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21:48
Birthday Wishes
» For Love and Money Birthday Wishes
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20:00
The Dilemma of a Political Dog in Dental Brace
» You Missed This The perils of living a political lie must be taking its heavy toll on Kibaki. With the political bills knocking, the opportunity wouldn’t have been more favourable to flex political muscles in managing own succession-autopolitisiasis. But alas! Kenyan political birds have discovered the feathers on the owl’s head and no amount of threat and misinformation that they are horns will wash.
As Mungatana aptly put it PNU ran its course and the vehicle delivered its goods. It may be time to seek fresh business but not so fast when the passenger has just discovered the beauty and benefits of owning the car. Now that the wheels are claimed by everybody with eyes singularly trained in 2012 when Kibaki will be past his sell-by date, whom do you turn to for negotiation? Well, Kibaki has the power instruments of an incumbent and whether he wields that to beat everybody in line is proving to be politically very elusive.
With DP throwing political tantrums at any available microphone, Kibaki finds himself with many political foes than friends. Mark you some of these people know him better than all of us put together and his penchant to ride on people’s back may prove to be his Achilles heels this time round. With Martha and co pissing from inside and daring both perceived and real political foes awaiting the President’s hand, the political road ahead can be anything but not smooth.
Toothless political dog
Four years is a lifetime in politics and Kibaki needs all his political associates lest he is left holding the leaking bath tub with the baby gone. The Gema votes are central to his political schemes and the same commodity pushes Kibaki between the hard rock and the political dark blue sea. The political concoction of Jomo Junior and Prof Kiarie Kinuthia complicates matters for the present heir presumptive. While the hand is crying to be exposed, the law and benefits of loyalty demands otherwise and in the process tension boils.
So how do you rediscover your political teeth when the law of disuse have dispensed of the same? Well, the perils of living a political lie shrouded in deception is not sustainable and the facade may just be about to explode. The DP brigade knows better and with them lies some of the finest strategies to expose the King’s nudity. The time of political reckoning is here and the faint-hearted are in for the shock of their lives. Welcome to realpolitik made in Kenya as practiced by political scoundrels. Simply put PNU was a political fraud and the monster is coming back for its dues.
Business stories to inspire you
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12:04 Would You Play a Game of Russian Roulette?
» The Displaced African Hello people,
My name is Caroline Achieng Otieno, and I am a guest blogger at the Displaced African, and a regular contributor to The African Bulletin – www.mediablackberry.com. Having lived in the Netherlands for the past seven years, and experiencing the good, the bad and the ugly, I must say that I have observed a lot going on in Europe. I feel sad for the many Africans, who escape war and other tragic situations, come into Europe through very difficult means (some even trekking the desert through Northern Africa) and when they get here, they face other hurdles in trying to build an existence for themselves and their families back home. What hurts the most is that the system set in place makes our African sisters do things they would not ordinarily do, just because of their legal status or the lack of it thereof. The following article is another version of the article I wrote for African Bulletin in the April issue, feedback is welcome…
Supposing you were in Russia, it’s war-time, early 20th century. You are an aristocrat soldier and you are with your soldier friends. Feeling the loss of your status, money, family and country; you play a lethal game, perhaps to display bravado, perhaps you want to commit suicide. You spin the cylinder of a revolver so that the location of the cartridge is not known. You point the revolver to your head and pull the trigger. Bang! Well, probably you live, and unharmed and admired you walk away, or you die, and that’s the end, it’s final.
While many Africans living in Europe would not dare play the game of Russian roulette, no matter how much money they were offered, many are caught up in a riskier form of a similar game. There are few chances here; it is a ‘no-win’ situation. Young undocumented Africans, eking out a living in the big cities of Europe, find themselves alone in a foreign land. Many gamble with high risk sex, playing a game of ‘Russian roulette’ as it were. For the young African woman especially, illegality is a challenge. She is placed in a very vulnerable position. She may view being undocumented as having ‘no rights, no shelter, no access to medical care, no money, no food, no peace.’ If she is not well informed or protected, she falls into the trap of selling her body. In the big European cities, female migrants are caught up in a fast growing endemic of promiscuity, for no other reason than being illegal. On one hand, these may be women who are fleeing dangerous situations in their countries, where men have raped women as a weapon of war. Others have undergone traumatic and often brutal genital mutilations. Yet when these same women arrive in Europe, only to find their applications to stay in the country rejected, and out on the streets, the harsh reality begins to set in and sex becomes a strategy for survival.
Research done by SOA-Aids Netherlands in October 2006 among the heterosexual Black community, established that sex was used as a ‘salient exchange commodity’ by women. Men gave them money, and women in return took care of all their needs. When money begins to flow and the women are past survival, they find themselves at a point of no return and trapped in a life on the fast lane. Free-lance writer Zack Bigalke from Portland, Oregon writes, “Women, smarter than ever, have learned that their bodies are money-generating machines which can easily draw much larger pay-checks than most other jobs.” And that is the main problem, sex does sell, and many African migrant women get addicted to the business of having myriads of sexual partners.
There’s a mysterious pull to hang in there.
