Kavanaugh

You are probably wondering why I am writing about this character, considering I am Kenyan and US justice system has nothing to do with me...

...well it has.

When policy makers from countries such as the US make decisions and remarks affecting security and legal issues, most of the other democracies base their future remarks on them. The reason why this is so, is a lesson for another day.

I was compelled to follow the US senate proceeding on the then Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and I have to say, the process was heart throbbing and would so wish a better systematic approach was followed, even in my country Kenya.

From what I have gathered so far, I deemed Dr. Christine Ford allegations, considering the timings and the manner they were brought into the limelight, to be ludicrous.

This was not Brett's first time to be nominated or appointed to a highly placed public office and this means Brett went through vetting a number of times. Why didn't Dr. Ford bring this up at the time?

The DEMOCRAT'S involvement in pushing Christine's claims into the limelight also puts more questions on the legitimacy and aims of Christine's claims.

Considering what has happened to Brett after his name came out in a bad way, and his rather silly responses during senate committee interviews, it is clear that he will have a had time working; he will not get the respect he deserves as a judge. Brett also displayed the kind of anger and lack of order you wouldn't expect to see a SUPREME COURT judge to have. He ain't fit to be a judge.

I ask myself one question: how did Christine benefit from all this; she was used by politicians, her name dragged into the mad and has made herself look really stupid (a psychologist supposed to guide people in understanding their crises runs to the public to deal with her own crises only to make things worse), making me wonder how she advises her patients and students.

Killing Hollywood

Hollywood has never failed to thrill the world. With all the movies and TV series, not forgetting music and other works of art coming out the place; it is technically impossible for anyone not to find his/her impeccable tastes being satisfied. According to movie makers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, this may not be the case in the near future.

The two veteran movie makers say that, the movie industry is set to implode amid various challenges it is facing. 

With humongous challenges facing Hollywood’s essence: and by challenges I mean soaring budgets, competition from cable TV, varying theatre pricing, piracy, etc. I have to agree with what the aforementioned movie makers are saying.

Piracy: Hollywood’s ‘greatest’ killer

New technologies like the Internet have brought about peer-to-peer sharing hence enhancing wide spread unfair; rather, illegal copying and downloading of copyrighted Hollywood masterpieces and frankly, the deed seems to be ‘forever’ on the increase.

In some parts of the world, a huge lot of people make a living out of this...and those selling and buying pirated work claim to have their reasons, which I’ll be looking into.

Buyers claim that legitimate Hollywood products are expensive! They also claim theatre prices are too high! Is this true? Well, I’ll try answering that by giving you the following info:

Buying a Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + Ultra Violet of the ‘Fast and Furious 6’, on Amazon, compels you to part with US$23.99. Buying a digital copy or DVD of a pirated ‘Fast and Furious 6’, a Kenyan for instance will have to part with Ksh. 50. Ksh. 50 is less than US$1!

Buying a complete ‘Vampire Diaries Season 1’ Blu-ray on Amazon will cost a buyer US$23.83. Buying a complete ‘Vampire Diaries Season 1’ DVD from a Kenyan pirated movie shop, you’ll have to part with Ksh. 100, which is just over US$1!

When it comes to theatre, pricing vary but in order to make my point, I’ll use two examples once used by Steven Spielberg – though in a different context. A theatre ticket for the movie ‘Lincoln’ cost US$7, which is about Ksh. 600. A ticket for the movie ‘Iron Man 3’ cost around US$25, that’s just over Ksh. 2000! 

Can, for instance, an average Kenyan meet the expense of the above legit products? I’ll let you be the judge.

Copyright protection

Apart from the fact that copyright enforcement, particularly in most third world countries, faces a colossal lot of challenges, foreign works that do not enjoy copyright protection, in Kenya for instance, belong to public domain, therefore making a great bunch of Hollywood movies vulnerable to unfair reproduction and commercial use.

