My Favourite TV Series

Arrested Development



Arrested Development is an American television sitcom created by Mitchell Hurwitz for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers on the Bluth family, a formerly wealthy, habitually dysfunctional family, and is presented in a continuous format, incorporating hand-held camera work, narration, archival photos, and historical footage. Ron Howard is an executive producer and the uncredited narrator. Although set in Newport Beach, California, Arrested Development was primarily filmed around Culver City and Marina del Rey. Three seasons of the show were produced and aired between 2003 and 2006. In late 2011, it was announced that Netflix would exclusively license new episodes for release on its streaming video service.

House 

 

House (also known as House, M.D.) is an American television medical drama that originally ran on the Fox network for eight seasons from November 16, 2004, to May 21, 2012. The show’s central character is Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), a drug-addicted unconventional, misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital (PPTH) in New Jersey. The show’s premise originated with Paul Attanasio, while David Shore, who is credited as creator, was primarily responsible for the conception of the title character. The show’s executive producers include Shore, Attanasio, Attanasio’s business partner Katie Jacobs, and film director Bryan Singer. It was largely filmed in Century City.

How I Met Your Mother 

 

How I Met Your Mother is an American sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 19, 2005, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays, and directed by Pamela Fryman.
Set in Manhattan, How I Met Your Mother follows the social and romantic lives of Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) and his friends Marshall Eriksen (Jason Segel), Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders), Lily Aldrin (Alyson Hannigan) and Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris). As a framing device, the main character, Ted, using voiceover narration by Bob Saget, in the year 2030 recounts to his son and his daughter the events that led to his meeting their mother. How I Met Your Mother has been a critical success and has received consistently positive reviews throughout its run. It has won six Emmy Awards, including a nomination for “Outstanding Comedy Series” (2009). How I Met Your Mother won the People’s Choice Awards 2012 for Best TV Network Comedy, and Neil Patrick Harris won the Best Male Comedy Actor.

 Mad Men 
 

Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series airs on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and is produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, concluded its fifth season on June 10, 2012 and has been renewed for a sixth season. Mad Men is set in the 1960s, initially at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency on Madison Avenue in New York City, and later at the newly created firm Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. The focal point of the series is Don Draper (Jon Hamm), creative director at Sterling Cooper and a founding partner at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, and the people in his life, both in and out of the office. As such, it regularly depicts the changing moods and social mores of 1960s America.

The Walking Dead 

 

The Walking Dead is an American post-apocalyptic drama television series developed for television by Frank Darabont. It is based on the comic book series The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. The series stars Andrew Lincoln as sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes who wakes up after being in a coma to find the world dominated by “walkers”, resembling the zombies of George A. Romero’s horror movies. He sets out to find his family and other survivors along the way. The Walking Dead premiered on October 31, 2010 on the cable television channel AMC in the United States. Based on its reception, AMC renewed the series for a second season of 13 episodes which premiered on October 16, 2011. Two episodes into the second season, AMC announced that the show would return for a third season.

 Game of Thrones  

 

Game of Thrones is an American medieval fantasy television series created for HBO by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin’s series of fantasy novels, the first of which is titled A Game of Thrones. The series’s cast is mostly British and Irish. It is filmed at Paint Hall Studios in Belfast, as well as on location elsewhere in Northern Ireland, Malta, Croatia, Iceland, and Morocco. The first season debuted in the U.S. on April 17, 2011. Two days later, it was picked up for a second season, which began airing on April 1, 2012. Nine days after that, it was picked up for a third season. Highly anticipated since its early stages of development, Game of Thrones has been very well received by viewers and critics. Season 1 was nominated for or won numerous awards, including Outstanding Drama Series for the Emmy Awards and Best Television Series – Drama at the 69th Golden Globe Awards. As Tyrion Lannister, Peter Dinklage won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.

Friday Night Lights

 

Friday Night Lights is an American sports drama television series adapted by Peter Berg, Brian Grazer and David Nevins from a book and film of the same name. The series details events surrounding a high school football team from a fictional town called Dillon: a small, close-knit community in rural Texas. Particular focus is given to team coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and his family. The show uses this small town backdrop to address many issues facing contemporary American culture, including school funding, racism, drugs, abortion, and lack of economic opportunities.

  Parks and Recreation 

 

Parks and Recreation is an American comedy television series on NBC led by Amy Poehler, who stars as Leslie Knope, a perky, mid-level bureaucrat in the parks department of Pawnee, a fictional town in Indiana. It was conceived by Greg Daniels and Michael Schur and debuted on April 9, 2009. The show has run for four seasons and a fifth has been commissioned for the 2012/13 season. It uses a single-camera, mockumentary filming style, with the implication being that a documentary crew is filming everyone. More recently, the Parks and Recreation staff has tried to differentiate their show from The Office through differences in filming technique, and decided in favor of multiple camera angles and frequent jump cuts.

Breaking Bad 

 

Breaking Bad is an American television drama series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series. He turns to a life of crime, producing and selling methamphetamine with a former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), with the aim of securing his family’s financial future before he dies.

 The Wire 

 

The Wire is an American television drama series set and produced in and around Baltimore, Maryland. Created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon, the series was broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States. The Wire premiered on June 2, 2002 and ended on March 9, 2008, comprising 60 episodes over five seasons. Each season of The Wire focuses on a different facet of the city of Baltimore. In chronological order they are: the illegal drug trade, the seaport system, the city government and bureaucracy, the school system, and the print news media. The large cast consists mainly of character actors who are little known for their other roles. Simon has said that despite its presentation as a crime drama, the show is “really about the American city, and about how we live together. It’s about how institutions have an effect on individuals. Whether one is a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge or a lawyer, all are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution they are committed to.”

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10 things to Notice about people who laugh a lot

★ツ 10 things I’ve noticed about people who laugh a lot from my personal experience..
 
1) They don’t age quickly - they actually look younger than their age.

2) Attract a lot of positive energy. When we feel good, we emit a powerful frequency that attracts back more good things.

3) Don’t usually take things to heart. E.g If you offend them, they don’t keep Malice. They just let things go, no grudges.

4) They will make you laugh even when you are sad. You just can’t help yourself. Sometimes, even when you have just had a good cry, when they come by, you’ll also have a very good laugh.

5) They are missed when they are not around. One day away from them would feel like one long week.

6) They are able to laugh at their mistakes and move on instead of being hard on themselves.As a teacher, if I write the wrong date on the white board in class and learners shout out to correct it. I smile and say “I was just checking you were all awake.”

7) Attract good opportunities first. They come to mind first. Example, for a nice new postion at work, or maybe someone has a holiday voucher / tickets they have no time to use. etc.

