Tony Blankley MEGA-PING!!
U S Embassy
P O Box 30137
Nairobi, Kenya
If anyone would like to send a thank you note, I'm sure they can get them to the Wasinkishu clan for us.
I can handle this. It's good to know who your friends are when the chips are down on the table.
They have the reputation of being fabled warriors and plucky hunters, and in more ancient times a young lad could only prove his ‘manhood’ by going off on a solo mission to kill a full grown African lion…. armed only with his spear (and it should be noted that in colonial Kenya the ‘big game hunters’ found killing a lion with a rifle, before his charge got you and killed you, was a hard thing to do. But these chaps had to kill a lion with a spear)!
And as for the issue with the cows it can be clearly asserted that to the Masai the cow is beyond sacrosanct! It is the most sacred possession they have, and this is not just because they rely on it for sustenance (they feed on only meat, milk and blood), but also due to their tribal religious beliefs that place great value on the bovines. Thus the gift of the cattle actually shocked me (I am a mixture of 4 tribes, one being the Masai) since these are a poor people (and when I say poor I would like if you thought of it from a ‘third-world’ perspective not a Western Hemisphere depiction of ‘poor’), and also giving away cattle is tantamount to Bill Gates giving away each and every single nickel in his bank account, and then topping that off by selling his own soul!
And the sad thing for the Masai is that they are in dire straits. Kenya, like nations like South Africa, India and Brazil (the ‘better’ countries of the so called ‘third world’…I get a twitch every time I hear that word), is an interesting medley of super-developed completely Westernized sectors, and extremely impoverished underdeveloped areas. It is like having chunks of the US and Britain in even larger chunks of Haiti and the Congo. The concept of a middle class is virtually unheard of, you will either see people driving SLKs and Jaguars or people hitching rides in rickshaws and busses! A disparity those in the USA cannot even begin to comprehend.
and this is sad for most Masai since unlike the US where one is rewarded largely due to merit, back home one has to be hypercompetitive and that is often not enough (the reason I came to the US is to gain an ‘edge’ over my fellows back home. I was accepted to several Campuses back home, but I decided to come here in the belief an American degree would have considerable clout. And since I have managed to achieve a 4.0 GPA in Finance there is a chance the ‘clout factor’ may be achievable, but the thing is having A’s is really no guarantee since in the more educated parts A’s come a dime a dozen. The competition is so fierce that one of our education systems-we have several-has been ranked the third hardest in the world after Taiwan and India, and I know people who have killed themselves over the stress).
Anyways I just wanted to give you some info on Kenya. I am so weary and hackneyed by the ‘Discovery Channel’ depictions of Kenya as some ‘Wildlife Wilderness.’ Where everyone lives in huts. They never show the good areas, just the lions and leopards, and the shanties and slums. Actually when I came to Oklahoma City I got severe culture shock, but the reverse of what is expected since my capital of Nairobi was more ‘cosmopolitan’ than OKC (however do not misread me, I love Oklahoma and the people). I just wanted people to know we Kenyans are more than the Discovery Channel tries to depict us as.
We are just people trying to live in a globe where folk like UBL can come and kill over 200 kenyans and injure thousands in a bid to kill Americans. And I think it is about nigh that all people who value freedom and the glory of life to ensure such monsters as UBL are never again given the opportunity to rise their heads up and spew terror and destruction unabated. Let freedom ring, and let freedom reign.
And by the way. I think the student in the article was a medical student not a law student (that is not possible since we use British law, and thus his education would not be fully compatible back home). Also i had read an article saying he was a med student at Standford (very fortunate for him to get there i have to say).
Freegards, Spetsnaz aka Anthony N.
Special mention for plays on words.
There's the whole problem, the way the story was reported.
If you read the this report (from the BBC), you may see this whole thing in a little different light.
Kenyan Masai donate cows to US'Expression of regard'
The US national anthem played as the herdsmen handed over the cattle.
"I know that for the Masai people the cow is valued above all possessions and that the gift of a cow is the highest expression of regard and sympathy," Mr Brancick said.
"When we count the value of these cows, and when we add the value of the great spirits that gave them, we can say without doubt that you seem richer still."
The cattle will not be taken to America but will be sold at a local market and the proceeds used to buy beads.
Masai women will then fashion traditional beadwork with commemorative messages, including perhaps the Stars and Stripes of the US flag.
The Masai craftwork will then be handed over to the people of New York for display in the city.
I do think that William Brencick, the deputy chief of the Nairobi mission, could use a few more lessons in diplomacy.
Even if we're not going to fly the cows to America, he doesn't really need to announce that our government will immediately liquidate this heartfelt gift into a more mobile commodity. Show a little tact, Billy.
But I was set straight by this post from sadimgnik. Brencick’s actions were perfectly acceptable and he was a gracious recipient of the gift.
Blankley should have researched the issue a little more.