Alexander K Opicho
(Eldoret, Kenya;aopicho@yahoo.com)
The Al shabab on 22 day of September 2013   attacked Kenya again. It has attacked and lynched siege on the Nairobi’s biggest mall known as the West Gate. This is one of the severest after other similar attack in 1998.The people who are averagely assumed to be killed are  one hundred.Al shabab is a regional east African arm of Arabo-islamic global terrorist group known as the Algaeda.But something notable about all the terrorist groups in the world, inclusive of Alshabab, is that they all have an Arabic, communist and Islamic bias with overt expression of anti-American movements.
The Lynching of the Mall in Nairobi has affected all the Kenyan communities. Asian and African, Europeans and Americans. However the survivors of the West Gate mall attack has narrated out that the attackers were discriminately asking for ones religion before they shoot. Thus Muslims were not shot but non Muslims were shot and then held hostage. The military sources on the site shared out that the terrorists were foreigners but they perfectly worked through their plan through co-operation of locals and citizens of a victim countries; Kenya and America.
Immediately after this terror attack in Nairobi, a group of social researchers in Kenya carried out an electronic survey on the social media to find out why the Alshabab has easily recruited the followers and why an African youth can easily accept recruitment in to the membership of terror groups like Boko haram, Al shabab, and Al gaeda.The responses gathered from diverse digital socialites  skews into one  modal direction which  shows that America alone with its ostentatious international relations  will not win the war on global terrorism.
The motivation for easy recruitment into membership of the terror groups was established by the social media survey as diverse factors but most august among them are ; extreme conditions of poverty among the youths in contrast to the rich and wealthy elderly echelons of the most African societies. Also, sharp contrast in the economic conditions between America and Africa where American societies wallow in extreme riches whereas the African societies contemporaneously are stark deep in idyllic poverty perpetually wallowing in the mire of need and economic challenges. Some respondents cited the crooked way through which the state of Israel was formed as well as the atrocious nature of American foreign policy towards the Arab world through which there was perpetration of killing of Muamar Al Gadaffi and regular Military bombardment of Arab countries like Syria and Afghanistan.
Also the current American presidency and the preceding one of George Bush provoke distasteful responses on the social media. Especially in relation to the Prison maintained at quatanamo bay which basically was established as a basic torture facility used by the American government to torture terrorist suscepects from North Africa, Arab emirates and Europe. But the prison at Quatanamo bay is composed of a large number of North African as detainees. A respondent on the social media quoted Pravda, the Russian Newspaper in English version which had a revelation about the Quatanamo prison. The Pravda projected number of North Africans in the Quatamo prison to be currently standing at one hundred and thirty seven. The Newsweek also concurs with this position by narrating in its july 2013 edition that, there are very many prisoners of North African descend in quatanamo prison who began a hunger strike sometimes ago but they are forcefully fed through a tube.

The facebooking ,tweetering and charting thematically show one modal position that American discriminatory foreign policy towards Israel and Persia, American extreme capital amid critical world poverty, poverty in Africa especially among the youth, presence of weapons of mass destruction in Israel to which America is oblivious or nonchalant  ,Russian technological casuistry and Chinese economic dominance combine into a blend of extensive anti-American feelings that  make the world youths not reliable when it comes to the moral duty of desisting from joining the terrorist groups. American hard politics and hard diplomacy will make America not to win war on global terrorism.

You're tweeting
Texting
Face Timing
Whatsapping
SMSing
Facebooking
Skyping
Yet you seem to disconnect yourself from the authenticity of the present
She, he, them, us- are all gone
Congratulations on your 'social media'
Because now the only thing you can really socialise with, is nothing
So think about the next time you decide to choose social media
Are you willing to risk it all in return for a like, comment or message on a screen?

We read “Captain Hook’s collection of psalms,
And other songs to sing along to.”
Nothing better to do off hand,
But revel in our own arrogance.
And, we notched holes in leather straps,
To expand at the waste.
Drive through diets replacing lessons-
Of keeping elbows off the table.
Of speaking only when spoken to.

