LAK WIL DD.........................2007

SAF end of 2018.

2019-02-05T00:31:00.001-08:00

2016-10-18T19:45:00.002-07:00

https://www.facebook.com/lakony.wilson/videos/10154089128626636/

Citizenship revamp: New Canadians no longer have to intend to live in Canada

2016-03-02T00:06:00.001-08:00

Trudeau government’s ‘total reversal’ of Tory policy also slashes residency requirements and gives credit for time spent as visitors or students

Ian Young in Vancouver

ian.young@scmp.com

Dragon dancers perform during a Chinese New Year Parade through Vancouver’s Chinatown on February 16. Photo: Xinhua

But the amendments also carry huge implications for anyone who simply heads back to their country of origin after obtaining a Canadian passport. This modern phenomenon of reverse migration is one that has been thoroughly embraced by tens of thousands Hong Kong and mainland Chinese immigrants alike, to varying degrees of legality.When Canada’s new Liberal government last week unveiled its sweeping rollback of the ousted Conservatives’ citizenship crackdown, much of the focus was on the decision to remove terrorism as grounds for revoking dual citizenship.

READ MORE: Immigration mega-fraud and the Chinese immigrants to Canada who don’t want to live there

The changes, for the most part, put things back the way they were in 2014.

Canada's Immigration Minister John McCallum says dual citizens should be treated no differently than native-born sole-citizenship Canadians. Photo: ReutersThe proposed amendments to the Citizenship Act, unveiled last Thursday, remove the requirement that new citizens must intend to live in Canada after obtaining citizenship. According to the government, the intent-to-reside provision “created concern among some new Canadians, who feared their citizenship could be revoked in the future if they moved outside of Canada”.

[Previously,] citizenship was harder to obtain and easier to lose; now it’s easier to obtain and much harder to lose

IMMIGRATION LAWYER RICHARD KURLAND

The proposals also shorten the period of physical presence required of new citizens to three years (1,095 days) out of the previous five, compared to four years out of six under the Tories; allow periods of non-permanent presence in Canada – for instance, time spent as a student, temporary worker or even a visitor – to be credited among those three years (albeit up to a maximum of one years’ credit, with each full day of non-permanent residency counting as half a day); and shrink the age band for applicants who must pass language tests, from 18-54, compared to 14-64 previously.

READ MORE: Tens of thousands of Hongkongers return from Canada since 1996

Canadian income-tax-filing requirements have been retained, although reduced to three years out of the five years prior to seeking citizenship, in keeping with the new residency rule. In a further supplemental move required as a result of the new non-permanent-resident time credit, a rule requiring 183 days of presence in Canada in four out of six years is also scrapped.

Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland.“The government is keeping its commitment to repeal certain provisions of the Citizenship Act, including those that led to different treatment for dual citizens. Canadian citizens are equal under the law. Whether they were born in Canada or were naturalised in Canada or hold a dual citizenship,” Immigration Minister John McCallum said in a statement.

Removing the intent-to-reside-in-Canada rule represents a major switch in thinking, although actual enforcement of rules about intent has been patchy at best. For instance, Quebec’s Immigrant Investor Programme for millionaire permanent residents requires a stated intent to live in the French-speaking province - but that hasn’t stopped about 90 per cent of QIIP applicants from moving elsewhere in Canada (mainly Vancouver). It’s hard to prove false intent at the time a residency statement is made, and the Canadian Charter guarantees freedom of movement.

Vancouver immigration lawyer Richard Kurland said he supported the changes, which represented “a total reversal” from the approach of the Tories, under whom “citizenship was harder to obtain and easier to lose; now it’s easier to obtain and much harder to lose”.

The removal of the intent-to-reside provision was “hands down, slam-dunk” the most significant change, Kurland said. He said the previous “exposure to revocation” of citizenship under the intent rule would have “hung over [new citizens’] heads, forever”.

A Canadian passport has become “easier to obtain and much harder to lose” under new rules, according to immigration lawyer Richard Kurland.

“It’s the difference between sleeping soundly … [versus] knowing that at some day in the future, over decades to come, the state may intrude on your life and decide that you did not have the intent to be Canadian,” he said.

Kurland had lobbied the previous Tory government of prime minister Stephen Harper to introduce the pre-citizenship tax-filing requirement, and he said he was happy to see it retained under the Liberals’ Justin Trudeau as a “non-partisan” policy element.

There are estimated to be almost 300,000 existing Canadian citizens in Hong Kong, most of them returnee immigrants whose decision to head back to the SAR is perfectly legal and will remain so under the new rules.

Yet illegally evading Canada’s pre-citizenship residency requirements has become an industry that caters to some sectors of the wealthy Chinese community. The biggest immigration fraud in Canadian history involved Xun “Sunny” Wang, a Vancouver-area immigration consultant who specialised in helping rich Chinese fake their presence in Canada as permanent residents, in order to later obtain citizenship. Wang’s clients were actually living and working China, but had him doctor their passports and forge various documents to create the illusion that they were in Canada instead. Jailed in October for seven years, Wang helped cheat immigration rules for at least 1,200 clients, who paid him C$10million in the process.

The Hongcouver blog is devoted to the hybrid culture of its namesake cities: Hong Kong and Vancouver. All story ideas and comments are welcome. Connect with me by email ian.young@scmp.com or on Twitter,@ianjamesyoung70 .

Kenyan Senator, Anyang’-Nyong’o Blasts Uganda’s “Rigged, Hollow, Sham” Elections. Urges U.N. Reaction - See more at: http://www.burkinastyle.com/content/kenyan-senator-anyang%E2%80%99-nyong%E2%80%99o-blasts-uganda%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Crigged-hollow-sham%E2%80%9D-elections-urges-un#sthash.90gIZ4B3.dpuf

2016-02-29T15:36:00.001-08:00

Senator Anyang Nyong'o

“It was diabolical for the Government of Uganda to shut down social media during these elections.” – Anyang Nyong’o

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I had earlier sought leave of the House under Standing Order No.45(2)(a) to make a statement and bring the attention of the House to a matter that concerns us as Kenyans, Africans and East Africans.

Mr. Speaker, Sir, last week general and presidential elections were held in Uganda. The outcome of the presidential election has been very problematic. This is the first time in an African country where an election is held and there is no celebration of victory anywhere.

If anything the victory rally that President Museveni had planned in Kampala had to be cancelled because of tremendous discontent of the Ugandan people on the conduct of the election, the degree of freeness and fairness and the interference by the State in the democratic process to subvert democracy and deny the people of Uganda the freedom to choose their leaders without fear or hindrance.

We sit on a precipice of disaster. Like it happened in the 1970s, we may sooner than later, have to accommodate our Ugandan sisters and brothers in Kenya because of insecurity in their country. It is, therefore, we, as Kenyans, to become seized what is going on and get ready to defend democracy, not just in our nation, but everywhere in the world.

