MAKE BEN FAIR

go to this website for a Christmas treat!!!

christmasforkenya.com

Spring Break

So its spring break in Waco and things are very slow. Jamie and I have decided that we are going to move from Hewitt into Waco. No more suburbs for the Dudley's! We have found an awesome little house in the best part of Waco, just a matter of selling our house now. So if anyone wants an awesome home on Cheyenne Trail in Waco let me know. Its weird to think about moving. We have spent the last 3.5 years in this home. And it has been a home for us. A really nice home. We finally got the house all painted, all the stuff done we wanted to do to the house and then we are like, "welp, time to move!" haha so stupid. ha

I will have many fond memories of this house. Some not so fond memories also but still memories.

1. My niece Avery coming to visit
2. Having the UBC Christmas Party
3. Christmas at our house with both sets of parents and Matthew
4. My niece Avery throwing poo all over the floor. haha
5. Hanging out til 4 in the morning after Kyle died telling stories with friends
6. grilling bonzi burgers in the summertime
7. Killing another yard haha


I am sure more will come to me, that is a good start. welp, off to work or something. ha

Kenyan beer stirs Obamamania
Tom Oladipo
BBC News, Nairobi

Senator beer
The Senator beer was named by drinkers after Barack Obama

The close battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to secure the Democratic nomination for the US presidency is captivating many across the world.

The charismatic Illinois senator is drawing big crowds at campaign rallies in a phenomenon known as Obamamania.

Kenya, where Senator Obama's father came from, is not immune from this either, but here, another Obama is riding on the crest of a wave.

This one, though, comes in the form of a brown bottle and is called Senator beer.

In many slums and low income areas, people who find beer too expensive often resort to cheap home brews.

But these potent drinks which include traditional spirits known as chang'aa have on a several occasions proved lethal.

Some consumers have died and others have been blinded. It's believed brewers spike the beer with deadly additives.

So one brewery, East African Breweries Limited (EABL), spotted a market opportunity for a cheap beer that is also safe.

The result: Senator Keg beer, known simply by drinkers as "Obama".

The beer became an instant hit when it was launched in 2004 at about the same time as Barack Obama was elected as senator of Illinois.

Fears of alcoholism

The product has proved as popular as the US senator in the intervening years, but with more beer for less money there are fears it could contribute to a rise in alcoholism in Kenya.

EABL's Corporate Affairs Director Ken Kariuki rejects this.

He says that normally poorer people are consuming drinks with an alcohol content of around 40%. By contrast Senator beer is only 6%.

Barack Obama in front of the White House Jan 2007
Barack Obama could be the first black president of the United States

"So you are almost forcing a responsible consumption of alcohol, only this time you're packaging the product in a more affordable and hygienic manner," Mr Kariuki explains.

But others are worried that cheap beer can create more alcoholics.

Dr Frank Njenga, chairman of the National Campaign against Drug Abuse, says more needs to be done to tackle alcohol abuse.

"Alcohol problems require the intervention by all the players, chief of which is the government through its agencies and also those in the industry," he says.

Dr Njenga, who is also a prominent psychiatrist in Nairobi, says everyone must work together to combat the rising trend of alcohol consumption.

Certainly bar owners are not complaining.

On a good day, John Kameta, who owns the Bro Jimmoh bar in Nairobi, can make up to $100 from sales of Senator beer.

"With the high cost of living, people from across all income brackets are turning to Obama beer each evening," he says.

So what do Kenyans make of the new liquid Obama?

"I like the way it is served - from a jug, instead of a bottle. Most people think you get a larger serving from a jug," one devotee told me.

So while the outcome of the US elections may not matter as much in Kenya as it does in America, here every visit to the local watering hole is a vote of confidence in their Obama.

ONE SHINING MOMENT

We all have moments in life we are proud of, moments that define who we are as people. This isn't one of those moments. After many years debating whether to put this online I finally decided that it is worth it. Enjoy!

SUPER FAT TUESDAY!!!

Today is a huge day in American Politics. I do not know why I am so into politics. I know that the true hope for change in the world can only come from the healing power of Christ. And as churchy as that last statement was, it is completely true. But I still believe that there are some people who can inspire us to live life to the fullest. This video is one of those things that when watching it, it literally brings me to tears. I believe in the power of HOPE! Enjoy the video. I would ask that you watch the entire thing, it really is powerful.

