Dar es Salaam

Geography
Dar es Salaam is located at 6°48' South, 39°17' East (âˆ'6.8000, 39.2833). [1] It lies on the East Coast of Africa on the Indian ocean.
Economy and infrastructure
Dar is Tanzania's most important city for both business and government. The city contains unusually high concentrations of trade and other services and manufacturing compared to other parts of Tanzania, which has about 80 percent of its population in rural areas. For example, about one half of Tanzania's manufacturing employment is located in the city despite the fact that Dar holds only ten percent of Tanzania's population. Located on a natural harbour on the Indian Ocean, it is the hub of the Tanzanian transportation system as all of the country's main railways and several highways originate in or near the city. Its status as an administrative and trade centre has put Dar es Salaam in position to benefit disproportionately from Tanzania's high growth rate since the year 2000 so that by now its poverty rates are much lower than the rest of the country. The Dar es Salaam Airport connects the city with other African countries, the Middle East as well as Europe.

The growth of industry is hampered by several factors, including uneven supplies of electricity, an increasingly overburdened infrastructure, and corruption which makes operation of business difficult.
Education
Dar es Salaam is also the educational centre of Tanzania. The city is home to the University of Dar es Salaam, the Open University of Tanzania, the Hubert Kairuki Memorial University (HKMU) as well as the International Medical and Technological University (IMTU). Other institutes of higher education include the Institute of Financial Management (IFM), Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) and the College of Business Education (CBE), dar es salaam school of journalism(DSJ)

City Life
Although the city has a low violent crime rate, this is increasing along with the already high number of instances of theft, as inequality increases and the amount of money available from Tanzania's thriving aid industry increases. A common nickname for the city is "Bongo" (literally, "brain" in Swahili), which refers to the street smarts necessary to survive there.

Administratively, Dar es Salaam is broken into 3 districts: Ilala, Kinondoni, and Temeke.
History

Kaiserstrasse, Dar es Salaam, German East Africa, c1905

In 1859, Albert Roscher of Hamburg became the first European to land in Mzizima ("healthy town"). In 1866 Sultan Seyyid Majid of Zanzibar gave it its present name, an Arabic phrase meaning Haven of Peace. Dar es Salaam fell into decline after Majid's death in 1870, but was revived in 1887, when the German East Africa Company established a station there. The town's growth was facilitated by its role as the administrative and commercial centre of German East Africa and industrial expansion resulting from the construction of the Central Railway Line in the early 1900s.

German East Africa was captured by the British during World War I and from then on was referred to as Tanganyika. Dar es Salaam was retained as the territory's administrative and commercial centre. Under British indirect rule, separate European (e.g. Oyster Bay) and African (e.g. Kariakoo and Ilala) areas developed at a distance from the city centre. The town's population also included a large amount of South Asians.

After World War II, Dar es Salaam experienced a period of rapid growth. Political developments, including the formation and growth of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), led to Tanganyika attaining independence from colonial rule in December 1961. Dar es Salaam continued to serve as its capital, also when in 1964 Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form Tanzania. However, in 1973 provisions were made to relocate the capital to Dodoma, a more centrally located city in Tanzania's interior. The relocation process has not yet been completed, and Dar es Salaam remains Tanzania's primary city.

One of the deadly 1998 U.S. embassy bombings occurred in Dar es Salaam; the other was in Nairobi, Kenya.
Culture

A branch of the international Subway restaurant chain in Dar es Salaam

Downtown Dar es Salaam has an Arabic and Indian flavour, including many small business proprieters from those origins. Many of the buildings and general layout of the downtown area have a frenetic, claustrophic air that lends itself to street vendors and restauranteers earning a steady living.

The areas outside the city centre are newer and tend to be spread out and disorganized (sprawling). The outskirts are generally populated by Africans, with the exception of Oyster Bay, where there is a large western population. Although there is little in the way of open racial hostility, the various ethnic communities of Dar es Salaam do not tend to intermingle heavily. The edges of Dar es Salaam are spreading rapidly, taxing the transportation system and creating fear that the city will suffer urban overcrowding in the near future.

Perhaps the favourite local pastime is drinking and nightlife. Most establishments serve Tanzanian barbeque, including "Nyama Choma" (roasted meat) and "Mishkaki" (Shish Kabob) which are barbequed and served with salt and various hot peppers on the side. A number of restaurants specialize in traditional Indian or Zanzibari cuisine and due to the growth of the expatriate community and increasing tourism, the number of international restaurants is increasing very rapidly.