There is already international pressure going on and statements being made by peace lovers and democratization forces the world over, calling the attention of the world to the lack of democracy in Uganda. His Excellency President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Chairman of the Commonwealth Observer Group to the 2016 General Elections in Uganda has already made it clear that nobody who believes in sanctity of democracy can put a stamp of approval on that election.

The European Union (EU) made a similar statement, calling the attention of the world to the fact that the just concluded elections in Uganda, particularly the presidential elections were rigged, hollow and a sham.

Although the African Union (AU) and the regional group in the Great Lakes Region timidly approved of these elections as free and fair, we, a country, that is so proud of our 2010 Constitution that proclaims the universality of democracy and the equality of all men and women in this world and the right of every person to choose a Government of his own choice, is something that we must stand tall as Kenya and be counted among those who are rejecting the so-called democratic elections in Uganda.

The elections are only democratic in so far as President Yoweri Museveni is concerned. President Museveni himself is on record as saying that nobody should teach him about democracy. This is the kind of arrogance of the big man in Africa that should have been left behind.

In the African scene, in the early 2000s when I was Minister for Planning and National Development, most African countries, indeed, all members of the AU, signed themselves to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). The reason we aceded the APRM was because of the importance we attach to democracy in the new surge for good governance in our continent which is really needed for development. Since then every African country which signed up to the APRM has been reviewed by their peers, including Uganda. If you read the report by the APRM, there is no doubt in my mind that all those reports, including the one on Kenya, lays emphasis to importance of free and fair elections in order that we will nurture democracy in our nations.

These reports also say that there is a very close correlation between good governance and development. African countries that have performed well in terms of development are those which respect good governance. We are saying this is not to be paternalistic to the Ugandan people, but because we want to be brotherly to our Ugandan brothers and sisters.

Something we share in common should not be sacrificed at the alter ego of dictatorship or big man syndrome. It is important too that we recognize the roles that certain countries have played in this continent to advise advanced democracy.

The recent elections in Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Botswana and the pending election in South Africa make us proud. Since there are nations and Governments in Africa which have stood tall to defend and promote democracy, there is no need why in our region any Government should fall behind in the promotion and defense of democracy.

We, as members of the East African Community, should be brave enough to know too that in the East African Community there are standards of good governance that we have committed ourselves to and we should not allow any of our members to depart from.

I brought this statement to the House because, at the moment, the rest of the world may judge us harshly if, indeed, what goes on in Uganda is allowed to continue and degenerates into blood that we have never seen before.

At the moment, the social media is filled with so many atrocities that have already been committed as a result of the fact that the people are resisting the rigging of the elections. However, the State is perpetuating its own repression on the people so that they may not speak.

It was diabolical for the Government of Uganda to shut down social media during these elections. We know the role that social media has played to awaken the African people to the reality of democracy. Freedom of expression and communication is enhanced by the social media. At times, I agree social media goes overboard, but nations and governments should establish rules and regulations to deal with this. However, taking drastic action of shutting down a major avenue of communication among the Ugandan people and between the Ugandan people and the world at large is undemocratic.

Further, arresting a leader of the opposition and stopping Mr. Besigye from going to the Electoral Commission to seek for results of an election shows very clearly that the victor is not the victor.

The victor has become the victim of his own imagination that he is the victor. These are issues that may visit us in this country. We, as Kenyans, must stand tall and resist that kind of development. I call upon the Government of Uganda to respect the democratic rights of her own people.

I call upon the people of East Africa to respect the democratic rights of the people of Uganda. I call upon the International Community to come in solidarity with the people of Uganda. I call upon the United Nations Organization (UNO) whose charter was based on the freedom of all mankind, to come out boldly and tell the world that this is a member of the UNO which has abrogated the charter of the UNO.

I call upon the AU not to be timid, but to stand with nations who love democracy the world over to denounce what is happening in Uganda. I call upon the East African Community right here at home to do the same. This Senate composes of men and women who have struggled for democracy and who know that democracy must be upheld in every nation. The Senate has distinguished itself to speak the truth and stand for the truth.

I call upon this nation to lead the world in condemning what is going on in Uganda, in calling upon Ugandans to be strong enough to resist the creeping nature of a dictatorial regime that was going to be thrown away by a free and fair election. We, lovers of peace and democracy, will stand with them.

Excerpted from Senator Anyang’-Nyong’o’s Feb. 23 speech Before Kenya’s Parliament

Kizza Besigye Rejects Election Outcome and calls for Independent Audit of the Results.

2016-02-20T18:02:00.002-08:00

20 February 2016

Citizens of Uganda

My Fellow Africans

International Citizens and Friends of Uganda

Members of the Press Corps and the Diplomatic Community,

We have just witnessed what must be the most fraudulent electoral process in Uganda. We participated in this process to highlight and show the world quite how fraudulent this military regime is. The Electoral Commission is not independent and its technical incompetence and partisanship has been made clear for all to see. The voting material was not delivered in time. People were unlawfully removed from the Voters’ Register whilst ghosts were wantonly added. Freedoms of assembly and expression were wantonly curbed. We were not free to carry out our campaigns without intimidation and interference from the partisan Uganda Police Force and the NRM’s militia dubbed the Crime Preventers.

On election day, all access to social media platforms was switched off. This can only have been designed to impede transparency of the election. The popular mobile money platforms were also disabled, cutting millions of ordinary people off from their meager resources. This can only be described as illegal collective punishment, which is an offense under international law.

Then after the elections as the Electoral Commission started announcing falsified results when we called a press conference to show the world how the results that we had, results that were announced at polling stations in the presence of citizens and our own polling agents, the Uganda Police Force brutally stormed our offices and arrested the Party President, Maj. General Mugisha Muntu, our Chief Mobiliser, Ms. Ingrid Turinawe, and myself. We were detained without charge at Naggalama Police Station and whilst General Muntu and I were released late in the night, Ms. Turinawe was detained overnight.

Today I am under house arrest. My home is sealed off and I am not allowed to leave. Nobody is allowed to access my home. I am also under some kind of electronic blockade. I am unable to access any form of internet service in my house.

Generally, the regime is baring its bloodied fangs and claws for all to see. This has not been an electoral process. This is a creeping military coup.

What must be done

I have come to ask for two things:

The results of the presidential elections must be rejected by the international community.

An international commission should be established to audit the results of the elections.

A Profound Faith in Democracy

While I address you as a presidential candidate, I greet you today as human rights and a pro-democracy activist. As you know, I have dedicated my adult life to the struggle for democracy in Uganda.

I come from the generation which beliefs that democracy is the gateway to human rights and human dignity and to the rule of law, and to tolerance and pluralism. Any government which claims to derive its mandate from the people must believe and practice democracy.

Anyone who believes in human dignity, and who believes that we are all created in the image of God and that we all stand equal before the law, must be believe and practice democracy.

Anyone who believes in Pan-Africanism and the dignity of the African person, and that an African has the equal claim to life as any person on this earth, must believe and practice democracy.

And to those friends around the world who wish Africa well and who believe in the dignity of the African continent, they too must believe in democracy and the inalienable right of the African to enjoy it and to live by the universal democratic creed.

