how cool is this?!

You guys probably already know of Kwabena Boahen's silicon brain & silicon retina. Pretty cool stuff. I've gotta look for this guy. (i'm already scratching my head and wondering how this technology can be used to improve the governing of a country.) video courtesy of TEDtalks

i miss MJ

I miss Michael jackson. I heard one of his songs on radio and it got me thinking evil about "The media". The nasty evil journalists of course. Not the intelligent ones. I can't start to imagine how difficult it must be when anytime you wake up, people you haven't met or ever talked to do nothing but say and write negative & false stories about you. Even if I were the devil's step-child, I'd still have a hard time dealing with stories going around about me everyday. There were more people writing negative stories about MJ than those that wrote positive ones. Nobody deserves that kind of negative energy. Now that he's dead, I hope all those that treated him badly and made up stories about him, see the pain they caused and change their ways. It is this anger in me that makes me not like journalists very much. It shouldn't be so. There are lots of journalists out there with good hearts but the dirt the others do casts this dark cloud over all of them. The world will be a better place when people paid to write, write responsibly. We will all be so happy. I hurt even more when some guy that used to write for Vibe magazine in the late 90's said he regrets being a part of the writers that hyped up the East Coast - West Coast feud that eventually led to Pac & Biggie's deaths. Now I miss Pac. Gotta go listen to "Me Against The World". It sure would be nice to go to myjoyonline.com & ghanaweb.com one day and not find a negative article with a crass title.

Tyler

I've often wondered why my people and I are quick to accept, without question, what people in authority tell us.
Could it have started when we were colonized?
A Pimp's girls dont question him. They just go on & do whatever he asks.
That must have been how it started.

UB40's Tyler paints a similar story (out of Louisiana).
"Tyler is guilty a white judge has said so
What right do we got to say its not so"

Looking back over the years, I see a drift. A shift from what we used to be.
We talk more, we ask more questions and we see more value in doing so.
I love what I see!

GH for life!

With a name like Ghana Hall of Shame, I hope I don't come off as one that dislikes Ghana.
Truth is, I care about Ghana a lot a lot a lot.
When you care a great deal about something, you hurt when it's not living up to its potential.
Ghana has been great before and has made several positive marks in the history of this world.
I totally believe Ghana can be a great & highly productive country, with all its children living comfortably and peacefully in Ghana. I'm actually looking forward to that.


Considering where we are today, we all need to step up and put in some work.
It warms my heart when I read the blogs I follow. Your posts give me hope. Your thoughts are inspirational. Each of you in your own way, is contributing to make the world a better place. And that is even better.
I worry when I scan the Ghana politics scene. It makes me wonder where the brilliant Ghanaians are and why they are not the ones making the intelligent decisions needed to move the country forward. I worry that the most of the intelligent ones don't want to be bothered with how the country is run. Then I come out here and I read what you all that I follow have to say, and I have hope again.

Ayekooo FDB

Ghana's Food & Drugs Board recently ordered Tianshi to stop the importation & sale of unapproved penis & breast enlargement devices in Ghana.
I'm proud of who ever put their foot down and signed-off on that order. The device wasn't registered with FDB and therefore couldn't be on the market. Simple!

Good job FDB, but ease-up on the commentary about the safety of the devices.... unless there is documented proof. I know I know. 0% chance that thing works anyway.
Seriously though, isnt Ghana the worst market for penis & breast enlargement devices? Majority of our women are stacked!
And our men. Word on the street is they all hang low.
I wonder who the target market was.

Electricity for all!!

Yipeeee!
Now THAT would be nice.
Electricity for all communities in Ghana.
Electricity, meaning 24/7 Electricity right? Because there would be no sense in proclaiming "drinks are on me" at the bar and then I proceeding to serve 2 drops per patron.

Well, I wasn't in Keta but I read that Samuel Okudzeto-Ablakwa, Deputy Minister of Information is promising electricity for all in a few months. AND we will all be connected to the national grid.

Pssst! Psssst! Come here Samuel.
Did you really say that? All of us connected to THE national grid?
Slap yourself!
Now slap yourself again!
Go take some SSS physics lessons and stop insulting us.

Does anyone have a clue where the electricity Okudzeto-Ablakwa is talking about will be generated from? Has Gh Atomic Energy finally come up with something we are yet to hear about? I'd love to hear more good news.

We did our best under the circumstances

If the leaked cables (thanks to Wikileaks) is what has prompted Ghana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to withdraw some Diplomatic passports, then Thank You very much Mr Assange!

