Sex parties

So this burglar somewhere in South Africa didn’t escape the house he broke into on time and decided to hide under the sofa as the owner walked in.

The owner saw there was a break in and called the cops. The cops come. One of the men/women in blue decides to sit on the sofa as he/she listens to the owner’s remarks.

And the rest is history. Sofa not that comfortable it seemed. Burglar found and arrested.

Human behaviour can be a funny affair.

Water (too much of it) and media coverage. Interesting comparisons over the last weeks.

Eastern Australia got seriously hit by massive floods. Few people missing and killed. Houses under water. Crops destroyed. The story is being told in all detail on all media outlets worldwide. Live crossings. Special reports. Helicopter flights. ‘Star’ reporters send to the torrent.

Brazil got struck by a wet tragedy too. Too much rain causing floods here too but also mudslides destroying hillside villages. A thousand people killed. A few seconds on the news bulletins worldwide.

South Africa had too much rain too. Plenty of farmland washed away. Rivers bursting. Small villages destroyed. People missing in the rising waters. About a hundred people killed. No reports of it outside South Africa.

Meanwhile a Democrat Congresswoman got shot in the head in Arizona. The gunman seems a strange character. Although what is ‘strange’ is very open for debate. But the kid seemed fine till a few weeks ago and then sank deeper into a dark world of pessimism it seems. Nihilistic tendencies. Video message on the net. Gun purchase. Trip to the mall. Trigger pulled.

Commentators from all corners of the US (and beyond) pointed fingers to the increased heated political language in the US ahead of last November’s elections. A vitriolic tendency that started already with the presidential poll in 2008. “Don’t retreat – Reload’. A famous one-liner from Tea Party hopeful Sarah Palin. Even many in the Republicans seem now worried about Palin’s actions and words and over the top silliness. Her response to the Arizona killing spree was a load of bollocks. First silence, then blaming the commentators. Does she never looks at her own website or listens to her own speeches? Don’t shoot the messenger!!!

Other commentators stated that the reason for the kid's mad behaviour could be found in his love for metal and punk music. A schoolmate said he loved the Californian punkers Anti-Flag. Commentators ‘found’ the ‘answer’ to the trigger happiness. It ‘must’ have been because he was listening to this ‘evil’ music. Has any of those commentators ever listened to the lyrics of Anti-Flag before uttering their crap statements?

Human behaviour doesn’t seem to progress, but rather regress.

Wikileaks keep spewing diplomatic reports and ambassadorial cables that keep upsetting many politicians worldwide. Meanwhile Wikileaks founder Assange is still fighting his extradition to the US (via Sweden).

Italian stallion (and also Prime Minister and media mogul) Silvio Berlusconi is again in trouble because of his sexual needs. More and more details are surfacing about his extended parties with hookers - including a minor. The 74 year old keeps fighting back and openly said he would never pay for sex. The Italian macho image is under threat here.

Berlusconi’s political career has been mired by corruption scandals for a long time, but now the spotlights are on his bedroom antics. One thing’s for sure, Silvio is a political survivor (for now).

From Italy to a worldtour of sniplets. News, entertainment, sport, murky business and anything else that matters (or not at all).

Boston Celtic punkrockers Dropkick Murphys are about to release a new album on which The Boss - aka Bruce Springsteen - has done a guest appearance. Thanks Bruce! Soon it’s back to Hollywood red carpet fever where the masses of the world (and certainly Los Angeles) can forget reality for a few hours. The UK’s prime minister’s spindoctor ('director of communication' they call it) resigned. As he said, it was time to resign because the spindoctor needed a spindoctor to spin himself out of his mess. Can you follow? The murky mess goes back to his pre-spindoctor years as head of a tabloid newspaper. The type of print media that is only good to wrap in your traditional fish and chips, or wipe the dog shit of your shoes. When running the paper, Mr Spindoctor tapped into phones of politicians, entertainment stars and also what is described as “members of the royal household”. Kick that. James Bond stuff. Anyway, the murk caught up and Mr Spindoctor is currently unemployed. The Irish government collapsed (so what?). Belgium still has no government since the June 2010 elections (so what?). North Korea has gone silent again. But with the paranoid freaks up there you just never know what’s cooking. Pakistan is still a mess. Afghanistan the same. Iraq seems slowly (very slowly) getting better. South Sudan voted for independence and will break away from the larger Sudan in a few months. Wonder what the butcher in Khartoum has up his sleeve? The pirates off the Somali coast keep causing havoc. Revolution in Tunisia! People power. Quick and nearly bloodless. The dictator of 21 years in power fled in the middle of the night. Guess where he went? Saudi Arabia! Dictators don’t flee to democracies. Will see what the future brings for Tunisia. Real change or not? The Tunisian uprising has caused shockwaves in Algeria and Yemen. Both also not really democracies and a ruling elite that seems too busy filling its own pockets instead of lifting its citizens out of poverty. Tunisia has created hope for the forgotten ones.

Winds of change.

Throw out. Social Distortion is alive and well! These Californian punkrockers have been kicking it since 1978 and have just released a brand new set of fine tunes “Hard times and nursery rhymes”. The new album is another fine, rocking cocktail of punk, rockabilly and touches of country. Some songs have a bit of a Rolling Stones influence. Mike Ness and his pals have no intention yet of just relaxing on the rocking chair.

C -Ya

collateral – January 2011 is nearing its end