8) As they grow older, they have laughter lines – I don't call them wrinkles. _^(◕‿◕)

9) Tend to recover quickly from diseases. (Stress, bitterness, depression can actually make people develop tumours). In the book “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne. (The Chapter - The Secret to Health) Two people shared a story. They both had terminal diseases and one of the things they did was to watch very funny movies. Within months they were cured from their diseases. (They were Cathy Goodman and Norman Cousins). Our mind/thoughts are so

10. There is one negative thing. It's not easy to tell when people who laugh a lot are hurting inside, as they cover up the pain with their laughter. So, we need to be very observant. Some people laugh a lot on the outside, but cry on the inside.

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10 Reasons Why Being Famous Isn't All That Great

Is it all it's set out to be?

Everyone thinks that being famous is awesome, but when I think about it, I just don’t get it. Sure, you get rich and don’t have to worry about paying your bills anymore, but like P Diddy used to say in the Puff Daddy days, “Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems”. No amount of money in the world would make me want to give up my privacy. Of course there are many perks to being a celebrity , but is it worth it to go through all those downs for money? Here is why I think it sucks being a celebrity…

 

 

Here's an example of how being famous can make you or break you. What happened to Macaulay Culkin?

1. Paparazzi.For obvious reasons.
You can’t get a break-ever.I can’t imagine wanting to go shopping, or grab a coffee and having to worry about people running after me to take pictures of me.I have a friend who works in Manhattan, at Intermix, which is a high-end fashion retail store and famous people go there all the time.Rihanna went recently, and she was wearing a skirt and a short shirt.She told the sales associates she felt uncomfortable in what she was wearing because there was a guy outside the store trying to snap pictures of her, so the sales associates gave her a sweater to put on.She thanked them, and she was very nice, but doesn’t that suck.I guess all the money makes up for it, she could buy whatever she wants, but I’d rather have my privacy.OR what about all these magazines we see with photos of famous women getting out of a car and their crotches are showing.I WOULD DIE if someone put a picture like that of me so everyone could see.This type of situation could easily happen to anyone, if your wearing a short skirt/dress your crotch/underwear could easily show while getting out of a car.

2. You have no private life.
Your business is not only yours anymore.It’s everybody’s, apparently.Look at what’s going on with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes.Funny because I’m not one to read up on celebs or find out any info about them, but I see it everywhere.It’s actually annoying, and frankly, I could give a rat’s ass if they stay together or get divorced, but it seems like everyone in the world is infatuated with this news.And their poor daughter, she is young and doesn’t understand, but the whole world is talking about her mommy and daddy separating.That’s sad to me.I wouldn’t want to bring a child into this world for everyone to see.

3. It can make you or break you.
This goes for anyone that has a lot of money.Some rich people do very well with their wealth, and even help out the disadvantaged by giving to charity, or adopting a child from a 3^rd world country.Some though, fall into drugs, make stupid decisions with their money, spend too much thinking they have more than they do, party too much, etc.

4. Rumors.
People start rumors about celebrities because they are jealous.This I guess is not a big deal, but sometimes people can say some really nasty things about you and it affects people in many different ways.

Here, a celebrity, Kim Kardashian is getting her makeup done so she will look up to par with what everyone expects her to look like.

5. Beef (fighting/problems) with other famous people.
Look at Drake and Chris Brown supposedly fighting over Rihanna. I’m not sure what happened and frankly I don’t care, but it seemed to be over a woman. Imagine being famous and having to be around people you don’t want to be around, but you have to be there. That sucks. I wouldn’t want to deal with that.

6. Traveling all the time.
Celebrities tend to have to be away from friends and family for long periods of time. I would think it’s a lonely world for a celebrity.

7. Stalkers.
Most of us know about Whitney Houston’s stalkers, one of them was harassing her, claimed to be her brother when he’d call her offices, or send flowers and ended up getting arrested for possession of weapons. Imagine what could have happened if her office team hadn’t thought he was suspicious, he could have gone after her. Also Selena, one of the best selling Latin stars of the 90’s was murdered at the young age of 23, by the president of her fan club, who was also her so-called “friend”. Being famous means you have to watch your back.

8. Depending on what type of celebrity you are, there are different guidelines on how you should behave.
I don’t think I have to name them here, just think: Kim Kardashian=retarded, Tara Reid=Trashy, Lyndsay Lohan=Screw up, you get my drift.

9. Trust Issues: Being Rich = People use you.
You don’t know who your real friends are. You don’t know who to trust, or who’s going to be the next one to reach out to the gossip magazines and spill your beans. You don’t know who your real lover is.

10. People admire you.
This can be good and this can be bad. If you mess up, your fans may lose respect for you, you may not get the roles you wanted anymore, others can replace you, etc.

So that's about it. I'm not ranking on famous people, just telling it like it is. The reality is, I'm not famous myself, so I really don't know what it's like, but for me, I'd rather not be. I don't like people in my business already, hell, I don't even like the way I look in pictures most of the time. Imagine what it would be like if I was famous?!

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How to Move on After a Relationship Ends

 

Sometimes break ups can be so heartening ,especially when it comes from the people we mostly love ,some break ups we can see them coming but other speed up with total surprise,after they leave mostly they make everything to perish too,they will go with the love and leave you with hate ,While it’s hard to realize in the midst of anguish and disappointment, your life can get back on track and become enjoyable again. The key is to put your energy into new relationships and new experiences.

1

Accept that the relationship is over. Yes, you and your significant other might get back together, but if you spend time fantasizing about that idea, you risk further stress and disappointment. You have to accept a relationship is over before you can truly move on.

2

Express your grief, but do it productively. Don’t post negative things on social networking sites or try to get revenge on your ex. Rather, write a poem, start a journal or share your feelings with a close friend.

3

Avoid excessive overeating or drinking. These may provide temporary relief, but they can hurt you more in the end.

4

Treat yourself to a “me” day. If you have the finances, get a new, stylish haircut, eat a delicious meal at that restaurant you haven’t tried yet, buy a new wardrobe or spend a day at an amusement park. Treat yourself to a day that’s all about you.

5

Reconnect with friends and family members whom you haven’t seen or talked to in awhile. A relationship can take up a lot of your time, giving you less time to spend with friends and family members. Now is your chance to reconnect with these people who can also act as a support system if you’re still grieving and need to talk to someone.

6

Join an organization or group. Take up bridge, volunteer at an after-school program or help pass out materials for a local politician. Doing this helps you meet people and focus your energy on positive activities instead of sitting at home and feeling sad.

7

Acquire a new skill. Finally learn the guitar or how to make an omelet. Write a play or dust off that Spanish-English dictionary you haven’t looked at since college. Learning new skills makes you feel productive and opens you up to things you didn’t know about before.

8

Seek new, healthy relationships once you’re ready. Avoid a “rebound” relationship or something just to give you a few thrills before you find something new. Instead, try to meet new people and see what happens. It may take time. You might still be upset over your previous relationship ending, but once you open yourself up to new possibilities, getting over the relationship becomes a lot easier.

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How to Know if She's Wife Material

 

There comes a time in a man's life when he realizes he's ready for it: commitment. Previous dating experiences were fun and exciting, but he has shifted into a different mode, one that focuses on finding a wife. Learn how to know if she's wife material.