Probably it’s the bad company, or the lack of social skills, or the low-level of education coupled with the rush to make big bucks quick. Friends encourage some to join them, stating the fact that money comes easy in the business. Ultimately, there’s the attraction of the ‘invincible’ Euro, the demands of relatives back home, and the desire to mirror the lifestyles, the dress and the mannerisms of the of the characters played out by the beautiful West African actresses of Nollywood; keeping up with the latest designer fashions, smelling like a queen, and owning the latest gizmos at the drop of a hat.
There are risks involved, the risk of pregnancy and the greatest risk of all, that of catching a Sexually Transmitted Infection (S.T.I).
Let’s admit it, most men initiate and control sex, paying for it with their greater wealth.
However many women bear the burden of the consequences of sex. Due to the fact that a woman’s body is well structured to receive, a woman is eight times more likely to become infected from a single sexual act with an infected man than a man is likely to become infected from a single sexual act with an infected woman.
Not only is the likelihood for infection for women greater, but also infection can be present in and spread by them when they do not have any symptoms of the disease. The disease becomes a silent killer.
A breakdown of the most common S.T.I’s follows:
Gonorrhoea is one of the oldest known S.T.I’s. However, like the condition Chlamydia, most women who are infected by the disease frequently have no symptoms of it, especially in the early stages. Both of these diseases, left untreated destroy the Fallopian tubes and cause Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (P.I.D). This can lead to ectopic pregnancies or infertility. Another well-known S.T.I is Syphilis. It operates in stages, which can be in gaps over a period of many years. The last stage of Syphilis is most fatal. It can cause problems throughout the human body such as heart abnormalities; brain malfunctions leading to stroke, meningitis, deafness or blindness. The Human Papillomavirus (HPV), another S.T.I has long been known to be a cause of cervical cancer. Infection with the Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) weakens the body’s immune system and increases vulnerability to many different infections. HIV at its’ final stage is referred to as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or AIDS, when full-blown, many infections overwhelm the body and this results to death. Treatment options exist for HIV-infected people that reduce the multiplication of the virus in their bodies thus delaying the progress of the disease to the final stage, which causes death.
Solutions are quickly needed.
Condoms may be useful in decreasing the spread of infections such as Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea, but should be noted that they do not fully protect against infections such as genital herpes, HPV, syphilis and AIDS. Public awareness and education about STI’s and methods of preventing them is imperative.
African migrant women should be empowered and educated about their sexual health and reproductive rights. There is the need to practise good social skills that include the ability to negotiate safe sex, a better understanding on the working of their bodies and the risks of a promiscuous lifestyle.
Global agencies, international policy makers, African leaders and civil societies should push to make education for the Girl-Child in Africa free at all levels; such an action would encourage society in Africa to send their female children to school. Migrant churches and faith-based organizations in Europe need to address sexuality and behaviour change among both men and women.
It is my prayer that the article has helped someone in some way or another,
Blessings,
Carol.
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8:57
Prison Break Season IV: Ep 1-2
» Couch Potato 
Undoubtedly the TV seasons are back!! ...and what a way to begin new seasons than with Prison Break.
It's off to a quick start..as usual a few explanations are sorted out in the premiere episode and we get off running ...actually more like a 100m dash. No time to waste (evidently the writers are no longer on strike)
The pace is set. And from the get-go we know that this season involves trying to take down THE COMPANY as opposed to breaking out from a Prison. The plot revolves( so far) obtaining a card(s) that has info on THE COMPANY. The card(s) is/are called "scylla"
Episode 2 is so intense for a moment I thought I was watching 24.
This season has the suspense of season 1 and 3 rolled up together to make a powerful season 4 that's to be reckoned with.
So far:
-Sarah Tancredi is back ...clearly she is no longer pregnant hence she has been written back into the main story line. Well she returns the love-story line between her and Michael...I preferred her dead I think she is dead weight...and we don't need a love-story when dealing with action.
-Michael Rappaport (last seen in Boston Public and Dating Phoebe in Friends) appears as a detctive blackmailing Scoffied and Burrows to cooperate in taking down the COMPANY...and the old crew is recruited as well.
-Whistler...has been killed and so far the viscious vilanious vixen from last season has been "shot dead"...till she re=appears in episode 2.
-The Bros are working together with Mahone, Bellick and Sucre. I still love Bellick but right now he has been reduced to a bumbling fool... I liked him back then when he was raw and unrefined. A desperate dictator turned into a chubby, pathetic, helpless being running for his mama...with his breasts dancing up and down.
-A few extra characters have been added ...the new guy-Cress Williams (he who was dating Khadija in Living Single) is probably the new Villain like Mahone was or the other bad guy who turned good...what was his name again Paul Kellerman?
Precious Moment:
T-Bag stole the show with his cannibalism moment. Munching on his sumptuous chubby pal to save himself from death via starvation...enjoying himself a piece of roast in the desert sun across the border.
Stranger: Did you have some bad mexican?
Tea-Bag: (retching) yeah ...something like that!
T-Bag still contains the key that will enable the Bros to unlock the mystery within the "Scyllar" once the obtain all 6 cards.
Definitily a must-watch!
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8:17
Kenya govt/parastatal office = twilight zone
» Kenyan Pundit You have to read this post. I’m sure many of us can relate.
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7:15
Lagos
» Black Looks The title aside, I think of Chris Abani’s Lagos of Graceland - SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Lagos", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/09/lagos.html" });