ommotto
male - 28 years
Blog 38
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FACEBOOK ENTREPRENEUR: BUILDING AN EMPIRE
Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg has not turned 25, but he is already proved you do not need years of work experience under your belt to become the world's youngest self-made billionaire.
"Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected."
--Mark Zuckerberg
One might assume that information would abound on the founder of a high-profile, multi-billion-dollar social networking site. Wrong. Information on Mark Zuckerberg is surprisingly scarce. Maybe that's just because the 24-year-old Harvard dropout has only ever held one job: CEO of Facebook.
Zuckerberg grew up in the New York City suburb of Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., and attended the Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. His father is a dentist, his mother a psychiatrist, and he has three sisters. He taught himself how to program computers, and during his senior year in high school, he and fellow hacker-programmer Adam D'Angelo caught the interest of AOL and Microsoft by creating a Winamp plug-in that could build customized playlists.
But both turned down job offers in order to attend college in 2002--Zuckerberg to Harvard and D'Angelo to CalTech. But Zuckerberg's undergraduate career in computer science was not destined to last. Not content to just study programming, he created a photo-rating site called Facemash, using photographs of other Harvard students from the school's online facebook (a yearbook-like publication designed to introduce students to one another). But he created his program by hacking into student records and using photos without permission, and was reprimanded by the administration for violating privacy rules and breaching computer security.
Zuckerberg, however, was not deterred. He eventually finished the platform for "The Facebook" (sometimes at the expense of attending class), combining the concept of traditional facebooks with large-scale social networking sites like Myspace and Friendster.
In February 2004, Zuckerberg launched the program from his dorm room with co-founders Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes and Eduardo Saverin. In just a few weeks, more than half the school had opened accounts. The group quickly expanded to more universities and colleges, and that summer, Zuckerberg and his team moved to Palo Alto, Calif., renting a sublet and hooking up with investors like PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and Napster co-founder Sean Parker.
By August 2005, Zuckerberg had officially changed the company's name to Facebook, and after raising $12.7 million in venture capital, was ready to move the company to the next level.
The site gradually expanded from college networks to include high school and work groups, and in September 2006, anyone with an e-mail address was allowed to join. Today, there are more than 110 million active users, and according to comScore Media Metrix, which tracks Web activity, Facebook rates as the Web's top photo-sharing site, and is the fourth most-visited site in the world, accounting for more than 1 percent of all internet use.
Of course, Zuckerberg's success has not been without some controversy. Some of his college peers have accused him of stealing the code for Facebook, and that court case is still pending. He also caused a media furor when he introduced the Newsfeed function, which shared all activity updates between people in their respective social networks--at first without a privacy option.
In response, Zuckerberg said in a New York Times article that "Facebook has always tried to push the envelope. And at times that means stretching people and getting them to be comfortable with things they are not yet comfortable with. A lot of this is just social norms catching up with what technology is capable of."
Regardless, the tech titans took notice. In 2006, Zuckerberg astonished the world by turning down Yahoo's offer to buy Facebook for $1 billion. A year later, Microsoft purchased a 1.6 percent stake in the company for $240 million.
No one except Zuckerberg probably knows where the company is going, but even he has said that the site is a "work in progress." Recently, though, prominent Google executives have made a career move to Facebook, which implies the company will be going seriously corporate--and soon, maybe public. But one thing is for sure: Zuckerberg will be a major player in the tech industry for years to come.
And in case you are wondering, you can not friend Zuckerberg on Facebook. That function has been disabled.
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45 things a girl wants but wont ask for
1. Touch her waist.
2. Actually talk to her.
3. Share secrets with her.
4. Give her your jacket.
5. Kiss her slowly.
Are you remembering this?
6. Hug her.
7. Hold her.
8. Laugh with her.
9. Invite her somewhere.
10. Hangout with her and your friends together.
KEEP READING
11. Smile with her.
12. Take pictures with her.
13. Pull her onto your lap.
14. When she says she loves you more, deny it. Fight back.
15. When her friends say i love her more than you, deny it. fight back and
hug her tight so she can't get to her friends. it makes her feel loved.
Are you thinking of someone?
16. Always hug her and say I love you whenever you see her.
17. Kiss her unexpectedly.
18. Hug her from behind around the waist.
19. Tell her she's beautiful.
20. Tell her the way you feel about her.
One last thing you need to do to show her you actually do mean it.
21. Open doors for her, walk her to her car- it makes her feel protected,
plus it never hurts to act like a gentleman.
22. Tell her she's your everything - only if you mean it.
23. If it seems like there is something wrong, ask her- if she denies
something being wrong, it means SHE DOESN'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT- so just
hug her
24. Make her feel loved.
25-kiss her in front of OTHER girls you know!!!!*
KEEP READING!!
26-don't lie to HER.*
27-DON'T cheat on her.*
28-take her ANYWHERE she wants
29-txt messege or call her in the morning and tell her have a good day at
work {or school}, and how much you MISS her.
