There’s blood on South Africa’s streets. Plenty of that red, human fluid.
The local Automobile Association has announced that based on its accident statistics for 2009 going for a drive in South Africa is a deadly business. The chances of being involved in a car accident seem to be 1 in 101. “Astonishing” the AA stated. It added that getting into your car and hitting the roads remains one of the most dangerous activities in South Africa.
Kick that. So a daily activity for many people there ends up being playing Russian roulette. Check your life insurance before putting the key in the starter lock. So no fun rides on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Unless you got suicidal tendencies of course.
It seems that those chances to get involved in an accident are in other countries around 1 in 5000.
During December last year 1050 people died on South Africa’s roads. That’s nearly 39 lives lost on the roads every day. And we are talking road accidents here, not the already insanely high crime rates in South Africa.
So 1 person killed on the road nearly every 1 hour and 30 minutes. Of the 1050 that didn’t make it into 2010, 276 were drivers, 419 were passengers, and 355 were pedestrians.
A festive season of blood and carnage. Business of death is booming in South Africa.
Human behaviour is deadly.
From killing streets to noisy sex. No real link, unless a South African driver (or passenger, or both) died during a sexual act while driving. Or maybe some had sex on the road, as pedestrians, and got run over. Deadly orgasm.
Anyway. A British woman had to appear in court because of noisy pollution during sex. Yes indeed. Pleaure decibels. Judge Beatrice Bolton in Newcastle threatened to jail sexual screamer Caroline Cartwright for 8 weeks if she doesn’t stop with her disturbing noisy sex acts.
Jealous neighbours? Jealous Judge? The case speaks of “serious noise pollution”. And it seems Caroline is not a novice at breaking the wall of sound during sexual pleasure. Another judge some time ago had warned her already to turn the volume down. But Caroline just keeps screaming of pleasure. More and more. Louder and louder.
Caroline told Judge Bolton she is really trying to change her sexual timetable and go for it at times the neighbours are not asleep. And she also promised to really try her best to reduce her joyfull sex screams. Maybe soundproofing the house might be an option.
Human behaviour in times of highs can be a loud affair. The pleasure dome.
Car bombs in Kabul. Suicide bombers in Baghdad. Religious onslaught in northern Nigeria. Politics of hate and politics of death seem to be the order of the day. Civilisation doesn’t seem a forward process.
Ethiopian Airlines crash near Lebanon with no survivors. And ongoing suffering in Haiti. It’s a large pool of human misery and suffering out there.
Better to have loud sex then...
Back to South Africa. Unclear how it exactly happened but a man was trying to steal diesel from a tanker and was electrocuted. RIP. Stealing is bad for your health. Last breath was diesel fume. And then something sparked and that was that. Knocking on heaven’s door. Think before you steal.
Better to have loud sex then...
As the circle is round, we started in South Africa and end in South Africa. The South African government is very edgy about the country’s image as next June the world cup soccer / football will kick off. And that’s a big show piece during which the world’s spotlights are set on Africa’s richest nation.
So negative news is not welcome. To say the least. Hated would be a better word. So this week several officials loudly and openly and directly attacked German, Dutch and British media for negative reporting on the country, and they also attacked some German football officials for raising the crime fear of many foreigners when they are about to hit South African soil. And obviously statistics speak for themselves.
An average of around 18000 reported (!!) murders per year. Ina country of about 48 million citizens. 71000 Reported cases of sexual assault. Yes indeed!! And we could go on and on, but it’s depressing reading. So obviously some overseas people will raise certain issues. Rightly so. It doesn’t mean South Africa cannot hold a great world cup, but it comes with certain risks for visitors.
There is day to day crime is everywhere, but is without doubt more brutal in South Africa than in most nations on planet earth.
But then as the already-edgy government gets more nervous by the day as kick-off approaches, the wife of the State Security Minister is arrested for drug trafficking. How about that for a public relations disaster?!
Anyway.
Human behaviour is a never ending source of madness, frustrations, and surprises. That you gotta admit!
