Updates From Within

Mitt

2012-01-12T18:55:00.004+03:00

“I want you to remember when the White House reflected the best of who we are, not the worst of what Europe has become.”

That’s what US Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said after winning the New Hampshire primary earlier this month.
But what does he mean? When did the White House reflect the best of what America is about? Under Bush Jr? What under Bush Jr was so great that it should be an example to us all? His stupidity? His corrupt relationship with the Saudis? His naivety? His need to find answers in the Bible for current world problems? His budget massacre? His unilateralism? His tax cuts for the rich? His lack of economic vision that planted the seeds of the ongoing recession? The impossibility to keep a children's book open and not upside down (remember 9-11?)?

Or is Mitt looking further down in republican history and fantasizing about Bush Sr? Can’t be. Bush Sr was useless, besides enriching himself with murky oil deals. Or is it cowboy Reagan? For some republicans Ronald's era remains the ultimate pride moment of flag waving. Have a look at what budget mess Reagan left behind!! Amazing how Republicans preach small government and criticize leftwing politics of the Democrats, while it was under Reagan and Bush Jr that the budget went so deep into the red. And spending drift is normally a leftwing disease. And America wasn’t united under Reagan as some claim. Social and political divisions were as wide as they are today.

And what has Europe become that is so despicable? An economic and currency crisis, lead by failing Greece for sure. But does Romney really have such a limited and very short-term memory not to know the enormous budget mess the US is in (mainly thanks to Bush Jr)? Does Romney know that China is a major financer of the US debt? And if he knows that, does he like it that the Commies are holding the purse strings of America? Yeah, thank Bush Jr for that!

What else is so shitty about Europe? The fact their healthcare is more widespread and democratic? That they care more about global warming? Or does Romney’s Mormon faith has issues with the more liberal Europeans? Amazing in fact how the Mormons practiced polygamy but at the same time preach chastity. So no affairs (does Romney then fit in DC??) but as many marriages as you want? Bit ridiculous. To be fair, most Mormons have abandoned polygamy. Just the hardliners in remote Utah continue on this path of multi-wives. Egality for all. Not with the hardline Mormons!

And how Mormons have a lifestyle code that eschews alcoholic beverages, tobacco, coffee, tea, and other addictive substances. So no addictive content, but strict adherence to Mormon social codes. That sounds a contradiction! Addiction to preached codes.

Anyway, Mitt is doing well in the early days of the Republican race. He likes to make things sound simple. That’s a pest of today’s politics worldwide. Romney likes to be Mr Great America versus Obama’s European-style socialism. Ask Mitt what socialism is and what type of so called socialism there is in Europe these days. Despite that there are more center and center-right governments in Europe these days than leftwing ones. And what is today’s European socialist model? It has zero to do with Soviet era communism (the ultimate, narrow view of what many Americans think is leftwing politics) and also very little to do with European socialist parties from back in the 50s, 60s and 70s,… and even 80s. European leftwing parties have very much moved to the center of the political and economic chess game.

Anyway. The race has just started, so much more mudslinging, wasted millions and short-term memory losses are expected.

Human behavior is as corrupt as power.

From the political crap to some real, insane action.

A 54-year-old South African gardener has raped his employer’s Dachshund (that’s a small breed of canine). That’s pretty sick!
The dude must be really high on gardening pesticides to loose control of his hard-on and go the bestiality route. Maybe he is a serial dog rapist? A madman on the loose hunting down small female dogs for some mean sex. Gardening really can short-circuit your brain it seems. Can dogs have HIV? Maybe that’s why he did it. He thought raping a dog was equal to safe sex. Inside the brain of a mad gardener is a lost cause. Maybe his brains got fried from too much gardening in the summer heat?
The sucker got caught at least. Maybe the sentence should be a Rottweiler chewing off his dick. Street justice doggy style!

Human behavior can be animalistic.

Meanwhile Syria is spinning further into open civil war. The Arab League sends a small group of observers, but without decent equipment (cameras,…) nor free movement as the Syrian authorities need to “protect” them. It’s a stillborn. And the head of that mission is a diplomat from Sudan. His boss, the president of Sudan, is on the International Criminal Court’s wanted list for crimes against humanity in the sandpit of Darfur. So what human rights knowledge and conscience does this mission leader have to investigate the massacres in Syria? Zero. Sub-zero. It’s a farce. A cover-up. The freedom-seekers in Syria have only themselves. It’s a do or die situation cause the dictator in Damascus, just like his father, only knows brutal oppression. There will be much more blood spilled across Syria.

Human behavior is drenched in blood.

Throw out. What the heck is going on with all these rock pensioners whom just can’t retire on a nice, remote island? Van Halen with Mr Jump David Lee Roth are back in the studio! Guess David doesn’t jump that high anymore. And Pink Floyd is planning a reunion gig during the London Olympics later this year. Keep the wheelchairs on standby. And the heart vibrilators. And of course the Rolling Stones are still shuffling around. It’s like the 21st Century never started.

C –Ya

collateral – January 2012 is rockin’

Hard times

2011-12-31T12:38:00.003+03:00

X marks the spot. And the battle to get that x on the “right” spot will be a hot contest in many nations world wide in 2012.

Amazing how many countries will go to the polls next year. Democracy is really facing tough times ahead. Busy times. In some places it is total fake democracy. Other places will be a bloody path. Others a confusing journey. Others a testing phase.
Interesting times. As long as the end of 2012 doesn’t give the globe a massive headache and hangover. Democracy is a crucial, amazing process but it can easily go wrong. Democracy is a moving train on narrow tracks. Going off-track is easier than what it looks like initially.

Anyway. Fingers crossed. Hopes raised. But keep flag jackets and headache tablets handy.

Human behavior can easily slip downhill.

Here’s a few “minefields”.

The big one. US presidential election on November 6, 2012. But the process has already – informally – started and will kick off officially in January with primaries and caucuses. How the Yanks can explain their political system to anybody remains a mystery.

The November stand-off is simply between Obama II and somebody from the right side of the Republicans. That side that can’t find Europe on a worldmap, that thinks women should go stay in the kitchen, and that side that keeps the Bible handy for any questions they can’t find the answers to in their distorted brains.

And those who think that Sarah Palin had totally retreated back to Alaska to shoot dears and think about family values,… are wrong! A comeback is always sexy and good for PR (just keep reading and you will see where I am going with this).

The Republicans still need to sort out their frontrunner. Mitt Romney seems doing well so far. The religious zealot seems ahead in most polls but the journey is still long and full of traps, mines, secrets, emails, tweets, lots of wrong soundbites, plenty of spin and fake smiles, and all that other stuff that goes with lying in public.

Then of course there is also Newt Gingrich. The return of the hardliner. And – here we go – he is thinking of taking Palin on board as Vice-President candidate if he survives the Republican interal killing fields. Kick that. A Newt-Sarah ticket. So how soon can we bomb Iran, cure gays, give tax cuts to the rich, invade Canada,...? And no, we do not need to know where Russia is, or if South and North Korea are the same country or not, and if Africa is 1 country or a continent. That’s all crap. Bomb them all. We are America, right?! Maybe broke (what’s that?), maybe not that economically dominant anymore than in the 20th Century (what Century is it now?),…. but hey ho let’s go. Act first and then …. well….. say some 3 word one-liners, and then…. uuh…. say “America” a few times, and then “terrorism” a few times, and then ….euh… then go and play hockey. America yeah yeah yeah!!

Scary November 6 ahead.

Then of course there is the follow up of the Arab uprisings with elections expected in Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Always a tricky task to introduce democracy to people who have only known dictatorships. The unknown is for many citizens a difficult path to take. A difficult turn. It’s t-junction time!!

And before the US goes to the polls there is another poll (parliament) in Russia. The old foe is back slipping into darkness. The recent presidential poll, with the return of action hero and ex-spy Vladimir Putin, has shown that free and fair elections are being eroded. Not good. The hunger for an authoritarian, strong, proud Russia is back present in the mood swings of the Russian power-elite. Dangerous times. Slippery slope. The past can be the future. Is the cold war peeping its ugly head out of the freezer?

Human behavior is a loss of memory.

As Russia seems destroying its young democratic process, its big commie neighbour China is far from even going down the democracy path. The communist party is still solid in charge. Elections there in 2012 are just an internal communist party shuffle. With eventually some bodies ending up in the Yellow River, but that’s a minor detail in a dictatorship. And don’t google that because you wont get far in China. Google-freedom is just a dream. As are many other things. China is an ever-growing giant with never-changing and very narrow, dark tunnels of life-space.

So elections in 3 world powers: US, Russia and China. 2012 Is interesting!

South of the Texas border lays a whole continent (Yes, Sarah, there is something below Texas!) and 2 Central/South American countries are facing their voters too.

Mexico’s president Calderon might loose the key to his office. His anti-drug war has lost much of its original popularity and the poll might cause a shift back to the PRI party which has been in charge of Mexico for most of the past century. And then, hah!, there will be elections in Venezuela. Mad Chavez is facing a real test….well, if he allows the polls to be free and fair. Because the newly-bold nutter doesn’t like criticism, opponents and a too close look at his economic policies. Is 2012 the end of Chavez?

Shift to the old continent now (do not ask Sarah where that is, or you will really get confused!).

French president Sarkozy (the one with the younger, taller, singing wife) might also face the kick-up-the butt in 2012. After 7 years in his beautiful office he might have to find new nannies to change the nappies of his new baby. Maybe France is ready for a change and bring the Socialist Party back into presidential power.

No Sarah, the French Socialist Party has nothing to do with the old-style Communists from the Soviet Union. The 60s are gone. Even the Soviet Union does not exist anymore! I know it is all hard to grasp for you, but maybe Newt can help you somewhat,…. although his worldviews might also be pretty outdated.

From France down to Africa. That’s a short trip.

Mad Bob is already planning his militias to roam Zimbabwe to maim and kill all opponents as elections should – in theory – be held in 2012.

Another brutal campaign is expected to come down on the poor people of this beautiful country. The economy is broken. The spirits are broken. Half the people have fled the country to neighboring nations like South Africa, Botswana or Zambia. Elections could mean change, but Mugabe’s brutal dictatorship is far from running out of steam. Still enough sticks to brutalize. Still enough tricks up the sleeve to fake the poll. Still enough corruption to keep the necessary henchmen happy and rich. Still enough blood to be spilled.

Neighboring South Africa is not having national elections, but the ruling party (ANC) is voting for a new leader in December 2012. And because the ANC is still so strong the new (or same) party president is likely to become the next state president at the next polls in 2014.

But, sadly, the party is totally rotten within. It has lost its soul and vision. It has turned into a bunch of thieves emptying state coffers for personal gain, and arranging business deals for family members. A young democracy being raped from within. Hyenas on the loose. And thus the party gathering in December next year will turn into a very nasty, dirty battle to get a seat at the table to be able to steal at will. It will not be about policies to lift up the nation, it will – only – be about crude power and the related seat on the gravy rain. Sickening.

And finally, but not least important for sure, the nuke nutter from Iran is facing elections too.

Ahmadinejad could be out of office by the closing of the polls on March 2. Not that the world should start celebrating now already, because even if the current nutter gets voted out he might be replaced by some other hardliner with narrow minded worldviews and nuke-phobia. So keep the champagne (French I hope) in the fridge for now.

Iran’s main reformist groups are boycotting the poll because they claim it’s already a sham. Not really free. Choices limited. A state controlled process that doesn’t stand the test of real democracy. So that champagne will stay in the fridge it seems.

Human behavoir could make 2012 into a rollercoaster of note.

And then of course don’t forget global warming and thus expected freak weather patterns. And also still there and kicking: Syria’s own Arab uprising; Nigeria’s Muslim nutters whom like to slaughter non-Muslims; the London Olympics; the Euro crisis and wider economic hardships; Al Quada affiliates in Mauritania and Niger growing and growing (Sarah, don’t bother trying to find those countries on a map!); the mess in Somalia (on land and on the ocean); maybe more suprises in Saudi Arabia where the state has just allowed women to walk without a male escort on the streets of the nation (are we in the 21st century????); the trial of the Norwegian killing nutter (remember?);….

It certianly looks like 2012 wont be boring. But also it could be scary for sure. The future ain’t what it used to be……

Throw out. John Joseph shouts “Hard Times” from the Cro-Mags’ 1986 album “The age of quarrel”. Maybe the best, hardhitting, in-your-face, punkrock album ever! Cro-Mags unfortunattely has fallen victim to serious infighting and its own quarrels. John Joseph still tours under the band’s name (like last night in NY), but it ain’t what it used to be. But “The age of quarrel” is and forever will be a super classic of the hardcore scene. After decades it hasn’t lost any of its power, emotion, or pure listening pleasure.

C –Ya

collateral – last day of 2011

Ouch!

2011-12-17T15:45:00.002+03:00

Somewhere in Zimbabwe a man hooked up with a lady in a bar. She was a hooker and for him it wasn’t the first time to take it to the next (business) level with this woman.

This time he gambled. During the naked encounter he said he wouldn’t pay this time. Wrong words, wrong time. The take-no-prisoners hooker bit his penis off. Ouch! After the bite she ran outside to spit that piece of meat out. Blah.

The man’s hooker visits are no longer a village secret. He landed in hospital. What we unfortunately can’t see are the faces of the nurses. Probably pricesless. The hooker got arrested. Trial started and the man had to walk into the courtroom to testify against his assailant. But as he walked into the room it was clear to all present that he had difficulties walking. Sore between the legs. Ouch! Does size still matter?

Human behavior is a sexual journey. With or without a bite.

Straight out of a movie. Café Marco, somewhere in Australia. It’s morning. A lone suitcase just stands there. Nobody picks it up and leaves with it. No recollection of how it got there. Who dropped it there that morning?

The Café owner gets intrigued, maybe even a litlle suspicious. He opens the suitcase and wonders if he is daydreaming. US$1 Million in cash. In small notes.

Another customer tells the cops he has a vague memory of a young-ish man wearing surfing shorts carrying the suitcase into Café Marco earlier that morning.

The mystery remains unsolved.

Drug deal? Lottery winner without a bank account? Betting man? Rich dude with a heart about to make a homesless insanely happy? Dirty politician paying somebody to keep silent? Cash for a hitman? And why not…. for a hitwoman? Will we ever know?

Meanwhile back in the cash-less world the world is watching the ongoing currency and debt struggles in Europe, and the US$ trillion cost cutting attempts in the US. Tough times. Crazy times.

Forget any normal politicking in the US as Washington DC is in election mode. It’s all about saving one’s ass, spin, collecting campaign cash and watching one’s back.

And the Republican pizza-man stepped out of the race. Too many girlfriends. Extra toppings…. Too many lies to keep hidden under the carpet. Back to baking pizzas. Who else is still in that early race? Hardliner Gingrich is planning a return to the main stage it seems.

Human behavior is often a déjà vu.

But the US political system seems not coping anymore with the reality of politicking. A democracy hijacked by permanent campaigning.

A president gets elected in November. Then waits till January to get sworn in. Then a long and hard journey to get his/her government officials (secretary of state, secretary of defence,…) through the Congress process. Then after 6 months or so after being voted in, the White House resident can start governing. But very soon already the mid-term elections are creeping up and governing slips into campaigning. Once these elections are over it’s adjusting to their outcome. Bit of governing space and then (too soon) the next presidential race pops up. It seems even that this year the race has started ridiculously early. Especially on Republican side, a sthey need to find their candidate amidst the pile of wannabees. Alaska hockey-mum Palin didn’t join the race (easier the scream and shout populistic one-liners from the sideline) but there are still plenty of candidates. Some obscure ones. Some really dumb ones. Some religious zealots. Some racists. Some edgy ones. But amazing how early the Republicans are at it. Especially if one realises how many millions get dumped into this race. First millions to fight within your own party. And if you make it (and are still not tottaly broke), then the more important and costly race for the real presidential elections. Crazy system. So much money wasted.

Human behavior and politics are a f*cked up cocktail.

Looking at one’s dreadlocks will never be the same again.

A South African woman was arrested at Bangkok's international airport after police said they found 1.5kg of cocaine hidden in her dreadlocks. Fully Jamaican style.

Nobanda Nolubabalo, 23, was searched when police noticed a white substance in her hair shortly after she stepped off a Qatar Airways flight that originated in Brazil and flew via Qatar to Bangkok. The search uncovered 1.5kg of cocaine - with a street value of US$150000 - hidden in her dreadlocks.

And in Thailand the authorities don’t laugh with drug smuggling. Nobanda is facing a tough time. Some risks are stupid, others are ridicilously so.

Human behaviour is too often guided by stupidity and money.

The insanity and rot within the Catholic church seems just never ending.

Disgusting. Brutal. Sickening. Mentally disturbing. Outrageous. An independent Dutch inquiry into child sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests found "tens of thousands" of victims since 1945, identifying 800 alleged perpetrators.  

Tens of thousands (!!!!) of minors were exposed to "mild, severe or very severe sexual behavior" by clergy or lay workers in the Dutch Catholic Church over a 65-year period between 1945 and 2010. How sick is this? In the name of God?!?

Claims of alleged sexual abuse examined by the inquiry went from "light physical contact to penetration". Dutch bishops expressed their regrets and offered "sincere apologies" to the victims. Is that all? A little speech and a prayer. These bishops must be on dope. Maybe from that dreadlocked mule. Crazy. The perpetrators whom are still alive should be hunted down and brought to justice and thrown in jail. Let them have some shower-time with other inmates. The Catholic church is rotten and sick and keeps behaving it is above the law. F* that!!!!

