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“It’s not a matter of being inexperienced. It’s a matter of being young,” said Young, who is 75. “There’s a certain level of maturity ... you’ve got to learn to take a certain amount of (expletive).”

“There are more black people that Bill and Hillary lean on,” Young said. “You cannot be president alone. ... To put a brother in there by himself is to set him up for crucifixion. His time will come and the world will be ready for a visionary leadership.”…AJC

Well someone should have told Andy Young that Barack will be as old as Bill Clinton when he (Clinton) took office. Kennedy was 43years when he took office as well. Dr. Martin Luther King died when he was 39 years old — and he wrote his famous letters from Birmingham Jail when he was just past 30. In fact, Mr. Young should go and read the portion of that letter where Dr. King argues against those sympathetic white ministers who kept on telling civil rights activists to “wait” until times were more favorable for protest, and Dr. King said, well, that would mean waiting FOREVER. Now, over three decades later, and Mr. Young is telling a black man to “wait.” Oh Please. However, young wasn’t done with his Clinton worship as he went on to say some more absurd bullshit such as:

Young also quipped that “Bill is every bit as black as Barack.”

Back in 1998 during the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, writer Toni Morrison said, "black skin notwithstanding: this is our first black President" citing his dysfunctional upbringing as commonality with black males. But the joke's an insult. The punchline is that Clinton is decadent and promiscuous, got rhythm, got caught and got over -- so he's black!

In fact, during the 8 years Clinton was in office, the incarceration rates of blacks surpassed the egregious Reagan era. Although Clinton has since attempted to change the past through his actions post-presidency, during his reign he continued to support mandatory minimum sentencing, flawed "3 strikes" laws and did nothing to change the disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine which disproportionately affects African Americans.

These efforts, in turn, put more black men behind bars than ever before creating a new generation of felons courtesy of our defective war on drugs

Two days ago Barack Obama made the following comment in a New Hampshire gym:

I hate that term: "Dark Continent", but Africa at night do look dark compared to other parts of the world. Click here to see what the other parts of the planet looks like at night. Most of the continent of Africa (except for south Africa) is dark literally.

A serious consequence of this electricity problem is the non-existence of an internet culture in Africa as chronicled in a new United Nations report. Here is the money quote:

“in Africa, ICT has barely taken a foothold. Computer illiteracy and the lack of access to ICT are widely recognized as an increasingly powerful obstacle to the economic, civic, and political development of Africa.” And Africa Recovery notes that in Africa “For most people even making a telephone call is still a remote possibility in an era when most of the world is now communicating almost instantly across cities, regions and the globe using wireless and satellite technologies to send high-speed electronic messages.”

Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade has this to say about the dilemma facing Africa .

“The digital gap brings with it a danger of isolating certain peoples, those in Africa in particular.”

Africans after decades of independence are still lacking behind in all human growth indexes compiled. And what are the leaders doing about it except for the lamentations made by the likes of monsieur Wade. Asia and Africa had comparable economic outlooks at the dawn of their independence. In fact sub Saharan Africa...with it's natural resources was primed for inevitable economic growth while Asia seemed an economic backwater with no promise in the immediate aftermath of colonialism.

Today, the roles have reversed. Sub-Saharan Africa is the economic backwater while Asia is setting the pace for economic development. The four Asian Tigers: Hong Kong , Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan set the pace. Now their bigger cousins in China and India have risen up to the challenge ....putting their ingenuity to the test while some African leaders play witch doctor.

The next generation of African children are been left behind digitally while the kleptomaniacs ruling over them play God. And Africa remain the "dark continent"...figuratively and now digitally.

I was talking to a friend the other day about the firing of Edward Singhateh and the repercussions or lack thereof it could have on the security and long term stability of Yahya's government. My friend was of the opinion that the Singhateh brothers ( Edward and Peter) wouldn't let Yahya humiliate them like he does with the other ministers and functionaries he fires on what seems like a daily basis.

