The launch of this book African Problems are Self-inflicted the fifth literary work in my collection provides, for me, yet another momentous occasion to reflect on the dire situation in our beloved continent, Africa. When the majority of us took the step, many years back, to venture overseas it was essentially to avoid the significant problems of the times exemplified by social malaise, unstable political climate and plummeting macro-economic fortunes among others. We hoped, optimistically, that things would soon take a turn for the better. Sadly, decades later, Africa seems to be heading further and faster into the abyss without any reprieve in sight.

I have chosen to talk on the topic of Leadership crises; Africa's Woe during this short introspective introduction.

Frequently, the debate has arisen as to the root cause of Africa's woes. Some afrocentric individuals have sought to attribute the continent's suffering to the twin ills of the slave trade and colonialism. Going further, those belonging to this school of thought reason that the rest of the world, particularly Europe, owes Africa an apology, for starters, along with the wholesale eradication of her foreign indebtedness- the deserved icing on the cake! Then, and only then, in their eyes will the impetus be provided for Africa to begin to assume her rightful place in the community of world nations.

Contrary to the above view however, I hold a divergent opinion. Africa's tragedy, to my mind, is not a product of the slave trade. Neither is there any credence in the lame duck colonialism thesis; nor are its problems located in the plague of disease and death besetting its people. To my mind, Africa's biggest trauma lies in the constant constrictions (economic and otherwise) placed on the dreams, hopes and ambitions that Africans have for themselves. The culprits in Africa's malaise are its rulers, the most bombastic of the species that history has ever thrown up. These miscast actors are adept, through their greed, at eroding the best of Africa's promise. It is at the doorsteps of Africa's rulers that the woes and misfortunes should rightly be consigned.

Undoubtedly, you are surprised that I have deliberately refrained from engaging the verb 'Leaders' in describing African rulers, heads of states, or presidents, as the case may be. Leadership, after all, means inspiring the people towards achieving corporate goals which serve the common good of the larger society. African rulers, over the years, if anything have abused the levers of power in order to abort the continent's dreams and bloody its people.

As I survey the continent, in order to dredge up signposts of remnant promise, I am struck again and again by its misbegotten history. Everywhere I look, there is devastation, death, destitution, and a creeping anarchy:

• Nigeria, blithely acclaimed by it's misrulers of being "a great nation" is leading the continent in corruption, graft, and wastage of oil resources.
• Somalia's warlords have shot their nation into oblivion.
• Sierra-Leone has become a mere shell of a nation, partly run until recently by a limb-hacking mad man called Fraday Sankoh and a collaborative military junta.
• Liberia until a few days ago was groaning under Charles Taylor's jaundiced notion of state craft.
• The two Congo's are in a turmoil of war that continues to escalate, defying solution.
• Like many African rulers before him Robert Mugabe has discovered that Zimbabwe is his personal playground, available to be wrecked as he wishes.
• Until providence took Jonas Savimbi away, he had staked out Angola as his own territory to rule or destroy.
• Rwanda is haunted still by the ghosts of 800,000 Tutsis murdered in cold blood, in one of the 20^th century's worst genocide.

Does it surprise anyone that, in most of Africa, political power has emerged as the only thriving industry? Worse still, those who hanker after power do so in order to rape the national promise and ravish the national treasury- the maniacal Sanni Abacha of Nigeria; and Mobutu Sesesekou of erstwhile Zaire providing ready reference points, in this instance. They bask in the paraphernalia of power; but have little or no concept of the transformative potentials associated with political power. They invest their energies in accumulating the accoutrements of powers, but mock the high responsibilities attending to the offices they occupy.

Men who wish to become power players in Africa learn ruthlessness, but never equip themselves with social vision. For them, it suffices to master the art of killing opponents, rigging elections, decapitating the future and undermining the promise of their nations. To these men, power matters but they have no historic past and no potential future only the present. For them history begins and ends today and it is essentially a bloody creature.

I hope that someone is listening.

African Problems are Self-inflicted is a glimpse of Africans day to day reality within the context of the foregoing. I hope that the material makes for interesting public reading.

Julius -I-Ebetaleye
Author

In this reverse-Columbus novel, Caribbean cannibals led by Chief Submuloc (Columbus spelled backward) discover Europe in 1500 AD. Thinking they've reached India, they call the natives Indians, but the latter prefer the term Native Europeans.

For 500 years, Indians agonize under Red despotism. In 2000 AD, Reds celebrate the Discovery's 500th anniversary. Indian pranks make chaos of the Reds' Grand Parade. Their mischief escalates into bloody revolution, like a fuse sizzling to a powder keg.

