Burama,
You do not have to be too formal. Malanding will do.

On the contrary most Gambians(inside or outside) I know really care
about the situation on the ground. I was in the Gambia election week
2011. I was privileged to hear and see things close as they happen. In
the process I heard from both the unsophisticated and the sophisticated
about various  issues. My take is that the Gambia is akin to a hijacked
school bus full of elementary school kids. The kids are old enough to
know how to keep themselves safe by complying or  "do as the hijacker
say" and hope that time will come when the bus will run out of gas and
the authorities will catch up with it,  but not big enough to overpower
their captor.

The hijacker on his part knows that he can only succeed if he manages to
keep all in check by promising an "adventure trip". From time to time
man-handles one potentially trouble-maker, just to invite him the next
hour to share his "special sandwich" (aka. carrot and stick). In time
all get it that, all they need to do is to gauge where the wind is
blowing before they say or do anything. If he is in the clouds pretend
to be singing with the angels, else play the ostrich and dig your head
in the sand.

In sum there may be one who will "rock the boat" but only time and
situation will tell.

You and I and those on the outside do not have much control over where
the bus goes,  how fast, what is said or done on the bus. Although
opinions are plenty the truth is we have very few options. Either we
force the bus off the road and risk a fiery end or buy time until the
kids are bold enough to take on the hijacker. Unfortunately the later
takes time, and commitment to many small baby steps which when taken
will eventually get us to the promise land. Some call it "death by a
thousand cuts".

The trouble is identifying the thousand cuts on a forum like gambia-l is
like the police discussing on the radio what they are doing to slow the
bus down. He is listening daa!

Malanding








On 2/18/2014 1:20 PM, Burama Jammeh wrote:
> Dr. Jaiteh
>
> It’s still our homeland.
>
> No argument of the the list of problems.
>
> Care is not enough though! Today we should do a self-assessment of what is our own contribution to address each of these problems. Was/Is that contribution enough? What-else can I do to help.
>
> We have created all these problems and we have to fix them…….
>
> Hopefully a pride to be Gambian maybe a source of encouragement/inspiration. I can’t be convince because of issues/problems we can’t celebrate nationhood.
>
> Thanks though!
>
> Burama
>
>
> On Feb 18, 2014, at 1:09 PM, Malanding Jaiteh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Burama,
>> Most Gambians who care are sad and depressed and not "Happy".
>>
>> After 49 years of self-rule we are yet to prove Mr. Berkeley Rice wrong
>> that The Gambia is not the "improbable nation" he talked about in 1967.
>>
>> After 49 years of self-rule:
>> - Gambians are still using MARBLES to VOTE! In a country where mobile
>> phone subscription is a whopping 85 per 100 inhabitants. Don't tell me
>> Gambians are not smart enough to use paper ballot!
>> -Gambian judiciary (the third rail of our democracy)  relies on imported
>> prosecutors and judges.
>> -Gambians have Governors of Regions  instead of Commissioners in
>> Divisions and Paramount Chiefs.
>> - Members of parliament, chiefs, alkalolu and election regulators are
>> hand picked and fired by the supreme leader, President, commander,
>> scholar, preacher, healer, oracle, .
>> -"The  President alone decides who gets sent to prison and who does not;
>> who gets the death sentence and who does not, who gets executed and who
>> does not; who gets to stay in the country and who does not; who sells
>> "soobo, toolo aning mbooro" and who does not; even how much the dollar
>> and Euro you and I send to our family is worth!
>>
>> And you say  "Happy Birthday"?
>>
>> Malanding
>>
>>
>>
>> On 2/18/2014 12:18 PM, Burama FL Jammeh wrote:
>>> Are you surprised? I am! So far no single message on Gambia day except a friend personal message. Compared to July 4th when recognitions of that nation's day was everywhere Gambians seem to be. Don't we love our homeland?
>>>
>>> Burama
>>>
>>> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
>>> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
>>> at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
>>>
>>> To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
>>> To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
>>> [log in to unmask]
>>> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
>> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
>> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
>> at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
>>
>> To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
>> To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
>> [log in to unmask]
>> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
> at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html
>
> To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
> To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
> [log in to unmask]
> ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html

To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