29 Sept 2008
29.9.08
Evarist Chahali
FACEBOOK, MI6
No comments
Shirika la Ujasusi la Uingereza (MI6) limeanza kutumia mtandao wa Facebook katika harakati zake za kusaka majasusi watarajiwa.Mpango huo wa mashushushu hao umeanza takriban wiki mbili zilizopita na unalenga kupata waajiriwa wapya kutoka katika kaliba mbalimbali za jamii.
Source: The Guardian
- 29.9.08
- Evarist Chahali
- BONGOFLAVA
- No comments
Hizi ni miongoni mwa kazi za wanasanii wetu wa nyumbani ambazo zilinigusa nilipokuwa huko hivi karibuni.Nilichopenda kwenye hii ya kwanza,"Nangoja ageuke" ya MwanaF.A. ft AY, ni mchanganyiko wa midundo na video yenyewe.Ushirikishwaji wa mastaa wetu wa Kibongo umeongeza chachandu pia.
Hizi zilizosalia zilinivutia zaidi katika flavour na beats
Hizi zilizosalia zilinivutia zaidi katika flavour na beats
- 29.9.08
- Evarist Chahali
- MI6
- No comments
Pichani ni jengo la mashushushu wa MI6 (Shirika la Ujasusi la Uingereza)
Mkasa huu unachekesha kwani ni kama comedy flani vile,au pengine ni ajali kazini USOME HAPA
28 Sept 2008
For centuries, religious believers have endured suffering with impressive fortitude. Now scientists claim to have discovered that faith in God really can relieve pain.New research at Oxford University has found that the Christian martyrs may well have been able to draw on their religion to reduce the agony of, for example, being burnt at the stake.
Virgin Mary
In a bizarre experiment, academics at The Oxford Centre For Science Of The Mind ‘tortured’ 12 Roman Catholics and 12 atheists with electric shocks as they studied a painting of the Virgin Mary.
They found that the Catholics seemed to be able to block out much of the pain.
And, using the latest brain-scanning techniques, they also discovered that the Catholics were able to activate part of the brain associated with conditioning the experience of pain.
The findings were welcomed by the Anglican Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Tom Wright, who said: ‘The practice of faith should, and in many cases does, alter the person you are.
‘It can affect the patterns of your brain and your emotions. So it comes as no surprise to me that this experiment has reached such conclusions.’
The experiment is one of a series being conducted by the academics, a group of scientists, philosophers and theologians from different departments at the university.
A sparking device was strapped to the back of the participants’ left hands to deliver an electric shock.
The scientists then asked them to contemplate two paintings, Sassoferrato’s 17th Century Virgin Annunciate (Virgin Mary) and Leonardo da Vinci’s 15th Century Lady With An Ermine.
The researchers hoped that the face of the Virgin Mary would induce a religious state of mind in the believers, while da Vinci’s painting was chosen because it did not look dissimilar and would be calming.
The volunteers were not told the true purpose of the experiment, only that it was designed to judge how people felt pain while contemplating pictures of different things.
They spent half an hour inside an MRI scanner, receiving a series of 20 electric shocks in four separate sessions while looking at either the religious or non-religious picture.
Each time, the volunteer had to rate how much it hurt on a scale of 0 to 100.
The Catholics said that looking at the painting of the Virgin Mary made them feel ‘safe’, ‘taken care of’ and ‘calmed down and peaceful’.
More significantly, they reported feeling 12 per cent less pain after viewing the religious image than after looking at the Leonardo.
The front right-hand side of their brains lit up on the scanner, indicating that the neural mechanisms of pain modulation had been engaged.
There was no such brain activity among the atheists, whose pain and anxiety levels stayed roughly the same throughout the experiment.
Writing in the scientific journal Pain, the researchers concluded that at least some religious believers can moderate their pain by thinking about it more positively.
Psychologist Miguel Farias, one of the team, admitted that a similar effect may be produced by non-believers if a sufficiently powerful image was used.
He said: ‘We would need to find a picture of someone they feel very positive towards, such as a mother or father.’
SOURCE: Dailymail
The City was in shock last night after the apparent suicide of a millionaire financier haunted by the pressures of dealing with the credit crunch.
Kirk Stephenson, who was married with an eight-year-old son, died in the path of a 100mph express train at Taplow railway station, Berkshire.
Mr Stephenson is believed to have taken his own life after succumbing to mounting personal pressures as the world’s financial markets went into meltdown.
New Zealand-born Mr Stephenson, who owned a £3.6million, five-storey house in Chelsea and a retreat in the West Country, was chief operating officer of Olivant Advisers.