Drug smugglers don't always have a sign on their foreheads identifying them as such so our former ministers should hush up. They created & maintained loopholes for illegal activities to continue.
When these loopholes are being discussed, they should quit claiming "we did our best under the circumstances".
Those circumstances were under your control until you started making calls for your buddies to use the VVIP lounge.
The circumstances are always supposed to be under your control when you have a job to do.

Ghanaians & our proverbs

We love our proverbs!
I know I do.

It saddens me that we as a people do not live them as much as we say them.
Especially the one that talks about teaching a person to fish instead of giving him fish.
He will be fed for life when you teach him to fish.

So...
We already have our brilliant fishermen.
We have our farmers with tons of knowledge.
Yet every other day, we are at the doorsteps of institutions & countries asking for aid.

I await the days coming when we will have selfless leaders more interested in enabling our farmers, our fishermen.

I finally did it!

I read G.I.'s post and bowed my head in shame.
Considering what I know & what my family went through, I couldn't believe I was not a bone marrow donor.
I made it a priority and registered here.
If you live in the U.S., I urge you to take a few minutes to read about the National Bone Marrow program and join the registry.
After you register online, they will send you a kit, you swab the insides of your mouth, send back to them (postage paid).

Blacks & Mixed-race people have 1 in over 100,000 chance of finding a bone marrow match. Not cool at all. Please join the registry and ask others to do so too.

A registry was started in Ghana years ago but it is currently inactive. I understand bone marrow transplants aren't done in Ghana right now BUT... we'll get there.

bird's eye view

There is always a bigger picture.
Sometimes, it is important to mind that "bigger picture". There are also times when a "quick and dirty analysis" for an answer right now is the best move. Either way, you need a calm head to figure out which direction to take.

I have to say this; It bothers me that our State Attorneys (thanks Makola Law) lose cases that the public feels should be won.
I'm bothered that our journalists rave & rant about issues affecting the masses BUT do not lay down facts and figures to support their points.
Passion is good but Passion doesn't win legal debates.
Passion PLUS facts does.

So, about the Ghana MP's & them getting laptops.
Kajsa has a post & good commentary going on at her spot.

The arguments I've heard so far, in my opinion, have been on the personal/ passionate side. A few of them are:
1. The MPs are getting free personal laptops paid for by the tax payer.
2. These laptops will not be used by the MPs. They will end up with their girlfriends/concubines/ kids.
3. Personal interaction is needed between MPs and their constituents. Not contact/interaction by email.
4. The citizens of Ghana are in dire need of clean water, reliable electricity, better facilities for secondary & tertiary schools. Laptops for MPs should not be the priority today.

Yes. Based on history, we can expect some MPs to keep these laptops for themselves.
Heck, civil servants have been known to unlawfully occupy state-owned homes beyond their terms of service, unlawfully claim state-owned vehicles they used during their term of service, etc etc.

However, we can't jump in on this case where we choose to.

The MPs getting these laptops is part of a larger program.
The eGhana Project, funded by a loan from the World Bank.
I'm not sold on loans from World Bank, IMF or other countries. But that's another topic altogether.

My beef with "journalists" writing about laptops for MPs is that none of the articles I've read mentions the eGhana Project.
That is the big picture. Let's discuss that!
Are we making good use of those funds?
Are we meeting the Millennium Development Goals as scheduled?
Are The People going to benefit from this investment in our MPs?
Thousands of jobs are expected to be created. Is that real?

I'm giving each MP a lot of credit, doubting that they are dishonest (and I cringe as I say this). There will be some dishonest ones. the ones that will not use the laptops for official duties and will keep them for themselves.
Smoke the incompetent MPs out at some point, but lets look at the big picture and work towards meeting the goals that called for MPs getting laptops.

Here is a starting point: Go to page 14 (World Bank SOPE Ghana FY 2010)
Now dig deeper and decide for yourself where to focus your attention.

It hurts only when I'm awake

So many intelligent Ghanaians blogging.
Lots of outstanding ideas to make Ghana a better place for Ghanaians.
Passion over-flowing.
All around me, I see each of them doing extraordinary things.
They recognize the ills and all that must change, and some are working towards that change.

This small community gives me hope, but change is needed now on a large scale.
If there was a way, I'd move all these brains into environments where they can be effective at a national level.

I'm awake again.

Head Coach

I would love to see a Ghanaian as Head Coach of the Black Stars.
However, the screening, interviewing and evaluation of candidates from all over the world for this position must be fair.
I hope the ones assigned to select the new coach take this task seriously and do it right. It is not supposed to be an easy one.
I'll be very proud of them when they show love for country and are selfless in this quest to get the best Head Coach for our team.

We saw how positively the country and the continent rallied behind us during SA2010. It isn't just about the players. The coaches are part of the team too.

