Jemu's Life Encounters

HUG CHALLENGE

2017-05-18T02:59:00.000-07:00

In the next few days..I'm a starting #HugChallenge to go on till end of August. To start off, you are supposed to hug your people in the house and then when you are walking in the streets or in the matatu, or at work you are hereby challenged to hug the person seated next to you.

Hugs are boomerangs. You give a hug, you receive a Hug
You know that neighbour of yours you hardly talk to?
Hug him/her next time you meet.
This is my version of Nyumba Kumi.
Love one another as the Lord commanded
we are to show love to each other the way God loved us enough to die on the cross for our sins.

I'm not asking for much, just hugs really. Hug your child before they go to school. Hug your siblings and tell them they are appreciated. Hug your parents and bless them daily with prayer. Most importantly Hug your spouse.

Life has become so hectic that the truly important things that money can't buy are easily forgotten and are being replaced by the elusive chase to provide for the very same people you are ignoring. Parents especially. Getting enough money enough to buy that child gifts to assuage their feelings of neglect ain't the solution. Your most valuable gift is your time. Spend time with your children; with your family.

To teach your children your values, you gotta be there. Remember if you don't, someone else will. Society isn't as it was in our days. Life has changed so much. So before I drift away into another topic, let me emphasize the importance of those hugs you gotta give.

That hug will remind that person like the way the unga situation has, that we are one. We are one and regardless of our political affiliations. We are Kenyans first and foremost.

SO HUG AWAY DEAR LOVED ONES. HUG HUG HUG!

(give one, receive one..)

Of Blings and Dog Chains!

2016-03-21T07:44:00.000-07:00

Of blings and dog chains!

Of blings and dog chains
They swoosh and swish
Their brilliance blinding
Its luster, deeming an allure of poverty
Braces of dignity gone awry
Truancy legalized in fashion of acceptance

Of blings and dog chains
Tying our sons in valleys of slavery
Slavery to a dysfunctional society
Swooshing with shinning madness
Weighing down our norms
Embracing chains decorated with American stones

Nonetheless our culture of modesty
Thrown to the dogs as we adorn
The blings and chains of our modern society
Contemporary they say, contemptuous to grannies eyes
Her wizened eyes blinded by our blings
Bringing sadness to her face.

Goodbye to modesty of our past
Solidarity in gross and cruel modernization
Slamming away family norms and adopting the new hybrid hitlerhood
Of technology and misconstrued liberalism
A ticket to annihilation and democratic narcissism,
is our new world order of brotherhood.
brotherhood of blings and dog chains

That chain us to civilization
To betrayal in the name of ambition
a pursuit of self-actualization
That dooms the essence of community
Man, beast and environment all
Casualty of our self-realization.
Loss of inner grace and beauty
as we adorn our blings of modernization.
Entry of cosmetic self-esteem.
Yes, bringing tears to sweet grannyâ€™s eyes.

Trees are sanctuaries

2015-09-18T03:16:00.000-07:00

For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche. In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfil themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree. When a tree is cut down and reveals its naked death-wound to the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous, inscribed disk of its trunk: in the rings of its years, its scars, all the struggle, all the suffering, all the sickness, all the happiness and prosperity stand truly written, the narrow years and the luxurious years, the attacks withstood, the storms endured. And every young farmboy knows that the hardest and noblest wood has the narrowest rings, that high on the mountains and in continuing danger the most indestructible, the strongest, the ideal trees grow. Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life. A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail. A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live. When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from mother and home. But every step and every day lead you back again to the mother. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all. A longing to wander tears my heart when I hear trees rustling in the wind at evening. If one listens to them silently for a long time, this longing reveals its kernel, its meaning. It is not so much a matter of escaping from one's suffering, though it may seem to be so. It is a longing for home, for a memory of the mother, for new metaphors for life. It leads home. Every path leads homeward, every step is birth, every step is death, every grave is mother. So the tree rustles in the evening, when we stand uneasy before our own childish thoughts: Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.