Throw out. Discovered Arms Aloft from Wisconsin, USA. In 2008 (or was it last year??) the band released their debut 4 track “Comfort at any cost”. Good stuff. An upbeat cocktail of punkrock and rock’n’roll. But the rock part sticks out and the vocals are nicely raw. Dig it!
C-Ya
collateral – January 2010 is about to go into the dustbin of history in a few days. Archived forever.
Hands off my chocolate
Bombs are falling in Yemen. Not a US and/or NATO invasion (not yet maybe). Before the Nigerian madman tried to blow up the transatlantic flight before landing in Detroit, Yemen was reasonably passive about the Al Queda presence on its soil.
It was pretty busy fighting secession rebels in the south to worry too much about Bin Laden fans in the northern hills. But the Nigerian madman has changed this. The phone communication between Washington Dc and Sana’a must have seriously increased after the failed xmas terror attack. And US and UK ambassadors in Yemen must have been active knocking on the doors of local powermen, especially after perceived threats on their embassies in Sana’a. So the pressure increased and increased. And now the Yemeni military and intelligence and special forces and undercover agents are all pretty busy re-focusing. A public relations effort was needed because Yemen was sliding into the dark corner of failed states with terror bases. And the PR campaign is happening. It’s coming from the sky with a blast. Only the near future will tell if it will have any success and if the government’s efforts will be sustained or is just a temporarily show of acceptance for the US and UK pressure calls.
Sad thing for Sana’a is the tragic Haiti earthquake. It has thrown Yemen’s anti terror offensive totally of the international radar. And that is absolutely not what the powers that be in Yemen wanted. They wanted full attention and spotlights on them. Tell that to the suffering Haitians. Without a doubt they also wanted to keep the spotlights on Yemen.
Nobody’s happy now.
The tragedy in Haiti is indescribable. There are in fact no words to describe the level of suffering and the never ending rollercoaster of bad luck. There can be plenty said about foreign diplomacy in Haiti’s past, and probably also enough for a weeklong debate on the pace (or lack of it) of the international rescue and aid efforts. And certainly questions could be raised about the seemingly sometimes strange US priorities to let military planes land before aid planes. But that’s not at the heart of this now and would be another slap in the face to Haiti’s suffering. Let us hope, more importantly, that the world keeps Haiti on their priority list. Because after the rescue teams have left and the dead buried in mass graves and the international media count their in-the-red-budgets and left the islands, that is when Haiti needs help. Sustained help. Rebuilding a nation from scratch is the challenge for the coming years. And there is always the fear that when the spotlights turn away from Haiti the donors and politicians and Hollywood billionaires will also start to forget about the Haitians.
Let’s hope human behaviour will rise to the challenge.
In the northern mountains of Yemen the explosions follow airforce jets dropping their load. In Afghanistan’s capital the explosions follow madmen blowing themselves up in hotels and shopping malls. The Taliban have clearly shown, some days ago, that they can strike in the heart of Kabul when they want and how they want. Multiple attacks in a few moments time.
The Afghani quagmire remains a sad story. A complex affair and rollercoaster of pain, suffering and political disasters. A weak government that came to power after a failed democratic process. A culture of deep rooted corruption. A US and NATO intervention that just wants to exit as soon as possible. A growing cocaine yield. A rejuvenated Taliban. Volatile border region with shaky Pakistan. A rejuvenated Al Queda presence in Pakistan’s Swat valley. It is difficult to see any light at the end of the tunnel for now. And on the other side of Afghanistan lies Iran. A country still ruled by a nuke-freak who let his thugs-on-motorbikes lose on democratic protestors. A ruler who uses state machinery to silence critical voices and opponents, be it by shutting down internet sites or by political show trials. Another dark tunnel.
Human behaviour remains darkened.
Anyway. The golfer with the permanent hard-on is seeking sex addiction therapy apparently. Tiger Woods seems to take his infidelity rollercoaster into the doctor’s room for now. But be sure, he is plotting his return to the greens for sure. A comeback is always good for extra publicity. People love comebacks.
