Why are we being hypocrites?

Late President of Gabon Omar Bongo

The President of Gabon, Omar Bongo passed away recently. I have come across his name a couple of times, even though I did not know much about him as a President. From what I gather, he was Africa's longest serving leader and the world after Fidel Castro stepped down in 2008 in exception of monarchies of course. He took power in 1967.

A couple of months ago, when I was watching news on TV, his name was mentioned as one of a few African leaders being investigated for alleged corruption. Bongo, was a rich man and much of his wealth come from the oil revenue, a resource the country prides itself in. He was much of a dictator and gained much of his wealth at the expense of the impoverished populace of Gabon, and when such a leader passes on and people shower them with praises, it only brings to light the hypocrisy that has become so widespread. Our very own speaker of the national assembly, Theo Ben Gurirab described him as a person who stood for what he believed in and very controversial at times, as he differed in ideologies and strategies with the Swapo party during struggle years. Yet, the speaker, found a way of redeeming himself by praising Bongo, as someone who reminded the African diaspora about mother Africa. We all know, that, he owns so much wealth, particularly in France while the masses in Gabon suffer.

Is it not time, we change our pretentious culture, and call a spade a spade. What's with African leaders wanting to cling  onto power for as long as they live, like they own us. There's no doubt that, Bongo will go down into the annals of history as someone who only tried and successfully enriched himself and his cronies. I guess, the dead no matter how they have adversely affected our lives deserve respect. After all it's our last respect to them.

Light at the end of the tunnel?

The world is facing one of largest economic crisis

If you are economically handcaped, jut like me, I am sure you have come across words like, world economic meltdown, financial crunch, economic crisis, recession...the list goes on. These are the terms meant to describe the situation that the world finds itself in today.

More and more people have lost their jobs and more still continue to loose them, because providers of employment in the world are going bankrupt. We have not seen much of an impact in Namibia, of course except for industries such as mining, where workers are likely to be retrenched. Even though, we seem to be on the safer side, if this crisis persists, we might begin to feel the pinch. If the G20 meeting of the world's strongest economies is anything to go by, we might go on unscathed.

The leaders of the afore- mentioned economies have reached a crucial agreement worth one trillion US Dollars to help ease the impact of the global financial crisis. This is a effort because it means economies of the world would be revived and stimulated and thus more and more industries would begin to absorb people in jobs. It's good also due the fact that, this is a world crisis and dealing with the problem individually would prove to be difficult. The good thing, that I mostly applaud is the assurance that, more stricter laws would be put into place to regulate finances, for we find ourselves in this mess, because of relaxed, senseless-good for nothing laws that were exercised by particularly American banks.

We would love to see leaders full-filling this pledge and monitoring progress of the situation at hand. A world where jobs are scarce and banks are broke, would only lead to chaos.

The Law of Attraction

The universe has unlimited opportunities

It has been quiet a while since I put something down. Believe me i had a hectic time trying to regroup my life and find the right path. It was a couple of crazy months. I missed writing though.

In between soul searching and trying to be the best person in 2009, I came across a Documentary titled "Secrets" courtesy of my brother. At first I was not paying attention until when I closely tried to figure out what the film was about. The Documentary is about positive thinking, in that we attract events in the universe to manifest into reality by our own actions through thoughts. For instance, if you worry too much about debt, debt will eventually come to you and will never stop until when you stop stressing much about it. I know it is somehow far-fetched but believe me the concept I love about this whole law of attraction is the fact that it promotes optimism, something we should be able to constantly live with as human beings. At one point in the Documentary, one expert suggests that, we should see the universe as a catalogue of some sought. In other words, we should be flipping the "catalogue" and choose what we want in life and wallah!!...there it will be but with effort and not on a silver platter. The essence is, when offered a half glass of water, optimists would say, I have a glass that is half full and pessimists would say , I have a glass half empty. You choose!

Read the follwing excerpts from wikipedia:

The Law of Attraction has roots in Quantum Physics. According to proponents of this law, thoughts have an energy which attracts whatever it is the person is thinking of. In order to control this energy to one's advantage, proponents state that people must practice four things:

Know what you want.

Ask the universe for it.

Feel, behave and know as if the object of your desire is on its way.

Be open to receive it and let go of (the attachment) to the outcome.

Thinking of what one does not have, they say, manifests itself in not having, while if one abides by these principles, and avoids "negative" thoughts, the universe will manifest a person's desires.

A new day has come!

Incoming American President Barack Obama Photo: Wikipedia

"I have a dream, I have a dream that one day my children will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character", so goes the most famous speech ever made by Martin Luther King, a civil rights campaigner. He must be smiling down on us. That part of his dream has come true in America. I say, partly because, there's still a long road ahead and we have yet to see black and white Presidents elsewhere in the world and not just the United States.

Barack Obama, a direct descendant of Africa, from Kenya, has proven that anything is possible. His inauguration as the 44th president of the United States has monumental historical significance. With a black African father and white American mother, He represents equality and exerts the greater side of humanity. I almost shed a tear when he stood on the podium delivering his very inspiring, humble speech. His humility is quite refreshing. Here, we have a guy loved by everyone, black or white. If his convictions are anything to go by, then the world will be a better place. What is most exciting though, is the fact that the world is expecting too much from him. He is more like a world president even though in reality that is what American Presidents are anyway.

People should be reminded that, in as much as, he's willing to solve world problems, issues at home needs more of his attention. For those who know Obama during his work as a senator, describe him as a very pragmatic person willing to reach out to everyone. We need people like that, for action speaks louder than words. He proved this during his campaign.

Although the road ahead is bitter, in that, the economy is in bad shape and America is involved in two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, coupled with the terrorism  and the issue with Iran, we hope to see him resolve all these issues amicably and shiftily. The U-S image in the world leaves much to be desired right now and he has a greater responsibility through his foreign policy to rectify this anomaly.

I see hope in Obama and he is ready to usher in change we can believe in.

Lion in a sheep skin!

Heavily armed Israeli soldiers patrol Gaza in search of so called
 insurgents.

Man..I thought civilization (except for George W Bush) meant resolving conflicts by dialogue and diplomatic means, but the spill- over effect seem to have taken it's toll. The current military action by Israel on Gaza cannot go on unchallenged. The international community has condemned this barbaric act and why Israel is still continuing killing innocent people in Gaza is only known to them. The other day, I was so shocked to see pictures of little boys' bodies killed by the very hypocritical regime claiming to be civilized and subscribing to democratic principles under Shimon Peres and Ehud Olmert (a bunch of blood thirsty vampires indeed). What did these kids do to deserve this?

I have respect for Israel's stance about protecting it's citizens from rocket attacks, but going after Gaza, indiscriminately is uncalled for and simply stupid.  An amicable solution is needed and fast. I foresee this conflict fueling more and more conflicts, particularly between Muslims and the Western world, as the the West has been standing behind Israel from time immemorial. Barack Obama, awaits a huge dilemma here. George W Bush created a mess that is tough to crack (I hope the shoe cleansed him of his sins). We need peace and now!!