I know, I know, I live in Oakland across the Bay, but like most Bay Area folks I'll be rooting for the cross-town SF 49ers on Superbowl Sunday. Here's my game-plan for the day:
1] The 49ers must go with the ground-game, grinding out the yards on short-yardage plays. They have the league's premier short-yardage back, Frank Gore, a running-back who runs like a full-back (straight-up-the-middle).
2] The Niners must run the ball on most downs, pounding out the yards, and to do this they have to control the line-of-scrimmage. If they control the line-of-scrimmage and run the ball on most downs (keeping the ball out of the hands of Ravens' QB Joe Flacco) then victory is assured. Possession football is what I'm talking about here.
3] Niners QB Colin Kaepernick should only throw on third downs and he mustn't gun it long either. Remember, it's all about possession football. Kaepernick must not get into a shootout with the Ravens QB Joe Flacco, who can air it out. Furthermore (on throwing downs) the Niners should go with a version of the WestCoast Offense, dumping the ball off to the Tight-End (Vernon Davis) or to any of the backs coming out of the backfield.
4]. All Kaepernick has to do to ensure victory is to spend the afternoon handing the ball to Frank Gore and (on third downs) dumping the ball off to the tight-end, Vernon Davis. That's all!
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Mali's Descent Into Hell: Deja-Vu All Over Again
Watching Mali descend into chaos gives me a sense of deja-vu. Wasn't it only too recently that Mali was held up as an African, democratic success-story? For the past ten years all Afro-optimists blurted out "Mali" when they wanted to show a democratic, multi-ethnic, and religiously-tolerant African state. In hindsight, we can now see that it was all an illusion. We were blind to glaring reality. The Malian political elites were just as bad as the rest of their Continental cousins, busy engaging themselves in massive looting of public coffers, corruption and even facilitating drug-smuggling.
I've seen this movie before, and it's all too familiar. A creeping case of deja-vu, all over again. In the 80s and early 90s, Ivory Coast was held up by all Afro-optimists as the sole success story (in French-speaking) Africa. "Paris" was the word blurted out to describe the shiny veneer of Abidjan, and all Afro-optimists pointed out to Ivory-Coast as the one African state "that worked". Well, we now know that all the shiny veneer of the famed Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan was nothing but an illusion.
An overvalued currency allowed the Frenchified elites of Abidjan to import all their basic needs from France (even toilet-paper!) and keep up the appearances of living in a modern (i.e. French) state. The structural imbalances of the economy and political system were glaring and were cruelly exposed after the death of the 1st President, Houphouet-Boigny. What we witnessed with Ivory Coast in the 90s, we're now witnessing again in Mali. A nation thought to be successful, but with deep structural imbalances in its economic and political system, has been cruelly exposed and brought to its knees. I weep for my beloved Africa.
I've seen this movie before, and it's all too familiar. A creeping case of deja-vu, all over again. In the 80s and early 90s, Ivory Coast was held up by all Afro-optimists as the sole success story (in French-speaking) Africa. "Paris" was the word blurted out to describe the shiny veneer of Abidjan, and all Afro-optimists pointed out to Ivory-Coast as the one African state "that worked". Well, we now know that all the shiny veneer of the famed Hotel Ivoire in Abidjan was nothing but an illusion.
An overvalued currency allowed the Frenchified elites of Abidjan to import all their basic needs from France (even toilet-paper!) and keep up the appearances of living in a modern (i.e. French) state. The structural imbalances of the economy and political system were glaring and were cruelly exposed after the death of the 1st President, Houphouet-Boigny. What we witnessed with Ivory Coast in the 90s, we're now witnessing again in Mali. A nation thought to be successful, but with deep structural imbalances in its economic and political system, has been cruelly exposed and brought to its knees. I weep for my beloved Africa.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Jimi Hendrix & Jimmy Page: Two Of A Kind.
Jimi Hendrix was way before my time and passsed away in 1970 at the at the age of 27, but his music is timeless. For those who've never had the opportunity to see him in action, I suggest a (DVD) viewing of "Jimi Hendrix: Live At The Isle Of White". You'll never tire of listening to "Hey Joe" no matter how many times it's been played on the radio. Jimi Hendrix "reasoned" with his guitar, treating it like an errant child that needed to be reasoned with. As for "eating" his guitar and playing it with his teeth, there's no-one better for doing that than Jimi Hendrix.