“Be joyful in hope”- Romans 12:12

2015-09-18T02:59:00.000-07:00

When asked, at the end of his career, what great lessons he had learned from history, the great American historian Charles Beard answered, “I’ve learned four:

First – whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power.
Second- the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceedingly fine
Third- the bee fertilizes the flower it robs.
Fourth- only when it’s dark are you able to see the stars.”

Charles Beard was a hope-a-holic. So am I. I have an incurable, instinctive, impulsive tendency to surrender to hope. I know yesterday is a cancelled check. Today is cash in hand to spend as I want. And tomorrow is a promissory note from God almighty.
This hope will not disappoint. Our “hopes” may not all be fulfilled, but hope is its own immediate reward; it offers us the gift of unceasing optimism.

*****

Think about all the things in your life that give you a sense of hope. Next time you’re feeling discouraged or disappointed, read through your hope list and you’ll find renewed optimism.

2015-08-11T02:50:00.000-07:00

You asked to sleep with me but

you had no intentions of sleep.

Rather you craved something lively,

an intimacy quite deep.

I let you lye next to my body for

I wanted to feel how our forms touched.

I wanted to see if we fit, if by

you I was always meant to be clutched.

Plus I knew your skin was itching,

burning with a yearning to sense mine,

to explore and to learn, to create something sublime.

To, hopefully, inevitably slowly intertwine.

And just as we started the sheets began

to vibrate with a current of electricity

that hummed it’s way into us and spun

the bed spiritedly on the ceiling.

It was magic and

I couldn’t catch my breath

as you smiled, writhing yourself into my neck.

You asked to sleep with me but

you had no intentions of sleep, instead

you curled your fingers around my thighs

and whispered for me to gently spread.

As I did our lips danced between kisses and grins

and my whimpers twirled chaotically into your laughter .

and I knew each moment I was unraveling faster and faster

but I excused the present and would worry about the detriments after.

At that moment I just wanted the giggles.

I just wanted the escape of air,

the shimmer of lightheartedness

as if the pain in the past had never been there.

But it couldn’t be that simple and I should have been aware

of the intoxicating effects that you were breathing into the air.

If I’d left my mind outside and listened to my senses

I would have been better prepared

for the repercussions that would transpire

during this intimate affair,

for the professions I’d confess that I never meant to declare.

Because as my laughter grew louder so did my fucking heart

and between gasps of breath I uttered words of priceless value.

“I love you” poured from the depths of my river and began to drown you

in silence. You didn’t respond because there was no comprehension of how to.

And I could never blame you

because in my head I was just as confused.

But I had said the words and I’d said them to you

and I tasted them on my lips as they cascaded through.

Like every flavor of every fruit

mixed with pop rocks, I savored the traces of “I love you”.

And you may have gone silent but your face spoke to me.

The exertion from your orgasm left you vulnerable and on your knees.

I had said the words I love you and then you came in me.

You asked to sleep with me

but you had no intentions of sleep.

You kissed the top of my crazy head full of my crazy thoughts,

an act of compassion, of acceptance I’ve always sought,

a lesson in intimacy that I needed to be taught.

And then as my hands were lost somewhere under the covers

your fingers began to hunt like lonely, longing, lovers

until they grasped mine and then we grasped each other.

You asked to sleep with me

but you had no intention of sleep.

You laid there memorizing

while I laid on your chest to dream.

You wondered and you imagined

as you watched and idolized

and I am amazed by my delicate crystal

reflection coming from your eyes.

You asked to sleep with me and finally

you closed your eyes knowing what you would dream of

and I laid there in idyllic marvel as we both drifted off into love.

A REAL MAN

2015-08-11T02:05:00.001-07:00

A real man is not a person who can
impregnate a woman; any guy can also
impregnate a woman. Even a 17 year old boy
can impregnate a woman but that does not
make him a man.

A real man is not a person who is good in
bed. Any idiot can be good in bed.

A real man is not a person who beats his
wife/girlfriend. Infact it is only idiots that
beat their women.