1

Assess her personality. This means her personal characteristics, emotions, style and expressions. Her perspective on the world around her, combined with her level of self-esteem, can speak volumes about the type of life partner and future parent she will be.

2

Know how attracted you are to her. Physical and sexual attraction can mean different things to different people. To some, romance and intimacy are key, while others prefer more active and kinky activities to really make them feel attracted to their partner. It's important that your attraction and chemistry are mutual, and sustainable for years to come as a married couple.

Consider her level of intelligence. Finding a mate mutually matched near your level of intelligence is important to compatibility and having meaningful conversations as a couple. How she observes the world, either casually or aggressively, her level of education, sense of humor, skills, hobbies and conversation style are all important elements of this assessment.

4

Determine how she handles money. Money matters affect everyone, and finances are a key factor in the success of a marriage. Pay attention to spending style, lifestyle, professional ambitions and financial goals when determining your compatibility when it comes to spending and saving.

5

Know her values and compare them with yours. Spiritual values don't necessarily mean affiliation with a religion but rather a general belief in a reason and purpose for being here. Other values to consider include those involved with family, stability, purpose, religion, optimism, honesty and integrity.

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Ugandan Boy Raised By Monkeys Tries To Adapt

courtesy of Mercyjohnson.com

 

His story began in 1985 when NRA soldiers discovered him in the forest, with his adoptive family – a pack of monkeys.
A replica of the fairy tale, The Jungle Book, Robert Mayanja has since been rehabilitated among humans, but still has tendencies of the animal he was raised to be.
He strains his legs as he walks, with his mouth full of grass. His tongue hangs out as he constantly moves from place to place, looking for privacy. He is short with small feet. It is his wrinkled mature face that shows his estimated age.
As I stretch my hand to greet him, he forcefully reaches for me; with wild gestures and moves that make me freeze in utter shock, before instinctively jumping away. But that does not deter Mayanja from following me.
“Do not run, he just wants to hug you. It is his way of greeting and showing love to people. Robert greets with the language he knows best, which is a powerful hug,” Monica Angeyo, the director of L’Arche, where Mayanja lives, explains.
L’Arche is an NGO in Busega, Kampala, which took on the boy who was rescued from the jungle over 20 years ago. It offers physiotherapy and occupational therapy to mentally handicapped children and young adults.
Mayanja was raised by monkeys until he was six years old. His story dates back to the early 1980s, during the civil unrest at that time. Except for his birthplace, known to be Luwero, nothing more is known about Mayanja’s birthday, parents and early childhood.
The only available history starts when soldiers of the National Resistance Army found him in a forest in 1985, with a pack of monkeys.

It is believed that his parents were killed in 1982 during the war and the boy was abandoned in the forest. He was believed to be about three years old when he was left alone and lived in the wild for another three years.
As the soldiers roamed about the bushes, they spotted what looked unmistakably like a human being among the monkeys. They had to disperse the monkeys in order to rescue the boy, but it was a struggle because the monkeys put up a fight.
One adult female monkey held Mayanja tightly to her bosom in an attempt to protect him.
Angeyo says according to reports from those who rescued him, while in the wild, Mayanja survived on fruits, berries and roots and learnt all the mannerisms of the monkeys that adopted him.
When he was found, he could not sit or stand, but only squat and jump. He neither smiled nor talked, but made jungle noises, which quickly got him a new name — Monkey Boy.
In the beginning, it was a struggle to take him through the bathroom procedure, but now it is his favourite activity. Though he cannot dress himself, he voluntarily lifts his legs in turn to wear trousers and stretches out his hands for the shirt.
He does not know where to keep his clothes, though. He is pictured right with other members of the L’Arche community.
Mayanja joined L’Arche community on July 5, 1991. He was about 12 years old. Since the date of his birth was uncertain, L’Arche Community created one for him, which is July 5.
His birthday is celebrated every year and Mayanja probably knows it as the day he gets to wear nice clothes.

Courtesy of MercyJohnson.com

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How To Do The Boda Boda Business

The boda boda business is one where a person is almost certainly assured of making some money, enough to feed their family and because the traffic situation is not getting any better, more passengers are opting to use these bikes, despite their nickname of death-on-wheels.

Visible on nearly every street corner in Dar es Salaam, the number of  Boda Boda riders has skyrocketed in recent years, making it one of the fastest growing businesses in Tanzania. This influx has caused some Dar es Salaam residents to wonder if the boda market has reached a saturation point in which the supply of riders outpaces passenger demand. Despite the swelling number of riders, most people agree that the boda boda business is still fairly profitable.

 According to Simon Swai,  “There are too many riders, but there are also too many passengers. Customers are everywhere and every boda rider I know makes money.”
 Peter Magai agrees with that assessment. “There are not many [riders] who can’t make money. As long as you have a stage and a nice bike in good condition, it’s easy for you to make money.

 Most riders in Dar es Salaam can take home at least Shs15,000 per day and Shs450,000 per month in profit, while ambitious, hard-working, and lucky drivers can earn even more. “It depends on how lucky you are,” Swai said. “It’s like hunting. The boda boda business is all about hunting. Lucky riders that find passengers who pay more than they should can earn up to Shs100,000 per day.”

On average, drivers spend at least Shs8,000 per day on fuel and Shs50,000 per month maintaining their bikes. Around half of the riders in Dar es Salaam rent their motorcycles at a rate of Shs60,000 per week, but even those who rent their bikes are able to earn a profit. Because the wages in the boda boda business greatly exceed those for other low-skilled jobs in sectors like construction, security, and retail, many young men flock to the boda industry from other professions.

New riders flock to the industry because it is profitable and relatively easy to enter. To operate legally, boda riders need a driver’s licence, third-party insurance, motor Vehicle license (PSV). But in reality, many drivers enter the market without the required documentation. “You don’t necessarily need anything [to get started] because there is no enforcement,” Temba says. “A lot of guys will just show up one day and start riding a motorcycle. I think that’s the cause of a lot of dangerous driving and bad behaviour.” 

Safety, lack of regulation, and corruption by traffic police are some of the biggest concerns for boda boda riders. Accidents are the biggest obstacle.

“Bad things can happen at night,” Swai says. He is talking from experience. In September, he was attacked after dropping off a passenger on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam. Around midnight, two assailants threw a log in front of his boda, causing him to crash, and they assaulted him and stole his money.

For drivers and passengers alike, taking boda bodas at night can be risky, but there are few alternatives after taxis and buses stop running around midnight. Even during the day, riding on a boda is dangerous, especially when bodas weave through heavy traffic and drive on the wrong side of the road.

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What you eat Defines You!!!

Whether based on beliefs or science ,certain foods have been credited with healing powers..,we tend to forget over thousand years the wise Greeks said "may your food be your medicine,and may your medicine be your food".

Most of us tend to forget that the best medicine is what we eat,in a proper way is i say you are what you eat!!today Msongo will take this opportunity to acknowledge you on the best foods that can cure diseases and worst foods that they cause different disease...

