Civil Disobedience

Civil Disobedience

Times are tough and rents are high... and that's not all. Prices are skyrocketing all around; much of this is a domino effect from the price of fuel hitting all-time highs. People are having a tough time. A friend I've known since 2006--who has only asked me for assistance once before, and that was because he was going through a tough moment of unemployment--this past week asked me to help him out: he was having trouble getting to work each day. For many people, earning a salary is not enough for survival, and it's getting more and more difficult.

Many people here feel that the Ugandan government should be doing more to alleviate that strain put on the people. A campaign calling people to walk to work in protest of the government's actions (or lack there of thus far) was initiated this week. Well, it was made very evident on Monday morning that the government was not pleased with people's disagreement with their policies and actions when one of the protest organisers and participants, Dr. Kizza Besigye, was arrested as he trekked his way to his office. Today the efforts continued, and Dr. Besigye was waylaid on his route once again, this time shot with a rubber bullet and forced to seek refuge in a ditch. He, by no means, is the only person participating in this campaign, but he is the most high-profile person so far, and it appears that he is in charge.

So far I have been impressed with the peaceful nature of Dr. Besigye's civil disobedience. Henry David Thoreau has been credited with coining the phrase civil disobedience in 1846. Since that time many people in various societies around the world have employed this concept of refusing to obey law, command and/or demand of a government they believe is unjust; some efforts have been very successful. To many people, Gandhi's campaigns in India against Imperial Britain come to mind when they think of civil disobedience. When I first heard of the walk to work campaign, The Montgomery Bus Boycott came to my mind. That little endeavor was successfully led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1955.

While the participants of the bus boycott were protesting a very different issue, the solidarity and peaceful actions of those involved brought to light the injustice going on in the US South and swayed the government to change laws. But it was a very long and difficult road. People were walking to work for more than a year.

Will Besigye and others who share his desire for change in Uganda be as patient and long suffering? We won't know that until it happens, I guess. At this point, I admire his perseverance, and I think that peaceful demonstration and protest is a positive step in the streets of Kampala.

Books, Boobs and Candy

The problem with reading good, well-written books is that it makes it extremely frustrating to read books that are bad and poorly written. I’m about a hundred and forty pages deep into one of the worst books I’ve read in a very long time. I wish I could be more like my friend Cristy who can put a bad book down after only 10 pages. I’m a glutton for punishment and force myself through any book I begin—no matter the cost. All because a book is deemed a classic does not mean that it is good. It took me three attempts to get through the tragedy of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (my least favourite book ever). Why are kids in America always forced to read that Nathaniel Hawthorne bore: The Scarlet Letter?

The train wreck I am on this week is Valhalla Rising by Clive Cussler. The book’s cover credits him as being the “Grandmaster of Adventure.” Cussler came highly recommended by my friend, Nicole, who also recommended two amazing books, The Egypt Game and From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. These two books, while written for young readers, have become two of my favourites and have prized positions on my bookshelf. Maybe I just picked a Cussler bomb. Everyone is entitled to a bad day. Right? I’m working hard to finish this book by Friday. Anyone who wants it after that can have it free of charge. Gotta get the stink out of my house.

Granted, I’m only 140 pages into the book. There are still 400 pages remaining for the author to redeem himself. I deserve a good story after all of the good ol’ boy banter and cliché expressions I’ve had to endure so far. The worst yet:

(Referring to a mysterious briefcase)

‘You say that after all that, it was empty?’

‘As a bank vault after Butch Cassidy rode out of town.’

I’m not getting my hopes up too high. I waited 600 pages for something interesting to happen in John Grisham’s The Chamber, and it never did.

I have a sweet tooth for pop candy, and the fodder doesn’t get any sweeter than when it comes from Candy herself. I admit that I’ve been intrigued by the open letters that Candy Spelling (wife of the late Aaron and mother of Tori) has been posting on the internet at TMZ.com to Paris Hilton, Joe Francis, and Britney Spears. It is just a bit bizarre. Well, another member of the Spelling family snatched a headline today as well as my attention. The afore mentioned, Tori Spelling, 90210’s Donna and star of Trick, is now an ordained minister. You can’t make this stuff up! She received her ordination last week online and will soon get her certificate in the mail. He reason for joining the ministry was to perform weddings at her bed and breakfast, Chateau La Rue, in California. Her first wedding was held over the weekend. She officiated a gay wedding in a state where same-sex marriage isn’t legal. Civil disobedience?

In other wedding news, my friend Celeste gets to be a bridesmaid in an upcoming wedding. I know what you’re thinking: Let’s see the hideous dress! Well here is:


She gets to don this beauty (or seriously the ugliest dress you have ever seen) in silver. Yes, folks, silver. In Celeste’s own words, “Who looks good in silver?” Not me and not you. I’d give anything to see Cel in this impossible-to-wear-a-bra-with dress. Her boobs are enormous. I’m hoping for a wardrobe malfunction that will leave her boobs hanging to her knees for everyone to see.

Celeste, bless you heart.

Give a Hoot

Give a Hoot

Who needs fiction when reality is just so damn entertaining?

I'm really surprised at how productive my day has been and how worthwhile this afternoon's staff meeting was. After yesterday's revelation by President Museveni that, "The problem with Ugandans is that they are indisciplined, unserious, alcoholics and extravagant," I'm surprised my colleagues and I ever manage to get anything done. We must be seriously talented. Or maybe I'm the one who is seriously talented, taking up the slack for their indiscipline and unserious-ness. Wow! I'm pretty awesome. And the alcoholism, well that explains a lot, giving me something to aspire to.

So this week, hooting was added to the walk-to-work campaign because the opposition want to "tickle the government". You ask, "What if I'm not in a car because I'm walking to work?" This is still the walk-to-work campaign after all. "Whoever cannot hoot, will bang a table, calabash, saucepan or any tool or instrument that can produce noise for five minutes."

Back when the walk to work campaign was just beginning, I wondered if it would have longevity, and it's inspiring to know that the peaceful protesting through civil disobedience has not fizzled out, even after being responded to with so much violence from the government.

However, the reaction of the powers that be has not been as positive. The police have vowed to arrest the hooters, calling them illegal. The hooters have not consulted them (the police), so their hooting is illegal. Plus the hooters are contributing to noise pollution which can cause fatigue and headaches. You know what else causes headaches? Police batons, so hooters beware!

Remember when giving a hoot was more peace, love and granola bar crunchy?

Hoot was a hoot!

Teaching children to think for themselves; coming to their own conclusions about what is ethical or right; allowing them to engage in civil disobedience; adding in alligators in toilets, water moccasins with glittery tails and Florida's tropical setting: What's not to love?

Now reading:
Run, baby! Run



I got this book from my friend, David. He brought it to my house wrapped in newspaper. It's a crazy, crazy world when one has to hide the book he is reading for fear of having someone see it's title. Come on! Because of the homophobic attitude of many, I'm even hesitant to take the book to read at the little cafe I love so much. What can you do?

I've read in more than one location that because of the success of Brokeback Mountain, they are in the process of turning this book into a major motion picture. I'm only 60 pages in, and I'm hooked.