tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27682301572033933622024-03-05T17:04:30.592-08:00from the pressIf I had to choose between a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I would choose newspapers without a governmentJoshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-51099844496137135792011-07-06T23:04:00.001-07:002011-07-06T23:04:54.008-07:00South Sudan: How do you set up a nation?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span class="byline-name" style="color: #505050; display: block; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 2px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">By Kathryn Westcott</span><span class="byline-title" style="color: #505050; display: block; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; text-align: justify;">BBC News</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"></span></span><br />
<div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1" style="clear: left; color: #333333; font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On 9 July, the Republic of South Sudan will become the world's newest nation state, formally seceding from Sudan. But what does this involve?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDquCSPUs1Fq__ND19IAI0pkUwKovtuimKFaxT6q6ZEQpL5HUJR03BxSuUZ_6HQ0xfx2yYPV9AJG_Ep7YScO6nwMy2ctza-qGBkNqD7-hN_m8YWYqIv5VMGOM9lfX9BIX1Hv8b1x4EeVQ/s1600/BBC1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDquCSPUs1Fq__ND19IAI0pkUwKovtuimKFaxT6q6ZEQpL5HUJR03BxSuUZ_6HQ0xfx2yYPV9AJG_Ep7YScO6nwMy2ctza-qGBkNqD7-hN_m8YWYqIv5VMGOM9lfX9BIX1Hv8b1x4EeVQ/s320/BBC1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="clear: left; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Passports, currency, stamps, anthem, internet domain name - and a decent football team. These are just some of the requirements.</span></div><div style="clear: left; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then there are state institutions to be established, a constitution to draw up and an overseas charm offensive to conduct.</span></div><div style="clear: left; color: #333333; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-rendering: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">An aspiring nation has many things to get on with. Here are a few of them.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"></span></span><br />
<h2 class="section-header" id="heading-1" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d1700e; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; clear: both; display: block; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 7px; padding-left: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 7px; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: white; font-size: small; line-height: 16px;">The Same Hymn Sheet</span></span></h2><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333;">Have the national anthem ready before the big independence day, and ensure everyone knows the words.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333;">In a move that said, "we believe in democracy", South Sudan's government invited everyone to try their hand at composing an anthem.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333;">The winning entry, composed by students and teachers from Juba university, makes a break with the military-style march of Sudan's anthem.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333;">An upbeat tune is set to three stanzas that portray trust in God, jubilation for an end to decades of oppression and commemoration of the martyrs who lost their lives for the sake of freedom.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333;">Singers have been dispatched around the nation-to-be to ensure citizens will be word-perfect by 9 July.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333;">One official recently pointed out that when Sudan got her independence in 1956, it took the country some time to come up with her anthem. It just shows south Sudan is ready to govern itself, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333;">Shipments of the six-coloured flag - the former emblem of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) - have been arriving from China over the past few weeks, and the government plans to raise one on top of the highest peak of the Imatong Mountains on 9 July.</span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.5pt;"><h3 id="heading-1-4" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #d1700e; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; line-height: 12pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Putting the capital into the city<o:p></o:p></span></span></h3><div style="line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333;">Most states dream of a modern capital. But for the moment South Sudan will need to lower its sights. The world's newest capital, Juba, is strung out along the banks of the White Nile river, lacking basic infrastructure, including reliable power, water and sewage systems.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333;">The town, which was established almost a century ago by British colonial administrators was a government garrison town surrounded by rebels during the war. It has expanded since then and witnessed something of a construction boom.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNt1QYBzF3LjTw9_zPrpZzSwsXP_KZQ59Ub7_Ld-hwYc-uq43FTC1V-LJfGb4CaUyncBBAAXqx2PlVj6Z2Mc0w_Mm0AhcP1muBBkSAmJBr1Zh4Xdi7ZYn6jZ8Zmae40HgZ6hFkAEYeGJo/s1600/BBC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNt1QYBzF3LjTw9_zPrpZzSwsXP_KZQ59Ub7_Ld-hwYc-uq43FTC1V-LJfGb4CaUyncBBAAXqx2PlVj6Z2Mc0w_Mm0AhcP1muBBkSAmJBr1Zh4Xdi7ZYn6jZ8Zmae40HgZ6hFkAEYeGJo/s1600/BBC.jpg" /></a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333;">In the past few months, the transition government has mulled over proposals to relocate the capital, to "allow for the creation of a modern city planned for 200 years with absolute flexibility to observe any population growth and technological advancements".<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333;">Earlier plans involved relocating and rebuilding the capital in the shape of a rhinoceros, as part of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11019550"><b><span style="color: #1f4f82;">proposals to rebuild the region's cities in the shapes of animals and fruit</span></b></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333;">According to experts, generally, a capital city can take 10 to 20 years to build but can take a century or more to mature into an attractive, self-sustaining place.</span></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 13.5pt;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #505050; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: #333333;">Full story on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14014083">BBC</a>.</span></span></span></div></div></div>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-23382859909851268012011-07-06T22:34:00.000-07:002011-07-06T22:34:57.191-07:00Facebook readies a blitz of new products<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">By Mark Milian, CNN</span></div><br />
<div style="line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span style="color: black;">Palo Alto, California (CNN)</span></b><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;">-- Elmer Fudd has "Wabbit Season," and Mark Zuckerberg has just kicked off "Launching Season."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Facebook is readying a slew of new products to debut soon, said Zuckerberg, the company's CEO, at a news conference here on Wednesday. Programmers have been toiling away this year on several major projects in anticipation of this acceleration period.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBkpv4UPQp-eZh2EuW0Dv5Pbxvo4jyTqAt5G2ucsuWWsSLnqVJSWUMeWtwEs20K-Cnxwze7M26ZGGQURPsaL5O73QCaEkITC-_OI3DW27v1tMff9YYnN93L1ilWBaShyiQFAjTaRXFHc/s1600/FB+CEO+Mark+Zukerberg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBkpv4UPQp-eZh2EuW0Dv5Pbxvo4jyTqAt5G2ucsuWWsSLnqVJSWUMeWtwEs20K-Cnxwze7M26ZGGQURPsaL5O73QCaEkITC-_OI3DW27v1tMff9YYnN93L1ilWBaShyiQFAjTaRXFHc/s320/FB+CEO+Mark+Zukerberg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"We've been busy building stuff for the past six months or so, and today marks the beginning of what we'll call Launching Season 2011," Zuckerberg said. "Over the next coming weeks and months, we just have a lot of fun stuff to roll out."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The starting gun for this stage of frequent product updates sounded at Wednesday's event, which served as a launch pad for new messaging tools. People will be able to make<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/07/06/facebook.announcement/index.html" style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; color: #004276; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">video calls on Facebook's</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>site, thanks to a partnership with Skype, and create impromptu chat rooms.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To keep the new features rolling in anticipation of a launching season, Facebook sets tight deadlines on development teams. Facebook software engineers often find themselves working nights and weekends during these periods.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They aren't directly asked to work after-hours, Facebook spokeswoman Meredith Chin <span id="goog_1122619725"></span><span id="goog_1122619726"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a>wrote in an e-mail. "But people do work to get things out the door as fast as possible," she wrote.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last fall was very busy for Facebook. The company convened reporters for three news conferences during a four-week span in October and November.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The release cycle began ramping up in August last year, for the f8 developers conference. Facebook plans to hold another one this year, though it hasn't set a date yet, Chin said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Facebook teams "went into lockdown mode" in June, "when the engineers basically had to work weekends through summer," said Ray Valdes, an Internet analyst for Gartner Research.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"They work furiously in spring and early summer, and release in the end of summer, early fall," Valdes said. "There must be some internal clock."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">While the clock isn't tuned precisely to last year's ticker, Zuckerberg's acknowledgement of the practice could suggest a new trend for the fledgling company.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Many tech giants operate in cycles. Apple, for example, has gotten into the habit of releasing new iPads in the spring, iPhones in the summer and iPods in the fall. (Apple appears to be breaking with tradition this year, however, as it's expected to debut a new iPhone in the fall.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the tech industry, companies "are always looking for the right moment" to unleash their products, said Susan Etlinger, an analyst for consulting firm Altimeter Group. Facebook may be settling into a groove.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That Facebook is defining a product strategy, with an emphasis on improving the service, rather than on simply signing up additional members, shows maturity, Etlinger said. The timing is right because the site may be nearing a saturation point, with 750 million active users.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Facebook should be hyperaware, and I think they are aware of how their business is shifting," Etlinger said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As part of Facebook's recent growth spurt, the company has hired developers to specialize in coding computer software. Facebook also seems poised to release an iPad application in the next few weeks, according to a report in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/facebook-readies-an-ipad-app-finally/" style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" target="new"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; color: #004276; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">The New York Times</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Other projects in the works include a revamped Web-based version of Facebook for smartphones, which will let third-party developers easily shrink their Facebook apps and run them on a phone, as well as a sleek app for sharing photos, according to reports from the blog<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/15/facebook-project-spartan/" style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial;" target="new"><span style="border-bottom-color: windowtext; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-left-color: windowtext; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 1pt; border-right-color: windowtext; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 1pt; border-top-color: windowtext; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 1pt; color: #004276; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0cm;">TechCrunch</span></a>. Mobile is an important area where Facebook can grow, Zuckerberg and analysts agree.