Conclusively, in my judgement, I think the biggest killer of the Hollywood industry is piracy...and that for Hollywood to survive, consumers ought to stop illegal and/or unfair reproduction and commercial use of Hollywood products. Whatever reason may be behind their illegal reproduction and commercial use of Hollywood products, consumers ought to consider and respect efforts put by Hollywood artists in order to complete their productions, although consideration here ought to be done by all sides – consumers and producers.

A Critical Review of Museveni's Letter to Britain dated 25th March 2005

Both as a university student in Tanzania and in his early years as president of Uganda, Museveni was well known for his outstanding articles about various socio-political and economic issues in Africa. His views were then considered Marxist – Maoist and Leninist since he had socialistic ideologies.

In reply to a letter (dated 25^th March 2005) by the then British secretary of state for development and corporation, His Excellency President of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni wrote what has been described as “damning” by Business in Africa Online. In his letter, Museveni writes of an agreement between Ugandan and British governments – how the British were to give the Ugandan government funds to be used in development but instead withheld the funds after a unilateral “governance assessment” by the British government.

Although the letter was in reply to a letter sent to Kampala over the withholding of donor funds, Museveni expounded on it, writing more about donor – Africa relationship.

Donors have the credence to question how the recipients of their funds intend to use it. Museveni agrees to this and other limited parameters. It is however not ethical to conduct unilateral assessments of recipient governments in order to impose some forms of control over them. One of Museveni’s concerns is the alleged government assessment that was conducted on the Ugandan government before it was denied promised funds. It is indeed right to question the British government’s credence in conducting ‘governance assessments’ of governments they intend to give funds. No foreign government assesses the British government. Why would it then unilaterally assess foreign governments?

Museveni was committed to making Uganda economically independent, a belief that he held since he took power and maybe before. Since, however, he has been receiving funds from imperialist donor countries, he has not been consistent with his ideologies therefore policies.

I adore Museveni’s efforts in rehabilitating and reconstructing Uganda. Considering the problems Uganda has faced since her independence up until the end of Tito Okello’s reign, Museveni has made notable developments in Uganda but if he truly believes Uganda can achieve economic independence, how come that has not happened during his long reign? Well, Museveni claims that donors meddling in Uganda’s internal affairs are part of the reason why development in Uganda is impeded. It is indeed true that donor countries interfere with development strategies in less developed countries (LDC’s): it has been their habit to meddle in the affairs of LDC’s hence sometimes impeding their development. An example is western involvement in the Libyan and Ivorian conflicts. Although the two countries have ‘functional’ governments, they experience frequent conflicts. Without peace, no development can take place.

Western countries have vividly shown that they would not like foreign countries to meddle in their internal affairs. For instance, questions were raised when it was allegedly found that former French president Nicholas Sarkozy’s campaign money was partly given by the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Museveni cites the plight of an American politician whose campaign was allegedly funded by the Chinese government. From the two examples, it is clear western powers don’t like other countries to meddle in their internal affairs yet they do meddle in other countries’ affairs. This is not ethical.

Under-development in Uganda cannot entirely be blamed on imperialist countries. Museveni agrees with this statement. Apart from blaming donor countries, Museveni blames African leadership during colonial times and some post-independence leaders for the plight of backward states like Uganda. Although Museveni says his movement has only made tactical mistakes, and not strategic mistakes, this statement is too vague and this is why.

Museveni fails to look at how his policies back home may have affected the possibility of development. For instance, if Museveni knew the western donors practiced suzerainty over aid recipients, why did he accept their funds? He cites how donor countries interfered with Uganda’s counter-terrorism effort by constraining her modest defense expenditure, how they forced Uganda to scrap tax holidays and how they interfered with Uganda’s energy development by forcing her to sequence the construction of dams rather than her preferred option of building two dams simultaneously. Although it’s not clear which (Uganda’s or the donor’s) plan is better, why, despite being aware of donor suzerainty, did Museveni decide to accept donor funding yet he yearned for economic independence and independence in decision making for Uganda? He has not been entirely truthful.