I had a good laugh at this assumption. What my friend failed to understand is that Yahya Jammeh is not a two bit dictator any more, but a full fledge one. He has gradually strengthen his grip on the security infrastructure over the years, with his cronies manning every facet of the elaborate and brutal system. Peter might be second in command in the army, but he has no power...zilch, zero. Yahya has essentially marginalized Edward when he kept demoting him from the vice chairman to defense and then forestry. Let that last point sink in for a minute. From the number two honcho to Forestry and fisheries...Jesus Christ. If Edward has any following in the army, he would have had Yahya by the cojones now. What? with all these stories floating around about how brutal that Edward fellow is...you think he will be taking such a humiliation on the cheek without lashing out? I don't think so.

Now comes the story that Yahya has discharge Peter from the army while he (Peter) is out of the country on a one year training course. Cunning ... wouldn't you say? Fire him while he is caught off from what little following he may have in the army. I won't be surprise if in the next few days some soldiers are rounded up and accuse of a coup. The house cleaning has just begun.

Here is the Gambia Journal's story on the discharge of Peter and the firing of kebba Sanyang...the later was recently moved from justice to works and now he is unemployed:

In a move that surprised few, President Jammeh has relieved Lt. Peter Singhateh, brother of the former Secretary of State for the Forest and Environment Edward Singhateh, of his commanding position in the army also discharged from the Gambian National Army. Peter Singhateh was the Deputy Commander of the Defense Staff. The Gambia Journal has learnt that Peter Singhateh left the country only a week for a-one year training in an unnamed foreign country. ...the Gambiajournal

The GambiaEcho is reporting the same development here

The Gambia Journal citing unconfirmed sources is reporting the arrest and detention of Edward Singhateh:

Another unconfirmed report say the recently dismissed Secretary of State for Forestry and the Environment, Mr. Edward Singhateh has been arrested and detained. The yet to be confirmed report did not say when and why Mr. Singhateh was arrested. He was the only remaining one of the three men who together formed the post-coup military junta that ruled The Gambia between 1994 to 1996...

According to Ebrima Sankareh of the Gambia echo, Edward Singhateh has been relieved of his Fisheries ministry and replaced by his permanent secretary Kotu Cham...a career civil servant. Here is a snippet of what he wrote:

According to unassailable sources from State House, the most powerful man in Yahya Jammeh’s government, 39 year old Edward David Singhateh, a callous man masked in a fake image who has killed more Gambians than any other person has been sacked. His Permanent Secretary, Mr. Kotu Cham of Sanchaba Sulay Jobe village is the new Secretary of State for Forestry and the Environment.... Gambia echo

There is no independent confirmation of this story. So take it for what it is ...


Update

The Gambia journal is reporting this development as well. Here is the link.

The Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh will today, September 14th, name a new cabinet, a report monitored over GRTS yesterday announced. According to the announcement, President Jammeh, acting on relevant provisions of the Gambian Constitution, yesterday effected a cabinet reshuffle. Meanwhile Mr. Kebba Sanyang, who hitherto served as Attorney- General and Secretary of state for Justice, has been reassigned to the Department of State for Works, Construction and Infrastructure as the Secretary of State of that Department. Mrs. Marie Saine Firdaus, Technical Adviser Office of the President, has been appointed as Anthony-General and Secretary of State for Justice. The rest of the Cabinet is expected to be announced today.... The Point

Update:

Omar Faye and Bala Jahumpa are out of the Jammeh cabinet. The former replaced by Mass Axi Gaye and the later by Crispin Grey Johnson. Mr abdoulai Sallah formerly of Health has been brought back to replace Grey Johnson at the Higher education portfolio, while Ousman Jammeh is entrusted with the newly created petroleum ministry. Petroleum hmmm...

All other secretaries of state remain intact. Bala Jahumpa and Omar Faye will be assign diplomatic duties.