Food is the fuel that makes us function,that gives us energy,builds the body and repairs it.Eating is necessity,but it is also a source of pleasure and a part of our social lives.While medical researchers have made definitive recommendations for dietary changes ,relatively few of us put their guidelines into practice-at least, until a serious health problem emerges.

 Foods that are unhealthy and Healthy!!
Most of us think the fried foods are quite the sweetest of them all,it might be true but they are among foods that severely affect our body,the french fries,the fried meat and chicken,fried eggs,and the worst part is we use plenty of oil in frying this foods..

• Fried foods highly have cholesterol,imagine the amount of oil that is absorbed in one chips ,Cholesterol can severely cause Cardiovascular problems,it has a tendency of  of attacking on the arteries walls which it will probably cause the blood circulation to have a problem,the blood viscosity will have a problem..causing Arteriosclerosis

•  Foods with high fat can cause heart problems ,as we already understand too much cholesterol on the arteries wall may cause problems like myocardial blood demand,blood viscosity,,myocardial oxygen consumption which this all can cause heart attack problems.

Foods with Cholesterol (Avoid eating)

• Butter
• coconut Oil
• Fried Foods
• Milk Condensed or powdered
• Mayonnaise
• Liver and Kidney
• Doughnuts
• Cheese

Foods that reduce amount of Cholesterol

• Mushrooms
• Olive Oil
• Dried fruit honey
• Squash
• Avocado(not to be use with people with circulatory disorders)
• Tomatoes
• Guava
• Garlic
• Fish Oil
• Nuts

Effects of Red Meat

 

We have heard people complain of their bodies getting numb,Red meat can lead to excess of Uric Acid which  destroys the renal function.  Men who eat red meat fried at high temperatures could be increasing their risk of prostate cancer.

Foods For Urinary Tract

 The kidneys are primary organs responsible for filtration and eliminating of all toxic and foreign substances from the blood.

Excess protein particularly from animal sources ,generate a deal of waste products that must be eliminated,overloading the kidneys. 

 

Foods that affect the kidneys

• Too much protein
• Shellfish
• Meat
• Total fat
• Cholesterol
• Too much sweet things
• Alcoholic beverages 
• Cheese
• Coffee

Foods to treat the Kidneys

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Egg Plant
• Water (depends on the case)
• Fiber
• Lemon
• Soy
• Dates
• Potatoes                      

 To be continued       

(c) Msongo!!                                                                                                                                            

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Oscar Awards: Movies Which should Have Been The Real Nominees for the Best Picture

Oscar best picture Nominees,i don't even understand half of the movies in this list and the rest of the movies being with too much American pride.Imagine Zero Dark Thirty, Lincoln and Argo, all about American triumphs. Its their Hollywood, so its okay for them to do what they desire. Down in Africa all i need is a movie with plenty of action scenes,laughs and adventure. We just tend to prefer movies like,Dark Night, Fast Five, The Expendables, The Hangover, Colombiana over weird things like No country for Old Men, Milk, A Tree of Life, A serious Man etc.....

I watched The Master, saw a little bit of good acting by Phoenix and off i found myself sleeping through out the whole movie. I just didn't understand it, though i heard the critics rate it highly.If I had to give my points to the acting it was without double thinking. Both of the characters are clear, easy, complex, surprising and outstanding in their interpretation.But when we try to understand what's the movie's message - there we fall asleep in the chair...Scrambling, confusing, bad edited and a the end I find myself with lots of wonderful scenes and amassing shots but without any glue to put them together and get a good movie.

Argo was merely pretty good. It didn't break new ground, wasn't daring, bold... it was just a decent, mildly entertaining movie. I'm disappointed that critics are almost universally declaring it the best movie of the year. What a boring pick! Yes the hostages did make it out alive - largely due to the efforts of the Canadian ambassador, who got short shrift in this movie. So the movie is not all that "true-to-life". Ah well, it is too much to expect an American to make a movie and not make an American the big hero, I guess. Zero Dark thirty is a miles better. Or maybe the critics were paid by the government to rate this movie that high...or maybe to get the Iranians thinking

 With Zero Dark Thirty Academy should reconsider their choice of films. Nothing in this justifies an award nomination. The characters lack depth, and the acting doesn't help either. Events in the movie are not presented in a coherent manner, leaving questions unanswered. The standpoint is quite one sided, as the director gives absolutely no insight on the "terrorists". However, the most important disadvantage of this movie, is the simplistic narrative, especially when it comes to the hunt itself. What is this film about? One woman's crusade to find and kill OBL. Why is she so determined? We don't know, we don't see any personal connection. She didn't volunteer, she was assigned. Why? Because she's a killer apparently - we only have by way of dialogue, we see nothing else to back that up, other than her determination to catch him. I didn't even see Osama on a film which was supposed to be about him

Lincoln has to win the Oscars for the most boring picture of the year. Have you ever gone to an art museum when the work of a famous painter comes to town? You enter with high expectations and patiently follow the slowly moving line to the showing. The first thing you notice when you finally enter the room is that most of the people seem to be in some state of rapture. You expectantly gaze at the artists work and suddenly realize that you don't get it. The paintings are devoid of meaning. That's how I felt entering the theatre to view this film. Lincoln was obviously one of the most significant leaders the US has ever had. How can a film about such a complex and divisive leader in his time be so blah? I pity the untold millions of kids that will be forced to sit through this coma-inducing hagiography once it comes out on DVD.

I wont talk about Django Unchained, i will write a book about it sometime in the future. You will really enjoy the film when you watch it but once you sit down and you start thinking about you will realize how controversial and disturbing it is. Many people down here like the movie and most think it should win the Oscars. And its probably one of the few we can manage to watch and enjoy from this list.

Ang lee is always amazing and his movies are rarely complex.Ang Lee has created a masterpiece in the world of cinema and this film will long be a very-memorable film due to the breathtaking cinematography and beautiful scenery. The film is far from a let down to the book, and in my opinion actually excels. 10/10, because it's exactly like the book, not a typical Hollywood adventure and I honestly can't flaw it. I wonder why critics don't even think it has a chance of winning

I haven't seen the rest of the movies in this academy award's list because i was too busy watching the real nominees for the best pictures....

 "End of Watch"


Here is one of the best police movies in recent years, a virtuoso joining of performances and often-startling action. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña as Taylor and Zavala, two Los Angeles street cops who bend a few rules but must be acknowledged as heroes. After too many police movies about officers who essentially use their badges as licenses to run wild, it's inspiring to realize these men take their mission -- to serve and protect -- with such seriousness they're willing to risk their lives.

 "Flight"








Washington plays Whip Whitaker, a veteran commercial airlines pilot who over the years has built up a shaky tolerance for quantities of alcohol and cocaine that would be lethal for most people. At the film opens, he's finishing an all-night party with a friendly flight attendant named Katerina (Nadine Velazquez), and jolts himself back into action with two lines of cocaine. Their flight takes off in an alarming rainstorm, and encounters the kind of turbulence that has the co-pilot crying out, "Oh, Lord!" But Whip powers them at high speed into an area of clear sky, before a mechanical malfunction sends the aircraft into an uncontrollable nose-dive.