Twenty-one years plus a little change.
And, daddy says-
Everything I taught you is replaceable.
And, daddy says-
Mistake is a just a word.
Hasn’t got it figured out either,
At least he admits it,
Choking down another cigarette,
Says: here’s to now.
And, don’t break your back if you don’t have to.

Technology affords avenues
Different rivers to float experience
Overalls and baseball caps
And the tree house that broke my tibia.
Talked through tin cans in this age,
Of golden innocence.
Now I’m Facebooking and twitting or twittering
Or… who the **** cares?
No one I care about.
Rivers given way to raw sewage.
And, even dogs eat their own ****.

This cat called my computer a ******* box-
If the shoe fits,
Clichés get the hits.
Search: Blonde **** *******-
5 million 38 hundred and 2 results.
Neon Bibles erupt in the sky.
Today I am a believer in the quarter pounder with cheese
Tomorrow in gasoline for 2.85
Midas made gold
Now he wants to change my oil.
They call that economics
Or advertising.
And, suddenly my sneakers aren’t good enough

Voice on the other end reassures-
My ideas are manic.
Paint a scene of terror.
Laying waste to iron giants-
Tearing down systems in place to restrict
Setting fire to everything-
Rack it up to fulfilling.
Rack it up to rebuilding.
Dismal haze, red glow to ash filled sky,
That makes mom clutch the good book-
Saying its time to go home.
How she knows her redeemer lives.
Clarity reigns supreme
And, daddy says-
Son, you’ve been watching too much TV.
And daddy says-
You catch more with honey by rule.

We as people should try our hardest to be our best. Our generation is fading... We are stuck on stupid. Not to be offensive , but yes, we are. We are surrounded by things that eat at our knowledge like vultures on a carcass. Tweeting, Facebooking, Myspacing, and IMing. I admit it, I am a victim of this social crime, but I am beginning to realize that  we are not using our brains like those before us had to. What happened to reading and writing?  Why do we think we can just do everything on our Iphones now?  I know we are now becoming a technological era, but do we really have to do EVERYTHING this way?



Ok. On to the next rant.



Why is it okay for everyone to speak like they have not had any home training? Excuse me, some haven't but, you could at least try to improve yourself. I don't think I'm better than anyone because I have a better vocabulary or even because I was raised to speak with correct grammar and enunciate my words. I do admit I don't speak "proper" all the time; I joke around, but that's the keyword: "joke"  I don't care about the idiots that say "Oh, she's 'trying to be white'  "  I am content with that, even though I'm not trying to be anything but myself. I am content with them saying that because at least I will have an opportunity to do something with my vocabulary and my way of speaking. Maybe some people should try it.



Hmm.. What else?



Oh! Boy don't let me forget about the "hood" life thing. Okay, "little gangster" , is your "mob" going to help you get a job?  Believe me, writing "crip gang" on your job application is NOT going to help you. Those people do not care what hood you are repping when you come in for an interview. They barely care about your name... Get with the program people!! Also, ladies, it is not cute to try to be in a gang or even trying to do "hood" things... LIVE OUTSIDE OF YOUR STEREOTYPE!  My black people... some of you, about 59%, are making those stereotypes stick.  I am sooo tired of seeing black people gang banging, fighting, killing each other, skipping class, smoking, drinking, getting pregnant, and etc.  Come on guys, we are a great nation of people.. We should improve, not get worse. We are already a minority. Our people DIED to get us where we are today. Take advantage of what we have.. Education, rights, freedom(somewhat), and opportunity. Don't blame the whites or Mexicans because you can't get off YOUR *** to do YOUR job. Please...

Love,
There is no other name
Some know it and some don't.

2.

The world is
On my plate, with forks.
But I need a good sleep first.

3.

Chocolate melts in my mouth
Slowly, or I can hasten.
So is ***.

4.

The yellow powdery sand
Covers the earth.
A live chicken in oven, with spices.

5.

Old Time, like fireflies
Flickers hope once and stops
So is our uninspiring life.

6.