From sick to insane,… and returning to Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe has called British Prime Minister David Cameron "satanic" for considering withholding aid from countries that do not respect gay rights, a report says.

There you have it. World politics, gay rights, satan. All in a dirty mix.

Human behavior has its moments of laughter. And sarcasm. And nutters on the loose.

Throw out. Discovered. Dutch hardhitting punkrockers Harbour 81 came out of the ashes of Rotterdam band Second Chance. H81’s debut album “Live your dreams” was released in 2008 and has guest vocals by Breakdown’s Jeff Perlin and Blood For Bllod’s Buddha. Kickin’. Hardhittin’. Good stuff.

C -Ya

collateral – December 2011 is ticking away and with that the whole of 20eleven.

We've got a situation here

2011-11-14T12:06:00.002+03:00

It was just another loose wire in the heads of the freaks of this world. 11-11-11 Was for some another day the world would end, and if not then at least some drastic event would occur; or God would pass by for a visit; or aliens would come and kill us all. Apocalypse now.

Open your eyes, smell the (polluted) air, put the radio on and pinch yourself. Right,…. All of the above didn’t happen and thus the freaks can search for their next (missed) deadline.

Why are some so obsessed with the end of the world? It will probably happen. Either when some planet or fat star crashes in on us in 568934567 billion years, or maybe when the nuke-nutter in Iran goes wild.

But the obsessed ones need to chill. Enjoy life. You are only here for a short time, so don’t get obsessed about when you not gonna be here. You are here to be here, not here to be busy with the not-here. Understood? Probably not.

Get busy with the day to day necessities of being here. And smile. Be nice. Sort the shit out and tackle the crap. Clean up your hood. Put solar panels on your roof. Eat more than just burgers with plastic ketchup. Travel around. Meet folks. Read some stuff, listen to fine tunes. Just live a life instead of being busy with the time when the worms will eat your guts (and everything else).

Human behavior is too often paralysed, infiltrated, brainless.

Speaking of crap. The world is gathering soon in South Africa to – once again – talk about global warming. But already now most specialists and people that follow these debates fear that it will – once again – just be a talkshop. Lots of pollution to come here to talk and talk and talk,… and nothing changes. The US is not flexible and shortsighted. China and India doesn’t want limitations on their evergrowing economies. That’s a stupid view because a greener economy creates jobs and opportunities. Change is just something people have troubles with. Even if it’s for the better. Even if it’s healtheir. Even if it’s for a better future for their kids. Change is difficult. Change is partly unknown and too many humans (as animals do too) are just too worried and stressed about change.

The fear of change is a universal disease that blocks real progress.

Human behavior likes things to stay the same. Just like animals do.

Kick this! A man in Australia was diagnosed with canver and underwent 7 rounds of chemotherapy, and had 80% of his stomach removed.

But then the doctors told him they made a misdiagnosis! The man never had cancer. One then wonders why doctors get their heads smashed in by patients.

It’s crazy. And we are talking Australia here. So called top of the world in healthcare. Mistakes are possible, but this one sucks. Big time.

Imagine the stupid doctors told the patient he had a month to live and the patient went away living a rollercoaster life for his so called final month. French champagne daily. Flying first class from holiday paradise to holiday paradise. Super-deluxe hotels and resorts. Masages with extra bonuses. Orgies. Spin with a Ferrari. Serious off roading with a Wrangler. Sending off insulting emails to his enemies. Tasting 20 different Belgian beers in one afternoon. Helicopter flips. Rafting. Parachute jumping. Cage diving to meet the great white. Sending the best Apple Mac laptop to a poor kid in Africa. Carneval in Rio. Flying to Argentina to eat the best steak. Touring the new 7 wonders of the world. Spending every cent and more.

And then satisfied (and broke) after 1 month of total pleasure, some doctor tells him it was all a mistake. Kick that.

Human behavior cam have a baseball bat in one hand.

Meanwhile the slaughter in Syria continues. Dictators don’t go peacefully. Blood stains across the nation is a price they willingly pay as long as it’s not their blood. Libya aint Syria. Politics of reality kick in. But change will come. If not today or tomorrow, then in a year or a decade. Change will come and change can be brutal. Ask Gadaffi. Killed like a screaming pig. From ruling the country, living in delirium, buildinge scape tunnels…. to hiding in a sewage pipe and being kileld juts like that. Crashing down to earth. Street justice.

And then there is that Republican, presidential hopefull in the US who plays the emotional, macho card by desiring to bomb Iran. The answer to problems are bombs from the sky. Lessons never really learned or put into context. Afghanistan is still very shaky. Iraq same same. Iran for sure is currently ruled by a madman with nuke dreams. And probably he is getting closer to built a bomb. The bomb. But at least a presidential hopefull should use some intelectual capacity and think about consequences and options.

Without a doubt Iran is a dangerous nation. Well not the nation as such, but that nutter at the helm. But we should not underestimate the ramblings within Iran itself. Opposition againts the madman is growing as many Iranians know the madman’s path is a path towards insanity.

Military action might be necessary one day, but let us not go down that silly road too soon too fast. A US-lead war on Iran will implode Lebanon wth terrorists Hezbollah stepping into the void. Neighbouring Afghanistan will slide down hill. Followed by Pakistan, which will make nuke power India nervous. Israel will become very tense. Hamas will try to cause havoc. Oil prices will go to unseen heights which lead destroy hope sof economic recovery worldwide. Al Quada will use the opportunity to enlist, train, kill, maim, slaughter. Yemen would collapse. Turkey would be edgy. And what about Syria then? And even spill overs into the Muslim belly of the former Soviet Union.

Scary thoughts.

So before giving that greenlight to the jets on the tarmacs, and the cruise missile commanders on the ships,…. pause and think.
Human behavior is trigger happy.

Throw out. The musical disaster of the decade is Lulu!! What a commercially inspired cacophony. Metallica and Lou reed came together and made something they thought was a great idea. They must have been drinking too much tequila and sniffing too much glue. It sounds awfull beyond repair. It is imposisble to listen to it. Metallica should stop now. Lou Reed should have retired years ago. Stop now as both are destroying their musical legacy. Musical harakiri.

C -Ya

collateral – November 2011 is passing by

Dead and gone

2011-10-21T21:30:00.002+03:00

Just another wacko warning. American evangelist Harold Camping warned that Friday October 21st of 2011 is the end of the world. As simple as that.

Finished. Done. No more earth and its inhabitants. Apocalyspe now.

But the religious zealot said the same last May and we’re still here. He corrected himself after nothing happened saying the May event (what event??) was just a spiritual one. Nice try, fool.

Of course plenty of followers of his so called Rapture group sold their homes and got ready for the apocalypse. Seriously wondering how they looked at each other the next day. Where are we? What happened? Is this heaven? Nothing!!!! No home, no job. No brains!

Why don’t these reiligious members go down to Camping , put his house on fire, kick him in the guts, take all his money and go for a spin with his car. Religious fools and their super-fool followers. Waste of fresh air.

Human behaviour is sometimes just a waste of everything.

Nobel peace prize winner the Dalai Lama was not welcome in South Africa. At least from the point of view of the men in charge in Africa’s southern tip.

An old man in an orange dress has become a threat to South Africa’s national security. Kick that. South Africa denied the Dalai Lama a visa to come here for a private visit – a birthday party of fellow Nobel peace prize winner Archbischop Desmond Tutu.
Can you believe that? Not so long ago, when Nelson Mandela walked free from jail and democratic elections were held for the first time, South Africa was hailed as a beacon of hope. Now, less than 20 years later, China dictates what’s going on and the beacon shines no more (will see further another reason why).

The Dalai Lama as a threat to the development of a nation. How farcical? Not the growing gap between poor and rich. Not the out of control corruption and theft of state funds. Not the decline in food producution. Not the out of control ivory and rhino horn poaching. Not the legislation to curb media freedom. Not the growing social funds which make nearly half of the nation dependent on state hand outs. That’s like buying your next votes.

No, it’s that old man in his orange dress that is the therat. All the rest is just spin.

Speaking of the dimming beacon. South Africa’s Special Investigation Unit's annual report just laid it bare. The rot has reached amazing new heights. 20% Of the government's procurement budget is misused, overpaid, stolen,.... That's more than US$bn3 in 1 year!!!! That is the real legacy of the current administration.

Imagine how much you can do with that for the poor of that nation. It's organized theft on a grand scale. This is what the struggle for democracy has turned into. Theft without a drop of remorse. The soul of the liberated South Africa has been mutilated by the speeding gravy train. The ruling party has turned into a pack of hyenas dismantling the state at amazing speed.

Human behavior can be very similar to the animal world.

British TV channels will not broadcast a TV clip from Bono’s goodwill organization One.

The body that watches over the partiality, morality and cleanness of what goes on the TV said One’s new clip is not neutral. Stinks of undermining freedom of expression.

One’s 1-minute TV spot is about the famine in East Africa. The slogan in it is “The F-word. Famine is the real obscenity”.

But the media regulator wasn’t in a good mood and banned it there and then. F* to that! As the world slides deeper into the 21st Century some societies seem to stick to narrow-mindedness. Afraid of reality. If it’s in your face it’s probably too scary. Feed the people some crap so called reality-TV, but ban a clip about famine.

That’s where we have come to. Don’t feed the masses reality, keep them high, stupid and certainly ignorant. Treat them as cattle.

Human behavior is just a TV clip away.

Back to South Africa. Never ending source of inspiration.

A pastor has been arrested for killing his 2 year old son. He also tried to take his own life but that failed. Not so sure all this fits within his faith?!

God probably stopped his suicide so he can continue roaming this planet in pain and agony for what he did to his kid. Torture the bastard! Send him to hell.

Meanwhile US actress Hilary Swank got mud on the face. Caught out. Red-faced. And this despite her above-Hollywood-average IQ.

She got an invite, and accepted it, for the party of Chechen president- aka warlord - Ramzan Kadyrov. AT least she said sorry afterwards. After the champagne… and all the rest.

Ramzan is a bloody warlord. A criminal. Full-stop. A bloodthirsty piece of work.

But Swank,….and muscles from Brussels JC Van Damme too, went to ugly Grozny to attend the bastard’s 35th birthday bash. Bank accounts have no morals, neither any soul.

Human behavior is driven by $.

So Obama announced that all US military are coming back home from Iraq by the end of the year. Amazing statement. Wondering how Iraq will survive afterwards, because the country and the whole region are far from a bastion of stability and peace.

But good for the boys and girls to go back home…. and a serious relieve for the over-stretched US budget. Of course plenty of support and undercover operations will stay.

And good 2012 election slogan of course too. Reality politics has often a serious cold factor.

Anyway. Anyhow.

So Gadaffi is dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. He was hiding like a rat in a drainpipe. They caught him and a youngster just put a bullet in his head. Done. Street justice.

Probably many Western leaders are happy to see him dead because a trail might have opened many cans full of very nasty worms, as too many leaders hated the dude, but also made plenty of business deals with him. Oil is always a dirty business.

But the dictator deserved street justice. He was a nasty piece of work. Green revolution. BS. Just another spin to suppress and aim for ultimate power till eternity.

Well that bullet ended all this crap. Dead and gone.

Throw out. This time it’s a tribute to silence. Just for a few minutes. It’s damn hard these days to have pure an simple, natural silence. Too much noise. Traffic, cellphones, barking dogs, planes overhead, religious fools ringing the doorbell, trash van, flipping horny cats, some fool with loud hiphop bass destroying his hearing. Etc etc etc.
C -Ya
collateral – October 2011 is moving on

Sick. Sad. Mad.

2011-10-03T15:21:00.001+03:00

Insanity can have an original touch.

A Somali radio station run by the Islamic extremists of al-Shabab organized a Koran-recital contest for children. Brainwashing needs to start as early as possible!

The winner won an AK47 and US$700 (a very big amount in Somalia!!!). Crazy has no boundaries.

Know the Koran inside out and outside in, join a radio contest and get home with a deadly rifle and lots of cash. Every kids’ dream in tormented Somalia.

The winner should have taken the price., then load the AK47, kill the nutters, and leave Somalia with the cash. Hell ain’t a place for kids.

But who knows the radio station might started a new crazy. Insanity airwaves. Radio contest in eastern Congo for the most rapes by under 14 year-old boys. Heart of darkness to the next level. In Venezuela, or Zimbabwe, the contest might be to criticize the president and wait for the knock on the door by the security services to take you away… forever. First knock wins. Pricewinner not found. In China the contest is to do the most ‘sensitive’ Google searches possible before your internet connection is terminated and you are send to a “re-education camp”. Pricewinner has to wait 5 years to collect his/her reward. Winner gets extra broadband (for non sensitive use of course). In Italy, the contest is simplier. Which young girl hasn’t been chased by prime minister Berlusconi? The winner gets a meeting with the Pope. Radio contest for Tea Party members. Name two foreign capitals? Winner gets a flight ticket to Canada. Radio contest for Bush Jr. Have military operations in Iraq stopped or not? He’ll check after praying…., and tuning in to CNN. Price is a reality-check at the local hospital. Radio contest for Obama. Has Guantanamo been shut? Yes or No, please. No ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’. Prize is obvious. Ticket to Havana (bottle of rum included. Not a cigar, Clinton bought them all.).

Human behavior is just a contest away.

From radio gaga to the killing fields of Mexico.

Police found a woman’s decapitated body. Next to the headless corpse was a note stating that she had been killed because of her blogging activities.

Internet is a dangerous field. A web with possible deadly effects. Use at your own peril.

It is thought – as it is not the first time – that the woman got her head separated from the rest of her body (causing death,…. In case one wonders!!!!) because she posted information on a site about drug “hang outs”, sales points etc.

A blog too far! Some drug dudes probably didn’t like her social networking and ended it all with a decapitating effort. You post on line, we slash locally.

Human behavior can be a bloody (internet)path.

So Hugo Chavez with his new chemo-bold hairstyle has started a new round of nationalizations. That’s like a speed train to economic self-destruction. Plenty of nationalization wreckages throughout history all over the world. But some always try to re-invent to wheel …. to end up square. Obama has criticized his fellow African-Americans to stop moaning. Bold move. Rumors that Sarah Palin will divorce. Good old traditional values, hey? The Europeans are still struggling with the idea to keep Greece inside the Euro monetary zone or to kick the lazy Mediterraneans out into the cold. Palestine wants to become a fully recognized member of the UN and thus a fully independent state. The extremists of Hamas disagree. Funny because Hamas strives for a Palestinian state but when its Palestinian opponents take that (diplomatic) route they go nuts. Extremists don’t follow logic. Stuck in a narrow tunnel with visions of grandeur and delusions of reality. Israel, which has been playing hardball with its settlement policy, now announces its interest in new peace talks. The Middle East is back on the map. Madman Gaddafi is still MIA. Probably hiding somewhere in the desert. On serious tranquilizers because the new reality is just too much to cope with. The Syrian killings just go one and on and on and on. Zambia’s presidential elections put the opposition leader Sata, aka King Cobra, in power. Smooth transition so far. Always good to stick to the democratic path! South African president Jacob Zuma had to go to New York recently for the annual UN assembly gathering. But he faced domestic issues. Not politically back in South Africa, but in his kitchen and bedroom(s). Zuma has multiple wives and an extra fiancée. Zuma decided to take wife number 3 (or is it number 4??) to the Big Apple, but his fiancée got seriously aggravated and red in the face, as she did not want to miss a Fifth Avenue shopping opportunity. And so it goes that…….., yes you got it right,….. both went to NY. And both got separate protection escorts and all that comes with power ladies. Of course…. the bill will be footed by the South African tax payer. Zuma better don’t turn this fiancée into his next wife. Trouble clearly ahead!!

Human behavior is often guided by bedroom antics.

From one possible Hollywood script (the bedroom antics) to the next one (adventure-horror).

Brazil is facing a piranha attack! Blockbuster guaranteed, right? Sexy babes and flesh eating monsters.

But before the script is being written, this is for real. The beaches in the northeast of the vast samba-nation are being targeted by these little monsters with evil teeth. In one weekend some 100 beachgoers had to be rushed to the nearby hospital for treatment of serious bite marks in toes and heels. Hollywood terror turns real!

A local official from the state of Piaui said that the piranhas have no enemies anymore and thus they are breeding like rabbits without threats. It’s a piranha explosion. Hollywood just has a field day with this!!

Piranha extermination teams are probably being trained in Brazil. Ready for the big kill. Kill or be chowed. Save the gorgeous, sexy Brazilian babes and slaughter the piranhas. It’s for a good cause!!!

Human behavior is a sexy affair. And bloody.

From evil fish to evil Japanese. Sounds like a sushi move.

A 13-year old girl was killed by her father and a monk as they were trying to expel her evil spirit. Another Hollywood blockbuster script. But sadly again pretty real and insane on top of it all.

Monk Kinoshita and father Maishigi strapped Tomomi Maishigi down, then doused her with water till she suffocated. It’s apparently called a ‘waterfall service’ in the sick world of sick people doing sick things to children in the name of some sick exorcism ritual.

The parents had contacted the monk because the little girl had suffered years of mental health problems. The Buddhist monk came and declared the girl was possessed.

And now the girl’s dead. May her spirit haunt the two nutters. Day and night! Till eternity.

Sick. Sad. Mad.

