade and its connection with the Hebrew/Israelites. There is a connection!.
First, it should be understood that the Hebrew/Israelites are black people. If that's not clear, please read "The Hebrew People of the Bible, What Color are they?" This will clearly explain what our captors do not want you to know. .
All through the biblical history of the Hebrew/Israelites, you will read how they disobeyed God, their Father, the God of Israel. In that the children of Israel are His only son (Exodus 4:22), they had to be disciplined by their Father, the Creator ofheaven and Earth, for their wicked deeds..
How did God discipline his children being a spiritual and not a physical being?.
The spanking that the Children of Israel received was through being defeated on the battlefield and by being taken into captivity by the nation or nations that their father, the Creator, raised to power. For example: Judges 2:11&14 says, "The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord . . . and the anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that plundered them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies." Judges 3:7&8 says, "The children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord . . . Therefore the anger of the Lord burned against Israel and he sold them into the hand of Kushan-rish'atayim, king of Aram: and the children of Israel served Kushan-rish'atayim eight years." And, Judges 3:12-14 says, "The children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel . . . And he gathered to him the children of Ammon and Amaleq, and went and smote Israel . . . So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab, for eighteen years." So as you can see, the discipline came through the other nations by the God of Israel..
As the Children of Israel continued to do evil, and the God of Israel continued to bring other nations against them, knowing that they were going to be persecuted, and forced to serve another nation, they would run into other countries trying and thinking they were fleeing from their captors, that the Lord their God had raised and strengthened against them..
Although, the children of Israel was constantly wicked, they were already warned by the God of Israel that if they disobeyed Him that they would be cursed. As the Christians have the book of Revelations for their last book, the Hebrews have the book of Deuteronomy for their last book of revelations. And their curse is thoroughly outlined in Deuteronomy 28th Chapter. I am not going to quote the 28th chapter because it is very lengthy. But, please read it!.
There were several times when the Israelites, out of defeat, ran for shelter, and the Bible and other history books of the Jews hold the specific details of this matter. .
Second Kings 18:9-13 says, "And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hosea son of Elah King of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, (that is, the ninth year of Hosea king of Israel) Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them. Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them."
Knowing that king Shalmaneser did carry away Israel, and that king Sennacherib did take Judah into captivity, did any Hebrew/Israelites try to escape their wrath? Did any Hebrew/Israelites run into other countries? Is it all possible for them to have also run into Africa? I say Yes!
Solomon Grayzel, a white Jewish historian, wrote in his book, "A History of the Jews," in the ninth century CE (AD), a man appeared in north Africa among the Hebrews there, his name was Eldad from the tribe of Dan, he was a Danite. He said the members of his tribe had escaped Israel after Sennacherib had conquered Israel, and other Hebrews from other tribes also live in the land from where he came from.
Menasseh ben Israel, the author of "The Hope of Israel," said in his book there were Hebrew/Israelites that had been scattered into the Americas since the time of Sennacherib.
Mr Lichtblau, the writer of "Jewish Roots in Africa," speaking of the Jews said, "Pressed under sweeping regional conflicts, Jews settled as traders and warriors in Yemen, the Horn of Africa, Egypt, the Kingdom of Kush and Nubia, North African Punic settlements (Carthage and Velubilis), and areas now covered by Mauritania. More emigrants followed these early Jewish settlers to Northern Africa following the Assyrian conquest of the Israelites in the 8th century B.C.E...."
And, Rabbi Dahton Nasi, the author of the "Basic Jewish Studies Handbook," has placed the Hebrew/Israelites all over the African continent.
Shalmaneser king of Assyria and Sennacherib king of Assyria were not the only kings to have come up against Israel. Another very important time in the history of the Hebrews, and I say important because the Temple was destroyed for the first time, is when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon came and took Israel and destroyed the temple.
Here too, we tried to escape persecution and ran into the continent of Africa. Mr. Lichtblau statement above goes one step further, when mentioning the emigration of the Hebrews to Africa during the conquest of king Nebuchadnezzar. It says, " . . . and again 200 years later, when Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians, leading to the destruction of the First temple."
So, again two hundred years later the Children of Israel ran into Africa trying to flee persecution.
The people, not wanting to serve king Nebuchadnezzar, went into Egypt, even after they were instructed by the God of Israel, their Father, not to. Jeremiah, the prophet, in chapter 42, 43, and 44 tells the people that God said to stay in Babylon because he would be with them. But instead, they went to Egypt and when Jeremiah caught up with them in there, he said, due to them not listening to the God of Israel, he was going to push king Nebuchadnezzar into Egypt and take it and them.
I don't know what my reaction would have been if I had been informed of this by the Prophet. But as Rabbi Nasi stated in his handbook above (regarding this situation, and something I do agree with), "This warning would cause many Israelites to migrate deeper into Ethiopia and the Sahara desert."
After serving the Babylonians for 70 years, the Hebrews returned to Israel to rebuild the kingdom. Thinking that they would have known how to act, they had to be disciplined again because they wouldn't listen to the word of God.
In the year 334 B.C.E., Alexander the Great, came down from Macedonia and took Babylon, Egypt, Israel, and other areas that were occupied by the Persians. After Alexanders death, his kingdom was divide and the Hebrew/Israelites caught trouble again.
Around 176 B.C.E., king Antiochus ruled the Greek Kingdom and came up against Israel. Approximately two years later, the king attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the city, burned it down, and took the women and children captive. He also wrote a decree to all of his kingdom that the people should give up their particular practices and be as the Greeks, to be as one people.
The king told the Hebrews to "put a stop to whole burnt offerings and sacrifices and drink offerings at the sanctuary, and to break the Sabbaths and profane the feasts and to build altars and sacred precincts and idol temples and sacrifice hogs and unclean cattle; and to leave their sons uncircumcised and defile themselves with every unclean and profane practice." The king made it known to the Hebrews, if they did not obey the command, they would be put to death. After the Greeks came, the Romans and around 70CE destroyed Jerusalem again. The Romans, too, refused to let the Jews circumcise their boys, observe the Sabbath, and study the laws of the God of Israel. Here, too, the Roman government said if we were to do the things that we are commanded to do by the God of Israel, that the Hebrews would be put to death.
The restrictions on the Hebrews forced them to emigrate in even greater numbers than before. Rome's vengeance forced the Hebrews that lived in Cyrenaica, which was approximately a hundred thousand and a million in Egypt to flee into the south of Africa and the west of Africa. Solomon Grayzel said, "such is the explanation how the Sahara desert first acquired Jewish tribes . . . "
But it wasn't always another kingdom that forced the Hebrews to flee their homeland.
The first three centuries of the Christian Era weren't easy for the Hebrews. There was a lot of confusion between the Hebrews and the Christians due to instigation by the Roman government saying the Hebrews killed Jesus. And, that false accusation has followed the Hebrews even until this day. But, at that time it did force the Hebrews to flee from persecution, while at the same time we also fled from the Christians due to forced conversion. It was a do or die situation. You either accepted Christianity or you died.
Next was the rise of Islam some several hundred years later, 6th or 7th century. Islam was gaining some dominance but not enough to convert the Hebrews. Mohammed sought the Hebrews, but the Hebrews didn't want to have anything to do with Islam. Eventually, a choice was given to the Hebrews either Islam or die by the sword. The threat of the sword was definitely carried out by the command of Mohammed, killing the Hebrew males and selling the Hebrew women. After the death of Mohammed, his successor (Abu Behr), with a tighter grip than Mohammed, continued with the caravan.
Africa wasn't the only country where the Hebrews dwelled because of them fleeing their captore and wanting to live a life of freedom. Spain and Portugal, to name a few, were two countries where the Hebrews tried to leave.
Life for the Hebrews in Spain was fair until January 2, 1492. This is the year that king Ferdinand and queen Isabella signed an order to deport the Hebrews out of Spain. Christianity had taken a strong hold in Spain and Ferdinand and Isabella approved the expulsion because the Jews were secretly maintaining their faith as Moses had instructed them and not embracing the Christian religion.
Ferdinand and Isabella gave the Jews until August 1, 1492 to get out of Spain or suffer severe slavery for sure. When August 1, 1492 arrived, a great number of Jews had departed Spain, returning to the northern and western parts of Africa, fleeing to the Caribbean islands, and fleeing into Portugal. "But the last group of Jews did not leave until August 2, 1492," said Rudolph Windsor, author of "From Babylon to Timbuktu."
This date should sound familiar to the world because this is the date Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World. And their were Jews on board his carriers. The Jews that stayed behind in Spain were either forced to convert to Christianity, be a slave, or die by the sword. The Jews that fled into Portugal were allowed to stay for thirteen years but no longer, to the year of 1505. To this date, there are a number of dark-skinned Hebrews in the Caribbean Islands, practicing and living the laws of Moses.
When 1505 arrived, the Hebrews that had stayed behind in Portugal were forced into being slavery by the order of the governor of Portugal. Also, the governor gave permission to import the slaves, those negroes, those Hebrews into the Caribbean islands and the West Indies.
But Spain and Portugal weren't the only culprits in this matter. The African people also played a part in the captivity of African slaves.
Although the slave trade began in 1441, at the hands of the Portuguese, it wasn't until 1619, when the first slaves were reported in English America, said Richard L. Green. He went further to say, "The participation of countries in the African slave trade became so profitable that slaves were viewed as black gold' and beasts of burden."
Black gold and beasts of burden is how Affonso I, king of the Congo, must have viewed the Hebrews of Africa because he gained a great deal of wealth from the slave trade. It is noted that Mvemba Nzinga, who was baptized Affonso I, ruled as the Mani Congo (king of the Congo) from 1506 to 1543. "Affonso I attempted to control the slave traffic," and by 1530, at least 5,000 slaves were exported annually from the Congo, said Mr. Green. Richard L. Green is the publisher and editor of "A Salute to Historic African Kings and Queens."
Of course, Affonso I, the king of the Congo, in the continent of Africa, wasn't the only king to get involved in the slave trade. There were other kings in Africa that did it out of profit, and their were some kings that were pitted against each other by the Europeans. But either way it goes, the Hebrews went into slavery by the hands of the kings of Africa and by the hands of the Europeans.
This document makes the connection between the Hebrew/Israelites and the African Slave Trade and explains how and why the Hebrews emigrated or rather fled to the continent of Africa. At the same time, it explains how the Hebrews got caught up in the slave trade. Many of the black people in America want to associate themselves with the African continent, when in fact it actually has nothing to do with the black people of America.
The history of the black people doesn't stop at Africa. There is more to black people than that. Take the time to study black history, and don't stop at Africa. Why, because it will be you who will make a difference in this world..
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Is Ghana as bad as its reputation for scams?