I believe deeply in my heart that the African Renaissance will never happen without democracy. I believe profoundly that the East African Federation would be stillborn without democracy.

Sir Winston Churchill once said that the empires of the future will be the empires of the mind. That was true and profound. I hasten to reframe that statement. The empires of the future will be the empires of democracy.

No one can be a full citizen of the 21 st century without enjoying the full blessings of democracy. Any Image claim to the contrary is false.

There can be no citizenship without democracy.

Democracy on Trial in Uganda

Today democracy is on trial in Uganda. The evidence is all around us.

The most sacred right of a citizen is the right to vote peacefully and freely. There is no greater right in a free and open society. It’s upon the right to vote that all other democratic rights are anchored. Today the right to vote—and the right to do so peacefully—has been wantonly violated in Uganda.

That violation should be a profound moral offense to all of us.

A profound offense to all the citizens of Uganda. And it is an offense to all Africans and to all global citizens.

When you violate the rights of an African to vote, you insult his and her humanity and you rob him of his human dignity. That was the fundamental offense of colonialism: the odious practice, and the insulting belief, that an African could be a subject but never a citizen.

Today in Uganda, the right to vote—the very essence of citizenship—has been violated with impunity.

International Community asked to sanction impunity and human rights violations

And the international community has been asked to sanction those gross human rights violations.

You have been asked to sanction elections that are neither free nor fair nor credible.

And there is only one logic to that request: that African lives do not matter. And that an African can live without democracy or human dignity.

Instead of democracy, the logic goes, an African would rather receive international charity.

Instead of democracy, an African would rather be trained in post-conflict resolution.

By ratifying these sham elections, the international community is being invited to become a partner in the violations of the African people.

I am therefore here to ask the international community to have the courage to defend the millions of Ugandans—the youth and the elderly—who had the courage to vote. Let them know that it’s not a crime to be an African.

Please reject the temptation to ratify these sham elections.

But should you ratify the results of these sham elections, at least, have the courage to admit that you do not care about democracy or human rights in Africa.

No one who can sanction these elections can credibly profess to be for democracy or for human rights in Africa. I am greatly heartened by the fact that the International Observer missions from the AU, the EU, and the Commonwealth have all, in their preliminary reports indicated that this exercise has not been free, fair, transparent or credible.

I urge you, on behalf of the brave citizens of Uganda, to reject the results of these sham elections.

To my brothers and sisters across Africa, I urge you to stand with the people of Uganda and to assert the rights of every African to live in a free and democratic society.

To my fellow Ugandans, I salute your courage and thank you for your support and for believing in democracy and peace. Democracy is the only path to peace and prosperity and to the rule of law. Remain vigilant and steadfast. The struggle is long and hard but, in the end, we shall win if we continue in our patient and steadfast resolve. The regime cannot survive without our co-operation. Let us denounce this electoral theft by withdrawing our recognition of the regime and ceasing to co-operate with it.

Let us have the strength and the courage to finish this struggle. I mow deep in my heart that Uganda shall be free!

One Uganda! One People!

For God and My Country.

Dr. Kizza Besigye

Kampala, Uganda 20 February 2016

BESIGYE TO PETITION SUPREME COURT OVER ELECTION LOSS

2016-02-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

This here is a ‪#‎breaking‬ news story.
Yes, Besigye has a very strong case against Dr.Badru Kigundu's Electoral Commission over the way it handled the 18 Feb 2016, Presidential Elections.
Oh how I wish I would join fellow lawyers into this case. I would give them great incites on some of the facts. E.g.
1. That the EC delayed to deliver voting materials in most parts of the country. The evidence is already there
2. That Dr. kiggundu had insulted Kiiza Besigye reputation as a presidential candidate when he uttered public statements to the fact that Candidate Besigye was not presidential material.
3. That Candidate Museveni with assistance of the police had threatened Besigyes voters, by arresting them and that others were shot dead.
3)4. That Candidate Museveni had vowed that he would never leave power even if he lost the ballot.
4. That the EC was not using tally sheets to announce the various results.
5. That the EC in collusion with the UCC had switched off both mobile communications and interment making it hard for voters to communicate freely. This was voter disenfranchisement.
6. That the EC had inflated the voters register with a view to rig in favor of Candidate Museveni. This is evidenced by results from Musevenis own constituency of Rushers in which the EC results showed that more votes were collected in excess of the number of registered voters in that particular constituency.
7. That the electoral commission had failed to conduct civic education in Uganda leading voters to be ignorant of how to vote thereby leading to 4 million votes to be rendered invalid.
WE WOULD THEN REQUEST COURT FOR THE FOLLOWING PROCESSES.
1. that the EC hands over the tally sheets to the Supreme Court for a vote recount.
2. That Candidate Museveni win be quashed pending vote recount or a repeat of the Presidential election to determine the real winner.
3. That Kigundu apologises to Kiiza for calling him not fit for presidency.

4. That the Electoral Common should conduct a rerun of the Presidential election to be between M7 and Besigye.
That
5. That Kiiza Besigye be announced the right winner of the Presidential Election as results indicate he won the election.

Boy, this is our strong case, and am pretty sure that no judge would fail to notice that Kiiza Besigye deserves to be the next president of Uganda.

Understanding Uganda's Election results 2016

2016-02-20T17:58:00.001-08:00

Dr Kiggundu announced results of 26,223 PS (polling stations) and leavingout 1,787 polling stations.

With 15,277,198 registered voters, a PS has on average 545 voters.

1,787 PS on average have 974,664 registered voters with an assumption that this number can go up or down depending on which districts are affected most. (Kampala has 1,338 with only 1,014,294 voters so u can see what I mean).

The left out voters constitute a 6.4% of the registered voters that if am to borrow Kiggundu’s statement (Giving this number to Besigye wouldn’t affect the winner), adding the 6.4% to KB would bring his percentage to averagely 42% and bringing Museveni‘s to 53%.

Now here is the trick that comes with numbers.

If I really want to have a serious effect on those numbers, I only take out districts and polling stations that can give KB a serious margin. It’s at this point that I want you to look at the most affected districts in eliminated PSs.

Jinja only reported 11 out 399 PS leaving 388 PSs out

Rukungiri only reported 3 out of 276 PS leaving out 273

Kyenjojo only reported 60 out of 337 PS leaving out 277

Kampala left out 162, Kabale left out 190, Wakiso left out 119.

Jinja, Kampala, Wakiso and Kabale and high populous district that can project eliminated voters to be of significance and also believed to give opposition strength to bring down the 60% to a below 55% at a fair level.

Questions.

Why did Kiggundu’s commission leave out these PSs? Was it a strategic move to keep the NRM house happy that they won with a high percentage by eliminating those PSs where KB is believed to have performed good?

Were they trying to catch up with NRM opinion polls of a 70%?

Who is to blame for this level of incompetence at the district level

2nd Uganda Presidential Debate 2016

2016-02-13T16:07:00.002-08:00

Radio Diaspora P10.

