This is the latest in the Zimbabwe arms saga. The South African government refuses to take a moral standpoint on this, citing the need to be "impartial". Motherfuckers.
Aside from the fact that they are now being VERY partial TO the zim government, no south african i have spoken to yet believes we should allow these arms to travel through our country. Allowing them to so so is tantamount to aiding genocide. I posted pictures of what mugabe's troops are already doing. This is what the ship holds, apparently, Several million rounds of ammunition (!) rpg7 rocket launchers and mortars, and a lot of rockets. These are offensive weapons ... to be used against the only enemy they have, the people.
A story most people missed was the angolan government's very kind deployment of crack troops and equipment about 6 months ago. Zimbabwe has fuck all left, no food, no goods, no jobs, but they have a world class army and riot police.
The more time pases, the more these african dogs make a mockery of the morals they espoused pre 1994. They are worse than the apartheid government. MUCH worse, for the people, and the country. But, let me remind people that when i was in school, terrorism was a real threat. Bombs were planted at petrol stations close to my school. We were instructed in identifying limpet mines, mini limpet mines, AK47's, makarov pistols, and numerous other russian made weapons. These ANC "cadres" including MR mandela, and current police chief robert mcbride, planted bombs with the sole intention of murdering innocent people. These men are now our heroes and leaders, is it no wonder we are facilitating genocide? I'm sure the kickbacks were generous, they always are .... The other kickback of course, is that while you cannot legally get a gun for self defense (it's not an acceptable reason, they have replied to firearm applications) these weapons currently in durban harbour will filter baclk into south africa, and will be used by criminals to kill innocent south africans. The fact that our government is allowing this to happen, shows clearly their attitude towards the people they are responsible for.
Yes this makes me angry, but what makes me angrier is the way this country (zim) has been totally ruined, in the space of about 5 years, from a healthy, happy, productive country to hell on earth. The only logical explanation for this behaviour from the dog mbeki is that he would like the same here in south africa, and judging by the international reaction, he would face no resistance at all.
What south africa has though, are people, who have morals, and conscience. This is NOT about colour, blacks and whites both understand what has to be done, and why.
If there is a blocade, i would be happy to join in and throw stones, petrol bombs, whatever it takes to stop the cargo. But refusing to offload the ship is a very good place to start. Sadly i think they'll find people anyway, or instruct our soldiers to do it. THAT WILL SHARE THE BLOOD EQUALY BETWEEN MUGABE AND MBEKI. But they both have so much blood on their hands it's a moot point.
Union refuses to unload Zim arms
April 17 2008 at 07:02PM
Opposition to a shipment of arms being offloaded in Durban and transported to Zimbabwe increased on Thursday when South Africa's largest transport workers union announced that its members would not unload the ship.
SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) general secretary Randall Howard said: "Satawu does not agree with the position of the South African government not to intervene with this shipment of weapons.
"Our members employed at Durban Container Terminal will not unload this cargo neither will any of our members in the truck driving sector move this cargo by road."
He said the ship, the An Yue Jiang, should not dock in Durban and should return to China.
"South Africa cannot be seen to be facilitating the flow of weapons into Zimbabwe at a time where there is a political dispute and a volatile situation between the Zanu-PF and the MDC."
"The view of our members is that nobody should ask us to unload these weapons," he said.
Satawu said it planned to engage support from the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu).
Defence secretary January Masilela on Thursday that the scrutiny committee of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee's (NCACC) scrutiny committee, which he chairs, had approved the conveyance permit on Monday already.
He said a inspection team from the NCACC would still have to ensure the cargo met the requirements of the permit before the cargo could begin to be transported to Zimbabwe.
The permit would be endorsed by the NCACC when it meets next month.
Asked about the controversy surrounding the shipment Masilela said: "This is a normal transaction between two sovereign states. We are doing our legal part and we don't have to interfere."
In Cape Town, government communications head Themba Maseko said the country could not stop the shipment from getting to its destination as it had to be seen to be "treading very carefully" in its relations with Zimbabwe, given the complexity of facilitating talks between the Movement for Democratic Change and Zanu-PF.
Chris de Vos, the secretary general for the United Transport and Allied Trade Union, said the union was "not happy" about the arms shipment being transported through South Africa.
"We are going to request an urgent meeting with the management. We are aware that members are very uncomfortable with the situation," he said.
He said that while no decision had been taken by the union on offloading the weapons and arms, the union leadership was not in favour of the weapons being transported.
Democratic Alliance defence spokesman Rafeek Shah said the government's approval to allow the arms to be shipped was "the surest sign yet that government has completely lost the plot on the Zimbabwe issue".
Shah said: "The world's astonishment at President (Thabo) Mbeki's political defence of Robert Mugabe will likely turn into outright anger as we are now not only denying the existence of a crisis in Zimbabwe, but also actively facilitating the arming of an increasingly despotic and desperate regime."
Kallie Kriel, AfriForum chief executive, said the organisation intended organising "an extensive campaign of peaceful demonstrations in an effort to prevent a consignment of Chinese arms from being transported from Durban across South African territory to Zimbabwe".
The SA Institute of Race Relations said on Thursday: "It would be unconscionable for South Africa to allow an arms consignment through its borders en route to Zimbabwe."
Spokesman Frans Cronje said that if the shipment went ahead, "South Africa's culpability in the Zimbabwe crisis would then be without question".
Noseweek editor Martin Welz told Sapa on Wednesday that "the cargo ship was openly delivering a containment of arms for Zimbabwe".
He said he had copies of all the documents, including the bill of lading and a packing list.
The controversial cargo packed into 3080 cases included three million rounds of 7.62mm bullets (used with the AK47 assault rifle), 69 rocket propelled grenades, as well as mortar bombs and tubes.
The cargo is, according to the documentation, valued at R9.88 million.
Welz said: "It's very detailed and even has the phone numbers."
Increased media interest around the shipment prompted both the SA Police Service and the SA Revenue Service to send their top public relations officers to Durban to deal with media enquiries.
Adriao said he would only comment on the ship once it had docked in port while Lackay said that the work of the SARS "is guided by the SARS Act and the confidentiality provisions in the Act".
Lackay said: "SARS Customs does not release cargo until the Customs declaration has been processed and the requirements of the any other legislation have been adhered to. On the basis of the documents submitted by the shipping line -- the company operating the vessel -- SARS Customs decides whether there is a potential risk, whether cargo must be inspected and whether or not goods will be detained.
"These are standard Customs procedures that apply daily to any cargo vessel entering a South African port of entry. At this time the vessel.
"An Yue Jiang is at outer anchorage or off-port limits and therefore the cargo is not deemed to have been imported into South Africa yet," he said. - Sapa
Friday, 18 April 2008
Thursday, 17 April 2008
From KneesliderWhy did the chicken cross the road?
This is BRILLIANT!!! You would have to know south african politics to understand, but wow this is so poignant!!!! Enjoy :)
ESKOM:
I do not care as long as he saved 10% electricity crossing the road.
KINDERGARTEN TEACHER: T
o get to the other side.
JAN F.E. CELLIERS:
Dis die hoender, dis die pad, dis al.
NATANIEL:
Ek was vreeslik op my nerves vir sy part tot hy anderkant gekom het. Ek dink dit was stunning.
NAAS BOTHA:
Aan die einde van die dag maak dit nie saak hoeveel Keer hy oor die straat is nie. Wat saak maak is die telbord.
NELSON MANDELA:
It was his long walk to freedom. A true Rainbow chicken.
PIETER-DIRK UYS:
Was dit 'n he-chicken of 'n she-chicken? Does it Pik?
ALLAN BOESAK:
How can the motives of a chicken who had done so much for chickenhood be questioned? It must have "struggled" to cross the road.
DULLA OMAR:
I am sure the chicken is innocent. He did what he did because of the apartheid legacy.
NGCONDE BALFOUR:
The government will ensure that a fair quota of black chickens cross the road as well.
Why should black chickens remain on this side of the road? I only watch black chickens crossing the road anyway...
TREVOR MANUEL:
Makes me think: we don't tax chickens crossing roads yet....
VAN SCHALKWYK:
Let's join the chicken and cross the road!
TONY LEON:
No matter where the chicken goes, we have the guts to fight back.
DESMOND TUTU:
We should have crossed the road with him. Together we will make a difference
THABO MBEKI:
I don't really have an opinion about this...
MARK SHUTTLEWORTH:
I would have paid a million to see the chicken cross the road!
MUGABE:
Stop that chicken! It must be repossessed together with the farm it belongs to. And the farm on the opposite side of the road, where
It was going, and all the chickens on both farms. Repossess it all. And it's nobody's business what I do in my country.
It is Britain 's fault for bringing chickens here anyway.
JACOB ZUMA: The showers were across the road
MANTO:
Whish schicken (hic!) - I saw many ...pink shikkins
ESKOM:
I do not care as long as he saved 10% electricity crossing the road.
KINDERGARTEN TEACHER: T
o get to the other side.
JAN F.E. CELLIERS:
Dis die hoender, dis die pad, dis al.
NATANIEL:
Ek was vreeslik op my nerves vir sy part tot hy anderkant gekom het. Ek dink dit was stunning.
NAAS BOTHA:
Aan die einde van die dag maak dit nie saak hoeveel Keer hy oor die straat is nie. Wat saak maak is die telbord.
NELSON MANDELA:
It was his long walk to freedom. A true Rainbow chicken.
PIETER-DIRK UYS:
Was dit 'n he-chicken of 'n she-chicken? Does it Pik?
ALLAN BOESAK:
How can the motives of a chicken who had done so much for chickenhood be questioned? It must have "struggled" to cross the road.
DULLA OMAR:
I am sure the chicken is innocent. He did what he did because of the apartheid legacy.
NGCONDE BALFOUR:
The government will ensure that a fair quota of black chickens cross the road as well.
Why should black chickens remain on this side of the road? I only watch black chickens crossing the road anyway...
TREVOR MANUEL:
Makes me think: we don't tax chickens crossing roads yet....
VAN SCHALKWYK:
Let's join the chicken and cross the road!
TONY LEON:
No matter where the chicken goes, we have the guts to fight back.
DESMOND TUTU:
We should have crossed the road with him. Together we will make a difference
THABO MBEKI:
I don't really have an opinion about this...
MARK SHUTTLEWORTH:
I would have paid a million to see the chicken cross the road!
MUGABE:
Stop that chicken! It must be repossessed together with the farm it belongs to. And the farm on the opposite side of the road, where
It was going, and all the chickens on both farms. Repossess it all. And it's nobody's business what I do in my country.
It is Britain 's fault for bringing chickens here anyway.
JACOB ZUMA: The showers were across the road
MANTO:
Whish schicken (hic!) - I saw many ...pink shikkins
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Steps to take when faced with armed intruders
Ok ... so the most likely way to die is being shot or stabbed in your own home. So here we have a public service announcement. Comments below.
April 16 2008 at 06:27AM
By Khululiwe Makhaye
According to Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act, reasonable force can be used when arresting a person presently or previously engaged in criminal activity.
If a person feels that his life or the life of another is in danger, extreme force, which could be fatal, can be used to subdue the criminal.
Police Superintendent Vincent Mdunge said the following steps should be followed when faced with armed intruders on your property. If your life, the life of another or your property is threatened:
Call the police immediately.
Try to escape from the situation.
You can shoot to kill or use a weapon to inflict a fatal wound.
You must be able to justify your actions.
In some cases, the person who made the arrest or killed a an intruder may be arrested.
But in those cases, the person would appear before a magistrate to explain his actions - bail is usually granted.
If the use of force is found to be acceptable he would be acquitted.
This article was originally published on page 3 of The Mercury on April 16, 2008
____________________________________________________________________
1. Call the police ... oh yes on the hotline that is often not answered? SO while trying to escape or fit, you have a stupid cell phone that is just ringing in your hand.
2. Escape ... from your own home? IE they have MORE RIGHT to be in your home than you do?
3. Fight .... shoot (if you are fortunate enough to own a gun)
This is telling me to cower and run, and even if i do fight, most likely i'd be arrested IN MY HOME, taken to the cells for an indeterminate time, and charged with whatever they can dream up. My froiend shot an intruder and spent the weekend in prison, he had to be hospitalised when he came out.
You cannot win, if the criminals don't get you the justice system will.
April 16 2008 at 06:27AM
By Khululiwe Makhaye
According to Section 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act, reasonable force can be used when arresting a person presently or previously engaged in criminal activity.
If a person feels that his life or the life of another is in danger, extreme force, which could be fatal, can be used to subdue the criminal.
Police Superintendent Vincent Mdunge said the following steps should be followed when faced with armed intruders on your property. If your life, the life of another or your property is threatened:
Call the police immediately.
Try to escape from the situation.
You can shoot to kill or use a weapon to inflict a fatal wound.
You must be able to justify your actions.
In some cases, the person who made the arrest or killed a an intruder may be arrested.
But in those cases, the person would appear before a magistrate to explain his actions - bail is usually granted.
If the use of force is found to be acceptable he would be acquitted.
This article was originally published on page 3 of The Mercury on April 16, 2008
____________________________________________________________________
1. Call the police ... oh yes on the hotline that is often not answered? SO while trying to escape or fit, you have a stupid cell phone that is just ringing in your hand.
2. Escape ... from your own home? IE they have MORE RIGHT to be in your home than you do?
3. Fight .... shoot (if you are fortunate enough to own a gun)
This is telling me to cower and run, and even if i do fight, most likely i'd be arrested IN MY HOME, taken to the cells for an indeterminate time, and charged with whatever they can dream up. My froiend shot an intruder and spent the weekend in prison, he had to be hospitalised when he came out.
You cannot win, if the criminals don't get you the justice system will.
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Zimbabwe
So much has been said, i don't know anymore. mbeki reckons there is no crisis. He's as bad as the bloody european monarchs, no ... worse. He's worse because he should know better .... liberation and all that crap.
Look at the pics, then look again and AGAIN ... these are people ... who have been jackbooted in their homes. Tell me if this is a crisis, rt if this actually means fuckall.
Look at the pics, then look again and AGAIN ... these are people ... who have been jackbooted in their homes. Tell me if this is a crisis, rt if this actually means fuckall.
Bumpercars
http://www.bumpercars.co.za/Our Testing
Transparency: We would like to eliminate confusing use of language. We’ll explain exactly what we mean.
Honesty: We give you the facts and nothing but the facts.
Integrity: We won’t make empty or invalid promises.
Trust: We’ll provide all the information you need to make a decision, the good news as well as the bad news.
Monday, 14 April 2008
Religion
My Religious Life
Jim Culleny
I was Catholic,
but was not universal enough
when I was.
I was Protestant,
but did not protest enough
when I was.
I was a Transcendental Meditationist,
but was not transcendent enough
when I was.
I was a dilettante Buddhist,
but (unlike the lotus) I failed to bud
when I was.
Now as a Taoist
in an inscrutable plan
I’m most content, because
it’s nothing I can really talk about
if I am.
Jim Culleny
I was Catholic,
but was not universal enough
when I was.
I was Protestant,
but did not protest enough
when I was.
I was a Transcendental Meditationist,
but was not transcendent enough
when I was.
I was a dilettante Buddhist,
but (unlike the lotus) I failed to bud
when I was.
Now as a Taoist
in an inscrutable plan
I’m most content, because
it’s nothing I can really talk about
if I am.
Suicide
Suicide (Latin suicidium, from sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of intentionally terminating one's own life; many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest". Suicide may occur for a number of reasons, often related to depression, shame, pain, financial difficulties or other undesirable situations.
