I.U. beats Purdue

I had drinks and a chili dinner at the Betz home tonight, then watched the Ohio State v. Mich. game there. After the game I went home and pulled the I.U. game up on the in ternet on bigten.com. One hell of a game as it just ended with the final being 27 to 24. I suppose that Purdue cannot be feeling too unkindly about losing one game in the last six years but you never know....See you all tom...

SDI and Me

Society for Democratic Initiatives

These are the members of SDI in Sierra Leone, and they are emblamatic of those NGO's scattered around the globe, with many in Afica quietly enriching the lives of those that are marginalized by society here and elsewhere. Pictured are Joanne Cotton, from Belfast, Patrick Ambrose, from Australia, and the third is a young Leonian journalist working with them.

Because of them I was able to hit a home run there. Patrick has prepared a solid brief to be utilized in a new court case we will file in S.L. challenging the criminal libel and sedition statue of 1965 (which is clearly unconstitional when contrasted against the S.L. Constitution). If I can do nothing more than cause the removal of this noxious law, I will have acquitted myself well.

I met with the Minister of Information who is part of the new government. He informed Joanne and me that we should file the suit, and he would follow up with the new President to see if they might void the law and make the suit moot. Kwame' feels as I do that we must file ASAP to take advantage of all this.

At night they took me to dinner at Mamba Point which allowed me to have a steak and meet other NGO's. One such was a fellow named Stephen Rapp, the former U.S. Attorney appointed by Bill Clinton for Iowa. He is the U.N appointee to assust in the prosecution of Charles Taylor, the most despicable and repressive leader of one of the African countries who was involved in the killings of many Leonians during the 10 year war ending in 2001. He ans Saddam make a good pair. But no one is spending one and one-half trillion dollars on the eliminating him.

Anyway, he informed me that he was an early intern for Sen. Birch Bayh, and of course I informed him that I was the youngest delegate to the Democratic state convention that nominated him to run in 1962 against Sen. Homer Capehart. I intend to stay in touch with him re his work. All of this was many moons ago...

Hovercraft Crash at Sea

Ferry

This is the ferry that I took from the airport to Freetown. Although it was to leave at 5:30, the Captain held it until 8:30 while he jammed the boat full to the brim. Not one more car or person could be squeezed on. I finally arrived at the hotel at 11 pm, had a quick dinner and awaited the next day.

The Chinese government owns this hotel and many Chinese reside there as guests. It is the Bintumanti, reconstructed after the terrible 10 year war with the rebels ended in something like 2001. It appears that Sierra Leone is a peaceful country today.

The ferry is the slow way to go, but the helicopters were pulled to transport dignateries to the new President's inauguration which occurred on Thurs(a national holiday was given for third event). And, the hovercraft which was the other speedy way to go, crashed at sea the day before with the consequential fire causing all on board to swim to the nearest fishing vessel...and so it goes.

Article of Interest

Ellen here posting in Dan's absence. An article featuring Dan was forwarded to me (from Linda Stevens via Kathy Stadler), and I thought I would post the link here: Journalist to Spurn Attack On Personalities.

At the Betz Home

Here I am at the Betz home having an exquisite cornish game hen with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans with good wine and then port after dinner. Ladies and gentlemen this was simply said, one great meal. I was fortunate enough to have an entire bird to myself. The company was engaging as we talked politics and so much more. They leave for Cairo on Nov 26 and so their venture in Ghana is soon to end.

Tomorrow I head for Sierra Leone and will be away from the internet until Friday. I intend to take pics in Freetown and the hillside hotel where I am staying, so look for more pics later. Until Fri...goodnight.

P.S. You must read the comments to my blogs as they inspire me over here. The latest comments come from our relatives from North Dakota and Minn. I still crave for a golden fried walleye but tonight the cornish game hen is king. Too bad about the Colts, but they are a real solid team and will do well I am sure. A little adversity does not hurt any of us.

Happy Vets Day!

I have been invited over to the Betz's again tonight for a dinner of cornish game hen. As a Dr. at the embassy he can purchase these at the commisary. So I am bringing a bottle of Beefeaters and they have the tonic and limes.

Tomorrow I leave for Sierra Leone and will be gone through Thurs. eve. In the meantime I have again redrafted my litgn plan and will get it typed and emailed from my office. Everything going swimmingly. I am now on the downhill slide and getting a lot done in the time that is left. I will send one more pic of the local soccer team.

More Soccer

The Coach's last name is Slowe from England.

Soccer Day

Two pictures of my journey over to see a local soccer team. The coach in the picture is Alistair Betz (from England) and the boy in the picture is named Bannabas. He is a 12 year old star. He is by far the best for his age over here, and Alistair's family is trying to get him a visa to the U.K.

The playing field is all dirt, but the enthusiasm is there, as these kids play there hearts out. Quiet day as I prepare for my trip to Sierra Leone.