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As Google tries to gain a toehold in social networking with Google+ and Myspace operates under a new corporate parent, Facebook is amassing an arsenal of features to unleash in the next few months.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="cnninline" style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Zuckerberg seems confident that he has ample ammunition to fend off the competition, but is there a Buggs Bunny lying in wait?</span></span></div><div class="cnninline" style="border-color: initial; border-style: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 14.25pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/07/06/facebook.launching.season/index.html?hpt=hp_c1">Facebook</a></span></div>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-32544678844466560962011-03-18T03:19:00.000-07:002011-03-18T03:19:17.890-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The see-through dress worn by Kate Middleton at a charity fashion show at St Andrews University has been sold for £65,000 plus £13,000 buyer's fees.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">London auctioneer Kerry Taylor had estimated the knitted dress would fetch between £8,000 and £10,000.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The prince was in the audience when Miss Middleton hit the catwalk wearing the dress with black lingerie at the university in Fife in 2002.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6U44RZjhxE3zzMDV2BzoSMo1maUiYOTZOPbFm0kdzx93kFlzMk1hGE28_Z03Ws5BEgKgs14NLHmetMzukhgZRmjepJkJzen60-qL_FCTq0FgrHiLdPBzcUIgIGVHnvvWlhWJsnCy3yM/s1600/Kate+Middleton+dress+auction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf6U44RZjhxE3zzMDV2BzoSMo1maUiYOTZOPbFm0kdzx93kFlzMk1hGE28_Z03Ws5BEgKgs14NLHmetMzukhgZRmjepJkJzen60-qL_FCTq0FgrHiLdPBzcUIgIGVHnvvWlhWJsnCy3yM/s320/Kate+Middleton+dress+auction.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The pair, who met at St Andrews, will marry at Westminster Abbey next month.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The garment cost the mystery buyer a total of £78,000.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">A man at the auction bought the dress on behalf of an individual he would only name as "Nick from Jersey".<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">He said of the buyer: "He thinks it's an iconic piece and is very happy with the purchase."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="color: #505050; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">'Iconic piece'</span></b><span style="color: #505050; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ms Taylor had started the auction at £20,000, with plenty of interest via phone bids, but when the price reached £50,000 it became a two-way battle between the man in the room and some pre-registered bidders.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The dress was sold by Charlotte Todd, who created it while studying fashion design at the University of the West of England in 2000.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She initially intended it to be a skirt, but the show's organisers decided it would be worn as a dress.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mrs Todd, 31, who works in Bristol as an aquarium retail manager, said after the sale: "I'm completely shocked, I need to sit down and get my head round it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"I just wanted to get out and get some fresh air during the sale. I wasn't expecting it. I was turning round to see who was at the back of the room and what was happening.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"But I didn't like to get my hopes up, I was thinking it might not sell. I wasn't thinking of a sum of money in my head."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 12.25pt; margin-bottom: 12.25pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She said she and her husband would probably put the money towards buying a house before joking: "Maybe I should rustle up some more dresses?"<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">More at:</span></i><br />
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12764123">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12764123</a></div>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-50689553133815308592011-03-17T07:01:00.000-07:002011-03-17T07:01:14.100-07:00Japan tries to cool off nuclear reactors from air, ground<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-small;"><em><strong>By<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>the CNN Wire Staff</strong></em></span></span></span><br />
<strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-collapse: separate; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Tokyo (CNN)</span></strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"> -- Japan turned helicopters, fire trucks and police water cannons on the No. 3 reactor at the quake-ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and the pool housing its spent fuel Thursday in its latest attempt to stave off a nuclear disaster.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmXwjVDKBkCubXhHTuwZqt4-Iu7jt0KhTCXCFrXgiL0_S4Ofm6tRbnNRGOHBXr9R9eNvpiFJ-Sun0G_zysKrEYBGYPcwrbPJUqnmKg_X9kzpMKDw1fr1KTTBUqY8zkBuMYhFFqxfNmzgI/s1600/Japan+quake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmXwjVDKBkCubXhHTuwZqt4-Iu7jt0KhTCXCFrXgiL0_S4Ofm6tRbnNRGOHBXr9R9eNvpiFJ-Sun0G_zysKrEYBGYPcwrbPJUqnmKg_X9kzpMKDw1fr1KTTBUqY8zkBuMYhFFqxfNmzgI/s1600/Japan+quake.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Military helicopters began dumping</span> water on the reactor Thursday morning, with police and fire trucks opening up after 7 p.m. (6 a.m. ET). Japan's Defense Ministry said the first effort lasted 40 minutes, and the Tokyo Electric Power Company said the efforts would continue throughout the night in order to keep the reactor and its adjacent spent fuel pool from overheating.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">"In order to cool the spent fuel storage pool, we have carried out water drop operations and the spraying of water from the ground," TEPCO officials said at a Thursday night news conference. "This needs to continue in several ways. Therefore, we will continue to ask for cooperation of the involved people so we can carry out continuously. The helicopter water dumping operation is something we have asked government to provide us help with, and also the spraying of water."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Friday's earthquake and tsunami has led to damage at four of the six reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, located on the northern coast of the Japanese island of Honshu. TEPCO also was attempting to restore power to the facility, but those efforts had not been completed by nightfall Thursday, the company said.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">Helicopters made four passes in about a 20-minute span Thursday morning, dropping 7.5 tons of seawater each time on the facility's No. 3 reactor in order to cool its overheated fuel pool. Experts believe that boiling steam rising from that pool, which contains at least partially exposed fuel rods, may be releasing radiation into the atmosphere.</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">More on CNN</span></em><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/17/japan.nuclear.reactors/index.html?hpt=T1">http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/03/17/japan.nuclear.reactors/index.html?hpt=T1</a></span></div>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-87066663269780793492011-03-15T22:37:00.000-07:002011-03-15T22:37:38.797-07:00Japan suspends work at stricken nuke plant (Agencies)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=fromthepress-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0026L7H20" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">FUKUSHIMA, Japan – Japan suspended operations to prevent a stricken nuclear plant from melting down Wednesday after a surge in radiation made it too dangerous for workers to remain at the facility.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said work on dousing reactors with water was disrupted by the need to withdraw.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Earlier officials said 70 percent of fuel rods at one of the six reactors at the plant were significantly damaged in the aftermath of Friday's calamitous earthquake and tsunami.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">News reports said 33 percent of fuel rods were also damaged at another reactor. Officials said they would use helicopters and fire trucks to spray water in a desperate effort to prevent further radiation leaks and to cool down the reactors.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The nuclear crisis has triggered international alarm and partly overshadowed the human tragedy caused by Friday's double disaster, which pulverized Japan's northeastern coastline, killing an estimated 10,000 people.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGFpe1VRC2W2_U7Z5zLc6bN6ubrJp2P84i9YmqWKHil3in5w4m4DjpthYh17HRhVQpRJ0f8zLo3HKM6MuWAqRya0SNt1sAzCpsO_eLd2h-tKS4QU4V6LLI53f0zTYB4znFJR9m65E-QYM/s1600/Agencies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGFpe1VRC2W2_U7Z5zLc6bN6ubrJp2P84i9YmqWKHil3in5w4m4DjpthYh17HRhVQpRJ0f8zLo3HKM6MuWAqRya0SNt1sAzCpsO_eLd2h-tKS4QU4V6LLI53f0zTYB4znFJR9m65E-QYM/s320/Agencies.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Authorities have tried frantically since last Friday's earthquake and tsunami to avert an environmental catastrophe at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex in northeastern Japan, 170 miles (270 kilometers) north Tokyo.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The government has ordered some 140,000 people in the vicinity to stay indoors. A little radiation was also detected in Tokyo, 150 miles (240 kilometers) to the south and triggered panic buying of food and water.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">There are six reactors at the plant, and three that were operating at the time have been rocked by explosions. The one still on fire was offline at the time of the magnitude 9.0 quake, Japan's most powerful on record.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency estimated that 70 percent of the rods have been damaged at the No. 1 reactor.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Japan's national news agency, Kyodo, said that 33 percent of the fuel rods at the No. 2 reactor were damaged and that the cores of both reactors were believed to have partially melted.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">"We don't know the nature of the damage," said Minoru Ohgoda, spokesman for the country's Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency. "It could be either melting, or there might be some holes in them."<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Meanwhile, the outer housing of the containment vessel at the No. 4 unit erupted in flames early Wednesday, said Hajimi Motujuku, a spokesman for the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Japan's nuclear safety agency said fire and smoke could no longer be seen at Unit 4, but that it was unable to confirm that the blaze had been put out.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal;"><a href="http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2011-03/16/content_12180514.htm">http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2011-03/16/content_12180514.htm</a></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 15pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal;"><a href="http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2011-03/16/content_12180514.htm"></a></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Agencies</i></span></div></div>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-43918346265059399172011-03-14T01:47:00.000-07:002011-03-14T01:56:53.379-07:00Japan Earthquake Effect<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119); font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; ">By ERIC TALMADGE and SHINO YUASA, Associated Press</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119); font-family: arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16px; ">Photo by </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; line-height: 19px; ">Yomiuri Shimbun, AFP/Getty Images</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; "><div class="yn-story-content" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">SOMA, Japan – The second hydrogen explosion in three days rocked Japan's stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant Monday, sending a massive column of smoke into the air and wounding 11 workers. Hours later, the U.S. said it had shifted its offshore forces away from the plant after detecting low-level radioactive contamination.