Anyone and everyone in the Waco area (and anyone who would like to avoid a life polluted by lignite-burning plants) needs to know that DYNERGY and TXU are in the early stages of constructing TWO COAL PLANTS that will have a major effect on all living things within its wide-spreading reach.

Aside from the infinite environmental damage that follows the construction of coal plants, (i.e. water depletion, SMOG, mercury pollution, ACID RAIN, CLIMATE CHANGE, ecosystem destruction), they also have severe implications for the health and quality of life for anyone living in the path of the emissions. Particle pollution, or soot, “can trigger heart attacks and strokes, WORSEN ASTHMA, cause irregular heart-beat, and lead to PREMATURE DEATH”—as in if these plants are built, you and definitely your children are not going to be spending very much time outdoors; not to mention permanent lung damage and heightened risk of mercury poisoning for expecting mothers, which leads to “brain damage, mental retardation, and other developmental problems in unborn children and infants” (Sierra Club 2007). (There is a reason pregnant mothers are cautioned against drinking Waco water.)

Texas, the dirtiest state of the nation, has no need of more coal plants. Texas ranks number one in the nation for renewable energy potential (State Energy Conservation Office 2008). It is time for energy companies to be replacing outdated technology of coal plants, not building new ones.

And they will back down, as seen with TXU last fall. Although construction has already begun on the Riesel and Oak Grove plant sites, there is time for concerned citizens to dissent; it merely requires the united voice of the would-be victims of the coal plants — THIS MEANS YOU. Every great movement has had universities at its impetus. We can prove to Dynergy that their plants are unwanted and that Texans are willing to fight for clean air.

Study: Bush, aides made 935 false statements in run-up to war

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush and his top aides publicly made 935 false statements about the security risk posed by Iraq in the two years following September 11, 2001, according to a study released Tuesday by two nonprofit journalism groups.

President Bush addresses the nation as the Iraq war begins in March 2003.

"In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003," reads an overview of the examination, conducted by the Center for Public Integrity and its affiliated group, the Fund for Independence in Journalism.

According to the study, Bush and seven top officials -- including Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice -- made 935 false statements about Iraq during those two years.

The study was based on a searchable database compiled of primary sources, such as official government transcripts and speeches, and secondary sources -- mainly quotes from major media organizations. Video See CNN viewers' reactions to the study »

The study says Bush made 232 false statements about Iraq and former leader Saddam Hussein's possessing weapons of mass destruction, and 28 false statements about Iraq's links to al Qaeda.

Bush has consistently asserted that at the time he and other officials made the statements, the intelligence community of the U.S. and several other nations, including Britain, believed Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
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Responding to the study Wednesday, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel did not speak directly to the "false claims" characterization.

But he said the United States was part of a broad coalition of nations that took part in the Iraq invasion and that the invasion was based on intelligence from multiple countries.

He called Hussein a threat to international security and a sponsor of terrorism, and said the world is better off without him. White House press secretary Dana Perino called the study "flawed."

"They only looked at members of the administration, rather than looking at members of Congress or people around the world," she said. "Because as you'll remember, we were part of a broad coalition of countries that deposed a dictator based on a collective understanding of the intelligence."

"And the other thing that that study fails to do is to say that after realizing that there was no WMD, as we thought as a collective body that there was, that this White House, the President set about to make reforms in the intelligence community to make sure that it doesn't happen again."

Bush has repeatedly said that despite the intelligence flaws, removing Hussein from power was the right thing to do.

The study, released Tuesday, says Powell had the second-highest number of false statements, with 244 about weapons and 10 about Iraq and al Qaeda.

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Press Secretary Ari Fleischer each made 109 false statements, it says. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz made 85, Rice made 56, Cheney made 48 and Scott McLellan, also a press secretary, made 14, the study says.

"It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al Qaeda," the report reads, citing multiple government reports, including those by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, the 9/11 Commission and the multinational Iraq Survey Group, which reported that Hussein had suspended Iraq's nuclear program in 1991 and made little effort to revive it.

The overview of the study also calls the media to task, saying most media outlets didn't do enough to investigate the claims.

"Some journalists -- indeed, even some entire news organizations -- have since acknowledged that their coverage during those prewar months was far too deferential and uncritical," the report reads. "These mea culpas notwithstanding, much of the wall-to-wall media coverage provided additional, 'independent' validation of the Bush administration's false statements about Iraq."
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The quotes in the study include an August 26, 2002, statement by Cheney to the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

"Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction," Cheney said. "There is no doubt he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us." E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend