Are smart people ugly? The Explainer's 2011 Question of the Year. - Slate Magazine:
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Thursday, January 12, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
He has done it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! now we are ONNNNNNNN!!!!
I got these news from one of my sons....Sylvery Sseboh, formerly of Nyalenda Fish Group....He woke me up at about 3am and I got so elated as I know you too are!!!! OK, America, here we come.................read below.......................
Cheered by a roaring crowd, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois laid claim to the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night, taking a historic step toward his once-improbable goal of becoming the nation's first black president. Hillary Rodham Clinton maneuvered for the vice presidential spot on his fall ticket without conceding her own defeat.
"America, this is our moment," the 46-year-old senator and one-time community organizer said in his first appearance as the Democratic nominee-in-waiting. "This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past."
Clinton praised Obama warmly in an appearance before supporters in New York, although she neither acknowledged his victory in their grueling marathon nor offered a concession of any sort.
Instead, she said she was committed to a unified party, and said she would spend the next few days determining "how to move forward with the best interests of our country and our party guiding my way."
Obama's victory set up a five-month campaign with Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a race between a first-term Senate opponent of the Iraq War and a 71-year-old Vietnam prisoner of war and staunch supporter of the current U.S. military mission.
And both men seemed eager to begin.
McCain spoke first, in New Orleans, and he accused his younger rival of voting "to deny funds to the soldiers who have done a brilliant and brave job" in Iraq." Americans, he added, should be concerned about the judgment of a presidential candidate who has not traveled to Iraq yet "says he's ready to talk, in person and without conditions, with tyrants from Havana to Pyongyang."
McCain agreed with Obama that the presidential race would focus on change. "But the choice is between the right change and the wrong change, between going forward and going backward," he said.
Obama responded quickly, pausing in his own speech long enough to praise Clinton for "her strength, her courage and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight."
As for his general election rival, he said, "It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95 percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year. It's not change when he offers four more years of Bush economic policies that have failed to create well-paying jobs. ... And it's not change when he promises to continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave young men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians."
In a symbolic move, Obama spoke in the same hall where McCain will accept the Republican nomination at his party's convention in September. Campaign officials, citing the local fire marshal, put the crowd at 17,000 inside the eXcel Energy Center, plus another 15,000 outside.
"America, this is our moment," the 46-year-old senator and one-time community organizer said in his first appearance as the Democratic nominee-in-waiting. "This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past."
Clinton praised Obama warmly in an appearance before supporters in New York, although she neither acknowledged his victory in their grueling marathon nor offered a concession of any sort.
Instead, she said she was committed to a unified party, and said she would spend the next few days determining "how to move forward with the best interests of our country and our party guiding my way."
Obama's victory set up a five-month campaign with Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a race between a first-term Senate opponent of the Iraq War and a 71-year-old Vietnam prisoner of war and staunch supporter of the current U.S. military mission.
And both men seemed eager to begin.
McCain spoke first, in New Orleans, and he accused his younger rival of voting "to deny funds to the soldiers who have done a brilliant and brave job" in Iraq." Americans, he added, should be concerned about the judgment of a presidential candidate who has not traveled to Iraq yet "says he's ready to talk, in person and without conditions, with tyrants from Havana to Pyongyang."
McCain agreed with Obama that the presidential race would focus on change. "But the choice is between the right change and the wrong change, between going forward and going backward," he said.
Obama responded quickly, pausing in his own speech long enough to praise Clinton for "her strength, her courage and her commitment to the causes that brought us here tonight."
As for his general election rival, he said, "It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95 percent of the time, as he did in the Senate last year. It's not change when he offers four more years of Bush economic policies that have failed to create well-paying jobs. ... And it's not change when he promises to continue a policy in Iraq that asks everything of our brave young men and women in uniform and nothing of Iraqi politicians."
In a symbolic move, Obama spoke in the same hall where McCain will accept the Republican nomination at his party's convention in September. Campaign officials, citing the local fire marshal, put the crowd at 17,000 inside the eXcel Energy Center, plus another 15,000 outside.
Candle light memorial is an activity marked to remember thos who have died due to HIV. I have been participating in this activiti since 1999 when we were working with James Okal at Pandi. This idea of organizing candle light have never left me. This year I organized on at Kangundo Friends you do not know how powerful this activity is. People are touched to the core of their being.The ccildren ate the ones who realy get touched most followed by women. as fro men ....... I dont know but I know that I have so much personally. This is the group of community members I worked with. We are working on the Lords farm in a different way.
