SCIENTISTS CLOSE IN CURE FOR HIV INFECTION

By Gatonye Gathura, Citizen Correspondent, Nairobi

Scientists have found a way of eradicating HIV infection from the human body by "smoking" out the virus from its hideout cells. The new approach is to kill the hideout cells plus the virus.

The current anti-Aids drugs only destroy viruses circulating in the body but some manage to hide in particular immune system cells and continue replicating, hence the patient has to remain on medication throughout.

The new development by a team of American and Canadian researchers is the second indication that a cure for the disease that continues to afflict more than 1.3 million Kenyans and many more globally may finally be within reach.

In February, researchers in California developed a gene therapy with the capacity of eradicate HIV from the body and have since put 12 people on clinical trials. The study is still ongoing though it is said to involve a complex process that could make it very expensive.

Published on Sunday in the Nature Medicine journal, the new study says HIV and Aids can be treated through a combination of targeted drugs together with current anti-retrovirals.

"This radical new therapy would make it possible to destroy both the viruses circulating in the body as well as those playing hide-and-seek in immune system cells, says Dr Rafick-Pierre S�kaly, of the University of Montreal, Canada.

Other participating groups included the universities of McGill and Minnesota and the National Institutes of Health, the latter is the US federal agency responsible for overseeing government-sponsored biomedical research.

Current anti-retroviral treatments are not able to eradicate the virus from the body because some disease agents hide in particular cells where the existing treatments cannot reach. These researchers have now identified these cells and found a way of reaching them.

The new approach, says the team, is to use drugs to kill the cell containing the virus while giving the immune system time to regenerate with new cells. This could much cheaper that the gene-therapy technology.

"Once the virus is hidden in these reservoir cells, it becomes dependent on them: if the cell lives, the virus lives, but if the cell dies, so does the virus. As such, destroying these immune cells will allow for the elimination of the resilient or hidden parts of the virus," says Dr Sekaly.

While the team acknowledges that a product is still several years away before becoming a reality for patients, they are excited of the breakthrough which they say opens the way for therapies that are completely different from current ones.

SOURCE: The Citizen

RELATED STORY: a pilot project that is helping a Tanzanian community make its own probiotic yogurt for HIV-infected locals and empowering women in the process.

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TISHIO LA NJAA KILOMBERO NA ULANGA

Ifakara katika picha niliyopiga mwezi Mei mwaka jana.

Mji una neema ya ardhi yenye rutuba inayokubali kilimo cha mpunga,mahindi,na mazao mengine lukuki.Ungetegemea mapinduzi ya kijani yaanzie sehemu kama hizi lakini kama kawaida ya wanasiasa wetu,maneno meeengi huku vitendo vikiishia kwenye michakato,mikakati,vipaumbele,semina elekezi na ubabaishaji mwingine kama huo.Habari hii hapo chini licha ya kunigusa kutokana na ukweli kwamba wilaya ya Kilombero ndio nyumbani,pia inawakilisha matatizo yanayowakabili mamilioni ya Watanzania wanaotegemea kilimo kama njia pekee ya kuwawezesha kuishi.Isome kwanza:

Kilombero, Ulanga wahofia njaa

na Joseph Malembeka, Kilombero

BAADHI ya
wananchi wanaoishi katika wilaya za Kilombero na Ulanga mkoani Morogoro wameiomba serikali kuingilia kati ununuzi holela wa mazao ya chakula unaofanywa na walanguzi sasa.

Ombi hilo limekuja kutokana na ongezeko kubwa la wafanyabiashara kuingia wilayani humo na kununua kwa kasi mpunga ukiwemo uliovunwa na uliopo mashambani.

Wakizungumza na Tanzania Daima juzi, John Lyapi na Selemani Kinana walisema kama serikaliikifumbia macho suala hilo kuna hatari ya wakazi wengi wa wilaya hizo kupata baa la njaa mwaka huu.

Lyapi alisema kwa sasa walanguzi hao wamevamia zaidi katika tarafa za Malinyi na Mtimbira na kuwarubuni wananchi kuwauziampunga wao kwa sh 5,000 kwa debe na huku wakiwafuatilia hadi mashambani.

Alisema kutokana na wengi wa wakulima kwa kipindi hiki wanatokea mashambani inawawia vigumu kukataa kupokea fedha hizo, kwani wengi wao huwa kama wanaanzamaisha mapya majumbani baada ya kuhamia mashambani kwa muda mrefu.

Naye Kinana mkazi wa Kilombero alisema kila kukicha bei ya mazao ya chakulaimekuwa inapanda na kushuka kutegemeana na kuongezeka kwa walanguzi hususanwakubwa.

Alisema endapo serikali itakabiliana kikamilifu na walanguzi haoitasaidia kuondoshwa chakula kingi wilayani humo na kunusuru janga la njaa.

Kwa mujibu wa wakuu wa wilaya hizo Evarist Ndikilo (Kilombero) na DkRajabu Rutengwe (Ulanga) kwa nyakati tofauti walisema tayari halmashauri zimeagizwa kuwatangazia wananchi kuacha mtindo huo.

Walisema mbali na kupiga marufuku kwa wananchi kuuza vyakula pia wanakusudia kuweka sheria itakayowasaidia, iliwaweze kujikwamua na janga la njaa kwa kutouza vyakula hivyo.

CHANZO: Tanzania Daima

Mkuu wa wilaya ya Kilombero anaweza hata kuamuru jeshi la polisi likamate wanaouza chakula,lakini haitokuwa ufumbuzi wa tatizo hilo.Bottom line is,watu wanauza akiba ya chakula chao ili kukabiliana na ugumu wa maisha.Unadhani kuna mkulima anayependa kula mbegu?

Hivi kwanini hizo trilioni moja na ushee zilizotengwa kukabailiana na msukosuko wa uchumi zisiangalie walalahoi kama hawa?Katika mpango huo ambao bado nina wasiwasi unaweza kuishia kuwa-bailout mafisadi kama si kuzua EPA nyingine,wakulima wa kawaida wamepewa kisogo licha ya hadithi za KILIMO KWANZA.

Ukitembelea Ifakara katika kipindi hiki cha mavuno utapata picha moja ya kusikitisha.Wakulima wa mji huo wanatumia takriban robo tatu ya mwaka kulima mpunga (na kilimo cha mpunga kiko very demanding huku kikitegemea kudra za Mungu kwenye hali ya hewa).Baada ya mavuno,mji huo unafurika wanunuzi wa mpunga na mchele,huku wengine wakiufuata hukohuko mashambani.Kwa vile muda huu wengi wa wakulima huwa hoi kiuchumi,bei ya mpunga na mchele huwa ni karibu na bure.Pia baadhi ya wakulima wenye mahitaji mengine muhimu kama vile nguo,sukari,nk huamua kupokea bidhaa hizo badala ya fedha (barter trade) alimradi siku ziende mbele.Na muda si muda,wakulima hao hujikuta wameuza hadi mbegu na kurejea mahala palepale walipoanzia: hawana hela,hawana chakula.

Tuna wizara ya wajibu wa kushukulikia kilimo,na tuna wizara yenye wajibu wa kuwasaidia wakulima kupata masoko ya kuaminika ya mazao yao.Pia tuna wizara inayowajibika na masuala ya ushirika.Kwa makusudi,wizara hizi zimebaki majina tu japo utasikia zinatengewa mamilioni kama sio mabilioni,sio tu kwa ajili ya "kuleta ufanisi" bali pia huduma za ukarimu-chai,chakula,nk.

Tuna takriban Watanzania wenzetu 50 wenye wadhifa wa uwaziri au unaibu waziri.Sehemu kubwa tu ya fedha za walipa kodi inatumika kuwahudumia waheshimiwa hawa.Lakini ni ukweli usiopingika kuwa utendaji kazi wao ni chini ya kiwango.Walikabidhiwa dhamana ya kutekeleza kaulimbiu ya MAISHA BORA KWA KILA MTANZANIA lakini yayumkinika kuhitimisha kuwa sanasana wamefanikiwa kujitengenezea maisha bora wao wenyewe na "wafadhili wao wa kisiasa".

Kwa mmiliki wa makazi hayo pichani juu,habari za Maisha Bora kwa Kila Mtanzania ni kama utani mbaya kwake.Japo amezungukwa na ardhi kijani yenye rutuba,hajui jioni itakuwaje let alone hiyo kesho au msimu ujao wa kilimo na mavuno.Ukimwambia kuwa kuna kaulimbiu mpya ya

KILIMO KWANZA anaweza kukushushia ngumi!

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NIXON SUPPORTED ABORTION FOR MIXED RACE BABIES

On Nixon Tapes, Ambivalence Over Abortion, Not Watergate

By CHARLIE SAVAGE

WASHINGTON — On Jan. 22, 1973, when the Supreme Court struck down laws criminalizing abortion in Roe v. Wade, President Richard M. Nixon made no public statement. But the next day, newly released tapes reveal, he privately expressed ambivalence.

Nixon worried that greater access to abortions would foster “permissiveness,” and said that “it breaks the family.” But he also saw a need for abortion in some cases — like interracial pregnancies, he said.

“There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white,” he told an aide, before adding, “Or a rape.”

Nine months later, Nixon forced the firing of the special prosecutor looking into the Watergate affair, Archibald Cox, and prompted the resignations of Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus. The next day, Ronald Reagan, who was then governor of California and would later be president, told the White House that he approved.

Reagan said the action, which would become known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” was “probably the best thing that ever happened — none of them belong where they were,” according to a Nixon aide’s notes of the private conversation.

Those disclosures were among the revelations in more than 150 hours of tape and 30,000 pages of documents made public on Tuesday by the Nixon Presidential Library, a part of the National Archives. The audio files were posted online, as were a sampling of the documents.

The tapes were recorded by the secret microphones in the Oval Office from January and February 1973. They shed new light on an intense moment in American history, including Nixon’s second inauguration, the Vietnam War cease-fire, and the trial of seven men over the break-in at the Democrats’ headquarters at the Watergate complex amid mounting revelations about their ties to the White House.

The tapes also capture more mundane details of life in the White House — conversations about what to pack for a trip, when to schedule a trip to the barber, whether the president’s wife would enjoy going to Trader Vic’s for dinner.

Most segments of the tapes relating to the Watergate scandal, which would lead to Nixon’s resignation 20 months later, have already been released. But there are some new materials that were previously held back because the audio quality was so poor that archives officials could not be certain whether they contained discussion of any classified topics. Improvements in audio technology have allowed archives staff to clear additional ones.

They include a Jan. 5, 1973, conversation between Nixon and his aide Charles W. Colson in which they discussed the possibility of granting clemency to E. Howard Hunt Jr., one of the Watergate conspirators, according to a log compiled by archives staff. Scholars say the same topic was addressed in several other tapes that were previously made public.

The documents also include nine pages of handwritten notes by a domestic policy aide about plans for what the White House would say about the dismissal of the Watergate special prosecutor, Mr. Cox.

The tapes also provide new material about the circumstances surrounding the Paris treaty to end the United States’ military involvement in Vietnam.

A call between Nixon and Mr. Colson just after midnight on Jan. 20 showed that Nixon anticipated, when the treaty was announced, that he would be vindicated for continuing to bomb North Vietnam. He especially relished the hit that he believed members of Congress who opposed the war — whose public statements he pronounced “treasonable” — would suffer.

