Subject: Obama's Increasing Support
From: Deemdeen
To: All
Date Posted: 08:31:22 02/03/08 ()
Email Address: Deemdeen@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-68-33-37-252.hsd1.va.comcast.net at 68.33.37.252

Message:
Why I'm Backing Obama
By Susan Eisenhower
Saturday, February 2, 2008; Page A15

Forty-seven years ago, my grandfather Dwight D. Eisenhower bid farewell to a nation he had served for more than five decades. In his televised address, Ike famously coined the term "military-industrial complex," and he offered advice that is still relevant today. "As we peer into society's future," he said, we "must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."

Today we are engaged in a debate about these very issues. Deep in America's heart, I believe, is the nagging fear that our best years as a nation may be over. We are disliked overseas and feel insecure at home. We watch as our federal budget hemorrhages red ink and our civil liberties are eroded. Crises in energy, health care and education threaten our way of life and our ability to compete internationally. There are also the issues of a costly, unpopular war; a long-neglected infrastructure; and an aging and increasingly needy population.

I am not alone in worrying that my generation will fail to do what my grandfather's did so well: Leave America a better, stronger place than the one it found.

Given the magnitude of these issues and the cost of addressing them, our next president must be able to bring about a sense of national unity and change. As we no longer have the financial resources to address all these problems comprehensively and simultaneously, setting priorities will be essential. With hard work, much can be done.

The biggest barrier to rolling up our sleeves and preparing for a better future is our own apathy, fear or immobility. We have been living in a zero-sum political environment where all heads have been lowered to avert being lopped off by angry, noisy extremists. I am convinced that Barack Obama is the one presidential candidate today who can encourage ordinary Americans to stand straight again; he is a man who can salve our national wounds and both inspire and pursue genuine bipartisan cooperation. Just as important, Obama can assure the world and Americans that this great nation's impulses are still free, open, fair and broad-minded.

No measures to avert the serious, looming consequences can be taken without this sense of renewal. Uncommon political courage will be required. Yet this courage can be summoned only if something profoundly different transpires. Putting America first -- ahead of our own selfish interests -- must be our national priority if we are to retain our capacity to lead.

The last time the United States had an open election was 1952. My grandfather was pursued by both political parties and eventually became the Republican nominee. Despite being a charismatic war hero, he did not have an easy ride to the nomination. He went on to win the presidency -- with the indispensable help of a "Democrats for Eisenhower" movement. These crossover voters were attracted by his pledge to bring change to Washington and by the prospect that he would unify the nation.

It is in this great tradition of crossover voters that I support Barack Obama's candidacy for president. If the Democratic Party chooses Obama as its candidate, this lifelong Republican will work to get him elected and encourage him to seek strategic solutions to meet America's greatest challenges. To be successful, our president will need bipartisan help.

Given Obama's support among young people, I believe that he will be most invested in defending the interests of these rising generations and, therefore, the long-term interests of this nation as a whole. Without his leadership, our children and grandchildren are at risk of growing older in a marginalized country that is left to its anger and divisions. Such an outcome would be an unacceptable legacy for any great nation.

Susan Eisenhower, a business consultant, is the author of four books, most recently "Partners in Space: US-Russian Cooperation After the Cold War."

Subject: School report shoots holes in boy soldier’s bloody memoir
From: WRITER
To: All
Date Posted: 19:57:13 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ac202-025.resnet.stonybrook.edu at 130.245.202.25

Message:
From The Sunday TimesFebruary 3, 2008

School report shoots holes in boy soldier’s bloody memoir

Bryan Appleyard

DOCUMENTS found on Friday at a school in Sierra Leone may destroy the credibility of a best-selling book by a child soldier in the 1990s civil war.

The discovery is the latest in a series of revelations casting doubt on the story told in Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone, which has sold 650,000 copies in the United States and has just come out in paperback in Britain. The book is a brilliant account of the war through the eyes of a child and has become the primary text of campaigners against using children in war.

Beah, 27, who has become a Unicef advocate, said he stood by his story. “I don’t worry about it. For me, my story is accurate and I presented it accurately and I stand by it. I’m not worried about it.”

Speaking before the emergence of the latest document, he indicated the attacks were motivated by jealousy. “If you go round waving a book in Sierra Leone and asking, ‘Who knows this person?’, somebody is going to say, ‘Of course, that’s my son or could be my brother’.”

Related Links
Bryan Appleyard's full account of his interview with Ishmael Beah
His story began in January 1993 when his village, Mattru Jong, was attacked by rebel forces. Beah, then aged 12, escaped into the bush. He spent almost a year on the run before being handed an AK-47 by a government commander. He was 13 and for the next two years massacred his way around the country, high on various drugs.

Asked last week how many people he had killed, he said: “I’ve no idea. I really don’t know. I was in it for quite some time; each day of the war, we were fighting or there were exhibition killings. When we captured prisoners, it wasn’t like real war, where you take them to prison. We lined them up and . . . It was a way of indoctrinating new recruits.”

The new documents, obtained by Peter Wilson, a London-based correspondent of the newspaper The Australian, are academic records of Beah’s school. They show his marks for the period ending March 1993, indicating that he did not leave the school when he said he did.

They seem to confirm what Wilson had already discovered - that the attack on Mattru Jong actually took place in January 1995. Since Beah is known to have been picked up by Unicef in January 1996, he can have been on the run and/or been a soldier for only a year.

Wilson has also investigated an account in the book of a fight between boys from rival factions at a Unicef rehabilitation centre in Freetown that reportedly ended with six dead. Unicef has been unable to find evidence of such an incident. But it said it was “not aware of any discrepancies in Ishmael’s story. It is our view that even one day as a child soldier is one day too many”.

Beah said: “Whose word do they [the press] have for saying it didn’t happen? They said there was an official in government who said he didn’t want to disclose his identity. They said if this thing happened they would have known about it. Then I think to myself – Sierra Leone, do they know how many children were killed in the war? Does the government know or care about that? Of course not.”

Wilson suggests that “at every step of the way Ishmael was given incentives to exaggerate”. In Freetown a Unicef nurse encouraged him to tell his story and rewarded him with a Walkman. He won a trip to New York in 1996 with his graphic descr1ptions of life in the war. There he met Laura Simms, a writer he now calls his mother, who helped him to make his narratives more vivid. Finally, while he was studying at Oberlin college in Ohio, a creative-writing teacher spotted his literary gifts.

Beah is angry about the inquiries into his story. His father was killed in the fighting and he points out that reports that his father was still alive were found to be false.

“They never actually apologised for dragging me through that emotional thing . . . Every other day now, I go on The Australian’s website and they have a new instalment. This is what I think: they went and they didn’t find anything so they tried to find something else just to discredit me.”

Subject: Re: School report shoots holes in boy soldier’s bloody memoir
From: POLITICAL
To: All
Date Posted: 22:51:08 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ip70-162-167-106.ph.ph.cox.net at 70.162.167.106

Message:
That's too bad

Subject: Re: School report shoots holes in boy soldier’s bloody memoir
From: No nonsense
To: All
Date Posted: 01:17:43 02/03/08 ()
Email Address: none@yahoo.com
Entered From: npj-proxy.wlink.com.np at 202.79.54.50

Message:
He is just one of the hundreds of people who left Sierra Leone during the war. Most of them had never seen a rebel yet alone suffered any violence, yet they are the ones with the best stories that have helped in dehumanising people from the country. I recently met one canadian who told me a story of one guy who claimed that his entire family were hacked to death by rebels in kailahun. The people of the town he is living in canada had a meeting where thousands of dollars was raised to help him. I was real surprise because this was a guy I know very well. I doubt he knows Upgun- Turntable let alone kailahun. he was born and bred in freetown and during the Liberian refugees days in freetown was one of the people who used Liberian refugee cards to seek sanctuary in England. For this guy to turn up years later in canada and claim his entire family was killed when in fact his father and mother are in freetown getting some few dollars every few months from him beats the hell out of me. sierra leoneans have gone down the drain in terms of decency. They can even sell their mothers if that can ensure they gain a few dollars or get a visa to europe or america.
we are still appealing to them to desist from this useless behaviour as we want our country to be seen in a different line now.

Subject: Re: School report shoots holes in boy soldier’s bloody memoir
From: Candid Opinion
To: All
Date Posted: 10:48:33 02/03/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ip68-100-48-137.dc.dc.cox.net at 68.100.48.137

Message:
Just cause there are others with false stories does not deminish the fact that Ismael is the real deal..

Just as not all nigerians are 419ers just cause you got a few emails from some goat saying he needs your help to transfer some money into your bank account..

If Ismael missed a date, a month, a week.. in his memoirs.. it is irresponsible for the Australian to try to dig dirt on the poor youngs man background..
Even if he embellishd a bit and stretched out the truth a few yards.. we all accept the hollywoodising of stories by others gladly support distortions when reality meets print.. or film..
I know (well assume) that Amistad the movie did not pay my cousin Sengbeh Pieh half the credit he deserves in that movie.. what he stood for, the struggle and pain of the crossing, the fight, the reality of returning..
But we gladly identify with it..

This monday morning quarter backing is surely not helping..

Read Nas's blog..
A whole thread dedicated to the young mans book at VSL..

http://blogs.visitsierraleone.org/2008/01/claiming-ishmael-beah-and-standing-by.html

http://www.observer.com/2008/ishmael-beah-defends-himself-and-his-memoirs-against-accusations-misrepresentation

Anyways let me go spent my sunday someplace else instead of defending Ismael.. he yone brade don butter...
I have calling cards for sell and its starting to be a slow sunday...unless maybe Ismael get fambul den nar salone he get for call....
Ismael.. you wan call..??

Subject: SIERRA LEONE – COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES (SL-COR)
From: Concerned Citizen
To: All
Date Posted: 19:11:21 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: pool-138-88-10-27.res.east.verizon.net at 138.88.10.27

Message:
SIERRA LEONE – COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES (SL-COR)

Report on 1st Meeting held at the Sierra Leone Embassy – Washington D.C.

On Saturday January 26th 2008, several representatives of Sierra Leonean organizations in the Diaspora met for a Council of Representative meeting at the Sierra Leone Embassy in Washington D.C. Some of the organizations that attended the event included Sierra Leone Network, National Organization of Sierra Leoneans in North America, Foulah Progressive Union, Harford Old Girls Association, Albert Academy Alumni, Sierra Leone Gullah Heritage Association, SaloneDiscussion Forum, Young Leaders – Sierra Leone, Youth for Sierra Leone Improvement, Sierra Leone Music Television, Sierra Leone Association of University Women, Lunsar Descendant Association, North American Mandingo Association, National Association for the Development of Sierra Leone, Tegloma and Koinadugu Sisterhood Movement. The meeting was from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and it was co-chaired by Cecil John and Mary Jalloh.

The issues covered during the meeting included a brief history of SL-COR, an introduction of the proposed Kroo Bay community development project, the role of the private sector, a proposed community center initiative, the forthcoming Independence Day weekend event, annual Labor Day Family Fun Day, and a proposed Diaspora community newsletter. In addition to the planned agenda items, a statement from Alpha Kanu, on behalf of His Excellency, Dr. E.B. Koroma, the President of Sierra Leone was read to the attendees by Mohamed A. Jalloh. The Presidents expressed his acknowledgement of the importance of the joint meeting of the organizations in the Diaspora. The President indicated his interest in formalizing the relationship with the Diaspora, and has considered models of such offices in Ghana and Nigeria in formulating this for Sierra Leone. Interest was expressed in joining with a meeting of the group at some point in the future. It was opined that constantly engaging the government is an onus that rests with the Diaspora as an effective way of holding the government to its open door policy and its pledge to work with the Diaspora.

Co-chair of the event, Cecil John, thanked everyone for attending and stressed the importance of SL-COR as an effective platform to leverage on the Sierra Leone Diaspora’s social, economic, and political capital. In regard to the Diaspora’s economic capital, Cecil mentioned the fact that as an organized core, Sierra Leoneans can collectively capitalize on increasing equity through shared ownership of a community center, which is usually a large annual expenditure for Sierra Leoneans in the Diaspora due to the numerous events held across the US and other parts. Another key advantage of an organized core will be the opportunity to leverage on the Diaspora’s large economic capital towards investing in such things as a Credit Union, chartered flights, and improvement of informal financial institutions for remittances from abroad. With the Diaspora’s political capital, SL-COR according to Cecil can also leverage on the significant number of Sierra Leoneans residing in the US and other parts of the world, in accessing US aid and influencing foreign policies affecting Sierra Leone through an effective an organized lobbying effort.

Mohamed Bah reiterated Cecil’s points by sharing his experiences as a Sierra Leonean in the Diaspora and the shared vision and potential that can be collectively harnessed into reality. Mohamed stated the importance of transforming theory into action and the responsibility each Sierra Leonean holds as citizen Ambassadors for Sierra Leone. He mentioned that by consolidating our efforts, we could leverage on our political capital within our respective voting constituencies abroad. A theme for SL-COR was introduced as ‘Wahn Org, Wahn Rep, Wahn Vote, and Wahn Wohd’ (One organization, one representative, one vote, and one word).

According to one of the attendees, Lawyer Mohamed Sadubah, SL-COR is a very refreshing concept that has the potential of uniting the Diaspora into a collective functioning unit. He cautioned that the process is difficult, as evident from past experiences, though he reiterated that with the enthusiasm for participation and the new Government, SL-COR would be an effective collective organization.

Another attendee at the event, Mrs. Bayoh, expressed her thoughts as to other possibilities of SL-COR. She spoke about the fate of the Kono people. Mrs. Bayoh talked about the exploitation of the Kono land and the burden that has been forced on the Kono people. She stressed that in order for SL-COR to function effectively, good leadership is a necessity and action should exceed mere words. According to her, the Diaspora can capitalize on its economic capital and make efficient use of its remittances to replace foreign aid and exploitation from foreign entities. Carl Humper Jr. of SLMTV suggested that provisions could also be invested in developing the structure and effectiveness of the Sierra Leone Embassy. Mariama Turay of SLAUW emphasized the importance of rebuilding the railroad system in Sierra Leone and it being a significant economic development tool, particularly in rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure. Isata Barrie of the Koinadugu Sisterhood Movement, urged attendees to move forward collectively in developing the organization, which she envisions as a highly potential platform for collective action and sustainable results.

Mrs. Rosenburg and a fellow colleague of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) presented the IOM’s concept for reaching out to the Sierra Leone Diaspora and mentioned that SL-COR will be a good channel to utilize in developing the project. Both IOM representatives informed the attendees of current initiatives being carried out in the Sierra Leone Diaspora community in the Netherlands, where a reversing the brain drain project is currently being implemented. She spoke briefly about IOM’s experience in tackling Human Trafficking in Sierra Leone and the recent venture to tap into the expertise of Sierra Leoneans living abroad. Mrs. Rosenburg talked about the need for expertise in micro-credit, psychosocial assistance and other areas. She stated that she would communicate further with Cecil John in establishing a communication bridge between the IOM and the Diaspora community.

Sheikh Tunis followed with an introduction of the proposed Kroo Bay community development project. According to Sheikh, the Kroo Bay project stemmed from a recent news article, which highlighted the severe conditions people faced in the Kroo Bay community in Sierra Leone. Among the critical challenges in the community, there is no drainage, defecated areas, with the community considered the worst in the nation. Sheikh stated that several Sierra Leoneans in the Diaspora agreed to form a collective group to tackle some of these conditions with the aim of alleviating the critical challenges facing the community. He stressed that the foundation of the project was directly in line with the concept of SL-COR and emphasized the importance of collective action above individual responsibility, an advantage that he attributed to SL-COR. Sheikh stated that the Kroo Bay community development project will function under the sponsorship of SL-COR and he encouraged the attendees to contribute their collective efforts towards the successful implementation of this initiative.

Mohammed Jalloh and Jesmed Suma discussed the impact of a small investment daily by a group of individuals, demonstrating the importance and power of working together (DAD, Dollar-a-Day Campaign). They emphasized the importance of looking internally for making things happen and not always expecting others to fund and support development efforts. According to Mr. Jalloh, it will take 2,740 Sierra Leoneans a year with a $1 a day to raise $1 million, 3,000 Sierra Leoneans a year with $5 a day to raise $5.5 million, and 10,000 Sierra Leoneans a year with $1 a day to raise $18 million. He reiterated that SL-COR can be a great medium to leverage on the Diaspora’s economic capital and suggested that D-A-D would be one of the funding sources for initiatives carried out by SL-COR. Jesmed stated that nation building requires a vibrant economy, which requires investment from indigenes if the economy is to be sustainable. He cautioned that privatization has gone into the hands of foreigners and urged the attendees to reverse this, particularly through the vehicle of SL-COR.

In his introduction of the Diaspora community newsletter concept, Kwame Fitzjohn prefaced his remarks by expressing his pleasure with SL Network and NOSLINA (and other organizations) coming together on equal footing. An inter-generational alliance, if you like, combining the wisdom and experience of an older generation with the energy and ideas of a younger set. He saw this brotherhood we were attempting to forge as, at once an alliance, a think tank, and pressure group, serving as a watchdog for democratic governance and accountability and influencing the development of policy in our beloved Sierra Leone. Our role and the work we do, he said, could be captured in an organ, a publication, a voice of our own. “There are many outstanding writers and those with publishing know-how in our organizations (and outside of them) in North America and the UK that could contribute to this effort and make it happen,” he said. A representative of SLMTV also suggested the use of one of the online radio’s program slots, which could be used as a medium for hosting shows and programs from the Diaspora.

At this point, with much enthusiasm having been expressed overall by the group for the formation of a coordinated alliance, with each member organization retaining their separate identity, the group broke into two small groups for the purpose of discussing next steps to be taken. Upon report back, it was determined that an initial slate of office holders would need to be established, with a 6 month temporary status, to set up the foundational aspects of the organization. There was a suggestion by one group to rename CORE to SL-COR, which represents Sierra Leone Council of Representatives. Initial interim positions that were subsequently filled in an election prior to adjournment were: Chair, Co-Chair, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Social Secretary, Finance Chair, and Treasurer. Cecil John was elected as Chair, Mohamed Bah as Co-Chair, Akindele Decker as Secretary, Kwame Fitzjohn elected as Assistant Secretary, Mariama Turay as Social Secretary, Dr. Barba Koroma as Treasurer, and Ibrahim Jalloh as Finance Chair. Mr. Sadubah agreed to serve as legal counsel for the group. The group was given the task to formulate operating guidelines, including by-laws and other necessary items for registering as a not-for-profit.

It was agreed that the operating headquarters for SL-COR will be Washington DC, that subsequent satellite groups (or branches) reporting to the parent group in DC will be formed in locat1ons across the US, London, and elsewhere; and that SL-COR will be registered as a 501(C) 3 organization. It was considered by many to be an historic moment for Sierra Leonean organizations to have come together in a contention-free atmosphere and the desire to set aside personal agendas for the purpose of working together on development issues, both relevant to the community here in the U.S., and to the country of Sierra Leone. Many expressed the belief that this is the right thing to do at the right time, and with the transition in government leadership in the country, there is great opportunity to impact the agenda for development for Sierra Leone. A next meeting date was set for the first weekend of March.

To receive additional information regarding SL-COR, please contact:

Chair: Cecil John cj@virtualdeveloper.com
Co-Chair: Mohamed Bah anlbah@aol.com
Secretary-General: Akindele Decker akindeledecker@gmail.com

Subject: Goodness, this forum is back
From: Eddie Grant
To: All
Date Posted: 19:07:30 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 78.151.134.150

Message:
I wonder what happened that we're kept on the dark for so long. You can see that this forum is the best, I hope what happened will never be repeated.

Subject: BAN UMPIRE----THE IDLER
From: COCORIOKO BOARD---FORUM UNDER ATTACK
To: All
Date Posted: 18:07:57 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: pool-71-126-139-157.washdc.fios.verizon.net at 71.126.139.157

Message:
DEAR MODERATOR, CHAIRMAN, AND EDITOR
IN THE INTEREST OF CIVILITY ON THE FORUM, I JOIN OTHER FORUMITES TO RECOMMEND THAT YOU BAN THIS IDIOTIC, DRUG-ADDICT KNOWN AS UMPIRE. HE HAS BEEN ATTACKING THE FORUM SINCE LAST WEEK. STOP HIM BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE

Subject: Re: BAN UMPIRE----THE IDLER
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 08:53:00 02/03/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
This mouthpiece of obscurantism deserves a lashing, doesn't he? The mission statement of this forum is to facilitate the expression of 'writers' views "...about matters affecting their country." The most liberal construal of that policy excludes any and all personal attacks. Yet, excepting a few thematics, the policy encouraging the use of proxy names manifestly subverts the founding mission statement. The raison d'etre of that statement is justified if and only if the management of this paper justifiably assumes that the current government of the Republic of Sierra Leone is undemocratic. If the management avers that the government is democratic, then dump the policy of publication by proxy; accordingly, the management is now on the spot. IF IT BELIEVES THAT THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT IS UNDEMOCRATIC, THEN IT SHOULD CONTINUE THE POLICY AT ISSUE. There is no wiggle room here: it is a razor sharp policy judgment.

Moreover, the attempted indemnification of the management of this paper attaching to the views expressed by 'writers' is ineffective. Like me, most writers, write under proxy names. Under American jurisprudence in general, excepting corporate governance issues, proxies cannot sue or be sued. Hence, this paper's disclaimer carries no juridical bang.

Evidently, political, kegal and logical grounds mandate that the managers of this paper reflect on the consistency of the mission of their paper and the policies implementing the same. Again, before someone hijacks the discussion into the sewer, the issue is that if the management of this paper holds that the current government is undemocratic, then it must continue the policy of publication by proxy; if not, then the policy must be annulled.

Yes or no: IS THE GOVERNMENT LED BY DR. (HONORIS CAUSA) KOROMA DEMOCRATIC OR NOT?

Subject: Re: BAN UMPIRE----THE IDLER
From: Tupit fools
To: All
Date Posted: 19:20:55 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: pool-71-123-158-191.dllstx.dsl-w.verizon.net at 71.123.158.191

Message:
Crybaby fools, empire don don una. Umpire don wash una nar river Gangis. Thanks umpire these fools got what they deserve. You just can’t reason with them. What a contrast! This man sabe book o! Anybody write good english nomor den feel say nar Moh’m. Now them they call them compin idiots for help ban you. Tupit fools!

Subject: Re: BAN UMPIRE----THE IDLER
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 22:47:02 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
This is embodied rationality. My friend, you saw through the smoke and mirrors. You see, most Sierra Leoneans hate reasoned discourse. I cannot venture a hypothesis on that. What I do know is the reality on the ground: the unreasonable expectation that "book men" and "book women" will not follow the savages among us to the gutter. Such, there are. An exception, I am. I flow with the groove: play clean, I'll play clean; throw saturday night invectives, I'll hurl piercing, no holds barred, molotov cocktail invectives. Simple and clear. Take no prisoners! The negation of this maxim led, in my opinion, to the political subjugation by numerous 'governments' of Sierra Leone. When the RUF went to the gutter, the majority of Sierra Leoneans, oblivious to the tactics of bullies, ignorantly tried to 'reason' with them. Since you cannot reason with brutes, the RUF, a criminal organization of crack addicts, aided by Liberian cannibalists, got over and rolled over the champions of reasoned discourse: the majority of Sierra Leoneans, "intellectuals," inclusive. No more; not ever again!

Subject: Re: BAN UMPIRE----THE IDLER
From: CRY BABY
To: All
Date Posted: 18:32:59 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: adsl-158-255-244.asm.bellsouth.net at 68.158.255.244

Message:
SWEET FOR YOU ALL. NOW YOU'VE TASTE YOUR OWN. FAIR GAME

Subject: Re: BAN UMPIRE----THE IDLER
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 22:50:26 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Precisely.

Subject: Re: BAN UMPIRE----THE IDLER
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 18:15:24 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Umpire sabie cuss well well. I think we nor for ban am - taming him is the best and that is to expose his weakness. He cannot stand another's honest opinion. To me he is fun. i have dealt with a lot of fake Ph.d holders. Who think they know when they know not that they do not know.

he is beginning to mellow down. he will in the end become civil.

Subject: Re: BAN UMPIRE----THE IDLER
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 21:19:06 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Civility? Have you read my postings on your 'wife'? On Ph.Ds, LLMs, and all other Western insignia of intelletual excellence, doa: I refuse to discuss these phenomena with an idiot. I told you what I was going to do; I did it; and, now I am telling you, donkey, that I have done it. Got a problem with that?
Civility? Address your 'wife's' loose ways! Civility? Address your 'kid's' lineage! You derailed this discussion into the proverbial gutter; now, we are there; having lost on the moral high ground and the moral low ground, you now hide your tail between your indian legs with the bombast of "civility." Did you think of "civility" when you took the first steps in the gutter, sucker?

Subject: Re: BAN UMPIRE----THE IDLER
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 22:06:04 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Advice to the Moderator: if the policy founding the use of proxy names in this forum is to protect retaliation by governmental authorities in Sierra Leone, then, to the extent that the current government is arguably a democracy, and thus honors the democratic values of "free speech" and "freedom of the press", then the proxy policy is archaic, inapplicable, and invites donkeys like "Mahatma", the "'Wife' of Mahatma" and a jungle of vermin to exploit the policy, knowing that the policy immunizes them from actions sounding in either defamation, false light or, at the margin, fraudulent misrepresentation. Accordingly, to the extent that the managers of this forum are reasonably convinced of the efficacy of democratic ideals in Sierra Leone, the policy of proxy postings has outlived its utility. Eviscerate it! NOW.

Subject: Re: BAN UMPIRE----THE IDLER
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 07:15:48 02/03/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Sisturbing silence from the reverse harem: I suppose the e-mail of paramours has finally silenced the Indian: understandably. The ambulance has finally arrived: lots of marriage counseling, lots of valium or other psychotropics, and---VIAGRA, to domesticate the 'wife,' would be effective prescr1ptions. Thanks to the Department of Social Services, the kids of the 'wife' are in good hands. Lesson: never, never, never back off from a bully, for the essence of a bully is cowardice. Indian: not even your Idols can save you know from your psychological and social suffering. If you had resisted Satan's pimping, you would have avoided this dombolo: now, it is too late. Satan has abandoned you; there he goes, head in the sky: another viceregent scammed, as he promised his Creator in Sura Bakara in the sacred book of Islam: the Qur'an. I suppose a muslim would urge conversion; but then again, evangelical fervor is not a cherished value in Islam; the last time I checked the Christians, soul grabbers for Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, according to the Qur'an, are the most likely to come to your aid. The Idols: nothing but clay; the River: an ocean of suffering and filth. Under my lights, you are toast. And toast, you shall remain: no exit from your existential misery. Adios, sucker: I had the time of my life forcing you to drink the water from the sewer you dug. E LEF PA YOU EN YOU 'WEF'!

Subject: Re: BAN UMPIRE----THE IDLER
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 07:22:33 02/03/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Errata: the first word of the first sentence of the previous posting should be read as "Disturbing", and the last phrase of the second sentence should be read as "...would be effective prescr1ptions...."

Subject: African teen’s war story torn apart
From: STORY TELLER
To: All
Date Posted: 17:52:42 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ac202-025.resnet.stonybrook.edu at 130.245.202.25

Message:
Home:Europe/World

African teen’s war story torn apart

Published: Sunday, 3 February, 2008, 02:05 AM Doha Time

By Sid Astbury
AFRICAN author Ishmael Beah is under intense pressure to admit that his best-selling memoir of child soldiering in Sierra Leone is a mix of fact and fiction.

A Long Way Gone has sold almost 700,000 copies and transformed Beah from penniless orphan to millionaire writer and Unicef’s poster boy for its global campaign to keep children out of warfare.

Evidence gathered by the Australian newspaper makes the case that Beah was 15 and not 13 when he took up arms and that he was a soldier for two months rather than the two years he claims.

As well as the narrative being out of kilter, the paper alleges that some events may be fabricated. It found no one to corroborate Beah’s detailed account of a January 1996 clash inside a government-administered refugee camp in Freetown that left six dead.

“It’s just not possible that could happen, with six people killed and nobody knowing about it,” veteran Freetown journalist Ahmed Mansray said.
Beah, 27, and New York publisher Sarah Crichton have denied inconsistencies but have failed to provide anything to back up Beah’s account.

Crichton wrote to the Australian saying she had “met many people who knew him in Sierra Leone and who have corroborated his story”. But she did not give the names of any.

Crichton admitted the facts in the book had not been checked – that the publishing house had simply accepted the New York writer’s word as gospel.
“When Mr Beah says, as he adamantly does, that the dates in his book are correct we have absolutely every reason to believe that this is the case,” she wrote.

Most of the action in the book involves anonymous victims in unnamed villages but the starting point of the tale is a rebel attack on the village of Mattru Jong where Beah was at boarding school.

This assault left him an orphan and began his descent from star pupil at Centennial Secondary School to the drug-addled murderer the book depicts him turning into.

Everyone the paper spoke to has the critical event on January 25, 1995. Beah was then 15.
Teachers from Beah’s boarding school confirm 1995.

“I was right about my family. I am right about the dates. This is not something one gets wrong,” Beah wrote in a letter to the Australian. “Sad to say, it’s all real.”

The faults in A Long Way Gone were first noted by amateur sleuth Bob Lloyd, a Perth mining engineer working in Sierra Leone.

Lloyd approached the Australian after he was given the brush-off by Beah, his publisher, his agent and by Laura Simms, a professional storyteller who is Beah’s guardian in the US.

The paper commented that the “Ismael Beah saga is a puzzling tale complicated by what seems to be unquestioning and passionate belief in the young author from his publishers, guardian and agent”. – DPA

Subject: Final AU Count
From: Mami Thorpe
To: All
Date Posted: 17:38:59 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: adsl-76-254-113-217.dsl.hstntx.sbcglobal.net at 76.254.113.217

Message:
Jean Ping (Deputy Prime Minister of Gabon) - 31 votes;

Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika (Zambia's ambassador to the United States) - 17 votes;

Abdulai Osman Conteh (Former Vice President of Sierra Leone and current Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Belize) - 1 (ONE, SINGLE) vote.

Subject: Re: Final AU Count
From: Rogberrayman
To: All
Date Posted: 17:43:54 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Thank you! AO Conteh was lucky. Who gave him that vote. AO Conteh is an intellectual failure in the sense that he used his state-sponsored God-given talent to deny others the opportunity he benefited from the state. the end for his is near. the only grace is now through God and that will happen if he goes back to Rogberray and make amends by way of atoning.

Subject: Colonial flags of sierra leone
From: Dunia
To: All
Date Posted: 17:02:20 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
For those interested in knowing our past - see our colonial flags

Subject: Re: Colonial flags of sierra leone
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 17:32:27 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4577b27b.dyn.optonline.net at 69.119.178.123

Message:
Thank you so much Dunia. I had no idea! I always thought our flag had always been green, white and blue. Thanks to folks like you, some of us learn something new every now and again. Peace.

Subject: African Union Chooses New Leaders, Rebuffs Gaddafi's Union
From: Ratna
To: All
Date Posted: 16:23:03 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
African Union Chooses New Leaders, Rebuffs Gaddafi's Union Plan
By Peter Heinlein
Addis Ababa
02 February 2008

The African Union has elected new leadership at its summit meeting in Addis Ababa, but postponed action on an audit report that sharply criticizes the outgoing leaders. VOA's Peter Heinlein reports from the summit site that members again rejected Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi's grand plan to transform the union into a United States of Africa.

Gabon's Foreign Minister Jean Ping
Gabon's Foreign Minister Jean Ping
Gabon's Foreign Minister Jean Ping was elected to a four-year term as chairperson of the African Union Commission Friday, replacing the charismatic former president of Mali, Alpha Oumar Konare. Ping is a career civil servant who previously served as President of the United Nations General Assembly.

African diplomats say Ping's election, and the choice a day earlier of Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete to fill the rotating A.U presidency is aimed at giving a fresh start to an organization criticized in a recent internal audit as being riven by weak leadership, and an unhealthy organizational structure.

After his election, the new chairperson stood in the jam-packed assembly hall alongside an obviously proud Gabonese President Omar Bongo, Africa's longest serving head of state, who helped to engineer the election. Ping told VOA he was pleased to have received the required two-thirds majority on the first ballot.

"Well, I'm happy, of course. I'm happy of course.

VOA: Mr. Ping, do you have a word for all the countries that voted for you?

No, I want to pay my gratitude to all the countries, of course starting with those who voted for me, but also for the rest."

Elected vice-chairperson was Kenyan Erastus Mwencha, the secretary-general of COMESA, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. Despite the political turmoil gripping his country, Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki stayed to see through Mwencha's candidacy.

Mr. Kibaki refused to speak to reporters Friday, but in two behind-closed-door speeches, he seemed in no mood to compromise. In copies of his speeches obtained by VOA, he squarely laid the blame for Kenya's troubles on the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). He accused the ODM of instigating the violence.

The summit also turned its attention Friday to another crisis brewing in Africa, this one in Chad. Several delegates voiced fears that an offensive underway by rebels around the Chadian capital, Ndjamena, could damage efforts to end fighting in neighboring Sudan.

Day two of the summit also dealt a fresh blow to a proposal by Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi to immediately establish a union government that would lead to creation of a United States of Africa.

The Gaddafi proposal received a cool reception when it was introduced at last July's A.U. summit in Accra, Ghana. Delegates at this gathering decided to send the plan to committee for further study. But Mr. Gaddafi said afterward he is not giving up hope. In a brief interview, the Libyan leader told VOA he thinks the concept could win approval at the next summit later this year.

"Yes it is possible. We formed a committee from the heads of state, and worked on how we make this union government, to achieve it as soon as possible during the next summit," he said.

Many African leaders attending the summit say they agree the Gaddafi proposal has merit, and is likely to win eventual approval. But as Sudan's Ambassador to the United Nations Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem explains, there is a widespread concern that the time is not right.