Museveni doesn’t give his reasons for accepting donor funds. By failing to stop asking for donor funds, Museveni seems to be admitting that Uganda is helpless - that it cannot develop without donor funds - hence raising questions of why he has stayed in power for over 25 years yet has not achieved economic independence. Furthermore, Museveni’s way of leadership is controversial.   

Museveni also says that no development can occur as result of aid by western countries. This statement is very true indeed. Development, apart from funds, also requires proper planning, leadership, peace, among other variables.

In conclusion, Museveni, judging from his statements, seems to be a proponent of the dependency theory of underdevelopment. Dependency theorists suggest that underdevelopment is not the fault of LDC’s and their traditional values but rather stemmed from foreign domination and exploitation. Some proponents of the dependency theory believe that a country can still develop while still depending on banks and multinational corporations for loans, investment and technology. Handelman, in his book the challenge of third world development writes “the recent economic miracles in East Asia (especially South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore), however have confounded dependency theorists. These countries have tied themselves very closely to the developed world through trade, credit, investment and technology transfer. Contrary to what the more sophisticated dependency scholars had predicted, however, they have achieved impressive economic growth coupled with comparatively equitable economic distribution.” Despite this, causes of underdevelopment still remain contentious. 

Good and Bad in Advertising

The inception of advertising is not exactly known but since it was traced, advertising has evolved in many ways. Some say it has indeed become virulent while others claim it hasn’t. Criticisms and support focus on whether it is ethical to advertise to children and/or whether modern day advertising has crossed ethical lines. All these arguments are vividly trying to address advertising ethics. What is an ethical ad? How should an ad be executed? Etc.

Marc Jacobs Ad featuring Dakota Fanning

Advertising ethics is so sensitive in some countries and once an advertiser crosses what is considered ethical lines, he or she is likely to face harsh consequences. An example: in November 2011, British Advertising Standards Authority banned Marc Jacob’s perfume ad that featured a 17year old actress. The ad standard authority said the ad sexualised a child citing how the actress positioned the perfumed bottle on her body.  In Kenya, ethical lines have been considered crossed during the mobile phone price wars where two major competitors, AIRTEL and SAFARICOM, are seen to be sacrificing advertising ethics. These examples and many others seem to strengthen the stand of advertising critics.

Critics assert that advertising lures us into confusing dreams and reality, as Klempner (2004) puts it. They claim that, for example, an advert features a famous celebrity driving a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), entices those cannot afford it into believing that they can. Critics therefore hold that advertisers sell people dreams, dreams that are in reality literally inconceivable.

Advertising advocates on the other hand defend this art strongly. They assert that advertising doesn’t entice people into believing in inconceivable dreams. They hold that advertising is directed into many forms of need fulfillment ranging from basic necessities like food and shelter to psychological phenomena like self esteem and self actualization (Dominick, 2011, p 344).

Advertising advocates further claim that critics have no authority, have no right to tell consumers what they need and what they do not. They also assert that most heavily advertised products and services fail in the market; therefore refuting claims that adverts make people buy things they do not need.

Klempner (2004) says that advertisers ponder for our desires for things that are bad for us. Other critics have also asserted that advertisers never give us consequences of consuming their products. Just to illustrate their point, a chocolate company sells people chocolate but never tells them that over consuming chocolate could be harmful. Critics also claim that although modern day advertising is governed by codes of ethics these codes aren’t being adhered to.

In reply to this criticism, advertisers claim that it is not entirely true since they do issue warnings for certain products like beer and cigarette ads as stipulated in the law.

Criticisms hold that advertising encourages materialism. According to critics, advertising makes people disapprove moral believes apart from emulating celebrities featured in adverts, whether their character is ethical or not. Critics, as Dr. Dominick puts it, also charge advertising with stimulating avarice and envy. Just to illustrate, a man is lured into buying Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) TV yet his Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) TV works fine. Extreme greed makes the man buy an item that he doesn’t even need.

To counter this criticism, advertising advocates claim that advertising presents what exists in a particular society. They further defend advertising by claiming capitalist economies emphasize on production and consumption. This therefore means advertising in a capitalist system will present what capitalism stands for (Dominick, 2011, p344).

Critics also point out a very interesting fact that advertising interrupts ones’ private life. For instance, in some countries, one can receive adverts in his or her mobile phone once in a particular locale. In my opinion, these text messages can be at times annoying since they come frequently.

Advertising practitioners partly agree with this fact that adverts can be hard to avoid (Dominick, 2011, p344). Interestingly they defend advertising by claiming it brings greater societal benefits, citing cheaper TV& Radio services and cheaper newspapers & magazines.

As I earlier cited, arguments on the good and bad of advertising have taken a new dimension. Is advertising to children ethical? Just like earlier cited arguments, advertising to children has brought both criticisms and backing.

Advertising critics claim that children are unsophisticated and therefore vulnerable to advertisers’ persuasive tactics and somehow immoral tactics (e.g. the earlier cited advert banned in the UK).

In reply to this claim, advertising practitioners assert that children are sophisticated than parents and critics think. They further say that children are capable of seeing through the lies in adverts and are therefore capable of making sound choices.

Criticisms also hold that advertising encourages children to pester their parents therefore creating rifts between the two parties (Dominick, 2011, p360). Just to illustrate, now that we are approaching the festive season, most children will frequently ask their parents to buy them nguo za krismasi (Christmas attire) among other paraphernalia for celebrating Christmas. When parents combine this and the tough economic situation in Kenya, they are likely to feel disturbed.

On the other hand, advertising practitioners claim that children get valuable information from adverts, information that could help them in their adulthood (Dominick, 2011, p360).

A controversial art it is but advertising plays a positive role in society: we are able to know about new products in the market and we are also updated on sociocultural opportunities, all because of advertising. All in all, the art of advertising will always be subjected to aspersions, genuine criticisms and support from every sphere of the society.

People and Nature: earthquakes

A number of cities e.g. Christ Church, San francisco, Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancouver etc are located near plate boundaries. I find it dangerous to establish a city near plate boundaries and this is why:

Japan quake 2011 (Science Cheer Leader)

• If tectonic movements trigger a strong earthquake, the cities near plate boundaries will be hard hit- loss of life and destruction of property.
• A tsunami might be triggered and if so, it will sweep anything on its way and once it makes a landfall, it will destroy life and property. 

Haiti Quake (BBC)

The world has seen a number of earthquakes in the recent past the most recent being the magnitude 6.7 earthquake that hit the Canadian city of Vancouver (9/9/2011), the worst being the magnitude 9.0 quake that hit Northern Japan triggering a 10metre high tsunami (March 2011).

After reflecting on these accounts, it would therefore be logical not to establish cities or any human settlements near earthquake zones, especially plate boundaries, unless buildings that could withstand earthquakes and tsunamis are put in place.  

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Revolution

Even a casual reading of world history in 19th and 20th century you will not fail to note the impact of revolution as a tool of political change. Whether it succeeds or not, revolutions leave behind many mass graves and immense destruction of infrastructure and life as people have got used to. 

Since there are many other ways of bringing about political change, knowledge and wisdom demand that a revolution should only be an ultimate tool for political change. It's very clear from history that sometimes the good that is intended to be achieved after a revolution may not at all be achieved. In fact sometimes the consequences have been worse against expectation. Just like allowing immature people to handle nuclear weapons, those who very casually use revolution to bring about change are themselves a problem to human well being on earth.

Recent events in the world indicate that this tool is not understood. World leaders should make effort to prevent use of revolutions just like they prevent use of nuclear weapons.