Robbed, But We Will Forever Stand Together....

....With our heads high.

Yes, I will say it over and over again. We were robbed by cheats, and it is disgrace to the game of football. But the good thing is that Ghana emerged as winners of their game with Uruguay.

Well done lads, you have truly made Ghanaians and the rest of the African continent proud of you. You have shown that against everything, you have class, determination, skill and the drive to succeed. The rest of the world might see you as going out of this tournament, but Ghanaians will see you as the victors. You have fought a battle others have failed to fight, and hence I hereby crown you champions of the world.

Regards, respect and love to y'all

Joe Djamasi

Ghana, The World Cup 2010 and Residents Of Albert Road Wellingborough.

It is amazing how time flies when you are enjoying yourself. Four years ago I blogged on Ghana beating the Czech Republic 2 nil during the world Cup that took place in 2006. And now we are experiencing another world Cup Tournament which is being held in South Africa. Up until now we have experienced major upsets with teams we did not imagine being kicked out flying back home. Who would have thought that France would make an early exit from the World Cup! As at now, all the African countries who entered the tournament have been kicked out except Ghana. To make history, I understand that Ghana is the only African Country to go this far in the World Cup tournament. I could be wrong, but please correct me if I am wrong.

So, when Ghana gave the USA a mighty whipping to catapult them to the next round, there was so much jubilation in my house that even the neighbour had to rush out of their houses to check out what was going on. Indeed Ghana has truly made history. To celebrate Ghana's win over the USA, I wore my Batakari to work. A lot of coworkers were curious about the Batakari and also wanted to know why I was wearing it. I took the pleasure of explaining why I was wearing it and also took the opportunity to give them so brief history of the Batakari.

After Ghana's win, I managed to get a Ghanaian Flag to hung from my front window. Now this was just before England's game with Germany, which ment that almost all the houses on my road had the St Georges flag hanging from their windows. When England lost to Germany, everyone on my road who had English flags hanging from thier windows took them all down and have replaced them with Ghanaian flags - amazing!

Just Thought I should Mention....

Sunday morning found me in Birmingham City Centre doing a bit of site-seeing. I did not have any plans in mind, just to wonder around really and see how much the City Centre had changed. Roughly 5 years ago, I was working at KPMG on their XP rollout Project. The rollout kicked off at their Birmingham offices and then rolled on to other offices in various parts of the UK.My first stop was at BHS, where I got a refund for a pair of shorts that were bought for me on my birthday. Just a few paces outside BHS, there were a group of street dancers doing their own thing. I stood there for a while, watching them, and managed to take some pictures using my iPhone. Two days earlier, I had purchased Camera+ from the Apple APPS Store. Check out the creator of Camera+ website at MostlyLisa. Check out her website. There is also the chance to win some serious camera kit.

Quoted from http://mostlylisa.com/:

MostlyLisa.com

I just wanted to let everyone, especially budding photographers, about this ridiculous promotion we are doing for Camera+  to win my dream camera rig (valued at over $10,000).

It will physically hurt me to give this amazing gear away, but they are making me… boo hiss.

So, my final stop before heading back to Erdington - that is where Naadu lives - was the Apple Store. It is amazing how these Apple Stores have been designed; so appealing. Personally I could spend the whole day in one of those stores and never get bored. I desperately needed an external monitor adaptor for my 2010 Apple Macbook Pro. I initially tried getting one from the Apple Store on The Strand in London, however to my surprise, I was told that they had run out of stock. I was totally gutted. Anyway, I managed to get one from the Birmingham Store and I am loving it.

My Study - An Update

My Apple Macbook Pro survived a terrible accident two weeks ago. How it survived this accident without a scratch - only God knows, however I do know that had it been any other make of laptop, it would have been in bits.

Shortly after installing an additional shelves in my study, I was, one evening reading in my study, when two shelves I had put came about a week ago suddenly came off the wall and onto my desk. My 22" Samsang monitor was instantly crashed under the weight of the books that landed on it. Amazingly, my Apple Macbook Pro that was on the desk next to the monitor did not suffer any damage at all. Not even a scratch.

Below is are pictures I took using using my Blackberry 9700.

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Anyway, I called my insurance company the next day and put in a claim for the damaged monitor. Two days later I got my replacement screen. I was sent a LG Flatron W2246S. Initially I was a bit dubious about the make and model. After setting it up and taking it for a test run, I was satisfied with what I was given.