30-be there for her when ever she needs you, & even when she doesn't need
you, just be there so she'll know that she can ALWAYS count on you.*
ARE YOU STILL READING THIS? YOU BETTER BECAUSE, IT'S IMPORTANT
31. Hold her close when she's cold so she can hold YOU too.
32. When you are ALONE hold her close and kiss her.*
33. Kiss her on the CHEEK; (it will give her the hint that you want to kiss
her).*
34. While in the movies, put your arm around her and then she will
automatically put her head on your shoulder, then lean in and tilt her chin
up and kiss her LIGHTLY.
35. Dont EVER tell her to leave even jokingly or act like you're mad. If
shes upset, comfort her.
REMEMBER ALL THESE THINGS WHEN YOU ARE WITH HER NEXT
36. When people DISS her, stand up for her.*
37. Look deep into her EYES and tell her you love her.*
38. Lay down under the STARS and put her head on your chest so she can
listen to the steady beat of your heart, Link your fingers together while
you whisper to her as she rests her eyes and listens to you.
39. When walking next to each other grab her HAND.*
40. When you hug her HOLD her in your arms as long as possible*
MAKE SURE SHE KNOWS SHES LOVED
41. Call or text her at night to wish her SWEET DREAMS*
42. COMFORT her when she cries and wipe away her tears.*
43. Take her for LONG walks at night.
44. ALWAYS Remind her how much you love her.*
45.sit on top of her and tell her how much u love her and then bend down to
her face and kiss her while sitting on her.
you'll never know when she needs just a lil more love -
I delivered my son to his killers
"Sometime last month, my son told me that he feared for his life because a vigilante group accused him of being a member of Mungiki and wanted him killed. He wanted to run away from home, but I urged him not to because he would explain his case. We know the vigilantes well and some are our neighbours, so I believed they would hear us out." READ ON...
The boy, who was to sit his KCSE exam this year, confided that it was true
he had been recruited into Mungiki, says his father.
Wanjohi said: "He told me, Dad, I have been scared all this time. Im sorry for letting you down."
He said sometime back, a boy from a neighbouring village laid a trap and led him and two other schoolmates into a Mungiki oath ceremony.
He was to take them to a homestead to borrow books but as soon as they entered the house, they were kidnapped and forced through the recruitment ritual.
They were threatened with death if they ever leaked the secret.
On April 18, he and the other two boys were asked by the local vigilante group to go and explain how they had joined Mungiki.
They told the boys to go in the company of their parents and would be forgiven if they confessed.
He was scared but I told him Be strong, I know they will forgive you."
Later in the day, I took his hand and led him to the vigilantes meeting. The boys explained how they had been forcibly recruited. But as soon as they confessed, the vigilantes leader said he had no powers to forgive. He said the boys must be taken to "The Hague" where their fate would be known.
("The Hague" is a spot near Kagumo town where several Mungiki suspects have been tried by a kangaroo court and executed.)
We followed the mob to "The Hague" where the overall leader said the boys must be killed.
They were kneeling down, crying out and begging to be spared but the leader said what he had ruled must be done.
I asked him Do you truly want to spill my sons blood? Would you make the same ruling if it was your own son?
"By then, I had lost hope. The hurt I felt in my heart is something that will never go away. I knew that boy had done something wrong, but we are all humans and he had asked for forgiveness."
"When the gang was preparing to hack him, a few people said they did not want him killed at the spot and led him to another place. The other parents were with us too, so we followed them as they took the children away. The boys were crying."
I looked at my son and he told me, Dad, dont worry.
"I could not take it any more. The men were brandishing pangas and axes, so I looked at my son one last time and sneaked away. As I walked off, I heard them start hacking the boys.
"I couldnt take the sound, so I started running in the rain and went home. I found his mother waiting up for me and told her they had killed our son. She cried the whole night." -
fast rende karucy's ingris
es unfoshunate,that we donti have a woman menesta,in the ministry of…..in the administreshono... menestry
naitha in enterno securete. we can! women we can! if thech was a woman meba of pariament,in the menestre of interno securete she woodi hav stopped this accidets. the menesta who es there today,ad am going to say
minister Saitoti. he waits antiro he hears of bad-aches in north eastern,bad-aches some-o-where eros,ad the nexti day,you see him there. enterno securete menestry means you protect everebody in Kenya . You stop accidents! adi donti tero me that es the job of the menesta for transport or for roads,no! etes yours,etes for porovesa saitoti,etes yours,
I was angry yesterday last evening when I saw him on tv,he has gone to thati spot where 118 kenyans died and this is ore he had 2 say "I hope you kenyans,this tragedy wiro teach you a resson"
He tod us,that this tragedy wiro teach us a resson. how cani dedi people be taught a resson?,theiya orede dead. ad I wadad why did he fry ore the way from nairobi to go to moro to say that.. to hurt the people who are orede mourning their dead,and he asked us kenyans when wiro you ever learn... . em.. i repry to him..
when you come to us,give us seveki ediocation,teach us,there in the ruro that petro is dagerous,dont sed your choodren to go adi correct et from a tank,when the tanki hasi forren.. -
HIV/ AIDS IS REAL... YOUTH HAVE TO CHOOSE LIFE
EDITORS COMMENT: It was hard to accept publishing this article because of the explicit words used in it... but on second thought who could have a written a better article depicting the harsh reality of HIV/AIDS among modern youth.....JUST READ ON...