Several conversations center on the pressure Nixon placed on South Vietnam’s president, Nguyen Van Thieu, to accept the cease-fire agreement. Ken Hughes, a Nixon scholar and research fellow at the Presidential Recordings Project at the University of Virginia, said he was struck by listening on one of the new tapes to Nixon’s telling his national security adviser, Henry A. Kissinger, that to get Thieu to sign the treaty, he would “cut off his head if necessary.”

Mr. Hughes said the conversation bolstered his view that Nixon, Thieu and Mr. Kissinger knew at the time that the cease-fire could not endure, and that it was not “peace with honor,” as Nixon described it, so much as a face-saving way for the United States to get out of the war. In 1975, North Vietnam would violate the cease-fire and conquer South Vietnam.

The tapes also include a phone call from February 1973 between Nixon and the evangelist Billy Graham, during which Mr. Graham complained that Jewish-American leaders were opposing efforts to promote evangelical Christianity, like Campus Crusade. The two men agreed that the Jewish leaders risked setting off anti-Semitic sentiment.

“What I really think is deep down in this country, there is a lot of anti-Semitism, and all this is going to do is stir it up,” Nixon said.

At another point he said: “It may be they have a death wish. You know that’s been the problem with our Jewish friends for centuries.”

The documents also include three newly declassified pages from a National Security Council brief discussing secret Israeli efforts to build a nuclear weapon.

SOURCE: The New York Times

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MVUTA SIGARA MDOGO ZAIDI KULIKO WOTE DUNIANI

Ana umri wa miaka miwili tu,lakini anavuta pakti zima la sigara kwa siku.Huyo ni Tong Liangliang,mkazi wa mji wa Tianjin nchini China.Dogo huyo anaaminika kuwa ndio mvuta fegi mdogo zaidi duniani,at least miongoni mwa waliojitambulisha kama watumiaji wa tumbaku.

Tong alianza kuvuta fegi akiwa na umri wa miezi 18 baada ya baba yake kumpatia mche kwa minajili ya kupunguza maumivu ya henia aliyozaliwa nayo dogo huyo.Kwa sasa hakuna dalili za yosso huyo kuachana na sigara kwani amekataa katakata ushauri wa kumtaka a-quit.Pia kiserengeti boy hicho hakioni aibu kuomba sigara pindi kikutanapo na mvutaji mwingine,na husononeka anaponyimwa sigara.

Mwaka 2005,mkazi mmoja wa China alituma maombi kwenda Kitabu cha Rekodi za Guinness akitaka atambuliwe kama mtu aliyeanza uvutaji sigara akiwa na umri mdogo zaidi (duniani),ambapo alianza kuvuta fegi akiwa na miaka mitatu.Japo ombi lake lilikataliwa kwa minajili kwamba "rekodi" hiyo ingechochea tabia mbaya,ni dhahiri kwamba hata ingekubaliwa ingekumbana na upinzani kutoka kwa Tong.

CHANZO: Finchannel.com

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JE SIKU KAMA HII ITAFIKA KWA WAMILIKI WA KAGODA?

Just in case sura ya mwenye gwanda la jela na pingu mkononi ni ngeni kwako,basi huyo ni bilionea Sir Allen Stanford.Unadhani kuna siku majambazi wa kampuni ya Kagoda watakuwa katika hali kama hii?Sijui wewe unaonane,lakini mie sidhani kama hilo litatokea hasa ukizingatia kwamba wanufaika wa ufisadi (kisiasa) wameshaanza kutembeza mabakuli kwa maandalizi ya uchaguzi mkuu wa mwakani.And guess what,wafadhili wakubwa ni haohao tunaowaita akina Kagoda.Nani mwenye jeuri ya kukata mkono unaomlisha?