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was about 100 miles (160 kilometers) offshore when it detected the radiation, which U.S. officials said was about the same as one month's normal exposure to natural background radiation in the environment.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">It was not clear if the radiation had leaked during Monday's explosion. That blast was felt 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, but the plant's operator said radiation levels at the reactor were still within legal limits.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">The explosion at the plant's Unit 3, which authorities have been frantically trying to cool after a system fa</p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXblIuxA5jpsQx0JiNyURF4-m_4LqFPJCdUj88EBBySHIHOduiSL0rOIClsTKwFEbV7700Cxk8fmJnoLRZ_YQlk-XY_F0PIMGpxx5v-pTLWM8bNVlKfqXuS5n8F3INRmluJNkkX6qi-Gk/s320/damaged-yamada-town_33231_600x450.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5583856275714765298" /><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">ilure in the wake of Friday's massive earthquake and tsunami, triggered an order for hundreds of people to stay indoors, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano. The two disasters left at least 10,000 people dead.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">Operators knew an explosion was a possibility as they struggled to reduce pressure inside the reactor containment vessel, but apparently felt they had no choice if they wanted to avoid a complete meltdown. In the end, the hydrogen in the released steam mixed with oxygen in the atmosphere and set off the blast.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the plant, said radiation levels at Unit 3 were well under the levels where a nuclear operator must file a report to the government.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">A similar explosion occurred Saturday at the plant's Unit 1, injuring four workers and causing mass evacuations.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">Shortly after Monday's explosion, Tokyo Electric warned it had lost the ability to cool Unit 2. Takako Kitajima, a company official, said plant workers were preparing to inject seawater into the unit to cool the reactor, a move that could lead to an explosion there as well.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">The Unit 3 reactor's inner containment vessel holding nuclear rods was intact, Edano said, allaying some fears of the risk to the environment and public. TV footage of the building housing the reactor appeared to show damage similar to Saturday's blast, with outer walls shorn off, leaving only a skeletal frame.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">More than 180,000 people have evacuated the area in recent days, and up to 160 may have been exposed to radiation — pouring misery onto those already devastated by the twin disasters.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">While Japan has aggressively prepared for years for major earthquakes, reinforcing buildings and running drills, the impact of the tsunami — which came so quickly that not many people managed to flee to higher ground — was severe.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; "></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">By Monday, officials were clearly overwhelmed by the scale of the crisis, with millions of people having spent three nights without water, food or heat in near-freezing temperatures. At least 1.4 million households had gone without water since the quake struck and some 1.9 million households were without electricity.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">Officials in one devastated town said they were running out of body bags.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">Officials have declared states of emergency at six Fukushima reactors, where Friday's twin disasters knocked out the main cooling systems and backup generators. Three are at Dai-ichi and three at the nearby Fukushima Daini complex.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">Most attention, though, has been focused on Dai-ichi units 1 and 3, where operators have been funneling in seawater in a last-ditch measure to cool the reactors. A complete meltdown — the melting of the radioactive core — could release radioactive contaminants into the environment and pose major, widespread health risks.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">Edano said no Fukushima reactor was near that point, and he was confident of escaping the worst scenarios.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">International scientists say there are serious dangers but little risk of a Chernobyl-style catastrophe. Chernobyl, they note, had no outer containment shell.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">"The likelihood there will be a huge fire like at Chernobyl or a major environmental release like at Chernobyl, I think that's basically impossible," said James F. Stubbins, a nuclear energy professor at the University of Illinois.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">But despite official assurances, many residents expressed fear over the situation.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">"First I was worried about the quake," said Kenji Koshiba, a construction worker who lives near the plant. "Now I'm worried about radiation." He spoke at an emergency center in Koriyama, about 40 miles (60 kilometers) from the most troubled reactors and 125 miles (190 kilometers) north of Tokyo.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">Overall, more than 1,500 people had been scanned for radiation exposure in the area, officials said.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">The U.N. nuclear agency said a state of emergency was also declared Sunday at another complex, the Onagawa power plant, after higher-than-permitted levels of radiation were measured there. It said Japan informed it that all three of those reactors there were under control.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 18px; ">Four nuclear complexes in northeastern Japan have reported some damage from the quake or the tsunami.</p><p></p></div></span>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-20014634195988361332010-10-25T23:42:00.000-07:002010-10-25T23:52:53.050-07:00The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born - Ayi Kwei Amar<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; "><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" >In this deeply symbolic book published in 1968, Ayi Kwei Amar vividly captures the seemingly endless spiral of corruption, moral decadence and spiritual death in post-colonial Ghana.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >The book tells the story of a nameless man who struggles to reconcile himself with the reality of post-independence Ghana. Referred to throughout the book, as simply, “The Man”, he refuses to take a bribe, something that angers his wife.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >The Man keeps a humble job, and despite the constant naggings of his wife, he lives an honest life, even if that condemns him to a life of poverty. He represents the lot of the common man in Ghana – who has no choice but to reside in the poorest slums and live from hand to mouth.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >On the other hand are Ghana’s new leaders, “the black masters” who prove to be worse than the colonialists. They partake of corruption and other vices with such impunity that it has become the way of life for some. Koomson, The Man’s friend, is one such politician. His immense wealth results from his corrupt activities.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Similar stories of corruption and moral decadence abound throughout the book. In another incident, we are told of a bus conductor who is abusive to his passengers and other road users, including a pedestrian crossing the road. The abusive conductor and his derelict bus are symbolic of the newly independent Ghana, heavily ridden by corruption and indigence.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Other notable characters in the book include “the teacher”. Like “the man” he abhors the corrupt society that Ghana has become. He chooses to stay away from it all by becoming a recluse. He has given up hope that society will ever shake off corruption, hence his symbolic exit from the society.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >When a military coup occurs, there is some hope that things might change, but sadly, life continues as usual. The military officers join in and start to take bribes too.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >The Man helps Koomson, the politician escape from the country through a faeces-ridden toilet-bucket crevice. Ironically, The Man also follows Koomson through the ‘shit-hole’ implying that even those who have avoided corruption are affected by those who engage in it.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Although the book focuses on post independence Ghanaian society, it is symbolic of many other developing countries, where corruption remains a major problem at all levels.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" >For the common man, there seems to be no end to the scourges of corruption and moral decadence. Indeed, it appears the saviors or the “beautiful ones” as Amar calls them, are not yet born”</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><b>By <i>Joshua Masinde</i></b></span></span></p></span>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-68822702337793384692010-10-21T02:51:00.000-07:002010-10-21T02:56:16.109-07:00The Outsider<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; "><p style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Can a book be sad and entertaining at the same time? With his book, <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; ">The Outsider</em></strong>, Albert Camus provides a masterpiece that just about achieves both. Irresistibly nostalgic, interesting and deeply moving, <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; ">The Outsider</strong></em> by Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus is one of the best works of fiction to ever to come out of Algeria and the continent of Africa. It was originally written in French (L’Etranger), but later translated into English. In some English translations, it is titled <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; ">The Stranger</em></strong></span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As you read the book, it can be hard to sympathize with Meursault, the main character, whose behaviour is strange right from the opening lines of the book.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">First, he is not sure when his mother died: “Mother died today yesterday. It must have been today. No, I don’t know.” He is apparently unmoved by his mother’s death, as he only requests two days off to mourn her death. He declines to watch her mother’s body but rather takes white coffee and smokes a cigar while observing other old women at the elderly women’s home mourn his mother’s death. This is absurd and against the acceptable norms in this society.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">This and many other events paint Meursault as a strange character (he is termed as an existentialist), whose behaviour is worth as serious a punishment as there can ever be. Camus uses Meursault’s struggle to fit into his society’s conventionally acceptable norms to explore the important philosophical aspect of existentialism.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">A series of events, from the mother’s death, to making love to Marie, his girlfriend hardly two days after his mother is buried, the killing of the Arab, and partly his defence at the court, claiming that he killed the Arab because of the environment, are sure enough to inspire the judge to hand him a death sentence by decapitation. Even more strange, Meursault is unmoved by the decision to decapitate him. He merely mulls over how the events at the guillotine will unfold.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Throughout the book, Meursault shows no emotions. He evokes no sympathy, but seems content to behave in a way that will fulfil his own fate, even if his actions or behaviour go against the grain of societal thinking and put him in the risk of being cast out of his society.