So professor Ba Banutu Gomez had enough of the US of A. He decided to pack his bags, return back to the Gambia and invest his savings into a business college. Ain't nothing wrong with that if you ask me. What gets under my skin though is the tendency of African intellectuals returning home and all of a sudden converting to the religion of sycophancy to fit in the system. It usually start with subtle statements like this one that Gomez is reported as saying in the point newspaper:

Professor Ba Banutu-Gomez, the proprietor of the newly built Bantu Business College, has called on all Gambians outside The Gambia to stop focusing on politics, and instead focus on developing the country regardless of any political ideology one may have, adding that if the country is the centre of our hearts and thinking, we can work together even though we may have different political ideologies.

The good professor is smart enough to know that is hogwash. If the politics is dictatorial and authoritarian, development ain't gonna happen. But that is not important to him at this moment. He has a plan and an investment, the success of his venture depends on the goodwill of the political masters. So he wouldn't want to do anything to raise their ire. That is smart business for him, but to tell the rest of us to stop focusing on politics is disingenuous on his part as well. Development doesn't happen in a vacuum. Sustainable development needs a stable political environment to incubate and flourish. That is what loud mouths like yours truly yearn for and Mr. Gomez knew this all along. The Gambia no matter how you slice it isn't going to develop with a business college here and there until the political environment change.

Talking of holier than thou, the professor went on to make the following absurd comment:

Josh Marshall hit a cord on the recent brouhaha created by Obama's comment on Pakistan:

The unspoken truth here, I suspect, is that Obama has struck on the central folly of our post-9/11 counter-terrorism defense policy -- strike hard where they aren't and go easy where they are. I think everyone can see this. But Obama got there first. So they need to attack him for saying it..

The foreign policy establishment crowd in Washington DC is a cartel...a job pool. Brookings institute and it's ilk are breeding grounds for folk looking for government jobs. They adhere to the same sort of thinking: the kind that believes Iraq is a danger to the US circa 2002.

Obama is taking them on and his only mistake will be to back down as Josh eloquently puts it in this passage:

I'm always interested to try to tease apart and find the meta-debates operating beneath the surface of campaign debates. As I wrote a few years ago in what I called the bitch-slap theory of GOP electoral politics, the whole swift-boat saga was less about the specifics of Kerry's injuries forty years ago than whether he could defend himself from the charges today. Someone who can't defend himself is weak; and if a guy can't defend himself he can't defend you.

that's what that whole song-and-dance was about.
So what is this back and forth about Obama and Pakistan about?
What this has boiled down to -- and this became even more clear after Tuesday night's labor-hosted debate, when Biden and Dodd acted as Hillary's proxies -- is Hillary, in league with the party's foreign policy establishment, trying to make Obama, implicitly or explicitly, concede an error, that he misspoke.
Precisely what he misspoke about is largely beside the point. The key is that they get him to concede that in the complex and serious world of foreign policy big-think, where words have consequences, he made an error. Of course, it's almost good enough if most observers decide that Obama screwed up. But once he concedes it himself, if he does, he stipulates from now through the end of the Democratic primary campaign that his inexperience in foreign policy is a basic premise of the campaign upon which the battle between him and Hillary will be waged. He can learn, improve, make progress, whatever, but his inexperience compared to Hillary will continue to be the reference point throughout... ..tpm

Barack likes to tell folks that he is a product of chicago politics...knows when to fight and stand your doggone ground. If he let the Dodds, clintons and bidens of the washington crowd, that voted for the worst foreign policy blunder of this century dictate or lecture him on foreign policy, then he should fold his campaign, because from that point on he becomes their bitch and they will keep slapping him around.

I am not advocating macho stance or refusal to admit mistakes. However in this situation I think he is right and his detractors are wrong. Samantha Powers ...an advisor to Obama puts it more succintly in this memo:

August 3, 2007
To: Interested Parties
From: Samantha Power -- Founding Executive Director, Harvard University Carr Center for Human Rights Policy

