Welcome

Ten Things That (I MIGHT) Often Ponder About

2010-05-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

1) If every religion claims that unbelievers are going to hell!, then who is really going into paradise at the end of days?

2) Do we relive our existence on earth? (are we in a game?)

3) Why is it that a vast percentage of our universe appears dark to the human eye?( are we alone?)

4) Would democracy last forever?

5) Are future generations going to be deeply involved in magic?

6) Who possesses the hidden books of Esdras?

7) How old is the Super Ego?

8) Where are the ten lost tribes of Israel living?

9) Are satellite orbitations and space explorations destroying the Ozone layer?

10) Is the world going to end in 2012?

It has been said long ago by others

2010-02-09T04:04:00.000-08:00

Two came in, one and then another
Having been taken out from different vases
In charge, the second vase cried out
Remove them both, for strife will out!
Disheartened, they left to inherit the desert
While those legitimate the old sower kept
Over the years they each sowed fields
Races everywhere had their seeds in them
Look now, it has already began here
Deepened and averted strife has caught up
With two brothers preparing their deadly arms
After which they shall each other engage
Removing plants from each others sown fields
Transforming peaceful co-existence everywhere into great ills
Hopefully, he would shorten the terrible climax
Indeed only a few shall escape unharmed
Reddish climax would the whole earth engulf
Dying for creed, others, killing for creed
We should pray to depart in time
Our hour glass runs out of sand
Regardless, the day begun is now old
Lift your head and stand your ground
Dying, you would add to the number
Who keep asking, "When shall it be"
All accounted for, he shall then appear
Receiving his own with open arms above

Believer pay attention it has already begun.

King Solomon's Wit

2010-01-14T05:02:00.000-08:00

Solomon ask for anything you will
I shall grant thy will for it would be our deal
longitivity, influence, good health, riches?
what ever it may be, I shall grant one of thy wishes
why drum your fingers? ask me now, ask me quickly
your deepest heart desire earnestly
I ask for wisdom and wisdom only
I trust you shall fulfil your promise wholly
with wisdom I shall have everything else
longitivity, influence, good health, riches... even a thousand girls
why that contenance? grant me now, grant me mercifully
my depeast heart desire completely
Solomon from my treasures of gifts I bid you choose one
but with one you choose all my son
I grant thee wisdom a gift you have won
In your years none shall match up or surpase your glory under this sun
The book of proverbs speaks of Wisdom Wisdom Wisdom
written to guide all men into Gods Eternal Kingdom Kingdom Kingdom.
Choose Life!!!

The Democracy for Africa

2009-02-18T10:10:00.001-08:00

"The Democracy for Africa" is a theory that seeks to resolve the problems associated with modern African democracy with particular reference to Ghana. The concept of African Unity and the establishment of an all African government through the adoption of this theory is discussed afterward. I hope you would have more delight in my work and accord much simplicity to it than I have for it myself.

FEATURES OF THE AFRICAN NEO DEMOCRACY

· Participation from all African countries
Unlike the current democratic system in Africa, the African Neo Democracy encourages and promotes inter dependence among African countries with particular reference to governance. All Africans are encourage and given a fair chance to participate in the governance of any African country.

· Makes Use of the let the ark decide principle
The African Neo Democracy makes use of the let the ark decide procedure to reduces to the barest humanly means possible, incidence of appointments based on tribalism and nepotism.

· It lessens the Work of Representatives (Parliamentarians)
The Existence of the House of Legislature and the Representative’s Office for Consideration and Education, Creates an Avenue for members of Parliament (House of Representatives) to participate predominantly in the affairs of their constituencies.

· Reduces the sphere of influence of political parties
The presence of the State Comrades Association reduces the high level of influence that a political party in power has over the appointments of its affiliates into government and state owned enterprises.

· Creates a House of legislature to take up the role of the council of state
The African Neo Democracy creates the House of Legislature to replace the role of the council of State. With roles among which are legislative, the House of Legislature is more recognised and efficient.

· Enhances the work of the executive
Policies are formulated by the legislature, deliberated by parliament for consideration and promulgated by the House of checks and Balance. The president has two vice presidents there by lessening the burden on the president.

· Ensures an effective Separation of Powers System of Government
The members of the House of Legislature, House of Judicature, and House of Representatives are not appointment by the President and thus are able to perform their duties sincerely and efficiently without fear or favour. Furthermore all three houses communicate via their representatives in the House of Checks and Balance.

· Ensures an effective Checks and Balance System of Government
Including the legislature and Judiciary as part of the executive prevents the passage of unlawful bills into law as the Chief Justice, Attorney General and President must accent to a bill for it to become law. Information is adequately shared among the three houses via their representatives in the House of Checks and Balance.

· Decrease the level of electoral malpractices and Electoral cost.
The President and Vice Presidents are chosen from among the members of Parliament (House of Representatives). This reduces the cost of carrying out general elections, prevents the incidence of Electoral Malpractices and the ability of a president to entrench himself or herself in Power.

· Progressive National Policy Formulation and Developmental agenda
The Council of State and the cabinet are replaced by the House of Legislature. The head of state does not come into office with a written manifesto as national policies are made by the House of Legislature, taking into consideration the nations available resource, man power and needs at the time.

STRUCTURE OF THE SYSTEM
AU----------------------External Organization
SCA-----------------------------------The Mesh

(PCS IC EC)
( HL HJ HR ) Separation of Powers
HCB------------Checks and Balances

PART ONE:

Establishment of the State Comrades Association
This new system of government begins with the creation of the State Comrades Association. This Association would comprise of three commissions; The Public Service Commission, the Investigative Commission and the Electoral Commission. All members of the Association shall be appointed by the African Union unless stated otherwise in this document. The Association would be headed by a Director General who would be assisted by two deputies the African Union shall invite qualified persons form among the citizens of its member states to apply for the various positions available in the Association. There shall be three positions for Ghanaian citizens and three thousand positions for non Ghanaian citizens in each commission. All appointed persons shall proceed to take up residence in Ghana within a transitional period after their appointment.
The Head of State shall determine the date, time and venue within the transitional period when the Director General and the executive of each commission shall take an oath of office and sign a contract before Parliament. The Director General shall then be required to determine the date, time and venue for a gathering of all members of the association in their respective commissions,within the transitional period. There shall be five persons representing the African union who together with the commission’s executive shall supervise the proceeding of the gathering and perform certain duties started herein. Each commission shall apply the same procedure.

Additions, Complication and resolutions

THE EXECUTIVE STRUCTURE OF THE STATE COMRADES ASSOCIATION

The State comrades association shall be comprised of four executive bodies, namely; the executive of the entire association consisting of the Director General and two deputies and then, the executive of each of the three commissions consisting of the commissioner and two deputies.
Unless stated otherwise in this document, the Director General shall take priority over administrative matters of the Association whereas the commissioner, subject to the Director General shall take precedence over administrative matters with respect to the commission he/she oversees. All deputies in the association shall assume the title of either first or second deputy in order of their appointment and are to assist the Director General or commissioner as the case may be in the performance of his/her official duties.

The Director General or Commissioner may at one point in time or the other delegated whole or part of their authority to a deputy within their executive. The first deputy shall take preference over the second deputy and act on behalf of the Director General or commissioner as the case may be, if the Director General or commissioner is debilitated or absent, while the second deputy shall perform a similar role if the Director General or commissioner and their first deputy are both debilitated or absent.

CONDITIONS FOR THE SELECTION OF STATE COMRADES

The African Union may adopt procedures to appoint the required number of people using other standards that are not in contravention to those listed in this document. Citizens from a member state of the African union that is at war with Ghana or has very serious disputes with Ghana would not be eligible to apply for membership of the State comrades Association.
The selections of all members in the State Comrades Association shall be by appointment and all such members would have to meet the requirements stated herein before they are eligible to apply for work in the association.

Not more than fifty-seven persons can be appointment from one country in each commission; The Selection must be done so as to provide an avenue for each of the fifty-three member states of the African union to be fairly represented in each of the three commissions of the Association. Appointment would be very competitive and thus the best of the best would be appointed. Furthermore, the government of each member state or any organization or body other than the African Union shall not by any means regulate, restrict or set special standards for its citizens or members with regards to applying for working the association or otherwise put forwards any of its own personnel or citizens as the case may be, for appointments in the association. All applications must be made by individuals and judge on individual merit.

In the event that Ghana is at war or has very serious disputes with some member states of the African union which would results in the Africans union's inability to appoint the quota for a commission, then the African union shall be permitted to select from between 57-80 qualified persons from among the citizens of the eligible member states. No more than eighty people may be chosen from one member state regardless of whether or not the quota for a commission has been reached.

APPLYING FOR MEMBERSHIP FOR THE STATE COMRADES ASSOCIATION

There would be two levels in applying for membership of the state comrades association.In the first level any individual who wants to be appointed in the association would have to purchase an application form and apply for a position in the association. The higher the position being applied to, the higher the price of the application form and vice versa. In the second level any individual wishing to apply for a position in the association may download from the association’s website or acquire an application form free of charge from any of the association’s offices and then apply. Both Applicants in level one and two may apply for any position in the association; however applicant in level two would make up two tenths of all appointments while applicant in level one make up the rest of appointment.

THE TRANSITION PERIOD

The transition period, refers to a period of thirty-one days when a change is made from democracy to neo democracy. The transitional period shall occur once and commence a week after the last state comrade has been appointed and last for thirty days during which the State comrades association shall come into operation with the purpose to usher in a new government.
The Head of State shall announce a date when the executives of the State comrades Association shall sign and swear an oath of office before parliament.

The first and subsequent meetings of each commission to appoint state comrades to regional offices shall be referred to herein as the Genesis meeting. The Genesis meeting would be held in any of the commissions’ buildings within the association that the Director General would decide upon. All Genesis meetings shall be conducted simultaneously and held in camera and conducted with the sole purpose of appointing State Comrades to regional offices. The proceedings of each Genesis Meeting shall be broadcast live on national television and radio.

Each Commission’s executive is to submit an official copy of the video recording of its Genesis meeting to the Director General within a period of one week after such a meeting has been held. The Director General shall in turn submit an official copy of the video recordings to the House of checks and Balance within ten days after it has come into existence.

THE FIVE AFRICAN UNION REPRESENTATIVE SUPERVISORS

The African Union shall put forward five persons to supervise proceedings during the Genesis meeting of a commission. It shall do so autonomously however such persons must be chosen from among the citizens of its member’s states that is not at war with Ghana or has serious disputes with Ghana; further more two or more supervisors may not be chosen from one eligible member state while all supervisors must have considerable knowledge and experience in electoral supervision. The said five would in order of precedence consist of the chief Supervisor, the ark supervisor, the card of the ark supervisor, the time supervisor and the record supervisor.

THE STATE COMRADES MEMBERSHIP LIST

The African Union shall make available to the chief supervisors and each Commissioner a document that lists the order of appointments of all members of a commission within the State Comrades Association. The African Union shall also make available to the Director General and Head of State a document that lists the entire membership of the State comrades Association referred to herein as the State comrade’s membership list. The Director General shall send an updated version of this list to the sitting Head of a week after regional appointments of State Comrades and to the next Head of State, a week after his/her coming into office.

THE ARKS AND CARDS OF THE ARK

An ark shall be a wooden structure of certain height, thickness, design and make up. The ark shall serve as a place where cards of the ark are place and mixed up for the purpose of making an appointment or selecting from among candidates/contestants referred to herein as the let the ark decide procedure.

A card of the ark refers to a card that is used in the “let the ark decide” procedure. The card of the ark shall be a card of specific length, breath, thickness, design and make up. It shall be white in colour and the writing on one part of the card shall be the same as that on its reverse and written in black, Depending on the purpose for the “let the ark decide” procedure, different cards would be used, as such cards would vary from what has been written or printed on them which might range from names of persons, names of regions, state offices and so on.The number of Cards used for each exercise would depend on the number of contestants available.

The Electoral Commission of Ghana shall provide an ark and cards of the ark for all “let the ark decide” procedures. The first “let the ark decide” procedures shall be employed during the Genesis meeting and afterwards each ark is to be kept at a different location. One ark shall be kept at the head quarters of the State Comrades Association, the second at the head quarters of the electoral commission and the third in the House of Representatives.

The number of cards to be used for each procedure shall depend on the nature of the procedure however a number of cards equal to the exact number of cards needed for each contest would be made available to serve as replacements in case of mishaps.

BEFORE USING THE “LET THE ARK DECIDE PROCEDURE”

Unless started otherwise in this document a week before using this procedure, supervisors shall examine all materials for the exercise including the ark and cards of the ark and determine whether or not they are fit to be used; supervisors shall repeat this inspection a day before the scheduled exercise. Supervisors shall after the examinations on each day report to the Director General of the state comrades association or the Electoral Commissioner as the case may be on the state of materials needed for the procedure. The Director General or Electoral commissioner as the case may determine, shall take appropriate measures to address and correct whatever problems might be reported such as seeing to repairs or replacements of materials which should meet the approval of the African union representative supervisors or personnel of the electoral commission as the case may require.

MIXING THE CARDS IN THE ARK

The ark supervisor shall have the duty of mixing up the Cards in the ark and this shall be done by turning round a handle that would rotate the ark. Mixing the cards shall be done for a period of between one minute and four minutes.

The time supervisor shall have the responsibility to alert the ark supervisor if the mixing period was too short or has exceeded the stipulated time to which the ark supervisor shall adhere to.

PICKING FROM THE ARK

Apart from the ark supervisor, no person picking a card from the ark is to look into the ark while picking a card. As such anyone who does so would be treated as though absent. It shall be the sole duty of the Chief supervisor to determine whether or not someone looked into the ark while picking a card.

It shall not be appropriate for a State Comrade to pick more than one card at a time while picking a card from the ark and as such if this should occur the Chief supervisor shall ask the State Comrade in question to hand over the card/s to of the card of the ark supervisor who shall place them back into the ark and the State Comrade in question shall be treated as though absent. On the other hand if a member of the commission’s executive picks out more than one card he/she shall be required to pick a single card from among the cards taken out and this act shall be considered valid. He/she is to then hand the rest of the cards to the card of the ark supervisor who would put it/them back into the ark.

THE “LET THE ARK DECIDE PROCEDURE”

The let the ark decide procedure shall be supervised by Personnel of the African Union during the Genesis meeting and afterward consistently by personnel of the Electoral Commission. This procedure shall serve to an extent as a mechanism for determining appointments to certain high public offices in the country.

During the selection of regional state comrades,the procedure shall serve this purpose. The five representative supervisors of the African Union shall introduce themselves to the gathering and then the executive of the commission shall do the same. The ark supervisor shall open all sides of the ark to the gathering to enable all persons present observe and believe that the ark is empty. Then in the view of the gathering, the card of the ark supervisor shall place one hundred and forty-four cards into the ark, each bearing the name of one particular region in Ghana which he/she shall then mix up together. After this has been accomplished by virtue of the order in which the State Comrades where appointed, each State Comrade shall one after the other proceed to pick one card out of the ark.

After picking out a card, the state comrade is to first of all pronounce the name of the region that has been written/printed on the card to the gathering and then shortly afterwards show the card to the gathering, after this he/she is to hand it over to the commissioner who would follow in a similar manner and then hand over the card to the Chief supervisor who would also follow in a similar trend and then hand over the card to the record Supervisor who would record the name of the state comrade and the region to which he/she has been appointed to. The record supervisor shall then endorse the card as valid and then hand over the card to the state comrade who picked out the card. All state comrades that are selected on each day shall be issued with a certificate signed by the commissioner and chief supervisor and issued under the seal of the commission after having signed a contract and taken an oath of office.

One hundred and forty four state comrades would be selected in this manner every day for twenty-one days during the transition period with Sunday as an exception. On the twenty-second day of the transitional period all state comrades shall converge for the appointment of regional commissioners and to determine the Head quarters of the commission. For the purpose of selecting the Head quarters of the commission, the ark supervisor shall place ten cards into the ark, each card bearing the name of only one of the ten regions in the Ghana. He/she shall mix them up and afterward the commissioner shall proceed to pick one of the cards from the ark and mention to the gathering the name of the region written/printed on the card and then shortly afterward show the card to the gathering. The Chief Supervisor shall collect the card and mention the name of the region on the card and then show the card to the gathering. He/she shall then hand it over to the record supervisor who would endorse it indicating it as the head quarters of the commission in question and take a record of it. The record supervisor shall afterward hand over the card to the commissioner. The commissioner shall then declare that region as the head quarters of the commission. After this the ark supervisor shall open all side of the ark and then the card of the ark supervisor shall pick out and show to the gathering one at a time, the remaining cards in the ark, the total number of cards that would be counted should add up to nine each bearing the name of only one of the remaining regions, after which the ark should be empty, justifying the fairness of the procedure.

After all state comrades have been issued with a certificate they shall swear an oath of office read out to them by the commissioner and afterward proceed to their designated regional group. The commissioner shall go to each of the regional groups to appoint a regional commissioner except for the region that was declared headquarters of the commission since the commissioner who is head of the commission shall supervise the activities of that regional office. All state comrades shall be given the necessary items for the commencement of their work before the end of the transitional period,

In the event that the number of state comrades available for a Genesis meeting falls short of the quota, the number of cards of the ark used shall be proportional to the number of state comrades available. The cards would be grouped into packs of fifty so as to easily determine as well as conveniently select the number of cards that would be needed for the exercise as quickly as possible for instance if all three thousand cards are grouped together in a single bundle it would be difficult to make a selection of say one hundred and forty- four cards out of three thousand cards as the card of the ark supervisor would have to count out the cards carefully in order to put the required number of cards needed for the exercise, Where as it would be easier to select one hundred and forty- four cards from bundles consisting of fifty cards a piece.

A Commissioner shall by discretion appoint all subsequently appointed state comrades to a regional branch of the commission that has a vacancy without the use of the “let the ark decide” procedure and this decision shall be binding on all such state comrades. Before this can happen,the commissioner shall issue all such state comrades with the required contract which they are to read and sign if they agree with the terms and conditions of the contract. The commissioner and first deputy commissioner shall then endorse the contract after which the state comrade shall then sign and swear an oath of office read out by the commissioner. Afterward the commissioner shall present the state comrade with a certificate and the necessary items for the commencement of his/her work.

DEALING WITH ABSENTEES

An absentee shall be one of the following persons; Any state comrade other than a commissioner who has one unsuccessful attempt at picking a single card from the ark, a state comrades other than a commissioner who arrives after the commencement of the let the ark decide procedure, a state comrade other than a commissioner who picks a card of the ark that is not valid, a state comrade who delays in picking a card from the ark or one who is having difficulty picking a card from the ark, a state comrade who looks into the ark in an attempt to pick a card, and a state comrade who is absent when he/she has to pick a card from the ark.

It shall be the sole duty of the Chief supervisor to determine an absentee based on the aforementioned regulations. Once declared an absentee a state comrade shall as the case may determine, hand over the card/cards to the card of the ark supervisor before proceeding to take his/her seat or pick a card from among a group of cards and then give the reaming cards to the card of the ark supervisor. The commissioner shall pick a card on behalf of an absentee after all state comrades have had their rightful turn.

During a Genesis meeting, In the event that state comrades to be given regional appointments are less than one hundred and forty-four, the meeting would carry on as planned and as such those present shall in order of their appointments proceed to be placed into regional groups. Any state comrade who is able to attend a Genesis meeting would be obliged to sign the contract, sign and swear an oath of office and receive a certificate within the scheduled length of time for the meeting or be disqualified. A state comrade would still be deemed disqualified even if he/she is not able to meet the deadline by virtue of ill health or incapacitation. Any state comrade who is rendered disqualified would automatically loose his/her membership to the association.The commissioner shall inform the Director General of all disqualification while the Director General for his/her part would look into the matter and take the appropriate action to inform the African Union to appoint a replacement in place of the barred persons or otherwise withdraw the disqualification by reappointing the hitherto disqualified persons.

The Director General shall by discretion appoint five acting supervisors and three acting commissioners prior to each genesis meeting. They would discharge the duties of the supervisors and commissioners respectively when such persons are incapacitated.The African Union representative supervisor and members of the commission’s executive shall have precedence over acting supervisors and commissioners respectively. An acting commissioner or supervisor shall hand over his/her duties when the commissioner or supervisor is present and capable. It shall be the duty of the commissioner to determine such matters based on the aforesaid regulations.

However if there is only one African Union representative supervisor or acting supervisor available or capable at the start of proceedings or at any point in time during the proceedings, the commissioner shall by discretion delegate persons to supervise the proceedings. After this the commissioner shall inform the Director General who in turn would report the matter to the African Union.

Furthermore If one member of the commission’s executive is present or capable at the start of proceedings or at any point in time during the meeting, proceedings shall continue as planned and the commissioner available shall perform his/her duties, however if no member of the commission’s executive or acting commissioners are present or capable at the start of proceedings or at any point in time during the meeting, then the Chief supervisor shall by discretion delegate persons to perform the duties of the commissioners after which he/she is to inform the Director General who in turn would report to the African Union on the matter.
During a genesis meeting, if at the start of proceedings or at any point in time during the meeting there is no supervisor and/or member of the commission’s executive or any of their corresponding acting supervisors and commissioners present and capable then the available state comrades shall inform the Director General. The Director General together with his/her deputies shall declare a genesis meeting of such nature dissolved and proceed by discretion to make all regional appointments for the required or remaining number of State Comrades. Where this occurs on the twenty second day, the Executive of the Association shall by discretion appoint all regional commissions as well as choose the Head Quarters for the commission. The Director General shall then report the matter to the African Union.

However in the event that the executive of the Association is incapable of performing the aforementioned function, the state comrades present are to inform the speaker of parliament who by aid of a committee chaired by him/her make all necessary appointments and decisions pertaining to the genesis meeting by discretion. All decisions taken would be binding on the state comrades that are to be appointed on that day. The Speaker of parliament shall afterward report the matter to the African Union.

RESOLVING AN ISSUE OF A SIMULTANEOUS SELECTION OF STATE COMRADES

The African Union or electoral commission as the case may be should by a large extent avoid simultaneous selection i.e. selecting two or more appointees on the same date and time. However In the event that a simultaneous selection is made and confirmed during a “Let the Ark Decide” procedure, then the most senior of the contestants by virtue of his/her age (date of birth: day, month, year), would take precedence over the other contestants. However if there is more than one person with a similar date of birth, then by virtue of the alphabetical order of their names (surname first before other names) the individual that precedes the other/others would take precedence in order of appointment. If after this there is still a tie among two or more appointees then the commissioner shall determine by discretion the order of precedence for the appointees in the tie.

DEALING WITH FALSE ANNOUNCEMENTS

In the event that the Chief supervisor does not confirm what has been announced by a state comrade, the commissioner shall collect the card of the ark and announce what has been written on it and then show it to the gathering and then the camera. Afterward what the commissioner says shall have superiority over what the appointee and Chief supervisor have mentioned regardless of whether the commissioner’s announcement was similar to either one of them or different from both of them.

DEALING WITH VALID AND INVALID CARDS OF THE ARK

In the event that the writing on one side of a card of the ark cannot be read or determined whereas the writing on its reverse can be read or determined, the card shall be deemed to be valid and the side that can be read or determine shall be considered. However where as the writing on both sides of the card cannot be read or determined by virtue of serious spelling mistake or any other reason besides a willful destruction of the card, the state comrade who picked the card shall make a complaint to the Chief supervisor who shall collect and examine the card and afterward hand it over to the commissioner who shall show the card to the gathering and camera and whatever the commissioner decides shall be binding on both the state comrade and chief supervisor. The commission shall give the card to the record supervisor who would endorse the card as either valid or invalid in relation to what the commissioner has declared after which he/she is to give the card back to the state comrade who picked out the card.

If the commissioner declares a card as invalid then the state comrade who picked the card would be treated as though absent.After each state comrade has had his turn, the record supervisor shall determine the region/s that is /are short of personnel, if only one state comrade is affect in this scenario then the region with a vacancy would automatically be the region to which the individual shall be appointed and as such the record supervisor shall endorse a card bearing the name of that region and give it to the state comrade in question collecting the invalid card in return. however in the event that there is more than one individual with this problem then the commissioner shall by discretion appoint such state comrades to regions that have vacancies and such decisions shall be binding on the state comrade. Also no card is to be folded or crumbled before it is put into the ark as it may invalidate the card.

In the event that a commissioner declares a card as invalid while picking a card to determine the head quarters of the commission,he/she shall show both ends of the card to the gathering and camera and then proceed to pick once again from the ark, if he declares the second card as invalid, he shall repeat his actions until he/she has picked out a valid card. If all cards are declared invalid, the commissioner shall have the discretion to announce a region of his/her choice as the head quarters of the commission.