My Replacement is a LG W2246S Flatron Monitor

The second time round, I made sure that the job was going to be done properly. With the help of my next door neighbour, I got the right drill and screws. The shelves have been put back up again and very much secure now.

My Workspace...My Study

Lifehacker has some stunning displays from all over the world of peoples desktop displaying the various hardware they use either for work, gaming or just for the fun of it. Some of the pictures are just mind blowing, not to mention the cash, time and dedication that has gone into setting these workspaces up. Initially I was reluctant to do this, but after careful thought, I said to myself..."no seat" surely what I have to offer must rank somewhere. So later on in this blog, I will post pictures of my workspace. I can assure you, it will be nothing compared to what other readers have posted to Lifehacker, but at least it is worth mentioning.
Below are some pictures of other peoples workspace. If you have the time and energy, you can follow the link provided in Lifehacker and scroll through the many pictures at your leasure. I would also suggest you check this site - My Desktop And Workspace out.

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Actually all of the workspaces displayed are absolutely amazing. It shows that these people are actually passionate about the type of environment they work in.

My workspace in my study. Nothing fancy, too high tech or expensive....

Should I Or Should Not I - Buy One; The IPad

An object of desire, an indispensable tool, a revolutionary gadget......these are just a few descriptions of Apple's new toy on the block. How would you describe the Ipad?

Anyway, one thing I know for sure is that I want one.

Hewlett Packard HP ProLiant ML115 G5 Server - Opteron 1354 2.2GHz QC / 1GB / NHP SATA 160GB / 1Yr

So, I have taken up the task of understanding what VMware is all about. To do so, I have purchased a HP Proliant ML115 G5 server to install VMWare ESX 4i onto.  My choice of what server to buy wasafter some research from the internet; especially from TechHead. The website also has very good links to other sites which provide very good advice on how to go about setting up a VMWare server and also understanding the whole concept of Virtualization.

I bought the server from ebuyer. Extra memory modules to pump the existing 1GB module that comes with the server to 6GB was obtained from Maplins in Northampton. The sever also comes with 160GB SATA hard drive. I have added a 1TB hard drive to this.

The server arrived in very good condition at work. I had plans of driving down to work over the weekend and picking it up, but on second thoughts, i decided to take it home with me on the train. It wasn't such a difficult task as I though it would be. When I got to the train station in Wellingborough, I just took a cab home.

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The kit has been unboxed, setup and VMware ESX4i has been installed and running. I initially did the install on a USB memory stick, but ditched that process and run the install from the ISO image which I burnt to disk.

Thanks to some friends who have already taken the VMware course, I am able to follow the VMware process from the course books they have lent me.

Unfortunately I didnt take pictures of the unit boxed and unboxed, so I have had to pinch pictures of it from the web, so credits to the person who these pictures were pinched from.

I still have some other VMware related applications to install, but first of all, I will install Windows 2003 Enterprise Sever. Hopefully I will get that done tonight and update you in the not too distant future.

What Happened To The Magic

What Happened to the Magic?

March 9, 2010 by Renée Cormier

Something very important is missing in our busy lives. In fact, its absence is a pretty common occurrence nowadays. We all get so caught up in our day to day rush we frequently forget to acknowledge the efforts people make in our favour.  Remember the magic word your mother taught you to say whenever someone gave you something or did something special for you? Thank you. It’s simple, isn’t it? You can say it out loud; you can write it in an email or include it in a memo. You can say it while you are walking in or out of a room, or you can pick up the phone and make a special effort to thank someone for their consideration, kindness, effort, favour, etc.  It isn’t that hard, really, and it isn’t even that inconvenient to take the time to do it. Believe me, it isn’t.

Those two words are so powerful they can completely change the emotional temperature of a room. They are so powerful they can instantly make people want to do more for you. A little appreciation goes an awfully long way.

Say thank you to your employees who come to work every day. They could have chosen to fake sick and stay home. Say thank you to your customers who give you their money. They could have chosen to give it to your competitor, or just hang onto it. Say thank you to sales reps that take the time out of their busy day to make sure you have samples and little freebies to try out. They could have just not bothered. Say thank you to your boss who keeps you working. Say thank you to your significant other for being so sweet. Thank your friends, relatives and neighbours, just because they said or did something that made you feel good.