My son's eyes
Are the new stars.
You say we spin in space.

7.

Night is like a pitcher
Of black thick energy drinks.
Day's catastrophe is right at the corner.

8.

Facebooking, tweeting
Downloading and tid-bits.
Nothing like sunny walks in the open field.

Often in the corner of our screens we look,
For love from others we seek.
Notifications come flooding in on Facebook,
After we post the usual critique or picture of our physique.

"You look so cute!" the girls want to hear us say
While the guys, "**** dude you were so wasted last night!" makes them feel accepted.
"So and so is going to this event. Why aren't you?" Facebook says; "Display!"
We fear if we don't, we'll not feel connected.

"I can quit whenever I want to."  we say.
Really? I'd like to see you try just one day.
"But my friends need to know what I'm doing and-"
No. Take your mind off the screen and instead lend a helping hand.

I fear the future;
What my offspring will be exposed to,
That instead of encouragement to have adventure,
They will be even more addicted, their faces to the screen ever more glued.

I grew up playing in the dirt out back,
Now, I am told that it's "friends" I lack.
With my brother I played,
We'd sit and drink lemonade.
Now at night I sit in a dark room,
Wearing an online costume.

I hope that instead I will be myself
And not have to prove myself
To the world that I am unique,
That instead I can make shine what was bleak.

I grew up with Legos. You could say, I was "addicted,"
But now by this computer I have been infected.
Yes Facebook can be a useful tool!
We can use it to get together and "act a fool"
With our friends and have a blast,
Or ask questions to our college class.

But if it takes us away from the outside,
If it takes us away from nature's sky,
Then I'd rather quit;
Then I'd rather benefit
From that which God made
And not to which we have become slaves.

That's my two cents on the matter.
I don't mean this to make a clatter.
I don't even want you to "Like"
Or comment on how our thoughts are alike.

Just read and go about your "Facebooking,"
And maybe as we, in life, keep looking,
We'll find the courage to quit overlooking
What we've spent hours on,
What we've sacrificed our short time upon,
That which will hopefully be forgone.

I heard once that life is but a window
That we as birds fly through.
That we are not in limbo,
But that our lives vanish in a time too few.

I've let Facebook take me away from that which is eternal,
I've let it take me away from writing in my journal
About what I've read in the Bible,
Or from how I've come to see how God is vital.

In "All Is For Your Glory" I sing,
"Catch me up in Your story
All my life, for Your Glory"
Yet I stare blankly at the blue and white
And so easily get distracted from "My Delight."

While snapchatting about my newest cat fail video
my Instagram bea blew up my twitter feed
I was all, “***! DM much…”
But she was already facebooking selfies.
I shot her a gif and invited her to follow me
On tumblr….
The whole time lamenting
Over my dead myspace account –

its four-thirty-a-m and i've thought up some thoughts,
with the inspiring aid of too many shots.
and on what should my facebooking-eye soon alight,
but the dismal reminder that tonight is tonight?

oh, it seems it's your birthday, even while you snore,
and rigidly, it's your birthday, even though i'm poor,
and it remains your birthday (though i wish it wer'n't),
as there's no worse day for a birthday than current.

your birthday falls on a least halcyon of days,
a day like all days and undeserving of praise.
the only thing that july ever did well
was birthing my darling (from the depths of hell).

[and making me a versified cheater/
by ******* around with my lyrical meter]

alack, alas, i'm poor as ****
so i'll hand you these stanzas and that is it,
borne of the gods and holy writ,
my gift to you: my sparkling wit.

[essentially, i just promised an empty box/
but whatevs. you can **** all my figurative---]

Waxing and waning
Faxing and feigning
        Flexing and texting
Tweeting is fleeting
        Facebooking onlooking
Hello Poetry Goodbye monotony!

