I knew you'd come through. I am proud of you. Your alacrity and circumspect not to mention your disposition is inspirational. I agree with you that perhaps there was not much value in Suntou delving into the intent of Halifa. Absent that one statement, his Oped will have been excellent. It is also true that the reaction he got from PDOISards is equally valueless if not more so. Whether or not Suntou should have brought up a query on Halifa's motives is a question of literary discernment that is subordinate to his rights of free speech and expression. And just because he brought it up does not make it true or false. I am pleased you acknowledge as much and before they miss it (they'll still miss it) in your eloquent amicus brief, you relegate that top the realm of morality. Martin Luther King Junior is a role model for many nations. He was not a leader of an opposition political party in America. Perhaps then you will forgive me if I or Suntou do not view Halifa in the light of Selfless heroes such as Gandhi and MLK Jr. This does not still invite unnecessary query of Halifa's motives considering the atmospherics of Gambia. I admire your commendation of Halifa and the unconditional regard you have for him. There is something to be said for such character as you display. As for Evian, I'm still friggin conducting my imbestigations. And leave Mali out of this will ya? Now then, do you sometimes wonder why with such honourable regard you have for Halifa, you still are not driven to take a pickaxe at those who you deem to be his detractors? I am confident you will ascribe that to differences in temperament variously. DO you think it serves Halifa well to keep an enable this coterie of jesters or does it somehow lend credence to the impetus to query Halifa's intentions especially by equally avid partisans or independents? How does such national treasure end up being bastardised so? BTW, you will forgive me if I take exception to your call to worship Halifa in the plea's varying degrees. I understand how and why you can prefer Halifa to all other executives of all other parties in Gambia. I tend to maintain a similar disposition, even though my reasons are not drawn from comparative considerations. They are drawn from synergistic value that cannot be complete without the cooperation of the other executives. And to the extent that cooperation is not enabled, my preference for Halifa is whittled down to almost nil. I know this will be complicated for our other coleague PDOISards but suffice it to say that my preference for Halifa is premised on certain intrinsic values he possesses or is privy to and his ability to harness those values. It is not premised on Halifa's singular demarche or comparative worth in as much as that term connotes indepndent value. And leave Kukeh out of this. Unlike you, he has to stay here and endure the ambient temperatures while you frolic on the beach in Bafoulabe. I hope you understand yourself that your eloquence and pearless demeanor in circumspect notwithstanding, you are also a partisan. What I love about you though is that you do not ride on Halifa's strained coat-tails with a cutlass in your hands. You actually complement what you admire in Halifa. It will be tough keeping you away from my Kukeh, but bear with me. I know Kukeh is reviewing your untoward advances. Kukeh please give me some time. I think JDAM and myself can arrive at a happy medium worthy of your consideration. ANd I got a question for you Kukeh. WHy does it friggin take you so long to make up your mind if you wanna be with me with JDAM? WHy force us to make you be friends with both of us, and Halifa? Must be something in the air at Ellen. I ask you to give me a bit more time. JDAM keep the sobriety up. Because no matter how elevated the temperature is, it cannot heat up a vacuum. Haruna. I urge you to acknowledge Suntou's fundamental rights in this clay oven. Without folk like SUntou, the Halifas, Kukehs, and JDAMs become indistinguishable from the chaff. MQJGDT. Darbo. In a message dated 4/18/2009 9:48:23 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Malanding I can see the temperature of the current conversation is disorienting you, but this is the Third Republic in microcosm. The temperature notwithstanding, the conversation is highly educative, and immensely preferable to bullets, although you may argue some mutual admiration may be left by the wayside. In itself, that eventuality is insignificant as long as Haruna and Mborge, or the former and Laye, and all of them and Suntou, gained greater respect for the other due to having a better feel for his temperament and intellect. Our friend Bailo has put out feelers for reconciliation, but the last I checked, his Malian grand dad is otherwise occupied, but no doubt will almost certainly reengage in good time. On Bailo, what do you think of him leaving family, friends, a good job, and according to YJ, personal property such as a car, for the life of an exile? Other than public stature, is there any fundamental difference between Bailo, and Halifa, in so far as the conduct that got them