If you can see this then waaaaa heeeeeeeeeey!
The major part of the move is over.
Now all I have to do is:
- Move over all the static stuff
- Design a new template.
- Set up an email address
- Upload various plugins.
You are currently browsing the archive for the Old Blog Posts category.
Just like the Arctic ice caps Mentalacrobatics is moving.
Unlike the ice caps however, Mentalacrobatics is only moving servers and domain hosts.
(Would it not be cool if we could use MySQL to handle global warming?)
In addition to the move, for various reasons, Mentalacrobatics is switching CMS software.
So not only am I moving house I am also throwing out all old furniture and re stocking on brand new stuff.
Theoretically this process should be relatively painless. Experience tells me it will not be.
In the meantime, please do not leave any comments for a while as they will all be eaten by the ruthless comment god.
The site may be down for up to 48 hours which in itself is not a bad thing, there will be a lot going on at KenyaUnlimited especially on the Open Blog.
You will not have to change any links as hopefully all links should stay the same. Except (there always is one) the links to the RSS feeds. That may change. I will try to avoid it but it probably will.
So in summary:
If this site stays the same for the next week, it means I was to chicken to change anything.
If there is a new post saying I have moved servers but the site looks exactly the same, then it means I was brave enough to move servers but not brave enough to change the CMS.
If the site looks like the oh-so-unique Kubrick template, it means that not only have I switched servers but I have switched CMS software as well.
If anything breaks, it wasn’t me.
When I get back I promise to
- Post some pics and clips from my trip to the spanking of Man Utd at the home of the European champions.
- Reveal all regarding the Valentines Day conundrum.
I’m going in, wish me luck!
Considering that I used the most basic and simple method in cryptography, Simple Substitution, and considering that I actually gave you the key in the very first line, just what is your excuse for not cracking my Valentine’s Day message? I should have have offered a prize!
As for Spicebear, Mutumia and Mshairi - you perpetrators!
Edit 1 [19 Feb 2006]: We have a winner (you know who you are:-) ) I won’t name the winner just yet as it might give the whole thing away for anyone else attempting to solve the puzzle. But congratulations anyway!
Africa is too large and diverse for generalisations. It has 54 nations, 5 time zones, at least 7 climates, more than 800 million people, and, according to the latest diligent research, maybe 14 million proverbs. This series of talks and readings seeks to present some fresh voices from all corners of Africa, in all their differences.
If you are in the USA you really should check out The View from Africa Tour. All events are free and open to the public. Binyavanga Wainaina is one of the speakers together with Adekeye Adebajo, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Philip Alcabes, Kwame Dawes, Helon Habila, Brent Hayes Edwards, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts and John Ryle. That is a line up and a half. Check out the website for full details of where they will be touring near you. Spread the word!
[Via Kenyanpundit and W.M.]
Key: VWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU
RD! FWJS’Y DTZ F HQJAJW TSJ? MFUUD AFQJSYNSJX IFD BNYM F XQNLMY YBNXY.
DTZ INIS’Y YMNSP YMFY DTZW MFWI BTWP KTW YMJ IFD BFX ITSJ INI DTZ?
N MFAJ HTUNJI GJQTB F AJWXJ KWTR F HJWYFNS ZUQNKYNSL XTSL. YMJ PNSI TK XTSL YMFY UZYX F XRNQJ TS DTZW KFHJ BMJYMJW DTZ FWJ F KFS TK AFQJSYNSJX IFD TW STY.
DTZW HMFQQJSLJ, XMTZQI DTZ HMTTXJ YT FHHJUY NY, NX YT QJFAJ F HTRRJSY YT YMNX UTXY BMNHM HTSXNXYX XTQJQD TK FSTYMJW QNSJ KWTR YMFY XFRJ XTSL. (TK HTZWXJ UZY DTZW SFRJ FSI GQTL FX ZXZFQ XT N HFS YJQQ BMT DTZ FWJ).
DTZ HFS HMTTXJ FSD QNSJ KWTR YMJ XTSL YT UZY NS DTZW HTRRJSY JCHJUY F QNSJ KWTR YMJ AJWXJ GJQTB.
YMFY’X XYWFNLMYKTWBFWI JSTZLM NXS’Y NY!
TP MJWJ NX YMJ AJWXJ:
YMJ HTQTZWX TK YMJ WFNSGTB, XT UWJYYD NS YMJ XPD
FWJ FQXT TS YMJ KFHJX TK UJTUQJ LTNSL GD
N XJJ KWNJSIX XMFPNS’ MFSIX, XFDNS’ “MTB IT DTZ IT?”