People make efforts on our behalf all the time. Take the time to notice and acknowledge the contributions that are made. No kind act is too small to be allowed to go unnoticed. Make a call, send an email, say thank you and be grateful for all you have been given.

By the way, thank you for reading this. I really appreciate your interest.

---

Flash Back - Bangalore 2007

As I went through my pictures folder on my Apple Macbook Pro, I came across this picture. The picture was taken two years ago in India, at a place called Kerala. About Kerala: Kerala, located on the Southwestern tip of India, enjoys unique geographical features that have made it one of the most sought-after tourist destinations in Asia. Fondly referred to as ‘God’s Own Country’, Kerala was selected by the National Geographic Traveler as one of the 50 destinations of a lifetime and one of the thirteen paradises in the world.

An equable climate, serene beaches, tranquil stretches of backwaters, lush hill stations and exotic wildlife are the major attractions of this land. A unique advantage of Kerala is that most of the destinations here are just two to four hour drive from the other.

Classical art forms, colourful festivals, unique cuisine are some of the cultural marvels that await travelers. Ayurveda, the ancient Indian system of medicine and Panchakarma, the rejuvenation therapy in Ayurveda have also helped Kerala to gain a pan-global reputation as a top of the line destination.

And in Kerala, the season never ends, thanks to the year-long moderate climate and numerous festivals and events.

Amadou And Mariam

So, 11.30AM yesterday found me at the train station waiting for my train into London for a spot of work which was unfinished during the week. I bumped into a friend of mine who attends the same church as I do. Anyway, after the pleasantries I asked him where he was going and what he was listening to. He said he was on his way to Leicester to do a spot of music, and that he was listening to Amadou and Mariam. The names got me interested as I have never heard of them. I memorized their names and did a google search of these guys and liked what i read. Here is a brief bio about them (from Wilkipedia):

Amadou & Mariam are a musical duo from Mali, composed of the couple Amadou Bagayoko (guitar and vocals) (born in Bamako 24 October 1954) and Mariam Doumbia (vocals) (born in Mali's capital Bamako 15 April 1958). The pair, known as "the blind couple from Mali" met at Mali's Institute for the Young Blind, and found they shared an interest in music.

Between 1974 and 1980, Amadou played with Les Ambassadeurs du Hotel. In 1980 the couple married and began to play together as well as Amadou continuing with a successful solo career and running the blind institute's music programme.

By 1985 the couple had made a name for themselves playing Malian blues. They embarked on a tour of Burkina Faso. In 1986 the couple moved to the Côte d'Ivoire and recorded several cassette albums and eventually the album Sou Ni Tile in Paris, which became a hit in France. The duo started playing at festivals around the world.[citation needed]

In 2003 they were approached by World–Latin music star Manu Chao, who then produced their 2004 album Dimanche à Bamako ("Sunday in Bamako"), which also features his distinctive vocals.

In 2006 they recorded, together with Herbert Grönemeyer, the official anthem for the 2006 FIFA World Cup "Celebrate The Day" (German: "Zeit, dass sich was dreht"). The song topped the German charts in June 2006.

In 2007 they supported Scissor Sisters at the MEN Arena on 30 July. In summer of 2008, they played the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago, Illinois and the Latitude Festival in Henham Park, Suffolk.

In 2008, their song "Sabali" placed 15 on Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Best Tracks of 2008.[1]

Amadou & Mariam won the Best Group category in the inaugural Songlines Music Awards (2009) - announced May 1, 2009 - the new 'world music' awards organised by the UK-based magazine, Songlines.

On May 26, 2009 they played a gig to support the homeless charity Crisis at the Union Chapel, in north London with David Gilmour playing second guitar supporting the whole 80 minute set and a 5-minute encore. On June 8, 2009 they performed on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

In 2009, they supported Blur during their two reunion gigs in Hyde Park and also supported UK based band Coldplay on their Viva la Vida Tour. It was recently announced that they have been chosen by Matt Groening to perform at the edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival he is curating in May 2010 in Minehead, England.

My Apple Mac Book Pro 15"

So after many years of yearning for one, I finally took the plunge and got myself  an Apple Mac Book Pro.

Seven days on, and I am loving this laptop. My question(s) to myself were/was, why the hell didn't I get one of these years ago. I must have been nuts not to see how cool Apple laptops could be.