Views on suicide have been influenced by cultural views on existential themes such as religion, honor, and the meaning of life. Most Western and Asian religions—the Abrahamic religions, Hinduism—consider suicide a dishonorable act; in the West it was regarded as a serious crime and offense against God due to religious belief in the sanctity of life. Japanese views on honor and religion led to seppuku being respected as a means to atone for mistakes or failure during the samurai era; Japanese suicide rates remain some of the developed world's highest. In the 20th century, suicide in the form of self-immolation has been used as a form of protest, and in the form of kamikaze and suicide bombing as a military or terrorist tactic. Sati was a Hindu funeral practice in which the widow would immolate herself on her husband’s funeral pyre.
Medically assisted suicide (euthanasia, or the right to die) is a controversial ethical issue involving people who are terminally ill, in extreme pain, and/or have minimal quality of life through injury or illness. Self-sacrifice for others is not usually considered suicide, as the goal is not to kill oneself but to save another.
The predominant view of modern medicine is that suicide is a mental health concern, associated with psychological factors such as the difficulty of coping with depression, inescapable suffering or fear, or other mental disorders and pressures. Suicide is sometimes interpreted in this framework as a "cry for help" and attention, or to express despair and the wish to escape, rather than a genuine intent to die.[3] Most people who attempt suicide do not complete suicide on a first attempt; those who later gain a history of repetitions are significantly more at risk of eventual completion.[4]
Nearly a million people worldwide die by suicide annually.[5] There are an estimated 10 to 20 million attempted suicides every year.[6] Elderly males have the highest suicide rate, although rates for young adults have been increasing in recent years.[7]
Friday, 11 April 2008
Matric
IOL
'More than half of matrics do not find jobs'
"More than half of matrics do not find jobs after leaving school. "
"A seven-year-old has a 50 percent probability of making it to Grade 12, a 12 percent probability of obtaining maths and science on higher grade and a four percent probability of acquiring a post matric," she said.
'More than half of matrics do not find jobs'
"More than half of matrics do not find jobs after leaving school. "
"A seven-year-old has a 50 percent probability of making it to Grade 12, a 12 percent probability of obtaining maths and science on higher grade and a four percent probability of acquiring a post matric," she said.
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Firearm refresher course
1. An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject.
2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
3. Gun Lock: The original point and 'click' interface.
4. Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.
5. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?
6. If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.
7. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.
8. If you don't know your rights you don't have any.
9. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.
10. The United States Constitution (c) 1791. All Rights reserved.
11. What part of "shall not be infringed" do you not understand?
12. The Second Amendment is in place in case they ignore the others.
13. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
14. Guns only have two enemies: rust and liberals.
15. Know guns, know peace and safety. No guns, no peace nor safety.
16. You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
17. 911 - government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.
18. Assault is a behavior, not a device.
19. Criminals love gun control - it makes their jobs safer.
20. If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.
21. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.
22. You only have the rights you are willing to fight for.
23. Enforce the "Gun Control Laws" we have; don't make more.
24. When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.
25. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.
26. ".. A government of the people, by the people, for the people..."
2. A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
3. Gun Lock: The original point and 'click' interface.
4. Gun control is not about guns; it's about control.
5. If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?
6. If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.
7. Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.
8. If you don't know your rights you don't have any.
9. Those who trade liberty for security have neither.
10. The United States Constitution (c) 1791. All Rights reserved.
11. What part of "shall not be infringed" do you not understand?
12. The Second Amendment is in place in case they ignore the others.
13. 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
14. Guns only have two enemies: rust and liberals.
15. Know guns, know peace and safety. No guns, no peace nor safety.
16. You don't shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
17. 911 - government sponsored Dial-a-Prayer.
18. Assault is a behavior, not a device.
19. Criminals love gun control - it makes their jobs safer.
20. If guns cause crime, then matches cause arson.
21. Only a government that is afraid of its citizens tries to control them.
22. You only have the rights you are willing to fight for.
23. Enforce the "Gun Control Laws" we have; don't make more.
24. When you remove the people's right to bear arms, you create slaves.
25. The American Revolution would never have happened with gun control.
26. ".. A government of the people, by the people, for the people..."
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
money money money
I need it.
R2500 for the next lawyers meeting.
We're going try have wife's case removed with the pubic prosecutor.
If you can help please mail me .
R2500 for the next lawyers meeting.
We're going try have wife's case removed with the pubic prosecutor.
If you can help please mail me .
Tuesday, 8 April 2008
Monday, 7 April 2008
Life
What a weekend. Did so much, felt so much .... LIVED so much.
Time is SUCH an illusion. Friday night my parents dropped my kids back with us. They were away for a week or so during the holiday. Plus it was both their birthdays, so i isseed 1, but the other's was saturday. SO anyways, house full of family, and birthday kids and presents and .... family time, albeit just a little.
My granny ... how do i ascribe words? She's beautiful. Such a good lady, with so much gentleness, humour and kindness in her. I'm her "special" one, she only has 2 grandkids, and i spent a lot of time with her as a child, on the beaches and surrounds of Kommmetjie in the cape. I can still see her jumping across rock pols, and digging down to show me marine flaura and fauna. Last time we were there, she sat on a bench on the beach, and she told me how that bench came about. As a memory for a ship that was lost, and a boy (Smith i think) who had drowned. is parents put up the bench to remember him, pointed in the exact direction of where the ship went down.
She's old now, and becoming fragile. Been hard since my grandfather passed away. The 2 were inseperable. He was always the perfect gent, and she the perfect lady. He did everything for her, and she misses him daily, you can see. She will pass on soon, so every small piece of time is gold. My folks are also pretty cool, miss them a lot (they stay far away).
Anyways, so i took my birthday girl to a band practice, which she loved, and Mali had an archery set there, the real thing, and showed her how to shoot arrows. We listened to music, and "kuiered". What an awesome bunch of people. I saw an orgone generator .... i will build one shortly, easy enough and it really works. This house was full of energy alrtenative, like solar cookers, solar panels and such.
Wound the day down just relaxing at home, spending family time.
Yesterday was the big day. a breakfast run for new riders, or riders on smaller bikes out to parys, which is about a 200km trip. I was a marshall, and assisted in closing down intersection for the bunch, so as to avoid any silly cars trying to force into the group. What an awesome time, the marshalls were just so good, the other drivers just as good. Ended at a place on the vaal river, where i sat and sat for a while. Was really good for my soul.
Coming home was also a slightly different matter. I left early,it wasn't so much a brekkie run as a lunch run, and family was waiting. So i grabbed a guy who was leaving and asked if i could ride with him. As someone put it, "he rides like a demon" and yessir he does. 200+ kmh ALL THE FREAKIN WAY!!! *see the grin*
Um about toll roads ..... FUCK EM. I didn't have money, so i just went through. It's easy. Strange how people are so conditioned, that they voluntarily stop and pay money for nothing at all. Sheep.
Ended the day just doing the stuff that needed doing. Family time again. Can't beat it.
Time is SUCH an illusion. Friday night my parents dropped my kids back with us. They were away for a week or so during the holiday. Plus it was both their birthdays, so i isseed 1, but the other's was saturday. SO anyways, house full of family, and birthday kids and presents and .... family time, albeit just a little.
My granny ... how do i ascribe words? She's beautiful. Such a good lady, with so much gentleness, humour and kindness in her. I'm her "special" one, she only has 2 grandkids, and i spent a lot of time with her as a child, on the beaches and surrounds of Kommmetjie in the cape. I can still see her jumping across rock pols, and digging down to show me marine flaura and fauna. Last time we were there, she sat on a bench on the beach, and she told me how that bench came about. As a memory for a ship that was lost, and a boy (Smith i think) who had drowned. is parents put up the bench to remember him, pointed in the exact direction of where the ship went down.
She's old now, and becoming fragile. Been hard since my grandfather passed away. The 2 were inseperable. He was always the perfect gent, and she the perfect lady. He did everything for her, and she misses him daily, you can see. She will pass on soon, so every small piece of time is gold. My folks are also pretty cool, miss them a lot (they stay far away).
Anyways, so i took my birthday girl to a band practice, which she loved, and Mali had an archery set there, the real thing, and showed her how to shoot arrows. We listened to music, and "kuiered". What an awesome bunch of people. I saw an orgone generator .... i will build one shortly, easy enough and it really works. This house was full of energy alrtenative, like solar cookers, solar panels and such.
Wound the day down just relaxing at home, spending family time.
Yesterday was the big day. a breakfast run for new riders, or riders on smaller bikes out to parys, which is about a 200km trip. I was a marshall, and assisted in closing down intersection for the bunch, so as to avoid any silly cars trying to force into the group. What an awesome time, the marshalls were just so good, the other drivers just as good. Ended at a place on the vaal river, where i sat and sat for a while. Was really good for my soul.
Coming home was also a slightly different matter. I left early,it wasn't so much a brekkie run as a lunch run, and family was waiting. So i grabbed a guy who was leaving and asked if i could ride with him. As someone put it, "he rides like a demon" and yessir he does. 200+ kmh ALL THE FREAKIN WAY!!! *see the grin*
Um about toll roads ..... FUCK EM. I didn't have money, so i just went through. It's easy. Strange how people are so conditioned, that they voluntarily stop and pay money for nothing at all. Sheep.
Ended the day just doing the stuff that needed doing. Family time again. Can't beat it.
Friday, 4 April 2008
Bad government
DA members thrown out of briefing
Bhavna Sookha
April 04 2008 at 08:01AM
If you are not a member of the media, then please can you excuse yourselves and leave.
This was the instruction given to two members of the Democratic Alliance, an Ekurhuleni councillor and a representative from the Environmental Conservation Association (ECA) during a media briefing that was organised by the Gauteng department of agriculture, conservation and environment on Thursday.
MEC Khabisi Mosunkutu convened the briefing to address allegations levelled against him by the DA and Nicole Barlow of the ECA, which were reported in the media.
The allegations are related to the suspicious approval of a number of multimillion-rand developments in Gauteng.
DA members who were seated in the department's boardroom in Eloff Street, Joburg, were asked to excuse themselves, and when they questioned the department, they were told that they had not been invited.
But the DA said they had been trying to meet with the MEC for some time now and that this briefing would allow them access to him.
"When we ask questions, we get vague answers. I have been waiting for an appointment since January," said Rika Kruger, DA spokesperson on conservation and environment in the legislature.
Barlow was also asked to leave.
Once the DA members and Barlow had left, Mosunkutu said he had called the briefing for an "opportunity to debunk the stories of the campaign launched by the DA".
"I must point out that the developmental projects that were mentioned in the DA's media hysteria are actually in various stages of finalisation."
This article was originally published on page 5 of The Star on April 04, 2008
Bhavna Sookha
April 04 2008 at 08:01AM
If you are not a member of the media, then please can you excuse yourselves and leave.
This was the instruction given to two members of the Democratic Alliance, an Ekurhuleni councillor and a representative from the Environmental Conservation Association (ECA) during a media briefing that was organised by the Gauteng department of agriculture, conservation and environment on Thursday.
MEC Khabisi Mosunkutu convened the briefing to address allegations levelled against him by the DA and Nicole Barlow of the ECA, which were reported in the media.
The allegations are related to the suspicious approval of a number of multimillion-rand developments in Gauteng.
DA members who were seated in the department's boardroom in Eloff Street, Joburg, were asked to excuse themselves, and when they questioned the department, they were told that they had not been invited.
But the DA said they had been trying to meet with the MEC for some time now and that this briefing would allow them access to him.
"When we ask questions, we get vague answers. I have been waiting for an appointment since January," said Rika Kruger, DA spokesperson on conservation and environment in the legislature.
Barlow was also asked to leave.
Once the DA members and Barlow had left, Mosunkutu said he had called the briefing for an "opportunity to debunk the stories of the campaign launched by the DA".
"I must point out that the developmental projects that were mentioned in the DA's media hysteria are actually in various stages of finalisation."
This article was originally published on page 5 of The Star on April 04, 2008
Thursday, 3 April 2008
Toll roads
Gauteng to get 6 toll roads
April 02 2008 at 05:17PM
Six additional Gauteng freeways would become toll roads, the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) said on Wednesday.
Sanral project manager Alex van Niekerk said the toll road project, part of the Freeway Improvement Scheme, was gazetted last Friday.
The cost to motorists for using the roll roads would be around 50c per kilometre, he said.
He said construction was currently in the tender phase which would close in about two weeks. The contracts were expected to be awarded in May and June and construction on average for the different roads was about two and a half years.
"That takes us to the end of 2010, about October or November," he said.
As part of the freeway scheme, Van Niekerk said about 560km of road in Gauteng would be upgraded in about 20 years.
This first phase would see approximately 180km of freeways upgraded.
Sanral spokesperson Wendy Watson said the total amount invested over the next seven years was R22-billion.
"Eventually all freeways will become part of the Gauteng freeway scheme which is the toll road scheme," Van Niekerk said. - Sapa
_______________________________________________________________
This fuckers are becoming So good at sucking money out of the people .... what will this help?
All that will happen is that more and more people will lose out, be unable to afford to get to work etc. Let me explain, gauteng is a sprawl, completely without order, like someone took a great big concrete shit in the bushveld. My commute is 30 km each way daily, that's about average. The people catching taxis ... take hours to work and back. One girl at our office left work at 4pm, and only got home after 8. All that tollroads will do is force more taxis and cars onto the already overloaded secondary routes, creating more backups.
With petrol going ballistic, this will only add to the woes. I think the anc's idea of equality means open roads for the rich few, and everybody else can get fucked.
April 02 2008 at 05:17PM
Six additional Gauteng freeways would become toll roads, the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) said on Wednesday.
Sanral project manager Alex van Niekerk said the toll road project, part of the Freeway Improvement Scheme, was gazetted last Friday.
The cost to motorists for using the roll roads would be around 50c per kilometre, he said.
He said construction was currently in the tender phase which would close in about two weeks. The contracts were expected to be awarded in May and June and construction on average for the different roads was about two and a half years.
"That takes us to the end of 2010, about October or November," he said.
As part of the freeway scheme, Van Niekerk said about 560km of road in Gauteng would be upgraded in about 20 years.
This first phase would see approximately 180km of freeways upgraded.
Sanral spokesperson Wendy Watson said the total amount invested over the next seven years was R22-billion.
"Eventually all freeways will become part of the Gauteng freeway scheme which is the toll road scheme," Van Niekerk said. - Sapa
_______________________________________________________________
This fuckers are becoming So good at sucking money out of the people .... what will this help?
All that will happen is that more and more people will lose out, be unable to afford to get to work etc. Let me explain, gauteng is a sprawl, completely without order, like someone took a great big concrete shit in the bushveld. My commute is 30 km each way daily, that's about average. The people catching taxis ... take hours to work and back. One girl at our office left work at 4pm, and only got home after 8. All that tollroads will do is force more taxis and cars onto the already overloaded secondary routes, creating more backups.
With petrol going ballistic, this will only add to the woes. I think the anc's idea of equality means open roads for the rich few, and everybody else can get fucked.
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
http://www.thechurchofgoogle.org/
No really ... Googlism
Um ... what's to say? Make sure you read the 9 proofs .... it's eery.
Something about it is so inevitable, yet almost obscene. Funny, but i suspect people out there take it more than as fun ....
*shudder*
Um ... what's to say? Make sure you read the 9 proofs .... it's eery.
Something about it is so inevitable, yet almost obscene. Funny, but i suspect people out there take it more than as fun ....
*shudder*
Monday, 31 March 2008
Without frogs the ecosystem wil collapse.
Gauteng's giant bullfrogs face extinction
March 29 2008 at 02:56PM
A bullfrog expert is calling for the urgent creation of a conservancy to protect Gauteng's only breeding population of enigmatic giant bullfrogs, in Midrand.
This follows the deaths of thousands of juvenile giant bullfrogs after the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) graded a road at Midrand's protected Glen Austin Pan.
It's the latest threat to the survival of the world-famous giant bullfrogs, hemmed in by development; squashed by quadbikes, traffic and illegal dumping; or snatched for the exotic-pet trade.