YMJD’WJ WJFQQD XFDNSL “N QTAJ DTZ”
For the passion, the content and the indepth analysis, this has got to be the best blog I have ever read. It is also very well written.
[If you have no idea what he is talking about, I suggest you spend a little less time on this and some more time on this.]
For thakadu and everyone else who haven’t been able to see a single game of the African Cup of Nations. Here are the Cameroon football fans (who happen to be female 
) If only Kenya had fans like these (who also happened to be female), we might go far!
Note the Egyptian military cadets in the foreground trying to act all stone face lol.
“Attorney General Amos Wako is to have the final word on whether or not Education minister George Saitoti and Goldenberg mastermind Kamlesh Pattni should face criminal prosecution for their roles in the Sh20 billion scandal.”
Well that’s the end of that investigation. Wako seems allergic to prosecutions.
I have previously written about the importance of the 2002 elections to Kenya. In the current climate of justified disappointment in and anger towards our political leaders it is sometimes hard to remember what a watershed the election of 2002 was to the Kenyan political system.
Remember mid 2002 when the Professor of Politics was playing everybody like a fiddle, when Uhuru had the full state machinery behind him, when Mudavadi’s defection back to KANU threatened to strangle the Rainbow Revolution in the crib, when rallies were banned, money was being printed and poured and the situation looked hopeless? Moi would win again and rule via proxy through Uhuru. Remember members of the political elite were spotted in London getting fitted for clothes for Uhuru’s inauguration. That is how confident the status quo was; business as usual. After all, they thought, governments in Kenya do not lose elections. Do not even come close to losing elections.
2002 changed all that. Many people went to the polls with the opinion, “It probably won’t make a difference but I’m going to vote against them anyway.” Those voters soon found out that 80% of the country was thinking the same way. In 2002 the vote came alive. The power of the ballot was born. All of a sudden people realised, “Hey this kura of mine can change things.” We should remember just what a leap that was.
Of course, as the scientists amongst us will be quick to point out, one result does not a study make. All eyes were on 2007. What would happen then? Would we slip back into our old bad habits or would we exercise the power of the ballot again? Luckily for the impatient amongst us, me included, Kibaki in his wisdom decided to test Kenyans’ commitment to the ballot two years early in the national constitutional referendum of 2005. And yet again the wanainchi stood up, took on the state machinery and won. The true heirs of the spirit of 2002 were not Banana or Orange, but the voters, whichever way the voted.
I notice a change in the Kenyan wanainchi political mindset between the 2002 election and the 2005 referendum however. In 2002 we rejected completely and totally. We didn’t want to know. In 2005 we were a little bit more subtle; the wanainchi started playing the political game against our political elite and starting winning the political game. Let me give you two examples:
In Butere-Mumias 80% of the voters rejected the referendum, a thrashing in every sense of the word. But you walk around the place and everybody seems to be wearing some sort of “VOTE YES” paraphernalia. T-shirts, caps, bags, pens, posters, diaries, you name it they got it. People will tell you openly, the came to bribe us we told them we would vote for them but we went to the voting booth and voted no. You start to understand why statehouse was so confident it would win the referendum; everyone was telling them exactly what they wanted to hear. But then the wanainchi went out and did the exact opposite by voting no. The local agents of the Yes campaign are still walking around in shock. Their own t-shirts and caps mocking them everywhere they go.
For a second example turn to the good people of Kisii, who on the eve of the referendum met Simon Nyachae’s helicopter with the kind of adulation that people reserve for the hero of all heroes. The man was carried shoulder high by his constituents while they sang song after song of praise in his honour. They had never voted against him and surely this one was in the bag as well. Less than 24 hours after all that singing and praising while carrying him like a conquering hero those same constituents slapped him in the face, telling him where he can go and stick his proposed constitution. You could substitute Nyachae with a whole bunch of “names” who suffered the same fate, Ali Mwakwere, Morris Dzoro, Dannson Mungatana, Norman Nyagah, Moody Awori, George Saitoti, Amos Kimunya, Charity Ngilu etc etc etc.
Politicians in Kenya today should be worried as it looks like the whole country has learnt the art of the poker face and fake smile. We’ve learnt how to do politics. We may tell you one thing and go out and do something completely different. Clever politicians have to keep on their toes as we the public have finally understood our role in this whole democracy thing, you work for us. The sooner you understand that, the better.
About half way through the video of the BBC report with Githongo the TV crew meet a man who tells them, “My vote is my weapon I know what I will do in the next general election. I will throw them out.” Amen. No need for guns and militia for us, I’ve got all the power I need in this voter’s card.
