A court case filed by two journalists of The Daily Monitor to compel the Government of Uganda to reveal details of its oil sharing agreements has been dismissed.
Details to come …
11
Jan
10
Weird and Wonderful
From The Rev’s garden in Wakiso.
Have a great week!
08
Jan
10
For Real?
This afternoon Brother Sam handed me a copy of a document on principles to guide the drafting of a Press and Journalist Amendment Bill
Oh. My.
Quoting Section 6.1.8
To amend the existing Act to create offenses and penalties against media houses that publish material prejudicial to national security, stability, and unity or utterances that are injurious to Uganda’s relations with her neighbors or friendly countries or utterances and publish materials that tantamount to economic sabotage.
Quoting Section 5.3.2
To provide for the imposition of limits on foreign ownership except where the Company is offering community services.
This is to ensure that effective ownership and control of the local print media remains in the hands of Uganda so as to limit external influence. However, Ugandans can partner with foreign elements as investors. But for the appropriate balance, the level of ownership permitted for a foreigner should not exceed 50%.
Quoting Section 5.4
To provide for the registration of video and cinema operators as a measure for their effective regulation.
The lack of registration of video or cinema operators has resulted in poor service delivery to the public by way of substandard services and exposure to violence and pornography, particularly children in the video/cinema halls.
To the detriment of Universal Primary Education (UPE), children spend time in video halls instead of attending school. To cure this, one such measure in the Act is to ensure that apparatus for video and cinema operators is registered with the Media Council.
?!!!!!
*The picture at the top of this blog is a variation of the Three Wise Monkeys very respectfully ripped from the wonderful art horror blog of John Gajowski. To him full credit goes.
Pop music this decade has been, well crap.
Of course that is apart from Outcast, Lhasa, Radiohead, The Darkness, Jay-Z, Branford Marsalis, White Stripe, M.I.A, The Flaming Lips, Amy Winehouse, Lykke Li, Rachid Taha, Acoustic Ladyland, Barack Schmool, Jamie Cullum, Diana Krall, Elbow …
What am I saying? The Noughties were great!
2009, not so much. Just empty forgettable bubblegum music.
My favorite YouTube mashup artist, DJ Earworm (that’s his name, I swear), has released his annual mixdown of the Billboard Top 25 Albums of 2009. It’s fun, it’s frazzled, its Boom Boom Pow!
Click here for other DJ Earworm mashups.
29
Dec
09
A Nobel Cause
*Visit Make Road Safe to download a petition. I have 15 signatures on mine. Aiming for 100 by January 15th.
24
Dec
09
A Great Man and a Coward
If you haven’t read the letter by the ‘exiled’ LC5 chairman of Masindi, Steven Birija, you should. The letter published in today’s edition of The Observer proves that there are voices of sanity in the world of confusion, intrigue and corruption in Bunyoro.
Steven Birija; Photo credit: The Observer
Of course Mr. Birija is not without fault. The constant bickering between him and the former Masindi Chief Administrative Officer, Milton Kato, almost brought the district council to its knees. Birija appeared to be on the offensive throughout his four-year tenure, making enemies of his closest political allies and alienating his friends with his accusations of corruption and abuse of office.
Still …
This year, my friends Bro and Taata, together with a partner radio station in Masindi, were dragged to court for reporting on a district council session in which the District Engineer was implicated in the theft of property from the district garage in Nyangahya. To prepare for their defense, Bro and Taata wanted a copy of the council’s minutes from November 2008 to prove that the matter had indeed been mentioned publicly not once, but twice. Continue reading ‘A Great Man and a Coward’
20
Dec
09
Caption This II
18
Dec
09
Defining My Mood
Not the world’s best picture, I know. There’s little I can do with a crappy camera.
Anyway.
I had an early flight out of Entebbe today and stopped at Anderita Hotel beach to watch the sunrise. It was bliss.
My day is going great! Yours?
17
Dec
09
Age of Innocence
*A silly story inspired by the lovely Sally Malova
She crosses out her writing in frustration. He’s not dear.
Hello Jack …
No. ‘Hello’ is much too familiar. She crosses it out again, then, in frustration angrily tears out the paper in the flimsy exercise book paper on her lap.
Her hands are sweating, her legs are tired and her mind is mush.
She opens the door to the wardrobe in which she has been huddled for the better part of the afternoon to let in more light and air. She picks up the note given to her by Dorothy earlier in the day to read again the words she has read a million times before.
Diana,
I like the colored beads in your hair. They are pretty.
Thank you for telling teacher that I was not the one who spilled ink on her desk today.
I think you are my best friend in this class or in the whole wide world.
I like you very much.
Will you be my girlfriend?
16
Dec
09
Teardrops
Nyumbani Lweza … after the rain
0745 hours, December 16, 2009
Your Insomnia