Bullfrog specialist Clayton Cook, who has monitored Glen Austin's bullfrogs since 1991, termed the graded road "non-negotiable" and demanded that it be closed in order to protect them.
The rare species spend most of the year dormant, encased in an underground cocoon, surfacing from their retreat only briefly to feed and breed.
And with around 1 000 breeding adults at Glen Austin - the only viable breeding population left in the most "critical wetland habitat in Gauteng" - their survival is of "international importance".
Two weeks ago the JRA graded the gravel road alongside the pan. Until now, only Laurie Kay, a pilot whose smallholding overlooks the pan, has had access to the gravel road that ends at his driveway.
"There were concrete barriers for the last 15 years that restricted access to Kay," explained Cook.
"Last Saturday, he discovered three-ton trucks, bulldozers and graders opening up the entire road.
"It's the worst time of the year for this to happen. Thousands of juvenile bullfrogs are migrating from the pan."
The summer had seen an "incredible" bullfrog breeding season, with three successive breeding events in the pan.
"On the Sunday, I saw dead bullfrogs on Belvedere Road. We can't say exactly how many were destroyed."
Their migration from the pan is influenced by their growth and temperature, Cook pointed out.
"They bury themselves in the top 5cm to 10cm of the softer sandy soils on the road. We know that about 30 tons of sandy soil has been removed from that site [by the JRA]. The grader decapitates and squashes frogs, toads and snakes - whatever is buried in the soil."
Kay said he saw thousands of the migrating bullfrogs dug up by front-end loaders and then run over by them.
"The day before, my wife and I saw thousands of little froggies crossing the road. Since they've graded, I've only seen two juveniles. It's sad."
Cook is adamant: "The area should be registered as a private conservancy. Residents must be encouraged to leave natural grassland in their gardens for the frogs to migrate through, use palisade fencing and not use gardens forks that dig up the dormant frogs in their gardens."
JRA spokesperson Conel Mackay said the grading was requested by residents.
March 29 2008 at 02:56PM
A bullfrog expert is calling for the urgent creation of a conservancy to protect Gauteng's only breeding population of enigmatic giant bullfrogs, in Midrand.
This follows the deaths of thousands of juvenile giant bullfrogs after the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) graded a road at Midrand's protected Glen Austin Pan.
It's the latest threat to the survival of the world-famous giant bullfrogs, hemmed in by development; squashed by quadbikes, traffic and illegal dumping; or snatched for the exotic-pet trade.
Bullfrog specialist Clayton Cook, who has monitored Glen Austin's bullfrogs since 1991, termed the graded road "non-negotiable" and demanded that it be closed in order to protect them.
The rare species spend most of the year dormant, encased in an underground cocoon, surfacing from their retreat only briefly to feed and breed.
And with around 1 000 breeding adults at Glen Austin - the only viable breeding population left in the most "critical wetland habitat in Gauteng" - their survival is of "international importance".
Two weeks ago the JRA graded the gravel road alongside the pan. Until now, only Laurie Kay, a pilot whose smallholding overlooks the pan, has had access to the gravel road that ends at his driveway.
"There were concrete barriers for the last 15 years that restricted access to Kay," explained Cook.
"Last Saturday, he discovered three-ton trucks, bulldozers and graders opening up the entire road.
"It's the worst time of the year for this to happen. Thousands of juvenile bullfrogs are migrating from the pan."
The summer had seen an "incredible" bullfrog breeding season, with three successive breeding events in the pan.
"On the Sunday, I saw dead bullfrogs on Belvedere Road. We can't say exactly how many were destroyed."
Their migration from the pan is influenced by their growth and temperature, Cook pointed out.
"They bury themselves in the top 5cm to 10cm of the softer sandy soils on the road. We know that about 30 tons of sandy soil has been removed from that site [by the JRA]. The grader decapitates and squashes frogs, toads and snakes - whatever is buried in the soil."
Kay said he saw thousands of the migrating bullfrogs dug up by front-end loaders and then run over by them.
"The day before, my wife and I saw thousands of little froggies crossing the road. Since they've graded, I've only seen two juveniles. It's sad."
Cook is adamant: "The area should be registered as a private conservancy. Residents must be encouraged to leave natural grassland in their gardens for the frogs to migrate through, use palisade fencing and not use gardens forks that dig up the dormant frogs in their gardens."
JRA spokesperson Conel Mackay said the grading was requested by residents.
Friday, 28 March 2008
Moto morini again
See Faster and FasterDamn these guys are good! something about this bike speaks to me, and tells me it's going to be a blast :)
Thursday, 27 March 2008
School trauma
Minister should be held accountable: readers
March 26 2008 at 03:45PM
By Luntu Lamani
A recent report by the SA Human Rights Commission has revealed that being in school is more dangerous than being anywhere else.
It is reported that child violence, injury and death rates in South Africa are 60 percent higher than the global average.
And now a Gauteng former teacher has taken Gauteng Education MEC Angie Motshekga to court in an attempt to force all schools in the province to follow the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The teacher claims that schools do not follow the Act and that the department of education has unfair labour practices.
IOL has asked: "Should the education minister take sole responsibility for safety at schools?"
Of the 273 readers who responded, 128 votes said Yes, with 46 percent (125 votes) saying No, while 7 percent (20 votes) did not care.
From IOL
March 26 2008 at 03:45PM
By Luntu Lamani
A recent report by the SA Human Rights Commission has revealed that being in school is more dangerous than being anywhere else.
It is reported that child violence, injury and death rates in South Africa are 60 percent higher than the global average.
And now a Gauteng former teacher has taken Gauteng Education MEC Angie Motshekga to court in an attempt to force all schools in the province to follow the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The teacher claims that schools do not follow the Act and that the department of education has unfair labour practices.
IOL has asked: "Should the education minister take sole responsibility for safety at schools?"
Of the 273 readers who responded, 128 votes said Yes, with 46 percent (125 votes) saying No, while 7 percent (20 votes) did not care.
From IOL
Wednesday, 26 March 2008
The Headmaster's Speech
I wanted to spend some time with you today reflecting on the last two or three months we have experienced as a nation. Some commentators have called this the "post-Polokwane Syndrome", after the events at the ANC National Conference in December, the outcome of which many have seen as negative.
Added to this negative feeling, has been the electricity crisis, now seen as a result of poor planning by the state and acknowledged as such by President Mbeki in his State of the Nation address in Parliament, where he apologised to the nation.
Also knocking us have been higher world oil prices; higher interest rates in SA and the start of a world wide recession, particularly in the UK and the US with their major housing crisis. Added to these have been the on-going crime situation and negative press articles.
So, it is quite easy to fall into the trap of feeling and thinking negatively about our country.
In 1948, Alan Paton wrote his famous book "Cry the Beloved Country" and that title is perhaps still appropriate today, 60 years on, for obviously different reasons. How do we as passionate South Africans, react to this mood of despondency?
Well I cannot speak for you or tell you what to think but I can give you my perspective.
First of all, I make no apologies for being passionately South African.
Let me share this with you – I was not born in South Africa, I was born in East Africa (I moved here at the age of seven), so becoming a naturalised South African was a choice for me. It was a choice I made in the mid 1980s – a terrible time for South Africa – the country was in turmoil; we had sanctions; very low economic growth; the country was bankrupt; civil war was looming; there were bombs in schools; riots in the townships; young men, many of them my peers, fighting and dying on our borders. During that time, I gave up a British passport for a South African one.
Some might call that foolish. So be it.
I have never regretted that decision.
Why not? Not just because South Africa is such a beautiful country – it was because I believed in the people of this country and I believed that God had a plan for us. This was proved right for me when the miracle of 1994 happened. And it was a miracle.
All of you sitting here, matrics and younger, were born either in the year Madiba was released, in 1990, or afterwards. And most of our Grade 8s are "born-frees" – born in 1994 or afterwards and what a privilege that is!
As a passionate South African, here's what gets me mad:
The levels of violence and crime that have touched many of us – and many of you sitting here.
As an adult, on behalf of all adults, I believe that we need to apologise to our youth for not doing more to protect you.
I get mad when I visit black schools and see how little they have and how poor some of the teaching is.
I get mad that there is still massive poverty in our country and an Aids pandemic.
I get mad that there are some instances of incompetence when it comes to areas of social and service delivery.
But being mad about these issues doesn't make me any less passionate about South Africa.
I especially get mad that some of our leaders lack moral standing – whether they be a judge, the top policeman or the top politicians.
To me the issue is not whether they are guilty in a court of law. For me, leaders should not be tainted by even a hint of corruption. Even that hint undermines a leader's moral standing – and one should do the honourable thing and resign, in my opinion.
You see, to be a leader means to be a dealer, a purveyor and a deliverer of hope.
And it is our job – yours and mine – to be deliverers of hope. Because we believe in this school that all can and will lead and because I believe in the talent and potential of the young men sitting before me – I believe in that hope.
So am I optimistic? Yes.
I cannot believe that, after all we have been through as a nation, that a future Zimbabwe scenario is God's plan for us.
Yes, I am optimistic because I believe that we have the people here in South Africa to overcome these challenges.
Stuart Pennington, author of the book and website "South Africa: The Good News" wrote last week:
"I am in awe of the thousands of South Africans who toil to help the less fortunate."
I would include in that statement honest policemen, hardworking nurses and teachers and all who work in community service projects, including all of you.
Yes, I am optimistic because I refuse to believe that we can continue to be held to ransom by a criminal minority.
Yes, I am optimistic because we are resilient and tough, as a people and a nation.
Yes, I am optimistic because I believe that the challenges ahead are surmountable, as we wage war against poverty and crime and corruption.
Let's look at some of the facts not always highlighted by the media.
As we know, the media often focuses on the bad news because bad news sells.
So, when it comes to the economy, let's remember that economies work in cycles – expansion; higher expenditure, the economy overheats and there is a readjustment (recession) which is normal.
It has happened before in South Africa – and has been worse – and will happen again. In 1989, the SA Government defaulted on its loan payments (i.e. was unable to pay its debts); the stock market crashed and the rand collapsed.
In 1998, interest rates hit 25%.
Are we better off now? – in a lot of ways we are.
1980s – 1% growth
Early 1990s – SA was technically bankrupt – defined as when national debt is more than 3% of GDP – in 1994, it was 9%.
During the Mandela years, we had 2% economic growth
For the last seven years – 5%!
Next year – 4% - despite world wide recession, oil prices, electricity crisis.
JSE – 2001 – 8000 points and everyone was pleased; 2007 – 30 000 points (although it has lost some growth now)
Platinum – up R5000/ounce since January
Here's a thought – with cuts of electricity, less platinum comes out of ground but what's left is not going anywhere and while it stays in the ground, the price goes up!
What else is up?
Business confidence (until January)
Employment is up
Number of houses built – up
Tourists visiting – up
Car sales:
20 000 per month in 2001 – everyone was pleased!
30 000 per month in 2007
Look at our budget, announced by Trevor Manuel on Wednesday. Tax income has gone from R188bn in 2000, to R660bn in 2007!
At the same time, he has cut personal tax and has not borrowed any money. The Americans are so envious of us.
Individual tax cuts - i.e. money given back to tax payers
2006 R12bn given back to individuals
2007 R8.4bn given back to individuals
2008 R7.2bn – in a supposed-to-be recession
This is a major achievement, particularly as in 2000, there was a R25bn deficit on the budget and for the last three years we have not had a deficit on the budget.
Money for housing for the poor has gone up
2000 R9bn
2007 R51bn
And we have built 2.6 million houses since 1996.
Yes, we have challenges:
Eskom is one of them and there is now a 2c levy on every kilowatt hour. But think about this
Electricity was cheap, now we are paying more
We had electricity cuts before. In 1981, there was no power in the whole country for 18 hours
We are not the only country to have power cuts – New York; China – over Chinese New Year this year – 12 million people were left stranded.
There are other challenges
The world oil price has gone from $60 per barrel in 2007 to $90 now and it is not coming down.
We may be heading for a situation like the UK where they pay R15 per litre.
HIV/Aids is another major concern, as we see fit to spend R17bn on the World Cup but less on handling this pandemic.
So what am I saying?
Yes there are concerns and challenges BUT there are also many positives.
There are no easy answers or solutions and 2008 will be tough.
However, we have had it tough before and we handled it and boom years will come again – such as in 2010.
So what do we do?
Emigrate? An option for some I suppose and I am always sad when I hear about people leaving.
But where to? Is it guaranteed that it will be all cherries and rose blossoms on the other side of the fence?
Or do we toughen up, get creative and get active, as the "new" South Africans?
By "getting creative," I mean this – there are massive opportunities here and we will be more aware of issues, especially financially and environmentally.
Two thoughts by way of example:
Next time there is a power cut and you can't read e-mails, play computer games or watch TV – celebrate – you can instead talk to people – your family or colleagues.
With regard to the environment, here is an example of being creative: water availability is always an issue in SA – did you know that the average house has 120 000 litres of water running off its roof every year in the form of rain water?
By "getting active," I mean thinking about what we can do – like Trinity House holding their march on Tuesday; or writing letters; or petitions; or getting involved to help fix it.
Here is an excerpt from "African Wisdom" by Lanette Hattingh and Heinrich Claassen entitled The Ostrich Wisdom: Where is your head?
When confronted with a setback you have two choices of action: you can bury your head in the sand like the ostrich and hope the problem will pass by, or you can stand tall and face the problem head on.
"We have one freedom inside us that nobody can take away, the freedom of reaction/attitude in any given circumstance." (Viktor Frankl, the psychologist & concentration camp survivor.)
Our reaction to a setback will determine if we are going to stay with our heads buried in the sand or look up and do something about it.
When storms of life pour down on you, it's what happens within you that will determine what happens to you.
You have Mr Positive and Mr Negative doing constant battle in your head. Guess who wins? The one you feed the most! If your head is in the sand you can only see the dark and Mr Negative will thrive. To see the light, you must look up.
"When you are knocked down, be sure to land on your back, because if you can look up, you can get up." (Nelson Mandela)
If you are an ostrich and have never faced a setback, you need to learn these facts about solving problems first:
Face it! Confront the problem and get the picture clear.
Rake it! Work through your denial, aggression or depression around the problem.
Make it! Look up, stand up and take action.
This is important because just as the sun hardens mud and softens wax, trials can either break us or make us.
Finally, here is my resolve and my truth:-
To be positive
To stop whingeing
To stop blaming
To ignore the doomsday jokes sent out by people who want you to feel as bad as they do.
To read the Good News website regularly
To join the "stop crime, say hello" campaign
To find goodness in people
To commit, regularly, to this beautiful country of ours
To believe in God's plan for us
I know this – that if I do not work to create the life I want, I will have to endure the life I get.
One final thought:
Matthew Lester writes a column in the Sunday Times Business Times Money. He is Professor of Tax Education at Rhodes University and an advisor to Trevor Manuel.
Yesterday he had this to say:
"South Africa is my life, it always has been and it always will be."
Amen to that.
A Prayer for the Country (taken off the www.sagoodnews.co.za website)
Our Father in Heaven
You know exactly how much we need You right now
Please let the Leaders of our country act under your influence
We ask that You will hold your hand over us and our country
And bring relief from the crime and other difficulties we are experiencing.
We are proud and privileged to live in this beautiful country
Look after us and bring us peace and prosperity.
Credits:
Stuart Pennington: "South Africa: The Good News"
Matthew Lester: talk at Sandton Convention Centre, 21 February 2008
Dr Lanette Hattingh and Heinrich Claasen: "African Wisdom: 21 Inspirational Lessons for excellent living."
By Dave Knowles, Headmaster of St Stithians in Johannesburg
_________________________________________________________________
Ok, so here is the other side .... i like the way this has been put .... i don't agree with ev erything he says, but he says it well.
Added to this negative feeling, has been the electricity crisis, now seen as a result of poor planning by the state and acknowledged as such by President Mbeki in his State of the Nation address in Parliament, where he apologised to the nation.
