SO, I’m taking time off from work to blog about this real quick. It’s been so outrageous that I can’t just sit back and let it slide. For those of you who don’t know, “Almighty” political activist, “defender and speaker for ALL black people”, Jesse Jackson was caught bad mouthing Obama on none other than Fox News this week. Once again, after Jeremiah Wright, Jackson’s exact words (while he thought the mic was out, like that can ever be an excuse especially on the TV set) :

Jackson made the comments to a guest before an interview on Sunday’s “Fox & Friends,” whispering that Obama was “talking down to black people” and that Jackson wanted to “cut his nuts off.”

Really! and that’s coming from a civil rights activist, who is supposed to be part of Obama’s team. It’s his inherent right not to approve and to criticize Obama, even not to endorse him if he’d like. But it is outrageous and deeply disappointing to appear this vulgar and tasteless. The remark made no sense whatsoever! What is there to talk about cutting off someone’s privates just because you disagree with one of his speeches.

If he was the grand man he pretends to be, he would’ve picked up his phone and raised the issue with Mr Obama himself rather than trash talking.

Bottom line, I think Jackson is a hater. And even Al Sharpton has never fully endorsed Obama. And by all means, don’t endorse him just because he’s black. They feel he’s not black enough or doesn’t represent blacks fully enough. Well Misters, that’s exactly what O’s intention. Not be someone who’s gonna cater to one race and not the other.He’s neither too black, neither too white. It’s the president of the United States they’re electing. Had he taken the same mistaken route them both took, well he wouldn’t be where he is, would he! And most someone remind them African Americans are still a minority in this country.

Lay off the hatorade and jump on the bandwagon… 

 Constructive criticism please. Otherwise, well just shut your mouth! Mr Jackson is IRRELEVANT anyway. So guess what, this’ll all be forgotten in the next couple of weeks for Obama. But Jackson’s legacy will forever be marred by this vulgar, irrelevant, jealous remark, just like him.

Laterz,

Dark & Lovely.

It’s been ages my people!

SO… I kinda got dragged into watching Hancock yesterday. I love Will Smith to death, but from watching the previews, and given the bad critics, I was not even remotely interested in watching this one. Fortunately, (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it), the preview does not do the movie any justice. It is much more than what is shown from the preview but there is one big twist that you don’t expect and I guess they could not translate in the preview at the risk of revealing the whole plot.

There are heroes, there are superheores and then there’s… HANCOCK

 The movie stars Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman.

Of course Will is his usual funny self. Witty and full of hella funny one liners. Charlize is dazzling and out-of-this-world-sexy. (It’s almost unfair “creatures” like that even exist. She looks like a drawing (in a good kinda way!) Jason Bateman was actually able to stood his ground and didn’t get overpowered by Will nor Charlize, which is a great task all by itself.

GOOOO see it. You won’t regret it. I liked Iron Man better, but don’t just judge the movie by its trailer, because it is so much more than just about a drunk, fallen super hero. The twist is banging and what you see in the preview makes for only about a 1/4 of the movie so there’s much more to see… And trust me, there will be a sequel… So you don’t want to be running around looking for the first one next summer when that comes out!

“Hancock” drew $107.3 million over the 5 1/2 days since it began previewing Tuesday and officially opened Wednesday in 3,965 theaters, exceeding expectations of an $80-million haul, the studio said.

 

Enjoy,

M.

OH MY GOD! Im going crazy and loosing sleep over this song. I actually love the song. The lyrics? It’s something else… I received this at work and ive been watching it over and over and over! I just can’t stop..for the french speakers… YOU HAVE TO WATCH this…you’ll die laughing!

Guinean music is one of my favorite… and this one tops them all.