DEALING WITH EXTRA OR LESS CARDS OF THE ARK

In the event that at the start of the let the ark decide procedure, the ark is found to contain any material, the ark supervisor shall inspect and remove such materials from the ark and thus ensure that the ark is empty, after this the commissioner shall confirm it before the proceedings may continue, further more in the event that the there are more or less cards found to be in the ark after or during the a let the ark decide procedure respectively or there are more or less than nine cards counted after the selection of Head quarters of a commission, the chief supervisor shall annul a part of the whole of the procedure. The commissioner shall have the discretion to make all necessary regional appointments, choose all regional commissioners as well as decide the head quarters of the commission as the case may require and this decision shall be deemed valid and binding on all parties involved. The commissioner shall then report to the Director General on the matter.

DEALING WITH MISTAKES ON CERTIFICATES AND CONTRACTS

A certificate to be issued a state comrade shall bear his/her name and formally state that he/she has been duly appointed to hold a particular regional office in the commission where as a contract would state the rules and regulations bordering the terms and conditions of service of a state comrade.

Where there is a mistake on the certificate or contract with regards to grammar or spelling which has the tendency to distort and give another meaning or an interpretation other than what is desired, then the affected state comrade is to report to the commissioner who in turn shall take the necessary steps to replace the certificate or contract with one that is void of errors. However if the commissioner rejects a complaint by a state comrade with regards to a mistake contained in a certificate or contract, the commissioner’s decision shall have precedence and the state comrade in question may choose not to sign a contract, refuse to collect a certificate or do both. The chief supervisor shall submit such items of dispute to the Director General of the Association within twenty-four hours after the complaint was made and what the Director General shall decide would be binding on all parties involved.

DEALING WITH MALFEASANCE

Any staff member, supervisor, commissioner, acting personnel or individual who acts in a way during a Genesis meeting of a commission which is beyond his/her jurisdiction or that seeks to thwart someone or others in the performance of their official duties or that seeks to disrupt or disorganise proceeding of the Genesis meeting would be charged with malfeasance.
Persons charged with malfeasance would be escorted out of the premises immediately. Any state comrade who is charged with malfeasance shall automatically be disqualified. It shall take the support of at least two supervisors and two commissioners to charge any individual with malfeasance, be they state comrades, supervisors, commissioners or any other persons present or absent at the venue. Some cases of malfeasance during the genesis meeting would be brought before a competent court of law in Ghana.

The Attorney General of Ghana shall see to the prosecution of any Ghanaian charged with malfeasance within twenty-one days when it is reported to the Attorney Generals office. For this reason any Ghanaian charge with malfeasance shall not be permitted to leave the country until twenty-one days have elapsed since the case was reported to the Attorney General or unless specially permitted by a competent court of law in Ghana.

No foreigner who holds membership with the association is to be prosecuted by the Attorney General of Ghana and by extension the government of Ghana. The Director General shall terminate the membership of any such persons if charged with malfeasance inform the African Union for replacements.

APPOINTING A REGIONAL COMMISSIONER

On the twenty-second day of the transitional period, all state comrades shall join other members of their regional group and await the commissioner to appoint a regional commissioner from among the group members, with the exception of the region that was declared head quarters.
A State comrade shall be appointed Regional commissioner on the condition that he/she has attained the highest age by virtue of his/her age, rules on simultaneous selection would be followed in the event of a tie.

The position of regional commissioner shall be compulsory, as such an individual who rejects the position would automatically loosely his/her membership to the association. Once chosen a regional commission a state comrade would continue to serve in that capacity for a full term in office regardless of whether or not the most qualified person was absent at the time of the selection or an appointed personnel to the regional branch of the commission is older than the current regional commissioner.

The post of regional commissioner shall pass on to the most senior member in the regional branch of the commission by virtue of age, in the event that the regional commissioner loses his membership of the association by virtue of death, resignation or disqualification.

PERMANENT APPOINTMENT POSITIONS

Every state comrades shall serve in a regional office of the commission and while there would not be permitted to transfer to another regional office or to a different commission.
However in the event of a state of emergency, where it is determined that state comrades in a Particular region are in danger and/or would not be able to carry out their work properly for reasons of the state of emergency, then the whole or a section of the state comrades in that region may be relocated to another area, and regardless of whether or not it is in another region, their work would be carried out in respect of the region to which they where appointed.
In the event that a state of emergency is as a result of the invasion of Ghana, the Director General of the Association shall suspend the activities of the Association and take appropriate measure to see to the relocation and safety of all members of the Association.

REPLACING STATE COMRADE IDENTIFICATION ITEMS

In the event that a state comrade other than a regional commissioner or a member of an executive in the Association misplaces or for one reason or the other losses any personal identification items regarding his/her membership to the commission such a personnel would have to report it to his/her regional commissioner who would take the necessary steps to issue a replacement for the personnel as well a deactivate/cancel the use of the lost item as the case may be.

On the other hand, a regional commission would report to a member of the commission’s executive, while a member of the commission’s executive shall report to a member of the Associations executive. A member of the Association executive shall report to other members of the executive and then take appropriate steps to replace and deactivate the use of the lost item as the case may require.

The Association may operate a lost but found service to help retrieve missing items, in which case either the found item or the replacement issued is to be confiscated and activated or deactivated as the case may be.
They shall be no replacements for certificates while confiscated items of state comrades that are reinstated would be returned to them.

LIFE IN THE STATE COMRADES ASSOCIATION

There shall be a state comrade’s association branch in each region of the country. Within this branch shall be offices and residential facilities for each of the three commissions.
Residential Accommodation shall be compulsory for all members of the association. A Member of the association may choose to invite his/her family members to reside with him/her.
Members of the association are entitled to some rights and freedoms enjoyed by Ghanaians under the laws of Ghana and as such among other things, they are free to enroll their children into an educational institution in the country provided their wards meet the requirements for entry. They shall be entitled to health care benefits and the use of heath facilities and other facilities which the House of legislature shall determine.

State Comrades shall not be permitted to run or establish any business venture in the country what so ever,hold shares in a Ghanaian company, serve in a private or public office other than in the commission to which he/she is affiliated, vote in general elections held in Ghana nor are they permitted to disclose their affiliation to the commission or reveal classified information about a commission unless specially permitted by law.

The State comrades Association shall establish a fund to carter for the financial needs of the association referred to as the State comrades Association fund. All revenue of the association shall be credited to this fund and all expenditure of the association shall be charged to this fund. Monies from this fund would be used to run the business of the association and as such entitled only to members of the Association, furthermore in the event that money in the associations fund is insufficient, with the approval of the House of Representatives money from the consolidated fund would be used to supplement that of the association’s fund or a proportion of money maybe deducted from both funds to address the needs of the association.

The salaries and allowances entitled to all members of the state comrades association shall be tax free with the exception that fifteen percent of the salary shall be deducted to carter for payment of utility bills as well as to cover for various insurances policies for all members of the association.
All members of the State Comrades Association are entitled to the remunerations, privileges and retirement benefits that the House of Legislature may recommend to the House of Representatives.

MONITORING WITHIN THE ASSOCIATION

All members of the State Comrades Association are required to send a report or notice addressed to the Attorney General and then to the speaker of the House of Representatives, if such a member observes or suspects that another member or members of the Association are acting outside their official or constitutional duties. In this regard a notice addressed to the speaker or the Attorney General shall be taken to be a notice addressed to the respective houses which they oversee.

The Attorney General shall investigate such matters within 31 days after which he/she shall present a report on the matter before the House of Representatives while making recommendations as to how the House of Representatives is to deal with any matters of concern arising from the report.

All reported cases shall be strictly confidential and those who make such reports would if they wish choose to omit their particulars in their report or notice. Any Discussion of this nature in the House of Representatives shall be held in private and deliberated by the speaker and all regional speakers.

TENURE FOR THE STATE COMRADES ASSOCIATION

The tenure of office of members of the State Comrades Association would last for seven years unless such a member resigns, dies or is disqualified.
A member of the Associations cannot be reappointed after serving three tenures in the Association. Any member of the State Comrades Association is free to resign from his/her duties and it shall not be a prerequisite for a state comrade in doing so to give the reason/s for such an action.

MISCELLANEOUS ADDITIONS

· Proceeds from the sale of application forms would be credited to the state comrade’s association fund.

· A commissioner may choose to hold a recess during a Genesis meeting but this must be done so as not to taut the appointment of the required number of state comrades for the day.

· The commissioner and chief supervisor may choose to endorse certificates prior to the day of their submission in order to speed up proceedings of the Genesis meeting.

· A report to the Director General or to the African Union during a Genesis meeting shall among other things, determine the likely causes of an anomaly for which the report is being written, propose measures or a plan to be put in place to prevent the re occurrence of the anomaly and explain what line of action was taken with regards to the anomaly as at the time of the report.

· The African Union in response to a report by a commissioner, the Director General or the speaker of Parliament during the transition period with regards to proceeding of a genesis meeting has jurisdiction to; annul the procedures taken and request that a different line of action be taken. This shall not be possible after the expiration of the transitional period and this shall be 31 days.

· Under no circumstance would anyone have the jurisdiction to sign a contract or oath of office on the behalf of a state Comrade

· Some personnel of the security agencies should be present to maintain decorum during the genesis meeting of each commission

THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

It shall be supervised by the Public Service Commissioner who would be assisted by two deputies, all of whom would be Ghanaians. It shall also include three thousand Africans. The main responsibility of this commission would be to promote and ensure the appointment of qualified Ghanaians into the public sector of Ghana by outlining the standards for entry and exit into the Public Service of Ghana unless stated otherwise herein. The Standards for entry into the Public service would vary from one job to the other, but would however fall under six main categories with respective percentage of importance namely;job qualification 45%,job experience 20%, medical history 10%, criminal history 10%,national service 10%,and morality 5%.
If someone seeks to be a public servant he/she would have to check from any avenue or branch of the public service commission or from its website. All branches of the commission shall have a list of jobs available in the country as well as the general requirements an individual needs to satisfy to hold such an office.

After going through this list an individual who qualifies for a job and seeks to apply for it can then do so. It shall be considered a serious crime punishable by law if a person consciously applies for a job knowing or having suitable grounds for knowing that he/she does not qualify for a job. The Attorney General shall prosecute such persons. The reason for this is to prevent disqualified persons from applying and in the process wasting the valuable time of the commission in processing their documents.

Any individual who wishes to apply may choose to pick an application form or download it as the case may demand for free or for a price. The prices of applications forms would vary based on the type of application being made. The higher the public office being applied to, the higher the cost of the application form and vice versa. Free application forms shall span for all available public offices, however 3/10th of all appointments shall be selected from applicants using free application forms where as applicants with purchased application forms shall make up for the rest.

All applicants would be required to pay a small standard fee specifically to cover the communication charges the commission would incur in contacting them. The Public Service Commission is to fix and regulate the prices of all applications forms and communication fees subject to the approval of the House of Representatives via the house of legislature. After acquiring an application form an applicant would have to fill it out and support it with the required documents and particulars it so required. Required documents may include certificates, health records, financial records and so on which would depend on the type of application i.e. mostly applications to high public offices or positions.

After filling out a form and attaching the necessary documents if so required, the applicant would submit it to any branch of the investigative commission or to the commission via online. After submitting an application form an applicant would be issued with a serial number similar to that on the application form that would serve to provide easy reference to the application and the applicant.

After the investigative commission certifies the eligibility of an applicant to hold a public office and when there is still a vacancy,the applicant would be contacted and invited to sign a contract which the applicant should read and fully understand, after which he/she would be issued with a clearance certificate and unless started herein automatically appointed to a position in the public service, thus first come first served. An applicant who is unable to read shall be given an interpreter by the commission to assist him/her. The reasons for this is to hold the applicant liable if he/she breaches the terms and conditions of the contract. The Public Service shall take stringent measure to unable persons with disabilities apply for work as well.A contract would make known to the applicant the terms and conditions of service of the job he/she wishes to hold.

A disqualified applicant is free to reapply for a job if that applicant qualifies for the job in question. Furthermore an applicant would not be eligible to apply for more than two positions in a particular governmental department or agency at the same time, to make more than ten applications at a given time or permitted to apply for a particular job with both a free and bought application form. An applicant has the sole right to chose where to work if such an applicant has qualified for more than one job however no applicant may work at two or more places simultaneously unless started otherwise herein.

A certificate of Clearance shall serve as proof that an applicant having understood the terms and conditions of service of the public office or position he/she has applied for should hold the public office in question or contest for such an office. The date and time on which a certificate of clearance is issued would be identified on the certificate and a duplicate of the certificate shall be kept by the public service commission. A certificate of clearance would be endorsed by the Public Service Commissioner or any other persons within the commission that he/she shall appoint for that purpose. There shall be two types of Certificate of Clearance; the fixed type and the flexible type. The flexible type shall pertain to high and very high public offices and require more than one person to contest for the position whereas the fixed type shall clearly spell out the job or position the applicant is to hold without the applicant having to contest the position before hand. For instance an applicant wishing to contest for a position as a member of the house of representatives would have to contest with other qualified persons in a constituency election and win before he/she becomes a member of the house of representatives for the constituency, furthermore an applicant wishing to be a minister of state after qualifying must be vetted and appointed by the house of representatives while on the other hand an applicant with a fixed certificate who qualifies to be a bus driver may be appointed to work in the ministry of roads and transport as a bus driver. A certificate of Clearance becomes invalid after the duration for which it was issued. As such the certificates of clearance for all contestants that contest a constituency election shall be invalid after the conduct of the election unless it is otherwise renewed by the Public Service Commission in the event of a run off or where started herein.
The public Service Commission shall have the responsibility to be abreast and keep records of all employment vacancies as a result of resignations, dismissals, leave, death or illness. With regards to this, all supervisors in the public sector are to report all vacancies created by the aforesaid conditions to the public service commission as soon as practicable, by so doing the Public service commission would be better placed to make brisk appointments. All Public officers in Ghana would have to pass through the public service commission to get employed unless started otherwise herein. Public officers includes members of the; civil service, judicial service, The Audit Service, The Education Service, The Prison Service, The Parliamentary Service, The Health Service, The Statistical Service, The National Fire Service, The Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, The internal Revenue Service, The Police Service, The Immigration Service, and The Legal Service;

· Public services established by the constitution of Ghana

· Such other public services as the House of Representatives may by law prescribe.

THE INVESTIGATIVE COMMISSION

It shall be supervised by the Investigations Commissioner who would be assisted by two deputies all of whom would be Ghanaians. It shall also consist of three thousand Africans.
The main responsibility of this commission would be to investigate all applications submitted by applicants seeking to hold public office. The commission shall investigate applicants in order to ascertain whether or not such applicants are qualified for jobs that they have applied for. It would perform such functions in conformity to the laid down requirements of the Public Service Commission.

All submitted applications forms would be processed in a similar way. First of all the investigative commission would determine if the required information is present, and determine the validity of such information contained in the application or if the documents attached to the application are valid or genuine. In doing this the investigative commission may work in collaboration with the various security agencies in the country.

If it is discovered at any time during the investigation that an applicant is not qualified due to the fact that the applicant has either submitted false documents or provided invalid or incomplete information, processing of the applicants applications would be suspended immediately. The investigative commission would establish whether or not the applicant was aware of the error, falsification or omission that disqualifies him/her. If it is detected after this that the applicant was well within the standards of knowing that he/she was disqualified and yet applied then the investigative commissioner shall report the matter to the Attorney General who in turn shall see to it that the applicant is contacted and arraigned before a competent court of law for prosecution. If it is however detected that the applicant was not within the standards of knowing that he/she was disqualified from applying, the investigative commission shall with the consent of the applicant correct all oversights and proceed with investigation.

The investigative commission shall after its investigation submit only valid application forms to the public service commission. It shall keep all invalid application forms and tag them with the reasons for the disqualification.

THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

It shall be supervised by the Electoral Commissioner who would be assisted by two deputies all of whom would be Ghanaians. It shall also consist of three thousand Africans.
The main responsibility of this commission would be to supervise and conduct free and fair elections and contests into the public sector of Ghana.The Electoral Commission in exercising its duties to supervise and conduct free and fair elections and contest in the country would perform the following functions;

to compile the register of voters and revise it at such periods as may be determined by law;
to demarcate the electoral boundaries for both national and local government elections or contests;
to conduct and supervise all public contests, elections and referenda;
to educate the people on the electoral process and its purpose;
To undertake programmes for the expansion of the registration of voters; and to perform such other functions as may be prescribed by law.

QUALIFICATIONS

A DIRECTOR GENERAL

Should be a Ghanaian by birth, and should have attained the age of twenty-one years or more.

Must be of sound mind and of good health

Should have no serious criminal record

Must be a registered Ghanaian voter.

Should have lived in Ghana for an uninterrupted period of three years before his/her appointment.

Must be in possession of a degree of higher education preferably a master’s degree.
Must have a strong integrity.

Must be morally upright.

Should have paid all his/her taxes or made arrangements satisfactory to the appropriate authority for the payment of his/her taxes.

A COMMISSIONER

Should be a Ghanaian by birth, and should have attained the age of twenty-one years or more.

Must be of sound mind and of good health

Should have no serious criminal record

Must be a registered Ghanaian voter.

Should have lived in Ghana for an uninterrupted period of two years before his/her appointment.

Must be in possession of a degree of higher education preferably a master’s degree.

Must have a strong integrity.

Must be morally upright.

Should have paid all his taxes or made arrangements satisfactory to the appropriate authority for the payment of his taxes.

STATE COMRADES OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

· Must be a citizen by birth of any African Country other than Ghana but which is not at war or has serious disputes with Ghana.

· Must be of sound mind and of good health.

· Must have no serious criminal record.

· Should not have been a member of any national armed force, security or intelligence organisation.

· Must be able to read, write and communicate good English.

· Must be professionally trained and experienced in matters pertaining to the conduct of public service administration.

STATE COMRADES OF THE INVESTIGATIVE COMMISSION

· Must be the citizen by birth of any African Country other than Ghana but which is not at war or has serious disputes with Ghana.

· Must be of sound mind and of good health.

· Must have no serious criminal record.

· Should not have one time or the other been a member of any national armed force, security or intelligence organisation other than in the police service.

· Must be able to read, write and communicate good English.

· Must be professionally trained and experienced in matters pertaining to the conduct of investigations.

STATE COMRADES OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION

· Must be the citizen by birth of any African Country other than Ghana but which is not at war or has serious disputes with Ghana.

· Must be of sound mind and of good health.

· Must have no serious criminal record.

· Should not have one time or the other been a member of any national armed force, security or intelligence organisation.

· Must be able to read, write and communicate good English.

· Must be professionally trained and experienced in matters pertaining to the conduct of free and fair elections.

RESPONSIBILITY

THE DIRECTOR GENERAL

To oversee all Administrative duties of the Association such as;

To Report to the House of Checks and Balance when it comes into operation on the total number of Government employees, and subsequently on an annual basis.

To swear in the various Commissioners in the State Comrades Association.

To recommend to the House of Representatives on matters of logistics, transportation, communication, delivery services but to name a few to facilitate the work of the Association and also on improving work performance in the association as well as dealing with criminal involvement of members of the Association.

To submit the state comrades membership list to the House of Checks and Balance.

To report to the African Union during the transition period and subsequently for the replacement of personnel of the Association.

To report annually to the House of Representatives on its activities.

A COMMISSIONER OF THE STATE COMRADES ASSOCIATION

To swear in newly appointed state comrades for regional appointments.

To make recommendations to the Director General to facilitate to work of the commission.

To submit the membership list of the commission with regards to date and time of appointments of personnel to the Director General of the Association.

To report annually to the Director General on its activities.

To address all matters concerning the well being of all members of the commission.

To address all problems or challenges that the commission faces in the discharge of its official duties.

To recommend the removal of personnel based on performance, health and on grounds of involvement in any criminal activity

PART TWO

THE FOUR ARMS OF GOVERNMENT

For a Better Balance of Power in addition to the State Comrades Association, four arms of Government shall exist. The first three arms shall come into operation simultaneously after which the fourth arm shall come into force.
They are;
· The House of Legislature.
· The House of Judicature.
· The House of Representatives.
· The House of Checks and Balance.

THE HOUSE OF LEGISLATURE

The House of Legislature shall have the Attorney General as its supervisor. The Attorney General would be assisted by two deputies. Membership of the house shall be of two separate categories;members by selection and members by status.
Members by selection shall be two hundred and fifty in number and consist of two hundred lawyers and fifty other persons stated herein. On the other hand members by status shall automatically consist of all barristers working full time or part time for the state. Members by selection shall perform the day to day business of the house.

For the purpose of selecting the two hundred lawyers, twenty lawyers shall be chosen from among each of the ten regions in Ghana. Among the lawyers required would be those who have practices either one of the following; criminal law, public law, law of tort, law of trusts, Land law, maritime law, commercial law, company law, labour law, public international law and customary law

The fifty members by selection shall consist of persons having served at one timeor the otherin the capacity of
· Attorney General
· Chief Justice;
· Director of the Audit Service,
· Director of the Criminal Investigations Department.
· Director of the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service
· Director of External Intelligence
· Director of the Fire Service.
· Director of the Immigration Service.
· Director of the Internal Revenue Service
· Director of Internal Intelligence
· Director of the commission on human rights and administrative justice
· Director of the National Bureau of Investigation
· Director of the Prisons Service
· Director of the Statistical Service
· Government Statistician;
· Director of Women and Juvenile unit
· Governor of the Bank of Ghana
· Head of the Ghana navy
· Head of the Ghana army
· Head of the Ghana air force.
· Inspector-General of Police
· Minister for Finance.
· Minter for food and agriculture
· Minister for communications
· Minister for education
· Minister for environmental protection and cleanliness.
· Minister for trade and industry
· Minister for foreign affairs
· Minister for mines and energy
· Minister for health
· Minister of interior
· Minister for lands and forestry
· Minister for roads and transport
· Minister for tourism
· Minister for works and housing
· Minister for youth and sports
· Speaker of parliament.
As well as
· A Representative of the Catholics Bishops’ conference of Ghana.
· A Representative of the Chief Imam of Ghana.
· A Representative of the paramount chief of each region in Ghana.
· A Representative of the Trades Unions congress of Ghana.

The Director General of the State Comrades Association shall set the date and time for the opening of the House of legislature and on the scheduled day the public service Commissioner shall induct its members into the house for its first sitting.

Two lawyers from among the twenty lawyers chosen to represent each region shall serve in the legislative council of the house. The Electoral commission shall organise an election in each of the ten regional groups by means of secret balloting and the first two persons to obtain the highest votes shall serve on the legislative council. After the selection of members for the legislative council, the public service commission shall induct into the house the first ten persons to qualify for to position of Attorney General of Ghana.

The Electoral commission shall organise a contest using the let the ark decide procedure where by all 10 qualified persons shall in order of precedence by virtue of certificate of clearance pick a card from the ark. The Person that picks a card with the inscription Attorney General or First deputy Attorney General or second deputy Attorney General shall be appointed to that office accordingly and as such issued with a certificate of clearance signed the public service commissioner and electoral commissioner. The Attorney General and his/her deputies shall be part of the legislative council of the house.

The Attorney General shall serve as the chairperson of the legislative council in whose absence in order of precedence the following persons shall preside; the first deputy attorney general, the second deputy attorney general and the most senior member of the legislative council by virtue of duration in public service; rules for simultaneous selection shall be followed where necessary.All Members of the House of legislature shall be sworn into office in the House of Representatives and by the speaker.
The legislative council of the House of Legislature shall determine its mode of operation in order to perform its duties however in the event that the house of legislature shall serve as a court of appeal then only members of the legislative council shall serve in this capacity with the Attorney General as chairperson. What ever decision it takes shall be deemed to have been taken for the entire membership of the house. In this regard at least 15 of its members must agree on a decision before it can be duly accepted. Apart from its capacity to serve as a court of Appeal, the House of Legislature shall be subject to approval from the House of Representatives.
A member of the house of legislature is entitled to a 7 year term in office unless such a member is dismissed for breaching the terms and conditions of service of his/her contract, removed from office by way of resignation, or due to incapacitation by way of serious illness or death which shall all be determined the supreme court of Ghana

All members of the house shall be entitled to such allowances and privileges as it may prescribe for itself but which are subject to the approval of the House of Representatives. The allowances and privileges of members of the House of Legislature shall be charged to the Consolidated Fund.

The House of Legislature shall be charged with the following duties.

· To propose, draft, and implement all national policies

· To draft all bill brought before the House of Representatives for consideration
· To effect amendments on the constitution or laws in force in Ghana.

· To serve as a National Commission of Enquiry

· To serve as a National Court of Appeal.

· To conduct all legal matters in the name of Ghana.

· To enact law and effect laws to regulate the public and private sector of Ghana.

HOUSE OF JUDICATURE

The House of Judicature shall have the Chief Justice as its supervisor. The Chief Justice shall be assisted by two deputies.It shall be made up of 20 former or current Supreme Court Justices who shall form the judicial council and two other members who shall not be part of the judicial council but hold membership of the house, one of whom shall be a representative of the Chief Imam of Ghana while the other is a representative of the Catholics Bishops conference of Ghana. The Chief Justice shall preside over meeting of the judicial council but in whose absence the most senior justice by virtue of duration in public service shall preside.

