(CFD.net.au – Contract for Difference, Share, Forex, ETFs, Commodities Traders) –

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) launched civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against former chairman Brian Healey, former chief executive Andrew Scott, former chief financial officer Romano Nenna, and five current or former non-executive directors.

ASIC alleges they failed to exercise due care and diligence in approving the financial reports for Centro Properties Ltd, Centro Property Trust and Centro Retail Trust for the year ended June 30, 2007.

ASIC will ask the court to fine them and impose penalties.

The allegations surround alleged material misstatements for about $2.1 billion in interest-bearing liabilities wrongly classified as non-current liabilities rather than current liabilities.

The 2007 balance sheets of Centro Properties and Centro Property Trust did not correctly classify $1.514 billion of interest-bearing liabilities as current in addition to the $1.096 billion already classified as current, ASIC said in a statement.

Centro Retail Trust’s 2007 balance sheet did not correctly classify $598.3 million of interest-bearing liabilities as current, ASIC added.

ASIC also contends that these directors and the officer knew that the entities had very significant short term interest bearing liabilities, and should have known that these liabilities were incorrectly classified in the 2007 financial reports.

This is the first case brought where a written declaration by a listed entity’s chief executive and chief financial officer to directors over the financial accounts‘ compliance with accounting standards will be an issue before the court, ASIC said.

Centro Properties Group posted a $3.5 million annual net loss to June 30, 2009, while Centro Retail Group reported a $2.67 million annual net loss for the same period.

Source: ASIC takes Centro to court over accounts | Business Breaking News | News.com.au

I have been recently to a vessel built in 2009 in China so brand new cargo vessel, nice isn’t.

And now I’ll tell you something…Nowadays everything is built in China. All the famous makers in the world or better said most of them are going to China. Guess why…because is cheaper of course. In China a deck crane is 3 or maybe 4 times cheaper than in other parts of the world. Good business I believe but of course for such o good deal you get bad quality. The owners are not aware of that it seems, because they have such big expectations after delivery.

In my case, one of the cranes from the“brand new vessel” after several hours of operation one of the wire sheaves broke. And on the same crane also we found the hook block broke more exactly the bearing and spacer for wire sheave damaged. This is not all, on other crane the bearing grease retainer for hoisting wire sheave found out of position and other small problems that do not worth to be mentioned.

I don’t know about other equipments but the cranes are not so bad.

Anyway after one year you can have a better  idea about your vessel and you realize how good your vessel is or not.

Good luck and go China

It’s unfortunate that i’m writing my first “real” post in light of a friends death.  Recently a good friend of mine took his own life, he shot himself the week before thanksgiving. The first thoughts that come to mind are how could i have changed that? Or what could i have done?

Another thought though that popped into my head is, where am i in my own life? Where does Jesus fit in, if at all? It made me really take a good hard look as my life as one who loves Jesus.

What i realized was that  even though i love Jesus and profess to be a christian i wasn’t really living for him, reading my bible and praying to get closer to him. Even as i write this i’m convicted that i need to take time to get into the bible more often. Even the thought that were supposed to share our faith, our Jesus with people hit me hard to. Ironically the only people i talked to Jesus about were my christian friends and family.

Which is dead wrong we should be reading our bible, reading books by people who love Jesus and have a better understanding and knowledge then you so you can learn from them. We should be in constant daily prayer with Jesus, in community with christian family and friends but also talking about Jesus and living for Jesus in a way that is not preachy or over bearing but a life that makes non christians asking whats different with you, why don’t you party? Why don’t you have sex before your married? It’s better to work with those created openings that Jesus gives you then try and create your own by preaching at people.

Even though i lost a good friend Jesus can still take a terrible situation and work it for his good, his master plan. Jesus is ultimately the answer the one we should be running to and living our lives for and by.

My hope in this blog is to bring Jesus to the front of our minds and our hearts so we can realize where he belongs. If you feel or have felt the same way, if you have comments, questions, good, the bad, the ugly post a comment i’d love to talk to anyone further.

