23:19 Blogged with Flock
22:56 
20:37 
20:29 South Africa
Words by: Enoch Sontonga and Cornelius Jacob Langenhoven
Music by: Enoch Sontonga and Marthinus Lourens de Villiers
Adopted: 1994
At the time that South Africa's multi-racial system of government was adopted, there were two anthems in use among the people, divided by the old racial lines. "N'kosi Sikelel' iAfrica" (God Bless Africa), written and composed by Enoch Mankayi, which also has the same melody and nearly the same words as the anthems of Tanzania and Zambia, (and, formerly, Zimbabwe), was popular with the black population since it was first composed in 1897 for Mankayi's music students. The song was quickly adopted as the "people's anthem" and made the anthem of the African National Congress (ANC), a group that would become the first majority black political party to lead the country. The white South Africans, however, had been using "Die Stem van Suid Afrika" (The Call of South Africa) since the 1920s on an unofficial basis, and was made the state's official anthem in 1957. Even though the latter anthem was seen as too closely tied to the apartheid system by the majority black population, it was decided in the interim to make both anthems the national anthem, "God Bless Africa" was usually played in its entirety followed by the complete "Die Stem".
In 1997, the two anthems were combined, starting with "God Bless Africa" in Xhosa, followed by Sesotho, then a few lines of "Die Stem" in Afrikaans, and finishing the anthem with another few lines from "Die Stem" in English. (The English lines actually do not appear in the official English version of "Die Stem", but are an abridgement of the last few lines of the first verse, with the words slightly altered to reflect South Africa's new freedom.)
Special thanks to: Ermano Geuer for some of this information.
See also: South Africa (1957-1994).
Powered by ScribeFire.
Customize your mobile with your Complimentary Ringtone!
19:46
19:42
12:10
11:25 
11:22
11:19
8:29 For some time we've intended on remodelling our house but with the housing slow down we decided now might be a good time as there is no shortage of builders. So we called in a few builders to come in and give as a quote of the remodelling. So the last few weeks I've been entertaining builders in the evenings after work as we go through the intended remodelling works.
We've gotten in all the remodelling quotes and settled for one of the contractors. The quotes ranged from as low as $16,000 to as high as $28,000. The company that offered us the highest quote also seems to also have told us the most bullshit. For one, even though they bill themselves as a high end luxury contractor, they seemed to be the most inflexible and their agent told us a pack of lies. Every time he opened his mouth I could literally smell cow dung from his breadth. We settled for the last builder even before he had completed his sales pitch. Not only was he forthright but he gave us a reasonably priced estimate of between $19,000 to $21,000 depending on the options we choose.
Now that we have shopped for the builder and settled on the design and price, the next step is seeking finance to fund the remodelling. As much as I would like to pay for the costs upfront, I am not able to foot this big undertaking as we had not specifically saved for it and we don't want to take a dip into our savings.
Regarding the financing, we have a few options, namely. Either a revolving type credit where you get a no interest/no payment deal till 2009 or go for the home equity financing. Undecided, we decided to apply for both. As expected we were approved for both loans within a few days. However, the bank is trying to force us to take a larger home equity loan than the $21,000 for the remodelling costs. Our plan was to pay the builder 20% of the cost and finance the balance of the amount. The bank instead wants to push us into cashing out a minimum of $25,000 in order to get the best interest rate of prime rate minus 1%. The other option they are offering is a Home Equity Loan for the exact amount that we want and for a fixed term but with a 1% prepayment penalty and at prime rate, which currently stands at 7.5%.
Therefore we have 3 financing options. Either we take a HELOC for up to 80% LTV ratio of our dwelling, or take the HEL for the exact amount that we want, or settle for the 12 months no interest/no payments revolving credit.
So what have we decided to do? We'll go with the revolving credit and at the same time open the Home Equity Line of Credit though we will not cash out any money out of it. Instead, we'll use this money to pay-off the 24% interest revolving credit at the end of 2008. That way, we'll have borrowed up to $17,000 interest free for one year and then switch to the interest deductible HELOC loan for the remaining of the unpaid balance.
Based on the state of the US economy and the health of the financial sector, it is unlikely that the Fed will raise interest rates in the near term. If anything, the financial markets are priced for further cuts. So we are not worried about rising interest rates and therefore we can wait until we are ready to cash out the exact pay-off amount in order to lock in the interest rate and the term of the loan. And should the rates fall further in 2009, we have the option of unlocking the loan and locking it in at a lower rate for a cost of $50.
My plan for the coming year is to pay down the revolving credit loan as much as possible. I will do this over the course of the year though I could hold onto the money till the end of next year and lump it together into the pay-off amount. If need be, we can forgo going on vacation next year as I don't want to clear off this loan as fast as I can even though I could get by just paying off the interest only on the HELOC. As it is, I never been keen on taking a home equity loan but this is a good time to update our home. As they say, only a fool does not change his mind. Its probably going to take at least 3 years to recoup this investment as the housing market is on a downtown. We've just had the real estate tax appraisal and if we sneak in some updates now it will be at least 2 years before the county comes back calling for an appraisal and even then they might not do a physical inspection as they have just done it.
One the other hand, we also want to take advantage of the low interest rate environment to spruce up our house. Now that banks are not lending to real estate investors and home buyers are shrinking, they are in a way desperate to get borrowers with stellar credit history's. Being of that type, I would never shy from squeezing money out of the banks. The 12 months interest free loan on on $17,000 in the current financial environment is a steal. And the creeping inflation makes this deal even more appealing than if we had saved for prior to undertaking the remodeling project.
PS. I'm done with ranting (here, here and here) about the Fed injecting money into the US economy. It is with great pleasure that I am going to borrow part of this money and make the most out of it.