2007-08-03T05:24:00.000-07:00

The short answer is: Yes! A closer look, especially after some experience and time in Accra, the nation's capital, clearly reveals the fact that not all citizens of Ghana are bad people. In fact, it's largely the contrary. Where poverty runs deep, as it does in Ghana and Nigeria, however, the attraction to easy money has caught the attention of many, and scam operations are growing faster and more out of control than any time in history.
Are there any beautiful, white and English speaking women in Ghana? The answer to this question is: Not many. Scammers in Ghana have learned from their neighbors in Nigeria, the founder of the imfamous 419 scam. These days, scammers are increasing their level of sophistication and it no longer takes a "fool" to be a victim of scam. Ghana fraud rings invest careful time with their victims, setting up a relationship of trust, confidence and if possible, love. Once the romance is established, the scammer makes his move. This is typically in the form of an emergency, help with a visa, a large inheritance and legal problem, etc.
Is it possible to have a real, honest and lasting relationship with someone in Ghana? Yes, it is possible. Are there foreigners living and working in Ghana who speak English? Yes, of course. Does the level of fraud and professional scams being operated from that country warrant the need for a background check to verify any relationship in Ghana? Yes, absolutely! It's the only way.
The moral of the story is, no matter what the circumstances, no matter where the person was met, either on the Internet or in person, if the individual is from or currently living in Ghana, due to the extreme level of scam activity in that country, we strongly advise a background check, of which Wymoo offers the most comprehensive services for the West Africa region. And lastly, never send money to any individual overseas who is not known in person or who has not been verified via a professional.
Be safe and best of luck,
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Afrigator : A Social media site for Africa.

2007-08-01T13:17:00.000-07:00
Africa's first social media aggregator tracks more than 1,000 Africa-related blogs, podcasts and news sites. Readers can rank individual posts and read them online. In May, Afrigator began using OpenID, a system that allows users to operate a single login at multiple websites.

CEO: Justin Hartman

Location: Johannesburg, South Africa

URL: afrigator.com

Launch: April 2007

Funding: $35,000 (angel investors)
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A Few Key Facts About Africa.

2007-08-01T05:06:00.000-07:00

Looking for facts about Africa? You are in the right place! Whether you need information for a report, want to know more about Africa for decorating purposes, or are just curious about this amazing continent, this article is a great resource. With many great African facts condensed into just a few paragraphs, this article will make you knowledgeable about this corner of the world in no time at all!
Our first set of facts about Africa includes just the basics to get you started. Africa is the second largest continent in the world, with Asia being the first. It is also second only to Asia in terms of population. It is home to more than 900,000,000 people and accounts for 14% of the world’s population. Africa boasts the widest range of wild animals, ranging from carnivores to rare amphibians. This is due partly to its wide climate range, with deserts and jungles alike.
Our second set of facts about Africa applies to the continents history. Among the scientific community, there is a consensus that Africa is the original home of the human race. Fossils and evidence have been found there that date back to seven million years ago. Proof of our evolutionary ancestors has also been found there, making this a hotbed of science and, essentially, the cradle of our civilization as we know it.
Our next set of facts about Africa applies to the cultural aspects of the continent. Because there were so many ancient tribes in Africa at one time, the culture varies quite a bit from country to country. Different art forms, musical techniques and religions pepper the land of Africa. From Egypt to South Africa, the continent is diverse and constantly changing. The countries of Africa are slowly but surely entering the urban age and adopting globalization and the traditions of more westernized areas.
Our final set of facts about Africa is about the name “Africa” itself. Some people believe that the word Africa comes from the Latin word “aprica”, which means “sunny”. Others say that it comes from the Greek word “aphrike”, which means “without cold”. Another interesting theory comes from Roman history, which says a large portion of people who lived in northern Africa were named “afri” when the Romans happened upon them. The Romans supposedly applied their suffix “ca”, which means “country” or “land”. Whatever the reason for the name, we now know Africa as a beautiful and diverse.

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Kikoy developes its own character of East African Clothing

2007-07-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

Kikoys are a garment which was traditionally for men, as in many hot countries (and Scotland!) men wear a wraparound of some sort. These tropical garments are obviously worn due to the heat (except in Scotland!) and are particularly comfortable. Few require anything more than a little confidence to hold them up and some are tied with amazing skill and complexity but the Kikoy itself is simply wrapped around the middle, or hips, or anywhere and rolled over outwards a couple of times.

The Kikoy does need to be fairly tight, with a certain amount of tension, but not too tight, the mistake is to try and wrap it really tightly as this could result in an embarrassing and unscheduled show of leg! Inspired by the abundance of exuberant colours found on the East African coastline, Kikoys are woven of the brightest hue colour combinations that would alarm most people! Possibly originating from something that the Arab traders wore as they plied the coastline, the Kikoy has developed its very own character of Kenya and Tanzania and is a symbol of safaris in both beautiful countries. There is a band of devoted Kikoy wearers which is steadily increasing in size as more and more people discover the delights of a Kikoy, see our 50 ways to use a Kikoy!
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419 Nigerian Advanced Fee Fraud Scam Lifecycle

2007-07-27T06:24:00.000-07:00

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419 Nigerian Scam Videos

2007-07-27T06:00:00.000-07:00
Interview with the nigerian scammer exposed on ABC news.

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Hands as a Calculator.

