The Godfather

• Levy Mwanawasa laid to Rest

  Posted: September 3, 2008, 11:28 pm by the godfather

  ZAMBIA'S LEVY MWANAWASA'S STATE FUNERAL TODAY IN LUSAKA
  all pic courtesy of Richard Mulonga, leading Zambian photojournalist
  Zambia's Vice President and acting President Rupiah Banda and Thandiwe follow the proceedings at the State Funeral of the fallen Zambian Head of State
  
  Mourning a departed leader
  
  Former First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa breaks down at her husbands funeral service and burial in Lusaka Zambia earlier on today
  
  President Mwanawasa's body lies in State before today's funeral attended by 13 Head of State and Government who included Tanzania's Jakaya Kikwete, Kenya's Mwai Kibaki, South Africa's Thabo Mbeki and Zim's strongman Robert Mugabe
  
  Former First Lady, Mama Mwanawasa comforts her daughter Chipo as they lay a family wreathe on the fallen President's tomb
  
  A tombstone being lifted by a crane to cover the grave as directed by Uni turtle Firm employees

• Zambia Mourns

  Posted: September 3, 2008, 7:49 pm by the godfather

  MWANAWASA FUNERAL IN PICTURES
  All pix courtesy of Richard Mulonga, one of Zambia's foremost photojournalists. Thank you Richie and our heartfelt condolences to all Zambians.
  President Mwanawasa lies in State
  
  Zambian Founding Father and First President Kenneth Kaunda signing the condolences book at State House
  
  Lieing in State
  
  A weeping Mama Mapala, a close relative of the President
  
  Levy Mwanawasa's sister Eva mourning in Solwezi, Zambia. This was one of the stops that the Late President's body was viewed by thousands of his subjects across Zambia. 
  
  
  Powerful former first Lady has a spat at Patriotic Front Leader Michael Sata and orders him to leave unceremonioulsy Chipata Airport. Earlier Eastern Minister Charles Shawa had openly attacked Sata wondering why he had to fly to Chipata whilst he had attended the presidential funeral the previous day. 
  
  Opposition leader Sata leaves after being escorted out of the airport by a police officer.

• JK and Mkapa attend Mwanawasa Funeral in Zambia today

  Posted: September 3, 2008, 7:32 pm by the godfather

  Tanzanian President and current African Union Chairman HE Jakaya Kikwete arrives in Zambia yesterday for todays burial of fallen Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa
  
  
  Former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa arrives in Zambia yesterday for todays burial of fallen Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa(pictures courtesy of Richie Mulonga, Zambia)

• Fare Thee Well Son of Africa

  Posted: September 3, 2008, 6:22 pm by the godfather

  Africa Bids Farewell to A Fallen StatesmanRest in Peace Dr. Levy Patrick MwanawasaLate President of ZambiaSeptember 03, 1948 - August 19, 2008
  13 Heads of State and Government have gathered in Lusaka Zambia to bid farewell their colleague. The late Presidents casket on a gun carriage has just been driven into the Embassy Park, directly opposite Cabinet office along Independence Avenue, a fallen hero's resting ground. 
  Today's burial is a by-invitation-only affair. The general public will be welcome to lay wreathes and pay respects staring tomorrow. 
  May God rest His Soul in Eternal Peace.

• Politically Savvy Ida Odinga's Style

  Posted: September 3, 2008, 12:06 pm by the godfather

  MAMA IDA ODINGA STEALS THE LIME LIGHT FROM FIRST LADY LUCY KIBAKI?
  
  The enigmatic and powerful Mama Ida Odinga, Kenya's Prime Ministers wife has once again shown her magnificence and reminded Kenyans what a superb First Lady she would have been.
  In turning down a shs. 400,000 per month pay offer by the Kenyan goverment to 'compensate' her services of taking care of the Rt. Hon. Husband, Mrs. Odinga has stolen the hearts of Kenyans aas she yet again sets the example of how women should stand by their husbands no matter what.
  

  "The Government of Kenya has taken cognizance of the critical role that you play as spouse of the Rt Hon Prime Minister Mr Raila Odinga in projecting a positive image of our nation’s family values.

  "In addition, the Government recognises your wise counsel and guidance which contribute to the public good in the course of nation building activities, besides playing hostess during national and other official public engagements.

  "In view of the above, and in order to compensate for the above services," the letter said, the State had approved a monthly payment for her of Sh400,000 and allowances when she travels "within and outside the country on official engagements".

  Ida said: "The legacy I have built is not worth Sh400,000. I thank Mr Muthaura for appreciating that there is a heavy responsibility that comes by virtue of my position. But I will not take the money.

  "I have seen people writing that I should take care of Raila on my own. Surely, Kenyans know I always do that. Kenyans know I have taken care of my husband in good and bad times without help from the State, sometimes in spite of the State. I will continue doing that," she said.

  She went on: "I attend at least three functions a day, each of them public functions. I will continue doing that. I host people in the name of the Republic of Kenya.

  "People come from abroad, convinced that the practice here is similar to that of their countries. I host them in my house, my private office or in hotels, on behalf of the Republic of Kenya. That is why I thank Mr Muthaura for showing some understanding."

  A+ Mama Odinga!! I hope Mama Kibaki's handlers will have her Standard on her desk this morning!

  
  

  additional source: The Standard

  
  

• Is John McCain an Israeli Apologist?

  Posted: September 3, 2008, 5:52 am by the godfather

  
  MCCAIN'S PROMISE TO NUKE IRAN AND KEEP SYRIA IN CHECK?
  
