Gainako Newspaper

At the sound of the alarm
You roll and toss in bed
Hitting the shower
All five senses awake

Down the kitchen
Breakfast fix
Along the drive
The kids are yelling
Off to school you drop them

In the midst of traffic
You dive your way through
Hitting the road
Hustling and bustling

At five pm
A rush to bargain store
Grocery all over arms
With a big smile
You mask the stress

Along with the diploma
You bag the Masters and PHDs
Like the real soccer game
You level the playing field
Stripping in bed
Scoring the best goals
Satisfying him to the fullest

Wow! Soccer mom
The new name
For the 21st century
Phenomenal woman

By Aisha Saidy Boston, MA
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,NEWS
,,Two Gambian Musicians In
,,,Trouble With Mega Force
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,By Alieu Khan��July 28th, 2008
Mega Force is an organization in Germany dedicated
to the promotion of local talents in The Gambia. One of
their main areas of concentration is exposing Gambian
sprouting stars to the international music scene.

Horicana and Marion were the recent musicians
contracted by them for a European tour. They were
supposed to perform in Germany, Austria, Finland
and hopefully Sweden. The duo secretly decided to
boycott the tour, forcing Mega Force to send
cancellation notices to all their partners.

According to reports both Marion and Horicane were not happy with the way the tour was organized.
After two performances in Germany, Marion decided to travel to Holland to visit her uncle and later
to the UK and currently she is back in The Gambia. For Horicane, he went to join his brother in
another part of Germany.

Both musicians refused to return to resume their tour. One of them insisted that they will only return, if
a proper contract is signed and are paid accordingly.

'We didn't abscond. We were not happy with the way we were treated and decided to leave"
disclosed one of them

Horicane, the hottest Gambian local reggae musician is expecting a huge welcome from his many fans
in Brikama town. This was his debut outside the Gambia, but unfortunately for him he only had two
gigs. His visa is valid till at the end of August.

More on this story, in our subsequent editions. We might hopefully run an exclusive interview with
both Marion and Horicane

.................................................NEWS
....JAMMEH'S BUS HIT PEDESTRIAN
CAUSING DEATH; EYEWITNESSES SAY
...............By Solo, Banjul Correspondent...............................July 28th, 2008
One of the buses of the new Bus company, UNIQUE TRANSPORT SYSTEM COMPANY that
was recently inaugurated by president Jammeh and is said to be owned by him on the July 22
Anniversary 2008, has been involved in a serious accident at the highway immediately after the
TABOKOTO Junction at about Thursday 24th July.

This reporter who was reliably informed by eyewitnesses said the bus was coming from the Abuko
side and going towards Serekunda; that immediately after the TOTAL petrol station, the driver lost
control and climbed on the side walks of the pedestrians where he hit a young man of about 17years
of age.

According to the informant, the bus which did not stop instantly after hitting the pedestrian, swerved
back on to the road and stopped about 100 meters towards Tabokoto junction. Asked about the boy
that was hit by the bus, the informant said he believes the boy had died. He said the police came later
to take his body away. He said at the time of the accident, the boy's parents were not known.

Many people believe that the new bus company did not bring new buses. Some say they have
observed that the buses are second hand. Some are speculating that everything is done in a hurry so
as to coincide it with the anniversary of the Military take over; that even drivers are not adequately
prepared for the job. It is also believe by some that some the buses would not last long because
according to them they are not suited to this environment; that they are made for cold regions. They
also said if the buses go as far as Basse, they would die easily because of the bad roads; the air
conditioning system would be spoiled as it has happened to the Volvo buses.

The other complaint is that the buses are only one door which creates inconvenience for commuters,
fueling speculation that they are meant for school children and not adults. The bus company should
look into the accident and possibly compensate him or his parents and look into other complaints of
the general public with a view to address them.

.................................................NEWS
..Dead Body of Homosexual
...Refused Burial in Touba
........................By Alieu Khan........................July 28th, 2008
It's now becoming clear that homosexuality has no space in Senegambia. The leadership of Touba,
Senegal has refused the dead body of a homosexual to be buried in their holy town.

This late homosexual (name withheld) was among the Senegalese homosexuals who went under
hiding following looming threats on their lives. According to reports from Senegal, the relatives of the
late homosexual wanted him to be buried in Touba, a place that all Senegalese mourids prefer as their
final resting place.

To many Senegalese the Touba leaders have chosen the right decision and through out Senegal they
have been applauded for it.

In February this year, there was a huge demonstration in the Senegalese capital, following the
publication of a gay wedding on the Icon magazine. Dozens of people were arrested, including an
imam.