2007-07-24T06:38:00.000-07:00
Hands as a calculator have many advantages over the pencil and paper methods in arithmetic. The students require no external device and can practice the procedures at any time or place. Rote memory of the addition and multiplication tables, facts that can not be visualized, is the most difficult memorization possible. Representing numbers with the hands provides the visuals needed to enable a much easier memorization process to occur. A good pedagogical approach is to have the students verify the addition and multiplication tables using their hands as a calculator.

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Swahili Advanced Computer Applications (SACA).

2007-07-24T06:31:00.000-07:00
Swahili (or KiSwahili as it is known in Swahili) is the most widely spoken African language, as a first or additional language. As a consequence it is receiving some of the most attention with relation to use in information and communication technologies (ICTs).

This message is set up to facilitate communication about various technical initiatives, projects, and research. For the moment it will serve as an experiment to see if this format can serve as an easily accessible place for exchange of information on and links to research and projects for advanced computer applications in Swahili. These include:
Online dictionaries like Kamusi
Machine translation (MT) - computer programs for automatic translation into and out of Swahili
Translation memory - computer programs that assist translators but are not the same as MT
Geographic information systems (GIS)
Text-to-speech (TTS) programs
Speech recognition / speech-to-text (STT) programs
Various WWW, "Web 2.0" & "semantic web" applications
Programming in Swahili
Other cutting edge ICTs

Part of the reason for setting this up is that I receive some information about Swahili language activities that is interesting and useful but does not always fit the format of other webpages such as those on Bisharat.net or the new PanAfrican Localisation (PAL) project site.

This forum is not intended to replace existing forums for discussion of Swahili language such as
H-Swahili http://www.h-net.org/~swahili/
Kamusi Project Swahili Online Forum http://research.yale.edu/swahili/learn/?q=forum
Kiswahili http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kiswahili/

Those interested in learning Swahili or disussing Swahili topics are suggested to use those lists.

Hopefully this message board - the latest in a group of others accessible via http://www.quicktopic.com/share?s=QSpo - will turn out to be useful and contribute in some way to advance computing in Swahili and other African languages.

Don

Don Osborn, Ph.D. dzo@bisharat.net
*Bisharat! A language, technology & development initiative
*Bisharat! Initiative langues - technologie - développement
http://www.bisharat.net

*PanAfrican Localisation Project
*Projet panafricain sur la localisation
http://www.PanAfriL10n.org (new site coming)
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Bob Marley - Africa Unite.

2007-07-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

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OpenOffice to support the Swahili language.

2007-07-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

Swahili is the most commonly spoken African language — it is the chief trade language of East Africa and is the first language of at least 70 million people living in areas such as Kenya, Tanzania, Congo, and Uganda, according to the team working on Kilinux, the Swahili Localization Project. Alberto Pascual, the technical project coordinator for Kilinux, said the release is primarily focused at Tanzanians, as there are strong regional differences in Swahili, but the team is working with groups in Kenya to make modifications for Kenyan Swahili. A Microsoft spokeswoman said that Windows and Office are not available in Swahili at present. Infrastructure problems have posed more of a challenge to the project than have technical problems, according to Pascual. “Infrastructure is more of a challenge than the technical things,” said Pascual. “Internet access is slow and we have three power cuts every week.
It is even difficult to make a phone call.” Transferring the OpenOffice.org code over the Internet only takes minutes in Europe, but can take hours in Tanzania, as high-speed internet connections such as ADSL are not yet available. Instead Web users have to rely on slow dial-up connections, said Pascual. The cost of Internet access is also an issue. Cats-net.com, an ISP in Tanzania, charges around $36 per month for 33.6Kbps dial-up Internet access, according to the company’s Web site. This is more than 10 percent of the average income of an educated professional. Professors at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania earn $300 per month, Pascual said. Another challenge for the project has been translating computer terms into Swahili. Computer terminology is not included in the Swahili language and the team has found it difficult to find people who understand enough about computers to do the translation.
To translate terms, such as bookmark and download, the translators first needed to understand what the physical result of carrying out this action was and then find a word in the Swahili language which could describe this. “If you translated download directly it would mean to unload food from a truck,” said Pascual. “We needed to understand the concept, and then go back to the language and match the concept — this took a long time.”
The initial release of Jambo OpenOffice, which follows four months work, is a test version. This initial version will only work on the Linux operating system, but the final release, which is due in February 2005, will also work on Windows. Once the final version is available, the Kilinux team may have a difficult job explaining the advantages of open-source software as software piracy is rife, said Pascual. “People here don’t buy Microsoft licences, so free software is a difficult concept to explain as they think Microsoft is also free,” said Pascual. As Internet access is slow and expensive, distribution of Jambo OpenOffice is likely to be manual. The team plans to hand deliver CD-ROMs of the February release to primary schools, so that Tanzanian school children can use the software, said Pascual.
The Swahili localisation project has been funded by the Swedish International Development Agency and the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). The project has been coordinated by the Department of Computer Science at UDSM, the Institute of Kiswahili Research and Swedish consultancy IT+46.
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Nigeria: Country Affirms Interest for Nuclear Technology.

2007-07-19T10:46:00.000-07:00
The Federal Government of Nigeria has reaffirmed its interest for acquisition of nuclear technology, saying its aspiration to develop nuclear technology capability may be realised within the next 10 years.
Presenting Nigeria’s case at the 50th regular session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), at the weekend, the Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Prof. Anthony Olusegun Adegbulugbe, quoted President Olusegun Obasanjo as expressing optimism that Nigeria would be able to generate electricity from her own nuclear power plants in about a decade from now.

The special adviser said although the country was fully committed to the spirit and letter of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, it would, however, strive to build nuclear plants and to derive maximum benefits from its application for power generation.

“The Federal Government hereby reiterates her commitment to utilizing nuclear science to solve some of her developmental problems”, he said.

According to him, the recent establishment of the Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) to coordinate activities leading to the development nuclear technology capacity is a reaffirmation of the country’s determination to deploy the facility for purely peaceful applications.

He said the President while inaugurating the Board of the NAEC, had charged the body to develop and implement a proactive energy programme, which would lead to the generation of electricity from nuclear power reactor within the next 10 -12 years.

While assuring the international community of the country’s readiness to abide by safety standards, the presidential adviser said Nigeria had “set in motion the process to fast-track the development and deployment of nuclear power plants for electricity generation in the country”

To give vent to the country’s quest for nuclear technology capability, he said the President last July charged the board of the NAEC to take on the primary responsibility for the formulation and implementation of the country’s nuclear energy programme.

Adegbulugbe said the country had embarked on a number of preparatory activities that was necessary to launch it into the nuclear age, among which were the strengthening of nuclear regulatory framework and cooperating with the IAEA in observance of international treaties on nuclear non-proliferation.Relevant Links

He solicited the continued support of IAEA in fostering regional cooperation towards effective utilization of some of the nuclear technology projects, which included the Gama Irradiation Plant, (a multi-purpose facility for industrial and research applications located in Abuja) and a miniature neutron source reactor in Zaria.

The presidential adviser said Nigeria had benefited immensely from the agency’s support to the African Regional Cooperative Agreement for Research, Training and Development (AFRA) related to nuclear science and technology in education and training.

He said the country is currently engaged in the mobilization and information programme aimed at enlightening the public on the benefits of the peaceful use of nuclear energy in electricity generation, agriculture, and health care delivery and pest control.
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Jamhuri Wear : a trendsetter in African-inspired street wear clothing.

2007-07-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

Jamhuri Wear is a purveyor and trendsetter in African-inspired street wear clothing. “Jamhuri,” a Swahili word, translates to FREE STATE or REPUBLIC in English. We pay Homage to the great continent of Africa because it is part of our pasts and our collective key to the future. We seek to epitomize the great history and future of Africa through quality clothing, inspired by the true meaning of Love, Pride and Family– the essence of being African. **We do this for our culture.
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US and Britain : rake in more than Sh270 million each year from Kenyans in visa application fees.

2007-07-16T06:54:00.000-07:00

Nairobi

Two of the world’s richest nations - the US and Britain - together rake in more than Sh270 million each year from Kenyans in visa application fees.

And not all people who pay the money end up travelling; many are turned away- without a visa or refund.

And they will have to pay the application fee again if they reapply.