Re: Conventional Washington versus the Change We Need
It was Washington’s conventional wisdom that led us into the worst strategic blunder in the history of US foreign policy. The rush to invade Iraq was a position advocated by not only the Bush Administration, but also by editorial pages, the foreign policy establishment of both parties, and majorities in both houses of Congress. Those who opposed the war were often labeled weak, inexperienced, and even naïve.
Barack Obama defied conventional wisdom and opposed invading Iraq. He did so at a time when some told him that doing so would doom his political future. He took that risk because he thought it essential that the United States “finish the fight with bin Laden and al Qaeda.” He warned that a “dumb war, a rash war” in Iraq would result in an “occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.”
Barack Obama was right; the conventional wisdom was wrong. And today, we see the consequences. Iraq is in chaos. According to the National Intelligence Estimate, the threat to our homeland from terrorist groups is “persistent and evolving.” Al-Qaeda has a safe-haven in Pakistan. Iran has only grown stronger and bolder. The American people are less safe because of a rash war.
Over the last few weeks, Barack Obama has once again taken positions that challenge Washington’s conventional wisdom on foreign policy. And once again, pundits and politicians have leveled charges that are now bankrupt of credibility and devoid of the new ideas that the American people desperately want.

On each point in the last few weeks, Barack Obama has called for a break from a broken way of doing things. On each point, he has brought fresh strategic thinking and common sense that break with the very conventional wisdom that has led us into Iraq.
Diplomacy: For years, conventional wisdom in Washington has said that the United States cannot talk to its adversaries because it would reward them. Here is the result:
* The United States has not talked directly to Iran at a high level, and they have continued to build their nuclear weapons program, wreak havoc in Iraq, and support terror.
* The United States has not talked directly to Syria at a high level, and they have continued to meddle in Lebanon and support terror.
* The United States did not talk to North Korea for years, and they were able to produce enough material for 6 to 8 more nuclear bombs.
By any measure, not talking has not worked. Conventional wisdom would have us continue this policy; Barack Obama would turn the page. He knows that not talking has made us look weak and stubborn in the world; that skillful diplomacy can drive wedges between your adversaries; that the only way to know your enemy is to take his measure; and that tough talk is of little use if you’re not willing to do it directly to your adversary. Barack Obama is not afraid of losing a PR battle to a dictator – he’s ready to tell them what they don’t want to hear because that’s how tough, smart diplomacy works, and that’s how American leaders have scored some of the greatest strategic successes in US history.
Barack Obama’s judgment is right; the conventional wisdom is wrong. We need a new era of tough, principled and engaged American diplomacy to deal with 21st century challenges.
Terrorist Sanctuaries: For years, we have given President Musharraf hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid, while deferring to his cautious judgment on how to take out high-level al Qaeda targets – including, most likely, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. Here is the result:
* Bin Laden and Zawahiri – two men with direct responsibility for 9/11– remain at large.
* Al Qaeda has trained and deployed hundreds of fighters worldwide from its sanctuary in northwest Pakistan.
* Afghanistan is far less secure because the Taliban can strike across the border, and then return to safety in Pakistan.
By any measure, this strategy has not worked. Conventional wisdom would have us defer to Musharraf in perpetuity. Barack Obama wants to turn the page. If Musharraf is willing to go after the terrorists and stop the Taliban from using Pakistan as a base of operations, Obama would give him all of the support he needs. But Obama made clear that as President, if he had actionable intelligence about the whereabouts of al Qaeda leaders in Pakistan – and the Pakistanis continued to refuse to act against terrorists known to be behind attacks on American civilians – then he will use highly targeted force to do so.
Barack Obama’s judgment is right; the conventional wisdom is wrong. We need a new era that moves beyond the conventional wisdom that has brought us over-reliance on an unreliable dictator in Pakistan and an occupation of Iraq.