"We don't doubt at all his sincerity to Africa, his commitment to Africa. He has that school of moving now. If we can move now, we will do it now. If we can move let us do it now, but we have to build it on solid foundation, I'm not sure whether that would be a good thing for Africa. But the issue (is not) whether we like it or not, but the issue of when and how," he said.

Leaders also delayed action on the controversial internal audit. Diplomats say a meeting of foreign ministers is likely in a few months take up the questions of institutional reform.

The three-day summit wraps up Saturday with a final brief session and issuance of a joint communiqué.

Subject: Gabon minister new head of AU commission:
From: KLA
To: All
Date Posted: 15:51:19 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 164.82.85.3

Message:

Jean Ping of Gabon,takes over from the much respected Omar Konare.

Wondered how Mr.Ping got his chinese sounding name?

"The African Union Friday elected Gabonese Foreign Minister Jean Ping as the new head of the commission of the 53-state body, taking over from Malian Alpha Oumar Konare, diplomats said here.

"Ping was elected in the first round," a diplomat told AFP.

The 65-year-old Ping, also deputy prime minister, was the favourite to take over from Konare, who has been at the helm of the commission, the body's main executive arm, since 2003.

The AU's institutions are modelled on those of the European Union, with a commission wielding most of the power and a rotating presidency.

The charismatic Konare had been credited with putting the 53-state pan-African body on the world map, but was criticised for failing to reform its institutions.

Ping's election comes at a time when the organisation is seeking to assert its authority on continental issues and take responsibility for solving its many conflicts.

"I know that he's a man of many qualities," Libya's Minister for African Affairs Ali Triki told reporters. "He's capable of representing the whole of Africa. We will continue working with him."

"His priority should be to move towards a government for the union as a first step towards the creation of the United States of Africa," he added.

One of his rivals for the post, Zambia's Inonge Mbikusita Lewanika, praised Ping. "African presidents trust him, that's why they chose him."

Kenya's Erastus Mwencha, the secretary general of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, was elected as deputy chairman of the commission, AU officials said.

Kenya has been a key feature of the AU's 10th summit following the deadly violence that erupted following President Mwai Kibaki's re-election.

Ping has been a minister for 16 years and held the foreign affairs portfolio since 1999.

He is a close aide to Gabonese President Omar Bongo, Africa's longest-serving head of state.

The father of eight is the son of a Chinese forester who settled in Gabon.

Ping hopes his Chinese origins will help him develop ties with China -- the world's fourth largest economy -- which has led an aggressive drive to boost its political and economic influence in resource-rich Africa.

The AU commission chairman-elect also boasts strong experience on the international stage, having chaired the UN's 59th general assembly on the world body's reform process in 2004-2005.

Nicknamed "Mao" by his own president, Ping started his career with UNESCO in the seventies."....New
African.

This NEW AU is starting to make a lot of sense ,and deserves across the board from Afrikans.

How about the logic in selecting a highly respected African Chinese as a point man in a era where China is emerging a major partner in the development of Africa.!

BRAVO AU!

tstm

Follow link below to an an image of change!

Subject: Re: Gabon minister new head of AU commission:
From: Rogberrayman
To: All
Date Posted: 16:07:23 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Who dreamt of the idea that A. O. Conteh, who could not look after his tiny village of 28 houses, will be able to look after the affairs of the rest of Africa. A. O. Conteh, really has guts. Gone are the days when fools will allow the selfish to be given such positions of great responsibilities. A. O. Conteh, sacrifice some of your ill-gotten wealth to better the lives of the less than 200 Rogberray residents - your home town.

Subject: FAO: UMPIRE:- YOUR INNERSELF FOR PEACE AND HAPPINESS!!
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 15:28:43 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
The Eightfold Path and the Practice of Dhamma

Because the roots of ignorance are so intimately entwined with the fabric of the psyche, the unawakened mind is capable of deceiving itself with breathtaking ingenuity. The solution therefore requires more than simply being kind, loving, and mindful in the present moment. The practitioner must equip him- or herself with the expertise to use a range of tools to outwit, outlast, and eventually uproot the mind's unskilful tendencies. For example, the practice of generosity (dana) erodes the heart's habitual tendencies towards craving and teaches valuable lessons about the motivations behind, and the results of, skilful action. The practice of virtue (sila) guards one against straying wildly off-course and into harm's way. The cultivation of goodwill (metta) helps to undermine anger's seductive grasp. The ten recollections offer ways to alleviate doubt, bear physical pain with composure, maintain a healthy sense of self-respect, overcome laziness and complacency, and restrain oneself from unbridled lust. And there are many more skills to learn.
The good qualities that emerge and mature from these practices not only smooth the way for the journey to Nibbana; over time they have the effect of transforming the practitioner into a more generous, loving, compassionate, peaceful, and clear-headed member of society. The individual's sincere pursuit of Awakening is thus a priceless and timely gift to a world in desperate need of help.
Discernment (pañña)

The Eightfold Path is best understood as a collection of personal qualities to be developed, rather than as a sequence of steps along a linear path. The development of right view and right resolve (the factors classically identified with wisdom and discernment) facilitates the development of right speech, action, and livelihood (the factors identified with virtue). As virtue develops so do the factors identified with concentration (right effort, mindfulness, and concentration). Likewise, as concentration matures, discernment evolves to a still deeper level. And so the process unfolds: development of one factor fosters development of the next, lifting the practitioner in an upward spiral of spiritual maturity that eventually culminates in Awakening.
The long journey to Awakening begins in earnest with the first tentative stirrings of right view — the discernment by which one recognizes the validity of the four Noble Truths and the principle of kamma. One begins to see that one's future well-being is neither predestined by fate, nor left to the whims of a divine being or random chance. The responsibility for one's happiness rests squarely on one's own shoulders. Seeing this, one's spiritual aims become suddenly clear: to relinquish the habitual unskilful tendencies of the mind in favour of skilful ones. As this right resolve grows stronger, so does the heartfelt desire to live a morally upright life, to choose one's actions with care.

At this point many followers make the inward commitment to take the Buddha's teachings to heart, to become "Buddhist" through the act of taking refuge in the Triple Gem: the Buddha (both the historical Buddha and one's own innate potential for Awakening), the Dhamma (both the Buddha's teachings and the ultimate Truth towards which they point), and the Sangha (both the unbroken monastic lineage that has preserved the teachings since the Buddha's day, and all those who have achieved at least some degree of Awakening). With one's feet thus planted on solid ground, and with the help of an admirable friend or teacher (kalyanamitta) to guide the way, one is now well-equipped to proceed down the Path, following in the footsteps left by the Buddha himself.

Virtue (sila)

Right view and right resolve continue to mature through the development of the path factors associated with sila, or virtue — namely, right speech, right action, and right livelihood. These are condensed into a very practical form in the five precepts, the basic code of ethical conduct to which every practicing Buddhist subscribes: refraining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and using intoxicants. Even the monks' complex code of 227 rules and the nuns' 311 ultimately have these five basic precepts at their core.

Concentration (samadhi)

Having gained a foothold in the purification of one's outward behaviour through the practice of sila, the essential groundwork has been laid for delving into the most subtle and transformative aspect of the path: meditation and the development of samadhi, or concentration. This is spelled out in detail in the final three path factors: right effort, by which one learns how to favour skilful qualities of mind over unskilful ones; right mindfulness, by which one learns to keep one's attention continually grounded in the present moment of experience; and right concentration, by which one learns to immerse the mind so thoroughly and unwaveringly in its meditation object that it enters jhana, a series of progressively deeper states of mental and physical tranquillity.

Right mindfulness and right concentration are developed in tandem through satipatthana ("frames of reference" or "foundations of mindfulness"), a systematic approach to meditation practice that embraces a wide range of skills and techniques. Of these practices, mindfulness of the body (especially mindfulness of breathing) is particularly effective at bringing into balance the twin qualities of tranquillity (samatha) and insight (vipassana), or clear-seeing. Through persistent practice, the meditator becomes more adept at bringing the combined powers of samatha-vipassana to bear in an exploration of the fundamental nature of mind and body.14 As the meditator masters the ability to frame his immediate experience in terms of anicca (inconstancy), dukkha, and anatta (not-self), even the subtlest manifestations of these three characteristics of experience are brought into exquisitely sharp focus. At the same time, the root cause of dukkha — craving — is relentlessly exposed to the light of awareness. Eventually craving is left with no place to hide, the entire karmic process that fabricates dukkha unravels, the eightfold path reaches its noble climax, and the meditator gains, at long last, his or her first unmistakable glimpse of the Unconditioned — Nibbana.

Awakening

This first enlightenment experience, known as stream-entry (sotapatti), is the first of four progressive stages of Awakening, each of which entails the irreversible shedding or weakening of several fetters (samyojana), the manifestations of ignorance that bind a person to the cycle of birth and death. Stream-entry marks an unprecedented and radical turning point both in the practitioner's current life and in the entirety of his or her long journey in samsara. For it is at this point that any lingering doubts about the truth of the Buddha's teachings disappear; it is at this point that any belief in the purifying efficacy of rites and rituals evaporates; and it is at this point that the long-cherished notion of an abiding personal "self" falls away. The stream-enterer is said to be assured of no more than seven future rebirths (all of them favourable) before eventually attaining full Awakening.

But full Awakening is still a long way off. As the practitioner presses on with renewed diligence, he or she passes through two more significant landmarks: once-returning (sakadagati), which is accompanied by the weakening of the fetters of sensual desire and ill-will, and non-returning (agati), in which these two fetters are uprooted altogether. The final stage of Awakening — arahatta — occurs when even the most refined and subtle levels of craving and conceit are irrevocably extinguished. At this point the practitioner — now an arahant, or "worthy one" — arrives at the end-point of the Buddha's teaching. With ignorance, suffering, stress, and rebirth having all come to their end, the arahant at last can utter the victory cry first proclaimed by the Buddha upon his Awakening:

"Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done! There is nothing further for the sake of this world."
T
he arahant lives out the remainder of his or her life inwardly enjoying the bliss of Nibbana, secure at last from the possibility of any future rebirth. When the arahant's aeons-long trail of past kamma eventually unwinds to its end, the arahant dies and he or she enters into parinibbana — total Unbinding. Although language utterly fails at describing this extraordinary event, the Buddha likened it to what happens when a fire finally burns up all its fuel.

"The serious pursuit of happiness"

Buddhism is sometimes naïvely criticized as a "negative" or "pessimistic" religion and philosophy. Surely life is not all misery and disappointment: it offers many kinds of happiness and sublime joy. Why then this dreary Buddhist obsession with unsatisfactoriness and suffering?

The Buddha based his teachings on a frank assessment of our plight as humans: there is unsatisfactoriness and suffering in the world. No one can argue this fact. Dukkha lurks behind even the highest forms of worldly pleasure and joy, for, sooner or later, as surely as night follows day, that happiness must come to an end. Were the Buddha's teachings to stop there, we might indeed regard them as pessimistic and life as utterly hopeless. But, like a doctor who prescribes a remedy for an illness, the Buddha offers both a hope (the third Noble Truth) and a cure (the fourth). The Buddha's teachings thus give cause for unparalleled optimism and joy. The teachings offer as their reward the noblest, truest kind of happiness, and give profound value and meaning to an otherwise grim existence. One modern teacher summed it up well: "Buddhism is the serious pursuit of happiness."

Theravada Comes West

Until the late 19th century, the teachings of Theravada were little known outside of southern Asia, where they had flourished for some two and one-half millennia. In the past century, however, the West has begun to take notice of Theravada's unique spiritual legacy in its teachings of Awakening. In recent decades this interest has swelled, with the monastic Sangha from various schools within Theravada establishing dozens of monasteries across Europe and North America. Increasing numbers of lay meditation centres, founded and operated independently of the monastic Sangha, strain to meet the demands of lay men and women — Buddhist and otherwise — seeking to learn selected aspects of the Buddha's teachings.

The turn of the 21st century presents both opportunities and dangers for Theravada in the West: Will the Buddha's teachings be patiently studied and put into practice, and allowed to establish deep roots in Western soil, for the benefit of many generations to come? Will the current popular Western climate of "openness" and cross-fertilization between spiritual traditions lead to the emergence of a strong new form of Buddhist practice unique to the modern era, or will it simply lead to confusion and the dilution of these priceless teachings? These are open questions; only time will tell.

Spiritual teachings of every descr1ption inundate the media and the marketplace today. Many of today's popular spiritual teachings borrow liberally from the Buddha, though only rarely do they place the Buddha's words in their true context. Earnest seekers of truth are therefore often faced with the unsavoury task of wading through fragmentary teachings of dubious accuracy.

How are we to make sense of it all?

Fortunately the Buddha left us with some simple guidelines to help us navigate through this bewildering flood. Whenever you find yourself questioning the authenticity of a particular teaching, heed well the Buddha's advice to his stepmother:

[The teachings that promote] the qualities of which you may know, 'These qualities lead to passion, not to dispassion; to being fettered, not to being unfettered; to accumulating, not to shedding; to self-aggrandizement, not to modesty; to discontent, not to contentment; to entanglement, not to seclusion; to laziness, not to aroused persistence; to being burdensome, not to being unburdensome': You may definitely hold, 'This is not the Dhamma, this is not the Vinaya, this is not the Teacher's instruction.'

[As for the teachings that promote] the qualities of which you may know, 'These qualities lead to dispassion, not to passion; to being unfettered, not to being fettered; to shedding, not to accumulating; to modesty, not to self-aggrandizement; to contentment, not to discontent; to seclusion, not to entanglement; to aroused persistence, not to laziness; to being unburdensome, not to being burdensome': You may definitely hold, 'This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher's instruction.'

The truest test of these teachings, of course, is whether they yield the promised results in the crucible of your own heart. The Buddha presents the challenge; the rest is up to you.

Subject: Re: FAO: UMPIRE:- YOUR INNERSELF FOR PEACE AND HAPPINESS!!
From: UK man
To: All
Date Posted: 15:36:50 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: adsl-158-255-244.asm.bellsouth.net at 68.158.255.244

Message:
How nar copy-paste now we don go to?

Subject: Re: FAO: UMPIRE:- YOUR INNERSELF FOR PEACE AND HAPPINESS!!
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 17:41:10 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Beyond that UK man, let the Indian lover reproduce the text in the original language, a sound hermeneutical requirement. Soon, the Indian monk would be calling you "Moh'm Jalloh." I hope you never met his wife.

Subject: Re: FAO: UMPIRE:- YOUR INNERSELF FOR PEACE AND HAPPINESS!!
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 15:59:09 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Nar very important thing wae kin help we all - nar from the pali - if you read nor more you go see wusai e komot. Nar for me comrade, Umpire, John, Moh'm, BLIND.

Subject: Re: FAO: UMPIRE:- YOUR INNERSELF FOR PEACE AND HAPPINESS!!
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 17:46:33 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Hindu can't even write proper Krio: there is no Krio word called "wusai". Proof enough that we are dealing here with an unwanted foreign pest.

Subject: Re: FAO: UMPIRE:- YOUR INNERSELF FOR PEACE AND HAPPINESS!!
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 18:05:02 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
So you want put pesticide on me for eradicate me. It nor go happen ya. me nor cuss cuss like you. wusai na krio meaning where. i know dat very well. You dae for bring trouble and wahala. A don gree sae you not to Moh'm but you nar John, Blind en fair Judge - de same posin. I speak krio better pass you.

Subject: Re: FAO: UMPIRE:- YOUR INNERSELF FOR PEACE AND HAPPINESS!!
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 09:12:40 02/03/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Bra Krio: no one cognizant of the idiomatic structures of Krio would write: "I speak krio better pass you." First, the phonetic structure "I" does not exist in Krio; the equivalent of the English pronoun "I" in Krio is "Ah". Second, competent speakers of the language do not "speak" Krio, but "talk" krio. Ous kain trouble dis? De man naw sabie write English or Krio: Aw 'lambgba', in fof ke temneh? Woto!

Subject: Chad rebels fight inside capital
From: Freetong Pikin
To: All
Date Posted: 11:09:24 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: 80-45-43-34.static.dsl.as9105.com at 80.45.43.34

Message:
Thousands of rebels have entered Chad's capital N'Djamena and say they have surrounded the presidential palace.

But Chad's ambassador to Ethiopia said the capital had not fallen and that President Idriss Deby was "fine" in his palace.

There has been intense gunfire in the city centre, and a witness said army tanks were burning in the streets.

The French Foreign Ministry condemned the attempt to "seize power by force", blaming "armed forces from outside".

The rebels began their advance on N'Djamena from near Chad's eastern border with Sudan earlier this week, and both the Chadian and Sudanese governments accuse each other of backing rebels in each others' territory.

'Windows shaking'

A rebel spokesman, Abakar Tollimi, told AFP news agency that the rebels controlled the city, although there were some "pockets of resistance".

He said that the president was able to leave the palace if he wanted to. Earlier he had said Mr Deby would fall within hours.

France said it was preparing to evacuate its citizens and called on people to stay indoors.

French Defence Ministry spokesman Christophe Pazouk told the BBC the rebel force in the city consisted of several thousand men, and that they had entered the city surprisingly easily.

Government forces were defending the presidential palace and several other places, he added.

A witness in the city told the BBC that 30 army tanks had been set on fire, the town was under the rebels' control and they were firing into the air in celebration.

"From the third-floor we can see smoke coming from about a kilometre and a half away near the presidential palace," US aid worker Katie-Jay Scott told the BBC.

"The gunfire and artillery shakes the windows of the hotel."

The African Union called for an end to the rebels' advance, and said it would expel Chad from the organisation if they took power.

"The assembly strongly condemns the attacks perpetrated by armed groups against the Chadian government and demands that an immediate end be put to these attacks and resulting bloodshed," the AU said in the final declaration of its summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Friction with Sudan

The BBC's Stephanie Hancock, recently based in Chad, says insecurity has always been the hallmark of Mr Deby's 17-year rule.

But the tide began to turn in 2005 when he changed the constitution so that he could run for a third term in office, she says.

This prompted mass desertions from the army, and the situation was made worse by the accumulation of oil wealth by Mr Deby and his entourage.

But there is also friction with Sudan, with both countries backing rebel movements in the other.

Chadian officials say Khartoum is nervous about the deployment of EU troops in Chad and a joint AU/UN force in Sudan's western region of Darfur.

French involvement

About 150 French troops have arrived to help evacuate some 1,500 expatriates, the vast majority of whom live in N'Djamena, but the French authorities are now strongly advising their citizens to stay at home.

AFP said a French army airbus was preparing to fly to Chad to take part in an eventual evacuation.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy held a meeting to discuss the crisis late on Friday night with senior ministers and military figures.

The BBC's Alasdair Sandford, in Paris, says France is directly involved in the crisis.

It dominates the EU force bound for Chad, whose deployment has been delayed because of the fighting. Some 100 troops Austrian and Irish troops had been due to arrive last Thursday.

Under a 30-year-old agreement, the French military has also been providing key backing to Chad's government.

But late last year, one of the rebel groups, the UFDD, declared a "state of war" against French and other foreign forces because it said they were "bringing diplomatic, strategic and logistical aid" to the president.

Subject: Looking to purchase airline tickets to FREETOWN - Help!
From: Airline tickets needed
To: All
Date Posted: 10:00:54 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: c-98-226-143-114.hsd1.in.comcast.net at 98.226.143.114

Message:
A couple of months back, someone posted contact names of agents who sold tickets for the following carriers Continental/ SNA Brussels; could someone please provide me with those contact names or if possible other options other going through London.

Thanks!

Subject: Re: Looking to purchase airline tickets to FREETOWN - Help!
From: Pa Sorie
To: All
Date Posted: 19:54:52 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cpe-24-168-2-155.si.res.rr.com at 24.168.2.155

Message:
Call Jabbie on 240 988 2918 or 240 297 3224 ........the best

Subject: Re: Looking to purchase airline tickets to FREETOWN - Help!
From: Ronaldino
To: All
Date Posted: 10:15:03 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: 82-44-17-83.cable.ubr04.croy.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.44.17.83

Message:
Kevin Mcphillips travel

Subject: Moderator, what happened to all the posts made earlier ?
From: KABS KANU
To: All
Date Posted: 07:36:54 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: h167-156-253.63.chubb.com at 167.156.63.253

Message:
I came back to read the many posts that had been made this morning and found that they were all gone. Some people were trying to ask questions about latest articles in STANDARD TIMES.

Did people go off and start abusing each other ? Could we have removed the abusive posts instead of the whole thread ?

Subject: HOW TO BURY SLPP IN THE SOUTHEAST AND ENJOY THE SHOW!
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 22:03:02 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4577b27b.dyn.optonline.net at 69.119.178.123

Message:
It really is quite easy. As JJ Bloody Mary and my earnest but misguided Pamtik Kabudu sweat to topple the national hero, Christina Thorpe, off her mighty pedestal, some of us are busy scr1pting the extinction of the once mighty SLPP.

We, the Red Brigade are busy testing concoctions and reactions in secretive RED laboratories, working to raise Frankensteins that will frighten the GREEN boys back to irrelevance and near-extinction.

Eureka! We will make our allies, the PMDC look good and irresistible in the Southeast. Charles Margai would be the point man for EBK in the development, reconstruction and economic turnaround of that region long taken for granted by the SLPP N'gohs.

Public works, Microfinace, factories, business development, transportation, electricity...will be driven to the hilt, with Margai at the forefront as the anachronistic SLPP are jeered like a Kaka Debul on the sidelines.

Before you know it, SLPP will be sulking again in History's rubbish heap. Watch out SLPPers....We are coming after you...hard!

Subject: Re: HOW TO BURY SLPP IN THE SOUTHEAST AND ENJOY THE SHOW!
From: nico
To: All
Date Posted: 06:14:48 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: nicoleconsult@hotmail.com
Entered From: 82-45-226-138.cable.ubr03.enfi.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.45.226.138

Message:
Fen plaba

I could not agree with you more. EBK must take and execute such a strategy seriously. He should empower his PMDC polical allie along the line you have suggested. He should ensure, through them, that a tangible development and progress in the lives of the Southern communities are accomplished than what transpired under the SLPP.

The last election results demonstrated that voting paterns is primarily influenced by tribal and regional affiliation to parties. The SLPP till hold sway in the south east. But with the advent of the PMDC, under the leadership of no lesser person than the party's own son, there is no doubt now that SLPP is competing for the South East votes with PMDC.

Furthermore, there have been a cumilative demographic changes in the south-east which could militate against the SLPP in their own traditional support base at elections.

The northerners are known to be traders and over several decades they have migrated in huge numbers to the South East, settled and integrated in to the South East communities.

In Kenema, for instance, the Kai-Samba terrace, the main chief's compound has for many years become the centre of trading for market women who are largely but not exclusively people of northern origin.

Some of the Late Chief's houses in the compound are rented to Temenes and some are their by association of Marriege and friendship. The same stuation exists in Nyadeyama section of Kenema where the main street leading to that densely populated section, named after my name sake is 65 percent of people other than mende. The section chief there is half mende-half Temene.

In Mobai Kailahun district the late Chief Coomber appointed Pa Sorie Kamara, a Limba man as the section Chief of Geiya-or Hill section. Pa Sorrie had to clear one hurdle, which was, he was initiated into the mende poro society. Pa Sorrie had 5 wives: 2 Limbas and 3 mendes women. I was fond of one of his daughters called Boitaygay, if I spelt it correctly. Pa Sorrie changed his name to Sorrie Coomber and he knew more about the mende culture and customs than I was ever made to learn. The importance of this is that Southerners are tolerance and have experiece in diversity just as you Fen Plaba.

The Mende man, in contrast, is a sedatary creature, contended with his environment and rather not keen to move around. Southern Mendes in the north are by and large on job postings and are insignifant in numbers to make any political dent to the APC northern hegemonous votes.

But being a man of two brains, I also have a secret counterveiling strategy, which can put the APC on the defensive and in an unpalatable electoral position that would create a favourable platform for SLPP to overwhelm in 2012. Lonta

Good Weekend.

Subject: Re: HOW TO BURY SLPP IN THE SOUTHEAST AND ENJOY THE SHOW!
From: kamara
To: All
Date Posted: 09:14:31 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-dtc-ag14.proxy.aol.com at 205.188.117.142

Message:
2012 would be a different time. The reasons which caused the the formation of PMDC will be irrelevant. The PMDC ministers and MPS will crave for the PMDC/APC alliance to protect their jobs but the southern voters may not see any benefit in ther APC alliance. Right now food prices are high in Kenema.There have been problems with electricity in Bo and Kenema. What benefit has the Charles Margai's alliance brought to the south so far.
Only the blatant tussle for the control of power and govermental jobs by the Bombali,Tonkolili and Port Loko Axis.

One thing your piece illustrates is the tolerance of the southerners. I hope my Northern brothers can reciprocrate. How many Mende chiefs are there in Port Loko, Bombali or Tonkolili? How many southerners are settled in Port Loko, Makeni and Magbruka as compared to the Northerners in Bo and Kenema.

SLPP is not going any way. They will stay to fight.

Subject: Re: HOW TO BURY SLPP IN THE SOUTHEAST AND ENJOY THE SHOW!
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 09:55:12 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4577b27b.dyn.optonline.net at 69.119.178.123

Message:
As someone who grew up, did all his primary and secondary schooling in the Southeast, and who has Mende blood brothers, I am still amazed by the tolerance and magnanimity of the Southeast. You and Nico hit it right in the head. If only other regions are as tolerant as Mendeland, Salone go sweet pass so!

You are dead wrong, however, about the electoral prospects of SLPP in 2012. Your party's leaders are still mouthing off the same old, tired, empty rhetoric that buried them in the last elections. SLPP will just evaporate into irrelevance if they continue yelling these brainless bromides to a populace, hungry for solutions to the national malaise.

I have been frankly disappointed by SLPP. I thought they were gonna find their Mojo after the beat-down in the elections. Didn't happen. How does this dinosaur of a party expect to be taken seriously when its leaders refuse to accept any responsibility for the economic terrorism they subjected the country to for 11 ruinous years.

The current rise in food prices in Salone is the continuing fallout from the SLPP kakistocracy. This APC govt will succeed as they liberalize the economy and take steps to bind the raw wounds inflicted by the Green Munku Boys. I only hope EBK escapes from the sycophants in his inner circle every so often to see the pain of the REAL Salone.

Subject: Re: HOW TO BURY SLPP IN THE SOUTHEAST AND ENJOY THE SHOW!
From: DeLaw
To: All
Date Posted: 20:07:30 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: contehlawrence@yahoo.com
Entered From: cpe-75-185-99-153.insight.res.rr.com at 75.185.99.153

Message:
So you believe that the APC did not subject Sierra Leone to 'economic terrorism'?No comment.
Anyway the APC I grew up to know imposed the THE RULE OF MAN not THE RULE OF LAW in Sierra Leone.Man,was the regime repressive;SSD thugs,the silencing of dissenting voices like SL Bangura,Fornah,Taki and others.These were patriotic sons of the soil who saw the dangerous path that probably led to the war.
I see that some of us are very good at beating at the drums of freedom and justice,tribalism and regionalism,but leave out the strings of unity that will tie the fabric of Sierra Leonean society for peace and prosperity for all.
Remember;UNITY,FREEDOM AND JUSTICE.Lontha!
Clearly, the SLPP and the APC have records that both parties ought to be ashamed of,or even run away from.What we need is the creation of a strong civil society in the country to help shape the thinking of our leaders and our fellow countrymen and women.

Subject: Re: HOW TO BURY SLPP IN THE SOUTHEAST AND ENJOY THE SHOW!
From: Bai Bureh
To: All
Date Posted: 09:46:05 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: rastafari_ish@hotmail.com
Entered From: c83-248-94-198.bredband.comhem.se at 83.248.94.198

Message:
Orkama you are also a product of temne settlers in the east just like me.Maybe the only difference will be on the maternal side.I was born in Kenema town by my temne parents while your mum I believe is mende,
By the way has any mende been chased away from the north? Never! The problem with mendes is they are not open to outsiders like temnes-simply put they don't want to mix.They prefer everything mende and that makes them very unpopular!This mende behaviour is casting a darker shadow on the SLPP whereas on the other hand the temnes who have managed to penetrate and befriend other tribes with wisdom are an asset to the APC.It is about time the mendes do some introspection by taking a hard look in the mirror and make a big necessary change for their party's survival.

Subject: Re: HOW TO BURY SLPP IN THE SOUTHEAST AND ENJOY THE SHOW!
From: ITK
To: All
Date Posted: 15:31:23 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 38.98.119.16

Message:
Bai Bureh:

You've got to be kidding. Mendes not open to outsiders? I guess you haven't been to Pujehun, among other districts in the Southeast. I could list a page full of names from other ethnic groups that settled in and are thriving in Pujehun. Want to talk about intermarriages, political giants from other regions (Idrissa Yilla; A.B Kamara ring a bell)that settled and prospered in the Southeast?

Nothing against the North, but it just ain't possible there. I can tell you this from personal and family experience.

Your other points are too divisive to even address. You make Hillary and Barack look like innocent little choristers.

Subject: Re: HOW TO BURY SLPP IN THE SOUTHEAST AND ENJOY THE SHOW!
From: Kamara
To: All
Date Posted: 10:25:13 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-dtc-ag14.proxy.aol.com at 205.188.117.142

Message:
bai bureh;

I agree with you that Temnes were an asset to APC in the elections.If it were not for Temne votes , APC will lose. The Temnes have not been consitent voters of any parties. They have swung to APC , SLPP, UDP and PDP. The party that has the overwhelming Temne votes usually wins.

I do not have as much experience as you have had with the Mende as I grew up in Freetown. But my expereinces in Bo , Kenema, and Pujehun showed them to be tolerant to outsiders. They may be clannish and think highly of their culture. My mother is Vai-Fullah , her familly came from Labeh, Guinea and settlled in Pujehun. Some of Fullah relatives became cheif in pujehun. I d o not think you can be anymore tolerant to outsiders.

The issue is commpetition for power . Temnes and Mendes are most populous tribes. These hatred is created and manipulated by politicians. Look at the Kikuyu and Luo in Kenya. Look what the fight for political power has created. Luckily we are blessed in Sierra Leone . Our election did not evolve in to bloodshed. Berewa, a Mendeman could have influenced his people to create mayhem but he chose not to.

Look my father from the North was a founding member of SLPP .most of the members came from the North. I am SLPP because they have been the most tolerant and democratic over the past. I would not join a tribalistic party. I am a Sierra Leonean first regardless of tribal background. You are more mende than I am.

From experience , I do not see to many Mende chiefs in Portt loko, Bombali, tonkoliili and Kambia. You may know diffrent.

Subject: Re: HOW TO BURY SLPP IN THE SOUTHEAST AND ENJOY THE SHOW!
From: Bai Bureh
To: All
Date Posted: 12:55:56 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: rastafari_ish@hotmail.com
Entered From: c83-248-94-198.bredband.comhem.se at 83.248.94.198

Message:
The reason why the temnes went SLPP,UDP and PDP was lack of leadership in the APC at that time.They were tired of the same old Ekutay big crooks who tried hard under the philandering palm-wine addict known as Momoh to limbalize Salone but failed miserably and screwed up the presidency.In 1996 the same old crooks tried to rally the temnes' support but in vain.Even in the PDP, Thaimu's madingo background became a sticking point for full temne support.With a temne father and limba mum,only EBK has managed to some extent to be the leader temnes were looking for in the APC.But the temnes are still looking for that non-hybrid or non-remix(100 percent)like Kandeh Bureh or me to lead the APC.

As I said the mendes don't want to mix and so don't usually spread out to other provinces.This has diminished the chances for the election of more mende chiefs in the north-west.

Berewa and Kabba were smart to smell the coffee for change in Salone and so relented.Also the chances for another Wuteteh were paper-thin after the secret has been uncovered.

Subject: Re: HOW TO BURY SLPP IN THE SOUTHEAST AND ENJOY THE SHOW!
From: ITK
To: All
Date Posted: 15:41:29 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 38.98.119.16

Message:
Now I'm really confused: According to Bai Bureh--

"As I said the mendes don't want to mix and so don't usually spread out to other provinces".

"But the temnes are still looking for that non-hybrid or non-remix(100 percent)like Kandeh Bureh or me to lead the APC".

Let me see if I can digest this: Mendes are bad because they only want to mix with Mendes, but Temnes arre good because not only do they want a Temne to lead the party they support, they want a non-mixed (or pure Temne) only to do so.

Oh, I get it now. Silly me, how could such impeccable logic escape me. Must be that huge bet I have wagered on the Giants to pull off the mother of all upsets that has my brain all knackered.

cheers Mate

Subject: Re: HOW TO BURY SLPP IN THE SOUTHEAST AND ENJOY THE SHOW!
From: DeLaw
To: All
Date Posted: 20:23:44 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: contehlawrence@yahoo.com
Entered From: cpe-75-185-99-153.insight.res.rr.com at 75.185.99.153

Message:
WE NEED A HUNDRED PERCENT SIERRA LEONEAN TO LEAD THE APC OR ANY PARTY IN SIERRA LEONE,PERIOD.

Subject: Re: HOW TO BURY SLPP IN THE SOUTHEAST AND ENJOY THE SHOW!
From: kamara
To: All
Date Posted: 14:11:40 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: pool-71-187-207-114.nwrknj.fios.verizon.net at 71.187.207.114

Message:
Now you have spoken, You want to lead the Temnes to win the elections. Do you think the Temnes want a leader who grew up in Kenema. You are a meni. You would be the ideal leader for SLPp. A temne man who grew up kenema.Remember Kande bureh was in SLPP as was ALIkali Modu, Bai farma Tass & Yillas, Yumkella.

