Fellow L'ERS I hope that everyone reading this will read it carefully and see it in the light that I am writing it and not as a personal attack to anyone. So as they say in Wollof "DEHKLUH LENMAH AK HELL !!! TEH BULENMAH DEHKLUH AK KHOLL !!!". For a while now, I have stayed in the background reading numerous exchanges between various members of the Gambia-L on issues ranging from identity theft, to monetary theft, to accusing people of only caring when their relatives are touched by Yahya. While it is true that some of these issues are very relevant and do need our BRIEF attention, there is such a thing as TOP PRIORITY. And I do believe that the majority of you would agree with me that for us at present that should be, THE RESTORING OF OUR BELOVED COUNTRY, the beautiful and sunny Gambia which was once full of smiling faces , thus nicknamed "The Smiling Coast", TO DEMOCRATIC RULE WITH VERY LIMITTED NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS. And restore the smiles to the faces of the general population. That being agreed upon, if it is at all necessary for us to momentarily stray from our quest to address such issues, I do believe we should try to minimize such addressings in order to avoid wandering too far away from, or being sidetracked from our immediate goal. We owe it to our selves, as Gambians, and to the masses of people back home who have to live with the everyday tortures of life under Yahyah's regime. And above all, we owe it to those poor innocent school children who were brave enough to stand against the guns of this fascist regime paying with the ultimate price of laying down their lives. People! People! People! If such young kids are able to come together and form a resistant strong enough to rock the stronghold of Yahya Jammeh's regime, us with our so called "world experience", education, and maturity, should be able to find a way to stay focused, and to "KEEP OUR EYES ON THE PRICE." I do understand that this is sometimes easier said than done. Because I have sometimes found myself wanting to join in and express my opinion about some of these issues. But thank God that I was, on most occasions, able to stop myself before I did. And after there is no use beating on a death horse. AND I BET YAHYA AND HIS CHORTS ARE HAPPY TO KNOW THAT WE ARE BEING EASILY DISTRACTED FROM OUR GOAL. FOR IT IS MY BELIEVE THAT THEY DO MONITOR OUR EXCHANGES ON THE "L". My humble opinion is that, we want to have as many Gambians as possible participating in this, our quest. And as such, we should not be in too much of a hurry or we should not pounce too hard, on those willing to participate. Yea! Yea! Some of us are slackers and have not contributed in the past. But does not mean we do not want them participating now? Or that we should rub that in their faces? Am sure they themselves after being "Directly Affected" by Yahya and his cohort's actions, do realize that not participating in the past was a mistake. As such we should not dwell on their not having done so in the past but rejoice in the fact that they have come to join us. THUS, IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW THEY WERE FORCED TO SEE THE LIGHT. WHAT MATTERS IS THAT THEY CAN SEE IT NOW. Also, as much as we want to chastise the Tombongs (which I myself am guilty of) and the Ebou Jallows for associating or having associated with the "Evilry" that is the Yahya regime, we should not just pounce on them. Let us use them to gain an understanding and to gain valuable information that only they can supply, since "they are eating or have eaten at the devils table", they are more likely to comprehend the menu better than the rest of us. So my humble opinion is that, even if Yahya Jammeh himself came on the "L". Instead of just chastising him (mind you I do not even dream of saying do not give him the tirade he deserves), we should try to manipulate, and utilize him to gain information that may help our course. And experience have thought me that the way to gain information out of people is not to attack them. Am sure there are people on this forum who are very able in utilizing the necessary tactics in order to beat the devil at his own game. No, I do not suggest that we stoop to "Evilry". The tactic am suggesting can be understood from the simple tactic that some of us women utilize when we want to get something from our "Alhagie's"...We put on our best behavior, our best clothes, our best "Nehmaliys", cook the best dinner and make them relax... And just when their guards are most down, we subtly start working to achieve our own interests. So while that may not be the exact tactic to use in this case (I am not so naive that I cannot realize that the two situations differ), am sure you get the idea of what am trying to suggest. I stop here now, and I beg you to understand that anything I say is in the interest of our beloved nation. And while I may offend some, I realize that in the quest for justice, not everyone can be pleased all the time. And I do apologize to anyone that finds themselves offended while reading this message. I REMAIN SIMPLY SIGGA M. JAGNE A GAMBIAN CITIZEN ===== "NO ONE CAN MAKE YOU FEEL INFERIOR WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION" ALSO "NOTHING IS UNACHIEVABLE, THE ONLY QUESTION IS, WHETHER ONE IS WILLING TO DO WHAT IT TAKES TO ACHIEVE WHAT IS DESIRED" __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail – Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------