10 YEARS LATER – A Princess named Diana

I recall the dawn when the tragic accident ended the life of one of the most dynamic personalities of recent history. I lived in Shadwell, East London then. Tons of questions lingered in my mind then like most people I knew, as it does now; and it not because I was an ‘Evening News’ and the ‘Standard’ fanatic (London Newspapers). Pure coincidence.

Princess Diana probably symbolized more than anything, a new generation of defiance and psychological rebelliousness to the status quo, a matter that not even his brother Spencer had words for. 10 years later, the Queen and the Royal family take delivery of ‘warm’ receptions to Diana’s memorial; only Camilla was not invited (or declined to attend for obvious reasons.)

Since the death of the Princess of Wales, who was seen by many as the ‘People’s Princess’, the logical question is have the people learned anything from her life and death at all? Of course there are harsh lessons in any event, and Princess Diana exemplified lived life to the fullest. She enjoyed every moment of it, perhaps with the thought that tomorrow was not promised.

Back in England a decade ago, I stood in front of Kensington Palace like most Londoner’s and wondered if her death would signal the death of the values and the colorful agenda she stood for. There were people who often said that Princess Diana was an ‘American’ born in England, and that respect she was nothing more than forcing any of President Bush’s daughter not to party. . (PS: the reference is more proverbial than sarcastic and in no way connected to the party-like-a-rockstar attitude of the Bush daughter). In America, perhaps to a large extent and thanks to the ACLU, you can be ‘all you want to be’ and love anyone you want to love; but not in the good ol’ England. The questions remain with no answers in sight, the butlers all have twisted recollections, memories have faded and the British Intelligence seem uninterested to end the skeptism.
So here we go again.

Somewhere in the shuffle was the side note, don’t forget the man he died with; Dodi Fayed. I am sure he has a family too, very wealthy as a matter of fact , and they also will wondering what happened to their beloved son; but something tells me that he will not get any state burial or Sir Elton John writing song in his memory. And for my friends in London, in case you are counting on a Harrods sale this weekend; - forget about it. There is the school of thought that contends that Diana pushed the British social envelope too far, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to predict the inevitable. However her death ‘provoked an unprecedented outpouring of national grief, with hundreds of thousands gathering to mourn outside Kensington Palace, where they left a sea of floral tributes.’

10 years ago my friend Frank made a striking point, irrespective of its validity. Princess Diana spent her life across the world in search of happiness, inner joy and contentment, and whether she did or did not find it; the answers are six feet under. Our hearts go out to Harry and William; today is a difficult day for the British people and Londoners especially.

Let the tragedy be a reminder of how fragile we all are, and maybe live today, the very best we know how.
Peace



(Candle in the Wind - Sir Elton John)
Goodbye England's rose
May you ever grow in our hearts
You were the grace that placed itself
Where lives were torn apart
You called out to our country
And you whispered to those in pain
Now you belong to heaven
And the stars spell out your name

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never fading with the sunset
When the rain set in
And your footsteps will always fall here
Along England's greenest hills
Your candle's burned out long before
Your legend ever will

EMERGENCY EXIT; Gonzalez Only

I am digging deep to find pleasant memories of US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (soon to be former) but for some weird reason I cannot help but question his interpretation of justice especially in the past few months. He announced his resignation in the next couple of weeks and perhaps the heat from Senator Charles Schumer and his Congress buddies took a toll on him. Whether he is actually a victim of Bush politics or a product of a hold he dug for himself, still stands without satisfactory answers.

Either Mr. Alberto Gonzales turned into a semi-ineffectual public officer who did not have any earthly idea of the daily happenings in his own justice department, or he pulled off a grand ‘con’ during his visits to the Congress and Senate hearings. Either way, I am sure he will love to trade that day for any of my crazy days. No thank you.

The end of his line came with the firings of eight US attorneys. Unless he fell asleep on the job, there is no way for the Attorney General of the United States to have such limited knowledge on policies he actually spearheaded; and something is seriously out of whack here. That aside, Mr. Gonzales gained a colorful reputation when issues like ‘helping to expand presidential powers in connection with the administration's war on terror’; – anything from drafting the controversial rules governing prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to authorizing secret phone tapping programs. The Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal in Iraq was also under his watch, so the stains had compounded over time, something that not even Tide magic bleach could wipe him clean.

Officially, or as at the close of business on September 17, he has ‘chunked the duce’ and ‘bounced’ before the Democratic Senators had one more shot at his execution of power. If my instincts are right, Mr. Gonzalez is looking at the picture, cut and run while you still can; and that makes perfect sense in times of crisis when there is no victory in sight. Smart man. Perhaps the political circus took its toll on him but even with my minimal political know-how, I am inclined to believe that Mr. Gonzales knew much more then he alleged to know when he faced the nation.

Fair to assert however that his legacy will be tainted in the final memories of Americans, and leaves more questions about how he applied the rule of law; or to some extent if he misunderstood his right to the Fifth Amendment. I recall watching the live telecast of Mr. Alberto Gonzales’ Congressional Hearing on C-SPAN and he had no answers whatsoever. I was more surprised than I was baffled at how many times he used the phrases ‘I do not remember’ and ‘I am not sure’. Great example of how to evade legal traffic jam; I will try that the next time I stand in front of a judge for my traffic ticket. Of course in the absence of Karl Rove and a the long list of key personnel checking out of the Bush wagon, my friend President Bush must be having sleepless nights.

