So there is a lot to talk about today. Work stuff. College football stuff (lest you forget I am a college football fan). Back home stuff. And just all sorts of other stuff.
First things first - today was awesome in terms of speaking with different countries and getting a feel for what they are looking for and how I can offer those to them. I had several promising conversations with several companies (in the US and outside) and I figure one of them has to work out somewhere. Well, just the sheer odds of the things have to result in things working out for me. And some of these opportunities, I am genuinely excited about. So lets keep our fingers crossed and lets hope that I have plenty more to write about on this topic.
Lest you forget, I am a huge
Texas Football fan and
Major Applewhite is back home (in Texas, where else... duh!!). Officially, he is the Running Backs Coach and the Assistant Head Coach. Realistically, I think he will slowly have greater and greater impact on game planning and prepping for opponents. I don't think he will be involved in play calling - at least not just yet. Play calling is way to public an aspect of coaching and we all know that Mack Brown LOVES Greg Davis. I reckon that if Major sticks around for a little while (and one must hope that he does given the three jobs in three years), he will be named Co-Offensive Coordinator in a couple of years. The full blown position, and a sweet head coaching gig somewhere should follow 4-5 years down the line (in all likelihood, he will take a HC job at a place like Texas Tech, Wisconsin or NC State before getting the Texas job... its just way too high profile a job to hire a - albeit extremely talented - rookie).
But lets digress for a moment and talk about
Greg Davis. The guy must have done something right. Major has kept in constant contact with him over the last several years and even Vince credits him his development. I cannot forgive the Chris Simms fiasco (there is no other word for it) or the fact that our play calling is phenomenally ordinary [the fact that I, watching on TV several hundred miles away] can predict whether it is a run play or a pass play (or a fake punt) says oodles about our play calling. A part of me believes that we get away with running such obvious plays purely on the merit of the talent that exists on the Texas roster. But, at the end of the day I am willing to concede that Greg Davis is competent enough to do a phenomenal job with player development
provided that the players have some sort of football savvy.... Major, Vince, Colt and the host of linemen from Texas over the last several years are testament to that.
Moving on from College Football now - I will be in New Haven next week to take care of some business and to hang out with dear friends of mine - Kyle and Bunga (who has incidentally returned from a Benny Lava of a trip to Russia).
I want to write about something that is both deeply personal and extremely important to me - the situation in Kenya. Many of you may know that I grew up in Kenya. Some of you may know that my parents still live in that country. The situation there over the past month or so has been positively tense.
To give a little background - Kenya had elections towards the end of December. The incumbent party "won" the election but there were plenty of voting irregularities. Truth be told, there are also several accounts of the opposition also rigging the vote. Ultimately, what we have is an election where both sides have tampered with the vote and the ruling party has won by a sliver (something like less that 2% of the legitimate vote - with over 70% turnout). Many parts of Kenya - and Nairobi to a lesser extent - have been besieged by rioting, senseless violence and wanton destruction of life and property.
Lets call it what it is - a pogrom. Kikuyu cronies against other tribal cronies. Other tribal cronies against Kikuyu cronies. And a whole bunch of hard working, innocent people caught in the middle. In the words of Rodney King - "Can we all just get along?". Lets end this petty mongering [Kibaki and Odinga should talk and figure some sort of an agreement] and go back to life as normal (and lets admit, life in Kenya was normal and good for a long, long time). Kibaki deserves a good portion of the blame for swearing himself in using such dubious means. Odinga also deserves a good portion of the blame for being so hard headed and refusing to negotiate - yes you have been cheated but are you so full of yourself that you cannot take the moral high road and gain the respect of the global community?
Nelson Mandela and
Desmond Tutu [who along with
Kofi Annan and
John Kufour have offered to mediate] did it after the end of Apartheid in South Africa and the world is a better place today because they did so.
Kibaki and
Odinga have a long, long way to go before they can even begin to be mentioned in the same breath - they have no excuses for not mediating.
Kenya is better than this, and Kenyans are better than this. In the words of a song almost every Kenyan knows...
Kenya nchi yetu hakuna matata...As an ode to the desire of ordinary Kenyans for a return to normalcy, pasted below is an Op-Ed piece by Wangari Maathai that appeared in today's Wall Street Journal.
==========================================================
Don't Ignore the Violence in Kenya
By WANGARI MAATHAI
January 17, 2008; Page A17
Ms. Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate, was a member of Kenya's Parliament from 2002 to 2007.
(The Wall Street Journal, January 17th 2007)
It's been nearly two weeks since the Electoral Commission of Kenya declared President Mwai Kibaki the winner in his bid for a second term. The loser in this closely fought and much disputed election is Raila Odinga, the candidate of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). The declaration threw Kenya into the current crisis -- street protests, wide-spread civil unrest and the threat of violent crackdowns -- which refuses to end.
The commission may have legitimate reasons for ushering out both the local and international press before making its announcement exclusively on the state-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation. There also may be legitimate reasons why the subsequent and much hurried swearing-in ceremony for Mr. Kibaki has already taken place.
![[Mwai Kibaki]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/HC-GC072_Kibaki_20051013102829.gif)
But given the messy performance of the electoral commission, many people are wondering whether there was something to hide. Some of its members have admitted to being under tremendous pressure to announce the results even as some found credible reports of irregularities. This has cast doubt over the credibility of the democratic process.
To people conversant with the political games of intrigue and trickery, however, what's happening in Kenya is just another instance of the challenges to real democracy that bedevil this region. In the eyes of some politicians, the misfortune is that the irregularities have come to light. Under "normal circumstances," leaders in Africa don't lose elections they organize.
I have heard it said by some political veterans that if you're not willing to play these games, you have no business being in politics, since you're bound to lose. It is on the altar of this kind of cynicism that values like transparency, honesty and accountability are often sacrificed. Within this worldview, bribing voters, election officials and government officers, as well as theft and manipulation of votes, are considered "political wisdom."
After the very high voter turnout in the Dec. 27 elections among Kenyans rightfully choosing their next government, it's tragic that Kenya -- a country I thought could provide a model of peaceful transfer of power in Africa -- has been plunged into the sort of senseless bloodletting that the outside world all too often associates with my continent. Despite the insistence by some of the protagonists that outside intervention is not required, more public and international pressure is essential if Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga are to seek a lasting solution. Despite the suffering of the Kenyan people, and others in the region that depend on Kenya's functioning infrastructure and economy, moves toward dialogue have been disturbingly slow.
Colonial administrators and the leaders who followed them have used ethnicity as a major strategy to divide their people. In countless conflicts in Africa, the uncompromising positions of such leaders -- refusing to consider mediation or to make any concessions -- have led to unimaginable suffering.
Under this mindset, fellow tribesmen support their respective leaders no matter what -- even when they are the first victims of the leaders' actions, or inaction. Eventually, even these leaders lose control and anarchy takes over, with rival gangs stealing, raping, maiming and punishing civilians.
Mr. Kibaki has now sworn in half of this new government's cabinet, even after being urged not to do so before holding talks with Mr. Odinga on resolving the crisis. Mr. Kibaki's move may lead to another round of ethnically based violence -- which already has taken the lives of hundreds of Kenyans. Both Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga have appealed publicly to those causing the mayhem to stop, but few seem to be heeding the call.
Unfortunately, much of the advice Mr. Kibaki is getting from ministers, and Mr. Odinga from advisers, seems to urge that each maintain his hard-line position. Many of these advisers and ministers are thinking ahead to the privileged positions that they assume they will receive with their candidate in power. This is making it very difficult for men and women of goodwill in Kenya to broker a lasting peace.
For the sake of the people of Kenya, the East African region and indeed Africa in general, I appeal to the international community, including the African Union, the Commonwealth, the European Commission, the United Nations and other friends of Kenya like the United States and Japan, to put strong pressure on Messrs. Kibaki and Odinga -- before this crisis escalates into an even greater tragedy.
The leaders must put the welfare of Kenyans before their own ambitions, and enter immediately into a serious and sustained dialogue for a political and legal settlement.
Won’t catch me voting for Monica Lewinsky’s ex-boyfriend’s wife.
— Posted by Rob