My favorite line (I know it by heart now): Je l’avais pose ma candidature, elle m’avait assepte…

Un beau jour tres tot matin quand je me suis levé dans mon sommeil, je me promenais dans la ruiiie… je me suis meme approché d’elle et je L’avais posé ma candidature, elle m’avait ASSEPTé… je t’aime comme une fleur tres brilante… Est ce que poulet braisé a perdu feu, je dirais bien que non, il a deja ete grille..ti ris ti ris tiris ti ris…

 

Malhereusement, jai tellement ecoute la chanson que mon pere est persuade que j’ai un copain guineen qque part…

LOVE IT!

Was tagged by Eva… so here it goes

I could send you my email inbox for a start. But honestly except for work and school… well, calling back the 100 million missed calls I’ve had this past week or two.. I’m so bad with keeping up with phone calls. Some sleep would be nice instead of going out to diners and working…

3. Snacks I enjoy?

Gosh, so many. First and foremost FIGOLU (that Ichoom sends me on a regular basis when she can, thank you milles fois meme si je me plains tjrs que ce n’est pas assez), Almonds, Petit Ecolier, anything with NUTELLA on it, pretzels, ICE CREAM: Haggen Dasz pine of Cinnamon dulce de leche… hum hum hum…

4. Places I’ve lived?

Dakar, DC, Geneva

5. Bad habits

Like I said earlier waiting till the last minute to do stuff… not so patient … Stubborn as hell and waaay too proud! (I’ve had so many remarks about “ma fierte mal placée, thank you very much!)… and apparently, according to some people I will not name, I’m loud, which I completely disagree with…

6. Things I’d do if I were a billionaire?

Set up my own humanitarian foundation, travel around the world with my kids and husband (not that i have any for now, and granted they’d want to come with me), going around the globe, do as much humanitarian setting up education, public health, and women empowerment programs…

7. People I want to know more about?

No one I can think of!

That was me in 7 questions…

M.

(Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve… for the french speakers!)

On my way home from work yesterday, I stopped by Borders to get yet another Coelho. Ended up getting “By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept” (I’ve updated the “Readings” page). I found another book though by Ellyn Spragins: WHAT I KNOW NOW; Letters to My Younger Self.

If I HAD Known THEN, What I know NOW!

What if you were given the opportunity to put a letter in a time capsule and sent back to your younger self, knowing what you know now. Needless to say we all go through ups and downs in life and sometimes looking back on it we wonder why we reacted, said or decided a certain way. Sometimes you go through things in life and think the world is coming to an end if it doesn’t go your way. Everyone goes through ups and downs, yet we all tend to give way too much importance to the downs and take the ups for granted.

In this book, Spragins interviewed multiple successful, powerful, glamorous and exceptional  women. Each wrote a letter to their younger selves about life in general: Madeleine Albright, Maya Angelou, Phylicia Rashad, Queen Noor …to name a few (41 in total). In thinking about these women, we automatically think success, toughness, good choices and forget as fellow human beings they’ve experienced heartbreaks they though they would never recover from, betrayals in friendship, unwanted pregnancies, death taking a loved one prematurely, failure in professional life, changing yourself and clinging to superficial things to fit in… The letters get personal because each chooses a trying moment in their life and address the letter to that particular moment looking back with wisdom, calm and patience, advice you wish you had gotten. Basically, Knowing what i know now, you’ll be alright.

In the end, it’s not about making the right choice all the time, because if that is your goal, you will undeniably fail. It’s about knowing to live with your choices and letting them make you stronger, bigger and brighter.

What these letters offer… is hope- hope that those who read them will understand that there is a future where the road not taken is no longer regretted, and, in the end, the choices we make, make us who we are.

 

 

It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Till later, Endure when you Must, Enjoy when you Can!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh….

Allright no results yet, but you can only imagine my excitement. I do have an exam tomorrow I have to study for… but hell, this is once in a lifetime event! TONIGHT’s THE NIGHT!