For the purpose of selecting the twenty members of the judicial council, two members of the council shall be natives of one of the ten regions in Ghana.Only members of the judicial council shall have voting rights on all matters brought before it for consideration. However the representative of the chief Imam of Ghana and the Catholic Bishops Conference of Ghana may advise the judicial council on any issue brought before it for consideration. The Judicial council shall however not be compelled to effect such recommendation or finalize a decision unless it is agreed upon by not less than seventeen justices on the council.

For the Purpose of selecting the representatives of the Chief Imam of Ghana and the Catholics Bishops conference of Ghana, such appointments shall be direct and as such appointees shall not apply to the public service commission, however the appropriate body or person responsible for the appointment must in writing addressed to the speaker of the House of Representatives and signed by themselves and the appointee present the name of the appointee to the speaker for appointment.

The Director General of the State Comrades Association shall set the date and time for the first sitting of the House. The Public Service Commissioner shall usher in members of the house as well as the first ten qualified persons for the position of chief Justice for the first sitting of the House.

The Electoral commission shall organise a contest using the let the ark decide procedure where by the ten qualified persons shall in order of precedence by virtue of certificate of clearance, pick a card from the ark one after the other. The Person that picks a card with the inscription Chief Justice or First deputy Chief Justice or second deputy Chief Justice shall be appointed to that office accordingly. Such persons shall be issued with a certificate of clearance signed the public service commissioner and electoral commissioner to that effect. The Chief Justice and his/her deputies shall be part of the Judicial council of the house.

The Chief Justice shall serve as the chairperson of the judicial council in whose absence in order of precedence the following persons shall preside; the first deputy Chief Justice, the second deputy Chief Justice and the most senior member of the judicial council by virtue of duration in public service; rules for simultaneous selection shall be followed where necessary. All Members of the House of Judicature shall be sworn into office in the House of Representatives and by the speaker.

A member of the Judicial Council is entitled to a three year term in office unless such a member is dismissed for breaching the terms and conditions of service of his/her contract, which shall be determined by the house of legislature subject to the approval of a quota of the members of the House of Representatives or is otherwise removed from office by way of resignation or due to incapacitation by way of serious illness, injury or death.
A religious appointee is entitled to a term in office that shall not exceed the term of the judicial council and which may be renewed of cut short by the appropriate group or person responsible for the appointment.

All members of the house shall be entitled to such allowances and privileges as the House of legislature may prescribe for it but which are subject to the approval of the House of Representatives and which shall be charged to the consolidated fund.

The House of Judicature shall be charged with the following duties.

· To resolve disputes that may arise in respect to interpretation of the constitution or constitutional provisions enforced in Ghana.

· To serve us the supreme court of Ghana and as such the highest court of appeal in Ghana.

· To address and recommend to the House of Legislature ways and means of improving judicial administration in Ghana.

· To determine conditions for the promotion of Judges

· To determine conditions for the transfer of Judges.

· To serve as a platform to investigate cases of judicial irregularities and cases of misconduct of Judges, judicial abuse of office and Blackmailing and/or Bribery of Judges.

THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

This House shall have the Speaker of the house as its supervisor. The Speaker of the House shall be assisted by two deputies. This house shall also constitute representatives of the various constituencies in Ghana as well as members of the clerk’s office.

The Speaker of the House shall preside over sittings of the house but in whose absence in order of precedence the following persons shall preside; the first deputy speaker and then the second deputy speaker. Deputy Speakers are to assist the Speaker in the supervision of the house and discharge whatever legal duties the speaker shall charged them with. Deputy Speakers shall also chair all vetting committees in the House of Representatives. The Clerk shall have the duty of formally recording proceedings of a sitting of the House.

BECOMING A CONSTITUENCY REPRESENTATIVE

No political party or its candidate shall be given preference over another political party or its candidate or any individual. Any person who desires to contest in a constituency election on the ticket of a political party or as an individual shall be treated on his/her own merit. Any individual who wishes to represent his/her constituency in the House of Representatives must apply to the Public Service Commission for the post. An applicant who qualifies shall contest the position in a constituency election with other qualified applicants. The winner in the election shall represent that constituency in the House of Representatives.

REGIONAL SPEAKERS, THE CLERK OF THE HOUSE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE

The Director General of the State Comrades Association shall set the date and time for the first sitting of the House of Representatives. On the scheduled day, the Public service commission shall usher members into the House. The agenda for the first sitting shall among other things include the election/selection of the Regional speakers, Speakers of the House and member of the clerk’s office.

A regional speaker shall serve as the spokes persons for his/her region in the House of Representatives. In doing so the Regional speaker shall be assisted by two members of the house from within his/her region.

Any member who qualifies and desires the position of regional speaker must first apply to the public service commission for the position, seven days before the first sitting of the house. Only the first twenty qualified persons shall contest. Thus on the first sitting of members of the House the Electoral Commission shall l conduct an election by means of secret balloting whereby all members of the house from a region shall proceed to vote in favour of a candidate of their choice. The first three persons with the highest score shall serve as regional speaker, first deputy regional speaker and second deputy regional speaker respectively.

After all regional speakers have been elected or selected; the Regional speaker for the region with the capital city shall then serve as the acting speaker on behalf of members of the house. The acting speaker shall request the Public Service Commission to present members of the clerk office before the house. The first 10 qualified persons shall be presented before the house.A decision by a majority of regional speaker shall determine whether the clerk of the house shall be elected or selected. After which the acting speaker shall swear them into office.

THE SPEAKER AND DEPUTY SPEAKERS

The acting speaker shall call for the selection/election of speakers for the house. The public service commission shall bring before the house the first ten persons to qualify for the position of speaker for the House of Representatives. A decision by a majority of regional speaker shall determine whether the speaker of the house shall be elected or selected.The acting speaker shall swear in the selected or elected Speaker and two deputy speakers into office on behalf of the members of the house. Afterward the Speaker shall proceed to swear in the members of House of Representatives.

THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENTS OF THE REPUBLIC

The speaker shall after a recess move a motion for the selection of president and vice presidents for the republic. This shall be supported by a simple majority of members or outside postponed to a date determined by the speaker within seven days from that day. If a simple majority of members agree to the proceedings, the speaker shall request the selection of the President, first Vice President and second Vice President. The president and vice presidents shall be chosen from among the members of the house other than a speaker and a member of the clecks office. Members who wish to contest the position must apply to the public service commission seven day prior to the first sitting of the House of Representatives.

The first five qualified persons from each region shall contest in an election where by the members of that region in the house shall vote for a candidate of their choice. The candidate with the highest number of votes cast in his/her favour shall be chosen to represent that region in a contest to determine the president and two vice presidents.Ten persons in all, one from each region in Ghana shall contest in the let the ark decide procedure to determine the president and two vice presidents

The let the ark decide procedure shall be used to select the president and vice presidents in the following manner under the supervision of the electoral commission. The ark supervisor shall open all sides of the ark in the viewing of members and make sure that the ark is void of any materials. Afterward the card of the ark supervisor shall place ten cards into the ark and mix them up. Among the ten cards, three cards shall bear the inscription President, first vice president,second vice president respectively while the remaining seven cards would have nothing written on them. Then in order of precedence by virtue of clearance certificate,the contestants shall proceed to pick from the ark one after the other until the positions at stake have being won. The ark supervisor shall once again open the ark in the viewing of the gathering to make sure that the ark is empty or that the remaining cards in the ark do not exceed or are not less than what is required as the case may determine.

After this exercise, the Speaker, the Director General of the State Comrades Association, the Electoral Commissioner, the public service commissioner and the 10 regional Speakers would accent a document bearing witness to the selection of President and vice Presidents.

APPROVING THE MEMBERS OF THE STATE COMRADES ASSOCIATION

All members of the State Comrades Association shall assume an acting position until their membership is approved by the House of Representative or automatically after eight months have elapsed since their appointment to the association.

The speaker of the House of Representatives shall on the fiftieth days after the House of Representatives begins its operations, move a motion to request the house of legislature to investigate the appointments of all members to the State comrades association. Where a quota of the house is in support of the motion, the speaker of the house shall request the Attorney General to perform the aforementioned duty and to report to the House of Representatives every twenty-one days on the issue.

The support of a quota of members of the house shall be required to abrogate the membership of an individual or a certain group of individuals in the state comrades association and as such the speaker of the house shall in a note signed by himself/herself and by the ten regional speakers direct the Director General of the state comrades association to effect such changes within the association.

In the event that the entire executive of the State Comrades Associations is to be dismissed, the speaker shall issue a notice of appointment revocation to the Director General abrogating the duties of the executive of the association and afterward inform the African Union for replacements. It shall not be a prerequisite to inform a state comrade on the revocation of his/her membership prior to requesting the Director General to replace the state comrade in question. All persons whose appointments have been terminated shall be made to vacate the premises of the association immediately; the regional commissioner shall take necessary steps to ensure that personal belongings of such persons are delivered to them from their place of work. All dismissed persons would not be permitted to commission unless stated herein and as such any items that identifies the individual in question as being a member of the commission or enables the individual to access a facility or perform an action reserve for members of the commission or can influence the activities of the commission shall be confiscated or deactivated as the case may require. The Director General is to ensure that all dismissed persons return to their country of origin within 7 days after their membership has been abrogated.

A member of the state comrades association shall be dismissed only on the grounds that such a person has acted against/ is not eligible to be appointed under the terms and conditions of service of his/her contract hitherto due to an oversight. Also a state comrade who seeks to naturalize as a Ghanaian or citizen of another country would first have to resign from the association. A member who seeks dual citizenship with Ghana or any other country would also loose his/her membership to the association.

The African union may challenge the findings of the house of legislature in defense to an appointment it has made in which case the House of Judicature shall look into the issue and its decision shall be binding on both parties. A state comrade who has been dismissed by a decision of the House of Representatives has an opportunity of being reinstated within six months after the dismissal. A new appointee would give up his/her position in the association if the predecessor to the office has been reinstated or if the new recruit is rejected by the House of Representatives within eight months after his/her appointment.

A commissioner shall report all vacancies in a commission to the Director General who shall in turn inform the African Union to appoint replacements, however If twenty-one days have elapsed and a position in the association is still vacant, the Director General shall inform the Public service commissioner to appoint someone to fill in the vacancy, the appointment of a Ghanaian shall be valid. All appointees must sign a contract and be sworn into office before they may begin work but shall however be discharged of such duties when an African Union appointee to the office has be chosen and is available.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

A member of the House of Representatives is entitled to a five year term in office unless such a member is dismissed for breaching the terms and conditions of service of his/her contract, which shall be determined by the supreme court of Ghana or is otherwise removed from office by way of resignation or due to incapacitation by way of serious illness or death.
All members of the House of Representatives shall be entitled to such allowances and privileges as the House of Legislature may prescribe for it subject to its own approval and charged to the consolidated Fund

REPRESENTATIVES OFFICE FOR CONSIDERATION AND EDUCATION (ROCE)

Each constituency representative in the House of Representatives shall be mandate to manage a network of offices referred to as the representative’s office for consideration and education. Each office is to be managed by a Supervisor who shall be assisted by two other supervisors, all of whom shall be appointed by the public service commission. It shall also consist of 30 other person who shall discharge the day to day duties of the office.

The House of Legislature shall determine the number of such offices a constituency representative should have in his/her constituency, as well as where such offices are to be located and the mode and method of their operation.

The Duties of the Representatives Office for Consideration and Education shall be as follows;

· To create an avenue for members within the constituency to complain on any issue that affects them, be they civil, criminal or other wise.

· To address the complains brought before it by channeling them to the appropriate authority for consideration

· To explore new or better methods of improving the well being of person within the constituency by taking into account the views and suggestion of members of the constituency and to channel such matters to the appropriate authority for consideration.

· To educate members in the constituency on government initiatives as well as matters of social concern by incorporating the help of both Non Governmental Organisations and governmental organisations.

· To promote intra and inter constituency youth games and sporting activities.

· To conduct regular polls in the constituency to determine the peoples views on issues.

· To submit relevant statistical data to the House of legislature, which would enable it determine the best line of action to take with regards to plans for the development of the constituency and/or the eradication of the problems of the constituency.

· To report on its activities on a monthly basis to the constituency representative in the House of Representatives.

The House of Checks and Balance

As its names suggest the House of Checks and Balance would be the link between the House of legislature, the House of Judicature and the House of Representatives. The total membership of the House shall be ten members; three of which shall represent each of the aforementioned Houses while the last member who has no voting right shall serve as secretary and spokes person of the House.

The ten members of the House shall form the executive council and they would be sworn into office in the House of Representatives and by the speaker. The President and his/her deputies, the Attorney General and his/her deputies and the Chief Justice and his/her deputies shall represent their respective house in the House of Checks and Balance.

The president shall supervise the activities of the executive council and in whose absence the following persons shall in order of their superiority preside, the; first vice president, second vice president, the Chief Justice, the Attorney General, the fist deputy Chief Justice, the first deputy Attorney General, the second deputy Chief Justice and the second deputy Attorney General.
The President shall in a letter addressed to the speaker of the House of Representatives appoint a person by his/her own discretion to serve as secretary and spokes person of the executive council. The said person must be 21 years of age or older and of sound mind and good health. The Executive Council shall regulate the proceedings at its meetings.

The president is to perform all ceremonial duties of state. The president may however instruct his/her vice presidents to perform part or whole of such duties in which case the first vice president shall receive foreign envoys and dignitaries on behalf of government whereas the second vice president shall be in charge of commissioning projects and attending functions on behalf of government.

With regards to the passage of a bill, a bill shall be accented to by the president, chief Justice and Attorney General to become law. The President shall accent to a bill if it was duly supported by a majority of members in the House of Representatives, whereas the chief Justice shall accent to a bill if the bill when passed into law shall not be unconstitutional or inconsistent with another law in operation, the Attorney General shall accent to a bill where as the Bill unless issued under a state of emergency was duly drafted by the House of legislature. The executive council shall have 7 days to accent to a bill; a rejected bill may be reviewed and subsequently brought before the executive council for consideration on more than one occasion.

The president’s prerogative of mercy is subject to the approval of a quota of members of the House of Representatives. The president in his/her quest to issue a prerogative of mercy shall disclose such intensions to the Attorney General and Chief Justice. The Attorney General shall prepare a bill for this purpose which shall be put before the House of Representatives for consideration.

The President and vice Presidents while in office shall not be liable to any civil or criminal proceedings in court unless his/her office has been dully abrogated with the support of 2/3 of members of the House of Representatives through the passage of a vote of no confidence on the president or a vice president, for reasons of a breach in the terms and conditions of his/her of service and which shall be determined by the Supreme Court.

A former President can not be sentenced; to imprisonment with hard labour, a term in prison for more than ten years or to death by any court of law in Ghana for any crime committed.
The President in the capacity of Commanded in Chief of the Ghana armed forces shall appoint the chairperson of each governing council in the Ghana armed forces. All governing councils of the Ghana Armed forces shall be formed by the president in consultation with the House of legislature and each governing council shall address the daily administrative duties of a branch of the Ghana Armed forces which it supervises including protection of the territorial sovereignty of Ghana, preventing the invasion of Ghana by external forces, promotion of ranks, organisation of peace keeping and war missions, disciplinary measures and sanctions among others that the House of Legislature would accord it.

Individuals who wish to join the Ghana Armed forces must apply to the public service commission; however the Ghana Armed force would have its own entry requirements which eligible individual must pass to gain entry. The President in consultation with the House of Legislature shall also determine the membership and entry into the secret service of Ghana and agencies that deal with external intelligence. The State comrades Association shall have no jurisdiction in determining entry into the secret service of Ghana or agencies that deal with external intelligence.

A member of the Executive council is entitled to a term in office equivalent to those of the their respective houses unless such a member is dismissed for breaching the terms and conditions of service of his/her contract, which shall be determined by the supreme court of Ghana or is otherwise removed from office by way of resignation or due to incapacitation by way of serious illness or death unless stated otherwise herein. The secretary of the executive council who shall also be the spoke person of the council is entitled to renewable five year tenure in office.
All members of the Executive Council shall be entitled to such allowances and privileges as the house of legislature may prescribe for it subject to the approval of the House of Representatives and charged to the consolidated Fund

ADDITIONS, COMPLICATIONS AND RESOLUTIONS

1) ON THE HOUSE OF LEGISLATURE

· In choosing members to serve on the legislative council, where there is a tie among two members who have scored the highest votes, both members shall qualify to serve on the legislative council. Where a tie involves three or more persons the general rules for simultaneous selection shall be used to break the tie except that the highest score was a single vote.

· In choosing members to serve on the legislative council, where none of the twenty lawyers in the regional caucus attains the highest score (as they all voted for themselves or chose not to vote) the electoral commission shall conduct the let the ark decide procedure to determine which of its members shall serve on the legislative council.

· Two lawyers shall be appointed to each of the categories for entry into the house of legislature for barristers at law.

· Members by selection must meet the general entry requirements for the four arms of government to be appointed.

· Members by selection would perform full time duties of the House of Legislature and as such would not be permitted to hold any other public office.

· Members by status shall not be entitled to a sitting in the house of legislature or to part take in its deliberation or decision making unless by invitation by the legislative council.

· All members by status shall pay monthly dues to the House of legislature and this money shall be credited to the consolidated fund and determine by the legislative council with the approval of the House of Representatives.

· The House of legislature can be called to meet when on recess if it is agreed by not less than fifteen members on the legislative council.

· In the event that there is a/are vacancy/vacancies for one or more categories designated for a regional caucus, such positions shall remain vacant as long as no qualified personsare appointed irrespective of the number of appointed persons in the regional caucus or in other regional caucus’s.

· All lawyers must hail from a village, town or city in the region for which they have applied, to be eligible to represent that region in the House of legislature.

· In the event that members of the House of legislature are to take a vote on an issue, the legislative council shall decide whether the vote would be in the form of secret balloting or by a simple majority decision.

· A quorum in House of Legislature shall be two-thirds of all the members of House.

2) ON THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

· A constituency election shall be contested by the first ten qualified applicants from each constituency.

· The Winner of a constituency election shall be issued with a certificate of clearance by the Electoral Commission that states that the said person contested a constituency election and duly won and is therefore declared member of the House of Representatives for that constituency.

· The Electoral Commission shall submit a copy of a certificate of clearance to the Public Service Commission

· A representative elect would be obliged to sign a contract that explains in clear details, the terms and conditions of his membership to the House of Representatives as well as the oath of a member of the House of Representatives

· A representative elect is to sign the contract and the oath of office within seven days after being declared representative elect.

· If there is strong evidence to prove that a representative elect is incapacitated and thus incapable of signing the contract and the oath of office. The deadline for signing the contract and oath of office shall be extended to a date determined by the Public Service Commissioner.

· If a representative elect refuses to sign a contract within the seven day period he/she shall be barred from participating in the activities of the House of Legislature unless he/she does so.
· A representative elect shall forfeit membership to the house of representative if such a member does not sign the contract before the members of the house take their oath of office.

· In choosing the 5 representatives to contest for a regional caucus to determine the selection of president, the general rules for simultaneous selection shall be used to break a tie.

· The Electoral Commission shall organise a by election or hold a contest as the case may determine, within twenty-one days when there is a vacancy in the House of Representatives.
· Only qualified persons who took part in a pervious constituency election would be permitted to contest in the by election. However the Electoral commission shall be required to increase this number if the number of qualified contestants for the election are no up to ten.

· The selection of president and vice president shall not be hindered in the event that less than five members or no member of the house qualify/qualifies in a regional caucus. As such only members who qualify and attain the requisite votes would contest.

· If the public service commission identifies that no member in the house of representatives would attain the age of forty years prior to the selection of regional speaker and president, it shall lower the qualifying age for members by a margin of five years and subsequently until it becomes possible for a member/s of the house to contest such positions.

· It would be possible for a member of the House to apply for the position of regional speaker and President at the same time. However such a member would resign from the position of regional speaker upon being selected as president or vice president.

· A regional speaker shall speak on behave of members from his/her region in the house of representatives during a debate of the house and may permit a member from his/her region to address the house on an issue being discussed if such an issue pertains to the constituency of the member or if such a member is better place than himself or herself to address the issue before hand

· A regional speaker shall represent the members from his/her region in the House of Representatives in the event that a representative of the region is required.

· A regional speaker shall address the needs of members of his/her region in the House of Representatives

3) ON THE HOUSE OF JUDICATURE

High court judges shall be promoted to represent their native region in the Supreme Court, where no former or current member of the Supreme Court is available for that region.

4) ON THE HOUSE OF CHECKS AND BALANCE

· Only members of the executive council with the exception of the secretary shall hold membership in two arms of government at the same time. No individual may hold membership in more than two arms of government.

· All businesses done between the house of legislature, House of judicature and House of Representatives shall be conducted by and between representatives of each respective House on the Executive Council.

MISCELLANEOUS

· Based on recommendation in a report by the Attorney General, the House of Representatives shall decide what line of action to take in the event that the Director General has not submitted the states comrades membership list to the to the executive council on the scheduled date for its submission.

· The Public Service Commission shall issue membership cards to members of all arms of government.

· The sitting arrangement of members in the House of Legislature and House of Representatives shall not be in regional groupings but randomized.

· The use of the term “has no serious criminal record” refers to an individual who has never being convicted on charges of High Treason, serious fraud, murder, lying under oath, rape or defilement by any competent court of law.

QUALIFICATIONS

GENERAL QUALIFICATION

A MEMBER OF ANY OF THE FOUR ARMS OF GOVERNMENT

· Must be a Ghanaian by birth, and should have attained the age of twenty-one years or more.

Must be of sound mind and of good health

Should have no serious criminal record

Must be a registered Ghanaian voter.

Should have lived in Ghana for a period of one year before his/her appointment.

Must be in possession of a degree of higher education preferably a master’s degree.

Must have a strong integrity.

Must be morally upright.

Should have paid all his taxes or made arrangements satisfactory to the appropriate authority for the payment of his taxes.

ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LEGISLATURE

QUALIFICATION FOR LAWYERS

· Should be a native of a region to which he/she applies and should have practised as a barrister at law in that region for at least two years. This does not have to be uninterrupted.

· Should have at least fifteen years experience as a barrister at law. This does not have to be uninterrupted.

A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF JUDICATURE

QUALIFICATION FOR SUPREME COURT JUSTICES

· Should be a native of a region to which he/she applies and should have practiced as a judge in that region for at least two years. This does not have to be uninterrupted.

· Should have served as a Judge in a high court or/and Supreme Court for not less than fifteen years. This does not have to be uninterrupted.

· Should have passed at lest five hundred successful judgments while serving in the capacity of a judge during his/her life time.

A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

QUALIFICATIONS FOR SPEAKER

· Should have served as a judge in the high court or/and Supreme Court for not less than ten years. This does not have to be uninterrupted.

· Should have passed at lest five hundred successful judgments while serving in the capacity of a judge during his/her life time.

· Should have served as a judge in at least seven out of the ten regions in Ghana.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR CLECK OF PARLIAMENT

· Should have served in the capacity of a clerk in a court of law in Ghana for not less than seven years.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR REPRESENTATIVES

· He is resident in the constituency for which he stands as a candidate for election to the House of Representatives or has resided there for a total period of not less than five years out of the ten years immediately preceding the election for which he stands or he hails from that constituency.

QUALIFICATION FOR REGIONAL SPEAKER

· Should be at least forty years old

QUALIFICATIONS FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OFFICE for CONSIDERATION AND EDUCATION

· Should be of sound mind and good health.

· Has no serious criminal record.

· Should be resident in the constituency and should have been resident in that constituency for more than five years regardless of whether or not such a person is a native of a village, town or city in the constituency. (Thus an employee does not necessarily have to be a Ghanaian or African as the focus is on the wellbeing of all people residing in the constituency).

· Should have Good public relations capabilities

PART THREE:

THE UNITED STATES OF AFRICA?

The initial Idea to write out this theory came to me after a lesson on separation of powers and checks and Balance while I was still in secondary school. After the lesson I felt that a minority in parliament could not contribute their quota in any meaningful way to national development if the majority in Parliament was opposed to the minorities view and would not vote in favour of it or otherwise vote against it. While on the other hand the majority could pass any bill into law without the consideration of the minority if such a majority was substantive for the passage of the bill into law. I thus began to question the significance of a minority in parliament.

Thus the initial idea behind the writing this theory was not to foster African Unity as is seen today but instead to address ways in which the minority in parliament would be able to contribute their quota meaningfully to national development even though the majority in parliament might not be in favour of such initiatives. In my quest to resolve this problem, I gradually begun studying the 1992 republican constitution of Ghana.

Another reason for my choice to write out this theory at the time was due to the notion that a political party in power exerts so much influence in the administration of a country even though its membership accounts for a minority as compared to the General Population. Members of apolitical party in power, its sympathizes and affiliates are the ones that became front runners or the only runners in the administration of a country as they make up a large proportion of the public sector whereas members of other political parties, their sympathizes and affiliates as well as persons with no political affiliation are most often than not left out. This creates a constant desire for political power through fair or foul means including corruption and electoral malpractices and paints the picture that one must belong to or support a political party in order to be successful in life, which should not be the case at all.

Due to problems I was facing at the time and afterward this theory after subconsciously taking root in my mind had to be abandoned for the better part of five years after having been likely conceived on the 18th of February, 2004. I was inspired by the length of its dormancy to complete the theory once and for all, the result of which is this document.

THE COMBINATION EFFECT

The combination effect is an aspect of the Neo Democratic theory which suggest that an African Continental government can be formed and steadily expanded if two or more countries adopt the “African Neo Democracy”

AN AFRICAN UNION ASSIGNMENT

Phase one;

The African Union in an effort to establish an African Government must undertake the following measures to enable the easy creation of a posterity continental government for Africa.

1) To draft a constitution for Africa with the main focus on the protection of inalienable rights and freedoms of Human Beings. Each African state shall have its own constitution and enjoy a degree of autonomy in its interpretation. Whereas through consensus the African constitution would be gradually expanded.

2) To design a National flag to be used by all African states. The African Flag shall be the only recognised national flag for Africa and as such no state shall have its own national flag. The African flag should not contain any religious or political elements.

3) To compose a National Anthem and National pledge for Africa. No African state shall adopt or use a state anthem and state pledge besides the national anthem and national pledge. The National anthem and National pledge must not contain any religious or political elements.

4) To design a national monitory currency suitable for all African states. No African state would be permitted to adopt or use a monitory currency other than the national monitory currency. The National monitory currency must have no political or religious elements.

5) To determine a National capital city for Africa. The administration of the central government shall be conducted from the national capital city and as such would consist of building to that effect. Among them, the central bank and presidential residence.

Phase two;

Any member state/s that completes the under listed objective must lend its help to other states in order to enable them accomplish the objective as well. Help can be in the form of manpower, materials, money or a combination of some or all of these factors.

1) Each African country would be mandated to put up building to serve as offices and residences for the state comrade association in each of its region or province. In doing this each country is to enlist the help of its citizens who would agree to offer their services free of charge for the construction of such buildings. Forced labour unless from persons serving a sentence by a court of law shall not be used for this purpose and is to be avoided. As an incentive persons who offer their service should be provided with free food and drink. Each government is to use the state media to motivate and encourage its citizens and people resident in the country to offer the genuine help to the project.

2) Each African State shall be mandated to build or otherwise allocate building that would adequately serve as the House of Legislature, House of Representatives, House of Judicature and House of Checks and Balance respectively.

3) Each state shall on the completion of its task or while performing these tasks, simultaneously participate or contribute towards the construction of required infrastructure for the national capital city.

Phase three;

1) Each member of the African union shall be mandated to carry out an extensive education of the African Neo Democracy to all people living within its territory for a stipulated amount of time. This could be achieved through the print and electronic media.

2) The African union shall set a date and mandate its members to conduct a referendum for its citizens to determine whether or not they prefer the African Neo Democracy. Persons aged twenty-one years and above would qualify to vote. In the event that over seventy Percent of cast votes are in favour of the adoption of the African Neo Democracy and where the said seventy percent of voters represents not less than seventy percent of registered voters, the country in which the referendum was held would be duly recognised as having accepted the new form of government.

Getting started

· All countries that adopt the African Neo Democracy would be referred to as states and the phrase, “the state of” shall precede its current name as an official name. The states that exist in African would be referred to as regions or provinces upon the adoption of the system by the country.

· At the end of the referendum all African countries that opted for the new form of government would redraw their membership from all inter regional and international organisation.

· Immigrations institutions in such states would begin a change of the passports and every hitherto citizen of a country that adopts the system would have “African” as a new national identity.

· Each state or country as the case may be shall appoint willing and competent persons to certain National offices regardless of the out come of a referendum in a country. Five hundred persons to the National public service commission, Five hundred persons to the National Investigations commission, two persons to the National Electoral Commission, five persons to the National House of Legislature, one persons to the National Court, five persons to the National investigations authority, five persons to the National security authority, three persons to the National bank and one person to the National military council.

· The National Electoral Commission shall use the let the ark decide procedure to appoint the Chief Justice for the National Court

· All Heads of state and vice presidents in countries that adopt the African Neo Democracy shall meet in the National House of Checks and Balance to choose the president and vice presidents for Africa through the Aid of the National Electoral Commission. The Selection of President and vice presidents shall be through the let the ark decide procedure only, and conducted separately to for presidents to determine the president and then for vice presidents to determine the first and second vice presidents.

· The Chief Justice shall swear in the newly appointed President and vice presidents.

· The title President, Head of State or Your Excellency shall be used in reference to the president of Africa. The heads of states or presidents of hitherto countries would be referred to as Governor and as such would not be addressed using the aforementioned titles. However to accord the Heads of States or Presidents of hitherto countries that adopt the system, their due respect,after the adoption of the system in a country the Heads of State or President would be permitted to end their tenure of office with their titles while the change is effected on the incoming governor of the state.

· After the swearing in of the President and vice presidents of Africa. The government of Africa shall apply for membership to any regional, inter regional or international organisation of interest with the exception of those formed as a result of colonialism.

· After the swearing in of the President and vice presidents of Africa, the national anthem, flag and pledge would be adopted by each state.

· The National bank shall issue the new African currency to all states of Africa to be used for trade and commence within Africa and between Africa and other countries.

CREATING A NATIONAL IDENTITY

The government of Africa shall adopt a national policy on the National Identity of Africa. This policy would be aimed at making known to all countries and peoples of the world what Africa is and is not.
· Africa was formed in solidarity with an aim to promote the development, prosperity and preservation of Africa, Africans and African values and as far as possible to live in peace with other nations of the world.

· If asked for its assistance the government of Africa would support the international community; in identifying global concerns, in effectively resolving such concerns and putting in place structures and programmes that prevent the re occurrence of such concerns in posterity.

· The Government of Africa shall showcase Africa as a country of united people of diverse and immense culture, wealth and potential.

· The Government of Africa shall showcase Africa as a country that recognises and protects inalienable rights of Human Beings.

· To showcase Africa as a country with no state religion.

ESTABLISHING AN AFRICAN HIGH COMMAND

The National military council shall be set up to integrate the armed forces of all hitherto countries that adopt the African Neo Democracy. The National Electoral Commission shall supervise the appointment of three persons on the council to the position of chairman and first and second deputy chairman through the let the ark decide procedure respectively.
For the purpose of integrating the armed forces of member states, sixty percent of members of the armed forces of each state shall be transferred to join a respective division of the National armed forces be it in the air force, Navy or army.

The governing council of a division in the armed forces of a state shall delegate one person from the council to serve on the national governing council for that division in question. The president of Africa shall serve as the commander in Chief of the African armed forces. However at least 2/3 of member states should be in favour of a declaration of war, marshal law or the use of military force inside and/or outside the territory of Africa as the case may be, before such a decision would be taken, in this regard the governors of each member state would take a vote on the issue.

THE EXECUTIVE STRUCTURE AND POLICY FORMULATION

Each member state shall draft, pass and implement its own policies. The National House of legislature would exist only to harmonize the policies of all states which if accepted would be entrenched into the national constitution and serve as national law. The National House of Legislature can not impose any policy on a member state as such its duty is to study the similarities and differences between policies that are implement by each member state and propose a common policy to be adopted by each state. Such policies would only be adopted if supported by not less than a 2/3 majority of the members of the House of Representatives of a member state. Where 2/3 majority of member states accept a policy, it shall automatically become a national policy and national law.

There shall be a National House of Checks and Balance similar to that in each state with regards to structure and function.

There shall be no National House of representatives similar to that in each member state. The term National House of representatives shall only be used to address a gathering of all Governors of member states for the selection of the President and vice presidents of Africa or for a vote to determine the use of military force.

There shall be a National House of Judicature which shall be similar to the one in each state with regards to structure and function. However the Nation House of Judicature shall serve as the supreme court in Africa and as such the final court of appeal.

Each state shall appoint five persons to the National House of Legislature to serve a five year term.The House of legislature shall also formulate foreign policy, and make sure that laws and policies not to contravene national laws or laws that regulate the membership of Africa to an external organisation.

ADDITIONS, COMPLICATIONS AND RESOLUTIONS

· The National House of Legislature shall draft the national foreign policy for Africa taking into consideration the foreign policy of each member state.

· State owned enterprises, institutions or property, may as the case may be,adopt, use or have a logo or emblems that portray religious or political elements

· A referendum to determine the adoptable of the Neo Democracy would be held by all members of the African Union on the same day so as to prevent people from voting on undue influence. The referendum would be conducted by the electoral commission of each country.

· The National public service commission shall appoint personnel to all State comrade offices.

· The National Investigations commission shall determine the eligibility for an applicant to be appointed into the state comrades Association.

· The National Electoral Commission shall supervise the conduct of all National contests.

· The National House of Legislature shall exist to harmonise the policies implemented in each member state that are based on similar concerns as well as propose the adoption of a single policy by each state through consensus.

· The National Court shall perform similar duties as a state Supreme Court but on a national scale.

· The National Investigations Authority shall have jurisdiction to investigate and resolve inter-state criminal activities involving citizens of Africa and/or citizens of other countries operating in Africa.

· The National Security Authority shall have jurisdiction to investigate and resolve all matters that are likely to taut peace in more that one state or that otherwise posses a danger to more than state,

· The National Bank shall perform similar duties as a state central bank but on a national scale.

· The military council in dealing with out of boarder conflicts that involves Africa is to make sure that war is the last alternative.

· All Governors,Presidents or Vice Presidents as the case may determine would be mandated to part take in person during the selection of president and vice president for Africa respectively.

· The establishment of a continental government would be possible if three or more countries agree to accept the African Neo Democracy regardless of their individual geographical location on the African Continent.

· The National Public service Commission would provide free postal service to applicants that apply to the commission.

· In other to shorten the length of time that the citizens of Africa would require to adapt to the change of citizenship and national identity, the Public Service Commission in each state shall appoint five percent of citizens from other states that are resident in that state in question into the public service of the state. This would however not to apply to high and very high public offices in the State.

· The thirty-one day transitional period to establish the frame work for the change in the system of governance for a country would occur only once.

· After the adoption of the Neo Democracy in a country, members in the public service that country would not be liable to apply to the Public service commission to keep their jobs, however they may be changed with the passage of time.

· Each state would be free to observe its own holidays. There shall be holidays for the entire nation as well.

· Each state shall have a language or a set of languages that it would use in its administration; however the official national language shall be English.

· Requirements for entry into the State Comrades Association shall differ from one country to the other, with regards to chieftaincy institutions, language and religion.

· All countries that have a state religion would not be permitted to join the continental government.

· Where the central government is located in a particular state, it would be completely independent of the state in question.

· There might be a national monopoly on goods and/or services but no state monopoly.

· Each state shall pay ten percent of its annual revenue to the National Consolidated fund. Monies form this fund would be used to pay the employees in national offices as well us to facilitate the uniform development of all states.

· There would be free movement of goods and service between member states.

· Each citizen is free to reside in any member state and is also liable of being prosecuted in the state for violating the laws in that state regards of whether or not they are state laws or National laws

· All Members or employees of National institutions would be sworn into office by the president of Africa.

REFERENCE: Republican Constitution of Ghana, 1992.

Our Last Gathering

2008-11-13T04:13:00.000-08:00

The heavy down pour doesn’t deter us now

With no fierce resilience it makes us calm

In time Dr Dzregah came to us

With the peace, brilliance and happiness that she has

After a little praises to us, she asks us to start

With poetry recitals to melt our heart

Our first poet ends in a bang

With cheers, not jeers that appeals to none

The second poet is up on the stage

In quietness no one builds up a rage

Dr Dzregah compliments him well

With enough praises that in no time would fill up a well

Our third poet establishes well her womanhood

With a love poem that appeals most to our brotherhood

Our fourth poet is next with much zeal and zest

With a free style recital that may prove he is the best

Our lecture then begins with Robert Herrick

As we discover him we find out that he is no cleric

I wonder why I am still writing this poem

When I may not read it in the end

But if I do I wonder what Dr Dzregah might say

Since I may not have paid attention to her as I played

With words not to make for myself a name or prove I am the best

But to describe our last gathering this semester as it came, nevertheless

In happiness and joy and not in pain

That by Gods Grace next semester we shall all meet again.

Necessary Rigging?

2008-11-04T01:55:00.000-08:00

The rather unfortunate events that where uncovered by light in Akuafo Hall this Tuesday (4th November, 2008) may leave some members of the hall in shock for the rest of their natural lives. It was partially a black day for Democracy as you will soon find out, however I fear that the details when laid down has the potential to make a champion of fairness and equality flare up with rage, shatter in disappointment, collapse in agony and after being revived cry heavily for the future of this great hall and by extension the country as a whole

I wrote this notice as a proud member of Akuafo hall not because I had the time to do so but because I would have been tormented with sleepless nights had I not expediently try to inform all students about the events of the election that grieves my heart so much, as such I desire nothing more than to say it as it is, nothing more or less. As a first hand observer to most of the events of this day I know that I am better equipped with some knowledge of what really went on.

As most students know, Akuafo Hall undertook an electoral exercise to elect its JCR executives. What started out as a prosperous election soon metamorphosed into an intrigue of unpleasant events. First of which, was what looked like an attempt at multiple voting by a Student, this was after the heavy down pour. As a keen observer to the voting that was on going I soon found my attention transfixed on a group of people who had apprehended a “student” on the premise that he was attempting to vote twice. When the fingers of this suspect where checked there was no indelible ink mark on any of his fingers and yet here he was parading before us all going to vote!!. Upon inquiry from some students standing by; I learnt that this particular boy was involved in a disagreement earlier that very day at this very polling station which happens to be at the main hall. The attention of some vigilant students who where on lookers having cast their ballots previously was drawn to him during his first visit and this made it easy to apprehend him the second time he tried to vote.

As I thought would have been the right thing to do at that juncture, the suspect was being escorted to the legon police station by campus security personnel at the seen, as dumb founded as he was. However this was not without fierce interference, for out of no where a certain group of boys came to the defense of the suspect and this resulted in a physical confrontation between both groups that resulted in the senior campus guard on duty there being physically assaulted by one of the boys from the protesting groups, he was advised by his colleges to stop after which he did stating that it was only because the man was old. If this person is reading this notice, the message in quotes is directed to him, “May God punish you severely for the arrant nonsense and stupid show of brute force that you displaced on this day and may the geometric weight of what you did to that old man be done to you the day that you reach his age, and that is even if live to be his present age”. I eagerly followed the two groups as they proceeded with the suspect to the legon police station but this was not without resilient resistance.

The Resistance became so intense to the extent that the old man in charge of security at the scene upon noticing that he and his men had in the heat of things abandoned their post indirectly leaving the security of the voting exercise to the polling agents of the contestants said in Akan that “we liked talking too much” and simultaneously return with his colleagues to the polling station. Naturally there where several verbal treats and insults exchanged between the two groups as one party insisted on taking the suspect to the legon police station while their rivals rejected the idea claiming that their colleague was innocent. Well the “devil” won that first encounter and so the culprit got away Scot free (with the ballot papers in his hand). If this person is reading this notice, the message in quotes is directed to him, “I have not forgotten your ugly face, remember that justice may be delayed a while but with time strangles tools for villains such as yourself.” After the suspect was released to his friends and the security men had returned to their post some party agents lost confidence in the ongoing voting exercise and vehemently declared their distaste by pointing accusing fingers at the “Mr. Chalk it cool indifferent Electoral Commissioner” who was overseeing the main hall polling station, this resulted in various groups of persons in disagreement with each other. This clash was far more intense than the former, the result of which was the immediate suspension of voting.

Members of the hall who where more willing than ever to exercise their franchise to vote for a candidate of their choice soon became spectators to the spectacle that ensured between the agents of the various candidates. Some where of the view that the whole election be hastily declared void since the Electoral commissioner in their opinion had turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothes as he was rigging in favour of a contestant or some contestants, others held the opinion that “the election be made to continue after which all candidates would have 24hrs to put forward their grievances to be settle as stated in the halls constitution”, while yet some sympathizes to some aspirants where of the view that the elections proceed as their candidates had poured alot of their heart, time and money into their campaigning, however, surprisingly a Presidential aspirant immediately pulled out of the race stating that he did want to be a party to a faulted, soiled and messy exercise while some students I spoke to, felt that the ballots cast where enough to elect the incoming executives and as such the election should be brought to a close( indirectly those waiting to vote, “can go and sleep”). Would-be voters in the tight queues where compelled to stand for well over an hour during which the polling agents, security men and the Electoral Commissioner tried to come to a compromise and abate the tension, when it seem like all hope was lost a few phone calls where made, and several minutes later we soon discovered that two senior members( I would not mention names) of the hall where present with us, however the good news that we where to hear was not for the faint of heart as it was powerful enough to weaken the heart of the strongest "hearted" man, spring fought within him a river Nile of tears and bring him to his knees with his hands upon his head contemplating whether or not to run amok the hall crying bwe!! bwe!! bwe!! tis doom day or sit down on the bare floor sobering like a baby incapable of saying what causes him/her distress.

Looking back at the whole thing now I am somewhat surprise that I, together with almost all those present withstood what our ears heard. Well one of the Senior members told the gathering quiet frankly that he was giving us five minutes to make up our minds or that he was going to confiscate the ballot boxes, What confiscate the ballots boxes?, yes you heard me right, confiscate the ballots boxes, the sense I make out of his next statement is that there was a more pressing programme organized for some alumni of the hall and national best farmers over the years, our confusion was threatening the success of this programme and so we had to decide quickly. 90 percent of student present bitterly reject his remarks but he ordered that all materials connected with the election be transferred further within the hall and by extension a transfer of the crowd as well. His wishes came to pass and so under the guidance of the formidable chief porter the voting materials where relocated, this according to some, is not permitted by the halls constitution. At the new site( around Excel Collections LTD) we were informed that the elections where going to continue and that some personnel of the Ghana police service had been called in to abate the tension and thus ensure perfect peace prevailed this time around ( some students say this was done far back in the afternoon around 12 noon) but so far as I am concerned during my entire time there and on leaving the place around 7.00pm there was no sign of a single police officer at the scene and so the elections carried on without them but under the partial supervision of our no-nonsense chief potter who saw to it that peace prevailed---at least at the time I was leaving, there where no serious disputes, only sections of students engaged in small group talk.

This simple or may be not so simple election has taught me several things as well as given me a firsthand account as to how rough things can get at a polling station. Are these incidences just a fraction of things that might be seen come December 7 when the whole nation goes to the polls?, may God forbid it!!!.

So what should have been the right thing to do? for you can do a right thing in the wrong way. My personal opinion is that first and foremost, those who identified the suspect should have allowed him to vote and then shortly afterwards apprehend him before he has the chance to put the ballot paper in the ballot box, then find out who he had voted for. Afterwards his ID card should have been demanded to determine if he was even a student of the university or a member of the Akuafo hall, after which he should have been sent straight away without hesitation, delay and interference to the legon police station and interrogated to determine whether he was instructed to rig by a contestant and if so who where his cronies. I must state that the Electoral commissioner showed very little interest in resolving this case may be since he was busy issuing ballot papers, but then as sure as I did vote myself I can confidently say that it was this same electoral commissioner that gave me 6 ballot papers(for the various positions) and this was after I had shown my ID card to confirm that I was an affiliate of the Hall, had my name checked in a student hall register, had my right middle finger marked with indelible ink before being given 6 ballot sheets by the EC, after that my finger was checked for the indelible ink mark by a polling agent before I left to secretly select the candidates of my choice and then proceed to place the ballots papers into the respective ballot boxes. Therefore by what miraculous means or supernatural secrets did this fellow succeed in getting ballot papers without an indelible ink mark on any of his fingers? And if it is factual that the suspect was seen earlier on voting then by what wonder did he achieve this also?, how forgetful was the person responsible for marking his finger with the indelible ink and how was it possible to outwit the agent that was checking for the indelible ink mark of the finger after it had been given?.

While engage in further conversations with some students who clearly had been there for a long period than myself, I learnt that preceding the encounter I witnessed was one of similar mischief , according to the report there was a student who attempted voting but was quickly identified by vigilant observers as a member of a different hall, upon confrontation this guy dropped his ballot papers and took to his hills as if running a 100 meter sprint, never again to be seen there, since I was not there at the time I cannot confirm or deny this report, but if this where true how was it possible that such a person came into the possession of ballot papers for an Akuafo Hall JCR election?

Further more the entrance to the potters lodge of the main hall should have been locked and students directed to use other entry/exit points, this would have gone a very long way to decrease the increasing number of student around the polling station especially areas somewhat close to students officiating the elections. The next thing was to have at least one member of the Ghana Police Service present at each polling station---even though I heard from some students that this idea was brushed under the carpet the night before by the current JCR executives-----how much would it have cost to employ the services of 3 police men from the Legon police station less that 3km away from the Hall?

One rumour that may serve as a platform for conspiracy and “necessary rigging” was that the current JCR administration had been stuck with astronomical issues of fraud which would within a few minutes be exposed by the incoming executive and as such these or some of these executives in desperation to escape foreseeable prosecution as well as avoid perpetual disgrace resulted to striking up a deal with one JCR presidential candidate to help him come into office in exchange that he covers up their dirty tracks and does not bring their misdeeds to light and public ridicule. If this was true it may explain the intense vigilance from the “disadvantaged groups” during the election, the result of which are the aforementioned circumstances.

So then fellow Farmers of this Great Hall are we safe?, where then is the way forward?. Evil gets done when good men and women do nothing. Thank you for reading.

Free Short Notes on the Emergence of Islam for Exam purpose only

2008-04-23T01:46:00.000-07:00

1) Islam begun in the Middle East during the 7^th century.

2) Judaism and Christianity also sprang up from the Middle East.

3) Islam developed into an empire after 100 years of its formation

4) Arabia the birthplace of Islam is the largest peninsular in the world

5) The Arabs developed a way of life adapted to desert conditions herding goats and camels

6) Arabs in the desert where loosely organised into tribes with a strong code of honour.

7) Independence of Arabic warriors prevented unity and promoted different feuds

8) Arabia was an important link btw the Mediterranean world, Asia, and the east coast of Africa.

9) Some Arabs where traders who lived along the Red sea.

10) Arabs where in contact with the Greco-Roman world, India, china and Africa thru trade.

11) Mecca was a town near the red sea prospering as a trading and religious centre.

12) Pilgrims travelled to Mecca to worship the kaaba

13) The Kaaba was a scared shrine that housed all the Arabian gods. It also housed the black stone—probably a meteorite, it was believed to be sent from heaven.

14) Mohammad was born in Mecca about 570AD

15) His parents died when he was young(6) and he was raised by his relatives.(uncle)

16) Mohammed married Khadija at age 25.

17) Khadija was wealthy widows who run her husband’s business.

18) He became a successful merchant but was troubled by the violence in the world and often with into the desert to pray

19) Mohammed believed that angle Gabriel told him that God had chosen him to be his prophet, and his duty was to proclaim that there was only one God

20) Muhammad and his followers fled Mecca in 622AD for fear of persecution to yathrib

21) Yathrib was a rival commercial town, later called medina and city of the Prophet.

22) Muslims call Muhammad’s journey from Mecca to Medina HEJIRA

23) The year 622AD was made the first year of the Muslim calendar.

24) Muhammad gained power as both political and religious leader in Medina.

25) In 630 Muhammad captured the city of Mecca and destroyed gods but the black stone in the Kaaba

26) Muhammad died in 632AD.

27) Islam means submission and Muslims believe that they must submit to the will of Allah.

28) They are five pillars of Islam being duties of faithful Muslims

29) First is the believe in one God Allah, second is duty in prayer-5 times daily, third is alms giving, fourth is fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, fifth is making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one’s life time.

30) Islam has no formal church or clergy, an imam leads prayers in a mosque

31) The Koran is a Muslim holy book.

32) The Koran became the instrument for law and government in the Islamic world

33) Arabic is the common language of Muslims since the Koran was written in Arabic.

34) Muhammad accepted old and new testaments as God’s word.

35) He called Jewish and Christians “people of the book”

36) Muslim and Christian common believes,--one God, Judgement day, Abraham, Moses and Jesus where great prophets.

37) Muslims considered Muhammad as God’s final messenger who had the highest authority.

38) Muhammad established rules for ethical behaviour.

39) The Koran gave women a legal, economic status previously not enjoyed in Arabia.

40) Before Muhammad Arabian women had no property rights.

41) The Koran permitted divorce on the grounds that a man returned the woman’s dowry.

42) The Koran forbade killing unwanted baby girls.

43) A woman always had some form of protection and her main duty was to obey her husband, care for the children and manage the household.

44) Between 622 and 732 Islam spread with amazing speed into Palestine, Syria and Spain.

45) By 732 Muslim forces crossed the Pyrenees Mountains into southern France where Charles Martel stopped them. It succeeded in the Fertile Crescent east to the Indus valley.

46) Reasons for the spread of Islam, Believe in one God and equality of all believers, they did not need a church or clergy in order to practice their faith, Muhammad and his successors united Arabs and gave them a strong sense of purpose, Arab soldiers believed that if they died fighting for the faith they would immediately enter paradise, weakness of neighbouring Byzantine and Persian empires( successive wars had exhausted them and many people were dissatisfied with their rule, some welcomed the Arabs as liberators

47) When Muslim armies conquered parts of the Byzantine Empire some Christians and Jews and Zoroastrians were ready to accept Islamic teachings.

48) Muslims did not force people to convert.

49) Non Muslims paid a special tax and could worship as they choose.

50) Muslim conquers where not anxious to convert people as it would reduce revenue.

51) Abu Bakr succeeded Prophet Mohammad after his death.

52) A caliph acted as both political and religious leader and used the Koran to rule.

53) Power struggles involved the election of the first four caliphs after which a leading family in Mecca established the Umayyad dynasty.

54) They made Damascus in Syria the capital and expanded Islam for a century.

55) Mecca remained religious centre

56) Under the Umayyad, Arabs absorbed ideas from Hellenistic and Byzantine civilizations.

57) Some people begun to assert independence in the empire, competing branches developed—Sunnite, Shiite.

58) The Sunnite and Shiite differed over who was rightful successor to Muhammad.

59) The numerous Sunnites supported the Umayyad caliph while the Shiites support a religious leader who traced his ancestry back to Ali, Muhammad’s son in law.

60) Shiites broke into many groups and rallied support among people discontented with Arab rule.

61) In 750 the Abbasids overthrew the Umayyad. However a member of the Umayyad dynasty made himself caliph in Spain. North Africa also remains outside Abbasids rule.

62) Abbasid rulers built a new capital in Baghdad.

63) In the 700’s under Harun al Rashid, the Islamic Empire enjoyed a golden age.

64) Abbasid rulers left the business of govt to corrupt officials, after 1000 yrs the empire was fragmented.

65) In the 11 cent the Seljuk Turks invaded the Islamic Empire, they converted to Islam but had different traditions from those of Arabs.

66) The rule of Seljuk’s in Palestine brought the first wave of crusades to the holy land.

67) In 1258 the Mongols destroyed Baghdad and ended Abbasid rule.

68) The ottoman Turks reunited Egypt, Syria Iraq and Arabia into an Islamic state to defeat the Mongols. It lasted until 1918.

69) Muslims blended Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Persian and Indian cultures to form theirs.

70) Muslim merchants handled the products of three continents---Africa, Asia and Europe.

71) The Abbasid capital boasted hospitals, libraries, palaces, public gardens and street lights.

72) Arabs introduced letter of credit in place of cash.

73) They issued receipts for payment and bills of lading that listed all goods in a shipment.

74) Steel was used in swords and textiles as cotton, gauze and satin where very impt.

75) Commence, manufacture, Agriculture---improvement lead to production of more food to feed large city populations.

76) The Koran was the focus of Muslim scholars and legal interpretation where made from it which became law codes.

77) Islamic law, common beliefs and the use of Arabic helped unite Muslims on three continents.

78) In Centres of learning such as the house of Wisdom in Baghdad Muslims learnt Roman, Jewish, Persian and Indian texts

79) Guided by ancient Greek texts, Muslim doctors perfected in techniques for diagnosing and treating diseases.

80) In the 9^th cent Muhammad al-Razi published a huge medical encyclopaedia called “the comprehensive work in Medicine”. In it he detailed the symptoms of such contagious diseases as smallpox and measles.

81) Muslims has an advanced system of medical training which include qualifying examination doctors and pharmacists.

82) Muslim mathematician adopted the decimal system and the system of numeral from India.

83) With the decimal system Muslims made advancement in algebra and trigonometry.

84) Muslim alchemists advanced the science of chemistry. They invented equipment such as beakers and crystallizing dishes.

85) One Muslim scientist proposed that the earth was round and accurately estimated its circumference. He also suggested that the earth rotated on its axis

86) Muslims invented the Mariner’s compass by using magnetic chine needles.

87) The astrolabe was another Muslim invention.

88) Muslims put up mosques in architectural form having a blend of Roman, Byzantine and Persian styles. Towers outside the mosques are referred to as Minarets.

89) Averroes a Spanish Muslim tried to reconcile the teachings of Aristotle with Islam.

90) Poets held an honoured place in the Islamic world.

91) CIVILISATION----ECONOMIC PROSPERITY, TRADITIONAL LEARNING, ACHIEVEMENTS IN MEDICINE, MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE, ARTS AND LITERATURE.

92) Avicenna was born in 980 near bukkara in Persia

93) He learned the Koran and mastered geometry, logic, law and Arabic literature.

94) He taught himself physics, theology, mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and medicine.

95) He was a successful physician at age 16; he treated Persian nobles, chief ministers, rulers.

96) He wrote over 100 books on astronomy, music, philosophy, medicine and poetry.

97) His book on philosophy reflected teachings of Aristotle and Plato

98) His major work was “the Canon of Medicine” translated into Latin in 1100

99) It remained the leading textbook among Muslims and Christians for about 600 yrs.

100) He explained how disease could be spread by contaminated water bodies

101) He studied over 750 medical remedies and published the first handbook that told physicians the remedies for different diseases.

QUESTIONS

1) Locate: Arabia, Mecca, Medina, Damascus, and Baghdad.

2) Identify: Kaaba, Muhammad, Koran, People of the Book, Sunnite, Shiite

3) Define: hejira, mosque, caliph

4) Describe the five pillars of Islam

5) Give one example of how the Koran improved the position of the Arab women.

6) List two reasons for the rapid spread of lslam

7) When did the Islamic empire enjoy its golden age?

8) Identify: Muhammad al-Razum, Averroes, Omar Khayya

9) Define: minaret

10) What commercial practices did the Arabs develop?

11) How did the Arabs preserve much ancient learning?

12) Describe one contribution Muslims made to medicine.

A Free summary of Goody Blake and Harry Gill

2008-04-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

The narrator expresses a wish to know what the matter is

The narrator makes a rhetorical remark implying that there is nothing that does not hurt Harry Gill

We learn that Harry Gill's teeth always chatter. Even with a waistcoat of very good quality over his body his teeth still chatter because he is cold. He has a blanket on his back and puts on enough coats what can kept nine individuals warm.

We are told that throughout the whole year, whether rain or shine, be it in March, December or July Harry Gill's teeth still chatter because he is cold. His neighbours testify that his teeth still chatter.Throughout the whole day his teeth still chatter.Under the sun or moon there is no change for Harry Gill. We learn that when Harry was young he was stout and a lusty drover, thus Harry was now old. He had very red cheeks and a very deep and loud voice. "Auld Goody Blake was old and poor"-----was Auld part of Goody Blake's name since it makes no sense to say that she was old and repeat the same thing shortly afterward or was it done for emphasis, to stress the point that Goody Blake was very old? Goody Blake was also poor. Goody Blake was also ill fed and thus Mal-nourished and tinny. Any individual that passed by her dwelling observed how poor she was.

Goody Blake spent all her day time spurning and then three hours at night spurning as well. The narrator claims that it is pointless stating the above point since what Goody Blake earn from her work could not even afford her candle light. Why was this case? Was it because she was too slow because of her age and thus could not make enough of what is spun to earn sufficient money to buy a candle or was it that no one purchased what she spun? Goody Blake dwelt on a cold hill side in Dorsetshire. Coal was expensive in Dorsetshire since it was imported from faraway places by ships, ie overseas. The narrator tells us that two old dames(women) in Dorsetshire would usually boil their pottage by the same fire and share one dwelling as well, however Goody Blake lived alone, why was this so? Was she despised by others or was there no one to pair with her? didn't she have any family what so ever? We can however confirm that Goody Blake was a woman and not a man. The narrator tells us that it was also good when it was summer since Goody Blake could sit at her door.

We are told that there was joy for her when in winter the winds at night where strong and had uprooted or brought together many wood or sticks. However never in her entire life whether well or sick as everyone who knew her would testify had she ever gathered enough wood or sticks to last her Three daysWe learn that Goody Blake endures the cold in winter up to a time and could do so no longer because it made her bones to ache. The narrator uses a rhetorical remark to tells us that at the point when Goody Blake could bear it no longer an old hedge would definitely attract her attention. From time to time when she was cold she went to the hedge of Harry Gill to take some sticks from his old hedge.

Harry Gill we are made to know has for a long time suspected that Goody Blake has been cutting his hedge and promised to take vengeance on her if he catches her. Very often he would leave the confront of his dwelling to spend time in frost and snow to see if he could apprehend Goody Blake. One day behind a rick of barley Harry Gill stood looking into the open. The moon was full and shining clearly. He hears a noise and tiptoes down the hill and softly creeps to find Goody Blake Cutting his hedge.

We learn that Harry Gill was delighted to find her there pulling out sticks from the hedge. He waits behind a bush of elder till she had filled her apron with sticks, then when she turns around to leave, with a shout he sprung on Goody Blake.Regardless of her age and condition Harry Gill fiercely took hold of her and shook her and then he remarked "I've caught you then at last" Then Goody Blake who had nothing to say tohim knelt on the sticks she had picked and prayed instead to God who according to her was Judge of all. While kneeling with her arm held by Harry and the other to the sky, she prayed to God asking that never should Harry Gill be warm in his life. After hearing what Goody Blake had said Harry Gill leaves her and goes away, thus we can conclude that even though Harry Gill was cruel he was definitely not an atheist.

Harry Gill spends the whole of the next day complaining that he was cold and very chill his face was gloom and he was sad because on that day even though he wore a riding coat he did not feel a bit warm. He ordered for another coat on thrusday and by saturday/Sunday------the sabath depending on you, can be either a Saturday/Sunday-------- he had three riding coasts. All of this yielded no positive result and Harry was still cold even with blankets pinned all over his body,his jaws and teeth kept on chattering. His skin deteriorated and all who saw him came to the Conclusion that he would never again in his life get warm. Harry utters no words to anyone regardless of age or personality but only to himself he mutters "Poor harry Gill is very cold" The narrator ends by advising the farmers who he is telling the story, to bear in mind the story of Goody Blake and Harry Gill, thus teaching them to be selfless and tolerant to each other.

Was Harry Gill cold because he had spent so many nights out in the cold trying to catch Goody Blake “destroying his hedge” or was it because of Goody Blake’s curse?

A Free Summary of Robin Hood and the Butcher

2008-04-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

Robin Hood and the Butcher
We learn that someone calls for all the brave men to come and listen to his song. It should be noted that women are not invited and men of the time where referred to as gallant.The song been sung was to be a story of robbin hood who we are told is a very good archer.

we learn that one day robin hood who was in the forest saw a Jolly----happy or plumb--- butcher who was on his way to the market to sell his mare and some meat.
Robin Hood is also described as jolly----happy or plumb----, he approaches the butchers and greets him Good Morning. Robin then asks him what food he is carrying?, but then why would robin do this when he already knew what food the butcher was carrying. Robin also requests the butcher to tell him his trade, now we ask the same question as to why robin does this when he already knows that the man is a butcher or could robin be wrong?. Finally we are told that robin asks the butcher where he lives and proclaims to to like the company of the butcher. We can say at the end of this scenario robin is either a clever man knowing the man was--a butcher---what he was holding----a mare and some meat---and where he was going---to sell it----or that robin look rather stupid in the butchers perception since if he where clever he wouldn't have asked him some of the questions he had asked. Secondly we relaised that it is the first time the two have met each other, thrildly we can say that the only genuine question robin asked was where the butcher lived. in the end we are in doubt as to whether or not robin hood really likes the company of the butcher.

The butcher tells robin that there is no importance knowing where he lives, however he is a butcher going to Nottingham to trade. thus the butcher confirms that robin was right in saying the man was a butcher.
we learn that robin asks the butcher what the price of his meat, This sentence when read without deduction tells us that robin asks the butcher how much his flesh cost----thus the butcher might have been alarmed thinking robin was a canibal but this is not the case at all. Robin also inquires of the price of the mare. we learn that robin refers to the mare as being a female and exposes to us and the butcher his intension to become a butcher in the last sentence. Further deductions tells us that robin was hoping the prices of the meat and the mare would be moderate so that he can have a good price for them and be a butcher.

The butcher promises to tell robin the price of his meat and the mare. he adds that they are not too expensive----thus they are expensive but not too expensive------. he quotes the price for the two as being Four marks.

Robin promises to give the butcher four marks to the items and does, he then mounts a donkey or a horse and then proclaims that he would be a good butcher or a successful one.

We are told that robin is off to Nottingham to begin his butchers trade, He goes to visit the sheriff with good intension and takes p residence with him or takes up residence in Nottingham, the later being obvious.

we learn that when other butcher prepared to sell their meat, robin hood imitated them, take note that he is being described as bold. We are told that robin was not good at selling his meat since he had very little experiences in selling meat.

We are told that while other butchers could not sell their meat, robin ways paid either gold or money and this is because robin offered more meat than the others offered for three penies for just a peny.which naturally attracted all customers to him thus the economic principle the lower the cost the higher the quantity demanded and the higher the cost the lower the quantity demanded.

No butcher in the area of robin hood could sell any meat because he sold his meat so fast offering more meat for a peny than what the other butchers where offering for five penies. The behaviour of Robin Hood may tempt us to ask ourselves whether or not robin hood was in his right mind and senses. wasn't he aware that he was making a lose or was it that he was in fact not making any losses at all?

The butchers around robin hood studied him as they stood not able to sell anything and came out with the assumption that he was a prodigal that had sold his fathers land.----thus they perceived him to be a careless person who had accumulated wealth by selling his fathers land, does selling the meat meant nothing to him and therefore he could sell it at any cost.

The other butchers approached robin and they got to know each other a little better, then one of the butchers overs robin an invitation to dine with him since they where all butchers by profession.

Robin Hood deemed it impolite to reject the invitation and therefore accepts to go along as fast as he can.

We learn that robin is sent to the sheriffs house for dinner, thus it was evening when the arrived. Robin Hood is asked to say grace before dinner. Thus we learn that the people where a religious and thus practiced some form of faith.

We learn that Robin Hood acknowledges God and asks of his blessing for them all.
Robin request the servants to serve them all more wine, wishing wine and happiness would never be so expensive and then promising to pay the bill. we might ask the question as to whether robin was not being rude to the butcher who had invited him since was behaving more of a host than of a guest. We may also wonder whether the butchers where right of robin a prodigal who has sold his fathers land or where robin hood acquired all his money from.

Robin urges the other butchers to be happy and continue to drink without concern for he would pay for the expenses. He tells them that he would only leave when the bill is five pounds and more. Thus we realize that robin was after all concern with his expenditure.

The butcher proclaimed him to be mad, the sheriff said he was a prodigal who had sold some land for a lot of money and made up his mind to spend it all.-------It should be noted that all this derogatory remarks that where made concerning robin hood where not said to his face but rather amongst the other butchers, thus robin was ignorant of what they said concerning him.

The sheriff inquires of robin whether he has any horned beast which he might like to buy, probably because he was the only butcher that sold his meat so cheap and thus it might have been because he had so many horned beast. Robin address the sheriff as master and tells him that he has two or three hundred horned animals.

Robin adds that he has a hundred archer of land which he is willing to show the sheriff if he wishes to see it, Robin assures the sheriff that the land is his having been left him by his father.

The sheriff saddled his palfrey and with an amount of 300 pounds of gold followed robin hood to see his property----the horned animals possibly bulls, deer, cattle and any horned animals.

We learn that both robin and the sheriff ride to Sherwood forest with is said to be a happy place, however the sheriff proclaims that God saves them from a man called robin hood. this sentences tells us that robin hood did not tell the butchers and the sheriff of Nottingham his real name. Also was robin hood facially disguised, couldn't they identify him by face, height, body or voice?.However why does the sheriff who is a person in authority afraid of robin hood.

As they went further into the forest, robin hood was fortunate to come across a hundred head of red deer with was also visible to the sheriff as well. How did robin hood know the exact number of deer?.

Robin asks the sheriff how he finds his horned beasts. Since he believes they are fat and healthy as they seem. However the sheriff tells robin that he wished he was gone from the place since he did not like the company of robin hood. Why did the sheriff say this?, was it because he was beginning to suspect it was robin hood he was riding together with?

Then Robin Hood takes a horn and blows it three times, subsequently little John and his company---men or followers------rush to the scene. why is john refered to as litte, did it have something to do with his height or his size or both?

We learn that little john refers to robin hood as master and inquires of him what they are to do. Robins hoods responds is that he has brought the sheriff of Nottingham of dine with little John and his men------who indirectly are all under Robin Hood------

Little John's responds is that the sheriff is welcome to stay. I then hopes the sheriff was pay for the hospitality which would be giving him honestly. He adds that is he reports which he receives are correct then the sheriff has with him so much gold, thus gold enough to serve all of them drinks for a whole day.

Robin takes the Sheriffs three hundred pounds

Robin then takes the Sheriff through the woods and puts him of a gray dapply. The sheriff request that robin orders his men to take the sheriff to robins wife at home. Why would the sheriff say this? or did he mean to say that robin should command his men to send the sheriff to the sheriffs wife at home, hence to the sheriffs wife. If the later was the case then the former would seem funny and which would explain why Robin hood goes away laughing. other wise robin hood laughing could be that he was laughing at the helpless situation of the sheriff.s

Free Short Notes on the Scientific Evoloution and the Enlightenment for Exam purpose only

2008-04-05T12:13:00.000-07:00

1) In 1671 Anton van Leeuwenhoek a Dutch cloth merchant constructed a microscope out of a magnifying glass and a specimen holder.

2) He began using the microscope to observe everyday objects as pepper, plant seeds and his own skin.

3) He observed water under his microscope and made the first discovery of single- cell living organisms.

4) As Leeuwenhoek and other scientist studied his discovery they had to discard long held ideas about biology.

5) During the 1500s and 1600s the microscope and numerous discoveries transformed the natural science and medicine as new tech and research resulted in vast knowledge.

6) This became known as the scientific revolution.

7) Philosophers applied scientific principles to the study of government and society.

8) They also emphasized the use of reason in the 2nd half of the 1700s.

9) They thought people should use reason to be enlightened and free themselves from ignorance and superstition.

10) They believed enlightened people could perfect themselves and society.

11) Due to this the 18 century is known as the Enlightenment.

12) During the renaissance a few people where curious to study the natural world.

13) Leonardo da Vinci detailed his scientific observation in a note book. (Flying machine, bicycle.)

14) By the late Renaissance scholars greatly expanded scientific knowledge and dev new approach to scientific study.

15) Aristotle a Greek Philosopher created logic. It dominated scientific reasoning in the middle ages.

16) Logic is a system of thought based on observation and a process of reasoning.

17) Between 1200 and 1700 scholars question ancient philosophies while some made observations and conducted experiments that disproved some accepted theories.

18) Mathematics was advanced by using Arabic numerals and it exposed errors in logic.

19) Gradually scholars dev a threefold to scientific study---the scientific method.

20) Experiments and observation----interpret the results----mathematics not logic is used to prove scientific theories from principles.

21) Nicolas Copernicus was a polish mathematician and astronomer.

22) In 1543 he published “on the revolutions of the Heavenly bodies” to challenge Ptolemy.

23) Ptolemy taught that the earth was the center of the universe and all heavenly bodies orbited it in perfect circles,

24) Copernicus used mathematics to calculate that the earth was not stationary but moved on its axis once a day.

25) He declared that the sun was at the center of the universe being orbited by the earth and planets in perfect circles.

26) Many educated people rejected his view because he did not have enough evidence to disprove Ptolemy.

27) In Western Europe all scientific knowledge and many religious teaching was based on logical arguments.

28) Scholars feared the whole human knowledge would become uncertain if their reasoning about the planets were wrong.

29) Scientists increasingly backed observations with mathematical calculation after Corperniculus.

30) Tycho Brahe a Danish astronomer built an observatory to study the planets in the late 1500s.

31) His assistant Johannes Kepler used their records to confirm Copernicus theories.

32) Kepler discovered that the planets did not orbit the sun in perfect circles.

33) In 1609 Kepler announced that planets orbited the sun in an ellipse.

34) In Italy, Galileo Galilee an astronomer used a telescope to observe the planets and stars.

35) Galileo’s observations disproved that the moon, planets and stars were all perfect, unchanging bodies.

36) The moon had a rough surface broken by a jagged mountain.

37) The sun had dark, changeable spots on its surface.

38) Jupiter had 4 moons orbiting it.

39) Galileo’s enemies convinced the Catholic Church to ban him from defending his new ideas and also condemn the work of Copernicus.

40) Galileo refused and was summoned by an inquiry.

41) Galileo declared that the earth stood motionless at the center of the universe before an inquisition out of fear for his life.

42) In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton an English mathematician published, “The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy” and invented calculus to prove his theories.

43) Newton’s law of gravity states that there is a force of attraction between objects that increases as the objects get closer.

44) Newton’s law of gravity explains that the moons gravity causes tides of the sea while that of the sun keeps the planet within their orbits.

45) Navigators and map makers used Newton’s works to make more precise charts.

46) Calculus was used to improved weapons such as guns and cannons.

47) The stream engine was built based on Newton’s idea years later.

48) During the 1500s and 1600s significant advances in medicine where made by scientist.

49) Some challenged the theories of Galen, a Greek physician whose work had dominated medicine in the middle age.

50) In the early 1500s, a Swiss physician, Paracelsus disproved Galen’s idea that chemicals change---one substance can be transformed into another.

51) He produced distilled water that he used as medicine.

52) Scholars studied the human body at the University of Padua in Italy.

53) In 1543, Andreas Vesalius, a professor of anatomy wrote “on the structure of the Human Body”

54) His accurate drawings corrected the errors in Galen’s work.

55) Traditionally doctors poured boiling oil into a wound to prevent it from infection. Ambroise pare’ dev an ointment that cud be used instead. He had formerly studied Vesalius’s textbook.

56) He developed a technique of closing up wounds with stitches.

57) In the early 1600s, William Harvey an Englishman showed that the heart acted as a pump to circulate blood through arteries and veins.

58) Formerly it was thought that the blood remain stationary.

59) In the 1700s doctors discovered the vaccine for small pox.

60) Scientific association where formed to exchange scientific knowledge.

61) Late 1600 and the 1700s is referred to us the age of reason.

62) Because Philosophers wanted to use reasons to discover natural laws that governed human behavior.

63) Philosophers reexamine society using the scientific method.

64) The 1640 English civil war lead Thomas Hobbes to publish “Leviathan” in 1651 when he came to the conclusion that people would have nasty, brutish and short life’s with no laws or government in a natural state.

65) To prevent this people had to enter into agreement with a leader---they gave up their freedoms and pledge to obedience while the ruler ensured peace and order.

66) A ruler with absolute power was the best form of government.

67) He insisted that once people entered a contract they could not rebel even if the ruler was a tyrant.
68) John Locke published Two Treatises on government in 1690.

69) He confirmed the purpose of gov’t to ensure order in society.

70) He also saw gov’t as a contract between the ruler and the ruled.

71) He thought people would cooperate with each other as they were basically reasonable.

72) Also rulers’ cud remain in power only by the consent of the people.

73) If a ruler was tyrannical he had broken the contract and thus the people cud forms a new government.

74) Also people had natural rights which a government had to protect---right to life, liberty and property.

75) Philosophes (French word for Philosopher) where writers and thinkers in France that expanded the idea of natural rights.

76) They urge religious toleration, freedom of speech and press, educations and humane treatment for the mentally ill.

77) They denounced slavery and cruel punishments for crimes

78) Physiocrats; a branch of philosophes searched for natural laws to explain economics

79) They opposed mercantilism, urged rulers to encourage farming and called for a free market; a market in which all goods can be bought and sold without restrictions.

80) Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Roseau formed their own ideas about the best way to organize a government.

81) They shared the basic beliefs of the Philosophes.

82) As a noble born, student of gov’t Baron de Montesquieu studied the works of Newton and Locke.

83) He published “The Spirit of laws” to discuss forms of government.

84) He discussed the structure of the English government in the mid 1700s as having an executive, legislature and Judiciary with their respective duties. This was not so in reality.

85) He thought that the jurisdiction of each branch should be carefully defined to ensure checks and balance.

86) His separation of powers influenced the constitution frames of the United States constitution.

87) Francois Marie Arouet( penname—Voltaire) was a middle class man known for his witty plays, novels and pamphlets attacking evil in society.

88) He fought for religious toleration and freedom of thought and praised English liberties and the works of Newton and Locke.