I must admit, I had several initial issues. One was moving my Outlook email saved PST files to Entourage. After several days of trolling through the net for a solution, I finally came up with one that suggested buying the software "O2M". Then there was that of finding applications that  I used the my windows platform, but didn't have them for the Apple mac. Obviously I didn't want to go out and purchase these applications, so a friend at work who is a serious Apple Macbook user told me what to do. The solution was in http://alternativeto.net.

Today found me at the Apple Store in Milton Keynes for a one hour workshop on navigating around the Macbook Pro. The Apple Store MK is definitely new, because I do not remember it being there  three years ago. Mind you, I have not been to MK for quite a while now.

The Saga Continues, This Time With Justice

So the saga continues between me and my hungry creditor. Even with everything being under control, as in me making regular payments to them, one of them decided to get a court order with respect to my wages...I am not too sure of what the legal term is, and I am too tired to go looking for the piece of paper that will tell me what it is called. Anyway, I got this nasty bit of paper from the courts saying that one of my creditors wanted to seek a judgement on my earnings (or something of the sort) and that I should list my incoming and outgoing. At that point I was just about to chuck the bit of paper in the shredder..."what now" I said to myself..."do they want my blood as well".Out of patience, I filled in the form and sent it off. A week slowing went into two weeks of not hearing back, and then about ten days ago, I got another letter from the county court asking me to give them my employers current address before a certain date, by a certain time. I quickly faxed a copy of the document to my debt management agency seeking advice. My agent advised me to go to the county court and give my address to the judge (now this is where my agent has really pissed me off...read on and you will find out why). When I got to the county court, I was informed by the clerk that there was no need of me coming over and that I could have easily telephoned them to give the details of my address. Three days ago, I got a letter from the county court (with a copy addressed to my creditor) saying that I was to pay the twenty quid a week till further notice. I just could not believe what I was reading...after all the hassle these guys had gone through just to get a litre of blood out of me, the tables had turned...Why? because I was already paying them one hundred and fifteen quid a month...Do the maths!

Inactivity

inactive [ɪnˈæktɪv]adj 1. idle or inert; not active 2. sluggish, passive, or indolent 3. (Military) Military of or relating to persons or equipment not in active service 4. (Chemistry) Chem (of a substance) having little or no reactivity 5. (Physics / General Physics) (of an element, isotope, etc.) having little or no radioactivity inactively adv inactivity , inactiveness n

Now this is serious, more like some serious laziness ( or call it procastination ) on my part. I suppose I can flog it off with sorry excuse such as "I have been too busy"; but that, for some reason doesnt sit well with me. So I might as well own up and admit that I have been one lazy dude from the 17th of September to this date. And i will not even attempt to cook up an excuse. So, as you can see, its been a while. Too long for my liking. Well, things should be back in order now, so all I need you guys and gurls to do now it visit this blog regularly and make some meaningful comments to the various postings that are made. Hmmmm, now lets see, what the hell have I been up to?

Debt Management Companies - Are They Worth The Money They Charge

So a while back I was getting fed up of all the frequent calls I was getting from institutions I owed money to. After careful thought, I decide to engage the help of a debt management company - Abacus.  Three weeks into them handling my finances, everything was great. All the phone calls stopped and I was slowly paying off money I owed. Then out of nowhere I got two summons to court for charging orders. I hastily contacted Abacus and inquired what was going on. It then dawned onto me that even though I was making regular payments and that my financial affairs were now being properly looked after, I could not escape the vicious teeth of the companies I owed money to. Ok, so I went to court and the charging orders were applied. What I do not understand is if the court wishes to apply a charging order fine, but what's the wisdom in applying the charging order and then adding more money to the outstanding money owing as court fees? plain stupidity.

Now, last week, I get another letter from the courts asking for attachment of earnings..hang on I say to myself, whats going on here. So I ring Abacus up and ask for an explanation. Why am I being asked for attachment of earnings when you (Abacus) have already negotiated with the company I owe money to; to make X amount in monthly payments? After careful thought, I think I will be better off managing all these payments myself. Abacus is charging me 45 quid per month as administration fees. now I can either spread that 45 quid over the payments i am already making or put that dosh into a saving account.

I think I will get rid of Abacus, I am really upset with they way they are handling my finances.

Video of Maker Faire Africa

I wish I could have gone to Maker Faire Africa! It was held in Ghana's capital, Accra a couple of weeks ago. Paul Karikari's "electric cream heater" is interesting -- you stir aluminum shavings and aluminum powder into some kind of cream and it heats up. (Thanks, Daniel!)