On the other hand, Jimmy Page "talks" to his guitar, like a stern scholmaster giving his class a right telling-off! His guitar-play on "Kashmir" is brutal, and yet on "Stairway To Heaven" he's ever so subtle, right up to the final climax. I've seen lead-guitarists play the guitar with their teeth and their elbows, but only Jimmy Page had the arrogance to play his guitar with a violin-bow! The man's a genius, and though many folks will disagree with me, I have to say that Jimmy Page gets the nod over Jimi Hendrix -- but only by a whisker.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Ghana Shows The Way (once again)
A tall tale told to me years ago in the Gaborone Sun hotel, in Botswana, went like this: a Musarwa (Bushman) was invited by some Scandinavian do-gooders to spend the night in a hotel. They had heard many a legendary story about Bushmen and wanted to observe one up-close. However, in the morning, the Scandinavians were astounded to find out that their new-found Bushman friend had passed out and died in his hotel-room.
Apparently the Bushman had died of shock. The notion of of having readily-available tap-water was foreign to him, and so when he turned on the taps, and out came the flushing water, he was immediately overcome with shock and died on the spot!!
On Tuesday I witnessed (on Twitter) the Ghanaian I.E.A Presidential Debates, as the candidates went head-to-head, asking thought-provoking questions at each other, all live-streamed onto the Internet. The ease with which the democratic-process is practiced in Ghana is revealing. It's noticeably absent of the violence, opaqueness and buffoonery that exists elsewhere on the African Continent. For me it was totally shocking! On Tuesday, I was that "bushman in the hotel-suite", totally unused to the ease at which others conduct their political-affairs.
Where do our Ghanaian brothers succeed, where others fail hopelessly? What is it in the (political) water of Ghana that makes their political-process so much more democratic? Anyway, as for me, I was fortunately able to recover from my initial shock (unlike the Bushman in Gaborone) and live to see another day!
Apparently the Bushman had died of shock. The notion of of having readily-available tap-water was foreign to him, and so when he turned on the taps, and out came the flushing water, he was immediately overcome with shock and died on the spot!!
On Tuesday I witnessed (on Twitter) the Ghanaian I.E.A Presidential Debates, as the candidates went head-to-head, asking thought-provoking questions at each other, all live-streamed onto the Internet. The ease with which the democratic-process is practiced in Ghana is revealing. It's noticeably absent of the violence, opaqueness and buffoonery that exists elsewhere on the African Continent. For me it was totally shocking! On Tuesday, I was that "bushman in the hotel-suite", totally unused to the ease at which others conduct their political-affairs.
Where do our Ghanaian brothers succeed, where others fail hopelessly? What is it in the (political) water of Ghana that makes their political-process so much more democratic? Anyway, as for me, I was fortunately able to recover from my initial shock (unlike the Bushman in Gaborone) and live to see another day!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Mo Ibrahim Prize
Once again we're witnessing the embarrassing spectacle of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for good governance lacking a winner. I myself was always skeptical of how Mr Ibrahim, despite his noble intentions, could find a winner for his prize, year in and year out.
First of all, there are 54 African countries of which only a handful (Ghana, Zambia, Mauritius, Seychelles, Botswana, Cape Verde) have progressed into fluid democracies, with robust, free-and-fair elections. The rest have not and are often ruled by aging leaders who resolutely refuse to leave their posts. That's why your average African President is a doddering geriatric in his mid-to-late 70s.
So, it would have been a stretch -- if not mathematically impossible -- for the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to find a candidate who met their criteria, year in and year out, given the "dead wood" of African leadership they were working with. If one handed the stats of Africa's leadership to an actuary, and gave him the criteria used for the award, he would probably have concluded that winners of the award would be few and far between.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with Mo Ibrahim's prize or his noble intentions. It's just that the "dead wood" of Africa's geriatric leadership makes finding a candidate who meets his strict criteria an almost impossible task.
First of all, there are 54 African countries of which only a handful (Ghana, Zambia, Mauritius, Seychelles, Botswana, Cape Verde) have progressed into fluid democracies, with robust, free-and-fair elections. The rest have not and are often ruled by aging leaders who resolutely refuse to leave their posts. That's why your average African President is a doddering geriatric in his mid-to-late 70s.
So, it would have been a stretch -- if not mathematically impossible -- for the Mo Ibrahim Foundation to find a candidate who met their criteria, year in and year out, given the "dead wood" of African leadership they were working with. If one handed the stats of Africa's leadership to an actuary, and gave him the criteria used for the award, he would probably have concluded that winners of the award would be few and far between.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with Mo Ibrahim's prize or his noble intentions. It's just that the "dead wood" of Africa's geriatric leadership makes finding a candidate who meets his strict criteria an almost impossible task.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Searching For Sugar Man
Yesterday evening I saw the movie Searching For Sugar Man, which was directed by the Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul. I had been intrigued by the hard-to-believe story of a down-and-out musician from Detroit, barely known in America, who nevertheless managed to be immensely popular in the Apartheid-era South Africa of the early 1970s. In fact Sixto Rodriguez managed to sell 1/2 million albums in the White-South African market of about 5 1/2 million people.
