AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

Wonders never cease. You have probably heard that sentence before or used it yourself in daily conversation somewhere. But how true is it? I have used it a million times. I remember using it when the americans re-elected George W.Bush instead of John Kerry in 2004 US presidential elections. I bet I can use it again when somewhere in India, medical miracle suggests that a man too can become pregnant. Read this story.

What about Chavez?Do we agree with the case he is putting on international tables?Do we need need a new UN?If at all I agree with his suggestion, I have one condition; the next Secretary General has to be a woman.What do you think? You can read Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chaves’s speech here.I liked it.

The UN General Assembly is on high kick.Speeches are being delivered. African statesmen and their huge entourage are busy in New York.Come on,lets be real here,what they say does not matter,does not deny anyone a sleep. These are first class tourists unless something changes drastically. Therefore when I say busy I mean busy shopping,soliciting business(personal may be) begging investors to come and screw their economies as well as meeting some of their countrymen who now resides abroad,in untied states of America.

These countrymen asks silly questions when they meet.I call them silly because they surely know the answers, the political ones of course. “Mr. President,when will your leadership grant us the right to vote when abroad”? Mr.President smiles and answers ” we know the importance of you being able to vote,we are working on it..next”.Now chairman,didn’t you know this answer? Well I don’t ask,I act.

Hate him or love him, I believe this man makes sense,at least from what he says in his speeches.Yes,I am talking about Iranian president,Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His yesterday speech was fantastic..only if somebody could actually listen rather than just being influenced with what mainstream media is telling them. By the way,I hate when someone comes to me claiming to have evidences on issues just because they saw it on Cnn,Fox,Bbc, and the rest.Negro Please. You can read his entire speech here. Please read it.I am begging you.

Now to the above picture. That is a homeless man in Toronto, actually at City Hall grounds. Poverty is real,even in these countries that wants us to believe otherwise. They just need to look at their neighborhoods to understand what it means when people talk about poverty.

A traveller is an atheist. We have that saying in Africa. How much of that saying is true or not could be an endless debate.
There are thousands of perceived messages that could come out of this picture. What do you think when you see this one? Please leave your opinion(s).Don’t just glance at it and say nothing.I would like to hear from you.

Picture courtesy of my good friend Yahya Charahani who blogs in swahili at www.charaz.blogspot.com

Yes I have been quite, I admit. I have been watching news, listening to the same old radio; I have had it for eighteen years now. It still gives me the vibes I need, same old wacko jacko thriller. Been busy watching the documentaries. My TV set is still black and white. I am an old school, I admit and not complain. But I can see the flying planes hitting the twin towers, oops I poor me I thought “twin” was only for human beings. I see politicians’ faces, fake tears flowing from their cheeks. If you are like me, you wonder what are they made of? My friend Scout reminds me of their abnormalities when she states…only if they were normal. That calms my nerves down.

September 11, 2001. Surely I can not forget this day. How can I? It killed lots of innocent people as well as my right for free movement without fear or lots of immigration officer’s questions. Right now they can ask me anything, it’s their duty they say. They can even ask me what color is my underwear! If I decline to answer, charges can be placed against me, terrorism charges. I am mad at that day…however, I am mad at nobody. Intelligence is a game, isn’t it? Who is responsible for that day? Are you following the presidential confessions that go unnoticed every other day? Democracy at work, you lie and get away with it.

I am reading books, reading sites (the carefully chosen ones). Don’t lie to me anymore even if you are an author. I can tell when you have been paid to write what you write while you do not believe a shit about it. You are just like any other commodity I can buy from Canadian Tire…hey is this thing Canadian for real? Please tell me now because I am in a campaign. Tell you about it later. We call them mainstream, they are paid to deceive us, to manipulate facts and figures, yet we spend too much time watching them. I am not, count me out.

Well before I post this message, here comes yet sad news. Someone opened randomly fire at Dawson College in Montreal. The man’s name is Kimveer Gill and he has a profile on www.vampirefreaks.com . While thinking of the families who have lost their loved ones due to all these as well as those who are now besides the hospital beds watching their beloved ones while praying that the doctor comes out with only good news, I am also thinking, who can we blame? This young man or his social upbringing? Do you think we can point the tough fire fingers to the video games that he compared them to real life when he said in his profile that life is like a video game, you got to die somewhere! How many are out there with same thoughts? Will we say we didn’t know…Wish we knew? Okay, what if it’s true that the boy was seriously bullied?

Recently,I came accross the north american phenomena called Blue Men.
Although these guys have existed since 80’s, of recent they have become talks and talks of cities and towns. Did I like their performances…mmmh.Not very sure. But well,they made it,they are living now for being blue! What a big apple North America is,is that right?