A real man is a person who tolerates his
woman

A real man is a person who controls his
anger

A real man is the person who shows real
care and love to his woman

A real man is the person who knows how
to solve the crises and problems in his
relationship

A real man does not beat his woman

A real man is hardworking. He is not lazy

A real man can endure, persevere and be
patient

A real man can overlook the bad
behaviors of his woman

A real man corrects his woman with love.

Real men make their women happy.

Therefore, ladies, when choosing a man, date
real men only.
Marry real men only. If you are not happy in
your relationship now, that means your guy
is not a real man.!
Look beyond sex and money and go for
happiness and peace of mind.

Dear Son of my Countryman.

2014-10-06T06:06:00.000-07:00

Dear son of my Countryman Son of my many fathers I write to you brother who fights in the army

My prayers for your safety awaken me every morning
You who has taken that rifle to fight our enemy
And courageously stand guard to protect our Sovereignty, our borders and our integrity
I wanted to tell you how proud I’m of your parents To which it would be a lie.
A terrible lie
You see, son of my many fathers’
I knew your father once.
A brief interlude
But enough to spur events that would shape Two decades, going three of my life.
Yes, your father, the one whom you worship The one whose mantle, love, leadership brightened your horizon
Simultaneously tore my world and darkened my universe.
He, who gave your sister the life so charming, That she holds that scalpel with pride to heal,
He that mentored your brother to take that legal pen to protect the law.
Yes him, proud papa stole my youth in one brief interlude.
Now, as I celebrate my threescore, I hardly cry nomore
For my tears have turned to sighs, of what pride I did know
Now your sister celebrates, as I cringe before men
In him, the head, his big tummy of recognition and status,
Squeezed and pinned me on the ground with all his military might and experience
Yes the one who shaped the lawyer in my ‘other’ sibling took my right to scream that fateful day
With a knife on my throat, he thrust his bulk and ushered me to an abyss
Through him, I knew a beast had a fatherly form.
That smile of recognition could be a welcome to your special hell.
But alas, hello truly has ‘hell’ in it.
Now as you prepare to commence your union with your rib,
With lifes’ bounty, I bless you
May his second generation never meet one like him
For your daughter my dear brother may find one like him.
And in one swift interlude, her world may be ripped apart.
And find her innocence nolonger celebrated and youth tolerated.
Seeking numbness in ills ways and all trust alienated.
Dear son of my Countryman Son of my many fathers.

If only you could hear my thoughts God...

2012-07-01T11:35:00.000-07:00

If only you could hear my thoughts God They are full of pain Too much immeasurable agony Unending, unceasing Constant and raw I can’t escape the abyss of my heart Its become a home to torment To numb it, I keep running Seeking a hiding place A refuge But nothing can still the chaos No amount of sane methods can Leaving the unconventional That which leave my remaining soul More than lost Yes if only you could hear me Lord And feel my pain, without chastising me And answer! Then I would feel less of a monster And heed thy ways And follow thy paths of peace!

WHEN IT LOOKS LIKE I HAVE FAILED

2012-07-01T11:25:00.002-07:00

WHEN IT LOOKS LIKE I HAVE FAILED Lord, are you trying to tell me something? For……. Failure does not mean I’m a failure; It does mean I have not yet succeeded. Failure does not mean I have accomplished nothing; It does mean I have learned something. Failure does not mean I have been a fool; It does mean I had enough faith to experiment. Failure does not mean I’ve been disgraced; It does mean I dared to try. Failure does not mean I don’t have it; It does mean I have to do something in a different way. Failure does not mean I am inferior; It does mean I am not perfect. Failure does not mean I’ve wasted my time; It does mean I have an excuse to start over. Failure does not mean I should give up; It does mean I must try harder. Failure does not mean I’ll never make it; It does mean I need more patience. Failure does not mean You have abandoned me; It does mean You must have a better idea. Amen