Alberto Gonzales made history by being the first attorney general of Hispanic descent but also left some controversial trails along the way. What next? That is the question I still seeking answers to, you are welcome to think aloud. . .

Back to the big picture; - does Alberto Gonzales’ exit means just that or becomes the indelible ink that prints failure on the entire Bush administration.

Just a thought

Is Barack Obama 'BLACK' enough for Black People?

The wife of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama admonished those who question her biracial husband's credentials as a black man, calling the issue "nonsense." She added that raising the specter of whether her husband - whose mother was white and whose father was Kenyan - was sufficiently black sent a confusing message to kids. "We're still playing around with the question: Is he black enough?" "Stop that nonsense."

I mentioned as an offshoot note, Mrs. Michelle Obama’s words in my previous article relating to the Illinois Senator. The truth is maybe, that is why the general Black populace have not warmed up to the reality of a Barack Obama presidency just yet.

With the exception of my girl Oprah Winfrey(yes I said my girl), not many public figures are sticking their necks out to endorse the Obama parade, and whether it is a logical fear of strategic alignment or a case of needing more convincing, the Obama campaign has their work cut out for them. I am yet to see prominent Black leaders or social activist jump aboard the Obama trailer to make serious waves about his potential to change the course of history forever. From another angle, it may very well be a good thing; maybe the people will take him serious after New Hampshire and Iowa, but maybe never. In casual conversations a cross section African Americans (especially comedians) believe that Bill Clinton was the closest the Black race will get to the White House and perhaps it will take a few more years for Clinton fever to fade away. This is often to illicit laughter, but recent history shows the power of laughter and if indeed the comedians like Jay Leno and David Letterman have the ability to tilt the presidential campaign scales, certainly it makes sense to express humor with some thought.

On a very realistic note, a President Barack Obama can not solve all the issues in Black America, so maybe whether ‘he is or is not Black enough’, is an irrelevant piece of the puzzle.

Just a thought. . .

Africa; Beyond the Sex Lines

One of the most fascinating aspects of the blog-world is the response/reaction factor and the ability to address such reader feedback in a constructive way.

Brian W. replied to my article posted in June 2007 ‘The Economics of Sex in Africa’ and in essence questioned my reasoning behind the assertion that ‘Africa as a continent cannot evolve beyond their economic safe zones until their cultural and religious perspectives can give way to activities and enterprises that invoke negative reactions(at least in public) in society.’

In all fairness, I made a comparison to Western economies like the United States and United Kingdom where a dynamic industry like the pornography establishment (as appalling as most of us apparently agree that it impacts society’s moral fabric) is at the core of the economic agenda and progress. Of course this is not a pleasant idea for spiritually conscious person to imbibe, but establishments like Playboy, Hustler and every sex driven business in America rakes in billions of dollars annually to facilitate all the other moral enterprises that generates close to zero in gross revenue.
The relative logic is that a chunk of the African psychology is entrenched in ‘morality’ and the ‘God factor’ and you need not be a rocket scientist to figure out the relationship between a God–conscious society(and this is a very general assumption without any scientific qualification) and an open sex industry.
My reference to the Uganda story was in no way supporting Dr James Buturo. For the sake of clarification, Dr. James Buturo is Uganda's Minister of Ethics and Integrity and recently stated emphatically that the government will not change its constitution to protect homosexuals. Quite frankly the government cares about gay people only as ‘ordinary’ citizens; and their sexual orientation are irrelevant. Members of Uganda's gay community had complained about harassment and asked for acceptance from a society that shuns homosexuality as a psychological and mental deviation. Along similar timelines, in South Africa 4 lesbians were murdered last month. It is only fair to assert that there are traces of homophobia in different countries in Africa, or to some extent Africa in general. In many places, homosexuality remains a taboo subject and there are sodomy laws that prohibit the act of homosexuality. There are other extreme cases that had been reported over the years, and in case you still nee further convincing, feel free to visit the UN Commission Human Rights’ office.
My point is, irrespective of how much a society frowns upon the ‘deviations’ and ‘moral vices’, their relative contributions to society’s economic engines are enormous, and any country with any measure of status quo and firmly entrenched value system will be handicapped to a degree. The real question for any such country, of which Africa as a continent is; is a careful evaluation of a ‘lesser of two evils’ or ‘the greater good’. Every enterprise with economic profit has a matching moral detrimental margin, and people like Dr James Buturo, countries like Uganda, and continents like Africa have a choice to make; hence the theory of opportunity cost.
I appreciate your feedback Brian W. and I stand for correction on any erroneous viewpoint albeit I make no apologies for my reasoning. Thank you.

Random Wisdom

"I may not be able to change the world I see around me, but I can change the way I see the world within me".