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HABARI ZA KIFO CHA MICHAEL JACKSON ZASABABISHA INTANETI "KUZIDIWA UWEZO"

Kwa mujibu wa TMZ.COM (katika tafsiri isiyo rasmi)

Kufuatia habari za kifo cha Michael Jackson,watu luluki walikimbilia kwenye intaneti kiasi kwamba mfumo mzima (the World Wide Web) ulisimama.Social networks kama Facebook,Twitter,MySpace,AIM-zilikuwa miongoni mwa maeneo ya mtandao yaliyozidiwa na wingi waliotembelea maeneo hayo.Japo zote ziliendelea kufanya kazi (kufunguka) lakini kasi yake ilikuwa ni ndogo mno kutokana na wingi huo wa watu waliokuwa wakizitembelea.Mara ya mwisho kwa mtandao kukumbwa na idadi kubwa namna hiyo ni tukio la kuapishwa Barack Obama.

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HONGERA HASHEEM THABEET

Kwa mujibu wa MZEE WA CHANGAMOTO,Hasheem Thabeet amenyakuliwa na klabu ya mpira wa kikapu ya Memphis Grizzlies katika draft ya NBA.

Hii ni miongoni mwa njia mwafaka-na nafuu-za kuitangaza Tanzania.Kila la kheri Hasheem.Mafanikio yako ni zaidi ya kufanikiwa kimichezo,umeingia kwenye orodha ya vitambulisho vya Tanzania kama vile Mlima Kilimanjaro,madini ya Tanzanite (japo mafisadi wamepania kuyamaliza kama walivyomaliza dhahabu ilivyo huko Tulawaka),Hifadhi ya Selous na vivutio vinginevyo.Kuna cha zaidi kuhusu mafanikio yako.Umevunja "utamaduni" wa Kitanzania wa ku-settle for less.Angalia timu yetu ya taifa,kwa mfano.Tumekuwa na Maximo kwa muda sasa,na wajuzi wa michezo wanatuambia tumepiga hatua.Kupiga hatua kwa kutoka sare na Senegal?Angalia Simba na Yanga,kila msimu wanahangaika na "wachezaji wa kimataifa",lakini huhitaji kuwa mtaalam wa soka kumaizi kuwa ma-pro" hao ni wababaishaji tu na hawajasaidia kuzifanya klabu hizo zitambe katika anga za soka la kimataifa (na tunaambiwa kocha wa Yanga ni profesa wa soka!Lakini msimu wa pili huu hakuna kombe la kimataifa na wana-Yanga wameridhika,sio na mafanikio ya klabu yao bali kuwa na kocha mgeni "profesa wa soka").Angalia baadhi ya mitazamo yetu.Shangwe na vigelegele tukisikia Zeutamu kakamatwa ilhali majambazi wa Kagoda bado wanapeta,na huku tukizugwa kuwa eti ufisadi wa Meremeta na Tangold ni siri za taifa! (Na kweli ni siri maana ni nadra kwa wizi kufanyika hadharani).

Mafanikio yako yanaweza kuwa chachu kwa Watanzania wengine kuondokana na unyonge wa kifikra kwamba kila baya linalotusibu ndio destiny yetu.Na ni kwa namna hiyo ndio mafisadi wanazidi kutufisadi kwa vile wanatambua unyonge na udhaifu wetu wa kukubali matokeo kirahisi.

Hongera sana,Hasheem.Sote tunajivunia jina lako.

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UNAFIKI HUU BUNGENI NI SEHEMU YA KAMPENI ZA 2010

Hili ndio "BUNGE LENYE MENO"!Juzijuzi mbunge mmoja wa CCM kaomba Mungu alilaani Baraza la Mawaziri kwa kushindwa kutimiza majukumu yake.Mwingine kadai serikali ina ugonjwa na inahitaji maombezi (na kwa kawaida magonjwa yanayohitaji maombezi ni yale yasiyotibika kama vile ukimwi,nk).Jana mbunge mwingine wa chama hicho tawala amewafananisha mawaziri na mbwa.Na pengine moja ya mambo yatakayokumbukwa zaidi katika historia ya bunge letu tukufu ni jinsi kikao hiki cha bajeti kinavyoonekana "mwiba mkali" kwa mawaziri,at least according to walio mahiri katika kuripoti pasipo kusoma kati ya mistari (reading between the lines).