You have not explained to me, why if Mendes who do not like outsiders have so many outsiders as chiefs and intermarriage and outsiders with wealth amongst them. I do not see this much in Temne land. All i see is a lot of Temne mulatto Lebanese. The outsiders never disclose their true ethnic group out of fear. For example, most people saw SI Koroma as an ardent Temne until he dislosed that he was a mandingo after he fell out of power.

Subject: WAY DEN NOR WANT YOU
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 21:23:10 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4577b27b.dyn.optonline.net at 69.119.178.123

Message:
For the amorous ones amongst us, I am sure you have heard some of these lines before. Now here is the spin from the folks at Jokes.com:

TOP 10 FEMALE REJECTION LINES!

10. I think of you as a brother. Translation: You remind me of that inbred banjo-playing geek in 'Deliverance.'
9. There's a slight difference in our ages. Translation: I don't want to do my dad.

8. I'm not attracted to you in 'that' way. Translation: You are the ugliest dork I've ever laid eyes on.

7. My life is too complicated right now. Translation: I don't want you spending the whole night or else you may hear phone calls from all the other guys I'm seeing.

6. I've got a boyfriend. Translation: I prefer my male cat and a half gallon of Ben and Jerry's.

5. I don't date men where I work. Translation: I wouldn't date you if you were in the same solar system, much less the same building.

4. It's not you, it's me. Translation: It's you.

3. I'm concentrating on my career. Translation: Even something as boring and unfulfilling as my job is better than dating you.

2. I'm celibate. Translation: I've sworn off only the men like you.

1. Let's be friends. Translation: I want you to stay around so I can tell you in excruciating detail about all the other men I meet and have sex with. It's the male perspective thing.

TOP 10 MALE REJECTION LINES:

10. I think of you as a sister. Translation: You're ugly.

9. There's a slight difference in our ages. Translation: You're ugly.

8. I'm not attracted to you in 'that' way. Translation: You're ugly.

7. My life is too complicated right now. Translation: You're ugly.

6. I've got a girlfriend. Translation: You're ugly.

5. I don't date women where I work. Translation: You're ugly.

4. It's not you, it's me. Translation: You're ugly.

3. I'm concentrating on my career. Translation: You're ugly.

2. I'm celibate. Translation: You're ugly.

1. Let's be friends. Translation: You're sinfully ugly.

Subject: KABS, Moh'm, and Monikers
From: Justice Jorgor
To: All
Date Posted: 17:33:48 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: pool-71-123-158-191.dllstx.dsl-w.verizon.net at 71.123.158.191

Message:
"It is not Moh'm.I don't expect him to participate on this forum anymore Because of the stand I took when he accused Stokes..." KABS

KABS: As much as I appreciate your patience and good work here and else where, I think, you have been unfair in dealing with Moh'm Jalloh. Moh'm may have unfairly attacked Stokes and erroneous accused him of using monikers to denigrate him. However, you know very well that Moh'm and many others on this forum have had their character impugned and fallaciously accused of using monikers. You did nothing about it. Why did you take a stand against Mr. Jalloh in the case of Stokes? Were you looking for an excuse to get him? Hosts of folks on this forum have attributed postings to Mr. Jalloh that were made by other people – I have been mistaken for Moh'm Jalloh, or Moh'm Jalloh Moniker, many times.

You of all people, by virtue of your position and the fact that you are privy to relevant information, should know that most of the monikers attributed to Mr. Jalloh belong to other ‘forumites’. I hope you are not sacrificing fairness, decency, and righteousness in favor of doing what is popular (in certain circles), yet unjust and unwarranted. I am not questioning the rectitude of your motive, but if you acted surreptitiously against Moh’m for the charlatanic reasons mentioned above, then I am disappointed in your attitude. Mind you, this is coming from someone who admired and respected you.

When some forumites try to run Mr. Leigh off this forum, I defended the gentleman. KABS, I think you need to get in touch with Mr. Jalloh and apologize for maltreating him. Mr. Jalloh was unfairly attacked, defame, and falsely accused (I bare witness to that because my posts were attributed to him). What you did, KABS, is punish the victim for fighting back. In fact, some compatriots were so rude that I almost stopped visiting this board. After all, it is within Mr. Jalloh’s right to propagate his ideas, regardless of what anyone thinks about them. I trust you would do the right thing. Tenke sir.

Subject: Bravo EBK
From: Basco
To: All
Date Posted: 15:29:42 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: 82-44-17-83.cable.ubr04.croy.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.44.17.83

Message:
EBk has done us proud in his Hard Talk with Zinab Badawi. EBK has shown that he is the new breed of African presidents that can come about when elections and democracy are given a chance. Atticulate and sure!
A marked contrast to TK's vexed interview years back.

Subject: Re: Bravo EBK
From: Kamara
To: All
Date Posted: 08:47:42 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-dtc-ag14.proxy.aol.com at 205.188.117.142

Message:
Basco. I do not doubt you but We have to have concrete results in a year. Sierra Leoneans are impatient. Even Kabba promised us about a bridge to Lungi, What happened ? Nata.

EBK should leave the promises and deliver.

Subject: Re: Bravo EBK
From: Basco
To: All
Date Posted: 09:12:47 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: 82-44-17-83.cable.ubr04.croy.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.44.17.83

Message:
K, I have no doubt that EBK will perform. The reason? He has no choice!!! When Kabba left salone had no light in its main city, no decent running water, le 5800 to the pound, the worst roads in my life time and oga's building mansions left,right and center!
To improve on this should not be a problem. The same with Momoh's tenure. The NPRC only had to slap NPA bosses into shape to give us half decent electricity.
My bone of contension with the SLPP was the they did nothing with the millions thrown at the country. Yet go and see John Karimu house!! Berewa and John Ben's. Kanje's and other lackeys. Di man dem nor try.
The biggest blame goes to Kabba who as team manage let his player run Salone ragged!
EBK has to perform. Just wait and see!

Subject: Re: Bravo EBK
From: Kamara
To: All
Date Posted: 09:53:31 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-dtc-ag14.proxy.aol.com at 205.188.117.142

Message:
Basco;
Kaba has gone, he was only a personnel diretor at the United Nations with very little or any experience in economic management. But our people heard he worked in the U.N. , thus he was treated as a god and Saviour.
He eventually did not deliver because he did not have the experience.
EBK has been touted as a business guru. The issue is, has he had the experience of turning around companies in in distress. I f he has great. We do not want to be fooled again.

On the electricity , I think the Govt rushed. No sane person can expect EBK to provide uninterupted electicity to Sierra Leone in 90 days when all the govts failed the nation. The govt has to look at a long term plan. The causes for the electricity problems are multiple including corruption an non payment of bills. A poorly run and bankrupt NEC cannot provide the consumers service. the $32, million could have been better used. This is not an Anti APC criticism. I do business in Sierra Leone, constant electricity will benefit us by reducing the cost of business.

i dicussed the Sierra Leone issues companies in Linden New jersey that have set up plants indeveloping countries. One of them is on the I95 exit 11- 13. They
insist our Govt took the wrong approach on the 15MGW.

Anyway this is my opinion. We have hope as there is a lot of money to be made in Sierra Leone. The country is open. I am going to go in a few months.

Subject: Re: Bravo EBK
From: Basco
To: All
Date Posted: 10:27:24 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: 82-44-17-83.cable.ubr04.croy.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.44.17.83

Message:
It seems that the Chinese are comming! With a mix of thermal and mini hydros for up country there will be progress. As EBK himself says the education will be the key. That dog ex min of education has finished what was a half way decent education system. This is what disgusts me. The minister was young, educated, had his own Laboratory and was making money. Yet in tens years in the job (wHats his name)did not perform apart fromcashing in on contract. What is wrong with us.
Ditto Bright at Min of Sports. Young man could not perform in the least!! Ditto Prince Harding. We cannot now blame the old folks because the young ones are equally useless.
The NPRC boys were the same as 'vono beydes' and 'V-boots' seemed to have them take their eyees of the ball.

The one good thing in all this is that the electorate will not stand for nonsense any longer. They will pressure the APC to get the jobs done.

Subject: Re: Bravo EBK
From: kamara
To: All
Date Posted: 11:20:53 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: pool-71-187-207-114.nwrknj.fios.verizon.net at 71.187.207.114

Message:
You are right the people will not take any nonesense. The people have changed. I was there in July, thats when I sensed SLPP was in trouble. They are not afraid to speak their mind. Unfortunately, the youths have been destroyed with all the vices. I was saddened with all the drugs and prostitution in Lumley village. EBK really has a lot of work to do. Unfortunately , our people will not apprecaite as they prefer the old handouts of Siaki.Those of you in diaspora shouild form partnership and corporations to do business in Sierra Leone. The Govt cannot do it alone , they can only create and environment condusive to business,

Take Care and enjoy your weekend

Subject: Re: Bravo EBK
From: Kamara
To: All
Date Posted: 09:50:16 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-dtc-ag14.proxy.aol.com at 205.188.117.142

Message:
Basco;
Kaba has gone, he was only a personnel diretor at the United Nations with very little or any experience in economic management. But our people heard he worked in the U.N. , thus he was treated as a god and Saviour.
He eventually did not deliver because he did not have the experience.
EBK has been touted as a business guru. The issue is, has he had the experience of turning around companies in in distress. I f he has great. We do not want to be fooled again.

On the electricity , I think the Govt rushed. No sane person can expect EBK to provide uninterupted electicity to Sierra Leone in 90 days when all the govts failed the nation. The govt has to look at a long term plan. The causes for the electricity problems are multiple including corruption an non payment of bills. A poorly run and bankrupt NEC cannot provide the consumers service. the $32, million could have been better used. This is not an Anti APC criticism. I do business in Sierra Leone, constant electricity will benefit us by reducing the cost of business.

i dicussed the Sierra Leone issues companies in Linden New jersey that have set up plants indeveloping countries. One of them is on the I95 exit 11- 13. They
insist our Govt took the wrong approach on the 15MGW.

Anyway this is my opinion. We have hope as there is a lot of money to be made in Sierra Leone. The country is open. I am going to go in a few months.

Subject: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 13:22:25 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Umpire, I cannot honor your invitation to the street brawl tonight. I will have to rethink whether using my muscles on you is a worthy venture. I prefer to meet you on a mental platform wherein we will use our mental skills.

I hate to see one cry after a thorough beating from me. I have not in my life raise a hand on someone but believe me my muscles and grip are formidable. Do not mess with my muscles - they are bone crushers.

I'll await you response to my alternate counter-invitation

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 13:53:26 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: x4207254e.ip.e-nt.net at 66.7.37.78

Message:
Look, it is manifestly evident, based on an objective review of the correspondence between us, that you are an incompetent mental opponent. Your honor is on the line, or have you none? You have consistently shown in this forum that you are irrational. For example, even after the Right Reverend asserted that I am not Moh'm Jalloh, you continue to spin your broken record. See the posting by "John." Accordingly, since I will only reply to rational postings, I would rather settle the score with you in the street, if you get my drift. Once you boasted of your mental prowess; it is was proved to worthless; now you wonder whether you should use your muscles in an interaction in which I have challenged your manhood, your honor. Chicken: you have viciously and understandingly exploited the identity protection of this fair forum to hurl vulgar invectives at "Moh'm Jalloh." Now, since I know that you have no mental backbone, I now want to see if you have any MUSCLE BACKBONE. Are you a man or not? If you are a man, show up, chicken. Now, accept the invitation or cover your head with the cloth of shame.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 15:50:47 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
I concede for peace's sakes - I need not use a muscle on you, john and your other crew. I would love to settle the mental fight with you lot (your crew). Nonviolence is the creed I was brought up to believe. i can see it is not part of you. If you insist, I will have to send my boys to represent me. If you can take them on - then you will meet me. My nonviolent nature coupled with my current status, makes me too mature to take part in a street brawl. My boys will be there - we leave it for tomorrow 6pm - same locat1on.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 16:24:56 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: x4207254e.ip.e-nt.net at 66.7.37.78

Message:
Ecce Homo: a square aping "hip-hop" 'culture'. Square, it is tonight. And it ain't go'n be with your boys; no, you. By the way, you vain admirer of ghetto 'fanbul' lingo, the expression is not "my boys," but "my people." Even in Freetown, you'd be a 'munku'; and now, you want to be 'fanbul,' a dumb one, to boot. Can you dig it? Then, put a stroke in your stride: be at Ozie's.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 16:38:15 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Not me man. I can only send my boys. I am no man of "hip-hop" culture. i am a more refined nature with an impeccable character - very discipline - never hurt a fly. You want beating? i can only give that to you through my boys. wait till to morrow do not be in haste. At least you have another night to sleep in the comfort of your home. Tomorrow will be the hospital, i will make sure they leave you with 'government life'. Understand that the fight is going to be a 'raw fight' and no rules.

Do you have a fighting insurance to help put you back in a proper state? The facial disfigurement will look too grave; I'll advise you take out a fighting policy now. Contact your local 'Street Brawl' Licensing office for such a policy.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Fair judge
To: All
Date Posted: 16:49:59 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: adsl-19-98-188.asm.bellsouth.net at 68.19.98.188

Message:
Mahatma,
"i am a more refined nature with an impeccable character - very discipline".

Is this the guy that has been accusing an innocent man of something he has no evidence of...what a shame to be a man of your type.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 08:41:33 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
My type, lovl!! I hold fervent that you are the lot - moh'm, umpire, john, fair judge and so many other handles. Your writing is distinctive - too much of incomprehensible nonsense - boto bata - that the clarity is inconspicuous.

My boys will meet you this evening at the scheduled rendez-vous. I am looking forward to viewing the recording; to see your wailing and painful grinning. You have stepped on a real jaguda. No mercy. peace is my middle name but sometimes the likes of you need taming for humility sakes.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 10:49:47 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
You can't write; you can't fight. I wonder whether you can ..... Are you a man? No man whose honor is on the line would feign sending proxies to vindicate the same. Pathetic Sierra Leonean. Ladies and gentlemen, here is a Sierra Leonean writer: "Your writing is distinctive - too much incomprehensible nonsense --boto bata- that the clarity is inconspicuous." Who gave this bloke a ticket out of grade school, sorry, primary school. "Incomprehensible" is the same word as "nonsense"; and only God can make sense of the statement that a text that is clear is "inconspicuous."
This worm of humanity needs an abode: book crase yard.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 11:08:41 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
I pray you truly understand the english you claim to masterly control. have you ever visited a cretive writing school or lesson? You will find such usages. Umpire, be ready today - my boys will be there for you. Nonsense kabai!!

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 20:42:49 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Please refer to your shameless surrender. Mastery of English, I never claimed. Your illiteracy, I can demonstrate: You write: "have (sic) you ever visited a cretive (sic) writing school or lesson? Even a monkey can write better, don't you think, scumbag?

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 17:14:43 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: x4207254e.ip.e-nt.net at 66.7.37.78

Message:
My brother, I share your consternation. The bloke is beyond any and all intellectual cure. Hence, my heuristic: beat the living lights out of him. As you can see, he has failed to honor my invitation on two grounds: first, he moved to goal post; second, I never said I wanted to deal with his "boys." I munku, such as he is, has no "crew." Why ape the language of the ghetto? But this spineless thug is beyond repair. Retire in peace, my brother.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 08:46:49 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
I would not be ashamed to be call a 'munku' as a 'munku' hardly gets run down by a moving vehicle.

Tonight will see you in a hospital; sure hope you have a street brawl insurance to cover you for medical expenses after the damage my guys will inflict on you. You do not mess with peace - peace is the cure for you. After tonight - you will come back to this forum a new forumite with a disciplined character to be instilled in you - whooping you is the only medicinal cure.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 10:33:27 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Fellows, do you think this bloke belongs even in the kingdom of sub-humanity? No, seriously: I waited for the bloke at Ozie's last night. No show. Now, I will make it easier for you chicken: I'll meet you in your home turf. Let me know the closest intersection to your residence, and I, and I alone will be there. You choose the time. I am 6-2; in this context, I shall desist from describing by body type. Moreover, bring your whole 'fambul,' not just your homies. As I mentioned in an earlier posting, I refuse to engage in an intellectual exchange with you: plainly, as is evidenced by all your postings, you simply, absolutely cannot write, much less think rationally. Your problem is not ignorance, which can be cured, but stupidity, which can't. Accordingly, you won't hear a word from me about your cognitive endowment. Your postings speak louder than any derogative determination thereof I can muster.

Accordingly, this matter is closed; I respect this forum, and with my invitation, thanks to the understanding and patience of the Moderator, I can no longer discuss the issue of a physical auseinandersetzung with you. Just follow my directives: no more talking, better chirping. Morever, you remind me of the asses in Freetown: they can't lift 50 pounds, yet they urge violence; closer to home, take a good look at the Straussian neo-con warmongers in the States. Like you, they are cowards; they are pure spagetti. How do I know? I was in graduate school with some of them. The only way to deal with an intellectual obscurantist like you is to beat the **** out of your ossified 'brain.' Obviously, the stated objective is inconsistent with an encounter with your "boys." Accordingly, PRESENT YOURSELF IN THE FLESH, FOF FOF.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 11:18:50 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Very sad indeed! How did you get through graduate school? Which graduate school did you attend? I guess it is the type that focuses on your ability to lift or plagiarise turning a blind eye to preparing you for the future. With your nature and manners - you will always be unemployable. I can see from the way you write that you are lost in false-consciousness believing that you are an Ace student - self delusion, my dear!!

I did not spend time in a university but got proper home tuition - life's sciences major.

Do not forget tonight's rendez-vous. I will not be there but will be able to show others a recording of the lashing you will receive. Please confirm that you will attend!!

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 11:35:29 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
This puny satan is sumun bukum humyun: reread my last posting, please: tell me where you reside, and indicate a time. What am I doing corresponding with someone without a professional degree? Incidentally, there is no such phenomenon as "life's sciences". If you cannot properly identify your major, "life sciences," then your "proper home tuition" (you meant "schooling", didn't you, munku?) must have been the school of the ship of fools. Finally, since you have decided that you will not be at your residence, the whole world now knows that you are a piece of human crap. Confirm that you will conform with the requirements posited in my last posting, sucker!

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 11:52:54 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
You have given me a good laugh - i bow to leave you alone! Understand that this is a forum and people from all parts of the world do join in to contribute by whatever means - to gain knowledge/information, to tame the likes of you to be a little modest as you do not know what you talk about.

I am over 8000 miles away from your rendez-vous! Thus not able to physically frappe you. I have had some real fun with you. Wake up to reality. Just try to be simple and you wll be exalted. moh'm, you can be a great man if you only tame yourself to be a little humble to what you know. It has been nice engaging you again, this time, you as 'umpire' and I as 'Mahatma'.

Do not take negative comments on your part as recriminations - they come to tell you that you can be greater than what you profess. learn to keep your cool! avoid obscenities in the face of tough opposing forces - cool-calm can do the trick and the opposing party will learn to understand and not continue the frustraton they see you exhibit. Just, the voice of reason - peace to you moh'm. Your style of writng is unique - your arguments, words, sentences and reason all fall into the old and people can easily recognise you despite your switch from one network pc to another.

keep cool and you will enjoy life. I have had a wonderful time with you and my wife enjoyed it also. She was afraid that you know and will find me to beat me up. Thank God I am far away - you cannot touch me. stay blessed and pray for wisdom and enlightenment.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 12:24:39 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
The moderator has refuted your position. See his posting. That you insist on bucking his authority, shows, amomg other things, your disrespect for authority, you spineless intellectual worm. You stated that you have a wife. A wife? Being a punk, I am sure your "wife" is not a woman, you sissy. You fool yourself by asserting that you had fun. On the contrary, as John and BLIND, astutely noted, you suffered an unexpected verbal lashing, dombolo. Your fixation on Mo'm Jalloh can only be cured by God. But since you are a pagan, you are hopeless: a basket case. Get in the river, untouchable!

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 12:39:20 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
I am now offering an olive branch to make amends for the hurt, I believe, you've caused yourself through your failure to understand a writing plot. I home-studied creative writing and can read from any angle to understand plots from any angle.

I want no more insults!! I am a married man of 15yrs and have grown-up children. My wife and children would not want to see you continually insulting me. Desist or else, I will register a formal complaint against you.

John, BLIND, Umpire, Moh'm are one and the same. What I have noticed is that you sometimes logged on using a wireless network connection of another thereby concealing your very identity. In others, I have seen that you use a public internet outfit!

Moh'm, use your 6th sense and you will survive without too much rantings.

The River Ganges is my place of purification. I am no untouchable but have tremendous respect for them. They are a minority that through time, have suffered. Their sufferings is akin to your race!!

Today, they enjoy freedom and are now protected by the international community. In the government now recognise that they are humans and equal to other castes.

Moh'm, please use your God-given intelligence for the benefit of your country not against it. I can help you!! This depends on you wanting me to help you!

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 12:54:45 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Indian, scumbag, untouchable: please refer to the Moderator's finding on the identity issue. Indian, scumbag, untouchable, pagan, intellectual dwarf, spagetti backbone, liar, sissy: please refer to the Moderator's finding on the identity issue. Mad is he who fails to acknowledge reality; Indian, scumbag, untouchable: please refer to the Moderator's finding on your fixation pathology. If you have a wife, she should divorce you on the ground of exposing her family to public ridicule; and your children? May God spare them your ignorance, stupidity and dearth of manhood. Hit the books, jackass! Hit the river, Kafir!

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 15:10:19 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Oh Umpire, Moh'm, John, BLIND, fair judge; what seems to be your problem. I am offering an olive branch to you in the name of peace.

I hold fervent that you are Moh'm. The Moderator, from evidence available to him/her, gave his/her findings. I believe otherwise from my sources.

My wife will not divorce me as she loves me too much. A cyber altercation with you cannot prompt such a move. She said to tell you - a divorce is something she cannot afford and that you should pray that such thoughts don't cross your mind again.

Moh'm, your fear is that a guy who studied at home is able to teach you in the so versed disciplines you purport to know. My Hindu home-tutor once mused about how unrealistic expectations of perfection can turn a good manager into a failure. I'll admit that you are good and this unrealistic expectation from all has made you not to see beyond scope of human understanding. In 'Pali', the canonical text of 'Theravada buddhism, it is stated that once knowledge is limited to once understanding of his social and political structures supportive of the practice of Dhamma-vinaya (or Dhamma for short.

To preserve these teachings for posterity, the Buddha established the order of bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunis (nuns) — the Sangha — which continues to this day to pass his teachings on to subsequent generations of laypeople and monastics, alike.

Spend sometime with your innerself to understand everything around you.

How do you spend time with yourself?

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 16:44:17 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Put up or shut up: CERTIFY TO THE WORLD THAT YOU EARNED a BA from a reputable University. The moderator can mediate this transaction. He knows my e-mail, and he knows yours. I certify herein that I hold a Ph.D in philosophy,a JD from Georgetown Law School, and that I have licenses to practice law in the District of Columbia, New York, Pennsylvania and California. To the best of my knowledge, Mr. Jalloh has a BA from FBC and two masters in economics and accounting from Washington State University. Should the moderator refrain from inhibiting your defamatory conduct against Mr. Jalloh, I shall personally advice Mr. Jalloh that he has a cause of action against this website and you. Mr. Jalloh can discover, in the legal sense, in the mentioned cause of action, your real identity. That matter is between you, this entity and Mr. Jalloh. Beyond that, the whole world now knows that you are a pathological buffoon. Again, it is the duty of the moderator, to protect the juridical interests of his website, to PUBLICLY REFUTE YOUR ASSERTION THAT " Umpire,Moh'm, John, and fair judge" are proxy names of Mr. Moh'm Jalloh. Indeed, your posting asserts that even though the moderator has passed on the identity issue, you recklessly maintain the contrary. Accordingly, you accuse the moderator of dishonesty. You accuse a man of the cloth of dishonesty? As a Kafir, Idol worshipper, no surprises here.

Show your intellectual roots, mad man, and Kafir to boot. Soon, you will be calling the moderator "Moh'm Jalloh." Odious worm!

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 17:28:18 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
I cannot believe you hold a Ph.D in Philosophy - all the same Ph.Ds are too easy to come by these days, especially when you have a good story to write about.

Have you read my response to 'Bar dis nar trouble'? Guess not!! I conceded and accepted that you are not moh'm. I did not taint the name of moh'm or yours. My bone with you was your refusal to accept that i was not able to understand you and that you should come down to my level - a home-tutored individual.

Who is your most admirable philosopher of old? During my life's sciences, i was able to grasp some philosophy.

I do no have a BA but something out of the ordinary - during my tuition at home. What i have is equivalent to 4 Ph.Ds. remember, i am a life's sciences home-tutored student. I will try to find supervisors for my four Ph.D proposals so that I can earn 4 times what you have now.

On a more serious note, ever come across François-Marie Arouet, better known by the pen name Voltaire. That is my philosopher during the Enlightment age.

I came to embrace Therevada Buddhism in Harnham before I move to Staithes. Buddha's enlightenment has made me to see the world and enjoy its beauty. I have enjoyed your beauty - the good writing, the bad words - mammy cuss and so on and so forth. All to me is the beauty of that which you do not know and cannot appreciate. As a philosopher you will understand the drift.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 19:25:11 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
You lose, sucker! I do not correspond with pompous idiots. You cannot understand me, period. A European 'philosopher' who derided the humanity of Africans is "your philosopher"? Proof of your Indian, foreign pedigree. But, deal with the problematic of your wayward wife, sucker: you have nothing to offer to this forum in the realm of ideas. We Africans, we who do not need European 'philosophers', do not need Hinduism either. Defend the purity of your wife, sucker. Name the ocean of her paramours! Do it, and do it now, Kafir. Name the paramours, before I do it for you. No more ideas from you: only the facts of demanded, ma'am.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Bar dis nar trouble oh!
To: All
Date Posted: 15:32:58 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: adsl-158-255-244.asm.bellsouth.net at 68.158.255.244

Message:
"I hold fervent that you are Moh'm. The Moderator, from evidence available to him/her, gave his/her findings. I believe otherwise from my sources".

ar see yu look lek somebodi way CRASE...how many times yu stupid head nor go get this say Umpire nor to Mohm, so blow...nar dis kin make people sue you en geh all yu lilly pounds sterlings way yu don save all these yrs nar UK. Me nar Salone boy, way don study yu say yu nar real big man big fool, so tell yu wef dat...from one salone boy to one big man big fool. blow we tire wit yu troble.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Bar dis nar trouble oh!
To: All
Date Posted: 16:24:20 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: adsl-158-255-244.asm.bellsouth.net at 68.158.255.244

Message:
Yu know waytin ar sense, ar know say yu 6th sense dae tell yu dae truth but yu still nor wan for listen to am jes becos yu nor wan apologise to dae man called Umpire. Harkeh nor good. Way big man wrong all yu have to do, nar for say sorry en move on. Apologise en leave people name alone. Lontah

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 16:43:26 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Nar you new name dis? Leh a nor morna you too muss. You sae nor to you - a concede and beg pardon. trouble finish?

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 17:23:48 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
This bloke is really nuts: Moh'm Jalloh must have have had his wife. There is no other explanation for his pathological fixation. Did your wife do it with Moh'm Jalloh, Kafir? If so, blame your wife; we need this forum for intellectual discourse. It is certainly not a locus for a man who has a loose wife. Everybody knows, and don't think for a minute that I don't know your real identity, how loose your 'wife' is. If a dog waves a few dollars or pounds, she will give it up. Your wife has gotten you mad. Indian, I suppose your Hindu teacher knows nothing about women. And your 'children'? I suppose their real fathers know better. Poor kids!

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 17:35:25 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
who should be banned? The erratic philosopher who cannot stomach mere jests or the jester who see fun in making an intellectual giant mad to the extent the obscenities overtakes his sense of maturity and composure.

Who gave you a Ph.D? I will have to check you graduate school and ask them to revoke your conferment. It is not what a man eats that defines the man but what comes out of the mans mouth - as mused by another great philosopher - The son of the living God, Jesus Christ.

Sorry to say this, i may be a Big baby Big Fool but you are very rude for a Big man.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 20:26:42 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
DOA. I shall not discuss intellectual matters with a munku. What is it about that you don't understand? No intellectual discussion with a bloke, period, since you cannot write. To the gutter, therefor, we go: Let readers decide the intellectual fecundity of your postings. I have concluded that you are barely literate. Discussion closed. Address your 'wife's' infidelity; address the status of your 'kids'; rudeness, you charged? The pot calling the kettle black, says I. Address your 'wife's' infidelity. You are wasting your time essaying to draw me into an intellectual discussion or a discussion about professional status. Address your 'wife's' profession; defend your honor on the rebound. Defend the honor of your wife, since you have admitted that you cannot defend your honor. Remember, bonehead, how you lied about your shuffle in connection with my Ozie's invitation. Chicken: you were at the movies; did you know where your 'wife' was, while you were at the movies? Your wife knows, and you can bet that last dollar in your thin wallet that she was busy doing her rounds. Her take will fetch your breakfast tomorrow. Pimp.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 20:26:39 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
DOA. I shall not discuss intellectual matters with a munku. What is it about that you don't understand? No intellectual discussion with a bloke, period, since you cannot write. To the gutter, therefor, we go: Let readers decide the intellectual fecundity of your postings. I have concluded that you are barely literate. Discussion closed. Address your 'wife's' infidelity; address the status of your 'kids'; rudeness, you charged? The pot calling the kettle black, says I. Address your 'wife's' infidelity. You are wasting your time essaying to draw me into an intellectual discussion or a discussion about professional status. Address your 'wife's' profession; defend your honor on the rebound. Defend the honor of your wife, since you have admitted that you cannot defend your honor. Remember, bonehead, how you lied about your shuffle in connection with my Ozie's invitation. Chicken: you were at the movies; did you know where your 'wife' was, while you were at the movies? Your wife knows, and you can bet that last dollar in your thin wallet that she was busy doing her rounds. Her take will fetch your breakfast tomorrow. Pimp.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 16:12:40 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
umpire, John, BLIND, Moh'm don begin write lek we - nar u dis back - dis new handle too long oh!! Me not to Big Man Big Fool - e nar Big Baby Big Fool. You really want me for believe say Umpire not to Moh'm? Nah! Nah! Nada! Nia Nada!

Me wef lek me so - nar pan we fool we find wee happiness - the Sangha!!

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 17:33:09 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Stupid! Do you know how many other men your wife likes? If only you knew! And your 'kids'! Lads most unfortunate!

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Wife of Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 17:40:14 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
calm down, my man is only messing with your brilliant brain. Do not allow him to rust the grey areas. he loves to play and laugh. you have made his day since he locked horns with you. Laughter is his cure.

Please do not insult me - i do not have no other man except him. i love him to bits. he is a wonderful and the satisfaction I get is indescribable.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 18:00:30 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
You mean one of your many men, don't you, raray? The truth cannot inflict an insult. Assert your purity, and I shall name every paramour you've had. You want to join in the fray, Madam, if you feel me? What kind of satisfaction do you get from your lambrythine affairs? May God have mercy on your kids; yes, they are yours, but only you know the fathers, and "Mahatma" is not an element of that set, and you know it.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Wife of Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 18:09:09 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
All the children look like him - proper carbon copy!! i do not want to get mixed up in this. I wany you to understand that he spends his time having fun all day on this forum and another website pulling people's legs. Please do not mind him. he has gone to watch films. he is my Big baby!! I beg for mercy no more truth that carry insulting undertones.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 19:39:02 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
If all YOUR KIDS are "proper carbon copy," then I have something to sell: the Brooklyn Bridge. You know the truth: confess to your raray ways, hitherto hidden; but now, thanks to your 'husband', an open book. Are you going to open the book or not? Or, do you prefer I do so. Don't expect any mercy from you: I intend to draw blood. Yours. Your 'husband's'. Meanwhile, don't forget your dates, while your 'husband' is at the movies. They are waiting; proof that your 'husband' is a bloke.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 19:46:18 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Erratum: "Don't expect any mercy from me...."

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 21:38:52 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Madam, what's taking you so long to post. Too many dates? Maybe, I should call Social Sevices to check on your kids. Don't forget the list of paramours! That issue, nay, the issue is still wide open.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: BLIND
To: All
Date Posted: 13:47:22 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: adsl-19-98-188.asm.bellsouth.net at 68.19.98.188

Message:
Chicken fowl'Mahatma

Umpire already destroyed you days ago with his language and all you had to say was that he/she was Moh'm. BIG MAN BIG FOOL...go wear your pampers pull- ups.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 15:59:29 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
You are a real Blind supporter of Moh'm. I still believe the writer 'Umpire' has a style of writing strikingly similar to that of moh'm and that is the evidence - One pattern is noticeable in moh'm's style.

I am a BIG BABY BIG FOOL AND NOT A BIG MAN BIG FOOL. Only in italy you see big men wearing pampers or maybe soon umpire will be putting on some.

Will be sending my babybmates tomorrow to meet you guys. A warning: DO NOT OPEN YOUR MOUTH when you see the tallest baby.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 16:13:48 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: x4207254e.ip.e-nt.net at 66.7.37.78

Message:
Sierra Leone signature: talk, talk, talk. Are you going to show up or not? It's now 5:03 p.m. If you don't aver that you will show up with a name tag "Mahatma" at Ozie's, then the whole world---the internet is worldwide---would know that you are a petty, boneheaded coward toute court. Forget words: enter the ring of manhood! When what you characterize as a "brawl" goes down, you would pine for the security of the womb. You have twenty minutes or so to show that you are a MAN, not a concatenation of strings of spagetti. Come on now, and show your "formidable" muscles in the modus of the East End of Freetown.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 17:03:40 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: x4207254e.ip.e-nt.net at 66.7.37.78

Message:
it is 5:45. "Mahatma" has failed to respond. A shivering coward, just as I supposed. Probably, shaking in his rat hole, I suppose. If you can't fight with words (that is no presumption, but an apodictic fact) or with fists, just creep into your rat hole: don't 'engage' your superiors in brains and muscle. Ask your God to eviscerate the vice of pride that has landed you in this yagba; pray for "wisdom and understanding," and, above all thank your God for the gift of life, albeit one devoid of intellectual and manly depth; refrain from making accusations you cannot ground; be courteous in in your speech and deeds; above all, ask your God to free you from your fixation on Moh'm Jalloh, a mere human being. Fixate on God; then all earthly goods shall be at your disposal; fixate on recognizing intellectual superiors; then you will become like them over time; fixate on your mortality, whose origin you know not, and whose destiny you know not; fixate on anything, but another human being, a sucker, absent God's graceful guidance, of Satan. Above all, be humble.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 16:26:25 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
My boys cannot make it now. Tomorrow will be a better day. I will not attend the brawl but will ensure I receive a copy of the recording. You'll have only yourself to blame for insisting to muscle flexing.

Will you bring along your supporters? If so, please advise me as I would not want to send more than three to take care of you big men.

Subject: Re: UMPIRE - CANNOT HONOR YOUR INVITATION
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 14:04:42 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: x4207254e.ip.e-nt.net at 66.7.37.78

Message:
The responses of "John" and "BLIND" demonstrate that Sierra Leoneans can reason. We are not a stupid people. Years ago, "they" came to Fourah Bay College to get an education; now, we appear to be nothing. But, we shall rise again under the banner of theoretical, practical and pragmatic reason, compassion, and morality. These values cannot be protected if chickens, such as Mahatma, are permitted to drag sober, anxiety ridden discussions about problems of our homeland, a land that nurtured us, and is now in need of our firm brains and tender hands into the abyss of irrationality. Patriots, rise! We are almost out of the valley. God bless Sierra Leone!

Subject: Where is Bra Enviable?
From: Onliner
To: All
Date Posted: 12:15:37 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-mtc-ah10.proxy.aol.com at 64.12.117.202

Message:
Where is one of the most learned men and prolific writer Bra Enviable? Bra, drop us a line. Your fans miss you.

Subject: Re: Where is Bra Enviable?
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 13:04:11 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 165.155.200.145

Message:
I think the Bra is busy strategizing to take over the SLPP leadership. I think it will be a wonderful thing. Can you imagine Bra Enviable as leader of the SLPP and the green flag bearer in 2012? SLPP would be cool once more...

Two guys who would make me ever want to campaign for SLPP: Kandeh Yumkellah and Bra Enviable!
I already have a bumper sticker in mind: "Nor envy Enviable. Nar God gee am power!"

So Bra Enviable, I am doing a Robert De Nero on you: "Come out, come out, wherever you are"

Subject: Re: Where is Bra Enviable?
From: Alhaji Kabbah
To: All
Date Posted: 20:31:44 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-mtc-ah10.proxy.aol.com at 64.12.117.202

Message:
Bra Enviable is intelligent but he cannot lead the SLPP because he is a womanizer.

Subject: Re: Where is Bra Enviable?
From: nico
To: All
Date Posted: 06:30:35 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: nicoleconsult@hotmail.com
Entered From: 82-45-226-138.cable.ubr03.enfi.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.45.226.138

Message:
Intelligence is basic to leadership. It is the wisdom and ability to solve problems that is required. The ability to see ahead and fearless in making decisions that may be perceived as unpopular. If we use intelligence as the benchmark for leadership in Sierra Leone, then we are questioning the intelligence of our previous leaders on the basis that their leaderhip has brought our nation down. Is Abdulai Conteh not intelligent, What about Sir Albert, Sir Milton, Siaka Stevens, J S Mommoh, Tejan Kabba, EBK, Abass Bundu There is a need to think higher than that. Lonta

Subject: Re: Where is Bra Enviable?
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 20:41:51 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4577b27b.dyn.optonline.net at 69.119.178.123

Message:
"Bra Enviable is intelligent but he cannot lead the SLPP because he is a womanizer."

You're sure about that Prof? I don't know whether Bra Enviable has a raging libido but womanizing has actually been a badge of honor worn proudly by African leaders. Every Sierra Leonean leader (except maybe Milton Margai) has had an eye for the fairer sex.

Subject: Re: Where is Bra Enviable?
From: The other Onliner
To: All
Date Posted: 12:41:58 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: adsl-66-141-186-124.dsl.rcsntx.swbell.net at 66.141.186.124

Message:
Would it be possible to use another handle? I've been using "Onliner" for a long time and wouldn't want to change it.

Subject: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: AU
To: All
Date Posted: 11:42:39 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ac202-025.resnet.stonybrook.edu at 130.245.202.25

Message:
Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
Fri 1 Feb 2008, 17:24 GMT

[-] Text [+] (Adds deputy chairman, peace and security commissioner, Ping)

By Tsegaye Tadesse

ADDIS ABABA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Gabon's Foreign Minister Jean Ping was elected as the African Union's top diplomat on Friday, replacing Mali's Alpha Oumar Konare as the head of the AU Commission.

The 53-nation African Union aims to help promote democracy, human rights and development across Africa. It has been involved in a number of peacekeeping interventions from Burundi to Sudan. A summit in Addis Ababa is currently discussing unrest in Kenya.

"I will talk to all heads of state to pay my gratitude and also seek their guidance and advice. I also have my own ideas," Ping told Reuters after winning the vote at an AU summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

"Before I start work I'll discuss my plans with the media."

Ping, who is also Gabon's deputy prime minister, defeated candidates from Burundi, Sierra Leone and Zambia in the vote to become head of the commission. Konare, a former Malian president, had led the AU Commission since 2003.

The commission is the continental organisation's executive and administrative branch.

The position of deputy chairman of the commission went to a Kenyan, Erastus Mwencha, current secretary-general of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa economic bloc.

The role of AU peace and security commissioner was won by Ramtane Lamamra, a former Algerian ambassador to the United Nations. Lamamra replaces another Algerian, Said Djinnit.

Subject: Re: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: New Blood
To: All
Date Posted: 00:01:18 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cpe-69-203-68-190.nyc.res.rr.com at 69.203.68.190

Message:
With Ghaddafi alive and weilding so much influence in the AU, Abdulai Conteh had no Chance to win the position he wanted to gain.

Remember Lawyer Conteh still has to explain why he attempted to cash the check which was donated by Ghaddafi to assist the Republic of Sierra Leone to defray the costs of the OAU into his personal account.

It is open secret that Libyan Diplomat Abdul Rahman Jaloud tipped President Stevens of Conteh's racket after foreign minister had showed up at the Libyan Embassy in Freetown demanding that the voided Check be reissued in his own name.....ABDULAI SA LONE?

Independent observers like AU bigwigs have no choice but to conclude Abdulai Conteh is indeed a slippery customer!.....considering that neither President Stevens nor anyone in the government was privy to the Ghadaffi Donation that he attempted to convert into personal use!

I believe that the African union understand that Abdulai Conteh's intellectual capacity is very sound but his morality is indeed questionable.

leh di lawyer defend di issue of dar ghaddafi im OAU cheque!

Pa Sheki don die but ghaddafi still day!

we day wait for yerri from im en im batoliner dem!

Subject: Re: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: Dunia
To: All
Date Posted: 13:04:14 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Thank God Africa is embracing change. Jean Ping is an embodiment of change - change that Africa needs. The likes of Dr. Abdulai Conteh of Sierra Leone would have soiled the image of sierra leone and the clouds of hope Africa is looking forward to. Congratulations Jean Ping!!

Subject: Re: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: Ishmael
To: All
Date Posted: 14:45:52 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: h-66-167-151-2.mclnva23.covad.net at 66.167.151.2

Message:
The more things change in Africa, the more they remain the same. Mr. Ping a cabinet member of Omar Bongo's government should not be allowed to even receive a single vote. Omar Bongo is currently the longest serving dictator in the sub-saharan africa. How can Mr. Ping preach democracy if he was working for/under a dictator.
This is sad news for Africa.

Subject: Re: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: nico
To: All
Date Posted: 16:27:10 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: nicoleconsult@hotmail.com
Entered From: 82-45-226-138.cable.ubr03.enfi.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.45.226.138

Message:
Dunia

There is a logic to your statement. I think anyone who was schooled in a dictatoral regime should not be entrusted with an organisation that is seeking change. Bongo is the oldest and nasty dictator in Africa. He has plundered his country's wealth and invested it in European banks. There has been an attempt by some citizens and human rights bodies to sue him for theft in France.

Africa Union has never and will never solve the most critical issues affecting the progress of the continent. Zimbabwe, Darfur and now Kenya which is not even on the agenda in the meeting .

Subject: Re: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: Dunia
To: All
Date Posted: 16:04:19 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Under a dictator Gabon is way ahead of us. An irony not comprehensible.

Subject: Re: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: ariah
To: All
Date Posted: 15:49:43 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 164.82.85.3

Message:
Nor pwell di man him BONGO!

Subject: Re: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 19:55:36 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Ironically, Mr. Ping was democratically elected, assuming he does not hold democratic ideals, allegedly "free and fair elections" by the sovereign people and "the rule of law." If he upholds the mentioned ideals, then, assuming Bongo's regime is undemocratic, he should criticize the same. Subsequent touch a critique, he should then visit Gabon. If he comes out alive, nothing follows: the situation is undecidable. Bongo may crush him or, as I suspect, he would pragmatically give him a break, thereby affirming the third prong of democratic values: "freedom of speech." Hence, the consequence of a Pingonian critique of Bongo's regime is undecidable.

Caveat: the democratic pedigree of Ping's election presupposes that the electors are democratically elected. I am unable to pass on this issue.

The preceding presupposes that "democracy" should be applied by the people of Africa. Should it? Arguments for aristocracy cannot be dismissed by arguments founded on the historical failure of the same, unless the unfounded assumption is made that democratic structures are immutable, immune to the historicity of human life and its institutions.

Abstracting from these hermeneutical and historical problematics, suppose African peoples choose to apply the theory ofdemocracy to their political condition, what follows? To the extent that most people in Africa are burdened by poverty, the answer is nothing. Bread and butter are not produced by democratic ideals. Arguably, the most efficient way to produce bread and butter and other widgets is by organizing production and distribution in capitalist markets. The problem is that the theory of democracy does not entail the theory of capitalism. In the language of phenomenology, they are two independent wholes unconnected by any foundation relations. It is to be noted that both the German and Italian regimes of after the first "world war" ran their economies under the structures of capitalism, historical evidence of the mentioned ontological independence. But, again all these arguments, in the end, are inconclusive. Hence, the African problem could be formulated thus: how to reconcile the most efficient production and distribution of bread, butter and widgets with the theory of the posited moments of a theory of democracy. Any ideas?

Subject: Re: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 20:07:29 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Errata: The first clause of the second sentence should read: "Subsequent to such a critiqe...." Please strike the word "of" in the the sentence: "It is to be noted that the German and Italian regimes of after the first...."

Subject: Re: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: Wusuai You Comot
To: All
Date Posted: 05:30:42 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-ntc-ad04.proxy.aol.com at 207.200.116.198

Message:
...." Please strike"

Thanks I struck all of your high flowing language as mere intelligent nonsense. Next time write so that the common man like me would understand what you are saying okay?

Subject: Re: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 11:14:58 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Since I am not a politician, I am not obligated to talk to a "common man" or, negating your gender bias, "common woman." That is the job of politicians like Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, etc. No man or woman is "common." If by "common", you mean "inability to comprehend discourse at a level of generality and abstraction that is beyond the scope of elementary understaning," then, since the thematics of the "theory of democracy" and "the theory of capitalism" are issues in critiques of the elementary ("common") understanding of the mentioned problematics, namely, political 'science' and economics, it is not my fault that you think that the categories of these disciplines are anchored, sedimented in "high flowing language." I solicited ideas in the relevant posting. Since those ideas cannot abstract from the "high flowing" abstractive and reductive lexicography of economics and political 'science,' I suppose your posting is a confession, sampling ecclesiatical discourse, or an admission, sampling juridical discourse, that you have nothing to contribute to this deliberation, right?

Subject: Re: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 11:19:06 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Erratum: "ecclesiatical" should read "ecclesiastical"

Subject: Re: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 11:23:37 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Mad indeed!! get a proper job to show perfection of the English language. My hindu tutor once told me that a man that does not err or pretends not to err should be watched closely as he has personality disorders. Get help!! Oops! My boys will give you some taming today. be there on tme!!

Subject: Re: Gabon's Ping elected chairman of AU Commission
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 12:08:11 02/02/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
When you can certify on this forum that you have a BA, then I'll respond to your archaic wisdom from your Hindu teacher. That explains it: western civilization is not your cup of tea. I advise you to return to your homeland, India, and carry the cross of your untouchable status. I am iclined to adopt the judgment that you hail from the Indians in Freetown, effective agents of British colonialism; agents, similar to the Lebanese, deployed by the British to effectively secure the the socio-economic subjugation of the people of Sierra Leone. The man is a foreigner. Accordingly, since this is a forum for patriots, the Moderator ought to ban him as an impostor. When was the last time you took a bath at the infamous river? Which of the myriad of IDOLS do you worship? Do not forget the loot that your parents have stolen from the people of Sierra Leone. God is great: in exchange for your parents' corruption, he made you dumb, deaf and blind---intellectually, physically and morally. Insane, not mad, Indian! Since you have gracelessly refused to fight it out, after two invitations, send your Hindu Idols. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will make flour out of them, exposing your religious naivete: Idol worshipper! Incidentally, the moderator will note that my posting on this issue invited ideas, not trash from the scumbag, the pagan Indian.

Subject: FOR BAD BOY CHEZ & FEN PABLA
From: Brabanxx
To: All
Date Posted: 09:57:04 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: brabanxx@aol.com
Entered From: static-216-83-121-130.sniparpa.net at 216.83.121.130

Message:
Guys:
I saw this on the online magazine 'Le Monde diplomatique.' This might be another site worth looking at sometimes.

Does Africa need the police?

Abuses of power by the police in sub-Saharan Africa - rape, torture, extortion, violence - are so common that they cannot even be dismissed as "mistakes" any longer. Now it is not just human rights campaigners who are concerned about the long catalogue of misdeeds. The public have had enough and are starting to build their own barricades and protect themselves - although even this has its own risks.
By Marc-Antoine Pérouse de Montclos

The police in Africa are losing control. The explosion of armed crime on the continent underlines the shortcomings of the security apparatus just when it is most desperately needed. According to a United Nations survey, three Africans out of every four in the cities have been the victims of violence in the past five years. This is nearly twice as many as in the cities of Asia and even South America, where the crime rate ranks among the highest in the world (1). And the survey only covers Uganda, South Africa and Tanzania; it does not include Nigeria or Congo (former Zaire), both notoriously violent.

Incapable of arresting wrongdoers, the authorities (police, judiciary and prison services) resort to a repression which is a reflection of their powerlessness. This leads them to make an example of certain offenders as a substitute for a proper rule of law. The punishments they mete out are a pure show of strength, intended to impress the public, like the notorious "Palm Beach shows" where thieves are executed on the Lagos seashore.

These popular entertainments are reminiscent of medieval Paris when criminals were quartered in public. In Paris executions gradually became more discreet and the guillotine was moved to Bicêtre in the reign of Louis-Philippe. In the 19th century, as the state gained in strength in the West, executions were hidden behind prison walls (although in Paris public executions did still take place up to 1939). If people are still beaten up in police cells, nowadays it is usually done without leaving any marks, to avoid repercussions.

In sub-Saharan Africa, however, torture remains common practice since the police are completely unaccountable and democratic opposition forces are often silenced. The prison system inherited from colonial rulers is no longer aimed at righting wrongs or compensating injuries to the individual or society at large. In most of these countries, where the authorities’ approach to crime is entirely repressive, prison no longer serves the purpose of rehabilitating offenders. Only South Africa, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Namibia and Sao Tomé have abolished the death penalty; and Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Niger, Senegal and Togo no longer enforce it.

In many countries the forces of law and order do more harm than good. They are often the underworld’s main weapons suppliers, directly or indirectly. The conflict in the Congo was a notable example. The civilian population, suffering in turn from the depredations of Mobutu’s soldiers and then from the rebels’ violence, would have been better off without an army.

In Nigeria only 0.4% of stolen property is recovered, which says a great deal about police efficiency (2). It is not that police officers do nothing. They are actually in collusion with the criminals and most of the goods they seize are secretly resold to fences - or to their owners... Admittedly, the police are poorly paid, but this does not justify them holding passers-by to ransom at gun-point. In fact, the corruptibility of the police is not just a matter of poverty. In Nigeria, it is an indirect effect of the oil boom of the late 1970s when there was easy money to be made.

A survey carried out in Lagos, the biggest city in sub-Saharan Africa, revealed that two-thirds of its residents consider the police totally ineffectual (3). Most people had reported violent crimes in which they were victims or witnesses to their local police station, but nearly 60% said that nothing was done. Only 1% of the people questioned thought that police roadblocks served any purpose other than to extort money from motorists! Less than half thought that security would be improved if the police were better equipped and corruption weeded out.

On the other hand, over 90% of people living in Lagos thought that community watch schemes helped combat crime. Two-thirds already have such schemes, especially in the poorer districts: half of them have clubbed together to employ night watchmen, a quarter have set up barriers to close off their streets at night and over 10% are involved in "community policing" patrols. Only 1% have any confidence in night watchmen recruited individually (4). People in the better-off districts are more inclined to employ security firms, a luxury reserved for the rich. Such arrangements are just as common in most of the major cities of French-speaking Africa (5).

Africans have become advocates of self-defence on the American model. In South Africa (as in Uganda) most of the population are dissatisfied with their police force. Only one in five people in the cities has not as yet taken any anti-theft precautions (6). And they have the most sophisticated security firms in Africa. In the poorer countries security systems are too expensive and usually out of reach, but there are moves towards "urban retrenchment", with locks, grilles and compounds and often a security guard as well.

The growth of self-defence
Unregulated self-defence without state supervision or the neutrality expected of a public service clearly has risks. Abuses are frequent and encourage a spiral of violence. Local patrols can be taken over by political movements and become privatised armies. Conversely, a national army can move into the private sector. When apartheid ended in South Africa some soldiers, sensing the way the wind was blowing, set up lucrative security firms. Some of these have supplied mercenaries in Angola, Sierra Leone, Congo and even as far away as Papua-New Guinea (7). The African state, which has never had the monopoly of force associated with the rule of law, is being undermined by these self-defence schemes.

According to the UN survey, Africans seem to be most severe on thieves (8). Unlike vendettas, which at least conform to specific social rules, the lynching of a thief caught in the act in a market is not part of any system of justice - certainly not traditional justice, which at least requires consultation beforehand. The “necklace” in South Africa, “Article 320” in Mali (named after its cost - 300 CFA francs for a litre of petrol and 20 francs for a box of matches) and “Weet-ee” (soaking with petrol) in Nigeria, all involve setting light to someone suspected of witchcraft or theft with a tyre around his body. People are killed for stealing an orange. What the angry crowds are doing is making an example of the criminal, preventing a repetition of the commonest crimes and working off their frustration by picking on a scapegoat.

The privatisation of security is having an impact on the African state in more ways than one. The people it governs are becoming more and more independent and, at the level of its institutions, the system benefits those who have money - through corruption and the availability of police officers and weapons for hire. The police provide bodyguards for the powerful and subject the poor to repression and violence. They are neither respected nor trusted and even ordinary crimes are in some sense a protest against the authorities.

African police forces, imposed from outside by the colonial powers, did not win real legitimacy from the authoritarian regimes which often came to power in a coup. Badly paid and corrupt, poor relations of the army which holds the real power, they do not have the resources they need to carry out their tasks (9). Why not simply abolish them rather than try to reform them? If crime cannot be reduced, only a policy of proper social security will be able to keep it in check. It is wrong that African police forces should be expected to fulfil a role which even police in the West are finding difficult.

This provocatively utopian proposal might help to improve the situation; after all, sub-Saharan Africa existed without the police for a long time and was none the worse for it.

One could object that abolishing the police would increase unemployment and crime. But it is noticeable that after civil wars, for instance at the end of the Biafra war in Nigeria in 1970, many ex-combatants were integrated into the police force to prevent them turning to crime. This backing of state violence was hardly convincing. There are other possibilities for re-deployment. In Mozambique in 1993, guerrilla fighters and government soldiers agreed to return to the countryside, with UN aid.

The international community’s present aim - reform of the institutions inherited from the colonial powers - lacks imagination. The concept was inherently unsound in that its aim was to protect the powerful - then the Whites, nowadays the rich. Through SCTIP (the Service central de coopération technique internationale de police), France trains the police in most of the French-speaking states from Ivory Coast to Gabon, unless it decides to train the Foreign Legion directly to maintain order in towns, as in Djibouti. The British, not to be outdone, have the BMATT (British Military Assistance Training Team).

The unfortunate experience of the Office of Public Safety in the United States shows the potential pitfalls. The OPS was dismantled in 1973, 11 years after being set up, because the courses it funded at the International Police Academy usually just trained "death squads" which could be used to prop up any authoritarian ideology, so long as it was anti-communist. The main beneficiaries of American aid in Africa at the time were the police in Liberia, Somalia, Congo (after President Mobutu came to power) and Ethiopia (before the collapse of Emperor Haile Selassie’s regime). Now none of these countries has a police force at all.

As soon as a war is over, attempts are made to set up a police force, sometimes, as in Liberia or Somaliland, from scratch. After the national reconciliation conference in Boroma in May 1993, for instance, as far as Somaliland was concerned the aim was to help the demobilisation of armed militiamen (estimated at 50,000) by integrating them into a body which would prevent them drifting into crime, rather than to create a police force. Without funds and a proper state apparatus, the plan did not work and the militias kept their weapons. The potential for reform certainly exists. Decentralisation seems to be one possibility which could meet specific local needs.

In Nigeria, with the same budget, police manpower could be cut from 130,000 to 10,000 and efficiency improved at the same time. The federal police would have an investigatory role, modelled on the American FBI. The "visible" policing functions could be delegated to self-defence patrols. Any abuses would be severely censured and local leaders would be answerable to the authorities. However, this would call for careful supervision and proper training.

The need for a formal law enforcement agency is not in question; the idea is to involve the public by adopting a system that already exists in practice. With the state - and state funding - in crisis in sub-Saharan Africa, the trend seems irreversible. Is it not time to make it part of a radical reform of the security apparatus?

http://mondediplo.com/

Subject: Re: FOR BAD BOY CHEZ & FEN PABLA
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 12:52:25 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 165.155.200.145

Message:
What a congruent posting. This really shows why, in spite of elections, our people are still in Voltaire's chains. So many reforms need to be made in all sectors of society if we are ever to drag africa from the Darkness. One government cannot do it....it has to be the determined, cummulative effort of many successive governments.

Subject: PRAISE FOR COCORIOKO
From: Newsvendor
To: All
Date Posted: 00:28:57 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-dtc-ag14.proxy.aol.com at 205.188.117.142

Message:
SLLP Did Not Bestow Political Pluralism; Like All Other Political Parties, It's a Fruit of Political Pluralism Demanded and Achieved by the People of Sierra Leone

Attention : The Editor, Cocorioko International

Dear Editor,

Reference: Editorial - “Encouraging signs from erstwhile Heart of Darkness” ( Tuesday April 11, 2006 )

I must mention how beholden I feel to your ‘information outlet' for the comparatively timely, balanced and good quality information on our country.

I commend you for signaling the advent of “Encouraging signs from erstwhile Heart of Darkness” in your editorial of Tuesday April 11, 2006. I sense the delicate line of neutrality you should maintain in the service you are providing but I dare say objectivism must not be seen to be sacrificed at any cost. In that vain let me ask for your permission to disagree with you on the generative mechanism of ‘…. signs from erstwhile Heart of Darkness' in the context of Political Transformation of Sierra Leone

My centre of attention is on the mechanisms and actors at play that have culminated in what you have beautifully put as “the political renaissance that has swept Sierra Leone ” . I am surprised and maybe uncomfortable when the invaluable input of the ordinary Sierra Leonean Man, Woman or Child in the streets of our country is functionally left out of the equation of the genesis of the political status quo that we have all worked hard to achieve. I submit that by so doing, the entire argument may fall flat on its face and disintegrate into unsalvageable inconsistent fragments that may not be very useful. This is because the ordinary man is the hub around which other actors including the international community and whatever Political Party is revolving. To omit that factor, seems to me, is like chasing the wind.

The intension of the editorial is brilliant (apparently intended to recognise the growing political tolerance and freedom of association in our democracy). However the reservation of compliments for the ruling SLPP Party as an actor in the evolution of political pluralism in your words - “However much we criticise the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP), we must however not fail to pay tribute to the Grand Old Party that during its incumbency Sierra Leoneans became free once again to exercise their political franchise. In the past, dancing in the streets for another political party was an invitation for systematic KGB and Gestapo-like extermination by the powers-That-Be then” – as compared to “It is a new day in Sierra Leone and we all deserve a pat on our backs” - at the tail end of your article for the rest of mankind; may not be proportionate. This suggests that, the mechanisms and context in which the political actors have interacted to produce outcomes (registration of PMDC to stick to your example) is not as obvious as I tend to assume. This is not to say that SLPP does not deserve commendation on some other aspects of good governance of our beloved country. But I will be derelict in my duty of service to the “land that we love” if it is not reaffirmed here that outcomes that we are witnessing now has been brought about by mechanism in which the SLPP is the weakest link. An unsophisticated example is when the people and the International community were battling it out with the AFRC; SLPP was leaking its wounds in some obscured locat1on after publicly accepting knowledge of the imminent perpetration of the highest crime on our land (overthrow of a democratically elected government by force). Had the people welcomed the Junta, I submit that the outcome would have been different. But we the people of Sierra Leone insisted on voting our leaders in or out through the ballot box and will never allow anybody to shoot his way to political power. When leaders were dining and wining with Foday Sankoh on the eve when that unforgivable criminal was planning to wreck havoc on our country, it was the people who confronted him. I will not shy to insist that had the people not intervened, the outcome would have been different with more serious consequences than the lives of our 22 brothers we lost. When people dived under the bed at the gun shots of the infamous ISUs, in the Siaka Stevens days, the fight was only postponed to be fought another day (as Mr Marley Philosophised) - again with more serious consequences of a colossal more than a quarter of a million deaths. On this, you will see me ‘cautiously blaming' us all (the people of Sierra Leone ) for letting our country down during APC days in my succeeding take on the issue. Resisting Siaka Stevens' negative power (see sections below) by then may have resulted in fewer deaths - but the generation had a huge capacity to absorb negative power because of the geo-political realities – thus my use of ‘cautiously blaming' above (see subsequent sections for contextualisation).

Power is a process that permeates and shapes the control one would have over his/her own life. You would agree with me that it could be positive – where people are empowered, included, encouraged, equity in distribution of resources, access to and ability to obtain services etc. Or it could be negative where people are robbed, marginalised, excluded, dismissed, used and misused etc. When, power is negative, the capacity to accommodate its vices changes with the orientation of the era and generation. This accommodative capacity shrinks as man evolves (now the Monarch is resisted in Nepal of all places as I write – something unimaginable in the not distant past). This theory allows me to put it to you that, had the same Siaka Stevens been around today (with the same cabinet and with this population character as it is now - 2006), it must dawn on you now that; he would have been absolutely incapable of inflicting on our country, what he did in those dark days. At the other end of the spectrum, the capacity to hold positive power is insatiable as more is needed the more you give (Manifest destiny – Man was born free) - political economists would love to explicate this. All what SLPP has done, more for its own continued survival before being consumed by peoples' aspirations, is to recognise the shrinking capacity of Sierra Leoneans to accommodate negative power – an attribute eloquently manifested in recent times (Resistance of NPRC, Civil Defence, AFRC show down, Sankohs' arrest etc) – which as you known brought and sustained the SLPP at the central stage. Positive political power is achieved and not bestowed (Nelson Mandela believed in this position and (his first wife) Evelyn a Jehovah Witness believed God will find a way to save his people. Nelson believed in God - God was good and will not want bad things to befall his people – but he deferred that one have to work hard using God given talents for good things to come about. This irreversible positions lead to what history will now record as Nelson's first divorce). So when people work for positive power the least to be done is to acknowledge it. The South African Government in the Apartheid era was not going to wake up one morning and transfer power to the majority. The huge hatred for PMDC openly showed by SLPP must indicate how powerless they are in the face of demand by our people for positive power. SLPP did not bestow political pluralism on the people of Sierra Leone – the people demanded and achieved political pluralism (from rebels and two brutal Junta – NPRC and AFRC regimes) of which SLPP like PMDC are only but fruits. Since reintroduction of political pluralism in 1996, more than 15 political parties have registered. Therefore, “………today we are free to form alternative political parties” was more pertinent 10 years ago when SLPP registered with other parties in 1996. That PMDC's registration is different from all other registrations to the extent that SLPP should be credited is a mouth watering thesis which I will comprehensively resist due to time constraint. We can congratulate ourselves for another credible force; but SLPP should be busy with whatever they choose. My fear is that we easily and voluntarily create giant tormentors in our midst and end up being incapable to contain them from bringing untold sorrow to our people. Let me don't gild this lily, I will embark on a more critical analysis of the PRINCIPAL role of people in political situations at any point in time when I join you in the ensuing analysis of independence and post-independence evolution of Party politics in Sierra Leone up to the registration of PMDC embedded in theories that could be publicly defended.

Having indicated the direction I am headed; let me continue with “why” I took that position. The popular dictum that “the people deserve the government they have” is accurately embedded in the elementary but valid principle that - outcome of an action follows from mechanisms acting in a particular context. The common example used to illustrate this principle is the question: Does gunpowder explode when a flame is applied? Yes if the conditions are right; is the answer. It doesn't ignite if it is damp, or if the mixture is wrong, or if no oxygen is present or if heat is applied only for a short time. The vital components of the principle outcome (the explosion) of an action (applying flame) follows from mechanisms (chemical composition of the gunpowder) acting in a particular context (particular conditions which allow the reaction to take place). Humans share 98% of their gene in common with Chimpanzee; but we are not Chimps. I am my fathers' son; but I am not my father. We were born by different parents and the time we were born puts us in different context in which different generative mechanism will act and outcome is bound to be different. But I look so much like my late father though; the same name, lived in the same house, he loved and took good care of me, provided protection, we were good friends etc, but my father is my father, I am my father's son. It is quite tricky to compare current and past events of a socio-political nature because of the brutal reality dictated by the above principle. That is why care must be taken before such statements “Three decades ago, it was virtually a crime to form an opposition political party in Sierra Leone . The octogenarian politician, Dr. John Karefa-Smart, will never forget his ordeal at the hands of the then ruling All People's Congress (APC) when he decided to form another political party to challenge the Siaka Stevens oligarchy…..” are made and used to evaluate a group of politician under completely differently circumstance. Smart lived in an era when hooligans were allowed to slaughter people with impunity. Imagine if Charles was President of Liberia in 1967, he would have wiped out the entire sub-region and retire to the balcony of the executive mansion before realising that there is nobody to give him water to drink. When the gunpowder was damp, who dared to arrest Idi Amin Dada and other dictators for the slaughter of our brothers? President Kabbah does not have the luxury to chase news papers out of town like Stevens did with Tablet. With Cocorioko International et al; around the world, running after people in the street of Freetown like a mad dog is not helpful. After all, Stevens did send an email until his death. But you can argue that Kabbah is harassing journalist and imprisonments and deaths here and there. I will agree with you that it is a good argument. But the generative mechanism is dynamic as there is tremendous pressure underway to repel the public order act that allows abitary arrest. This is in the manifesto of a number of political parties. Assume that act is repelled when some other person is in power. Will it be justified to suggest the current President then is so democratic that the public order act has been repelled during his incumbency? I beg to defer. Stevens's resisted multiparty because of the context and mechanisms at work during his era. But if we had multiparty in 1996, is it because NPRC loved democracy? They could not have resisted because the demand for positive power (the people, international community and host of other generative mechanisms) could have consumed them. We are related to the former generation (same country, our fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts etc) but we are different as we emerged in a different context with different generative mechanism acting on us to steer our nation to a different outcome from those that Karefa-Smart went through. Your comparism thus, is only useful to see where we are coming from and maybe tell stories; but not to evaluate adherence to democratic value in retrospect. Some of these guys out there now (from all indications) would have behaved worst than Stevens if it where not for the iron jacket of context and generative mechanism they find themselves.

When APC went berserk in the late 60s' and used force to cling to power against the wish of the people, it was dealing with a collection of peaceful, well educated and prosperous people highly respected by the rest of the world (Athens of West Africa) and receive independence by negotiation. Our country was rich and Stevens could fry us with our own oil without resort to outside help. Our fathers' generation took a long time to get out of the shock that Stevens sent them into by the introduction of naked violence. The “Dog Police” had perfected violence in Marampa mines where he championed violent strikes. It was reported that he wanted to disrupt the Queens ' visit. Most people where professionals alien to mass resistance which they did not go through to achieve sovereignty. Action was not contemplated; the gunpowder was damp and the mixture was wrong without oxygen for the type of action to take against Stevens who could not understand negotiations through which Sierra Leoneans were thought to resolve their differences. In fact; all avenues where closed for such decent activities with the 1978 One Party. Unfortunately, doing nothing about a situation is in effect; an action for some other mechanism to generate an outcome. The outcome was a collapsed state that bred discontents that became hopeless to the point of doing what they did between 1991-2002. The generation by then had a huge capacity to accommodate negative power because they were novices to the challenge they faced (why I used “cautiously blame” above) and had to adapt by institutionalising subservience thereby abandoning their country to the wimps and caprices of a man who had so much energy and so adroit in bringing the country to her knees. When gunpowder was getting dry in 1977 (people (students) who grew and went to University under Steven's maladministration and started learning the language he could understand) there was no oxygen (the intimidated older generation including labour congress did not support) and so the heat could not be applied long enough to generate mechanism. Since 1977, it was just a matter of time for the country to collapse as an outcome; once Stevens' actions, mechanism and context where maintained.

By 1991 when Charles Margai and others hit the road to resurrect SLPP, (when it was not fashionable) the gunpowder was dry, the mixture was correct and there was enough oxygen (the era had changed and the current generation born and bred in resistance (multiple student strikes in the 70's, 80's and 90's) - took central stage while there fathers weakened by Stevens had long retired together with their tormentor). The country has been militarised (CDF in the 90's) largely in self defence or else one will be killed in cold blood anyway. By 1992 an epitome of the shrinking capacity to accommodate negative power was manifested by the coup of young officers who took the APC by complete surprise. Most of these officers were actually born during Stevens' rule and had nothing to do with the Westminster generation – context has changed. When Sierra Leoneans actually challenged gun toting boys to conduct multi party election in 1996 (that resurrected SLPP); they ushered in different mechanism fashioned on demanding positive power at the cost of even paying the ultimate price. Reminding you about the circumstances under which SLPP gained political power from the 30 year wilderness and locating the Sierra Leoneans (Bintumanni 1 and 2 conferences) in the process should allay your expressed fears “a chronically self-indulgent government would have preferred to fall out with stakeholders and donor agencies than play ball with them and change the country” . It is difficult to glimpse SLPP - full of guys with packed bags ready to fly in thin air at the slightest “Maskita like bush shaking” - thwart political pluralism; hard won with blood and iron by our people who are watching closely and very interested at every twist and turn after they have been baptised with fire for ten and more odd years. The admiration of the Sierra Leonean by the international community for having championed democratic values and the expressed willingness to pay the ultimate price for it; is echoed on every corridor of the international community. They will stand by us to reinforce the generative mechanisms firmly towards stability as part of the correct chemical composition of the gunpowder to achieve positive power outcome for all. The global village with one super power is guarding the mechanism. Cocorioko International on the information super high way is part of tens of thousands of the mechanism at play working towards prosperous and stable Sierra Leone . For any one Party of the poverty stricken country to dream of reversing this forward match is foolhardy and I do not think if I have lost all the respect for SLPP and that they are so irrational with themselves as to attest to your fears above. If any Party should know what the people of Sierra Leone and the rest of the world are capable of doing to achieve freedom; (from Bintumanni 1 1995, February 1996, May 25 1997, January 6 1999, to May 2000) it's the SLPP.

SLLP Did Not Bestow Political Pluralism; Like All Other Political Parties, It's a Fruit of Political Pluralism Demanded and Achieved by the People of Sierra Leone

Editor, having said this, when I sit down and look at what you guys are doing for your countries, I thank God for your lives.

Cheers

Acim Baio ( Portsmouth , UK )

Subject: SHORT MISSIS EN MASTA JOKES!
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 22:49:19 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4577b27b.dyn.optonline.net at 69.119.178.123

Message:
Jokes.Net:People Jokes
Husband and Wife Jokes

Short Husband and Wife Jokes

1) Getting married is very much like going to a restaurant with friends. You order what you want, then when you see what the other person has, you wish you had ordered that.

2) At the cocktail party, one woman said to another, "Aren't you wearing your wedding ring on the wrong finger?" The other replied, "Yes, I am, I married the wrong man."

3) After a quarrel, a husband said to his wife, "You know, I was a fool when I married you." She replied, "Yes, dear, but I was in love and didn't notice."

4) A lady inserted an 'ad' in the classifieds: "Husband wanted". Next day she received a hundred letters. They all said the same thing: "You can have mine."

5) The bride, upon her engagement, went to her mother and said, "I've found a man just like father!" Her mother replied, "So what do you want from me, sympathy?"

6) When a woman steals your husband, there is no better revenge than to let her keep him.

7) Eighty percent of married men cheat in America. The rest cheat in Europe.

8) Man is incomplete until he is married. Then he is finished.

9) A little boy asked his father, "Daddy, how much does it cost to get married?" And the father replied, "I don't know son, I'm still paying."

10) Q: Is it all right to bring a date to the wedding?
A: Not if you are the groom.

11) Q: What music is recommended for the wedding ceremony?
A: Anything except 'Tied to the Whipping Post'.

12) Q: How can you tell the married men at a wedding reception?
A: They're the ones dancing with everyone but their wives.

13) Q: What is a wedding tragedy?
A: To marry a man for love, and then find out he has no money.

14) Q: How do I make my wife stop buying all these gloves?
A: Buy her a diamond ring.

15) "My girlfriend told me I should be more affectionate. So I got two girlfriends."

16) Q: How do most men define marriage?
A: A very expensive way to getting their laundry done free.

17) Words to live by: Do not argue with a spouse who is packing your parachute.

18) First guy (proudly): "My wife's an angel!"
Second guy: "You're lucky, mine's still alive."

19) Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are beautiful

Subject: Re: SHORT MISSIS EN MASTA JOKES!
From: Cornelius Hamelberg
To: All
Date Posted: 01:31:14 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: c-071271d5.01-32-73746f42.cust.bredbandsbolaget.se at 213.113.18.7

Message:
Sorry about the missing words at the end

Subject: JOKE #1: UNU LEFF FOR EAT BOCU BINCH!
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 22:33:34 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4577b27b.dyn.optonline.net at 69.119.178.123

Message:

BAKED BEANS AND THEIR DELIGHTFUL TUNE!

A man had a terrible passion for baked beans, but they always had a somewhat lively effect on him. After he met the woman of his dreams, he made the supreme sacrifice and gave them up; he couldn't imagine subjecting his new wife to his beastly emissions.
On his birthday, his car broke down, so he called his wife and told her he'd have to walk home. He walked past a cafe and the wonderful aroma of baked beans overwhelmed him. Since he was still a couple of miles from home, he figured he could indulge, and then walk off any ill effects. So he had three extra-large helpings of beans, and he "put-putted" all the way home.

His wife met him at the door and seemed somewhat excited. She exclaimed, "Darling, I have the most wonderful surprise for you for dinner tonight!"

She blindfolded him, and led him to his chair at the head of the table, making him promise not to peek. At this point, he was beginning to feel another one coming on. Just as she was about to remove the blindfold, the telephone rang and she went to answer it.

While she was gone, he seized the opportunity. He shifted his weight to one leg and let go. It was not only loud, but ripe as a rotten egg. He gasped and felt for his napkin and fanned the air about him. He had just started to feel better, when another urge came on. This one sounded like a diesel engine revving, and smelled worse. He tried flapping his arms, to clear the air. But another one snuck out, and the windows rattled, the dishes on the table shook, and a minute later, the flowers on the table were dead.

When he heard his wife ending her conversation, he neatly laid his napkin on his lap and folded his hands on top of it. He was the picture of innocence when she walked in.

Apologizing for taking so long, she asked if he had peeked at the dinner. He assured her he had not, so she removed the blindfold and yelled, "Surprise!!!"

To his shock and horror, there were twelve dinner guests seated around the table for his surprise birthday party.

Courtesy: Jokes.com

Subject: Why I Fired My Secretary.
From: Cornelius Hamelberg
To: All
Date Posted: 01:25:53 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: c-071271d5.01-32-73746f42.cust.bredbandsbolaget.se at 213.113.18.7

Message:
Last week was my birthday
and I didn't feel very well waking up on that morning.

I went downstairs for breakfast
hoping my wife would be pleasant and say,
'Happy Birthday!', and possibly have a small present for me.

As it turned out,
she barely said good morning,
let alone ' Happy Birthday.'

I thought...

Well, that's marriage for you,
but the kids... They will remember.

My kids came bounding down stairs to breakfast
and didn't say a word.
So when I left for the office, I felt pretty low
and somewhat despondent.

As I walked into my office,
my secretary Jane said,
'Good Morning Boss, and by the way Happy Birthday!'
It felt a little better that at least someone had remembered.

I worked until one o'clock, when Jane knocked on my door
and said, 'You know,
It's such a beautiful day outside, and it is your Birthday,
what do you say we go out to lunch, just you and me.'
I said, 'Thanks, Jane, that's the greatest thing
I've heard all day.
Let's go!'

We went to lunch.
But we didn't go where we normally would go.
She chose instead at a quiet bistro with a private table.
We had two martinis each and I enjoyed the meal tremendously.

On the way back to the office,
Jane said, 'You know,
It's such a beautiful day...
We don't need to go straight back to the office,
Do We?'

I responded,
'I guess not.
What do you have in mind?'
She said,
'Let's drop by my apartment, it's just around the corner.'

After arriving at her apartment,
Jane turned to me and said,
' Boss, if you don't mind,
I'm going to step into the bedroom for just a moment.
I'll be right back.'
'Ok.' I nervously replied.

She went into the bedroom and, after a couple of minutes,
she came out carrying a huge birthday cake ...
Followed
by my wife,
my kids,
and dozens of my friends
and co-workers,
all singing 'Happy Birthday'.

And I just sat there...

On the couch......

Naked.

Subject: Re: Why I Fired My Secretary.
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 12:42:11 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 165.155.200.145

Message:
Bra Cornelius, that was really cool. You could have told them that you were practicing to model for a worthy cause they would all be proud of. Something like "Getting naked for the environment". Say it with a straight face. Many celebrities are doing that right now, you know.

Subject: Re: Why I Fired My Secretary.
From: Candid Opinion
To: All
Date Posted: 07:45:55 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ip68-100-48-137.dc.dc.cox.net at 68.100.48.137

Message:
Me man..
Nothing to be ashamed of..

You where in your birthday suit..
Getting ready for the birthday party...

Subject: Re: Why I Fired My Secretary.
From: alieu sesay
To: All
Date Posted: 09:36:38 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: s100-masq.iptelsl.net at 83.229.112.20

Message:
Ar tell you Pah..

Subject: All hail BAI ! (a transcr1pt of his address at Chatham House
From: Cornelius Hamelberg
To: All
Date Posted: 17:26:31 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: c-071271d5.01-32-73746f42.cust.bredbandsbolaget.se at 213.113.18.7

Message:
A major address at a major address - and then off to Buckingham Palace for tea with Her Majesty and the Royal Family?

Subject: Re: All hail BAI ! (a transcr1pt of his address at Chatham House
From: Hertz Watt
To: All
Date Posted: 13:30:48 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 198.85.58.120

Message:
Does his "majesty" understand that power (energy per second; J/s) is measured in Watts and multiples of it; as per MegaWatts, MW, or sub-multiples of it, as opposed to MHz (megaHertz) which is fundamentally a unit of frequency, as in cycles per second?

Freetown needs about 60 MW of power through the generation of electricity, and NOT 60 MHz. We are not dealing with shortwave radio signals here, are we?

This is why we must never describe these so-called African leaders as his "excellency".

Subject: President Ernest Bai Koroma on BBC Hardtalk
From: Cornelius Hamelberg
To: All
Date Posted: 17:21:12 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: c-071271d5.01-32-73746f42.cust.bredbandsbolaget.se at 213.113.18.7

Message:
We Yone and our own His Excellency Dr.Ernest Bai Koroma

Subject: Re: President Ernest Bai Koroma on BBC Hardtalk
From: DeLaw
To: All
Date Posted: 19:36:50 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: contehlawrence@yahoo.com
Entered From: cpe-75-185-99-153.insight.res.rr.com at 75.185.99.153

Message:
That was some real hard talk by Zeinab Badawi and the president.At some point during the question and answer session,the president could not come up with the figures on the amount of diamonds being smuggled out of Sierra Leone.I am sure he would look back at the interview clip and come up with those figures.
The interview left me with some bone chilling reality that there is a lot of tension between the tribes and regions of Sierra Leone.
The president,the APC,SLPP and the people of Sierra Leone need to answer the question why Sierra Leone is officially the poorest country in the world.Only then could there be any serious attempt to plan and implement the much needed recovery to lift our people from misery.

Subject: Re: President Ernest Bai Koroma on BBC Hardtalk
From: Cornelius Hamelberg
To: All
Date Posted: 22:51:46 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: c-071271d5.01-32-73746f42.cust.bredbandsbolaget.se at 213.113.18.7

Message:
Introduction:

Zainab Badawi: “I’VE COME TO THE FOREIGN OFFICE IN London, to meet the new leader of a country that’s officially the world’s poorest and one that still bears the scars of a brutal civil war. My guest today on Hardtalk is the President of Sierra Leone. Can he guarantee that by the end of his first term the people of his country will be better off?”

Zainab Badawi: President Ernest Koroma, welcome to Hardtalk. You’ve only been president for four months, but can you give a guarantee that by the end of your term, the people of Sierra Leone will be better off?

President Ernest Bai Koroma: “Yes, the people of Sierra Leone elected me because they trust that I can effect the change, I can restore the lost hope and I’ve tried within the first one hundred days of my term, to identify a quick fix programme – which is energy – and what has not happened in the country for the past eleven years, I have succeeded in doing under 100 days, by restoring electricity to our capital City, Freetown!”

The president promised – and he delivered. WE trust him - in his sincere efforts – and those efforts were crowned with success. It doesn’t end here. More is to follow.

Consider the following observation:

“ Image matters because it should matter. Politicians make their living by promising us the world. We have to decide which politicians to trust. And that means looking at politicians the same way we look at everyone else: through the prism of appearances. Scientists say that we judge whether people are likable, competent, attractive, and trustworthy all within one tenth of a second. So we look at hair and height and age and sense of humor and footwear………… We elect people to exercise their independent judgment, just as Edmund Burke suggested. And if we’re voting for people who exercise their independent judgment, we must decide first whether they are the sort of people who can be trusted with such responsibility” (Ben Shapiro)

Zainab Badawi fielded reasonable question and President Ernest Bai Koroma gave reasonable answers.

You (DeLaw) think that “At some point during the question and answer session, the president could not come up with the figures on the amount of diamonds being smuggled out of Sierra Leone. I am sure he would look back at the interview clip and come up with those figures.”

A few questions from me to you:

Who is omniscient?
INTERPOL?
FBI?
Momoh Pujeh?

The president was very clear there that there is no one in the world who can give you an exact figure (which it seems that you would like the president to have at his finger tips.)

However he came close to a reasonable approximation. The dialogue went like this:

Zainab Badawi: “Are you fully in control of your diamond production?”

President Koroma: “Yes, the diamond industry is relatively under control.”

Zainab Badawi: “Relatively?”

President Koroma: “Yes, we are improving on it on a daily basis. I’m saying so because there’s still elements of smuggling here and there - but you know the nature of diamonds and how easy it is to be smuggled, but we are improving on that. We are reviewing the contracts that we have with companies that are prospecting and companies that are mining with a view of ensuring that there are no illegalities, everybody is accountable…….”

Zainab Badawi: “……..but diamonds are still being smuggled out of Sierra Leone….”

President Koroma. “Yes, but I believe that the number is reducing….”

Zainab Badawi: “You know what the number is?”

President Koroma: “I cannot give you the number off head but the level of exports is increasing on a daily basis.”

President Koroma went on to explain, “Yes, we have our facts … I’m saying that THERE IS NOBODY ON EARTH WHO CAN GIVE YOU THE EXACT FIGURE. We’re still basing it on the estimated diamonds that are received in Belgium, or Tel Aviv or India……….I think we are in the region of 20%... it’s still quite high”

They then continued the discussion with the name of “a respected lawyer Abdul Tejan Cole” on Zainab Badawi’s ’ lips……

Subject: Re: President Ernest Bai Koroma on BBC Hardtalk
From: nico
To: All
Date Posted: 07:47:43 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: nicoleconsult@hotmail.com
Entered From: 82-45-226-138.cable.ubr03.enfi.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.45.226.138

Message:
I have respect for president Koroma and his sincerity to lift up our country from her kneels. However, he need to do a lot more reseach, in the future, when facing the western media in particular, who may actually know the facts about our country than some can imagined.

Zainab obviously did her research well, thus her pressing questions to president Koroma centered on the alleged tribalism-exemplified by the perceived northernalisation, TRC and corruption. At times , it seemed Zainab articulated what the opposition SLPP had been saying. This was the time when EBK should have defended his position robustly because in political matters, interviewers do not always asked you questions on what you wanted to say but your views about your opponent's position and contention.

On the question of a witch-hunt by his government, Koroma should have put Zainab on the defensive by telling her that he assumed office untainted with corruption and that the people of Sierra Leone had elected him on his promised to zero tolerance on corruptions. To achieve that, his govt need to be transparent and also seen to be accountable to the people.

The president could have then educated Zainab,by putting it to her that respect for the rule of law, financial accountability and transparency were compromised but that applying them with the necessary vigour,are fundamentally critical to achieving his commitment to zero tolerance. To that extent, allegation of a witch hunt by suspected thieves, is a baseless attempt to undermined or frustrate his principal policy pledged by making people more accountable for their acts.

EBK could have then buttressed this by stating that there are corruptions all over the world including Britian, but the difference is that whereas in Britain the principle of accountability are ingrained in the democratic culture, Sierra Leone lacks and has yet to accept that basic element of the principles of good governance; a challenge the country will have to face up to, to drift away from the past failures.

One of the disciplined /techniques of a good interviewers is, that first and foremost, they take control of the proceeding. Thus it was important that president Koroma suggest to Zainab whether the laws of Sierra Leone should be flush out under the weight of the allegations of witch-hunt in the face of tangible evidence of wrong doing vis-a-vis public theft.

what Zainab did was to placate the president as just another African politician who makes promises but in the end will not deliver them; but end up like the others before him. Zainab did this by saying that other African countries had wars and conflicts like Sierra Leone; but your country consistently continues to be officially pegged as the poorest nation.

President EBK could have acknowledged the problems he inherited but distinguished himself by stressing his newness, but nevertheless his strong determination to ensure that his government does things differently this time round from the failed systems the country had been used to.

Furthemore the president should have emphasized that the way to move foward is to encourage good governance, prioritise the country's development needs, coupled with an impartial application of the rules of laws, war on corruption and the strengtening of and transformation of ineffecient instututions of the state and education on change of attitudes.

On questions relating to the rationale and cost effectiveness of the specail court and the implementation of the TCR recommendation, Zainab presented her questions to president Kabba with the view to extract his personal views on whether it was sensible to have put on trial a handful of people with huge resourse expended, when the real welfare of the victims has received little attention. She did this by omitting the conceptual foundation and where the authorisation came from, thereby leaving president Koroma to either defend it extablishment or accept the now widely held believe that the special court is arguably at odd with the twin concept of reconciliation.

President Koroma should have used this to remind Zainab that it was not under his watch that the special court was extablished and perhaps he could have looked at it differently if he was in power then where the final decision lies.

On the delayed imlementation of the TRC recommendation, EBK could have firstly acknowledged the difficulties involved whilst at the sametime excused his administration for the delay or non implemention of the recommendation . He could then end by saying that his administration's concerns over the TRC recommendation was, however, not diminished by those limitations which he intend to overcome.

On the whole, the president was calm, attentive and responded to Zainab well without showing any nerve. Well done EBK.

In contract, when Tejan Kabba was interviewed by Peter Sisson, on the same programme, 5 years ago, his performance was an embarassement to even those of us who supported him. They guy crumpled under technical questions from Peter and lost his concentration. He vexed and got angry during the interview. Lonta

Subject: Re: President Ernest Bai Koroma on BBC Hardtalk
From: Cornelius Hamelberg
To: All
Date Posted: 21:15:51 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: c-071271d5.01-32-73746f42.cust.bredbandsbolaget.se at 213.113.18.7

Message:
Pertinent observations all.
I heard Zainab Badawi say on a BBC programme that was aired last year, that SIERRA LEONE and SINGAPORE were at the same level of development in 1961.

Now pull up your socks andlets all get sober.

Subject: Re: President Ernest Bai Koroma on BBC Hardtalk
From: Cornelius Hamelberg
To: All
Date Posted: 22:42:43 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: c-071271d5.01-32-73746f42.cust.bredbandsbolaget.se at 213.113.18.7

Message:
Introduction:

Zainab Badawi: “I’VE COME TO THE FOREIGN OFFICE IN London, to meet the new leader of a country that’s officially the world’s poorest and one that still bears the scars of a brutal civil war. My guest today on Hardtalk is the President of Sierra Leone. Can he guarantee that by the end of his first term the people of his country will be better off?”

Zainab Badawi: President Ernest Koroma, welcome to Hardtalk. You’ve only been president for four months, but can you give a guarantee that by the end of your term, the people of Sierra Leone will be better off?

President Ernest Bai Koroma: “Yes, the people of Sierra Leone elected me because they trust that I can effect the change, I can restore the lost hope and I’ve tried within the first one hundred days of my term, to identify a quick fix programme – which is energy – and what has not happened in the country for the past eleven years, I have succeeded in doing under 100 days, by restoring electricity to our capital City, Freetown!”

The president promised – and he delivered. WE trust him - in his sincere efforts – and those efforts were crowned with success. It doesn’t end here. More is to follow.

Consider the following observation:

“ Image matters because it should matter. Politicians make their living by promising us the world. We have to decide which politicians to trust. And that means looking at politicians the same way we look at everyone else: through the prism of appearances. Scientists say that we judge whether people are likable, competent, attractive, and trustworthy all within one tenth of a second. So we look at hair and height and age and sense of humor and footwear………… We elect people to exercise their independent judgment, just as Edmund Burke suggested. And if we’re voting for people who exercise their independent judgment, we must decide first whether they are the sort of people who can be trusted with such responsibility” (Ben Shapiro)

Zainab Badawi fielded reasonable question and President Ernest Bai Koroma gave reasonable answers.

You (DeLaw) think that “At some point during the question and answer session, the president could not come up with the figures on the amount of diamonds being smuggled out of Sierra Leone. I am sure he would look back at the interview clip and come up with those figures.”

A few questions from me to you:

Who is omniscient?
INTERPOL?
FBI?
Momoh Pujeh?

The president was very clear there that there is no one in the world who can give you an exact figure (which it seems that you would like the president to have at his finger tips.)

However he came close to a reasonable approximation. The dialogue went like this:

Zainab Badawi: “Are you fully in control of your diamond production?”

President Koroma: “Yes, the diamond industry is relatively under control.”

Zainab Badawi: “Relatively?”

President Koroma: “Yes, we are improving on it on a daily basis. I’m saying so because there’s still elements of smuggling here and there - but you know the nature of diamonds and how easy it is to be smuggled., but we are improving on that. We are reviewing the contracts that we have with companies that are prospecting and companies that are minding with a view of ensuring that there are no illegalities, everybody is accountable…….”

Zainab Badawi: “……..but diamonds are still being smuggled out of Sierra Leone….”

President Koroma. “Yes, but I believe that the number is reducing….”

Zainab Badawi: “You know what the number is?”

President Koroma: “I cannot gibe you the number off head but the level of exports is increasing on a daily basis.”

President Koroma went on to explain, “Yes, we have our facts … I’m saying that THERE IS NOBODY ON EARTH WHO CAN GIVE YOU THE EXACT FIGURE. We’re still basing it on the estimated diamonds that are received in Belgium, or Tel Aviv or India……….I think we are in the region of 20%... it’s still quite high”

They then continued the discussion with the name of “a respected lawyer Abdul Tejan Cole” on Zainab Badawi’s ’ lips……

Subject: THE TRAGEDY OF SIERRA LEONEAN DEMOCRACY
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 13:10:16 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 165.155.200.145

Message:
Oh Sierra Leone, blessed with so many precious resources that bless other shores and cursed with so many tribes that scream for the ballot only to devour one another in frenzied cannibalism.

We hate the Angel-President because he is a foreigner from a foreign nation they call "another tribe" and embrace the Satan-President because he shares our tribal DNA even though he has habits that would put Idi Amin to shame.

It's the tribe, Stupid....Unity be damned!
What is this monstrosity they call Sierra Leone anyway?
Lions in the Hills indeed....That Portuguese sailor must have been smoking it up.

We can still make this thing work if we make a determined effort before we flame up like Rwanda, Burundi, the two Congos, Zimbabwe, CAR, Chad, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya and many more tragic gestations already time-bombing in Nigeria, Guinea, South Africa, etc, etc,...

Any leader who wants to succeed in Salone must make a determined effort to turn the curse of the tribe into a blessing for the whole republic.

We will begin to have one country when we have a branch of every ministry in every chiefdom, and government and private enterprises in every cfiefdom. It is not enough to have Rokel Bank, Standard Bank, Commercial Bank, etc in Freetown, Kenema or
Makeni. We must have them in the chiefdom centers also, giving loans and promoting economic activity.

And those who oppose, please oppose because of policy differences and not because the man in State house is a "foreigner" from a different tribe.

Subject: Re: THE TRAGEDY OF SIERRA LEONEAN DEMOCRACY
From: Candid Opinion
To: All
Date Posted: 14:21:10 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ns.nucleusns2.com at 12.44.12.126

Message:
Indeed..
States like organisms..
Have life cycles..
Humanity itself for that matter and everything thats an extension of it...

Our state.. needs a complete breake from the past,from its complex.. intricate... tribal.. customs which has proven not to work..

We need BOLD, big... astronomical ideas.. on par with DUBAI and singapore.. and Taiwan..and the Americans of 200 years ago who wanted a state from the atlantic to the pacific for us to break out of this basket case mold we are in and will be next 20 years..

For us to archieve what you state above, a decent decentralized semi federal systems.. both political, and economic.. i was just thinking the same thing this AM.. on my way to work..
My fantasy went like this ..

Imagine.. A DMV/MVA at aberdeen.. one at brookfields.. a tax dministration office at cline town.. one at kingtom.. one at lumley.. a post office at rokel. .another at pepel..

A department of road and works are lungi.. one at jui, one at murraytown..
All local administered.. local funds.. generated and spent..

I think if we put enough effort into the decentralization process and the central government is willing to play its roll as defence and foreing policy and leave us alone to administer our state or counties or councils.. we can make it happen on a local level.... and i dont see that model anywhere in Africa..
Where the states can be strong and the central governement takes a back seat in the administration of day to day state affairs.

But then when Sam Samunas authority supersedes that of the mayor in the minicipality of Freetown.. and he can order all residents held hostage every last saturday of the month..

Who am i to wish.. that i had my own City or State of aberdeen..

Subject: Re: THE TRAGEDY OF SIERRA LEONEAN DEMOCRACY
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 17:32:22 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4577b27b.dyn.optonline.net at 69.119.178.123

Message:
I hope we all work to decentralize authority from the government and liberalize the economy. This will release the explosive ingenuity of our people. Millions of villages have YET to see the benefits of Sierra Leone 40 years since independence. Zero government service, zero safety net, zero opportunity to engage in private enterprise...and we wonder why we are so desperately poor. The banks only give loans to the well-connected. As a diasporan in Salone, I probably will get 'fatata' loans- good credit or not- compared to the hard-working local entrepreneur who just wants to open a store in Sembehun or Gberay Junction to buy goods.

There is enough blame to go around. We need to get rid of the Imperial Presidency that is the source of so much damage and corruption in Africa and devolve power to the chiefdoms, NOT the corrupt chiefs.

And Diasporans should please, please stop fluttering their eyelids for government posts. Rather, we should be agitating for a freer business environment in Salone and do away with the crazy head-spinning bureaucratic suffocation. We want a corrupt-free business environment with access to fair courts to resolve business disputes. And we should be demanding that Water Quay becomes a free port at least for a two-year period. That will do wonders for the economy. There is so much we can do....

Subject: Make you love one happy on Valentine's Day
From: Alfred
To: All
Date Posted: 12:45:15 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: zakapal@comcast.net
Entered From: c-69-138-227-91.hsd1.md.comcast.net at 69.138.227.91

Message:
Check this out: asesay.ispeedway.com. Buy something for your love one and stop talking about politics.

Subject: Abdulai Conteh vies for Africa's top post
From: Cocorioko
To: All
Date Posted: 09:40:04 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ac8586ce.ipt.aol.com at 172.133.134.206

Message:
Despite all her socio-economic and political problems, which the new government of President Ernest Koroma is striving acidiously to alleviate, the sky has not ceased to be the limit for Sierra Leone's illustrious sons and daughters. The latest Sierra Leone shooting for the moon is former Chief Justice, Dr. Abdulai Conteh . One of Africa's most eminent attorneys has not only scored it big by being the Chief Justice of the Caribbean nation of Belize ; he is vying for the Chairmanship of the African Union ( AU).

The election for the AU posts will be held this weekend when the African Union holds its Heads of State and Representatives of government Conference in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia.

The Commission of the African Union has announced the names of the candidates for Chairpersons, Deputy Chairpersons and Commissioners for the Union. There are six candidates for the position of Chairperson. Amongst them is the eminent Sierra Leonean jurist and diplomat, Dr. Abdulai Osman Conteh, current Chief Justice of the Caribbean Commonwealth State of Belize.

Dr. Conteh who graduated LLB (Hons.) from Kings College, London University and Kings College, Cambridge, where he was an athletic blue, was at one time a Member of Parliament, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance responsible for financial policy, and served on the Interim Committee of the International Monetary Fund, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, and 1st Vice President and Minister of Internal Affairs & Rural Development in the Republic of Sierra Leone. Between 1977 and 1983 he led the Sierra Leone Delegation to the UN General Assembly and on several occasions served as Vice President of the Assembly and Chairman of the OAU Council of Ministers.

His professional skills and expertise include extensive graduate studies in International Law, extensive practical knowledge of law and international affairs, diplomacy and business. He has also had over ten years professional practice of law, both as a private legal practitioner and government lawyer and as an academic, a professor of law at the University of Sierra Leone.

Since January 2002 Dr. Conteh has been Chief Justice of the Caribbean Commonwealth of Belize; where he is in charge of the Judiciary and presides in civil, criminal, constitutional and commercial cases. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Caribbean Court of Justice, Senior Advisor of the World Space Foundation in Washington DC, Senior Political Affairs Officer for UN Transition Administration of East Timor and has acted as consultant on strategy for collaboration between World Space Foundation and the UN Secretariat and UN System.

Dr. Conteh has participated in numerous international conferences such as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (CHOGM) the Non-Aligned Movement, meetings of the Organization of African Unity (now the African Union); where he was a prominent member and participated in its committees to resolve the Western Sahara Dispute, the Libya/Chad Dispute and the Ethiopian/Sudan Dispute.

Dr. Abdulai Osman Conteh is an erudite scholar who has written and contributed to several international publications such as African and International Legal Provisions for the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes - Disarment, Vol.22, No 1, Pg 44, Winter, 1988/89, The Protection of Interests of Members and Creditors, Administration Orders and the Insolvency Act 1992 (The Bulletin of The Gambia Branch of the African Society of International and Comparative Law) Issue No.5 December 1994 and the Sierra Leone Constitution 1991 -book of Essays.

To editors

For more information Dr Conteh can be contacted by email on chiefjust@btl.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascr1pt enabled to view it

By telephone. 501.223.0482 (home)

501.227.4387 (office)

501.227.4375 (fax)

Last Updated ( Thursday, 31 January 2008 )
< Prev Next >

Subject: Re: Abdulai Conteh vies for Africa's top post
From: Evelyn Lewis
To: All
Date Posted: 00:58:00 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: s100-masq.iptelsl.net at 83.229.112.20

Message:
If it is true that he is vying for the post, I applaud his effort.
That time has come where we must support our own. Sierra Leoneans need to start getting back in the limelight by taking such noble causes and also raising our international profile. I am yet to find perfect souls from any of the past leaderships in these other countries to warrant not preffering my own country man who seems quite competent.
Put politics aside and support your country man.

Subject: Re: Abdulai Conteh vies for Africa's top post
From: Umpie
To: All
Date Posted: 10:04:51 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Qua African, Dr. Conteh has a right to vie for "Africa's top post." Since Dr. Conteh is an attorney, a reasonably question is whether he respects the rule of law. I understand that he held several positions in Dr. (honoris causa) Stevens' government. From the grapevine, it appears that a dark cloud hangs over his character. What is the content of that cloud? The electors have a right to know, it would appear. Any ideas on his fitness to practice law, which reduces to the issue of his moral constitution.

Subject: Re: Abdulai Conteh vies for Africa's top post
From: Yaya Fanusie
To: All
Date Posted: 19:10:38 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: saigobe@lanset.com
Entered From: pool-71-245-169-215.bltmmd.fios.verizon.net at 71.245.169.215

Message:
Umpie,
For the last 41 years I have been the laughing stock of the socalled Elite of the Sierra Leone Community in the Diaspora. The socalled people who ridiculed me always point to what they claimed are my peers. They say look at Abdulai Conteh, Abass Bundu, Kojo Randall, Aubee,Dr. Roland Buck, Dr. Cecil Blake etc but Fanusie you nah failure. You noh important. All your peers became prominent.
When Dr. Abdulai Conteh asked for me to lobby my Afican power elites connections in Africa, I vigously did so. I wrote glowing report aabout factual activities of his vigoruos contribution for African unity as a youth. He
was Vice President of NYM. He was committed then as a youngman fostering regional integration in Africa.
I did not say I will not do it or questioned his minor mistakes of the past. I am confident he is going to be the next chairperson of the African Union Commission. At this time Africans need somebody like him to head the Commission. They only people I do not forgive in Sierra Leone politics are the RUF and AFRC.
Yaya Fanusie

Subject: Re: Abdulai Conteh vies for Africa's top post
From: Jonathan T. Boima
To: All
Date Posted: 16:55:54 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: jtboima@aol.com
Entered From: cache-dtc-ag14.proxy.aol.com at 205.188.117.142

Message:
Mr. Yaya,
Goodday Sir, Do you by any any chance have contact info: for Dr. Roland Buck? I lost contact with him when he moved from NC to Florida. If you can forward my email address to him I will appreciate it.
Thanks,
Jonathan.

Subject: Re: Abdulai Conteh vies for Africa's top post
From: Yaya Fanusie
To: All
Date Posted: 19:26:39 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: saigobe@lanset.com
Entered From: pool-71-245-169-215.bltmmd.fios.verizon.net at 71.245.169.215

Message:
Yes sir!
I will send info by private mail to you SIR.
Yaya Fanusie

Subject: An Agenda for change in Sierra Leone
From: Patriot
To: All
Date Posted: 09:36:51 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ac8586ce.ipt.aol.com at 172.133.134.206

Message:
SPEECH AT CHATHAM HOUSE BY PRESIDENT ERNEST KOROMA

-Culled from Cocorioko

Thank you for having me and let me thank Chatham House for giving me this
opportunity to be here and let me thank all of you for the warm and wonderful

welcome you have accorded to me.

Let me start by saying that I intend for this to be an interactive session and I

believe that the more questions I have from the audience I think the better will

I be able to address the specific issues, but also you should be aware that I

have just taken the mantel of state, under four months, the time is limited and

not long enough for what I believe to be able to have a clear direction as to

where we want to take our country, Sierra Leone.

I must add by using this opportunity to thank the British Government for the

support given to us during our most difficult period. It was the intervention of

the British troops during our civil strife that caused the turnaround and

concluded the war and we must use this opportunity to say thanks to all of the

British for their great support. We know that some of their women and men

lost their lives fighting for Sierra Leone and we do appreciate that and Sierra

Leone is very grateful for that support. I believe as a government and a nation

we are faced with the global challenges as well as the unique challenges

within our country and we want to appreciate the leadership role that has

been played by the British in helping a nation like ours in standing up on their

feet and meeting the global challenges and in helping us to meet our specific

and unique challenges. We hope that the British will continue to play that role.

Now, before going on to what I will be talking about let me also use this

opportunity to express my concern and the concern of Sierra Leoneans on

what we believe is happening that is causing some disquiet and sending the

wrong signals in the African continent. We are very concerned that we have

hotspots in Africa, in places like Darfur, Somalia, DRC, North of Uganda, the

fall out of elections in Kenya that resulted to quite an unstable situation there.

We will use this opportunity to appeal to the international community and the

EU to continue with the dialogue we believe should be put in place for a

resolution to these problems. The situation in Kenya should not be allowed to

deteriorate beyond this point. If it does I think it will continuously give the

impression that Africa is still not up to the occasion. So, I think we can use the

opportunity as we are very concerned with and we empathise with what is

going on there but we must as an international community and as the EU not
sit by and allow the situation to deteriorate.

Now I will come onto the issue that we are looking at this afternoon – that is,

our circumstances back home and what I believe should be the agenda,

which I have called the agenda for change. Our situation is quite clear. We

have come out of an election that has been considered free and accepted

nationally and internationally. I must also use the opportunity to thank the

international community for the support given to the electoral process. The

success was largely dependant on the financial support that was given to

funding to it by way of funding, monitoring the process and providing the

capacity support to the national electoral commission.

The people of Sierra Leone exercised their right and they have given us a

mandate. The mandate is for us as a government to restore electricity, to

improve the roads, to repair the medical service delivery system, to improve

the quality of the education provided and to ensure that Sierra Leone

becomes attractive and competitive to the international business sector.

Now, we as a government have had the mandate of the people and I think we

are determined to move on with that mandate but as we address the issues of

the mandate we are faced with a situation that is very very terrible. We have

been through eleven years of war, a war that has been considered to be the

most devastating war in Africa and out of it we have social and economic

indicators that we believe to be the worst. We have inherited a country in

which poverty is prevalent. More than 60% of the people live below the

poverty line. We are in a country in which 60% of the youths are unemployed

and the youth unemployment is on the increase on a daily basis. We are in a

country in which illiteracy is very very high, around 70% illiteracy. The number

of people that have access to pipe-borne water is less than 30%. We have

the worst maternal and child mortality rates in the world which has been

clearly manifested in the published UNDP index and we have the unenviable

position of being the last in all of the 177 countries listed. Last year there was

a little effort made by our nation to rise up a little to the level of 176 but in the

most recent results we are the 177th.

That is where we are as a nation but beyond these it is also a country with
abundance in terms of mineral resources, we can boast of having very good

diamonds and also at a substantial quantity. We can boast of having huge

deposits of iron ore waiting to be exploited. We can boast of having gold

deposits. We are one of the leading producers of (inaudible). We have huge

deposits of oxide. Our agricultural potential is great. Our tourism potential is

one of the best in the West Coast if not the world. We have beaches that you

can not compare anywhere in the world. When you come to Sierra Leone,

you will discover paradise on earth. We have inherited this paradox of social

and economic indicators and natural resources and there is always the issue,

people will ask, why is such a country with such an abundance of human and

mineral resources be that poor. What has been the missing link and what are

we expected to do.

Now, as I said, we are coming out of an election. The expectations are high. I

was talking to a group of people two months ago that the people of Sierra

Leone expect us to sort out all of the problems of electricity, water supply,

education, unemployment and all of this within our first hundred days. Even

where you have efficient systems that are working in developed countries,

this can not be achieved. But that is where we are. That is why we believe

that we must fill in the gap, affect the change, change the direction and the

ways in which government is run and support is given to us. We also believe

that we must change the direction in which we move as donors towards

facilitating our efforts out there.

Now, as a government and as a new President I have made a commitment to

the nation and also to my Cabinet that failure is no an option. We must not fail

this time around and this is the best opportunity that Sierra Leone has to

effectively turn around and restore the group image we once enjoyed within

Africa and the world. The people have demonstrated that. We are now in the

news for the good reasons. We have been through a devastating war but

within a very short time we have accepted democracy, we have demonstrated

great resilience and we have done what is very rare in Africa. We have

transformed the democratic process through an election, whereas a

government in opposition has taken over governance without any military

intervention, there has been no widespread disturbance and in an election

that has been relatively accepted. I think we are all proud of these gains. We

have made Sierra Leone proud. I believe we have made Africa proud. There

is a country out there in West Africa that can do it. It’s not only about
transformation but an election that is free. We intend to deal with the hopes of

our people.

What we as a government have decided to do is to provide the kind of

direction and determination to move forward but like I said there are huge

gaps that we need to fill, in terms of expectations and our capacity as a

government. As a government we have addressed these issues quickly. We

have been in a retreat in which we have clearly identified the directions in

which we want to go. We believe the approach should be changed and

should be different. We have agreed in the goals that we have to set

ourselves. But in all of what we intend to do we are out here to ask for more

support, because we are not on track in meeting our MDGs, the Millennium

Development Goals. We are way out of track and that involves improving our

social service delivery system, turning around the economy and fighting

poverty very very strongly and vigorously and, in that, we have decided that

as a government we have to take a new approach. We have given ourselves

priorities, priorities that will restore hope, give the international community the

clear indication that it is not business as usual but it is a business with a

difference this time, a business that will transform Sierra Leone this time. In

the areas of our priorities, we have identified certain growth areas, growth in

mining, agriculture and employment creation.

We have clearly identified ministries and institutions that will facilitate the

growth areas and we believe that in this restructuring of government we have

to act on the reform of the public sector. One of the reasons we have slowed

down, in terms of performance, is the inability of the public sector to perform

and, therefore, the areas of change, will be a fantastic reform of the public

sector and which will require support as well.

Another area we have decided to address fully is to engage ourselves and put

up a very serious and robust fight against corruption. We believe that

corruption has been a great difficulty, a cancer in our society and, in that

direction we have affected certain changes, appointed the new Anti

Corruption Commissioner. We have given him the mandate and ourselves to

review the existing anti-corruption legislation with a view of giving the anticorruption

autonomy, the autonomy which will give them not only the mandate

to investigate but also to prosecute, also give them the facilities by way of

assigning courts to them that will help them fast track their activities and that
has all been done. In all of this, I believe, if we have the support of the

international community to give the kind of logistical support to the Anti

Corruption Commission will send the right clear signals.

As a government, we believe that there are certain issues that we have to

accept as priorities. We came in and took over a nation that can only provide

a very limited amount of energy and we believe that if we don’t address the

energy situation, we will not be able to address the other issues that we have

to address in order to move the country forward, including the economy.

Therefore, the energy provision that we inherited was under 10 MHz for the

whole country, slightly above 6 MHz in Freetown and 3-4 MHz in (inaudible)

from the (inaudible) Hydro Project. We quickly identified this inadequacy and

we put in place a task force that should advise on the way forward and we

quickly identified that we should restore or start restoring the power supply in

Freetown and its environs. This is one of the issues that we succeeded in

doing within one hundred days, very much in line with the expectations of our

electorate. We were able to restore some regular supply of electricity in

Freetown, the capital city, and we are now at 22 MHz and we hope to

increase on that because the power requirements of Freetown is at the level

of 60 MHz and from Freetown we intend to move on onto the provincial and

district headquarter towns and, in the end, put in place a rural electrification

programme.

Now we have made a commitment that within three years we should be able

to affect a turnaround, but for us to succeed in doing that we believe that we

must be honest with what we have out there. We must accept our situation.

We are still limited with respect to revenue generation. We depend on the

international donor community for running our budget. We are still at 60%

donor-funded in our projects. We have to improve on that. We have to

improve on out tax collection mechanism, the NRA. We have to improve our

mining industry in order to attract external investors. But whilst we are in the

process of improving we still have to go on as a nation and time is not on our

side. We were given a five-year mandate and in the next few months we will

already be one year in and we should have something to show for it. Voters

are expecting.

That is why we are here, to say thanks to the British government for the
support they have given to us but also to ask for more because we believe

that we need a lot more support and our appeal is ‘Help us more!’ because

we consider it the most critical period, so see us through this critical period

that is our take-off period and when we affect the take-off we may come for

other reasons, maybe to partner in trade and development, not donor support.

But it is critical for us now to have the support, come back on track again with

or MDGs. The projections that we made with our Ministry of Finance for us to

achieve our MDGs if we are going to make anything serious out of it is

US$19.2 billion and that is quite a substantial amount. There is nowhere we

can get it. We also know there is a lot of pressure on Britain, in terms of giving

us support. We have to broaden our donor-support pleas and maybe we can

use people out here to support that and maybe also ask the British

government to help us in broadening our support base in order to ensure that

we meet these targets.

We have to improve on the quality of education and the quality of health

delivery. We are weak on those two areas because principally the personnel

charged with the responsibility to deliver are not motivated well-enough. For

most of you it will be surprising to hear that in a country with five million

people we have less than 60 doctors employed by the government, just one

psychiatrist for the entire country, less than five paediatricians, six surgeon

specialists, less than 250 nurses. We do train these people. A good number

of them are trained in the country but most of them leave the country after

training, including the UK. They come here. We train them and they come

here. We train our nurses and they come here. This is also the case with our

teachers. We will emphasise on the continuous training and consider

motivating them more to attract them home. It’s not only those that we train

out there that we require, we also need to attract Sierra Leoneans in the

Diaspora. So there is a lot of work to be done there and it requires a lot of

investment. We believe that if could address the social service delivery it will

cause an impact and an improvement in our performance and it will not

continuously sow the gloomy picture that is also not attracting people to

Sierra Leone.

The investment climate has increased and improved substantially. We are

affecting the changes as a government to ensure that we do the things that

will reduce the time spent to establish your business; we are improving the
cost of doing business and a lot of work has been pout and will continue to be

put in removing the administrative barriers for doing business. One of the

issues, we have to tackle head on to attract investment, is to review the land

tenure system and to ensure that we commercialise the use of land. We

believe that by doing that it will unlock the opportunities in the agricultural and

industrial sectors and many other areas.

I must say here that there is now also a determination as a government to

move the country forward. Sierra Leone is, despite all of this, one of the

safest spots in which you can live; has huge investment opportunities – what

we have there can not be compared to any other West African country. What

has been missing is that this time around, the political leadership has the will

and capacity to take the decisions that will make a difference, so, therefore,

we invite all of you to come join us and affect the change together.

I thank you.

Subject: Wake up, APC ; The people are crying
From: The Exclusive
To: All
Date Posted: 09:28:41 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ac8586ce.ipt.aol.com at 172.133.134.206

Message:
APC Wake Up!The People Are Crying
Written by The Exclusive News Paper
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
The incumbent All People's Congress, APC government enjoys a popular mandate from the people of this country which crowns the entrance legitimacy of President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma.With the entrance legitimacy, goes the fulfillment of the expectation of those who reposed confidence in electing the APC into power over the heads of the SLPP. Voter Apathy That massive lack of confidence and sustained voter apathy against the continuation of maintaining the SLPP at the helm of State affairs were all powerful ingredients which combined to see the back of the former ruling elite in the 8th September 2007 run-off presidential polls.Fed-UpThe people were fed up with volume of rising prices of basic commodities and the ever increasing high standard of living under which the generality of people were forced to subsist on, with great expectation to eliminating those inequalities and lack of fulfillment, the people opted for the APC "Back to Power" for a change of regime.Four months hence, the situation largely has not only remained bleak and the same, but it has further degenerated with prices of essential commodities sky-rocketing and almost bursting the sky.ImprovementThe people need their lot to improve; their life styles have to change for the better and their lofty expectations met if they are to continue placing confidence in the government they overwhelmingly voted into office.APC should awaken itself to the new reality of post-elections expectation actualizing and a corresponding improvement of their general lot and living standards.This time round, the people are not waiting on for explanations and a sermon of wait and see government" reborn phase two.SpreadThe expectation of the populace spread a general alleviation of the living plight of their lot to a marked and general improvement with trained personnel, medicines, equipment and delivery of affordable and prompt services, schools properly staffed and availability of learning materials in a hospitable environment; across the board services delivery in all public sectors not leaving Guma Valley Water Company and other utilities across the country with an improvement of electricity supply and e addressing a host of neglected areas by the previous government.If the APC fails to awaken to these and other numerous concerns, they too will find it difficult to maintain power like the SLPP.
< Prev Next >

[ Back ]
Publisher/Manager:
Sheik Sesay
Advertise with us and see your business grow

Freetown Contact : +232-766-62739

Other Contact : +204-990-9127

E-mail: info@exclusivepress.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascr1pt enabled to view it

Design by Muckson Sesay
Joomla Templates by JoomlaShack Joomla Templates

Subject: Shut up, SLPP
From: The Exclusive
To: All
Date Posted: 09:24:59 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ac8586ce.ipt.aol.com at 172.133.134.206

Message:
Shut Up SLPP !"Disgruntled SLPP Supporters
Written by The Exclusive News Paper
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Sierra Leone's lead opposition party, the SLPP is not used to democratic opposition. They have suddenly crumbled under the corridors of power and are now at war with each other, observers have stated.It seems it all started with this medium's lead story of Tuesday headlined - "Prince Harding-Bio Political Prostitutes" which questioned the duo for their frolicking romance with the ruling APC party. Prince Harding is reported to have gone berserk, cantankerous, insulting and beating the hell out of almost everybody in the hierarchy of the SLPP as being responsible for his disgraceful downfall, which heralded that of the decline of the party itself.InfightingSLPP is not serious and is sounding immature as the infighting within the party progresses. The SLPP instead of fast addressing the multiple problems eating at the efficiency of the party have indulged in trading insults against each other right in the public domain.One would have expected that there are real problems bugging the party which beg for immediate solution and attention than degenerating into petty personal turfs and squabbling.Leadership"SLPP as it stands is decimated of its leadership is a serious problem facing the the party, a question which demands urgent attention in order to put it on a better footing," political pundits have observed."Delay or not, the SLPP leadership question has to be answered at any rate be it today or tomorrow - that party demands a credible and a nationally representative leadership capable of providing a serious alternative to the ruling APC," a school of thought had opined to this press.Day OffWith the popular rejection of Solomon Berewa, a potent message has been sent to the SLPP dinosaurs - the generation of the Sama Banyas, that their indefinite and final day off is here for them to take their exit as the new and majority demographics are no longer in favour of them nor obedient to them, i.e. the youth factor has overtaken the PAs and the game is over and will continue without them.Robust ParliamentWhilst The Executive wing of the party is disputing over trivialities and destruction from Dr. Prince Alex Harding, who was one time Secretary General and was outvoted at the Makeni SLPP convention; he is desperate and unhappy with his party for that and he seems to be tempted towards the APC which is not in any way reportedly bugging the SLPP, inside sources disclose.Calls are for a robust parliamentary presence of the lead opposition party - SLPP to make very significant nationalistic contributions in parliament and succeed to win the hearts, souls and minds of the electoral public out there whilst making them appealing - first July Local Government Elections (mid term) and for 2012.GrassrootsSLPP has still not shed its elitist character of which it stands largely accused and punished for in the last polls - they are still committing the same sad mistakes as of old Sama Banya's advice and operations.There are grassroots constituency problems to address and bring on board in order to win the majority strata of the downtrodden of the nation who feel being left out of the political process.RenewInternally, there are calls all around the country and in the Diaspora for the SLPP to renew itself, make amends for mistakes of the past and project a new image, instead of the noise or palavers they are impregnating the airwaves and our print media with the ego fight, which will further erode the much needed respect left in them.Early conventionSubsequent meetings of the National Executive Council, NEC and the party's elders' Council must convene regular and prompt meetings all geared towards marshalling forces to map out the way to restoration to power, where tolerance for each other should punctuate party members' conduct and meaningful contribution to party activities and any eventual success.Last WordIf the SLPP is not serious, they should tell their membership just that and stop dissipating their energies in petty personal quarrels and shut up!
< Prev Next >

[ Back ]
Publisher/Manager:
Sheik Sesay
Advertise with us and see your business grow

Freetown Contact : +232-766-62739

Other Contact : +204-990-9127

E-mail: info@exclusivepress.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascr1pt enabled to view it

Design by Muckson Sesay
Joomla Templates by JoomlaShack Joomla Templates

Subject: Shut up, SLPP
From: The Exclusive
To: All
Date Posted: 09:23:46 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ac8586ce.ipt.aol.com at 172.133.134.206

Message:
Shut Up SLPP !"Disgruntled SLPP Supporters
Written by The Exclusive News Paper
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
Sierra Leone's lead opposition party, the SLPP is not used to democratic opposition. They have suddenly crumbled under the corridors of power and are now at war with each other, observers have stated.It seems it all started with this medium's lead story of Tuesday headlined - "Prince Harding-Bio Political Prostitutes" which questioned the duo for their frolicking romance with the ruling APC party. Prince Harding is reported to have gone berserk, cantankerous, insulting and beating the hell out of almost everybody in the hierarchy of the SLPP as being responsible for his disgraceful downfall, which heralded that of the decline of the party itself.InfightingSLPP is not serious and is sounding immature as the infighting within the party progresses. The SLPP instead of fast addressing the multiple problems eating at the efficiency of the party have indulged in trading insults against each other right in the public domain.One would have expected that there are real problems bugging the party which beg for immediate solution and attention than degenerating into petty personal turfs and squabbling.Leadership"SLPP as it stands is decimated of its leadership is a serious problem facing the the party, a question which demands urgent attention in order to put it on a better footing," political pundits have observed."Delay or not, the SLPP leadership question has to be answered at any rate be it today or tomorrow - that party demands a credible and a nationally representative leadership capable of providing a serious alternative to the ruling APC," a school of thought had opined to this press.Day OffWith the popular rejection of Solomon Berewa, a potent message has been sent to the SLPP dinosaurs - the generation of the Sama Banyas, that their indefinite and final day off is here for them to take their exit as the new and majority demographics are no longer in favour of them nor obedient to them, i.e. the youth factor has overtaken the PAs and the game is over and will continue without them.Robust ParliamentWhilst The Executive wing of the party is disputing over trivialities and destruction from Dr. Prince Alex Harding, who was one time Secretary General and was outvoted at the Makeni SLPP convention; he is desperate and unhappy with his party for that and he seems to be tempted towards the APC which is not in any way reportedly bugging the SLPP, inside sources disclose.Calls are for a robust parliamentary presence of the lead opposition party - SLPP to make very significant nationalistic contributions in parliament and succeed to win the hearts, souls and minds of the electoral public out there whilst making them appealing - first July Local Government Elections (mid term) and for 2012.GrassrootsSLPP has still not shed its elitist character of which it stands largely accused and punished for in the last polls - they are still committing the same sad mistakes as of old Sama Banya's advice and operations.There are grassroots constituency problems to address and bring on board in order to win the majority strata of the downtrodden of the nation who feel being left out of the political process.RenewInternally, there are calls all around the country and in the Diaspora for the SLPP to renew itself, make amends for mistakes of the past and project a new image, instead of the noise or palavers they are impregnating the airwaves and our print media with the ego fight, which will further erode the much needed respect left in them.Early conventionSubsequent meetings of the National Executive Council, NEC and the party's elders' Council must convene regular and prompt meetings all geared towards marshalling forces to map out the way to restoration to power, where tolerance for each other should punctuate party members' conduct and meaningful contribution to party activities and any eventual success.Last WordIf the SLPP is not serious, they should tell their membership just that and stop dissipating their energies in petty personal quarrels and shut up!
< Prev Next >

[ Back ]
Publisher/Manager:
Sheik Sesay
Advertise with us and see your business grow

Freetown Contact : +232-766-62739

Other Contact : +204-990-9127

E-mail: info@exclusivepress.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascr1pt enabled to view it

Design by Muckson Sesay
Joomla Templates by JoomlaShack Joomla Templates

Subject: Prince Harding : Patriot or opportunist ?
From: The Exclusive
To: All
Date Posted: 09:17:22 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ac8586ce.ipt.aol.com at 172.133.134.206

Message:
Prince Harding…Prince of SLPP or APC?Patriot or Opportunist?
Written by David A. Jabati
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
The history of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) will never be completed without mentioning the name, Prince Alex Harding.Say what you may. Bad as he was. Prince Harding is, in my personal view, the best Secretary General the SLPP has ever had. Like another Alex, Sir Alex Ferguson who has won dozens of trophies while serving as Manager of one of world's biggest clubs, Manchester United, so has Dr. Prince Alex Harding as Secretary General, won laurels for the SLPP.

Naturally, Prince Harding would have loved to design the same strategies, play the same game and gimmick to ensure another victory for his party in the just concluded election. Democracy however turned its ugly claws on this big time political strategist and the Prince of SLPP as he was voted against by members at the party's National Delegates Convention in Makeni in September 2005. As confident as Solomon Berewa was, Harding thought he was going to defeat his opponent, Saffa hands down."Today we are going to differentiate the men from the boys," Harding told me while entering the convention grounds. He was over confident.He was disgracefully defeated by a young, dynamic and jumpy Economist from the World Bank, Jacob Jusu Saffa.Many however doubted Saffa, "What business has an Economist in politics?" many asked. But does that really matter? After all, Harding was a Chemist who ensured that the Chemistry of the party worked.Saffa came with his own 24 Plan Strategy but unlike Harding, he was marginalized by the many, many Support groups of the then 'Popular' Solo B which eventually led to the disgraceful defeat of the party.Shortly after the Makeni convention, Harding who was Transport and Communications Minister was stripped of his able Deputy, Pascal Egbenda. A decision many saw as a plot to expose his administrative nakedness that led to his final sack. As far as Harding is concern, he was tricked in Makeni. Prior to the Makeni Convention, rumours were that Harding was not in good terms with Kabbah and Berewa who were alleged to have masterminded the whole convention. And when the results turned against Harding, resentment, disgruntlement and despondence crept in. He felt marginalized and although he managed boldface, underneath that boldness was bitterness.In my view, that deep rooted bitterness gave rise to his sudden marriage with the APC as a way of finding solace. Does that mean Harding has divorced the SLPP? No!What is wrong with Harding working with the APC? The answer is - nothing on one hand and many on the other.Didn't Charles Margai form a party sequel to his defeat at the Makeni polls? What if Harding would have done the same or at least joined Margai?The fact is that Hading must have suppressed his anger to see whether the SLPP will return to power and be compensated for being with the party in difficult times. The SLPP lost. And for Harding, SLPP or no SLPP life must go on.To many, Harding's sudden marriage with the APC is premature. The question that pricks the minds of many is: "Is Prince Harding the Prince of SLPP or APC… A patriot or an opportunist? Judging from the current scenario, Harding has become a political misfit -not fully recognized in the SLPP and at the same time not a member of the APC. This sudden oddity of Harding has sparked war in the SLPP as the two scribes; former and current, Harding and Saffa respectively are now at war.For the past couple of days there has been an uncontrollable war of words between the two. "J.J. Saffa is a novice," blasted Harding in one of the local tabloids. "Prince Harding is a mess," spitted Saffa in another tabloid.So if Saffa is a novice and Harding a mess, what is SLPP? A 'crap' institution?By the way what has the party done to quell such an imbroglio? Has Harding committed a crime?To many SLPP members, Harding is an oddball and a nonconformist.Except for some ulterior motive or for self aggrandizement, I see nothing wrong with Harding a born Sierra Leonean working with the government of the day. That is if he was called upon by the President to render a service on behalf of the nation. To me that was a big show of patriotism as it is the absolute prerogative of the President to bring people close to him who he thinks are capable of helping him advance his positive aspirations for Sierra Leone. On the other hand, if it is Harding who is chasing the President and lobbying for some placement as rumoured, then I think, just as many do, Harding is indeed an opportunist. To many Sierra Leoneans who have been following events surrounding Harding's political exploits, he is a real politician in the Sierra Leonean point of view. Harding has been in active politics back in the days of the old APC and he very well knows how to play politics the APC way. His recent marriage with the SLPP is seen as a way of being in the good books of the powers-that-be in a way of neutralizing whatever corruption scam that is hanging over his head.It could be recalled that as Minister of Transport and Communications, Harding stands indicted for the helicopter crash that led to the death of the Togolese footballers and officials sometime last year. The lapse by the Ministry that led to that ugly incident was still under investigation when power changed hands. Harding's current romance with President Koroma would perhaps influence the investigations in his f0avour, many have argued. We still would want to ask: Whose Prince is Harding. SLPP or APC?
Next >

Subject: ANALYZE THIS: THE MESSAGE VS. THE MESSENGER
From: KING LOGGY
To: All
Date Posted: 03:40:39 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 144.226.173.69

Message:
Gaddafi warns Africa over unity

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has threatened to turn his back on Africa if the continent's leaders again reject his proposals for closer unity.
He said Libya would instead look towards Europe and the Arab world.

Col Gaddafi was speaking just ahead of the opening of a summit of African Union leaders in Ethiopia on Thursday.

He also said Libya was prepared to move its African investments, which he said amounted to more than $5bn (£2.5bn), to Arab and Mediterranean states.

The Libyan leader has for a long time advocated the creation of a United States of Africa - with its government including a foreign minister, defence minister and minister of trade.

The AU, which succeeded the Organisation of African Unity in 2002, was conceived by Mr Gaddafi as part of this vision.

New-found friendship

The BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says Col Gaddafi expressed his concerns on the future of Africa at a two-hour news conference at his residence in the Libyan capital.

He accused the AU of failing to achieve tangible results in unity because of its endless delays in progressing towards forming a government for the continent.

After decades of sanctions and isolation, the Libyan leader seems comfortable with his new-found friendship with the West, our reporter says.

He said Libya would consider more economically strategic alternatives like Europe and the Arab world if his vision was rejected.

"The (summit) will be decisive. It will either put an end to stalling and time wasting on the unification of Africa or prove there is a conspiracy which vetoes African unity," Mr Gaddafi said.

Our correspondent says the Libyan leader failed to name individual countries he blames for the lack of progress.

But he praised the French-speaking African states as well as Nigeria, under its former leader Olusegun Obasanjo, for wanting African unity.

Subject: Past thieves can keep their loots.
From: nico
To: All
Date Posted: 06:07:21 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: nicoleconsult@hotmail.com
Entered From: 82-45-226-138.cable.ubr03.enfi.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.45.226.138

Message:
Corioko Question: The public is often sceptical about the ACC because it always arrests the ordinary man and the big fish gets away?

ACC Head Answer: 'Big fishes' have been arrested by the commission, but really I do not think it is for me to look at what happened in the past. I am looking forward and I can assure the public that if any of the so-called 'Big fishes' commit acts of corruption -- and I have the evidence to prove it in the court of law - - action would definitely be taken against them That is why I need the support of the people. We need to get people to report acts of corruption. We need to get people to be engaged with the commission to ensure that we are all in the fight against corruption. If I don't have the necessary evidence and people do not come forward to give the necessary evidence then unfortunately these 'Big Fishes' will have to go scot-free. So the obligation really is also on the people of Sierra Leone, the government and the various key stakeholders to ensure that we have the necessary evidence to prosecute.

Hooray! We can now keep our stolen monies, big mansions and continue to support our mistresses. Thank you sir for not investigating us. I have been having sleepless nights. Now that I am not a minister, I was depressed that the money I stole and the houses I built on a salary of 2 million leones could be confiscated. Now we will withdarw our election petitions and cooperate with president Koroma to rob hand. Now we can talk about reconciliation proper.

People of Sierra Leone, a new law has been passed. From now on all those who stole from the people of Sierra Leone are free to keep whatever they stole.The ACC will only now deal with future thief but if the thief is able to concel evidence, then we will not touch him/her. With this, the case for ACC and President Koroma's pledged for Zero tolerance is a non-starter -it has already failed.

I need someone to tell me if there is any law in Sierra Leone that exclude the ACC from bringing public thieves to account for their actions simply because the alleged crimes were now in the past. This is the highest stage of absurdity in transparency and accountability. It is like saying that we have to stop a thief on the act but once the act has been committed then it is in the past and one cannot do a thing about it. What is the remit of the ACC? Does it exclude prosecuting public officials who have been accused of theft and are still holding on to their ill-gotten wealth. Where do the much-talked about zero tolerance heading to.

The ACC statement that it cannot deal with economic criminals is a colaborative non-sense, and a conspiracy by the political elites against the poor, the less privileged and powerless in our country.

Subject: Re: Past thieves can keep their loots.
From: Nico
To: All
Date Posted: 08:50:19 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 205.148.53.200

Message:
Nico, you have to do a cost benefit analysis. How much money do you want to spend on reteiving money from old theives and how far back do want to go. Do you want to spend millions trying to look for money which has been wasted on mistresses.We need to move forward and put all the laws in place and have a zero tolerance from now on. The previous govt did nothing to stop corruption.

Subject: Re: Past thieves can keep their loots.
From: nico
To: All
Date Posted: 13:35:09 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: nicoleconsult@hotmail.com
Entered From: 82-45-226-138.cable.ubr03.enfi.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.45.226.138

Message:
There is no need for any cost benefit analysis because the ACC had been well funded by DFID and probably other institutions to specifically catch crooks. Adopting Nico to confused readers will not deter me. I have two brains.

Subject: Liberia judge probes bribery in coup plot verdict
From: Alphonso Toweh
To: All
Date Posted: 14:12:15 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ac202-025.resnet.stonybrook.edu at 130.245.202.25

Message:
Liberia judge probes bribery in coup plot verdict

By Alphonso Toweh

MONROVIA, Jan 30 (Reuters) - A Liberian jury has convicted two ex-army officers of treason for plotting a coup last year but a judge began an inquiry on Wednesday into whether prosecutors bribed jurors, officials and court documents said.

The jury convicted former General Charles Julu, who led a previous coup attempt in 1994 during Liberia's civil war, and ex-Colonel Andrew Dorbor on Tuesday over a plot unearthed by the west African country's intelligence services last year.

Amid chaotic scenes in court, Judge Charles Williams said he would investigate defence allegations that prosecutors had given each juror $800 to encourage them to convict the pair, the official court record from Tuesday's hearing showed.

"The allegation noted by the counsel for the defendant is well noted," the court record quoted Williams as saying after the jury delivered its verdict late on Tuesday.

"I remember that prior to Christmas, the county attorney approached me in my office (to say) that the government was contemplating giving the jurors $150 for their present as (a) Christmas bonus. They even offered (it to) me," he continued.

Williams began a hearing into the bribery allegations -- a sort of trial within a trial -- on Wednesday that was expected to continue on Thursday, the clerk of the court told Reuters.

News of the coup plot last year stirred fears of a return to political instability after the 2005 election of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained former World Bank economist, as Africa's first elected woman head of state.

However, many Liberians questioned how serious a risk the coup plot had posed, especially after a huge ammunition cache the authorities said they had found during their investigations turned out to be useless scrap metal destined for recycling.

A key piece of evidence released by authorities shortly after the arrests was a video recording of Dorbor and Julu's cousin talking to a military officer from neighbouring Ivory Coast about how to transport weapons from there into Liberia.

During initial questioning, Dorbor implicated Julu and George Koukou, who had served as head of the national assembly during a post-war transitional administration.

Johnson-Sirleaf pardoned Koukou mid-trial on Monday, citing a need for national reconciliation, during her annual State of the Nation address before both chambers of parliament.

She said in her speech she would allow the justice system to run its course in other prosecutions which were at a more advanced stage than that of Koukou.

The small West African country faces huge struggles as it struggles to rebuild infrastructure and public services, including its law enforcement and judicial systems, after a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003. (Writing by Alistair Thomson; editing by Robert Woodward)

Subject: An Italian Joke
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 11:04:50 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 165.155.200.145

Message:
Now that Rudy Giuliani's Florida strategy has backfired big time in the Primaries, and evaporated his dreams of becoming leader of the free world, I bring you this joke, courtesy of the guys at jokes.com.

Talking Italian

A bus stops and two Italian men get on. They seat themselves, and engage in animated conversation. The lady sitting behind them ignores their conversation at first, but her attention is galvanized when she hears one of the men say the following:

''Emma come first. I come. Dennis come and Dennis come again. I come again. Two asses, they come together again. I come again and pee twice. Then I come once-a-more.''

''You foul-mouthed swine,'' retorted the lady indignantly. ''In this country we don't talk about our sex lives in public.''

''Hey, coola down lady,'' said the man. ''Imma just tella my friend howa to spella Mississippi.''

Subject: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: Ronaldino
To: All
Date Posted: 10:10:55 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: 82-44-17-83.cable.ubr04.croy.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.44.17.83

Message:
Astreaus charges £526 return in the low period. It is about time Virgin Air, Thomas Cook and others come put us out of our misery.
Flights to Banjul for two weeks including hotel is £400. Flight only = £280 including airport tax.