-John Maxwell

The Gloomy Face of American Justice

The remnants of racism and hatred are some of the unfortunate legacies of American history with a bitter aftertaste. For most of us, we live under the illusion that those societal ills faded with time, but occasionally we wake up to the reality checks; and the story of the ‘Jena 6’ is one of such.

Six black youths are charged with an alleged attack on a white student and in the absence of real justice (like the one America stands for); these young men will spend the next 50 years behind bars. This happened in Jena, Louisiana; and Im not replaying a scene from 'Mississipi Burning.'

. . And just before you take a deep breath to ignore the rest of the facts of the story, imagine yourself, or even worse your sons in their shoes. It could very well be you or your son or your brother stuck in an alleged racial legal circus that could bring their lives to a complete halt.

“It all began at Jena High School last summer when a black student, Kenneth Purvis, asked the school's principal whether he was permitted to sit under the shade of the school courtyard tree, a place traditionally reserved for white students only. He was told he could sit where he liked.

The following morning, when the students arrived at school, they found three nooses dangling from the tree. Most whites in Jena dismissed it as a tasteless prank, but the minority black community identified the gesture as something far more vicious.”

According Caseptla Bailey, one of the black community leaders "it meant the KKK, it meant 'niggers we're going to kill you, we're gonna hang you 'til you die'."

For the record, Jena has a mixed community, 85% white and 12% black; no wonder a racially charged gesture of this nature sparks such controversy.

“District Attorney Reed Walters, to the astonishment of the black community, has upgraded the charges of Mr. Barker's alleged attackers to conspiracy to commit second degree murder and attempted second degree murder. If convicted they could be 50 before they leave prison. “

Americans of all races and color are voicing their outrage on ‘Jena justice’. It is sad to fathom the idea that the toil and blood of the civil rights era and the nationwide protests of the 1960’s did not wipe all the traces of racism and ethnic injustice outright.

I seldom read emails forwarded from unknown senders, but I took the time to read one of such, I did my homework on what the facts were; and chances are if nothing happens soon, the lives of six black young men will fall through the unfortunate cracks of the American justice.
Visit the ColorOfChange website and join the national campaign to make a difference. www.ColorOfChange.org

No comments necessary on this blog; redirect all comments nd feedback to the link above.

Iraqi Crisis: No Retreat, No Surrender

I like my Sundays peaceful; watching my New England Patriots score touchdowns or occasionally watch reruns of the ‘Cosby Show’ and ‘Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’; - anything besides thinking about politics. Believe me, I have very good reasons for this behavior, and I probably am not the only American who gets tired of politicians, their political jargons, never-answering-a-question rhetoric and smooth-talking gimmicks; especially pertaining to the war in Iraq Iraq.
President Bush recently outlined his agenda for ‘staying the course’ irrespective of recent bi-partisan calls to bring the troops home, call off the war in Iraq and at least swallow the bitter pill of a futile endeavor.
On Sunday, ABC-TV ruined my routine with a replay of another Democratic Presidential Debate, and for some weird reason, I paused to listen. The only topic I remember however, or genuinely cared about was the mixed reactions and perspectives on an Iraq withdrawal timeline. In 2007, the question of whether we should have been there or not is irrelevant, the more intelligent conversation is about when and how we get out;- often refered to as the ‘Exit Strategy’. Forget about Hillary and Obama for a second, this time around Joe Byden and Dennis Kucinich were the shining stars. Their message, a timely withdrawal of troops and all non-combat organizations; leave Iraq for the Iraqi’s as soon as possible.

Sounds appealing, but how practical is it?
The majority consensus was that any Democratic president will end the war sooner than any Republican counterpart, in the event George Bush fails to end it before January 2009. The latter idea seems unrealistic, because for those who know him, you know Mr. Bush ‘will stay the course” no matter what the odds are. On that note, I am convinced that President GW is not a gambling man.

In his latest speech on the war in Iraq, President George Bush spelled caution with the thought that a United States withdrawal from Iraq could trigger the kind of upheaval seen in South East Asia after US forces quit Vietnam. "The price of America's withdrawal was paid by millions of innocent citizens; many argued that if we pulled out, there would be no consequences for the Vietnamese people. The world would learn just how costly these misimpressions would be."
His point was simple; - Time and Patience. Unfortunately those are exactly the two characteristics that the American society is running out of.
Of course there are facets of terrorist groups and Al-Qaeda in Iraq and it only makes sense to leave Iraq just like we found it, if we cannot make it any better. The score cards have mixed results and often confusing perceptions depending on which side of the fence you sit. The Vietnam memory is not a very pleasant one to most Americans and perhaps Mr. Bush might succeed at his use of emotional appeal to triumph the significance of ethos and logos in this debate.

Call a spade a spade, the same American people who gave George Bush the mandate to visit Iraq and flush out Saddam Hussein are the same populace leading the charge for a retreat; an apparent product of emotional reasoning. I am not particularly mystified by the American overwhelming consensus to bring the troops home, for the very reasons I mentioned earlier; but also because our perception of war is much like what we see in Hollywood movies, one that actually ends at some point and the hero comes home. The question of legitimacy of both Vietnam and Iraq has produced hundreds of political experts, but perhaps until Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and his crew can effectively hold their fort, we are stuck in Iraq a little longer than we envisaged. President Bush’s speech perhaps either hints signs of apparent desperation or a man displaying courage under fire; but he will explore all available angles in the hope that ‘something’ actually works. The sad part is all we have to choose from is a series of bad options, and make the best out of it. The ill-timed and ill-informed war in Iraq and its subsequent reference to Iraq perhaps have come a little too late. The fact still remains however that patience without a clear-cut strategy is no way to conduct a viable exit strategy.