Martin Opondo
Martin Opondo
Some of the photos of FLTP Phase 1
Dear friends,here are some of the photos that were taken during the FLTP Phase 1. memories are made of these?????? any familiar images??? remember those white tables within Sr. Mary Ellen's house / dining hall? ha...ha.....if you are not able to view the photos, then here are the instructions: click on them (the icon photos), right click and then click OPEN WITH........then choose to open with windows picture and fax viewer. try that and let me know!! and here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Hi. I was trying to access our fyblog but missed the spelling and instead wrote the website as fishgroup.blogspot.com and I was surprised at the contents. Listen I am running late but please could you try and access this website and find out if there is clash of interest here…………..Jere am talking to you: try
FISH GROUP 25TH ANNIEVESSARY
Dear Fish Group member or friend,I just realized that time is not static. I shared with few people andwondered about what arrangements are there for silver jubilee. therehave been some communication in the past but No on has come up to rollthings up. My question to you is, Do you think this is a worthyacivity, and if given a chance what could you do to support itssuccess. I write to you because i know you have interest in yourheart. and i do believe together we can help atleast celebrate thisnoble day. what the Fish has done to each one of use can be describedin very many chapters. if we join together then there is a chance thatwe may show the way. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO RESPOND TO Me or steve,Lwanga, Ann, Kemmie. I have cc.d them in this mail as well.Thanks and may the good Loard bless you as you prepare to start a newyear. I want us to give the silver jubilee our new year resolution. Itwould be a very sad thing to come all the way to 25 years and notleave anithing to the future the social norm will judge us very bad.
Martin OpondoConcerned Member
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sunday, May 23, 2010
PROPOSED NEW CONSTITUTION
UNFORTUNATELY, KENYANS MIGHT DEFY OUR CHURCH LEADERS!!!!
Temperatures are rising as the campaigns are getting on top gear for the August refrendum. The proponents of the new constitution are giving everything to ensure that the document goes through at the refrendum. On the other hand the "No team" are aggressively telling Kenyans to reject the document come the refrendum because they believe there are sections that must be amended before the document can pass.
Majority of kenyans from across the board seems to give a nod to the proposed new constitution, a matter that has put the christian leadership at crossroads with their flock. The country is more than ready for the long awaited constitutional dispensation and anyone who is seen to oppose the final lap of this marathon race doesnot mean well for the country.
Following the many debates hosted by the media houses,commentaries and opinions expressed by Kenyans from all walks of life, there is a clear indicator as to which direction Kenyans want to go. The issues raised by the antagonists of the proposed new constitution are not FUNDAMENTAL to many of our people. The real issues are lying in good governance and equitable distribution of resources that would change the livelihood of many starving Kenyans.
Personally am tempted to ask some few questions that seems to bog my mind. As much as Kenya is becoming a democratic state, is it in order to allow people who looted our economy to show us direction? I feel hurt when I hear former President Moi proudly say that the proposed land reforms enshrined in the "new constitution" is not good for Rift Valley region,out of the eight provinces in this country, MUST Rift Valley be treated differntly over the rest and must be they be allowed to continue protecting the past injustices that Moi's government meted on the people of Kenya? It must be remembered that it was during Moi's tenure that every project of national standing was taken to Rift Valley. The Turkwell power project, the Eldoret international airport and many others were misdirected. Not all the residents of Rift Valley were beneficiary of these malpractices and therefore it is not in order for Moi and his cronies to purport to defend the Rift Valley region. In fact they are defending their ill acquired land in the region that has left many kenyans landless. Kenyans MUST stand firm and reject any attempts by past tyrants to reintroduce they rotten influence in these present times. Attempts to divide Kenyans along imaginary boundaries that KANU used to widen the gap between the rich and the poor must be rejected. We are tired of tribalists.
Our men of the colar, have a hard task to achieve because their concerns have been watered down by self seekers from the political divide. If they really want Kenyans to accept that they are the voice of reason then they MUST reconsider their decision to oppose this "New Constitution". Due to mismanagement of our affairs todate, more kenyans are dying of hunger than abortion or kadhis courts which have been in our constitution from independence. The poor infrastructure in this country is due to CORRUPTION and not some of the issues raised. We are at crossroads because our current constitution does not deter thieves and looters from ascending to political leadership, we have a good number of people of no integrity manning our public institutions and this culture has spread to our churches. There is no fair distribution of church resources. Some regions are more favored even with the number of clergy serving them. These are the issues that we need to address. Why should we have all the good roads in certain parts of the country and not even foot paths in the northern parts of Kenya. If the new constitution seeks to address these inequities, then even the church must support this cause. We are the church and without the believers, the clergy will be nowhere. Good leaders are the ones who listen to the led. In the year 1990 or early 90s if am not wrong, the church leadership in this country stood firm and by the truth. I still remember the episcopal letter by the catholic bishops to Moi's government which stated that the PEOPLE OF KENYA were tired of Mois rule and that mutipartism could not be stopped. Since then, Kenyans have not stopped yearning for good leadership which can only be achieved by a better constitution than what we have now.
