Liverpool 10 Manure United 0!

Usually Luis Garcia is one of those Liverpool players that has me vacillating from tears to ecstasy with his performances in the League and in European competition.But there is one thing I will always love him for.He destroyed Roy Keane!!!!!!Manure United fans out there in your face!Here is a link to the video it is on the first post of that forum.You need to have Realplayer on your computer to view it.Oh Liverpool have just beaten Portsmouth 3-0 but Peter Crouch has failed to score AGAIN!Oh well you can't have it all!By the way Man U fans before you bombard my blog with all sorts of insults, it's just a game!Let's move on shall we.....

Do not run from the Kenyan police.....

Since I have finished one of my term papers I can let myself blog. Any of you who have been priviledged enough to receive e-mail from me know my signature, “Do not run from the Kenyan Police, you will only die tired!” It may seem funny but it is actually a true reflection about how our police have been operating for a long time. This is a link to a story on the Nation on-line, Maimed by crazed policemen. In this story a man who was a productive member of society was beaten into a bloody pulp by policemen who were out for revenge because one of their colleagues had been killed by thugs in downtown Nairobi. So as payback the cops went out of their way to beat down anyone who couldn’t state their case fast enough, members of the fourth estate were not excluded.
Anyone who lived in Nairobi remembers the days of the dreaded flying squad. This was a group of specially trained policemen who were supposed to crack down on crime and were just a phone call away.They had a most disturbing m.o, they would spray everything that moved on the scene with bullets then ask questions later.Some people actually used to use them as an adhoc hit squad eg jilted people would call them and say that the car their ex happened to be driving at the time was stolen, so the flying squad would come in and apprehend the "carjacker" by spraying him/her with bullets.They used to go to the extent of branding innocent people they had killed as wanted criminals and planting guns on them.Due to public outcry the whole program was overhauled.
Bribery and corruption with the Police is rampant.Lately they have been cracking down on it.It is most prevalant in the traffic division and many policemen campaing to be moved to that department.When policemen in that department are interdicted and set to be transferred there are many who would rather resign then face the lack of goodies in their new assignments.Street policemen have been known to harass everyday people on the streets, hassling them for their identification cards.Woe unto you if you dont have it on you, you will be branded a loiterer and be made to walk patrol with them the whole night or until they get to the station but there have been cases where some policemen have made people walk with them upto downtown Nairobi which is a dangerous place even during the day then just letting them go!There are also the policemen who go around in vans rounding up people from the streets late at night,rounding those up who are drunk or unable to bribe them and packing them in the back like sardines.My friends and I used to do things like this in uni when we knew that we would be in town late, in one pocket carry your I.D and 200/= for the police and in the other pocket carry 200/= for the thugs you may run into.
Going to get anything done in a Kenyan police station most of the time is a frustrating exercise that shows you how backward the bureaucracy is.One has to come in and fill the O.B ( Occurence Book ) sit down and wait for any officer on duty.When you get one after a long wait you have to wait for him to look for a pen and write down your statement in triplicate ( apparently photocopiers are hard to come by ).Then in the case of an assault you have to fill in a P3 form.The police cant afford them so you are given a copy that has been copied so many times that it is hardly legible and you have to photocopy it and give them the original.Reporting a rape can be a harrowing experience for a woman as many times there is no female officer on duty and even those who are there are not appropriately trained in terms of sensitivity and counselling.There was talk of opening a special station to deal with sexual crimes but I don't know if anything has been done past lip service.The Police are woefully underfunded and I remember some years back when people used to call their local stations as they were being attacked by thugs the police would tell them that they have no fuel and would have to wait for morning.I remember some people being robbed somewhere in Karen and as they screamed the thugs screamed with them!It seemed that they knew how innefectual the police were, there was a case of how when thugs attacked a house they actually volunteered to call the police for the family.There are areas in the outskirts of Nairobi ( Kahawa Sukari ) where people bought land and built large homes to develop the area.The government in turn did not fund the building of a police station in the area so lawlessness became the order of the day.So many people have been robbed of all they know in that area that many moved back to where they had come from.I had a friend who lived there and people used to ask him whether he came from that place where gunshots were their doorbells.
Anyway all the blame for the insecurity in Kenya which is said to be improving or worsening depending on who you are listening to can not all be laid on the laps of the police. The police are underfunded,overworked,demoralised and underpaid.The current government has pledged funding but they have not pledged enough.I think that living in their mansions and gated communities that they have understated the importance of security to the people,economy and potential investors.Well let it not be said that The Acolyte is not socially conscious!Anyway that is my Public Service Anouncement for today back to the irreverent Acolyte you all know and love!

Acolyte land part 3!

Some kubaff is using a pneumatic drill just next to the window of the office.DAMN can't this work be done late at night or over the weekend?Anyway I have made a vow to myself that until I finish my term papers no long posts.All the papers need is a little editing but I have raised them like my own babies from nothing so it's hard to say goodbye or maybe I'm just a lazy bastard.So that is my task for today.Here are some more pics

The third church which is just a bit past my apartment.