Whatever your personal opinions are, love him or hate him, but at least you will admit that George Bush is learning something from history and until General David Patreas presents an unflattering report to Congress, I have a sneaky suspicion that the United States foreign policy on Iraq will remain a ‘No Retreat, No Surrender.’

Just my thought.

BE AFRAID! Be very Afraid

For purposes of my skewed credentials in global events, I admit that all I watch on television is MTV’s Blind Date; needless to say that you would be doing yourself a huge favor by ignoring everything I say. If I were you, I won’t read any further.

The Scoop: President Vladmir Putin and Russia is resuming a Soviet-era practice of sending its bomber aircraft on long-range flights. According to Mr. Putin, ‘the move to resume the flights permanently after a 15-year suspension was in response to security threats posed by other military powers.’ A week ago, Russian bombers flew within a few hundred miles of the US Pacific island of Guam and Moscow said its strategic bombers had begun exercises over the North Pole.
The Logic: Considering the high cost of fuel and the signals such military signals send to countries of the edge to react, I could be among the minority of people who do not see this as a casual cruise across the skies.

I was particularly fascinated by Mr. Putin’s remarks, according to the Associated Press;- "we have decided to restore flights by Russian strategic aviation on a permanent basis. "In 1992, Russia unilaterally ended flights by its strategic aircraft to distant military patrol areas. Unfortunately, our example was not followed by everyone."
In May this year, Russia tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile system and a recent Russian submarine expedition to the North Pole saw Russia plant a flag on the seabed but I am to believe that Mr. Putin just enjoys the thought of seeing Russian planes fly across the world for the fun of it.
There is the school of thought that believe that my friend Vladimir is referring to the United States but on the flipside wasn’t he the same Putin that George Bush was ‘breaking bread’ with a couple of months ago? (Refer to my Article “A Marriage with Mixed Messages from May and July). Maybe I am not delusional after all. I hate to think that names like Bernard Baruch, Harry Truman, Winston Churchill and Mikhail Gorbachev could be revisited, but not for sentimental purposes.

What does all this mean? Nothing. I already told you to ignore my ideas on global politics and economics; needless to say my analysis is solely based on commonsense. The fact is, if we indeed are on the brink of another cold war, judging from the climate changes in recent months, any such war will be anything but cold. Of course the stakes are different, the dynamics have changed and hopefully our civilized worlds have learned a thing or two from our past; in that case there is nothing to worry about.
“The Cold War is over and whatever new tensions there may be between Russia and the West, nobody envisages a return to an armed stand-off on the European continent.” But Russia is an ally and according to Mr. Bush, will remain an all (whatever that means) and the world has nothing to be afraid of.

Of course there is the high probability that Russia has tons of money to waste, Mr. Vladimir Putin has a lot of time on his hands or that the world is not paying enough attention to a Russia reasserting himself a dominant player in military politics; BUT in case there is truth in logic when do I know if it is time to be afraid?

Every ‘DOG’ Have His Day

With the exception of LaDanian Tomlinson, Michael Vick is by far one of the most elusive players in the National Football League. Slippery on the field, fast as lightening and strong hands to flip Hail Mary’s to even the most average wide receivers to turn it into an ESPN Top 10 plays.

But this week, Michael Vick comes face to face with the kind of game that is not too easy to weave through opponents and the kind that you do not look to your coach on the sidelines to call a timeout. It is the game of life, and apparently he forgot to play his cards legally.

For the past several weeks, the question of whether Michael Vick was guilty or otherwise, ruled every sports radio network and of course the overwhelming consensus was to allow ‘due process’ to take its course. Well at some point, reality hits and the defendants in any case understand the consequences of their due process hence the search for viable alternatives.
For those of you who have no earthly idea what I’m talking about, once upon a time there was an NFL player named Michael Vick who played for the Atlanta Falcons. One day the FBI allegedly linked him to a series of gruesome illegal activities involving dogs and dog fighting. “The case began with the April search of his Surry County property. Investigators found dozens of pit bulls, some of them injured, as well as equipment commonly used in dogfighting. The indictment said dogs that lost fights or fared poorly in test fights were sometimes executed by hanging, electrocution or other means. The details have fueled public protests against Vick and have cost him some of his lucrative endorsement deals. “What I find baffling the most is since when does a losing any game warrant a death sentence? You pay thousands of dollars to buy a pit pull, and kill him when they under-perform. The funny part, - the Atlanta Falcons are probably one of the worst teams in the NFL and none of the players have been electrocuted yet.