Micah 4:2(NIV)

Many nations will come and say,

“come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”

San Yun was founded in 1972 to be a professional bearing manufacturer in Taiwan. It designs and manufactures roller bearing, needle bearing, ball bearing and rollers. It cooperated with the largest bearing distributor in the United States to develop a complete line of needle bearing for inch sizes that made a significant breakthrough in the industry, and brought the engineering skills to the unrivaled level.

In order to pursue the cost down, quality improvement, and mass production, the company started to lead in the QCC. With the self-motivated and brain storming among our workers and utilize all sort of quality control methods, statistics skills continuously on problems solving to improve the quality and raise the working efficiency. San Yun is your most reliable bearing manufacturer in Taiwan.

Tahu bearing atau laher, kan? Yup, itu onderdil yang terbuat dari baja bulat berisi pelor. Beberapa tempat di sepeda motor, memerlukan part tersebut untuk mendukung kinerjanya. “Di antaranya adalah bagian roda, komstir, noken as dan kruk as,” Teguh Sarwono, mekanik bengkel Standar Motor (SM) di Jl. Jagakarsa, Jaksel

Seperti halnya komponen lain, umur pakai juga membatasi kinerja dari bearing. Nah bila memang hal tersebut terjadi, cara deteksinya bagaimana ya? Tak usah khawatir, jawabannya bisa disimak pada ulasan berikut.
Roda

Pernah merasakan efek goyang dombret saat naik motor? Hal itu disebabkan beberapa faktor dan salah satu pemicunya, akibat bearing roda yang fungsinya tak normal lagi. “Paling utama penyebabnya umur pakai,” kata Teguh Sarwono, mekanik bengkel SM di Jl. Jagakarsa, Jaksel.

Kalau memang sudah dirasakan, segera ganti bearing itu. Harganya Rp 5-30 ribu. “Jangan dibiarkan saja, soalnya bisa bikin rumah bearing di teromol ikutan rusak. Kalau sudah begini, tak hanya bearing yang mesti diganti, teromol juga kudu ganti baru,” kata pria murah senyum ini.

Komstir

Timbul bunyi gledek…gledek, terutama saat ngerem depan, jadi pertanda paling umum buat urusan laher komstir yang bentuknya pelor berjajar sudah aus. Pelumasan kurang dan umur pakai merupakan penyebab dari kerusakan tersebut.

Jangan anggap enteng bila penyakit itu sudah menghinggapi besutan Anda. Salah-salah malah mangkuk yang jadi rumah pelornya ikut bermasalah. “Lagian harga pelornya tidak terlalu mahal kok. Baik yang satuan atau satu set, kisaran harganya Rp 15-30 ribu,” tutur Teguh.

Oh ya biar pemakaiannya lebih awet, beri cukup grease pada rumah pelor di komstir

Kruk as

Buat memperlancar perputaran kruk as dalam mesin. Meski adanya di dalam, ternyata pelumasan yang kurang bagus jadi penyebab keausan bearing tersebut. Biasanya kerusakan tersebut ditandai lewat getaran berlebih pada mesin.

“Akibatnya, perputaran kruk as jadi tidak balans. Secara berkala akan jadi pemicu baret di piston bahkan juga dinding liner,” ungkap Teguh.

Dengan posisinya di dalam mesin, maka untuk ganti laher yang kisaran harganya Rp 25-60 ribu ini mesti belah mesin. Jadi selain beli part, jangan lupa siapkan dana untuk jasa belah mesin. •

Noken as

Sebagai pemicu buka tutup klep. Karena sistem kerjanya berputar, maka kedua sisi noken as diberi bearing. Seperti laher lain, fungsinya akan berkurang karena umur dan kurang pelumasan.

“Akibat bila bearing noken as sudah aus adalah motor jadi susah langsam. Itu karena perputaran camshaft tidak normal lagi. Selain itu suara mesin yang kasar dari mulai mesin dinyalakan, juga bisa jadi penanda laher noken as bermasalah,” jelas pria berkulit sawo matang ini.

Bila memang hal itu terjadi, tak perlu risau. Tinggal siapkan dana Rp 15-40 ribu buat beli laher saja, belum termasuk ongkos kerja mekanik

Sumber : Otomotifnet.com

Yeah Racing Aluminum upgrade hop ups part for M05 is now available @ yeahracing.com. More optional hop ups parts will be launched soon, please update the latest news @ RC Media or yeahracing.com

Yeah Racing (M05-042BU) Aluminum Ball Bearing Steering Set (BU) For M05

Description:
# These are the Yeah Racing Aluminum Ball Bearing Steering Set (BU) For M05.
# Great upgrade for the standard plastic parts or to replace broken parts
# Less flexing than standard parts
# Made of high quality aluminum
# Long lasting & durable
# Make your car looks stunning
# Easy to fit, straight forward replacement

Feature:
# For: Tamiya M05
# Material: Aluminum
# Color: Blue

Include:
# Aluminum Ball Bearing Steering Set (1 Set)
——————————————————————
Yeah Racing (M05-098BU) Aluminum Light Weight Gear Shaft Set (BU) For M05
Description:
# These are the Yeah Racing Aluminum Light Weight Gear Shaft Set (BU) For M05.
# Great upgrade for the standard plastic parts or to replace broken parts
# Features super light weight
# Made of high quality aluminum
# Long lasting & durable
# Anodized in Blue colour and make your car looks stunning
# Easy to fit, straight forward replacement

Feature:
# For: Tamiya M05
# Material: Aluminum
# Color: Blue

Include:
# Aluminum Light Weight Gear Shaft (2 pcs)

Source: yeahracing

Its as easy as 1 2 3 when you have all the tools ready!

1) Take of the wheel!

Then Take off the cap, underneath it is the giant 30mm nut that we want to unscrew...

Screwing in the two 8mmx1.25mm screw to "push" the drum cover out

Heres the rear bearing hub

Yay, this is the new one!

With the use of the giant 30mm Socket, we took off the nut and here is the bare drum brake

Fitting the new bearing hub! Undo all the steps and have fun!

Tools needed

1) Flat Screwdriver
2) 30mm  socket
3) Two 8mm x 1.25mm screws ( for pushing the drum brake out) Click here on how to read a Screw Thread
4) Some anti-rust lubricant, WD-40 makes a good choice in here
5) And of course, a new pair of rear bearing assembly, Honda Parts # 42200-SEL-T01

Love helping and learning to DIY stuff, always got something new learn!
Even though it might end up not be as “money saving” as you might thought, but you got all the fun to yourself!

Yesterday, over at SQL Server Central, I blogged about presenting a professional bearing when dealing with a difficult situation. I named it the “Just smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave,” from the Penguins of Madagascar. In that blog post I wrote that it was an area that I really want to work on. There’s no excuse for me to have anything but a professional demeanor, regardless of the situation in front of me. I’m a firm believer that although we can’t always control our circumstances, we can control our reactions to them.

Today tested this belief. Today was a very stressful day. My four year-old daughter (hereafter referred to as Princess) had a dental procedure that was scheduled for this morning. The circumstances required that she be put under general anesthesia. There’s always a risk when you do that. The first situation that tested the “Just smile and wave boys…” philosophy happened with the anesthesiologist. Princess’ procedure was to start at 10:50 AM. That’s hard on a four year-old, especially one who has other medical issues that means she’s at the 2-3% scale for height/weight. On Tuesday, we were told that she could green on yellow jello up to two hours before the procedure. That meant she had to have it be 8:50 AM and we accomplished that, with her finished off her “special breakfast” by 8:30 AM. However, when the anesthesiologist came in, she asked about what she had eaten and what she had drank in the preceding 24 hours. And as you might guess, she balked when we said “jello.” As in, “We might not do this procedure today” balking. The problem with that line of thinking is that since this was a dental procedure that required an OR because of the general anesthesia, there were limited slots available. As in, this was the only one left for the rest of 2009. And that’s why I wasn’t at devLink, even though I had originally been scheduled to speak there.  I could feel myself getting upset, but then Skipper’s words rang in my head and I forced myself to calm down. The anesthesiologist came back a short time later and confirmed that we could go ahead with the procedure. Crisis avoided.