Dorie ni mwanadada Mbongo mzuri sana, miaka 22. Anasoma katika Chuo fulani cha akina dada tupu kwenye mji moja mdogo Jeddah, hapa Saudi. Ana rafiki yake wa kiume Mbongo miaka 29 anafanya kazi mjini. Basi siku moja kaja kumtembelea bwenini. Kwa kawaida wanaume hawaruhusiwi bwenini, isipokuwa mara moja kwa mwezi. Tena ni lazima waache mlango wa chumba wazi.
Dorie anamkaribisha Stephen vizuri. Pombe ni marufuku bwenini, lakini Stephen kabeba ndogo ya Vodka. Wanaongea juu ya masomo huko wanasikiliza muziki wa nyumbani. Wamekaa kitandani kwa Dorie. Roomate wake Dorie kaenda mjini, kwa hiyo ni wenyewe tu mle chumbani. Ile pombe kali inaanza kuwalesha. Dorie anainuka kwenda kufunga mlango wa chumba halafu anarudi chumbani. Kukaa karibu na Stephen wanaanza kusikia joto ya miili yao. Wanapiga Tongue Kisi na kupapasana huko wanacheka na nyege zinawapanda.
"Oh, Dorie napenda chuchu zako zinavyonichoma kifuani."
"Stephen, MMhhh, nakupenda."
Dorie anashusha mkono wake kwenye mtuno wa Stephen. Anakuta mboo yake imesimama. "Oh Stephen, mpenzi" Unanitaka?..
Stephen anjajibu "Ndiyo mpenzi nakutaka!"
Dorie anafungua zipu na kuiachia huru mboo ya Stephen iliyovimba kwa hasira. Anaipapasa taratibu? "Oh Dorie nina hamu na wewe" Stephen anaingiza mkono wake kwenye sketi, and bila kumvua chupi, anasogeza ilesehemu iliyofunika kuma na kuanza kuchezea kisimi cha Dorie. Dorie anapanua miguu kusudi apate yote.
"Oh, Oh?." Dorie analegea kabisa,, Stephen anamvua chupi. Anapapasa mwili wa Dorie, anaamua kumvua blausi na sidiria na sketi?.mwisho Dorie kabakia uchi pale kitandani?..Stephen anainama na kuchezea chuchu kwa mkono wa kulia. Anatazama kuma ya Dorie invayovutia, huko anachezea chuchu huko ananza kumnyonya Dorie kisimi.
"Uwiiiiiiii,oohhhhhhyyaaaaaaa, maaiigodi, taammmuu mpenzi unataka kuniua!
"Unaona Tamu ?" Stpehen anauliza
"Ndiyo sanaaa mmmhhh"
Kusikia malamiko yake Stephen anajua Dorie yuko tayari kutombwa. Anajua ufundi wa kutomba ni kutayarisha kuma, kabla ya kutomba. Kama vile kuwasha jiko la mkaa. Hubandiki sufuria mpaka moto umekolea. Anatesti kuma na kidole, na kuona ina ute wa kutosha. Anashusha suruali na kuingiza mboo kumani. Inaslaidi ndani bila shida.
"Aaahahhhh, Asssantee Stephen, Asante."
Stephen naye alikuwa amebanwa nyege, basi mara moja anaanza kupampu. Dorie naye anaanza kumkatia kiuno. Wote wana piga kelele za utamu, mpaka nje kwenye corridor baadhi ya wanafunzi wenzao wamekusanyika kusikiliza. Kwa vile wanaongea Kiswahili, hawaelewi wanasema nini?.mpaka wanafikiria wanumizana?..Wanafunzi wanaaanza kubisha hodi mlangoni. Wapenzi walivyo katika utamu hawasikii kitu, basi wale wenzao wanagonga mlango kwa nguvu, mwisho dada moja anamua kwenda kwa Matrion aje kufugua mlango na ufungu kuchukua ufungua wa chumba.
Matron anafika mlangoni na kusikilia?"What the hell are they doing in there"!
Huko kasi ya shughuli moto wapenzi wanafikia kilele cha tendo wako peponi kabisa?
Dorie analia kwa sauti, naye?."yeeeeeeeenakuuujaaa" Step ya shahawa kumani anaanza kuja tena? "AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"
Stephen anatazama Kuma ya Dorie na kuona kisimi bado kimetuna, " Wewe bado unanyege!"
Matron anafungua mlango, na kuwakuta ndio wanamalizia. Stephen yuko juu ya Dorie.
Wanafunzi wenzao wanabakia mlangoni kutazama kwa mshangao.
Comments za wanafunzi wenzao.
"Damn! We thought you guys were killing each other."
"Yeah, You guys were just making love!?
"Wow, were you guys loud"
"Is that how you do it in Africa!"
Dorie na Stephen wanabakia kuona haya. Wanavuta shuka?
Matron anamfokea Dorie na kumwambia avae na aripoti ofisini. Kwa vile nyege zimemwishia Dorie anaanza kuona haya....
HIV/AIDS IS REAL..... -
Your (Real) Name Vs Your likes
Sex and your name (it seems to run true!!!) Accordingto studies, your sexual identity is revealed by the First letter of your First name...what do you think?