And just in case you are wondering what on earth a millionaire will be doing betting on dogs to kill each other, I am yet to find that out also, if Vick is either proven guilty or he works out a plea bargain; and so far the game is tilted in the FBI’s favor. The sad part is that Michael Vick will have to play ‘quarterback’ and ‘tight end’ for his own life now hanging in the balance, clinging onto the illegal dog fighting conspiracy charges leveled against him last month. One of his co-defendants has changed his plea to guilty and agreed to testify against Vick, and two others are scheduled to do likewise soon.

Prosecutors are planning to pursue a superseding indictment this month and the mounting charges are piling the pressure on Vick to negotiate a deal. The consequence will be jail time. How long a sentence; I am not a legal expert, try asking Judge Judy. The irony here is, the most elusive quarterback might have probably met his match, and maybe will be ‘pinned down’ for some time to come.

The bottom line, Michael Vick will remain one of the most impressive and gifted NFL players in this decade, but what matters to him now transcends beyond the X and O’s and how to score touchdowns. Maybe professional athletes and rich people in general with tons of cash will find new avenues of flushing money down the drain, one that doesn’t involve senseless brutalities to anyone, dog or human.

Just thinking aloud.

Shockwaves in PERU

I admit I wasn’t the best student in my geology class (and I have the grades to prove it) but for some interesting reason I was always fascinated with Mother Nature, especially how much of it humans beings didn’t have any control over. In the face of the deadly earthquake in Peru today, I am amazed at how much I still remember. Call me a show-off but I will help you understand how earthquakes occur so that next time you breathe, you will remember how fragile life is in the first place.

The earth is made up of an inner core and outer core, the mantle and the crust. The crust and upper mantle form a cold strong layer known as the lithosphere (which is broken up into plates). Convection currents cause the plates to move in different directions, so it is only logical that most earthquakes occur along plate boundaries. These plates could converge and or collide (creating mountains, but when the plates diverge, lava emerges to form a new sections of the crust. Faults are created along the way as plates moves alongside each other, or in some cases plates are locked together. If at any point there is a release, the stored energy is released in the form of an earthquake from its origin known as the hypocenter. The result could be longwaves causing the ground to twist or surface waves and Rayleigh waves (never knew what they actually were).

Are you confused? Brace yourself, I always was.
Back to the lecture: - in the process the earth cracks open, buildings collapse and people die; - just like it happened in Peru today. The devastating earthquake has left hundreds of people dead and hundreds more wounded.

News agencies are reporting upwards of 500 people dead so far and I am sure they woke up in the morning with no idea of what could befall them. I know many people who live by the ‘it can never happen to me’ creed, but if memory serves any purpose at all, Hurricane Katrina should hit home the fact that it could happen to anyone anywhere. I recall the mixed reactions and varying levels of sympathy after the Tsunami’s unprecedented catastrophe; the problem seemed so far away until Katrina, Rita and Ivan gave Florida, Louisiana and Texas a wake up call.

But how soon we forget.

Cities like Pisco, Ica and Chincha are at a standstill today much like New Orleans shut down until FEMA ‘emergency response team” made it. Now do the math and imagine how life will perhaps be for the people in the affected region; no electricity, no water, and perhaps no form of communication. What is more precious and on the line here, LIFE itself.

Say a prayer for the people in Peru today and remember how fragile we all are.

WAR ON TERRORISM;- Are We There Yet?

Headlines like “Paris Hilton Goes to Jail” and “Lindsay Lohan Drives Drunk” often steals the national media attention at the expense of life threatening events whether in the United States or relating to the U.S. involvement in world affairs, especially in Iraq. Once every three months, a leading Democrat will get a hunch to heat the Republican defenses with the burning issue of Iraq and how long it will take for our sons and daughters to get back home. On Tuesday August 14, the suicide bombings in Northern Iraq with the death tolls heaping up to 500 or more, (apparently then deadliest in recent years) gives us an insight into the peace, democracy and the freedom that the global community is fighting for. But only Gen. David Petraeus has the mandate of Congress to assess the damage, so until his report clearly advises against either a full surge or a complete withdrawal from Iraq: - “so help us God.” Until then, we can only hope that such mindless acts of terrorism and the Bin Laden associates live somewhere between the ‘shadows’ and ‘nowhere’.
The roller coaster state of Iraq had its flashes on CNN, C-SPAN and FOX News, but that was until Nicole Richie allegedly became pregnant, Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s performance on the You Tube Democratic debate and David Beckam arrived in America; and we were back to business as usual. The crossroad argument to bring the troops home took a backseat, at least as far as the ordinary American is concerned, until another marine is shipped back home ‘ice cold’ to his wife and children. Since the invasion of Iraq (I prefer “Operation Iraqi Freedom” as was the caption on FOX News for a month before it changed again to “War on Terror”), of course many civilians and military personnel have lost their lives, a casualty that is often attributed to war no matter how legitimate or otherwise. In the wake of recent events in Iraq and even the Middle East as a whole, the global community is forced to find answers from either UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon or any one with a world changing idea(including my friend Stephen Colbert); and the sooner the better.
According to senior U.S. General, “the Tuesday truck bombs that targeted the villages of Qahtaniya, al-Jazeera and Tal Uzair, in northern Iraq near the border with Syria, were a "trademark al Qaeda event" designed to sway U.S. public opinion against the war”, "break the will" of the American people and show that the U.S. troop escalation -- the "surge" -- is failing.
Welcome to the world of subjective reasoning. However you look at it, the situation in Iraq gets complicated by the day and irrespective of whether the United States approach is illegitimate or ill advised, something has to be done in Iraq, and has to be done fast.
“Tensions already exist between Yazidis and local Muslims - and an impending regional referendum is adding to the difficulties.” Whether or not the United States (or the coalition Forces) presence in the region will be enough to curtail such violence, is up in the air; your guess is as good as mine.The terrorist’s threat to human life is interwoven in the difficulty of narrowing a search to a specific country, region or area. Al Qaeda networks are ruthless, and for whatever their reasons are, I cannot think of any justification to kill hundreds of innocent people anywhere whether, Sunnis, Shites, Yadzis or anyone for that matter.
The scary thought is” three suicide trucks carrying two tons of explosives” could very well be anywhere and in fact anytime. At least now we know that the war on terror is a long way from being over; but I really hope I am wrong.