"The Raid Redemption"

 My number one list action movie is The Matrix because it balanced the depth of the story with the action. Somewhere among the top list, there was also The Dark Knight for the same reason. However, when speaking only 'action', I used to choose a Hongkong movie, Flashpoint, starred by Donnie Yen. Before Flashpoint, I'll choose a Thailand movie, Ong Bak which launched Tony Jaa career internationally. Now, when I speak an action movie that speak for the action, I will choose an Indonesia movie, 'THE RAID'

"Savages"



Let me tell you that this is the best movie I've seen this year which is near the end. The worst thing about this movie is the critics which gave this movie such terrible reviews. This movie has it all. Great directing, writing, cinematography, great actors and much suspense. I was nervous all throughout the movie. I felt as if I was in front of the savages from the drug cartel. It's not your typical movie you're used to seeing from Oliver Stone. This movie was part Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Oliver Stone has stepped out of his comfort zone and took a risk at something out of the ordinary. I loved the movie. All of it. If you are a normal person and like adult content movies that include, hot beautiful talented actors, drugs, sex, violence and gore, you will love it too. I "IT'S ONLY A MOVIE! made to try and please everyone. Respect the director. He has earned it.

THE REST SHOULD BE;

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
 
SKYFALL
 
CLOUD ATLAS
 
SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS

SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED
 
PROMETHEUS

KILLER JOE

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Tanzania: Why Kikwete & CCM are responsible of religious intolerance in the nation?

 
Last time I went to Unguja; I must admit, I felt safe and secure and at no time I had any lingering thoughts that my life was in danger and that was 2004. And in comparison with my regular trips to Nairobi, I have always felt insecure in Nairobi, and an alien for reasons which still baffle me even today.

With a number of killings and threats posed by gangs of Islamic radicals in Zanzibar, and knowing my government is long on lip-service but short on tangible commitment, I will think twice now to even contemplate setting my foot in zenji because I no longer consider myself welcomed there. And I believe this perception is shared by many a Christian.

May I outline a couple of reasons which leads me to consider Kikwete & his CCM government are liable and complicit to the religious intolerance now conspiring to tear this nation into many a part:-

1.0 WHERE DID KIKWETE GO WRONG ON RELIGIOUS HARMONY?

a) Over-ambition did it all!

The real costs of this nation accommodating JK's quest to presidency is beginning to be felt across the entire national spectrum. In 2005, Kikwete made it a personal crusade that led to his election as our president which though was anybody's constitutional right, the path that he chose roused, facilitated and precipitated religious frictions never experienced before!

Part of his strategy was to remind his fellow Muslims that it was their turn to eat as Christians had eaten through Mkapa's presidency! What Kikwete forgot was that fanning religious insecurity as a tool to acquire power was a double-edged sword: It benefited him then but now Kikwete had unleashed a monster that is threatening even his presidency. On religious conflicts, many Tanzanians prefer to bury their heads on the sand hypocritically claiming to be above the shore but in reality they are part and parcel of the crisis, and it is only when they are personally victimized that they begin to moan about insecurity!

In 2010, faced with a mammoth challenge from Dr. Slaa, a Christian, Kikwete exploited "udini" to evade confronting gargantuan policy implementation failures on his part. I am still patiently waiting for Kikwete to dilate to the nation what was all about this "udini" beyond scaring voters and balkanizing the nation along religious fissures!


b) Kikwete presidential appointments tilted in favour of his fellow Muslims!

JK considered there were religious injustices inflicted against Muslim by both colonial and post-colonial governments; and ensuing from this, he perceives himself as burdened with redress onus. From this cockeyed attitude, JK has skewed his presidential appointments in favour of his fellow Muslims compromising meritocracy in the process. JK feels that education system and access to government largesse have all been recruited to leave Muslims behind and he has to deploy at least government senior jobs to address the coined imbalances!

In central committee of ccm, number of Christians representation has continue to dwindle rendering it almost impossible for his successor to be a Christian! There are no mechanisms in place in the election of ccm central committee membership to ensure the demographic realities are being captured there. Under-representation of Christians is deliberate to ensure policy directions are geared towards their marginalization despite being the majority in the nation. The Augusta House; to much consolation and relief, captures demographic realities on the ground.

Because JK has shown less sensitivity towards the assault of Christians when on podiums, radical Islam has erroneously intepreted the state is on their side and have been more audacious and vocal to claim what is in many ways unconstitutional rights.

c) Institutionalization of Mahakama za kadhi!

Under Mwinyi; a Muslim, there was no clamouring of Mahakama za kadhi but because of JK's personal intiatives, this is now a national carthasis ready to burst at any moment something a presidential statement to the contrary was sufficient to quell that improper quest for an islamic government.

d) Kikwete refuses to place the religious intolerance blame where it belongs!

I keep wondering if JK really is concerned of arresting simmering religious discontent why does he pass blanket blames even to the victims as if they have incited the treatment they are getting from their traumatizers?

JK ought to criticize his fellow muslims for instigating violence, and that will go a along way to calm the hot tempest now pushing this nation into a cliffhanger.

e) Overlooking the incompetence of the IGP Saidi Mwema!

When a juniour police officer was elevated to IGP post from Interpol in Nairobi, some of us had doubts but politicians hailed the appointment as keen to root our criminality but now time has proved skeptics to be on the right side of history.

Where forensic science is now a leading technolog ical breakthrough in criminal investigations, IGP Mwema still rely on coerced hearsay, tampering of evidence and witnesses to run the police force! It is of little wonder why no progress is ever recorded to arrest and punish those who are hiring assassins to create havoc and insecurity atmosphere around us.

In comparison to Kenya, our police force remains the least professionalized, under-equipped , under-resourced and unfit to do the job they are being paid for. You will be surprised to learn Kenyan politicians; on campaign trail, still talk of furthering their police reforms to the betterment while we keep on cavorting with underachievers!

With the state house connections IGP Mwema has, one had expected him to have done more than less but it is incompetence well captured by his growing obesity demonstrates better. When he was at Interpol he was trimmed and flaunted a lanky figure ready for police work but now he has sired a pot-belly sending a wrong signal for the whole police force he runs. All over the world, police force is known for discipline and physical exercise, but here overweight seems to be one of the mediocre qualifications one needs to have and survive in the police force!

f) Money launderers, drug barons and Islamic radicals have formed an axis of evil.

Though we have painstakingly patched up money laundering laws but enforcement has been the weakest link there. Laundered money is now being used to pay up hired assassins now terrorizing prelates in Zanzibar and nudging Muslims e lsewhere to use violent disobedience as a tool to secure a better religious deal for themselves. Now we see even criminal suspects like Sheikh Ponda do enjoy popular support among Muslims despite being linked with terrorist organizations such as Al-Shabab!