2016-01-30T15:24:00.000-08:00

https://www.facebook.com/willy.ochaya/videos/10153357350004856/

Besigye Songa Mbele

2016-01-30T15:02:00.002-08:00

Besigye in Kiruhura

2016-01-30T15:00:00.000-08:00

I didn't warn people of Kiruhura that change is like a wildfire that spreads to all corners of the forest.
Posted by Moses Atocon Atyekwo on Friday, 29 January 2016

Uganda First Presidential Debate.

2016-01-30T14:56:00.000-08:00

LIVE: US president Barack Obama addresses the AU

2015-07-28T17:14:00.000-07:00

Anyira Pa Rwot.

2015-06-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

Gloria Adokorach- Anyira Pa Rwot....TraditionalGloria Adokorach- Anyira Pa Rwot....Beautiful Traditional
Posted by Northern Artist on Thursday, 4 June 2015

My First Solo.

2015-05-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

Congrats Wilson on your first solo!!!
Posted by Canadian Flight Centre on Monday, 25 May 2015

Men will be extinct: Appreciate them now

2015-03-17T19:06:00.002-07:00

Men face mass extinction because male genes are dying out, according to researchers. What would the world be without men? Some women might think it's a good idea.

But my advice is to love and cherish the men in your life right now because it's probably that the male gender won't be around in generations to come.

"Men are on the road to extinction as their genes shrink and slowly fade away," Professor Jennifer Graves, a genetic expert warned. She is a researcher in human sex chromosomes who says that the male Y chromosome is dying and could one day run out. But don't worry just yet - the change is not due to take place for another five million years.

But all is not lost. She said men may follow the path of the vole (a type of rodent) which still manages to reproduce despite not having the vital genes that make up the Y chromosome.

"You need a Y chromosome to be male," said Prof Jennifer Graves. "Three hundred million years ago the Y chromosome had about 1,400 genes on it, and now it's only got 45 left, so at this rate we're going to run out of genes on the Y chromosome in about five million years.

"The Y chromosome is dying and the big question is what happens then."

The male Y chromosome has a gene (SRY) which switches on the development of testis and pumps out male hormones that determine maleness. In her lecture, entitled "The Decline and Fall of the Y Chromosome and the Future of Men," Prof Graves discussed the disappearance of the Y chromosome and the implications for humans.

She said it was not known what would happen once the Y chromosome disappeared. "Humans can't become asexual like some lizards, because several vital genes must come from the male," she continued. "But the good news is that certain rodent species - the mole voles of Eastern Europe and the country rats of Japan - have no Y chromosome and no SRY gene.

"Yet there are still plenty of healthy male mole voles and country rats running around. Some other gene must have taken over the job and we'd like to know what that gene is."

The scientist said there were several genes which could take over from SRY, adding whichever one did take over is based purely on chance.

"It is even possible that two or more different sex-determination systems based on different genes could arise in different populations," she added.

"These could no longer reproduce with each other, leading to two different species of humans."

It's true, we won't be around in 5 million years to see the results of the disappearance of the Y chromosome. But it still gives us pause to stop and appreciate males as they exist today. It is difficult to imagine a world without men. A world of only women seems impossible. Let's hope that, another chromosome will take over. That gene hasn't been determined yet.

It's too hard to imagine a world without male genes. One day women may go to museums just to see examples of the extinct male, the way we view dinosaurs today.

Soccer Ball Control By a Lady.

2014-07-07T17:51:00.005-07:00

Post by Richard A. Feyi Soyombo.

President Museveni's full speech at signing of Anti-Homosexuality bill

2014-02-24T11:29:00.005-08:00

President Museveni signs the Anti-Homosexuality bill into law shortly before delivering his speech in which he lashed out at the Western countries. Photo by William Rujuta

In Summary
He then went ahead to stress that Uganda is a rich country that does not need aid, because aid is in itself a problem. This all happened this afternoon at state house Entebbe. Read the full address of the President below

President Museveni today assented to the anti-homosexuality bill, making it a law amidst debate and controversies from Western powers and Human rights activists. The President stressed that despite US president barrack Obama getting disappointed with the signing of this bill, We (Ugandans) have also been disappointed for a very long time too by the policies of the west that do not make us "happy".

He then went ahead to stress that Uganda is a rich country that does not need aid, because aid is in itself a problem. This all happened this afternoon at state house Entebbe. Read the full address of the President below:

It seems the topic of homosexuals was provoked by the arrogant and careless Western groups that are fond of coming into our schools and recruiting young children into homosexuality and lesbianism, just as they carelessly handle other issues concerning Africa.

Initially, I did not pay much attention
to it because I was busy with the immediate issues of defense, security, electricity, the roads, the railways, factories, modernization of agriculture, etc.

When, eventually, I concentrated my mind on it, I distilled three problems:
1. those who were promoting homo-sexuality and recruiting normal people into it;
2. as a consequence of No. 1 above, many of those recruited were doing so for mercenary reasons – to get money – in effect homosexual prostitutes; these mercenary homosexual prostitutes had to be punished;
3. Homosexuals exhibiting themselves; Africans are flabbergasted by exhibitionism of sexual acts – whether heterosexual or otherwise and for good reason. Why do you exhibit your sexual conduct? Are you short of opportunity for privacy - where you can kiss, fondle (kukirigiita, kwagaaga) etc.?

Are we interested in seeing your sexual acts – we the Public? I am not able to understand the logic of the Western Culture. However, we Africans always keep our opinions to ourselves and never seek to impose our point of view on the others. If only they could let us alone.

It was my view that the above three should be punished harshly in order to defend our society from disorientation. Therefore, on these three I was in total accord with the MPs and other Ugandans. I had, however, a problem with Category 4 or what I thought was category 4 – those “born” homosexual.

I thought there were such people – those who are either genetic or congenital homosexuals. The reason I thought so was because I could not understand why a man could fail to be attracted to the beauties of a woman and, instead, be attracted to a fellow man. It meant, according to me, that there was something wrong with that man – he was born a homosexual – abnormal.
I, therefore, thought that it would be wrong to punish somebody because of how he was created, disgusting though it may be to us. That is why I refused to sign the Bill. In order to get to the truth, we involved Uganda Scientists as well as consulting Scientists from outside Uganda.

My question to them was: “Are there people that are homosexual right from birth?”. After exhaustive studies, it has been found that homosexuality is in two categories: there are those who engage in homosexuality for mercenary reasons on account of the under – developed sectors of our economy that cause people to remain in poverty, the great opportunities that abound not withstanding; and then there are those that become homosexual by both nature (genetic) and nurture (up-bringing).

The studies that were done on identical twins in Sweden showed that 34% - 39% were homosexual on account of nature and 66% were homosexual on account of nurture.

Therefore, even in those studies, nurture was more significant than nature. Can somebody be homosexual purely by nature without nurture? The answer is: “No”. No study has shown that. Since nurture is the main cause of homosexuality, then society can do something about it to discourage the trends. That is why I have agreed to sign the Bill.

Since Western societies do not appreciate politeness, let me take this opportunity to warn our people publicly about the wrong practices indulged in and promoted by some of the outsiders.