If You Are WiSE

2012-07-01T10:12:00.001-07:00

If you are wise, you will forget yourself unto greatness. Forget your rights, but remember your responsibilities. Forget your inconveniences, but remember your blessings. Forget your own accomplishments, but remember your debts to others. Forget your privileges, but remember your obligations. Follow the examples of Florence Nightingale, of Albert Schweitzer, of Abraham Lincoln, of Mother Teresa, of Wang are Maathai, of Tom Dooley and forget yourself into greatness. If you are wise, you will empty yourself into adventure. Remember the words of General Douglas MacArthur: “There is no security on this earth. There is only opportunity.” Empty your days of the search for security; fill them with a passion for service. Empty your hours of the ambition for recognition; fill them with the aspiration for achievement. Empty your moments of the need for entertainment; fill them the quest for creativity. If you are wise, you will lose yourself into immortality. Lose your cynicism. Lose your doubts. Lose your fears. Lose your anxiety. Lose your unbelief. Remember these truths: A son must soon forget himself to long remembered. He must empty himself in order to discover a fuller self. He must lose himself to find himself. Forget yourself into greatness. Empty yourself into adventure. Lose yourself into immortality.

Jemu's Life Encounters: the way of the sun!!

2012-06-13T12:59:00.003-07:00

Jemu's Life Encounters: the way of the sun!!: The way of the sun The brightness of the sun, Though it borrows from the rainbow It surpasses not the radiance of your smile Nor nears t...

Jemu's Life Encounters: the way of the sun!!

2012-06-13T12:59:00.001-07:00

Jemu's Life Encounters: the way of the sun!!: The way of the sun The brightness of the sun, Though it borrows from the rainbow It surpasses not the radiance of your smile Nor nears t...

CHOOSE LIFE!

2012-06-13T12:33:00.001-07:00

If you are wise, you will forget yourself unto greatness. Forget your rights, but remember your responsibilities. Forget your inconveniences, but remember your blessings. Forget your own accomplishments, but remember your debts to others. Forget your privileges, but remember your obligations. Follow the examples of Florence Nightingale, of Albert Schweitzer, of Abraham Lincoln, of Mother Teresa, of Wang are Maathai, of Tom Dooley and forget yourself into greatness. If you are wise, you will empty yourself into adventure. Remember the words of General Douglas MacArthur: “There is no security on this earth. There is only opportunity.” Empty your days of the search for security; fill them with a passion for service. Empty your hours of the ambition for recognition; fill them with the aspiration for achievement. Empty your moments of the need for entertainment; fill them the quest for creativity. If you are wise, you will lose yourself into immortality. Lose your cynicism. Lose your doubts. Lose your fears. Lose your anxiety. Lose your unbelief. Remember these truths: A son must soon forget himself to long remembered. He must empty himself in order to discover a fuller self. He must lose himself to find himself. Forget yourself into greatness. Empty yourself into adventure. Lose yourself into immortality.

Poet

2011-11-04T04:56:00.000-07:00

I bend and flow with the moods.

I am what is the moment.

Emotions that run around run

Into me and collide in to my

Being and force themselves in me.

I become them; they become me.

Subjected to muses of

Infinite kinds.

I ride the waves of oceans

The temperature of the air

Changes the colours of my heart

moody and unpredictable

like butterflies in the desert

Maybe I'm Not Stable, But

2011-11-04T04:49:00.000-07:00

i never gave you our last kiss

it still sits upon my lips and weighs them down

so my mouth hangs open

catching the breaths of passing spirits

my throat becomes a vacuum for the devil’s voice

and i’ll spit it hot like lead, fire

a sparkling display of affection,

rejection and

revenge

you can wear my skin

but this kiss is mine

better than sex

here on my lips and i’ll suck

them back between my teeth

and chew them off

devil’s bile meets mine

this sweet kiss of ours

forever my own

to taste

I Bet You Taste Like Euphoria

2011-11-04T02:53:00.000-07:00

A speechless tongue can only phrase out

the muted utterances of a blush spread so thoroughly

throughout my veins as I anticipate your taste

like the wayward dust anticipates rain.