And in South Africa the vice president walks into a classroom and tells the tailing media that students need to focus on learning (right on!) and that classes should not be interrupted by anybody. He said inside a classroom during school hours. Get that! How to shoot yourself in the foot there and then.
And there are elections in Iraq next month. That’s where the Haiti-media-cavalry will move to soon.
And another mass shooting in the US this week. In Virginia. 8 Killed, if not mistaken. Very sad. But gun control remains a don’t-go-there subject for many Americans. Crazy. That delirious dream of personal freedom.
And Asia just seems so quiet. Probably soon another very deadly mine disaster in China. It’s kind of regular business there. Protection of the workforce is not high on the agenda for the commies there it seems. Which should theoretically be the opposite. But that’s theory.
And the UK is up in arms that US company Kraft is about to buy British chocolate maker Cadburys. Interesting how the propagandists of free trade and open markets retreat to a bunker mentality when one of their historic trademarks is about to be bought and sold. Something pretty normal in a free trade and free investment area I would think. It’s food fascism. Hands of our chocolate.
Human behaviour is sometimes a sweet affair.
Throw out. Somebody recently mentioned the US band Heartsounds to me. So I did a search and found it/them. And listened to their debut album “Until we surrender”. It was released last year. It’s not bad (after a first listen). Melodic punkrock with male and female vocalists nicely harmonized throughout the 12 track album.
C-Ya
collateral – January 2010 moves on
It was pretty busy fighting secession rebels in the south to worry too much about Bin Laden fans in the northern hills. But the Nigerian madman has changed this. The phone communication between Washington Dc and Sana’a must have seriously increased after the failed xmas terror attack. And US and UK ambassadors in Yemen must have been active knocking on the doors of local powermen, especially after perceived threats on their embassies in Sana’a. So the pressure increased and increased. And now the Yemeni military and intelligence and special forces and undercover agents are all pretty busy re-focusing. A public relations effort was needed because Yemen was sliding into the dark corner of failed states with terror bases. And the PR campaign is happening. It’s coming from the sky with a blast. Only the near future will tell if it will have any success and if the government’s efforts will be sustained or is just a temporarily show of acceptance for the US and UK pressure calls.
Sad thing for Sana’a is the tragic Haiti earthquake. It has thrown Yemen’s anti terror offensive totally of the international radar. And that is absolutely not what the powers that be in Yemen wanted. They wanted full attention and spotlights on them. Tell that to the suffering Haitians. Without a doubt they also wanted to keep the spotlights on Yemen.
Nobody’s happy now.
The tragedy in Haiti is indescribable. There are in fact no words to describe the level of suffering and the never ending rollercoaster of bad luck. There can be plenty said about foreign diplomacy in Haiti’s past, and probably also enough for a weeklong debate on the pace (or lack of it) of the international rescue and aid efforts. And certainly questions could be raised about the seemingly sometimes strange US priorities to let military planes land before aid planes. But that’s not at the heart of this now and would be another slap in the face to Haiti’s suffering. Let us hope, more importantly, that the world keeps Haiti on their priority list. Because after the rescue teams have left and the dead buried in mass graves and the international media count their in-the-red-budgets and left the islands, that is when Haiti needs help. Sustained help. Rebuilding a nation from scratch is the challenge for the coming years. And there is always the fear that when the spotlights turn away from Haiti the donors and politicians and Hollywood billionaires will also start to forget about the Haitians.
Let’s hope human behaviour will rise to the challenge.
In the northern mountains of Yemen the explosions follow airforce jets dropping their load. In Afghanistan’s capital the explosions follow madmen blowing themselves up in hotels and shopping malls. The Taliban have clearly shown, some days ago, that they can strike in the heart of Kabul when they want and how they want. Multiple attacks in a few moments time.