As the movie unfolds, we are told of Rodriguez' drug-use; his peripatetic existence; and his bizarre on-stage habit of singing with his back to the crowd. Having heard his songs, I must admit that his melodic voice does make him sound a bit like John Denver( strung out on drugs). And there is a deep melancholy about his lyrics. Two questions immediately came to mind: why didn't he make a move to California, where his folk-sound would have found a ready audience? And why didn't Americans catch on to his unique sound? Had he been under-marketed by the record companies? Or maybe, as a Mexican-American, was he "too ethnic" for the mainstream market? These questions linger.
Apparently, Rodriguez was totally unaware of his South African success and did not see a penny from royalties sent to his American record-label, Sussex Records. He therefore had to continue to work as a manual-laborer to pay the bills. But the story of Rodriguez doesn't end there. After being tracked down by his South African fans, he finally made a tour of South Africa in '98 and sold out six concerts. The concert-scenes in the movie are the movie's most poignant moments. Very moving! Very touching!
As the movie unfolds, we are told of Rodriguez' drug-use; his peripatetic existence; and his bizarre on-stage habit of singing with his back to the crowd. Having heard his songs, I must admit that his melodic voice does make him sound a bit like John Denver( strung out on drugs). And there is a deep melancholy about his lyrics. Two questions immediately came to mind: why didn't he make a move to California, where his folk-sound would have found a ready audience? And why didn't Americans catch on to his unique sound? Had he been under-marketed by the record companies? Or maybe, as a Mexican-American, was he "too ethnic" for the mainstream market? These questions linger.
Apparently, Rodriguez was totally unaware of his South African success and did not see a penny from royalties sent to his American record-label, Sussex Records. He therefore had to continue to work as a manual-laborer to pay the bills. But the story of Rodriguez doesn't end there. After being tracked down by his South African fans, he finally made a tour of South Africa in '98 and sold out six concerts. The concert-scenes in the movie are the movie's most poignant moments. Very moving! Very touching!
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Zimbabwe: Bring Back The Leadership Code
I'm calling for the re-imposition of the The Leadership Code amongst all three of Zimbabwe's main political parties (Zanu-PF, MDC-T, and Zapu). We've just witnessed disciplinary action being taken by the MDC-T against twelve of its errant members serving as City Councilors, Mayors and Deputy-Mayors. Not to be out-done, Zanu-PF is engaged in one of its habitual factional imbroglios, as different factions square off to benefit from hunting concessions recently awarded in the Save Game Reserve.
Off-course, we also need an independent prosecution authority with teeth that can go after errant, pilfering politicians, but that's contingent on the political authority in place. What we need to do, first and foremost, is to bring back The Leadership Code -- the moral code-of-conduct which Zanu-PF itself adhered to from independence in 1980 until 1989 (it was quietly shelved in 1989).
This moral code was not perfect; some made fun of its provisions; whilst others violated its moral intentions from the get-go! Nevertheless, it did keep the brazen material aspirations of Zanu-PF bigwigs in check. After it was quietly shelved in 1989, all hell broke loose.
To check the brigandage that passes for political behaviour in today's Zimbabwe, it's imperative that all three of the main political-parties sign up to a new Leadership Code. This code would serve as a moral check on excessive greed. Absent of this, the brigandage, banditry and wholescale misuse of public resources will continue unabated, with all the main political parties taking part.
Off-course, we also need an independent prosecution authority with teeth that can go after errant, pilfering politicians, but that's contingent on the political authority in place. What we need to do, first and foremost, is to bring back The Leadership Code -- the moral code-of-conduct which Zanu-PF itself adhered to from independence in 1980 until 1989 (it was quietly shelved in 1989).
This moral code was not perfect; some made fun of its provisions; whilst others violated its moral intentions from the get-go! Nevertheless, it did keep the brazen material aspirations of Zanu-PF bigwigs in check. After it was quietly shelved in 1989, all hell broke loose.
To check the brigandage that passes for political behaviour in today's Zimbabwe, it's imperative that all three of the main political-parties sign up to a new Leadership Code. This code would serve as a moral check on excessive greed. Absent of this, the brigandage, banditry and wholescale misuse of public resources will continue unabated, with all the main political parties taking part.
Subscribe to:
Comments
(
Atom
)