Another case of the Salone Man been bled dry!!!

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: Baridge Travels
To: All
Date Posted: 09:41:36 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: s100-masq.iptelsl.net at 83.229.112.20

Message:
and hope you do not use Baridge Travels..For they are a Bunch of CROOKS...

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: Erica Adams
To: All
Date Posted: 22:51:29 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: ericamonique82@hotmail.com
Entered From: adsl-074-185-005-235.sip.clt.bellsouth.net at 74.185.5.235

Message:
I'm actually in the process of looking for a flight to Freetown for my husband. Have any of you had any experience with Royal Air Maroc? I called and was told a roundtrip from NY to FNA is $1,481.00 roundtrip for a three month ticket. I asked 3 times to make sure I was hearing correctly. Anyway, if anyone has had experience with this airline, please let us know the good and bad of your experience. The one drawback is that there is a 10-11 hour layover in Casablanca.

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: Ronaldino
To: All
Date Posted: 11:03:43 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: 82-44-17-83.cable.ubr04.croy.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.44.17.83

Message:
Erica, check out Delta's flight to Dakar,Senegal then onwards to Freetown.

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: Erica Adams
To: All
Date Posted: 15:37:47 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: ericamonique82@hotmail.com
Entered From: adsl-074-185-005-235.sip.clt.bellsouth.net at 74.185.5.235

Message:
I will thanks.

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: nico
To: All
Date Posted: 13:25:45 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: nicoleconsult@hotmail.com
Entered From: 82-45-226-138.cable.ubr03.enfi.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.45.226.138

Message:
Brussels Airline fares to Freetown is over 1,700 Euro one month return.

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: Good Question
To: All
Date Posted: 07:27:04 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: gw1.dc.gov at 164.82.146.3

Message:
Air Maroc did not go to FNA the last time I checked on Dec 28, 2007, about a month ago. It went to Guinea, Conakry. However things might have changed. They are not always the most reliable but they are not that bad. Someone said that the king of Morocco can file for his personal use of the jetliners at will. So when for example, the King wants to travel out of Casablanca, the passengers on the flight would have to wait in transit until the King is done with his personal use of the jets. Please cross check this info for accuracy.

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: Ronaldino
To: All
Date Posted: 07:20:44 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: 82-44-17-83.cable.ubr04.croy.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.44.17.83

Message:
Air Maroc Kept folks going to Freetown a whole week during christmas!

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: Sam
To: All
Date Posted: 21:46:16 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: c-76-106-80-14.hsd1.md.comcast.net at 76.106.80.14

Message:
What does it take to have a flight from BWI to Lungi and Roberts field then to BWI, on weekly trips?

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: salone police
To: All
Date Posted: 22:24:23 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: salonepolice@hotmail.com
Entered From: adsl-76-254-113-217.dsl.hstntx.sbcglobal.net at 76.254.113.217

Message:
Expand and modernise Lungi, improve the service sector for the air industry by training service staff to international standards, make FNA an attractive/sought-after destination/hub and the rest is history.

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: nico
To: All
Date Posted: 12:34:33 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: nicoleconsult@hotmail.com
Entered From: 82-45-226-138.cable.ubr03.enfi.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.45.226.138

Message:
Until we develop our tourist industries, we will continue to pay extorsionist air fares. Tourism is the biggest revenue industry in the Gambia that compete with renounced tourist attractions such as Kenya, even though the former do not have a Safari.

There are all sorts of business activities that could take of and the effect will be multiplied once serious attention is paid to tourism.

There should also be tour promotions and parkages holidays with discounts to institutions and unions in the developed world in order to attract more interests. This will impact on the amount of air fare we paid to visit home.

Three years ago I spent two weeks in the Gambia for less than £300 including flight and 4 star hotel. This was due to the privileged of my membership of the Civil Service Union which enjoys such discounts facilities of its members.

There are so many benefits we in the diasporas can make use of if only we have the right kind of infrastructure in Sierra Leone. Other nationals are paying almost next to nothing where we pay huge some of money for inferior services.

A colleague of mine, whose origin is in Barbados, goes there twice a year on a discounted fare of £150 each.

But can anyone tell me how we lagged behind Gambia, a country whose only resources is ground nat soup. A great wrong has been done to Sierra Leone and all those who have been at the helm of the management of our country's affairs must be ashmed. Let's hope, with the new administration, which was ushered in for change, can make a difference.

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: kamara
To: All
Date Posted: 08:37:44 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 205.148.53.200

Message:
nico:
Blame the former APC govt. I met representatives of the Gambia experience and was told that their original intention was to promote tourism in Sierra Leone not gambia. The sierra leone officials were too corrupt demanding huge amounts of money. so they moved to gambia.

That is why we lag behind Gambia which has less attractive beaches than Sierra Leone.

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: nico
To: All
Date Posted: 14:59:56 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: nicoleconsult@hotmail.com
Entered From: 82-45-226-138.cable.ubr03.enfi.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.45.226.138

Message:
"renounced"

Self correction I meant renowed, forgive me, it has been a hard day for me.

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: Correction
To: All
Date Posted: 15:46:05 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: c-76-113-198-122.hsd1.mn.comcast.net at 76.113.198.122

Message:
It is reknowned

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 20:45:35 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4577b27b.dyn.optonline.net at 69.119.178.123

Message:
Actually, it's RENOWNED......Sorry for butting in.

Subject: Re: Air Fares to Sierra Leone are criminal !
From: Bonthe Pikin
To: All
Date Posted: 10:15:30 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: bontilaynga@gmail.com
Entered From: at 82.114.74.97

Message:
Dear Ronaldino,

If you are in UK, you can do us a great favour by initiating contacts with these flight agencies and discuss it with them. Virgin, especially, is widening its scope in the Pacific, and I am sure will be more than willing to venture into the Sierra Leone Market. Over to you brother.

Subject: Price Control
From: Trade Consultant
To: All
Date Posted: 08:39:22 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 66.178.120.242

Message:
Minister of Trade, has announced a price control on Rice and Wheat flour, with a warning that anyone, who defies him will face serious consequences.
Importers, had no choice, but to verbally accept his command.Some of them say clearly, that they will not import more rice and flour, as they will lose money.
So we should be prepared to face an acute shortage of rice and bread in next 6-8 weeks.Who would be blamed for this???Will people say that Lebanese are sabotaging the Minister or will people say Minister's action was unwarranted???

Subject: Re: Price Control
From: Man pikin
To: All
Date Posted: 13:55:43 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: pool-96-240-15-68.nwrknj.fios.verizon.net at 96.240.15.68

Message:
But the price of rice is still high. A pint of palm oil now is Le.2,0000. Things are difficult for the ordinary man in Sierra Leone. I think Prezo EBK should address this situation urgently.

Subject: Re: Price Control
From: fellow
To: All
Date Posted: 12:24:42 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 198.231.23.240

Message:
Thou shall not live on rice alone. Think about the Good that is going to come out of this situation. Too much rice diminishes brain power anyway. Let us find other food alternatives, or produce enough rice from within the Country.

Subject: Re: Price Control
From: POLITICAL
To: All
Date Posted: 13:52:37 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 207.108.136.237

Message:
Unfortunately, rice has become our staple food, but that is not the problem. I believe the problem is the government does not encourage local farmers to produce the kind of rice that will be sufficient for the country.
Secondly, the rice that's produced in the country will be enough if the government put mechanism to stop exportation to Guinea. Who remember, during the NPRC when they enforced a ban on rice exportation in 1992 to 1995? The price of rice dropped significantly in the country. But that was a military group, so I will not compare them with a civilian rule. However, their method worked. What alternative way the APC will do to stop the price gouging in the country? Price control is just a first step but it is not enough to solve the problem.

SOLUTION:
If the government of Ernest Koroma want to solve this problem, he has to sacrifice the Lebanese influence and talk to the Chinese to help in that sector by providing tractors. The government then will use these tractors to create state farms (Atleast one farm for each district). The research at Rokupr research center should be put into use at this time. That center has developed different rice grains that can be harvested in just three months time. Those grains should be used in these state farms to help reduce the dependence on foreign rice. This will not only resolve the rice problem in the country, but also create jobs in those twelve (12) districts.

NOTES: I did understand that the Chinese indeed provided about 300 tractors during the SLPP. Those tractor were shared among ministers. (pathetic). Momodu Koroma was one of the beneficiaries.

Until the government is willing to take the country out of the control of these Lebanese, we will continue to suffer. This is the down side of total dependence.

Subject: Re: Price Control
From: Limbanese
To: All
Date Posted: 09:10:29 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 66.178.120.242

Message:
Minister ought to know better

Subject: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: M. Alieu Iscandari Esq
To: All
Date Posted: 03:36:40 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-ntc-ad04.proxy.aol.com at 207.200.116.198

Message:
My office represents GW a sierra leonean male who recently filed for immigration benefits for his 23 year old daughter. The US embassy ordered a DNA test and the result was that GW was not the biological father of the young lady and she was thus not elligible for any immigration benefits. GW was not married to the mother of his daughter but has been financially responsible for the young lady since she was born.

GW has asked my office to represent him on this matter and it is my belief that there are many GW's in our community who were told that they were the biological parents of children, at a time and date when DNA tests were not available, or accessible to Africans. (They still are not accessible at any reasonable costs to sierra leoneans)

It is my intent to seek class certifcation for all persons similarly situated as my client GW. Should you have knowledge of any persons similarly situated please have them contact my office at the following address:

ISCANDARI & ASSOCIATES
7901 Oakport Street Ste 4900
Oakland CA 94621
510-615-6000 Office
510-938-6186 Cell
240-515-6316 Cell

FEEL FREE TO FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO ANYONE IN THE IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: man pikin
To: All
Date Posted: 19:37:26 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: man_pikin@yahoo.com
Entered From: pool-96-240-15-68.nwrknj.fios.verizon.net at 96.240.15.68

Message:
Attorney Iscandri, are all DNA results accurate? Someone I know have a situation that he will like to discuss with you.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Bock Jah
To: All
Date Posted: 04:40:08 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 195.172.14.80

Message:
This subject has generated a lot of interest which is no suprise given our cultural settings.

During my first year at university my on/off girlfriend told me she was 5 months pregnant. At first i did not accept that i was responsible but later succumbed to pressure.

The child is now 11 years old and i intend to bring him over to the UK since i am no longer with the mother.

If a DNA is requested and proves otherwise it would be very difficult for me given that i have cared for this child since birth and would obviously continue to do so given the psychological effect this would have on the child.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Cloned Man
To: All
Date Posted: 07:50:25 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: gw1.dc.gov at 164.82.146.3

Message:
UK does not request DNA proofs. You're in good shape! Unless they started to copy-cat the US distasteful immigration DNA test.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 07:47:20 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
The UK does and the Entry Clearance office will send the samples of the applicant to the UK and then collect that of the sponsor for DNA analysis. The practice has been going on for over four years.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Bock Jah
To: All
Date Posted: 08:45:45 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 195.172.14.80

Message:
Thanks bro for the info.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 20:37:18 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4577b27b.dyn.optonline.net at 69.119.178.123

Message:
In the days before DNA, we used to give a torch light to the young ladies who used to come to us to fearfully announce "Ar nor see me period!", only to dismissively tell them: "Nar for go fen am O!" May God have mercy on us. We were so young and foolishly irresponsible.

I know that we all believe we are our father's kids. However I shudder about the kind of surprise we could find if we dragged our fathers for a DNA test. I guess it is best to let sleeping dogs lie.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: ALHAJI ALIEU TAFIE
To: All
Date Posted: 19:13:39 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: c-69-140-129-75.hsd1.md.comcast.net at 69.140.129.75

Message:
ALIEU ISCANDARI,
If you care that much about proving fatherhood would please subject, your dad and your daughter to a DNA test. For a very long time they have been looking for their true daddies.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: FOR THE MODERATOR
To: All
Date Posted: 01:38:18 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-ntc-ad04.proxy.aol.com at 207.200.116.198

Message:
THERE SHOULD BE NO PLACE FOR THIS KIND OF INSULTING POST BY THIS PERSON AGAINST MR. ISCANDARI ON AN ISSUE THAT MAY END UP BENEFITING ALL OF US. WE ALL KNOW WHO THIS PERSON IS ATTACKING ALIEU AND BECAUSE HE HAS CHOSEN TO USE A DIFFERENT NAME WE NOW KNOW THAT HE IS A COWARD.
MODERATOR PLEASE DELETE THIS UNFORTUNATE POST

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: APC
To: All
Date Posted: 09:55:52 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4575eca0.dyn.optonline.net at 69.117.236.160

Message:
Contact the APC office in Freetown.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: confused
To: All
Date Posted: 10:00:55 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 84.54.21.148

Message:
What is the corealtion, between APC members abd putative fathers????

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Jack
To: All
Date Posted: 09:28:27 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: static-70-20-197-79.phil.east.verizon.net at 70.20.197.79

Message:
A'fa Alieu,
I see a big and deep can or should I say drum of worms opening here. I do not have any legal training whatsoever, but what do you hope to archieve with this class action move? Is it to change the immigration laws so we can all bring over our sidekicks' children or to worsen the situation, our former rivals (maybe still rival)kids?
Bra this hussle is correct. Maybe some of us can make up for the free goodies we used to get.
"Ha say, ar bato you pan this one tay go"
Have a good day bra, dont take me serious I am having fun whilst my "long-throat" boss is in a tight meeting.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Erica Adams
To: All
Date Posted: 12:59:01 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: ericamonique82@hotmail.com
Entered From: adsl-074-185-005-235.sip.clt.bellsouth.net at 74.185.5.235

Message:
I think this is a good move. I have heard of cases where this has happened to men who were doing all they could to bring kids over only to find out they weren't their biological children. This is a double standard because I have also heard of cases where men were paying child support for children they later learned weren't theirs but were ordered to continue paying support for because they had already established themselves as the financial and emotional parent. I don't like the way that immigration is minimizing the emotional attachment many of these men have developed to their children and for most of the kids these are the only fathers they have.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: John E. Leigh
To: All
Date Posted: 13:58:14 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: johnernestleigh@yahoo.com
Entered From: cache-mtc-ah10.proxy.aol.com at 64.12.117.202

Message:
I was an intended victim of this putative fatherhood scam, which I know is common in our country but I eventually beat it via DNA.

In my case, for over 45 years the biological mother claimed I was the father of her out-of-wedlock daughter who is presently resident in New York. For 40 years I denied it. Worse for me, the daughther badly wanted me to acknowledge her as mine. She loved me so much, she said. I liked her too but that did not mean she is my daughter.

Their claim was that she looks just like me! Yeah, right!

I repeatedly declined fatherhood for years and years and told her that her mother was a disgusting liar who lied to all her relatives and friends for over nearly 5 decades with many of them going to their graves with her lies!

What else could she have done? She must be consistent with her lies or loose credibility. So she stuck to her lies!

Finally, I accepted the daughter's offer to take a DNA test. We agreed to split the bill 50-50.

The DNA results stated in no uncertain terms that there is ZERO chance that I am the father. Last time, I heard, the mother is still lying, caught up in her shame but not giving up her lies.

What I long discovered growing up in SL is that some of our women are bamboat types and when they get pregnant, they pick the top of the pile as the father for social and practical reasons regardless of who they knew did it. That's how I got libeled.

At the time, I was a small 'krio' school boy from from a nicely situated family and the lying mother wanted a nice 'social pedigree' for her daughter whose real father, I suspected all along, is or was a provincial man 10 years my senior with a job at GBO/UAC, a flat at UPGUN and cash but who was too shameful to be her daughter's father. At the time, I was a dunce who got roped into their scam but I proud that I was smart enough never to be duped and I held my ground for 45 years or so without conceding a thing. - JL

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Real Man
To: All
Date Posted: 10:19:55 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: gw1.dc.gov at 164.82.146.3

Message:
Real men would adopt a child caught up in a situation like John Leigh's. 45 years is too long a time not to have had any compassion to love this child. If you do not want to become victim of such scam, then avoid every premarital and extramarital sexual relationships..

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: John E. Leigh
To: All
Date Posted: 15:33:27 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: johnernestleigh@yahoo.com
Entered From: cache-mtc-ah10.proxy.aol.com at 64.12.117.202

Message:
Adoption was never the issue. They wanted nothing less that real biological fatherhood admitted. In short, they insisted on a lie!

I agree that the matter was outstanding for far too long. Such is not proper at all. But the solution is not to lie to victimize the intended catch in any manner, shape or form. The mother should have disclosed the truth from the very beginning. She knew the facts and deliberately concealed them from her own people.

Fortunately, DNA is now available for ordinary folks. No more 45 years. - JL

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Man pikin
To: All
Date Posted: 21:18:19 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: man_pikin@yahoo.com
Entered From: pool-96-240-15-68.nwrknj.fios.verizon.net at 96.240.15.68

Message:
Mr. Leigh, are DNA results accurate. A friend of mine did a DNA recently and the result was negative. But the mother of this child is still insisting that my friend is the father of this child.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Erica Adams
To: All
Date Posted: 15:22:45 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: ericamonique82@hotmail.com
Entered From: adsl-074-185-005-235.sip.clt.bellsouth.net at 74.185.5.235

Message:
Your case sounds different because I don't think you had established yourself as the father in terms of your relationship with the child. Were you financially responsible and emotionally attached at the time you learned to truth of her paternity? I think Bro. Alieu is making the case for those men who have spent years believing a child is their child and learning the truth later. It sounds like he is representing men who do not care about biology because emotionally they feel they are the fathers. Considering the fact that the immigration process is quite lengthy and expensive, you would most likey have a strong attachment to the person you were enduring it for.

I have a question as it relates to the DNA testing, is this being directed at children/men from certain countries or is this a practice across the board for all countries?

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: John E. Leigh
To: All
Date Posted: 16:46:09 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: johnernestleigh@yahoo.com
Entered From: cache-mtc-ah10.proxy.aol.com at 64.12.117.202

Message:
Erica Adams, I was not responding to Atty. Iscandri but to you.

You mentioned the case of innocent fathers falsely accused. Since I was one such individual and who handled the situation differently from the cases you mentioned, I thought I should share my own different experiences with you and others.

You thus need not tell me what the objective of Mr. Iscandari's posting is all about. I know. Thanks. - JL

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: M. Alieu Iscandari Esq
To: All
Date Posted: 15:59:13 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-ntc-ad04.proxy.aol.com at 207.200.116.198

Message:
Thank you very much for saying it like I wanted it said. I was hoping that the issue would not have become perverted with exemplars and instances such as those depicted herein. Clearly a man who has for over 45 years denied that he was the father of a child, has built no emotional attachments to that child, and even though the child has expressed her love and appreciation of him, steadfastly denies he is the father, has a DNA test done to prove that he is not the father, would not have any STANDING in any lawsuit that I intend to file with the 9th circuit, and for which i may seek class certification.

I do however appreciate the learned gentlemans predicament and although I would have seized the opportuinty to build on that relationship particularly since the innocent child has for over 4 decades shown some degree of appreciation for the relationship, other people such as Mr. Leigh are more interested in the purity of their blood lines rather than the randomness of the interpersonal putative parental relationships. He is entitled to that.

Please pass the word around for those who will fit the standard of fathers who have been proven NOT to be the biological fathers of any children they have putatively parented, on whom they have invested some parental equity, who are US citizens or residents, and who have been refused immigration benefits for their putative children based on DNA test results.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: The Guy
To: All
Date Posted: 14:23:32 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: col-208223.limited.com at 63.72.208.223

Message:
My question to you JL is: Did you have any sexual relationship with THAT WOMAN?.(the liar)

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: John E. Leigh
To: All
Date Posted: 16:39:13 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: johnernestleigh@yahoo.com
Entered From: cache-mtc-ah10.proxy.aol.com at 64.12.117.202

Message:
Bill Clinton had the answer. He did not inhale. I did not penetrate! - JL

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Waraba
To: All
Date Posted: 23:34:03 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: saigobe@lanset.com
Entered From: pool-71-245-169-215.bltmmd.fios.verizon.net at 71.245.169.215

Message:
John,
You are lying! You attempted but yu buttu was too short.
lieman.
Waraba

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: John E. Leigh
To: All
Date Posted: 10:19:33 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: johnernestleigh@yahoo.com
Entered From: cache-mtc-ah10.proxy.aol.com at 64.12.117.202

Message:
Waraba, what happened? Your posting did not penetrate the forum. How come? - JL

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Waraba
To: All
Date Posted: 19:15:16 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: saigobe@lanset.com
Entered From: pool-71-245-169-215.bltmmd.fios.verizon.net at 71.245.169.215

Message:
John,
Maybe the moderator did not want you to be embarrassed.
/waraba

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: John E. Leigh
To: All
Date Posted: 09:45:15 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: johnernestleigh@yahoo.com
Entered From: cache-dtc-ag14.proxy.aol.com at 205.188.117.142

Message:
Dr. Waraba, if so then you must have hit me below the belt like one of the pests in this forum. Thats not good for the future of democratic debate. Glad I didn't see it then. But we can still wage war against bamboatism. That sickness is much too common in our society. - JL

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Moderator
To: All
Date Posted: 14:36:39 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: adsl-66-141-186-124.dsl.rcsntx.swbell.net at 66.141.186.124

Message:
It was the language. I used to hear people being told not to use that ... word around kids. Cheers!

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Bill Clinton
To: All
Date Posted: 14:25:43 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: gw1.dc.gov at 164.82.146.3

Message:
"I DID NOT HAVE SEX WITH THAT WOMAN..." Bill Clinton

In the infamous Monica Lewinsky case

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: John E. Leigh
To: All
Date Posted: 10:45:26 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: johnernestleigh@yahoo.com
Entered From: cache-dtc-ag14.proxy.aol.com at 205.188.117.142

Message:
The Bill Clinton response you've quoted is cute and accurate. It is not, however, on point here as Ms. Lewinsky was not pregnant at the relevant time.

In my view, the relevant issue in any putative disputed fatherhood case is: Who else did the pregnant woman sleep with?

Bamboatism is a situation wherein one woman sleeps in short order with more than one male - maybe two, three, or even six or more different men. If she gets pregnant from one of those affairs, she is likely to name only one of her tango partners as the father for credibility reasons as the most reliable way of deliberately concealing her bamboatism.

Her pick is usually the top of the class either in resources, social class, power, popularity or some other advantage that sets her pick advantageously apart from her pack of tangomates.

On the surface, you really can't blame her for this fall back, deceptive tactic. After all, she is seeking the best interests of her unborn child. But she is going about it in the wrong way because such a tactic is dishonest and the product of recklessness that can easily backfire. By being dishonest, she deliberately damages her child by defrauding the child of her true pedigree and, maybe, victimizing her pick with unwanted dubious honors.

Worse, if the mother gets away with her fraud, her bamboatism could flourish to more offsprings with bogus pedigree(s) as the overseas immigration DNA tests are frequently exposing. In fact, bogus pedigree is so common in West Africa that Bollywood Nigeria has made many African Magic films on this scam.

The long and short of this matter is that only the mother can truly prevent a disputed fatherhood situation from happening. And now that DNA is commonplace, motherhood is where the attention and the reform moves now ought to be directed for merely because a man is involved in a tango with a woman who is or later gets pregnant does not automatically mean that that male was the father.

This common wisdom in our country needs correction. Regards. - JL

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Erica Adams
To: All
Date Posted: 15:50:23 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: ericamonique82@hotmail.com
Entered From: adsl-074-185-005-235.sip.clt.bellsouth.net at 74.185.5.235

Message:
Mr. Leigh,

You keep presenting this problem as if men are somehow being victimized in this situation. You wrote, "The long and short of this matter is that only the mother can truly prevent a disputed fatherhood situation from happening." What role and responsibility do men play in sleeping around? It's not a good practice for men or women to sleep around. Unwanted pregnancy is just one of the consequences people face today, what about HIV/AIDS?
Your response should have been only men and women can truly prevent a disputed fatherhood situation from happening by not engaging in careless sexual affairs.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: John E. Leigh
To: All
Date Posted: 16:52:07 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: johnernestleigh@yahoo.com
Entered From: cache-dtc-ag14.proxy.aol.com at 205.188.117.142

Message:
Oh no! Our Ms. Adams is still on my case. Please, I beg: my viewpoint here is grounded on a sound logical foundation.

Of course, sleeping around is not good at all. Men as well as women should not sleep around. Its dangerous bamboatism!

But we are not talking here about HIV/AIDS and other terrible tangomate-transmitted diseases. We are talking specifically about disputed fatherhood and bogus fatherhood and who is best positioned to prevent them and why.

Clearly, the tangomate that cannot deny parenthood has the greatest responsibility to protect her reputation as well as the best opportunity to prevent any disputed paternity or bogus parenthood. She can do so merely by properly managing her private life.

There is no point playing games with your child's pedigree because a mother's wrong guessing could prove embarrasing when least suspected - as in these unsuspecting immigration cases.

Imagine how terrible a mother and her innocent children would feel after the exposure of mother's lies and duplicity at a critical time in the children's lives when they are supposed to look forward to a great adventure now denied. Mothers with children should not have to put themselves where their children forfeit a grand opportunity or forced to hide a lie or lies for life as is usually the case with bogus fatherhood.

Again, that's one man's point of view. No one is under any compulsion to accept this my opinion but it is clearly logical. Thank you once again. - JL

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: POLITICAL
To: All
Date Posted: 14:12:40 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 207.108.136.237

Message:
JL, your story is very interesting and I believe there are a lot of us with similar stories. My question to you is for the past 45 years you've been denying, did you take some form of responsibility for the fact your conviction at the time was based on a suspicion and not a technical DNA test? What I want to understand is for 45 years, there was no DNA test to prove whether you are the biological father or not. Did you at one time consider and said "well even though I am convinced I am not the father, let me take care of this innocent child one way or the other for man can't tell"?

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: John E. Leigh
To: All
Date Posted: 16:37:29 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: johnernestleigh@yahoo.com
Entered From: cache-mtc-ah10.proxy.aol.com at 64.12.117.202

Message:
My views were based on knowledge, not mere suspicion.

Sure the child is the innocent victim but that is her mother's responsibility not mine. I have no interest on solving an other individual's problem especially one deliberating directing a false accusation against me. JL

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Good Question
To: All
Date Posted: 07:45:38 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: gw1.dc.gov at 164.82.146.3

Message:
"I have no interest on solving an other individual's problem especially one deliberating directing a false accusation against me." JL

Mr. Leigh, I did not expect the above statement from you. I thought that was the essence of public service. Being tolerant of other people and the willingness to solve other people's problems irrespective. As a career public servant (diplomat), I thought that was the driving force behind your motives....Helping others solve their problems. I thought that should be the quality of every aspiring leader. What am I missing here?

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Satow
To: All
Date Posted: 09:29:38 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
JL, in essence, has never been a true diplomat. JL was a political appointee who neglected the principles and ideals of the foundations of diplomacy - tact, subtlety, intuition, explorative reasoning, and foresight. These ingredients are the core of any diplomatic discourse. JL, lacks diplomatic etiquette, therefore would never be classed as a member of any diplomatic group. I know a doyen you told me that such a character would have been thrown out of the corps in the 'Old Diplomacy'.

JL, needs a lot of refinement to be able to stand amongst true diplomats - old and new!! no offense intended just analysing the true character of our claimed diplomat.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: John E. Leigh
To: All
Date Posted: 09:35:23 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: johnernestleigh@yahoo.com
Entered From: cache-mtc-ah10.proxy.aol.com at 64.12.117.202

Message:
We are talking here about purely private matters. Public service is an entirely different thing. I never confuse the two. So, please take care.

Incidentally, I am not a career public servant (diplomat). My career is in the private sector. My last public service position was merely as a political appointee. Thanks. - JL

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Satow
To: All
Date Posted: 09:34:32 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Try maintaining the flow and experience acquired through rubbing shoulders with seasoned diplomats. It is an art of pure human refinement - to send one to the gallows whilst blessing you. The deceit in humans is made professional in diplomacy. take tem kill ant!!

If you only adopt what you acquired from the past - you are the greatest Sierra leonean we will ever have!! Talk half lef half with respect and dignity!!

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Good Question
To: All
Date Posted: 14:20:00 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: gw1.dc.gov at 164.82.146.3

Message:
Good question. Mr. Leigh do you think it was appropriate to tell the innocent child that her mother was a liar. Plus I don't think you were the victim. The poor child (or 45 yr old woman now) is the real victim of the "scam". Why didn't you adopt this child given that she was emotional attached to you and looked up to you for a father figure? Don't you think you were a little mean and betrayed the poor innocent child?

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: John E. Leigh
To: All
Date Posted: 16:32:26 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: johnernestleigh@yahoo.com
Entered From: cache-mtc-ah10.proxy.aol.com at 64.12.117.202

Message:
Because the scam is very common in SL and we must try and stop it. So I was determined to hold my ground. JL

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Erica Adams
To: All
Date Posted: 16:52:48 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: ericamonique82@hotmail.com
Entered From: adsl-074-185-005-235.sip.clt.bellsouth.net at 74.185.5.235

Message:
We have an expression in black America that says "Mama's baby, daddy's maybe". This is not a Sierra Leonean problem. I think when faced with the dilema of who's the daddy, women are almost always going to go with the best option for the child. If they think their children will have a better chance in life by being aligned with a certain family, then they will go with the best option. Mr. Leigh you presented your scenario as if you were a victim, it takes two to tango. In your descr1ption of the events that led up to your being named the father of the child, you could not deny you were the father until the DNA test. It is reasonable that this woman believed you were the father just as you could not fully deny you were not until you had the test done. It's not so easy for women to deny a child because we are the ones left with the evidence. None of us can tell you what you should have done in the situation you were in but as one who grew up fatherless due to divorce and my father's decision to move on and start a new family, I applaude the men who are making a choice to be dads in spite of DNA.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: John E. Leigh
To: All
Date Posted: 10:10:30 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: johnernestleigh@yahoo.com
Entered From: cache-mtc-ah10.proxy.aol.com at 64.12.117.202

Message:
Ms. Adams:

Your approach will tend to promote bamboatism in our country. And as far as I know, bamboatism leads to dysfunctional families and societies.

In my view, just as it "is reasonable that this woman believed you were the father" so also it was quite reasonable for me to believe, as I did, that I was not the father. The issue thus becomes not what she or I believed but what we each knew.

Under a system of bamboatism, the mother may not always know who is the real father. She can only believe this or that man did it. This belief is invariably based on wild or calculated guess work but not facts.

By exposing herself to guessing on a most critical matter, she thus demonstrates she does not care genuinely for her future child. Her sole interest would appear to me to be only the instantaneous gratifications she gets for herself arising out of her bamboatism.

We all know that any offspring ought to know who their true biological parents her for the future management of their health and mental well being.

The preferrable alternative is thus for both parents to be 100% certain it is their child. Since there is no problem identifying the mother, that mother ought to conduct her life so that there is no problem identifying the real father. The last chance for her to do is when she is exposing herself to the pregnacy.

It is most reckless of the mother to pursue bamboatism then rely on guesswork and/or deceptive tactics to rope-in her desired catch for the purported honors of fatherhood because the said catch may be nothing but her intended victim, as I was intended to be, rather than the real impregnator which is what truly matters.

Any other approach is bad for society because it is bad for the child; bad for the intended roped-in catch as well as a shame to the bamboat lying mother.

Yes, yes bamboatism is not limited to SL. I did not say or mean otherwise. All I did was tell you about my experiences and knowledge of bamboatism in SL. - JL

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: POLITICAL
To: All
Date Posted: 14:08:43 02/02/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ip70-162-167-106.ph.ph.cox.net at 70.162.167.106

Message:
JL, frankly I am disappointed with all your responses in this matter. So you believe this is the best approach to stop what you discribe as bamboatism?

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: M. Alieu Iscandari Esq
To: All
Date Posted: 17:43:49 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-ntc-ad04.proxy.aol.com at 207.200.116.198

Message:
I applaude the men who are making a choice to be dads in spite of DNA.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT MY DEAR SISTER, YOU HAVE JUST DEFINED MY CLASS. NOW WOULD YOU GET ME SOME PEOPLE TO WHOSE PARENTAL RIGHTS HAVE BEEN OVERTURNED BY A DNA TEST AND WHO INSIST ON THEIR PARENTAL RIGHTS DNA NOT WITHSTANDING?

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Erica Adams
To: All
Date Posted: 20:09:52 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: ericamonique82@hotmail.com
Entered From: adsl-074-185-005-235.sip.clt.bellsouth.net at 74.185.5.235

Message:
I'll do my best to help spread the word in NC.

Subject: Re: ARE YOU A PUTATIVE FATHER
From: Bonthe Pikin
To: All
Date Posted: 01:00:52 01/31/08 ()
Email Address: bontilaynga@gmail.com
Entered From: at 82.114.74.97

Message:
I heard of a similar situation in the US where a Sierra Leonean father who had ever since fathered six children with a Sierra Leonean mother was shocked to learn that none of the children was his. This happened after he had filed to bring all six children from Sierra Leone to US and was asked by immigration to do the DNA. Ultimately, all six children that he had cared for and carried his name as their biological father turned out to be false. We need MAURY to visit Sierra Leone

Subject: Should the Axe Fall on Acha?
From: Albert Moinina
To: All
Date Posted: 03:22:39 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 213.42.21.58

Message:
From Standard Times - Should the axe fall on Acha if the statement is true?

"Brima Acha Kamara is very boastful, ... he saw no reason that he cannot survive the APC government that is headed by his tribesman from the same Northern Province"

Survived The SLPP, Why Not The APC?Inspector General Acha Kamara
Posted by on Jan 30, 2008, 02:24

Looking at the concept of survival to mean escaping the wrath of punishment as a result of wrong judgment or political miscalculation on the part of a government should not in any way be construed as weakness or inability to implement actions for the good of the nation, nor should it be viewed as the work of destiny.
Brima Acha Kamara is very boastful, telling his closed friends that if he was able to survive the SLPP administration, he saw no reason that he cannot survive the APC government that is headed by his tribesman from the same Northern Province. The imagination of the country’s Inspector General of Police is so parochial that one could easily tell where he came from. Regionalism, tribalism and sentimentalism should not be the yardstick in governance but performance for the general good. If today, in the absence of the SLPP; the Inspector General of Police can make such utterance, he will say more than that when the APC would be out of power.