Human behavior can be an insane reaction to a sane situation.

Throw out. Liverpool (UK) lads Chief have released the kick-ass album “Apply within”. Well-paced, melodic punkrock with hints of reggea and tiny drops of hiphop. Fresh, solid. Near-perfect in the melodic punkrock/hardcore genre.

C -Ya

collateral – October 2011

Castrate the bastards

2011-09-08T17:10:00.001+03:00

Check-in standing. Check-out flat. Boxed in.

A 31-year-old New Zealander has choked to dead while eating an airline meal on a flight from Singapore to Auckland.
Flying can be a dangerous event. Wondering in which airspace he was when he died. Just for the death certificate.

Was it chicken or beef?

Human behavior can be a choking affair.

Speaking of chickens. A sign in a food store said “No chicken because of industrial action”. What they didn’t say is industrial action (aka strike) by whom? The drivers? The chicken slaughters? The packers? Or maybe the chickens themselves! Maybe the chickens were tired of the same food every day. The crowded living conditions?

Anyway. No chicken available. Maybe the air passenger ate a ‘bad’ chicken? And that lead to industrial action…. Who knows? The world is a global village. A chicken here can cause a death there….

From chickens to stalking seems a hell of a long way, but in this funny world of crazy humans it’s certainly possible in a whimper.

A woman loves a man. It happens. When that love isn’t returned anymore it causes some fuses to pop in some woman’s head… it seems.

Dutch prosecutors are charging a 42-year-old woman with stalking after she called her ex-boyfriend 65000 times in the past year. Yes! 65000 Times in 1 year. How do you do that? That’s 178 calls per day! That’s 1 call every 8 minutes for a whole year. Day in day out. Crazy or totally nuts? That’s repeat dial in overdrive and on cocaine! So with some sleeping time, it’s probably 1 call every 6 or 5 minutes. A Dutch asylum is getting a new inmate!

The stalker told the judge the number of calls to her lover wasn’t excessive! Wow! What’s excessive then? Calling somebody every minute for a whole year? It’s only excessive then? Hello asylum! Get the electro shocks ready. One thing’s for sure, never ever give that women your number!

From insanity to madness.

South Africa’s police boss released the country’s new crime statistics. Seems there are a few lesser bloodstains as most crime categories have gone down a little.

But rape still stands at 56272 cases (a “slight” increase from 55097 in the previous year). That is between 6 and 7 rapes per hour!!!! Every day for a whole year long. And – as in all countries – rape is always an underreported crime as many victims do not go to the cops for a variety of reasons.

South Africa is the rape nation of the universe. It is insane beyond comprehension. Somebody being raped every 8 or 10 minutes! Which in reality many field workers think it is probably every 4 or 5 minutes because of the unreported cases. Wow! Castration of the perpetrators really becomes a totally acceptable punishment!

Human behavior can be very sickening!

Staying in edgy South Africa. The president (who has multiple wives) appointed a new Chief Justice. That’s like the boss of all judges and courts. The super-judge. But his choice is very controversial.

The new Chief Justice (whose first name is the same as his family name) is also a counselor at a Christian church. And there, in his counseling role, he aims to ‘cure’ gays and lesbians and prays to bring them back on the ‘path of righteousness’. Kick that for a Chief Justice, who is the main judge at South Africa’s Constitutional Court.

In previous rulings, before he became super-judge, he commented that rape within marriage ain’t too bad. If a man beats his wife or girlfriend up it was because she asked for it in the way she behaved or dressed.

And as he was nominated he said, during a live TV broadcast, that God has given him a sign that God wanted him to become the new Chief Justice.

Is there another bed free in that asylum in Holland?

Human behavior can take humanity a few steps back.

Sticking to religion. Around 1000 potential Islamist terrorists are living in Germany. There you have it! Start the riots! Germany’s interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich made this amazing statement. And he added that of these 1000 some 128 were classified as potential attackers. There you go. Fear is among us.

If they classify 128 as potential nutters that will/can carry out terrorist attacks, what are they waiting for to arrest them? What parameters were used to classify them as deadly serious? And if so, can these parameters not be used to arrest them/ or are we waiting the first detonation?

Because if a minister makes such bold statements he better be sure before a pogrom kicks off. And if he is certain then there needs to be certain elements of proof that 128 of those 1000 are serious nutters. And thus, once again, what are we waiting for?

Get them before they get you. It’s basics.

Throw out. These grunge-rockers from Seattle have been kicking it for 20 years now. Pearl Jam is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary this month and are releasing a DVD beauty. The DVD is in fact a fully fledged movie, directed by Cameron Crowe. Plenty of never-seen behind the scenes footage. And to accompany the “PJ20” movie, the band is also releasing the soundtrack which includes rare, unreleased and live tracks. Hope PJ stays around for another 20 years. Kick that!

C -Ya

collateral – September 2011 is moving on

The offer was declined

2011-09-01T09:47:00.000+03:00

The doorbell rang. “Can I read you a passage from the Bible?”, the old lady asked. The offer was declined.

It was a gang of elderly ladies on a journey to save some souls. Door-to-door campaigning for Jesus. Like a brainwashing outing.

Human behavior too often commits hara-kiri on one’s free mind.

But religion is without a doubt present in daily life around the globe. Sad but true. Too often the Koran’s followers are finger pointed for fundamentalism and what comes with it, but there are plenty of Bible freaks with the same fundamentalist tendencies. Scary. A self-limitation of one’s thought process.

The self-mutilation of the mind.

And the tea party presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann keeps going at it.

After some serious lack of historic and cultural knowledge, she now went for the religious banana peel. "I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. God said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?' " Bachmann said at a recent campaign event in Sarasota.

That’s serious. It’s God’s fault Irene passed by. Somebody needs to start looking for a free bed in an asylum in her hometown of Waterloo. Michele needs help! And Michele needs urgent teachings on weather patterns too.

So it’s God’s fault and choice and decision that 24 or so people got killed by Irene’s might. That’s a brutal God! An unfair God.
Michele needs pills! And maybe some electroshocks while we’re at it. What’s next? Well without a doubt gays and lesbians need some urgent religious counseling for their off-track-sexual-behavior. That’s a normal, classic religious approach on the matter. And ladies/girls wearing short skirts or bikinis are inviting to be raped. That’s God’s fashion statement. And without a doubt all Muslims are terrorists. That’s a no-brainer. And a good or a bad harvest is directly linked to the farmer’s prayers. Global warming is probably also God’s micro-wave revenge. Mistake! Republicans don’t believe in global warming. Michele would say that it’s all just based on faith in God. Life is simple. Why complicate things with science and all that other stuff? It’s all there in the Bible. Nothing’s new nor surprising. The answers are known. So start praying. See the signs. Light the candle. Donate your cash to the nearest soul-rescue church! There is still hope for you! Your vote, your soul, your support. One ticket covers all.

What’s next Michele? Enlighten us. Entertain us. Did God email NY mayor Bloomberg to halt the city’s underground network as Irene was approaching? “Hi mayor, I’m sending Irene to kick your ass for not listening!”. Maybe Bloomberg didn’t see the email as it might have gone into his spam box. It’s Norton antivirus software vs God.

Irene as the punisher from God. Irene with a whip. Irene as the blond vamp, riding a white horse across the sky and spreading God’s punishment across the globe… and beyond. Irene as the terminator of the infidels.

Gotta stop cause the visualization of all this is getting out of control. Gotta blame Michele.

But then after all the media headlines Michele said it was all just a joke. Is Michele joking about God? For a conservative, God-fearing, tea-drinking politician that’s just not acceptable. Only evil liberals walk that path. Michele needs fine-tuning. The asylum remains an option. As do the pills and the electroshocks.

Human behavior is watched by Irene!

Wondering what Irene has in stock for Gadaffi. The dictator has sent some of his family to neighboring Algeria. The mad man himself is apparently still somewhere in the Libyan dessert. Like a rat on the run. Game’s over. But dictators have troubles with reality and thus Gadaffi is having headaches from his ongoing delirium. Reality is a hammer on the head.

But the dessert rat shouldn’t worry too much. There are some fellow rats that are willing to welcome him. Rats stay together. United rats. Angola has said that Gadaffi can come and await his natural death there. Angola is a fake democracy. One man one vote is just a paper idea. An African classic. Strong man holds on to power and fills Swiss bank accounts. Gadaffi fits that approach. Dictators don’t go to the free world. They like hiding in dark corners once they are dethroned. And credits cards are linked to off-shore accounts on tax haven islands. So no worries about getting broke. That’s guaranteed. Set in stone. Dictators have very good financial advisors.

And so the African Union has declined to recognize the rebels, aka the National Transitional Council. Most of the rest of the world has recognized them so far (China, EU, US, Arab League,…), but for most of the African states it’s hard to let go of their paymaster. Because Gadaffi was the biggest contributor to the AU coffers. And beyond. He paid some African leaders directly to keep them afloat and in power. Democracy is still too fragile in Africa to dictate the pace of history. Justice is also too often MIA in Africa. But again, reality will catch up with those African leaders of the Gadaffi supports club. Reality always catches up.

Another close Gadaffi ally is mad Bob in Zimbabwe. The Libyan ambassador in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare had the guts to express his feelings and raised the rebel flag on the embassy. Not for long. Bob didn’t like that and kicked the ambassador out. Rats stay united! Traitors are send packing.

Human behavior sometimes tries to cheat reality.

Times are changing. But sometimes the change is just another lick of paint. Although the Arab uprisings are certainly kicking ass and throwing out some long-time rulers and thus times are indeed changing. If it’s for the better, only time will tell. That will be another reality check. Unavoidable.

Throw out. Boston’s Drago is back with a new album called “Times are changing”. These lads have been around for some years now and are still playing straight-forward, energetic hardcore-punk. The times are indeed changing but Drago still delivers fine tunes. Satisfaction guaranteed. Don’t change if it’s good. No need to repair the unbroken.

C -Ya

collateral – September 2011 has arrived it seems

Starter pack

2011-08-22T12:20:00.001+03:00

Research in Germany found that German shepherds (sometimes also called Alsatians) can sniff certain types of cancer in humans.

Great news! So if you own one (or more) of these lovely pooches just let them sniff you daily. Be it your testicles, your head or your breasts. It’s for a good cause. As long as they don’t start licking the same spots….

Human behavior can be guided by dogs’ sniffs.

Meanwhile Tripoli is free. The mad dictator is – as this is being blogged – just in charge of a couple of square meters. From an absolute ruler to a cornered fool. The rebels, with NATO air support, have rushed to and through the capital like nobody could have expected. Gadhafi’s regime and military has imploded faster than a cake that is being taken too early out of an oven. His threats of an impending bloodbath and annihilation of all opponents have been hot air. Evaporated faster than the eye can witness. His sons already arrested and enroute to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Sadly the US still hasn’t signed on to this international judicial body. Although it’s the only permanent international court the world has to charge, arrest and trial leaders for crimes against humanity.

Gadhafi’s spokesman who regularly briefed the media in the Tripoli hotel looked more and more like that famous Iraqi spokesman who kept denying there was anything happening,…. even as the US troops were camping on the main square in Baghdad. History as a merry go round and round.

And as Tripoli was witnessing the end of a dictatorial era, the Yemeni ruler put tanks on the streets of the capital Sana’a out of fear that the unfolding events in Libya would give the freedom forces in Yemen a boost. Dictators are not sleeping too well these days. The butcher in Syria must also be a bit more nervous. Yesterday he quickly went on state TV to announce more promised reforms. But all very much just promises we heard before and that sound very hollow in comparison with his onslaught against all forms of protest against his dictatorship.

The Arab spring, turned summer, has got another scalp. Who’s next?

For sure any overthrowing of the autocratic rulers in Tunis, Egypt and now Libya does not automatically mean what comes next in those countries will be a simple and smooth transition to democracy and the rule of law. These countries have lived for so long under the crushing boot of oppression that democracy – and all its values and institutions – are practically unknown to the citizens there. And thus it takes time for the seeds to grow. And during that period lots of things can go wrong and off-track. So the world, the so called free world, needs to nurture these democracies carefully but without too much interference. More monitoring than taking the lead. Challenging times. Like bursts of fresh air across the Arab world. Keep it going!!! Roll on, roll on!!!

Human behavior can be strong as a force of unity for good.

Meanwhile back in the US of A, tea party presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann has slipped up again.

In the last blog entry we wrote she urgently needs classes in politics, history, etc…. And we wrote that she should know that the Soviet Union is no more. But guess what….. there Michele speaks about the Soviet Union in the present tense. The American schooling system must really be bad. The right-wing lady who wants to make history by becoming the first female US president, is lacking serious historic knowledge. She’s gotta hit the update button in her brain urgently. Dear Michele, the Soviet Union has collapsed many many many years ago. Let’s not go further into details because that might just cause some wire-tripping in your head.

So the need for some serious after-hours studying is more than ever needed. Avoiding it might become a clear and present danger…. to the world.

So Michele, maybe write the following yellow post-it notes and stick them on your fridge. So when you reach for the milk to put in your morning tea you can have a quick refresher kick about world history (and related developments).

Yes the US has already been on the moon. And JFK is dead. No America is not at war with Japan anymore. The US bombed them into submission in 1945. Yugoslavia has imploded. The Soviets have left Afghanistan. The Taliban is not a Christian rock band. These days the US has troops deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq, not in Vietnam. And the US is also assisting NATO operations over Libya. But don’t worry about this because that’s over by the time your presidential race really becomes important. Strangely but yes The Rolling Stones are still around,…and this despite all the booze and drugs. Such an anti-Christian behavior! But John Lennon is dead. Yes there is a black man in the White House. Strange things happen indeed. Even in America. Ronald Reagan is dead. And his movies have still not made it as blockbusters. No the Titanic doesn’t sail anymore, and the QE2 is not a space ship but a British cruise liner. China still considers Taiwan a renegade province. Ai,… I know that’s a complicated issue. Yes, the United Kingdom is still…… a kingdom. Oh, and the Boston Red Sox owner has bought Liverpool football club. You know, that funny sport where one kicks a round ball. Those funny Europeans! Global warming is not a fashion trend, but about CO2 concentration in our atmosphere. Oh sorry,… are you too confused now. Reality TV is not about reality. Oh that’s really pushing the confusion limits! The American hostages have been freed from Tehran. Some decades ago. So no need to send SWAT teams to Iran for now. But keep an eye on the mad ruler there. He is really evil. The boss of the axis of evil. With cheerleaders in North Korea and Syria.

We know Michele, it’s a complex, and crazy world out there. But you’re a big girl now,…. so act up!

Human bahavior needs wikipedia. A simplified version for some. Like a starter pack.

Throw out. Italo-German rocker Unantastbar (untouchable) just released their sophomore full-length called “Schuldig” (guilty). Kick ass tunes with a tight production. Send a copy to Gadafhi,… and an Arabic-German dictionary.

C -Ya

collateral – August 2011 is the end of an era

The earth is not flat

2011-08-17T17:14:00.002+03:00

Here we go again. Politicians and their slips of the tongue. Or is it brain damage?

Following Alaska’s ex-governor Sarah Palin’s outbursts of lack of general knowledge, now tea party hopefull Michele Bachmann follows the trail of stupid uttering.

It’s kind of basics that if you wanna be the next White House resident you should know better. Much better. It seems a Republican habit. Bush Jr was full of verbal tripping, then Palin with her worldpolitics mishaps and now Bachmann. And ofcourse before all of them we had b-actor Ronald Reagan who only spoke about nuking the Soviets.

Especially populist politicians, like the tea party folks, should really watch what comes out of their mouths because they only focus on 20-second soundbites with not too much content nor depth. So it’s gotta be right and tight. They got the tight right, but the right is not always right.

It started when Buchmann launched her presidential bit in a town called Waterloo. Now Waterloo is a town in Belgium (“oh heck, where’s that”, Michele screams…) and was the battlefield that brought Napoleon’s rule to a halt in the 19th Century. And the term ‘meeting your Waterloo’ is very commonly known as one’s ultimate defeat. So launching your presidential ambitions in Waterloo might be a bit of a public relations disaster. But then again, Buchmann probably thinks that her tea party lovers wont know jacksh*t about Napoleon nor Waterloo, and thus what the heck. And explaining Napoleon in 20 seconds is not possible anyway. So just stick to the hometown label without further thoughts. Easy.

And then came cowboy-hero John Wayne. Well not really. Buchmann confused the NRA symbol with the serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Confusing a gun hero with a gun madman is like slipping on 7 banana peels in one go. Especially for gun loving tea party, presidental hopefulls. Oeps! John Wayne might be turning in his grave. From riding away on your horse as sun sets to an ugly looking bloke on a killing spree is just a brainflick away. For some.

Then she wished America’s sweetheart Elvis Presley a happy birthday….. on the anniversary of his death. More banana action! Maybe sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll are taboo subjects within the tea drinking circles. Evil stuff for conservative minded folks and thus banned from knowledge-gathering efforts.

So one gotta start thinking what’s next. Scary thoughts.

Maybe Buchmann needs an urgent crash course before the presidential race really kicks off early next year. Crash course in….. well, mostly everything. Politics, geography, culture, understanding a calendar, Hollywood, history, proverbs,…. For tea party followers her dress sense seems spot on and her short quick US politics soundclips – aka short barks – seem mostly enough to get the tea lovers shouting and screaming like they’ve reached nirvana.