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The Outsider is a masterpiece, and despite the passage of time, it remains as fresh as when it was published about six decades ago (1942).<strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "> </strong>As sad as it gets a times, readers will enjoy reading the relatively small book.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>By </b></i><b>Joshua Masinde</b></span></span></p></span>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-7026848707455555692009-12-17T00:51:00.000-08:002009-12-17T01:04:17.061-08:00<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;">By JOSHUA MASINDE</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Ugandans have a reason to smile. They have a seventh telecommunications operator to choose from. Aptly called Smile, the new company which launched operations in November promises cheaper call rates.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Smile CEO, Irene Charnley said its target is the segment of people who are underserved by costly communication facilities.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"Some people have to wait up to late in the evening to get <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVcqDZUIWmIkrzzV8GfEOHk1ItDh_9-ss_HeDQ1zGljK_b1l_5th8OKLoszY5D3Omy2_KTimWYW7LjdKxAtYYs_g7bl7oVrq2hoamKjq0AQ0DPHJmf9YJOdkYR4PrEqr1_o4KfoZw0jfk/s1600-h/Uganda+Communications+Commission+Executive+Director,+Patrick+Masambu+at+the+launch+of+Smile+Communications+at+Kabira+Country+Club+in+Kampala..jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416127983239570882" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 216px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVcqDZUIWmIkrzzV8GfEOHk1ItDh_9-ss_HeDQ1zGljK_b1l_5th8OKLoszY5D3Omy2_KTimWYW7LjdKxAtYYs_g7bl7oVrq2hoamKjq0AQ0DPHJmf9YJOdkYR4PrEqr1_o4KfoZw0jfk/s320/Uganda+Communications+Commission+Executive+Director,+Patrick+Masambu+at+the+launch+of+Smile+Communications+at+Kabira+Country+Club+in+Kampala..jpg" border="0" /></a>that promotion but our customers won't have to wait," Charnley added.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">In a major innovation, Smile customers will not need to have a phone or a sim card to communicate.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Instead, Charnley explained, Smile customers using their telephone number or Smile ID, together with a secret PIN code could log to any Smile phone run by Smile Agents.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">"Once logged in, customers can make low cost calls and have access to a range of unique Smile features which traditional payphone and mobile operators do not offer," she said.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Smile offers free phone number and a voice mailbox, free message retrieval from any Smile phone, a contact list that is accessible from any Smile phone, a current airtime balance that is always visible as well as voucher less airtime top ups and transfers.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Smile's Chief Financial Officer Sharon Venessa Naidoo said after the US$ 30million spent on commencement of its operations in Kampala, the company plans to invest more in a countrywide roll out within the next three years.</span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Uganda is Smile's first operation. It plans to go into Tanzania, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.</span></div>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-42259958970455739692009-12-16T23:37:00.000-08:002009-12-17T00:24:29.151-08:00Warid buyer to pump Ush 350bn into network<div align="justify"><strong>BY JOSHUA MASINDE</strong><br /><a href="http://www.independent.co.ug/index.php/business/business-news/54-business-news/2171-warid-buyer-to-pump-shs-350bn-into-network">Warid Uganda </a>could have been sold by the end of the week if everything went according to plan. Essar Group, one of the largest Telecommunication industries in India is the intending buyer.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFVA64mLOqeyqPXSBzaBzFGF8HQbbCkJepmli2-W2j_qcPU1TfgA1MKP_np0_d4-D6slYJtHvwzxTdEvOQ1c6oQjwIhafJPbb_E8WOYq4OuP9yU_GoaFZvbYP6FgWnBNOXrsDqBOxPQ0/s1600-h/President+Museveni+speaks+at+the+launch+of+Warid+Telecom+in+February+2008+in+Kampala.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416116385944323602" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 216px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKFVA64mLOqeyqPXSBzaBzFGF8HQbbCkJepmli2-W2j_qcPU1TfgA1MKP_np0_d4-D6slYJtHvwzxTdEvOQ1c6oQjwIhafJPbb_E8WOYq4OuP9yU_GoaFZvbYP6FgWnBNOXrsDqBOxPQ0/s320/President+Museveni+speaks+at+the+launch+of+Warid+Telecom+in+February+2008+in+Kampala.jpg" border="0" /></a>The Dhabi Group, which owns Warid, announced it had agreed to enter into exclusive discussions in relation to an investment by Essar Group into the telecommunications portfolio of the Dhabi Group’s African assets. A statement from Essar Telecom said the transaction will involve an equity infusion into these businesses as growth capital and will be the basis of a partnership to create a significant presence in Africa. The Dhabi group offers telecom services in African countries under the brand name Warid Telecom.<br />Essar is seeking to merge its telecoms licence in Uganda with the operations of Warid Telecom. The group had outlined a $200 million (approx. Ush 350 billion) investment when it bagged an operational licence for Uganda in June 2009, and said it was in exclusive talks to invest in the Dhabi group’s telecom operations in Africa.<br />“A large part of that will now be used for buying into Warid Uganda. It will give Essar immediate access to over 1.5 million users and a share in one of the fastest growing operators in the region,” a source close to the deal said.<br />Warid would be a good buy. It has been posting impressive subscriber growth since its launch in February 2008 as a fourth telecom operator in the country. It hit 1.2 million subscribers in April 2009.<br />Warid has shaken up the Uganda telecom scene since its entry. MTN, which is the dominant operator according to subscriber numbers, cut its tariffs by 14% prior to Warid’s launch. Even then, Warid entered the market with even lower rates. Through 36 customer centres, Prepaid starter kits were sold for Ush 3,000 and international calls were offered at the rate of a local call for a three months promotional period. Its recent promotion, the Pakalast, which enables callers to load only Ush 1000 (about US$ 0.5) and call for 24 hours, has been very popular. Over the same period Average Revenue per User has continued to slide. While MTN has an ARPU of US$ 12 per month (About Ush 25,000) in 2006, it has dropped to Ush 13,000 in April 2009. Zain, which had an ARPU of US$ 12 in 2006, had dropped to US$ 4 (about Ush 7,500) in 2009.<br />Difficult operating conditions in the country are likely to ensure that rates do not drop further. Most network operators depend on diesel generator power for more than 40% of their sites, according to a new independent survey of the sector. As the number of antenna towers dotting the country’s landscape increases, the government is working on regulations to encourage infrastructure sharing among the networks.<br />Essar has significant interests in telecommunications services, including mobile telephony in an Indian joint venture with Vodafone, telecom tower infrastructure, telecom retail and IT/telecom enabled services.<br />On January 19, 2009, Warid Telecom won the Investor of the Year Award for investing over US$200m since it was licensed by the Uganda Investment Authority. But, with the current six operators, industry players have admitted tight competition, and increasing costs of operation, even as the telecommunications industry in Africa presents a bright future. Despite this, Uganda’s teledensity stands at around 30%, indicating a market with potential.<br />Essar had earlier paid US$ 3 million in license fees to receive Uganda’s sixth mobile licence in May 2009 and plans were in high gear for a launch of its services.</div>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-39260317387842299852009-07-30T06:42:00.000-07:002009-07-30T07:00:12.418-07:00Giving hope to the sick in Kalangala District<p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>Health & Living July 30, 2009</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>JOSHUA MASINDE</strong></span></p><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Jane Namala writhes in pain. She tightly clutches her temple with both her hands. She cannot speak but only mutters a few words, expressing the intensity of the pain she is feeling. She has a dental problem and has come to have her two decayed yet painful teeth extracted.<br />A few metres away, Aisha Nalubega has brought Tatya Nankumba, <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX46XHiqMmYeAJ-yMe6GjbO3r88wpkWnN6ugcLYlh7kS8MLfvra83zDaEyKQJBDWJFcIWIt8uR7hxRScjE_agro2IHuPY9RgFGnqhNfoILteIeUoCrBiMXxbMSOVSQgbbXL-V_Cmuk5LI/s1600-h/Aisha+Nalubega+with+her+eleven-month+old+baby,+who+is+suffering+from+hernia+(an+umblical+disorder).+Photo+by+Joshua+Masinde.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364250660228683314" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX46XHiqMmYeAJ-yMe6GjbO3r88wpkWnN6ugcLYlh7kS8MLfvra83zDaEyKQJBDWJFcIWIt8uR7hxRScjE_agro2IHuPY9RgFGnqhNfoILteIeUoCrBiMXxbMSOVSQgbbXL-V_Cmuk5LI/s320/Aisha+Nalubega+with+her+eleven-month+old+baby,+who+is+suffering+from+hernia+(an+umblical+disorder).+Photo+by+Joshua+Masinde.JPG" border="0" /></a>her 11-month old baby for medical check-up. The baby has an umbilical hernia (an elongated navel), which has given both mother and baby endless nightmares.<br />Dr Patrick Kaliika, a clinical director who examined Nalubega’s baby, referred them to Masaka District hospital for an operation. Nalubega cannot help but say she does not have money for the operation.<br />All this unfolds at Mulabana centre, a remote area on Ssese Islands in Kalangala District. Many of the patients suffer silently for many months as there is no trace of a hospital or clinic nearby, but a small health centre located many kilometres away. The health centre often lacks the drugs to meet the patients’ health needs, according to Richard Kirule, the President of Rotary Club of Kampala, Ssese Islands.<br />At Mulabana centre, patients are strewn all over. Their genuine search for medical examination and attention is written on their faces. For some, especially the women and young children, pain, suffering and destitution are hidden beneath their smiling countenances.<br />Their wait for the free medical examination and free drugs, even when it’s once per annum, is worth it as they are now receiving free medical care from the members of Rotary Club, Ssese Islands. The opportunity is a God-send to the inhabitants of this almost God forsaken area. The patients are too willing to tell the two doctors, two dentists and the team of Rotarians examining them, of their sicknesses, woes and names.<br />Richard Kirule, says the free medical outreach extended to the people of Ssese islands, is conducted three times a year. The three times are allotted to different centres of the Ssese islands, in order to reach to a sizeable population of those in dire need of the free medical care. “Coming here quarterly is not enough but it is expensive in terms of time and money,” says Richard. He adds, “We spend a lot of money like Shs2m on doctors and other expenses.” The drugs alone cost them Shs1m.<br />The medical outreach covers all ailments like malaria, STDs like HIV/Aids, typhoid, flu, ringworms. They also conduct counselling on nutrition and immunisation. According to doctor Kaliika, they also do HIV testing and counselling. “For those who are positive, we refer them to Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC) in Kalangala town,” he says.<br />In addition to this, they not only de-worm the community members, but also give supplements and distribute condoms to those who are in need. The crowd of patients at Mulabana centre, had more dental cases than any other. Most of the patients like Jane Namala and Francis Ziwa, a photographer, had their teeth extracted.<br />Before the extraction of Namala’s two premolar teeth, she was feeling acute headache. She was unable to express herself. But, Francis Ziwa’s aching tooth took a dentist fifteen minutes to extract. “It was my first time to come here for dental examination,” says Ziwa, adding “It was very painful.” He developed the toothache a year ago, though he would not go to the Health centre in Kalangala town for check up because he could not afford the charges.