Eh lord, your come for me oh!

You just know that a country is going backwards when Polio starts to raise its ugly head. This is stuff that was eradicated many decades ago. We will stay inside.

This pandemic thing

Our leaders still refuse to upgrade our health system. When you go look, this one going for treatment in Ghana. This other one going to Dubai for treatment. They not shame self? Enh? What kind of a message do you send to your citizens when these things happen? Even more of the "Animal Farm" vibes. All the pigs eating dinner at the farmer´s dining room table while all the other farm animals look on through the windows.

Anybody can start a political party...

... but that does not mean that it is a good thing. Now, in our beautiful country, it seems that as soon as some people learn to write their names on a piece of paper that they qualify to become politicians. And do not give them small government job because then you nah spoil it. When you go look, they will force their crowd of boys to join their new party. Before you go look, some obscure, never heard of group will step forward and endorse them. That is when the infighting starts for who is who in the party. Egos get stepped on. All this, and no one has yet proclaimed a political doctrine, not to mention registered the party with the National Elections Commission. The common denominator here is the blown up egos, crowd of boys, no political doctrine other than opposition. So after a while you have the same amount of political parties as you have egocentric maniacs. The next step is these weird coalitions with just as strange acronyms. When you go look again, the infighting starts again over the different posts in the coalition. You all see the pattern here right.

Money finish oh!

Print more money! You know what? You do not even have to print it. Just take a piece of paper and write your own amount. That will be the new money. Do not play with economics, because it will mess with you. Right away.

"We need to stop talking and start working"

That is the truth.

Supply of money

L$190.4475/US$1.00 When a country prints new bills, they are usually meant to replace older damaged notes. It is the job of the Central Bank to collect the old bills and destroy them and infuse the new ones. If you do not replace defunct currency, but just adding to money supply, you undermine the currency. We saw this in the Weimar Republic in the 1920s. In Zimbabwe, Mugabwe thought he was smart and started printing money to be able to pay govenment employees. In Venezuela today, Madouru is doing the same thing. In the short term, you may seem to solve a problem, but very shortly after, the currency is soon not worth more than what it actually is, paper. At this stage, when a country issues more money than it has backing for, you get increased inflation. Inflation is the increasing of prices, or really the decreasing of the value of the currency. In Weimar, Zimbabwe and Venezuela the printing of "new" money just kept on and on. This caused HYPERINFLATION. In the end, to buy a loaf of bread, the equivalent amount of money had to be carried in a wheelbarrow. Luckily, we are not here yet, but the tendencies seem to be ther. Wake up now, and smell the coffee.

Our neighbor

L$182.6281/US$1.00 Meanwhile in Sierra Leone. After eleven months in office, the new Sierra Leonean president has put measures in place to encourage a boost in agriculture. They have also implemented a central govenment account for the collection of revenue. These measures have gained approval from the IMF and World Bank. Things are looking up for our neighbors, for us, not so much. We are concentrating on building mansions for ourselves.

Pro Poor?

Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor!Pro Poor! By repeatedly saying something does not make it true. By repeatedly saying something does not make it good. By repeatedly saying something does not make it legitimate. By repeatedly saying something does not make it proper. Go figure.

Aint you see it ehn!

So my friends "The time has come, let´s raid the rules and have som fun." Exactly what we were expecting has now come to pass. No one can tell me that they are surprised. There is no surprise there at all. As George Orwell so pleasantly put it, "Some animals are more equal than other animals." And that it what we are now seeing. Press freedom. The first casualty in the Weah regime is now a fact. As Donald Trump would put intricately describe it, "Sad!"

All of us

What ever you say. I will say, "All of us!" to it. Who is responsible for our shortcomings? Who will benefit if we manage to overcome them? Whose responsiblity is it to condemn corruption? Who does this affect? Enough of the "It was not me attitude!" It is too easy to make excuses and blame eveyone else. Remember this. All of us.

Cutting off the snake´s head

When we were growing up, once in a while, someone would see a poisonous snake lurking on the ground or in a tree. The general reaction to this would usually have everyone rushing to find long sticks to beat the snake to death. When this is done, usually someone cuts off its head and buries it very deeply. So that noone can mistakenly step on it. This is the same attitude we have to have with Ebola. Cut off its head. Do not play with it!