Parting will be such sweet sorrow..


I think this is the second tallest building in this town if I'm not wrong...(to msanii and akiey please note the correction!!!)


This is for you Mutumia and Akiey, you wanted a pic of The Acolyte...


And another pic of The Acolyte!!!!!!

Acolyte land part 2!

Got some more pics of Acolyte land for the people.Boss isnt in so you can enjoy these while I try to finish my term paper.Seems the brain is already gone for thanksgiving!


You can't have a school in the South and not have a Baptist Students Union!


After the office this is where I spend most of my time....The Library!


This is the School of Arts and Sciences where I have all my classes!


This is my Bank.Just across the road from uni

This is my mac at work, with me having my daily hit!Guess who's blog that is?

This is where the magic happens and also some work too..


Last but not least this is my pal Hy who shamelessly agreed to pose so that she could promote the Coffee house at the uni even though she hates coffee and work!

Acolyte Land!

Okay my mind is still kinda running on empty but I have some photos for ya'll from Acolyte Land!Enjoy....

The Acolyte must lubricate the brain over weekend to ensure optimal operations during the week!


This church is a 2 minute walk from my digs and I have never been to it!Oh the shame!


This church is across the road from my apartment complex and I have never been to it too but from the looks of it I dont regret it, looks like the kinda church where ppl handle snakes!

This is my apartment complex, my apartment is in the building that is on the far left, ground floor on the right; please call before you drop in!

This is the apartment complex that is adjascent to ours owned by the same company but more uptown, nuthin a broke ass grad student like me can afford.


This is one of my classmates, we share two courses, no this isn't dm in fact I should give her a cast name.Let's call her Lu.And yes she always looks high or half asleep.She says that for $20k she will marry an african man who wants to stay here as long as you dont consumate the marriage.So in my case she told me that I would have to pay $30k coz she thinks I will you know.....


Anyway those are just a few pics from Acolyte land!I will try and take some other pics tommorrow.At least that makes up for the fact that I my brain just don't wanna type too many words.Now off to watch Supernatural on the WB!!!

Chew on this

I am blogged out for today.So I think I will just give you an article to chew on as I wait for sumthin bloggable to happen.

Gold Diggers Are Alive and Well in 2005

Marty Nemko

I so often see this syndrome in my female clients: She comes in ostensibly wanting a career but finds an objection to every option, except going back to school, which defers having to work. Or she's done as much school as she can possibly justify, agrees that a particular career goal is appropriate, but refuses to do the work necessary to land a job.

When I ask, “Do you really want to work?,” most say no. So often, they’ll admit that what they’d really love is a man to support them so they can stay home—even if no children are involved.

One of my clients, a 20-something project coordinator for Sun Microsystems said, “If I could, I’d stay home in a minute. And that’s true for all of my (female) friends.” I was amazed by one of my clients, a recent graduate of a prestigious college who fit that profile perfectly, saying she’d love to meet a husband who made enough money that she could be a full-time housewife. What amazed me was that she said her most deeply held value is that women are constantly oppressed.

I had thought the era of gold diggers ended in the ‘60s with the women’s movement. But I’m here to say that from where I sit, it’s still alive and well. Perhaps today’s women, seeing their mothers not so happy in the workplace makes them decide they’d rather stay home and have a man support them, if they can find one.

My anecdotal experience is supported by others. For example, Time, 60 Minutes, and the New York Times Sunday Magazine all did major features on today’s women not wanting to work. Often cited, for example, was a study of Stanford MBAs. 95 % of the men were working full time while only 38% of the women were. In their book What Women Really Want, pollsters Celinda Lake, a Democrat, and Kellyanne Conway, a Republican, found that seven in 10 women say they would stay home with their kids if they could afford it.

I’m surprised that so many guys don’t mind being the sole breadwinner. Many of them, however, change their minds when I say this to them:

Today, it typically requires two incomes for a family to own a home and support a solid middle class lifestyle. If the wife refuses to work and especially if she pushes hard to own a home, have children, and spend heavily on clothes, jewelry, spas, going back to college, vacations, etc., it means that the man must try to find a very high-income job. Those jobs are very difficult to land and, once obtained, typically demand long, stress-filled, often unrewarding hours, for example as corporate lawyers, bond traders, insurance salesmen, or executives in which pressure to generate profit is high and the power to implement change is low.



Meanwhile, the wife gets a far more pleasurable existence, even when she has children to raise. Evidence it’s more pleasurable: In studies in which men who work outside the home offer to switch roles with their stay-at-home wives, most women refuse.



Finally, remember that men die much younger than women, with stress being a major killer. Do you really want to be a beast of burden so your wife can live a cushy life, and then after you die, inherit the money you’ve earned so she can continue her lifestyle?



