hajia

The invasion of Iraq by the US is still generating lots and lots of controversy both in the USA and outside. Above is an evidence pointing to the unpopularity of the war now raging in Iraq. it is a protest march by ordinary Americans in Washington DC. No sooner the protesters went home than a respected Newspaper in the USA - The Nation, wrote a powerful editorial condemning George Bush for both starting and sticking to the war. Below are exerpts of the editorial.

"World opinion is against the U.S. escalation in Iraq. The American people are against it. Congress is against it. The Iraqi people are against it. The Iraqi government is against it. Can a single man force a nation to fight a war it does not want to fight, expand a war it does not want to expand? If he can, is that nation any longer a democracy in any meaningful sense? If not, how can democratic rule and the republican form of government be restored? .."

And the full editorial is here.

Now who would have thought Arnold Schwarzenegger would make such a fine politician? Let alone a good governor?

The answer is no one. Not even David Letterman, a CBS talk show host that lampooned Arnold during the gubernatorial campaigns. Well the ex-actor is riding the waves as he churns out one populist bill after the other. And the one good thing I admire him for is the way he parted ways with the crowd in Washington DC.

During the last campaigns for House elections in USA, George Bush once breezed into California for his last minute push in support of his fellow Republicans. The President thought Schwarzenegger will receive him at the Airport seeing they belonged to the same party. But trust Arnold, he went out to meet the other George of Hollywood: George Clooney!

Here are some of the issues Arnold has tackled successfully on behalf of the state of California;

1. Global warming – he jettisoned the position of Washington by coming up with a plan to cut emissions in line with the Kyoto Agreements. George Bush was against Kyoto from day one.

2. Minimum Wage – he quickly approved a new minimum wage that favours the lower rung workers.

3. Prescription Drugs – he acted decisively on this issue that affect the senior citizens (old and retired) of California and made them to smile once again.

4. Stem Cell Research – he approved for his state to house laboratories that will carry out stem cell research. George Bush and his neo-conservatives refused to give approval for this research at the federal level.

So for all the above I say thumbs up for the body builder turned actor and now governor of California.

Ride on Your Excellency Arnold and I will be back!

The above bill board says it all. The Temporary site of Katsina State University is alive with students. With nearly 1,500 students to register it was a beehive of activities a foortnight ago on the campus. The sight of these students: all young, dashing and eager to start learning, almost brought tears of joy to yours truly. And when you consider that it took ages for Katsina to have a University my emotions were not for joke. Waliyyi Dan Masani must be filled with joy too.
The actual number of students is 1,322 admitted for 2006/2007 session and in three faculties: Education, Humanities and Sciences. Its important to note that 54% of the students are in sciences while the remainig 46% are in the other faculties.

Apologies folks for remaining silent for quite a long time. Its unlke me and once more a thousand apologies. It was never intentional....
Actually I got myself mired in the chaos known as Hajj travel. I unwittingly got involved in the free for all version known as "international". That is I refused to go it through the Pigrims Board. I was made to believe that it would be better that way and got stuck before I even smelled the tarmac. The disappointments I suffered in Ngeria trailed me up to the Holy Land. Getting out of Saudia was also a tug of war.
Thank God I am back in one piece and the show will continue.