The book's cover illustrates a major battle on Paris' Champs Elysees. The revolution climaxes with the storming of the Bastille by thousands of poorly-armed Indians, galvanized into patriotic insanity as their sound truck belts out "La Marseillaise," the thrilling call to arms. ("The day of glory has arrived!")

Casualties are horrific as Red defenders on lofty parapets fire automatic weapons as the besieging masses of Indians below, who find the towering stone walls and great iron door impregnable. Casualties rise in heartsickening numbers.

In a desperae attempt, two Indians - Roland and friend Zito - scramble onto a mini-helicopter...

The Black Diamondback, is an offbeat western about a Black cowboy, Sammy, a runaway slave who heads for the freedom of the open west to begin a new life for himself... He discovers that he is not accepted by the whites and because he is mistreated he becomes embittered and finally turns to crime... He makes a name for himself as a fast draw with a gun... There is a grim irony to this tale, for Sam - renamed Diamondback - meets up with the son of his former master and challenges him to a draw... Sammy loses, and this ends a sordid, painful career of a man who could never find a place for himself in the white world... It is a fast-paced tale with believable characterization and a solid plot...

The Peaceful Endeavor is a prototype spaceship designed to transport people to another planet many light years away. On its maiden voyage, it travels back in time by some mysterious reason, instead of covering the light years distance it was intended to.

In 1984 terrorists planted a bomb in the Grand Hotel Brighton, England during the Conservative Party Conference. They failed to remove the government of the day -- but what if they had succeeded?

What if the event accelerated Europe into a Federated Union with a centralised government in Brussels, the Presidium, who hold the premise that security is paramount, sacrosanct?

What if they in turn birthed a regime originally meant to protect the people, but which quickly became a tyrannical organisation -- the Federal Security Division. A force that implements draconian measures in the name of the collective State, where special internment camps spring up for subversives and those who speak out against the Union; where oppression and cold-bloodied murder are rife.

In the summer of 1994, one man is embroiled in the political nightmare, yet at the same time he is faced with the possibility of redemption from a millstone of guilt about his past -- that is, of course, if he can survive.

B.J. Kibble's short stories have been published by Emporium Gazette in the March Issue: (http://www.EmporiumGazette.com)
and in StoryOne e-zine for showing issue June/July 2003 (http://www.storyone.org)

Eighteenth-century Europe was characterized by a highly structured social order where the concept of the 'gentleman' was paramount in polite society. It was also the 'Age of Reason' when the intellect was supposed to triumph over emotion. Improver Bayne is concerned with a particular episode in the life of an eighteenth-century landscape gardener, a learned scholar and gentleman, newly arrived in Britain from a voyage to the Indian Ocean. His return to his native Scotland coincides with the aftermath of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 and, to his disbelief, he shortly finds himself incarcerated and sentenced to death by hanging. His narrow escape heralds the onset of a journey through familiar and dangerous territory where strangers and friends may alternately help or hinder his progress in fulfilling a mission set by his deceased father. Several attempts are made on his life as he follows his destiny. Distractions in the form of an attempted highway robbery, the seductive charms of a beautiful aristocrat, and splendid ornamental gardens set within the noble Lowland landscape, contrive to delay his progress.

Bayne's destiny is contingent on recovering several religious artifacts with the capacity to exonerate or condemn him further. The connection of these holy relics with the royal houses of Britain and Europe and the history of the Roman Church sets the scene for a finale involving death, revelation and enlightenment.

Improver Bayne's message resonates through the centuries and prepares the reader for an alternative view of history likely to intrigue or offend many of the established orders of western society.

The book Before the Dawn, is about the settling of Balkans before recorded history, a possible scenario. Emperor Franz Joseph, of the Hapsburg Empire, said these people were impossible to rule; the answer may well be in the mixture of cultures that made up the area 10,000 years ago when anthropology statesEurope was being settled by the human race.

This is the story of these early settlers struggle for survival escaping the ravages of nature as the polar ice cap formed over Sweden and geological upheavals forced the population south. This is also the story taken from ancient writings of the east of a family escaping the annihilation of war. Either there was some truth in the Sanskrit writings, or the author wrote great science fiction.

Also I have taken elements from the blind Greek poet, Homer, and his poem on Atlantis. Archeology found the Minoan civilization on Crete due to his description, so there is likely truth in the other poem. Science states that we use only a fraction of the human brain capacity, that we have lost the use of the brains full capacity. In such case, our ancient ancestors must surely have had its function. There are, scattered over Europe, small clans that lay claim to those powers; they have no written language so no verification. This is the basis of the novel Before the Dawn

Randy Kaplan and Matt Miller, two college students, time travelers went back to 1910 in order to work on the great ocean liner, the Titanic. They both fell in love with Irish girls, but Randy married Sarah Carlisle, a daughter of one of the ship's designers.