The Afghani quagmire remains a sad story. A complex affair and rollercoaster of pain, suffering and political disasters. A weak government that came to power after a failed democratic process. A culture of deep rooted corruption. A US and NATO intervention that just wants to exit as soon as possible. A growing cocaine yield. A rejuvenated Taliban. Volatile border region with shaky Pakistan. A rejuvenated Al Queda presence in Pakistan’s Swat valley. It is difficult to see any light at the end of the tunnel for now. And on the other side of Afghanistan lies Iran. A country still ruled by a nuke-freak who let his thugs-on-motorbikes lose on democratic protestors. A ruler who uses state machinery to silence critical voices and opponents, be it by shutting down internet sites or by political show trials. Another dark tunnel.
Human behaviour remains darkened.
Anyway. The golfer with the permanent hard-on is seeking sex addiction therapy apparently. Tiger Woods seems to take his infidelity rollercoaster into the doctor’s room for now. But be sure, he is plotting his return to the greens for sure. A comeback is always good for extra publicity. People love comebacks.
And in South Africa the vice president walks into a classroom and tells the tailing media that students need to focus on learning (right on!) and that classes should not be interrupted by anybody. He said inside a classroom during school hours. Get that! How to shoot yourself in the foot there and then.
And there are elections in Iraq next month. That’s where the Haiti-media-cavalry will move to soon.
And another mass shooting in the US this week. In Virginia. 8 Killed, if not mistaken. Very sad. But gun control remains a don’t-go-there subject for many Americans. Crazy. That delirious dream of personal freedom.
And Asia just seems so quiet. Probably soon another very deadly mine disaster in China. It’s kind of regular business there. Protection of the workforce is not high on the agenda for the commies there it seems. Which should theoretically be the opposite. But that’s theory.
And the UK is up in arms that US company Kraft is about to buy British chocolate maker Cadburys. Interesting how the propagandists of free trade and open markets retreat to a bunker mentality when one of their historic trademarks is about to be bought and sold. Something pretty normal in a free trade and free investment area I would think. It’s food fascism. Hands of our chocolate.
Human behaviour is sometimes a sweet affair.
Throw out. Somebody recently mentioned the US band Heartsounds to me. So I did a search and found it/them. And listened to their debut album “Until we surrender”. It was released last year. It’s not bad (after a first listen). Melodic punkrock with male and female vocalists nicely harmonized throughout the 12 track album.
C-Ya
collateral – January 2010 moves on
Google's freedom
The world remains an unfair place. The earthquake that has thrown impoverished Haiti back to the stone-age is cruel. The images hitting TV screens around the world are devastating. Is this nature’s Copenhagen revenge?
Poor Haiti has been hit by every natural disaster possible over the last decade. Floods, tornados, earthquakes. And often in repetition. A rollercoaster of death and destruction. And on top of that a sequel of corrupt governments, wasted aid funds, civil war, UN peacekeepers, exiled dictators. It’s a brutal series. Partly nature’s fault, partly human fault.
And then, as it goes, US president Obama gives a press conference to announce what giant US will do to help tiny neighbour Haiti. But then at the end Obama utters, out of tradition, “may God bless Haiti”. It’s very risky territory, but if indeed one asks God to bless Haiti and its people after the deadly devastation, then one should wonder too why God let this earthquake kill thousands in the first place. Food for religious thought. It’s not meant to be a blasphemed question. Just food for thought.
Anyway. Ousted Haitian president and priest Bertrand Aristide, living in exile in South Africa, issued a statement that his thoughts are with his fellow citizens. Wondering if he wouldn’t use the funds he ‘collected’ during his presidency to help the wounded and homeless back home.
Talk is cheap.
Nature remains a powerful force and human behaviour a witness.
Good news for once too. Well good in reaction to bad. Internet giant Google might pull out of China because the communists seem to block its search engine when users look for human rights related subjects. Censorship of the purest kind. Recently China hosted the Olympic Games and many politicians around the world then proudly and loudly announced this would open up this one-party state and bring freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Well here’s the proof. A kick in the face of all these nice statements and a slap in the face of those nice Olympic principles.