Nuclear Attacks on Terrorist Targets: For years, Washington’s conventional wisdom has held that candidates for President are judged not by their wisdom, but rather by their adherence to hackneyed rhetoric that make little sense beyond the Beltway. When asked whether he would use nuclear weapons to take out terrorist targets in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Barack Obama gave the sensible answer that nuclear force was not necessary, and would kill too many civilians. Conventional wisdom held this up as a sign of inexperience. But if experience leads you to make gratuitous threats about nuclear use – inflaming fears at home and abroad, and signaling nuclear powers and nuclear aspirants that using nuclear weapons is acceptable behavior, it is experience that should not be relied upon.
Barack Obama’s judgment is right. Conventional wisdom is wrong. It is wrong to propose that we would drop nuclear bombs on terrorist training camps in Pakistan, potentially killing tens of thousands of people and sending America’s prestige in the world to a level that not even George Bush could take it. We should judge presidential candidates on their judgment and their plans, not on their ability to recite platitudes.
Vision: American foreign policy is broken. It has been broken by people who supported the Iraq War, opposed talking to our adversaries, failed to finish the job with al Qaeda, and alienated the world with our belligerence. Yet conventional wisdom holds that people whose experience includes taking these positions are held up as examples of what America needs in times of trouble.
Barack Obama says we have to turn the page. We cannot afford any more of this kind of bankrupt conventional wisdom. He has laid out a foreign policy that is bold, clear, principled, and tailored for the 21st century. End a war we should never have fought, concentrate our resources against terrorists who threaten America. End the counter-productive policy of lumping together our adversaries and avoiding talking to our foes. End the era of politics that is all sound-bites and no substance, and offer the American people the change that they need. Barack Obama’s judgment is right. It is conventional wisdom that has to change.

Now, that's how you fight back. I like what I am seeing here.

So Mitt Romney got caught showing his pearly whites while holding a sign that compares Obama to the terrorist mastermind behind the death of almost three thousand people on American soil.





When confronted, been hypocritical as always, he offered this absurd explanation:

I'm going to be taking many pictures with all of you and I don't really spend too much time looking at the signs and the t-shirts and the buttons. So I don't have anything particularly to say about a sign somebody else was holding...mydd.com

The only problem with this answer is that he is holding the damn sign himself and grinning from ear to ear. I bet if someone brought up a sign that said "There is no God" or "The Mormon Church is a dangerous cult", I doubt very much that he would help hold it up to have a picture taken. (I'm not saying the Mormon church is a dangerous cult, I am just making a hypothetical).

And what does it say about him if he really doesn't read the signs? He'll stand behind any sign, smiling approval without knowing what it says? Only an imbecile would do that. I am going to go out on a limb and say that he read that sign. Candidates are totally aware of the power of images; he'd be an utter moron not to have read it beforehand. On the other hand, I suppose he is a moron for comparing Obama to Osama bin Laden.

I call on the government to release Chief Ebrima Manneh, Kanyiba Kanyi and Rambo Jatta if they are in their custody and if not in their custody to do all it takes to know who is holding these guys. After all they are not important. And it is only going to give the country a bad name.

Magistrate Jawo of the Kanifing magistrates court decided to save his own skin in lieu of providing justice in the Fatou Jaw Manneh sedition trial. This is a travesty of justice. He moved the case to Banjul after weeks of hearing testimony on a stupid technicality. Shouldn't the learned magistrate determined the proper venue prior to hearing the evidence in the case? He sat there for weeks listening to the witnesses and made rulings on the case that could determine the outcome of the case only to tell the defendant that he is not the right authority to adjudicate her case. This is an outrage. Justice delayed someone opined is justice denied. They are wasting the lady's time and resources on a frivolous witch hunt. Shame on them.

Here is the story courtesy of the Point newspaper:

Magistrate Jawo therefore expressed the view that the court that has the jurisdiction to try the accused is the Banjul Magistrates' Court, invoking section 61, subsection 1 and 62 subsection 21 of the Criminal Procedure Code to back his ruling of transferring the case to Banjul Magistrates' Court.

Afrigadget featured him a few years ago after he built a windmill to generate electricity for his home in a remote Malawian village using materials available locally. William Kamkwamba has come a long way indeed. He was one of the inventors recognised at the recently concluded TEDGlobal conference

With the help of friends he has created a blog to do: well what bloggers do... appraise well wishers of his undertakings. You can access his blog here.