-A- You are not particularly romantic, but you are interested in action. You mean business. With you, what you see is what you get. You have no patience for flirting and can't be bothered with someonewho is trying to be coy, cute, demure, and subtly enticing. You are an up front person. When it comes to sex, it's action that counts notobscure hints. Your mate's
physical attractiveness is important to you. You find the chase and challenge of the "hunt" invigorating. You are passionate and sexual as well as being much more adventurous than you appear; however, you do not go around advertising these qualities. Your physical needs are your primary concern.
-B- You give off vibes of lazy sensuality. You enjoy being romanced, wined, and dined. You are very happy to receive gifts as an statement of the affection of your lover. You want to be pampered and know how to pamper your mate. You are private in your statement of endearments and particularly when it comes to lovemaking. You will hold off until everything meets with your approval. You can control your appetite and abstain from sex if need be. You require new sensations and experiences. You are willing to experiment.
-C- You are a very social individual, and it is important to you to have a relationship. You require closeness and togetherness. You must be able to talk to your sex partner before, during, and after. You want the object of your affection to be socially acceptable and good looking. You see your lover as a friend and companion. You are very sexual and sensual, needing someone to appreciate and almost worship you. When this cannot be achieved, you have the ability to go for long periods without sexual activity. You are an expert at controlling your desires and doing without.
-D- Once you get it into your head that you want someone, you move full steam ahead in pursuit. You do not give up your quest easily. You are nurturing and caring If someone has a problem, this turns you on. You are highly sexual, passionate, loyal, and intense in your involvement, sometimes possessive and jealous. Sex to you is a pleasure to be enjoyed. You are
stimulated by the eccentric and unusual, having a free and open.
-E- Your greatest need is to talk. If your date is not a good listener, you have trouble relating. A person must be intellectually stimulating or you are
not interested sexually. You need a friend for a lover and a companion for a bedmate. You hate disharmony and disruption, but you do enjoy a good argument once in a while it seems to stir things up. You flirt a lot, for the challenge is more important than the sexual act for you, but once you give your heart away, you are uncompromisingly loyal. When you don't have a good lover to fall asleep with, you will fall asleep with a good book. (Sometimes, in fact, you prefer a good book.)
-F- You are idealistic and romantic, putting your lover on a pedestal. You look for the very best mate you can find. You are a flirt, yet once committed, you are very loyal. You are sensuous, sexual, and privately passionate. Publicly, you can be showy, extravagant, and gallant. You are born romantic. Dramatic love scenes are your favorite fantasy pastime. You can be a very generous lover.
-G- You are fastidious, seeking perfection within yourself and your lover. You respond to a lover who is your intellectual equal or superior, and one who can
enhance your status. You are sensuous and know how to reach the peak of erotic stimulation, because you work at it meticulously. You can be extremely active sexually that is, when you find the time. Your duties and responsibilities take precedence over everything else. You may have difficulty getting emotionally close to a lover, but no trouble getting close sexually.
-H- You seek a mate who can enhance your reputation and earning ability. You will be very generous to your lover once you have attained a commitment. Your gifts are actually an investment in your partner. Before the
commitment, though, you tend to be frugal in your spending and dating habits and equally cautious in your sexual involvement. You are a sensual and patient lover.
-I- You have a great need to be loved, appreciated...Even worshipped. You enjoy luxury, sensuality, and pleasures of the flesh. You look for lovers who know what they are doing. You are not interested in an amateur, unless that amateur wants a tutor. You are fussy and exacting about having your
desires satisfied. You are willing to experiment and try new modes of sexual statement. You bore easily and thus require sexual adventure and change. You are more sensual than sexual, but you are sometimes downright lustful.
-J- You can be very romantic, attached to the glamour of love. Having a partner is of paramount importance to you. You are free in your statement of love and are willing to take chances, try new sexual experiences and partners, provided it's all in good taste. Brains turn you on. You must feel that your partner is intellectually stimulating, otherwise you will find it
difficult to sustain the relationship. You require loving, cuddling, wining and dining to know that you're being appreciated.
-K- You are totally f**king marvelous!
-L- You are very romantic, idealistic, and somehow you believe that to love means to suffer. You wind up serving your mate or attracting people who have unusual troubles. You see yourself as your lover's savior. You are sincere, passionate, lustful, and dreamy. You can't help falling in love. You fantasize and get turned on by movies and magazines. You do not tell others of this secret life, nor of your sexual fantasies.
-M- You are emotional and intense. When involved in a relationship, you throw your entire being into it. Nothing stops you; there are no holds barred. You are all consuming and crave someone who is equally passionate and intense. You believe in total sexual freedom. You are willing to try anything and everything. Your supply of sexual energy is inexhaustible. You also enjoy mothering your mate.
-N- You are crap in bed.
-O- You are very interested in sexual activities yet secretive and shy about your desires. You can re-channel much of your sexual energy into making
money and/or seeking power. You can easily have extended periods of celibacy. You are a passionate, compassionate, sexual lover, requiring the same qualities from your mate. Sex is serious business; thus you emand intensity diversity, and are willing to try anything or anyone. Sometimes your passions turn to possessiveness, which must be kept in check.