Anyway. Guide to the Buchmann crashcourse. The world is round, not flat. Think about a globe. Or a basketball. Africa is not a country. It’s a continent with more than 50 independent nations. Canada is not an American State. It’s another independent nation. The Somali pirates do not have an eye patch on, nor a skull and bones flag. Japan is not a member of the European Union. North and South Korea are two different countries and the US likes the south and hates the north (don’t make the Palin mistake on this one, especially when your finger is on the nuke button when / if you reach the White House). The White House is on Pennsylvania Avenue, but is not in Pennsylvania. I know, it is confusing but try to remember! A passport is an official document every citizen needs to have when going to a foreign country. I know, it’s a scary idea to leave the USA but maybe one day you might wanna go to the United Kingdom and meet the Queen. No, the rockband Queen is no more since the singer died of the AIDS virus (“He must have been gay!” “Oh he was! You see, it’s a gay disease. God's punishment.”). The Soviet Union is no more. Karl Marx is also dead. Long time ago. Don’t worry about him anymore. When you step on a bus on the campaign trail make sure it’s yours and not Obama’s. No Michelle Obama did not steal your first name. Yes, the White House will pay for your hairdresser appointments… if you make it to that white, big building in Washington DC. And no, Washington DC is not a suburb of Seattle in Washington state. Sometimes Mexicans do not eat chicken and beans. Yes Fidel Castro is still alive…., but probably not for long. You have good Muslims and bad Muslims. The good ones are those the Bush family has business dealings with. The bad ones are terrorists. Yes sorry, Ronald Reagan is dead. Yes yes, if you become the next US president you can dig up Obama’s basketball field and built a shooting range. Yes, in theory you can invade nations, just check first with your advisors if they are on the allied list or not. Yes you can bring your own pen to the White House to put on X on documents now and then. You are probably right that they speak a funny language in France. No, it’s not an English dialect. Sony is not an American company. Neither is Toyota. Yes they use the US dollar across all states of the US of A. And no, the Canadian dollar is not the same. No, America doesn’t occupy Japan anymore. But yes for sure, China is still communist and has these limitations on free speech and religious gatherings. Don’t send the cruise missiles yet. Yes you can have your own Facebook page and a Twitter account.

That will do for the next weeks.

Can you imagine a Buchmann-Palin ticket? Their acceptance speeches at the republican convention would be hilarious. It would be sold on DVD afterwards on the comedy-shelve at your local DVD rental store. A winning Buckmann-Palin poll would be very scary. Too scary to even think about it. Even the Martians will start building bunkers.

Human bahviour is just for fun.

To erase those tragic visions of a Buchmann-Palin ticket; which in human evolution is going 4 species backwards; lets have some wine.

The Australian, nearly-pensioned hardrockers AC/DC are releasing their own wines. Yep, indeed. High voltage wine. It’s called parallel investments. So you gotta look out for Back To Black Shiraz, Highway To Hell Cabernet Sauvignon, Hells Bells Sauvignon Blanc and You Shook Me All Night Long Moscato.

But if you gonna have it all night long, it will feel you’re on a highway to hell. You will hear hell’s bells as you are passing out again and again. Back to black.

Human behavior can be like TNT.

Throw out. Playing AC/DC’s live album from 1992 feels like like a thundering train through misty valleys. The sound of a whole generation. A devine classic in musical history. Nearly 2 decades old (that album, not the band) but still standing like a rock.

C -Ya

collateral – August 2011 is just full of inspiration. Amen.

Silence

2011-08-16T11:35:00.003+03:00

Politicians are really a strange breed. Too often clearly detached from reality. And certainly always spinning and focusing mainly on opinion polls and re-election strategies.

The fires of the UK shopping-riots are only just been put out but the political class (and related agencies) are fighting over who was the diving force behind the change of police tactics during the unrest.

It’s crazy. So much wasted energy and time is going into tit for tats between the British government and the police bosses on who was running the show. Is that the priority now? So off the rails!

And the list of riot suspects appearing before the courts – which stayed open for business 24/24 – is getting really ‘interesting’. A derailed society in the dock. A teacher, the daughter of a millionaire, an Olympic ‘ambassador’, an 11-year-old kid,…. So it’s certainly not just down-and-out youths from the empoverished, forgotten, parts of London. Just greedy opportunists gone over the edge. Humans with a need to have the latest Ipods, game consoles, cell phones, plasma screens,… to have a meaning in their lives. To feel ‘real’. To feel somebody. These people were already over the edge before the first window was smashed.

Human behavior is consumer driven. And image driven.

One rioter made an interesting comment on British TV. He said the banks stole so much more from the common people. True….. to a degree. Banks didn’t go burning down furniture stores that have been a family business for decades. There is financial looting – as the banks certainly did – and there is mob-raging looting and burning as those yobs did. You can’t compare apples and pears. Both issues need to be raised for sure but not put in the same trash bin. And don’t use one for an excuse for the other. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

An older man outside a job-outreach center said he doesn’t see the same energy when it comes down to seeking work. Maybe right. Maybe too simplistic.

What’s guaranteed is that the British Prime Minister will use it to talk tough and look like a real leader. The real truth is that what happened is complex and a result of decades of neglect on all levels. From investment to social-family aspects. You don’t cure the rot with a lick of paint.

For politicians human bevahior is dictated by the next news bulletin. Long term visions stretches till the next opinion poll.

From the ashes of London to…. the disgust. In the same metropolis.

A female medical expert (in HIV – but that’s not important here) was arrested and sentenced to 6 months in jail for keeping a 21-year-old Tanzanian woman as a slave in her London home. Crazy. But crazier is that she only gets 6 months penitentiary. That seems really little.

From London via Tanzania to the other side of Africa. The tiny nation of Benin in West Africa has seen piracy soaring off its coast. The Somali pirates off Africa’s east coast are a well-known, and expanding, threat. But now it seems that the same phenomenon is kicking off on the other side of the old continent too. The oceans are wide and vast, but it still seems somewhat strange that the world can’t really deal with this threat. Because obviously it’s not just an African problem as ships from many nations are being hijacked. From China to Saudi Arabia to Holland. There is so much military capability around, from planes to subs to satelittes, that it is astonishing that the pirates can still roam reasonably freely. Seek and destroy!

Staying in Africa. Corruption, financial wastage and lack of accountability are a disease that is keeping the continent from really advancing. In South Africa the president’s son-in-law got a contract worth some US$ 142.857.000 to built a new headquarter for one of the departments. But officials within that department say that there is no budget for a new building. And the normal procedures to decide on such a big spending haven’t been followed. It stinks and is one of those examples how the cancer of corruption is eating away at the building blocks of society. Sad. Very sad. Rotten to the presidential core.

Back to Africa’s West coast.

University students at Sierra Leone’s Fourah Bay College could not write their final exams some weeks back because……. there was no paper. Just no notebooks or printing-paper to do the exams. Crazy. The 4000 students were angry. Rightly so.

Human careers can depend on the availability of stationary.

It’s slightly insane how the US presidential race kicks off so early. The elections are next year November. Before that you have the parties’ conventions to elect their candidate. Before that you have a money-wasting rollercoaster of primaries starting early next year. And before that you have informal ‘straw polls’. And all that process costs billions of money that could be spent more wisely. For sure democracy can and should cost some cash because it is precious, but the campaigns in the US seem to start earlier and earlier and thus costing more and more. And money needs to come from somewhere and thus the question of whom is funding whom – and for what return – is a very pertinent one. The dirty underbelly of political financing. Very murky. Very.

And all this amidst a nation which is totally broke. So deep in the red we soon have to invent new digits.

So we just saw some Republican pre-pre-pre-selection happening and that tea-party lady seem to have come out top of the pile. For now. And after that straw-poll the Republican governor of Texas came out saying he also wants the key to the White House. So is the pre-race on republican side set for the tea party lady against the governor,…. with Palin waiting in the wings? For sure populism will get a boost.

Obama, corned it seems, then went on a mini-bus tour. So campaigning has clearly kicked off. The 2012 poll seems to be going as a contest between a second term for a bold-ish, black Democrat and either a right-wing chick or a Democrat-turned-Republican governor-with-a-reasonable-good-economic-track-record. The Democrat-in-the-White-House struggled – and still struggles – to put his dreams into reality and tackle the economic foes….., which without a doubt started already under his republican predecessor Bush Jr. The tea lady rides the populist wave but her hard-hitting rhetoric sounds good in 20 second clips but lacks content. And the govenor seems to be the balance between content and sloganesque tactics. The road is still politically long and thus it’s wait and see. But for sure the starting-gun has been fired and the race is on.

Forget Iran, Syria, Mexico, oil spills, melting ice, currency issues with China,…. It’s gonna be a race focusing on basic economic realities. And the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will linger on the sidelines. Memories to the Clinton-Bush Sr race. “It’s the economy, stupid!”

Sadly it’s gonna be loud, and full of numb slogans. An avalanche of hopes and promises. A deafening ghettoblaster of dirty attacks and money-wasting TV clips. Silence will be a luxury.

Or as Phillip Levine once wrote down. “Fact is, silence is the perfect water: unlike rain it falls from no clouds  to wash our minds, to ease our tired eyes, to give heart to the thin blades of grass fighting through the concrete for even air dirtied by our endless stream of words.“

Throw out. NY’s punkrockers House Boat have just released a well-received new album called “The thorns of life”. It’s the lads’ second full-length. It’s cathy, acerbic punkrock with a raw pop edge. And with song titles like “A song in which I convince myself to stop being such a f* idiot” and “I live directly across the street from the outback steakhouse”,…. one can see their no-holds barred approach. The House Boat residents previously played in proven punkrock establishments like The Dopamines, Dear Landlord, The Steinways and Off With Their Heads. “The thorns of life” is the perfect album to survive the traffic rush hour.

C -Ya

collateral – August 2011 is still breathing

Joe Strummer

2011-08-11T11:15:00.002+03:00

Late 1979 London punkers The Clash released their album “London Calling” and frontman Joe Strummer sang the lead-song.

“London calling to the faraway towns.
Now that war is declared-and battle come down.
London calling to the underworld.
Come out of the cupboard, all you boys and girls.”

Not that most of the rioters in UK’s capital know much – if anything – about The Clash. And what a riot it turned out to be! A world metropolis gone mad. Anarchy in the UK. Another punk anthem from the 70s.

London’s burning. Literally. Well parts of it. And Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Birmingham, Wolverhampton,….

Crazy. Mad. Insane. Lunatic. Over the edge. Unacceptable. No (real) reasons why.

Yes, the first fire was started in north London’s suburb of Tottenham after cops killed a resident (suspected gang member?). All the reasons behind that tragic incident are still not clear, but we know now that the dead 29-year-old man did not fire his gun. He was for sure in possession of a weapon but no bullet left that gun that night.

Dead man. Angry community. Mob mentality. Flames of anger.

So far understandable. To a degree.

But what followed was just pure pillage. Shopping-riots somebody called. And that was spot on. No politics. No social agenda. Just mobs of very young thugs going on a stealing rampage. And their prime targets? Sports wear stores, upmarket fashion retailers, cell phone shops and electronic stores. Nights of riots for a new cellphone and TV plasma screen. That’s what it is all about!

Human behavior can drop very low.

Shops set alight without thinking about the flats (and its inhabitants) above it. A middle class, family, furniture store that has been around for ages torched to the ground. The store survived both world wars and a couple of economic hard times, but not the mad rioters. Nuts. Three men who were protecting their little carwash shop run over by a speeding car, which fled the murder scene. Nuts.

Rebels without a cause and rebels without a brain. Rising up against banks’ outrageous payments to their bosses amidst economic recession is a reason to fight. Rising up back in the 70s and 80s against apartheid South Africa was a real cause. Fighting for your environmental rights in the oil-polluted delta of Nigeria is a worthwhile cause. Rebelling against the destruction of the amazon forest in Brazil is worth the fight. Expressing anger over small sentences for child rapists is totally fine.

But this nonsense across the UK is just a bunch of losers stealing goods to feel more trendy. What the hell has happened that some feel unhappy and ‘rejected’ if they don’t wear the latest Nike footwear, have the newest cellphone, the up-to-date game console and the same eye-wear as that football/soccer player on the billboard? That’s very low self respect and very low general feeling about what life is really about. Sad but true.

Find a job. Paint your house. Help in a soup kitchen for the homeless. Clean up the neighborhood park. Study for a higher degree. But don’t be a f*cking faceless thug. Mob mentality of the weak. What’s the point? Really, what is the point? No future? Certainly not with such behavior and mentality. We are all angry at how politics and economics are going worldwide. And with the environmental disasters. And with the wars and the famines. And with the rapists and the scammers. And with the increasing prices of goods. But tell us one thing, what the f*ck are you achieving now? Zero. Nothing. Less than anything. Anger and rebellion is good because being complacent is numb, but going on a destructive journey and destroy what middle class workers have built up for years is just beyond acceptance. It’s flippin’ bonkers!

Spotted that a 31 year old teacher has pleaded guilty to being part of the looting of a music / sound store in London. A teacher!!! So she destroyed her own future for an ipod or a new set of trendy headphones? How stupid is that? And for a teacher?!? Self-destructive numbf*ck! Blame who you wanna blame, but first of all look in the mirror!!!

And another looter in police cells is an 11-year-old kid. 11-Year-old! Speaking of bad examples in your community. Speaking of seeing your young life only through the eyes of trendy consumerism. Sad, sad, sad.

Human behavior can be the price of an Apple.

And where are the parents of these kids? What do they have to say when the kid comes home late and with a new Ipod in his heand and new tracksuit trousers? Do the parent(s) care? Are they awake? Aware? Not drunk or doped up? Too busy shagging the 16 year old neighbour’s daughter? Or just hardly home because doing double shifts to survive as single parent?

Something’s just gone wrong. Well probably a multiple set of conditions, expectations, fake representations…. It’s mainly which way to turn when you hit a T-junction.

Human behaviour can be a off-track.

Meanwhile, as London is burning, Syria’s onslaught of its own people is just going on like flipping burgers at McDonalds. Still amazing how people with (near-) absolute power looses all sense of values and reality. They become un-humanized. Power is really a brain disease. It transforms humans into something extraterrestial. And there is no normal turning back for dictators. Once they are in their unique but sickening headspace then can never by their own willing or abilities come back to senses. Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mugabe, the junta in Burma, Mubarak, the Iranian nuke freak, Gadaffi, Fidel, Pinochet, the Chinese communist party topleadership, the lunatic in North Korea, bunch of other African let’s-hold-on-to-power-forever nutters,…. They’re not all in the same league, but they are all dillusional, powerhungry, should-be-in-a-mental-hospital politicians. Willing to kill their own folks to keep the key to the palace. Willing to exterminate all dissident views. Lost in their own labyrinth of insanity. Power is a deadly disease. And against such disease you can only rebel with brute force. May the force be with the freedom fighters in Libya and Syria!

Human behavior easily slides into mad behavior.

And there you have it. An enormous jawbone found in Kazakhstan adds weight to the idea that giant birds existed at the same time as the dinosaurs. A flying T-Rex! Are you reading this Hollywood?

Throw out. “Life’s a journey” is the brandnew album by New Zealand’s punkers The Rabble. Fine collection of in your face songs with a clear Rancid-touch of punk with reaggea touches here and there. Great production. Nice to discover good music from far nations on thee dge of the planet. Don’t like the hairstyle, but like the musical expression.

C -Ya

collateral – August 2011 is just burning onwards

Full

2011-08-03T11:14:00.001+03:00

The morgue is full.

Sacked cop kills police station commander in Johannesburg. Being a cop in South Africa is a pretty dangerous occupation. An average of 2 cops per week have been killed in South Africa so far in 2011. That’s lots of blood on the blue uniforms. Plenty of cop killers out there.

In Syria the unrest has turned into a slaughter in the opposition town Hama. And as history goes, the wheels keep turning round ‘n’ round. Same town saw a previous onslaught against the regime’s opponants some decades ago under the iron fist of the current president’s father. Butchering seems a family affair for the past and current tyrants in Damascus. Tanks vs people. Bullets vs stones. Madness vs cries of freedom. But people don’t forget. If the tyrant can’t be silenced and stopped now, the future will come. Revenge has no expiry date. The uprising wont be deleted from memory.

A train crashed in China, but the local media are banned from reporting on it. Free flow of information is not a communist idea. Big shows when the olympics come to town, but back to old tactics of repression when the circus leaves.

Another African famine. History is really repeating itself. Somalia has had no fully functioning central government for more than 2 decades. US , UN and AU soldiers have died in the sandpit. But it’s still a very Darwinistic country. The weak are left to die. The rule of the gun is the only one in town. Weapon salesmen are having a field day. Muslim fundamentalists are now even hijacking this famine. Control by all means necessary. By the gun. By religion. By food availability. How low can humans fall? Religion is a killer. No hope in Somalia. Death is certain, life is not.

Knocking on the morgue’s door.

From starvation to self-destruction. Amy Winehouse apparently died because she abruptly stopped drinking. That’s what some family members claim, although the police toxicology report ain’t out yet. Sounds like an advertisement for vodka or so. Drink more, live longer. Stop drinking can seriously harm your health. Anyway, Amy didn’t reach her 3 decades on planet earth because of 1 person only: herself. Sad but true.

Out of the limelight. A ferry sinks in Congo. Many dead. Crocodiles’ paradise. 80 Bodies found. 100 Passengers rescued. 20 Or so still missing.