Last year, the private equity firm tried to buy a 15 per cent stake worth almost £1billion in Northern Rock before the bank was nationalised, bidding against Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson.
In June, the company secured a 2.5 per cent stake in Swiss banking giant UBS. There has been persistent speculation in the financial world that UBS has written off billions after being exposed to the US mortgage market.
Since June, the bank has dropped in value by about 20 per cent, which means the value of Olivant’s stake in UBS has fallen from £950million to £770million.
Before his death at 9am on Thursday, Mr Stephenson appeared to have everything to live for.
A glittering 20-year City career had made him a hugely wealthy man and he was said to have been happy in his marriage to Karina Robinson, a successful financial writer.
Sources stressed that neither Mr Stephenson nor his company had financial problems that would have led him to take his own life.
But they said the financier had ‘succumbed’ to the stress and responsibilities of his taxing role, adding that Mr Stephenson had overreacted to the continuing financial turmoil
After eating breakfast on Thursday with his wife and their young son Lucas, Mr Stephenson drove to Taplow station, left his car in the car park and crossed a footbridge over the main First Great Western Plymouth to Paddington line.
Out of view of passengers on the platform, he is then said by witnesses to have leapt in front of a high-speed train.
The driver sounded his horn and slammed on the brakes but was unable to stop in time. The train came to a standstill a mile down the track.
Mr Stephenson left no note, but the incident is being treated by police, train operator First Great Western and his own firm as a suicide.
In due course a coroner will examine the death and record an official verdict.
Mr Stephenson’s colleagues and family were unable to explain why had he had gone to Taplow.
Last night, his devastated widow released a statement saying: ‘Kirk was a life-enhancer – not with a showy, life-and-soul-of-the-party sort of charisma, but as a planner who quietly ensured everyone around him had a marvellous time.
‘A dedicated father and a devoted husband, he valued his family above all else.
'He had a gift for friendship and was a generous and exceptional host, gathering his wide circle in summer villas all over Europe, as well as for parties, dinners and opera.
‘Any occasion with Kirk was a wonderful experience. He spent many a fine – and less than fine – summer evening listening to opera at Garsington, Glyndebourne and The Grange with friends.
'He also loved board games and tennis, passions he shared with his treasured son, Lucas.
‘He arrived in London in 1983 as an SG Warburg trainee. After his stint in the City he went on to work at several large organisations. Latterly, he was a director for Olivant.
‘Always a keen traveller, in 1999 he married his cherished wife Karina. Together they travelled from Bhutan to Burgundy, Buenos Aires to Tripoli.
‘He will be sorely missed by his wife, his son, his mother Bet Stephenson, and his many friends.’
Until two months ago, former merchant banker Karina was a columnist on The Banker magazine.
One of her former colleagues said: ‘It is shocking news. I know Kirk had been under pressure, but I am not aware that his own money was at stake.
'He was very hard-working. He did a 24-hour-a-day job.’
A family friend added: ‘Kirk was always troubled because of his work. He was always so busy, working late and travelling a lot.
'But he didn’t seem any different on Thursday. He ate breakfast with the family, kissed them and said goodbye. No one can believe what happened.’
Mr Stephenson’s previous jobs include chief operating officer of City lawyers Freshfield Bruckhaus Deringer, group finance director of Coats Viyella and Amersham International and an investment banker at Warburg and Morgan Stanley.
At Olivant Advisers he was paid £333,000 last year, but is thought to have made millions more from the core Olivant business, based in Guernsey
SOURCE: Dailymail
- 28.9.08
- Evarist Chahali
- ENERY CRISIS, EWURA, TANESCO, TANZANIA, TPDC, UZALENDO
- No comments
Picha kwa hisani ya Chesi Mpilipili
Shirika la Umeme Tanzania,TANESCO,limetangaza ratiba mpya ya mgao wa umeme ambao tofauti na yale masaa matano ya awali sasa tatizo hilo litadumu kwa masaa kumi kwa siku.Ni muhimu kuwa tatizo hili linakuja wakati tatizo jingine la nishati ya mafuta likiwa halijatulia sawasawa.Angalau katika suala la kupanda kwa bei za mafuta liko nje ya uwezo wetu kwa vile linakuwa determined na soko la dunia.Lakini inakuwa vigumu kuingia akilini pale ambapo takriban kila mwaka lazima TANESCO watangaze mgao wa umeme.Na ninaposema kila mwaka najaribu ku-neglect power cuts za mara kwa mara zisizo na ratiba ambazo zimekuwa kama suala la kawaida huko nyumbani.