In a summary, Kikwete ought to end his vacation o f doling out an intemperate greenlight to his fellow muslims and take them to task, and salvage whatever is left of our national unity.

g) Surrounding himself with questionable characters.

Those who are being mentioned adversely in national scams seem to have encapsulated and regimented themselves with State house and CCM as their last standing fortress! Kikwete ought to know better that evil company corrupts even good manners.

We still need to know what had happened to the lists of drug barons and criminal suspects Kikwete had collated with his sidekicks if we are to take him serious enough as a committed leader to end a culture of impunity now threatening to drive a wedge among us!

h) Interior Ministerial appointments have always tapped incompetence!

I am bamboozled to learn why ministers of interior never had sufficient exposure to security matters before they were appointed?????? It appears to be a dumping ground for whomever Kikwete wants to hibernate.......It is high time Kikwete is pinched by a reminder that such frivolous and vexatious appointments are putting him in a poor light for being insensitive to the actual needs of securing our collective security.

The only conspicuous similarity I see conjoining Shamsi Nahodha and Dr. Nchimbi at the hip is mediocrity and that tells us a lot about Kikwete as an appointing authority!

Senior appointments in the police force have applauded tribal calculations, loyalty and compromised professionalism and merits! Work morale in the police force has never been in such a shamble!

In such environment, few expect insecurity will be dealt a permanent blow.......

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Quit That Mental Slavery of Wanting to Marry that Old White Man

The Beautiful Young African Woman And The Old White Lover-A Sickening Trend?

 

Have you taken a quiet stroll through the priced restaurants in town on a good day or night? Have you been to the Slipway/Jagwani beach recently with your friends or family? Does this sound familiar?

Has anyone noticed the rising sickening trend Tanzanian women trying to bag a white old man to seal their status’ as societal ‘it women’?Most of whom are the most gorgeous ladies among their peers. Well I have noticed and wonder how they think low enough to cultivate this sort of idea and subsequently put it into practice.

I remember having a drink with my friend at ‘Medittaraneo’ and overhearing two ladies speaking behind me about white men. One of them was complaining about how uncomfortable she was in the midst of so many white men and her friend replied how happy she was because she liked to be checked out by white men. She said “I like places where there are a lot of white men because they have the money you know !!”

I almost rudely interrupted their conversation to school her. Tanzanian women, who are ignorant enough to think some of these white men actually give a damn about you, let me give you a rude awakening. Some of the white men around only want one thing from you and that is to use you as sexual toys. Their opinions about you haven’t changed since slavery days. You are their little slave they keep in the corner away from the eyes of the world.

Even when they marry you, it’s mostly because they want to make their business dealings easier in Tanzania or they keep you here in a 2 bedroom apartment and come visit every now and then for maybe 2 weeks a year.And send you some petty dollars once in awhile which changes for enough Shillings to compensate you while you toil away at the embassy waiting for a visa to his country that will never come.

Why? Have you asked yourself? The answer is simple. You will never be the ‘leading lady’. Ask your husband why you haven’t gotten a visa to even go visit him after you have been trying for 5/6 years?
Get some sense into your heads! You are not a part of his real life! His real life is out there. And you are out here!! It hurts very badly when I hear even educated women set their sights on landing a white man. Wake up! Most don’t care about you at all!

I need more African women to wise up and stop thinking a white man is an end to all their financial woes. Many Tanzanian men are even better off! Fact!!

I know several ladies who have married white men and later regretted it badly. Who told you there are no good Tanzanian men? The right Tanzanian man will treat you with respect and give you the right status. Why choose to be a holiday toy? This is my observation, what has been your observation or experience?

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Head to Head Odinga vs Uhuru

 

Raila Odinga.

Raila Odinga is the most experienced of all the presidential candidates seeking to succeed President Mwai Kibaki. Opinion polls have all the times put him as the frontrunner to be the 4^th president of Kenya but I don’t know how far that is true. All the same a fact known to all Kenyans is that the man is as popular as Christmas is to Christians. Raila run for the country’s top seat in 1997 and in 2007 and this will be his third attempt

Why Raila may win the presidency

He is seen as a reformer who has continuously propagated for democracy and good governance. He dared Moi when no one could open his mouth and Raila was once accused of contemplating to overthrow the Moi government which resulted in him being sent to jail for years. Many observers also believe that Raila was instrumental in bringing to an end the KANU government which Kenyans have suffered under for decades. Raila was the major force behind the election of kibaki and NARC government into power in 2002 when he declared the famous kibaki tosha slogan. Raila was also instrumental in the passing of the new constitution which promises many good things for the ordinary Kenyans. Therefore being seen as a reformer may do justice to Raila’s chances of becoming president.

His party has more national outlook as compared to other political parties. Opinion polls have many times indicated the orange party to be the most popular political party in Kenya and this is a massive boast for Raila’s presidential bid.

Win sympathy for his “stolen” victory in 2007, many Kenyans and particularly Mr. Odinga’s supporters widely believe that he was robbed of victory in 2007. Having won the most votes in 6 out of the 8 provinces in Kenya, mr. Odinga and his supporters were of the view that he had won squarely and fairly and that the government had colluded with the Samuel Kivuitu led defunct electoral commission of Kenya (ECK) to manipulate and rig the elections in favour of the incumbent; Mwai Kibaki. A commission of enquiry led by South African judge Johan kriegler has seen revealed that “it is difficult to know who won the election”. Mr. Odinga may therefore get sympathy votes this time round to make up for what his supporters claim a “stolen victory”.

Why Raila may not become president.

The Hague factor, four Kenyans among them two presidential aspirants (Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto) are now facing crimes against humanity charges at The Hague based international criminal court (ICC) in the Netherlands. They are accused of committing the crimes during the violence that followed the disputed presidential election of 2007. But how does this work to Raila’s disadvantage? Well Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto claim that Raila has engineered their prosecution and tribulations facing them. they are of the view that Raila wants to sail smoothly into the presidency by eliminating them from the race to state house. I don’t know if this is true but it surely will have an effect into Raila’s chances of becoming president.

Ruto and Uhuru have since formed an alliance dubbed G7 bringing together many politicians opposed to Raila and this hurt Raila’s aspiration to be the next president of Kenya. If the G7 stick together and make their anti-Raila alliance work, then there is a high likelihood that a rerun will be held and the possibility of Raila losing out to their candidate.

There is also the Kalenjin votes factor. In 2007 the Kalenjin community voted in mass for ODM and Raila but this time round it looks unlikely given the fact that the de-facto leader of the community, William Ruto has fallen out with Raila. Ruto is accusing the prime minister of double standards and not doing justice to the community while at the same time “having a hand” in the tribulations facing him at the Hague. A case in point is the eviction of Kalenjin squatters from the Mau forest water complex which was done for environmental conservation.