<br />Dr Barbarah Nabageraka, who is a dentist based in Kalangala District acknowledges that many of the dental problems are due to the type of food like fish and bread which accelerate teeth decay. “Bad oral and personal hygiene, type of food like fish, which is sticky, make teeth decay quickly,” says Dr Nabagereka. The remedies she and her co-dentist handled were refilling, removal of scales on those with gum diseases and extraction of decayed painful teeth. However, she says there were few cases of refilling as opposed to extractions.</span></p>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-82613399965954342802009-07-07T02:51:00.000-07:002009-07-07T02:56:01.963-07:00Benefitting from illegal electricity connections<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;">M2: Features July 7, 2009<br />Benefiting from illegal electricity connections<br />JOSHUA MASINDE</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><a href="http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/features/Benefiting_from_illegal_electricity_connections_87634.shtml">http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/features/Benefiting_from_illegal_electricity_connections_87634.shtml</a></span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Jimmy is the caretaker of a residence in Mukwenda Zone, Kawempe Division. For about 10 years, even before he became caretaker, the residence had been glorying on the blessing of illegally connected electricity.<br />For all that period, they paid little or no bills to Umeme, since their electricity metre couldn’t indicate the watts of power used. In any case, Jimmy says that at various points, it was Umeme which owed them money.<br />However, their day of reckoning arrived when Umeme officials came calling after someone had tipped them of the illegal connection. “Umeme said someone reported us and we suspect it is the former caretaker, whom we had asked to repay the money he had swindled,” said a forlorn Jimmy.<br />The money amounted to about Shs2.5m but he is said to have repaid only Shs300,000. Umeme officials estimated the illegal connection to have been in existence for at least two years.<br />Umeme backdated the bills to two years and it amounted to Shs12m, which they warned that it either be paid or a legal option would be considered. But, after protracted negotiations, at which the culprits confessed the illegal connection was just a few months old, they settled at Shs2.5m, after which a reconnection was made.<br />Many culprits are yet to be caught, Jimmy admitted. Within the same area, there are many residences, homes and even maize mills, which connect power illegally and have never paid a single cent to Umeme. This has and continues to cost Umeme as they have to grapple with high operational and maintenance costs.<br />Some maize mills with not only illegal connections but also operating without licenses, are situated in banana plantations, hidden within dwellings. They often operate at night like one in Mukwenda, Kawempe in which they mercilessly utilise the stolen electricity.<br />The operators of such maize mills could at times be seen climbing electric poles, attached to a transformer, in order to connect power. There is an incident when the transformer was overloaded that it blew up and many residents in the area lost most of their electrical equipment due to the power surge.Though, such illegal connections are costing Umeme, those in the habit claim they can’t afford the high charges on electricity.<br />This has nevertheless, sometimes driven Umeme to increase power costs to exorbitant rates. At times, they are even forced to overcharge most of their loyal customers, as Abiaz attests.<br />“They look at your building and set the price for you,” says Abiaz, whose family was once a victim of such exaggerated power costs, despite meeting their past bills religiously. He says nobody was staying at home during that month but they received a bill of about Shs1.6m.<br />However, he adds that when they brought the case with Umeme officials and when the metre was crosschecked, the bill dropped to about Shs70,000.<br />But Abiaz says the owner of the former residence where he rented a room, was also surviving on illegal power connection. But, the owner could not allow tenants to use electric coils while cooking or boiling water, to cover any suspicion from Umeme.</span>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-62542214680908534462009-05-03T02:51:00.000-07:002009-05-03T03:12:25.272-07:00Makerere University bans taxis’, Boda Boda’s at campus<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>News May 1, 2009<br />Makerere</strong><br />Makerere University has barred Boda Boda cyclists and taxis from entering the institution between 9.00pm and 6.00 am to strengthen the security. The decision was reached during a meeting that was held by the university administration last week.<br />A letter from the deputy vice chancellor in charge of Finance and Administration Prof David.J Bakibinga dated April 22, 2009 to the Chief Security Officer, said that Boda Boda cyclists will only be allowed to operate at the university during day hours.<br />“Motor-cyclists shall only be permitted to enter the campus to drop the passengers between 6.30 a.m and 9.00 pm,” Prof Bakibinga said adding that those who contravenes will be liable to have his Motorcycle impounded.<br />The impounded property will only be returned to the owner upon payment of Ushs10,000 and an additional Ushs10,000 per day for each day impounded and unclaimed, which money he said will be deposited in the security department account to top up the salaries of the security staff.<br />The move is aimed at protecting students at the university campus.<br />This decision came barely a month when the Chief Security Officer Mr. Bahimbise Johnson wrote a letter to the university warning that the institution has become a target of terrorists.Mr Bahimbise said the terrorists have enlisted the university as one of their targets, who often use boda boda riders as accomplices to fulfill their acts of terror once they reach the university premises.<br />"Most crimes which have been committed herein have always had involvements of such boda boda riders. Very rarely they are on the subject of investigations," the letter reads in part. He said female students and staff are the most affected by the suspects. "Most of our female students and female staff have been victims to their practices," Bahimbise reiterated.<br />Over the last two months, female students and lecturers have had their property worth thousands of shillings stolen including phones, lap tops and cash. He warned the university community against disclosing their whereabouts.However, the University Publicity Mr Gilbert Kadilo said the decision was administrative and no one will be compromised upon violating it. </span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Isaac Khisa & Joshua Masinde</span></strong>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-49255045404900502992009-05-03T02:36:00.000-07:002009-05-03T02:50:55.421-07:00Zimbabwe’s Tapiwa an education trailblazer<span style="font-family:times new roman;"><a href="http://anax1b.pressmart.net/dailymonitor/DM/DM/2009/04/01/PagePrint/01_04_2009_031.pdf">http://anax1b.pressmart.net/dailymonitor/DM/DM/2009/04/01/PagePrint/01_04_2009_031.pdf</a></span><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Mr Tapiwa Kamurako was just 17 years old when he fought in the Zimbabwean guerrilla war against Ian Smith’s government. That is way back in the late 1970s. When Zimbabwe was granted independence in 1980, Tapiwa went back to school.<br />Since then, he has never stopped studying. Courtesy of his unending penchant for learning, the Mass Communication department at Makerere University could be on its way to produce a first international PhD student.<br />He currently resides in Germany where he works with the UN Volunteers.<br />“I have tried the delicate balance of working and studying,” he said.<br />He enrolled for an undergraduate degree course in Development Studies at the University of Zimbabwe in 1983, before pursuing a diploma in Mass Communication and another course specialising in communication at the same university.<br />In the early nineties, he pursued a Masters degree at Leicester University and picked up a second Masters degree at the University of Malmo in 2002, where he studied Communication for Development.<br />He turned down partial scholarships to study for his Phd in Australia and Britain to end up at Makerere.<br />“Makerere has a historical tradition in higher education. Most of our leaders have passed through the university,” he told <em>Daily Monitor</em>.<br />The research for his PhD thesis pivots on ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and<br />development, with a focus on Uganda and Zimbabwe. In Uganda, he is focusing on Nakaseke Telecentre in Luwero as the case study for his thesis. He says that the media environment<br />in Uganda is far better than in Zimbabwe.<br />“I am extremely impressed by Uganda. I think Uganda has one of the most promising media environments in Africa,” he said.<br /><strong>Joshua Masinde</strong></span>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-46889450074197998162009-04-18T03:52:00.000-07:002009-04-18T03:54:35.376-07:00Ladies, black is beauty<strong><a href="http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/sunday_life/Ladies_black_is_beauty_81939.shtml"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/sunday_life/Ladies_black_is_beauty_81939.shtml</span></a></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Sunday Life March 22, 2009<br />By Joshua Masinde<br />Book: Butterflies of the Nile</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Author: Jane Musoke-Nteyafas</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Publisher: Cook Communications</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>Reviewer: Joshua Masinde<br /></strong>She writes poetry, short stories and plays. She is distinctly feminine, describing the African woman’s beauty with a passion. Such is her description: “In the beginning, God populated the earth with black women and he made them a rich embellishing combination of all colours and shades.<br />They were beautiful rainbow complexions of coffee, cocoa, and ebony, chocolate…” she writes on, “and the Devil came along and created skin lighteners…”<br />Butterflies of the Nile by Jane Musoke-Nteyafas, is drawn from a poem by the same title. The poem is an artistic and compelling praise of African beauty (read African women’s beauty).<br />Despite the beauty the African women are endowed with, it is strange but uncommon how the natives of Africa, especially the men who live in exotic lands, have alienated many things African by having a chronic penchant for exotic tastes. Muhwezi, in Prom Night, passes for one of such alienated blokes.<br />He is a Ugandan-born, Canadian-bred chap who does not appreciate his Ugandan-born Canadian girlfriend, Aisha. Despite her breathtaking beauty, which is admired by many a man, Muhwezi does not appreciate such African beauty.Aisha is authentically beautiful.<br />But, as Muhwezi does not appreciate her as much as she deserves, she puts on makeup and uses lots of beauty enhancing elements to appease him. Nevertheless, he does not still appreciate her spruced up appearance meant to placate him.<br />In a drunken stupor, he abuses her instead. Nteyafas writes of deep love and affection in Nakimera’s Love. Nakimera and Rwomushana, both from Uganda but living abroad, meet on an online chatting site.<br />Although they live continents apart, they fall deeply in love such that Nakimera does not object to his suggestion of going to England to stay with him. Nakimera’s Love is an enchanting love story of the African love, which brings together and binds her and Rwomushana. Through her, Rwomushana appreciates how beautiful women from his home country are.<br />Modernity has brought with it myriad makeup, which most women use to appear (beautiful), fashionable and sophisticated. The face presents such a scenario. Katrice, an African woman, though beautiful in her natural way, uses a lot of makeup to fake artificial beauty, which unfortunately she does not attain.<br />She has the body and features, which though she dislikes, present her as more beautiful than one would ever think. After adorning the makeup, she is visibly ugly and is abandoned by her boyfriend.<br />However, her second boyfriend dissuades her, just like her mother did sometime back, to stop using makeup as it exaggerates her looks and makes her appear ugly. After ridding herself of all makeup, her authentic African beauty stuns her boyfriend, who vows to keep by her side forever.<br />Nteyefas is potently feministic, championing the rights and place of women in modern society. In her simplicity, she writes strongly and passionately of the beauty of African women, love and relationships.