The Senegalese government has always been under pressure not to allow homosexuality to prevail.
Like many other countries with a huge muslim population, homosexual acts are prohibited under law.

What happened to the body of the late homosexual still remains unclear, but many religious leaders in
all areas of Senegal has contended that the man does not deserve to be buried in any muslim grave
site.
.........On Barack Obama
.................The Audacity of Hope
...............................By Momodou Sabally��July 25th, 2008
I had followed his rise to power so keenly before his bid
for the White House sounded sane to many. By the time
he came to Atlanta for one of his biggest rallies (until that
time) in April 2007, I thought I had heard and read enough
about Barack Obama that I was just going to attend his rally
to see his face live and nothing else because he was not
going to say anything else I had not heard him say before.
But on that sunny day in Atlanta I was again wowed by this
orator as if I had never heard him before.

There was liveliness; an air of sincerity, hope and determination that he did not merely exude but
virtually breathed that stunned me about him.Within the midst of a crowd of well over 20, 000 and a
coterie of secret service personnel, I funneled my way through for a handshake that I will remember
forever.

His style, part preacher, part politician, part professor and part town boy, Obama is the ultimate
candidate for a time that needs leadership that should bring about not only national but also global
healing and reconciliation. He is an embodiment of that healing and reconciliation that the world needs.
I need not go into details about that for his two memoirs "Dreams From my Father" and "The
audacity of Hope"--suffice for the telling of his phenomenal life story. I am yet to read a better
description of the Obama phenomenon than the following lines uttered by MSNC host Chris
Mathews: I've been following politics since I was about 5, I've never seen anything like this. This is
bigger than Kennedy. [Obama] comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the New
Testament. This is surprising.

I signed up earlier on in support of Obama's presidential dream in spite of the reservations a close
friend of mine who is a well-seasoned observer of American politics.My friend had every respect for
Obama's multi-faceted genius but concluded that there was no way he could win a democratic
nomination process that had Hillary and the great Clinton political machinery in the fray. I remained
unswayed in my faith that the audacity of hope can move mountains. My intuition was akin to what a
congressman had told Mr. Matthews years earlier: "every so often in life, the galloping horse of
history comes by and you have to make a decision "You have to jump on that horse or you miss
your turn. The country is facing that. Do I want to jump on the horse, or not? I jumped on that horse
and in spite of the sometimes daunting challenges facing the Obama campaign as epitomized by the
Reverend Jeremiah Wright controversy and Obama's own bone-headed comment about small town
American and their clinging to guns and religion, penned my views and hopes in verse:

I dare you to challenge Obama
The world's eighth wonder
Rising from Chicago, nay Kenya
He marches to coronation in mile-high Denver

The hills are Shaking
The bills all shrinking
All obstacles are collapsing
His might is so towering

The world awaits in yearning
This great awakening
The triumph of hope and aspiration
Over cynicism and trepidation

Michele's man has proved beyond doubt
That hope and faith, devout
Can surmount any hill no matter the bill

It was a long and hard battle but Obama did win the nomination of the Democratic Party. The
impossible has come to be the undeniable; what great triumph for the Audacity of Hope. And after the
long and tortuous journey to the DNC convention in Denver and the democratic party should heed the
Wall street journal's Peggy Noonan: "Party elders should be coming out on the balcony in full array, in
full regalia, and telling the crowd, "Habemus nominatum":" We have a nominee." And the crowd
below should be cheering, "Viva Obamus! Viva nominatum!"

And still the skeptics keep asking whether Obama will be able to win the general election. Could he
win the presidency without bringing on Hillary as a running mate? I am of the view that Obama must
be very careful in selecting a running mate and by all means he should not select Hillary as running
mate for given her insatiable desire for power and her comments about a possible Robert Kennedy
ending for Obama during the heat of the democratic primary, Hillary in the VP office might just turn
out to be a Trojan horse for Obama. But I was indeed moved by a comment made by my friend
Musa while debating my position on a possible Hillary VP role. He made reference to the legendary
Ngansu Machine of Cassamance whose story was told by Kora maestro Lalo Kebba Drammeh.

Having asked his marabou to advice him about his future as a chief, the marabou told him that he
would become a ruler but that he would not live long since his tenure will last only 9 months. The
brave hero responded that 9 months would be too long and that even 9 days would be enough for
him. So Musa concluded that even if he would be in the White House for only 9 days, let us do
everything possible (including bringing Hillary on as running mate) to make sure we have our first black
President of the USA. I may not necessarily agree with Musa but I sure do know he has got a strong
point

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