The press attaché at the US embassy in Nairobi, Ms Jeniffer Barnes, confirms that the mission interviews about 24,000 Kenyans every year for all types of non-immigrant visas, most of them for visitors and tourists. About 4,000 applicants are interviewed annually for immigrant and diversity (Green Card) visas.

Ms Barnes says the mandatory $100 (Sh7,200) visa fee “covers the cost of processing visa applications” while an extra $20 (Sh1,440) is a reciprocity fee for a visitor’s visa.

This means that the 28,000 Kenyans who annually apply for US visas pay more than Sh200 million to the US government.

This is a conservative figure because some types of visa attract higher charges.

At the British high commission, press officer Stella Ondimu says the mission does not have records of how many Kenyans apply for visas to travel to the UK every year.

But figures released two years ago showed that the consular section interviewed between 45 and 60 people every working day. If the higher figure were applicable today, this would translate to more than 15,000 applicants each year, paying a non-refundable fee of Sh4,700 each. This would translate to about Sh70 million annually.

Both the British and the American visa fee totals are worked out on a much lower scale than actually collected because the calculations do not take into account that some visa types attract much higher fees.

According to Ms Barnes, the processing fee “is charged because Kenya charges US citizens to issue a tourist visa. Kenya charges US citizens $50 (Sh3,600) for a single-entry, three-month visitor’s visa. Our fee is for a visitor’s visa, which normally is multiple-entry and 12 months in validity.”

The application fee is a requirement of the US law, she adds.

On if the US could consider lowering the fees and if unsuccessful applicants could get a refund, the official says there is no provision in the US law allowing refunds.

The US Congress, she explains, would have to authorise the embassy to refund application fees in case a visa was denied.

Ms Ondimu stresses that “the charges levied are for processing the papers, and whether or not one gets the visa, work has been done.

“Visa fees are set by the government department responsible for visa issuing services overseas. Fees are charged to assist with the costs of processing an application and are fixed globally… the fee is the same regardless of the nationality of the applicant or the country in which he or she applies.”

All people seeking entry into the UK, she points out, must show that they meet the relevant provisions of the UK immigration rules.

But she says the mission does not keep statistics of how many Kenyans enter the UK annually.

On reports that applicants, including senior government officials, are sometimes harassed, Ms Ondimu explains: “Understanding the demands on Kenya government officials and other VIPs, we currently accommodate them with special processing procedures designed to ensure that their visa applications are processed expeditiously.

“Government officials and other VIPs usually use their contacts within the embassy to help facilitate this process.”

On complaints over the treatment of applicants, Ms Barnes denies that consular officials harass or delay the applications of Kenyans seeking to travel to the US.Relevant Links

“A primary goal of the consular section of the US embassy is to provide fast and courteous service to all visa applicants,” she says. “Our customer service survey indicates that we achieve this goal.”

Reminded about the incident in June in which 77 people were arrested but later released without charges being preferred against them, she says they were seized after being found to have engaged in fraud to have their visa applications processed.

“Without going into details, the type of activity engaged in by these individuals was illegal under both the US and the Kenyan laws,” she says.

The arrested people were initially accused of being members of a ring of fraudulent visa applicants.

The frustrations are not peculiar to Kenyans wishing to travel to the US and Britain. But there are other foreign missions whose visa application charges are moderate and in which reports of harassment or other complaints are minimal.

China, for example, which in recent years has proved a popular destination for Kenyans, charges a relatively modest fee - Sh2,500 for the double-entry visa and Sh3,800 for the multiple one.

An official of the embassy’s public affairs department says that although there has not been cases of rejection of applications from Kenyans, a refund of the fee would be guaranteed.

Government-sponsored students are exempted from the visa application fee, the official says, adding that the exemption is part of the two countries’ development cooperation.

But self-sponsored students are expected to pay a token Sh2,200 if they show proof that they agree on the fees charged by the institutions they are going to.

The charge is even lower in the case of Japan for the various categories of visa. And money is not paid upfront, but until the visa is processed when one is asked to pay it on collection, says an embassy official, Ms Oba Kozue.

A single-entry visa, the official adds, costs only Sh2,050, while a multiple one goes for Sh4,100.

She says that the charges are uniform for all categories of visitors, including students, except people on transit who are required to pay only Sh500.

The South African high commission charges no fee to Kenyans wishing to travel there for whatever reason. The country has of late become a preferred destination for Kenyan businesspeople and those seeking medical treatment and further education.

A good turn deserves another, so the old adage goes, and since Kenyan missions treat those wishing to visit the country with decorum, it may only be expected that other countries will reciprocate, says an official at the Nyayo House offices of the immigration department.

There have been many complaints about the US and Britain in particular mistreating visa applicants or denying them entry for no good reason.

For instance, Livestock and Fisheries minister Joseph Munyao early this year came face to face with the grim reality of the frustrations many Kenyans undergo in pursuit of a visa to the US. The VIP treatment he expected was not there, and he was forced to join a long queue of people waiting to have their fingerprints taken and to be searched.Relevant Links

After 30 minutes on the queue, the minister stormed out in a huff.

A public affairs officer at the embassy, Mr Robert Charles Kerr, says that apart from government officials travelling to the US on official business, visa applicants, including Cabinet ministers, are not exempted from the rigid visa security requirements.

Mr Kerr stresses that for security reasons, all visitors to the US embassies around the world, including American citizens, must pass through the security checks.
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Google Grants program supports organizations sh.aring philosophy of community service

2007-07-14T17:27:00.000-07:00
The Google Grants program supports organizations sharing our philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts.

Designed for 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, Google Grants is a unique in-kind advertising program. It harnesses the power of our flagship advertising product, Google AdWords, to non-profits seeking to inform and engage their constituents online. Google Grants has awarded AdWords advertising to hundreds of non-profit groups whose missions range from animal welfare to literacy, from supporting homeless children to promoting HIV education.

Google Grant recipients use their award of free AdWords advertising on Google.com to raise awareness and increase traffic. Three of our award recipients have achieved these results:

• Room to Read, which educates children in Vietnam, Nepal, India and Cambodia, attracted a sponsor who clicked on its AdWords ad. He has donated funds to support the education of 25 girls for the next 10 years.
• The US Fund for UNICEF's e-commerce site, Shop UNICEF, has experienced a 43 percent increase in sales over the previous year.
• CoachArt, supporting children with life-threatening illnesses through art and athletics programs, has seen a 60 to 70 percent increase in volunteers.

Each organization awarded a Google Grant receives at least three months of in-kind advertising.
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AFIG :a $200 million regional fund focused on 28 countries on near the African Coast of the Atlantic Ocean.

2007-07-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

AFIG is currently raising the Atlantic Coast Regional Fund (“ACRF”, the “Fund”), a $100 to $200 million regional fund focused on 28 countries on or near the African Coast of the Atlantic Ocean from Morocco to Angola (the “Region”). The Fund will target strong growth companies operating in West and Central Africa, preferably with a regional scope. ACRF will consider investments in all sectors, with particular focus on industrial firms, financial institutions and companies investing in infrastructure and other related sectors. Target companies will be mature and cash-flow generative companies operating in sectors with high entry barriers and/or enjoying market dominance. In addition, target companies will exhibit a proven track record in terms of managerial competence, satisfactory and measurable performance and a solid business plan. ACRF expects to generate a net Internal Rate of Return of 20% - 25% in US$ terms, resulting in returns in excess of two times invested capital. Geographic Focus The Region targeted by ACRF is defined as follows: * Western Africa encompassing the 15 Economic Community of West African States (“ECOWAS”) countries, plus Mauritania and Morocco * Central Africa encompassing the 6 CEMAC countries, plus the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Angola.
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Morality Plays: Marriage, Church Courts, and Colonial Agency in Central Tanganyika, ca. 1876–1928