Also knocking us have been higher world oil prices; higher interest rates in SA and the start of a world wide recession, particularly in the UK and the US with their major housing crisis. Added to these have been the on-going crime situation and negative press articles.
So, it is quite easy to fall into the trap of feeling and thinking negatively about our country.
In 1948, Alan Paton wrote his famous book "Cry the Beloved Country" and that title is perhaps still appropriate today, 60 years on, for obviously different reasons. How do we as passionate South Africans, react to this mood of despondency?
Well I cannot speak for you or tell you what to think but I can give you my perspective.
First of all, I make no apologies for being passionately South African.
Let me share this with you – I was not born in South Africa, I was born in East Africa (I moved here at the age of seven), so becoming a naturalised South African was a choice for me. It was a choice I made in the mid 1980s – a terrible time for South Africa – the country was in turmoil; we had sanctions; very low economic growth; the country was bankrupt; civil war was looming; there were bombs in schools; riots in the townships; young men, many of them my peers, fighting and dying on our borders. During that time, I gave up a British passport for a South African one.
Some might call that foolish. So be it.
I have never regretted that decision.
Why not? Not just because South Africa is such a beautiful country – it was because I believed in the people of this country and I believed that God had a plan for us. This was proved right for me when the miracle of 1994 happened. And it was a miracle.
All of you sitting here, matrics and younger, were born either in the year Madiba was released, in 1990, or afterwards. And most of our Grade 8s are "born-frees" – born in 1994 or afterwards and what a privilege that is!
As a passionate South African, here's what gets me mad:
The levels of violence and crime that have touched many of us – and many of you sitting here.
As an adult, on behalf of all adults, I believe that we need to apologise to our youth for not doing more to protect you.
I get mad when I visit black schools and see how little they have and how poor some of the teaching is.
I get mad that there is still massive poverty in our country and an Aids pandemic.
I get mad that there are some instances of incompetence when it comes to areas of social and service delivery.
But being mad about these issues doesn't make me any less passionate about South Africa.
I especially get mad that some of our leaders lack moral standing – whether they be a judge, the top policeman or the top politicians.
To me the issue is not whether they are guilty in a court of law. For me, leaders should not be tainted by even a hint of corruption. Even that hint undermines a leader's moral standing – and one should do the honourable thing and resign, in my opinion.
You see, to be a leader means to be a dealer, a purveyor and a deliverer of hope.
And it is our job – yours and mine – to be deliverers of hope. Because we believe in this school that all can and will lead and because I believe in the talent and potential of the young men sitting before me – I believe in that hope.
So am I optimistic? Yes.
I cannot believe that, after all we have been through as a nation, that a future Zimbabwe scenario is God's plan for us.
Yes, I am optimistic because I believe that we have the people here in South Africa to overcome these challenges.
Stuart Pennington, author of the book and website "South Africa: The Good News" wrote last week:
"I am in awe of the thousands of South Africans who toil to help the less fortunate."
I would include in that statement honest policemen, hardworking nurses and teachers and all who work in community service projects, including all of you.
Yes, I am optimistic because I refuse to believe that we can continue to be held to ransom by a criminal minority.
Yes, I am optimistic because we are resilient and tough, as a people and a nation.
Yes, I am optimistic because I believe that the challenges ahead are surmountable, as we wage war against poverty and crime and corruption.
Let's look at some of the facts not always highlighted by the media.
As we know, the media often focuses on the bad news because bad news sells.
So, when it comes to the economy, let's remember that economies work in cycles – expansion; higher expenditure, the economy overheats and there is a readjustment (recession) which is normal.
It has happened before in South Africa – and has been worse – and will happen again. In 1989, the SA Government defaulted on its loan payments (i.e. was unable to pay its debts); the stock market crashed and the rand collapsed.
In 1998, interest rates hit 25%.
Are we better off now? – in a lot of ways we are.
1980s – 1% growth
Early 1990s – SA was technically bankrupt – defined as when national debt is more than 3% of GDP – in 1994, it was 9%.
During the Mandela years, we had 2% economic growth
For the last seven years – 5%!
Next year – 4% - despite world wide recession, oil prices, electricity crisis.
JSE – 2001 – 8000 points and everyone was pleased; 2007 – 30 000 points (although it has lost some growth now)
Platinum – up R5000/ounce since January
Here's a thought – with cuts of electricity, less platinum comes out of ground but what's left is not going anywhere and while it stays in the ground, the price goes up!
What else is up?
Business confidence (until January)
Employment is up
Number of houses built – up
Tourists visiting – up
Car sales:
20 000 per month in 2001 – everyone was pleased!
30 000 per month in 2007
Look at our budget, announced by Trevor Manuel on Wednesday. Tax income has gone from R188bn in 2000, to R660bn in 2007!
At the same time, he has cut personal tax and has not borrowed any money. The Americans are so envious of us.
Individual tax cuts - i.e. money given back to tax payers
2006 R12bn given back to individuals
2007 R8.4bn given back to individuals
2008 R7.2bn – in a supposed-to-be recession
This is a major achievement, particularly as in 2000, there was a R25bn deficit on the budget and for the last three years we have not had a deficit on the budget.
Money for housing for the poor has gone up
2000 R9bn
2007 R51bn
And we have built 2.6 million houses since 1996.
Yes, we have challenges:
Eskom is one of them and there is now a 2c levy on every kilowatt hour. But think about this
Electricity was cheap, now we are paying more
We had electricity cuts before. In 1981, there was no power in the whole country for 18 hours
We are not the only country to have power cuts – New York; China – over Chinese New Year this year – 12 million people were left stranded.
There are other challenges
The world oil price has gone from $60 per barrel in 2007 to $90 now and it is not coming down.
We may be heading for a situation like the UK where they pay R15 per litre.
HIV/Aids is another major concern, as we see fit to spend R17bn on the World Cup but less on handling this pandemic.
So what am I saying?
Yes there are concerns and challenges BUT there are also many positives.
There are no easy answers or solutions and 2008 will be tough.
However, we have had it tough before and we handled it and boom years will come again – such as in 2010.
So what do we do?
Emigrate? An option for some I suppose and I am always sad when I hear about people leaving.
But where to? Is it guaranteed that it will be all cherries and rose blossoms on the other side of the fence?
Or do we toughen up, get creative and get active, as the "new" South Africans?
By "getting creative," I mean this – there are massive opportunities here and we will be more aware of issues, especially financially and environmentally.
Two thoughts by way of example:
Next time there is a power cut and you can't read e-mails, play computer games or watch TV – celebrate – you can instead talk to people – your family or colleagues.
With regard to the environment, here is an example of being creative: water availability is always an issue in SA – did you know that the average house has 120 000 litres of water running off its roof every year in the form of rain water?
By "getting active," I mean thinking about what we can do – like Trinity House holding their march on Tuesday; or writing letters; or petitions; or getting involved to help fix it.
Here is an excerpt from "African Wisdom" by Lanette Hattingh and Heinrich Claassen entitled The Ostrich Wisdom: Where is your head?
When confronted with a setback you have two choices of action: you can bury your head in the sand like the ostrich and hope the problem will pass by, or you can stand tall and face the problem head on.
"We have one freedom inside us that nobody can take away, the freedom of reaction/attitude in any given circumstance." (Viktor Frankl, the psychologist & concentration camp survivor.)
Our reaction to a setback will determine if we are going to stay with our heads buried in the sand or look up and do something about it.
When storms of life pour down on you, it's what happens within you that will determine what happens to you.
You have Mr Positive and Mr Negative doing constant battle in your head. Guess who wins? The one you feed the most! If your head is in the sand you can only see the dark and Mr Negative will thrive. To see the light, you must look up.
"When you are knocked down, be sure to land on your back, because if you can look up, you can get up." (Nelson Mandela)
If you are an ostrich and have never faced a setback, you need to learn these facts about solving problems first:
Face it! Confront the problem and get the picture clear.
Rake it! Work through your denial, aggression or depression around the problem.
Make it! Look up, stand up and take action.
This is important because just as the sun hardens mud and softens wax, trials can either break us or make us.
Finally, here is my resolve and my truth:-
To be positive
To stop whingeing
To stop blaming
To ignore the doomsday jokes sent out by people who want you to feel as bad as they do.
To read the Good News website regularly
To join the "stop crime, say hello" campaign
To find goodness in people
To commit, regularly, to this beautiful country of ours
To believe in God's plan for us
I know this – that if I do not work to create the life I want, I will have to endure the life I get.
One final thought:
Matthew Lester writes a column in the Sunday Times Business Times Money. He is Professor of Tax Education at Rhodes University and an advisor to Trevor Manuel.
Yesterday he had this to say:
"South Africa is my life, it always has been and it always will be."
Amen to that.
A Prayer for the Country (taken off the www.sagoodnews.co.za website)
Our Father in Heaven
You know exactly how much we need You right now
Please let the Leaders of our country act under your influence
We ask that You will hold your hand over us and our country
And bring relief from the crime and other difficulties we are experiencing.
We are proud and privileged to live in this beautiful country
Look after us and bring us peace and prosperity.
Credits:
Stuart Pennington: "South Africa: The Good News"
Matthew Lester: talk at Sandton Convention Centre, 21 February 2008
Dr Lanette Hattingh and Heinrich Claasen: "African Wisdom: 21 Inspirational Lessons for excellent living."
By Dave Knowles, Headmaster of St Stithians in Johannesburg
_________________________________________________________________
Ok, so here is the other side .... i like the way this has been put .... i don't agree with ev erything he says, but he says it well.
*sigh*
I should ... add .... something .....
Really, all i have are really bad thoughts lately. Not bad, just not good.
How can i put it, everything seems really ugly around me, in the city, the country, etc. This year is just ... interesting (read nightmare). Not to complain, my family are still good, and i haven't lost my possesions, yet. I can't believe most of the stuff i see every day.
Latest news is some woman was assaulted and arrested for dog poo. Yes, assaulted by a cop, and arrested on many trumped up charges. She had a poobag btw, which had been filled, which was why she couldn't comply immediately. You read this, and wonder, how could this be? People are being arrested for the smallest things lately. Some bikers arrested for crossing the white line. Now i accept that it is an offense, but surely not an arrestable offense?? A fine sure, not arrest, for a day, without water.
This country is going downhill fast, we got increased rates, eskom (the only power utility) demanding a 67% hike in fees, despite having been given several BILLION rands by the government budget. My next fear is my house, prices are dropping, and soon i will owe more than the house is worth, and effectively be trapped.
Its all bout the money .... how does that song go? An yeah, sa is being financially raped. Also emotionally. How long can people survive this seige mentally before the floodgates burst? I know for my own part, stress about these things eats me daily. Why? BECAUSE I CARE. For my family, and my neighbours and my country. It's that care that eats you. So stop caring. No, that doesnt quite work either.
ok i'm dragging .... maoning bitching complaining. Not really ... just letting a little steam vent. That's why i blog.
I know what i need though .... a good pissup.
Really, all i have are really bad thoughts lately. Not bad, just not good.
How can i put it, everything seems really ugly around me, in the city, the country, etc. This year is just ... interesting (read nightmare). Not to complain, my family are still good, and i haven't lost my possesions, yet. I can't believe most of the stuff i see every day.
Latest news is some woman was assaulted and arrested for dog poo. Yes, assaulted by a cop, and arrested on many trumped up charges. She had a poobag btw, which had been filled, which was why she couldn't comply immediately. You read this, and wonder, how could this be? People are being arrested for the smallest things lately. Some bikers arrested for crossing the white line. Now i accept that it is an offense, but surely not an arrestable offense?? A fine sure, not arrest, for a day, without water.
This country is going downhill fast, we got increased rates, eskom (the only power utility) demanding a 67% hike in fees, despite having been given several BILLION rands by the government budget. My next fear is my house, prices are dropping, and soon i will owe more than the house is worth, and effectively be trapped.
Its all bout the money .... how does that song go? An yeah, sa is being financially raped. Also emotionally. How long can people survive this seige mentally before the floodgates burst? I know for my own part, stress about these things eats me daily. Why? BECAUSE I CARE. For my family, and my neighbours and my country. It's that care that eats you. So stop caring. No, that doesnt quite work either.
ok i'm dragging .... maoning bitching complaining. Not really ... just letting a little steam vent. That's why i blog.
I know what i need though .... a good pissup.
Tuesday, 25 March 2008
Attitude
Big word that. Evokes all sorts of associations, usually bad. What is it? Why does it? As per the dictionary:
NOUN:
A position of the body or manner of carrying oneself: stood in a graceful attitude.
A state of mind or a feeling; disposition: had a positive attitude about work.
An arrogant or hostile state of mind or disposition.
The orientation of an aircraft's axes relative to a reference line or plane, such as the horizon.
The orientation of a spacecraft relative to its direction of motion.
A position similar to an arabesque in which a ballet dancer stands on one leg with the other raised either in front or in back and bent at the knee.
OK, so it's about position, and perspective, i think. It's worth noting that even the dictionary has a negative perspective on attitude, arrogant or hostile. But that's neither good not bad attitude, it seems slightly skewed.
Reading "Intrepid commuter" the issue of a biker who crashed came up, and again rider attitude comes up. Every so often, when talking about motorbike riding, the "right" attitude is suggested. What is this?
I have always been perceived as having an attitude problem. My thoughts have been well i have an attitude, no problem. These accusations were always made by people who felt i did not pay them enough respect. Now this fact jumps at me, somehow attitude and respect are related. I did not give respect, hence "bad" attitude. Those things to which i give "good" attitude, are also oddly enough things i respect.
Cold steel
Hard road
The sea
The wind
Lightning
Get my point? Now some people try and get themselves onto that list .... strange. No i won't respect them. They're not worth it.
Now when it comes to good rider / driver attitude, i suspect that respect has a very large part to play. Respect is acknowledging that something is greater than yourself, or, humility. When one climbs into the drivers seat, one needs to know that you are only a small person on a BIG, BAD highway. Failure to do so is deadly. But so many people die every day on the roads, surely this is a factor?
I approach biking and driving the same way, with a truckload of caution. I tell myself very simply, you can get hurt. Assume it, believe it. But then you see some monkey riding past at a crazy speed, wearing NO protective gear, and appearing in total control. He believes he IS in control, and there is the breakdown. He's not.
Acknowledging that you are NOT in control, is a fairly big step. Knowing that you cannot control all the factors involved, be it the road, other drivers, or even mechanics of your vehicle, is a good ATTITUDE to begin with. If you start your vehicle, and blindly accept that:
The mechanics are as perfect as the day it left the factory
The roads are in raceway condition
Every other road user is awake and diligent
Every other road user is going to follow the rules
etc
You will crash. Attitude is about giving yourself the correct perspective. Understanding that you are great enough to maintain your bike, but small enough to have overlooked something. Accepting that you're a really good rider, but small enough to not deal with every single situation you encounter.
Attitude and respect are linked, but very misunderstood. The right attitude inolves having respect, and caution for, things that could hurt you. There are many of those. Reconciling respect for the road, but no respect for other motorists abilities is a bit of a contradiction, a balance that must be kept at all times. It's also flexible, and needs constant adjustment. I guess the bottom line is, understand your place, and on the millions and millions of miles of roadway, it's not a very big place at all.
NOUN:
A position of the body or manner of carrying oneself: stood in a graceful attitude.
A state of mind or a feeling; disposition: had a positive attitude about work.
An arrogant or hostile state of mind or disposition.
The orientation of an aircraft's axes relative to a reference line or plane, such as the horizon.
The orientation of a spacecraft relative to its direction of motion.
A position similar to an arabesque in which a ballet dancer stands on one leg with the other raised either in front or in back and bent at the knee.
OK, so it's about position, and perspective, i think. It's worth noting that even the dictionary has a negative perspective on attitude, arrogant or hostile. But that's neither good not bad attitude, it seems slightly skewed.