On their was back to 2012 they brought the ship and all aboard forward to the future. However the time warp was not strong enough to hold the Titanic or her passengers, so Randy and Matt were left alone on the dock of New York. Andy was devastated! His beloved Sarah went back to 1912 with all the rest - to continue their fatal rendezvous with the iceberg.

Two weeks later Matt discovered that Randy used the old time machine and slipped back in time to be with his beloved. The time apparatus was Matt's invention and Randy wouldn't know how to make one in 1912-therefore Randy would never return!

Randy missed his date and arrived just in time to become involved in WWI aboard the Britannic, titanics's baby sister! He has a harrowing experience as time grins and puts him on a ship that is hit by torpedo and sinks. He meets a beautiful Filipino Nurse, while in the hospital in Malta and is misunderstood, because of a series of bad choices in the ensuing relationship. His trip back home to Belfast is awesome! Come ride with him!

This book is a sequel to Event 2012.

Looking forward toward Armageddon The very name of that far off valley stirs the discomfort and curiosity in us all. Will it occur and when? Will it really bring the final curtain down?

Adding to the confusion are armchair theologians, cliche artists, and voluntary teachers, who they themselves are without a clue but for the shared misconceptions of a generation.

Fear replaces knowledge and likewise. This story, although fictitious, will help fill that gap. Albeit this rendering is just one possible scenario of our future, I can tell you most assuredly that parts of the tale have been inspired.

Follow along with Paul Gilcrist a government consultant, on his journey as he discovers the significance of America's role in the upcoming events. Common sense and a modest understanding of the Middle East situation will avow to you the certainty of biblical prophetic times to come. Personal preparedness is the answer.

Fortunately, life's most important lessons are not gleaned from the annuls of formal education. But rather it's from life's experiences that we are led through as we hold onto the hand of a Master.

Mr. Gilcrist is a proxy for all of us as he experiences the rough road that hews into him a diamond cut. As he discovers the life he lives within, it is overshadowed by the world without.

This is not so much a journey to Armageddon as it is an opportunity to rediscover the true America.

It is this author's belief that the United States was discovered and created by holy providence. Inspired forefathers set in motion a Constitution with protected freedoms which are now under attack from within. Our true enemy is here and always has been. The day's battles are nothing new, only our perception is.

Walk with Paul Gilcrist as he fights the ultimate battle each of us will experience as we tour the front lines. It is the battle within us. Should we conquer self, Armageddon becomes just another name.

This book is written to calm the hearts of good people. It is a story for America.

Randy Kaplan and Matt Miller, two college students, time travelers went back to 1910 in order to work on the great ocean liner, the Titanic. They both fell in love with Irish girls, but Randy married Sarah Carlisle, a daughter of one of the ship's designers.

On their was back to 2012 they brought the ship and all aboard forward to the future. However the time warp was not strong enough to hold the Titanic or her passengers, so Randy and Matt were left alone on the dock of New York. Andy was devastated! His beloved Sarah went back to 1912 with all the rest - to continue their fatal rendezvous with the iceberg.

Two weeks later Matt discovered that Randy used the old time machine and slipped back in time to be with his beloved. The time apparatus was Matt's invention and Randy wouldn't know how to make one in 1912-therefore Randy would never return!

Randy missed his date and arrived just in time to become involved in WWI aboard the Britannic, titanics's baby sister! He has a harrowing experience as time grins and puts him on a ship that is hit by torpedo and sinks. He meets a beautiful Filipino Nurse, while in the hospital in Malta and is misunderstood, because of a series of bad choices in the ensuing relationship. His trip back home to Belfast is awesome! Come ride with him!

This book is a sequel to Event 2012.

Nathaniel Townsend, a colonial Army scout and undercover spy during the American Revolution, falls in love first with an Indian Princess and then a white settler. After the death of his parents by hostile Indians, he spends ten years living with an Algonquin subtribe on Long Island. Arandel, a pretty Indian Princess, also eight years old when introduced to him by her father, the famous Chief Tackapousha, teaches him the ways of the Indians. In a treacherous attack by the Narragansetts of Connecticut, Arandel is killed trying to save Nathaniel’s life. To try to reconcile her death he becomes a whaler and learns to build whaling canoes and then to harpoon whales off the coast of Long Island. Eventually he is able to adjust to Arandel’s death and then reunites with Jessie, the daughter of the owner of a successful ferry and fishing business. Because of his reputation as the “Golden Warrior,” a white man with blond hair who heroically defended Chief Tackapousha’s settlement against the attacking Narragansetts, he came to the attention of General George Washington, leader of the colonial Continental Army. Washington recruits him as a spy and undercover Army scout. In a plot to kill Washington, planned by the British in collaboration with a renegade subtribe, the life of the future first President of the United States will be in the hands of Nathaniel Townsend.