2007-07-13T07:32:00.000-07:00
In August 1923, David Ndahani, an Anglican pastor-in-training, came before the Kongwa church court in central Tanganyika to accuse his wife, Nenelwa, of adultery. They had been married in a Christian ceremony some years earlier, but Ndahani had never fully paid the bridewealth he owed to Nenelwa's relatives. Nenelwa, disgusted with her husband, had in early 1923 left her conjugal home to live with her parents. Before the church court that August day, David Ndahani said nothing about the unpaid bridewealth. He complained that Ezekiel, a church teacher, had cuckolded him. His accusation led the church court to dismiss Ezekiel from his duties; the errant wife, Nenelwa, was ordered to submit to Ndahani. But on Christmas Day 1923, David Ndahani himself confessed to an adulterous relationship with the communicant Elizabeti. Elizabeti had spent several nights outside Ndahani's door, loudly accusing him of sinning with her. Kongwa missionaries brokered a détente between Ndahani, Elizabeti, and her husband, Ishmael, committed their agreement to writing, and posted the notice on the church door. They hoped thereby to chasten the adulterous communicants. By 1929, however, Ndahani was in prison for thievery, and the missionaries were lamenting that "adultery was the norm rather than the exception."1 1
In Tanganyika, churchmen gained control of converts' conduct by keeping records. Their bureaucracy was meant to formalize spousal relationships, making sexual behavior subject to outside authority. But lovers also represented themselves. Self-interested litigants such as David Ndahani sifted through their spouses' marital and social relationships, looking for evidence that could capture the church courts' attention. They actively recast conjugal arguments over bridewealth, residence, and other issues, using the language of the courts to make their marital debates look like simplified morality plays. In Vicente Rafael's nomenclature, litigants such as Ndahani and Elizabeti "contracted" administrative power, adopting some of its nomenclature while also shaping its hold over them.2 They followed churchmen's script while also molding the courts' efforts to regulate their lives. 2
It is the theatrical work of agency that the scholarship on African legal history ignores. Legal history in Africa has too often been conceived as a clash between the textualized, bureaucratic practice of modern governance and the oral, flexible mentalité.3 Sean Hawkins's Writing and Colonialism in Northern Ghana, for example, studies the "encounter between the LoDagaa and 'the world on paper.'"4 Before colonial conquest, says Hawkins, LoDagaa social order was flexible and negotiable: conjugal relationships and ethnic identity were crafted out of the back and forth of human interaction. Colonial rule worked to "subjugate and regulate [this] oral culture and force it within the conceptual framework of a literate society."5 In legal writs, in ethnographic writing, and through mapmaking, colonial officials used foreign categories to gain control over the changeable LoDagaa world. This "world on paper," Hawkins argues, was divorced from the real world; its simplified categories belonged to the British and their successors in government. Peter Pels follows a similar analytical line in his study of Catholic marital regulations in eastern Tanganyika. Where Luguru personhood was in reality built up through human relationships and ritual processes, Catholic missionaries sought to create individuals to convert and discipline. They fixed Luguru people's names on church registers, charted their life cycles, and plotted their biographies around a standard set of legal events. This individualized morality, writes Pels, was "untrue" and "in direct opposition to the context of reality."6 Like Hawkins, Pels argues that legal bureaucracy was a vehicle by which foreign modes of subjectivity were imposed on Africans. 3
The distinctions that scholars make between the real, oral world and the artificial, textualized practice of governance have shaped the discipline of African history more generally, not only in its analytical agenda but also in its methodology. The record books that church and government officials kept are catalogues of decisions made, sins disavowed, and judgments rendered. They make complicated human situations look deceptively simple. Scholars of legal history have therefore wondered about the extent to which court records can convey real insights into people's lived experiences. Legal historians of England lament that plaintiffs and witnesses couched their statements to correspond with the protocols that governed the court.7 Africa's scholars likewise worry that court transcripts are "but a shadow of a much more complex understanding of wrongs and the complex set of interactions that actually went on in court."8 The discipline of African history was, at its founding in the 1960s, conceived methodologically as a foray into oral research. Jan Vansina's 1965 book Oral Tradition argued that historians could, by excavating the original text from the accretions of later generations, engage directly with the precolonial African past through the spoken word.9 Vansina's book set out an agenda for Africa's scholars to pursue. Of the twenty-one articles printed in the first two volumes of the journal History in Africa (1974 and 1975), ten considered the methodology of oral history.10 By the 1980s, a new generation of Africanist scholars were problematizing the notion of oral tradition.11 But the emphasis on African "voices" remained. In the 1980s and 1990s, a flurry of "life history" publications heralded the methodology of oral history as closer to real African experience than any text produced by European bureaucrats could be.12 4
By marking real life off from the written record, scholars have made it possible to identify an apparently authentic repository of African history. But the identification of African history with orality has made it hard to see how texts could shape Africans' relationships, form their imaginations, and lead them to act. The bookkeepers of central Tanganyika were not standing back from real life. Nor were church archives located in a textualized otherworld. Record books reached outside the archives' walls, and reformed Africans' real-life relationships. British missionaries and church elders regularly called errant parishioners before the courts, asking them to live up to the promises they had made on paper. Using their lists of decisions made and loyalties declared, church officials invited adherents to conform their lives to the book, to orient their behavior to accord with the model portrayed in the record. As distilled, clarified models of conduct, missionaries' lists and record books gave Africans characters to play in the real world. And Africans played into Europeans' archetypes. They signed their names to missionaries' wedding registers and wrote notes confessing their sins. Some of them took missionaries' characters off the page, restaging textualized ideas, sentences, and plots for their own purposes. In front of church courts, husbands and wives reinterpreted nonmarital sexual relationships as adultery. Through their representational work, litigants roped missionaries into their private arguments over marital rights and obligations. As actors within missionaries' morality plays, Africans obligated churchmen themselves to play out a part. 5
It was not only Africans who recast their characters. Historians have shown that litigants in medieval and early modern England were similarly contracting with bureaucratic procedure. In the fourteenth-century Christianity of York, litigants Agnes Huntington and Simon Munkton bent the church courts toward their own ends.13 Against Agnes's wishes, Simon was planning to sell the land she had inherited from her father. Agnes knew that the church courts would annul marriages only in cases where a technical flaw could be shown to invalidate the original marriage vow. In court, therefore, she produced evidence to show that she had married another man before she pledged herself to Simon. For his part, Simon argued that Agnes's unwillingness to cohabit with him showed her to be an adulteress. He hoped that the court would confirm his marital rights. Both litigants used the framework of canon law to recast an argument that was really over the disposition of Agnes's property. With examples such as this one in view, historian Lawrence Stone has described the law of marriage and divorce in medieval and early modern England as a "fig leaf inadequately covering the very different reality of human behavior."14 Couples desiring a clandestine marriage in the early eighteenth century could obtain official-looking certificates from clergy jailed at the Fleet Prison in London. By 1740, at least half of Londoners were being married in a clandestine fashion.15 The Marriage Act of 1753 put the Fleet marrying shops out of business by nullifying any marriage not carried out by regular clergy, and by requiring couples to sign the parish register. Those who counterfeited marriage registers were liable for the death sentence. Even this reformed bureaucracy, however, could not squelch lovers' efforts to secure a respectable married life. After the Marriage Act, prospective brides and grooms arranged clandestine marriages by seeking out accommodating parsons in anonymous urban churches. 6
Litigants such as Agnes Huntington, David Ndahani, and the lovers of early modern London were practicing theater. They were reading the moral archetypes and the legal procedures outlined in church law as scripts, as directions on how best to play the courts. Litigants were not shuttling between a textualized, artificial legal process and a real oral world. The characters defined in church and government bureaucracy could be taken off the page and acted out, in a theater where church officials and litigants alike were bound to play a part. Litigants were representing themselves as wronged husbands or sinful penitents, and thereby generating social capital, making allies, and getting leverage over spouses and parents-in-law. 7
Seeing marriage litigation as a theatrical performance helps us rethink the analytical category agency. Africa's scholars have very often equated agency with resistance. Inspired by E. P. Thompson and James Scott, social historians in the 1970s and 1980s set out to document "the ongoing, if prosaic, struggle between peasants and those who sought to extract from them their labor, rent, food, and taxes."16 Where an earlier generation of scholars had celebrated Africans' heroic wars of resistance against white conquerors, social historians looked for resistance in the mundane: in the quotidian negotiations between plantation workers and their overseers, in independent church members' subtle appropriations of missionaries' symbols, and in workmen's efforts to defend their own conceptions of time against white employers' clocks.17 This focus on the mundane was made possible by the use of oral interviews, which lent a first-person immediacy to the analysis of everyday resistance. Critics have noted that the sovereign, self-aware, speaking agent celebrated in social history was largely derived from liberal political theory.18 By focusing attention on the relationship between resisters and oppressors, the resistance paradigm made it hard to see that colonized people were themselves divided by generation, class, and political theory.19 8
Social history needs to inquire into the anthropology of colonial power as vigorously as it has analyzed human agency. Colonialism in Africa was not simply an invasive force, working to subordinate African subjects. Neither was colonial power very often resisted by heroic agents who were self-consciously defending their ways of life. Colonial government most often worked through routine, by patterning Africans' marital, religious, and political identities in predictable forms. With identity cards, passbooks, and marriage registers, officials stereotyped Africans' shifting ethnic, conjugal, and social identities, so as better to discipline them as members of tribes, as wives, or as sinners. For Africans, the bureaucratic form of power was at once a structure constraining the possible range of action and an opportunity for novel forms of discourse. Africans leveraged themselves into the characters that Europeans defined, playing the characters delineated in court records and government writs. Through their theatrical work, African agents laid out courses of action for missionaries and government officials to follow. Legal bureaucracy was an instrument of colonial governmentality, but Africans could open up grooves of representation that shaped the courts' judgments. 9
English missionaries first settled in Ukaguru and Ugogo, in the protectorate of German East Africa (later the British protectorate of Tanganyika), in the late 1870s. From that time until the 1920s, when the postwar British administration inaugurated a system of African-run courts, missionaries exercised extensive legal powers over their converts' lives. The German colonial government was represented in central Tanganyika by a cadre of Swahili-speaking functionaries brought in from the Indian Ocean coast. They took little interest in Kaguru and Gogo people's marital disputes. Church courts were therefore virtually the only formal legal venue where antagonistic husbands and wives could redress their grievances. Confronted with converts' ceaseless marital arguments, church officials kept records on who had married whom, took notes on adultery cases, imposed fines, and suspended adulterers from communion. Their bureaucratic work solidified dynamic conjugal relationships, creating standards by which to judge deviant sexual conduct. But it was not only missionaries who were participating in the legal definition of adultery. African husbands and wives stereotyped their spouses' sexual and social relationships. They employed the legal categories authorized by missionary judges to reframe arguments about property, marital deference, or work. By accusing their spouses of moral indiscretions, litigants reconvened the church courts in their favor. 10

