Like most “normal” people, I like a good laugh. And, as luck would have it, I had an exceptionally good one today, both during and after reading a think piece in a leading London “liberal left” daily. And then, I cried. And laughed some more, in the process almost choking on my food.

The article, “Beyond Mandela” was published in the Guardian and written by a “bro” by the name of Onyekachi Wambu. I do not believe the writer is a comedian, nor that his intention, as he put fingers to keyboard, was to be a source of mirth or stimulant to the left lacrimal gland of yours truly.

Shorn of all its accoutrements, and the red herrings about development and dignity for Africa and Africans, Mr Wambu’s thesis is simply this: post-Mandela, African and black liberation has been won and what is needed now on the continent are what he calls “leaders of development”.

Some journeys are worthwhile. They make us more well-rounded human subjects and objects, enriching us with experiences that inform the multilayered, multifaceted beings we are becoming every second and every minute of each passing day.

The decision to embark on them may or may not have been ours in the first place - and their impact on our lives could be devastating and not amenable to the good ol' trick of getting-up-and-dusting-ourselves. But it could nevertheless be argued that such journeys are worthwhile.

By Lahai J Samboma

Soon after the alleged terror plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights last week, one of the first things that became apparent was that the so-called independent media were being far from independent in their reporting of this alleged plot foiled by the British police and security services, for long plagued by accusations of being inept and trigger-happy.

By Lahai J Samboma

It is possible that the idea for the present article may have been lurking somewhere in my subconscious for some time, but the decision to finally write it came suddenly after hearing Bush’s claim on television today that the foiling of an alleged plot to blow up several US-bound aircraft was definitive proof that “we” were in a war against “Islamic fascists”.

This was rich, coming as it did from the 21^st Century’s greatest fascist leader and the single most potent threat to international peace and security. During the course of his short speech, which our hero delivered on an airport tarmac, he did his handlers and speechwriters proud. Not only did he not read from a script - at least not one that we could see - he also remembered to repeat the all-important buzz-words and phrases: “…those of us who love freedom and democracy…freedom …democracy” - you name it, it was there!

By Lahai J Samboma

According to this morning’s newscasters, the British police and security services have foiled a “major plot” by “Islamic fundamentalists” to blow-up trans-Atlantic flights using devices hidden in hand luggage. As a consequence, all passengers on such flights will not be allowed hand luggage on board aircraft with immediate effect until further notice.

By Lahai J Samboma

Station a “stabilisation force” in a south Lebanon “buffer zone“, disarm the Hizbolla resistance and, hey presto!, we have “lasting peace” in the Middle East. This is such a gross insult to our intelligence that even the producers of Pinky and the Brain - the cartoon characters bent on world domination - would baulk at even considering it a worthy plotline for their farcical characters.

Yet this is the canard we are being sold by Bush-Blair, as they insist that “sustainable peace” in the Middle East presupposes the positioning an international force between the Hizbolla and the Zionist state. This should come as no surprise; what is indeed mystifying is that many who should know better have swallowed this odious farrago - hook, line and sinker.

By Lahai J Samboma

The blatant blackmail of the Lebanese people into accepting what Blair - Bush’s rear-end appendage - euphemistically calls a “stabilisation force”, has plunged the contemporary world into a new low, the likes of which would be very difficult, if not impossible, to match in recent history - despite the claim by apologists of Zionist war crimes that such a force is the only way to broker what they call a lasting peace in the MidEast.

And, as if on cue, the blathering birdbrain of a son-of-a-Bush was on our screens again today, talking of a “sustainable peace” and a “lasting ceasefire”, obviously oblivious to the fact that innocent children, women and men were being massacred even as he and his Wicked Witch Rice are playing realpolitik with the life of a whole nation.

By Lahai J Samboma

As I watch the television news, read the various press and contemplate bloody, barbaric death and destruction unfolding seemingly unstoppably in the Zionist-imperialist battlefield that Lebanon and Palestine have become, the words of two of the 20^th Century’s great wordsmiths come to mind: those of Robert Nesta Marley, aka Bob; and Eric Blair, more popularly known as George Orwell.

By Lahai J Samboma

The hubris of the woman was a must-see. There she was, addressing the cheap harlots of the assembled media, new war criminal Olmert by her side. Those with any doubts concerning America’s complicity in the ongoing Middle East turkey shoot got their rude awakening. “We want a different kind of Middle East,” Dr Condi said. “We will prevail. They will not.”

By Lahai J Samboma

I have just read a brilliant analysis of the machinations of US imperialist hegemony as it attempts, with the collaboration of expansionist Zionism, to pacify the misbehaving Muslim tribes of the Middle East and secure their energy resources. It was on a blog and, very predictably, it elicited a torrent of hostile responses from apologists for the gross rights violations being committed against the people there by America’s proxy Zionist army.

By Lahai J Samboma

The swaggering simpleton, his features half-frozen in that ridiculous smirk of the clueless nincompoop, lets slip to a credulous, beholden media that Syria and Iran are “responsible for this shit”. And, lo and behold, that is the message that is dutifully relayed to the world - and there is hardly a discernable tongue in any cheek as this unadulterated clap-trap is transmitted.

By Lahai J Samboma

I have been blogging elsewhere again! But, being a faithful sort of guy, I have dutifully reproduced here my humble input into the deliberations: How stupid of me! To be so naive as to attribute such a loaded phrase as "war criminal of Baghdad" to you. (Stupid, stupid, stupid me!)

It should have been clear to me that people who regard Iraq as a war crime and those who provide beyond-reason support to Zionist aggression are mutually-exclusive groups.

By Lahai J Samboma

A man comes to your house, beats you up and kicks you and your family out of your home. Even though you are prepared to share your large-ish estate with him. All you ask is that he builds his own house in another part of the estate. He will have none of it; he wants everything.

He then brings his family in and banishes you to the most inhospitable tract of the estate. They are having a ball, partying, inviting friends over. You can hear the music and dancing, smell the food. When you complain he beats you up. Then he decides to invite some family to come live with him. He decides he will settle the new arrivals on the little bit of land you have by now resigned yourself to.

By Lahai J Samboma

Israel is beleaguered by the Arab and Muslim states of the Middle East. It is rightly defending itself against aggression by the terrorists in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran. It is enforcing UN resolutions calling for the cessation of hostilities and the disarming of the Hizbolla. It will never have security unless both Hizbolla and Hamas disarm. Should I go on?

The sophistry currently doing the international rounds would be risible were the consequences of Zionist aggression that it justifies not so tragic for both the Palestinians and, now, the Lebanese. It should be clear to all with eyes to see that the gross violations that have been perpetrated by Olmert and the Israeli army in the last two weeks or so tantamount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.