-P- You are very conscious of social proprieties. You wouldn't think of doing anything that might harm your image or reputation. Appearances count, therefore, you require a good-looking partner. You also require an intelligent partner. Oddly enough, you may view your partner as your enemy; a good fight stimulates those sex vibes. You are relatively free of sexual hang-ups.
You are willing to experiment and try new ways of doing things. You are very social and sensual; you enjoy flirting and need a good deal of physical gratification.
-Q- You require constant activity and stimulation. You have tremendous physical energy. It is not easy for a partner to keep up with you, sexually or
otherwise. You are an enthusiastic lover and tend to be attracted to people of other ethnic groups. You need romance, hearts and flowers, and lots of
conversation to turn you on and keep you going.
-R- Yow are a no-nonsense, action-oriented individual. You need someone who can keep pace with you and who is your intellectual equal the smarter the better. You are turned on more quickly by a great mind than by a great body. However, physical attractiveness is very important to you. You have to be proud of your partner. You are privately very sexy, but you do not
beg, you are willing to serve as teacher. Sex is important; you can be a very demanding playmate.
-S- You are secretive, self-contained, and shy. You are very sexy, sensual and passionate, but you do not let on to this. Only in intimate privacy will this
past of your nature reveal itself. When it gets down to the nitty-gritty, you are an expert. You know all the little tricks of the trade, can play any role or
any game, and take your love life very seriously. You don't fool around. You have the patience to wait for the right person to come along.
-T- You are very sensitive, private, and sexually passive; you like a partner who takes the lead. Music, soft lights and romantic thoughts turn you on. You
fantasize but do not tend to fall in and out of love easily. When in love, you are romantic, idealistic, mushy and extremely intense. You enjoy having your
senses and your feelings stimulated, titillated, and teased. You are a great flirt. You can make your relationships fit your dreams, often times all in your
own head.
-U- You are enthusiastic and idealistic when in love. When not in love, you are in love with love, always looking for someone to adore. You see romance as a challenge. You are a roamer and need adventure, excitement, and freedom. You deal in potential relationships. You enjoy giving gifts and enjoy seeing your mate looking good. Your sex drive is strong and you desire instant gratification. You are willing to put your partner's pleasures above your own.
-V- You are individualistic, and you need freedom, space, and excitement. You wait until you know someone well before committing yourself. Knowing someone means psyching him out. You feel a need to get into his head to see what makes him tick. You are attracted to eccentric types. Often there is an age difference between you and your lover. You respond to danger, thrills and suspense. The gay scene turns you on even though you yourself may not be a participant.
-W- You are very proud, determined, and you refuse to take no for an answer when pursuing love. Your ego is at stake. You are romantic, idealistic and often in love with love itself, not seeing your partner as he or she really is. You feel deeply and throw all of yourself into your relationships. Nothing is too good for your lover. You enjoy playing love games.
-X- You need constant stimulation because you bore quickly. You can handle more than one relationship at a time with ease. You can't shut off your mind. You talk while you make love. You can have the greatest love affairs, all by yourself, in your own head.
-Y- You are sexual, sensual, and very independent. If you can't have it your way, you will forgo the whole thing. You want to control your relationships, which doesn't always work out too well. You respond to physical stimulation, enjoy necking and spending hours just touching, feeling and exploring. However, if you can spend your time making money, you will give up the pleasures of the flesh for the moment. You need to prove to yourself and your partner what a great lover you are. You want feedback on your performance. You are an open, stimulating, romantic bedmate.
-Z- For you, it is business before pleasure. If you are in any way bothered by career, business, or money concerns, you find it very hard to relax and get into the mood. You can be romantically idealistic to a fault and are capable of much sensuality. But you never lose control of your emotions. You are very careful and cautious before you give your heart away and your body, for that matter. Once you make the commitment, though, you stick like glue. -
NO MÉNAGE-À-TROIS FOR OBAMA
Putting Hillary Clinton on the ticket for vice president creates a ménage-à-trois. Bill will be the unexpected roommate. Even if a President Obama can discipline Hillary and get her to play second fiddle, there is not the remotest chance that he can get the former president to accept such rules. Even if Bill Clinton wanted to rein in his newly prolific public expressions of rage and frustration, there is doubt that he is any longer capable of doing so.
Hillary, who likely desperately wants to be tapped for vice president, is going about it in exactly the wrong way. She seems to be demanding a kind of coalition government between herself and Obama, a definition of the vice presidency not likely to appeal to the president. It reminds me of 1980 when there were discussions of a ticket with Reagan as the presidential nominee and former President Gerald Ford as the vice president in a coalition government where the VP would have extraordinary powers.
Intended to reassure voters who were panicked by Reagan’s “extreme” conservatism, the arrangement never came to fruition, a development which gave us the House of Bush.
Instead of conceding defeat and campaigning for Obama, auditioning for the spot of loyal teammate, Hillary insists on keeping her options open and vies for the spotlight with Obama, exactly what you do not want a vice president to do.
Last night, when Obama went over the top in delegates and could claim the nomination as his, Hillary organized a rally of all of her supporters, directly competing for airtime with the newly minted nominee.