From these lips that smile untouched,

I implore you to lean forward through molten glass,

leaving me with the passionate burnings of

euphoria on the tips of our poetic fingerprints

as they imprint the profusion of a love between you and I.

To the Unversed Cynic

2011-11-04T02:43:00.000-07:00

Oh, bitter soul who looks askance at love,
eschewing heartfelt passion others feel,
you seem to deem love something you’re above;
but, you’ve just yet to harbor love that’s real.

Your penance shall be paid, and paid in spades,
when one day you may come to understand
such power, which no man might e’er evade,
as rests within love’s unspoken command.

Then you, who would not bow to spare your soul,
shall bow because you have no other choice;
for love, once felt, shall wrest away control
and, at its whim, you’ll weep or you’ll rejoice.

beautiful little sparrow

2011-11-04T02:32:00.000-07:00

Ah, hello, aren’t you a beautiful little sparrow?
Perched within the apple tree by my window,
Autumn, you ask, she’s run away with Winter,
She left naked branches for the cold to splinter,
Under the weight of the snow come and gone,
Such things like seasons, never last that long,
See, little sparrow perched on my apple tree,
Lovers like our dear Autumn, know only of leaves,
Of goodbyes on doorsteps and cracked records,
They don’t believe in harmonies, just discords,
For you, I suggest you seek out warm Summer,
She likes sweet fruits, and hammocks in slumber,
If not, may Spring contain what you fly so high for,
Grass fields in blossom are sceneries love adores.
So, beautiful little sparrow perched in my apple tree,
Although Autumn has left us, there is still reason to be.

misaligned or malicious?

2011-11-04T02:30:00.000-07:00

melancholies maddening malaise
pushed backed the start of my miserable morning
my mind a manic mess
making my mundane existence exacerbating
misaligned stars or malicious deity
seemingly making mischief
of my emotional maladroitness

to my smitten soul

2011-04-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

To my smitten soul
Captive to love
A blooming vision
A picture of distant lands and pitiful longing
Summer-clad and beautiful
Otherwise, that soul the vision withheld
It passing from life knowing its doom

prayer

2011-04-18T12:22:00.000-07:00

Most High God above, Creator of heaven and earth, endowed with wisdom and wealth. For ages, you have lived as the Ancient One, ruling and dispensing justice in our fallen world and called us to be yours through the reconciling sacrifice of your begotten Son. How awesome you are Oh God.

You have seen the struggle of your devoted servants. Watching over them in their struggles; providing comfort, strength and all kinds of blessings Oh great provider. In Your Providence, your love spoke in the most beautiful tones. In your long-suffering, your servants learned mercy in your endless deeds extended to fallen man. Remembering that your creation was mere dust and that without your breadth in them, they would cease to be.
I’m amazed Oh Great Redeemer by you. I cry as I meditate on your amazing grace. You are indeed worthy of all praises. I say this day thank you mighty God for everything you have done for me and my loved ones.

I pray this day Oh ancient One beseeching you to grant us wisdom and favor to understand more your nature and marvel at your beauty. Help us put off our masks of folly, disgrace and sin and help us wear your spiritual eyes so that our spiritual sight is improved and we will be able to see deep into your awesome nature.
This way we will be able to walk into your presence and offer our thanksgiving unto You Heavenly Father and with purity walk in your garden of honor. Deliver us from troubles and heal our wounds. Mend our broken hearts and bind our wounds this great day Oh Lord!

Help us reach a place where we long for you and all that is of you Oh Lord. For your word says you satisfy those that thirst and hunger for you.
This, my prayer I offer unto you Oh Mighty God giving thanks to Jesus My Lord and Savior!
Amen!!

phases

2011-04-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

He wears a large cream belt,
Nothing outstanding, everything outstanding
A white shirt, all about genuine superiority
A jerky hand straightening his red jersey
Screaming misplaced authority
Black shoes, a whitish grey tie and torn black socks
Something about orderly disorderliness