Forget the “Clinton-VP” talk and how she lost the nomination. Her speech was actually the worst she’s ever said: bitter, sour, sad, empty, irrelevant… It actually angered me how out of touch she was with reality. It’s like she’s the only one who hasn’t gotten the memo: HE WON! So please, let’s stop talking about “Who’s the stronger candidate” the people and the delegates have chosen and IT’s NOT YOU!. I actually think she’s the worst thing that could happen to women. I mean imagine next time a woman tries to run for office… Clinton has made her campaign so emotional, divisive, moody, needy and relentless (in an ugly way), such a disservice to women, it’s as if she did not realise this is bigger than her. Ultimately, he represented the African american race to the fullest. Winner or loser, the african american community would’ve come out of this victorious because of the magnificent campaign he’s run. Anyhow, strong arming the nominee to pick you as a VP is seldom an effective idea. By saying “the 18 mil people who voted for me need to be respected” #%^& Please. There’s better ways to go about it than forcing yourself onto a ticket. I was honestly starting to take pitty and thought maybe she might be a good enough pick for VP, then I listened to her speech and that reminded me, like I could’ve forgotten, how vile and bitter she is. Her speech and tone were both disappointing and infiruiating. For her not only not to acknowledge his victory, but to still claim she’s the stronger candidate is simply to dismiss the hisoric moment yesterday night represented. Grace is what she needs, and a reality check! A vote for Clinton does not ultimately mean a vote against Obama, so it’s not like he has to rally 17 million people from Clinton to him. Most of them would vote for him, some need more convincing than others, but they would vote for him against McCain.

There are so many reasons why he shouldn’t pick her: the Bubba effect (Bubba for Bill, his new nickname used in that unfair Vanity Fair article that is coming out in the July issue that he is so mad about, and rightfully so) he’s just too much of a narcissistic force; she sounds like she wants to fight Obama more than to support him, independents and especially Republicans hate her guts, and most importantly, she just represents everything he said he was going to fight against: old politics. How do you explain to your constituency you went for the one thing you claimed you would fight all throughout your campaign?

But, this night is not about her, it’s about him and the fantastic speech he delivered, as expected. He looked so presidential in the 20,000 people arena while McCain just looked pathetic with his 2000 people and his green “Leader we can believe in” ripped-off slogan. Obama got emotional at the end of his speech and I swear he looked like he was about to shed a tear. This is history in the making. Looking at the bigger picture, because this is bigger than Obama, imagine teachers, parents and minorities in inner cities and how inspirational this is. If he can do it, then maybe the system is not all that meant to just keep you and minorities down. I’m not saying it’s perfect and fair, but this makes it look possible. Who would’ve thought!

In the end, let us rejoice… Enough of Hillary! This is O’s moment.

Happy Bday Anderson… (I have such a crush on him.) And he’s 40 tonight!

Back to my “theory of Economics” studying… I’m nowhere near done. This is going to be a long night!

Tchuss,

M.

Fashionistas, Fashion Victims and Wannabees…

That’s mostly what we found at the movie theater yesterday night for the much anticipated Sex and the city premiere. There were about 4 or 5 guys in the theater alltogether, and we know what team they belonged to…nothing wrong with that!

I wasn’t really thrilled about going to see the movie because of the hype, the previews and the critics. I was expecting a chick flick with women screaming girl power… and that’s exactly what we got, except not in such an obvious way. The 4 women reunite and brag about the joys of New York City and true friendship. Kinda makes you wanna move to NY. Truth is, I thought the movie was great. Yes, yes I will admit it at the fear of sounding corny. I though it was a good movie,  much better than I expected. Now, if you went thinking you were about to watch a philosophical movie about life and its tribulations, then you were in for some major deception. But if you went to watch a lighthearted movie, with some heavy moments (breakups, cheating, betrayal…) with some cheering and some boos… the crowd kept ooohing and aaahing, then it was a great movie. And the fashion in the movie: my lord, the women just looked FaBuLous!

 Hum hum hum… Chris Noth aka Mr Big. Ohhh how a man in a nice cut suit can just make you go WOW! Something about him just does it!