Fred VanDyck - Rest In Peace

Posted on Ghanaweb:

We regret to announce the passing of our brother and father Mr Fred Bagyena VanDyck, which sad event occurred on the 23rd of August 2009 in Ghana. A memorial service will be held in his honour on Saturday the 10th of October 2009 at the Roxeth Green Free Church, Coles Crescent, South Harrow London HA2 0TN from 6pm to 9pm. All friends and sympathisers are invited.

When I got the text message from Mariama informing me of the death of Fred, I just could not beleive it. I actually missed her text by a day; so I quickly called her and she confirmed her text to me the previous day. I then started firing questions to her, left right and center. What happened? Where was he when he died? How did it happen? The questions we so many, and yet she hardly knew much detail herself. My immediate thoughts went to Andrea. She practically worshiped the ground her Dad walked on.
I rung Tae in Ghana, thinking that he hadn't heard the news (Tae went to University Of Science and Technology with Fred, and knew him quite well)...Tae said he knew of Fred's death. he actually went out with Fred the friday night before his death.
The Memorial service was held, as mentioned, at the Roxeth Green Free Church. The drive from Wellingborough to Harrow was a pleasant one. Being the person that I am, we got to the church with 2 minutes to spare. The service started on time, however I noted with annoyance, how other Ghanaians were turning up late. How could they? Oh well, some Ghanaians will always be Ghanaians. I saw familiar faces I had not seen in several years. Halem, Oriana's son, has nor grown into a man, with all his "side-burns". Sardia was there too. I hadnt seen her for while now. I did manage to get her mobile phone number. Then there was Orina. I thought she has gone back to Ghana. Obviously not. Then it suddenly dawned upon me. We only get to see ourselves when someone has passed away. Now this is sad, really really sad. I mentioned my observations to Sena, and he immediately agreed with me. But thats life isnt it.....friends are always busy running after money and therefore have no time to meetup and have a meal together.

Fred, rest in peace my good friend

Stick To Wordpress Or Move To Squarespcae

OK, I have just been introduced to a site called Squarespace. I dont know much about it, but what I do know is that it si similar to Wordpress. The immediate visible difference is that you have to pay (on a monthly basis). Yes, I know that Wordpress is free, however, is there any reason why Squarespace charges and Wordpress doesnt? For those of you out there already using Squarespace, and have used Wordpress before, kindly fill me in on what the difference is.

Microsoft Office 2010

I got an invite from Microsoft last night to download and review Office 2010.

** This is an unmonitored email address, so do not reply to this message.**

Welcome! We are pleased to invite you into the Technical Preview program to be among the first people in the world to experience Microsoft® Office 2010.

The following link will bring you to Microsoft Connect, where you will find downloads available for early, pre-release versions of Microsoft Office 2010 products. You will also find product information and have the chance to participate in newsgroups to engage with our product teams and other program participants. Please note that there is no technical support offered for this program.

To get started, please click on the link below. This is a one-time-use only url associated with this e-mail address, so it cannot be shared with others to join the program. This will bring you to the Connect site where you will need to sign in with your Windows Live ID account. If you do not have a Windows Live ID, you can create one from the Connect site.

Your ticket to the Technical preview:

Well, I use Outlook more than any of the other Office applications, and I must say, I was totally lost after the upgrade.

How will other users respond to how Microsoft Office has been overhauled? More questions to follow.

Obama In Ghana

As most people will say, history was once again made when Obama made that trip to Ghana.I did watch in full the live event on any of premier news networks, however I did get an ocassional glimpse of what was televised when he visited one of the castles in Cape Coast. I took my usual morning trip to Facebook and read a comment Felix aka Tae made. His comment or should I say question (or even probabaly concern) was this:

Obama had a message for Ghana/Africa. Did Ghana/Africa have a message for Obama/America? I'm playing back all the events and it seems it was a uni-directional conversation. What did we tell him apart from thanking him? Anyone remember?

Anyway, you might be interested in reading the number of responses this have so beeen  generated on Facebook.

Eliza Olympio

at 06:21 on 12 July

They are still in a trance. Probably looking at pictures they took with their mobile phones on the tarmac

Julius Sowu

at 06:39 on 12 July

Sad but true, and that went across the whole of the social media sites, looks like setting agenda is still potent play , even in the so called openness of social media.