I hate it
And I say that probably
About a lot of things
But
This is the truth
Yet I am attached
Always in my hand
Ringing
Dinging
Chiming
Noisy little thing that it is
Silence
Never silenced for a fear
Of missing a moment
It is cumbersome
Facebooking your life
Tweeting your seconds
Showing your life in still photos
Every email
Spam at three am from the store down the street
Work
Friends
Friends of friends
Acquaintances
Family
Friends of family
I know what they do from
My newsfeed
My dashboard
Twitter feed?
Instagram
Vines in short videos
Pintrest to know your interests
Check in to know where you are
Who you're with
I hear it all
I don't want to
I hate my phone
It gives me updates on everyone
Everyone except you
My phone can't connect me
To the person I need most

Lightning struck tonight
As I left my editors house
The night sky chirped and shone
Its inner most feelings
I tried to snap chat it
But technology failed.

I scrounged together a bowl of ****
Left a little for me and he tonight
We're gonna get grilled cheeses and ice cream
I glance through the peep holes of stained glass
The frame around Marilyn Monroe and pearl
Colored velveteen cupcakes and lost hope
And implementing structure and surreal behavior
As I fold laundry in my gypsy room.

So much has changed.

I'm gonna go back to the hair salon tomorrow
Because I meant for the streak in my hair to be silver.

I've done and seen just about
It all
Sometimes I just wanna cut it all off
In time.

And it makes me remember a flurry of things, emotions
I had the most vivid dream I've had about you
In such a long
It was demented, wrong at the core
You were silhouetted in a windowsill
Urging and purging me with wrongness
And I think about how when the day comes
That our faces and our bodies
Inhabit the same space
I'll wear a gas mask
As your fingers reach for thin air.

I don't know what anything looks like anymore.
My mother and father want me to wear a white man
Live in a little cottage down the street
Bare 3 children
boy. girl. boy.
Just one girl though
More than one is just too much
They would jest.
But, God, how I love them so
And I know I'm so lucky
But I don't listen much.

I wanna read more
Wanna write more
Wanna watch more
All activities that require sitting down
So hard to sit down
Don't sit down often enough
If only I could delete all the extraneous activities
Facebooking.
Waiting.
Walking.
Folding laundry.
Carrying things.
Going to the bathroom.
Showering.
Eating.
Sleeping.
*******.
Hurting.

I would take all those things and cast them into the sky
With a simple twist of my wrist
Just like colorful flames and fireworks
Every negative thought, moment of self denial
I'd watch them all like a colorful maze in the sky

Be something bigger and greater than myself
And all would be so well.

You know it was a fairly odd day
(As far as family Facebooking goes)
Not when there's news about  what a demagogue will say
But when you become known as the family ******

all the twitter and the group chats and the facebooking
the constant talking, the snapchat stories, the little reminders
tumblr feeds, news stations, netflix recommendations
they're just mindless noise, fillers, to distract us
from our chronic loneliness, our effervescent sadness
we can't bear to be alone so we ****** ourselves into rooms
of people talking loudly and too much, we ignore
the sad voices within us because maybe if the sounds
get loud enough, they'll drown out whatever it is
that's saying "you're alone, you're not worthy of love"
and most of the time it works. It leaves us numb
so much noise, in fact, that we can't hear much anything else
we lose sight of ourselves. I don't know who the ****
I am without all of that. I don't know who I am in the silence.
Please, don't leave me behind. I've gotten lost. A week
without twitter is like three years without rain for some of us
and we don't know how to survive the drought-
we don't know what it is we're running from, we're
just running, running's a thing we've always done, and
we're scared. Please, don't leave me behind. I'm scared too.
I'm scared of the dark and of isolation, I'm like a little kid
who needs her phone like her mother's hand
because I never learned to live on my own.
Life's a big ******* grocery store and some of us
sit down in the candy aisle, some of us cry,
some of us ask the people in charge to call our mother,
some of us latch onto someone's, anyone's leg.
Don't let me go. Please, don't leave me behind.
I don't know where I am. I don't know how to get home.

It seems that everyone is looking
At Twitter posts and then Facebooking
talking in cyberfrenetic deals
broadbanding in those airborne reels,

and speaking face to face
seems so passé
so out of place.

Cyberspace just goes on and on
like some Universal page .com