Sina maneno ya huruma kwa baadhi ya wabunge hawa wa CCM.Ni wanafiki wanaohangaika kutumia vizuri nafasi hizi za mwisho mwisho kujitengenezea mazingira ya kurejea bungeni hapo mwakani.Lakini ili haki itendeke,ni vema kuwatofautisha wanafiki hawa kwa makundi.Kuna kundi la wabunge waliojitokeza mapema (kabla hata ya joto la uchaguzi wa mwakani halijaanza kupanda) kukemea ufisadi na vitendo vingine vinavyokwaza maendeleo ya taifa letu.Sio siri kwamba wabunge kama Selelii,Kimaro,Killango,Mwambalaswa,Mwakyembe na wengineo wamejitokeza kuwa sauti adimu ndani ya CCM dhidi ya ufisadi.Na tunafahamu vituko wanavyofanyiwa na watu walewale wanaopaswa kuwaunga mkono.

Kundi la pili ni la wababaishaji walio njia panda; upande mmoja hawana nia ya dhati ya kupambana na ufisadi au pengine ni sehemu ya mfumo unaodumisha ufisadi,upande mwingine wanafahamu fika kwamba miongoni mwa ajenda za uchaguzi mkuu ujao ni ufisadi na namna wawakilishi wetu walivyoshiriki katika mapambano dhidi ya ufisadi.

Pia kuna makundi mengine mawili: la kwanza linajumuisha wababaishaji wanaokwenda bungeni kwa vile tu ndio mahala pao pa kuchuma shs 7,000,000/= za mshahara kiulaini.Hawachangii hoja,hawaongei lolote japo si mabubu,wapo wapo tu.Kuwepo au kutokuwepo kwao bungeni hakutambuliki kwa vile wanaongeza tu idadi ya wabunge.Kundi la pili ni la watetezi wa ufisadi.Hawa ni wepesi wa kuomba mwongozo wa Spika kila maslahi yao au ya wadau wenzao wa ufisadi yanapoguswa.Nadhani mmesikia "Dokta" Mzindakaya alivyotumia Maandiko Matakatifu kutetea ufisadi .Ila hawa wanaocheza na vitabu vya Mungu,nadhani ndio wanaostahili kulaaniwa zaidi kwani wamevigeuza kama manifesto za usanii wao wa kisiasa!

Uzuru wa makundi haya mawili ya mwisho-la tatu na la nne-ni kwamba angalau yanajumuisha wabunge tunaofahamu wanaposimamia.Aidha ni wazembe na mabubu wasioongea (aidha kwa aibu ya kuongea,au "heri mie sijasema",au uzembe tu) au ni watetezi wa mafisadi.Hawa si wanafiki as such kwa vile wameji-identify kwetu kuwa ni viumbe wa namna gani.

Tofauti kati ya makundi hayo ni ndogo mno contrary to inavyosomeka na kusikika kwenye vyombo vya habari.Hapa nataka kuzungumzia makundi mawili ya mwanzo-la kwanza na la pili.Hawa wote ni wana CCM,na kwa namna yoyote ile hawawezi kujitenganisha na matatizo yanayosababishwa na chama hicho tawala.Na hili si la kufikirika kwa sababu tayari wengi wa wabunge wa kundi la kwanza wamekuwa wakikumbana na kadhia mbalimbali kutokana na msimamo wao dhidi ya ufisadi,na guess what,kadhi hizo ni kutoka kwa wenzao ndani ya CCM.