89) He favoured an “enlightened Monarch” to him---a monarch who studied the science of gov’t and protected the basic rights (natural rights) of people.

90) Jean Jacques Rousseau came from a poor unhappy home.

91) He quarrelled with other philosophes as he fell out of place with them.

92) He believed human nature was basically good only being corrupted by society.

93) He called for the abolishment of all titles, ranks and nobility as all people where equal.

94) He admired the “noble savage” who lived in a natural state free from the influences of civilisation. He realized that people cud not return to the natural state.

95) He described an ideal society in “The Social Contract”

96) People would form communities and make a contract with each other and not a ruler. People gave up their freedoms for the general will and accepted the decision of the community after a vote. Equality in the will of the majority.

97) In the mid 1700s enlighten ideas spread across Europe as philosophers travelled and corresponded with each other and European rulers, their ideas became more generally accepted.

98) Denis Diderot a French philosophe supervised the publication of an encyclopaedia—classified dictionary of the Sciences, Arts and Occupations--- that summarized human knowledge of his time.

99) Between 1751 –1772, he assembled the 35 volume encyclopaedia hoping it would free people from prejudice.

100) Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau and other philosphes contributed articles while others wrote on newly explored lands.

101) Diagrams where used to show advancement in printing, spinning, medicine and other fields.

102) In France, the Catholic Church and government censors banned the Encyclopaedia; it was read by educated people across Europe.

103) More news papers and journal where published in the 1700s as more people cud read and write.

104) Learn societies organized public lectures and published reports.

105) Middle class men met in coffee shops to discuss latest news in science and politics.

106) Popular songs helped spread enlightenment ideas.

107) Wealthy women in France held salons or informal gatherings, where writers, musician, painters and philosophes present their works and exchanged ideas.

108) Salons begun in the 1600s when a group of noble women met to discuss poetry readings, only witty, intelligent and well read people where invited.

109) Madame de Geoffrins a middle class woman is noted for holding salons at least once a week.

110) Salons helped shaped the taste and manners of enlightenment.

111) Some women acted as patrons for artists and writers. Louise de Warens supported Rousseau and his family.

112) Many women produced their own poetry and novels.

113) A few had an education in Science. Emilie du Chatetlet---physicist and mathematician. She translated Newton’s work from Latin to French.

114) Some rulers adopted policies and economic conditions in their countries hoping to improve socio-economic conditions.

115) The used such ideas to centralize power and reduce the privileges of nobles.

116) In Austria, Maria Theresa passed laws to limit serfdom, while her son Joseph abolished serfdom.

117) He permitted freedom of the press, banned torture and ended religious persecution.

118) He gave equal rights to Jews and limited the power of the Catholic Church.

119) His successors reversed his reform after his death in 1790.

120) Most enlighten monarchs did nothing to change the social structure based on inequality and serfdom.

121) Catherine the Great of Russia made efforts to limit torture and introduce religious toleration.

122) Frederick the Great of Prussia codified Prussian laws, allowed religious freedom and encouraged elementary education for Prussian children.

123) Artists tried to find laws that gave order to their work. They were influenced by classical Greek art.

124) Classical styles also influenced European architecture. In the 1600s building where ornate and elaborate, in the 1700s architects returned to the simple elegance of Greek styles.

125) Two Germans among the most important composers of the enlightened period where, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederick Handel.

126) Franz Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart brought music to its height in the late 1700s.

127) Mozart wrote more than 600 musical works---symphonies, operas and church music--- before his death at age 35.

QUESTIONS

1) Identify: Nicolas Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and Galileo Galilee.

2) Define: Scientific method, law of gravity.

3) Why was mathematics important to the scientific method?

4) Give two reasons why scholars challenged the ideas of Copernicus.

5) What did Galileo’s observations through the telescope reveal?

6) How did Newton think the universe worked?

7) Describe on way each of the following contributed to medical knowledge: Paracelsus, Andreas Vesalius, and Amboise Pare’, William Harvey.

8) Identify: Denis Diderot, Joseph II, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

9) Define: Salon

10) What subjects did Diderot’s Encyclopaedia emphasize the most?

11) Describe three reforms introduced by enlightened Monarchs.

Free Short Notes on the Earliest Civilizations for exam purpose only

2008-02-05T07:05:00.000-08:00

INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY

1) History is a branch of learning that seeks to satisfy man’s curiosity about his past.

2) Herodotus (c480—425), a Greek scholar; made the first attempt to study history, tasked himself of telling the Persian wars by making enquires, called his enquires about the past historia from which the word history is derived, is considered as “the father of history”.

3) 18^th century Europeans believed human society passed through three stages as it develops.

4) 1^st-------Savagery, 2^nd -----------Barbarism, 3^rd ------------------Civilisation.

5) Savagery was a state of mans development in the woods or forest.

6) The Latin word for wood was Silva; the Roman word for savage was silvaticus.

7) Characteristics of Savages; they were neither farmers nor herders but hunter-gathers, fishers or nomads.

8) 16^th century scholars regarded the state of savagery as the lowest state of culture.

9) From the Greek word barbaroi or barbarophonoi the word barbarian emerged.

10) characteristics of Barbarians; they( lived in hamlets, cultivated grain and domesticated animals such as horses ), where illiterates, spoke a foreign language and did not speech Greek, in some cases lived as nomads and drank the milk of mare, the Celts and Scythians where accomplished in art and craft

11) Types of Barbarians-----SCYTHIANS, SARMATIANS, CELTS and LIGURIANS (all originated in ancient India, Germany and Italian regions).

12) The word civilisation was derived from “Civilis” a Latin adjective for citizen or people of the city

13) Characteristics of civilization; develops out of a state of Barbarism, is capable of instructing in the arts of life, is enlightened and refined.

14) Civilization refers to the state or condition of social and intellectual refinement, it connotes high social development.

15) Culture can be used interchangeably with civilization.

16) Culture refers to the complex of shared values and practices that set a people apart from others.

17) Constituent elements of culture: Social behaviour, Religion, Values, Language, Ideas, ways of doing and making things.

18) Basic elements of culture; economic aspects(their means of feedings and sheltering), social aspect(their ways of living in peace with others), political aspect(their way of ruling themselves), artistic, religious and intellectual aspect(their perception, beliefs, values and ideas)

EARLY STAGES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

1) Man originated in Africa.

2) Possible origination in two periods. 1^st ----------1 ½ million years ago(pre 1974), 2^nd -----------3 million years ago(based on Lucy’s discovery in 1974)

3) Lucy, part of an American team of archaeologists discovered an upright walking ape in 1974,

4) Part of the teaching of the church was that man was created by God in the Garden of Eden.

5) Charles Darwin (1809-82), an English Naturalist postulated the theory of evolution in 1859 based on Natural selection.

6) Scholars have still not been able to find fossils that proved the transmutation from apes to humans.

7) Stages of human development: Palaeolithic Age(c400,000---7,000BC), Neolithic Age(7,000BC-500AD)

8) Characteristics of Palaeolithic society: the “band” was the social unit and practiced division of labour on gender lines, their dwelt in caves or shelters, they invented tools, bands spread all over the world by the end of the period.

9) Characteristics of the Neolithic Age: it began after the ice age, hunters and gatherers relied on Agriculture for survival

10) The earliest cultivated crops included wheat, barley, peas and lentils.

11) The earliest domesticated animals include sheep, pigs and goats.

12) Impact of systematic agriculture: it promoted the rise of (villages, towns and cities), it aided population growth through agricultural surpluses, it aided the craft industry and large scale trade, it made life more complex and necessitated the invention of writing.

13) Urban civilisations where aided by great rivers and first appeared in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus Valley and the yellow river valley.

14) Rivers ensured: easy communication, soil fertility, irrigation, fishing, mud for bricks used in building.

15) Sumerians lived in south Mesopotamia.

16) Their civilisation emerged around 3500BC until 1700BC.

17) They reached civilization by 3100Bc and had cities as Lagash and Ur.

18) They flourished on agriculture and comprised of 15—20 small city-states politically independent but economically dependent.

19) The discovery of crafts in the “Royal graves of Ur” provides evidence of Sumerian art and craft.

20) Their crafts included: metallurgy, stone-carving, glass working, carpentry and wire ornamental works.

21) They understood the “closed mould” and cire Perdue method of casting.

22) They lacked metal and had to import from Asia Minor through India.

23) Sumerians worshiped gods like Enlil and Enki, they had traditional priest to perform rituals and offerings, they built Ziggurat(massive step tower) which where temples in honour of their gods

24) The earliest example of cire perdue casting was discovered at Tell Agrab.

25) It was an elaborate model of a car or chariot drawn by 4 onagers which dates from mid 3^rd millennium.

26) Sumerians inventions; 1^st ----------the wheel (they where first to invent this by inventing the potter’s wheel), 2^nd -----------Glass manufacture, 3^rd -------------------Glazing (covering of something with glaze).

27) Religion evolved as a response to threat posed by floods.

28) Sumerians made the oldest architectural invention, the brick column inspired by the trunk of a date plant.

29) Sumerian system of Government------a Governor (ensi) or King (lugal) ruled the city states, kingship was hereditary and rulers had absolute power and made laws.

30) Sumerian Social Structure was categorized into two groups; 1^st -----------Nobility(the king and his kin, chief priest and high official), 2^nd --------------------Freemen(Clients and Commoners)

31) Free citizens could not sell their land without their families’ approval; neither could they be deprived of their land without consent.

32) Clients comprised a freemen and women who served the nobility in exchange for permission to use some of their plots of land.

33) Slaves comprised captives, aliens, debtor and convicted criminals sometimes beaten and branded; they could buy their freedom with money. Some profited from trade, they automatically regained their freedom after three years.

34) Sumer began to experience a series of external invasion around 2331BC.

35) Akkadians, led by Sargon (the first world conqueror) where the first to invader Sumer.

36) Sargon established the Semitic kingdom of Akkad and built Akkad as its capital after conquering Sumer.

37) Akkadians helped to spread Mesopotamian culture.

38) The “Fertile Crescent” refers to the belt of rich farmlands extending from Mesopotamia through Syria and down to Egypt.

39) Sargons had dominant rule in Mesopotamia from c2331---c2000, after c2000 BC Babylonians became more dominant.

40) Babylonians where Semitic migrants from Arabia

41) They entered Mesopotamia from about 1792BC and flourish along the middle of the Euphrates.

42) Hammurabi was an important Babylonian king.

43) His achievements include; conquering Akkad and Assyria and unifying Mesopotamia, establishing Marduk as Chief Babylonian god for all Mesopotamians, making Babylon the religious and cultural centre of Mesopotamia, helping to spread the Sumerian form of writing.

44) Sumerians introduced Cuneiform as a form of writing, it comprised of pictographic, ideographic and phonetic systems.

45) Sumerians introduced the concept of place value as a contribution to mathematical development.

46) They used geometry and trigonometry to helped the construct cities, temples, canals etc

47) Mesopotamians were polytheistic, and saw themselves as anthropomorphic-------humans with divine capabilities.

48) There where gods of music, law, sex, victory. Marduk assigned duties to the lesser gods.

49) Mesopotamians worshipped; to appease their gods and avert natural catastrophes.

50) Mesopotamians created Myths to; explain the creation of the earth, explain the origin of human beings.

51) King Hammurabi’s law code included; No equality before the law, No counsel in trials, protection of consumers against looting and cheating, regulating (farming, irrigation, cultivation of crops and rearing of animals), Marriage was a business arrangement between the groom-to-be and his future father-in-law, a husband could sell his wife and children to pay debts.

52) Under Hammurabi a father was free to; adopt and include children into his will, disinherit a son without just cause

53) Under Hammurabi a son; who struck his father lost his hands, who wrong his father the second time could be disinherited.

54) Under Hammurabi a woman; was expected to be strictly faithful to her husband, was restricted from business.

55) Adulterers where bound and thrown into a river. With the king’s approval a husband could spare the life of his wife.

56) Holidays and religious festivals provided relaxation and entertainment.

EARLY GREEK HISTORY(c 1650-500BC)

1) Greeks were the first to; address most question that pre-occupy today’s thinkers, seek to understand the universe and mankind in logical rational terms, develop the concept of politics, develop philosophy and science.

2) Greece (Hellas) comprised the Aegean Sea and its Islands. This hindered unity

3) Achaeans invaded the Greek peninsula and disposed the Pelasgians around 2000BC.

4) By 1650BC, they had been established at the Great city of Mycenae.

5) Pelasgians where small farming communities from Thessaly and Messenia.

THE MYCENAEAN CIVILIZATION (c1650-1100BC)

6) The Mycenaean civilization characterized the first Greek speaking culture.

7) The Greek scholar Odyssey ,wrote lliad, an epic poem and described the civilization as the Heroic age

8) After reading the lliad, Schliemann, a German businessman excavated the region to reveal that the Mycenaens built cites and palaces at Mycenae, Thebes, Athens, Tiryns and Pylos.

9) The excavation revealed that; palaces served as a symbols of the kings power and economic centre of the kingdom, royal craftsmen manufactured jewellery and rich ornaments, fine pottery and forged weapons were made, hides and wools served as clothes, there was extensive division of labour, scribes kept records using a script called “Linear B”

10) Social structure; At the top---------king and his warrior aristocracy. Bottom-------slaves.

THE MINOAN CIVILISATION (c 1650-1450BC)

11) Also called the “Bronze Age” civilization, It flourished on the Island of Crete between 1650-1450BC.

12) Sir Arthur Evans excavated the island in the early 20^th century.

13) His excavations revealed that; the king and his warrior aristocrats where at the top of society, the palace was the political and economic canter, bronze implements had been used, there was trading with Egyptian and Levantine cities

14) The main palace of Minoan was at Cnossos.

15) Around 1450 BC, Minoan-Mycenaean relation went bad after being good.

16) Mycenaean’s destroyed the main palace at Cnossus and ruled Crete for the next 50 years.

17) Mycenae commerce expanded throughout the Aegean Sea while Myceanean culture spread throughout central and southern Greece.

18) The Dorians destroyed the Mycenaean kingdoms around 1200BC leading to the Dark Age between 1100-800BC in Greece.

19) absence of scared books that chronicled the past prevented many Greeks form knowing their past. They relied on the lliad which was based on legends and myths.

20) The Polis emerged as the basic, typical political and institutional unit of Greece after the Dark ages(800BC)

21) Cities where Urban and agricultural center.Three main cites where Athens, Sparta, Thebes.

22) An Acropolis was a hilly point in a polis. originally, it was a place of refuge, with monuments(temples, altars, plagues) for dedication to gods of the polis.

23) An “agora”, was a public square or market place in a polis. originally, it was a meeting place of the warrior assembly and later, the political centre of the polis.

24) Aristotle was of the view that civilized life outside the polis was unthinkable.

25) The Greeks never had a divine ruler because of emphasis on the individual exclusiveness but experienced monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, tyranny, democracy and had an imperial bureaucracy and a standing army.

26) The Dark Age was followed by the Lyric Age (800-500BC) a period of extraordinary expansion and prosperity.

27) Greeks expanded throughout the Mediterranean in the 8^th century BC due to land shortage and adventure.

28) Two lyric poets, Archilochus and Sappho; rejected the notion that poetry belonged solely to gods or great heroes, shared their experiences, thoughts and wisdom with others, wrote on their own experiences

29) The territories of Sparta expanded during the Lyric Age. Formerly Sparta faced over population and hunger.

30) Sparta begun a conquest of Messenia (to the west) in 735BC, it succeeded after 20 years and turned its people into helots or state serfs.

31) The messenian revolt in 650BC resulted in the Lycurgan regime reforms; Spartan non-nobles demanded and received equal right as nobles, political distinctions where eliminated, all citizens where legally equal, oligarchy replaced aristocracy as 2 kings and 28 elders formed a council of government.

32) A council deliberated on foreign and domestic affairs.

33) An assembly comprised all citizens, they deliberated on legislation submitted by the council,

34) Ephor refers to a five member council elected by the assembly.

35) Spartan men devoted their exclusive time to military training, at age 7 boys trained until they became soldiers at age 24.

36) Spartans hated wealth and luxury but glorified war and patriotism.

37) Athens changed from Aristocracy to Democracy in the Lyric Age as peasants demanded a codified law.

38) Until the 7^th BC, aristocrats; owned the best land, governed the polis in an assembly, interpreted the law, forced small farmer to economically depend on them, sold or exiled some families for indebtedness.

39) Draco, an aristocrat, published the first law code in 161.

40) The Draco’s code was harsh and didn’t fully satisfy peasant as some demanded redistribution of land.

41) Solon (c638-559BC) an Athenian aristocrat and poet; was well respected and opposed tyranny, used his poems to condemn aristocratic greed and dishonesty, was elected “archon” (Chief Justice of Athenian polis) by the aristocrats.

42) Solon made reforms to; free all people enslaved for debt, recall all exiles, cancel all debts in Athens, divided society into four legal groups according to wealth, admitted the poorest and least powerful group into the old aristocratic assembly and allowed them to participate in the election of magistrates,

43) solon refused to become a tyrant and left Athens

44) Hippias(son of Pisistratus) succeeded his father as a tyrant but was overthrown.

45) With the people’s support of the people, Cleisthenes , an aristocrat won power in 508BC.

46) He created an Athenian democracy and adopted the deme as the basis of his political system and for citizenship. he promoted freedom of speech.

47) The demes where regrouped into 10 tribes that served as a link to the central government.

48) The central government comprised; an assembly of all citizens, a council of 500 members.

49) the assembly voted to ostracise potentially dangerous politicians.

50) Difference in Athenian and modern democracy; In theory poor and rich enjoyed political power and responsibility but in practice aristocrats held most important offices, Athenian democracy denied political rights to women, slaves ect, foreigners where rarely given citizenship and rulers where not chosen through adult suffrage, every citizen was expected to be able to perform the duties of a Magistrate, in Athens citizens voted and served while the majority determined the law

THE CLASSICAL PERIOD IN GREECE (500-338BC)

51) During this period Greek intellectuals and artistic efforts attained their fullest and finest expression.

52) Greeks in Ionia and other cities became more curious about their existence and viewed the universe in terms of Natural law and not mythology. Drama was invented in this period.

53) The three greatest dramatist of Athens were Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides

54) Ionian Greeks rebelled against the Persian Empire in 499BC.

55) In 490BC, Persians where defeated in the battle of Marathon and failed to invade Athens.

56) The Spartans lead the Greeks to resists King Xerxes(486-464BC) in 480BC.

57) Greeks defeated the Persian navy at Salamis in 480BC and at Plataea in 479BC.

58) Wily Themistocles was leader of the leading naval power in the Aegean Sea(the Athenian navy)

59) Athenians lead Greeks in 478BC to liberate Ionia from Persian rule in Persian territory.

60) Athenians formed the Delian League in 478BC but used it as an imperialist tool after expelling the Persians from the Aegean Sea by 459BC.

61) Pericles (494-429BC), king of Athen, continued an expansion and fought against some allies of Sparta in 459 BC, this resulted in an Athens-Sparta war.

62) Pericles died two years into the Peloponnesian war and was succeed by Alcibiades.

63) The Peloponnesian war a 27 year old war that Spartans engaged Athens in.

64) The classical period coincided with the age of Pericles(494-429BC)

65) life under Pericles; the Acropolis became centre of Greek religion and art, Greeks built small temple that honoured the goddess Athena and Athenian victories, the Parthenon a Doric temple was dedicated to all the gods, Drama became tied to religious festivals of the city, subsistence farming was practiced, slavery was practised, hunting was a major sport, slaves where protected by law and could buy their own freedom, women where protected by law and passed citizenship rights to their children, a woman’s main function where to (raise children, oversee domestic slaves and hired labour), work wool with her maids into cloth.

66) the religion under Pericles; there was no uniform faith or creed, Greeks worshipped and had cults for (Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Athena )etc that varied in each polis, Greeks had no established priesthood, Olympic games were held to honour Zeus, only Greeks could join mystery cults, members of mystery cults had to master a body of arcane(secret or esoteric and secret ritual to purify them for initiation to the cult) while banned from forbidden to disclose information about the cult

67) Alcibiades absconded to Sparta and plotted with Persia to defeat Athens.

68) Spartans defeated Athens in 404BC, under the command of Lysander.

69) Herodotus covered the major events of the war while Thucydides chronicled the history of the Peloponnesian war.

70) Thales (7^th Century), the first pre Socratics, leaned maths and astronomy from the Babylonians and geometry from the Egyptians.

71) Anaximander; was the first pre Socrates to use general methods necessary for abstract thought, theorized that the basic element of the universe is boundless or endless, believed the earth floated in a void and was held in a balance from space, was of the view that humankind evolved naturally from lower organisms.

72) Hippocrates; was a pioneer in the science of medicine, taught natural means could be used to combat diseases, based his opinions on religion or magic, insisted that natural science was distinct from philosophy.

73) Sophists; were paid itinerant professional teachers of logic, philosophy and rhetoric, believed human beings were the right subject of study and it was possible to teach excellence, used philosophy and rhetoric to prepare the youth for life in the polis, emphasized logic and semantics, criticized (traditional beliefs, religion, ritual and myths), argued that everything was relative and not absolute

74) Socrates(470-399BC);spent his life in investigation and definition, believed that essential subjects of study was human beings and the environment, by questioning he sought to find truth and happiness, to him “Supreme God” was the pursuit of excellence, excellence included the quest for knowledge to achieve true happiness,

75) Socrates was trailed and executed in 399BC for introducing new gods and corrupting the youth of the polis.

76) Plato(427-347BC) a student of Socrates believed that; reality existed only in non verbal form, visible and tangible things are copies of “forms” &”ideas” which are constant and indestructible, the mind and not senses could perceive eternal “forms”(reality was found only in the non-material world),an individuals role in life was determined by education, wisdom and ability, men and women where equals

77) Plato founded the Academy as a philosophical school, wrote “The Public” to define the ideal polis being one whose rulers where philosophers and whose society was divided into Rulers, Guardians and Workers.

78) Aristotle(384-322BC), was a student of Plato.

79) He described his view of the ideal polis in “The Politics”, as such; he was of the view that people with talent and education brought about balance in the ideal state also he tried to understand the changes of nature, he developed a theory which sought to explain the notion of mater, form and motion and also tried linking Abstract Truth and concrete Perception(developed by Plato) and “on the Heaven”, his theory on cosmology included Ether as an additional building block of the universe(besides air, fire, water and earth) and also believe that the universe being spherical and eternal revolved and that the earth was the centre of the universe.

80) This notion that the earth was the centre of the universe prevailed till the 15^th Century AD when Nicolaus Copernicus a polish astronomer disproved it.

THE FALL OF GREECE

81) Sparta’s attempt to create an empire after the Peloponnesian war alienated her from her allies.

82) In 371 BC, Epaminondas commanded the Theban army to destroy Sparta’s army in Boeotia on the plain of Leuctra leaving Thebes the most powerful state in Greece.

83) There was a stalemate in Greece after the death of Epaminondas in 362BC, three year s later Philip II became King of Macedonia (a colony in Greeks northern boarder).

84) Demosthenes, an Athenian patriot called for an opposition to King Philip.

85) In 338BC Philip’s army defeated the Athenian--Thebes’s alliance at Chaeronea a boeotian city and ended Greek freedom and independence.

86)

EGYPT

1) Egypt flourished between c 3100BC---1200BC. It is sometimes described as “the gift of the Nile”

2) Importance of the Nile; It did not poses a threat to life and property, it supported agriculture, it unified Egypt by establishing close links between settlements,

3) By 3100BC, there were about forty stable agricultural settlements in Egypt.

4) Egypt had; Stone for construction, Gold (Au) for Jewellery, Clay for pottery.

5) Egypt lacked but acquired; Copper (Cu) from Sinai and timber from Lebanon.

6) Characteristics of Egypt’s geographical location that prevented invasion and large scale immigration; the Nubian desert and the cataracts discouraged entry from the south, the eastern desert and the Sahara shielded Egypt, for centuries for centuries Egypt utilized her resources as it enjoyed peace.

7) The History of Egypt is usually divided into 6 periods, the: Archaic Period,

Old Kingdom (c2660—2180BC), First Intermediate (c2180—2080BC), Second Intermediate (1640—1570BC), New Kingdom (c1570—1075BC)

8) During the Archaic Period Egypt was unified under Pharaoh Menes and developed the 24 alphabetical signs. Menes meant “Great House”, it was in reference to his magnificent palace.

9) During the Old Kingdom there was prosperity, art flourished, religious believes evolved and pyramids where construct.

10) Pyramids were huge tombs for burying Pharaohs’. 80 of them where built in totality. Famous ones built by Zoser, Sneferu and Khufu.

11) During the first intermediate there was confusion and bedlam, however during the middle kingdom (2080—1640BC) there was political recovery and stability.

12) During the second intermediate the Hykos invaded Egypt.

13) During the New Kingdom Egypt expanded to become an empire by the 18^th dynasty and pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti imposed monotheism on Egypt. They declared Aton, the sun god as the only god in Egypt around c1360BC.