Libyans are fleeing their country but some drown in te Mediterranean as they were trying to reach Italy. Flee a revolution to let your life been taken away by the swells of the high seas. Sad. Killed by Gaddafi’s soldiers. Killed by Nato bombs. Killed by rebel mortars. Or killed while fleeing war. Roll of the dice.

Some Libyan rebels have been killed in a government counter attack not too far from the capital Tripoli. The civil war is stuck in the dessert. Divided nation. Politics of hate.

Pakistan seems never at peace with itself. If it ain’t religious fools going on a killing spree or sending out a suicide bomber, it’s political violence. More than 30 people were killed in Karachi amidst political warfare. Armed groups supporting one or the other political party go out and battle it out. Madness to the next level. And it seems a merry go round and round because last month some 200 people were killed during deadly games of political insanity.

Human behavior is a speed train to the morgue.

Leaving the blood stains aside for a while. Chinese authorities have discovered – and closed down – fake Ikea and Apple stores. So we’re not talking about some alleway secret store or backroom handlings, these were shops with the ‘real’ Ikea and Apple signs on main streets. Copyrights have never been an important issue in China. Copy, fake, steal.

Stealing.

A crime syndicate in a town in South Africa has been ‘buying’ criminal dockets to attempt to get cases thrown out of court. Nice one. Land of opportunities. Wondering how the syndicate adverstises its services. Ads in the paper? Website? Call us and pay us cash,…. and your court records will vanish into space. No more trial dates thanks to us. We are the judicial exterminators.

It’s one way of clearing the courts’ backlogs.

Human behavior can be criminal and inventive at the same time.

So the US is financially alive it seems. Far from healthy but alive. The debt figure is so high most of us just can’t even grasp it. Millions, trillions,… Sounds like mad monopoly. The amazing thing is that when intern-loving-Clinton left office the budget was balanced. Then came Bush and his business pals. Then came the mad bankers going over the edge. Then came a housing crisis. Then came a recession. And amidst all that wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that keep chewing money faster than the speed of light. Memories of Clinton feels nice at once. Cigars and all.

Maybe, just like with Amy and her booze, cigar smoking is good for you and thus stopping lighting a Cuban might cause your health to fail. Maybe a whiskey and a cigar will become the new healthkick for the Hollywood plastic surgery stars (and lesser ones). Forget the veggies and therapeutic sessions with oils and candles, give them a J. W. black label – make it a double – and a smoke. Spa retreats with free booze and a joint! Who said the future is f*cked?

Chill, relax, enjoy…. while out there in that distant world the morgue labourers are doing overtime.

Throw out. Singer and bassist Dan Andriano from Alkaline Trio fame has released a fine album under his side-project’s name Dan Andriano In The Emergency Room. “Hurricane Season” brings 10 well-crafted songs with strong lyrics.

C -Ya

collateral – August 2011

When reason stops

2011-07-26T12:51:00.000+03:00

As he was waiting for the arrival of the mass-killer, a Norwegian man outside the court in Oslo said that he “just wants to have a glimpse of evil”.

A small, peacefull nation drown into a 666-orgy of insanity beyond comprehension. When hatred slides over the edge.

But the murdering man was not mentally stupid. No low IQ. He put together an astonishing 1500 page document about his thoughts and opinons. A long, dark tunnel. And it lead to a day of utter insanity. But the document is heavily on serious research. Without a doubt research inspired by certain thinking processes and research done to look for explanations for his visions. The research didn’t lead to a conclusion. The conclusion was searching for reasons. But for sure he went far back in world history to fuel his fear that the world keeps changing and it was change he didn’t like. And it was change he wanted to stop there and then. By a killing spree.

A document that became his bible for action. Guidebook to slaughter. Narrow minded fear + narrow minded visions + fear of tomorrow + guns = scary options.

A bible indeed. His deep rooted, conservative Christianity pushed his thoughts deeper and deeper into a certain tunnel. Religion is the opium of the masses, as Marx said. Probably the only thing Marx was spot on with, because his other theories were used in the former Soviet Union and the former Eastern Europe to turn states into prisons without hope. Left wing dictatorships. The area where extremisms – left or right – touches each other. Copy each other under a different banner. The goelags of Stalin and the concentration camps of Hitler. Same with religions. The conservative Christian massmurderer in Norway is the same evil as the 9/11 hijackers. Same terrorists. When reason stops, demons dance.

Human behaviour can easily slide into hell. Fear is a massive catalyst.

History is a tool that can be spinned and used and analysed by all to proof anything. But history is also there to show the undeniable, neutral fact that things change. They come and go. History – as the future will be – is not stable nor fully predictable and never (for anybody) as hoped and expected and planned.

The birth of the human race is traced back to Africa. But that continent is now the most tragic. The Egyptians ruled once. And the Romans conquered. And the Vikings caused fear as far as Paris. There was the Portuguese empire. And the Spanish one. And the British one. And the French one. And the Austrian-Hungarian one. And the Ottoman one. And the Third Reich. And the Soviet Union. And the Dutch ruled the old trade routes at one time. And the Indians (the red skins, not the Asians) where once the free roamers of what is now America. Things change. For better and for worse. It’s the unstoppable pendilum of time. And it’s clear that the economic might of China is slowly taking over global trade power. And it’s clear that Muslim faith is growing while Christianity is declining. All of the above have reasons. Mostly social-economic reasons. And always a multiple avalanche of reasons. Developments. Actions. Events.

But throughout the centuries there is the clear thread of mistrust. Of fear of the unknown. Fear of the future – which is a normal human response. Change is too often feared and disliked. Change is a rupture of comfort. Change – once again – can be good and bad. Can have good and bad consequences for humans and animals. And for the environment generally.

Fear is what make humans edgy. And in fact, what makes animals edgy too.

Christians hate Muslims. Muslims hate Jews. Blacks hate whites and whites hate blacks. Brits hate Polish. French dislike the English. Scots feel hated by the English. The Welsh feel forgotten. South and North Italians dislike each other. Gypsies are hated by all. Russians hate Georgians. Zulus hate Xhosas. Commies hate capitalists. Capitalists hate the left wing. CEOs dislike the unions. The Oklahoma bomber hated the State. The Romans hated Jesus. Lenin hated the monarchs. City dwellers hate farmers. Rural folks dislike the city slickers. Old people don’t understand the young. The young think the oldies are ‘funny’. Basks hate Madrid. Bosnians hate Serbs and Serbs hate them too. And the Kosovars. Tutsis don’t trust Hutus. Afrikaners and South African blacks have a history of hatred. Liberals and Conservatives can’t stand each other. The Flemish dislike the Walloons, and the Walloons think all Flemish are fascists. The Chinese hate the Tibetans. And the Taiwanese. The Japanese and the Chinese don’t really like each other. North and South Korea are the ultimate paranoid brothers. NY doesn’t like LA. Firemen hate pyromaniacs. Cows fear the butcher. Cats and dogs can’t stand each other. The Sunnis hate the Shi’ites. Hamas and Fatah don’t get along. The Tea Party followers hate Obama. Big business hate enviromentalists. Israelis and Palestinians have been at each other throats for too many years. Vegetarians hate McDonalds. Anarchists hate the banks. Fish hate fishermen. Sharks fear the Chinese. Whales hide for the Japanese. The river fish fears the eagle. The spider fears the scorpion. The bok fears the lion. The elephant hates the ivory traders. Northern Nigerians dislike southerners. Same north-south divide in Ivory Coast. Record labels hate (illegal) downloaders. Real Madrid supporters hate Barcelona fans. Decent journalists hate tabloid ones. India hate Pakistan, and vice versa.

And on and on goes the carousel of hate, dislike, distrust, fear, and un-understanding.

And as the blood in Norway was drying up, came the news that singer Amy Winehouse was no more.

A young girl full of possibilities and opportunities that went over the edge. Self-destructive behaviour. A great voice. A great performer. Deep, meaningfull lyrics. But with a very dark side. Internal torment. And it ended as many feared. Alone in her flat. The heart gave up. It couldn’t handle the self-abuse anymore.

Wondering if Elton John will re-write his Princess Diana-tribute song “Candle In The Wind” for Amy: “Candle Under The Spoon”.

Wondering what Amy says when she knocked at heaven’s gate: “Is this rehab?”

Yes it is. The ultimate rehab. No return anymore. No falling back to dark habbits. No more back to black.

Human behaviour can be a sadly affair.

The US budget fights are technical and nearly ridiculous. The US is broke and thus something needs to be done. One is laughing with the Greeks, but the US is far far far far deeper in the red than anybody else. And in fact lots of the US debt is held by Chinese banks. Speaking of times’ changing!

The debates often sound like a domestic dispute. The mother screams at the father that he spends too much on gambling and on a new TV set. The father screams back saying she didn’t need a new oven nor a weekly hairdo.

Wondering if a US economist is about to enter a Chinese bank with Uzis, AK47s and semtex? Conservative capitalist mass-murderer causes havoc and death in a state-controlled, communist-named-but-capitalist-acting bank in the business district of Beijing. Nothing is what is was, nor what it will be.

Nobody is safe anymore. Nowhere. Never.

Throw out. Brian Fallon from Gaslight Anthems fame is soon releasing an album with his side-project The Horrible Crowes. The recordings are done. The album title unknown for now. The exact release date unknown for now. High expectations.

C -Ya

collateral – July 2011 is a cracker

Sex

2011-07-21T12:47:00.002+03:00

Despite high unemployment the Zimbabwean prison service cannot fill its vacant post of….. hangman. It’s been trying to hire a new executioner for many months, but to no avail. No candidates applied.

Although the job comes with benefits. Regular income, pension plan, free food, free medical care, and your clients wont complain afterwards. Maybe not really customer’s”satisfaction guaranteed”, but no need for a customer hotline after the service has been rendered. What’s done is done. One take.

Imagine the job advertisement in the paper. Zimbabwean prison department seeks hangman. Stable job. Fixed hours. Extra benefits. Requirements: no joker; solid presence; can handle rope; no criminal record (!) – because we do not want a fellow inmate creeping up the job ladder.

No hangman for Zimbabwe. So deathrow has become an eternal waiting room for a candidate to apply the grimreaper’s job. Wonder if for some inmates in Zimbabwe it would not be better to die quickly than to rot in jail. Doesn’t sound too healthy. The rope around one’s neck is probably less suffering. Not sure what food you get inside a Zimbabwean prison these days. Torture, rats, tuberculosis, aids,… Visitors? Certainly no TV, radio or reading material. Hell on earth. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if some inmates are praying for a hangman’s visit as soon as possible. Deliver us from torment. Maybe the prison can organise that the deathrow inmates can hang themselves. Cheap option! A DIY job.

Human behaviour is a waiting room.

Southwards on the African continent till the bottom bit. The surf city of Durban has been the scene of student protests.

The youngsters didn’t scream and shout about the cost of education, the crap internet connectivity, the racial tendencies on the campus, the corrupt government, the environmental degradation, global warming, the cost of AIDS drugs, the waiting lists for driving license tests, the maths teacher’s insanity, the cost of booze and the illegality of marihuana. No the students left the classrooms to demand free condoms!

It’s all about priorities! Forget educational needs and job prospects. It’s all about sex! They are too ashamed to ask their parents; spent their pocket money on booze, drugs and a new cell phone,…. So condoms need to be handed out for free …. And on a daily basis.

Maybe when they grow old their kids will ask what they rebelled against while at university. As their kids will have heard how grandpa (and grandma) caused havoc by throwing stones against the apartheid police. The father will be cornered. “Well, son, my dad fought the authorities againts racial discrimination and for freedom. We, the next, free, generation rioted because we wanted sex. With condoms ofcourse, because even at our young age we were aware of all these little viruses and the dangers of all that partner swapping.” Free at last!
From sticks and stones to… boners. Just a generation away.

Human behaviour can me measured in centimeters.

Sometimes reality is better than a Hollywood thriller. The movie script writers are facing a tough one… The British phone messages hacking scandal is like a tsunami. Newspaper closed; resignations; sackings, extra special parliamentary committees (live on TV), the Prime Minister shortening his oversees trip; company shares in decline; popular outcry; big headlines; specialists and analysts; scores being settled; FBI involvement; special police investigations; cops on the take; dirty detectives; the whistleblower found dead;... anything else?

It’s incredible. Can any blockbuster be better? If you miss 1 hour of British TV you missed 5 new developments; 4 new resignations; and 20 new details. It’s a rollercoaster of dirt. A mud slide.

So the soulless tabloid scum hacked into phonemessages of the family of British soldiers who died in Afghanistan and Iraq. And of the royal family. And of Hollywood stars. And of sport stars. And of politicians. The drop that caused the bucket to spill over was the hacking into the phone messages of a murdered young girl. And now allegations that also the families of 9/11 victims were targetted. The dirt keeps spreading.

Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch is cornered. The old dude had to testify before a British parliamentary committee. The man who owns Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the Sun,…. and many many more media outlets worldwide, said he felt humble before the Britsh MPs. Since when is ‘humble’ a new term for ‘I am trying to save my company’s value’?

This scandal is far from over. The City of London saw its 2 most senior police chiefs resign within 2 days. It is claimed that the closed newspaper – News Of The World – had tens of London cops on its payroll. The stench of money.

Human behaviour keeps being driven mainly by cash. Greed is a demise.

The phone hacking has thrown Libya and Syria in the bin. No airtime for now.

In South Africa an investigation has found that the Department of Public Works (like a department in charge of government property etc.) signed 2 leases for 2 new police HQ’s. A national one and a regional one. Sounds fine. But the signatures were put on the lease document before the buildings were sold to the man who is the owner on the rental papers. In other words, a rental agreement was signed before the owner really owned the buildings. And, surprise, surpise, the owner is a friend of the ruling party. How the rot creeps. But the real core of the matter is that the government agreed to a rental fee which is far far far higher than the going market rate. Smelling the stench?

In the English scandal several people resigned right away. As an act of taking public responsibility. In South Africa the minister and the head of police haven’t been seen nor heard in public since the revelations. No comments, no reactions, no resignations. Is silence consent? Or is silence the fear of more cutthroat questions? The latter for sure.

Human behaviour stinks.

Death can come any time and from anywhere. Sad reality. Just like taxes.

And an event in Delbruck in Germany poves it once again. Sadly. It was raining and windy. A 17 year old kid opens his/her umbrella but it kind of doesn’t want to open as it should be. We’ve all seen those scenes where wind and opening an umbrella doesn’t really go together nicely and then the cheaper versions of umbrellas simply break.

So the kid had enough of his/her useless umbrella and throws it away. But the wind had other plans. It picks up the umbrella and takes it on its gusty journey towards …the chest of a 14 year old girl. The umbrella planted itself in the chest of the innocent youngster. Ambulance called. Ambulance arrives. Ambulance leaves with girl. Girl dies a few moments after arriving at the hospital.

Kick that! Maybe the 17 year old should not have thrown the umbrella away just like litter, but put it in a dustbin. Litter turned into a murder weapon.

Can you imagine the headmaster having to call the parents? Death by umbrella.

Throw out. American punkrockers Heartsounds have just released their sophomore album “Drifter”. Great tunes. An album full of well-paced, melodic punkrock with female/male vocals. The duo that started the band – Ben and Laura – played death metal before. A scary thought. But after the 666-years they turned back to their roots. “Until we surrender” was their first Heartsounds’ release and a cracker of note with clear Bad Religion influences. “Drifter” takes their craft further.

C -Ya

collateral – July 2011 is still trying to cope with reality

Smash & grab

2011-07-15T10:02:00.000+03:00

So this tea party lady – Buchannan or something?? – dreams of the White House. And the fame and glory that comes with it. But the tea party seems not so much clued in with history. This White House hopefull launched her presidency-lust in a town called Waterloo.

Waterloo, located in tiny Belgium, is known for the ultimate defeat of Napoleon back in 1815. Not a great spin to kickstart your journey to Washington DC. Or maybe it’s just a typical tea party character. Just like Sarah Palin has no clue about African states or the difference between North and South Korea, so has this Waterloo chick maybe no clue about anything that happened before yesterday.

The past is the past and of zero importance to anybody. Let’s just kick America forwards. History is for….. somebody else. Maybe we should just exterminate it from school programs and replace it with some good old Christian values. Christian stuff, you know. From that hero that died at the cross for all of us. Back in… well then. In the past… when they didn’t have access to lethal injections yet or to gas cocktails. Those Romans could learn something from todays fine US penitentiaty clean up model. Don’t ask me more about where and how these Romans did things cause as you know history ain’t my thing. Let’s take America forward. Let’s exterminate some more. Waterloo or no Waterloo. In fact there is indeed water in my loo. Progress! An American thing. Land of the free shits!

Human behaviour has a smell.

But…. if strong-man Napoleon was finally defeated in Waterloo… it means there was also a winner. The defeater! In fact it was a British-lead ‘coalition of the willing’. Maybe Bush Jr copied his anti-Iraq coalition on this Waterloo joint-venture? And thus maybe this tea party presidential hopefull indeed spins Waterloo around and sees it as a coalition of the willing to defeat Obama. Is Obama then a Napoleon-type? Oh,… slipping away. I thought ta party fans like strong-men in charge and thus would be more on Napoleon’s side. And Napoleon also fought the Russians. That would fit Sarah Palin and cronies. Tea versus vodka. Anyway, it’s hard for an outsider to keep track on all possible presidential candidates on the right side of US politics – aka tea drinkers and old party fans. From Obama’s side it’s in fact simple. He was voted into office – overwhelmingly – on the back of a disastrous Bush Jr presidency. That era has gone into the history books (and webpages) as how a presdient of a democracy can lie his people and nation into war. And how that presidency blindly refused to see the upcoming economic storm. Denial to protect the rich and its conglomerate paymasters. Anyway. History is the judge and jury. And Bush Jr doesn’t pass the test. Obama was maybe too young and too idealist. Riding on a wave of hope amidst a dark tunnel of war. But like all idealists the realities of murky, complex, soulless big politics hit hard. And bold plans and bold dreans and bold ideas got stuck in the DC mud.

