OK, folks, if you know where Fremont Nebraska is you will believe in
the Wollof adage - "Aye du emm si bopi borom." To think of Yaya Jammeh
being a point of discussion in a Fremeont Nebraska paper and all the
way up to Nebraska guvernotarial elections is like beating the odds!
Eh! Jammeh!
I know where Fremont is and have been there many times and trust me
when I say it will be your lucky day to find anyone who ever heard of
the county "Gambia!" Now this from Fremont!

I am awefully busy these days, but yes Haruna, I will dig it from
wherever it is! Read on:

-Laye
==============================

http://fremonttribune.com/news/state-and-regional/article_300e7325-c4be-5990-983e-411a4cae1592.html?print=1

Head of Neb. Dems critical of Jammeh admiralship
By TIMBERLY ROSS | Posted: Sunday, October 3, 2010 6:56 pm

The Nebraska Democratic Party chairman on Sunday criticized Gov. Dave
Heineman for granting an honorary admiralship in the Nebraska Navy to
the Gambian president.

Vic Covalt said in a statement that it's an embarrassment for the
state to have bestowed the honor on Yahya Jammeh, who's been accused
of human rights violations.

"The sad fact is that we have the governor's office blindly sending
out awards to warlords," Covalt said.

The fictional "Great Navy of the State of Nebraska" was started in
1931, and now boasts more than 100,000 admirals _ including astronaut
John Glenn, actress Shirley MacLaine and Mickey Mouse.

Gambia, a former British colony, is a tiny sliver of land surrounded
on three sides by Senegal, in west Africa. Jammeh, who grabbed power
in a 1994 coup, has become increasingly isolated and intolerant of
criticism.

Heineman, a Republican, is being challenged for re-election this year
by Democrat Mike Meister, a Scottsbluff attorney. A message left
Sunday with Heineman's spokeswoman and an e-mail sent to the Nebraska
Admirals Association, a group of the honorees, weren't immediately
returned.

The navy started when Gov. Charles Bryan left the state for a few
weeks in 1931, and put Lt. Gov. T.W. Metcalfe in charge. Metcalfe's
friends had been goading him to appoint them to government positions,
so he created the fictional navy and began appointing admirals.

The practice was later continued by Gov. Dwight Griswold in the 1940s,
and the tradition was passed on to subsequent governors.

Nebraska admirals are required only to "have contributed in some way
to the state, promote the Good Life in Nebraska, and warrant
recognition as determined by the governor," according to the
application forms, which are available through the governor's office.

The governor retains full discretion for any admiralship requests,
according to the state website.

Each admiral's commission comes with a certificate emblazoned with a
picture of a covered wagon on a sandbar in a river, the state seal and
bearded men rising from the sea.

It charges "all officers, seamen, tadpoles and goldfish under your
command to be obedient to your orders as admiral."

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