<br />The themes run through the plays, poems and short stories, with a touch of biblical allusion spicing up some stories. She writes to heal the distorted stereotypes and misconceptions attached to African women’s beauty. It is powerfully written, passionately moving, truly sensitive, and ecstatically enchanting.</span>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-90219621518451372552009-04-18T03:45:00.000-07:002009-04-18T03:48:40.202-07:00Banking fortunes on the betting game<a href="http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/smartmoney/Banking_fortunes_on_the_betting_game_83250.shtml"><span style="font-family:times new roman;">http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/smartmoney/Banking_fortunes_on_the_betting_game_83250.shtml</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>Smart Money April 16, 2009<br />Justus Lyatuu & Joshua Masinde<br />Kampala</strong><br />In a pure game of chance, many Ugandans are increasingly placing their hard earned cash into a growing betting industry that is attracting especially younger people who enjoy the thrill of betting.<br />The betting industry in Uganda is not exactly young but is emerging from the informal and stagnated into a modern business enhanced by technology and innovation.<br />Justine Mwanje, a student, has been betting since 2005. Last year, he placed Shs10,000 and won Shs250,000. He says such fortunes have encouraged him to frequent betting stores. He also admits that betting is addictive. He has also made losses.<br />“Every weekend I bet roughly Shs10,000, but for the last two weeks I have lost,” he adds. Adam Sebugeni, House Manager, Sports Betting Africa – one of the betting companies, Bwaise branch told Smart Money that in February this year he won Shs150,000 after making a bet with only Shs10,000.<br />Betting stores are fast becoming places for people to spend most of their time attracted by the thrill to win while others have been knocked of their feet by the addiction that comes with playing the game many times.<br />Betting companies have cunningly moved into sports activities attracted by the growing number of Ugandans who love sports especially top European soccer leagues such as the English, Spanish and Italian.<br />Cricket and rugby have also become popular attracting many people especially foreigners to bet on them. At Sports Betting Africa in Bwaise, more than 200 participants place bets over the weekends. Mr Sebugeni says one can bet as little as Shs500 and a maximum of Shs150,000. The number of winners varies but Sebugeni says about 50 people win cash on a good weekend.<br />Royal Sports Betting, another of the flourishing betting companies, holds a record of losing Shs34 million to a lucky customer in one single bet, according to proprietor Zaheer Nathani.<br />He also said a customer once lost Shs5 million to the company. Mr Nathani says that betting has become a competitive business with more companies entering in the industry.<br />Some of the companies in the betting business include; Sports Betting Africa, Royal Sports Betting and Kings Betting among others. These compete directly with casinos such as Simba casino and Kampala casino.<br />Royal Sports Betting started four years ago and according to Mr Nathani business is booming. He says he found out that people could not afford to go to expensive casinos and needed something cheaper and less frightening.<br />At Royal Sports Betting, one can bet with as low as Shs500.“We wanted something that even a common man could afford. We give the best odds to our people though high profile people get special odds depending on the game,” he says.<br />The service provider presents the betting odds, from which clients choose. Odds are figures for betting, the betting can be conducted on any game though betting on the English Premier League matches is the most popular and attracts a big number of clients.<br />He says the trick – indeed one needs to be good at trickery to participate – for success is being knowledgeable about the teams one is betting on.<br />Royal Sports Betting has machines connected to the internet and provides key information to sports novices. Much of the information is available and helps customers acquaint themselves before going to bet. Royal Sports Betting handles between 400 to 500 customers a week.<br />To attract more customers, betting companies have invested heavily in electronic gagdets like computers with internet and clients can get their results online.<br />In the meantime, Kampala City Council makes Shs446,500 from issuing trading license to the betting companies and the Ministry of Finance, also collects an annual fee of Shs300,000 from the businesses as well. </span>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-79885837645490619902009-03-27T23:32:00.001-07:002009-03-27T23:37:54.831-07:00A new vehicle that consumes one litre for 20kms<span style="font-family:times new roman;"></span><br /><p><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Eng. Semuli Moses is the brain child of the Rural Transport Vehicle, a product of Makerere University’s Faculty of Technology and Katwe Metal Fabricators Cluster. The vehicle looks like an old disused lorry, although, from afar, it can easily be mistaken for an old tractor. By all means, this vehicle, made almost from a scratch, with different scraps of metal and engines put together, pulled crowds at the Freedom Square, Makerere University.<br /> As Eng. Semuli said, the vehicle is designed with one piston. This makes it a highly fuel efficient machine. The vehicle uses diesel. A litre is enough to power it for 20 kilometres. Although there’s no complete combustion of the fuel, Eng. Semuli insisted that its degradation of the environment is very small compared to human beings.<br /> “The engine requires tuning so that the air mixtures can enable it to start,” said Eng. Semuli adding that it is an internal-combustion diesel engine.<br /> The vehicle has eight major sections, of which the breaking system is the most important.<br /> Bicycle technology, motorcycle technology, vehicle and aviation technology were used to bring the vehicle into being. The compatibility and use of such technology makes it easy to repair when the vehicle breaks down. “If it gets a problem in the garden, one can repair it from there,” Eng. Semuli noted.<br /> Although the vehicle is still a prototype (not a complete/finished product), the Ushs9 million injected into its assembly from a scratch have seen to it that it runs. It was manufactured using the tri-lemur philosophy of economy, energy and environment.<br /> Specifications from abroad were used to test it for quality and safety standards since the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) does not have the machinery to carry out the tests. According to him, every engine has got three standards; emissions, vibration and sound. “It should not exceed 70 decibels when you are a metre from it.”<br /> However, he often drives the vehicle to Uganda Police and to the Central Materials Laboratory at the Ministry of Works for mechanical audit and evaluation.<br /> The engineer, who is an electrical engineer by training, with a speciality in small and industrial machinery, acknowledged the effort injected to come up with the eye catching vehicle.<br />“If you saw this vehicle during Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2007, it did not have an engine. And the first time we tried it, we used an engine of 6.5 horsepower, which was donated by Car and General Uganda Ltd. It (the vehicle) could not even climb a hill. People had to push it,” he said. Now they keep improving it day by day although whatever is left is for professionals.<br /> The project was started in 1993 when Eng. Semuli was still a university student in Punjab, India. What inspired him to venture into the task many people find tasking to undertake, was the way people in India overcame their transport problems with ease. They apply their knowledge to the indigenous systems to make something that can sustainably work for themselves.<br /> “I said, can’t I copy this and take it back to Uganda?” He did it. But when he came back to Uganda, he did not get any attention. He professed that when he went to Uganda National Council of Science and Technology (UNCST) to solicit for the hardware, he couldn’t get the assistance he needed.<br /> “I couldn’t even get attention,” he said. “That is why I decided to try a ‘Jua Kali’(local/domestic industry). So, in 2006, after gathering all the required data, I got a job in Sudan. I was working as a maintenance engineer for United States Agency for International Development (USAID). All the money they paid me, I just put it in the research.” So far, the research he initiated in 1998, has run into Ushs400 million, which has been spent on air-tickets and research material.<br /> The notable thing with the vehicle is that it is a jack of all trade, with the multiplicity of tasks it can perform. It can act as a welder and at the same time a generator, when it’s put on. It generates 7.5 Kw of electricity. It can also be used in mining and transportation. The vehicle was nicknamed the ‘punda’ because of its capacity to do such a lot of work.<br /> Lack of partnership and funding he requires has impeded him from manufacturing more of these vehicles. Granted that he gets the funding, they will start to manufacture these vehicles for the mass market, although, no demand from the people has yet been forthcoming.<br /> Eng. Semuli not only works at Victor Machinery as the technical officer, where he is one of the members of the Katwe Metal Fabricators Cluster, but he is also a part-time lecturer at Kampala Polytechnic in Mengo. He teaches Workshop practice to certificate and diploma students and engineering to higher diploma students.<br /> He credits Eng. Dr Yasin Nakuzirawa, of Makerere University Faculty of Technology for helping him with materials and stress test since 2006. Eng. Mutambi Joshua helped him with capacity building, patronage and co-ordination.</span></p><p><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;">By Joshua Masinde and Nelson Wesonga</span></strong></p>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-41114469401546749132009-02-20T23:02:00.000-08:002009-02-20T23:10:39.389-08:00Solar panels boost immunisation exercise in Arua<span style="font-family:times new roman;">In 2007, residents of Ajia sub-county, Mvura County in Arua initiated a project to power their health centre III using solar energy, which is comparatively cheaper than electricity. The </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-7XUaZNboeXjE8Qz9QLUr9Irm14nAyxB6RLPNEXbFY3e5LVHbzNHVSRfHvR16kNGD0KjvTRFWdgi2_fp5ef43cQc7-JdcHA2FcnvocllmT5xdsiBpbd5aBURRvfNi2ZVZ_XhWl4RXD4/s1600-h/A+solar+panel+out+in+the+sun.+Photo+by+Nelson+Wesonga.JPG"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305143425957022386" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-7XUaZNboeXjE8Qz9QLUr9Irm14nAyxB6RLPNEXbFY3e5LVHbzNHVSRfHvR16kNGD0KjvTRFWdgi2_fp5ef43cQc7-JdcHA2FcnvocllmT5xdsiBpbd5aBURRvfNi2ZVZ_XhWl4RXD4/s320/A+solar+panel+out+in+the+sun.+Photo+by+Nelson+Wesonga.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:times new roman;">majority of the population of 23, 000 people, most of whom are women and children, according the Ajia Sub-county LC III chairperson, Mr Santore Alekua, could not afford paying for electricity connection from the West Nile Rural Electrification Company (WENRCO).<br />Previously, due to lack of power, the Ajia health centre stored its vaccines at the Arua Government hospital and Kuluva Missionary hospital. But this often delayed the immunisation exercises in Ajia Sub-county because the health personnel had to wait for the transportation of the vaccines from the two hospitals.<br />Then, there came the idea of the use of solar energy, as an alternative source to enhancing service delivery to the community members. Although, the area is a tobacco growing zone, the community members faced problems in raising money to buy a solar panel to power the health centre, which was a blessing to them in many ways. However, necessity pushed them to raise Ush2.5 million last year, which money they used to purchase a solar panel, and a deep freezer to store vaccines.<br />With such sacrifice on their part, the solar project has now begun to pay off, especially in terms of enhanced health service delivery. Eighty percent of the children under the age of five (approximately 4000 in number) were recently immunised. The immunisation level improved from less than 60% of their targeted number of children under the age of five in the previous years to more than 70% of the children on a weekly basis.<br />“Previously, we could not carry out immunisation because we had no fridge to store vaccines,” said Santore Alekua, the LCIII chairperson of Ajia Sub-county in Arua district. “But now, our children have been immunised because of solar power.” </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwv_QVSy-vCRaf0Cn10dS5KtjbHY-TVurGiN_cnj-k5dBsjhptdXs8CrVqx-ptZPzw1Q_unaBf2C4WpMJAvz9Db-5foSkv0p630vS-iD3ZTmttCnAhWSJSMUtDL349VXoWwiNlDRsA0w/s1600-h/Mr+Santore+Alekua,+the+LCIII+chairperson+of+Ajia+Sub-county+in+Arua+district.