Nineteenth-century central Tanganyika was a place of uncertain environments and uneven opportunities. Its people were therefore entrepreneurial about their social relationships and ethnic identities.20 The people who came to be called the "Gogo" lived in the dry plains of the Rift Valley. Rainfall there was erratic and unevenly distributed, and the Gogo suffered at least nine killing famines during the nineteenth century. Different regions suffered more than others. During an 1888 trip through the eastern plateau, the missionary John Price found that hunger was "dreadful" at Chilomwa, but at Nayu, only five miles away, "there was said to be plenty of food."21 The disparate ecology of their homeland invited Gogo people to defend their local interests. Clan leaders, called watemi, did not acknowledge a coordinating political authority. "Each town is entirely independent of its neighbor, and they frequently amuse themselves by running off with one another's cattle," wrote Dr. Baxter in 1881.22 Ecology and economics did not encourage the inhabitants of the central plains to think of themselves as members of an overarching ethnic community. One popular account has it that Swahili-speaking caravanners named the "Wagogo" after the logs (Sw. gogo) that local people placed across caravans' path when negotiating for tribute. But the people named Gogo did not organize around frustrated outsiders' appellations. As late as 1927, British colonial officers were in despair over their political parochialism. Hugh Hignell, charged with creating a "tribal" authority in central Tanganyika, thought the Gogo chiefs were a collection of "petty despots." He doubted whether he could give "any outline of the composition of the Gogo tribe or any exposition of its original constitution."23
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Megalyn Echikunwoke : Its that Isabelle FROM THE 4400 ON USA NETWORK

2007-07-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

I HAD NO IDEA SHE WAS NIGERIAN

Its that Isabelle FROM THE 4400 ON USA NETWORK

Megalyn Echikunwoke is an American actor born on May 28, 1983 in Spokane, Washington. She is best known for her role as Isabelle Tyler on the TV Series The 4400. She is of Nigerian and Causian-American heritage and grew up on a Navajo reservation in Chinle, Arizona. Her last name, Echikunwoke, means "leader of men". She has a younger brother, Miki.

Megalyn has been acting since 1998 when she won her first role in Peter Benchley's Creature. She has guest-starred on several TV series including ER, 24, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Supernatural. She had a recurring role as Hyde's sister, Angie Barnett, on That 70s Show. She is also passionate about singing and someday hopes to pursue a career in that area as well.

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The Apocryphical Book of Enoch :The Lost Text

2007-07-10T04:46:00.000-07:00

The Apocryphical Book of Enoch
The Lost Text
“One of the most important apocryphic works of the Second Temple Period is Enoch.”
- Milik, Jazef. T., ed. The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4

The Book of Enoch is “an ancient composition known from two sets of versions, an Ethiopic one that scholars identify as ‘1 Enoch’, and a Slavonic version that is identified as ‘2 Enoch’, and which is also known as The Book of the Secrets of Enoch. Both versions, of which copied manuscripts have been found mostly in Greek and Latin translations, are based on early sources that enlarged on the short biblical mention that Enoch, the seventh Patriarch after Adam, did not die because, at age 365, ‘he walked with God’ - taken heavenward to join the deity.”
- Zecharia Sitchin, When Time Began

“In the Book of Enoch the arcane wisdom is said to have been betrayed to mankind by fallen angels, but a Talmudic tradition claims that God whispered it to Moses on Mount Sinai. According to this tradition its secrets were then imparted to seventy elders who thereafter transmitted them orally to their successors.”
- David Conway, Ritual Magic

“The Book of Enoch is a pseudoepigraphal work (a work that claims to be by a biblical character). The Book of Enoch was not included in either the Hebrew or most Christian biblical canons, but could have been considered a sacred text by the sectarians. The original Aramaic version was lost until the Dead Sea fragments were discovered.”
“The original language of most of this work was, in all likelihood, Aramaic (an early Semitic language). Although the original version was lost in antiquity, portions of a Greek translation were discovered in Egypt and quotations were known from the Church Fathers. The discovery of the texts from Qumran Cave 4 has finally provided parts of the Aramaic original. …Humankind is called on to observe how unchanging nature follows God’s will.”
- Milik, Jazef. T., ed. The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4

Although the Book of Enoch is considered as apocryphal, it was clearly known to early Christian writers as the following quote from 1 Enoch 1:9 indicates:
“In the seventh (generation) from Adam Enoch also prophesied these things, saying: ‘Behold, the Lord came with his holy myriads, to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners spoke against him’.”
- Jude 14-15

“Prior to the eighteenth century, scholars had believed the Book of Enoch to be irretrievably lost: composed long before the birth of Christ, and considered to be one of the most important pieces of Jewish mystical literature, it was only known from fragments and from references to it in other texts. James Bruce changed all this by procuring several copies of the missing work during his stay in Ethiopia. These were the first complete editions of the Book of Enoch ever to be seen in Europe.
- Graham Hancock, The Sign and the Seal

The Patriarch Enoch
“According to the biblical narrative (Genesis 5:21-24), Enoch lived only 365 years (far less than the other patriarchs in the period before the Flood). Enoch ‘walked with God; then he was no more for God took him’.”
- Milik, Jazef. T., ed. The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4