Oh the pains and joys of love. Overall, it was a blast watching the movie and somehow, each and every one of us can identify with one of the character’s experience at some point in time. Jennifer Hudson plays Carrie’s funny and endearing assistant. And, on top of all, I have to admit, you come out of the movie thinking… Yes Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and oh so fair skinned Miranda made me think.

What did I learn you’d ask? NEVER SETTLE. No ones wants to be 40 and single. But still, since no one wants to go through divorces ( Eva sent me an article about how 1 in 4 marriages in Senegal end up in a divorce) and it’ll take the time it takes, but it’ll come. Know yourself and your value and love it all. Love and life with your loved one is complicated as it is to add doubt on top of that. So Amen to love, and Amen to friends that get you through hard times and celebrate you during happy ones. Now, there might’ve been other lessons, but what i got from the movie was mostly that… and cultivate true friendship. It’s all worth it…

I give the movie a 2 thumbs up and a B+. Everyone I’ve talked to so far LOVED the movie as well. So run see it! … And guyz too: no shame in sharping your game!

AMBITIOUS… such a loaded word!

So my morning at work started great. There’s been an email going around announcing internal movements and my name was in there. So I came to work to find a flury of emails and voicemails congratulating me. Feels Great! Then, I meet 2 colleagues in the hallways and one of them says, “well congrats, I hear you’re moving to bigger and better things. That’s great. I’ve always known you would be somebody and I wouldn’t be surprised seeing your name in some headlines in a magazine in a couple of years.” Nice compliment right? Until the other one drops “oh so you’re one of those?”… “One of what?”… “You know, ambitious and all”…

Luckily, the other guy replied, “no, she’s got her head in the right place and her heart is too big for that!”    … Otherwise I might’ve just ripped his heart out!

But I’m still mad as hell…

Like that’s a bad thing. I guess ambition has become synonymous to cut throat. People cringe and become weary of someone “ambitious”. Somehow, it’s not the first time I’ve been called that but it’s never rang such a negative response. Ambitious yes, BUT WITH a good attitude!

I was raised to become and want to become somebody. doesn’t mean I’m gonna stoop to malicious tactics to get there. It will all come at the right time and the right place with hard work and staying positive.

That was me ranting… Back to work now and to my cheerfull self!

“Give me a lever long enough, and I shall move the world. ~ ARCHIMEDES

M.

Oh the sweet smell of victory. Kobe and the Lakers done did it yesterday night. San Antonio lead during the 3 first quarters thanx to Parker (the ball player I hate most after Paul Pierce & Ben Wallace) and lead by as much as 20 points in the middle of the 3rd quarter. But that was counting out Kobe who all of a sudden transformed and made the Lakers, along with Pau Gasol, come back with an amazing 24-13… Any team that can keep SA from scoring deserves to win. So much for teamplaying Kobe, see how it WORKS!

And hey, Phil’s the coach, what’d you expect. I wish he gets his ring this year. That’ll shut all those who claim he could never do it without Shaq. And that’ll give me hope that DWade can do so as well.

Anelka and Terry… What have you done? I mean this was one of the best games I’ve watched in a long time. Really! 1-1 before the break, and same afterwards until they had to go to penalties. And they both played terrific games. Man Utd dominated the 1st half, and Chelsea the 2nd. They both deserved to win at that point but I’m not gonna lie, I was rooting for Chelsea. First off because it’s Drogba’s team, though he really messed it all up when he slapped Vidic. Second, because Man Utd got my team kicked out (yes, I’m still bitter about Barcelona not making it!).

Ahhh… so Anelka and Terry missed their penalties, and there goes our cup. The Reds have done it again, though C. Ronaldo missed his penalty too.

Oh well, better luck next year, and we’ll keep rooting for L.A. Hopefully, they make it to the end, WITH the happy ending.

75,000 people. That’s never been heard of. (Barack held the previous record, but that was (only) 30,000. It must be scary and empowering at the same time to be talking to such record turn out crowds. Secret Services must be pulling their hair on this one! 

W.O.W.