He was fearless, poignant, smart and he has a way with words. Gilly was an unapologetic liberal when that word has a nuance connotation for most. His predictions about the Iraq war are prophetic. He will be missed. So Long Gilly...may your soul rest in eternal peace.

Tail rank has a page with obituaries from the top guns in the left blogosphere here.

The Kenyan blog Kumechuca calls Koinange “the Kenyan date rape journalist.” It also reports that a woman apparently sent a letter to the president of CNN Worldwide that outlines how Koinange started sending her personal e-mails.

Another blog: “Distant Lovers,” spells out conversations and e-mails from Koinange to the woman. Here is a passage:

“Jeff wanted to have a photo from me and I had made the mistake to tell him that I had an enlarged beautiful and very stylish one of me showing me ‘naked’.

CNN (according to TVNewser) isn’t saying much, but a spokesperson said Koinange, “is no longer employed at CNN, and we are not commenting beyond that.” I’m sure there are two sides to the story, and Koinange hasn’t been reached for his side.

Personally, I’m going to miss seeing Koinange on-air. He was so enthusiastic and passionate about his stories. If his extracurricular activities did in fact lead to the dismissal, it’s unfortunate, but it shows how powerful these little thingies called blogs are getting.

"Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton," by Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr., reports that during her husband's 1992 campaign, a team she oversaw hired a private investigator to undermine Gennifer Flowers "until she is destroyed." Flowers had said publicly that she had an affair with Bill Clinton while he was governor of Arkansas.

The book also suggests that Hillary Clinton did not read the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq in 2002 before voting to authorize war. And it includes a thirdhand report that the Clintons had a secret plan after the 1992 election in which he would have eight years as president and then she would have eight years, although last night a key source disavowed the story.

I am not a fan of Yahya Jammeh and his totalitarian form of governance. However I think his government should be commended for trying to sponsor 300 Gambian students to study Engineering, medicine and agriculture in universities abroad. It is an investment in human capital, which will provide long term socio-economic benefits to our society. It beats the invesment in military hardware on any given day. Here is the story from the point newspaper:

Presidential Office to Sponsor Gambians to Universities Abroad
Friday 18th May 2007

By Osman Kargbo

The Office of the President, through the efforts of H.E. President Yahya Jammeh, will be providing close to 300 scholarships to young talented Gambians to study in universities and colleges abroad, a press release from the President’s office has stated.

According to the release faxed yesterday to this paper, the sponsorship, which will commence in September 2007, will cover various disciplines with special emphasis in the Sciences such as Medicines, Engineering and Agriculture.

The release stated further: “The Office of the President is pleased to inform the general public that through the untiring efforts of His Excellency The President Alhaji Dr Yahya A.J.J Jammeh, training opportunities will be made available, commencing in the next academic year (September, 2007) for young talented Gambians to study in Universities and Colleges abroad.

“Nearly 300 scholarships will be available for study in various disciplines but with emphasis in the Sciences such as Medicines, Engineering, Agriculture among other disciplines.” It also said the scholarships would be made available to students from across the country. “Interested applicants should apply to the Office of The President and provide proof of citizenship and authentic academic results to back their application,” the release concluded.

My apologies to the point for going over my fair use privileges here.

I was looking forward to attending Obama's speech at the economic club of Detroit today. But alas commitments at work make this impossible. However reading through the dispatches made about the speech in various newspapers, I am even more convinced that Barack Obama is one courageous politician.

He walked into a meeting of the Economic Club of Detroit and proposed raising fuel efficiency. If you know anything about Michigan politics, you know that this is such a third rail in Michigan that even the Democrats from this area oppose raising CAFE standards. You don't mess with the big three automakers and their addiction to profits gained from producing big gaz guzzling sport utility vehicles.