Kenyans are God fearing, we respect our religious leaders so much and therefore they should not let us down. We can explore the other avenues like repeal or amendment of the contentious clauses but only after the new constitution has gone through because there is no reverse gear. We would do better to agitate for better legislation by the Parliament on devolved govrnance so that we get good leaders from the grassroot to transform our country.GOOD LEADERSHIP is what this country needs, Inspiring leadership that will change our attitude. Something better than what we experienced immediately NARC took over leadership of this country in the year 2002. We need to restore goodwill in public leadership and the only hope is our "NEW CONSTITUTION".VOTE YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSUUUUUUU!!!!!!!
Steve Owiti
Temperatures are rising as the campaigns are getting on top gear for the August refrendum. The proponents of the new constitution are giving everything to ensure that the document goes through at the refrendum. On the other hand the "No team" are aggressively telling Kenyans to reject the document come the refrendum because they believe there are sections that must be amended before the document can pass.
Majority of kenyans from across the board seems to give a nod to the proposed new constitution, a matter that has put the christian leadership at crossroads with their flock. The country is more than ready for the long awaited constitutional dispensation and anyone who is seen to oppose the final lap of this marathon race doesnot mean well for the country.
Following the many debates hosted by the media houses,commentaries and opinions expressed by Kenyans from all walks of life, there is a clear indicator as to which direction Kenyans want to go. The issues raised by the antagonists of the proposed new constitution are not FUNDAMENTAL to many of our people. The real issues are lying in good governance and equitable distribution of resources that would change the livelihood of many starving Kenyans.
Personally am tempted to ask some few questions that seems to bog my mind. As much as Kenya is becoming a democratic state, is it in order to allow people who looted our economy to show us direction? I feel hurt when I hear former President Moi proudly say that the proposed land reforms enshrined in the "new constitution" is not good for Rift Valley region,out of the eight provinces in this country, MUST Rift Valley be treated differntly over the rest and must be they be allowed to continue protecting the past injustices that Moi's government meted on the people of Kenya? It must be remembered that it was during Moi's tenure that every project of national standing was taken to Rift Valley. The Turkwell power project, the Eldoret international airport and many others were misdirected. Not all the residents of Rift Valley were beneficiary of these malpractices and therefore it is not in order for Moi and his cronies to purport to defend the Rift Valley region. In fact they are defending their ill acquired land in the region that has left many kenyans landless. Kenyans MUST stand firm and reject any attempts by past tyrants to reintroduce they rotten influence in these present times. Attempts to divide Kenyans along imaginary boundaries that KANU used to widen the gap between the rich and the poor must be rejected. We are tired of tribalists.
Our men of the colar, have a hard task to achieve because their concerns have been watered down by self seekers from the political divide. If they really want Kenyans to accept that they are the voice of reason then they MUST reconsider their decision to oppose this "New Constitution". Due to mismanagement of our affairs todate, more kenyans are dying of hunger than abortion or kadhis courts which have been in our constitution from independence. The poor infrastructure in this country is due to CORRUPTION and not some of the issues raised. We are at crossroads because our current constitution does not deter thieves and looters from ascending to political leadership, we have a good number of people of no integrity manning our public institutions and this culture has spread to our churches. There is no fair distribution of church resources. Some regions are more favored even with the number of clergy serving them. These are the issues that we need to address. Why should we have all the good roads in certain parts of the country and not even foot paths in the northern parts of Kenya. If the new constitution seeks to address these inequities, then even the church must support this cause. We are the church and without the believers, the clergy will be nowhere. Good leaders are the ones who listen to the led. In the year 1990 or early 90s if am not wrong, the church leadership in this country stood firm and by the truth. I still remember the episcopal letter by the catholic bishops to Moi's government which stated that the PEOPLE OF KENYA were tired of Mois rule and that mutipartism could not be stopped. Since then, Kenyans have not stopped yearning for good leadership which can only be achieved by a better constitution than what we have now.