The second time came around 7 PM when Princess was waking up (they were finally able to get to her shortly after 1 PM, but even then, you’re talking a 6 hour procedure). They called the waiting area and told my wife to come down immediately, but only her. There was no further guidance. Needless to say, we were both worried, because you never like sudden, “Get down here now,” types of commands when your little daughter is in the OR. So I was left in the waiting room trying to bring my emotions under control. Again, “smile and wave” was what ran through my mind. I forced myself to calm down once again, waiting until I got more information. As it turned out, Princess woke up and immediately began demanding her mother in a way only a four year-old little girl can. The type of demand that even kings and emperors listen to and fall in line with. When they had gotten Princess moved into a recovery room with the help of my wife, then they came and got me, too. Shortly thereafter, Princess was discharged from the hospital.

So today was a huge test of whether or not I could put my words into practice. I was able to do so, but then again, the words were fresh in my mind since I had just written the post yesterday. The test will be as the days and weeks go by and I look back at how I handled my reactions to difficult situations.

The sin of the Garden of Eden is the same sin at the end time.  

Why do people call Las Vegas “Sin City”?

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…

What is the “forbidden fruit”?

Deep down inside, we all know what it is, don’t we?

The ads of harlots speak the same message: “Taste the forbidden fruit!”

Don’t you see Satan’s blatant mockery of unsuspecting man of the origin of sin or unbelief? Isn’t the way of the harlot the way to death and the way of wisdom showing the pathway to life?

Have you ever considered why carnal and sexual music, movies, pictures, and speech are so prevalent in our society today? We are here to let you know that Rock n Roll leads the way in this infiltration of such filth into the heart, minds, and soul of people who are in and of the world.  

Think, what is the fruit? The fruit of the womb is children, isn’t it? Genesis and Revelations are filled with symbols taking spiritual eyes of understanding to truly perceive what is being stated. We cannot read the Word of God like a newspaper or a dictionary, but rather, seek the inspiration behind the letter and read between the lines to know what is being stated.

Even in the Book of the Song of Solomon, King Solomon refers to “my sister, my spouse” as “my garden”. She says that she delights in him, describing him as the apple tree of the field, and he describes the “pleasant fruits,” “chief spices”, and sweet “fragrance” of her like a lily flower and a garden to satisfy his desire. Call this poetic license, but, the Word of God is explicit about the love relationship between King Solomon and the Shulamite, both called “love” and “dove”. After reading the entire book of this special song, go ahead and tell me that the King was not describing the love relationship between a husband (man) and a wife (woman)!

Any other bedroom experience besides a husband and wife in marriage is perverted because he them, male and female, make the image of God according to the Word of God. The first government was upon the shoulders of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. If this image is broken, it would not be without negative consequences. Keep in mind, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is about Christ (male / The Word of God) and His Bride (female / the virgin Church). Is it any wonder that Satan attacks the image of God so greatly, trying to minimize its influence and precedence upon the earth as an institution to keep, cherish, and remain forever holy, even according to the Lord’s  covenant, the bond of Christ and his followers as a Husband with a chaste and pure virgin made ready for her King?

No wonder Satan chose to disguise the sin in the Garden by saying that Eve ate the fruit, even an apple. This twisted the truth of the matter that caused the entire human race to fall into sin from the real original sin in the garden! Didn’t the Lord call His people “the apple of my eye”? If an apple was bad and caused all the death, heartache, and pain in the world, how can eating an apple now be good for us? Since God doesn’t change, this simply cannot be the truth of this hidden secret.

Eve put away the Word of God which removed her holy veil and took the serpent’s words into her heart. The words that the serpent spoke to her lodged into her heart as a spiritual fornication. The words were seed that entered into the womb of her mind causing her to believe that she surely would not die and that she would be like god. She should have known that she and her husband, Adam, were already in the image of God as he them, male and female, even amateur gods upon the earth. They had dominion over all things of the earth, just like God, their Father!

Eve was “beguiled” and even seduced in a sly way by the serpent. This is true of most people of the earth through things that they see and hear that are unholy and appeal to the fleshly desires of the beastly or animalistic nature of human beings. What we are going to say might shock you however it has to be spoken by someone to warn you of the dangers of singing, moving, dancing, and being influenced in a carnal direction. After you are done reading this next article in conjunction with this writing, it is our solemn hope that you would stop, think deeply, and really evaluate where the influence of inspiration your music, movies, and images that tickle your fancy really comes from – heaven or hell.

Go to this blog for more on this subject…

Hells Bells, Rock n Roll Music, and Its Fallen Influence on Christianity

Monday, Aug 10 2009 

She ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which was even the seed of the serpent himself, first in the womb of her mind and then, in her physical womb of her body, accepting the seed of the serpent. Then, she became pregnant with Cain, the first murderer known to man. The Bible declares Cain to be of the evil one. Since Adam’s father was the Lord Himself – obviously good, holy, and righteous as God – Cain could not have been the son of Adam. Sure, Eve said that she was given a man from the Lord when Cain was born. But in a natural sense, all life is from the Lord, whether good or evil. Later, Eve gave the fruit of her womb to Adam to eat and conceived Abel who was good seed like his father, Adam, and a child of God. This is why Eve is the “mother of all living” and Adam is not stated to be the father of all living in the Bible. God appointed another good seed of God from Adam, his son, in Seth after Abel was murdered by his brother, Cain, the first recorded murderer in the Word of God.

Why do you think God punished the womb of Eve (and all women born of Eve) by giving her pain during child bearing, if she just ate an apple or piece of fruit? The act and the punishment had to do with the “fruit of the womb”. Doesn’t the adulterous woman eat and wipe her mouth saying that she has done no wrong in Proverbs? Isn’t the Lord described as the tree of life and the people of God an olive tree? Is it any wonder that the Lord was the tree of life and the serpent was the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden? It is always good against evil, God against the Devil, and yin and yang. The war in Heaven became the same struggle on earth for the minds of men to be turned to the Lord and His Word or to Satan and a lie.

Why was Cain a murderer? Cain was the son of perdition. Satan (as the serpent who is evil) and Eve made love in the Garden of Eden causing the fall of man into sin or unbelief. Satan incarnated himself into the serpent – an upright creature, yet a beast, who spoke to Eve – and planted his seed into Eve before Adam did so. Remember, the serpent was “upright” and spoke to Eve, as a beast yet like a man in stature, and then, after he defiled Eve, he was cast down to eat the dust of the earth as a snake. This is why redemption has to do with accepting the Seed of God or the Word of God into your heart to manifest the Word in your life. In this, all humanity (both male and female) are female, as the church (the Bride or the wife) of God to receive and accept the seed (Word) from the Lord (Adonai, Husband), as a wife would accept the same from her husband in a natural sense.

The enemy still desires to get his thoughts, which are against God or antichrist or Anti Word, into the heart and minds of those who dwell before the Lord. What better way to do so than using a tool like music? Remember, during the time of Daniel in Babylon, the people were told to worship the image by bowing to it through all kinds of music! Sound familiar to today? No matter what type of music you have, just as long as there are Christian words or thoughts in the song, Christian people assume that it is honoring, praising, and lifting up the Lord Jesus Christ (Yeshua Ha Moshiach.)

Give it the Word test first to know if that is true or not for any given song that you hear. If the beat and type of music gets you gyrating, feeling slinky and sexy, and has a beat for heart pumping and exhilarating dancing, is the focus on the Lord and His Word or on your physical tantalization and entertainment.

Glitz and glamour of Hollywood does not have a place in the true house of worship of the King of Kings. The daughters who are at ease will have all of their fineries taken away, jewels gone, their pendants and bracelets lost, and even the well set hair turned into baldness as they sit on their ash heap during the great and dreadful day when the Lord arises for witness, plunder, and as the judge.

All fornicators and adulterers will have their part in the lake of fire, even the flames of hell, lest they repent or turn to the Word of God to be changed or transformed into new creatures in Christ. No matter what your past, if you accept His pardon for your sins, He shall forgive you and help you on your journey to serve, love, and worship Him and Him alone.

In His Service,

Bro Stephen and Sis Shushan (Shoshana Joy)

Copyright 2009 Shushan Eduth – Rise Up My Love

Did not our souls for freedom pay ?

Say that this fear is but a bloom,

too soon to die

and as a dream,

evaporate.

Our repetitions reappear as stolen tunes

from cymbals in a midnight’s dance

to make believe that we’re as strong

as some god’s emissary

until a treachery

trips us to the chthonic plain

where the mind’s eye is too cold for fire

and we freeze

as grace dissolves in this intemperate cloud,

then from no light appears Apollo

hooded in a mantled cloak

and from no form

envelops Venus

bearing tears for our release.

Did not our souls for freedom pay

and might the gods walk with us all the way ?

Link to article – http://www.nation.co.ke/magazines/Living/-/1218/620706/-/item/3/-/uedc8qz/-/index.html

* Many men blame their wives for not bearing children
* Biologically, it could be the men with the problem

One early evening in 2003, over a sumptuous dinner in a quiet restaurant in town, Janet and her husband, Peter, had a pleasant discussion about the number of children they wanted to have and how to raise them. By the end of that year, the young couple agreed, Janet was to be pregnant.

But come the ‘appointed’ time, she had not conceived. The couple agreed to be patient for a while longer but nine months down the line, still nothing had happened. Frustration started to creep in. Peter, who had been understanding for close to two years, started blaming Janet for her inability to conceive.

“He said I had a fertility problem that was making it difficult for me to conceive and that I needed to see a doctor,” recalls Janet.

Peter’s family joined in questioning why she was not getting pregnant and pressed Peter to marry a second wife. They called Janet names, but she took it all in her stride – for a while. It was not an easy ride. “I cried every month when I got my menstrual period,” she says.

When the pressure became unbearable, Janet sought a doctor’s advice. Contrary to her husband’s claim, a series of fertility tests showed she had no problem whatsoever with her reproductive system.

However, Peter could not accept that and continued subjecting her to verbal abuse – which developed into physical violence. In November last year, he beat her so badly that she almost lost her vision in one eye. In January this year, while still nursing a battered eye and desperate to conceive, she knocked on the doors of the Nairobi In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) Centre for help.

“I had read in the Nation newspapers a while ago about how this medical procedure was helping couples experiencing problems conceiving to do just that,” says Janet.

Again her fertility results came back perfect. Dr Joshua Noreh, who works at the centre, insisted that she bring her husband. That was the hardest part of the whole experience, as Peter repeatedly insisted that there was nothing wrong with him.

But after reluctantly giving his semen for analysis, it was discovered his sperm count was too low to impregnate a woman. The problem was his and not his wife’s. The only way his sperm could fertilise an egg was through IVF technology.

Two months ago, it was confirmed that Janet was pregnant. Although she says she is very happy at finally conceiving a child, she sheds tears at the memory of the violence she has endured.

Janet’s is just one of an increasing number of cases of women who are experiencing serious verbal, emotional and physical abuse meted out by their husbands and in-laws, all because they are believed to be infertile. And in many cases, the problem is not with them.

So far, close to 40 women from all social classes who have sought help from the Nairobi IVF Centre have complained of being subjected to physical and verbal violence by their partners.

Six of these admit to being subjected to serious physical, emotional, and psychological violence and torture.

Blurred vision

Others said they bore scars inflicted by their husbands or in-laws. One woman has blurred vision in one eye and another is nursing an injured hand. Still others have had to watch as their husbands opt to marry second wives or keep a mistress.

“What is worrying is the number of those reporting violence; some have physical signs of what they have gone through,” says Joy Noreh, a community nurse and administrator at the Nairobi IVF Centre.

She says at least 60 per cent of the women who have delivered (amounting to 124 births) at the clinic, and the 74 who are pregnant now, have a story to tell about the violence they have been subjected to.

Staff at the clinic are now spending many hours counselling these women before they can even start them on IVF. Interestingly, while some of the women have paid for themselves the Sh300,000 required for the procedure, their husbands are dragging their feet or unwilling to give sperm!

During IVF, the man is expected to give his sperms, which are then used to fertilise eggs retrieved from his wife’s womb in the laboratory.