Uhuru Kenyatta

Son of kenya’s founding father and first president, Uhuru Kenyatta is without doubt one of the front runners to succeed president Kibaki. Uhuru mostly enjoys a massive support from his central province backyard and his Kikuyu ethnic group. Uhuru’s first short at the presidency was in 2002 when he run against Mwai Kibaki of national rainbow coalition (NARC). He came second with over 1.5 million votes separating him and the opposition candidate, Mwai Kibaki. By that time Uhuru was seen as a Moi project and many Kenyans were afraid he would be used by Moi to advance his agenda.
Ten years down the line Uhuru is intending to run for the presidency but will he succeed this time round? Only time will tell but for now here are reasons why he would and wouldn’t.

Why Uhuru may win the presidency
Kalenjin and Kikuyu voting bloc, it’s no longer a secret that the Kalenjin have shifted their support from Raila Odinga and Uhuru may be the beneficiary here. An Uhuru- Ruto alliance where the former is the president and the later his running mate will see Uhuru win the presidency at the expense of Raila.

The Kikuyus don’t vote for anyone other than their own. This may also boast Uhuru’s chances of being president. Over the years a trend that has been observed is that whenever elections are held, Kikuyus only vote for their own and not a candidate from another community and this may be a blessing for Uhuru who may become the third kikuyu president after his father and Mwai Kibaki.

Why Uhuru may not become president
The Hague factor, will he run or will he not run? This is the question on the minds of many Kenyans including himself. Uhuru is currently facing crimes against humanity at the Hague based international criminal court (ICC) and his trial is set to begin any time soon and this may logistically make it impossible for him to run for the presidency. Will he attend trials at The Hague or campaign for his presidential bid? This is definitely a question that needs an answer before he decides to run for the country’s top seat.

The Martha Karua and Peter Keneth factor, both Martha Karua and Peter Keneth (both of whom are kikuyu) are also in the race to be kenya’s president and this may mean dividing the Kikuyu votes into three parts which means all of them losing ground on the race to be the country’s president.

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The Mystery Woman Who Charmed TB Joshua

Many myths surround Prophet Temitope Joshua, the youthful General Overseer of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations. When cynics are not raising questions about his source of supernatural powers, they are perpetually wondering what manner of man is he. Yet, the more
people seek to unravel or spin stories about this enigma, the more confused they
get.

But apart from the astounding miracles that unfurl in the church every day, critics also never cease wondering if the man actually has any
marital life.

Yet, they sure know he is not a monk, even though like a monk, he is holed up in his religious commune, devoting his time and substance to prayer, solitude and contemplation. But today, we unveil that vital aspect of TB Joshua that you never knew or know very little about…

A bevy of ladies, very beautiful ladies, strut elegantly into the penthouse presidential suite at The Synagogue Church of All Nation s where The Spectator team is patiently waiting, and watching videos of some of the explosive miracles the church has witnessed in recent times. At this hour,
the team is watching the video of the special thanksgiving service held for the
brand new Ghanaian President, Professor John Atta Mills, on his recent
ascendancy to power.

When the door closes behind the ladies, the first thing you notice about Evelyn, the delectable wife of Prophet TB Joshua, the General Overseer of The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations, is her infectious radiance and unmistakable enthusiasm. Both attributes, even more, make her the most powerful, yet most adorable woman in the spiritual empire that her husband has built. An
empire which presidents, kings and queens, princes and princesses, and assorted
dignitaries from across the globe, routinely throng for their diverse spiritual
needs.

Yet, not many among the teeming parishioners, even in the outside world, know that this absolutely delightful woman is the moving force behind the world acclaimed, yet much vilified prophet – Temitope Joshua. “Apart from God,” quips one worshipper, her voice barely audible, “this woman is the next most powerful force behind Prophet TB Joshua. She is a workaholic. She is a
wonderful counsellor. She compliments her husband.”

Yet this self-effacing beauty carries none of these testimonials like a banner in the manner of some. Indeed, as the sultry lady struts into the suite, this cool afternoon, clad in a simple but colourful gown, she carries no emblem that usually typifies a powerful hand behind the throne.
Rather, from the shining beads of sweat on her temple, you would need no
soothsayer to tell you that the woman has been working herself to the bones.
Even as she sinks into a settee opposite the team, an aide still wants her to
attend to a detail.

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TANZANIAN WOMEN I WOULD VOTE FOR PRESIDENT

 Despite my country is not ready to be lead by a women but i think we should give a try to this two solid women that i believe they can lead the nation very well.

H.E Mwanaidi Sinare Maajar.

Mrs. Mwanaidi Sinare Maajar is Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United States of America.

Prior to Mrs. Maajar’s appointment to her current position she was High Commissioner of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Kingdon from April 2006 to July 2010.
Leading up to her appointment as High Commissioner in June 2006, Mrs. Maajar was a partner at Rex Attorneys www.rexattorneys.co.tz , a leading law firm in Tanzania established in early 2006 following the merger of MRN&M Advocates ( Maajar, Rwechungura, Nguluma and Makani) and Epitome Advocates, another leading law firm in Tanzania.

She was a founding partner of MRN&M and the lead partner of its mining, natural resources and corporate law portfolio. She also practiced as an advocate of the high court of Tanzania specializing in corporate and mining law litigation. Prior to setting up her legal practice in 1991, she worked as senior legal advisor with the Central Bank of Tanzania and subsequently as Business Manager with Coopers & Lybrand, the predecessor firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Tanzania.

Mrs. Maajar was a member of the board of several public enterprises, government entities and private companies. She was also an active member of the Tanzania Women Lawyers Association (TAWLA), an NGO formed to harness the efforts of women lawyers to help women and children to access justice and to advocate for women rights. She was TAWLA’s chairperson between 2001 and 2003.

She was born and raised in Moshi, Tanzania and she is a holder of LLM and LLB degrees from the University of Dar-es-salaam and a member of the Tanzania bar.

Qualifications:

Master of Laws (LLM) - University of Dar es Salaam – 1982.
Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) (Hons) - University of Dar es Salaam – 1977.
Short professional courses in Italy, Tanzania and USA.

Languages:

• English         -     Excellent
• Kiswahili     -     Excellent
• French        -    Reasonable

Other Memberships:

• Past Chairperson, Tanzania Women Lawyers Association for three years (2001-2003).
• Member of the Board of Muslim Development Fund (MDF).
• Member of the University Council, Morogoro Muslim University, which is owned by MDF.
• Member of the Board of Women and Development Company Limited (WAMA).
• Member, Ministerial Advisory Board.
• Past Chairperson of the Social Action Trust Fund (SATF).
• Member of the Board of African Banking Corporation.
• Member of the Board of DAWASA.

She was also recently elected as the new chairman of the Diplomacy University.

Asha Rose Migiro 

 Asha-Rose Mtengeti Migiro (born July 9, 1956 in Songea, Ruvuma Region, Tanzania) is a Tanzanian lawyer and politician. She was appointed as the Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa of the United Nations Secretary-General on 13 July 2012. Previously, she was the Deputy Secretary-General of the United NationsShe was formally appointed and assumed office on February 1 She completed her appointment as DSG at the UN in June 2012. She is married to Cleophas Migiro, and the couple has two daughters.She is the third Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Migiro commenced her education at Mnazi Mmoja Primary School in 1963. She later moved on to Korogwe Primary School, Weruweru Secondary School, and, finally, Korogwe Secondary School, where she graduated high school in 1975.