Kwa mtazamo wangu,tatizo kubwa zaidi linaloikabili TANESCO sio uhaba wa fedha bali namna linavyoendeshwa kisiasa.Pengine unaweza kudhani ufumbuzi wa tatizo hilo ni kulibinafsisha shirika hilo la umma.Lakini pengine kabla hujafikiri hivyo ni vema ukaangalia baadhi ya mashirika ya umma ambayo kubinafsishwa kwake hakujaweza kuyafanya yamudu uendeshwaji wa mafanikio.Mfano mzuri ni Sherika la Reli (TRC) ambapo huduma zake zimeendelea kuwa mbovu licha ya kupatiwa mwekezaji ambaye pengine mafanikio yake makubwa yamekuwa katika kuishawishi serikali impatie fedha za kumkwamua kila linapotokea tishio la mgomo wa wafanyakazi.Sikatai kwamba kuna some few success stories katika ubinafsishaji wa mashirika yetu ya umma,mfano mzuri ukiwa TBL,lakini mafanikio hayo yanaendelea kubaki kuwa mithili ya matone kwenye bahari.
Uendeshwaji wa TANESCO kisiasa ndio uliopelekea shirika hilo kusaini mkataba wa ajabu na kampuni ya IPTL.Mkataba huo umeendelea kuiumiza TANESCO kwa muda mrefu sana na hakuna dalili za kuisha kwa tatizo hilo.Ahadi za kupitia mikataba mibovu zimeendelea kubaki ahadi huko akina IPTL wakiendelea kuikalia kooni,hali inayopelekea maumivu zaidi kwa wananchi wa kawaida.
Kuna hujuma za kiwango kidogo dhidi ya TANESCo zinazofanywa na wezi wa mafuta ya transfoma,mita za luku na hata nyaya za umeme.Hujuma hizi zinazodaiwa kuwashirikisha baadhi ya watumishi wasio waaminifu wa shirika hilo haziwezi kulinganishwa hata kidogo na hujuma kubwa kama hiyo ya IPTL.Hivi inaingia akilini kweli kwa shirika kulilipa shirika jingine hata lisipotoa huduma inayokusudiwa kwenye mkataba?
Kuna Watanzania wenzetu wanaofanya kila liwezekanalo kuona TANESCO haiishi kulingana na matarajio yake na ya wateja wake.Hawa ni pamoja na wale waliotuingiza mkenge kwenye utapeli wa Richmond.Hawa wanaombea ukame ujitokeze tena ili waje na scams nyingine za kuongeza mabilioni ya shilingi kwenye akaunti zao.Ni katika mazingira ya namna hii ndipo tunapojikuta tukipatwa na hisia kwamba hata kuharibika kwa mitambo ya umeme ya Songas (ambapo imepelekea kuwepo kwa mgao huu wa sasa) kunaweza kuwa hujuma ya hao wenzetu ambao kuumia kwa wengi ndio mafanikio yao.
Kabla ya kuangalia chanzo kikubwa cha utendaji wa kiwango cha chini kabisa kwa TANESCO (mbali na uendeshwaji wa kisiasa) ni vema pia kuangalia sera nzima ya nishati nchini.Katika dunia hii ambayo nchi kama zetu za dunia ya tatu (na hivi karibuni hata kwa nchi zilizoendelea) hazina uwezo madhubuti wa kukabiliana na matukio yasiyotarajiwa (eg kupanda kwa bei ya mafuta katika soko la dunia na the current world economy crisis) ni muhimu kujitengenezea mazingira ya kuzuia madhara ya huko mbeleni.Tukiendelea kutegemea mvua zijaze mabwawa ili mitambo ya TANESCO huko Kidatu na kwingineko ifanye kazi sawasawa,tutazidi kuumia.Pasipo kuwa na chombo madhubuti zaidi ya EWURA na TPDC,ni dhahiri wafanyabiashara wa mafuta wataendelea kuuza nishati hiyo kwa bei wapendazo wao.
Lakini ili yote yawezekane ni lazima kila Mtanzania aweke mbele maslahi ya taifa badala ya maslahi binafsi.Maamuzi mengi mabovu ni matokeo ya kukithiri kwa upungufu wa uzalendo na uchungu kwa taifa letu.Wataalam tunao lakini mara nyingi ushauri wao unapuuzwa kwa vile unaonekana kuathiri maslahi binafsi ya mafisadi.Kibaya zaidi,ushauri mzuri kwa maslahi ya taifa unaweza pia kutafsiriwa kuwa ni uchochezi.Siasa inaelekea kutawala kwenye kila nyanja na professionalism inanyang'anywa nafasi yake na hamasa za kisiasa.Nothing good ever comes out of putting emotions (in this case political sentiments) in front of common sense (hapa ni maslahi ya taifa)
27 Sept 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