“According to Sumerian chronicles of the earlier times, it was at Eridu’s temple that Enki, as guardian of the secrets of all scientific knowledge, kept the ME’s - tabletlike objects on which the scientific data were inscribed. One of the Sumerian texts details how the goddess Inanna (later known as Ishtar), wishing to give status to her ‘cult center’ Uruk (the biblical Erech), tricked Enki into giving her some of those divine formulas. Adapa, we find, was also nicknamed NUN.ME, meaning “He who can decipher the ME’s’. Even unto millennia later, in Assyrian times, the saying ‘Wise as Adapa’ meant that someone was exceedingly wise and knowledgeable….The ‘wide knowledge’ imparted by Enki to Adapa included writing, medicine, and - according to the astronomical series of tablets UD.SAR.ANUM.ENLILLA (’The Great Days of Amu and Enlil’) - knowledge of astronomy and astrology.”
“…It is almost certain that the biblical ‘Enoch’ was the equivalent of the Sumerian first priest, EN.ME.DUR.AN.KI (’High Priest of the ME’s of the Bond Heaven-Earth’), the man from the city Sippar taken heavenward to be taught the secrets of Heaven and Earth, of divination, and of the calendar. It was with him that the generations of astronomer-priests, of Keepers of the Secrets, began.”
- Zecharia Sitchin, When Time Began

“The learned savant
who guards the secrets of the gods
will bind his favored son with an oath
before Shamash and Adad…
and will instruct him in the secrets of the gods.”
“Thus was the line of priests created,
those who are allowed to approach Shamash and Adad.”
- Sumerian tablet (W. G. Lambert, Enmeduranki and Related Material)

“The legend [of Enoch] begins…with the Sumerian King List. This is a list of rulers before the Flood, and is preserved in several forms, including Berossus. Here one of the kings, often given as the seventh (as Enoch is in his list), is called Enmeduranki or Enmeduranna. He is generally associated with the city of Sippar, which was the home of the cult of the sun god Shamash. Moreover, in other texts this Enmeduranki was the first to be shown, by Adad and Shamash, three techniques of divination: pouring oil on water, inspecting a liver, and the use of a cedar (rod), whose function is still unclear. These were to be transmitted from generation to generation, and in fact became the property of the guild of baru, the major group of diviners in Babylon.
“These details show how the biblical portrait of Enoch may have been compiled from Enmeduranki: each is seventh in the antediluvian list; the biblical 365 preserves the affinity to the sun, rather than the sun god; walking with God (or perhaps, ‘angels’?) suggests the intimacy between god(s) and man. The final connection links not with Enmeduranki, but with a fish-man (apkallu), with which each of the first seven kings associated and from whom they learnt all kinds of knowledge. Enmeduranki’s apkallu, called Utu’abzu, is mentioned in another cuneiform text, where he is said to have ascended to heaven. This last link remains provisional, but at all events, the writer of Genesis 5:21-24 appears to either have created Enoch as a counterpart of Enmeduranki or, equally probably, to have alluded to an already existing Jewish tradition about Enoch, already modeled on the earlier figure.”
- John Rogerson and Philip Davies, The Old Testament World

“One cannot rule out the possibility that, as Enmduranki and Enoch, Adapa too was the seventh in a line of sages, the Sages of Eridu, and thus another version of the Sumerian memory echoed in the biblical Enoch record. According to this tale, seven Wise Men were trained in Eridu, Enki’s city; their epithets and particular knowledge varied from version to version. Rykle Borger, examining this tale in light of the Enoch traditions (’Die Beschworungsserie Bit Meshri und die Himmelfahrt Henochs’ in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 33), was especially fascinated by the inscription on the third tablet of the series of Assyrian Oath Incantations. In it the name of each sage is given and his main call on fame is explained; it says thus of the seventh: ‘Uta-abzu, he who to heaven ascended’. Citing a second such text, R. Borger concluded that this seventh sage, whose name combined that of Utu/Shamash with the Lower World (Abzu) domain of Enki, was the Assyrian ‘Enoch’.
“According to the Assyrian references to the wisdom of Adapa, he composed a book of sciences titled U.SAR d ANUM d ENLILA - ‘Writings regarding Time; from divine Anu and divine Enlil’. Adapa, thus, is credited with writing Mankind’s first book of astronomy and the calendar.”
- Zecharia Sitchin, When Time Began

“And I saw there something horrible: I saw neither a heaven above nor a firmly founded earth, but a place chaotic and horrible. And there I saw seven stars of the heaven bound together in it, like great mountains and burning with fire. Then I said: ‘For what sin are they bound, and on what account have they been cast in hither?’ Then said Uriel, one of the holy angels, who was with me, and was chief over them, and said: ‘Enoch, why dost thou ask, and why art thou eager for the truth? These are of the number of the stars of heaven, which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and are bound here till ten thousand years, the time entailed by their sins, are consummated.’ And from thence I went to another place, which was still more horrible than the former, and I saw a horrible thing: a great fire there which burnt and blazed, and the place was cleft as far as the abyss, being full of great descending columns of fire: neither its extent or magnitude could I see, nor could I conjecture. Then I said: ‘How fearful is the place and how terrible to look upon!’ Then Uriel answered me, one of the holy angels who was with me, and said unto me: ‘Enoch, why hast thou such fear and affright?’ And I answered: ‘Because of this fearful place, and because of the spectacle of the pain.’ And he said unto me: ‘This place is the prison of the angels, and here they will be imprisoned for ever.’”
- Enoch 21:1-10

Enoch’s description of the punishment prepared for the fallen angels has clear parallels with the chaotic void in the Necronomicon.

“…The Book of Enoch has always been of great significance to Freemasons, and…certain rituals dating back to long before Bruce’s time [1730-1794] identified Enoch himself with Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom.”
- Graham Hancock, The Sign and the Seal

“Enoch was the first who invented books and different sorts of writing. The ancient Greeks declare that Enoch is the same as Mercury Trismegistus [Hermes], and that he taught the sons of men the art of building cities, and enacted some admirable laws…He discovered the knowledge of the Zodiac, and the course of the Planets; and he pointed out to the sons of men, that they should worship God, that they should fast, that they should pray, that they should give alms, votive offerings, and tenths. He reprobated abominable foods and drunkenness, and appointed festivals for sacrifices to the Sun, at each of the Zodiacal Signs.”
- Hebraeus

According to Masonic lore, Enoch was the inventor of writing, “that he taught men the art of building”, and that, before the flood, he “feared that the real secrets would be lost - to prevent which he concealed the grand Secret, engravnen on a white oriental porphyry stone, in the bowels of the earth.”
- Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia

“In his Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus writes that Adam had forewarned his descendants that sinful humanity would be destroyed by a deluge. In order to preserve their science and philosophy, the children of Seth therefore raised two pillars, one of brick and the other of stone, on which were inscribed the keys to their knowledge. The patriarch Enoch….also constructed an underground temple [at Moriah] consisting of nine vaults, one beneath the other, placing in the deepest vault a triangular tablet of gold bearing upon it the absolute and ineffable name of Deity. According to some accounts, Enoch made two golden deltas. The larger he placed upon the white cubical altar in the lowest vault and the smaller he gave into the keeping of his son, Methuselah, who did the actual construction work of the brick chambers according to the pattern revealed to his father by the Most High. In the form and arrangements of these vaults Enoch epitomized the nine spheres of the ancient Mysteries and the nine sacred strata of the earth through which the initiate must pass to reach the flaming Spirit dwelling in its central core.”
- Manly P. Hall, Masonic, Hermetic, Quabbalistic & Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy

Methuselah ” took the object back to Sippar. Enoch remained at Moriah, to become the old man on the mountain. He lived 365 years, according to Genesis, and then he died. Or did he vanish into thin air?”
- Brian , “ENOCH The Greatest Story Never Told “

Enoch’s “name signified in the Hebrew, INITIATE or INITIATOR. The legend of the columns, of granite and brass or bronze, erected by him, is probably symbolical. That of bronze, which survived the flood, is supposed to symbolize the mysteries, of which Masonry is the legitimate successor from the earliest times the custodian and depository of the great philosophical and religious truths, unknown to the world at large, and handed down from age to age by an unbroken current of tradition, embodied in symbols, emblems, and allegories.”
- General Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma

There was a substantial Zoroastrian Influence on Judaism when Jewish exiles were exposed to the Persian religion during the Babylonian captivity.