Now all we need to do is come up with some suitable alternatives to vote for. We also need to sort out the whole voter registration mess. But that is another post in itself.
KenyaUnlimited has managed to get a copy of the BBC Newsnight report on Corruption in Kenya.
John Githongo broke his silence in an explosive interview to the programme. The programme contains an interview with Mr. John Githongo, Former Governance Permanent Secretary of Kenya, an interview with Mr. Edward Clay, former British High Commissioner to Kenya, an interview Mr. Joseph Muchemi, the Kenyan High Commissioner to the UK, and an interview with Mr. Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for International Development, UK. The programme also contains a secret recording Githongo took during a meeting with Kiraitu Murungi, former Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Kenya, where he is advised to “go slow” on his investigations.
Why the BBC? Why not The Daily Nation, East African Standard, KTN. KBC or one of the numerous FM stations in Kenya? In my opinion the answer is simple. Kibaki’s government not only does not care but DOES NOT KNOW what is going on in the country of Kenya. How else do you explain a government which 24 hours before a national referendum thinks it will win convincingly and when the results come out finds out that 7 out of 8 provinces voted against it? Moi’s power came from knowing what was going on everywhere all the time in the country. Kibaki doesn’t know and doesn’t care. Kibaki’s power seems to be based on money. Making noise in Kenya is important, but it is not enough. Simply because the people that sign the cheques that our government spends are in the West. Hit our political elite in the pocket and they will notice. Realpolitik people realpolitik. Anyway enough of my opinions watch the video and make your mind up for yourself and share your thoughts.
The video is here [WMV file 33 MBs - 18 minutes long].
Hat tip Mshairi
Edit: The problem with blogging in the wee hours of the morning is that you get names wrong. The minister recorded in the clip, as spotted by Maitha and Mshairi, is Kiraitu Murungi and not Murungaru.
Egypt 2006 has grown into one of the best ever African Cup of Nations. Every single team had a point to prove. Forget the defensive mind set of recent football tournaments (anyone remember Euro 2004?) this competition has had drama all the way.
The best thing about it is that it is African. The tempo, the goals, the celebrations, the fair but hard refereeing (it looks like some of these refs need to see some blood before they award a free kick), the passion of the dancing in the crowd (those four Cameroon girls, if you know what am talking about, you know what am talking about!!), the Egyptian army cadets in their multi coloured jumpsuits. And then drama and quality rolled in one amazing penalty shoot out between Ivory Coast and Cameroon.
They matched each other for 90 minutes of football in what is becoming a massive rivalry. They matched each other for 30 minutes of extra time. They matched each other for the first 5 penalties, they matched each other for the next 5 penalties, and they even matched each other when the keepers stood up and took each other on. And the quality of penalties, waa waa waa. Top right, top left, roof of the goal, bottom corners, swerving, straight, brilliant penalty after brilliant penalty until even the EuroSport commentators were just sitting in awe. The video of this penalty shoot out will be used by football academies around the world as a guide on how to keep calm under extreme pressure and take the penalty of your life.
To be true to the script one last piece of drama was required and we got it when Eto’o, the player of the tournament, the African Footballer of the Year, the leading goal scorer of the tournament, the man who had been brave enough to go first right at the beginning of this shoot out, missed his second penalty. The beautiful game is a cruel game. Whoever crosses Cameroon’s path in Ghana 2008, beware!
The Super Bowl ads are on Google Video. Check Budweiser’s Magic Fridge and
Streaker! hehehehe!
To hear Kenyans jienjoying SuperBowl style, have a listen to Medusa’s hilarious audio post.
Black Power condoms on sale in Korea.
“Keep it real. Keep on faith. Keep on going. Piece! So cool. Respect! Stay real! We are all brack people”
Offensive or just stupidly funny?
Ati “we are all brack people now”. They wish.
[Via Boing Boing]
One thing that really, really irritates me about The Goldenberg Scandal is this:
Kamlesh Pattni was born in 1962.
The Goldenberg scandal began in 1991.
This means that a 29 year old guy was swaggering around, running rings around senior officials in our government including senior ministers simply because they were greedy.
He was able to out play them, out think them, bribe, blackmail and buy them.
AT TWENTY FRIGGIN’ NINE.
“Age ain’t nuthin but a number” but damn this really really irritates me.
Even now 15 years later they are all panicking pointing fingers at each other and he is still laughing.
Pamoja Tuangamize Ukimwi
Kaybees - Thanks for voting!
Recent Comments