+The+solar+project+has+improved+the+health+standards+in+the+area.+Photo+by+Nelson+Wesonga.JPG"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305144132010979122" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcwv_QVSy-vCRaf0Cn10dS5KtjbHY-TVurGiN_cnj-k5dBsjhptdXs8CrVqx-ptZPzw1Q_unaBf2C4WpMJAvz9Db-5foSkv0p630vS-iD3ZTmttCnAhWSJSMUtDL349VXoWwiNlDRsA0w/s320/Mr+Santore+Alekua,+the+LCIII+chairperson+of+Ajia+Sub-county+in+Arua+district.+The+solar+project+has+improved+the+health+standards+in+the+area.+Photo+by+Nelson+Wesonga.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Needless to say, the community’s access to solar energy has enabled the health centre to operate even at night, unlike in the previous occasion when there was no electricity or other source of power at the health centre. This has tremendously improved service provision as the health workers are now working during the night. The benefit of the solar project was also elicited during the outbreak of meningitis in the northern region, of recent. People were able to rush the patients to the health centre quickly, and they would be attended upon even at night.<br />Now, both the health and commercial necessity of the solar programmes have been of great importance in the Ajia sub-county. The ministry of health donated two fridges to the health centre. These fridges are sufficiently powered by the solar energy. More solar panels were donated to the Ajia Trading Centre Community Project by the Joint Energy and Environmental Projects (JEEP).<br />Despite the notable changes seen in the access of solar energy, the Ajia health centre is still dogged by various challenges. The centre lacks the necessary solar equipment as they are expensive to acquire and maintain. Similarly, the panels, whose main purpose was to light up the health centre and to power freezers, which are key to storing medicine and other medical supplies, are at times overloaded as people also charge their mobile phones. </span><div><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Joshua Masinde and Nelson Wesonga</span></strong></div>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-89025823091396114862009-02-20T22:57:00.000-08:002009-02-20T23:01:56.266-08:00When the day students study on evening programme<span style="font-family:times new roman;">THE semester began with the merging of day and evening programmes in many departments at the Faculty of Arts. Students in the day programmes will study with their colleagues in the evening class in some select course units.<br />Dr George W. Lugalambi, head of Mass Communication department told third year students the adjustments have been made necessary due to changes in the staffing policy, which has to do with shortage of instructors and insufficient funding. <br />In an earlier communication to the Mass Communication staff and students, Dr Lugalambi noted, "This decision has been forced on us by the staffing gaps that the department is experiencing. But, we believe it is better to find a way to continue running these classes under schedules that some may find inconveniencing than to cancel them altogether."<br />Such changes are proving to be a challenge to some students who have decided to study such course units that have been merged and run late into the night. Others feel uncomfortable adjusting to the improvised schedules.<br />Diana Nabiruma, who freelances with The Weekly Observer, finds it hard to come from work to attend lectures, unlike in the previous occasion where she could first attend her day lectures and go to work.<br />But Justus Lyatuu is comfortable with the changes and says he wouldn't mind if some lectures ended at midnight. "The changes don't interfere with my programme. I think it is blessing to me."<br />Dr. Hanington Sengendo, Dean of the Faculty of Arts attributes the merging of some lectures at the faculty to a shortfall of instructors. He cited some members are on study leave. This has affected the departments like Mass Communication, Geography, Tourism and Urban Planning, which don't have established teaching structures. This exposes a visible need for more lectures, though, as he says, "It depends on how the university is facilitated."</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Joshua Masinde </span></strong>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-32439827933699189952009-02-18T08:21:00.000-08:002009-02-18T08:50:33.232-08:00One creative writer to watch<em>Julius Ocwinyo, author of Fate of the Banished says nothing really prompted him to start writing. He talked to <strong>Joshua Masinde</strong> about his family, literary work and role models</em><br />Julius Ocwinyo can pass for an ordinary bloke, until you get to know he is the author of Fate of <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKcDG3zWtzescnDZx-H1U7ptmL2N3BIt2wSq68Ml91SNebKiHF2oPTkicv6hznLhMjk8Iq-evCIa4Awo_FjYmEPMMWYOrqm_XlWCxmypn6ITv49RdUAJ6L8jqbEah2DJCGvlteYm-NLSA/s1600-h/Julius+Ocwyino+displaying+some+of+the+books+he+has+taken.+Photo+by+Joshua+Masinde.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304176271171056674" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKcDG3zWtzescnDZx-H1U7ptmL2N3BIt2wSq68Ml91SNebKiHF2oPTkicv6hznLhMjk8Iq-evCIa4Awo_FjYmEPMMWYOrqm_XlWCxmypn6ITv49RdUAJ6L8jqbEah2DJCGvlteYm-NLSA/s320/Julius+Ocwyino+displaying+some+of+the+books+he+has+taken.+Photo+by+Joshua+Masinde.jpg" border="0" /></a>the Banished, a high school set book, and other novels. He is a 48-year-old, seemingly quiet man, who admits having led a happy childhood and loved occasional fights with his childhood friends.<br />His father, Kelemente Ochen, worked in the Prisons Service in different parts of the country. In 1961, while Ochen was still stationed in Masaka District, Ocwinyo was born. While growing up, he not only had the privilege of living in Masaka but he also lived in Lira, Gulu, Adjumani, Mutukula and Kampala.<br />Living in different parts of the country exposed Ocwinyo to various cultures quite early. Such exposure gave him an opportunity to appreciate them. This enabled him to speak Acholi first, and not Lango, his mother tongue.<br />“Fate of the Banished itself is not about Lango but different parts of the country,” Ocwinyo pointed out. Such rich diversity in terms of thematic concerns and messages portrayed in Fate of the Banished is what contributed to its consideration as an A-level set book last year. For this opportunity, he has reason to smile. So far, it remains one of his biggest achievements, though more challenging situations keep coming up.<br />As a writer, the monetary value gained from the sale of his books is relative. The 10 per cent royalty the author receives from such sales isn’t all that handsome. But, the sales of Fate of the Banished have increased, something for which he’s grateful. Other cases like invitations to important events or occasions like writer-in-residence and book fairs and to attend conferences of international organisations like Unesco and Unicef present a good opportunity in terms of monetary gain. He was a writer-in-residence in Cumbria in Northern England for two weeks in 2003.<br />“The sponsors were British Council and Cumbria Arts Council.” His father wasn’t highly educated because education was not highly encouraged then. He passed away in 1994 aged about 70 years.<br />“He was still very fit,” Ocwinyo says fondly of him. His mother, who is a housewife, is in her 70s. Ocwinyo is a family man, with one wife and four children, three of whom are boys. He lives in Kisaasi. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQyMQu1NRSKFCmZ35d_D4cAOgtG569hbpzmIqKBsPM4FEEsODWLiQD8PT3htl3CSzfZfC_J2IzYcuwMiuNFOl_KrRBZpkTN7e4DEU8ziz3by7uArse_H_SG3x8XoghgQ44VFY27B-79s/s1600-h/Ocwyino+in+his+office.+Photo+by+Joshua+Masinde.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304176888813123810" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQyMQu1NRSKFCmZ35d_D4cAOgtG569hbpzmIqKBsPM4FEEsODWLiQD8PT3htl3CSzfZfC_J2IzYcuwMiuNFOl_KrRBZpkTN7e4DEU8ziz3by7uArse_H_SG3x8XoghgQ44VFY27B-79s/s320/Ocwyino+in+his+office.+Photo+by+Joshua+Masinde.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />“Writing is easy,” so said one writer. It is as easy as getting a blank piece of paper and gazing at it until droplets of blood form on your forehead. Regardless of that, nothing really prompted Ocwinyo to start writing. “I just found myself writing,” he remarked, after a brief reflection.<br />“My first book was a play called Tangled Strings.” He wrote it in 1986, though it is still unpublished. Before that, he wrote poems. Some of them were published in the Uganda Poetry Anthology in 2000. He wrote Fate of the Banished in 1993. It took him the months of November and December to complete writing it.<br />He still prefers to write by hand rather than using a typewriter or computer, especially when writing creative works. However, apart from writing poems and novels, he does not fancy writing the short story.<br />“I wrote only one but it wasn’t published,” Ocwinyo remarked, adding that he can’t recall the title. Why can’t he publish them now that he is not only a celebrated writer but also a book editor with Fountain Publishers? He thinks otherwise. To him, it does not make a difference whether or not they are published.<br />At his Fountain Publishers’ office, located at Makerere University, his work mostly involves editing textbooks and creative works for both children and adults and from primary school to university. He also executes a lot of administrative work like soliciting books from authors. Because of his tight schedule, he does not edit a lot of creative works.<br />For a man whose values rotate around hard work and honesty, his role models are as diverse. He considers Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Albert Camus, William Faulkner and Jean Paul Sartre as his literary role models. Nelson Mandela is his other role model, considering his integrity and perseverance during the apartheid era in South Africa.<br />Ocwinyo, who likes being quiet, travels to his rural home in Teboke once or twice a year, because of the distance and his busy schedule. He enjoys photography although, “I don’t have a camera yet,” and “walking… a lot of walking. That is why I am so trim,” he observes.<br />Occasionally, he takes some time off, especially on Sunday afternoons to walk from Kisaasi to Kiwatule, along the Northern By-pass and back.<br />Apart from Fate of the Banished (1997), Ocwyino has also published The Unfulfilled Dream (2002), and Footprints of the Outsider (2000). Born in Teboke village in Apac District, Ocwyino studied at Aboke Junior Seminary and Lango College.<br />He later joined the Institute of Teachers Education, Kyambogo, where he earned a Diploma in Education. Later, he went to Makerere University, where he received a Bachelor of Education Degree. He taught at various educational institutions before becoming an editor for Fountain Publishers, Kampala.Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-37269122342870508342009-02-18T08:19:00.001-08:002009-02-18T08:21:26.100-08:00Safaricom losing subscribers outside Kenya over tariffs<strong>Daily Monitor Business February 18, 2009<br />Joshua Masinde<br />Kampala</strong><br />Although, it is the most profitable company, and also boasts the cheapest local rates in East Africa, Safaricom’s subscribers in Uganda are complaining about the newly introduced exorbitant calling and short message (sms) rates in Uganda.<br />Previously, the subscribers, most of whom are Kenyans, were being charged Kshs8 (Shs192) per minute on Ongea Tariff, and relatively the same charges on other tariffs like the belated Jibambie.<br />This has been increased by over 200 pc. The rates now stand at between Kshs25 (Shs600) to Kshs28 (Shs672) per minute and Ksh10 (Shs240) for a text message.<br />“Safaricom is charging us expensively,” remarked Scola Kamau, a Kenyan student in Uganda.This is affecting Safaricom’s subscriber base in Uganda as it is losing out most of them to Zain and MTN.<br />When contacted to explain the phenomenon, a Safaricom customer care personnel claimed the tariffs for Safaricom subscribers who go out of Kenyan borders will not be the same as was the case.<br />The roaming service, a new name for tariffs charged for its customers who go out of Kenyan borders, is the burden that many Kenyan Safaricom subscribers in Uganda are trying to avoid.<br />The exorbitant taxation system in Kenya could be one of the reasons for the hike in tariffs that will mostly hurt subscribers outside of Kenya.<br />Currently, the Value Added Tax is as high as 26 per cent and it could be more, hurting investors, even though they rake in millions of shillings in profits each year.