Alive and Living

Happy Birthday to me
29 years on planet earth
Still making strides to leave my mark
So I can say, I gave it my best shot
Thank you my friends,
And thanks to the not-so-friendly
The best is yet to come. . .

The Darfur Conversation - contd.

African Union will provide all of the 26,000 peacekeepers to be sent to Sudan's Darfur region.
Their experience will be tested in a zone where ‘outsiders’ seldom understand the reality. But common sense will suggest that the African Union has the highest chance of making any significant progress in Darfur (all things being equal). Apart from the fact that Sudan's government has opposed the involvement of non-African military(whatever their reasons are), you can be rest assured that the United States are not interested in jumping in anytime soon; which is understandable, too ‘stretched’ as is.
I am not sure how many troops countries like Togo, Benin and Mauritania will be sending to the region but the UN and AU cannot afford to land in Sudan ‘one foot in-one foot out’; otherwise they had better stay at home. And from a purely practical reasoning, how effective troops from Burkina Faso, Ghana and even Nigeria the long list of countries promising military contributions will be. I know what you are thinking, “half a loaf is better than none”. Wrong answer; - not when the world community can afford the full loaf.
Mr. Bashir and his government believe that only as AU force could ensure security, peace and stability in Darfur and this negotiation leaves questions about how intense the pressure will be on Sudan to ‘behave’. This is why; - “the UN already has 10,108 total uniformed personnel, including 8,824 troops, 591 military observers, and 693 police patrolling South Sudan, as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement reached between the authorities in Khartoum and rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in January 2005. And so far these UN troops have caused no difficulties for the Sudanese government”
At least 200,000 people are believed to have died and more than two million left homeless in Darfur since 2003.
Dialogue is in the pipeline and peace in Darfur could very well be on its way, but the journey to end this chaos is getting bumpy and jagged by the day.
What next?

THE ENEMY WITHIN

Will the real role models please stand up? In the age of blame-games, name-calling and finger-pointing, the African American agenda had evolved from interracial relationship to the degeneration of relationships among itself. The years of the civil rights struggle raised serious concerns about black America’s survival in America and rightfully so there were legitimate reasons to be troubled. The years of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and the long list of civil rights activists who fought to secure a permanent change in the socio- economic landscape are long gone. During those years it was relatively easy, if not very easy to know who the leaders were and who Black America looked up to. Somewhere in the shuffle of life, the leaders died and others faded out, and that called for the need for such leadership to begin at home. The issue of Black America is that not too many homes find the traditional structural leadership that conventional society gave birth to. Don’t blame hip-hop music, poverty, credit scores or racism. The problem permeates beyond the infusion of pop culture to sidetrack a very gullible generation of Black people. The leaders are gone and the scary truth is that the ‘men’ have also left the building. The quintessential assertion is that all that black youth have to look up to are rappers and athletes; sadly enough most of them do not present a viable option to be role models for our youth. The logic is, somebody is drilling a concept of tangibles in our skulls right in our mother’s wombs even before we show up;- we need the big fancy cars, rims on bicycles, plasma screens in ‘hoopties’ without liability insurance and ideas like investment and assets are foreign language.
I have a sneaky suspicion that most people, who invest hundreds of dollars in video games, do not have a clue its economic value on New York Stock Exchange. In a conversation with a business expert D. Rives-Seals, she mentioned “we often believe that the value is in the product and lack the knowledge that the product has any economic significance”. Some one is raking in mega cash by virtue of our mere presence in life. How about instead of spending our life earnings on PS3 and X-Box every year, we “switch it up” and buy Madden and Playstation stocks. I just have a bright idea to fix it the glitch but the problem is, it will start with you and me. Truth is, the rappers and the athletes do an excellent job at “flashing’ their wealth, but don’t be too quick to pass judgment on them, they are doing the best they can with the resources they have. And just before you discern some sarcasm in my thoughts, I am yet to hear of a church rejecting a rapper’s “seed” planted in their God-ordained ministries. “A good soil never rejects a seed”, but these same rappers are hell-bound when they use profanity, obscene and degrading images in their hit records. Give me a break!
Who said the black youth don’t have role models? They do; - just not enough to meet the challenge. For several years of my life, I volunteered at a local YMCA to mentor young children, but sorry to say a one-man-wrecking crew is impossible to put a dent into the challenges or shaping young minds and hearts. Neither could the handful of thoughtful and compassionate individuals who strive to help the cause. Perhaps if the collective social engine glorifies the professional and hardworking men and women in the society, this discussion would be irrelevant. In that world, there would be a host of electricians, teachers, plumbers, ‘trash men’, bus drivers, artists and ‘regular folk’ who work day and night to secure a meaningful living to mentor a generation of Black America. Call me cynical but talk has always been cheap, and until we take a genuine interest in the problem at hand, nothing will change but in fact in 10 years we will be having the same conversation. Perhaps before you point a finger at teenage girls falling off the gridlines in record numbers and teenage boys making yearly trips to juvenile courts and the big houses, think of what you could do to save a life;- One child at a time.
So blame it on rappers and athletes but until the collective society can ‘step up’ to bridge the gap, someone has to fill the void.