Adding Hillary to the ticket would not bring Obama a single vote (except possibly for Bill’s). Her supporters are divided into two distinct categories. The original Clintonistas were strong Democrats, party faithful, pro-choice, middle-aged and up, largely female and all white. But Hillary’s recent backers have been downscale whites of both genders who were turned off by Obama’s pastor, wife and other associates and were afraid he might be a Muslim in disguise. Unhappy about voting for a woman, they never really liked Hillary but turned to her when the alternative was Obama.
If Hillary had won the Democratic nomination, these latent backers of Hillary in the primaries might still have voted for McCain in the general. Their support of Hillary is purely linked to her opposition to Obama. Were she to join the ticket, they would vote for McCain anyway. After all, Obama will still be black and the Rev. Wright will still be nuts.
But adding Hillary to the ticket brings, along with her, Bill.
The public Bill Clinton has morphed over the past few months from a statesman and philanthropist to a petulant, angry, cursing, spoiled narcissist, accusing everyone of being sleazy and biased and in so doing fashioning himself as a foil for Obama. This unattractive image is not the right one for the bottom of a ticket in a presidential race. And make no mistake, Bill comes along with Hillary.
But the more serious problem is the public record that Todd Purdum, an excellent journalist, laid out in his Vanity Fair piece. Bill’s relationships with billionaires, his pursuit of financial gain, his alliance with the emir of Dubai, and his acceptance of speaking fees and income from some of the least savory of types is not what you need to carry around with you in a presidential race. To put Hillary on the ticket is to confront nagging questions about donors to the Clinton Library and Bill’s refusal to release them. It would be to inherit a load of baggage that Obama does not need as he tries to position himself as the candidate of change, antithetical to the corrupt and corrupting ways of Washington.
On her own, Hillary would be no bargain as vice president. She would never accept direction and never sublimate her ambition or agenda to Obama’s. But with Bill in tow, her candidacy becomes even more fraught with peril should Obama be inclined to bow to pressure and put her on the ticket. -
HILLARY WON'T ADOPT THE HUCKABEE OPTION
OK, so Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is staying in the presidential race despite losing among elected delegates, facing a slimming lead among superdelegates, losing the popular vote and behind by 2-to-1 in the number of states carried. She slogs on, hoping against hope for a sudden turnaround in the race.
Apart from the psychological reasons for her stubbornness, is there a more subtle political calculation going on?
Is she continuing her race so as to have a platform from which to continue to bash Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in the hopes of so damaging him that he can’t win the general election? Is she doing this to keep her options alive for the 2012 presidential race?
Hillary is obviously entitled to keep running until Obama has secured the votes necessary for the nomination, and it is certainly understandable that she would want to run until the last popular vote is counted. But must she run a negative, slash-and-burn campaign? Must she use her time on the platform and on television to belittle, mock, deride and try to destroy the man who will eventually be the candidate of her own party?
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) felt similarly justified in staying in the race for the Republican nomination until Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) reached the majority threshold required for nomination. He contested the Texas primary vigorously, even though his earlier losses in South Carolina and Florida made it most unlikely that he could win the nomination. But he chose to run a positive campaign. He didn’t knock McCain. He just articulated the case for his own candidacy.
But Hillary won’t avail herself of that option because it does not serve her long-term fallback position: a shot at the nomination in 2012. If Obama is elected this year, he will seek reelection in 2012 and Hillary would have to face taking on an incumbent in a primary in her own party if she wanted to run, a daunting task. But if McCain wins, the nomination in 2012 will be open. And it might be worth having. McCain will be 76 years old and the Republican Party will have been in power for 12 years. Not since FDR and Truman has a party lasted that long in power. When the Republicans tried to do so, in 1992, they fell flat on their face.
Hillary is using white, blue-collar fears of Barack Obama to try to stop him from getting nominated or elected.
She is playing on his “elitism” by hammering him on blue-collar issues and is mincing no words in painting him as a stranger to blue-collar white America.
Hillary is attracting the votes of cops, firefighters, construction workers, union members. Are they in love with Hillary? They can’t stand her. But they are terrified of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers and the various influences to which Obama seems to be subject. By playing on those fears, Hillary is undermining Obama’s ability to get elected.
This is not a byproduct of her continued candidacy — it is the goal. She, the consummate realist, must know that she has no practical shot at the nomination herself after her numbing loss in North Carolina and her paper-thin margin in Indiana. But she welcomes the opportunity an ongoing candidacy offers to bash Obama and to drive a wedge between him and the voters he must have to beat McCain.
The question is how long Democratic primary voters and the party leadership let her go on hitting their ultimate nominee. Will they bring Hillary up short and speak out about the harm she is doing to their party’s prospects by way of her refusal to recognize reality?
Hillary doesn’t have to pull out. She is entitled to run in the remaining states. But she should curtail her negative campaign and adopt the Huckabee strategy: Maximize your own vote share, but don’t beat up the party’s nominee. Unless, of course, that is her goal all along. -
IT'S ALL OVER, SEN. CLINTON
She lost hard in North Carolina, and barely held on to win Indiana. Hillary Clinton just doesn't have enough straws left to clutch. The best (or worst) she can hope to do the rest of the way is bloody Barack Obama enough to make him lose in the fall, allowing her to come back in 2012.