Human behaviour faces tough reality checks. Crash tests.

From the US to a key ally. Saudi Arabia. Land of the not so free. Five women were taken into police custody because they were driving a car! Kick that. Not driving too fast, or recklessly, or on the wong side of the road, or without insurance, or with an SUV with technical faults, or without a licence, or drunk, or stoned, or while talking on the latest Nokia cellphone,…. No, just driving. Driving is only for men in the Saudi kingdom. Chicks should stay away from the steering wheel! Insanity gone crazy. Wonder what Bush Jr thinks about that. Mister Freedom and his Saudi pals.

Human behaviour is often still in the silly lane.

Michelle Obama was in South Africa. Impressive speech in front of youngsters. Mountains of corruption in South Africa. The ruling party has gone astray from its roots and soul. Theft on a daily basis in the only focus. The gravy train on full speed. Still deadly protests in Syria. Libya in standstill mode. Trains crashed in India. Still nuke troubles in Japan. First female prime minister in Thailand. Belgium still has no government after more than a year. But who cares? French president Sarkozy’s singing lady is pregnant. Hope it’s from him. A president as a father type is always a good election campaign element. And Sarkozy might need some positive PR because he is suffering in the opinion polls and the French are voting soon. Next year? The caring father in charge of the nation again? Greece is still up against it with its debt repayments. Financial markets under pressure. And the world seems still going round and round. The UK in turmoil because of an ever-expanding phone-hacking scandal. Tabloid journalists gone rogue. Over the edge. Unlimited astray. Media mogule Robert Murdoch in the dock of public opinion. Newspaper closed. Deals put on hold. Investigations. Even in the US.

South Sudan is free. Independent. Away from the clutches of the madman in Khartoum. On July 9th they declared that they are the newest world’s nation. The Republic of South Sudan. A nation coming out of decades of civil war. Total destruction. Mothers have more chance to die in child birth here than anywhere else on planet earth. Tough one. Internal little wars with gung-ho warlords with visions of grandeur. But that should be dealt with smoothly and swiftly. With the helping hand of the USA which has plenty of military advisors on the ground. South Sudan is strategically important for the US (and the wider western world) in a region of Africa which is unstable, corrupt and in the shadow of a growing Muslim militant threat coming from Somalia. And thus the stakes or high. Geo politics with all its dirty waters.

But South Sudan isn’t starting well amidst the fanfare of independence and the flow of development aid. Last year it made 12 US$ billion on oil, but only 8 billion of that can be traced back in the books of the state. And thus one third has gone awol. Already the rot is deep. Very deep. The odds are not good. And the new constitution gives way too much power to the president. Like an emperor. For instance, the man in the presidential palace can declare war by himself. No need for a parliamentary vote for that. Scary! So if that man gets out of bed in a bad mood he can cause some senseless damage.
The future will tell but the birth ain’t too healthy.

Human behaviour is just too often a collection of powerhunger, greed, and a quick loss of reality sense. Amnesia of reality. Althzeimer of promises. Smash and grab

Sad but true. A history of mankind of missed opportunities. Weakness rules the globe. July 9th might have been a massive party in South Sudan, but with a ghost of Waterloo over it. Defeated at birth. Suicidal genocide.

Throw out. The Riverboat Gamblers. What’s in a band’s name? These lads just released a 4-track ep called “Smash / Grab”. The Gamblers stick to their rock ‘n’ roll infused, punk-ish tunes. Great for highway drives.

C -Ya

collateral – July 2011 is ticking away

NYPD courtesy

2011-06-08T17:14:00.001+03:00

On levels of stupidity it’s pretty up there. A Chinese kid has sold his kidney for a new Ipad.

The old Chinese communist leaders would turn in their grave,... or twist and turn in the mausoleum.

At least with his Ipad he can connect wirelessly and Google how to adjust his lifestyle with one kidney less. Of course it is always possible that the Chinese censors don’t allow his Google search.

What’s next? Bone marrow for an Iphone? Blood for the new Sony gamer? Platelets for a year-long subscription on Itunes? Sperm for a large screen TV with surround stereo system?

Human behaviour has no limits. We ain’t seen nothing yet.

From kidneys to below the belt. Frenchie Dominique Strauss-Kahn is in deep trouble. The IMF boss got a forced visit to Ryker’s Island. Courtesy of NYPD. A maid from a very luxury hotel in the Big Apple claimed DSK; as the Frenchies call Strauss-Kahn; couldn’t control his libido as she entered to clean the suite. More than just dust to wipe.

And thus sexual molestation charges. Kick that. The IMF boss might just be another sexual prowler. That’s the end of his career. Guaranteed. Guilty or not. Strong suggestions that he was aiming to try to be the next French president. Well that wont make the history books. Two options. From high finance to quiet retirement... if found not guilty. Or option 2. From high finance to cell 412, block A, Attica prison, USA. Chicken with noodles or champagne and oysters.

On the scale of falling down, it’s up there. Well down there in fact. Down in the gutter of society.

Amazing, how a successful politician can fall down by acting super-stupid. If indeed he did what the maid claims. Jekyll and Hyde? Top politician. Respected economic brain. Expected saviour of the French Socialist party. Top finance dude at the IMF in NY. Lovely wife (or so it seems). Permanent access to First Class on Air France. And still – if proven guilty – something went wrong in the head (and in the pants). Broken wire.

Oh... and on top of it all, it is plausible that the maid was HIV positive. At least according to some US media reports (so take it with grains of salt).

DSK is now caged under house arrest in a luxury flat in NY awaiting an uncertain future. One’s thing’s for sure. Those glory days are over. Forever.

Human behaviour is often a puzzle. Brains and dicks on the opposite of the spectrum.

Staying in the US of A. Wow, that tornado that passed through was a devastating killer. Amazing how nature can be without mercy. Just like that! Killer from the sky.

More death. The Arab world remains an ever-growing and ever expanding battle field of popular anger against hard-fisted leaders. NATO still on bombing runs over Libya. Madman Gaddafi goes on the radio to tell his people that he will stay and die if need be. Surrender or exit is no option. Victory or death. Martyrdom. The so called rebels are back on the advance after weeks of stalemate in the sandpit of Libya. It ain’t over till the fat lady sings. And even then. And by the way..... who is that fat lady?

But the real slaughter these days is happening in Yemen and Syria. The presidential palace was attacked in Yemen and the president had to flee to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment. Will he return home? That’s the current cloud hanging over Yemen. But already tribal warriors and Al Quada associated nutters are in control of vast parts of the country. The shadow of nearby Somalia is a nightmare with reality potential for Yemen.

And then there is Syria. The family dictatorship is using sledgehammer tactics to annihilate every protest in sight. It’s a bloodbath. But the populist anger is strong and fuelled by the brutal strong arm tactics of the regime. Chaos in Syria has a doom scenario option.

Geographically it’s a minefield. A very large minefield. Nuke freak Iran is on one side and looking anxiously to Damascus. Tehran successfully put down a wave of protest after its last elections. But the world has changed in the meantime. Yesterday ain’t today. Cause in the meantime we had Tunis, Egypt and Libya. And thus the mad Iranian freak ain’t sleeping that well these days. And then there is fragile Lebanon, with the Hezbollah freaks. And of course there is Israel. On the edge. On high alert and watching events like a hawk. Especially for any mad pre-emptive strike by the nuke freak in Iran. It’s all touch and go in the Middle East.

In Africa South Sudan is getting ready to become an independent nation on July 9. Breaking away from the motherland and from the butcher in Khartoum. But to spoil the party the Darfur-killer has send his tanks into the north-south disputed territory of Abyei. A semi-meaningless dot on the map but it has oil reserves, but also tribal tensions between Arabic nomads and Christian-inspired Dinka southerners. A tense situation. Fragile peace or back to war?

The south certainly can’t afford to go back to bloodshed. In 2005 it came out of two decades of a total devastating conflict with Khartoum. The south needs to rebuilt everything from scratch and is hoping that peace will bring massive investments from the US, Russia and China. Oil investments. If the country would go back to war it would be a serious step backwards. Tick tock to July 9. And beyond.

Human behaviour is tainted by blood. Yesterday, today, tomorrow.

On a lighter note. The price for a litre of tasty German beer at the upcoming world-famous ‘Oktoberfeste’ in Munich is going up! But something is guaranteed. It won’t scare drinkers away. This is the biggest drink-fest in the universe and thus a price hike won’t have a devastating effect on the gallons of fine ale consumed.

Drink to that!

Throw out. Dutch rocker Anouk just released a new album called “To get her together”. Written as a therapy for her marriage break up. Interesting because some years ago she put together an album that was inspired by the love for her husband and her pregnancy. But the tough-girl from Rotterdam soon found out that the husband was cheating – multiply – on her during her pregnancy. And thus the loving times were over. Reality came like an uppercut. But Anouk bounced back. Revengeful and full of hate. And the result is “To get her together”.

C -Ya

collateral – June 2011 is here... for now

Brain matter

2011-05-06T09:28:00.002+03:00

He’s dead. Obama got Osama.

During a nocturnal top-secret US Navy Seals operation in Pakistan, Osama Bin Laden went from Public Enemy Number One to fish bait.

Nearly 10 years after the horrendous, heinous 9/11 attack the mastermind is dead and gone. Mr Evil wont walk this earth ever again. Justice is done. In some shape.

It must have been a thrilling operation for those involved. High adrenaline. Heart on revenge, mind on tactics, and finger on the trigger. Amazing operation. For sure, Hollywood scriptwriters are hard at work. Steven Seagal in the lead role.

Osama has certainly stamped his place in history. Written in blood. Although it started all just as a middle class Saudi boy going to Afghanistan to fight the invading Soviets. A Mujahedin fighting the communists in Kabul. Aided by the CIA. Then the frustration with US military policies during the first Gulf war grew. The Mujahedin became seriously radicalised. The Saudi became blinded by hate and fooled by religious doctrine. Trips to Sudan and Yemen. And then back to liberated Afghanistan. But the liberated nation turned quickly into an Islamic state under the brutal control of the Taliban. Al Queda was born and in alliance with the cavemen from Afghanistan.

From there it just went worse and worse, and the terrorist mastermind started his bloody journey. Kenya. Tanzania. Indonesia. USA. That historic, painful, ugly, shocking, disgusting day in September 2001.

Public Enemy Number One was on the run and changed the world forever. And more carnage followed. Madrid. London. And several, smaller but still deadly, attacks in North Africa.

But the US Navy Seals now closed that open wound. Osama Bin Laden. Shot and killed.

And in his own house in Pakistan. A so called US ally but unstable, corrupt and not trustworthy. Bin Laden was not living in a cave in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He had his own house.... in the shadow of the main Pakistani military academy. Kick that. Amazing that the head of Pakistani Intelligence hasn’t resigned yet. Or maybe that just says it all.

And the White House decided not to make public any photos or video of the dead man. The bearded terrorist who is no more. Killed. Apparently the photos are gruesome. Brain matter. Shot in the head.

There are millions of opinions of course on the killing of the godfather of evil. One thing’s for sure. He is dead! For the conspiracy theorists..... If Osama was still alive the best thing he could have done the day after the raid is to make a video appearance with a stretched middle finger and the newspaper of the day to prove the date of the recording. That would have caused enormous damage to the US and rallied all nutters beyond the Al Queda terrorism brainwash. He didn’t..... cause he is rotting away at the bottom of the high seas of the world. A great white might have the final taste...

Of course accounts of the operation given by US officials always need to be taken by a grain of salt because everything is propaganda and spin. Except the simple fact that OBL is dead! The rest is detail and yes those details can be questioned. Never forget all the lies the Bush administration told the world and the UN about Iraq and the urgency to invade.

But for now let’s stick to the news that Bin Laden, the evil caveman, is no more.

Maybe his followers are urgently looking for a look alike to put in front of the camera. Maybe they placed job advertisements in the local Pakistani papers. Looking for a bearded man. Must look like an old uncle. Slow talker. Knows the Koran inside out and can quote at length from it. Anti US, anti West and anti Jewish rants welcomed too. Job comes with free house near Islamabad. Blood stained carpets will be removed before new lodger arrives.

Oh, and.... has Donald Trump asked yet for Osama’s birth certificate?

Or should we chase the birth certificate of his hairpiece?

Human behaviour can be a bullet in the head.

With all this Navy Seal action in Pakistan we nearly forgot that the fighting in Libya is still going on, although it all looks very much like a stalemate. Although NATO has dropped some bombs and Gadaffi’s son Saif al Arab was killed. Joined forces with Osama. United in rot. Isn't it not the Muslim faith (without upsetting anybody!)that 'martyrs' get virgins in the after-life? Well... it's busy times for the virgins these days...

But there is a stalemate on the Libyan battlefield and in the political arena. Unclear which way it’s going. A divided nation at war with itself.

Human behaviour and the bloody sandpits of its consequences.

And meanwhile there was a royal wedding in London. The crowds. The dress. The ring. The kiss. The uniform. The guests (and the absentees). The queen. The trees in the church. The sexy sister-in-law.

As the ceremony was going on in London, dressmakers in China were already copying Kate’s wedding dress. It was done and for sale.... before the end of the church service. Crazy! Copyright issues? Intellectual property issues? No... not in China. The land of copy and paste.

Staying in China-land. Some airline is teaching its air-staff kung fu. The real deal. Not a cheap copy this time. Just in case passengers get out of control. So next time, when in China, the airhostess asks you if ya want chicken or beef, you better be polite. And smile,... just in case.

Human behaviour comes kicking and screaming.

Throw out. Sing loud and proud Sheer Terror’s “Just can’t hate enough” from the 20 year old album with the same name. NY’s in your face punkrockers. And they are back on the road to spread the message of love and hate.

C -Ya

collateral – May 2011

Death to tyrants

2011-04-27T14:05:00.002+03:00

What does it take to reason with insanity? What does it take to pacify the savagery? (copyright: SOIA)

That’s what’s at stake in Syria. The tyrant in Damascus has unleashed his forces of brutality against the demonstrators across the country. Cries for freedom are being crushed. Tanks against his own people. A mounting death toll. Power is the ultimate branch to hold on to. A tyrant’s vision of reason is written in blood. The blood of his own people. The blood of his own roots. The blood of his own history.

Freedom won’t get a peaceful chance in Syria. Opposing views and thoughts will be exterminated by all means necessary. Even if it means to burn down the nation. By all means necessary. Demise before surrender. Death and destruction before acceptance. Scorched earth before democracy. A typical tyrant’s arrogance to believe the winds of change blowing through the Arab world won’t reach his doorstep. Well, there it is. It has passed the doorstep. It’s inside the house and the house is burning. But tyrants don’t believe in calling the fire brigade; they only use policies of fuel and matches. The gravediggers are busy across Syria and there is no end in sight yet when the slaughter will stop. Kill, kill, kill, kill..... voices of dissent need to be silenced by all means necessary. No debates, no reasoning, no arguments, no talks, no negotiations, no ear for the cries. Let the tanks roll and crush hope.

But people never forget. Once deceived, abused, terrorised by its own leadership, people will grow hatred. Day by day. And one day, be it soon or be it in a few decennia, that hatred will catch up with the leadership. There is no hiding in history for those that have turned the gun on their own citizens. You can dream of a kingdom of a 1000 years. You can speak about the divine rights to power. You can proclaim that the key to the castle will remain eternally within the family or clan. And you can hallucinate for some time. But reality, that brutal reality, will one day bring you down. And very likely it won’t be painless. Neither merciless.

Stains of blood never totally disappear. They are like scars.

Human behaviour can slip away into savagery.

And the winds of change keep blowing. Demands for a better life, a more respectable life, keep sounding through the desert plains and over the rocky mountains. Enough is enough. The rage is out of the cage.

Morocco could be next. The king-dictator has kept the nation on a very short leash. But below the surface of tourism and Hollywood-sets lie poverty and the forgotten rags of the nation.

Chants of ‘death to tyrants’.

Yemen is still burning. The president is struggling to stay in power. Offers to reform. Offers to stand down in the near future. Offers to talk. But the crowd has had enough. More than enough. They want hope now, not tomorrow and not after long and dirty negotiations. Now!

Jordan and Saudi Arabia must be on the edge. Crisis meetings about ‘what if’. The world has changed. Social media, the internet and mobile phones are the tools of the oppressed. Iron fist governments can close the borders, control the traditional media, lock up as many people as possible,.... but the slaughter will be known and shown to the outside world. A nation cannot hide anymore.

For the so called civilised nations it is an uncertain time. Acting, like in Libya, leads to cries – by some – of neo-colonialism. Not acting gets criticised for allowing the barbarism to continue. It’s catch 22.

But the freedom of a people needs to be supported by the rest of the so called free world. Slaughter cannot be left unanswered. And yes, for sure, some of these changes and revolutions will succeed and others not. And yes, for sure, some changes won’t go the democratic route as it should be. And yes, for sure, some of these uprisings will be hijacked by extremists. But some of these popular explosions of anger and frustrations will lead to justice and democracy. To wider and deeper prosperity. The fear of what might happen ‘if’ cannot let the so called civilised world close its eyes and hope for the better. Voice your disgust. Voice your rejection. Voice your anger. Act.

Meanwhile the Afghan authorities have once again shown they face uphill battles to secure their nation by themselves. 500 Taliban inmates have escaped from 1 prison through 1 tunnel. It sounds like a Hollywood movie, but it’s ice cold reality. The bearded men are back in their mountain hideouts. From the cell to the caves. Revenge will follow.

Human behaviour has a touch of merry go round and round.

And the US economy is still is troubled waters. The recovery is not winning for now. Latest statistics have shown that the house prices have gone down for the 8th month in a row and are nearly back at 20009 levels. And that’s when the housing crisis triggered the lending crisis that triggered the capital flow crisis that trigged the bank melt down that triggered the economic downturn and pushed the world economy into negative territory. So we’re not out of the woods yet. Harsh times are still here to stay for a while.

The Arabs are fighting for freedom and change. The middle class in the West are hoping not to slide down into poverty and the unemployed are just burning candles for better times. If they can afford the candles...

Human suffering is a global feeling.

Suffering. Some in your face statistics out there. Australia has a population of about 21 million. The Easter weekend road toll was 19 down under.

West (from Australia) across the Indian Ocean lies South Africa with a population more or less 2 and a half times bigger. The Easter death toll on South Africa’s roads stands at 151. Kick that. Better stay indoors in South Africa!

Human driving can be deadly. Sad but true.

This week for many the world will come to a standstill because of the British royal wedding between William and Kate. The world’s citizens need some royal candy to forget the struggle and strife. Amazing how much attention and thus money goes into the media hype (and related souvenirs etc etc etc) around and bout the William and Kate ‘Yes-moment’. We live in so called modern times but ancient traditions of kings and queens seem still to fuel passions and emotions worldwide. Like dope to survive another day of brutal reality.

Human behaviour can be strange sometimes.

Throw out. New York’s alternative punkrock godfathers Sick Of It All are still at it after more than 25 years kicking around. As what could be the soundtrack to the current winds of change across the Arab world, the 4 lads released in 2006 their album “Death to tyrants”. Loud shouts for justice!

C -Ya

collateral – April 2011

Wind

2011-04-20T15:41:00.002+03:00

Syria’s security forces are shooting at demonstrators. People killed. The Yemeni president is throwing new offers on the table to calm his people’s fury. People killed. Bahrain is still clamping down on any dissent. People jailed. Citizens in Egypt are back on the street asking for harsh punishment for former president Mubarak. Fresh protests in Tunisia to demand faster reform after the Tunisians toppled their president some months ago. Frustrations growing in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Diplomatic and military stalemate in Libya, while Gadaffi uses cluster bombs in the town of Misrata. Death toll mounting. The wind of change is still blowing across the Middle East.

Meanwhile soldiers in Africa’s tiny nation of Burkina Faso are on the rampage. They want more money. Uganda’s opposition leader arrested three times in one week. Mad Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe utters new insanity towards the West. The stalemate in Ivory Coast is broken but the body count keeps rising. Religious-inspired riots in Nigeria after the elections. Arrests and killings. South African police shoots from close range at an unarmed protestor and then beat him to dead. In front of the TV cameras. The man was part of a group of citizens demanding clean water and electricity.

More aftershocks in Japan. The misery never ends.

The world seems angry and in turmoil. Human behaviour is the match on the powder line.

Meanwhile it seems that trying to land somewhere at an airport across the USA after hours has become a dangerous mission. More and more reports of traffic controllers deeply asleep on the job. Or occupied with entertaining themselves instead of keeping the sky safe. One guy told a pilot to keep circling for a bit cause he was watching a Samuel L. Jackson movie. Kick that!

Taking a plane in the US might be risky business, but being a small kid and going to school seems also pretty dangerous territory. Three kids at a school in Texas were injured when a handgun went of accidentally. Shit happens. But what is really alarming is that the gun was brought to school by a 6-year old! Kick that. How does a 6-year old get hold of a gun?

It’s a crazy world out there. Maybe the kid wanted to keep up the reputation of Texas as a gun loving state.

Human behaviour is a finger on the trigger.

Back to the sandpits. Syria lifted its 50-year old state of emergency. What ongoing and growing public rage can do! The revolution will be televised. The family-dictatorship in Damascus kept the terror reign going for too long. And a state of emergency is the perfect trick from the mad ruler’s handbook to keep opponents in jail (and rot away in silence); media under tight control; keep the army generals happy through slash funds and stolen tax money; and install a general system of fear to keep the people silent and oppressed.

The winds of rage across the Middle east - started by the suicide of the Tunisian vegetable seller - have not left Syria untouched. Many dictators are so arrogant and so far away from reality that they think ‘it’ will not happen in their country. Till the wind picks up and the anger boils over. The Tunisian uprising have shown the people living under dictators’ boots that enough is enough and people power can achieve change. Rage against the machine of state control and state terror.

Not that all change will be positive and a direct path to solid democracy and all out freedom. The revolution has many pitfalls and booby traps. But it has to start somewhere one day to make at least change possible. The dictators and the looters of the state coffers must just recognize and realise that it can happen in their country too.

Living in decadent luxury, behind high walls and surrounded by men armed to the teeth. Hookers deluxe and cases of Johnny Walker Blue Label. Swiss bank accounts and holiday homes in France and Beverly Hills. Shopping sprees in Dubai and London. Ferraris and Masseratis. Fat as overweight pigs. But now realizing that the end of all this could just be around the corner. Be aware!

Burn the palace down. Raise it to the ground. Justice for their crimes. Recover stolen state funds. Resist. Revolt.

Listen for the wind and hear the roaming anger.

Human behaviour can be caged for long but nor for an eternity.

Another revolution is happening. More silent. Less deadly. Another one that some leaders many years ago thought would never happen. They were so confident back then that their chosen path was the right one and the one till eternity.

But winds blow and things change. And monuments come crumbling down. Stone by stone.
Fidel Castro has fully retired. Democracy is still a dream in Cuba as his brother took over the reins. But the communist dogma is crumbling. Step by step. Private ownership is soon possible in Cuba. Kick that. The ultimate sin of capitalism. Ownership! Have a rum and a cigar to celebrate that...

Throw out. The Foo Fighters have done it again. “Wasting Light” is their newest album and rocks it hard as we are used from the foos. And for the track “White Limo” the band made a video with a cameo appearance by Lemmy from Motorhead. That’s serious. And to keep supporting (struggling) local record stores Foo Fighters also just released “Medium Rare”, an album with covers. A special edition to mark worldwide record store day (just passed). So the foos ain’t standing still....

C -Ya

collateral – April 2011

Shots fired

2011-03-25T11:13:00.000+02:00

So musician, producer and presidential hopeful Wyclef Jean apparently faked his shooting incident the day before Haiti’s election.

Cheap. Ridiculous. Low. He better stays in the music industry and use his dirty tricks there then go into the politics of the devastated nation.

Haiti has a very dirty, corrupt, chaotic politic cemetery. Wyclef better doesn’t step into the fold of Haitian politics if he has a sick attitude like that. The island of broken dreams urgently needs some really hands-on, focused, honest leadership. Will it get it? Who knows.... If history is a merry-go-round-and-round.... then it won’t unfortunately.

Human behaviour too often just plainly sucks.

From sucking to kissing is just a small step for humankind. And from Haiti to Florida ain’t too far to on the scale of planet earth.

It seems there won’t be a Romeo and Juliet romance between Helen and Dwight. 92 Year old Helen still has libido to satisfy and seems not to take ‘no’ for an answer. She fancies her 53 year old neighbour Dwight. But Dwight doesn’t seem to put the neighbourly affection in the same category.

So Helen demanded a kiss from Dwight. Dwight refused. Helen was furious and went back home. She took her semi automatic pistol and fired 4 shots towards Dwight. She missed.

Her libido might still be alive and kicking, but her shooting skills have gone downhill. Luckily for Dwight. That refers to the target-missing of course.

Instead of a kiss, Helen will now face justice.

Love is in the air,.... as do 4 bullets flying past.

From fake shooting and broken hearts, to some more serious desperation and killings.

The anger keeps spreading across the Middle East. And it all started with a pissed off vegetable seller in Tunisia! After Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and Yemen it now reached Syria. Another dictatorship.

The ‘special advisor’ to the president (the son of the previous dictator) had to rush to organise a press conference to tell the Syrians and the world that the protestors have some important issues that needs to be tackled. For Syrian arrogance, that is a very serious climb down. And on top of that the lady special advisor told the nation and the world that the president would study the possibility of lifting the state of emergency that has been in place since.... the early 1960s. Crazy.

The last statement might be a sweetener to reduce the heat and pressure on the streets. A promise without a clear end in sight. Damascus is not a regime that easily changes tactics, despite protests and several people killed by trigger happy security forces.

Same sweetener in Yemen. The sitting president-dictator promised to step down at the end of the year. Not enough!!!! It takes much more than one individual gesture to install freedom and democracy and justice. And on top of that the army isn’t speaking conciliatory language. It’s old-style hardline crap. Tunnel vision.

So there is no end in sight for the frustrations of the people of the Middle East boiling over. Who’s next? Jordan? Algiers? Morocco?

Meanwhile, to the surprise of many observers, the UN came reasonably quick to a resolution (a week ago) to start military action over Libya. A no-fly zone and protect civilians “by all means necessary”. And straight away the air raids started. First ones to hit were French jets bombing Gadaffi tanks shelling rebel town Benghazi. Then followed the first night of onslaught onto Gadaffi’s air defences and air systems. A display of Tomahawks and air superiority. The skies of Libya had flashbacks of Baghdad.

And as always, the politics were the first ones to stumble. Already the day after the UN resolution was voted the Arab League raised concerns about the bombings. And this despite Lebanon – the Arab League’s representative on the UN Security Council - having voted in favour of the resolution. Same with South Africa. They voted in favour of the resolution at the UN, but soon after president Zuma criticised the bombings. It’s BS. Honestly, don’t these politicians not know what installing a no-fly zone contains and what the term “by all means necessary” means? There are clear examples of no-fly zone enforcement in the recent past: Bosnia, Iraq. So get real!

It’s political posturing for domestic use. And in the case of Zuma, he needs to say something tough against the West,.... without mentioning that Gadaffi likely financed his election campaign and that last November Zuma’s government sold sniper rifles to Libya. Sniper rifles that are now being used in the town of Misarata to kill demonstrators from rooftops.

The hard reality of cold politics.

Human behaviour is too often misty. And political behaviour is misty and murky.

Meanwhile madman Gadaffi is still sitting solidly in power. Some talk of possible asylum destinations, but for now that seems not necessary (yet). But if a one way ticket might be needed, the options seem Zimbabwe or Venezuela. A flee to fellow madmen. Brothers amongst brothers. The crazy killers seek the company of lonely madmen. Insanity needs insane company.

And, as in the past, the world’s versatile and diverse opinion is always a merry go round and round. If the UN didn’t act on Libya people would have cried foul and blame the world’s body for inaction while the slaughter goes on. And if, as now, the UN acts then people cry foul that it’s a crusade, a re-colonisation, a quest for oil. It’s never good enough. Never right. Never wrong. It’s always a catch 22.

Human behaviour is just a flowing ocean. Up and down.

Meanwhile soon-to-be-world power China is still struggling with basic freedoms. The commies are again in conflict with Google for blocking certain access and certain search terms. Freedom is just not an option it seems for the Chinese ruling elite. Openness and free thinking is not an option as the communist narrow-minded fools want to keep their people indoctrinated and controlled. Like cattle in a pen. Outrageous.

Meanwhile across the sea, disaster struck Japan is still struggling to come back from the edge. Its nuke nightmare still not under control with nuke pollution now reaching the water and food chain. It’s a nation facing an enormous uphill battle. The currency under stress. The economy under stress. The people under stress and in pain of what nature has done to them. Thousands still missing and certainly presumed dead. Whole towns blown of the face of the earth. How a nightmare became reality on that Friday in March. It looked like a normal day, but the earth’s crusts decided otherwise. May they find the inner strength to start from scratch and start building again. For a better future without forgetting the grim reaper from the past.

Throw out. It’s an unstoppable train. An express. Boston’s celtic punkrockers Dropkick Murphys have done it again. The lads released another album – “Going out in style” – and it’s again full of fine tunes. And on top of that a nice guest appearance of The Boss Bruce Springsteen on the remake of the old-timer “Peg O’ My Heart”. Bruce also did a live guest appearance at one of the Murphys’ St Patricks Day gigs in Boston some days ago.

C -Ya

collateral – March 2011

That left breast

2011-03-17T14:27:00.001+02:00

The boa constructor was brought in to spice up a photo shoot in Tel Aviv. Israeli model Orit Fox wanted to make it look sexy and spicy. Serious cleavage and wrap around snake.

But more was needed to raise the temperature. Fox wanted to be foxier. So she licked the boa’s head. The snake didn’t like Orit’s ‘advances’ and decided to make a point. The boa constructor sunk his/her teeth into Orit’s left breast. Loud screams of pain and the photo-crew to the rescue. Several men struggled with the boa but finally got the snake to release his/her bite.

The boa constructor got bad luck. Fox wasn’t totally for real. Few minutes after being taken off the breast the snake died of silicone poisoning. Orit Fox got away with a tetanus injection..... and an appointment with the boob-doctor. We’ve been told before that silicone ain’t good for one’s health!!!

Human cruelty to animals.

Human cruelty and nature’s cruelty. The world remains in shock and awe with the impending slaughter in Libya and the tsunami’s deadly power in Japan.

As if an earthquake (and series of follow up aftershocks) isn’t enough to handle. But then came the killing blow from the ocean. Amazing pictures of the advancing wall of death and destruction. And this in a nation which is the best prepared on earth against earthquakes. But when the tsunami came it was just out of this world. Devastating beyond imagination. Towns totally flattened. Like they never existed. Death and more death. It was horrifying watching the TV pictures as it was obvious that this natural force was taking innocent lives there and then. How the seemingly innocent TV pictures can be a testimony of horror and pain. How nature still rules the globe despite human development.

And then after the quakes and the monstrous tidal slaughter, comes the nuclear fear. Nightmares of another Chernobyl meltdown. Nuke apocalypse. The nuke reactors battling to stay operational and safe. Explosions, fires, leaks, warnings, evacuations,... Japan is having a tough time. It is struggling with its own existence. With itself. With being an innocent victim of nature’s brutal and deadly behaviour. Just like that. Unexpected. Unprovoked.

It’s scary.

From nature’s might to human insanity and brutality. This is not a story of innocence! Libya’s dictator Gadaffi is on a military revenge trip. The uprising in the west of the country has been crushed and now he is letting his army, navy and air force loose on the eastern towns. An impending slaughter of the main town of Benghazi is on the cards. The dictator has no mercy. They never have. He knows too well the world is looking at Japan and the world is (as too many times in history) divided and toothless. The world, as always, talks and talks, and makes statements, and warns, and meets again, and talks some more, and makes bold comments. But the world doesn’t stop the slaughter. The graves will be the only testimonies to the quelled uprising. To the quest for freedom and democracy and liberty. Cemeteries of crushed hope. And the witnesses are us.... global humanity. A humanity that rapes its own soul sometimes.

And soon, when the desert storm has blown away the blood-soaked sand, the world will promise again that next time it wont happen. Next time.... Promises as hollow as a freshly dug grave. Promises which are like colourful wrapping paper around lies and deceit. And the world just spins around. The pain is for those who are left behind under the dictator’s revenge. It’s the dictator’s stiff middle finger to the world. And he smiles. As does his family as they check their ever growing Swiss bank accounts.

Human behaviour at its worst.

And now one of Gadaffi’s sons is starting the blackmail tactic too. As father dictator’s army is pushing the rebels/protestors/resistants/... further back and closer to the wall of extinction, the regime feels confident and arrogant and almighty once again.

So the son says on a French TV news channel that he has prove how the Gadaffi clan funded part of the last election campaign of French president Sarkozy. That’s a political torpedo! Sarkozy is for now the only world leader who has broken ties with Gadaffi over the Libyan slaughter, and France is the only country so far that has recognized the opponents as the true representatives of the Libyan people. But it’s revenge time as the regime is winning the battle against its uprisers. After the blackmail there is silence in Paris.

The Gaddafi mafia have used their money power to gain access to leaders and keep business people and politicians under control. On a tight leash. The dirty under belly of politics. The murky financial world of party politics and money. A worldwide cancer.

Same with South African president Jacob Zuma. He is soon on his way to the Libyan capital as part of an African Union delegation. Too little too late, as the Tripoli madman is on the winning hand and thus has no time neither ear for any advice, comments, criticism or anything from the outside world. And what can Zuma do? It is a known secret that Gadaffi helped funding Zuma’s African National Congress party last (and previous) election campaign. And South Africa - as recent as November 2010 - sold sniper rifles to Gadaffi’s elite protectors. So what can Zuma go and say? Gadaffi’s cheque book tactics are keeping his potential critics silenced.

When human behaviour gets financed it’s a slippery slope.