Dear Mom and Dad,
Its my earnestly hope that you are all fine. As I always say, hope is the best thing that all human beings are living by/for. Envisioning a day with no hope is hard. Hope keeps us moving, keeps us focused and above all positive hopes brings about better dreams as opposed to nightmares.

I am fine, fine than when I wrote you two past letters. I was very sorry to hear that my previous letters caused a bit troubled views about my situation out here in North America. I am sorry that the letters sounded that way contrary to the truth that this place is actually not that bad at all. However, I think and believe that this place is different. Now as you both know, opposite attracts, the very incentive why some of us are here and will perhaps prolong our stay for a long period of time.

Last weekend was Labor Day here in North America. If you ask me why North Americans chose to have their Labor Day in September instead of internationally recognized May 1st, my answer could just be simple; wanted to be different! This is one of the things that make up the difference I just mentioned above. Can you imagine kids going to school not in uniform? Can anyone of you imagine kissing our dog Jack? The differences are many, sometimes too many to even make one wonder where they are. Did I ever tell you a story of my two Kenyan friends who went to jail when they thought were doing a customary ceremony of slaughtering a goat during end of the year seasons? Out here you need a permit to slaughter a goat!

Life goes on, anyway, whenever blessed we rise up at dawn to face new days. And it’s only for hope that I always recommend to my friends and relatives, including you now that they live everyday as if it is that special day. Do not keep anything for special occasion; you may not be able to ever see it.

As you would have thought, the world is altering; everything is changing, from weather to music. Gone are the days when weather was never a political issue. That was left to dreamland and whoever lives there. Today’s music and musicians are completely different. Gone are the days when a band of six people used only one microphone to sing. Nowadays all six members of the band have a microphone on their hand. The divergence comes when because all of them are singing, at one time, you can barely hear what they are saying. I can not make a whistle out of today’s music and as uncle Tunga used to say, a music out of which you can not make a whistle is not music at all. By the way, do you still go to watch live band at Tambu Park? I would get the picture if you told me you no longer go, things have changed.

Mom and Dad, I do not want to sound like a member of the clergy here. What I want to do is to be of assistance so that all of us continue growing, growing as a strong family. I know when I write you also share the core message with the rest of the family members. I will always recognize the value of that. We need to continue to search for knowledge. For that reason we need to read more and hence learn more. Let us, whenever possible, sit on our front balcony and be thankful for the view without paying attention to our needs. Do you think that is hard to do?

We also need to spend more time with our families and friends. Such gatherings could enable us to eat our favorite foods. With families and friends we must not forget to visit the places we love. Now you know how much I love Mount Kilimanjaro National Park, The Serengeti, Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater. I cannot wait to come home and see those places again. I would like to take those trips with all of you so please stay strong. Life is a chain of moments of enjoyments, not only about survival. I believe so.

If anyone of you has crystal goblets I encourage you to use them. That is just like how I used and still encourage my friends to not save their best cologne for any special day. I encourage them to use their best cologne every time they feel like they want it. Every day, every hour and every minute is special. After all we all don’t know if it will be our last.

Last but not least, let’s tell our families and friends how much we love them. Just like how I love you Mom and Dad. Let me end up here for today. As promised before, whenever I get time I will write more letters.

Greetings to everybody.

Son

Jeff

I feel sorry when anybody loses life. I simply hate death. That explains why I see my doctor twice a year!

Today, the world mourns the death of Steve Irwin, an environmentalist, animal lover, down to earth person, risks taker, husband, friend, dad and many more. How did he die? Here is the story.

In Africa, we simply don’t play with the so called wild species. We hardly have pets that lives inside homes, sleeps on our beds and couches, kisses us. When I was young I used to keep a dog (he was called Pijo) until when it bite our neighbor’s son. After that incidence I graduated in my lessons of categorizing animals accordingly. The wild ones remains in the bush, they are never pets. Things are differently elsewhere when an animal lover goes to extremes.

The first time I saw Steve Irwin play with the crocodiles I thought he was totally crazy. I now know that he was not crazy but was some sort of extremist (when it came to animals).
Unfortunately, he died still loving animals and truly caring to even give them a kiss. For that I respect him although as an African still can not comprehend his actions. His death reminds us the Las Vegas the 2003 incidence whereby Roy of Seigfield and Roy Show was attacked by the tiger. And that should explain, once again, why we need to love animals, treat them as nice as we can but never forget that their IQs are different from our and never shall they be like ours. RIP Steve Irwin

Where I come from there is a saying that says “shughuli ni watu”.Literally it means there is no people,there is no event/party.Simple as that. I bet that is true,isn’t it? This photo was taken during 2006 Caribana parade.Can you see me there?