“Some Jews adopted Enochian tradition in Babylon during the Exile and brought it back to Canaan when Cyrus gave them leave to Return. The Enochian Jews were detested by the priesthood in Jerusalem, and they were forced to ‘flee’ into the desert before 300 BCE. Naturally, they supported the Maccabees during the uprising of 165 BCE. The Enochians at Qumran ‘updated’ the text to include Judah the Hammer in the big story.”
“The last of the Essence stragglers buried it [the secret book] in Cave IV at Qumran c.70 CE. The urban Christians and Jews of the Near East rejected it. The authors of the Apocalypse rewrote and retitled it, but they didn’t understand the heptadic structure of the original lines, the arrangement of sevens. (The Revelation of St John is pure gibberish, a sloppy rehash of Babylonian myths and legends.) Only the students of the Merkabah (in Babylonia) possessed the key to the Enochian mystery.”
- Brian , “ENOCH The Greatest Story Never Told “

The Secrets
“At that hour, that Son of Man was given a name, in the presence of the Lord of the Spirits, the Before-Time, even before the creation of the sun and the moon, before the creation of the stars, he was given a name in the presence of the Lord of the Spirits.”
- 1 Enoch 48:4

The Messiah “first appears as preexistent in the apocryphal First Book of Enoch, which was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic about 150 BC. From that period on, the concept of the Messiah who was created in the six days of Creation, or even prior to them or who was born at variously stated subsequent dates and was then hidden to await his time, became a standard feature of Jewish Messianic eschatology.
- Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts

“From the beginning the Son of Man was hidden, And the Most High has preserved him In the presence of His might, And revealed him to the elect.”
- 1 Enoch 62:7

“Written both as a personal testament and as a historic review, the Ethiopic Book of Enoch, whose earliest title was probably The Words of Enoch, describes his journey to Heaven as well as to the four corners of Earth.”
- Zecharia Sitchin, The Stairway to Heaven

“And after that I saw all the secrets of the heavens, and how the kingdom is divided, and how the actions of men are weighed in the balance. And there I saw the mansions of the elect and the mansions of the holy, and mine eyes saw there all the sinners being driven from thence which deny the name of the Lord of Spirits, and being dragged off: and they could not abide because of the punishment which proceeds from the Lord of Spirits.
And I saw the chambers of the sun and moon, whence they proceed and whither they come again, and their glorious return, and how one is superior to the other, and their stately orbit, and how they do not leave their orbit, and they add nothing to their orbit and they take nothing from it, and they keep faith with each other, in accordance with the oath by which they are bound together.”
- 1 Enoch 41:1-2, 5b -6a

“In the Book of Enoch it was the archangel Uriel (’God is my light’) who showed Enoch the secrets of the Sun (solstices and equinoxes, ’six portals’ in all) and the ‘laws of the Moon’ (including intercalation), and the twelve constellations of the stars, ‘all the workings of heaven’. And in the end of the schooling, Uriel gave Enoch - as Shamash and Adad had given Enmeduranki - ‘heavenly tablets’, instructing him to study them carefully and note ‘every individual fact’ therein. Returning to Earth, Enoch passed this knowledge to his old son, Methuselah.”
- Zecharia Sitchin, When Time Began

The knowledge granted Enoch included:
“All the workings of heaven, earth and the seas, and all the elements, their passages and goings and the thundering of the thunder, and of the Sun and the Moon; the goings and changing’s of the stars; the seasons, years, days, and hours.”
- The Book of the Secrets of Enoch

According to the The Book of the Secrets of Enoch, “it seems that when the prophet Enoch was ‘taken up’, he saw the air and then the ether. Then he reached the first heaven, where ‘two hundred angels rule the stars’ and where he saw a sea ‘greater than the earthly sea’.
“The second heaven was gloomy. In the third heaven, he saw the Tree of Life, with four streams, of honey, milk, oil, and wine, flowing from its roots. The Place of the Righteous is in this heaven and the Terrible Place where the wicked are tortured. There was also the ‘place on which God rests when he comes into Paradise’.
“In the fourth heaven, he saw luminaries, wondrous creatures, and the Host of the Lord. There were many ‘hosts’ in the fifth, and in the sixth he saw ‘bands of angels who study the revolutions of the stars’. Finally, in the seventh heaven he saw great angels and he got a distant glimpse of the Lord on His Throne.”
- Richard L. Thompson, Alien Identities

“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know - God knows. And I know that this man - whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows - was caught up to Paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.”
- 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 (the apostle Paul describing his own experience)

“Enoch’s third heaven…seems very similar to the region known as Ilavrta-varsa, which is described in the Fifth Canto of the Bhagavata Purana. Thus, in Ilavrta-varsa there are four gigantic trees, and four rivers flow from their roots, including a river of honey. There is also a city called Brahmapuri, which is visited by Lord Brahma and which may correspond to the ‘place on which God rests when he comes into Paradise’.”
The Venerable Bede, an eighth-century English theologian and historian, wrote that “the seven heavens are (1) the Air, (2) the Ether, (3) Olympus, (4) the Element of Fire, (5) the Firmament, (6) the Angelical Region, and (7) the Realm of the Trinity.”
“According to the Fifth Canto of the Bhagavata Purana, Brahmapuri and the residences of eight prominent Devas [administrators of the Universe] are situated on the top of a mountain in Ilavrta-varsa called Meru, and therefore Mount Meru corresponds to the Greek Olympus. Thus, if Ilavrta-varsa corresponds to Enoch’s third heaven, then it is also reasonable to say that this third heaven corresponds to the Greek Olympus.”
- Richard L. Thompson, Alien Identities

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Warrior Peoples of East Africa 1840-1900.

2007-07-09T05:40:00.000-07:00

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BusinessWeek’s recent article on rising outsourcing destinations highlights what many African entrepreneurs have proposed for years. Outsourcing to parts of Africa can be a win-win situation. The BusineesWeek article refers to consultancy A.T. Kearney’s 2007 list of the 50 most desirable outsourcing destinations worldwide. For the list countries were ranked by a) financial attractiveness, based on such measures as compensation and infrastructure costs; b) a so-called people score, measuring a nation’s people skills, availability of language and educational skills, and the size and quality of the IT industry; and c) their economic/political environment, infrastructure quality, cultural exposure, and IP security. While India remains the top outsourcing destination many African countries are learning from their example. (Note: Scores are in parentheses.) Rank - Country (overall - financial - people - environment) #13 - Egypt (5.6 - 3.2 - 1.1 - 1.3) #25 - Mauritius (5.4 - 2.8 - 1.0 - 1.6) #26 - Tunisia (5.4 - 3.0 - 0.9 - 1.5) #27 - Ghana (5.5 - 3.3 - 0.9 - 1.3) #31 - South Africa (5.3 - 2.5 - 1.2 - 1.6) #36 - Morocco (5.1 - 2.9 - 0.9 - 1.3) #39 - Senegal (5.1 - 3.2 - 0.8 - 1.1) Other factors which add to a countries’ attractiveness are language and education skills and the reliability of a nation’s telecommunications infrastructure. But the the key underlying factor for many African countries’ successful bid for new business is the lack of infrastructure. While the African digerati are continuously ramping up their skills and making themselves available for business they continuously run into infrastructural limitations. But who is to blame? Is it the governments who are overrun with bureaucracy? or the people themselves, who often do not hold their leaders accountable? "Offshoring upstarts are making so many inroads, in fact, that by 2012, they’ll significantly dilute India’s dominance, says consultancy Gartner (IT). The consulting firm says that by 2010 about 30% of Fortune 500 enterprises will outsource to three or more countries, from less than 10% today. “So many governments have realized what an opportunity this is and there’s a lot of effort being spent in promoting their countries to the market,” says Johan Gott, manager of A.T. Kearney’s Global Services Location Index. …Kenya, for instance, is trying to become a destination for business process and IT outsourcing. The Kenyan government has worked in recent years to liberalize its telecom sector, which has lured more operators and helped drive telecom services prices down by 70% in a short time, according to the World Bank. Yet the country relies on satellite connections to link to the rest of the world. That makes it costly for outsourcers to do business."

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