There is also a lively music scene in Dar es Salaam which is divided among several styles. The longest standing segment is live dance bands such as Kilimanjaro, Twanga Pepeta and FM Academia. Taarab which was traditionally strong in Zanzibar has also found a niche but remains a small compared both to dance music and "Bongo Flava", a broad category that represents the Tanzanian take on Hip Hop and R&B, which has quickly become the most popular locally produced music. This type of music is especially strong among the youth and it seems that its pull is reducing the interest in performing and hearing dance music. Songs by artists such as Ferooz name check Dar districts such as Sinza. Traditional music, which locally is used to refer to tribal music is still performed but typically only on family oriented occasions such as weddings.

A variety of museums, including the National Museum, the Village Museum and the Botanical Gardens are all very close by. Within an hour's drive North is Bagamoyo, which is home to the Kaole ruins. There are beaches on the Kigamboni peninsula east of Dar es Salaam and on Kigamboni Island to the North where residents and tourists alike frequently visit. The National Stadium hosts Dar es Salaam's Simba football club, Tanzanian football clubs, and many other international matches.

The first cineplex in Tanzania to show first-run Western and Indian releases was opened in Dar es Salaam in December 2003.
Trivia
The building that houses The National Audit Office of Tanzania used to be a car salesroom before it was nationalized by the state shortly after independence.

Bongo is the commonly-used nickname for Dar es Salaam. The use of the word can be traced to the mid-1980s. Bongo is Swahili for 'brains'. It is thought that due to the hard economic times during Nyerere's rule, the only way one could survive was by using his brains (streetsmarts). 'Bongoland' sometimes refers to Tanzania.

Where tradition protects housewives

SAAFI Gwatema is an 18-year-old Barbaig girl. She has a calabash of water balanced on her head. She is returning from a shallow well in Mogitu Village, Bassotu Ward, in Hanang District to collect water for domestic use. All families in Bassotu collect water from this pond. Saafi is dressed in tastefully adorned goatskin skirt that is tucked under a cloak-like tunic. She is also sporting copper and brass bangles, earrings and beaded necklaces.

Like her skirt, Saafi’s calabash is skillfully decorated with colourful beads embedded in goatskin. She shambles along gracefully reminiscing on the previous day’s traditional burial ritual that had brought together hundreds of people. Saafi is a member of the Barbaig people who still value the traditional lifestyle. The Barbaig and their Maasai neighbours, have withheld more of their traditional customs than the numerous Bantu.

They are easily noticeable in their unique attire, adornment and facial marks. Their clothing is red, brown or orchred cloak-like tunics. Maasai women wear tunics that are longer with blue and black colours added to the common red. Barabaig women have tasseled skin dresses and cloak-like tunics. They also wear tanned goatskin gowns, and are happy to show visitors how the gowns are made.

Barbaig women also take delight in teaching visitors to pound and grind maize on flat stones. The women have pretty common facial decoration, which is made by creating numerous scars or tattoos around the eyes in a symmetrical pattern. Among the Maasai it is the women who build houses. The men spend most of their time minding the cattle, hunting or even dancing.

The “Inkajijik” (Maasai word for “house”) are made of mud, sticks, grass, cow dung and cow's urine. Women are responsible for making the houses as well as supplying water, collecting firewood, milking cattle and cooking for the family, says Naseriani Lembris, Maasai woman in her early seventies.

It is the women who hold the pan when collecting fresh blood from a live bull. The bull is normally rounded by men, brought down and restrained with ropes. Then it is shot in the neck with a plain arrow to break a high-pressure artery.

When blood starts spurting a woman collects it with a bowl. Naserian says that this fresh blood is often given to a circumcised person (esipolioi) or a woman who has given birth (entomononi). The Maasai live on meat, milk and blood. Also, on a regular basis cattle blood is drunk by elders (ilamerak) who have taken too much alcohol and are heavily intoxicated.

The blood alleviates the intoxication and weakens the hangover, according to another elder, Lukunyiiyi Seurii (73). There are many ceremonies in Maasai society including “Emuratta” (circumcision for boys and female genital mutilation (FGM) for girls). Women's initiations focus on female genital mutilation and marriage.

Men will form age-sets moving them closer to adulthood. Women do not have their own age-set but are recognized by that of their husbands. Both Maasai men and women are traditionally eager to undergo circumcision. This initiation is performed shortly after puberty.

Circumcision initiation elevates an individual from childhood to adulthood. Circumcision among women is shrouded in secrecy. It is taboo to discuss the women’s circumcision rites. Nataliani Kivuyo (62) felt embarrassed when asked to shed some light on what entails women’s circumcision. She placed her palm on her mouth and kept mum.

It is an abomination and, indeed, a bad omen to discuss FGM in Masaailand. Hard-boiled Maasai morans never touch uncircumcised women. The warped belief here is that a Maasai man, who has sexual contacts with uncircumcised woman dies a few weeks or months after the “diabolical incident.”

On the other hand, Maasai women never give in to the advances of an uncircumcised man. In fact, only Maasai men are considered eligible for sex. Men in the rest of the human community are inferior. They are despised by the Maasai.

Among the Wahadzabe, women play quite insignificant roles in society. Apart from minding the domestic chores, including taking care of children, they are the gatherers of fruits, tubers. They also collect firewood. They are also skilled shrilly singers and dancers.

Hadzabe women collect fruits and tubers in dense forests mainly in Karatu District, Manyara Region. They often climb trees to harvest fruits, edible leaves and barks. The women venture into thick forests where dangerous animals such as rhinos, buffaloes, leopards and lions teem. They work in groups often accompanied by an armed man whose task is to protect.

The Hadzabe possess a thrilling ‘click’ language and uncanny hunting skills. They use bows and arrows in hunting. They also gather wild fruits, tubers, roots and leaves for food.
While Maasai men spend most of the time tending cattle, which they love by far more than their wives, Hadzabe men spend days and nights hunting and have little time with their multiple wives.

Wife beating is scorned or even punished among the Hadzabe, says Naftal Omi 52), who lives in a cave with his two wives near Lake Eyasi. Like the Maasai and Barbaig, Hadzabe girls undergo FGM, an initiation that leads to womanhood. Barbaig men manage their many wives kindly without the usual love hostilities.

The men often explain the benefits of marrying many wives and the reasons that allow married men to make children outside wedlock. After burial rites, which normally end as darkness starts to creep in, unmarried men and women pair off and leave the place silently.

They disappear behind the shrubs on their way back home. Paradoxically they never indulge in sex. Premarital sex among Barbaig young men and women is strictly forbidden. Defaulters are admonished angrily or even punished. The Barabaig belong to the Tatog cluster of highland Nilotes.

Donors agree to support Kilimo Kwanza

TANZANIA’s development partners have agreed to support ‘Agriculture First’ (Kilimo Kwanza) concept and the private sector have been urged to implement resolutions to bring about green revolution in the country.

This was made clear at a meeting on Friday between the government, private sector and development partners where the government explained the concept to them so that they can understand and contribute to the implementation of the resolution.

“There are no more doubts among the development partners on the country’s ‘Agriculture First’ (Kilimo Kwanza) initiative as they have come to terms with it,” said Chief Secretary in the President’s Office, Phillemon Luhanjo, in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

He said: “I am grateful to say that our development partners have understood the concept and support it, and so we urge the private sector to take part in implementing the concept.”

The Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC), under its Chairman, President Jakaya Kikwete, held a two-day meeting in June 2009, to discuss the policies and strategies for the transformation of Tanzania’s agriculture under the theme ‘Agriculture First’ and its implementation.

Mr Luhanjo, who is also the Chairman of Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC), said that the meeting was aimed at clearing the confusion that led to the failure by some donors to understand the whole concept of ‘Agriculture First’.

Mr Luhanjo has also called upon small farmers to improve their agricultural activities so that they can go commercial to make them profitable, because the main objective of the concept was to transform agriculture into commercial entity.

Although the government has already planned on how to implement the project which includes looking for markets, implements, land, good seeds and experts; stakeholders’ support was necessary, he said.

Speaking on behalf of the donors, the Ambassador of Ireland to Tanzania, Ms Anne Barrington, supported the ‘Agriculture First’ policy demanding the private sector to take part in the implementation and its reinforcement.