CNN did do a reasonable dissection of the speech with regard substance, but afraid everywhere else I looked it was "all hail the king" hehehehe

Felix Duku

at 06:40 on 12 July

Isnt't this the time to be running documentaries on Ghana's tourism and investment potential in the foreign press. I see Amgola, Azerbaijan, Croatia and Greece doing it and yet we dont seem to be taking advantage of the 'free' focus on us. Do we have ministries of information and tourism? Where's initiative? HUH? Why cant we do a 5 minute thingy on the Cape Coast Castle as a follow up to his visit? Are we brain dead? No insult intended. I'm just frus...

Jasper Cudjoe Adamah

at 06:40 on 12 July

hahahaha...

Ruby Dumesh-Lee

at 06:40 on 12 July

I think we gave him a traditional stool and a batakari....with some salo mango and yoyi for the road...hahaa. Give em a moment to bask in his presence. I wonder what the Bushes and the Clintons were doing??? hmmmmm

Zulu Ghana

at 07:33 on 12 July

Tae, the impression Ghana has given and will probably always give is that we need Obama/America and not the other way round, so its my thinking that we have to sit and listen.

Kwabena Boakye Yiadom Fosu

at 07:33 on 12 July

Man for a minute I thought I was the only one sick of this Obamamania/pomp and circumstance...Ghana and all of Africa's 'times will not get better unless WE make our times better' ~ Malcolm Little (X). Speeches filled with rhetoric have served our people nothing but heavier, deeper, debt and set us farther back in time. We got to do our own thing.

Zulu Ghana

at 07:38 on 12 July

@Kwabena...i totally agree with you and have been saying this to guys and gurls who have suddenly gone into some trance of deluded excitement because Obama has come to Ghana. then they go into another level of delusion because Obama has pledged sixty something million to Ghana. boy. we all know what that means

Kwabena Boakye Yiadom Fosu

at 07:44 on 12 July

@Zulu...that 60 mil pledge is nothing but a trojan horse. 60 million ia a paltry sum especially when 100 billion is 'stolen every quarter out of Ghana. Obama is still going to protect America's interests, and that primarily is oil.

Zulu Ghana

at 08:06 on 12 July

@ Kwabena..LOL - trojan horse...i love that! Man, where have you been? you and i should hook up one day...your last comment is parallel to what i was telling someone yesterday. we cannot account properly for what we have and yet we are happily going to receive more dosh into our coffers? hmmm its like feeding the lion not with just ordinary meat, but with marinated meat dressed with virgin olive oil in a bed organic salad.

Isaac K. Neequaye

at 08:22 on 12 July

Tae, notwishstanding all the comments above, particularly @Zulu and @Kwabena, did Ghana/Africa even pay attention and listen to what Obama said? Would have done us good if even that was the only thing we did, but I fear too many of our 'big men and women' were too focused on their phones and cameras and photo ops. The moment's gone now and hope we

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will do an honest dispassionate post-mortem. I fully share your frustration...why does it seem we never seem to do a swell job going forward and are forever doing post-mortems? Don't we learn?

Kwabena Boakye Yiadom Fosu

at 08:31 on 12 July

@Isaac obviously had 'Bama had anything worthwhile listening to they'd listen...'Bama aint got the answers or solutions. You puting a bandaid on one's tummy when one's suffering from a stomache is not the panacea. "Bama's speech is not what we need. When one asks the teller at the bank, 'what time does the bank close?' the appropriate answer is the time and not, 'well sir it is open now'. GHANA

Zulu Ghana

at 08:38 on 12 July

@ Isaac..i just did a quick dash to the BBC site and dug this up "Repression takes many forms, and too many nations are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers... No person wants to live in

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a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny, and now is the time for it to end. ... Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions." now i understand, in one aspect why you are asking if Ghana paid attention and listened to what Obama said.

Nana Dennis Manu

at 08:41 on 12 July

@felix...what i heard from the ghana side was a plea for more aid due to the global economic situation...i don't expect our leaders to get off the aid/beg tip anytime soon but do we have to lead with that??? i am sure in private that is what we (and the americans) will talk about BUT in public why don't we have a more positive message which affirms

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our confidence in our own abilities to move the country forward irrespective of whether or not we are getting aid?? such an attitude will do wonders for our collective confidence and psyche IMO. But as long as our leaders cannot seem to fathom us developing without begging (and say so publicly) then it will be difficult to tell those lower in the pecking order in our society to engage in the kind of behavior that leads to productive societies...i

Isaac K. Neequaye

at 08:41 on 12 July

@Kwabena, well the bank is (was) open and what did (are) we do other than photos? We've known about this visit since May/June, did we prepare a policy position? Did we brainstorm and prepare our negotiators beforehand? Did we back up our arguments with facts, figures, plans, deadlines etc. Or were we too busy trying to nail Asabee's wife to plan

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properly? Maybe I misunderstand you Kwabena, but I for one have gone beyond looking up to and blaming others for the mess we find ourselves in. Obama came with a position, even if it was only cosmetic. What did we have in return?

Nana Dennis Manu

at 08:43 on 12 July

n short, we need more pride in ourselves and have the mindset that aid is temporary... i don't want to be reading 25 years from now about how ghana needs another WB/IMF injection to tide us over due to some global financial crisis...wasn't it just 25 years ago (1983) when we saw this movie? i beg oh!!!

Isaac K. Neequaye

at 08:49 on 12 July

@Nana, couldn't agree better with you.

Wilma Longdon

at 08:50 on 12 July

Ike, I couldn't agree with you more. Are we really hearing what the man is saying? Not just the big men and women, but the so called "ordinary Ghanaian" (whatever that's supposed to mean). Beyond the euphoria, will we even internalize "Yes We Can" and apply it to our situation?

Will we stop saying "aban mbeye mayen" and make an attempt to take ... Read moreresponsibility for anything? Will we quit stuffing our drains with solid waste/building on water ways and turn round to blame the government when our homes flood?

Until the attitude of the Ghanaian and African changes to take responsibility for his own life nothing will change. We will keep expecting that our very survival depends on handouts from the West.

Kwabena Boakye Yiadom Fosu

at 08:50 on 12 July

@Zulu...Hmmm the BBC report begs the question...if no person wants to live in such a decadent society I wonder why millions of people want to live in the US and EU, where brutality and bribery are the untold unspoken order of the day. A bill of rights that are circumvented at the whim of govt.? Friends once again be not taken in by the rhetoric, pomp and circumstance of the so called developed democratic nations...and oh Isaac we paid attention that is why we are certain of the 'demagoguery'.

Zulu Ghana

at 09:07 on 12 July

@ Isaac...you have nailed it as per your comment "We've known about this visit since May/June, did we prepare a policy position? Did we brainstorm and prepare our negotiators beforehand? Did we back up our arguments with facts, figures, plans, deadlines etc. Or were we too busy trying to nail Asabee's wife to plan" sometimes i wonder at the mental state of our leaders!!!

Kwabena Boakye Yiadom Fosu

at 09:08 on 12 July

@ Isaac the analogy of the teller/bank is to say when we ask for what we require we know what we want. We do not need any hype. Cometics may make a person look and even feel well; we want and need to be well not feel, for too long we've been hoodwinked into accepting 'feeling' as 'being'...and that is what 'Bama and his speechwriters want us to accept...to that we say NO MORE!!! @Wilma we aint waiting on Joe!!!

Zulu Ghana

at 09:08 on 12 July

guys and gurls...i am off to church. i am on car parrk duty this morning. i will surely return. Tae..wake up, this thread needs some shito and kobi injection. where are you?

Kwabena Boakye Yiadom Fosu

at 09:10 on 12 July

Why do we have to prepare for Obama's visit...quit the pomp and circumstance people...

Julius Sowu

at 09:27 on 12 July

This is great, a conversation in the light of transparency, and where our next generation politics should come from, and may I add accountability! a word used oh so often but without the true essence.

Where was the appeal to Obama, to for instance use the invasive laws and agreements across the globe put in place to catch terror monies from being moved, to notify us when some of our so called "corrupt" leaders are chopping?

This cynic suspects we would not get the info any ways due to companies working in the name of National Interests of the same countries who tar us with the corruption tag, but at least the world would have heard us ask the question, therefore pointing out we knew where the problem lay.... Read more

Where was the question on agricultural imports to Ghana using rice as an example, and the effect of US rice on our rice production and sale? Yes we might get the tired answer of free markets but hey we asked and the world heard.

Keep up the dialogue we listen

Brigitte Dzogbenuku

at 09:49 on 12 July

He got his messages through the people he saw, the conversations he had, and the places he visited. I am sure of that. The worry though is the type of messages he got from people like our President, our ex-presidents and the ministers of state.