  It is alleged that if Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain wins the presidency of the United States, that is finished forever! In March of this year, John McCain traveled to Israel where it is alleged he shamelessly pandered to Prime Minister Olmert, the Likudnik extremist Benjamin Netanyahu, and other Zionist Masonic overlords and groveled at their feet. McCain also had a stopover in neighboring, war-torn Iraq, where he was led around Jewish Senator Joe Lieberman. Senator Joseph Lieberman had earlier on in the tour escorted McCain to the wailing wall in Jerusalem. McCain then flew from the Middle East to London where, on March 20th, met super-wealthy Rothschild Illuminati brothers, Lord Jacob Rothschild and Nathaniel Rothschild. He was hosted to an "invitation-only" private luncheon at the luxurious Spencer House, St. James Place. Reports say that McCain promised the powerful Rothschild's that we they to support his bid for the Presidency, Israel's enemies, Iran and Syria, would end up nuclear toast! WoW!!! Nathanael Kapner, a knowledgeable Jew writes in his website Real Jew News, "John McCain knows which side his bread is buttered on. And that's the Jewish side of campaign contributions." Brother Kapner noted that McCain was at the private Rothschild fund-raiser in the posh London Spencer house. Kapner's sage conclusion: "John McCain is bought by Jews via the Rothschilds!" Kapner also reported that McCain recently was forced to apologize to the Jews for having the audacity to say in a speech he had given that, "America is a nation founded on Christian values." Immediately, the Jewish organizations sprang into action, prompting the frightened McCain to trot out before the news cameras and retract what he had said. Well, well, well....

• Meet America's Current Powerful Spouses

  Posted: September 3, 2008, 5:44 am by the godfather

  FIRST LADIES IN WAITING
  
  MICHELLE OBAMA AND CINDY MCCAIN
  
  Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain share a dislike of rough-edged U.S. politics. Each tried to talk her spouse out of running for the White House.
  Obama, wife of Democratic candidate Barack Obama, and McCain, who is married to Republican John McCain, are both known for an elegant sense of style, lending glamour to their husbands' campaigns. McCain posed in size zero jeans for the latest issue of Vogue. Obama, who has also appeared in the fashion magazine, was praised by style writers for the violet sheath dress she wore to her husband's Democratic nomination victory rally and has been compared to former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.But the aspiring first ladies have plenty of differences. Obama, 44, is a Princeton- and Harvard-educated lawyer raised by blue-collar parents on the working-class South Side of Chicago. She would be the first African American U.S. first lady. Obama talks often on the campaign trail about being a working mother. Until recently, she juggled a job as a hospital executive with raising two young daughters and lending support to her 46-year-old husband's political aspirations. The strong-minded Obama exudes confidence and is an accomplished public speaker. But her penchant for outspokenness has also drawn some criticism.McCain, 54, the Arizona senator's second wife, is reserved and seems far less comfortable in the limelight when she campaigns with her husband, who is 18 years her senior. The blond, blue-eyed McCain is a former rodeo queen and cheerleader who holds a master's degree in special education from the University of Southern California. She grew up in a wealthy family in Phoenix and is heiress to Hensley & Co, one of the largest U.S. distributors for brewing giant Anheuser-Busch.Last month, she released a tax return showing she made about $6 million (3 million pounds) in 2006.McCain has raised four children, including a daughter Bridget, 16, whom she adopted from Mother Teresa's orphanage in Bangladesh. McCain has travelled the globe as part of her charitable work.McCain's deferential manner puts her in the company of more traditional first ladies such as Nancy Reagan and Laura Bush."She is more in the classic mould of the candidate's wife on the campaign trail," said Calvin Jillson, a political scientist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.He said McCain has her own version of the "Nancy Reagan stare," the adoring gaze that the former first lady perfected."If you look at Michelle Obama, it appears that throughout their married life, she and her husband have been very much equals," Jillson said. Her image as an equal partner was on display with the celebratory fist-bump the Obama's shared on the night he clinched the nomination last week.America has had non-traditional first ladies before. They included Rosalynn Carter, wife of Jimmy Carter who sat in on Cabinet meetings, and Hillary Clinton, who was named by her husband to lead a health-care task force.Obama met her husband through her work as a corporate lawyer and is his closest adviser, although associates have described her role as less of a policy-oriented one than that of a confidante who provides a reality check.She has acquired an image as a tough-minded task-master.In a favourite line on the campaign trail, the Illinois senator says his wife often reminds him that he's "not a perfect man."When asked about his flaws during one campaign stop, Obama advised the questioner to "talk to my wife.""She will have a pretty long list," he said, starting with his failure to hang up his clothes properly. But some pundits have put some of Obama's criticism of her husband -- that he snores and leaves socks on the floor -- in the category of "too much information."In one comment seized upon by conservative Internet bloggers, Michelle Obama remarked, "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country."That led critics to accuse her of being unpatriotic, saying that her comment made it appear she had not been proud of her country before her husband ran for president.A day later, Cindy McCain told a campaign rally, "I am proud of my country. I don't know about you, if you heard those words earlier -- I am very proud of my country."But she too has drawn criticism. When she refused to release her tax returns critics said her lack of transparency was at odds with her husband's message of openness in government. McCain eventually relented. She has also talked openly about her addiction in the early 1990s to painkillers, originally prescribed for back pain, which she at first kept secret from her husband and family. McCain has also made a full recovery from a stroke that nearly killed her four years ago. Both women serve a crucial role of giving emotional support to their spouses amid the gruelling slog of the campaign. Barack Obama's mood brightens visibly when his wife joins him on the campaign trail. McCain has a similar effect on her husband.

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes