On Seeking Popularity

"Of all the adversaries and enviers of his (Camillus') glory, Marcus Manlius was the most distinguished... This man, affecting the first place in the commonwealth, and not able by noble ways to outdo Camillus's reputation, took that ordinary course toward usurpation of absolute power, namely, to gain the multitude, those of them especially that were in debt; defending some by pleading their causes against their creditors, rescuing others by force, and not suffering the law to proceed against them; insomuch that in a short time he got great numbers of indigent people about him, whose tumults and uproars in the forum struck terror into the principal citizens." From Plutarch's Lives

Of course, seeing what is happening does not solve the problem. Perhaps this is a danger of prioritizing equality over justice and righteousness.

Personal Brain

I discovered this software earlier in February, but was unable to download the manual due to our aforementioned internet woes. After a nasty bout of the 'flu disrupted our entire household, I took another look at it last week. At present I'm in the early stages of investigating the free trial of a 'pro' version, but I am quite intrigued by the flexibility of this program - I certainly don't plan on forking out $250 for the 'pro' version, but this is much more than simple mind-mapping.

I poked around various 'brains' for ideas (the videos still don't really play) and have started out with a book on education that I am reading - notes, quote, tags, links all fit in and can be related in a variety of ways. For a new brain, I am already starting find to connections and ideas that I never imagined - which is a good sign demonstrating that my thoughts may not be as inert as they some time seem.

Internet - Am I an optimist?

Now, you may not believe me, but I really have tried to post in the last month. We have had major internet issues and it seems that mostly the internet is 'functioning' when I am busy, or the kids are in class. Last week one of Melanie's classes was finished before she managed to load the web page - she was able to get the audio channel on one network, and we were trying to load the web on the other network on a second computer. It worked on Monday but not on Wednesday. On Friday, Philip was struggling to get his text class to load so Melanie went to the office!

On Thursday (just before the internet moved from snail's pace to zero), I called the 'more user-friendly' of our ISPs and held the following conversation after I'd identified myself.

ISP: Your internet is slow, right?
Me: Yes.
ISP: I'm sorry, but by the end of this month you will have no further problems.
Me: (Heart sinks, thinking they are going to stop providing a service) You're upgrading?
ISP: We will have ALL our problems resolved and you will never have any more issues.

I don't know how many times we have been told "this will fix everything" on the subject of internet, electricity, water and appliances (our water heater still doesn't work), but I was encouraged. I just hope it's true!

It has finally rained! Too late for the maize crop to be much more than a remnant, but some of the rice may survive, and the peanuts and sweet potato should make it, if the rains continue. Food prices on staples are high, and I don't know how people are managing to survive if they didn't store enough food for their family and had to buy it. We are paying three times the usual price even for this time of year.

At least eight people were killed (mostly women) and twelve severely injured by beatings during witch-hunts in the suburbs and nearby districts, in an effort to find the culprit who was with-holding the rain. Those who recovered found that they had no homes to return as they were burned and their possessions looted - assuming that you would want to return to live in a community which thought you were responsible for its ills.