I had the hardest time getting to sleep last night. I watched this documentary on HBO called The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo by Lisa Jackson. when I finally got to sleep, I dreamed of armed men with machetes and guns! Awful!

Anyhoo, the documentary was about an hour and so and it was already pretty late. Seeing these filthy pigs, wouldn’t even want them to lay their eyes on me, let alone hands or anything else. On top of being animals, they are probably the stupidest people you’ll ever meet. At one point, Lisa interviews ex Mai-Mai soldiers (who have been known for being the most barbaric of soldiers, along with Interharmwe fighters),  claiming they rape for power. Because according to their “cult” raping a women, gives you strength against the enemy. Though most claimed they would kill anybody who’d dare rape their sisters or mothers, some actually went as far as claiming that if it’s for other soldiers to get stronger, they would let it happen and not interrupt, for the greater good of the Congo. Well if that’s what it takes, then F#&k Congo. Really!

The biggest problem and the main reason all this violence is widespread is because it’s not just  Congolese rebels fighting the army, the Ugandans and Rwandans are part of the fight as well. And they’re all guilty. Do you imagine these men reintegrating society? They’re animals. There’s no way they sould still be breathing, let alone given a chance to get back to normal life. If you ask me, just drop a nuclear bomb on Congo. You’d kill these animals, innocents wouldn’t live in fear, and victims would be better off than to have to live with these scars. Because they don’t just rape, they mutilate, burn, cut off body parts and make their victims eat their relatives. Who’d want to live after that? Most of the atrocities are uncomprehensible. After you get past the explanation of men living in the bushes and having “urges”, you still can’t quite grasp the need to cut open a pregnant woman’s womb to kill the baby with their bare hands after they’ve cut off the husband in pieces, all in front of the kids to watch.

Winner of the Sundance Special Jury Prize in Documentary, this extraordinary film, shot in the war zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), shatters the silence that surrounds the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. Many tens of thousands of women and girls have been systematically kidnapped, raped, mutilated and tortured by soldiers from both foreign militias and the Congolese army. A survivor of gang rape herself, Emmy Award®-winning filmmaker Lisa F. Jackson travels through the DRC to understand what is happening and why.

 

 

Ways to help? Here are links to some organizations that do allievate victim’s suffering:

ON THE GROUND
Women for Women International - Restoring Hope
Women for Women International helps rebuild the lives of women in war-torn regions through financial and emotional support, job skills training, rights education, access to capital, and assistance for small business development. This Crisis in the Congo page includes links to personal stories of survival, a report on the status of women in the Congo, a fact sheet on the Congo, and updates on programs run by the organization.

International Rescue Committee - The IRC in Democratic Republic of Congo
This global network of first responders, humanitarian relief workers, healthcare providers, educators, community leaders, activists, and volunteers provides access to safety, sanctuary, and sustainable change for people whose lives have been shattered by violence and oppression. The website includes links to reports on sexual violence in the Congo, descriptions of the group’s humanitarian aid programs, and video and photographic reports from the region.

Human Rights Watch - Congo
This NGO aims to protect the human rights of people around the world by supporting efforts to prevent discrimination, uphold political freedoms, investigate and expose human rights violations. The website includes links to briefings and papers on war crimes and human rights violations, as well as a multimedia presentation on the Katanga province known as the Triangle of Death. For more information, read a report entitled Triangle of Death.

Panzi Hospital, Bukavu
Under the guidance of Dr. Denis Mukwege, the General Referral Hospital of Panzi offers treatment to the victims of sexual violence from all over the Congo. The website includes background information on medical treatment, psychological care, socio-economic assistance, and daycare for children of survivors provided by the hospital.

United Nations: Mission in the Congo (MONUC)
Established by the United Nations Security Council to facilitate the implementation of the Lusaka Accord signed in 1999, MONUC is authorized by the UN to ‘protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence and contribute to the improvement of the security conditions.’ In 2007, the UN also created UN Action a joint initiative of 12 UN entities with the goal of preventing sexual violence and responding effectively to the needs of survivors. For more information, visit Stop Rape Now.

Oh My! I plead guilty! guilty as charged. I’ve stopped watching reality TV a while ago. BUT this season of the Bachelor got me glued to my TV every Monday night. Matt Grant, the British Hunk looking for love is the reason. I’m disappointed though, that in the end, he chose (who I think was) the wrong girl for him, Shayne. I mean he’s smart, funny, witty, successful and good looking and oooh..the way he dresses…, so why end up with the needy, immature, clingy pseudo actress from the cover magazines. Granted, I thought she was pretty decent, but still not good enough for him! He made it seem like he was looking for the real deal, but his decision yesterday night was the opposite of that!

Matty, what have you done?

We wish them well! There won’t ever be a better looking and funnier Bachelor, so this is the last season I watch…

And the award goes to… IRON MAN. Went to see it this saturday night. I was screaming even at the end of the credits. Loved it! The movie had the 2nd best opening of all times, that’s gotta tell you something!

First off, as much as I love Robert Downey Jr (and I mean, luv luv!), I still wasn’t sure about him playing an action hero given his previous roles. But the man, outdid himself, as always. He was great, better yet… fantastic. No one could’ve played it better than him! The wittiness and sarcasm made him funny as hell!

Robert “Iron Man” Downey Jr…

 Overall, the movie is great, the actors (though my choice of a leading would’ve been someone other than plain-jane Gwyneth Paltrow), the special effects, the plot, the dialogues were amazing and Tony Stark’s humour is what did it for me…I loved it all.

On top of all that, what I loved even more was beyond the obvious great plot and acting, the underlying dilema Tony Stark goes through when he realises his weapons are actually not used to fight for peace as many arms dealer would claim, but rather inciting and into the wrong hands killing and destroying more than helping. So he goes from heartless industrial weapon marchant to building a conscience and decides to take matter into his own hands and repair the damage him and his company are responsible for.

Anyhoo, like I said… THREE THUMBS WAAAAY UP!

…

Exciting News:

May 13th…

“Iron Man 2“
Release date: April 30, 2010
Lowdown: This franchise has always been planned as a trilogy, and you can expect everyone to return and for Terrence Howard (aka War Machine) to get a lot more screen time.

Allright, no more Hillary bashing. I actually don’t have to do that anymore. She is toast…burned…done! I actually almost feel bad for her. …Wait…. naaaah! I don’t. It was about time. Everyone’s declared her demise, except for her. We don’t even hear Bill anymore. Boo hoo!

Anyway, time is not for revenge or stomping her. Victory for the first battle is done. Focus…focus. The long road to presidency is ahead, and i’m confident. McCain… really, McCain. Not that there is nothing to woory about, because his only way of winning is not trying to be more charismatic than Obama, to which even Hillary, the once hailed emblem of feminism, miserably failed. His path to victory is in default votes. Those that Obama cannot persuade, who even if a prophet endorsed Obama would not vote for him, for reasons beyond his speeches, policies and values.

Other than that… I still think he’s a favorite. Let’s hope he keeps running his campaign as he’s done up until now. no doubt McCain with all of his hot temper would not stoop to Hillary’s lows. Call McCain what you want, he’s proven above that. Or so I hope!

Just when his name was removed from the US Terrorist list (that was 2 weeks ago and Secretary Rice apologized for that!), to celebrate his 90th birthday, Madiba is going to be in London in June (27th). Proceeds will go to his Aids charity, 46 664 (his prison number) and performers will include: U2, Annie Lenox, Sugababes, Andrea and Sharon Corr, Eddy Grant, Italian star Zucchero and Spainish group Amaral, while Queen will perform with vocalist Paul Rodgers, Amy Winehouse and many other surprises!

Anybody who registers on the 46664 website before 1800 BST on Tuesday will be able to buy pre-sale tickets from 0900 on Wednesday, before they go on general sale at 0900 on Friday.

Wish I could be there!

In other news,

KOBE IS MVP!