But Barack look them in the eye and told them the truth. Here is a passage from the New York times coverage of the event:

"For years, while foreign competitors were investing in more fuel-efficient technology for their vehicles, American automakers were spending their time
investing in bigger, faster cars," he said, according to a text of his remarks.
"And whenever an attempt was made to raise our fuel efficiency standards, the
auto companies would lobby furiously against it, spending millions to prevent
the very reform that could’ve saved their industry." In his speech, Mr.
Obama proposed stricter fuel economy standards, greater availability of tax
credits to consumers who buy hybrids or other ultra-efficient vehicles and
subsidies to help automakers pay health care expenses in return for greater
investment in advanced technology...Nytimes

Leadership is effectively telling people something they may not be pre-disposed to hearing. Obama is right on this issue. And its not something that can be chalked up to evil-doing on Detroit's part, so much as simply their deeply ingrained corporate culture that dictates "Americans want bigger and more powerful cars, not efficient cars"... I don't know where they picked up that notion, but its simply not true.

Obama is telling them the hard truth. And he didn't say this at a rally as a way to pander to crowds of consumers -- he went to where he could most effect change on the issue, the automakers themselves, to sell them on change. He's about results, at the end of the day.

Until now,I have decided to stay clear of the brouhaha ignited by Don Imus's racist comment. But the hypocrisy of his defenders is making my blood boil.Everyone who stands up to the podium to defend Don Imus says the same thing, right off the bat: What the man said was deplorable. Indefensible. Disgusting. Or any other litany of words to try to separate themselves from his vile comments. If you believe that what he said was disgusting and indefensible, then what the hell are you defending him for?

Today marks the 7th anniversary of the April 10th 2000 student massacre that took place in the Gambia. Alpha Robinson wrote a powerful poem in the heydays of that senseless human tragedy. In memory of all those students who paid the ultimate price, here is Alpha Robinson's timeless poem:

Cry not Mama

Trying to make sense

Out of the senseless

Turning around in circles

Sleepless and restless

Trying to feel your pain

Mothers and fathers of the martyrs

Young lives taken away

From earth to earth

Living in our hearts

Forever Forever and Forever

Mothers we mourn by your side

You have carried that baby for eight months

The ninth month demanding your breath

The joy you felt after the birth pains

Hoping and dreaming

That your baby will one day be someone

You gave that baby solid food and love

Toiling under the sun

Nothing you would not do

To give that child a future

Fathers we mourn by your side

You work this earth with bare feet

You deny yourself pleasures

To give that child a future

How anxious you were

Waiting to hear from the maternity ward

Or was it from the home

News about your baby

You two took that child to school

With high expectations

To acquire knowledge

For a better future

Then came the gunman

The neighbour’s child he was

No stranger to you

He calls you mother and father

Yet he turned that gun on your children

And took them away from you

Forever Forever and Forever

But cry not Mama

That child is in eternal peace

How can I tell you

How can I make you understand

That your pain is not in vain

That your pain is mine

Some give their lives for others

In their own way

And live forever

Look at me Mama

I am your child

For what your child died for

Will live in me forever

So they all live in me Mama

All those courageous children

And I am not alone Mama

We are all your children

As you dry your tears

Gripped by grief

Your legs feeling numb and heavy

Trying to make sense out of the senseless

Seek consolation in us

We who will carry your child in us

Until we take our last breath

No they did not die in vain!

For what they died for

Cannot be killed Mama

Justice must come

Freedom must come

A new Gambia will be born

It’s only a matter of time

By Alpha Robinson

May their souls continue to rest in eternal bliss.

He may be a newbie and he is obviously not perfect, but, so far he and his campaign executed well. He is clearly doing a good job of turning enthusiasm into tangible campaign support.

WHOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!! $25 million dollars . IT'S ON. IT'S SO ON!

Obama, we got your back baby. We got you. There's PLENTY more where that came from.

The Gambian online community has been swirling with indignation at the arrest and detention of Washington based former Observer reporter Fatou Jaw Manneh. She was arrested on her arrival at Banjul international airport sometime last week and today we learn from the point that she has been arraigned and charged with insulting the president. Here is what the point has on the incident:

Fatou Jaw Manneh was yesterday arraigned before Magistrate Pa Harry Jammeh of the Kanifing court, charged with ‘indictious offence.’ In her reaction to the charge, the accused told the court that she could not take her plea in the absence of her lawyer. The court thus granted her time to get the services of a lawyer.

