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20:04 Video Surfaces: Thomas Muthee & Sarah Pailin(together)
» Kenyanentrepreneur.com This video is making the rounds on the internet. It’s “pastor” Thomas Muthe.he.he. blessing Sarah Pain-me and praying to the “lord” to help them rebuke witchcraft. Pailin shows up towards the end of the video to receive her blessing and to allow pastor muu-muu to cleanse away those witches from… I don’t know. Her head? or [...]
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18:23
offline entertainment factor
» Kikuyumoja's realm How many applications currently found on Symbian S60, iPhone OS and Windows mobile phones do actually work offline?
Is there any chart online that compares these platforms towards the “offline entertainment factor”?
screenshots: some of the stuff you can do in offline mode on the Nokia E71 - listening to music, watching videos, writing e-mails (disclaimer: don’t be fooled by the 3G symbol :-)Am asking because I think there are more and more applications nowadays that require a data connection (GPRS, UMTS, Wi-Fi) in order to work and at the same time we all know that a) data connections are not yet available everywhere and b) are sometimes quite expensive for some users.
So what’s possible in offline mode?
- answering e-mails
- compiling sms drafts
- wordprocessing, spreadsheet analysis, ebooks (PDF)
- multimedia entertainment (listening to some preloaded music, watching a video, (radio))
- games
- (unassisted) GPS
- unplugging the headphones and teasing your seat neighbours with stupid ringtones :-)
Considering this offline factor and taking into account the range of applications the phone has to offer that will work without any online connection - how does your phone perform in this context?
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16:57
Innovator, Imitator Or Idiot?
» For Love and Money Innovator, Imitator Or Idiot?
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the iron alternative
» Kikuyumoja's realm 
“Haben wir etwas falsch gemacht?” - Well… according to this alternative, there are better options to Google Chrome.
[via]
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15:21
Quick Links
» Black Looks Biko Lives by Andile Mngxitama, Amanda Alexander and Niger Gibson is launched at Xarra Books in Johannesburg on Saturday @ 3pm. With you in spirit! ABOUT THE BOOK: This collection looks at the on-going significance of Black Consciousness, situating it in a global frame, examining the legacy of Steve Biko, the current state of [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Quick Links", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/09/quick_links-13.html" });
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12:21
Toxic Brokers & Toxic Milk
» Kenyanentrepreneur.com There’s a story in BD Africa about banks in Kenya finally getting the go ahead to be able to buy and trade bonds between and amongst themselves without having to go through the NSE. Everyone knows these brokers are taking people for a ride with their exorbitant fee’s and I’m glad to see the bankers [...]
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12:04
For All My Dreamers Out There
» The Displaced African Great message, smooth melody and even smoother video: Enjoy!
Click here for the interview I conducted with STL aka Stella Mwangi.
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11:53
Circumcision Is Not Altogether A Bad Thing
» You Missed This ..the explosive politics of facing the knife
As a matter of fact, while the Luo have never communally embraced this type of surgery, they have never been wholly against it either. In Luo land, circumcision has been a ‘none issue’….. more like whether one wears a pair of black or white pants i.e. personal decision. Unlike the case in other communities, this practice has never been associated with bravery, social status or rite of passage. The cut will not erode or enhance the Luo culture. It is of no cultural consequence.
In allowing the individual man to determine the personality of his ‘member’, the Luo community has been at the forefront of liberty.
So that is how life at the lakeside has been until a group of HIV researchers showed up with good advice. The rest is history. Luo men are forming long meandering queues in wait of the cut. Were it not for the scourge that is killing Kenyans like flies, Kisumu, in the dead of night, when all the bars and clubs are closed and patrons have gone home, would still be the noisiest city in the country.
So why talk about this painless practice in a political blog? Well, because it is political.
It will not escape the minds of Kenyans that the Luo people have been constantly and publicly degraded, demonized and ridiculed simply because of their reluctance to indulge in genital mutilation. In Kenya, the Luos have been shelved and associated with derogatory terms ever since the birth of the nation. Until Raila won the 2007 election, a section of Kenyans had been thoroughly convinced and indoctrinated to believe that an uncircumcised Gentile must never rule. It follows that many Luo men were rounded up by Mungiki surgeons and forcibly circumcised by use of blant pangas in Kibera.
Folks, such has been the hate of the ‘man with the foreskin’. He has been called dirty, coward, kihii, unmanly, childish and in some extreme instances, evil. The ‘man with the foreskin’ has been denied his rightful place at board meetings, staff meetings and other social gatherings where he must not ‘sit in the presence of men’. The fully grown 'man with the foreskin' has been set aside to converse with his 'age mates' at the children’s table.
So here we are today and Luos are getting circumcised from left and right. With this simple voluntary act of health, THE GRANDEUR OF CULTURAL CIRCUMCISION HAS BEEN DYMYSTIFIED. How else will you ridicule and put down the ‘man with the foreskin’ if he no longer has a foreskin? Do you see the social and political implications here? How will you teach your children to pronounce a hateful word that no longer has meaning? And what happens to the ego brought about by undergoing the cut? What happens to the notion that my community is the better because we circumcise our men and women? This is what I’m saying, when you are culturally preprogrammed to put the ‘man with the foreskin’ in the dustbin, do you easily accept him when he cuts it off?
If circumcision liberates the Luo men from the yokes of hate and avails them an opportunity to be seen and accepted as men, does it also institute a powerful object of fear? You are all aware of the ‘white fear’ that denied the black man in America an opportunity to vote and attend desegregated schools. Just like the Luo, the black men in America have been called monkeys, black devils and consequently hang on trees until dead….simply because of the color of their skin. In Kenya, male high school students 'with the foreskin’ have been beaten to death. They are not allowed to shower in the same bathroom with the circumcised…instead they have to take a bath alongside the schools' fence….in full view of the fellow students in the neighboring girls high school…..after all they are all ‘women’.
