Mashada Blogs » March 24, 2009

Afromusing: Repurpose: Converted Shipping containers

2009-03-24T20:20:11-04:00

Spotted in Nandihills, Kenya January 2009. I saw one just like this in Bungoma, but was not quick enough with the camera to get a good shot. Turns out Zain is using these as pre-fab offices in rural areas. I like the repurposing going on.

Spotted in Nairobi, January 2008
At Lagoon, a bar/nyama choma (roast meat) joint.

Got more in your archives? If so, please comment?

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Kenyanentrepreneur.com: 10 Must Visit Business Websites

2009-03-24T20:05:02-04:00

I was breezing through Entrepreneur Magazine and they have a nice post on the ten must-visit entrepreneur websites and I thought it was a pretty good list, so check it out. Remember, information is power. It’s not Peter Pan, pie in the sky stuff . Awww…..look at little Peter. Flying into the sky with [...]

citizen.africa: Danny Boyle, on why we need art in the Congo as well as peace

2009-03-24T19:43:27-04:00

Danny Boyle, the director of the Oscar winning movie, Slumdog Millionaire writes on how the arts should play a vital role in post-conflict relief for coping with and expressing individual trauma. Why the Congo needs art as well as food | Danny Boyle – Times Online For children – and for many adults – art plays a [...]

You Missed This: It’s Ruto… No It’s Kulei. Oops Or Is It Ruto?

2009-03-24T17:19:00-04:00

It has never happened before and I was totally shocked. Usually this informant gives me A1 information in terms of reliability. In fact the problem with most of the info they give me is that it is too hot to use (sometimes even in my raw notes). But this time round they came back a few days after telling me Ruto was the Visa ban minister to tell me that it was NOT Ruto after all. The name they gave me confused me.

The US envoy had said that the banned person was a senior member of government. The last time I checked Joshua Kulei was NOT a member of the Kibaki administration. My source however assured me that Ruto was next on the dreaded list and as a matter of fact it is highly unlikely that he could ever be granted a visa incase he wants to travel to the United States.

So I made a decision to keep quiet until something happens. Well it happened last night when the Americans told us that the banned person they were referring to was in fact Kulei. Now this is really fascinating stuff because Mr Kulei is a very major investor in the American economy. In fact his entire family is currently based in the United States and his main business operations are in New York ( a place where many wealthy Americans cannot afford to operate from). See this Kumekucha article for details. And by the way according to the kroll report, guess how most of the corrupt and laundered funds have always been transferred out of Kenya? It has mainly been through Citi Bank (An American bank). Anyway that is a story for another day.

Now for the sake of those Kenyans to whom the Americans are blue-eyed boy-scouts who can do no wrong, let me inform you that these guys are masters of the use and dump “toilet paper syndrome.” They use and dump people at dizzying speeds. If one Mobuto Sese Seko, former president of the then Zaire (now democratic republic of Congo) could rise from the dead today, he would tell you a tale to remember. The Americans propped him up in the 60s at a time when he was hardly able to tie his own shoe laces and nurtured and grew him into the monster of a dictator that he became. The main casualty of this American move was one Patrice Lumumba (democratically elected Prime minister) whom the Americans helped assassinate in a most heinous manner. The man’s body was dismembered and burnt so that no trace of him was left save for his upper teeth proudly kept as a momento by some Belgian weirdo soldier who took part in the “operation.” The Americans then abandoned Mobutu at his hour of need and proceeded to heavily back an assault that removed him from power.

Back home, the Americans eagerly supported Mwai Kibaki for a second term and the World Bank was dishing out Aid money to the government as late as in December 2007, months before the general elections. Word in Washington was that Kibaki was going to be re-elected. Quite odd when on the ground he was losing by a landslide. You will remember that the American government was a wee too quick in congratulating Kibaki on his re-election hours after a pre-recorded night swearing-in at State House Nairobi. Even when they were well aware of an exit poll by an American set-up clearly showing that Raila Odinga won the presidential elections. Days later it was the same Americans threatening President Kibaki back into line and into accepting the ridiculous idea of a coalition government that would incorporate all major competitors in the presidential race.

So what is the latest American game in Kenya with these visa ban announcements?

Joshua Kulei has very close links with Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Everybody knows that the Mois are majority shareholders in the Standard group and that is why many were puzzled at the extremely favorable coverage Raila has always gotten from the Standard newspaper which at one time was almost an ODM newsletter. All that was courtesy of Kulei who was sure that Raila would win the presidency and wanted to warm himself to him to stay away from prison (a place he knows only too well after decades as a prison warden before his meteoric and overnight rise to wealth began).

What is in fact happening is that the Americans are practicing what I call “scare diplomacy”. It seems that some important Kenyan government officials have to be “scared into line” so that they play ball when the Americans present a petition for something they want very soon. It is as simple as that.

Hawa wewe Obama? OUCH!!!

The Americans stand accused for allowing Kulei into their country with funds whose source they knew very well. They in effect helped this man rape the Kenyan people. Uncle Sam held the legs apart as the heinous crime was committed.