If you were all alone in the universe with no one to talk to, no one with which to share the beauty of the stars, to laugh with, to touch, what would be your purpose in life? It is other life, it is love, which gives your life meaning. This is harmony. We must discover the joy of each other,- This is the power of Life.
(Mitsugi Saotome)

"TILL DEATH DO US PART". . . . . . . . . . . . . A Presidential Promise

I have always wondered if the presidents and world leaders who often cling to power for what seems like eternity actually do it out of the love for guidance, corruption or just the love for power itself. By logical deduction, I am forced to connect the dots on the trend of government embezzlements around the world.
Yes I had that much time on my hands.
The numbers do not lie(usually), especially when they are this staggering. The reasoning gets amusing the more you think about it. In Gabon, President Omar Albert-Bernard Bongo has led the country since April 14, 1967 but I am inclined to think that maybe he is till there because he got used to it. Much like any other job, after several decades of being employed by the same company, you wonder if you can do anything else at all. Don’t blame him, that’s perhaps human nature. Then in Libya, not even Ronald Regan could shake Muammar Gaddafi from the office he owned since Sept 1, 1969. Fidel Castro would have easily made it on my list and even the wake of recent events, I cannot help but remember his hard-line stance concerning the United States over the course of recent history. Mind you he “bought’ Cuba in November 1976.
President Ali Abdallah Saleh of Yemen has led his country since July 17, 1978 and in case you ever been to Yemen, you will aprreciate how much progress he has made in the past three decades. Even the president of Maldives, President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has been in power since Nov 11, 1978 and I know what you are thinking.;- is that a real country? Yes it is a country, a former colony of Britain, an island nation consisting of a group of atolls in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives are located south of India's Lakshadweep islands and south-west of Sri Lanka. If you are still confused, Ill suggest you find an encyclopedia.
Of course there is an even longer list of leaders who seized power and managed to keep for it for decades or many years and not surprising, most of these leaders stashed up ‘wild cash’ before walking out or even dying in office. Suharto made $15-35billion in profits in Indonesia, Ferdinand Marcos made $5-10billion in the Philippines, Mobutu Sese Seko stashed up $5billion in Congo and Sani Abacha saved $2-5billionn in his personal account courtesy of Nigeria. Even J-C Duvalier managed to land $300-800million from Haiti, and just in case you are wondering, no wonder Haiti is not exactly paradise. I must have been either naïve or stupid, but I always believed that only presidents of rich and powerful countries could amass tons of cash but on second thought, maybe I should seriously consider running for president in a small island in the Mediterranean Ocean, afterall the United Nations will be fighting terrorist in Iraq to investigate how much of my national budget benefits my country. For example, if Pavlo Lazarenko could bank $114-200milion in Ukraine, there is something seriously wrong with the picture. Last February, Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo died after being in power for 38 solid years and maybe it was the fact that Togo was fascinated by their royal family, that’s why they allowed Faure Gnassingbe to take over his father’s ‘throne’; maybe for 38 more years. The scary part is, if you really think that in all these leadership drama’s the United Nations and the powerful Western nations didn’t know, think again. Fast forward to the present;-President Hugo Chavez has confirmed that he will try to change the law to extend the time limit a leader can stay in office. Surprise! In Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has been in power for 27 years and just in case you think only the ‘developing countries’ can pull this stunt, wait a minute.
In Russia, there have been calls for a change to the constitution to allow President Vladimir Putin to stand for a third term in office next year. Of course if you live in America, you are quick to dismiss the possibilities of this allure for power; but perhaps we do it slightly differently. We actually keep it in the family somehow, through our sons and spouses or even our neighbors; but one day if all else fail, only Heaven knows what will be next. So the next time you vote, think about it because you may very well be electing a president indefinitely.
Just another thought.

FLOOD, HEALTH & DISASTER . . . . . . . . . A South Asian Crisis

First the winds, then the rain, and the flood;- and then the crisis began. Put simply, water sources in affected areas are either contaminated or submerged and according to the United Nations "millions of people affected by flooding in South Asia face a health crisis unless relief work is urgently stepped up".
No further explanation necessary. The World Health Organization and Unicef said "stagnant waters left by the floods are a lethal breeding ground for diarrhoeal and waterborne disease at potential epidemic level."

