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It's been the last week before my birthday again. I'm past the age where I celebrate birthdays. So I basically spend my birthday these days looking for signs of ageing. Any one of them. gray hairs, aching bones, arthritis, if you can think it, name it. So I usually attain paranoia in this week. Ageing has been working for me people. I can't complain. Can't even go back to yester years. This current years are so much sweeter. If it keeps up like this, I'm going to be an old happy lady one date far away from today.

I buried a friend this week as well. Not really buried her, attended her funeral service. Her funeral is in Kenya today. She died from cancer at the tender age of 35. She fought all the way to the end and I'm sure that she's in a better place now. God rest her soul in eternal peace.It's sobering. And it gives us all a reason to celebrate our birthdays old or not. Look what the alternative is.

And of course I had to increase to my woes. I put the largest dent possible on my fender and my bumper is damaged too. The estimates are high. But it's not going to be worth it to pass this through insurance, No. I'm going to pay for it out of pocket and then go door to door for my dinner for the next several months. Balaa for real. But after the things I've watched people go through, I don't even have the urge to whine too much. I'll just thank God I didn't hurt myself and live to my decision not to drive when I'm under such huge amounts of stress again. Besides, had I had the accident that I almost had instead, that would have been much worse. And I'd probably have hurt or worse, killed an innocent pedestrian.

I got done writing this paper on trade versus aid and I learnt so much from it. Should I ever get psyche, I'll share a great deal of my findings from this research. Its going to be difficult because most of my electronic sources were from priviledged sites that require authorization to access so I'll have to summarize my findings versus attaching the links, the easy way eliminated as a choice to use. So if you never see that post, that's the reason why. Still I was amazed by IMF who have on order, 29 countries, ordered I repeat, to spend 70%, in other words, 70 cents out of every dollar provided in aid, paying back debt. That is, 'let's give you aid, but the condition is take 70% and put it back in our coiffers and we can still claim to have given you aid'. Disfunctional? =Absolutely! Stupid? To say the least! Annoying? On a good day, yes, otherwise it's infuriating. But there were other success stories from Africa that warmed my heart as well. I could research this topic some more.

And Kenya has been bumped to a developing country. That is good news. I hope that keeps up. It should. I strongly attribute the success of Kenya to the fact that the Nyayo cells, those detention and torture chambers, were opened for public viewing. Because every one who raises their voice high these days does it with assurity that they won't end up there. There a lot more noise these days than there used to be. despite the media acting like they are being gagged, they know they're not. And it's teh ability to make that noise that leads to accountability and hence better management. So kudos to serikali ya Kibaki for shutting those places down and being so obvious about it. That in itself has immensely positively affected the future of Kenya until they elect the next dictator who will reopen them or others like them. Caution Kenyans, make sure the men or women you elect in the future can take criticism and use it to grow. Caution! The altrenative is disastrous. And never kid yourselves. A dictator, once elected, will dictate and succeed unless there's a bloody coup to reverse this order.

What's with Fifa and getting an even lower ranking? Moving down 11 places?

And them Kenyans who made the news for identity theft amongst other things, defrauding the IRS. $13M from the IRS and you expect to get away with it? They should crown them idiots of this century. And thanks for nothing! How's that for earning us a bad rap here?

Weddings abound! That's the beauty of summer. Weddings abound. Lemme go celebrate with folks! And some very heart felt congratulations to some of my friends who really matter for taking this walk to the future!

Last day at the age of ... I'm going to make it count.

Musings

First the budget. Might I say I was impressed. As I mention whenever I mention economics, I'm a firm believer in Keynesian economics. So a huge deficit means growth will be stirred. And I know it will. I love when the government spends. Rise Kenya, rise!

Of course there are those who think that the budget was politicized. What? more cops? Loans for women? and the youth as well? And what was that? More teachers? at a higher rate? tsk, tsk, could we be more political? Are you kidding me? What exactly should have been the government's points of concentration given that CDFs are creating new schools, free primary school education has meant more pupils in classes, an obvious gender deficit exists in terms of women owning businesses and crime has become a definite issue? Where should the government have injected cash flow into so as not to be political? Is it rocket science? Ala!

And Kalonzo Musyoka knows the government wants to assassinate he and/or his colleague Odinga. He says all this in a public rally, open chest, no bullet proof vest, anyone allowed into this crowd of people, no security checks, no cover nothing. Spoken like a true idiot. If you're that sure someone is after you, shouldn't you kinda protect your coveted behind? Overrating your importance perhaps?

Anyway, I was at a Dillards store and I met a lady who hails from South Africa. Out of nowhere she told me she doesn't drive. I inquired why. She then proceeded to tell me of how she had a traumatic experience once. A friend of hers had an accident while she was in the car. She was 5 months into America and her friend just about a year old. English isn't their first language and they weren't fluent in it then. Anyway, they encountered a racist mf who told them they were terrorists who wanted to kill Americans etc etc. He was demanding that they be deported, forget the fact that they are residents. Anyway, that has stayed with her for 9 years. It's not hard to understand when I recall how strange and unfriendly some people could be here when I was 5 months old. Anyway, I told her to get over it because what she was in was a situation where she had let a white stupid fool hold her back for 9 years. Told her to go to the dmv, pick a driving book and start her studying today. She smiled and said she would. I hope she does. Talk about a harrowing experience! You just never know what you're going to hear.

The other day when I had gone to visit my good friend S in Columbus, I had to sit at a bench while waiting for her to come pick me up. There was an old lady sitting next to me. She said hi. I said hi back. Then she said she'd been waiting for her husband for an hour. By then I depicted she was worried. I asked if she had called. She said no. She didn't have a phone. Then she added that he was never late. I offered her my phone and I asked what number she needed to call. Then I punched the numbers in and passed the phone to her. I waited for her conversation to begin with baited breath. See at her very advanced age, a husband who has never been late, is over an hour late... the outcome of this call might not be so cool. I'm praying silently because I seriously don't want to have to comfort her. Hello, she says. You were supposed to be here an hour ago... Phew!!! Thanks goodness. Yes. Old age has hit home. The dude thought she was coming back Sunday. It was Friday. But he was alive and well. OK. Now I can exhale.

Paris Hilton, in jail, out of jail, in medical ward... One question. What the heck is a Paris Hilton and how does it affect daily life?

The Sopranos? What a cool ending. Intelligent, annoying, dissatisfying... job well done. Bada bing, bada bang! Out with a bang!

In other news, summer school sucks!