See other HOT related Kumekucha articles;

Moi family problems in securing wealth abroad

Why Kulei was threatend by Moi sons

Gideon Moi’s trip with his father to be introduced to Banks in Luxembourg

The Joshua Kulei storyKumekucha

Kenyan Pundit: Nominate Champions of Quality Education in Africa

2009-03-24T16:48:07-04:00

Winners get a cash prize of $5,000, lots of exposure and other support.

Via the website:

We are building a network of innovative education entrepreneurs who are focused on improving the learning of African students. We are looking for entrepreneurial African educators and organizations who are working to ensure that pupils in Africa are learning the reading, writing, math, and critical thinking skills that they need to succeed. If you are a successful and innovative teacher, administrator, or education organization, we invite you to apply.

We are focused on learning and effectiveness. We are also looking for models that can help improve national educational systems. If you use unique instructional methods, materials, or curricula, we want to know about it. And we will encourage you to take your work to the next level, to reach more students with your innovative methods.

More to Life: conflicker C - Especially if you have Windows XP...

2009-03-24T14:32:00-04:00

I ran into several issues with my home PC several a couple of weeks ago and was completely alarmed. The error I was receiving mostly indicated that the system could not locate any Operating system. And I was like "what???" I tried to recover the last known functioning setup during reboot and there was none known. I continued struggling with the machine until finally, it started windows. That was all it did. It moved at snail pace and any attempt to start ie (Internet explorer) was a bust!

After several attempts and an ulcer, I finally decided to run disk scan just in case my files had gone everywhere and were just hampering the system. Of course that wouldn't run either. Well, I went in. Into system32 files and started working the hard core way. I run chkdsk and of course that crashed the machine, again. You'd think it would get better with time.

The good news is that when I finally booted the machine after I got out of the freeze, the system on its own accord decided to run a chkdsk. And everything was corrupt. 2 hours into the system deleting and fixing and whatever else it did, windows XP started. And yes, I could open my documents. And internet explorer worked. But at snail pace. My huge relief was that I would at least have the chance to save my documents in an external drive (yes, even years later, it still takes this to get me saving my information in easily movable objects). the because I have an alternative machine to use, I abandoned his particular machine.

Bt I missed my machine. This is my home IBM that I kill with excesses that would crash most other laptops as I experiment with geekery. So today, I went a searching. And lo and behold! the conflicker C virus. I haven't tried to go into Microsoft.com but I will. I'll also check to make sure that I received my windows update. Somehow I know all this will not be true. I have the damn virus!

So I hoped that some geek had bothered to fix it. And posted the hows. And here is the link (thanks Rhaomi and all those who provided insightful information. Microsoft has set this up if you think you've been affected. You might need to get to it through [safety.live.com] because this trojan knows Microsoft and does not allow you to get to their websites. It is also controlling your google search results when you inquire about it from an infected machine. And it routes all your update requests back to your machine so you never get any. It also blocks your access to regedit and hides your files. Crazy, crazy, crazy! No wonder Microsoft is offering some 250K for anyone who will lead them to its originator. Good luck folks, good luck.

if you think you may be infected, act quickly before April Fool's day (Russian time, it's likely the trojan originates in Russia). That's their debut day. Don't know what they intend to do but they can pretty much do anything. They can write code and pass it through all infected machines, most likely through P2P networks.

I usually resist geek like posts and conversations but this one was necessary for anyone running Windows XP. If I can save my baby without having to reinstall windows XP, I'll post an update here some other time.

Hoping you're not infected yet. And wishing you a least stressful fix if you are.

Kenyan Pundit: Public Forum on Contemporary Nairobi

2009-03-24T05:33:41-04:00

Date: 27 March 2009
Venue: 680
Time: 9:00 - 4:00 (lunch served)

Mshairi: Wishes for our beloved

2009-03-24T04:17:08-04:00

If I could write a poem I would write about you I would say your heart is like a flower That blooms in a desolate wasteland Beautiful and natural To bring joy and never-ending bliss If I could sing a song I would sing about you Amazing and extraordinary I would sing of love Enduring and intense Sparkling eyes and selfless acts If I could paint [...]

My part of the world.......: Yet Another Tuesday.......

2009-03-24T03:40:00-04:00

I hate how people you communicate with on the internet are nowhere near as interesting in real life.

I hate my job.

I hate the people I work for

I hate the state of the economy.

I hate dealing with stupid entitled individuals at work.

I hate people who think a few extra letters at the end of their name makes them think they are better than everyone else.

I hate people who hear but don't understand.

I hate people who just can't shut the f*ck up!

I hate people who can't see the bigger picture.

I hate having to pay bills, they just don't stop!

I hate that the print media is slowly dying.

I hate needy people.

I hate having to pay so much for fresh fruits and vegetables.

I hate that nobody is owning up to playing a major role in the recession.

I hate that color aside leaders everywhere look out for themselves and not the little people.

I hate the fact that I'm so apathetic nowadays..................

That feels so much better

Regular programming shall resume shortly