Google’s threats must be applauded as it is very very very rare that big business takes human rights over profit opportunities. What is a bit worrying but not surprising is the silence of the US leadership (on all fronts and all parties). I thought democracy and freedom of speech (and thus freedom of Google-search) was high on the US foreign policy list. But then again China is just too big too handle and too important to criticise. Same goes for the Olympic barons in their HQ in Switzerland (or wherever they spend their millions). Silence on all fronts. Hypocrites! If Iran or Zimbabwe would block certain Google searches the White House and the State Department would compete to be first on air to condemn in the strongest terms these anti democratic actions. And the former Bush cronies would demand a bombing campaign right away. The UN Security Council might even be pushed to issue another meaningless resolution.
Human behaviour and the flexibility of principles. Call it the rape of principles.
And once again to Somalia. It’s just an ongoing source of news and madness. Religious police (yes they have that there) has arrested several men for shaving their beards. Religious fashion fascism.
The Islamist group al-Shabab which controls the vast majority of this lawless sandpit jailed a dozen of beardless men in the southern port city of Kismayo. Being male and having no beard is violating a local decree issued by al-Shabab. As simple as that. The “units in charge of enforcing good religious practice” (as per a local cop) arrested these men after their shaving deed. No shaving cream nor Gillette razors in Somalia. Banned.
Religious freaks amidst a starving and destroyed nation. Sad. Very sad.
Human behaviour sometimes needs to be incarcerated in an asylum. For life.
So Alaska’s extremist Sarah Palin is now a co-presenter on America’s KKK-channel Fox. It fits. Home to roost. Maybe she can explain her fantastic parenthood style (oh yes, that’s called family values in conservative circles) which lead her teenage daughter t get pregnant. Or her vision that every disagreement in the world can be solved by bombing the hell out of everybody.
We knew that Fox had a rightwing tendency; and that’s its right obviously; but my making a regular platform for the witch from Alaska, Fox has just turned the fascist corner. It’s like being on the edge of the right turn and then going further off-road. Anyway, freedom of speech is also freedom of madness and ridiculousness. Nutters also have the right to vomit.
Human behaviour is sometimes just plain fun to watch. As long as it doesn’t blow up the planet.
Throw out. Discovered Brooklyn (NY) rockers The Reveling. Great 4–track ep called “3D radio”. Gruffy vocals over rougher Gaslight Anthem styled tunes. Great discovery. More please! Oh yeah, and the drummer of these Brooklyn-boys is the son of Springsteen’s E-Street’s drummer. A rocking family.
C-Ya
collateral – January 2010 has started with a scary shake
Poor Haiti has been hit by every natural disaster possible over the last decade. Floods, tornados, earthquakes. And often in repetition. A rollercoaster of death and destruction. And on top of that a sequel of corrupt governments, wasted aid funds, civil war, UN peacekeepers, exiled dictators. It’s a brutal series. Partly nature’s fault, partly human fault.
And then, as it goes, US president Obama gives a press conference to announce what giant US will do to help tiny neighbour Haiti. But then at the end Obama utters, out of tradition, “may God bless Haiti”. It’s very risky territory, but if indeed one asks God to bless Haiti and its people after the deadly devastation, then one should wonder too why God let this earthquake kill thousands in the first place. Food for religious thought. It’s not meant to be a blasphemed question. Just food for thought.
Anyway. Ousted Haitian president and priest Bertrand Aristide, living in exile in South Africa, issued a statement that his thoughts are with his fellow citizens. Wondering if he wouldn’t use the funds he ‘collected’ during his presidency to help the wounded and homeless back home.
Talk is cheap.
Nature remains a powerful force and human behaviour a witness.
Good news for once too. Well good in reaction to bad. Internet giant Google might pull out of China because the communists seem to block its search engine when users look for human rights related subjects. Censorship of the purest kind. Recently China hosted the Olympic Games and many politicians around the world then proudly and loudly announced this would open up this one-party state and bring freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Well here’s the proof. A kick in the face of all these nice statements and a slap in the face of those nice Olympic principles.