Now to the math, children, make up 40% of South Asia's population, in India, with some 20 million people in the states of Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh hit by the floods, about eight million people are affected in Bangladesh and another 300,000 people in southern Nepal.
In a difficult time for many affected in Asia, all they can do is to pray for help. Where is the UN when you need it the most? To their credit, there are unconfirmed reports that they are working around the clock, to send relief and medical assistance to the affected. That is good news, especially for an institution that need all the disasters to salvage its image and its importance in the global community.

BUT if the reports are anything close to accurate,” more rain is on the way and the flood season is likely to continue for several weeks". That is not good news for Asia and the Global community as a whole, especially in the United States where the mere mention of the word 'flood' revives every memory of Hurricane Katrina.

I hate to admit it, but maybe Al Gore and his Inconvenient Truth saw the writing on the wall. Just a thought!

IF IT AINT BROKE, fix it anyway

The horrible news in Minneapolis sends a shiver through the spines of anyone who ever drove a car on any bridge in America; or even if you rode in on. When science and engineering fails humanity and leaves the families and friends in a desperate search to find out who will not be making it to dinner on a given night; it is not a pretty though to ponder.
I live several thousands of miles away from the collapsed I-35W bridge in Minneapolis but just the very idea that it could have been anyone (including me) forces you to contemplate the fragile nature of life itself.

For my friends who live on MTV and BET and all the news you know is what Sal Masakela tells you on MTV between “Date my Mom” , “NEXT” and “ Top 10 Countdown”, Ill catch you up to speed- (just thank me later). By the way, Beyonce's new CD is not the idea of current affairs and news events that I am talking about.

A bridge that collapsed over the Mississippi river, in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Tuesday morning. At least four people are confirmed dead with up to 30 missing. US officials are not linking the collapse to terrorism. Of course the issue is not how many people are dead or alive, but rather the fact that it could happen anywhere, any day and to anyone. Now whichever angle you analyze it, that calls for some serious thinking.
“Some 50 vehicles were hurled into the water, local hospitals said they treated 79 people, mainly broken bones and head and spinal injuries, and rescue officials said they expected the death toll to rise”. According to experts (especially those who spring out of nowhere in the wake of events like these), ‘attention on its ageing infrastructure, particularly bridges’. Please tell me something I don’t already know.

The point is, the bridge needed fixing, but there probably was no urgency to fix it until it actually broke; - just like anything else in America. Not surprisingly, the hindsight experts do their best work after-the-fact with their interesting analysis. Give me a break.
The only relieving thought is the report that the 40-year-old I-35W highway bridge was being repaired at the time of the collapse. I live in Houston, and I have come to know it as “Construction City”, because it apparently is notorious for reconstructing what ever project it just constructed a second ago; but now I know why.
Our hearts go out to the people on Minneapolis and especially the families who are directly affected by this horrible accident. In the meantime the finger pointing game is in full swing, from state to federal, all the way down to the White House but whoever had the responsibility to assess the bridge’s capacity to withstand the pressures of life, needs to start filing for unemployment tomorrow. Donald Trump will say, ‘you’re fired’.

Either way, the only place I want to see huge chunks of concrete crash 64 feet into the water and people actually falling into the Mississippi river, is in any Steven Spielberg movie, not in real life.

My point is it could happen anywhere, any day and to anyone. Yet again, I’m just thinking aloud

DARFUR:- Aluta Continua 2

Many prayed; while others wrote long letters and pressure-laden notes to the Congressmen and Senators to put pressure on the powers-that-be to help the poor people in Sudan. August 1, marks the day that whether by sheer coincidence or some actual political calculations, the United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution authorizing the deployment of some 26,000 peacekeepers - the largest ever contingent - to the Sudanese region of Darfur.
Of course there are the cynics that will be quick to analyze the relative impact of any such deployment, judging from how much firepower United States along sent to Iraq so far. Of course the dynamics are different, but the fundamental mandate is the same. Now the real question is not what if, but rather how? Deploying the troops is always a much applaudable start to any campaign but it will come down to three major components; - execution, execution and execution.
The plan is simple, “aimed at halting violence that has killed at least 200,000 and forced 2million others from their homes since 2003”. Recently in my conversation with different civic and social leaders from Sudan, their instinctive feeling was that the African Union would perhaps be the better option, unless the United Nation contingents operate under the AU umbrella. Let’s face it, the latter is not plausible. Are there genuine concerns for the apprehension? Maybe. The region as, is very divided socially, politically and the most critical is the ideological divide. The culture and the language barrier will be the first to clash, thus the assertion that the AU will better alternative. Fast forward to my journalistic rebuttal;- how different will the reception be if the military contingents from Senegal and Ghana cannot communicate with the indigenous populations in the Sudan region? So with all the pros and cons aside, help is help; and Darfur desperately needs anything that resembles help, albeit it took too long. Of course there are more questions than answers, but until the crisis is quelled completely, the doubts and the skeptical suspicions will remain.
Until then, all we can do is hope. . . and pray.
I am just thinking aloud.