Well, as we have seen so far, both the Luo in Kenya and in the USA have and will successfully win the presidential elections respectively.
Are you in Nairobi? Order the latest DVD movies online from the comfort of your home and receive them at your doorstep.
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Troy Davis 1 week reprieve
» Black Looks This is torture and inhumane. Troy Davis waited until 2 hours before his execution to be given a week’s extension - a lifeline and a lifetime. Technorati: troy davis racism in the USA capital punishment errors Del.icio.us: troy davis racism in the USA capital punishment errors Furl: troy davis racism in the USA [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Troy Davis 1 week reprieve", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/09/troy_davis_1_week_reprieve.html" });
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6:48
kenyan athlete doping
» Kenya Imagine Amina on imagine diaries writes about a Kenyan athlete who was recently banned for using an illegal substance.
Read more here.
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3:51
Theatre: 'EDUFA' -The African TALE, The Peoples' Story @ Alliance Française: 26th - 28th Sept .
» Kenyanpoet The society demands a lot from us and in turn, we go to great lengths trying to conform to these demands. We love the unloved and hate those we ought to love even if just for a short while. We sacrifice love and lives in order to shape and trim ourselves in accordance to society’s expectations.
Ask the town. They know who Edufa is and what he is worth. They can count out m
y value in the houses that eat because I live. They rise in deference from their chairs when they say my name’ Edufa is a man of high societal prestige and repute. In his quest to maintain, if not improve, his status he consults a diviner who saw death hanging over him instead. There is a way out though, sacrifice! It is not a chicken, not a sheep, not a cow, but something, someone with the power of speech. Someone who can swear an oath to die for him……
When you are a father and a husband that is a tall order, and as fate has would have it his wife falls victim. So that harm does not befall her, he needs to confess his wrong and burn the evil charm. EDUFA has a reputation. He has a position to maintain. Can a man allow himself to lose grip on that? A position like that? He has to choose between the loss of a dear one and the loss of this position. His obsession with maintaining his position of privilege leads him to barter his wife’s life against loss of prestige.
EDUFA, like the Kenyan story of greed, where wealth and societal status surpasses all other things. The fluff of flattery drives you insane and pinches at the heart so much that your needs must clutch at some other faith after all this, deeds done in secret can by the same process be brought to light.
The Play is written by Efua T. Sutherland and directed by Gilbert Lukalia
Venue: Alliance Francaise Auditorium
Charges: Ksh. 400 at the gate
Ksh. 300 advance
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1:45
African Securities Markets Feel the Pinch of Global Linkages
» KA-INVESTOR For the last two months, investors at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) have watched in horror as the market dropped to a three years low. The NSE 20 shares index, which is used to gauge the general performance of the market, dipped to a 4,000 low from about 5,400 in mid July (a 26% decline), a level last seen in 2005. Market analysts have attributed this to among other reasons the financial crisis in the United States of America (USA) that has seen financial giants like AIG, Lehman Brothers and investment bank Bear Stearns go belly up or get bailed out by the US government.
Several other African bourses have experienced the same decline, with the Nigeria Stocks Market being the worst. The Nigerian market has seen a six months free fall in share prices that has worsened the liquidity crisis in the country. This has forced the Nigerian federal government to institute harsh measure to curb the crisis.
Apart from factors such as inflation and increased oil prices in the international market, the link between African securities markets and the financial crisis in the US is not quite clear. Could African markets be facing their own crisis? Are the effects of the US crisis more direct than anticipated? It would be prudent to understand the relation between our markets and the developed markets.
Africa has been a closed continent to the rest of the world. Little is said of the vast investment opportunities in the continent that have attracted big fund managers from the developed countries. As they seek to diversify from their saturated developed markets, investment firms such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have injected colossal amounts in Africa and even participated in public offers like the recently concluded Safaricom IPO. This can be said to be the most direct linkage African bourses have with the developed markets, especially the US.
Most of the money invested in Africa’s stock markets also comes from Africans in the Diaspora. Many Africans have over the years left their countries to go for ‘greener pastures’ in the developed world. They usually send huge amounts of money to their families and relatives in Africa for personal use and investment. Most of the investment money ends up either in real estates construction or in the stock markets. A clear example is the Nairobi Stocks Exchange where about 30% of the money injected in comes from the Kenyans in Diaspora.
The ongoing US financial crisis which is termed as the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930’s has seen Africans in the diaspora laid off fro their jobs and sources of income reduce. Many Africans in the diaspora do odd jobs to make ends meet and have something to send back home. Such menial jobs have been the first casualties of the US crisis as every sector seeks to down-size and break even during this period. The stream of investment funds from the diaspora has consequently reduced considerably as some of them sell their investments to pro-up their declining incomes. This can be said to be an indirect linkage between African bourses and the developed markets.
Another indirect connection is from the ‘Aid industry’. With the possibility of the US financial crisis turning into a global phenomenon, the amount of aid funds that have been the driving force in most African government budgets are set to dwindle. Humanitarian aid may continue trickling in as development aid reduces to the bare minimum. In the one-day conference on Africa in New York, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a plea for US$ 72 billion per year in foreign aid if Africa is to reach any of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Without this funding, the economic outlook of most African countries is bleak and this will definitely affect the continent's securities markets.
African economies as well as other emerging economies around the world have been feeling the effects of the ups and downs of finance in the U.S. and other developed markets. When commodity prices were high, mobile global capital flowed into Africa and pushed asset prices up, making capital cheap and fueling growth. With the opposite cycle in place, a reverse in economic growth for many African countries is expected. That is why Africa should not depend on aid for development.
(My recent article in the African Executive online magazine)
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