14) The Pharaoh was an absolute monarch and a divine ruler. He was represented by the earthly sun and worshipped.

15) Amon-Re was the chief god of Egypt. Amon and Re where two gods combined to form one god.

16) Osiris (god of fertility and judge of the dead) was associated with the Nile. He rewarded the just with everlasting life.

17) Isis, wife of Osiris, revived him each year that he died.

18) Anubis (god of mummification) was assisted by Osiris.

19) Egypt nature gods where protected by taboos, of kept in temples and mummified after death. They included; crocodiles, cats, bulls, vultures.

20) Pharaohs’ were buried with all that the soul (KA) required for survival in the afterlife. before 3000BC servants, herdsmen and their flocks where sacrificed for this purpose, however during the old kingdom, status of scribes, officials, soldiers and servant replaced real humans in the pharaohs’ burial chamber.

21) Egyptians embalmed a corpse to preserve it and wrapped it in cloth to enable the KA survive.

22) Embalmed corpses were referred to as mummies. There where substituted with stone statutes in the event that they got broken.

23) Sketches on tomb walls were made to remind the KA about daily life on earth.

24) Egyptian art portrayed objects in their true likeness (Naturalism).

25) Famous art forms included; Bronze figures, obelisks and sphinxes.

26) Before 3000BC urban houses in Egypt where rectangular in shape. Between mid 16 & 11 century BC massive stone building were built.

27) The three forms of Egyptian writing where Hieroglyphics, hieratic, Demotic.

28) Hieroglyphics combine pictures and sound symbols. They were deciphered in the 19^th and early 20^th century AD.

29) Hieratic was a shorthand writing used mainly by priests.

30) Demotic was a faster cursive developed around 600BC.

31) Egyptian alphabets became a model for Phoenician alphabets. Phoenician alphabets were transmitted to Greeks in the late 8^th century BC.

32) Greeks included vowel sounds to the letters of the alphabets.

33) Egyptians invented pen and paper from Papyrus reed and ink from a mixture of water, gum and carbon(C). This promoted literature.

34) Egyptians developed the decimal system by using 10 as a unit of calculation.

35) Egyptian priest established a calendar of 365 days in c2776BC consisting of 12 months of 30 days each except the 12^th month that had 35 days and invented the water clock and sun dial.

36) A Greek named Thales invented geometry out of Egyptian rectangle calculation methods.

37) Egyptian trade import; Sinai---- (Cu), turquoise. Libya and Palestine-----olive oil. Lebanon (Phoenicia) ------Cedar wood for ship building. India-------Spices and incense. Mesopotamia (Punt) ------apes, ivory, incense, (Au), slaves and leopard skin. Nubia--------Au, Cu, Ivory, slaves, oxen and goats.

38) The Egyptian army was introduced during the New Kingdom in the expulsion of the Hyksos. It had a Calvary and infantry.

SMALL KINGDOMS IN THE NEAR EAST

HYKSOS

1) Large scale movement of people in the near east began in the 2^nd millennium BC.

2) The Hyksos were a Semitic people from the Arabian Peninsula. About 1800 they began to migrate and about 1640 settled in the Nile Delta.

3) They ruled Egypt for about 70 years (1640—1570).

4) The Hyksos where expelled and replace by the 18^th dynasty of Egypt which included Ahmose, Thutmose I, Thutmose II and Akhenaten.

5) The Hyksos; introduced bronze technology to replace Copper (Cu) in Egypt, introduced horse-drawn chariots, worshipped Egyptian gods, modelled their monarchy on the Pharaohs.

HITTITES

6) The Hitties where Indo-European people who began to expand eastwards from Anatolia about the same time as the hyksos entered the Nile Valley.

7) Their original home was probably the Steppes region near the Caspian sea.

8) They infiltrated Anatolia (modern turkey) in c 2700BC.

9) They were the first people in the near east to master iron technology.

10) The Hittites built an empire that ended the dynasty of Hammurabi (1792-1750BC).

11) In 1300BC, the Hittites defeated Egypt in the battle of Kadesh.

12) In 1200BC, Hittite and Egyptian empires became victims of Indo-Europeans and sea people including Semitic speaking Hebrews.

13) Hittite kings where monarchs, they combined roles of army commander, chief judge and chief priest.

14) Hittite Queens performed important religious duties and often engaged in diplomacy.

15) The Aristocrats where a privileged group below the King and Queen and included the king’s kin.

16) The kings kin: where disobedient, dominated royal administration, often rebelled against the king.

17) Warriors where last in Hittite social order. They had the right to a Pankus (a warriors’ private gathering).

18) The Pankus; met to hear a kings will but could not vote, could punish criminal like a law court.

19) Independent state of Syria, Lebanon, and Hebrew emerged after the ruin of the Hittites and Egyptian empires in the 13^th century.

PHOENICIA

20) Phoenicians were; Semitic-speaking people, good sailors, great merchants, great explorers.

21) They founded Cathage in 813BC. other cities are Syria, Lebanon and Byblos

22) Achievements, Phoenicians developed; an urban culture based on commerce, new alphabets in which each letter designed one particular sound, spread the iron technology westwards to the Greeks and southwards to African.

23) By 250BC most of west Africa had mastered Iron technology

24) By 500AD sub-Saharan African was producing steel.

PALESTINE

25) Philistines and Hebrews, two main tribal groups occupied the Palestinian region.

26) Philistine were part of the people referred to us sea people who raided Egypt.

27) They built 5 cities near the sea but gave up sea faring to become farmers and herders.

THE HEBREW OR ANCIENT JEWISH KINGDOM

28) Hebrew is derived from “Habiru” meaning a class of homeless, independent nomads.

29) the biblical Hebrew; had their original home in Northern Mesopotamia ,where led by Abraham into Canaan in modern Israel after wandering 40 years in the desert, built a political confederation for protection.

30) In Canaan Hebrews became known as children of Israel after their patriarch Jacob (Israel).

31) Moses led the 12 tribes of Israel (descendants of the 12 great-grandson of Abraham) out of Egypt in the 13^th Century.

32) Hebrews lived in Palestine with other Semitic people including the Amorites.

33) Judaism was based on a covenant-----a formal contract between Yahweh and Hebrews concluded on Mount Sinai through Moses. The Hebrew agreed to worship Yahweh alone, obey his commandment and in exchange he offered to protect them.

34) The Ten Commandments where viewed as an ethical code of law and custom that originated with Moses

35) Hebrews considered graven images Idolatrous

36) They did not consider it a duty to proselytize(to try to convert somebody to a religious faith or political doctrine)

37) the Hammurabi code influenced the Torah or Mosaic law (earliest part of the Hebrew law code)

38) The Mosaic Law became more humane by the help of prophets in the 11^th -5^th century BC.

39) Tribe ownership of land and water sources was replaced by communal ownership and then family ownership.

40) The extended family was replaced by the nuclear family and it served as the primary social institution.

41) Elders of the towns applied a father’s power of life or death over his family as urban life developed.

42) In times of nomadism a man was entitled to one wife but any number of concubines however a move to urban life promoted polygamous marriages to satisfy the need for children.

43) Marriage was not a religious ceremony and the groom’s father provided no dowry.

44) Divorce was available to only husbands.

45) First born son’s had special rights.

46) Infanticide was forbidden and baby boys where circumcised 8 days after birth.

47) Craftsmen usually lived in particular areas and by the 6^th century BC, formed associations called guilds.

48) Israel and china’s wise men disapproved commence as to them it was exploitative and immoral.

49) The Amorites, kinsmen of the Babylonians had been living in Palestine since c1800BC

50) Saul, a farmer in the tribe of Benjamin, became first king of Israel in the cause of the 11^th BC.

51) Saul centralized Israel politically and waged several wars against philistines.

52) David (1012—972BC) from Bethlehem succeeded Saul and established Jerusalem as capital.

53) He consolidated and expanded the empire.

54) Solomon(c972—932BC) David’s son; built a great temple in Jerusalem as a symbol of Hebrew Unity, established 12 administrative districts in place of the 12 tribal divisions, dominated trade and commerce, built cities, fortresses and roads.

55) After Solomon’s death in 932BC the Kingdom split in two. Israel in the northern half with Samaria as its capital and Judah in the southern half with Jerusalem as its capital which developed into the centre of Judaism, its people worshipped Yahweh and became known as Jews.

56) In the 8^th Century BC Assyria attacked and destroyed Israel while Judah survived.

ASSYRIA AND PERSIA(c 770-550BC)

57) Assyrians were Semitic speaking natives of Northern Mesopotamia. Assyria was located between the Tigris and Euphrates

58) Nineveh was the Assyrian capital. Some other cities where Ashur and kalah.

59) Assyrian warfare enabled Tiglath Pilesser III & Sargon II and their successors to create a huge empire east and north of the Tigris to central Egypt. Other prominent kings where Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal.

60) By the 8^th century BC the Assyrians empire consisted of provinces and dependencies.

61) By 716 BC Assyria had the best and most brutal military system comprised of infantry and Archers.

62) The Assyrian army; invented new siege machine and battering rams, used excavation to undermine city walls, trained engineers to bridge rivers with pontoons(flat bottomed boats), devised inflatable skins for crossing rivers.

63) Assyrians constructed Royal roads to: link all parts of the Empire, easily gather intelligence, suppress revolts.

64) Assyria ruled the entire Near east for nearly 200 years

65) In 612, the Medes and Babylonians formed an alliance to destroy the Assyria.

66) The Medes and Persians where Indo-Europeans. Medes settled in the North and Persians settled in the south. Their use of horse gave them an advantage.

67) Around 1000BC the Medes migrated from the steppes and settled In Iran, between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf.

68) Iran was the most important highway between the east and the west based on its geography and topography

69) Around 710 BC the Medes unified under one king. They subjugated the Persians in the south.

70) The ruins of Nineveh where excavated in AD 1839.

71) The ruins revealed that Babylon replaced Assyria around 612BC, also Nebuchadnezzar II (605-526BC) reined supreme in the near east in the 6^th century BC.

THE PERSIAN EMPIRE(c 550BC)

72) The Persian Empire encompassed Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran and western India.

73) It was divided into 20 provinces each ruled by a governor.

74) Persia emerged powerful under King Cyrus (559-530BC).

75) King Cyrus freed Persians from the rule of the Medes nine years after ascending the Persian throne.

76) Cyrus extended his conquest to the west coast of Anatolia and conquered Lydia and Ionia in c 546BC

77) King Cyrus protected the Jews in Palestine.

78) His son Cambyses subdued Egypt, another son Darius turned western India into the province of Hindu Kush

79) Darius and his son Xerxes (486---464 BC) invaded Greece but never gained full control of it.

80) The main highway----the “Royal Road” spanned some 1677 miles from the Greek city of Ephesus to Susa in Western Iran and divided into 111 post stations.

81) Iranian-religion was initially polytheistic. Ahuramazda was the chief god (creator and benefactor of all living things), Mithra the sun god was in charge of Justice and redemption. Some gods represented the moon, earth, water, wind, fire.

82) Zoroaster (Zarathustra) laid the foundation for a new religion around 600BC.

83) He preached that: life was a battleground between good and evil, each individual had to choose between the two, Ahuramazda would judge the dead by weighing their life’s in a balance.

84) King Darius converted to Zoroastrianism in the 6^th Century BC. It popularized the religion and marked the beginning of monotheism.

ANCIENT INDIA TO c 200AD

85) Ancient India comprised of Modern India, Nepal, Modern Pakistan and Afghanistan. It had 3 geographic zones.

86) In the north the Himalayas, in the centre the great valleys of the Indus and Ganges, in the south, the coastal plains and the dry and hilly Deccan Plateau.

87) The Himalayas was a ring of mountains 25,000ft above sea level and together with the southern monsoons it served as India’s greatest source of water supply. It also protected India from wanderers and cold winds from the north.

88) The best agricultural lands are found in the Punjab and Indus valley.

89) The Indus civilization passed through 2 phases. 1^st Phase(c 2500-1500BC), 2^nd Phase(c 1500-500BC)--(ARYAN CIVILISATION).

90) Phase I coincided with the old and middle kingdoms of ancient Egypt.

91) The foundations of phase one where probably laid by west Asian immigrants. They embarked on large-scale agriculture and developed a script.

92) Citadels where built for the defence of cities.

93) Indians had respect for animals and lived in harmony with nature.

94) The Indus civilisation maintained cultural and trade contact with Mesopotamia to the west.

95) Phase I begun to deteriorate around 1700BC and by 1500BC had completely deteriorated.

96) Phase II begun when the Aryans (who where tall, statured, blond haired Nordic wanders) entered into the Indus Valley.

97) Aryans where part of the: Scandinavian race who called themselves Aryans or noble, Indo-European migration.

98) Aryans where called Indo—European and later Indo Aryans, they spoke a language called Sanskris.

99) Aryans lived in tribes each headed by a Raja (chief), each tribe consisted of social groups namely Priest or Brahmins, Warriors, Commoners and Saves.

100) Achievement of the Aryan civilisation: first they founded Delhi, second they integrated their culture with that of the Dasus (the dark skinned aborigines of India), third they established kingdoms ruled by absolute monarchs, they developed India into a land of villages to carter for conquered and acquired lands.

101) Indians developed the cast system to separate Aryans from non Aryans.

102) A caste was a hereditary class of social equals.

103) By 500BC, Four main castes existed: Brahmins (priest), Kshatriya (warriors), Vaishya (peasants), Shudra (serfs).

104) The fifth caste comprised outcaste or untouchables. Outcasts where new comers in the society or persons expelled from their caste, they performed menial jobs in society.

105) Indians practised slavery to some extent.

106) Aryan gods symbolized natural phenomena such as Fire, water, Dawn, war. Indra was the Aryan god of war.

107) The wheel of life (a relentless cycle of life and death) came as a result of Brahmins reforms.

108) This idea was explained by two doctrines: Samsara and Karma.

109) Samsara (transfiguration of souls) suggested that a man’s soul moved in a continuous cycle from creature to creature.

110) Karma is the believe that the balance of good and bad determined mans status in the next life.

111) Man could escape continuous reincarnation through extreme asceticism and yoga or intense meditation.

112) If an individual perused any of the doctrines successfully, his Atman dissolves in the Brahma, thus it allowed him or her to be absorbed into a timeless and changeless state.

113) This was achieved by studying the Vedas (sacred revelations) and doing penance.

114) In the 6^th and 5^th century BC, 3 religions developed in India out of old Vedic religion; 1^st --------------Hinduism, 2^nd ----------Jainism, 3^rd-------------Buddhism.

115) Buddhism and Jainism began as schools of moral philosophy, they both rejected by later accepted the existence of gods.

116) The central beliefs of Hinduism are: the Vedas (500BC)(earliest recorded scriptures) are sacred revelations, the Caste system is prescribed by the Vedas, Hinduism is a guide to life.

117) Hinduism taught that one; may pursue material gain honestly and honourably, may pursue pleasure with the aim of perpetuating the family, must study the vedes in one’s youth, must live a complete ascetic life in one’s old age.

118) The Bhagavad-Gita is India’s most treasured sacred hymn served as a spiritual guide.

119) In the 3^rd BC, Hinduism viewed certain gods as personal manifestations of Brahma namely: Shiva (cosmic dancer who creates and destroys), Vishnu (the preserver and sustainer of creation, Krishna (a manifestation of Vishnu).

120) Hinduism emphasized a god-force in all life and observed a tradition of non-violence to all living creatures.

121) Jainism was founded by Vardhamana Mahavira(c 540-468 BC).

122) He taught the following; both animate and inanimate things are subject to Kharma, the universe and its contents are composed of souls usually mixed with matter, the only way to attain release is to rid oneself of all matter, the need for an ascetic life void of evil.

123) A Jain could become a vegetarian to avoid doing violence to life.

124) Buddhism was foundered by Siddhartha Gautama (563-483 BC), he was formerly a Ksatriya , but left Hinduism and settled life to become a wandering ascetic. He found universal enlightenment through meditation.

125) Buddha means the enlightened one.

126) Buddhists recognize four noble truths caused by human weakness: pain, suffering, frustration, anxiety

127) An 8 fold remedy to this is to: Under the evils you are suffering, decide firmly to free yourself from suffering, choose “right livelihood, endeavour to eliminate desires that are harmful and distracting, Have the right awareness, Mediate deeply on the impermanence of everything in the world

128) Nirvana refers to the state of happiness that one acquires after “right contemplation”----the 8^th step.

129) Buddhists; see human beings as a collection of physical and mental parts, rejected the Hindu doctrine of transfiguration, believed gods are subject to change like humans, believed gods could help humans out of trouble but could never help people achieve enlightenment, did not regards as judges who monitor human life.

130) Reasons for the spread of Buddhism; it had popular appeal and simple message, unlike Hinduism it was open to anyone, it tacitly rejected the caste system

131) Buddhism split into two branches; Thereveda (Conservative) and Mahayana(less dogmatic), after Buddha’s death.

132) The Mahayana branch was called the larger vehicle because of its view that there where many ways to salvation.

133) Thereveda was popular in south East Asia while Mahayana was popular in China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam.

CHINA------FROM EARLY TIMES TO 200AD

1) In the west, China was separated from India by the Himalayas and Pamirs.

2) In the North china was separated from Russia by the Gobi desert and the Mongolian plateau.

3) In the south the forest and His river helped to protect china from outsiders.

4) Chinese society developed along the yellow river in the North and Yangtze River in the south.

5) The yellow river was tamed with dykes to enable wheat and millet to be cultivated

6) The Yangtze river was used to cultivate rice.

7) Three main dynasties ruled Egypt: The Shang(c1523—1027), The Chou, The Chin

8) The Shang were indigenous people of china. Their kings lived in great style and ruled with assistance from the aristocracy and bureaucracy.

9) Early Chinese worshipped a dead king and practised ancestral worship by entreating the dead to intercede with the gods on their behalf.

10) Shang-Ti was the most supplicated, being the supreme god

11) Writing materialized from the use of oracle bones in Shang religious practices for divination.

12) Originally the writing was pictographic and easily remembered; each sign had a phonetic value. Writing facilitated record keeping.

13) Both Koreans and Japanese adopted forms of Chinese writing.

14) The Chou Dynasty deposed that of the Shang in the 11^th Century BC based on the “Mandate of Heaven”.

15) The Chou where farmers and herders from the WEI region.

16) The “Mandate of Heaven” emphasized that; the rule of china was the gift of heaven considered as a god, this gift required the Emperor and his successors to expand China’s border if possible while promoting prosperity and maintaining order for noblemen and peasant alike, Failure to meet these obligations leads to chaos and insecurity as such the last emperor loses power to the first man who should be able to restore order and prosperity, the first man succeeds because heaven transferred the mandate to him.

17) The Chou built their first capital near Sian in western china.

18) The Chou built their second capital at Loyand on the northern plain south of Anyang.

19) The Chou king; created a Chinese version of feudalism, delegated authority to (members of the royal family, loyal and talented subjects) referred to as lords, gave lords huge tracts of lands as gifts,

20) Lords pledged loyalty and military assistance to the king which became a written record.

21) The civil service began to emerge in the Chou dynasty as well as employment on merit and not birth.

22) Insecurity and poverty forced literate and talented aristocrats to migrate to boarder states where they were employed as military officers, administrators, ministers.

23) Achievements, the Chou dynasty; established armed camps to prevent revolts, built road and canals, introduced coined money to stimulate trade, introduced iron technology(wrought iron &cast iron), promote intellectual activities as(Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism) developed.

24) In 771 BC, they Chou dynasty abandoned its western capital as rebel lords defeated and killed the king.

25) The Era of the warring states refers to 181 years (402-221 BC) that china faced chaos and disorder.

26) In 256BC, the Chou king was forced to abdicate the thrown to the Chin ruler.

27) In 221BC, the Chin ruler conquered all states in china and after 35 years became sole ruler.

28) The chin ruler assumed the title chin Shin Huang Ti or First Emperor.

29) He built the great wall while his prime minister, Li Ssu helped him build a highly centralised state by weakening the power of the nobility and making them leaders of provinces.

30) The Chin dynasty; carried out a population census to enable the imperial civil service plan it’s activities, standardized (the Chinese script, weights, measures and coinage axle lengths of carts), made improvements in agriculture and industry as peasants land rights were expanded, constructed the great wall (1400 miles above sea level)

31) Chinese encroachment on Hun lands lead to a conflict with the Huns and the establishment of the great wall.

32) In the 4^th century Chinese states built walls for protection.

33) misdeeds, the chine ruler; reportedly buried 460 Confucians alive, burnt many Confucian text, enforced the tenets of legalism to suppress other systems of thought, oppressed the common people, imposed heavy taxes on peasants.

34) Chin Shin Huang Ti or First Emperor died In 210 BC.

35) The new emperor was defeat by Liu Pang, a peasant and petty official in a peasant revolt who in 206BC established the Han dynasty.

36) The Han Dynasty made no serious reforms but laid the foundation for the Chinese empire.

37) Emperor Han Wu Ti pushed the Huns further north after embarking a 14 year war in 133BC.

38) The Hans established trade links with the Indian sub region and Japan

39) Chinese armies conquered Canton, South east coast of china, western Korea.

40) Chinese rule extended beyond its natural frontiers when North Vietnam was conquered by 111BC.

41) Indian culture prevailed among Malayan people in modern southern Vietnam and Kampuchea.

42) The Han Empire gave china unmatched peace and prosperity.

43) War and enormous imperial building projects weakened the Han Empire in the Christian era.

44) Agricultural productions declined as peasants were used as soldiers and workers.

45) Emperor Wang Mang(AD 9-23); failed to re-establish state monopoly on grain to control prices, wished to abolish slavery, redistributed land to peasants, was killed in a peasant revolt.

46) China split into 3 kingdoms from AD 221-280(three kingdom era) as a result of disorder and barbarism.

47) In the north----the kingdom of WEI, Upper Yangtze River valley-----Kingdom of Shu, lower Yangtze River Valley--------kingdom of WU.

48) The nomadic Toba from Mongolia created a northern dynasty and adopted Chinese way of life.

Free Short Notes on the Dance forms of Ghana for exam purpose only

2008-02-05T06:43:00.000-08:00

1) The traditional wood is tenebrous, a hard wood for the drums that is termed to be termite proof.

2) Adowa Ensemble Apentemma, Atumpan (male and female), Petia Donno (hourglass drum), Dawuro (single bell), Torowa (Rattle).

3) Fontomfrom Astrama Bommaa, Atumpan (male and female),Bomma, Apentemma, Donno (hourglass drum), Gankogui (double bell), Petia

4) Atumpan, the talking drums

5) Kete EnsembleApentemma, Aburukuwa I, Aburukuwa II, Kwadum ,Torowa (rattle), Donno, Dawuro (single bell)

6) Bawa’s development owes much to Polkuu Paul, who was from the house of the Nandom chief (Naa). ---upper west, Dagare.

7) The Dagombas, (Dagbani is the language group), live in the upper west region. They speak the Dagare and Sisal. Koran and traditional belief.

8) Dagomba membranophone ensembles have two distinct types of drums. Luna or donno: Hour glass shaped, pressure sensitive squeeze drum, Gungon or brekete: Low pitched drum with snare

9) Bamaya is a dance performed on the way to the shrine. Belt tassels and ornaments. Ankle, smocks worn are called Batakari. Bamaya means All the place is wet

10) Damba is the dance of the Damba Festival which celebrates the birth of the Holy Prophet Mohammed. So Damba, Na Damba. Damba was danced at a religious festival

11) Takai is a Dagomba area war dance.

12) Ewe drums are constructed like barrels with wooden staves and metal rings.

13) The child or baby brother drum, kagan, usually plays on the weak beats in a repeated pattern that links directly with the bell and shaker ostinatos. The mother drum, kidi, responds to the larger sogo, or father, drum. The entire ensemble is lead by the largest drum, atsimevu, or grandfather drum.

14) Adevu (Ade - hunting, Vu - dance)

15) Agbadza Kaganu, Kidi, Sogo Gankogui (double bell), Axatse (rattle)

16) Agbadza is traditionally a war dance but is now used in social and recreational situations

17) Atsiagbekor Atsimevu (tall drum), Kroboto, Sogo, Kidi, Kanganu Gankogui (double bell), Axatse (rattle)

18) Akpese later developed into Borborbor

19) Borborbor might have originated in the Kpando area and is said to have been created by the late Mr. Francis Kojo Nuadro This is a social dance

20) Gabada The dance was originally juju and not a social dance. In the old days men were more abundant than women so the men used juju to charm the women to attract them.