One of them is “oral sex”. Our youth should reject this because God designed the human being most appropriately for pleasurable, sustainable and healthy sex. Some of the traditional styles are very pleasurable and healthy. The mouth is not engineered for that purpose except kissing. Besides, it is very unhealthy. People can even contract gonorrhea of the mouth and throat on account of so-called “oral sex”, not to mention worms, hepatitis E, etc.
The Ministry of Gender and Youth should de-campaign this buyayism imported from outside and sensitize the youth about the healthy life style that is abundant in our cultures.

We reject the notion that somebody can be homosexual by choice; that a man can choose to love a fellow man; that sexual orientation is a matter of choice. Since my original thesis that there may be people who are born homosexual has been disproved by science, then the homosexuals have lost the argument in Uganda.

They should rehabilitate themselves and society should assist them to do so.

Yoweri K. Museveni Gen. (Rtd)
P R E S I D E N T

HKRAC doesn’t have the balls to fight in the USM arena

2014-02-16T19:37:00.001-08:00

Dear Vision First & HKRAC,

After reading the below, I was greatly pained and still feel my Heart bleeding as a person who was once a Refugee and a client to both organizations. It's so unfortunate to see you two powerfull institutions changing the frontline yet the desperate asylum seekers and refugees in Hong Kong hopes are in your hands. If you both have the interests of this poor members of society, then you must fight the same battle NOT turning the guns on yourselves. I hope your clients themselves will be able to judge your actions.

Yours concerned,

Wilson Lakony. HKRAC doesn’t have the balls to fight in the USM arena

Dear Aleta –
In reply to your below email requesting use of our notice board, we are not posting your flyer, and here are my thoughts why.
First, there is little you can teach about USM that is not in the public arena already and hasn’t been torn apart by the Hong Kong Bar Association 14 February 2014 submission.

Second, we appreciate that HKRAC’s days as the UNHCR golden boy are over. We blogged in “Winners and Losers” that HKRAC is about to experience a culture shock entering shark-infested USM waters. To achieve results in this arena more than cocktail parties are necessary as the opponent of refugees is fierce and powerful.
Most lawyers in the “Big City” law firms that support HKRAC are clueless about the cruel oppression refugees suffer. It is of concern that they are mostly unqualified to represent protection claimants at the Immigration Department, unable to face racist magistrates and unskilled for judicial reviews in the High Court. There is less than a dozen human rights lawyers in town and Duty Lawyer Service will not assign more cases to them.

If HKRAC cannot give legal advice or appoint pro bono lawyers, then it is reduced to a pathetic signboard pointing the way towards a process in which it has no say and no power.

Refugees desperately require either legal advice, which HKRAC cannot give, or fearless advocacy, which HKRAC cannot stomach!
Had you paid attention to OCCUPY ISS, you would know that Vision First is closed to support the Refugee Union’s historic occupation of a despotic contractor. Not only did I sleep in the streets for three days, ready for a police assault, but I haven’t been to the office since 10 February and won’t return until ISS falls.
On the frontline, the absence of HKRAC and other NGOs and churches serving refugees was regrettably noted. Instead of emailing about our notice board, you could have bolstered the protest line with your staff and flyers – that would have earned you great respect!
Similarly, instead of sitting at your desk, you could have inspected refugee ghettos and offered assistance to a thousand neglected refugees, who supposedly didn’t fit your lucrative business model before.

Let me vent some anger (which is well pondered over), by saying that it is apparent to us that HKRAC doesn’t have the balls to fight in the USM arena. There is tremendous brutality behind Immigration, Duty Lawyer Service, adjudicators and their hard-line trainers.

If you don’t know the enemy how can you enter the fight? We just hope HKRAC will become an asset in this fierce battle. But be aware that nothing you have learnt at UNHCR can prepare you for this dirty fight!

Cosmo
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Aleta Miller <######@hkrac.org>

Date: Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 9:54 PM

Subject: HKRAC USM info sessions

To: Danielle Stutterd

Dear Danielle,
I hope you are well. I’m attaching a flyer about new group information sessions on the USM which HKRAC are launching. Please find a flyer attached.

I’d be grateful if you could print the flyer and put it on the notice board in your center so that your clients can have access to the sessions. We can also drop some smaller leaflets to your centre if you would like to have them available to your clients.
I’m always happy to talk more about our services and answer any questions you may have, don’t hesitate to ask. Let me know if you’d like us to drop some flyers over.

Warm regards,

Aleta Miller
Executive Director
Hong Kong Refugee Advice Centre

Rebecca Garang speaks out on South Sudan.

2014-01-11T18:39:00.000-08:00

Nelson Mandela memorial: Barack Obama wins loudest roar of approval from restless crowd

2013-12-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

Only one man was ever going to please the soaked, restless and expectant crowd at Nelson Mandela's memorial service on Tuesday.

They wanted soaring rhetoric, they wanted hope and above all they wanted President Barack Obama, who arrived very late but was greeted with a massive roar by those inside the stadium. Speaking of Mandela as his personal inspiration, the US leader declared: "He makes me want to be a better man."

The wild response made it clear that here in South Africa at least he was seen as the heir to Nelson Mandela, the man whose death last Thursday the crowd might have come to mourn, but whose life they wanted most of all to celebrate.

Mr Obama was inspired to make an audacious speech - even daring to lecture some of the 90 other world leaders sitting around him for failing to live up to the example set by "the great liberator".

Praising "a life like no other" he said: "It took a man like Mandela to liberate not just the prisoner, but the jailer as well." The speech was passionate and heartfelt. Americans had been through the same struggle for equal rights he said, adding: "Michelle and I are beneficiaries of that."

To people watching inside the FNB stadium and in the wider South Africa, he said: "The world thanks you for sharing Nelson Mandela with us. His struggle was your struggle. His triumph was your triumph."

People cheer as U.S. President Barack Obama speaks (YVES HERMAN/REUTERS)

Heavy rain was blamed for rows of empty seats in the uncovered section of the stadium, along with travel delays and the refusal of the increasingly unpopular President Jacob Zuma to declare a national holiday.

But for the world leaders gathered in comfortable seats under cover, this was an extraordinary chance to get together in an atmosphere that was unexpectedly relaxed. They were all dressed as for a funeral, but there were wide grins as Mr Obama and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, posed for a "selfie" photograph with the rather glamorous prime minister of Denmark, Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

President Barack Obama (R) and British Prime Minister David Cameron (L) posing for a photo with Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt (C) during the memorial service (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP)

Michelle Obama did not appear pleased at just how well her husband was getting on with his new Danish friend, and stared away from the scene.

Michelle Obama did not join in with the three leaders (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP)

The energised Mr Obama even shared a warm greeting with America's most awkward neighbour Raul Castro, the leader of Cuba. The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon spoke of Mandela's "awesome power of forgiveness, and of connecting people with each other" and added: "He has done it again. Look around this stadium and this stage."