Kenyans are God fearing, we respect our religious leaders so much and therefore they should not let us down. We can explore the other avenues like repeal or amendment of the contentious clauses but only after the new constitution has gone through because there is no reverse gear. We would do better to agitate for better legislation by the Parliament on devolved govrnance so that we get good leaders from the grassroot to transform our country.GOOD LEADERSHIP is what this country needs, Inspiring leadership that will change our attitude. Something better than what we experienced immediately NARC took over leadership of this country in the year 2002. We need to restore goodwill in public leadership and the only hope is our "NEW CONSTITUTION".VOTE YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSUUUUUUU!!!!!!!
Steve Owiti
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
NEW CONSTITUTION FOR KENYANS
WHY THE YES VOTE WOULD BE BETTER.
The clamour and campaigns for a new constitution has been long and quite costly. Many people have lost their lives and others have been left maimed because the powers that were could not imagine a democratic country called Kenya. Our current constituion gave the the president powers to kill, grab land,reward his cronies etc etc because he could not be tried in any court of law within this country.
The presidential system has to go and a better one has been proposed. The fundemental human rights are properly enshrined in the new draft constitution. The church and many other have confirmed that the proposed new constitution is far much better compared to the current one.We must accept that a constitution is ever amended and even some parts repealed. Every year that passes new laws are enacted and therefore the few contentious areas in the new draft constitution cannot and will not deter us from getting a better document, than what we have now.
Honestly, the Kadhis courts should not be in our constitution and even our muslim brothers know that the reasons as to why these courts were sneaked into our current constitution is nolonger relevant but because they like confrontation over non issues they would carry it on.As christians we must be tolerant and pray to God that this part of the constitution be amended or even repealed at the earliest time possible once the new constitution is in place.Kenya will remain a religionless state or the church fraternity would have to propose a section to be included in the constitution to counter this Kadhis court issue, this can be done later and in a better way than stopping what has been earned in 20 good years.
The abortion clause/section/chapter is not acceptable but the money already given out to support it, needs proper strategy to counter.This calls for soberness when the political temparature is low and people are ready to reason as moral beings and not legal creatures. It looks awkward that the christian family would go out and oppose their leaders while the Muslim brothers cheers on. The church leaders MUST read the mood of their flock and know of the best ways to keep them on track. Kenyans want a constitutional dispensation NOW and not tomorrow and therefore our spiritual leaders must listen to us as we have always listened to them. This may sound a bit rebellious but it is the truth that we must preach to the whole world. Kenyans have been oppressed in many ways by the ruling clique for over four decades and anyway that would give more freedom must be supported. We shall continue to agitate for repeal and amendments of the new constitution without oppression and intimadation because the powers of the oppressors would have reduced and controlled, therefore more people will come out and support such causes.
The other issue that has come up from a group of former rulling goons, is that of the land. The issue of land since independence has been very thorny, not in the way that it is present it now but from a perspective that 10% of kenyans are the landlords and the remaining 90% are landless. From the Ndungu report and others that has come to light in the recent past,records show that a few families own large chunks of land equivalent to a province like Nyanza or some countriesof the world. Better parts of such land are lying fallow while many are living as squatters without food. The campaign that the draft constitution is restricting land ownership to certain limits is good for Yes campaign since majority of Kenyans are landless and would rejoice if they were given an equal opportunity to own some land. The land grabbers are already up in arms because they know they stand to loose their ill earned property.The former President Hon.Daniel Arap Moi and his cronies, who for many years rejected the plea for democractic space ought to be ashamed of saying NO at this time in history to a new constitution. Personally am saddened by the fact that this team has cheapened the leaders opinions. Many people would trust anybody seen to be part of a team that would not even listen to the same church from the late 80s todate.
The post election violence in some areas were triggered by land issues and in most areas the anger that had built in our people due to misrule by the previous leaders. The past regimes strived on creating the two tribes of Kenya i.e the Rich and the Poor who for along time did not get achance to confront each other. The ruling elite thought that Kenya was the same as it was at independence. During that dark period, we saw our brothers set on fire in an Eldoret church where the innocent children and women were burnt a live for reasons that could not be justified.In Naivasha people were attacked with machettes and hacked to death in the mostly beastly way that we have ever witnessed All these occurrances amongst other absurdities were as aresult of bad laws that supported RIGGING. If the constitution and other laws on electoral process were the same as in the draft document, then we would have not lost those lives. We MUST stop such killings and primitivity. Any person/s linked to those/such killings have no moral standing in our society. They cannot tell us to reject a constitution that would help us bridge the gap between us and them.
