Mashada Blogs » September 24, 2008

Kenyanentrepreneur.com: Video Surfaces: Thomas Muthee & Sarah Pailin(together)

2008-09-24T20:04:08-04:00

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 [...]

Kikuyumoja's realm: offline entertainment factor

2008-09-24T18:23:08-04:00

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?

For Love and Money: Innovator, Imitator Or Idiot?

2008-09-24T16:57:00-04:00

Innovator, Imitator Or Idiot?

Kikuyumoja's realm: the iron alternative

2008-09-24T16:30:45-04:00

“Haben wir etwas falsch gemacht?” - Well… according to this alternative, there are better options to Google Chrome.

[via]

Black Looks: Quick Links

2008-09-24T15:21:32-04:00

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" });

Kenyanentrepreneur.com: Toxic Brokers & Toxic Milk

2008-09-24T12:21:29-04:00

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 [...]

The Displaced African: For All My Dreamers Out There

2008-09-24T12:04:50-04:00

Great message, smooth melody and even smoother video: Enjoy!

Click here for the interview I conducted with STL aka Stella Mwangi.

You Missed This: Circumcision Is Not Altogether A Bad Thing

2008-09-24T11:53:00-04:00

..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.

Black Looks: Troy Davis 1 week reprieve

2008-09-24T07:50:25-04:00

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" });

Kenya Imagine: kenyan athlete doping

2008-09-24T06:48:00-04:00

Amina on imagine diaries writes about a Kenyan athlete who was recently banned for using an illegal substance.

Read more here.