Even after my lecturette, some men say they’re happy to be the sole breadwinner, but more say the lecturette opened their eyes—they agree that they would have more rewarding, less stressful career options and, overall, better lives if their wives contributed significantly to the family income. Most of the men say they will talk with their wives about it, but when they return for their next session, they usually report that their wife pulled out all the stops to avoid having to work: they cried, yelled, guilt-tripped, or avoided talking about it—anything but look for work.

These women use various excuses to avoid working, most commonly:

It’s better for the children. In fact, the data is equivocal about that. And anecdotally, I’ve seen many examples in which a stay-at-home mom overprotects a child, resulting in a less self-confident child than if the child were in a high-quality child-care program.

I don’t have earning potential. The definitive book on the subject, Why Men Earn More by Dr. Warren Farrell (Amacom, 2005) finds that for the same work, in many fields, women earn more than $1 for each dollar men earn. Even low-skill-required jobs such as waitressing can yield $50,000-$100,000 a year.

Men, I urge you to be more conscious about whether you are allowing yourself to be turned into being a beast of burden to pay for the expensive house, kids, and all the material “stuff” that you might well be willing to trade away for a more pleasant life.

And if you’re single, consider whether your life will be better if you hold out for a woman who will share responsibility for the family income. Besides, by requiring that, you’ll know that the woman wants to be with you because she loves you, not because—as a surprising number of my female clients have admitted in the privacy of my office--that she considers you a cash cow.

Please give your opinions and ladies please no profanity allowed!

My Mum

My mum jetted into the country last week to visit us.Most people you will talk to will tell you about how the mum is a wonderful person.I will tell you why I think my mum is a wonderful person.When I was 9 years old my dad passed away.My dad like in many african cases brought home the bulk of the bread.So here my mum was alone with 4 kids to bring up and she was a government employee at the time.To add salt to the wound my mum was the first born in her family and her parents had also passed away.So she also had to take care of her youngest brothers and sisters, the youngest who was just a year older then me.What about the relatives on my dad's side?Well you know how most Africans are, during the funeral they all stand up and say how you can depend on them but after that you are on your own.My dad's sisters aka my aunt's never approved of my dad marrying my mum.But my mum did have help from some family friends like my dad's best friend who helped us to the extent of helping wind up cases from my dad's law firm after which he would only recoup the cost and give my mum the rest of the cash.Another paid for my big sister's to finish high school.Note that none of these people were of the same tribe as us,I guess that is why half of the time you'll hear me talking smack about tribe coz the fact that you speak the same language doesn't mean that those people have your best interests at heart.
Anyway with it being hard to survive as a widow.My mum put us through school, put up with our teenage madness and kept a roof over our heads.It also helped me grow up faster coz as the oldest boy in the house I had to learn to think on my feet as I was now my mum's right hand man.As for my aunt's who were rooting for us to fail, one of them even refused to give me a statement for the embassy when I was coming and the other refused to help me hook up a jobo at the U.N even though she is a senior there.Well what goes round comes round coz as for my aunt who refused with the statement, her daughter came here to states to do an MBA,spent her cash like it was goin out of fashion, didnt graduate so she just brought her back to nai to "work" for her; all her millions gone to waste.As for my other aunt she has been unable to get married and her daughter has had 2 abortions and is barely making it through college.What goes around comes around!When I go to my sister's place in ATL it will be the first time we will all be together as a family in 8 years.
So even though we do have our domes ( quarrels ) we are still tight.Let's all be grateful for the good mothers and fathers ( who are often overlooked ) that God has given us!

Anutha saturday

Yesterday afternoon I was suppossed to get a haircut coz my hair is getting a tad bit long.So as I was taking a stroll downtown I decided against it and decided to go to the store and get some things I had forgotten to buy when I was at Walmart.So in addition to the kawa milk and warus I saw that they had those pre-cooked pizzas that you pop into your microwave.I decided what they heck lemme try one!So I got home popped the thingie in the microwave heated it up.It looked really good when it was done.So I took a bit.DAMN!It tasted like a latex glove with cheese and some meat on it.Since it was small and me being the true mwafrika I was not seeing my cash goin to waste like that plus i think was stubborn enuff to think that the taste would improve.I finished the thing after a couple of rubbery bites.
I then decided to chill out and finish a novel I had gotten from the lib.Ngoja the stomach begins complaining.Thank God for Coke!Yes unless it is a major tumbo war Coke or alcohol come in handy for self medication.That and no food for an hour or two.I remember when I used to go see some relas whose food I thot was suspect, I used to meza actal before I get there plus a sachet of eno as soon as I got home, best head off trouble at the pass!!So order was restored.Why should I go to the store to buy food poisoning when i can do it for myself for less cash at home?

Gay Teletubby?

I was doing some research on the net when I ran into an article highlighting that one of the teletubbies may be gay.I never could watch more then 3 minutes of that programme, putting an electric drill through my ear would feel much better.Frankly I think that inserting any sort of sexual cues in childrens' programming is despicable but on the other hand it could have been a misunderstanding.Anyway here is the article.When did things get so complicated?