In fact, Obama basically clinched the nomination with his string of 11 straight primary and caucus wins in February, many by wipe-out margins - giving him a lead in elected delegates that Clinton couldn't hope to close, especially given the nutty proportional-representation rules that govern the Democratic Party.
Do the math. Last night's results leave him with a lead among elected delegates of 150 or so, and among all delegates of around 130.
Only a handful of states are left to vote, with a combined total of about 230 delegates. She'll probably win West Virginia, Kentucky and Puerto Rico - and lose Oregon, North Dakota, and Montana. She most likely could pick up a net 10 delegates, leaving him with a lead of at least 130 (110, counting in superdelegates).
If Hillary manages to get Florida and Michigan seated (which she won't), she'll net another 47 delegates. So Obama, worst case, will have a lead of at least 60 delegates. Most likely, it'll be more than 100.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Chairman Howard Dean have all made it clear that they expect superdelegates to decide who to support within (in Reid's words) "days, not weeks" after the last ballots are cast on June 3.
In that environment, Obama - who'll be only about 100 delegates short of a majority - will be an irresistible choice. Few superdelegates will want to risk civil war by overruling the verdict of the voters - and almost all will want to climb aboard the victory bandwagon so as not to get shut out of the White House for four (or eight) years.
In the past few months, Obama has closed Clinton's lead among superdelegates from 60 to 20. The trend will accelerate after popular voting ends; he'll probably pass the 2,025 threshold in the first two weeks of June.
Clinton may stay in, hoping to can seat Florida and Michigan. But she won't win there, either.
The Credentials Committee, which will make the key report, consists of three votes for each state or territory. The remaining contests will leave him with, at worst, a 10-state lead. Howard Dean names 25 committee members, but she can't prosper unless he stacks them all for her - and, if anything, he'll go the other way.
Having lost there, her only option would be to appeal to the convention floor - where neither of the contested delegations can vote on their own credentials, virtually assuring an Obama victory on the credentials fight and the nomination.
Clinton may well fight all the way - she's stubborn and dedicated. More, she's also farsighted and devious: She could hope to so bloody Obama that he can't beat John McCain. If McCain wins, she could get the Democratic nomination in 2012 - and, with McCain closing in on 76 and after 12 years of GOP rule, win.
But one thing is clear: Obama has this nomination sewed up. -
GROOVE AWARDS 2008 WINNERS
Mercy Masika walked away with Artist of the Year and Female Artist of the Year at the 2008 Groove Awards. Kanjii won Male Artist of the Year and M.O.G scopped Group of the Year as the biggest night in Kenya's gospel music finally went down on Sun 4th May 2008 at the KICC Plenary hall, Nairobi.
GROOVE AWARDS 2008 WINNERS
1. Artiste of the Year - Mercy Masika
2. Group of the Year - M.O.G
3. Male Artiste of the Year - Kanjii
4. Female Artiste of the Year - Mercy Masika
5. Most Promising Artiste - Eunice Njeri
6. Song of the Year - Under the Rock (Mavuno Worship Team)
7. Album of the Year - Mavuno Worship Project
8. Video of the Year - Zaidi ya Mziki
9. Children Song of the Year - Sunflower Kids
10. Worship song of the Year - Ahadi Zake (Marion Shako)
11. Choir of the Year - Mavuno Worship Team
12. Dance Group of the Year - Maximum Melodies
13. Gospel DJ of the year - DJ Moz
14. Rap / Hiphop Song of the Year- Mtaa Mentality (Juliani)
15. Best Traditional Gospel Song - Katau Banda (Emmy Kosgei)
16. Gospel Radio Show of the Year - Kubamba (Hope FM)
17. Presenter of the Year Radio / TV - Njugush (Homeboyz Radio)
18. Gospel TV show of the Year - The Stomp
19. Producer of the Year - R-Kay
20. Song-Writer of the Year - Marion Shako
21. Peace Award - Wakenya Pamoja
22. Lifetime Achievement Award - Angela Chibalonza
Here is the full list of all Nominees.......