The accused, arrested and detained on her arrival from the US, is said to have worked for many online newspapers in Washington, DC. She is expected back in court today.

Meanwhile, this paper was reliably informed that family members of Ms. Manneh has been given access to her, and also providing food while in detention at the NIA since last Wednesday...thepoint

Thank God she has been release on bail. that is a start.

Could Robert Mugabe's dictatorship be living on borrowed time? The Roman Catholic archbishop in one of the dioceses in Zimbabwe is calling on the people to take to the streets to protest Mugabe's authoritarian rule. He is not only talking the talk but will be walking as well:

Pius Ncube, the Roman Catholic archbishop of the southern Bulawayo diocese, urged Zimbabweans to take to the streets in protest at the government's ongoing crackdown against dissenters opposed to the government, Reuters reported.

"The biggest problem with Zimbabweans is they are cowards, myself included, but as for me I am ready to stand in front, even of blazing guns," Ncube told a news conference.

"If only Zimbabweans are prepared to stand, so am I prepared to stand ... we are not going to be bullied."...Link

Now thats what I call moral courage. If only the Imams in the Gambia will muster the same courage and take on Yahya Jammeh's insanity, the country will be a different place.

CNN's Africa trotting correspondent, Jeff Koinange was recently invited to the Gambia to report on the mystical AIDS cure perfected by Yahya Jammeh. True to form and perhaps after the bruising he took at the hands of this feisty sky news correspondent, Yahya refused to be interviewed by CNN even though his office extended an invitation to the news channel.

Here is a video of Koinange's trip to the smiling coast broadcasted on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 program: VIDEO

It is really sad to watch Dr. Mbowe attest to this nonsense despite the medical training he went through over the years. This is what he told CNN:

I can swear 100% that this herbal medication his excellency is using is working. It has a potency to treat and cure patients infected with the HIV virus.

That is a bold statement. Dr. Mbowe is swearing 100% to the potency of a herbal medication the contents of which he doesn't know.

While I am grateful for the public service of these seven U.S. attorneys, they simply lost my confidence. I hope that this episode ultimately will be recognized for what it is: an overblown personnel matter.

In a press conference yesterday, he claims that the firing of eight US attorneys who a week before had lost his confidence happened essentially without his knowledge.These were the same people he claimed represent "the face of the department," but then claimed he essentially didn't know who they were because this all was done by his chief of staff. I mean hey...there are 10,000 people working for me. How can I possibly know what my CHIEF OF STAFF is doing? Yeah right Alberto. Undoubtedly, your chief of staff was spending his nights with Arlen Specter's chief of staff re-writing the Patriot Act to give you powers you didn't know you had to fire people you didn't know for reasons you didn't understand.
And you want us to believe you deserve to stay in your present position why?

Iglesias said criticisms of his performance by the Justice Department "are demonstrably untrue statements." He added: "We all have a right to defend our honor. I felt like my honor and the honor of my office was attacked...." http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

"If given the choice, I'd elect to stay home and mind my own business," Cummins told The Associated Press. "Now that I'm under subpoena, I'll go and give cooperative, truthful answers." When asked if officials in the Justice Department or White House had asked him to decline the earlier requests, Cummins said he had no comment...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...

If you still think he deserved the job wait until you read this quote from the same US attorney:

Cummins said in a telephone interview Tuesday that he appreciated Pryor's [Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark] defense of his service, but that he remained a Bush loyalist who had considered leaving his post regardless.
"In my case, it's fair to say it was handled poorly, because they could just have easily called me and said 'You haven't done anything wrong. You're a champ. You've been a great performer for the president, and we'd like you to cooperate with us and give this other guy a job for two years,'" Cummins said... http://www.nwaonline.net/...

They would rather go into lucrative practice with Gonzales’s recommendation than go to bat for the American justice system. That is why despite the ineptitude of Alberto Gonzales, [I will not shed any tears if he is canned]: I believe the purged attorneys deserved the fate that befall them.