Google’s threats must be applauded as it is very very very rare that big business takes human rights over profit opportunities. What is a bit worrying but not surprising is the silence of the US leadership (on all fronts and all parties). I thought democracy and freedom of speech (and thus freedom of Google-search) was high on the US foreign policy list. But then again China is just too big too handle and too important to criticise. Same goes for the Olympic barons in their HQ in Switzerland (or wherever they spend their millions). Silence on all fronts. Hypocrites! If Iran or Zimbabwe would block certain Google searches the White House and the State Department would compete to be first on air to condemn in the strongest terms these anti democratic actions. And the former Bush cronies would demand a bombing campaign right away. The UN Security Council might even be pushed to issue another meaningless resolution.
Human behaviour and the flexibility of principles. Call it the rape of principles.
And once again to Somalia. It’s just an ongoing source of news and madness. Religious police (yes they have that there) has arrested several men for shaving their beards. Religious fashion fascism.
The Islamist group al-Shabab which controls the vast majority of this lawless sandpit jailed a dozen of beardless men in the southern port city of Kismayo. Being male and having no beard is violating a local decree issued by al-Shabab. As simple as that. The “units in charge of enforcing good religious practice” (as per a local cop) arrested these men after their shaving deed. No shaving cream nor Gillette razors in Somalia. Banned.
Religious freaks amidst a starving and destroyed nation. Sad. Very sad.
Human behaviour sometimes needs to be incarcerated in an asylum. For life.
So Alaska’s extremist Sarah Palin is now a co-presenter on America’s KKK-channel Fox. It fits. Home to roost. Maybe she can explain her fantastic parenthood style (oh yes, that’s called family values in conservative circles) which lead her teenage daughter t get pregnant. Or her vision that every disagreement in the world can be solved by bombing the hell out of everybody.
We knew that Fox had a rightwing tendency; and that’s its right obviously; but my making a regular platform for the witch from Alaska, Fox has just turned the fascist corner. It’s like being on the edge of the right turn and then going further off-road. Anyway, freedom of speech is also freedom of madness and ridiculousness. Nutters also have the right to vomit.
Human behaviour is sometimes just plain fun to watch. As long as it doesn’t blow up the planet.
Throw out. Discovered Brooklyn (NY) rockers The Reveling. Great 4–track ep called “3D radio”. Gruffy vocals over rougher Gaslight Anthem styled tunes. Great discovery. More please! Oh yeah, and the drummer of these Brooklyn-boys is the son of Springsteen’s E-Street’s drummer. A rocking family.
C-Ya
collateral – January 2010 has started with a scary shake
The new frontier
Yemen is creeping very fast onto the main stage. The embassies of Japan, the US, the UK and France in the capital Sana’a were closed for some days because of a unspecified terror threat. Local government killed 2 Al Queda suspects in a battle. Washington and London announced increased security cooperation with Sana’a. Hillary Clinton warns Yemen is a clear and present threat. And a growing headache.
It nearly feels that we are still in the Bush years.
I guess US TV networks are scrambling staff to head down to the unknown Yemen. And probably with as basic information about the country, its history and traditions only some Google and Wikipedia searches. It will be stereotyping to the extreme. Explaining a very complex country amidst a complex region in 45 seconds and to an audience with very little to no knowledge about this faraway land. A land of tribal rules, of weak central government and destabilised by war, rebellion and uprising. A very poor nation surrounded by a pool of oil billionaires in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait,... The file footage of the big hole in the USS Cole will be played over and over and over again as a proof that terror evil is still very much alive in Yemen. It’s gonna be a journalistic disaster. Guaranteed.
And what kind of security cooperation are Washington and London thinking about? Special Forces on the ground? Air strikes on suspected terrorist outposts in the desolated mountains of Yemen? Cash incentives to the local authorities to do something about something? It’s all very tricky and misty. Lots of flashes from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Yemen, the new frontier of the war on terror.
