(picture by www.tmz.com)


While on the run from the feds in the States, actor Wesley Snipes is having a great ball at the Namib desert, going to gym and posing with fans. It has been reported that the actor is at the Sourthern African country filming a movie called 'Gallowwalker'. It is not known if the actor will return to the States at the end of filming to face the charges or make Namibia his permanent home.

I'm really looking forward to see The Last King of Scotland. It has recieved some good reviews and it's about the brutal dictator Idi Amin.

Idi Amin was a sergeant in the British Colonial army. After Uganda's independece, Amin rose in the Ugandan armed forces to the position of Commander-in-Chief. In 1971, Amin seized control of the government. Amin was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Ugandans. In 1979, Tanzanian troops invaded Uganda and forced Amin into exile. Amin led out the rest of his life in Saudi Arabi were he died from natural causes in 2003.

The film starts off in 1975 a couple of years after Amin had taken power and it tells the story from the point of view of a fictional Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan, played by Jame McAvoy. Even though this character is fictional, in reality, Amin did have a Scottish doctor. I think it would have been very interesting to have had a movie based on his experiences other then make it a fictional character but maybe the filmmakers had a reason to make it that way. The film is based on a book with the same title.

Even though I'm looking forward to seeing it, I'm a little bit nervous when it comes to watching films written and directed by westerners about Africa and African leaders because they tend to caricatures Africans and the continent, but since this is based on the point of view of a westerner then I could understand while watching the film. That is as far as I can say as I still have to watch it but having seen the previews I am concerned about the black makeup on Whitaker as he is already dark himself. It makes him look like those characters in the black and white movies where white men played black people (not a very good look as the characters used to be dumb, child-like people). It would be interesting to see how one blends that cartoonish image to the brutal actions of the real Idi Amin.

SNIPES ON THE RUN

Movie star Wesley Snipes has an arrest warrant after him when he failed to file tax returns and falsely claiming nearly $12 million in refunds.....

Wow the guy makes millions in just one movie and his still not satisfied. Now he's on the run and if found and faces prosecution then he can face up to 16 years in jail if found guilty. Just recently he was caught using a fake South African passport at the Johannesburg airport so that makes me think that he knew the fads were after him and he was planning his escape. Unfortunately the cops in SA just allowed him to board the plane back to the States where he disappeared.

I'm sure his going to live in some country where the US can't get to him, spending his millions and still making movies...The lives of the rich and famous.

In the news it has been stated that the baby that Madonna wants to adopt is in the UK so that the couple and the child could get to bond. The Malawian courts have given Madonna the husband interim adoption.

The first time that the news come out that Madonna wants to adopt an African child they was much debate on the news and on blogs. I have been fascinated by the views given by people locally and internationally. Most importantly is the views given by Africans who have been adopted by westerners. Most of the views haven't been good. The one I have most interesting is the one written by Hannah Poole at http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1888682,00.html in which she received a lot of flack about her comments.

Sure it's all nice and good to say that westerners are saving these children from a life of doom and gloom but are they really? We as humans have to admit that life is not about wealth and luxuries but about our emotions and pschology. Is ok if they save them from poverty but the children grow up to be confused and isolated within themselves?

The whole thing with Madonna has certainly shown me that money does talk. The Malawian government changed their stance on foreigners not being able to adopted Malawian children because it prefers that adoption happen within their country. As soon as they heard that Madonna was going to spend certain amounts of money in the country they did an adrupt turn. Surely the law was there for a good reason? If not why is the country divided and some organisations willing to take the matter to court. Why is it some westerners think they know what's best for Africa and for Africans?

My opinion is that if Madonna really did want the best for child then she would have realised the the best thing was for the child to stay with his father. She could have improved the standard of living for the child and his family by helping them financially or with entrepreneur skills so that they can improve their lives. Why did she think that taking a child from his biological father is the right thing to do?

Is there a system in place that will assure that this child will have a good upbringing emotionally and pschologically? Will they have yearly checkups to see if the child is happy and the family is a good environment for the child? These questions are not only for the Madonna issue but for anyone wanting to take a child away from their country and raise them on foreign soil.

Paxilback - Gray Kid parody of Justin Timberlake's Sexyback

It's amazing what time on your hands will do. To think they put so much energy in writing the words, getting the voice right and the images for these video. It's fantastic though and I'm people will agree with me when I say it's even better then the original.

There has been this big debate in Botswana and internationally as well with the Botswana government and Survival International and the Basarwa a.k.a Bushmen.

This issue is so big that our President Festus Mogae did the rounds at Washington DC last week.

What I don't understand is the way people are so quick to believe or agree on something they themselves have no idea about, or understanding. All they do is read some pamphlet organised by an NGO they have no idea about or the motives of that NGO and think that that is the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Well the reality is that diamonds are a big part in the development of Botswana. It was the truth when the President said to buy a Botswana diamond is to support an orphan, fight poverty, ignorance and disease. Before diamonds where discovered by De Beers, Botswana was the poorest nation in Africa. Almost all of the population was below the poverty line. With the discovery of diamonds come development to Botswana in its social infrastructure. Batswana people,thanks to revenue generated by the diamonds, have access to free education, free health, job creation and a stable currency. We are now considered a middle income country thanks to these diamonds.

Botswana I'm sure is one of the few countries that gives its people free tertiary education and also a generous allowance while attended to their tertiary education. Parents do not have to worry about their children's education. Would it have been all possible if it won't for the revenue from the diamonds? I think not. Botswana's gross domestic product was $16.8 billion in 2005, of which about a third was derived from diamond investments. If we allow for Survival International to ruin Botswana's diamonds by unfounded allegations then all these developments will seize to exist and where will the nation stand?

Survival International seems to think that the Basarwa's are people separated from the rest of society, but they are wrong. Basarwa's are Batswana in their own right and they have the right to these developments derived from diamonds. Their children have they right to free education just like the rest of the nation and I'm sure Survival doesn't tell the world about Basarwa's who are educated and are productive members of society thanks to the free education in Botswana. I'm also sure that Survival hasn't put pictures of the place where the Basarwa's are being allocated to compared to where they where living before. If they did, then people will not be quick to denounce the government's intentions. Is it ok for a British NGO to come and tell us Batswana that we should stick to the olden way of living in our mud/straw huts and our hunting and gathering ways instead of growing with the rest of world? It is good to remember where we come from and keep the values and cultures of those days but not for it to keep us from evolving with the rest of the world. Instead of cattle farming, it is now globalisation. I'm sure the British have also given up their own olden traditions to modern day living. The government of Botswana is not saying to the Basarwa give up your culture and values, but it is instead giving them opportunities to improve their way of living. Of having running clean water, closer access of health clinics and hospitals and a school next door so that children don't have to walk long hours to their school. To those who disagree with this, I question their motives. Is it because they want to have a real show of Africans living in mud huts when they come for their African safaris instead of Africans having brick homes, in-door plumbing, air-cons, cars. This view of African does not go with their view of Africa and the images shown by western media.

I have added some thoughts on http://linz81.hi5.com, Please feel free to read.

I think a sense of humor is sooo important in life. So I hope you have a good laugh with this.

Hilarious!

Justin Timberlake - My Love

When I first heard the song, I was really interested in seeing the video and I must say, I was disappointed, I thought the director will at least give some thought on the video but it's the same ol' tired thing of half naked girls and slinking dance moves. Come guys where's the creativity now days in music videos?