This dry season...

We all have basic needs and necessities. Within these, there is a business for everyone. You do not have to wait for a government job to come home. That frame of mind is what is wrong with us. You do not have to get employment with anybody just to come home. No. That is the cowardly way to think. You know how Liberia is and you know what you are able to do. Keeping that in mind, it is time to explore the thousands of business opportunities that are here. First of all, you need somewhere affordable to live. It is up to you what comforts you need in your life, but remember, you used to live here before. Once you can check housing off your list, I would recommend that you at least come here and check out the possiblities for yourself. My own passion is food, because everyones needs food. Go to the markets and talk to the women who are selling foodstuffs. Find out the local prices of things that are sold there. Find out what is locally grown and what is imported. Go to the shops and see what is sold by the foreign merchants. By finding out the economics of various products availiable you can determine the demand that is there. From this info you can start to make a basic business plan. Your next step is to find land to buy/lease. Based on the size of your capital, you make the appropriate investments in land, tools, machinery, labour and start to grow whatever it is that you found that is demanded by the local market. There are best-practice sources for just about everything on the net. There are even non-govermental organisations here that teach the necessities in the farming of various crops. Use these. Once you get started, you have to start planning about how you are going to harvest. What do you need to do to get your goods to market as fast as possible. Is there anyway to add more value to what you are growing. Can you refrigerate, freeze, preserve, dry, cure,salt your produce or could you sell it to a wholesaler or directly to the market women or in your own shops. As you can see, the limit is your own imagination. Things we import a lot of: Meat Eggs Poultry Tomatoes Pepper Orange juice Do not forget: Separate your private money from your business money.

Change? We do not seem to be capable.

Recent events have now finalised Robert Sirleaf´s chairmanship at the National Oil Company. Without detailed knowledge and the normal jealous rants based on wild assumptions by every member of our society, be it at home or abroad. With us, we are so ignorant that people voicing private suspicions of others tend to steer our lives. You can see it wherever you go, be it in the Hentay shops or on the beaches. It is so important to some people that sometimes there is no wonder we will never prosper. They spend all their energy expelling loads of hot air when they instead could have been prosperous members of society, running their own businesses. Here is my message to you: Stop projecting your own secret feelings on other people. All you are doing is showing us what you would have done in a similar position. That is probably the reason the likes of you will remain over there, dwelling in hatred and envy. You are all angry at him because he didn´t do what you would have done. That makes him better than you and we can´t have that. No. We have to make sure that those few with genuine integrity come down to our own level of wickedness and greediness. Well, we are all Liberians, and the above described feelings are widespead amongst us. So, purely statically a lot of appointees and other civil servants will harbour these thoughts. And even continue to cross the line of corruption.

Power drunk

In the recent standoff between the head of the Liberian National Police and the legislature, you start to see what kind of scum that we voted into power. The mindset of these elected individuals is at the least worrying, at most embarrasing. I guess that every individual has the right to try to boost their own self esteem, but this is crazy. Apparently, the laws that they make do not apply to them. Again, I am much reminded of Orwells "Animal Farm" where in the end the fat pigs, just liberated from wallowing in mud and their own excrement proclaim that "some animals are more equal than others". If you listen to these selfproclaimed divas that strut around all day doing nothing other than making a pile of noise, the term that comes mind is "wannabe". "The Senate on Wednesday summoned the police chief to show cause why he should not be held in contempt". Taste this sentence. The police is trying to do their job, traffic congestion is a problem that affects everyone, but our elected officials feel that traffic regulations do not apply to them. When this is pointed out to them they start acting like the kindergarden brotherhood that they are and choose to waste the Police Chiefs time. Next time, know who you vote for.

Responsible journalism

After month of idleness from my part, it is time to untie my tongue and contribute once again towards trying to make our beautiful country a better place. Let me start by saying that over the years, FrontPage Africa has done a lot to bring issues of interest to the nation to the public debate. They have done so with bravour. This should be the main goal of a newspaper, to bring to light issues concerning all of us. And believe me they are debated. However, during these years, I have always thought that the paper all too often relies on single, unconfirmed reports-rumours-informers, often without contacting the accused party. These often unconfirmed sources of information are then turned into very biased stories, where the editorial staff never checks their information to confirm authenticity. In Liberian english, we call it he say, she say. Someone goes to a journalist, makes an accusation of some sort. The journalist should then be all about trying to confirm this statement. Not in Liberia. Here, we write the story based on that statement, and run with it. It is so bad that based on one daily running an unconfirmed story, all the other local dailies jump on the same unconfirmed, unbalanced story the next day, often repeating it and giving the first daily as the source. All the while, the accused party has not been heard. As a result, 9 time out of 10, the accused party has to call a pressconference to publicly refute the statement and give the correct facts according to them. I do not know about you, but if it ever happened to me, I would want revenge too. But our so-called journalists are so itchy to write their one-sided stories that many times they would not dare to check their facts; maybe they fear that there may not even be a story if they start real investigative work. So they act as if they are dealing with facts, and the unknowing reader is left with what he/she thinks are facts. Today, this type of so-called journalism has turned around and bitten a so-called journalist in the ass. And now they want us to feel sorry for him. If I know my people correctly, the editor will be released eventually. Will he have learned a lesson? I doubt it. It will be repeated.

Liberia is a melting pot

Tribal overland migrations of hunter/gathering peoples from central/eastern Africa. Then you have the seafaring/fishing settlements along our coasts. Then you have the Portugese trading posts. Then you have the slaving factories. Into this mix, you throw in those returning from the Americas. Ship upon ship of emacipated newly captured slaves from the Congo basin, all dumped in Monrovia and resettled. Then you have the German traders. Later, you mix in the Lebanese traders. You mix all this together, and you get what is Liberia today. These are the facts. This is what has happened. This is our history. We need to acknowledge this and move on. We don´t have time for a "my-religion-is-better-than-your-religion" or "we-were-here-first" debate. This reminds me of George Orwells "Animal Farm" where the pigs declare that some animals are more equal that others, and start feasting in the farmhouse while the other animals are excluded and forced to watch through the windows. Wake up now.

Greed

What is greed? Greed is something that will make your eyes look inwards and see only what is you. It will make you to yearn for something that you only want for yourself, no matter the cost. It will make you to treat those around you in any way, as long as you satisfy your own greed. This feeling has throughout the ages made reasonable men into insatiable monsters, who would not even sit back and reflect upon their own actions and see that no matter how much they satisfied their greed, it would only grow. In the end, that same greed will be their downfall. Look around, and check out what greed has done to our world. Devastating chaos. But in the end, where are all the greedy men? In their graves, unsatisfied.

The absence of debate!

During the gone elections, all kinds of organisation were arranging debate amonst the contenders. As usual, nothing came out of it. Just today it hit me, the reason we do not have debates in Liberia is because there is basically nothing to debate. It is just a power struggle amongst crowd of friends.

At the end, we all want the same thing.

Spindoctors beware

They think they can sit over yonder and pull the strings. This is not the seventies. I am sure that our world famous footballer has lost his patience with you people now.

You know the days when you could put on a suit and tie and proceed with this disguise to fool Liberians are over. We are not that desperate to believe your lies anymore. We are more informed today. We see beyond the fancy clothes, the false facades, the empty words.

Somehow, I feel sorry for him. Look at all they have put him through. He wanted to believe them, listen to them. What on the other hand were they after? Who are they? Do you never wonder what kind of Liberians have this kind of lust for power, that they dupe one of our most popular persons to team up with one of the most devious characters from the past. What kind of a hold do they have on him? They forced him to get an online degree, step down from leadership, exclaim election fraud. Who do they think they can fool?

Let democracy prevail

It is still quite hard to stomach. Even today, Mr. Weah still claims that he was cheated during the last elections. How he ever came to this conclusion, I guess we will never know. But his hard-headed attitude over this is what gives me the creeps.

It seems that no matter what happens, we love to put out false accusations, and the rest of us love to nurture them as truths. You see this in our society time after time.

Please be careful out there, and may the most popular person take home the elections, so that we can continue to rebuild our once so great nation.