She obtained her LL.B and LL.M from the University of Dar es Salaam and her Ph.D. in 1992 from the University of Konstanz in Germany. Before entering politics, she was a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM)^. She headed the Department of Constitution and Administrative Law from 1992 to 1994 and the Department of Civil and Criminal Law from 1994 to 1997.

 As Foreign Minister, Ms. Migiro spearheaded Tanzania’s engagement in the pursuit of peace, security and development in the Great Lakes region.  She served as Chair of the Council of Ministers’ meetings of the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region, a process that culminated into a Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region.

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Somewhere in Africa, We have an open letter to the Pope

Letter from Arusha. Hours after the news of Pope Benedict’s resignation came through, Alfredo, our chair, quickly convoked our bar’s consistory to discuss the events and the way forward. After hours of brainstorming, we drafted a communiqué to be sent to the Holy See. Below is the report.

Salve Papa, it is with a heavy heart that we have learnt of your decision to do the unthinkable- quit the table while the broth is still flowing. We just do not understand how after the over 30 years you spent chasing the animal, and finally catching it in 2005, you hang up the boots just eight years into the party.

We also find your arguments of retirement very unconvincing. You cite age and ill-health. Who surely leaves a coveted position just because they think they are old? In this part of the world, we say, “Age is just a number”. That explains why campaigns against cross-generational sex failed. No one takes matters of age seriously. Above all, it is such a subjective matter. Who determines that one is “very old”?

We guess that you must have heard of a chap called Kamuzu Banda. He led the then Nyasaland into independence in 1961 and ruled as president until 1993, when he was defeated in an election. In 1993, Banda was 95 years old. He had lost all his teeth and was losing sight. However, he still wanted to rule Malawi. It was only after Bakili Muluzi defeated him that he retired, only to die four years later.

In our view, this is what they call service. We therefore could not believe that at 85 years, you consider yourself too old to lead the Catholic Church. In fact, our own assessment was that perhaps there is no institution easier to lead than the Catholic Church.

The readings are uniform across the world, the homilies are the same, the prayers are identical, everything is so organised that even a Tanzanian Member of Parliament would easily lead such an institution.
Now, compare what you think is a demanding task with running a country like Tanzania. You could wake up only to learn that someone has swept the Central Bank coffers dry. 

There is even the real possibility that you wake up and overweight people are walking to work, causing a standstill among those who walk to work daily courtesy of poverty. Dear Pope, do you now realise that you could have made a mistake? Even then, if you thought making certain decisions had become cumbersome, why not keep a bevy of advisers? Doesn’t the Vatican provide for positions like Pope’s Adviser of Travel and Entertainment? And unlike some advisers we know elsewhere, we guess yours would be taken seriously.

The bar in Arusha also found the argument of ill-health rather absurd. What ill-health? Don’t you have a personal jet? Could you not be flown to Germany or some such place for treatment? How can a Pope not find someone to fix his health concerns? Look, back here, we care a lot about our “big men and women” that every year, we sacrifice over Shs300 billion to ensure they are in good health. Like you guessed, that money is not spent in our local hospitals, it is spent in foreign lands.

If mere Tanzanian can fork that kind of money to treat their own, what can’t Catholics do? All you had to state was where you wanted to be treated. In Tanzania, we would even break into our Catholic foreign reserves to pay your bills.

We also learnt that while still Pope you did a couple of tours around the world. We are not sure if you went to the Maghreb and met a gentleman called Muammar Gaddafi (may his soul rest in peace). Had you met him, he would have told you about revolutionaries and how they don’t retire. That you have broken such a cardinal principle of revolutionaries, we can’t help but mourn.

Finally, you must be wondering why we are writing this from a bar. As you know, it is only your church that acknowledges Jesus’ first miracle—when he turned water into wine at that Cana wedding—and also respects the notion of a little drink being good for one’s health. I hope you now understand where we are coming from.

Enjoy your retirement.

 By Don Wanyama

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Oohh who is that Man, Mohamed Dida.

Together with Paul Muite, they were the unwanted guests, the gatecrashers if you wish. They even had different podiums from the rest but when last night's first ever Kenyan presidential debate was over, Mohamed Dida (ARK presidential candidate) was the star attraction, everyone's talking about him, he poked and threw dust in the eyes of Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga.

The 39-year-old former teacher at Lenana School was the clear winner of the debate. Not that he had anything new or different from the rest, but in terms of the reaction he received during and after. His idea of getting people to eat only when they are hungry and to leave room for water and air is in contention with Raila Odinga's "You cannot run the country via skype" for quote of the night.

But who is this man Mohamed Dida. First, he’s the youngest presidential candidate, a decade younger than Peter Kenneth who's 48. Second, he has three wives and 11 children.

When he gets to State House, he told Daily Nation, all his wives will bear the title “First Lady”.
“They will all become First Ladies by virtue of being married to the same man, unless the Constitution has something else,” said Mr Dida in an interview with the Nation.

Mr Dida added that he had no problem managing his family time, because, he has everything planned.
“As a Muslim I’m entitled to marry four (wives), but I’m married to three. One is Amina, a banker, the other, Estail, works with the World Health Organisation and there’s Rukia who is a housewife,” said the presidential candidate for the Alliance for Real Change.

They say, many hands make light work easier, and Mr Dida can testify that having a polygamous marriage has made the exhausting campaigns more bearable.

“One of my wives takes care of the family finance, one takes care of secretarial work in these campaigns, and one takes care of the children,” he added. That division of labour has helped him plan his campaigns.
Together with his three wives, they discuss how the spending of the family income is shared.
Also, he gets to choose the wife to accompany him to different parts of the country.
Mr Dida, who comes from Wajir County, picks Rukia when he’s going to North Eastern, because “she’s very good in Kisomali”.

When his campaign heads to the cosmopolitan towns, his choice is Estail “who originates from Kajiado and is good in English”, and then he has to pick Amina if he’s going to a place where there’s a lot of politics do be done in Kiswahili.

“All of them are educated, but they have traits that fit certain counties that I go to. At times we all go,” said Mr Dida.

He sure is a guy with a sense of humour and doesn't respect the status quo, he is here to change it and even if he won't win - let's be honest, he won't - he will ride to the sunset with a big smile on his face.

 To honour the good work Dida did in ensuring a lively debate, Kenyans came up with more jokes to add on what Dida had already given us. Below are some of them, plus other general ones concerning the debate.
 
"You know you wont win if you're standing behind a weird podium"
 
"Uhuru is sure migingo is in kenya because he has the title deed"

 "Dida: Eat when you're hungry"
 
"Today you are still cleaning feet of jiggers and teaching kids to wash hands. All those years, where were you?" DIDA

Linus: How old is your party.. Dida: our ideas are old

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