Decembers are Terribly Blog-Averse

Telll me about it. Last year was the same: http://ekbensah.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_ekbensah_archive.html

 

Very little posting.

 

I am hoping you are going to forgive me, because I suspect you might quite understand why there has been little posting, yet a lot of reflection on a lot of things. Suffice-to-say, I might attempt at a summary, albeit horribly not-to-the-point.

 

Why I befriend beautiful women

I promised to write something about this in the previous entry’s comments section. (Jennelly bean, welcome!)

 

Well, call me a bit of a sadist, but thing is a penchant I developed from college days was to befriend beautiful women, and short of lusting after them, transform whatever lust I might have into building a constructive relationship. It’s as simple as that. I am no different than when I started college a decade ago. Most of my very good friends are attractive or pretty women. Not that women with a more “vanilla” physiognomy don’t get a look-in, but that’s just the ay it’s been for me. Small wonder, Juliet (http://ekbensah.blogspot.com/2006/04/my-best-friend-juliet-afte_114589863596836184.html ), mentioned earlier, apart from being a very dynamic and assertive personality—and a good friend—is a looker. My late friend, Nana Amma, who passed away in May (http://ekbensah.blogspot.com/2006/05/in-memoriam-oct-1972-1-may-2006.html) was, too. And the list goes on…

 

I wondered whether there was a utility at all in divulging what some might call a flawed character trait, but, hey, sue me right now…

 

Truth be told, the motivation is also a way of controlling the platitudinous lust so-often associated with men into positive energy. I find, in the ong run, that women make the best friends as platonic friendships, even when the guy might secretly hope one crosses the bar. Conversely, I suspect women are stronger and consider platonic relationships with guys as quintessentially platonic. Guys need to learn that from them, I feel!

 

Nato

There I was sitting an thinking about the big things in life (!!) when it struck me that Nato had been in the news lately, and the news on it had not been altogether positive. If you ask me, Nato sucks. I lost interest in that Cold War supreme organization the very day it over-rode the UN Charter to attack Kosovo in 1999, ostensibly to save the Albanians. That the attack was in the same year as the fiftieth anniversary of the organization was so obvious it wasn’t even funny. So obvious, because it was like Nato was legitimating, re-establishing its raison d’etre.

 

Between reports that then-Nato spokesman Jamie Shea (http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/12.07/09-NATO.html) is advocating the need for a Europe and NATO to work together, and the news in Xinhua that the Finns don’t see any need in joining Nato (http://english.people.com.cn/200612/06/eng20061206_329252.html), I see that the tectonic psychological shifts of policy makers who view a militaristic world predicated on a US and Nato is not going to wash forever.

 

Nato trying to intervene in Darfur, for me, is absurd: yet another organization trying to stretch the its credulity rubber-tight and coming back with serious egg-on-face.

 

I should know; I’ve had many egg-on-face situations in my life before;-)

 

Seriously speaking, I’m not interested in Nato, only in seeing it becomes much like the United Nations on Conference and Trade and Development (UNCTAD: http://www.unctad.org ) has become: a bureaucracy with insignificant power. Nato , as far as I’m concerned, should die a slow death.

 

If you thought about it, though, that well-secured building not too far from the airport in Evere, where Nato is located, (http://www.nc3a.nato.int/organization/route/brussels.html) if it ever went irrelevant totally, would creat serious human resource challenges, whereby there would be many NATO-employee wannabees, having studied military, security studies, and how to be a bully – couched in pedagogical language so subtle you wouldn’t even feel it—walking around needing to find something to do with their knowledge, and therefore turning into consultants…

 

Oh the joy. Now, given the degree of credibility consultants of that ilk enjoy, it wouldn’t be long before they themselves totally emasculated the organization.

 

Does it show I dislike Nato?

 

The way forward

Next week, I’ll be shuttling between a four-day strategy meeting organized by my organization on key battles to be fought in 2007 on civil society front (World Trade organization, etc) , in the capital, the office where my colleagues and I have to present some action plans and reviews of our programme work for the year; as well as our institutional retreat the week after. Little time to prepare for X-mas! AAAAArgh. Bought some card this afternoon, but the presents are now the headaches. Will be in a hotel almost the whole of next week, save Friday. And on Sunday, we’re off again outside the capital.

 

As I write, I have some reports to complete, including a 1500-word analysis of some of the key contestations of an aspect of our work to write.

 

Oh joy.

 

Till the next time I writeJ

Laters,

Have a good w/end, all!

 

PS pictures will be coming your way, so do be prepared!