Reading "Intrepid commuter" the issue of a biker who crashed came up, and again rider attitude comes up. Every so often, when talking about motorbike riding, the "right" attitude is suggested. What is this?
I have always been perceived as having an attitude problem. My thoughts have been well i have an attitude, no problem. These accusations were always made by people who felt i did not pay them enough respect. Now this fact jumps at me, somehow attitude and respect are related. I did not give respect, hence "bad" attitude. Those things to which i give "good" attitude, are also oddly enough things i respect.
Cold steel
Hard road
The sea
The wind
Lightning
Get my point? Now some people try and get themselves onto that list .... strange. No i won't respect them. They're not worth it.
Now when it comes to good rider / driver attitude, i suspect that respect has a very large part to play. Respect is acknowledging that something is greater than yourself, or, humility. When one climbs into the drivers seat, one needs to know that you are only a small person on a BIG, BAD highway. Failure to do so is deadly. But so many people die every day on the roads, surely this is a factor?
I approach biking and driving the same way, with a truckload of caution. I tell myself very simply, you can get hurt. Assume it, believe it. But then you see some monkey riding past at a crazy speed, wearing NO protective gear, and appearing in total control. He believes he IS in control, and there is the breakdown. He's not.
Acknowledging that you are NOT in control, is a fairly big step. Knowing that you cannot control all the factors involved, be it the road, other drivers, or even mechanics of your vehicle, is a good ATTITUDE to begin with. If you start your vehicle, and blindly accept that:
The mechanics are as perfect as the day it left the factory
The roads are in raceway condition
Every other road user is awake and diligent
Every other road user is going to follow the rules
etc
You will crash. Attitude is about giving yourself the correct perspective. Understanding that you are great enough to maintain your bike, but small enough to have overlooked something. Accepting that you're a really good rider, but small enough to not deal with every single situation you encounter.
Attitude and respect are linked, but very misunderstood. The right attitude inolves having respect, and caution for, things that could hurt you. There are many of those. Reconciling respect for the road, but no respect for other motorists abilities is a bit of a contradiction, a balance that must be kept at all times. It's also flexible, and needs constant adjustment. I guess the bottom line is, understand your place, and on the millions and millions of miles of roadway, it's not a very big place at all.
Sims religion
Belief-o-matic (TM)
Yes people, the device you have al been waiting for is here ... the Belief-o-matic.
Give it 5 minutes of your time and it will tell you your religion ....
Or at least, what your religion SHOULD be ...
Or maybe, what it COULD be ....
Or maybe, nothing worth bothering about at all ...
*grin*
Yes people, the device you have al been waiting for is here ... the Belief-o-matic.
Give it 5 minutes of your time and it will tell you your religion ....
Or at least, what your religion SHOULD be ...
Or maybe, what it COULD be ....
Or maybe, nothing worth bothering about at all ...
*grin*
Thursday, 20 March 2008
.......
I have so much to say, or so many thoughts and opinions shouting for space.
Fuck em all, none really interesting ones anyway ....
Bout the best thing i can say is happy long weekend, may you have many more!!!!
It's a really strong time, i feel it already, please be safe.
Fuck em all, none really interesting ones anyway ....
Bout the best thing i can say is happy long weekend, may you have many more!!!!
It's a really strong time, i feel it already, please be safe.
Wednesday, 19 March 2008
Yes
Malibu wrote:
Humans only really know how to move from pain.... when relatively happy, they are generally unable to manifest the energy to seek total happiness....
The trick in life is to never expect less that absolute joy, and to be prepared to expend energy obtaining this standard.
That is the reason why most people talk of the pain in their lives, and not the joys they are reaching for!
Humans only really know how to move from pain.... when relatively happy, they are generally unable to manifest the energy to seek total happiness....
The trick in life is to never expect less that absolute joy, and to be prepared to expend energy obtaining this standard.
That is the reason why most people talk of the pain in their lives, and not the joys they are reaching for!
Tuesday, 18 March 2008
We just need quality time
March 18 2008 at 10:38AM
Seoul - Residents of a small South Korean island turned on to their wives after turning off their televisions for three weeks in an unusual social experiment, a report said on Tuesday.
All 28 residents of Darang island off the south coast agreed to take part in the experiment by a local educational broadcaster and surveillance cameras were set up in each home to avoid backsliding, Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported.
The islanders, including village leader Choi Dae-Mun, had a tough time at first fighting their viewing habits.
But the vast majority said later that their lives had become much richer, with more time for reading, conversations between spouses and religious activities.
"My eyes used to be glued to the TV but now I look at my wife and find her prettier than before," Choi told Dong-A.
Seoul - Residents of a small South Korean island turned on to their wives after turning off their televisions for three weeks in an unusual social experiment, a report said on Tuesday.
All 28 residents of Darang island off the south coast agreed to take part in the experiment by a local educational broadcaster and surveillance cameras were set up in each home to avoid backsliding, Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported.
The islanders, including village leader Choi Dae-Mun, had a tough time at first fighting their viewing habits.
But the vast majority said later that their lives had become much richer, with more time for reading, conversations between spouses and religious activities.
"My eyes used to be glued to the TV but now I look at my wife and find her prettier than before," Choi told Dong-A.
Suicide bombers
By Robert Fisk
This is the best precis of what is an astounding phenomenon. Robert Fisk is a reporter who has been to hell and back, and continues reporting honest, accurate stories form the "other side".
We in SA have a lot of problems, other places have problems too. Sadly, the core problem is western civilisation, and it's unending hunger for power and raw goods.
The moslem problem however, is an old world mindset, confronted with new world technology and attitudes. There is no alternative. A suicide bomber is the only successful soldier against the COW (Coalition of the Willing), which is still the force responsible for the destruction of Iraq.
This is the best precis of what is an astounding phenomenon. Robert Fisk is a reporter who has been to hell and back, and continues reporting honest, accurate stories form the "other side".
We in SA have a lot of problems, other places have problems too. Sadly, the core problem is western civilisation, and it's unending hunger for power and raw goods.
The moslem problem however, is an old world mindset, confronted with new world technology and attitudes. There is no alternative. A suicide bomber is the only successful soldier against the COW (Coalition of the Willing), which is still the force responsible for the destruction of Iraq.
Monday, 17 March 2008
Don't give me that
Wife watched husband die
17/03/2008 14:01 - (SA)
Thabisile Khoza
Bushbuckridge - An 84-year-old pensioner suffocated when armed robbers sealed his mouth with sticky tape after he and his wife refused to hand over their pension grants.
Joseph Mndawe of Mothibidi village in Bushbuckridge and his 82-year-old wife were asleep when three unknown men broke into their room just before midnight on Thursday.
"The couple had received their pension grant earlier in the day," said Superintendent Abie Khoabane.
The couple refused to hand over their money, so the gunmen sealed Mndawe's mouth with black tape, suffocating him.
They had also tied his hands and legs with the tape.
"His wife was told to lie down facing her husband so that she could watch him die," said Khoabane.
The suspects then fled empty handed.
Police haven't arrested any suspects yet.
_________________________________________________________________
Black victims, over a measly rubbish pension payout. No please take time to think about this. An 84 year old man attacked in his bed by gunmen. His 82 year old wife FORCED to watch him suffocate to death.
What the fuck?
There is a lot of this on white people, including torture. And after the state denials that there is a problem, then there are the:" yes but apartheaid caused this", and miles of other bullshit.
Then you get this story..... God help africa.
17/03/2008 14:01 - (SA)
Thabisile Khoza
Bushbuckridge - An 84-year-old pensioner suffocated when armed robbers sealed his mouth with sticky tape after he and his wife refused to hand over their pension grants.
Joseph Mndawe of Mothibidi village in Bushbuckridge and his 82-year-old wife were asleep when three unknown men broke into their room just before midnight on Thursday.
"The couple had received their pension grant earlier in the day," said Superintendent Abie Khoabane.
The couple refused to hand over their money, so the gunmen sealed Mndawe's mouth with black tape, suffocating him.
They had also tied his hands and legs with the tape.
"His wife was told to lie down facing her husband so that she could watch him die," said Khoabane.
The suspects then fled empty handed.
Police haven't arrested any suspects yet.
_________________________________________________________________
Black victims, over a measly rubbish pension payout. No please take time to think about this. An 84 year old man attacked in his bed by gunmen. His 82 year old wife FORCED to watch him suffocate to death.
What the fuck?
There is a lot of this on white people, including torture. And after the state denials that there is a problem, then there are the:" yes but apartheaid caused this", and miles of other bullshit.
Then you get this story..... God help africa.
Happy Holy Day (s)
20 March 2008
Spring Equinox / Ostara
Heathen Pagan Wiccan
Spring Equinox / Ostara
For Pagans, a time to welcome spring, new birth and new life, and the goddess-as-maiden. Heathens celebrate the end of winter, the arrival of spring, and the Goddess Ostara.
Muslim
Mawlid an-Nabi
Islamic commemoration of the birth and death of Prophet Muhammad. Begins at sunset of the previous day.
FULL MOON
21 MArch 2008
Baha'i
Nau-Roz (Naw-Ruz)
Observance of the vernal equinox symbolizing spiritual growth and renewal.
Zoroastrian
Norooz
"The New Day"; New Year celebration regarded as the most important day of the year. Customs include wearing new clothes, giving gifts, and settling disputes.
Buddhist
Magha Puja Day / Sangha Day
Celebration of the presentation of teachings by Lord Buddha.
Jewish
Purim
Celebrates the rescue of Jews in ancient Persia. Begins at sundown the previous day.
Christian
Good Friday
Commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus at Calvary.
_________________________________________________________________
We as humans have avery busy weekend it seems. Every major faith is having a bash on thursday/ friday. This, combined with a full moon, is going to have a serious effect on the planet, from an energy point of view.
I am not planning on leaving my house, will stay home, clean, nurture and enjoy family time. But really, this is a really rare event, one that happens very seldom, and actually has the possibility of much joy. Imagine the entire planet being religiously ecstatic on the same day ... interesting thought.
For chistians it's not a happy time, remembering the death of Christ. 12-3 is considered a holy time, and is best met with quiet reverence.
For pagans, a very powerful time, a changing of the seasons. The full moon helps too.
I notice that 20th is the birthday of mohammed, but no-one knows his exact birthdate, kinda like chistmas huh.
This i think, will be a week to look out for. It's pissing with rain all over SA, so calmer and more peaceful than usual. Look out for great things.
Spring Equinox / Ostara
Heathen Pagan Wiccan
Spring Equinox / Ostara
For Pagans, a time to welcome spring, new birth and new life, and the goddess-as-maiden. Heathens celebrate the end of winter, the arrival of spring, and the Goddess Ostara.
Muslim
Mawlid an-Nabi
Islamic commemoration of the birth and death of Prophet Muhammad. Begins at sunset of the previous day.
FULL MOON
21 MArch 2008
Baha'i
Nau-Roz (Naw-Ruz)
Observance of the vernal equinox symbolizing spiritual growth and renewal.
Zoroastrian
Norooz
"The New Day"; New Year celebration regarded as the most important day of the year. Customs include wearing new clothes, giving gifts, and settling disputes.
Buddhist
Magha Puja Day / Sangha Day
Celebration of the presentation of teachings by Lord Buddha.
Jewish
Purim
Celebrates the rescue of Jews in ancient Persia. Begins at sundown the previous day.
Christian
Good Friday
Commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus at Calvary.
_________________________________________________________________
We as humans have avery busy weekend it seems. Every major faith is having a bash on thursday/ friday. This, combined with a full moon, is going to have a serious effect on the planet, from an energy point of view.
I am not planning on leaving my house, will stay home, clean, nurture and enjoy family time. But really, this is a really rare event, one that happens very seldom, and actually has the possibility of much joy. Imagine the entire planet being religiously ecstatic on the same day ... interesting thought.
For chistians it's not a happy time, remembering the death of Christ. 12-3 is considered a holy time, and is best met with quiet reverence.
For pagans, a very powerful time, a changing of the seasons. The full moon helps too.
I notice that 20th is the birthday of mohammed, but no-one knows his exact birthdate, kinda like chistmas huh.
This i think, will be a week to look out for. It's pissing with rain all over SA, so calmer and more peaceful than usual. Look out for great things.
You may be a terrorist if ....
1. You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to beer
2. You own a $3,000 machine gun and $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can't afford shoes.
3. You have more wives than teeth.
4. You wipe your butt with your bare left hand, but consider bacon "unclean."
5. You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.
6. You can't think of anyone you HAVEN'T declared Jihad against.
7. You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry explosives in your clothing.
8. You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs.
9. You've uttered the phrase, "I love what you've done with your cave."
10. You have nothing against women and think every man should own at least two.
11. You bathe at least monthly whether necessary or not.
12. You've ever had a crush on your neighbor's goat.
__________________________________________________________________
Ok, that's funny right there!!!
2. You own a $3,000 machine gun and $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can't afford shoes.
3. You have more wives than teeth.
4. You wipe your butt with your bare left hand, but consider bacon "unclean."
5. You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.
6. You can't think of anyone you HAVEN'T declared Jihad against.
7. You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry explosives in your clothing.
8. You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs.
9. You've uttered the phrase, "I love what you've done with your cave."
10. You have nothing against women and think every man should own at least two.
11. You bathe at least monthly whether necessary or not.
12. You've ever had a crush on your neighbor's goat.
__________________________________________________________________
Ok, that's funny right there!!!
Friday, 14 March 2008
Schools
I had a bad day yesterday, and it was the schools fault.
Started with us being ambiushed by 4 teachers telling us how bad outr daughter is doing, fair enough. But in and amongst allegations, one stupid fat stupid woman tells us our daughter did not take her project in. Well, she had the project at school, for the second day, and the teacher did not accept them. Last time that happened the other kids broke her project, and she got bad marks.
Another allegation: she does not partake in group work. Now my daughter is a social animal entirely, so that doesn't make sense. She says when she tries to help or contribute, then she gets told to shut up, and is ignored and rebuffed by the group.
It was also pointed out that she does not socialise with the other kids in class. Again, it's suspicious becae of her nature. But, and this HAS to be said, she's the only white girl in her class, don't pretend that's not a factor.
So anyway, problems. Wife sat up last night catching up homework. Plus we have other emotional type stuff that needs adressing. Trns out her "life highlights" are marked off by people that have died, grandparents etc ... I don't know. We dealt with it at the time, explained it, made sure she knew they were in heaven, and so on. ARGH!
Anyways, so she's sitting at the table doing homework, i call my son over and ask him how he's doing. He starts crying. Turns out he's being bullied by a knife carrying elder kid in school. I have to listen to my kid tell me how when he's woith friends, he never sees this guy, as soon as he's alone this guy appears with a knife demanding money.
I am shattered. Justic has wings, and teeth. And i shall be the messenger.
Started with us being ambiushed by 4 teachers telling us how bad outr daughter is doing, fair enough. But in and amongst allegations, one stupid fat stupid woman tells us our daughter did not take her project in. Well, she had the project at school, for the second day, and the teacher did not accept them. Last time that happened the other kids broke her project, and she got bad marks.
Another allegation: she does not partake in group work. Now my daughter is a social animal entirely, so that doesn't make sense. She says when she tries to help or contribute, then she gets told to shut up, and is ignored and rebuffed by the group.
It was also pointed out that she does not socialise with the other kids in class. Again, it's suspicious becae of her nature. But, and this HAS to be said, she's the only white girl in her class, don't pretend that's not a factor.
So anyway, problems. Wife sat up last night catching up homework. Plus we have other emotional type stuff that needs adressing. Trns out her "life highlights" are marked off by people that have died, grandparents etc ... I don't know. We dealt with it at the time, explained it, made sure she knew they were in heaven, and so on. ARGH!