Subject: Re: Should the Axe Fall on Acha?
From: Man pikin
To: All
Date Posted: 06:20:33 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: man+pikin@yahoo.com
Entered From: pool-96-240-15-68.nwrknj.fios.verizon.net at 96.240.15.68

Message:
Man, try to get your facts right. Acha never said so to his friends. I dont know what you are up to. If you think Prezo EBK will remove him, you will be dreaming. Most people will agree with me that the police did a good job at the elections. Bravo Acha and keep on doing the good job.

Subject: Re: Should the Axe Fall on Acha?
From: SOLO DE BOMBA NO 2
To: All
Date Posted: 11:06:38 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: adsl-69-232-218-205.dsl.pltn13.pacbell.net at 69.232.218.205

Message:
IT IS TIME FOR ACHA TO GO. I GS HAVE A TIME LIMIT IN SIERRA LEONE. HE HAS SERVED FOR MORE THAN 5 YEARS AND THE TERM LIMIT IS 5 YEARS. THE RANK AND FILE OF THE SLP ARE DISGRUNTLED WITH HIM. TIME FOR HIM TO GO. HE SHOULD GIVE WAY TO HIS DIG.

Subject: Re: Should the Axe Fall on Acha?
From: Man pikin
To: All
Date Posted: 19:52:32 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: man_pikin@yahoo.com
Entered From: pool-96-240-15-68.nwrknj.fios.verizon.net at 96.240.15.68

Message:
Why should Acha go? The DIG was appointed because of political connection. This is a fact. There are many officers who are senior for the DIG. To prove me right, call the SLP P.R.O.

Subject: LOOK WHAT THE CLUELESS SLPP WANTED TO DO TO SALONE!
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 21:13:37 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4577b27b.dyn.optonline.net at 69.119.178.123

Message:
Nar God help we ya me fambul dem! If SLPP had not been dislodged by the democratic boot of the people, Walahi, we would be scoffing dirt like these poor people in Haiti.

I know that the Pamtik Kabudu is on a major charm offensive (a skunk's charm, that is) to lull the people into a false nostalgia for the SLPP. Guess what? It is not working!

The SLPP supporters have lately been crudely trying to convince us (I mean themselves) that APC electricity is bad and SLPP blackout is really cool. Hillarious! Ernest still has a long ways to go but as far as I am concerned, he has already accomplished more than all the SLPP leaders in history combined.

See what SLPP wanted to do to us. Ataqfulai 7 tem!

Subject: Re: LOOK WHAT THE CLUELESS SLPP WANTED TO DO TO SALONE!
From: Kawusu
To: All
Date Posted: 09:52:59 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4575eca0.dyn.optonline.net at 69.117.236.160

Message:
Fen Plaba, wan taye!!!

Subject: Re: LOOK WHAT THE CLUELESS SLPP WANTED TO DO TO SALONE!
From: tamba moiwo
To: All
Date Posted: 03:27:32 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: moiwo@hotmail.co.uk
Entered From: gateway-202.energis.gsi.gov.uk at 195.92.40.49

Message:
"he has already accomplished more than all the SLPP leaders in history combined"

Bo Fen Plaba you nor ever dae sigh way pipul dae tok tru.You miss you road ba?? Ernest en APC dae pan labo labo.

Subject: Re: LOOK WHAT THE CLUELESS SLPP WANTED TO DO TO SALONE!
From: Clueless
To: All
Date Posted: 22:35:30 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: h129.227.29.71.ip.alltel.net at 71.29.227.129

Message:
Man you nor get wok for do? You idle O! More over you sound like a dead beat.

Subject: WAS SHE REALLY A VIRGIN?
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 20:02:48 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ool-4577b27b.dyn.optonline.net at 69.119.178.123

Message:
You know how you sport a big, fat grin on your face after you find out that you were THE FIRST? Especially in cultures where virginity is a big deal, girls are partying it up abroad, in college, and becoming 'virgins' again just before going home, or when they lay their marrying eyes on prospective candidates.

Surgically redesigning the vagina has also brought renewed sexual happiness to couples and tamed the hunting instinct in mature men for Pretty Young Things....
Didn't believe it until I read this.

Subject: Cocorioko Board, Forum Pest has resurrected
From: Forum under attack again!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To: All
Date Posted: 18:38:38 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: pool-71-126-139-157.washdc.fios.verizon.net at 71.126.139.157

Message:
Dear Kabbs and co., Since your last blow on Moh'm, we forumites have enjoyed some civility on the forum. All of the sudden, Moh'm has re-emerged. Now is attempting to hijack the forum again. Any help?

Subject: Re: Cocorioko Board, Forum Pest has resurrected
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 21:07:06 01/29/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
It is not Moh'm who has attacked "civility" in this Forum; rather, the blokes "The Ghost of Moh'm" and "Mahatma" did. Proof: the editor knows that I am not Moh'm; he knows my e-mail and, as a man of the cloth, he knows his duty---to profess the truth. During my numerous attempts to civilize the brutes, I repeatedly apppealed to the editor to end the silly identity debate. NOW, I CHALLENGE THE EDITOR TO AFFIRM OR NEGATE THE FOLLOWING PROPOSITION: "Umpire" is "Moh'm Jalloh." If he fails to posit the demanded determination, then he is not a man of the cloth. REVEREND, your credibility is on the line. Make the call!

Subject: Re: Cocorioko Board, Forum Pest has resurrected
From: Moderator ban Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 22:47:45 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: pool-71-126-139-157.washdc.fios.verizon.net at 71.126.139.157

Message:
This guy is too immoral in public discourse. Read through his postings and you know you're dealing mentally-challenged psyco. PLEASE BAN HIM BEFORE HE TAKES OVER THE FORUM

Subject: Re: Cocorioko Board, Forum Pest has resurrected
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 05:15:37 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
I have issued a challenge to the real moderator of this forum. Accordingly, he knows or should know the historical context of the verbal lashing (not "immorality," as you wrongheadly imply) on the blokes, the Ghost and the Indian. The evidence will reveal that my postings contain no vulgar usage which, as I understand it, governs what you refer to as "public discourse." Responsibility requires that you, not the true moderator, should present the evidence to support your averments. Since you have not been qualified as a professional in the 'science' of the brain, I am not obligated to answer your childish babble on my mental state. Produce the requisite evidence. Moreover, what reasonable content can be ascribed to the locution "taking over the forum?" No one can "take over a forum," since any one with the proper bona fides can participate therein. I reassert my challenge: The Reverend must make the call!

Subject: Re: Cocorioko Board, Forum Pest has resurrected
From: Mahatma
To: All
Date Posted: 07:58:40 02/01/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: client-86-0-80-223.leed.adsl.virgin.net at 86.0.80.223

Message:
Moh'm you are really ill. Pleaae get some help!!

Subject: Re: Cocorioko Board, Forum Pest has resurrected
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 12:02:07 02/01/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: x4207254e.ip.e-nt.net at 66.7.37.78

Message:
If the Right Reverend has any integrity, it is obvious that he MUST BAN "Mahatma" from this forum. To the best of my recollection, the Moderator made an unequivocal determination that "Umpire" is not Moh'm Jalloh. Accordingly, "Mahatma" refuses to accept the Moderator's finding. The issue is: who is the boss here---"Mahatma" or the Moderator?

As an aside, it is my view that the writer is sick: it appears that he cannot let go Moh'm Jalloh. Look, if you want to confront Mr. Jalloh, you know where he lives and works. Comfront him, and I'll will make sure that you find your real abode: the slammer, and beyond that, deportation. Regarding me: I know how to deal with your type: let's meet at Ozie's on M Street, NW at 6 p.m. Let me know what you will be wearing, and I'll let you know what I will be wearing. No point postponing the trouble you seek: let us meet at Ozie's, and I'll show you what a punk you really are. No one words please, execpt as they attach to my invitation to the ring.

Subject: Re: Cocorioko Board, Forum Pest has resurrected
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 05:38:49 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-76-114-169-98.hsd1.dc.comcast.net at 76.114.169.98

Message:
Issue of a dog, please substitute "posting" for the relevant typo in the first sentence of my posting.

Subject: APC offers PMDC more jobs
From: VANGUARD
To: All
Date Posted: 18:29:32 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ac202-025.resnet.stonybrook.edu at 130.245.202.25

Message:
APC offers PMDC more jobs
- Wednesday 30 January 2008.
By Isatu Gbla

The All People’s Congress of President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, has offered the People’s Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) some political appointments to serve in various capacities including diplomatic missions, State House sources hinted this press yesterday.

This was part of a political arrangement during the Presidential run-off elections that saw the PMDC pitching tent with the APC that eventually kicked the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) out of government.

State House sources confirmed that the PMDC have been offered two diplomatic appointments, but we cannot confirm the exact diplomatic missions they were offered. This is in addition having ten Board Members and four Directorial appointments in various parastatals and government institutions.

Sources close to the PMDC say its leader, Charles Francis Margai, is deliberately refusing to take a lead role in the appointment of officials into these positions and has therefore referred the matter to the party’s National Party Executive to fill in the positions.

Meanwhile, PMDC spokesman Mohamed Bangura has been appointed one of the Commissioners at the National Telecommunications Company (NATCOM) but efforts to get him on the phone were fruitless.

Subject: I MISS COCORIOKO TOO
From: National
To: All
Date Posted: 18:28:08 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: h167-156-253.63.chubb.com at 167.156.63.253

Message:
What is really happening, Kabs ? Somebody has messed up your newspaper. We are not getting it. I am sure many more people are not getting it.How come that a newspaper that was once so easily accessible is no longer accessible ?

Do something , Kabs. No excuses.

Subject: Re: I MISS COCORIOKO TOO
From: POLITICAL
To: All
Date Posted: 20:58:15 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ip70-162-167-106.ph.ph.cox.net at 70.162.167.106

Message:
I believe KABS and teams are working on it tirelessly. So let give them a chance to fix the problem.

Subject: Another African talent drain
From: Erica Adams
To: All
Date Posted: 16:24:10 01/29/08 ()
Email Address: ericamonique82@hotmail.com
Entered From: adsl-074-185-005-235.sip.clt.bellsouth.net at 74.185.5.235

Message:
This is really troublesome. There don't seem to be any real safeguards in place for these kids. I'm all in favor for opportunities, but I don't like blind ones that leave kids open for exploitation. The other thing is that Africa is too willing to allow its best and brightest to build up up other countries; be it academia, athletics, or labor.

Subject: AVP NEW SITE
From: MESSAGER
To: All
Date Posted: 15:24:14 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 207.108.136.238

Message:
By the order of the owners of the African Video Production website (africanvideoproduction.com) we have the honor as a sierra leonean company own and managed by typical sierra leoneans, to inform the public that nasoft software company has developed a new website for an African Video Production company. Before we make the final torches and hand it over to the company that owns it, we would like the general public to take a look at it and give advises. Since this is a company's property, we will only turn on few features until the owners take control of it.

However, we can tell you that there are cool features for this site.
For instance, the multiple TV channels for world events which is automatically synchronize as events unfold around the world. We incorporate this feature for people who like to read about world events. Well good news, you don't need to surf 1000s of websites to get different news around the world. All you need is go to "world events" and click the video. Relax and watch while world events being synchronized from CNN to BBC, Reuters and AP and many more international channels.
We have also built a discussion Forum which will be divided into categories or regions based on the business requirement of AVP. A YouTube type video option is also available. A lot more features are still locked. So check it out at www.africanvideoproduction.com

We hope to hear your comments and suggestions.

Subject: Re: AVP NEW SITE
From: Kal
To: All
Date Posted: 05:50:01 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cs181213155.pp.htv.fi at 82.181.213.155

Message:
Your link is fake.Please revisit it.

Cheers

Subject: Re: AVP NEW SITE
From: MESSAGER
To: All
Date Posted: 10:01:47 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 207.108.136.237

Message:
Thanks for your comments. Are you talking about the URL or the Links. Please be specific. We need specific comments and advises. If you are talking about the URL, just type on your browse www.africanvideoproduction.com or just copy this url I provided and paste on your browse. If you are talking about the links in the website, which ones? We have two menu links. The vertical menu or the horizonatal one? We appreciated your comment.

Subject: Re: AVP NEW SITE
From: Link
To: All
Date Posted: 07:08:13 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: h129.227.29.71.ip.alltel.net at 71.29.227.129

Message:
There you go.

Subject: Advice to Corioko
From: Sam
To: All
Date Posted: 13:37:40 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: pool-72-74-219-73.bstnma.east.verizon.net at 72.74.219.73

Message:
As this is my favorite home newspaper, I log on every day to see what's happening back home. Once again first of, let me take the opportunity to thank Kabs Kanu for providing this outlet. Your work and service is invaluable.

Now to move on to my reason for writing...As I mentioned above, I log in everyday to see what's happening back home and I have to say, just about every other day for the last two to three weeks, there is some "article" that just straight up advertising for the government, or an outright over the top attack on the SLPP.

We now know that this is a pro APC newspaper/mouthpiece despite the fact that the newspaper used to claim no political bias. And this is fine. However,!! if this IS in fact a newspaper, then please temper your so called articles.

Be it the recent one defending the government for not being responsible for the high prices or the current one that prompted me to write this, Mohamed Aziz Nabe's article on the SLPPers criticizing the govt for how much it spent bringing light to Freetown (I have posted copy below.) They were both a little ridiculous and looked more like press releases from State House. At least hide them as an editorial

This is not newspaper reporting people. I log on everyday and notice that sometimes it is a slow day with no new news, so I can see how you want to fill up white space, but common. Let's strive for excellence here. Yes, I am sure there are what in America they call hatas, who would hate to see our govt be successful because they failed, but please.

Just about every Salone newspaper looks like something I would not even line my pet cage with in terms of looks. Our media industry is appalling and disgraceful. Cocorioko has a chance to be different. Please take that opportunity.

For one, you can't possible response to every disgruntled SLPPer unless you want to make that your full-time job and two not every complaint is unwarranted. If we have a culture where complaints are not listened to (I do understand there is such a thing as too much complaining as well) you know very well we won't be able to fix things. Getting generators into the country and firing them up is a worthy achievement. But to the extent that parts of Freetown are still without power and the light is still not 24/7, we need to not rest on our laurels and focus on fixing the problems. I can understand everywhere not having ligght - downed wires, homes no longer connected etc. But for homes with intermittent light, I don't understand. Are the machines not running 24/7? This is a valid question and I am not an SLPP supporter.

Since Cocorioko is down with the govt, lets focus on building our country so that everyone has three meals a day, every child has world class schooling, everyone has jobs and everyone has electricity. Don't waste time on the petty back and forth nonsense.

---------------------------
SLPP, APC - Who wasted money on Electricity?
Written by Mohamed Aziz Nabe
Tuesday, 29 January 2008
The fact that some ignoble members of the infamous Sierra Leone Peoples Party are becoming very unbecoming these days is very disturbing. Most of them are just recovering from the political comma the wind of change in Sierra Leone had placed them in. Yet some of them are just blind to reality. Instead of sitting down to reflect on what went wrong so they could find ways to correct their mistakes, they engage themselves in slander and misrepresenting the facts to the very public they subjected to abject poverty and squalor for the eleven years they had been in power.
Suffice it to say that a people that could not accept their mistakes could definitely not see the pitfalls in their way. Whatever they may say or do now at this point of no return, is just wasting of their steam.These people had all it takes to have made Sierra Leone a model state in Africa south of the Sahara.They had the unflinching will and support of the people. They had the financial and economic support of people of good will and governments and economic institutions around the world; yet they failed the people and the nation miserably. Even after the vote- of- no- confidence by the people, they still could not get it.

These people should be reminded that the campaign time and its rhetoric is over and the people have spoken loud and clear that they were not fit to lead them anymore. These people were so misguided into believing the power of incumbency that they underestimated the under-dog APC party and its nearly divided leadership.

The SLPP leadership did not recognize the new breed of politicians that had embedded the APC party.The SLPP used the power of the barrel of the gun to oust the APC from power. THE ONLY WAY OUT was to unleash mayhem into the country by engaging in rebel activities from their Kailahun and Pujehun bases that left the nation and its peoples devastated.They even used ECOMOG to pretentiously keep the peace while in fact they committed more war crimes than the rebels just to put back Kabbah and the SLPP to power.

The APC believes in the power of the will of the people to effect change through the power of the ballot box and systematic campaigning. We did not go to the bush as they are presently contemplating. But we are watching them with fox eyes and very soon they will have it coming.

The SLPP are a bunch of wicked people. They misled Pa Kabbah with the idea of making Bo the capital of Sierra Leone. That was why they could not give a damn about giving electricity to Freetown. They left the city to degenerate to abject squalor. They even abandoned the national State House which is a relic of our Nation. They treated the affairs of electricity like a child's play. They preferred to engage the Lebanese Traders in partnerships to deal in Kabbah Tiger generators at the expense of the poor and less privileged masses.

Theirs was filled with Rogue Professors and funky headed politicians who believed political power is to engage in en mass pilfering of the nation’s resources for self-aggrandizement. They actually succeeded in reducing Sierra Leone to a beggar nation and the silent majority of the people into beggars roaming the streets of Freetown and other cities. Women and school girls were forced into voluntary prostitution in order to make ends meet, while they and the sycophants around them flourished in ill gotten wealth - the wealth of the nation. Sadly, the majority of these people in the SLPP administration are highly educated, but because of greed and apathy, they fell below expectations.

Pa Kabbah himself is another mystery. The less I talk about him the better. I will keep my peace. Something was actually the matter with him. He told us at the opening of their party office that they knew that the people at Electricity were either stealing the money meant to purchase spare parts or they sold the gas meant for the generators. That was why they could not provide electricity to the city of Freetown. Now, can anybody in his right mind tell me if he was actually a leader or the semblance of a leader wasting people’s time and money while overseeing the demise of the nation?

History will have him as the most careless leader who squandered the opportunity to have made Sierra Leone a model nation, because he had the love of the people and the support of the international community; yet he could not function as a leader. Perhaps, his only function as a leader was to allow his vice president to breach the constitution and plunder the nation at the expense of the party. And to build a hotel and a green white and blue marble house in Conakry at the expense of all of us!

Some time in 2005, the Chinese Ambassador to Sierra Leone invited Vice President Solomon Ekuma Berewa to his Embassy and handed him a $10 million check from the Great Leader of the Peoples Republic of China to the people of Sierra Leone. This money was to provide spare parts and fuel for the Kingtom Power Station as they were tired of seeing the city in darkness all the time. In his acceptance remarks, Vice President Berewa commented that he did not know that electricity was vital for a country's development. I almost shed tears when I read this in their news media - the Awareness Times. What could have happened to that money?

Now these same people who have been abysmal failures are now waging a war of criticism against the able Minister of Energy and Power for purportedly spending $30 million - for procuring electricity in less than 100 days in office. It is a damn shame on them for being so dumb as to even think of putting their smelly mouths on the electricity affair.For eleven good years these people could not find simple solutions to solve the electricity problem. Now they become experts on how to spend or do what about it. SHAME ON ALL OF YOU!

With all their professors who had been spending sleepless nights defaming the APC Party and its leadership, the people turned them loose. These professors of doom were overtly dishonest to the party; its leadership, its members and supporters. They misled them into believing that the APC will never rise up again from its sleep. Now they have been proven wrong. To say the least, it will be a far cry for them to rise up again as a viable party. Not in our life time, especially after President Koroma would have finished his development programs.

Subject: Re: Advice to Corioko
From: Jack
To: All
Date Posted: 14:08:17 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: static-70-20-197-79.phil.east.verizon.net at 70.20.197.79

Message:
There you go BB. Always on the war path.Accept criticism and make way for changes if necessary.The gut was very specific about Cocoriko. Do not divert attention to other news outlets. Owaiiii osaiiii

Subject: Re: Advice to Corioko
From: Bai Bureh
To: All
Date Posted: 13:55:04 01/29/08 ()
Email Address: rastafari_ish@hotmail.com
Entered From: c83-248-81-248.bredband.comhem.se at 83.248.81.248

Message:
Please it will be good if you extend such valuable advice to the New People and Awarenesstimes editors too.

Subject: Re: Advice to Corioko
From: Yaya Fanusie
To: All
Date Posted: 22:49:43 01/29/08 ()
Email Address: saigobe@lanset.com
Entered From: pool-71-245-169-215.bltmmd.fios.verizon.net at 71.245.169.215

Message:
Hi Bai Bureh,
Did I meet you at a Salone party recently? I know met Saidu Bangurah.
Yaya Fanusie

Subject: Re: Advice to Corioko
From: Bai Bureh
To: All
Date Posted: 05:29:11 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: rastafari_ish@hotmail.com
Entered From: dator5678.161.gbgsd.se at 62.88.180.78

Message:
No man you did not meet me. You know I am a mysterious guy.I don't even reside in the states I am a euro-sierra leonean.

Subject: Re: Advice to Corioko
From: The best
To: All
Date Posted: 14:58:57 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cache-mtc-ah10.proxy.aol.com at 64.12.117.202

Message:
Cocorioko is the best Sierra Leone newspaper. Why not give the same advice to SLPP tabloids like Awreness Times and The New People ? You numbskulls just want to be always heard. Look at all the propaganda being dished out by Awareness Times and New People . Why don't you talk about that if you are really honest ? Whether you like it or not,Cocorioko is the best. We love Cocorioko because it is the only newspaper where you can read the truth.

Subject: Re: Advice to Corioko
From: Sam
To: All
Date Posted: 09:33:11 01/31/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: pool-72-74-207-70.bstnma.east.verizon.net at 72.74.207.70

Message:
Because Cocorioko is above that and my advice is for them to keep it that way and not let the newspaper devolve into just a mouthpiece for the APC.

Subject: MODERATOR, I MISS COCORIOKO NEWSPAPER
From: Fen Plaba!
To: All
Date Posted: 12:47:12 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 165.155.200.145

Message:
Sorry to bother you again moderator, but can you please post the url of the Cocorioko newspaper. All the usual links are shooting blanks. I sorely miss my favorite newspaper. I can get to the forum via google. The newspaper however is not talking to me. I'm so blue...

Subject: Re: MODERATOR, I MISS COCORIOKO NEWSPAPER
From: Moderator
To: All
Date Posted: 14:05:58 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
 

Message:
From my end, I usually google "Cocorioko Forum", which usually comes up as the first listing, and then click on the Cocorioko Newspaper link on the top left corner of the forum to gain access. See if it works for you.

Cheers!
Moderator

Subject: Re: MODERATOR, I MISS COCORIOKO NEWSPAPER
From: POLITICAL
To: All
Date Posted: 15:42:09 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 207.108.136.238

Message:
Listen guys, first of all let us agree that there already a bigger technical problem with cocorioko.
Now my question is where the problem is coming from? Is it the host company or the application used?
We all love cocorioko and we dont want it to sink this way.

Subject: Re: MODERATOR, I MISS COCORIOKO NEWSPAPER
From: Candid Opinion
To: All
Date Posted: 14:50:38 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: ns.nucleusns2.com at 12.44.12.126

Message:
how about using the bookmark feature provided on your broswer..

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/using/howto/share/favorites.mspx

That way you can always have it saved.. and dont have to even google..

Here is the URL..
http://www.hwforums.com/2179/
http://cocorioko.net/app/

You can also click on the COCORIOKO NEWSPAPER (CLOCK) FORUM ARCHIVE above the forum..

Subject: LET US EXAMINE PRESIDENT KOROMA'S OFFICAIL DELEGATION.
From: ALPHA SAIDU BANGURA
To: All
Date Posted: 09:47:25 01/29/08 ()
Email Address: SAIDUBANGSO@AOL.COM
Entered From: c-69-140-129-75.hsd1.md.comcast.net at 69.140.129.75

Message:
Taking into deep consideration the fact that the traveling expenses of all members in the president's delegation are paid out of the tax payers money, it is but right that every member has an important role to play in the trip.
President Koroma, recently took Dr. Prince Harding and Mr. J.Madaa Bio on a joy ride at the expense of our country. It is fine to include members of the opposition in national discussions, but if president Koroma wantS a representative from the SLPP, he must ask the party to send its members to represent them. President Koroma must not hand pick people who will be irrelevant to his officail trips only because he thinks he could score political points.
Now the president is in London with Mr. Paul Kamara as part of his delegation, I know for sure that Mr. Kamara has no business in the London talks. At this difficult time in our country's economy, the president must not find pleasure in wasting our country's money in this manner.
I thank God for letting President Ernest Koroma prove me right, I told the people of Sierra Leone that if they elect president Koroma, he will not salvage our problems, instead he will multiply them. He is dumping our country into a bigger economic crisis only because he lacks the ability to run a country.
OH GOD, SAVE US FROM APC DESTRUCTION.

Subject: Re: LET US EXAMINE PRESIDENT KOROMA'S OFFICAIL DELEGATION.
From: Neutral
To: All
Date Posted: 05:03:58 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 66.178.120.242

Message:
I shall not be a party to criticise him on this issue.His delegates are people of very high calibre, high IQ,highly educated, very honest and impeccable credentials.With all these, he will be able to attract the entire world to come and invest in Sierra Leone.You will see, very very soon, unemployment will be a matter of the past, and infact we may have to import manpower from the neighbouring countries.Revenues will flow, and Mr Jalloh,s dream of 1 dollar to 1 leone will become true within months.

Subject: Re: LET US EXAMINE PRESIDENT KOROMA'S OFFICAIL DELEGATION.
From: Sempu
To: All
Date Posted: 20:06:49 01/29/08 ()
Email Address: sempujay@yahoo.com
Entered From: c-68-49-197-222.hsd1.md.comcast.net at 68.49.197.222

Message:
I am beginning to get worried over Saidu's comments. I think some screws are giving way. We better rush him back home to Kissy mental home.
He has no respect for our president. He might make some decisions which you think is not wise but no one is perfect. That does not make him a foolish person as you claim. You are one of those people who are wasting the country's resources. You were educated in your country at the expense of tax payers and only for you to sit here in America not making any contribution for your country. Mind the words you say about President Koroma and give him the respect he deserves. Give him a BREAK.
Sempu

Subject: Re: LET US EXAMINE PRESIDENT KOROMA'S OFFICAIL DELEGATION.
From: Man pikin
To: All
Date Posted: 01:30:12 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: man_pikin@yahoo.com
Entered From: pool-96-240-15-68.nwrknj.fios.verizon.net at 96.240.15.68

Message:
Saidu talk-talk is a very big fool since our days at the Prince of Wales. I hope you will be very serious with your watchman job. Sometime ago, you called someone and told the person that you are bereaved and the person sent you some money. After a couple of months you did the same thing again and the person sent you some money again. Later the person found out that you were never bereaved. My friend, how do you call this act? Please just focus on your watchman job, okay? I dont think you deserved to be in the United States. It would have been better for you to be in one of the remote villages in Sierra Leone. Leave Prezo EBK alone. He is trying. Lonta!

Subject: Re: LET US EXAMINE PRESIDENT KOROMA'S OFFICAIL DELEGATION.
From: nico
To: All
Date Posted: 16:25:57 01/29/08 ()
Email Address: nicoleconsult@hotmail.com
Entered From: 82-45-226-138.cable.ubr03.enfi.blueyonder.co.uk at 82.45.226.138

Message:
Alpha:

Which tax payers money? Is it the British tax payers or Sierra Leone tax payers money. My experience as past SLPP uk Sec Gen shows that the hotel and air tickets could well have been paid for by the British Government since Sierra Leone is severely economically depressed. Almost all the official trips made by Tejan Kabba to UK, when invited by the UK Govt, were paid for by the British Govt.

Anyway, I do not understand what you are complaining about. You may well tell President Koroma to tell the SLPP to appoint his own cabinet for him, since you have problem with the president chosen his own entourage. Are you really real? I wonder.

Subject: Re: LET US EXAMINE PRESIDENT KOROMA'S OFFICAIL DELEGATION.
From: Man way nor get worri
To: All
Date Posted: 12:39:34 01/29/08 ()
Email Address: codfodnus@aol.com
Entered From: pool-71-178-216-71.washdc.fios.verizon.net at 71.178.216.71

Message:
Ahhh Alpha Saidu Wos kin swea yu get ba, way all tem then day cus u

Subject: Re: LET US EXAMINE PRESIDENT KOROMA'S OFFICAIL DELEGATION.
From: REALITY CHECK
To: All
Date Posted: 10:28:00 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: host81-159-184-70.range81-159.btcentralplus.com at 81.159.184.70

Message:
Alpha Saidu Bangura, I have read so many forumites describing you as an idiot. Now, I begin to understand. But additionally, I believe that you are sick. If not how could any genuine Sierra Leonean be rejoicing over what you termed as a waste fof resources. You need your head examined. People like you have no place in the gathering of the sane.
Let me tell you what is a waste of resources. It is when SLFA faked documents just to take you to South Africa as a masseur, that's what we call waste....YOU FOOL.
Why o why do you seek to disrespect the Head of State of a sovereign state, when your job as a watch man can't be compared to that of his cleaner..I have joined the monitors of your stupid; and trust me you will not be spared: NDOVO TOTI!!!!

Subject: Re: LET US EXAMINE PRESIDENT KOROMA'S OFFICAIL DELEGATION.
From: MOUNTAIN CUT
To: All
Date Posted: 00:37:27 01/30/08 ()
Email Address: ABU@ AOL.COM
Entered From: pool-71-246-221-174.washdc.fios.verizon.net at 71.246.221.174

Message:
SEIDU NOR DAE CHANGE. SEIDU FUR GO NA MAFORKI LEH E GO `BAYGE FOR WATIN E PAPA DO NAR S.I, KOROMA E FAM..LEH E TEL WE WHY E LEF FBC EN NOR DON .WAY E BIN DAE TO EH FAMBUL WHY MEK NAR NET E LEF WAY ALL MAN DON SLIP. DE BLAK KHAR WAY E DAE DRIVE FOR GO DO WATCH MAN WOK E DON PAY FOR AM? SEIDU EVEN SLPP NOR TRUSS YOU, YOU KNOW EN ME KNOW WAYTIN ARE DAE TUK.

Subject: The roads tha the APC proposed.
From: Cornelius Hamelberg
To: All
Date Posted: 08:36:12 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: c-071271d5.01-32-73746f42.cust.bredbandsbolaget.se at 213.113.18.7

Message:
Another serious article.

Subject: Re: The roads tha the APC proposed.
From: Albert Moinina
To: All
Date Posted: 03:04:52 01/30/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: at 213.42.21.58

Message:
Excellent proposal. Thanks Cornelius for the info.

Subject: The price for Local flour Vs. Imported in Sierra Leone.
From: Balandu
To: All
Date Posted: 20:42:55 01/28/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: adsl-69-108-73-164.dsl.irvnca.pacbell.net at 69.108.73.164

Message:
The minister is in line in pricing the localy produced flour price higher that the imported. This is for the simple fact that Western farmers are subsidized by their governments, thereby lowering thier cost of production. Farmers in developing countries are not and as such have higher cost of production for the same type of goods. If local farmers are not protected by subsidies or banning import goods, there is no way that the local farmers can compete with imported farm produce.
And guess who is telling our governments not to subsize our farmers??? The World bank, IMF and foriegn werstern donors. Who is their mouth piece? WTO! It is a way to keep us import dependent countrie to always import from the West. I will call on governments of developing countries to encourage their farmers, give them subsidies to lower their cost of production so that they can produce more localy at lower cost and at the same time compete with imported goods. If you can not provide subsidies for your farmers, then ban imported goods if the local producers can produce enough to meet the local market demand. Still the government has to protect them to get to that level.

Subject: Re: The price for Local flour Vs. Imported in Sierra Leone.
From: Allie Rainbow
To: All
Date Posted: 09:01:22 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: cpe-69-206-232-170.nyc.res.rr.com at 69.206.232.170

Message:
Regarding the issue of subsidies I think that help is on the way! How that would impact third world economies I have no idea.

But president Bush in his State of the Union last night affirmed.......

...."America is leading the fight against global hunger. Today, more than half the world’s food aid comes from the United States. And tonight I ask the Congress to support an innovative proposal to provide food assistance by purchasing crops directly from farmers in the developing world so we can build up local agriculture and help break the cycle of famine.".....

Does this mean good news for our local farmers?....Time would tell!

Subject: Re: The price for Local flour Vs. Imported in Sierra Leone.
From: Protectionist
To: All
Date Posted: 08:50:44 01/29/08 ()
Email Address:
Entered From: gw1.dc.gov at 164.82.146.3

Message:
"The minister is in line in pricing the localy produced flour price higher that the imported" Balandu

I don't understand if the above was written in error or intentionally. If it is a fact, then what sense does it make to price the locally produced flour higher than the imported one? Given the inverse relationship between quantity demanded and price, (ceterris paribus), a higher price on the domestically produced goods will depress sales, discourage production, and undermine employment. In the longrun the local farmers will be out of business. So the wise thing to do is actually lower the price on the domestic flour (by subsidizing the local farmers) so that they can compete with the heavily subsidized foreign imported good.

But you know salone man....They will prefer to buy the foreign product against the domestically produced one, becuase in their colonized minds, anything domestic in inferior...and anything foreign is superior. That's the typical Sierra Leonean mindset. The colonial heritage...

Subject: Re: The price for Local flour Vs. Imported in Sierra Leone.
From: Umpire
To: All
Date Posted: 12:49:39 01/29/08 ()
Email Address: jallohlaw@yahoo.com
Entered From: x42072542.ip.e-nt.net at 66.7.37.66