“On several occasions, my husband has violently refused to give his sperms after the clinic asked him to do so. He told me I was worthless and so he cannot spend so much money on me,” says one of the women whose pleading for sperm from her husband took six months. When he finally agreed, the semen analysis found he had poor quality sperm, and that was why his wife could not conceive.

Fertility investigations show that many men unable to make their wives pregnant refuse to accept the possibility that they are infertile.

“Men generally believe if they cannot have children, the problem lies with their wives, which is why they marry other women to try and have babies with them,” says Joy.

To save their marriages, women are flocking in record numbers to clinics offering assisted reproduction methods.

“The only thing I want is a baby; I don’t care whether it is a girl, a boy or has a deformity. I just need to prove I can give birth,” says 36-year-old Miriam, sobbing as she narrates her story.

Another woman, who identifies herself only as Kanini, says her husband is going to divorce her if she does not conceive. Others interviewed reveal they are ready to try anything to have a baby and stop the violence, including taking huge bank loans, using up all their savings and disposing of property to raise the money for IVF.

The only thing they refuse to do is be named or photographed. The shame and stigma surrounding infertility, especially when the man is to blame, makes many women shy away from talking openly about it.

Immediately they start, their husbands feel the discussions are an indirect way of questioning their virility. And that is when some of them turn violent.

“Men are comfortable when the blame is heaped on the woman. But when people start questioning the man’s role in all this, things get nasty,” says Kanini who conceived last year through IVF.

Yet, even as they hurt their wives, figures from fertility centres attribute close to 50 per cent of infertility cases to the male partner.

Male-related factors
At the Fertility Enhance Centre at Nairobi Hospital, 55 per cent of infertility has been attributed to male-related factors. At the Nairobi IVF centre, statistics collected over the past two years attribute 40 per cent of the infertility problem to the man.

Of those who have had a semen analysis at the centre, 12 per cent had oligospermia – a condition in which the sperm count is below 20 million per millimetre, the threshold recommended by the World Health Organisation for a fertile man.

Another 8.5 per cent had azoospermia, a condition in which there is no sperm in the ejaculate – while 3.5 per cent had asthenozoospermia – sperm of poor quality. And of the 104 treatment cycles done at the centre, close to 80 per cent of the causes of infertility were attributable to the men.

It costs less than Sh1,500 to do a semen analysis compared to the over Sh10,000 required to do a woman’s hormonal analysis. But even in the face of this reality, Joy says the biggest challenge they face is getting men to come for fertility tests alongside their wives and subsequently agree to give their sperms for IVF to begin.

“Men fret when anyone suggests they should have a fertility test. We try to counsel them that it is in their best interests, and that of the marriage,” she says.

Reproductive health experts now want the government and other players in the health sector to step in and help the many women who might be caught up in violent relationships just because they cannot conceive.

In 2007, the government established a task force, which, among other things, is expected to come up with ways of subsidising the cost of IVF to make it affordable for the poor. The team is yet to present its recommendations.

In the meantime, women continue to be battered.

living@nation.co.ke

So back in LA I noticed the rear wheel of my magnum had a little bit of play in it. I proceeded to blast a lot of people and hit personal land speed records. The other day as I rolled the limited on the stand I noticed the rear wheel now had about an inch of play (at the tire) and I dunno, I guess thats bad. So I pull the wheel apart and find some nice bearings. One is all crusty, the other looks almost decent, but 1 or 2 balls are dislodged from the cage and they move around way too much. I don’t want that blowing up at 55, so new bearings are in route.

The motor is getting closer, and now I have a lot of CDI boxes to try. I’ve got the OG hero box that I used for a few months that ripped, but benji thinks these others may in fact be a little better, so we’ll see. I’ve got these 3 to test and the other box is currently living on derbi if I need it.

I got a place to live, so now its time to finish the mopeds. I’m going to bring derbi (i think i decided on variant sport frame over ds50), and I need to finish the white magnum and sell it, just a few cosmetic touches there, and I want to get the limited running just as well as it did before, and I’d like to station that in the city for moped rides, and I need to get my racer tidied up for the september (maybe july???) races. So yea, I’ve got a lot to do. All must rip. Oh yea, fixed my friend’s derbi, turned out a ground was disconnected. Super nOOb