Anyways, so she's sitting at the table doing homework, i call my son over and ask him how he's doing. He starts crying. Turns out he's being bullied by a knife carrying elder kid in school. I have to listen to my kid tell me how when he's woith friends, he never sees this guy, as soon as he's alone this guy appears with a knife demanding money.
I am shattered. Justic has wings, and teeth. And i shall be the messenger.
Thursday, 13 March 2008
Universal truths
1. Triangular sandwiches taste better than square ones.
2. At the end of every party there is always a girl crying.
3. One of the most awkward things that can happen in a pub is when your pint-to-toilet cycle gets synchronised with a complete stranger.
4. You're never quite sure whether it's ok to eat green crisps.
5. Everyone who grew up in the 80's has entered the digits 55378008 into a calculator
6. Reading when you're drunk is horrible.
7. Sharpening a pencil with a knife makes you feel really manly.
8. You're never quite sure whether it's against the law or not to have a
fire in your back garden.
10. Nobody ever dares make cup-a-soup in a bowl.
11. You never know where to look when eating a banana.
12. It's impossible to describe the smell of a wet cat.
13. Prodding a fire with a stick makes you feel manly.
14. Rummaging in an overgrown garden will always turn up a bouncy ball.
15. You always feel a bit scared when stroking horses.
16. Everyone always remembers the day a dog ran into your school.
17. The most embarrassing thing you can do as a schoolchild is to call your teacher mum or dad.
18. The smaller the monkey the more it looks like it would kill you at the first given opportunity.
19. Some days you see lots of people on crutches.
20. Every bloke has at some stage while taking a pee, flushed half way through and then raced against the flush.
21. Old women with mobile phones look wrong.
22. It's impossible to look cool whilst picking up a Frisbee.
23. Driving through a tunnel makes you feel excited.
24. You never ever run out of salt.
25. Old ladies can eat more than you think.
26. You can't respect a man who carries a dog.
27. There's no panic like the panic you momentarily feel when you've got your hand or head stuck in something.
28. No one knows the origins of their metal coat hangers.
29. Despite constant warning, you have never met anybody who has had their arm broken by a swan.
30. The most painful household incident is wearing socks and stepping on an upturned plug.
31. People who don't drive slam car doors too hard.
32. You've turned into your dad the day you put aside a thin piece of wood specifically to stir paint with.
33. Everyone had an uncle who tried to steal their nose.
34. Bricks are horrible to carry.
35. In every plate of chips there is a bad chip.
36. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
37. My Dad used to say 'always fight fire with fire', which is probably why he got thrown out of the fire brigade.
38. If we aren't supposed to eat animals, then why are they made out of meat?
39. I think animal testing is a terrible idea; they get all nervous and give the wrong answers.
40. You know that look women get when they want sex? Me neither
_______________________________________________________________________
Ok, so i copy - pasted. But hey, these are good, i resonate with about everyone of these .... and no, you may not ask.
2. At the end of every party there is always a girl crying.
3. One of the most awkward things that can happen in a pub is when your pint-to-toilet cycle gets synchronised with a complete stranger.
4. You're never quite sure whether it's ok to eat green crisps.
5. Everyone who grew up in the 80's has entered the digits 55378008 into a calculator
6. Reading when you're drunk is horrible.
7. Sharpening a pencil with a knife makes you feel really manly.
8. You're never quite sure whether it's against the law or not to have a
fire in your back garden.
10. Nobody ever dares make cup-a-soup in a bowl.
11. You never know where to look when eating a banana.
12. It's impossible to describe the smell of a wet cat.
13. Prodding a fire with a stick makes you feel manly.
14. Rummaging in an overgrown garden will always turn up a bouncy ball.
15. You always feel a bit scared when stroking horses.
16. Everyone always remembers the day a dog ran into your school.
17. The most embarrassing thing you can do as a schoolchild is to call your teacher mum or dad.
18. The smaller the monkey the more it looks like it would kill you at the first given opportunity.
19. Some days you see lots of people on crutches.
20. Every bloke has at some stage while taking a pee, flushed half way through and then raced against the flush.
21. Old women with mobile phones look wrong.
22. It's impossible to look cool whilst picking up a Frisbee.
23. Driving through a tunnel makes you feel excited.
24. You never ever run out of salt.
25. Old ladies can eat more than you think.
26. You can't respect a man who carries a dog.
27. There's no panic like the panic you momentarily feel when you've got your hand or head stuck in something.
28. No one knows the origins of their metal coat hangers.
29. Despite constant warning, you have never met anybody who has had their arm broken by a swan.
30. The most painful household incident is wearing socks and stepping on an upturned plug.
31. People who don't drive slam car doors too hard.
32. You've turned into your dad the day you put aside a thin piece of wood specifically to stir paint with.
33. Everyone had an uncle who tried to steal their nose.
34. Bricks are horrible to carry.
35. In every plate of chips there is a bad chip.
36. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
37. My Dad used to say 'always fight fire with fire', which is probably why he got thrown out of the fire brigade.
38. If we aren't supposed to eat animals, then why are they made out of meat?
39. I think animal testing is a terrible idea; they get all nervous and give the wrong answers.
40. You know that look women get when they want sex? Me neither
_______________________________________________________________________
Ok, so i copy - pasted. But hey, these are good, i resonate with about everyone of these .... and no, you may not ask.
Wednesday, 12 March 2008
Blogging community
http://sabloggers.ning.com/
A lady by the name of "Expensive mistakes and cheap thrills" (i SO dig the ideas the name espouses) is busy getting south african bloggers together under a social networking site.
Some interesting sites, and perspectives. I already have found a lady in our office that has a blog, but i'm keeping it secret, for now *evil grin*.
When i see some easily copyable code, i'll drop in a button somewhere. But i like the idea. Too much fragments us in our daily lives, and community has become outdated, and largely impractical. The cyber world allows us to get back to community, sharing both your own life and learning about others.
In Think Bike, we are seeing the real world pay offs for this. This morning, a bike on the side of the road, it was Enduro, whose clutch had packed up. She has been railing for a while how people don't stop for broken vehicles, but the think bike people do. You cannot drive past a person you know, especially a lady on the side of the road.
This is all good, people recognising other people, as simple as it sounds, we've been so deadened to other people, seeing one as another human being is actually it's own sort of miracle. OHowever like most other things, practice makes perfect.
A lady by the name of "Expensive mistakes and cheap thrills" (i SO dig the ideas the name espouses) is busy getting south african bloggers together under a social networking site.
Some interesting sites, and perspectives. I already have found a lady in our office that has a blog, but i'm keeping it secret, for now *evil grin*.
When i see some easily copyable code, i'll drop in a button somewhere. But i like the idea. Too much fragments us in our daily lives, and community has become outdated, and largely impractical. The cyber world allows us to get back to community, sharing both your own life and learning about others.
In Think Bike, we are seeing the real world pay offs for this. This morning, a bike on the side of the road, it was Enduro, whose clutch had packed up. She has been railing for a while how people don't stop for broken vehicles, but the think bike people do. You cannot drive past a person you know, especially a lady on the side of the road.
This is all good, people recognising other people, as simple as it sounds, we've been so deadened to other people, seeing one as another human being is actually it's own sort of miracle. OHowever like most other things, practice makes perfect.
Tuesday, 11 March 2008
Bucket list
Granny fulfils wish to ride a Harley
March 10 2008 at 03:12PM By Barry Bateman
The distinct roar of a Harley Davidson has brought tears to the eyes of many a brute, but for a dying grandmother the sound evoked emotion only a terminally ill cancer patient would understand.
Kitty de la Ponte (73) cried as the white Heritage Softail pulled into the Methodist Retirement Village in Queenswood on Friday morning.
Her dream to hit the open road on a hog was about to come true.
'I stopped the treatment because I want to live a full life for as long as God allows'
"I had to ride on a Harley Davidson, no other type of motorbike … and it has to be revved."
Her friends cheered as she donned the black leather jacket and helmet, knowing this was another tick on her "bucket list".
Inspired by the movie of the same name, De la Ponte has compiled a wish-list before she "kicks the bucket". In the movie, the story follows two terminally ill men on a road trip with a list of things they wish to do before they die.
De la Ponte was diagnosed with lung cancer in June and spent six months undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
"I stopped the treatment because I want to live a full life for as long as God allows," she said.
She also plans to go on a 4x4 adventure in the Gamkaskloof near Oudtshoorn
Daughter-in-law Annette said De la Ponte had accepted her fate.
"There is a stage when the cost of treatment is too high on the body."
De la Ponte said: "I had breast cancer 14 years ago and have had 14 wonderful years since then.
"I have watched my beautiful children grow up and seen my grandchildren grow up too."
De la Ponte said she had several other outings on her bucket list she still needed to complete.
She also plans to go on a 4x4 adventure in the Gamkaskloof near Oudtshoorn and a visit to the Kruger National Park.
"I also want to go on a holiday to my favourite destination, Cinsta, near East London."
De la Ponte has done hot-air ballooning and climbed Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia three years ago.
She said she wanted to take part in the 800km el Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain, but in her current state it would be impossible.
"A friend's daughter leaves for the Camino soon.
"I have given her a small stone with a red cross painted on it, which she will place on an altar where people who walk the el Camino de Santiago pilgrimage can lay stones for other people."
The bike's owner Annelie Gründlingh said she obliged when asked if she could help. "It costs me nothing but it means so much to her."
De la Ponte came back from the ride smiling broadly.
"It was a dream of an experience - the wind on my face, the speed and 'woema'.
"I will remember this white horse (Harley Davidson) for the rest of my life. If I remember anything (before I die), this will be the best."
March 10 2008 at 03:12PM By Barry Bateman
The distinct roar of a Harley Davidson has brought tears to the eyes of many a brute, but for a dying grandmother the sound evoked emotion only a terminally ill cancer patient would understand.
Kitty de la Ponte (73) cried as the white Heritage Softail pulled into the Methodist Retirement Village in Queenswood on Friday morning.
Her dream to hit the open road on a hog was about to come true.
'I stopped the treatment because I want to live a full life for as long as God allows'
"I had to ride on a Harley Davidson, no other type of motorbike … and it has to be revved."
Her friends cheered as she donned the black leather jacket and helmet, knowing this was another tick on her "bucket list".
Inspired by the movie of the same name, De la Ponte has compiled a wish-list before she "kicks the bucket". In the movie, the story follows two terminally ill men on a road trip with a list of things they wish to do before they die.
De la Ponte was diagnosed with lung cancer in June and spent six months undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
"I stopped the treatment because I want to live a full life for as long as God allows," she said.
She also plans to go on a 4x4 adventure in the Gamkaskloof near Oudtshoorn
Daughter-in-law Annette said De la Ponte had accepted her fate.
"There is a stage when the cost of treatment is too high on the body."
De la Ponte said: "I had breast cancer 14 years ago and have had 14 wonderful years since then.
"I have watched my beautiful children grow up and seen my grandchildren grow up too."
De la Ponte said she had several other outings on her bucket list she still needed to complete.
She also plans to go on a 4x4 adventure in the Gamkaskloof near Oudtshoorn and a visit to the Kruger National Park.
"I also want to go on a holiday to my favourite destination, Cinsta, near East London."
De la Ponte has done hot-air ballooning and climbed Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia three years ago.
She said she wanted to take part in the 800km el Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain, but in her current state it would be impossible.
"A friend's daughter leaves for the Camino soon.
"I have given her a small stone with a red cross painted on it, which she will place on an altar where people who walk the el Camino de Santiago pilgrimage can lay stones for other people."
The bike's owner Annelie Gründlingh said she obliged when asked if she could help. "It costs me nothing but it means so much to her."
De la Ponte came back from the ride smiling broadly.
"It was a dream of an experience - the wind on my face, the speed and 'woema'.
"I will remember this white horse (Harley Davidson) for the rest of my life. If I remember anything (before I die), this will be the best."
Monday, 10 March 2008
Pulp Fiction
 You talk fast, you think fast, you act fast. Stop. Calm Down. Drink some decaf and go back to hitting up liquor stores. Take the What Pulp Fiction Character Are You? quiz. |
Friday, 7 March 2008
Ingrish
Let's face it -- English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend, that you comb through annals of history but not a single annal? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preacher praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? If you wrote a letter, perhaps you bote your tongue?
Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another.
Have you noticed that we talk about certain things only when they are absent? Have you ever seen a horseful carriage or a strapful gown? Met a sung hero or experienced requited love? Have you ever run into someone who was combobulated, gruntled, ruly or peccable? And where are all those people who ARE spring chickens or who would ACTUALLY hurt a fly?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm clock goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn't a race at all). That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it.
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices?
Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend, that you comb through annals of history but not a single annal? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preacher praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? If you wrote a letter, perhaps you bote your tongue?
Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another.
Have you noticed that we talk about certain things only when they are absent? Have you ever seen a horseful carriage or a strapful gown? Met a sung hero or experienced requited love? Have you ever run into someone who was combobulated, gruntled, ruly or peccable? And where are all those people who ARE spring chickens or who would ACTUALLY hurt a fly?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm clock goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race (which, of course, isn't a race at all). That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it.
Disease
I fell prey to a vicious little flu germ. Been man down for a week now. Thank goodness back at work, and feeling rested ... for a change.
Missed posting, or rather things to post about, so i'll need to find something groovy to look at :D
Missed posting, or rather things to post about, so i'll need to find something groovy to look at :D
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
Ode to a Buccaneer
DRIES VAN DER WALT
Upon the sands, a pirate’s ship
lies smashed against a rock.
The crew, with sadness in their eyes,
are reeling still with shock.
The helmsman’s hand will no more guide
through ev’ry storm his ship.
His voice is still, his place unfilled,
he’s made the final trip
Oh silv’ry ship, oh pirate’s mount,
your greatest task you’ve failed:
to guard your captain, brave and true,
with whom we all have sailed
But high above this sorry scene
a sight fills me with cheer –
with guiding hand that points the way
I see the Buccaneer.
“… ride the twisties wherever you are my friend and have a Red Heart for me…”
I have been asked to write a eulogy for Buccaneer. I have never written a eulogy and never thought that I would ever have to write something like this for a friend… So I won’t, because I cannot say “goodbye” to Bucc. I will rather say “until later my friend, until we meet again”.
This is just a few words of how I remember Buccaneer…
Those fortunate enough to have met Bucc will know what an amazing kind soul he was. The big guy was a gentle giant with a passive nature and knew how to calm my anger when I saw red. He was logical and straightforward in his approach to things, always willing to give advice, did it with a smile and never asked for anything in return. There were no taboo subjects for him… I could discuss anything with him.
Most of the people around me now that I call friends are due to his influence. He managed to bring so many good people together through the “reincarnation” of Think Bike in South Africa and for that I am grateful. He made the Think Bike campaign come alive virtually overnight through his perseverance and dedication… and he did make a difference. We will never know how many lives the campaign may have saved through the exposure and awareness that it has created for motorcyclists…
But he united us with a common goal that we will endeavour to continue. The seed has been sown by Bucc… I hope he can watch it grow wherever he is right now…
His wit and humour I miss immensely, as it always put a smile on my face. Watching him roll up his cigarette and having a sip of his rum-and-Coke after a day of riding in the mountains is how I will always remember him.
The past week has been tough emotionally for me and every time I take strain, I swear I can hear him say: “Cat, stop being a pussy!” like he used say to me…
Bucc, you have left us, but your spirit continues to live amongst us and we will never forget you!
Watch over those of us who have been left behind… One day we will ride together again.
Later dude,
DaCat
PAUL FELIX
Buccaneer
Brian Cannoo
1962/01/06 — 2008/02/18
In honour of this great man we will be doing a mass ride in his memory
Sunday 2 March 2008
Meeting at 7:00
BJ’s Restaurant, N1-northbound, Midrand
Departing at 8:00
End venue: Zwartkops Raceway
This run will start at BJ’s Midrand, head north on N1 and then turn left towards Roodepoort / Krugersdorp on the N14. From there we will take the R55 to Zwartkops Raceway.