Yemen is in the spotlights and will stay there for a while. Afghanistan and Pakistan seem off the map for now. And Iraq is totally off air these days. Till the elections. And what about the lawless Somalia, just across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen? A country with no central government for more than 2 decades now. Total anarchy. A breeding ground for extremism. A population deleted of hope. Famine and bloodshed as daily reality.
The expansion of fear. Fear of the ever expanding terror warnings. Fear of loopholes in the domestic security operations. Fear of fear itself.
The economy was top on Obama’s priority list, but the Christmas day Amsterdam-Detroit flight has changed that for now. Sad but true.
You gonna see the explosion of Yemen experts in Washington and across the US networks. Advisors, analysts, historians, experts on the Arabic peninsula, exiled politicians, former Yemeni security officials, ... they will all come out of the woodworks and re-invent themselves (and cash in on the fear of the unknown). Very much déjà-vu. Very much reality. Very much sad. Very much true.
Human behaviour is a merry go round and round.
Down south from Yemen and Somalia. A pretty long distance in fact across the African continent.
In just a few days the South African border control at one crossing between South Africa and Zimbabwe has found 80 fake South African passports. Yes indeed, 80 individual cases of people trying to enter South Africa with a fake passport. And that at only one border post in just 2 or 3 days over the xmas period. Mad.
So how many people are entering and leaving this country at the bottom of Africa with fake passports on an annual basis? A couple of thousands?
Speaking of a security issue. And the soccer world cup will be held there next June and July! And the US team is one of the nations that will be there too. Security issues?! It seems easier to buy a fake South African passport than a ticket to attend one of the world cup games. Mad.
Back north.
Afghanistan is somewhat on the backburner because Yemen is about to get bombed. But the Afghani parliament has rejected the majority of ministerial candidates that was presented to it by the newly elected president Karzai. Well, ‘newly elected’ comes with a grain of salt. Make that a truckload of salt. Rock salt.
Remember Karzai got the crown because his opponent in the 2nd round of voting left the race as he felt that free and fair elections were not possible. Something felt by many if not most if not all observers and even politicians from the NATO alliance. But stuck as NATO and its wider alliance partners were, they decided to just scrap the 2nd round and just swear in Karzai there and then. An attempt to move on quickly to try to give some kind of public relations stunt to the collapsed democratic process in Afghanistan. So parliament in Kabul just wanted to show the weak president it got muscle and want to use it. Another blow to the already dented and bruised image of Karzai.
Meanwhile NATO and its allies are daily in combat with the Taliban. Despite winter. It’s just not looking good in Afghanistan. Stability is a faraway dream. The option that Karzai and his mates and his army and his police force can run the place by themselves and stop the Taliban from coming down the mountains and take over again, seem just a nice thought but nothing more. A thought that is as far from reality as Mars from Uranus.
2010 Has started on an edge. Yemeni terrorism. Afghani chaos. Pakistani suicide bombers.
Some might think it can only improve. They forget that that is just one option. There is also the option that it certainly can get worse, much worse, before it might get better.
Any champagne left over from new year’s eve? Earth needs to swallow some prozac pills.
Throw out. Rock chick Melissa Etheridge is working on a new album. NY underground punkrockers Killing Time will finally release their long awaited new cd. And Elton John claims he helped Eminem with life struggles. I hope that doesn’t lead to a duet.
Meanwhile The Bouncing Souls have released “Ghosts on the boardwalk”. It combines their 4 ep’s the band released throughout 2009 to celebrate their 20th anniversary. A great album with some very fine punkrock anthems.
C-Ya
collateral – January 2010 is here
It nearly feels that we are still in the Bush years.
I guess US TV networks are scrambling staff to head down to the unknown Yemen. And probably with as basic information about the country, its history and traditions only some Google and Wikipedia searches. It will be stereotyping to the extreme. Explaining a very complex country amidst a complex region in 45 seconds and to an audience with very little to no knowledge about this faraway land. A land of tribal rules, of weak central government and destabilised by war, rebellion and uprising. A very poor nation surrounded by a pool of oil billionaires in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait,... The file footage of the big hole in the USS Cole will be played over and over and over again as a proof that terror evil is still very much alive in Yemen. It’s gonna be a journalistic disaster. Guaranteed.
