Away from the unsettling news of tremors in Kenya, your favorite candidate in the 2008 US presidential race, Mr. Barrack Obama. Remains ahead of the pack. His charisma, oratory manner and ability to fundraise stand him in good stade in a crowded field.
Yes, the race to the White House is more crowded than that of the ODM Kenya presidential nominations one. In the Democratic Party, Mr. Obama faces 22 other candidates for the ticket and if he wins, he will face a challenger from the Republican Party, which itself has 28.
His biggest challenge remains Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the two are neck-and-neck in fundraising, at the equivalent of more than sh2 billion each and way ahead of the favourite at opinion polls.
The saving grace for Mr. Obama is that when Americans give you for a campaign, I’m told they are seriously considering electing you president. And if it turns out that your favourite candidates doesn’t make it and Mrs. Clinton makes history by becoming America’s 44th and first woman president, another interesting piece of history will also fall into place.
It’s all in the name. Or is it?
A presidential (Mrs.) Clinton will have ushered in 28 years of Bushes and Clintons at the White House, a chain started by George Bush Senior who handed the baton to Bill Clinton, who handed it to George W. Bush and who may hand it over to Hillary Clinton.
We should be surprised as we certainly have our share of leaders bearing political brand manes – Gideon Moi, Uhuru Kenyatta, Raila Odinga, Musalia Mudavadi,George Khaniri, Jane Kihara and Kariuki Mirungi, to name but a few.
It’s interesting that Americans are electing family names back into political offices at the council level, the state senate level and even the senate and congress levels.
US scholar Stephen Hess, who authored America’s Political Dynasties, calculated that 700 American families by the mid-1990s had sent two or more members to governor. And to think that Americans fought off the British so hard because they wanted to establish a system of government devoid of monarchies and dynasties!
Certainly, if Obama wins, the possibility of 28 years of Bushes and Clintons will have been broken. If he doesn’t, the world would argue that the US is evolving into a democratic dynasty?
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Mr. Charles Wamae, an ardent reader of this column, wrote this week wanting to know if chicken sold in US supermarkets and served on dinner tables is any bigger in size than what we are used to in Kenya.
They are.
At a recent meal in senior journalist Randy Smith’s house, I enjoyed some barbecued chicken and didn’t know it was actually chicken until I remarked how good “the turkey” was.
Mr. Smith, who has traveled to Kenya, promptly corrected me and said it was chicken. He also agreed with me that it was much bigger than what is sold in Kenya. And the reasons given are varied as the people giving them.
Mr. Smith told me that the chickens are the official authority on such matters in the US – says that hormones’ injections on chickens are probably raised on “high-powered grain,” and that there is a debate going on about whether this is ultimately healthy for consumers or not.
The food and Drug Administration the official authority on such matters in the US –says that hormones’ injections on chicken s are prohibited. Poultry farmers say the hormones are not allowed and are never administered.
Some Americans tell me they believe the chickens are injected with growth hormones so that they may get to the market faster and heavier than those grown naturally. Is it a case of more money or one of more money, more problems?
Some medical experts seem to think that hormonal injections do happen and that eating such food may cause obesity, a factor that may lead children to arrive at early puberty.
It’s hard to see the picture clearly when you have eaters and experts taking divergent positions, but yes, the chickens are much bigger.
Maybe, like the Swahili say, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.


By Johnstone Sikulu Wanjala
Kenya

It's so hot!!

Is anyone planning anything while the weather is beautiful? This is prime canvassing time!

I'm trying to get involved....methinks this isn't the best place?? HELP ME PLEASE! I NEED DIRECTION! :)

Ruth