into trouble is concerned? Are they at fault for acting to advance the public interest in a sea of intellectual and moral indifference, even if that indifference is somewhat understandable? And should it matter what mileage is realisable from such commendable conduct? Allowing for the fact that good public relations is critical to a political life, I nevertheless urge reflection on the above questions, and variations thereof. Although Halifa's political legacy is far from settled, I prefer him to the entire executive leadership of the current government, i.e., the Cabinet, and other policy-level operators such as Permanent Secretaries. In them we have men and women who willingly participate in the systematic destruction of what little institutionalism there is in Gambian public life. Even as there were ample opportunities for him to join this coterie of so-called leaders, Halifa took the difficult route of the life of modest material means. In this regard, there are many like Halifa in ordinary Gambia, but none like him in the executive leadership of the country. If this is not enough to warrant 'worshipping' Halifa, it is a good reason to celebrate the man and his vision. It appears that without the fact finding mission that earned him jail time, and the subsequent international ridicule and uproar it generated against the government of The Gambia, the Professor would have proceeded as if nothing was amiss in his happy country of harmless witches and their murderous state sponsored hunters. Even if Halifa's motives were complex, the lesson derivable from the instant conversation is to always strive to restrict analysis of concrete situations within their ascertainable contours. In other words, there should be no need to fish for reasons why Halifa went on a fact finding mission regarding "the government policy of screening witches". As opposed to manufacturing this particular incident regarding witches, Halifa was merely responding to a live issue of major public concern, and on this matter, he deserves our unreserved celebration. I can see how this may be uncomfortable for the political competition, including Ousainou, OJ, and Mathew K Jallow, but if we denigrate, or ignore our national treasures, we will participate in the U-17 and other diversions of the Professor. Seeing Halifa as a hero is no different from a country like the United States celebrating Dr King by setting aside a special day to commemorate his ever maturing vision for that country. Hero worship? Probably, but if it is good for that great colossus of modern times, Mathew should have no trouble celebrating Halifa in the same spirit by recognising, without reservation, his courageous stance on "the government policy of screening witches". In similar vein, and in recognition of his tremendous sacrifice, I celebrate our own Bailo for his principled stance against "the government policy of screening witches", and its attendant violation of fundamental human rights, including Halifa's unlawful imprisonment. Long may we live to continue witnessing this type conversation, its sometimes disturbing undertones notwithstanding. LJDarbo --- On Sat, 18/4/09, [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> wrote: From: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: The Halifa Factor, what next?/Ginny To: [log in to unmask] Date: Saturday, 18 April, 2009, 5:49 AM Easy Laye, Ginny could be your sister. I am thoroughly disappoited in you Laye. I really was thinking that among the sextuplet, you had the reserve to corale the troops and aid their more sober reflection. It is really not too late to at least temper your language vis-a-vis Ginny. I thought it were a new day with Obama's election in America and all. I am confident if Obama is within earshot of these and those extremities, he would advise temperance. May I plead with you to regain your trademark sobriety Laye? Do you really believe what you said you knew about Halifa's integrity? I am baffled! Because I wouldn't go to this length to defend the obvious if I really believed. Halifa's personality I think should be able to speak for itself. Regardless of how many hooman bings try to tarnish it. I mean is Halifa's personality all that PDOIS is riding on??? It must be burdensome for the Pliny. Haruna. To what end????? In a message dated 4/18/2009 12:39:01 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [log in to unmask] writes: Ginny said "Gambians are some how different from the rest of the human race..." Take this pile of doo doo and shove it back through your mouth. -Abdoulie Sent from my iPhone On Apr 18, 2009, at 6:45, Ginny Quick <[log in to unmask]> wrote: いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい ____________________________________ Access 350+ FREE radio stations anytime from anywhere on the web. _Get the Radio Toolbar_ (http://toolbar.aol.com/aolradio/download.html?ncid=emlcntusdown00000003) ! いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい **************Access 350+ FREE radio stations anytime from anywhere on the web. 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