Scribbling something in a piece of paper lying on the ground
He finishes and hands it to the petite girl
Arms way from him, and with a familiar smile about his face
With delicacy, she picks it as though a hundred dollar bill
A blush barely noticeable, embarrassing its audience
I the witness to this contract of intimacy

On his confidence I wasn’t in doubt
On his love, I was in doubt,
On her love, I wasn’t in doubt
In the purity of it all, I was embarrassed to witness
Yet that’s the order of love and loss of innocence
In the quest for companionship
In fulfillment of our fated phases.

darling

2011-04-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

To you the darling of my love,
Comrade of my joys
Comforter of my small grief’s
What joy to behold thy love;
The oil of gladness
Truth be told, mind made fool to
The steadfast tick of the heart
Peacefully beating nearer
Churning a rhythm
Fine-tuned to its owner alone
And her beloved

the way of the sun!!

2011-02-12T04:39:00.000-08:00

The way of the sun
The brightness of the sun,
Though it borrows from the rainbow
It surpasses not the radiance of your smile
Nor nears the bright shine of those diamond eyes
Their clarity casts a time spell
And brings my horizon nearer
Turning my tomorrow; today

Like a burning ingot, my heart burns within
Giving flames to my love
Beating to praise thee beloved’
Chariots of love it carries
Lover of thee my knight!

Forget not the mystic rays,
Touching your feet making magnificent Atlas
A valet in disguise, for I ride not in skies
As you my beloved, are, my paradise…

By: jemu90

CONSUMER RIGHTS LAW

2011-02-12T02:35:00.000-08:00

The other day my colleague bought himself a nokia phone, the ones that are on display in almost every electronic shop across Kenya. Going by appearance, the phone surpassed its advertised standards. Loaded with internet, polyphonic ringtones fm radio, Bluetooth, and many other features its label said. Sadly however, that was not what impressed my colleague. The price of this gadget was the bait. The phone with all its supposed features it boasted of coasted only Kshs 2000/.
That should have raised question marks to my colleague as the adage goes, cheap is expensive but what can I say…we are Kenyan and our love for freebies and cheap things is infinite. So you might all guess the sad ending of the story. Yes, you are correct; the phone’s lifespan was shorter than its warranty.

This brings me to the point of discussion on consumer protection law in our country. This is basically about consumer rights. Consumer Law - Consumers are defined as individuals who purchase, use, maintain, and dispose of products and services. Consumers are users of the final product. These individuals are entitled to four basic rights before their purchase of their final product. The right of choice, price, product and the most important one, the right of information.

Consumer rights are now entrenched in the constitution of Kenya. This means that they have been accorded paramount recognition and cannot be denied by anyone. The constitution states that consumers have the right to quality goods and services; they have the right to information so as to gain benefit from goods and services. These rights should be adequate to guarantee protection of health, safety and economic interests. They compensate for loss from defective goods and services and state that consumers have a right to fair, honest and decent advertisements.

From this we expect to see improvement of quality in goods and services, increased competition in the market place, and increasingly sophisticated consumer and a change in advertising strategies. However from statistics of the massive abuse of consumer rights witnessed since the enactment of the new constitution, one cannot be pessimistic to a certain extent. We have witnessed deaths brought about by the local liquor (chang’aa), the entry of massive fake electronic products not to mention the generic prescription drugs entering our country through the black market. Even with the correct institutions such as the Kenya Bureau of Standards fully mandated with the jurisdiction of certifying products before they reach the consumer, there are still so many cases of blatant disregard of the law of concerning rights and protection.

The buck doesn’t stop at placing labels and mentioning the ingredients of the product. The consumer should be fully guaranteed of the safety of the product. A commission charged with Consumer Product safety should be formed. A counter agency that works alongside Kenya bureau of Standards charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. It should be committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. The agencies work should be to ensure the safety of consumer products –such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals which have caused a large number of deaths.

Consumer protection laws are designed to ensure fair competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors and may provide additional protection for the weak and those unable to take care of themselves. Consumer protection laws are a form of government regulation which protects the interests of consumers. We should remember however that a good law is as good as nothing if not adhered to.