7:56
7:03 Blogged with Flock
6:51 
6:11 
3:45 
Jack Ma, chairman and founder of Alibaba.com, celebrating his firm's IPO and his entry into Dollar Billionaires list at the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday.
1:11
0:44 
Flashback June 2004, President Kibaki watches as Cabinet Minister Raila Odinga greets Wananchi at Kenol Market while on their way to Nyeri for a homecoming party in honour of the Head of State. Wananchi had demanded that Raila address them with chants of 'njamba'!
With only a few weeks to the D-Day, the picture is much clearer that in was back in March. Camps have already emerged and presidential nominations have all but been completed. The current regime has had to fight allegations of tribalism and nepotism since the referendum defeat. Not even the third and fourth force of Kalonzo or Muiru will make much difference. It seems most Kenyans have already decided who they will vote for and it just a matter of time before the current regime is replaced.
True, Kibaki holds an incumbency head-start and a three million strong GEMA votes even before the elections have started. But will that be sufficient to deliver the presidency back to Kibaki? Remember the voter roll stands at over 14 million and research indicates the voter turnout is expected to be more than 70%. Have all the voters been convinced that the Kibaki Tena ideology of kazii iendelee portends better life for them? Why should the present regime suddenly start creating districts, establishing universities and issuing all sorts of goodies to groups it had previously ignored? Arrogance that is exhibited by cabinet ministers has only helped to polarize the country further. Although PNU was meant to unite the so called Government of National Unity, it is not having an easy time doing so if the joint nomination circus is anything to go by.
It is also now an open secret that all senior non-GEMA supporters of President Kibaki’s re-election have their positions as MPs under severe threat in their own local 'strongholds'. A quick review shows that:
Raphael Tuju will never see the inside of the national assembly again as an elected MP. Not only has he publicly insulted the Luo people who form the bulk of his constituents, but he has also insinuated some of their leaders – without leaving a doubt as to whom he is referring to - to be corrupt. Nobody knows what happened to his PPP that was launched at the cost of several lives lost in Kisumu a few years ago.
Musikari Kombo not only managed to split the one-time official opposition party FORD-K with his ill advised policies, he is fighting a serious ODM wave in Webuye especially after the ODM leaders visited the Dini Ya Msambua shrine to re-enforce Elijah Masinde’s prophecy that the Luhya’s would attain the leadership of this country ‘through the lake’. Alfred Sambu is tipped as the next Webuye MP on ODM ticket. Three of Kombo’s former confidants (Shitanda, Kituyi and Khwalale) have defected from FORD-K to form new FORD-K and they have not been sacked by Kibaki. Infact FORD K has suffered defections of more than 50% of sitting MPs in Western Province and the party’s NEC is now composed of only three or four MPs with the rest being outsiders. That FORD-K is only but a Bukusu party, as opposed to a Luhya party (let alone a national party) was confirmed when the NARC dream was hijacked by the so called Mt. Kenya mafia in 2003.
Kipruto Arap Kirwa had defected to FORD-K with hope that the party would save him from the ODM wave sweeping through the North Rift. Little did Ruto know that he was jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Not only are residents complaining of insecurity, ODM is the preferred party for civic and parliamentary aspirants. Kipruto's Cherangany seat has attracted more than 15 ODM parliamentary aspirants, yet no one has openly come out to oppose him in PNU!
Simeon Nyachae just like Kombo, is facing an ODM tsunami in Kisiiland from where the bulk of his MP’s come from. FORD-P MP’s in other regions like Mwandawiro Mghanga has already defected to ODM. Nyachae is now having second thoughts about a health induced retirement plan and word on the ground is that he is sponsoring candidates to run on ODM ticket, in the hope that they will defect at last minute and live his party as the favourite in Kisii region.
Chirau Ali Mwakwere’s Shirikisho has already suffered a split because the breakaway new KADU has rebelled from mainstream Shirikisho and is apparently not keen on supporting the Kibaki re-election that Mwakwere has been insistent on. Coast province is not only an ODM zone it is also fiercely in favour of devolution that the ODM is propagating and the PNU castigating. Most PNU MP’s at the coast have very little chance of being re-elected, including Danson Mungatana.
Moody Awori is only Kibaki’s principal assistant as Vice President. In the political areana, he is lowly considered and is not playing any significant role in campaigns. He has been sending feelers to ODM after realising his days are numbered as MP. The discreet approach, made through his son Joseph, have been rejected by ODM. There are about 10 ODM parliamentary aspirants for Awori's Funyula constituency.
Similarly, KADDU’s Cyrus Jirongo claims he has ‘withdrawn’ his support for ODM although it remains difficult to see where that purported support was in the first place. Both Jirongo and Awori overtures were rejected because these two individuals are joining the train when it is nearing the destination and at the same time demanding to ride on the train without paying any fares, ie ODM does not allow corporate membership.
On the other hand, Gema leaders in PNU are Uhuru Kenyatta and George Saitoti. Both of these gentlemen habour presidential ambitions but they currently have been reduced to cheerleaders for the Kibaki Tena camp. Because they share ethnic origins with two of Kenya’s past three presidents, it is unlikely the electorate will want to vote them in when Kibaki presidency comes to an end. Saitoti has always been found with his pants down before general elections. He has a disadvantage of also representing an non-Gema area in parliament and he is also facing an acid test at the hands of one Moses Ole Sakuda who is indigenous Maasai in Kajiado North.
Therefore, with most of Kibaki’s non-GEMA lieutenants already tipped to be diefeated at constituency level, the president is now staring at a near replica of the referendum voting patterns and a defeat of the presidential vote. To make matters worse, a referendum for a new constitution will follow shortly after the general election and it will find the voters still in the mood to ‘teach the Kibaki camp a lesson’.