The historic handshake (GETTY IMAGES)

This was thought to be the largest gathering of world leaders at an event of this kind since the funeral of Winston Churchill in 1965, but the mood among them was set by the brief they had been given that this was a celebration of a long and great life.

Having flown in overnight, Mr Cameron arrived at the stadium early, saying he hadn't wanted to get stuck in traffic. "You know us Brits get there on time," he said; but his promptness helped him avoid a difficult encounter with his own bogeyman, the late-arriving president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe.

Instead he could mix with the likes of Bono, lead singer of U2, the supermodel Naomi Campbell and the Hollywood star Charlize Theron. Born in South Africa, she welled up when telling the Telegraph how her memories of Mandela were "just a tremendous memory of love and compassion and warmth".

Bono and Charlize Theron at the service (ODD ANDERSEN/AFP)

Even Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, was able to enjoy his own brief special moment, with Bill Clinton, one of the four past and present American presidents in the stadium. Jimmy Carter and George W Bush were the others, Every living British prime minister was present, including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Sir John Major, who told The Telegraph: "It's very difficult to see that anyone's life will be quite as extraordinary as Nelson Mandela's in the way it has affected this country and the rest of the world. It's a celebration and there's a lot to celebrate."

Gordon and Sarah Brown talk with George W Bush (KAI PFAFFENBACH/REUTERS)

Mr Obama appeared troubled by the conditions at first, but relaxed so much during his speech that he even attempted a local accent, when praising Mandela as the embodiment of the African ideal of unity, Ubuntu, He then became even bolder, as if being this close to Mandela's memory had charged him up, bringing back memories of his first, hope-filled campaign for the US presidency.

Attempting to live up to the crowd's expectations and take on Mandela's mantle, Mr Obama challenged his fellow presidents, prime ministers and heads of state to search their souls and ask whether they lived up to the example of the man they had come to praise.

"Around the world today, men and women are still imprisoned for their political beliefs; and are still persecuted for what they look like, how they worship and who they love," he said in the presence of leaders of Iran, China and Zimbabwe, among others. "There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba's struggle for freedom but do not tolerate dissent from their own people."

But there was dissent inside the stadium, where even members of the Mandela family struggled to make themselves heard against the surge of boos and jeers every time the face of Mr Zuma appeared on giant screens in the stadium.

South African President Jacob Zuma (SIPHIWE SIBEKO/REUTERS)

Three of Mr Mandela's grandchildren and one of his great-grandchildren looked distressed by the treatment as they read a poem in his memory that compared him to "a giant tree that has fallen, scattering a thousand brilliant leaves." The loud dissent was embarrassing for the ruling ANC party and in particular Mr Zuma, at a moment when their country was the centre of the world's attention.

But many in the crowd managed to brush off mere politics and insist on giving even louder thanks for the life of the Nobel laureate, whose face appeared on many brightly coloured clothes.

Down in the enclosure where the Mandela family sat, all dressed in black, there was understandably only deep mourning. Graca Machel, the Nobel laureate's third wife and now widow, made her first public appearance since his death at the start of the month.

She moved slowly to her place with a furrowed brow, looking devastated.

Gracha Machel at the service (SIPHIWE SIBEKO/REUTERS)

This was the second time she had been to a funeral service for a husband, having lost President Samora of Mozambique to a plane crash nearly 30 years ago.

Mrs Machel sat near to Winnie Mandela, the second wife who had entered on the arm of her daughter Zindzi. This was a show of unity from the Mandela clan, whose members fought each other in the courts all summer even as the patriarch was lying on life support in hospital. Mandla, the grandson who attempted to force the others to bury his grandfather in his own village, to his own potential gain, was back among his family.

Winnie Madikizela Mandela, left, and Graca Machel, right (KAI PFAFFENBACH/REUTERS)

The traditional funeral will instead take place on Sunday in Qunu, the village in the Eastern Cape that Nelson Mandela regarded as his home.

World leaders were asked to keep away from it due to the difficulty of travel in the remote region, but Prince Charles is believed to be making plans to attend.

The stadium in which Tuesday's ceremony took place was on the site where Mr Mandela made his first major public speech after being released from prison after 27 years, in 1990. The rebuilt arena was also where he made his last public appearance during the closing ceremony for the 2010 World Cup. After a long illness, he died at the age of 95.

Tickets for yesterday's event were free, as were the buses and trains laid on to take people there. Boitshepo Matsitsi, 25, a businesswoman from Soweto, said she rose at 4.30am and drove her car to the security cordon before getting out and walking the rest of the way. "I've never felt so close to Madiba. We wouldn't have missed this for anything."

Yvonne Moratiele, 37, her head wrapped in an ANC scarf and a flag draping her body, said Mandela would be getting the send-off he deserved. "In Africa, when the lion dies, the jungle roars. We're here to make sure that happens."

When President Zuma came to the stage at last he gave a poor speech, reading from notes that he held close to his chest. His promise to follow Mandela in working to free South Africa of hunger, homelessness and inequality will not have appeased those who accuse him of squandering Mandela's legacy and acting out of self interest.

People gathered to celebrate Nelson Mandela's life (REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach)

Thato Makapa, 36, summed up the boos for Zuma in one word: "Corruption. How can he stand on a podium and talk about our Madiba?"

The day really belonged to Mr Obama. "He reminds us of Madiba," said Viola Maliti, 37, a judge's secretary. "He was also the first black president. He may not have done much for Africa yet but there's still time."

Mr Obama took care to praise "the other early giants of the ANC" and said he had first heard the name of Nelson Mandela – and learned of the struggle against apartheid - when he was a young student.

"It stirred something in me. It woke me up to my responsibilities - to others, and to myself - and set me on an improbable journey that finds me here today."

He praised Mandela for admitting his imperfections and for being full of mischief. "He was not a bust made of marble; he was a man of flesh and blood - a son and husband, a father and a friend. That is why we learned so much from him; that is why we can learn from him still."

Bringing his speech to a climax with the words of Nelson Mandela's favourite poem, Invictus, he said: "'I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.' What a magnificent soul it was. We will miss him deeply."

Kony’s surrender talks: Was the world hoodwinked?

2013-11-29T00:17:00.001-08:00

Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, then the Internal Affairs minister, meets Joseph Kony at Ri-Kwangba at the DR Congo-Sudan border in February 2007. FILE PHOTO

Kampala- Was the world duped, even fooled, on latest intended surrender by Joseph Kony, one of the most brutal and wanted warlords?

It seems apparently so, according to emerging details.

Mr Francisco Madeira, the African Union’s special envoy on the LRA, told the UN Security Council on November 20, that Central African Republic (CAR) leaders were in touch with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group and its overall commander Kony.

Mr Madeira based his briefing on updates received from CAR’s interim president Michel Djotodia during their interface in Bangui at the end of October.
According to various government and diplomatic sources, the LRA in a message promised its fighters would have assembled by November 3 if guaranteed safe passage and supplies.

In other words, the prowling rebels already skipped their own deadline to gather in one place and it was 17 days after this trick that Mr Madeira
notified the UN Security Council - vaulting over the uncomfortable detail that the development had been overtaken by reality on the ground.