GROOVE AWARDS 08 NOMINEES
1. ARTIST OF THE YEAR
a. CHIZI
b. ASTAR
c. JEMIMMAH THIONG’O
d. JULIANI
e. SK BLUE
f. MERCY MASIKA
2. GROUP OF THE YEAR
a. BARIKI
b. RACHEL
c. M.O.G
d. 501
e. ROCK OF AGES
f. WERNONO KRU
3. MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
a. ASTAR
b. DADDY OWEN
c. KANJII
d. BEN GITHAE
e. HOLY DAVE
f. RING TONE
4. FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
a. MARION SHAKO
b. EUNICE NJERI
c. MERCY MASIKA
d. MICHELLE
e. SHEILA
f. JEMIMMAH THIONG’O
5. MOST PROMISING ARTIST
a. EUNICE NJERI
b. KEVO YUT
c. MR VEE
d. WAO
e. VERBAL
f. FAITH BROTHERS
6. SONG OF THE YEAR
a. MILELE (MERCY MASIKA)
b. ZING ZING (MOG)
c. MWANGA (Mozay Ft Kaberere, Daddy Owen,)
d. MALILIKANI (KIKI)
e. UNDER THE ROCK (MAVUNO WORSHIP TEAM)
f. WERNONO ANTHEM (WERNONO KRU)
7. ALBUM OF THE YEAR
a. THE LIGHT (ASTAR)
b. ONA AGERIA (BEN GITHAE)
c. KITENGE (SK BLUE)
d. 501 (PREMIER )
e. MAVUNO WORSHIP ALBUM
f. IMANI (JEMIMAH THIONGO)
8. VIDEO OF THE YEAR
a. FUNDI WA MBAO (ZAIDI YA MUZIKI)
b. SINA SUBSTITUTE (SHTUKO)
c. ZING ZING (MOG)
d. IN THE NAME OF JESUS (ASTAR)
e. NAKUHITAJI (JIMMY GAIT)
f. UMEIWEZA ROHO YANGU (EUNICE NJERI)
9. CHILDREN SONG OF THE YEAR
a. SUN FLOWER KIDS
b. SILK (NIMEBADILIKA)
c. STOMAZ
d. ‘MC CHEE (ASANTE MUNGU BA)
e. PRINCE KAMANZI (MY NAME IS PRINCE)
f. PS KIDS
10. WORSHIP SONG OF THE YEAR
a. UMETUKUKA (ISAAC KAHORA)
b. UMEIWEZA ROHO YANGU (EUNICE NJERI AND BILLY FRANK)
c. KAMA SIO WEWE (MERCY AND BILLY FRANK)
d. YOUR LOVE HAS SET ME FREE (MAVUNO WORSHIP TEAM)
e. AHADI ZAKE (MARION SHAKO)
f. NIPE AMANI (JEMIMAH THIONG’O)
11. CHOIR OF THE YEAR
a. AFLEWO
b. INTIMACY WORSHIP
c. MAVUNO WORSHIP TEAM
d. VUC
e. LIFESPRING CHAPEL
f. NPC CHOIR
12. DANCE GROUP OF THE YEAR
a. BMF
b. CREAM DANCERS
c. MAXIMUM MELODIES
d. SQUADI SAUTI
e. DWAP
f. CITY LIGHTS
13. GOSPEL DJ OF THE YEAR
a. DJ RIQ
b. DJ MOZ
c. DJ NEVS
d. DJ SOXXY
e. DJ JONNY CELEB
f. DJ JOSH
14. RAP/HIPHOP SONG OF THE YEAR
a. NIMECHOKA (501)
b. NOT A JOKE (HOLY DAVE)
c. IBADA YANGU (RIGGA)
d. FOCUS (MICHELLE)
e. MTAA MENTALITY (JULIANI)
f. IN THE NAME OF JESUS (ASTAR)
15. BEST TRADITIONAL GOSPEL SONG
a. THUMBI (SARAH KIARIE)
b. KATAU BANDA (EMMY KOSGEY)
c. ATIYO NI RUOTHA (ISAAC KAVEHERE)
d. ONA AGERIA (BEN GITHAE)
e. ATANIKUMBUKA (RUTH WAMUYU)
f. MALILIKANIE (KIKI)
16. GOSPEL RADIO SHOW OF THE YEAR
a. ACTIVATE (HOPE FM)
b. GOSPEL COUNTDOWN (KAMEME FM)
c. MORNING JAM (FAMILY MEDIA)
d. MWAMBA (HOMEBOYZ RADIO)
e. SHANGILIA (HOPE FM) R
f. KUBAMBA (HOPE FM)
17. PRESENTER OF THE YEAR RADIO/TV
a. NJUGUSH (HOMEBOYZ RADIO)
b. J.M (HOPE FM)
c. ESTHER WAHOME (CITIZEN TV)
d. YAFESI (HOPE FM)
e. LENIUM (BARAKA FM)
f. WAMBUI MBURU (HOPE FM)
18. GOSPEL TV SHOW OF THE YEAR
a. ANGAZA (KBC)
b. STOMP (NTV)
c. SHANGILIA (CITIZEN TV)
d. SHAKE (FAMILY TV)
e. U TURN (CITIZEN)
f. HOT TRAXX (CHANNEL 2)
19. PRODUCER OF THE YEAR
a. RKAY
b. JCS RECORDS
c. SAKATA
d. BLACK MAN
e. GIDEON KIMANZI
f. BILLY FRANK
20. SONG WRITER OF THE YEAR
a. MARION SHAKO
b. KANJI
c. EUNICE NJERI
d. JEMIMAH THIONGO
e. REBBEKAH MATHINY
f. MERCY AND BILLY FRANK
21. PEACE AWARD
a. ERIC WAINAINA
b. WAKENYA PAMOJA
c. MSAFARA WHEELS OF HOPE
d. CARDINAL JOHN NJUE
e. FRIENDS OF PEACE
f. AMB. BETHWEL KIPLAGAT
22. LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
a. ANGELA CHIBALONZA
b. PETE ODERA
c. EMACHICHI
d. REUBEN KIGAME
e. KASSANGA MULWA
f. PASTOR OSCAR MURIU