<br />However, what explains the new charges is a technical hitch the telecommunications Company experienced in late January this year.<br />For about two days, it was glee for Safaricom subscribers in Uganda whenever they would top up their accounts with MTN credit cards. A top up of Shs500 (approximately Kshs20) would recharge the subscriber’s account to Kshs2000 (more than Shs48,000).<br />Taking advantage of the technical hitch, some people would top up to as much as Kshs200,000 (approximately Shs4.8 million) and transfer as much as they wanted,” said Innocent Masaki, who works as a customer care agent with Zain-Uganda.<br />He personally topped up more than Kshs150,000 (approximately Shs3.6 million) though he wouldn’t transfer more than Kshs10,000 (about Shs240,000) per day. However, the lucrative loophole was short lived as all sim cards were blocked but activated with a credit-less account.<br />“Safaricom must have made losses and they want to re-coup the money they lost during the technical error,” says one subscriber.<br />“We are all paying for the sins of a few people.”“I have money but I fear to top up,” said Wycliff Mugun. He added that Safaricom is for receiving only.<br />And, indeed, Safaricom might also pay for the exodus of a few of its subscriber base to its local competitor or to its Ugandan counterparts MTN, Zain, Warid and Uganda Telecom.Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-34630440207484867582009-02-16T00:38:00.000-08:002009-04-27T07:02:54.553-07:00Terrorists target Makerere<span style="font-family:times new roman;">MAKERERE University has become a target by terrorists, the Chief Security officer of the University, Mr. Bahimbise Johnson has warned. The terrorists who have enlisted the university as one of their targets often use boda boda riders as accomplices to fulfil their acts of terror once they reach the premises of the university.<br />“Most crimes which have been committed herein have always had involvements of such boda boda riders. Very rarely they are on the subject of investigations,” Bahimbise’s a communication to the administrators and security contingent at the university read. He added that some of these terror suspects were commanded by an insider with an intention to assault a security guard who was lawfully on duty and they vowed to continue.<br />“Most of our female students and female staff have been victims to their practices,” Bahimbise reiterated.<br />He asked the university community to be wary of them by not disclosing their areas of residence to such suspicions individuals as they would easily fall prey to acts terror. Other areas like embassies, banks and micro-finance institutions, major restaurants and hotels in the city have put measures to keep them far from their premises.<br />However, it has become increasingly difficult to clear the boda bodas from the university as some community members also own motorcycles, which they use as their transportation means. Nevertheless, they risk having their motorcycles being impounded to ease their operation against boda bodas.<br />When contacted by the Daily Monitor over the phone, Prof Livingstone Luboobi, the university Vice-Chancellor, declined to elaborate on the matter, saying he will do so once he is informed.</span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;">Joshua Masinde</span></strong>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-83953741877780563632008-08-13T06:25:00.000-07:002008-08-13T06:40:32.403-07:00Makerere Medical School Laboratory Wins Award<a class="blue" href="http://www.newvision.co.ug/">New Vision</a> (Kampala)<br />13 August 2008<br /><strong>Joshua Masinde (Kampala)</strong><br />THE Medical Laboratory Observer Magazine (MLO), a USA-based monthly magazine, has ranked the Makerere University John Hopkins University Core laboratory at Mulago Medical School as the best in medical laboratory in 2008.<br />It is one of the three laboratories in Africa to be accredited by the College of American Pathologists.<br />Representing the Makerere University Chancellor, Prof. Mondo Kagonyera, Stephen Maloba, the chairman of the Makerere University Appointments Committee, said this at an Academic Fair at Makerere University recently.<br />The fair aimed at showcasing the different achievements by the various faculties, schools and institutes at the university.<br />Maloba said the university led the way in innovation in Africa, adding that the institution had a track record in research, especially in science.<br />"Among the innovations realised at Makerere University are the discovery that the Nevirapine drug prevents transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child," he said.<br />Relevant Links<br />"Our students from the Famulty of Technology were selected from five African universities to represent the continent on an international team of 12 institutions of high repute working on the development of a modern car, projected to be the cheapest in the world," he added.Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-10207049466899041252008-08-12T06:51:00.000-07:002008-08-12T06:52:39.748-07:00Rising population: A curse or blessing?IN a situation where globalisation is making the world a small place to live in, the rapid increase in population, especially in sub-Saharan countries is an issue of great concern and controversy. Over the years, the population in sub-Saharan Africa has been growing, and Uganda, with the third highest population growth rate of 3.5% per annum in the world, has not been left behind.<br />The booming population is only one among many causes of social and environmental problems. Ethiopia, for instance experienced a population growth from 42 million at the time of the unforgettable famine in 1984 to 75 million today. By 2050 its population is projected to reach 145 million. This condition surfaces at a time when eight million Ethiopians live on permanent food aid.<br /> Being as it is, the proportional size of the world has never increased in the wake of the high population growth rate. In fact, the world is becoming smaller, with the melting of ice-caps, flooding, which in turn occupy the hitherto land inhabited by man.<br /> The implications of the phenomenon of population growth pose greater risks like human, food, environmental and health insecurities.<br />In a past conference, at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala, Prof. Dr. John Opuda-Asibo, the chairman of the National Bio-security Committee, was concerned about the rapid population increase, especially in Uganda as a threat to security and a factor in the increase disease out break.<br />The banality that was ingrained in his concerns was one of the questions that confront many a people in the Uganda today, more than ever.<br />Previously, The New Vision reported that Uganda's population is estimated to hit 43.4 million in 2017. Presently, the country’s population is estimated to stand at 29 million people. By 2025, the population will almost double to 58 million. Much as the Ugandan economy continues to register impressive growth rates, it is quite obvious that there are more pertinent issues awaiting than meets the eye as this unprecedented population growth poses a unique challenge.<br />While responding to a question from a participant in North Dakota State University in the United States on the need for Africa, and Uganda in particular to use family planning methods aggressively to check its rising population, Prof. John David Kabaasa, the dean of the faculty of veterinary medicine of Makerere University, though acknowledging that the rapid rise in population would cause food insecurity and natural calamities, argued that there was no need to do so. He categorically stated that Africa has been a vicious victim of diseases which have regulated its population. This is not the only population control measure, as he stated.<br />“There is going to be a natural and systematic control of the number of children,” he stated. “As people get more educated, they get fewer children.”<br />Now, Uganda has a higher number of educated people than it was the case say, a few years ago. The population is growing rapidly. Resultantly, insecurities arising from population pressures on the land, increased migration to the urban centres, increased pressures on urban job markets spell enormous burdens are placed on the government for public administration, sanitation, education, police, and other services. Urban slum dwellers may serve as a volatile, violent force which threatens human security.<br /> Poverty levels, which also arise from the strain the high number of children low or no income families aggravates the security condition. They contribute to high and increasing levels of child abandonment, juvenile delinquency, chronic and growing underemployment and unemployment, petty thievery, organized banditry, as has been the case, when armed gangs almost took siege of Kampala city recently.<br /> A past study by (<a href="http://www.population-security.org/">www.population-security.org</a>) indicated that 14 of forty-five conflicts in third world countries examined the ways in which population factors like migration, population pressure and the high population in relation to resource allocation essentially contribute to conflict and violence.<br />As more and more people are born into, and are compressed in the same living area, aspects like breakdowns in social structures, unemployment, poverty, lowered education opportunities for the masses, few job opportunities for those who do obtain education, pose administrative burdens on governmental systems at all levels.<br />The young people, who are in much higher proportions in many the least developed countries (LDCs), are likely to be more volatile, unstable, alienation and violence than an older population. A case in point is South Africa. Despite being one of the favourite spots for tourists and foreign investment, and low population growth rate at 0.5%, it has had to contend with xenophobic violence directed at the flood of immigrants and refugees to the country. South Africa. Many of the young frustrated people from slums perpetuated such elements, attributing them to immigrants.<br />As the global population continues to grow, there is increasing pressure from overcrowding, which increases the risk of disease transmission. More than 1 billion people in developing countries live without adequate shelter or in unacceptable housing. More than 1 billion do not access safe water, and some 2.6 billion people have no access to adequate sanitation all of which are essential for good health.<br />“In 2000, the urban population was 47% of the world population,” As Prof. Kabaasa noted, “Now it is 60%. We are faced with many threats like high temperatures, melting of Rwenzori and Kilimanjaro mountain caps, more mosquitoes and tse tse flies. While we are also driving towards industrialisation and globalisation, floods are coming in.”<br />With risks arising from population rise, coupled with global warming and environmental degradation more glaring effects remain to be seen and felt. It remains to be seen that the rising level of the educated masses in Uganda and the growing middle class will bring about systematic and natural population regulation.<br /><strong>Joshua Masinde</strong>Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2768230157203393362.post-25657587157183080622008-07-23T07:51:00.000-07:002008-07-23T07:53:56.575-07:00Uganda: Project Boosts Crop Yields<a class="blue" href="http://www.newvision.co.ug/"><strong>New Vision</strong></a><strong> (Kampala)<br />22 July 2008Posted to the web 23 July 2008<br />Joshua Masinde: Kampala</strong><br />MANY farmers have become self-reliant and their productivity has increased, thanks to the Agricultural Productivity Enhancement Programme (APEP).<br />The five-year USAID-funded project was launched in November 2003. It aims at expanding rural economic opportunities and increasing household income in the agricultural sector by increasing food and cash crop productivity and marketing.<br />Speaking at a workshop at Serena Hotel in Kampala recently, Charles Mpawulo, a farmer from Kamuli district, said: "We used to sell our produce to middlemen and our income was very low. But since 2004 when APEP came to our area, our livelihoods have changed. We now use ox ploughs and buy farm inputs."<br />To help farmers shift from subsistence to commercial farming, APEP, through its countrywide network, trains farmers on how to enhance their productivity and helps them find market for their produce.<br />Another farmer, Jackson Ndapweing, from Kabarole district, said APEP helped farmers in Rwimi village increase upland rice yields.<br />"Within two years, farmers' groups sold 878 metric tonnes of rice, worth sh400m."<br />Ambassador Phillip Idro urged farmers to embrace APEP financing to develop.Joshua Masindehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02960091070982824820noreply@blogger.com0