Nathaniel Townsend, a colonial Army scout and undercover spy during the American Revolution, falls in love first with an Indian Princess and then a white settler. After the death of his parents by hostile Indians, he spends ten years living with an Algonquin subtribe on Long Island. Arandel, a pretty Indian Princess, also eight years old when introduced to him by her father, the famous Chief Tackapousha, teaches him the ways of the Indians. In a treacherous attack by the Narragansetts of Connecticut, Arandel is killed trying to save Nathaniel’s life. To try to reconcile her death he becomes a whaler and learns to build whaling canoes and then to harpoon whales off the coast of Long Island. Eventually he is able to adjust to Arandel’s death and then reunites with Jessie, the daughter of the owner of a successful ferry and fishing business. Because of his reputation as the “Golden Warrior,” a white man with blond hair who heroically defended Chief Tackapousha’s settlement against the attacking Narragansetts, he came to the attention of General George Washington, leader of the colonial Continental Army. Washington recruits him as a spy and undercover Army scout. In a plot to kill Washington, planned by the British in collaboration with a renegade subtribe, the life of the future first President of the United States will be in the hands of Nathaniel Townsend.

Se pueden considerar estas narrativas de la frontera de México y los Estados Unidos como un reproductor de la separación que se ha dado entre ambos países a lo largo de doscientos años y se examina a través de la discriminación, el racismo, la violencia, la sexualidad, la fascinación mutua entre las dos razas, el rencor y el sufrimiento. Todas son historias realistas dando un fiel reflejo del mundo de las maquilas, el sórdido mundo de la prostitución, el drama diario que viven los emigrantes indocumentados tratando de cruzar la línea divisoria del sur al norte, en busca de una vida con mejores condiciones. Esa línea divisoria que crea un espacio mixto entre los dos países donde nos encontramos con una tercera cultura, un lugar mágico y misteriorso, la frontera norte.

In 2027, Alex Lohmann, a jazz hisorian, lecturer and occasional pianist is recruited to take part in a wide-ranging and strictly controlled government programme to directly research a fifteen month period commencing shortly after America is drawn into World War 2, this venture made possible by the discovery of a time-warp hole in a Pennsylvania town. While based in New York in 1942 he hears and records Buddy Henry, an ill-fated young trumpeter whose playing implies that if he had lived he would have been an infuential figure in the emerging jazz revolution, an important period in the music's development that had remained virtually undocumented at the time as the result of concurrent record ban imposed by the Musicians' Federation. Later, forced by a brush with the law to relinquish his New York posting, Lohmann is reassigned to Kansas City, Missouri, once a significant hive of jazz activity but now a relative musical backwater. During his reluctant time there he experiences an intertwined series of personal and musical encounters that lead to him overstepping a second behavioural boundaries set by the programme's controllers, one of them involving a second meeting with Henry during which his own musical foreknowledge influences the music's future, convincing him that the controllers' reading of the situation is wrong and that he has a role to play in what is happening. His attempts to verify this and to simultaneously ease a deep personal traumainvolve deception and tragedy, culminating in his desparate efforts to returne to a past that he now believes is an alternative one to that of his own catastrophically deteriorating world and leading to the dinal denouement, revealed only to the reader.

In 2027, Alex Lohmann, a jazz hisorian, lecturer and occasional pianist is recruited to take part in a wide-ranging and strictly controlled government programme to directly research a fifteen month period commencing shortly after America is drawn into World War 2, this venture made possible by the discovery of a time-warp hole in a Pennsylvania town. While based in New York in 1942 he hears and records Buddy Henry, an ill-fated young trumpeter whose playing implies that if he had lived he would have been an infuential figure in the emerging jazz revolution, an important period in the music's development that had remained virtually undocumented at the time as the result of concurrent record ban imposed by the Musicians' Federation. Later, forced by a brush with the law to relinquish his New York posting, Lohmann is reassigned to Kansas City, Missouri, once a significant hive of jazz activity but now a relative musical backwater. During his reluctant time there he experiences an intertwined series of personal and musical encounters that lead to him overstepping a second behavioural boundaries set by the programme's controllers, one of them involving a second meeting with Henry during which his own musical foreknowledge influences the music's future, convincing him that the controllers' reading of the situation is wrong and that he has a role to play in what is happening. His attempts to verify this and to simultaneously ease a deep personal traumainvolve deception and tragedy, culminating in his desparate efforts to returne to a past that he now believes is an alternative one to that of his own catastrophically deteriorating world and leading to the dinal denouement, revealed only to the reader.