“We as diplomats did have the opportunity to understand the concept and everyone of us has learned that the private sector participation is key to reaching the goals that are intended and the policy should also be supported by the people,” she said.

She said the success of Kilimo Kwanza cannot be realized overnight, but it is a long term strategy and urged people to support efforts taken to implement it.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of TNBC working group, Mr Felix Mosha, said that since the donors have understood the concept, it was important for them to support its implementation.

The Chairperson of Private Sector, Ms Esther Mkwizu, said that her organization has received positively developments about ‘Agriculture First’ and they were looking forward to play their part as well as enabling the farmers to implement this concept.

Tanzania: Financial crisis hits tourism

Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) - While some officials are telling people that the ongoing financial crisis is of little impact to the local economy, operators and hoteliers are already suffering and counting loses.

Various entrepreneurs have told the Arusha Times that their businesses are staggering and they know for sure that the main reasons is the global financial crisis which started to show its effects in the middle of this year.

Around the world stock markets have fallen, large financial institutions have collapsed or been bought out, and governments in even the wealthiest nations have had to come up with rescue packages to bail out their financial systems.

Solomon Laizer, the Manager of Arusha Tourist Inn, a popular joint for budget tourists said many guests who had earlier ordered their reservations from Europe and USA have made cancellations following the global financial meltdown.

He said most of the guests of that Inn located along Sokoine Road would normally book for their accommodation straight from their home countries without going through tour operators. When they arrive to Arusha then they would make arrangements for their safaris. During October, the manager said , he experienced about 60 percent cancellations.

However, Godfrey Mwandambo, the manager of another hotel, the Arusha Backpackers Hotel, also along Sokoine Road, said he did not think the fall in the number of booking to his hotel was due to the global financial crisis but rather to the US presidential elections. He said many tourists, most of them happen to be Americans, have made reservations at the hotel that are effective after the US elections.

Tour Travel Companies have also expressed concern on the impact of the economic crunch on the travel and tourism industry. The director of the Great Maasai Adventure, Lotta Mollel said his company had already cancelled several booking of tourists, from the US, who were expected to use his services this month.

“I have already cancelled three packages after being instructed to do so because the would be tourists have decided to stay put to see how the financial crisis is going,” he said.

Lotta explained that for his company the cancellations of the tour packages were a major blow because it did not only mean that he won’t get any income but he had also suffered a lot of losses to prepare for the guests. “Even the number of pop-in tourists, those who do not make reservations, has suddenly declined”, he said.

The tourism industry contributes 17.2 per cent of the Tanzania’s Gross Domestic Product and is the second most important activity after agriculture. Tanzania received 719,031 tourists during the financial year 2006/07 and money accrued was about USD 1 billion.

Causes of poverty in Africa

Africa is the world's second largest continent and home to 900 million people. It is extremely diverse in terms of ethnicity, language and culture and we should not fall into the trap of thinking that every person in this huge land mass are one and the same; the tragically thin children, the grieving mothers, the masked soldiers clutching AK47s. We should not forget that there are also millions of people in Africa who live relatively comfortable lives and do not conform to our western stereotypes!
However, it is a clear fact that Africa contains many of the poorest countries in the world. So what causes this terrible poverty? The reasons are diverse and complex, and can not be explained simply in the macro-economic language of major institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF who have tried to alleviate this poverty with the one-size fits all shock methods of the free market. These countries are not poor simply because they don't have enough cash, and not even because the don't have enough food. The poverty is created by lack of access to jobs, lack of basic public infrastructure (schools, medical care, etc), and lack of access to food. Many African counties are blighted by long running civil wars and corrupt governments, which makes it very difficult to get hold of supplies or build the necessary infrastructure.

The colonial history of the continent has left a cruel legacy of dictatorships and plundered resources. Africa's huge reserves of mineral wealth are divided up between the giant multinationals based in Europe and the United States - local people are unlikely to receive a share of the huge profits being made. How can businesses based in Africa possibly compete with Exxon or Citibank?

We also need to take in to account Africa's geography when attempting to define causes of poverty. It's south-north axis, massive deserts, barren plains and thick jungles do not make a good mix if you are trying to build a prosperous society.

I can only glance over the causes of poverty in Africa and it would need an entire book to describe them properly. There is also another problem - "poverty" can be defined in many different ways.