Kwaku Sikahene Ampomah

at 09:53 on 12 July

Guys the time will come soon when we as africans and the african continent will take political, technological, economic and cultural leadership in this world - the key to this is when we become truly comfortable with who we are and the vast diversity that we have - we need a CURE (Cultural Revolution) - we need to take our rightful place as

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originators of civilisation, science and technology - at the moment our political system is foreign - our education is foreign - our economic systems do not benefit us - our religions are foreign - the legacy of slavery, colonialism and neo colonialism still haunts us - however we are still here alive and kicking - there are still massive threats to our existence and our ways of life - but we are too strong and in the end we shall prevail and and overcome - Felix thanks for starting this debate - its great to share and receive such fantastic ideas from all of you.

Julius Sowu

at 10:13 on 12 July

@Kwaku well said on cultural diffs re Education , political and economy,and Brigitte though "he" might of heard his people would not have. In a way I feel for him as leader of US at this time of flux, damned if he does damned if he does not, what has to be done in so far as not just Africa, but the whole world politic, goes against not only the

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status quo, re standard of living, sharing of responsibility, all covered by the term National Interest that it is only when these words whispered behind closed doors are shared by the peoples of Western Nations as valid points of view will there be a change in "National Interest" Which leads me to Felix's point about advertising our wares, until we are considered credible, the response will always be "Oh look how well they are doing" with a pat on the head, when we all know the unsaid That unless some miracle cure for energy addiction is found, those of us under the sustainable standard of living of this planet, have not a hope of reaching it

Yaw Nsarkoh

at 10:36 on 12 July

It is for me a question of whether we aim to, and have the confidence to aim and work to become HIGHLY developed or whether we will simply settle for and be content with minor steps to become LESS UNDERDEVELOPED. Whatever I do, I want to believe I can be the very best at it that there is in the world. Not merely a little better than the worst.

Kwaku Sikahene Ampomah

at 10:41 on 12 July

@julius - thanks for bringing sustainable energy - totally on point

Sara Asafu-Adjaye

at 10:45 on 12 July

@ Eliza - u noticed too? i was so freaked out by a soldier taking photos of obama with his phone ... wasnt he there to protect him? anyway, i would probably have done the same.

Robert Ebo Hinson

at 11:01 on 12 July

People we have been pontificating about how Ghana should be positioned globally for too long and we do nothing about it in Ghana. To go back to Felix's original point, we do not have any key messages as a country to the various stakeholders we interface internally and externally. It stands to reason then that we interact with the likes of Obama and

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his ilk, we simply do not have the ability to articluate to him in whatever media the current ideals that characterise our national development, where we have come from, where we are and where we are going. All said everybody has a sense of what Ghana means and what we are all about but no-one knows really what we represent a collective..... It is no wonder therefore, ministers of state we nearly shoving camera phones into Obama;s noise; for whatever reason I will never be able to fathom......Crazy how be bro?

Kwaku Sikahene Ampomah

at 11:03 on 12 July

Ebo - well said, nuff respect

Tawia Dadson Addo-Ashong

at 12:06 on 12 July

I'm unsure that a cultural revolution is the solution. As Africans, I'm afraid we have no common cause to build any platforms of innovation and development on. The world's systems- like them or loathe them- have been established, so how do Ghanaians grow smart to work the system for our collective good- like the Chinese, Indians etc have done

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. The bottom line is education, growing ppl who can think, innovate, create- people of vision- it's no wonder that the Good Book says that without vision a people will perish...

We need to have answers when the spotlight turns on us. Unforunately we only had camera fones..

Ruth Wade Kwakwa

at 13:05 on 12 July

Oh Charley. Is true o-h-h! Here we were, basking in the glory of the media-glow...and we missed the op to give the world our message. our big shot at glory, and there we were on CNN, big men chewing gum in the audience like we were doing Wrigleys a favour. And no message. Whoops.

Re: the publictiy. This was OUR moment to do some big time brand ... Read morethink, and launch our brand to the world....with some major brand messages being beamed to the world in the weeks following, now that people know that Ghana is in Africa and not South America (as in Guyana) and following the free publicity. Do we get a second chance?

Robert Ebo Hinson

at 13:07 on 12 July

2nd Chance? Well...... Depends Ruth.... Are we switched on now... or just chewing on the gum still.....Hehehe. Depends...

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