My personal appeal to all kenyans of goodwill including our spiritual leaders is that we get this 90% and struggle for the remainder. Kindly vote wisely and vote for Kenya. Vote YESSSSSSSSUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By: Steve Kizito Owiti
The clamour and campaigns for a new constitution has been long and quite costly. Many people have lost their lives and others have been left maimed because the powers that were could not imagine a democratic country called Kenya. Our current constituion gave the the president powers to kill, grab land,reward his cronies etc etc because he could not be tried in any court of law within this country.
The presidential system has to go and a better one has been proposed. The fundemental human rights are properly enshrined in the new draft constitution. The church and many other have confirmed that the proposed new constitution is far much better compared to the current one.We must accept that a constitution is ever amended and even some parts repealed. Every year that passes new laws are enacted and therefore the few contentious areas in the new draft constitution cannot and will not deter us from getting a better document, than what we have now.
Honestly, the Kadhis courts should not be in our constitution and even our muslim brothers know that the reasons as to why these courts were sneaked into our current constitution is nolonger relevant but because they like confrontation over non issues they would carry it on.As christians we must be tolerant and pray to God that this part of the constitution be amended or even repealed at the earliest time possible once the new constitution is in place.Kenya will remain a religionless state or the church fraternity would have to propose a section to be included in the constitution to counter this Kadhis court issue, this can be done later and in a better way than stopping what has been earned in 20 good years.
The abortion clause/section/chapter is not acceptable but the money already given out to support it, needs proper strategy to counter.This calls for soberness when the political temparature is low and people are ready to reason as moral beings and not legal creatures. It looks awkward that the christian family would go out and oppose their leaders while the Muslim brothers cheers on. The church leaders MUST read the mood of their flock and know of the best ways to keep them on track. Kenyans want a constitutional dispensation NOW and not tomorrow and therefore our spiritual leaders must listen to us as we have always listened to them. This may sound a bit rebellious but it is the truth that we must preach to the whole world. Kenyans have been oppressed in many ways by the ruling clique for over four decades and anyway that would give more freedom must be supported. We shall continue to agitate for repeal and amendments of the new constitution without oppression and intimadation because the powers of the oppressors would have reduced and controlled, therefore more people will come out and support such causes.
The other issue that has come up from a group of former rulling goons, is that of the land. The issue of land since independence has been very thorny, not in the way that it is present it now but from a perspective that 10% of kenyans are the landlords and the remaining 90% are landless. From the Ndungu report and others that has come to light in the recent past,records show that a few families own large chunks of land equivalent to a province like Nyanza or some countriesof the world. Better parts of such land are lying fallow while many are living as squatters without food. The campaign that the draft constitution is restricting land ownership to certain limits is good for Yes campaign since majority of Kenyans are landless and would rejoice if they were given an equal opportunity to own some land. The land grabbers are already up in arms because they know they stand to loose their ill earned property.The former President Hon.Daniel Arap Moi and his cronies, who for many years rejected the plea for democractic space ought to be ashamed of saying NO at this time in history to a new constitution. Personally am saddened by the fact that this team has cheapened the leaders opinions. Many people would trust anybody seen to be part of a team that would not even listen to the same church from the late 80s todate.
The post election violence in some areas were triggered by land issues and in most areas the anger that had built in our people due to misrule by the previous leaders. The past regimes strived on creating the two tribes of Kenya i.e the Rich and the Poor who for along time did not get achance to confront each other. The ruling elite thought that Kenya was the same as it was at independence. During that dark period, we saw our brothers set on fire in an Eldoret church where the innocent children and women were burnt a live for reasons that could not be justified.In Naivasha people were attacked with machettes and hacked to death in the mostly beastly way that we have ever witnessed All these occurrances amongst other absurdities were as aresult of bad laws that supported RIGGING. If the constitution and other laws on electoral process were the same as in the draft document, then we would have not lost those lives. We MUST stop such killings and primitivity. Any person/s linked to those/such killings have no moral standing in our society. They cannot tell us to reject a constitution that would help us bridge the gap between us and them.
My personal appeal to all kenyans of goodwill including our spiritual leaders is that we get this 90% and struggle for the remainder. Kindly vote wisely and vote for Kenya. Vote YESSSSSSSSUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By: Steve Kizito Owiti
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