A new programme to inspire African young leaders.

On Monday this week, President Amani Abeid Karume officially launched the Young African leaders’ conference and Awards programme, which took place here in Dar es Salaam. Staff writer DASSU STEPHEN was there and he provides more details.

Leader of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume described the newly introduced Young African leaders’ conference and Awards programme, as a precursor and a tool, which provides impetus to promoting potential African Leadership for the present and future generation.

The president, who is also the chairman of the Zanzibar Revolutionary Council, was quoted through the local media as saying, “This attendance is certainly a reflection of the people of Africa accepting the concept of the Young Leaders Award programme. It has to be so because after all the young people constitute about 75 per cent of the entire population of our continent.” President Karume was speaking during the inauguration of the Young African leaders’ conference and Awards programme.

The event was attended by academics, politicians, diplomats, business executives, just to mention a few. He went on to say, “It is however imperative for the present and past leadership to prepare future leaders to face contemporary social, political and economical challenges, and we don’t need to wait for the youth to become middle aged but should start by identifying young people, who have the quality of leadership in various fields of human behavior.”

The Young African Leaders Awards programmer is a concept created by the African Leadership Institute, whose patron is the very Reverend Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Desmond Tutu (born October 7, 1931) is a South African cleric and activist, who was elected and ordained the first black South African Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa and primate of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa (now the Anglican Church of Southern Africa). He rose on the world stage in the 1980s, as an opponent of apartheid.

Experts say the fundamental goal of the Young African Leadership programmer is to recognize and nurture the next generation of African leaders under the age of 40 and facilitate opportunities for vigorous and constructive debate and action on pan-African and global issues that African leaders face now and in the future.

The programmer is being sponsored by the African Leadership Institute, which was established in 2003, and its primary focus is to build the capacity and capability for visionary and strategic leadership across Africa, especially among the promising leaders of the future.

The chairman of the African Leadership Institute Mr Sean Lance says the AfLI is focusing on identifying Africa’s future leaders and offering them a platform for leadership learning and application. “It is our intention to establish a network of future leaders across Africa which is committed to the successful development and transformation of the continent.”

The Institute intends to serve as a vehicle for these leaders to influence change in addition to providing these leaders of tomorrow with the experiences, insights, tools and confidence to become drivers of the renaissance of Africa. A key philosophy of AfLI is the need to seek African solutions and ideas to the demands on African leaders and to provide a neutral platform to stimulate learning and application of leadership in the wider community.

“It is the AfLI’s belief that without good leadership across the various levels and sectors of the continent, all the other excellent initiatives in Africa will be stifled. Investment in good leadership thus has an enormous return in terms of future social, economic, political, technological and environmental benefits,” said the chairman.

The African Leadership Institute with its experience in the field of development of high potential young leaders across Africa and its alumni network of such individuals, will be responsible, in partnership with others locally and internationally, for the design, management, facilitation and coordination of this initiative, said Mr Sean Lance.

The Institute is a virtual one and implements its programmers in collaboration with donors, strategic partners and regional representatives, including established non-governmental organizations, the private sector and educational institutions. The partner institutions at the moment are Oxford University (Templeton), University of Western Cape, Ghana Institute for Management & Public Administration and Makerere University. The physical presence of the Institute across Africa is ensured by the regional representatives.

They conduct regional extension programmes to a wider community, in cooperation with the strategic partner institutions. Many politicians, academics, and business community practitioners believe that the Young Leadership programme could become a success story only if it enjoys an overwhelming support from a substantial number of the grassroots, politicians, experts and other influential figures in the society.

The same sentiment was echoed by president Karume who said, “It is imperative for the past and present leadership in government, business, sport and other faculties to support the initiative of young African leaders programme by inviting dialogue whereby those young people will learn from their experiences and get the opportunity to challenge and bring change,” said president Amani Abeid Karume.

Mr Karume said the continent, which is currently facing unprecedented development challenges such as poverty, prolonged and devastating conflicts, and increasing global inequality, needs a kind of people who are diligent, committed, responsive and willing to effectively and efficiently address such challenges.

President Karume also said the programme must be geared for the interest of the vast majority population and not otherwise, “I caution those executing the programme to avoid the danger of creating cartel of ‘anointed people’ and on contrary, they should strive to promote and nurture the ones with proven leadership qualities at work, studies, society and who are compassionate with initiative and eager to learn on various pressing matters of the day.”

“I think Reverend Archbishop Desmond has done a very good thing to initiate this programme , and what we need to do is just to support it so that it meets its objectives,” said former president Ally Hassan Mwinyi. “We are very optimistic that the programme will play a decisive role to inspire and ultimately promote respectable future leadership in Africa,” said the Minister for Home Affairs Lawrence Masha. As president Karume said at least 75 per cent of the population in Africa are the youth, and it is a matter of fact that the future of this continent will feel secured only if the ones with potentials of leadership are nurtured, inspired and promoted to become good leaders.

Arusha kids to enjoy this weekend

AT least 1,000 children living in difficult conditions in Arusha will have a day to celebrate, when Vodacom Foundation, in collaboration with two not-for-profit organisations stage games for them on Saturday, at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Memorial Stadium.

Vodacom Managing Executive, Corporate Affairs, Mwamvita Makamba, said the games are part of the foundation's Share and Care campaign to mark the year-end festivities season.

"The purpose of the games is to gather, inspire and empower underprivileged children and the same instill in them a sense of self-worth through athletic activities," she said.

Other organisers of the games are Wheels of Action and the Arusha-based the Orphans Foundation Fund. The guest of honour during the event is expected to be Arusha Regional Commissioner, Isidore Shirima.

She said the games will also provide opportunities for participants to showcase their talents, as most underprivileged children do not get time to participate in sports activities.

Makamba said Vodacom Foundation has set aside 25m/- to sponsor the games, that will bring together children from 25 orphanages.

The session of sports activities involves individual orphanages competing against each other. The competition will only involve children aged above eight.

"The games include relay, sprints, long jump, high jump, shotput, floor ball and football. The children under 8 years of age will participate in other less demanding social activities and games," she said.

She added that there will also be kids' performances which will include children's acrobatic groups, dancers and singing.

Three top participants of each discipline will receive a medal and the three orphanages with the highest collective points will receive a trophy.

Equality.What is equality

In the anti-AIDS advert in the media, a guy called Fataki is busy trying to seduce a little girl for some hanky panky. At first it’s funny, but then later you start thinking – are men the only culprits in the love game? I certainly don’t think so. Having been a man all of my life, I think I know a thing or two about the game. One thing I am sure of is that women control the game all along.

They check the scene out and when they are ready they pounce. Men all along think that they are the smart ones chasing the ka-chick. They will lie their heads off that they are what they are not. The smart women playing along and let the poor dude think that he is winning. In the end, the guy goes to his mates and brags that he has ‘gotten her’.

The truth is that the guy has been had. He has been neutralised. Finished! Kaput! While most men are scratching their crotches and reading this column this morning, they might as well consider this, for starters. Oftentimes, I always insist that women treat men as walking wallets. When women sense that the guy is loaded with EPA monies they pounce on him.

They wear those hypnotising eyes. The guy ends up looking like a poor dog glaring at a hungry python. Instead of running away the dog runs towards the snake and gets eaten. While the Fataki advert is about to some elders wanting to take advantage of little chick, that is not the reality. Ask any man worth his gender and they will tell you that the deadliest seductresses are young girls on the prowl.

I know how dumb men can be. You offer her a drink at some place and before you can say ‘wallet’, she has already gotten his cell-phone number. Then God help you. Rr-r-r-ring! She wants you to add some money into her phone account. And you can be sure that she would not phone you, but ring another punk with whom you share her pleasures.

Another call. The landlord wants the rent for six months. Is ‘dari’ (meaning darling) going to pay? Then, let another ring from ‘dari’. Her mother is sick, she wants to transport her from her village in arusha District. Will ‘dari’ help? R-r-r-r-ring! She now wants a Rav4. She has seen a very good one at the showroom in town and if the sucker really loves her he will buy her one.

Believe it or not, the male suckers are aplenty. They buy those toys. I hear one Fisadi type has made it a point of buying his harem of chicks a red Mercedes Benz each. One day another call comes. Now she is tired of paying rent. She wants her own house. You have been paying her rent and now she wants you to build her a bloody house! But then, somewhere in the world there is a sucker born every minute. Men gladly do those things in the name of love. The guys must be mega dumb to do that. Ever heard of a chick buying a guy a phone? Paying rent or her dude? Buying him a car? Building him a house? That will be the day! g massangwa@yahoo.com
View Visitor's comments on this Story

Climate change gives ancient trees growth spurt

Rising temperatures are causing some of the oldest trees on Earth to grow faster, new research suggests. But the change might not benefit the climate – it may simply cause the trees to die more quickly.
Previous research (pdf) suggested that Great Basin bristlecone pines located in the mountains of western US are growing more rapidly. But the reason for the growth spurt – and whether or not it is unusual – was unclear.
A new analysis of tree rings suggests that the growth spurt is indeed unprecedented: bristlecone pines have grown faster in the past 50 years than they have in 3.7 millennia.
"This well-designed study suggests that climate change is the factor causing the growth spurt," says Greg Wiles, who reconstructs past climates using tree rings at Wooster College in Ohio.
Growth in old age
Matthew Salzer of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona in Tucson and colleagues took cores from ancient trees at three sites in the White Mountains of eastern California and the Ruby mountains of Nevada.
They then measured the width of 420,000 rings from pines within 150 metres of their uppermost range, and noted their age. Lastly, the team compared trends in tree ring width with modelled and reconstructed trends in local temperature.
Tree rings in the last half a century have been 0.58 millimetres wide on average, compared to 0.38 mm wide in the 4750 years preceding the period, the study found.
What's more, the growth spurt appears to be accelerating: between 2001 and 2005, tree ring widths were almost twice as great as they were before 1951, says Salzer, with an average width of 0.68 millimetres.
The changes in tree-ring width are closely correlated with temperature, the study concludes: recent warming in western US is the best explanation for last century's unprecedented growth spurt.
Human impact
"This is a cautionary tale," says Michael Mann, who uses tree rings to gain insights into past climates at Pennsylvania State University's Earth System Science Center, most famously to create the "hockey stick" graph showing an increase in temperature. "Only the human impact of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations can explain that warming."
Christof Bigler of the department of environmental sciences at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich agrees that the growth spurt may be a warning sign. He says that if the ancient trees grow more rapidly they may simply die younger.
But not everyone thinks that the growth spurt is a bad thing. "In the sense of reducing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, it is actually a good thing that these old trees are kicking into life again," says Jinbao Li of the Tree Ring Lab at Columbia University in Palisades, New York.
It's also possible that the growth spurt is partly due to a rise in CO2 levels, which may "fertilise" forests, says Iain Robertson of the School of the Environment and Society at Swansea University, UK. "Temperature only explains about a quarter of the variance in ring widths, so CO2 fertilisation could still play a minor role."

Dramma

In life wecome across many things that makes us regret at the end,we should learn to be strong and take things easy an if it comes that you fail you should stand up to start all over and forget about yesterdayd and always think of tomorrow.

It was 24th of december.anna was sitting in her room thinking how her life would have been wthout her parents who were very dear to her,anna was the last born out of the three children that her parents had,

Annas parents were very rich and gave her anything that she pleaasedshe lived a happy life that anybody would dream of,beside of the beauty that she had, Anna was very kind to anyone and she loved to help people that she loved.
She had a friend, her name was Sara, she trusted her completely and loved her like a sister that she never had, Anna also had a boyfriend that was named Eric, and she loved him so much despite all the bad things that people say about him, she was ready to be blinded by love.
While Anna was thinking then the telephone in her room started ringing it was Sara
ANNA: hallow
SARA: Hallow how is your day?
ANNA: am okey, I was about to call you, I needed you to ascot me to do some shopping for the Christmas and the coming new year.
SARA; yes for you anything my dear, wait for me at your house will, I be there after twenty minutes

After thirty minutes Sara arrived at Anna’s house and the driver took them shopping to buy the coupe of things for Christmas ,Anna bought many gifts to her parents and other friends of hers, she also bought Sara a new dress which was very beautiful and expensive Sara was very happy and hugged Anna and said “thanks for the dress Anna I love you.
ANNA: Thanks too for being a good fried i love you like a sister.
SARA: thank you, am sure that people will love it when they see me wear it.
ANNA: especially your boyfriend even though I don’t know him (Sara was shocked by Anna’s statement but she pretended to be happy with it)
SARA: yeah of course.

Anna didn’t notice that