All chapters and biking families are asked to meet at BJ’s.
Cruising speed will be set at 80km/h. Please respect this pace – for the sake of the
run and the intention of the mass ride.
All bikers are invited to join this memorial run – to show our numbers and also to
raise awareness on the roads.
The last salute will be lead by Blackie Swart and will work as follows:
• Once the mass ride has reached the end venue (Zwartkops
Raceway), the bike engines will be kept running.
• Blackie Swart will raise his arm so everyone can see it. While his arm is in the air, the mass ride will give a last and final salute by revving their bikes. When Blackie drops his arm, all engines will be killed immediately, followed by a minute of silence for our fallen friend.
• After the minute of silence, we will proceed into the venue
Special requests
On the road
We have reached an agreement with Metro – who will be fully supportive of the
mass ride – on the following
• ONLY street legal bikes will be allowed. All bikes should have legal
number plates
• NO quads, off-road bikes or pocket bikes will be allowed
• JMPD will supply cars and possibly bikes to escort us to the end of their
jurisdiction
• JMPD have also agreed that there will be no cost to Think Bike for their
services
• The marshals that use TB plates must carry their legal plates with them,
no exceptions will be made and no excuses will be accepted
• Cars taking part in the run must be at the back of the pack and not between the bikes. Again, no exceptions
At the end venue
• No bikes will be permitted on the track
• No burnouts or doughnuts will be permitted
• There will be a cash bar as well as food court. No tabs!
• If anyone is able to assist and be designated sobers with trailers, please
bring trailers along to assist people who are not capable of riding home.
For the family
• Think Bike kindly requests that, in stead of sending flowers to the Cannoo family, to please rather consider donating money to ease their financial burden until the estate pays out.
• Scattering of ashes will be a private gathering for family and close
friends at a different date and venue. Please respect the family and friends.
Please join us for this ride and celebration of a great man and all that he has
accomplished and the legacy he has left behind.
LONG LIVE THE BUCCANEER!
Upon the sands, a pirate’s ship
lies smashed against a rock.
The crew, with sadness in their eyes,
are reeling still with shock.
The helmsman’s hand will no more guide
through ev’ry storm his ship.
His voice is still, his place unfilled,
he’s made the final trip
Oh silv’ry ship, oh pirate’s mount,
your greatest task you’ve failed:
to guard your captain, brave and true,
with whom we all have sailed
But high above this sorry scene
a sight fills me with cheer –
with guiding hand that points the way
I see the Buccaneer.
“… ride the twisties wherever you are my friend and have a Red Heart for me…”
I have been asked to write a eulogy for Buccaneer. I have never written a eulogy and never thought that I would ever have to write something like this for a friend… So I won’t, because I cannot say “goodbye” to Bucc. I will rather say “until later my friend, until we meet again”.
This is just a few words of how I remember Buccaneer…
Those fortunate enough to have met Bucc will know what an amazing kind soul he was. The big guy was a gentle giant with a passive nature and knew how to calm my anger when I saw red. He was logical and straightforward in his approach to things, always willing to give advice, did it with a smile and never asked for anything in return. There were no taboo subjects for him… I could discuss anything with him.
Most of the people around me now that I call friends are due to his influence. He managed to bring so many good people together through the “reincarnation” of Think Bike in South Africa and for that I am grateful. He made the Think Bike campaign come alive virtually overnight through his perseverance and dedication… and he did make a difference. We will never know how many lives the campaign may have saved through the exposure and awareness that it has created for motorcyclists…
But he united us with a common goal that we will endeavour to continue. The seed has been sown by Bucc… I hope he can watch it grow wherever he is right now…
His wit and humour I miss immensely, as it always put a smile on my face. Watching him roll up his cigarette and having a sip of his rum-and-Coke after a day of riding in the mountains is how I will always remember him.
The past week has been tough emotionally for me and every time I take strain, I swear I can hear him say: “Cat, stop being a pussy!” like he used say to me…
Bucc, you have left us, but your spirit continues to live amongst us and we will never forget you!
Watch over those of us who have been left behind… One day we will ride together again.
Later dude,
DaCat
PAUL FELIX
Buccaneer
Brian Cannoo
1962/01/06 — 2008/02/18
In honour of this great man we will be doing a mass ride in his memory
Sunday 2 March 2008
Meeting at 7:00
BJ’s Restaurant, N1-northbound, Midrand
Departing at 8:00
End venue: Zwartkops Raceway
This run will start at BJ’s Midrand, head north on N1 and then turn left towards Roodepoort / Krugersdorp on the N14. From there we will take the R55 to Zwartkops Raceway.
All chapters and biking families are asked to meet at BJ’s.
Cruising speed will be set at 80km/h. Please respect this pace – for the sake of the
run and the intention of the mass ride.
All bikers are invited to join this memorial run – to show our numbers and also to
raise awareness on the roads.
The last salute will be lead by Blackie Swart and will work as follows:
• Once the mass ride has reached the end venue (Zwartkops
Raceway), the bike engines will be kept running.
• Blackie Swart will raise his arm so everyone can see it. While his arm is in the air, the mass ride will give a last and final salute by revving their bikes. When Blackie drops his arm, all engines will be killed immediately, followed by a minute of silence for our fallen friend.
• After the minute of silence, we will proceed into the venue
Special requests
On the road
We have reached an agreement with Metro – who will be fully supportive of the
mass ride – on the following
• ONLY street legal bikes will be allowed. All bikes should have legal
number plates
• NO quads, off-road bikes or pocket bikes will be allowed
• JMPD will supply cars and possibly bikes to escort us to the end of their
jurisdiction
• JMPD have also agreed that there will be no cost to Think Bike for their
services
• The marshals that use TB plates must carry their legal plates with them,
no exceptions will be made and no excuses will be accepted
• Cars taking part in the run must be at the back of the pack and not between the bikes. Again, no exceptions
At the end venue
• No bikes will be permitted on the track
• No burnouts or doughnuts will be permitted
• There will be a cash bar as well as food court. No tabs!
• If anyone is able to assist and be designated sobers with trailers, please
bring trailers along to assist people who are not capable of riding home.
For the family
• Think Bike kindly requests that, in stead of sending flowers to the Cannoo family, to please rather consider donating money to ease their financial burden until the estate pays out.
• Scattering of ashes will be a private gathering for family and close
friends at a different date and venue. Please respect the family and friends.
Please join us for this ride and celebration of a great man and all that he has
accomplished and the legacy he has left behind.
LONG LIVE THE BUCCANEER!
The right to self defense
A gun by any other name...
Gill Gifford
February 26 2008 at 03:10PM
A notice for public comment in this month's Government Gazette proposes that virtually any article regarded as a potential weapon be outlawed.
The notice prohibits people from carrying a "dangerous weapon" in public or a place to which the public has access, as well as the carrying of a replica of a firearm at a gathering or demonstration or political rally or meeting or polling station during an election.
"Objects which are in the opinion of the (Safety and Security) Minister (Charles Nqakula) dangerous weapons" are defined in the document and include BB and airsoft guns, bows and arrows, spear guns, blow pipes and darts, sling shots, swords, etc.
Read the full story in the print edition of The Star on Wednesday (February 27, 2008).
Gill Gifford
February 26 2008 at 03:10PM
A notice for public comment in this month's Government Gazette proposes that virtually any article regarded as a potential weapon be outlawed.
The notice prohibits people from carrying a "dangerous weapon" in public or a place to which the public has access, as well as the carrying of a replica of a firearm at a gathering or demonstration or political rally or meeting or polling station during an election.
"Objects which are in the opinion of the (Safety and Security) Minister (Charles Nqakula) dangerous weapons" are defined in the document and include BB and airsoft guns, bows and arrows, spear guns, blow pipes and darts, sling shots, swords, etc.
Read the full story in the print edition of The Star on Wednesday (February 27, 2008).
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Monday, 25 February 2008
Brian Cannoo Memorial Run (The Buccaneer)
Date : 2 March
Departure Time : 8:00 am
Start Venue : BJ's Restaurant, Northbound, Midrand.
End Venue : Zwartkops Race Track.
We have permission, but only from BJ's to Zwartkops.
All bikers are invited to join this memorial run, to show our numbers
and also to raise awareness on the roads.
There will be food and drink available at Zwartkops.
A traditional LAST SALUTE will be held at the track.
ONLY street legal bikes, this includes bikes to have legal plates.
NO QUADS or off road bikes or pocket bikes.
JMPD will supply cars and possibly bikes and will escort us to the end of their jurisdiction.
They have also agreed that there will be no cost to Think Bike for their services.
The marshals that use TB plates must carry their legal plates with them
no excuses.
Cars must be at the back of the pack, not interspersed with the bikes.
No excuses.
We thank JMPD for their involvment and common cause.
_______________________________________________________________
Think Bike may thank metro, but i don't.
Departure Time : 8:00 am
Start Venue : BJ's Restaurant, Northbound, Midrand.
End Venue : Zwartkops Race Track.
We have permission, but only from BJ's to Zwartkops.
All bikers are invited to join this memorial run, to show our numbers
and also to raise awareness on the roads.
There will be food and drink available at Zwartkops.
A traditional LAST SALUTE will be held at the track.
ONLY street legal bikes, this includes bikes to have legal plates.
NO QUADS or off road bikes or pocket bikes.
JMPD will supply cars and possibly bikes and will escort us to the end of their jurisdiction.
They have also agreed that there will be no cost to Think Bike for their services.
The marshals that use TB plates must carry their legal plates with them
no excuses.
Cars must be at the back of the pack, not interspersed with the bikes.
No excuses.
We thank JMPD for their involvment and common cause.
_______________________________________________________________
Think Bike may thank metro, but i don't.
TV Licenses
IOL story
"The team can overlay the TV licence database over the suburb/area map and establish exactly which households have TV licences and which don't. They will then also know which households to visit - it's indicated on the map with specific codes.
They are coming for us. I have neither TV nor license ... but i will get a knock on my door soon, almost guarenteed. The little man will want to search my house, look in every cupboard, under every table, behind every curtain.
Something that i must make clear. The TV license has become a really big issue here, something like an extra tax. Old people with nothing more than a TV for company are harrased and bullied into paying this R250 per year fee. This despite the SABC being the state broadcaster, with state funds, and massive advertising revenue.
Probably the biggest reason i got tired of tv was the constant bullshit of advertising. Buy this, want that, get this free. Fuck them. I will not allow them to control my thinking. It was when the kids started singing adverts to me, i think i decided.
TV to us has become you-tube downloads, a miriad of short video clips, from bikes to comedy and other interesting things. Half an hour to an hour, maybe once a week. That plus the occasional kids video, and i love my nature videos too (for the kids).
My gran wants to give us her tv, since she no longer uses it. She believes it will help the kids. I respectfully disagree, and refuse to accept this gift. I feel bad, because i have nothing but love and respect fotr my granny, then i read this and think, a lifetime membership for rubbish implants in my children's brain?
They must come.
"The team can overlay the TV licence database over the suburb/area map and establish exactly which households have TV licences and which don't. They will then also know which households to visit - it's indicated on the map with specific codes.
They are coming for us. I have neither TV nor license ... but i will get a knock on my door soon, almost guarenteed. The little man will want to search my house, look in every cupboard, under every table, behind every curtain.
Something that i must make clear. The TV license has become a really big issue here, something like an extra tax. Old people with nothing more than a TV for company are harrased and bullied into paying this R250 per year fee. This despite the SABC being the state broadcaster, with state funds, and massive advertising revenue.
Probably the biggest reason i got tired of tv was the constant bullshit of advertising. Buy this, want that, get this free. Fuck them. I will not allow them to control my thinking. It was when the kids started singing adverts to me, i think i decided.
TV to us has become you-tube downloads, a miriad of short video clips, from bikes to comedy and other interesting things. Half an hour to an hour, maybe once a week. That plus the occasional kids video, and i love my nature videos too (for the kids).
My gran wants to give us her tv, since she no longer uses it. She believes it will help the kids. I respectfully disagree, and refuse to accept this gift. I feel bad, because i have nothing but love and respect fotr my granny, then i read this and think, a lifetime membership for rubbish implants in my children's brain?
They must come.
It'got FUCKALL to do with colour
Is black SA turning old friends into foes?
February 22 2008 at 03:29PM
By Pius Adesarmi
The letters came within two days of each other. The first was an invitation from Professor Georges Harault, director of the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS). Three years after my last visit to South Africa to assess the perception of Francophone African literatures in universities, IFAS was again inviting me as visiting scholar.
The second was from Chris Dunton, the chairperson of the English Department of the National University of Lesotho at Roma. Like Harault, Dunton was inviting me to Lesotho as visiting scholar.
I arranged a few other engagements and braced up for a very engaging psychic reconnection with the African continent.
'Ah, the good old days of apartheid!'
I needed the return to Africa badly. I had been away from the continent for an uncomfortable stretch, carrying out my scholarly labour in the minefield of North American academe, writing Africa "from a rift", as Achille Mbembe would put it. I also needed a reprieve from the oppression of the North American media image of Africa.
The African living here is in constant danger of accepting whatever image of Africa he or she is presented by the media as gospel truth.
In North America, I have been consistently assailed, assaulted, and oppressed with images of Africa traceable to the colonial library: Africa-as-Aids, Africa-as-hunger, Africa-as-civil war, Africa-as-corruption, Africa-as-the-antithesis-of-democracy, Africa-as-everything-we-are-glad-not-to-be.
You get tired of the ritual of explaining to charmingly ignorant interlocutors that there is a fundamental distinction between the Africa they see on CNN and the real Africa.
I also wanted a break from Occidentalism. Fernando Coronil, the scholar who coined this term, uses the concept to account for those discursive, usually innocuous processes through which the West turns difference into hierarchy and reproduces existing asymmetrical power relations. Occidentalism covers all the mundane quotidian events through which the West constantly reminds the immigrant of his otherness, strangeness, and difference.
'Truth is our right, Jah is our might, we must free South Africa'
Departure date finally came around. "Be careful. Urban violence is rife in South Africa," the Nigerian friends who drove me to the airport warned. I shrugged and dismissed their anxiety. There may be violence in South Africa; I certainly was not going to be scared of returning to Africa. I wasn't going to be afraid of black people in Africa.
I arrived in Johannesburg on a cold July morning. A delighted Harault was on hand at the airport to welcome me. We drove straight to the offices of IFAS located in downtown Johannesburg.
Later I announced to Harault that I was going to take a stroll. I was eager to get a feel of the same streets I had seen three years earlier.
Harault's countenance changed. "Be careful. Don't go out there with your wallet. You could get mugged." I assured Harault I would be all right but took the precaution of leaving my valuables in his office.
I started my walk on the busy Bree Street. For someone who had walked the same street three years earlier, I could not help but observe the heavy black presence. Like the Hillbrow area, blacks have taken over downtown Johannesburg.
The official principle of separate development through which racial segregation was enforced under apart-heid seems to have been replaced by what one may call an unofficial principle of voluntary separation.
While separate development instituted an order in which blacks had to move out whenever whites moved in, as was the case in Sophiatown, voluntary separation now induces whites to move out quietly whenever and wherever blacks move in.
In office complexes and shopping malls, one does not fail to notice the ubiquitous "To Let" signs, evidence of white retreat to "safe" areas of the city like Rosebank or back "home" to Britain, Holland, Canada and Australia.
I was about to cross a busy intersection when a street sign told me I was on Fox Street. Fox street! I had heard a lot of terrifying things about that street since my last trip to South Africa. It is said to be one of the most violent streets in Johannesburg. One could get mugged or killed for as little as R100. I looked around me anxiously.