A US Department of State official quoted by UK public broadcaster, the BBC, noted that Washington was not persuaded that Kony was on the point of abdicating rebellion.

The US official was not alone, and no concrete information other than loose lines dropped by beleaguered CAR officials, has come to light to validate those serious claims of the intended surrender.

In the past, Kony has told lies or walked back on his commitments to more credible intermediaries, even after persuaded national leaders and international actors bended backwards to accommodate his testy demands.
Mr Paul Ronan, the co-founder of Resolve, a frontline advocacy group on LRA issues, says the surrender talks claims “most likely aren’t true”.

The only confirmation so far is that CAR transitional president Djotodia, noted Mr Ronan, is in contact with an LRA group, and not Kony’s.
Multiple sources have told the Daily Monitor that Otto Laderere, known to be Kony’s former security aide who replaced Caesar Acellam as LRA’s intelligence chief, in late August made contact with one Demane.

Demane is a general in Djotodia’s Seleka group that ousted President François Bozizé Yangouvonda in March this year.

Hideouts
Laderere’s group is hibernating in Nzako in CAR’s remote but mineral-rich south-east, where the rebels and their dependents reportedly also practice subsistence agriculture.
The AU Regional Taskforce, as the regional intervention force supported by about 100 US Special Forces is called, has over the past months destroyed LRA camps and denied the rebels a permanent home.
Unable to roam freely and pillage villages to replenish dwindling supplies, the rebels have once again picked from their bag of tricks the most-tempting sweetener: An offer to renounce rebellion in exchange for a safe haven and food.
The rebels during their initial contact in August put their number together with dependents at 1, 200.

They then increased it to 2,000 and later doubled it to between 4,000 and 5,000 when they got feelers of possible deliveries, an exaggeration calculated to attract bigger quantities of food and medical supplies to last them longer.

Yet independent estimates show LRA’s fighting force is no more than 600, the rank and file being depleted by deaths and a spate of defections encouraged by regional militaries through air-dropped leaflets.

This newspaper understands that Djotodia as well as NGOs, eager to get some credit for getting one of the world’s most wanted men out of the bush, hauled generous portions of food and medicines to the rebels before everything suddenly went silent again.
According to Resolve’s Ronan, the interim leadership separately forced villagers and civil society actors to deliver food to rebel hide-outs, often at great risk to their safety.

By October 31 when UN and AU envoys; Abou Moussa and Mr Madeira met and told CAR leaders not to deliver supplies to LRA without concrete action - say release of children and women in captivity - the rebel group under Laderere had already snapped up substantial rations, leaving the world to guess their next course of action.

Djotodia remains unrecognised internationally as president or head-of-state, eight months after his violent power grab and his authority to preside over the country has significantly been eroded by the recent spiral in violence masterminded by unruly elements among his armed allies.

More troops in CAR
The UN, at the urging of France, CAR’s former colonial master, on Tuesday proposed to deploy a 7,000-strong intervention force to stabilise the country teetering towards full-blown genocide fanned by religious sentiments.

A source at the heart of security matters in the Great Lakes Region says the Seleka rebels “systematically plundered” the wealth of the Catholic Church - one of the richest institutions in
the landlocked country - during the war that brought Djotodia to power in March.

They ransacked missions, stripped removable property and commandeered four-wheel vehicles, including those owned by NGOs, to the distaste of the faithful.
Because Muslims dominate the command, rank and file of Seleka running the struggling transitional government, the previous looting combined with ongoing bloody military operations targeting Bozizé loyalists has tended to be interpreted in religious hues.

Isolated internationally, and beleaguered at home, Djotodia is a desperate man willing to trade off anything except his life to gain credibility.
Stakeholders, including within the African Union, believe the struggling CAR leader tossed up the Kony surrender card to draw international attention and build a clout for recognition.

Others suggest both he and general Demane hope to tap part of or whole $5 million (Shs12.5 billion) US bounty on the elusive LRA chief if he surrendered to them.

Hope flickers in hunt for Kony

The Ugandan, Congolese, CAR and South Sudan forces have been hunting LRA rebels for months under
the aegis of the African Union.

In October 2011, US President Barack Obama assigned about 100 combat-equipped US Navy SEALS as field advisors to help regional armies remove Joseph Kony and other top LRA commanders from the battlefield.
UPDF’s Brig Sam Kavuma replaced Brig Dick Prit Olum as commander of the AU Regional Taskforce in July, around the same time Washington expanded its assistance previously to UPDF to cover other armies on LRA chase.The American assistance includes sharing high-tech intelligence and gathering capabilities, training, and airlifting of troops as well as logistical supplies.
The 3,085-strong Regional Taskforce is headquartered in Yambio, South Sudan, and has tactical bases in Central African Republic’s Obbo; Nzara, South Sudan; and, Ddungu in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“The force is very robust; it has been destroying LRA camps; tracking those fleeing and denied them a permanent base to re-organise from,” said a senior AU official who asked not to be named because they are not authorised to speak to the media.
“There is heightened pressure on LRA and optimism on our part that we are closer than ever before to achieve our ultimate objective: To eliminate the LRA,” the source said.

In mid-September, 2013, AU envoy Francisco Madeira secured diplomatic authorisation from a previously hesitant Kinshasa, allowing the Regional Taskforce (SPLA contingent) to co-hunt LRA rebels inside DR Congo territory alongside 500 FARDC troops who joined the operation only in February this year.
The UPDF has some 2,000 troops on the mission, SPLA 500, adding to CAR’s 85.

From survival revolt to enigma
The rebellion in the northern Uganda began shortly after President Museveni, in January 1986, overthrew the military junta of Gen Tito Okello, himself an Acholi.

The official version of the genesis of the northern armed conflict is that it was masterminded by disgruntled Acholi soldiers to try to topple new-comer Museveni and reclaim lost state power.
In an account to this newspaper in September, exiled renegade UPDF Col Samson Mande, the commander of the National Resistance Army battalion that captured Acholi land, however, said the war was triggered off by revenge killings and indiscriminate looting by some NRA guerrillas.

The first armed resistance, he said, was organised by volunteer Ojuk, a Captain in the vanquished Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA).
It then morphed into the Holy Spirit Movement commanded by Alice Auma Lakwena, who claimed to have mythical powers that could dissolve bullets fired at her fighters. The bullets did not melt, and the NRA outgunned her advancing group in Busoga.

The little-educated Joseph Kony, her close relative and former altar boy with an odd ambition to rule Uganda based on the biblical Ten Commandments, started off the LRA in 1987.

His forces killed for leisure, conscripted and indoctrinated children as core fighters and pillaged villages in his ancestral land.
At the height of the near two-decade insurgency, humanitarian organisations estimated up to 1. 7 million people in northern Uganda huddled in Internally Displaced People’s Camps, living in squalor and dying in tens daily of preventable diseases.

A population escaping Kony’s wrath ran into harm meted by government soldiers, under David Sejusa, formerly Tinyefuza.