And what kind of security cooperation are Washington and London thinking about? Special Forces on the ground? Air strikes on suspected terrorist outposts in the desolated mountains of Yemen? Cash incentives to the local authorities to do something about something? It’s all very tricky and misty. Lots of flashes from Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Yemen, the new frontier of the war on terror.
Yemen is in the spotlights and will stay there for a while. Afghanistan and Pakistan seem off the map for now. And Iraq is totally off air these days. Till the elections. And what about the lawless Somalia, just across the Gulf of Aden from Yemen? A country with no central government for more than 2 decades now. Total anarchy. A breeding ground for extremism. A population deleted of hope. Famine and bloodshed as daily reality.
The expansion of fear. Fear of the ever expanding terror warnings. Fear of loopholes in the domestic security operations. Fear of fear itself.
The economy was top on Obama’s priority list, but the Christmas day Amsterdam-Detroit flight has changed that for now. Sad but true.
You gonna see the explosion of Yemen experts in Washington and across the US networks. Advisors, analysts, historians, experts on the Arabic peninsula, exiled politicians, former Yemeni security officials, ... they will all come out of the woodworks and re-invent themselves (and cash in on the fear of the unknown). Very much déjà-vu. Very much reality. Very much sad. Very much true.
Human behaviour is a merry go round and round.
Down south from Yemen and Somalia. A pretty long distance in fact across the African continent.
In just a few days the South African border control at one crossing between South Africa and Zimbabwe has found 80 fake South African passports. Yes indeed, 80 individual cases of people trying to enter South Africa with a fake passport. And that at only one border post in just 2 or 3 days over the xmas period. Mad.
So how many people are entering and leaving this country at the bottom of Africa with fake passports on an annual basis? A couple of thousands?
Speaking of a security issue. And the soccer world cup will be held there next June and July! And the US team is one of the nations that will be there too. Security issues?! It seems easier to buy a fake South African passport than a ticket to attend one of the world cup games. Mad.
Back north.
Afghanistan is somewhat on the backburner because Yemen is about to get bombed. But the Afghani parliament has rejected the majority of ministerial candidates that was presented to it by the newly elected president Karzai. Well, ‘newly elected’ comes with a grain of salt. Make that a truckload of salt. Rock salt.
Remember Karzai got the crown because his opponent in the 2nd round of voting left the race as he felt that free and fair elections were not possible. Something felt by many if not most if not all observers and even politicians from the NATO alliance. But stuck as NATO and its wider alliance partners were, they decided to just scrap the 2nd round and just swear in Karzai there and then. An attempt to move on quickly to try to give some kind of public relations stunt to the collapsed democratic process in Afghanistan. So parliament in Kabul just wanted to show the weak president it got muscle and want to use it. Another blow to the already dented and bruised image of Karzai.
Meanwhile NATO and its allies are daily in combat with the Taliban. Despite winter. It’s just not looking good in Afghanistan. Stability is a faraway dream. The option that Karzai and his mates and his army and his police force can run the place by themselves and stop the Taliban from coming down the mountains and take over again, seem just a nice thought but nothing more. A thought that is as far from reality as Mars from Uranus.
2010 Has started on an edge. Yemeni terrorism. Afghani chaos. Pakistani suicide bombers.
Some might think it can only improve. They forget that that is just one option. There is also the option that it certainly can get worse, much worse, before it might get better.
Any champagne left over from new year’s eve? Earth needs to swallow some prozac pills.
Throw out. Rock chick Melissa Etheridge is working on a new album. NY underground punkrockers Killing Time will finally release their long awaited new cd. And Elton John claims he helped Eminem with life struggles. I hope that doesn’t lead to a duet.
Meanwhile The Bouncing Souls have released “Ghosts on the boardwalk”. It combines their 4 ep’s the band released throughout 2009 to celebrate their 20th anniversary. A great album with some very fine punkrock anthems.
C-Ya
collateral – January 2010 is here
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