I was surrounded by a sea of inscrutable black faces. I touched my forehead and found out, much to my irritation, that I was perspiring profusely. It was winter in South Africa! And to my utter embarrassment, I discovered that I relaxed and felt safer each time white faces appeared in the crowd. Here was I, a black man, looking anxiously for white faces to feel safe from black violence in an African city!
I reluctantly came to the realisation that I was far more affected by the oppression of the image of "black violence" in South Africa than I had been willing to admit.
The image of the post-apartheid black condition in South Africa always have two constantly-repeated, over-sensationalised buzzwords: mugging, robbery.
That image had quietly slipped into my subconscious and was responsible for my feeling so uneasy amidst my own kind in a busy street in Johannesburg. I hurried back to IFAS.
On hearing that I had arrived in Johannesburg, Professor Harry Garuba came from his base at the University of Cape Town to spend a weekend with me. After a joyful reunion we hit town.
Harry wanted to see downtown Johannesburg. He also needed to go to the Consulate-General of Nigeria in Rosebank.
As we meandered our way through the ever busy Bree Street, Harry could not help observing how filthy downtown Johannesburg had become.
I had made the same disturbing observation myself the day I arrived, but had been reluctant to accept the disturbing fact that decay of public infrastructure seems to be the story in areas of the city inhabited by blacks.
Predominantly black areas have become an eyesore. The beautiful lawns and flowerbeds I noticed in some areas three years earlier now tell sad stories of degradation.
Some of them have become open-air urinals. Harry and I were worried. We tried to place ourselves in the shoes of white South Africans discussing the now filthy streets of Hillbrow and downtown Johannesburg: "Ah, the good old days of apartheid!"
When Harry concluded his business at the Nigerian consulate, we took a bus and headed back to Hrault's residence.
I still don't know what it was about us that gave us away as foreigners but the other passengers, all blacks, lapsed into an uneasy silence as soon as we entered. I looked at the faces around us and thought I saw hostility.
The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Harry confirmed my worst fears when we left the bus. I had just experienced, firsthand, South African xenophobia and I was to experience it again and again throughout my three-month sojourn in that country.
Harry explained to me with the coolness of someone used to it that the black South African passengers on the bus had identified us as makwerekwere, hence the naked hostility.
Makwerekwere is the derogatory term used by black South Africans to describe non-South African blacks. It reminds one of how the ancient Greeks referred to foreigners whose language they did not understand as the Barbaroi.
To the black South African, makwerekwere refers to black immigrants from the rest of Africa, especially Nigerians. I was confounded by the fact that black South Africa had begun to manufacture its own k*****s so soon after apartheid.
As I later discovered after a series of encounters, black South Africans have found an easy explanation for the myriad problems of poverty, housing, transportation, unemployment, crime, violence, decay of public and social infrastructure.
"Ah, the makwerekwere! These Nigerians are all criminals! When they are not busy trafficking drugs, they are taking over our jobs, our houses and, worse, our women.
"All foreigners must leave this country!" What Salman Rushdie refers to as a "demonising process" of the Other is at work here and the consequences are predictably disastrous.
There is so much anger and frustration among the Nigerians I met in South Africa. Most of them have become paranoid, living permanently in fear.
In a discussion with some Nigerian medical doctors in Pretoria, I observed that their anger is directed more at black South African leaders.
"Imagine these South Africans treating us like this. They think apartheid came to an end because they fought in Sharpeville and Soweto. It means Mandela never told them the truth. Mbeki never told them the truth."
The doctors were referring to Nigeria's heavy moral, political, and financial investment in the anti-apartheid struggle.
Nigeria's financial and political commitment to that cause was total and unflinching. In the 1970s and 1980s, the South African freedom struggle was completely woven into Nigeria's national imagery, so much so that a Nigerian leader, Olusegun Obasanjo, suggested we mobilised "African juju" and other maraboutic forces of African sorcery to attack PW Botha and free our black brothers in South Africa. And he wasn't joking.
Every Nigerian musician, from reggae singers to fuji musicians in the Yoruba tradition, waxed radical anti-apartheid lyrics to energise the 1970s to 1980s. "Who owns the land, who owns the land?
"We want to know who owns Papa's land," crooned Sonny Okosuns. Majek Fashek, the reggae man replied: "Now, now, now, Margaret Thatcher, free Mandela!" Victor Eshiet of The Mandators screamed: "Truth is our right, Jah is our might, we must free South Africa."
Everywhere you turned in the Nigeria of those heady decades, freedom for black South Africans was the dominant national agenda.
Black South Africans, including President Thabo Mbeki, found warmth, hospitality, and friendship during their years of exile in Nigeria. Many black South Africans attended Nigerian universities on Nigerian scholarships.
When it became clear that South African whites, like their European and American kinsmen, were determined to make peaceful change impossible and make violent change inevitable, Nigerians donated money to the armed struggle.
Personally, I recall donating money during special anti-apartheid fundraisers as a high school student in Nigeria.
view of this, the Nigerians I met in South Africa had only two words to describe the attitude of black South Africans to them: collective amnesia.
Prejudice has been the force majeure of so much of human history. Our pantheon of small-minded hate is formidable: Christian prejudice manufactured the unbeliever; Islamic prejudice manufactured the infidel; heterosexual prejudice manufactured the faggot; patriarchal prejudice manufactured the hysteric; European prejudice Truth is our right, Jah is our might, we must free South Africa manufactured the native; American prejudice manufactured the n****r; German prejudice manufactured the Jew; Israeli prejudice manufactured the Araboushim; Afrikaner prejudice manufactured the k****r.
Not to be outdone, black South Africa has manufactured the ma-kwerekwere as her unique post-apartheid contribution to this gory pantheon.
The joy of your instant-mix coffee or your instant-mix powdered milk is the considerable labour and hassle it saves you.
Just pour water, add sugar to taste, and your drink is ready. The makwere-kwere is black South Africa's instant-mix k****r, very easily produced with minimum labour.
Pius Adesanmi is Associate Professor of English and director, Project on New African Literatures (www.projectponal.com) at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
This article was originally published on page 15 of Cape Argus on February 22, 2008
February 22 2008 at 03:29PM
By Pius Adesarmi
The letters came within two days of each other. The first was an invitation from Professor Georges Harault, director of the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS). Three years after my last visit to South Africa to assess the perception of Francophone African literatures in universities, IFAS was again inviting me as visiting scholar.
The second was from Chris Dunton, the chairperson of the English Department of the National University of Lesotho at Roma. Like Harault, Dunton was inviting me to Lesotho as visiting scholar.
I arranged a few other engagements and braced up for a very engaging psychic reconnection with the African continent.
'Ah, the good old days of apartheid!'
I needed the return to Africa badly. I had been away from the continent for an uncomfortable stretch, carrying out my scholarly labour in the minefield of North American academe, writing Africa "from a rift", as Achille Mbembe would put it. I also needed a reprieve from the oppression of the North American media image of Africa.
The African living here is in constant danger of accepting whatever image of Africa he or she is presented by the media as gospel truth.
In North America, I have been consistently assailed, assaulted, and oppressed with images of Africa traceable to the colonial library: Africa-as-Aids, Africa-as-hunger, Africa-as-civil war, Africa-as-corruption, Africa-as-the-antithesis-of-democracy, Africa-as-everything-we-are-glad-not-to-be.
You get tired of the ritual of explaining to charmingly ignorant interlocutors that there is a fundamental distinction between the Africa they see on CNN and the real Africa.
I also wanted a break from Occidentalism. Fernando Coronil, the scholar who coined this term, uses the concept to account for those discursive, usually innocuous processes through which the West turns difference into hierarchy and reproduces existing asymmetrical power relations. Occidentalism covers all the mundane quotidian events through which the West constantly reminds the immigrant of his otherness, strangeness, and difference.
'Truth is our right, Jah is our might, we must free South Africa'
Departure date finally came around. "Be careful. Urban violence is rife in South Africa," the Nigerian friends who drove me to the airport warned. I shrugged and dismissed their anxiety. There may be violence in South Africa; I certainly was not going to be scared of returning to Africa. I wasn't going to be afraid of black people in Africa.
I arrived in Johannesburg on a cold July morning. A delighted Harault was on hand at the airport to welcome me. We drove straight to the offices of IFAS located in downtown Johannesburg.
Later I announced to Harault that I was going to take a stroll. I was eager to get a feel of the same streets I had seen three years earlier.
Harault's countenance changed. "Be careful. Don't go out there with your wallet. You could get mugged." I assured Harault I would be all right but took the precaution of leaving my valuables in his office.
I started my walk on the busy Bree Street. For someone who had walked the same street three years earlier, I could not help but observe the heavy black presence. Like the Hillbrow area, blacks have taken over downtown Johannesburg.
The official principle of separate development through which racial segregation was enforced under apart-heid seems to have been replaced by what one may call an unofficial principle of voluntary separation.
While separate development instituted an order in which blacks had to move out whenever whites moved in, as was the case in Sophiatown, voluntary separation now induces whites to move out quietly whenever and wherever blacks move in.
In office complexes and shopping malls, one does not fail to notice the ubiquitous "To Let" signs, evidence of white retreat to "safe" areas of the city like Rosebank or back "home" to Britain, Holland, Canada and Australia.
I was about to cross a busy intersection when a street sign told me I was on Fox Street. Fox street! I had heard a lot of terrifying things about that street since my last trip to South Africa. It is said to be one of the most violent streets in Johannesburg. One could get mugged or killed for as little as R100. I looked around me anxiously.
I was surrounded by a sea of inscrutable black faces. I touched my forehead and found out, much to my irritation, that I was perspiring profusely. It was winter in South Africa! And to my utter embarrassment, I discovered that I relaxed and felt safer each time white faces appeared in the crowd. Here was I, a black man, looking anxiously for white faces to feel safe from black violence in an African city!
I reluctantly came to the realisation that I was far more affected by the oppression of the image of "black violence" in South Africa than I had been willing to admit.
The image of the post-apartheid black condition in South Africa always have two constantly-repeated, over-sensationalised buzzwords: mugging, robbery.
That image had quietly slipped into my subconscious and was responsible for my feeling so uneasy amidst my own kind in a busy street in Johannesburg. I hurried back to IFAS.
On hearing that I had arrived in Johannesburg, Professor Harry Garuba came from his base at the University of Cape Town to spend a weekend with me. After a joyful reunion we hit town.
Harry wanted to see downtown Johannesburg. He also needed to go to the Consulate-General of Nigeria in Rosebank.
As we meandered our way through the ever busy Bree Street, Harry could not help observing how filthy downtown Johannesburg had become.
I had made the same disturbing observation myself the day I arrived, but had been reluctant to accept the disturbing fact that decay of public infrastructure seems to be the story in areas of the city inhabited by blacks.
Predominantly black areas have become an eyesore. The beautiful lawns and flowerbeds I noticed in some areas three years earlier now tell sad stories of degradation.
Some of them have become open-air urinals. Harry and I were worried. We tried to place ourselves in the shoes of white South Africans discussing the now filthy streets of Hillbrow and downtown Johannesburg: "Ah, the good old days of apartheid!"
When Harry concluded his business at the Nigerian consulate, we took a bus and headed back to Hrault's residence.
I still don't know what it was about us that gave us away as foreigners but the other passengers, all blacks, lapsed into an uneasy silence as soon as we entered. I looked at the faces around us and thought I saw hostility.
The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Harry confirmed my worst fears when we left the bus. I had just experienced, firsthand, South African xenophobia and I was to experience it again and again throughout my three-month sojourn in that country.
Harry explained to me with the coolness of someone used to it that the black South African passengers on the bus had identified us as makwerekwere, hence the naked hostility.
Makwerekwere is the derogatory term used by black South Africans to describe non-South African blacks. It reminds one of how the ancient Greeks referred to foreigners whose language they did not understand as the Barbaroi.
To the black South African, makwerekwere refers to black immigrants from the rest of Africa, especially Nigerians. I was confounded by the fact that black South Africa had begun to manufacture its own k*****s so soon after apartheid.
As I later discovered after a series of encounters, black South Africans have found an easy explanation for the myriad problems of poverty, housing, transportation, unemployment, crime, violence, decay of public and social infrastructure.
"Ah, the makwerekwere! These Nigerians are all criminals! When they are not busy trafficking drugs, they are taking over our jobs, our houses and, worse, our women.
"All foreigners must leave this country!" What Salman Rushdie refers to as a "demonising process" of the Other is at work here and the consequences are predictably disastrous.
There is so much anger and frustration among the Nigerians I met in South Africa. Most of them have become paranoid, living permanently in fear.
In a discussion with some Nigerian medical doctors in Pretoria, I observed that their anger is directed more at black South African leaders.
"Imagine these South Africans treating us like this. They think apartheid came to an end because they fought in Sharpeville and Soweto. It means Mandela never told them the truth. Mbeki never told them the truth."
The doctors were referring to Nigeria's heavy moral, political, and financial investment in the anti-apartheid struggle.
Nigeria's financial and political commitment to that cause was total and unflinching. In the 1970s and 1980s, the South African freedom struggle was completely woven into Nigeria's national imagery, so much so that a Nigerian leader, Olusegun Obasanjo, suggested we mobilised "African juju" and other maraboutic forces of African sorcery to attack PW Botha and free our black brothers in South Africa. And he wasn't joking.
Every Nigerian musician, from reggae singers to fuji musicians in the Yoruba tradition, waxed radical anti-apartheid lyrics to energise the 1970s to 1980s. "Who owns the land, who owns the land?
"We want to know who owns Papa's land," crooned Sonny Okosuns. Majek Fashek, the reggae man replied: "Now, now, now, Margaret Thatcher, free Mandela!" Victor Eshiet of The Mandators screamed: "Truth is our right, Jah is our might, we must free South Africa."
Everywhere you turned in the Nigeria of those heady decades, freedom for black South Africans was the dominant national agenda.
Black South Africans, including President Thabo Mbeki, found warmth, hospitality, and friendship during their years of exile in Nigeria. Many black South Africans attended Nigerian universities on Nigerian scholarships.
When it became clear that South African whites, like their European and American kinsmen, were determined to make peaceful change impossible and make violent change inevitable, Nigerians donated money to the armed struggle.
Personally, I recall donating money during special anti-apartheid fundraisers as a high school student in Nigeria.
view of this, the Nigerians I met in South Africa had only two words to describe the attitude of black South Africans to them: collective amnesia.
Prejudice has been the force majeure of so much of human history. Our pantheon of small-minded hate is formidable: Christian prejudice manufactured the unbeliever; Islamic prejudice manufactured the infidel; heterosexual prejudice manufactured the faggot; patriarchal prejudice manufactured the hysteric; European prejudice Truth is our right, Jah is our might, we must free South Africa manufactured the native; American prejudice manufactured the n****r; German prejudice manufactured the Jew; Israeli prejudice manufactured the Araboushim; Afrikaner prejudice manufactured the k****r.
Not to be outdone, black South Africa has manufactured the ma-kwerekwere as her unique post-apartheid contribution to this gory pantheon.
The joy of your instant-mix coffee or your instant-mix powdered milk is the considerable labour and hassle it saves you.
Just pour water, add sugar to taste, and your drink is ready. The makwere-kwere is black South Africa's instant-mix k****r, very easily produced with minimum labour.
Pius Adesanmi is Associate Professor of English and director, Project on New African Literatures (www.projectponal.com) at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
This article was originally published on page 15 of Cape Argus on February 22, 2008
Friday, 22 February 2008
Sea Fever
I MUST go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
The Poet Laureate Sir John Masefield
___________________________________________________________________
This poem should best be read aloud. If you go to the link, the next poem is cargoes. I memorized it at school, and have never regretted it. Something so poignant about what we value.
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
The Poet Laureate Sir John Masefield
___________________________________________________________________
This poem should best be read aloud. If you go to the link, the next poem is cargoes. I memorized it at school, and have never regretted it. Something so poignant about what we value.
Thursday, 21 February 2008
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