Mawaziri wanaolaaniwa na kufikia hatua ya kuitwa mbwa wanatoka CCM pia.Hii sio vita ya wenyewe kwa wenyewe kama inavyoweza kutafsiriwa kiuzembe.Huu ni unafiki,period.CCM isingefika hapo ilipo laiti "wapambanaji hawa" wangekuwa na mkakati wa dhati wa kuleta mabadiliko ya kweli.Wanachofanya muda huu ni cha kibinafsi zaidi kuliko kitaifa.Wanaweza kurudi bungeni hapo mwakani baada ya wapiga kura wao "kuzugika" na CVs za wawakilishi wao tangu 2005 hadi 2010.Kurudi kwao bungeni kutapelekea CCM kuendelea kuwa yenye wabunge wengi bungeni,na hivyo kupelekea kuendelea kwa haya tunayopigia kelele kila siku.

Siamini kama kuna mkakati kwa Selelii na wenzake kuleta mageuzi ndani ya CCM.So far,kelele zao hazijasaidia kukitenganisha chama hicho na ufisadi,implying that kelele zao zimebaki kuwa kelele tu.Wana options mbili: waendelee kupiga kelele lakini wabaki kuwa sehemu ya chama kinachohusishwa na ufisadi au wajondoe ndani ya chama hicho na hivyo kubainisha kuwa kuwa kwao ndani ya CCM ilikuwa ni sehemu tu ya maisha yao ya kisiasa lakini cha muhimu zaidi kwao ni Tanzania na ustawi wa Tanzania.Yes,si lazima kuwa mbunge wa CCM ili kupata fursa ya kupigania maslahi ya taifa.Mifano hai ipo;Dkt Slaa,Zitto Kabwe,nk sio wabunge wa CCM,lakini sote tunafahamu michango yao katika kupambana na ufisadi.

Unafiki wa wabunge hao wa CCM unasababishwa na kitu kimoja kisicho na msingi: UBINAFSI WA KISIASA.Ni hivi,kwa CCM,umoja na mshikamano ndani ya chama hicho ni muhimu zaidi kuliko umoja na mshikamano wa taifa.Na hilo ni matokeo ya chama hicho kuamini kwamba ni chenyewe tu kinachoweza kudumisha mshikamano na umoja wetu.Kwa lugha nyingine,kimebinafsisha uwezo,dhamira,jitihada na nguvu za Watanzania zaidi ya milioni 35 ambao si wanachama wa chama hicho (takwimu za karibuni zinaonyesha idadi ya wanachama wa CCM ni takriban milioni 4 tu).Japo ni kweli kwamba chama hicho kimetoa uongozi uliosaidia kudumu kwa amani na mshikamano huo,Watanzania wenyewe ndio waliofanya kazi ya msingi zaidi kufanikisha hilo.Upendo na upole wetu (ambao mara nyingi umeishia kutumiwa vibaya na wanasiasa walafi) ndio sababu kuu ya kwanini tumeendelea kubaki kisiwa cha amani (kwa maana ya kutokuwa vitani).

Ni ubinafsi wa kisiasa unaopelekea CCM kuweka mbele maslahi ya kisiasa badala ya maslahi ya taifa.Sote tumeshuhudia mara kadhaa wabunge wa chama hicho tawala wakiitisha vikao "vya kuwekana sawa" kila zinapojiri hoja nzito bungeni.Kuwekana sawa kwa maslahi ya nani?Hivi cha muhimu ni hoja ipite tu au ipite ili ilete mabadiliko chanya kwa wananchi?

Lakini ili upate mfano sahihi zaidi kuhusu ubinafsi wa wabunge hawa ni pale Dkt Slaa alipotamka bayana kwamba mishahara ya wabunge ni mikubwa mno kulinganisha na hali halisi ya uchumi wetu.Kwa umoja wao (huku wakipata sapoti kutoka kwa wabinafsi wengine waliojificha kwenye vyama vya upinzani) walimzomea Dkt Slaa na kumzongazonga kana kwamba kawatukana.Hivi ina maana wabunge hawa wanaotuzuga kuwa wanatetea maslahi yetu hawaelewi kuwa wakati wao wanazawadiwa takriban shilingi 7,000,000/= mwezi (wastani wa shilingi laki 230,000/= kwa siku sawa na takriban shs 10,000/= kwa saa) takriban Watanzania 36,000,000 wanaoishi kwa chini ya shilingi 3000/= kwa siku?