21) Dance Clubs---Gadzok, Takada, and Atsiagbeko

22) Gota uses the mystical calabash drum of Benin. It was originally called "drum of the dead" and was played only at funerals. It is now performed for social entertainment

23) Fume, Fume is a contemporary recreational dance of the Ga people

24) Kpanlogo drums (three), Atenteben (bamboo flute), Medium Tamalin (frame drum), Axatse (rattle), Donno (hourglass drum), Axatse, Gankogui (double bell), large Tamalin

25) Kpanlogo was originally called "Lolo"

26) Gome Large Tamalin (frame drum), Gome drum, Bamboo clappers, Apentemma drum Small Tamalin (frame drum), Frikyiwa (metal castanet bell), Axatse (two), Donno (hourglass drum).

27) Kpatcha is a dance used in Puberty Rituals of the Ga-Adangbe people.

28) Membonophous----animal skin, atumpan,atsimeva, kidi,sogo

29) Chordophones------sepewa, ganje

30) Aerophones-----flute

31) Props aid visual effects.

32) Costumes help to enhance certain movement, impersonate, Tells the mood, extend the movements, For aesthetic purposes, It gives the theme of the dance, For identification, Costumes dictate the flow of movements

33) Dance Clubs, How are they formed,Names of Some Dances Club, Who are patrons, What does it take to have a dance group---costumes, drummer, dances, instruments, instructors, patrons.

34) Recreational Dances -----Kpanlogo, Bobobo, Atsiagbekor, Gome, Nama, Gida, Bawa, Agbadza, Adowa, Adenkum, Nagla.

35) Cult Dances ----Husogo, Koku, Soho

36) Social Dances -----Adowa, Kete, Klama, Takai

37) Occasional Dances----Adowa, Kete, Ohuesabe, Damba, Fontomfrom, Bamaya, Aksia

38) Religious Dances----- Kple, Nadu

39) Adowa has the famine factor whiles Fontomfrom has the masculine factor and Atsiagbekor has the monkey factor since it was said to have been performed by monkeys first.

40) Fontomfrom is for the royal it shows power and authority. Adowa is mostly performed by women.

A Free summary of the twa corbies

2008-01-26T04:12:00.001-08:00

The writer was walking all alone when he heard the twa corbies talking. How was the writer able to understand the language of the corbies?(Omniscient Narrator) One of the corbies inquires of the other where they shall have a feast. Probably it is the female Corby inquiring of the male Corby.

We learn from one of the corbies that a knight has recently been killed and nobody knows that he lies there but his hawk, his hound and his lady fair. This simply means that one of these characters killed the knight since they are the only ones who know where the slain knight lies and the corby speaking was the only witness to the event. Among these three characters it is the lady fair that has the highest chance to have killed the Knight, possibly through poison and not necessarily killing him in single combat during a duel or in fencing unless she was better than him in swordsmanship which is rather doubtful as he was a knight and also because women where discouraged from such sport.

We learn that his hound and his hawk are about their daily or normal activities while the lady fair has gone for another mate, thus the Corby speaking assures his mate not to worry that someone might discover the body and if I might add move it elsewhere or even worse burry it. The Corby speaking says this because the only person who can talk –the lady fair----and inform others of the tragedy has no intentions of doing so

We learn of the plans the corbies have concerning the dead knight

We learn that some where people are crying for his return but then none of them knows where he is and neither are they going to recognise him when the corbies have finished ripping out all of his flesh and leaving his mere bones bare to the wind.

Free Short Notes on Elements of Psychology

2008-01-24T14:23:00.001-08:00

Greek words---Psyche—Mind and Logos---knowledge or study.
Myers defines psychology as the science of behaviour and mental process. To Coon and Atkinson, et al, psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental process. Lahey also defines the subject as the science of behaviour and mental processes.
Other definitions----science of behaviour, scientific study of human and animal behaviour, scientific study of organisms and their behaviour.
Overt behaviour is any activity, action or responds which can be seen by others
Para psychology is about events which cannot be verified by a second or third party or through any of the known scientific methods.
Clairvoyance is the ability to see what is happening at a particular place at a certain time without having prior knowledge of the event.
Telepathy is thought transfer from one person to another without the mediation of any known channel of communication.
Precognition is the ability to perceive and accurately predict or foretell future events without having any prior knowledge.
Psycho kinesis is the ability of an individual to exert influence over animate and inanimate objects by will power.
Extra sensory perception.
Pseudo Psychology means false Psychology. They are practices which are giving the semblance of psychology but which in the real sense of the word are not. Egs. Graphology, palmistry, phrenology.
Graphology is the belief that an individual's handwriting reveals his or her personality and that it could be used to predict one's performance on the job.
Palmistry is the belief that the nature and pattern of the lines in an individual palm can be used to tell his destiny since it has something to do with his personality.
Phrenology is the believe that the bumps on one's head and the shape of one's skull determine one's personality, intelligence, and other individual characteristics.
Greek Philosophers such as Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle in the 4^th and 5^th century debated fundamental questions about human nature, mental life, perception and consciousness.
Plato believed that one could understand human nature and behaviour by asking the relevant questions and employing rational argument to arrive at conclusions.
Aristotle believed that observation, rather than mere logical argument is of critical importance in an attempt to understand human behaviour.
Description usually proceeded by observation and involves naming, classification and the provision of other details and characteristics of a given behaviour or phenomenon.
Understand means the ability to explain the factor/s of a given behaviour after a careful description.
Prediction is another goal with is the ability to foretell the occurrence of an event or behaviour on the basis of established principles or facts.
Control means changing the circumstance which influence behaviours or the occurrence of any given phenomenon.
Measurement
Six methods of acquiring knowledge----tenacity, intuition, rationalism, empiricism, authority and science.
Intuition occurs in the right hemisphere of the brain while logical thinking occurs in the left hemisphere. Intuition is the process of coming to direct knowledge or certainty without reasoning or inferring.
Rationalism refers to the use of thinking and logic to arrive at an answer.
Empiricism assumes that if something is experienced, then that thing exists hence the experience is valid and true and must be accepted. Seeing believes.
In Science empiricism refers to the collection of data using scientific methods.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Objectivity, free for bias, prejudice, personal expectation ect
Operational Definition means the procedure followed in measuring a concept must be clearly defined so as to allow concepts to be tested in real world terms.
Control
Replication is about the possibility of reproducing the same or similar result as arrived at by another person in his or her previous work----following the same steps, resulting in the same answers.

SCIENTIFIC ASSUPTIONS

Uniformity or Regularity---means there is order in nature and natural occurrences follow a certain known pattern and principles
Skinner asserted that science is a search for order, for uniformities and for lawful relations among events in nature.
Reality----there is a logical and rational basis for the existence of everything in nature
Rationality events which occur in nature could be understood through logical thinking since the is a rational basis for almost everything that occurs in nature.
Causation and Discoverability ----everything in nature has a cause and does not just happen. Discoverability is a natural sequence of the assumption of causation.

SCIENTIFIC STEPS OR PROCEEDURE.

Problem Identification which is preceded by observation
Review of Literature and hypothesis formulation-----a hypothesis usually expresses a relation between an independent and a dependent variable.
Study design----serves as a guide
Data collection and Data analysis-----the researcher makes observations and collects relevant data according to the procedure prescribed in the design.
Interpretation, Discussion and Conclusions---raw data does not make much sense and thus has to be analysed. Analysis however may take the form of simple data representation

FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Basic psychology deals with research and the accumulation of knowledge whereas applied psychology deals with application of psychologically knowledge in tackling practical problems.
Industrial or organisational psychology
Ergonomics-----deals with designing work tools, machines and equipment in line with human physiology and the demand of specific jobs with aim of facilitating higher productivity.
Environmental Psychology deals on the impact of human act on the environment and how the environment affects human behaviour.
Clinical psychology deals with diagnosis, classification, prevention and treatment of psychological disorders. It also helps peoples to make decision about life transmissions such as marriage, career ECT.
Counselling psychology deals with helping people to understand themselves and plan their lives as well as make informed decisions on issues of everyday life including education, career, and marriage. Ect
Community psychology deals with how communities could be assisted to promote their wellbeing.
Consumer Psychology deals with finding out the characteristics of product users, their needs, and preferences and how to satisfy them.

SUB AREAS OF UNDER FIELDS

Educational psychology deal with the dev. And evaluation of educational curriculum and programs, teaching and learning materials and the training of teachers.
School psychology deals with helping primary and secondary school students make informed decisions about life
Developmental Psychology is concerned about human development in terms of growth from birth to old age.
Comparative Psychology deals with studying animal behaviour focusing on its similar and differences as compared to human behaviour and primates.
Personality psychology studies individual unique characteristics and other factors that make a person different in many ways from others.
Social Psychology focuses on human interactions and behaviour in group setting.
Cultural Psychology deals with how ones cultural background deals with his behaviour in general
Experimental psychology relies solely on experiments in gathering information regards areas as sensation, emotion, communication, learning ECT.
Medical Psychology studies the relationship between stress, personality type, susceptibility to emotional breakdown and diseases as heart attacks, high blood pressure and ulcers. It deals with prevention and control.

IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH

Provision of information
Input for projects and policy decisions.

CHALLENGES OF RESEARCH

Funding----expertise, financial resources
Attitude of the Public
Lack of Professionalism----Professionalism means going about duty as the dictates of one's profession requires

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
Zimney (1961) defines a psychological experiment as objective observation of phenomena which are made to occur in a strictly controlled situation in which one or more factors are varied and the others kept constant.

Name of school	Subject Matter	Methodology`	Personality
Structuralism	Structure of the mind	Introspection	Edward Titchener, Wilhelm Wundt
Functionalism	Function of the mind	Observation Experimentation	William James, Charles Darwin
Behaviourism Gestalt	Observable behaviour,(stimulus and response	Observation	J B Watson I Pavlov D. F Skinner Thorndike
Behaviourism Gestalt	The whole organism, object.	Feature analysis, demonstration	W kohler K. Koffka M. Wertheimer
Psychoanalytic	Unconsciousness	Interviews Observation	Sigmund Freud
Empiricism	Personal experiences	Data collections, Interviews	Aristotle, john Locke

Manipulate the independent variable under study to find its effect on the dependent variable.

Experiment-----two or more groups of study, objective, systematic, hold constant all variables.

CONTROL OF EXTRAEOUS VARIABLES.

Remove, generalise among groups, randomization----is a technique that gives equal chance to a population as being included in a selected as participants for a study. Random assignment places the participant into groups by chance.

LONGITUDINAL STUDY AND CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Longitudinal study is a developmental field study that repeatedly measures the same characteristics in a single sample of individuals at selected time intervals
Cross sectional is a developmental field study that measures the same characteristics in representative samples of individuals at different levels or age.

SURVEY

Survey is a method of collecting standardised information by interviewing a representative sample of a given population
Survey process---identify the population, sample size,---ages, educational level sexes---- selection of respondents
Valid---able to tap information, reliable---the consistency in measurement over a period of time

A Free summary of Thomas the rhymer

2008-01-24T13:26:00.000-08:00

We learn that True Thomas was on a tree and looking at a road, wasn’t there anything important True Thomas could have been doing at the time or was he waiting for someone? He momentarily sees a lady riding down. Her skirt was green as the grass; her mantle was velvet in colour. There hang 59 silver bells around the neck of her horse, thus she drew attention to herself where ever she went on the horse since the 59 bells rung when the horse moved. Why where there only 59 bells? And why where there made of silver and not any other material? True Thomas shows her courtesy and claims that he had never seen someone like her before. We learn that the lady claims to be the queen of fair elf land and not anyone else, she however claims that see has come to visit True Thomas, let us note the key word VISIT.

The queen asks True Thomas to prepare himself and come with her. She doesn’t warn True Thomas not to kiss her lips, she however says that she would be part of True Thomas’s body if he did, thus she would be a part of him if he kissed her. She tells True Thomas to be careful with her since something weird shall never frighten or discourage her. She told him this because he had kissed her lips? Why did True Thomas do that, was there someone else in his life? We learn that because of the kiss True Thomas had to compulsorily go with the queen and serve her seven years. However the queen assures True Thomas of the possibility of unchangeable events

We learn that she gets unto her horse and help True Thomas up as well who sit behind her. Whenever the bells on the horse rung the horse sped up even faster than the wind. They went a very long distance to a desert The queen asks true Thomas to rest a while possibly because he was tried being the first time riding on the back of a very fast horse. She promises to show him three roads afterwards. The first road is the path of righteousness. It is narrow and has thorns and briers. Only a few people seek this path. The phrase path of righteousness alludes to the book of proverbs 12:28. On the path of righteousness there is suffering---thorns---and there is happiness as well—briers.

The other road is a broad road across lily leven, and is the path of wickedness, though some call it the road to heaven. Heaven is allured to in this stanza, however the queen tell True Thomas that some people are ignorant that the broad road is the path of the wicked since they endure no thorns---hardship on such a path. The third road is to fair elf land where the queen and true Thomas must go to in the very night. We learn that the queen gives True Thomas caution to be silent while in elfin land since he would not be able to return to his country after doing so.

The queen and True Thomas ride on and on through rivers and did not see the sun nor moon but heard the roaring of the sea. It was very dark and they went through blood, since blood that is shared on the earth passes through the springs of that country, how True Thomas sees the blood when he claims it was very dark. There is no evidence in the passage to tell us that the queen had told True Thomas about the blood. True Thomas is presented with an apple for his wages, an apple that would make sure he lives an honest life. True Thomas declares he is an honest man. True Thomas reassures the queen that he would be silent in elfin land. And endure all that would come his way. True Thomas we are told we are told changes his clothes to that worn in elf land and is seen in his own country 7 years later.

A Free Summary of Sir Patrick Spens

2008-01-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

Dunfermline town must be the capital
Why was the king drinking the blude-red wine? ---was it that he was enjoying himself or was it that he was not happy?
The King did not just point out that Sir Patrick spen should sail his new ship
The King inquires from whom?
The King has a new Ship

Who else was there when the eldern knight spoke?
Why didn't any one second the statement or disagree with the claim?
Or was it that it was only the king and the eldern knight that where there? If so why? Was he some sort of special advisor to the King?
Was Sir Patrick spans really the best sailor?

The seal of the king was on the letter, showing its importance.
What was Sir Patrick spens doing on the strand?
Sir Patrick Spens is ordered to fetch the king’s daughter of noroway.
Note that it was not said that this thou must bring her back, neither was it said that mine daughter of noroway, thus we can Say that the princes was not the daughter of the king sitting in Dunfermline town, thus the king uses home because the home of sir Patrick is where he is and thus the home used refers to Sir Patrick Spen's home.

Why was sir Patrick spens happy when he begun to read the letter? What fascinated him, let us take note that the first word "to" that Sir Patrick read he was happy but the next word "noroway" that sir Patrick read he was sad. Thus even before reading the rest of the contents of the letter Sir Patrick spens was unhappy. However if Sir Patrick Spens where suspicious about his king he wouldn’t have been happy from the start, unless he was not aware of it.

Did sir Patrick spens really want to know who had told the King about him, or was it that sir Patrick spens did not see himself to be that famous or was it that Sir Patrick Spens was of the view that whoever told the king about him was not thoughtful, but what if the eldern knight spoke on impose, that is without knowing what he had said out of a sense of duty or what if he said it without knowing the king was going to issue an order for a voyage during that Season? What if he had good intensions? What if the eldern knight did not even know that the king had written a letter to Sir Patrick spens afterwards? However was it that the king was ignorant of the season when he gave those orders or did he do it with evil intent.

Sir Patrick spens avows to accomplish his task. Was it possible for Sir Patrick Spen to have petitioned the king to Postpone the journey? What if the Kings daughter of noroway refused to go back with Sir Patrick Spens or what if the King of Noroway refused or was it that the King of Noroway was dead or was it that he and his daughter could not refuse? What did the King want with the king’s daughter of Noroway anyway? Would Sir Patrick Spens have to take force if the princes refused to come with him? How many men was Sir Patrick travelling with? Where they in procession of weapons?

They got ready on Monday and with sped made it to noroway on a Wednesday. How long did it take to make the trip, was the trip a safe one? The trip should have been safe since there was not report of any misfortunes.

Sir Patrick spens and his men had only spent two days in noroway when the lords of noroway begun to accuse them of steeling.

We learn that sir Patrick Spens and his men are Scottish and from the way it is said this implies that the lords of noroway where not Scottish. On what grounds did the lords of noroway have to state their claims, was this a false accusation? Was it that sir Patrick spens and his men where spending so much money in noroway? we learn that the king of noroway has more money that his queen. Sir Patrick Spens claims the accusations are false. He does not keep quiet about it. But why didn’t the king and queen of the lords of noroway make those accusations?

Sir Patrick Spens claims that he and his men brought much money from home with them.

Was it the original plan of Sir Patrick spens to sail in the morning or was it that he didn’t want to have more lies thrown at him or was it that he feared some form of prosecution in Noroway? Was Sir Patrick spens respected in noroway since he had come under the authority of his king? I think not if not he would not have been falsely accused. Why is Sir Patrick Spens describing his men as merry when they are been accused of theft? Is this to ginger his men to make them merry since they are sad or is this because his men are merry because despite the accusations they had completed part of their mission by acquiring the king daughter of noroway. Would Sir Patrick spens after coming so far not complete his assignment because he was been accused, I do not think so. However we are told of a deadly storm.

We are told of a bad omen, and that one of the crew members feels that they would be in danger if they sail on the scheduled day. there is however no account of another sailor repeating the same thing or disagreeing with it, Sir Patrick Spen himself does not verify or refuse the statement addressed to him, Why is this so?

They had sailed barely 5 kilometres---a league---- when they where hit by the storm.

Why did Sir Patrick Spens not call out the name of one of his crew to take the helm in hand rather than ask for such a person, why wasn’t there a quarrel so that the crew would want to take the helm in hand after all it was the captains duty to take the helm in hand. Wasn’t there someone whose duty was to spie land at the tall top mast or couldn’t Sir Patrick Spens order someone to see if they could spie land. However we notice the seriousness of Sir Patrick to dock his ship and go on land. If the princes was on board it would be highly unlikely that she would be on deck since most of the work done on the ship was done by the commoners and if was not allowed for the aristocrats that the commoners to socialised in those days even if the prince had wanted to come on deck she would have change he mind or advised to do otherwise since it was a deadly storm.

Someone steps forward to take Sir Patricks place at the helm but then the person suggest that sir Patrick wouldn’t spie land, why did the fellow make such a statement? Did he know better than Sir Patrick Spens in such matters?

We learn that Sir Patrick Spens had not covered the distance of two steps when a boat onboard the ship fell overboard and the sea water rushed in.

We learn that Sir Patrick Spens gives orders to salvage the ship and prevent water from entering it.

We are told that his orders are obeyed; we are also told that the ship was good thus it was strong. However the water still came into the boat, and this water entered with great force and pressure, thus the men who where around the place trying to salvage the ship had to struggle as the water rushed in.

This account closes the events of the storm. We learn that the Scots Lord did not want to wet their cock heeled shoon, but after the storm their hats where floating on the water.

We learn that some money was floating on the sea, was this money paper since if it where gold it would have sunk.

The wives of the crew are on the shore and are distraught

Very much like the pervious summary

The distance to Aberdeen is slightly more than 13 leagues and is 300 ft deep. Where sir Patrick spens lies with the scot lords------it should be taken into account that there is not mention of the commoners supposedly since they are the least ranked in the society, however if the prince of noroway was also on board there was no mention about her as well and this can be explain in a number of reasons first of which is that in those times messages where either sent through messengers riding on horse, a bird of prey such a hawk or sent overseas on a ship, supposedly the princes of noroway was onboard the ship the people of noroway wouldn’t have been able to communicate this to the Scottish people since a messenger and the bird of prey could have been killed in the storm or in the case of the messenger delayed, a ship would have sunk as that of Sir Patrick spens. Thus when this ballad was written no news concerning the princes onboard the ship of sir Patrick spens would have reached the Scottish.

Now supposing that there was treachery in this ballad who would be behind it and who would it have been against?. If the King of Scotland wanted the princes of noroway died was there no other way to kill her that inviting her during a bad season, wouldn’t it have been obvious to all that he wanted her dead? However what if sir Patrick spens and his crew had not made it to noroway in the first place? Would the Scottish king have sent someone else, or had the Scottish king previously sent someone who died on the way? What if the Scottish king wanted to kill sir Patrick spens? Wouldn’t there had been another way? What would he stand to gain? What was the relationship between sir Patrick Spens and the Scottish King?

A Free summarry of Fair Annie

2008-01-24T13:19:00.000-08:00

We are told that fair Annie’s is being told to learn to sleep alone since her husband is going overseas to bring a bride home. Fair Annie’s husband is only concerned about wealth; he only wants the wealth of his new bride.

Fair Annie’s husband is worried that he has no one to welcome his bride on his return. Is this actually true? Was there no aristocrat to welcome his bride on her arrival? Note that in those times as like in present times envoys and dignitaries to a country are greeted at the airport by high profile government official or persons

Fair Annie voluntarily accepts to perform this duty when her husband’s returns with his bride.

Fair Annie’s husband is however not satisfied and mentions the qualities of the one he wants to perform the duty in question.

Fair Annie however claims that she is not a maiden since she has already had 7 children and is even pregnant at the moment. Who was responsible for her pregnancy? We might say it is because of fair Annie’s condition that her husband denies her the chance to welcome his new bride. If however her husband was not responsible for the pregnancy then we might have a reason for his decision to go in for a new bride-------this is not started in the text-------- other than this it might be because fair Annie has lost or is loosing her patrician features

Fair Annie views her husband and his new bride from a distance while having two of her sons with her.

Fair Annie urges her eldest son to come where she is and look at his father and his new bride.

However her eldest son entreats her to come down from where she was before she commits suicide.

While she was getting down she sees part of her husband’s ship shine like silver

While she was still descending she came into view of the ship of the new bride and part of it shone like gold, this goes to show the differences in wealth between the two.

There is exaggeration hear as it is impossible to hold the hands of seven people. Fair Annie goes to meet her husband and his bride as they enter

She first of all welcomes her husband back and then she welcomes his new bride, not many women would be able to do what fair Annie did or was it Fair Annie intension out of curiosity to see how beautiful the new bride was as compared to herself

We learn that it is only the new bride that shows appreciation to Annie, how did the new bride know Annie’s name?; it is obvious that Annie’s husband had informed his new bride of Annie before their arrival or that Annie introduced herself by name. The new bride comments that Annie has the resemblances of a sister she has seen in a long time.

The new bride adds that the sister in question had been captured by a knight and taken away some time ago.

We learn that Fair Annie hangs 2 napkins to clean her tears.

We learn that fair Annie serves the long tables and in the process drinks the wan water to enable her get a grip on herself. This is ironic considering the word wan as it should make her dumb spirited.

We learn that as Fair Annie serves the tables she turns to wipe her tears from time to time. Note that humans cry when they are either happy or sad. Sadness is what is depicted her possibly as Annie recalls a time when she sat side be side with her husband while being served and how a new bride has come to take her place.

We learn that one of fair Annie’s son approaches her and wipes her tears

Fair Annie’s husband stands amongst his men---------was Fair Annie husband some sought of monarch of the bases of his men-------- turns himself about and declares which of two they admire, the old woman---fair Annie or the new bride.

After mass fair Annie husband and his new bride retire to their room.

Fair Annie then tries to go very close to their room to hear what they would say to each other or would do that night or both. Was it right for Fair Annie to do this? I reckon not however we learn that she was hurt very bad, she might have heard some uncomplimentary statements from her husband concerning her or she might have missed being in the company of her husband having being told to sleep alone.

Fair Annie claims that if her seven sons where seven young rats running on the castle wall and she where a grey hound, all her sons would soon be worried, in other words her sevens sons were not worried or concerned about what was going on. Why was this so? Was it because of fear of their father? There is no mention in the ballad that Fair Annie’s husband maltreated his sons. There is no stated conversation between fair Annie’s children and their father also. Did he keep away from them or did they keep away from him?

Fair Annie states that if her sons where hares and she was a hound they would be soon worried, thus it seems fair Annie was of the view that her children did not care about what was going on.

After this she decides to sing, but then she cries in the process and curses the man who has done her wrong? Which man is fair Annie speaking of and which wrong has been done her? Is possible that fair Annie is referring to someone else besides her husband?

The new bride momentarily goes to greet fair Annie.

Apparently this is because she has heard fair Annie make a sick moan. And wants to find out why

The new bride then inquires of fair Annie’s parentage and if she had a brother or sister.

We learn that the Earl of Wemyes was her father and the countess of wemyes was her mother. Fair Annie treats all others as her siblings around the house. Thus fair Annie was a noble. The new bride does not make a connection to her parentage.

The new bride decides to give her ships to fair Annie with 4 going to her eldest son, and thanks the powers in heaven that she would be returning still a virgin. It is probably that the new bride saw how she was going to end up living with her husband by learning from the experiences of fair Annie and decides to leave? We might be forced to wonder whether fair Annie’s husband would permit his new bride to return and abandoned him after being legally married to her after mass. Of what benefit where the ships to Fair Annie and her elders son?----was this done so that Fair Annie and her eldest son could trade it for money and be better of than their husband and father respectfully or was it to enable Fair Annie and her children escape?