Does he need help with bail? I'll await the email. Sent from my iPhone
> On Aug 2, 2016, at 8:47 AM, Curley McLain via Mercedes > <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > No parrot, but he had a hat/headress and a colorful cloth/sash over his > shoulder. > >> Floyd Thursby via Mercedes <mailto:mercedes@okiebenz.com> >> August 2, 2016 at 8:40 AM >> Did he have a parrot on his shoulder? He cannot be King of Mandebvu without >> a parrot on his shoulder. >> >> --FT >> >> >> >> >> Curley McLain <mailto:126die...@gmail.com> >> August 1, 2016 at 9:34 PM >> That is a great Story! It bears preserving for posterity! >> >> When I was on grad school, one of my friends was from CA, and another from >> Zimbabwe. At a conference in LA, We decided to rent a car and have Jim, >> the CA boy drive us around. So we went to Venice beach and some other >> places, then went to the fufu mall (i forget the name) in the >> Hollywood/rodeo drive area. Since the guy from Zimbabwe always walked like >> he was a king, and spoke the Queen's english like a Windsor, (and he was >> maybe 45+) we designated him to be, for the mall purposes, King Onward of >> Mandebvu. We became his entourage. The schtick was that he would look >> regal and say little or nothing, other than to order us around, or to >> critique the merchandise, which we'd have to "interpret" for the clerk. So >> we'd walk into one of these fufu mall stores and the King would look all >> snooty. Jim or I would explain to the clerks that this was King Onward and >> they should bow or curtsey. It was quite entertaining. In fact it was >> the best entertainment of ANY trip I have been o n. >> >> After we left the mall we laughed so hard we could not stand. The "king" >> was about as low key as your guy, a professional University Professor from >> before Zimbabwe melted down. >> >> >> Floyd Thursby via Mercedes <mailto:mercedes@okiebenz.com> >> August 1, 2016 at 7:25 PM >> Some years back the company I worked for, for reasons never particularly >> clear, decided that we needed to do some business in Africa. I think it had >> something to do with the fact that the president/founder of the company, who >> was Indian by way of London, got wrangled into some trade delegation the >> state had organized to go to Africa for "business development." There >> weren't a lot of black company owners so they figured this guy would do. >> Anyway, at some point we ended up hiring this Malian guy, who was a really >> nice guy, to be our consultant in trying to get bidness going somewhere in >> Africa. I thought this a complete waste of time and money, and it ended up >> being so, but no one listened to me so off we went. Since our guy spoke >> French we concentrated on Cote d'Ivoire and Gabon, I think we ended up with >> maybe $25k in bidness after spending at least that much on travel and >> bribes, er, "consulting fees," and whatever. I never went there but my boss >> did, and loved it. >> >> This Malian guy had been living in the US for some time, and pretty much >> hated Africa, any part of Africa, because of the corruption, violence, >> poverty, kleptocrats, etc. He was very politic in his expressions of his >> opinion, but he hated Africa in general, and Nigeria in particular. One day >> over lunch he told me this story of the last time he had gone there, he had >> flown there from Bamako (his family home) after a visit. Some relative of >> his was a big shot general in the Malian military, which was probably like >> being the sergeant in charge of the motor pool in some medium-sized American >> community, but whatever, this guy was connected. So our guy bums a >> general's uniform from him to go to Nigeria, with all the medals and stars >> and gold stuff, and shoulder brushes, the big hat and all that stuff. He >> got some other guy to come with him, probably some other cousin or >> something, dressed in a regular soldier's uniform, to be his gofer and bag >> carrier, kinda completing the whole im age. No parrot on his shoulder though. >> >> He gets to the airport there, and rather than the usual shakedown given to >> other Africans, he starts yelling at the customs guys, the guards, the >> airport staff, etc. in French as soon as he gets off the plane, waving his >> stick around, berating his gofer, walking along like he owns the place, the >> whole package. He said it was great, no one gave him any trouble, no >> shakedowns, no "fees" and such, he got right through. He had his client >> organize a big limo for him to go from the airport to the hotel, to look >> like a big shot too, and changed clothes in the car so he wouldn't draw any >> more attention once he cleared the airport. This was all pretty funny as >> this guy was about as quiet and professional as someone could be, but in the >> act he was a tyrant. He said it was a lot of fun. >> >> He heard later from his big shot rel that the Nigerian military were all >> bent that they didn't know this distinguished visitor was coming, and had >> been calling the Malian military to find out who the hell he was, what he >> was doing there, and why he never surfaced. They all thought the whole deal >> was pretty funny as they hated the Nigerians too. >> >> --FT >> >> >> >> >> G Mann via Mercedes <mailto:mercedes@okiebenz.com> >> August 1, 2016 at 6:28 PM >> Compared to Nigeria and Africa in general... USA politicians are rank >> amateurs. >> >> When I was in Nigeria last [3 yrs ago] the price for having someone killed >> with a machete was $20.00 cash... if you wanted them shot, you had to buy >> the gun and the killer got to keep it, so cost was higher... maybe >> $150.00. Or, at your option, you could have the "offending party" captured >> and sold into slavery, never to be seen again. The slaver takes a double >> fee, one from you, one when the "slave" is sold. >> >> Anyone in office had their hand out, or an assistant pushing a wheelbarrow >> to carry the bribe demanded. with armed guards. >> >> We are so civilized we can't imagine such things happening. >> >> Mercedes are however very popular with elected officials there, armored >> versions in particular. >> >> >> >> On Mon, Aug 1, 2016 at 3:00 PM, Mountain Man via Mercedes < >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >> >> Mountain Man via Mercedes <mailto:mercedes@okiebenz.com> >> August 1, 2016 at 5:00 PM >> >> Oh. >> So... they are the people running our election process fiasco? >> mao >> >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