Hadi kufikia tamati yake na mabiloni kadhaa kutumika,kikao hiki cha bajeti kitashuhudia kila aina ya vituko kutoka kwa wanafiki hawa.Ukidhani hizo dua dhidi ya mawaziri na "matusi" ya kuwaita mbwa ndio hatua kali kabisa,subiri usikie "makombora" zaidi.Na kama kawaida ya vyombo vyetu vya habari,kurasa zitapambwa na maneno mazito kama "Bunge moto juu","Wabunge wachachamaa",na ubabaishaji mwingine kama huo.Lakini pamoja na yote hayo,makadirio ya wizara za mawaziri wanaoombewa dua mbaya na kuitwa mbwa yatapitishwa na wabunge haohao wanaotuzuga kuwa "wana hasira na mawaziri".

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BREAKING NEWS: MICHAEL JACKSON AFARIKI

Breaking News hii ni kwa mujibu wa TMZ.COM ambapo wanaeleza

Michael Jackson Dies

Posted Jun 25th 2009 5:20PM by

TMZ Staff

We've just learned Michael Jackson has died. He was 50.

Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.

A source tells us Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived. A cardiologist at UCLA tells TMZ Jackson died of cardiac arrest.

Once at the hospital, the staff tried to resuscitate him but he was completely unresponsive.

We're told one of the staff members at Jackson's home called 911.La Toya ran in the hospital sobbing after Jackson was pronounced dead.Michael is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II.

Story developing...

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BERLUSCONI AKANUSHA KUNUNUA NGONO KWA CHANGUDOA

Pichani,Berlusconi akijifuta jasho baada ya kutwanga swali kwenye mahojiano na kituo kimoja cha runinga kuhusu tuhuma zinazoweza kuotesha nyasi ndoa yake na mkewe anayeonyeshwa kwenye background.

Waziri Mkuu wa Italia,Silvio Berlusconi,amekanusha madai kwamba alinunua huduma ya tendo la ndoa kwa changudoa mmoja,Patrizia D'Addario.Kiongozi huyo machachari na mwingi wa vituko,anakabiliwa na shinikizo la kisiasa kufuatia madai hayo ya kujimwayamwaya na kimada aliyekuwa miongoni mwa waliohudhuria pati iliyoandaliwa na Berlusconi.

Hadhi ya mwanasiasa huyo tajiri imekumbwa na migogoro lukuki,na hivi karibuni alikuwa na tuhuma za kuvunja amri ya sita na binti wa miaka 18,Noemi Letizia (pichani chini)

Kwa jeuri,Berlusconi amekanusha madai ya kununua ngono huku akikisitiza kwamba "Sijawahi kuona raha ya kununua ngono badala ya ujasiri wa kutongoza".

Vyama vya upinzani pamoja na Kanisa Katoliki wanamtaka Berlusconi kujieleza kuhusiana na skandali hiyo iliyoibuliwa na tume moja ya kuchunguza rushwa huko Italia ya kusini,ambapo inaelezwa kwamba kimada mhusika (kushoto,pichani chini) aliieleza tume hiyo kuwa alilipwa na Berlusconi ili kumpa huduma ya ngono na ana mkanda uliorekodi tukio hilo.

Yote haya yanajiri wakati mke wa Waziri Mkuu huyo akiwa kwenye taratibu za kuomba talaka huku akimtuhumu mumewe kwamba anapendelea sana dogodogo.

CHANZO: itn

Na sie tungekuwa na uhuru wa kuweka ishu kama hizi hadharani,sijui nani angesalimika among vingunge wetu!

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