The humiliation of a people created jitters and
frustration that translated into venomous political grievance.

Hope flickered when Gen Aronda Nyakairima’s Operation Iron Fist kicked LRA rebels from their hideouts in mountainous parts of South Sudan, forcing them in August 2005 to sprint to Gramba Parkland in northeastern DR Congo.

The collapse of the Juba talks gave UPDF in December 2008 the incentive to pursue LRA inside DRC, flushing them out of the forested hide-out.
Today, a four-country military contingent, the Regional taskforce, keeps the LRA constantly on the run, without a permanent camp to plan or replenish dwindling stock.

LRA TIMELINE

1987: Ex-Altar Boy Joseph Kony starts the LRA group.
1993/4: Betty Bigombe, then minister for Pacification of the North, opens peace talks. Meets face-to-face with Kony, but talks collapse over mistrust.
2004: Bigombe brokers fresh negotiations, and it fails again.
2005: LRA flees to DRC, South Sudan brokers peace talks, warring parties sign ceasefire deal
2006-8. Juba peace talks take place. Kony declines to sign final peace agreement, citing his ICC indictment
and arrest warrant.

Dec. 2008: UPDF launches Operation Lightning Thunder and dislodges LRA from DRC’s Garamba Park
2011 to-date: Regional armies hunt down LRA in Central Africa.
Nov. 20, 2013: AU tells UN Security Council Kony is in surrender talks with CAR leaders.

2013-09-16T10:26:00.002-07:00

Getty Images/Peter Kramer - Bill Gates appears on NBC News' "Today" show -- (Photo by: Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire)

..

By Bree Fowler, The Associated Press

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Life is good for America's super wealthy.
Forbes on Monday released its annual list of the top 400 richest Americans. While most of the top names and rankings didn't change from a year ago, the majority of the elite club's members saw their fortunes grow over the past year, helped by strong stock and real estate markets.

"Basically, the mega rich are mega richer," said Forbes Senior Editor Kerry Dolan.

Dolan noted that list's minimum net income increased to a pre-financial crisis level of $1.3 billion, up from $1.1 billion in 2012, with 61 American billionaires not making the cut. "In some ways, it's harder to get on the list than it ever has been," she said.

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates remains America's richest man, taking the top spot on the list for the 20th straight year, with a net worth of $72 billion, up from $66 billion a year ago.

Investor Warren Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., posted another distant second place finish with $58.5 billion, but increased his net worth from $46 billion. Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison stayed third with $41 billion and was the only member of the top 10 whose net worth was unchanged from a year ago.

Brothers Charles and David Koch, co-owners of Koch Industries Inc., stay tied for fourth with $36 billion each, up from $31 billion in 2012.

Wal-Mart heirs Christy Walton, Jim Walton, Alice Walton and S. Robson Walton took the next four spots, with holdings ranging from $33.3 billion to $35.4 billion, all increasing from year-ago levels. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder of the eponymous financial information company, rounds out the top 10 with $31 billion, up from $25 billion.

According to Forbes, 273 members of the list are self-made billionaires, while 71 inherited their wealth and another 56 inherited at least some of it but are still growing it.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg returned to the list's top 20 after dropping out the year before. His net worth of $19 billion earned him the No. 20 spot.

Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz also made the list, at No. 85,with a net worth of $5.2 billion. At age 29 and just a few days younger the Zuckerberg, Moskovitz ranks as the youngest member of the list.

On the flip side, the oldest person on the list is 98-year-old David Rockefeller Sr. at No. 193 with a net worth of $2.8 billion.

A total of 20 new people joined the rankings, including Richard Yuengling Jr. of Pennsylvania beer maker D.G. Yuengling & Son, who ranked at No. 371 with $1.4 billion.

Twenty-eight people dropped off the list, including six who died. Those now falling short of the cut include energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens at $950 million, Graham Weston of Rackspace Hosting Inc. at $920 million and Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder at $1.2 billion.

A total of 48 women made the list including Hyatt Hotels heir Jennifer Pritzker at No. 327. Formerly known as James Pritzker, she's the list's first transgendered member.

According to Forbes, the 400 people on the annual list posted a combined net worth of $2 trillion, up from $1.7 trillion a year ago. That marks their highest combined value ever.

Meanwhile, the average net worth of the list's members rose to $5 billion, also the highest ever, up from $4.2 billion in 2012. Net worth grew for 314 members and fell for 30, Forbes said.

The increases aren't surprising, given that net worth for America's wealthiest people has risen in the years since the financial crisis, widening the gap between the exceptionally well-to-do and the rest of the country.

According to a study of Internal Revenue Service figures released last week, the top 1 per cent of U.S. earners collected 19.3 per cent of household income in 2012, their largest share in IRS figures going back a century.

U.S. income inequality has been growing for almost three decades. But until last year, the top 1 per cent's share of pre-tax income had not yet surpassed the 18.7 per cent it reached in 1927, according to the analysis done by economists at the University of California, Berkeley, the Paris School of Economics and Oxford University.

Some economists have speculated that the incomes of the wealthy might have surged in the past year, because they cashed in stock holdings to avoid higher capital gains taxes that kicked in in January.
___

The Forbes 400: http://www.forbes.com/forbes400

..

Strange fish turns human in Ibadan

2013-07-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

Residents of Gege in Ibadan South West Local Government area of Oyo State were shocked on Tuesday, when a fish bought by a middle aged woman, Mrs. Ramota Salawu, suddenly turned to half human.

Hundreds of residents struggled to see the miracle fish where it was placed inside water in a brown bucket at Akindele Compound, Gege , Ibadan, the home of Mrs. Salawu .

When The Nation visited the compound, the said miracle fish has long white hair. The face has resemblance of a baby, while the trunk is that of a fish.

While narrating her experience, Mrs. Salawu said “I went to where we usually buy fish at Kola Eleja , Oke Ado, Ibadan to buy fish. After I finished, I boarded Okada to my place to prepare the fish for sale. Before getting the fish out of the ice-pack, we need to use knife to remove them and use water to defreeze.

“I was shocked to see the frozen fish developed into a living being in the water, the description of which showed half human and half fish. I quickly called by father and some alfas to see the strange fish.”

The fish seller could not gather herself together as she was overwhelmed by what happened.

The father of the woman, a retired civil servant, Pa Rauf Salawu expressed bewilderment over the miracle fish, adding that he has never seen such a thing before.

He said,” It was around 11am, when I started hearing the voice of my daughter while I was resting on my bed. She was shouting and screaming, such that people in the compound were attracted. Then, I decided to check what the problem was. I took along my Quran and on getting there my daughter has gone to call Sheu , a Muslim leader in the neighbourhood .

I saw the strange fish inside water in the bucket. It was strange. How can a fish bought in the cold room developed into human? That I cannot fully explain.”

There was heavy presence of policemen from the Mapo Police Station to control the crowd and maintain peace and order.

CHAMPIONING CREATIVITY ACROSS THE ART AND DESIGN WORLD

2013-06-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/leandro-erlich