If a Ghanaian coach is selected, he or she better not let me down.
It would be good to have that paycheck stay in our country and circulate our local banks.

Riddle Riddle

I read this on Ghanaweb.

"As the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and Attorney General close in on the circumstances under which forged invoices, fraudulent misrepresentation and other acts bordering on criminality came to characterize the dealings between the E.O. Group-Kosmos Energy in their operations in Ghana, a key suspect in the plot appears to have shown a clean pair of heels."


I need to go back to school or something because I had no idea that to show a clean pair of heels means to run away or disappear.

RIP Mac Tontoh

Mac Tontoh & Osibisa
Legends of Ghanaian/ African/ Black music

I just found my Osibisa CD 3 weeks ago and jammed to "Kokro koo"
My favorite part:
"Jack Toronto!"
"Hi mehn!"

RIP Star! Proud of you and your team and all you did to make our Black Star shine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlfQbWB_3Ww

This train we are boarding

Listening to commentary on the use of the "N" word this morning, it dawned on me that it is now being used a lot in hiplife music.

I wish they wouldn't.

Conscious people (especially in the US) know how harmful it is to freely use that word and some have been doing their best to teach more people to exclude it from their vocabs.

I wish we wouldn't blindly get on this train.
Some see where its headed and are getting off.
Lets not get on it.

Our Journalists

They are killing me!

I'd expect a driver to know how to drive.
A chef must know how to cook.
Boxers should be capable of boxing.
An attorney must be be capable of presenting a case well (or the innocent gets fried)

I can neither write like them nor do their job but I wish our journalists had a good command of whatever language in which they choose to write.
A few extra minutes to review their work plus spell-check can do them a lot of good.

Some english teachers must be rolling in their graves. Mine probably is too!
I like teasing people but this isn't amusing anymore.

President of Ghana for a day

One day would not be enough for me to make an impact. I'd need 3 months.
1. I'll review & publicize job descriptions for all the ministerial positions. (if we vote them in, we need to know what they are supposed to be doing)
2. I'd demand that all ministers, MPs, mayors & DCEs submit 5-year goals and their departments' plans to achieve them.
3. Set substantial monthly milestones of these plans, to be publicly reviewed.
4. I'd do something with the IRS but I still haven't figured that out yet. A way to keep state money for the state and not in individuals' bank accounts.

Based on the above, each GH citizen would have someone in charge of their welfare.
Before setting this rolling, I'd sit down with a few opposition leaders, notable GH scholars (non politicians like Kofi Annan), and have them share their thoughts on the roadmaps submitted.

"President" wouldn't really be a fitting title so I'd go with "Facilitator".


What would you do if you were President for a day?

Since we are on the subject

Ghana really is a soccer powerhouse!
Black Stars have appeared in the African Cup of Nations 18 times and won 5 times. Egypt is the only one ahead of us and out of 22 appearances, they have 7 wins.
We tie Egypt with the most finals appearances - 8.

My point?
Soccer is one of the many things we do very well.
We've been dancing on the continent's floor for decades.
We've danced circles around the popular teams on the world's stage to our own amazement.
There is no better time than now, to support the talent we have and encourage them to get better.
We can own FIFA's World Cup tournament and make Ghana synonymous with soccer!

Next time I see a bunch of kids playing soccer without a real soccer ball, I'll get them one. One of them might be the next Robert Mensah, Aggrey Fynn, Razak, Kingson or Asamoah Gyan (with a different victory dance of course).


Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Cup_of_Nations#Most_championships_won

RESPECT DUE!

This squad came together as a team, worked very well together, trusted each other and made Africa proud.
Their high level of discipline was noted and that makes me proud of them.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present MY winners!!!

GOALKEEPERS
1 Daniel AGYEI
16 Stephen AHORLU
22 Richard KINGSON
DEFENDERS
2 Hans SARPEI
4 John PANTSIL
5 John MENSAH
7 Samuel INKOOM
8 Jonathan MENSAH
15 Isaac VORSAH
17 Ibrahim AYEW
19 Lee ADDY
MIDFIELDERS
6 Anthony ANNAN
9 Derek BOATENG
10 Stephen APPIAH
11 Sulley MUNTARI
13 Andre AYEW
21 Kwadwo ASAMOAH
FORWARDS
3 Asamoah GYAN
12 Prince TAGOE
14 Matthew AMOAH
18 Dominic ADIYIAH
20 Quincy OWUSU-ABEYIE
23 Kevin Prince BOATENG
COACH
Milovan RAJEVAC

Work

Work isn't "work" when you enjoy what you do.
It isn't "work" when you are highly productive without external force.

We should encourage each other to get into fields we are passionate about, doing things we enjoy doing.