And the protests against lack of a variety of aspects of freedom has now hit oil rich Bahrain. The tiny island near Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Bahrain has always been a very important ally for the US navy during the Gulf wars. And its rulers obviously know that. And thus after days of unsuccessful ly trying to quell the demonstrations, Bahrain called in the forces from neighbouring big brother Saudi Arabia. Another very very crucial US ally.

And thus now we have a situation where foreign troops (aka Saudi) are shooting at Bahraini protestors in the Bahrain capital Manama. That’s a new development with an acid taste. And a deadly trigger. One crucial US ally is helping another US ally to kill off the freedom protests. Silence in Washington? And of course the Saudi intervention goes global. The nuke freak in Iran screams and shouts that the Saudi intervention is a US sanctioned invasion to keep the Bahraini regime in the saddle. Geo politics and their murky realities. The madman from Tehran adds fuel to the fire by saying it is becoming an ethnic clash between Sunnis and Shi’ites.

It is what it is, but it stinks. Freedom and justice and democracy is always a worthwhile prospect and goal, but Washington must be afraid that demands for more freedom and democracy in its strategic allied “bases” might lead to Iranian style power shifts. And thus Washington is stuck between a rock and a hard place. When the nature of geo political realities are cornering values. The banner of freedom, justice and democracy has a different meaning in Egypt and Libya, as it has in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The future will tell but the future ain’t what it used to be.

Human behaviour is monopoly.

Throw out. The sights and sounds of Middle East uprisings and Japan’s nuke threats, shifts the mind to 25 years ago when the NY underground band Cro-Mags released its debut album “Age of Quarrel”. A milestone in punkrock history. Still to this day. 25 Years later!! It’s a classic of the classics. Unfortunately internal quarrels ate the band up from within after this historic, kick ass release.

C -Ya

collateral – March 2011 creeps on

The revolution will be televised

2011-03-01T14:01:00.001+02:00

Something can be sicker than Colonel Gadaffi’s bloody insanity.

Catholic priests with sex-addiction! Catholic priests with no shame, no morals, no respect, no brains, no intellect, no wisdom, no standards, no values, no nothing…. besides that arrogant smile and arrogant thought (and the erection in (and out of) their pants) that they will get away with it.

The Vatican has admitted it is aware that a number of priests (more than 20!) have raped nuns. But it gets more sickening than the rape as such. It’s an evil deed with a very evil touch. Most of the rapes happened (and probably still happen) in Africa as priests ‘went for’ the nuns to avoid possible infection with the HIV virus if they would ‘answer’ their sexual needs with hookers. A priest with a stiff one is a danger to society!

Nuns on the run from their sex obsessed male faith-colleagues. It’s sickening beyond sickening. The secret Vatican report also outlines that priests have used their financial, structural and spiritual authority to seek sexual favours from nuns. With other words, the sexual motto of those priests are “I’m your boss and your master, so just shut up and get with the program. Amen”.Especially in Africa, where local nuns are unfortunately still conditioned by a belief of inferiority towards males. Sick society. Sick men of the cloth.

In some cases the nuns got pregnant and the priests forced them to have abortions. And then probably these same bastards preach against abortion in their sermons to their church-goers. The stench of vomit is now just untenable.
It’s sick. Disgusting. Mad. Abuse of the dirtiest kind. Life sentences and chemical castration is the only solution!!!

And the Vatican…..? Well the report is just filled in the dirty secrets box in the dark basement at the end of the corridor. The usual tactic.

Human behaviour has no limits when it comes to sick minds.

Ah. Sick behaviour. Colonel Gadaffi in Libya is showing the world how mad you can get. And the Oscar for madness goes to…..

Winds of change across the Arab world. Very interesting to see how one pissed of, disillusioned market boy in Tunisia put the match to the powder keg across the region. It just shows how the anger and discontent was and is just below the surface. A millimetre below.

But never ever forget that dictators and abusive rulers are not a one man show. To stay in power for so long outside a democratic process you need solid support from a clique of fellow gangsters. Mostly a combination of extended family, business deals and army. These dictators are never isolated. They rule because they keep their protectors happy with money, property, assets,… And thus it is not because the dictator and his family leave the country that it’s all shine and glory. The power pyramid needs to be fully taken down.

But – for now -Gadaffi still sits there in his Tripoli palace ignoring reality and claiming it’s all the fault of Al Quada and drugged Nescafe (yes, he said that!). It’s the fate of dictators to lose touch with reality because they are surrounded by yes-men whom eat of the same cake. It was like that with Hitler, with Stalin, with Mussolini, with Pinochet,…..

The reality of global power politics is that Gadaffi was sucked back into so called respectability by the West (and others) because they needed his oil and his influence in the region. A region that isn’t the most stable on the planet.

And now that the bad boy is killing his own people, he is back in the evil corner. He has gone a step too far and has become replaceable. Well, the powers that be have no choice as the uprising (just as in Tunis and Egypt) was a wide popular moment of bold rage. This wasn’t Islamists nor opposition politics. These were the people of the streets truly being fed up and finding courage in that market boy from Tunis. And so, as in Egypt, the outside world jumped the bandwagon and spoke out against the dictators. If they would not have done so, they would have lost all trust with the peoples. Already in Cairo the demonstrators found that the bullets and the smoke grenades the Mubarak regime was throwing at them were ‘Made in USA’. And thus Washington had to call for Mubarak’s departure not to totally lose touch with the popular rage. Otherwise, who knows how the new power brokers might take over Egypt and what relationship they would built (or destroy) with the US.

With Libya it was too obvious to see that the world (from Washington to Moscow to even South Africa) was waiting and waiting and waiting to see where Gadaffi’s tricks were leading to. But again the people from Libya forced their hands. The world had to call for the Colonel’s departure or lose trust with whoever comes next. And oil is always in the back of the mind!

But Gadaffi and his mad sons are still there. Soldiering on and promising an ultimate sea of blood. And it looks like the Gadaffis are not about to leave Libya. A bloodbath of enormous proportions looks on the cards. Desert plains turning red. Soaked in the people’s sacrifice and heroism. And South Africa has its tail between its legs because at the end of 2010 it sold sniper rifles and truckloads of ammo to the Gadaffi regime. Rifles that are very likely being used today against the popular uprising.

The mad man from Tripoli is not finished yet!

Human behaviour can be a very bloody affair. The revolution will be televised.

Down south in South Africa the defence minister has some explaining to do. 82000 Weapons have disappeared from the army and navy. Yes, 82 thousand! That’s a whole killing field. Handguns, grenades, rifles, RPGs, mines,… 82000 Deadly tools unaccounted for! Kick that. Lost and also sold onto the black market by soldiers. Crazy.

Throw out. Californian punks Anti-Flag have been around for more than 2 decades. And in true punk-style they have screamed and shouted their message across the globe. Anti-imperialism and anti-fascism. It’s the sound of the winds of change in the Arab world. Listen to “The old guard” from their 2009 album “The people or the gun”. Or “You can kill the protester but you can’t kill the protest” from “The terror state” from 2003. Or “Angry, young and poor” from their “Underground network” release many years ago.

C -Ya

collateral – March 2011

The purity of anger

2011-02-01T15:31:00.003+02:00

The million march is kicking off across Egypt.

Will this be the turning point in Egypt’s history? And beyond. After a week of mayhem and pure people power the world is holding its breath. The anger of the streets is about to make or break. Will president Mubarak be toppled and forced to leave? Just like his counterpart in Tunis some weeks ago. It’s been an amazing rollercoaster.

And other not-so-democratic bastions in the region are holding their breath of being themselves the victim of the domino effect. Algeria. Morocco. Jordan. Yemen. And maybe even Saudi Arabia. The frustrations of the lower and middle class
are boiling over and any further spillage of the momentum of freedom into neighbouring, Arab states could lead to major changes. Major changes without a u-turn. Like the fall of the Berlin wall in Europe in 1989.

Tel-Aviv and Washington and watching these events like worried uncles. Increased democracy across the Arab world might seriously change the chess game of world politics. Allies will disappear maybe. Guarantees evaporate. New friendships and new enemies. Sadly, but fully part of geopolitical tactics, those not-so democratic rulers in Tunis, Egypt and beyond are often heavily supported by Washington.
At the start of the demonstrations in Egypt a reporter from the British news channel Sky News held up a teargas canister given to him by a protestor. ‘Made in America’ it said in bold letters on the metal.

The good news is that the anger wasn’t fabricated and managed by extremist Islamic groups. This was pure people power from the gut. Enough was just enough. And Tunis had shown the Egyptians that fear could be thrown of and a united anger could lead to concrete change.

These are interesting times.

Human behaviour can have an angry touch.

Meanwhile African leaders have once again shown that democracy and the rule of law are not really their standards of society. It might be good for the West and maybe even for the people of Egypt, but not really for deep Africa.

The African Union just held a summit. They nearly didn’t talk about Egypt and Tunis. But they heavily debated the stalemate in Ivory Coast. The November elections in the home of cocoa caused trouble. Sitting president Gbagbo didn’t accept the results announced by the election commission and refused to accept defeat. The man just stayed put in his palace. Opposition leader Ouattara, whom the election body gave the winning results, is stuck in a hotel protected by UN soldiers.

Several mediating teams failed to break the deadlock. The UN, the European Union, the US declared Ouattara as the winner based on the election commission’s figures. Most African nations agreed with that. Others stayed silent. But others, like South Africa, changed their tune after a few weeks.

And now the AU leaders have set up two panels to mediate in the Ivorian deadlock. Two. Indeed. Just to make it more confusing. Well known madman Robert Mugabe from Zimbabwe is part of a panel that needs to find a democratic solution to the crisis. A ruthless dictator who sends out youngsters to kill and maim opposition supporters and who destroyed the social and economic fabric of his once beautiful nation, is now part of a ‘selective’ African club of democratic experts. Go figure!!

And on top of that the 54 nation body (the African Union) has nominated the president of Equatorial Guinea as chairman. The man came to power in a coup some years ago by killing his uncle. And now he runs the AU. Go figure!!

And then of course these African leaders blame colonialism and racism when the West criticises their behaviour.

It’s called playing poker with your own constitutional principles and your own nation’s future. But then again, as long as the Swiss bank account keeps growing, it’s all just smooth riding.

Human behaviour is often just plain rude.

Back to Egypt. Some people never learn. The authorities closed down internet and cellphones to avoid the outside world seeing the protests. Just like Iran tried some time ago. Dictators are so out of touch with reality and their own limitations. You can’t hide people power. You can’t brush it away and you can’t ignore it.

Wondering what other dictators have done since the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings. Increased their cashflow? Sent the kids to Paris or Kuala Lumpur? Checked if the private jet is on order? Bought some new suitcases? For sure they sleep slightly troubled these days. They might think it can’t happen in their capital, but are they 100% confident about that? Do they trust their army? Their bodyguards? Their own families?

It’s a good day when dictators sleep restless. Keep it that way!!! Power to the people.

Throw out. US old-school rappers Public Enemy sound like the beats of these days. “Fight The Power”. “Prophets of Rage”. "Shut em Down”. “Brothers Gonna Work It Out”.

C -Ya

collateral – Feb 2011

Sex parties

2011-01-25T11:34:00.002+02:00

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

And where it went....

2010-12-27T14:08:00.001+02:00

Going about one’s usual news reading these days is a pest. The web, TV, magazine, newspapers, radio,.... are all filled to the rafters with looking back at the year that was.

Best of... Year in review.... Top 10....

Best quotes. Top stories. Man of the year. Woman of the year. TV dickhead of the year. TV chef of 2010. Radio DJ of the last 52 weeks. Hit of the year. Soap (the TV stuff, not the cleaning type) of the year. Music video of the year. Car of the year. War of the year. Waste of air of the year. TV personality of 2010. Can anybody really understand what a ‘personality’ really is? Best book of the year. Top Amazon sale of the year. Most downloaded track. Most illegally copied DVD. Most bought Apple gadget. Biggest Hollywood blockbuster of 2010. And same for Bollywood in India and Nollywood in Nigeria. Best blog of 2010. Sportsperson of 2010. Champion of 2010. Nutcase of 2010. Freak of the year. Insanity of the year. Marriage of the year. Divorce of the same calendar. Politician of the year. Hacker of 2010. Cartoonist of the year. Top restaurant of 2010. Top porn actress of the year. Biggest criminal of the past 356 days. Richest dude or lady of the year. Top model. Fastest skateboarder. Fattest pig. Weight watcher champion. Gun freak of 2010. Burger of the year. Coldest town of 2010. Most corrupt official. Most earning reborn Christian preacher. Fashion show of the year. Best new ice cream taste of 2010. Cutest dog. Largest stamp collector. Windiest place of 2010. Cactus of the year.

Year reviews are as useful as a Northface arctic jacket in the desert of Sudan.

And some media outlets repeat the same merry-go-round and round on reviews of the first decade of the 21st century.

2010 was all about WikiLeaks. As simple as that. The good, the bad, the ugly.
And the first decade was all about 9/11. That changed the world forever. There is no turning back.

Human behaviour is still going places it hasn’t been before. Mostly darker corners.

Global warming is having an icy revenge on the northern hemisphere. Snow havoc across the UK. Airports closed in many European capitals. Trucks taken off the roads in Belgium. Traditional horse race not happening in England. Sports calendar nightmares. Weather stats in overdrive. Subways stuck. Trains cancelled. Parties unattended. Food distribution threatened. Salt shortages. Xmas on airport benches.

And after Europe it was the American east coast turn for some winter bliss. NYC, Boston, Philly,... under a snowy attack. Air traffic disrupted. Passengers stranded.
Coldest winter since the early 20th Century. Take that!!! Meanwhile cute beach activity in Cape Town and Bondi beach.

The winter harshness is an unwelcome situation for the airline industry whom is already facing an uphill battle against economic recession and ..... remember the volcanic ash cloud earlier this year that seriously disrupted transatlantic and UK air traffic. It’s tough up there in the sky.

Human behaviour is still submitted to nature’s behaviour.

Same old power struggles and Russian roulette with the democratic process in Ivory Coast. Finally the cocoa-nation held presidential elections after 5 failed attempts over the last years. So that already gave it a shaky start. But surprisingly polling day came and went reasonably smoothly. But then the ghosts from the past came back for some old style misery.

The sitting president, Mr Gbagbo, refused to accept the outcome of the vote. Obviously he lost. He called his mate at the country’s constitutional court and the numbers from the independent election commission were thrown in the dustbin. Judicial independency is still a pipedream in Ivory Coast. Just another tool for the power hungry crooks at the top.

But the world reacted angrily and rejected Gbagbo’s political games. The outside world accepted the results declared by the election commission and said that indeed opposition leader Ouattara won the vote and thus would be the new legitimate president of Ivory Coast. Gbagbo and his youth militia refuse to step down and thus a sad stalemate. Demonstrations. Killings. Stand-off. Africa’s road to democracy is once again raped from within. Power games with the average citizen as casualty. Collateral damage. Amazing how power corrupts the mind. It’s the most vicious virus for the human soul. That ridiculous hunger to stay in power. To stay the ruler. The king. The chief. And with that, to remain with the hands in the till. Sad story. Sad xmas for the cocoa nation. Sad xmas for Africa. Sad xmas for democracy.

Human behaviour is a recipe for self destruction.

And as we are about to face 2011, the airwaves and websites and print articles will put aside looking back for looking forward. Every expert and so called smart ass will be called upon for his or her predictions. Every known name in the fashion-, sports-, and - entertainment industry will be asked to predict 2011. Every star gazer or palm reader will be called upon to tell us what 2011 will bring us.
Another waste of time and space and energy. 2011 Will be what it will be. Mostly more of the same with here and then some surprises that might or might not really impact our life’s journey.

As simple as that. No need for predictions and big talking so called analysts. Let it come and deal with it. Or then these so called experts look oh so smart with declaring the obvious as an intellectual brainwave. Go and finish your xmas cake and leave us alone. Of course Iran will be in the news as long as that nuke freak sits in Tehran. Of course Israel vs the Palestinians will be talked about (nearly) daily. Of course Sarah Palin and her tea-lovers will make some headlines with lunatic one-liners. And with the first US primaries kicking off early 2012, we all know that the 2nd half of next year will see increased electioneering in the US. More spin. More lies. More dirty tricks. More waste of money. Of course there will be some freak natural disasters to suck all media attention for a few hours. Be it an earthquake in China, a landslide in Bolivia, or floods in France. For headlines out of Africa, it just needs to be more brutal and the body count in the hundreds.

Human behaviour in 2011 will be as mainly as sad as in 2010. Sparks of hope and floods of madness.

And where it went, and what was said....

Throw out. NY hardcore veterans Agnostic Front have announced a new album for early 2011. Interesting how it goes. Go 20 years back and a new AF album would be highly anticipated and much talked about. Now it’s a small anecdote in the underground music scene. AF was a major driving force in the 80s. Now they nearly have become a painful experience. Like an old-ish sports star refusing to retire. The last AF album, “Warriors” was a very big disappointment. Sad to see that the historic Miret-Stigma tandem dropped so low. And for sure for many the hope remain for a solid AF album, but it seems for the majority it is nothing to really look forward to. Only time will tell. Also early next year Roger Miret will have a new album with his side project The Disasters. The comments so far from the few insiders who heard the new tracks are very positive. Maybe spin. Maybe true. Only time will tell.

C -Ya

collateral – December 2010 is ticking away

Asta la vista

2010-11-11T16:21:00.002+02:00

Terminator terminated. California’s Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is finishing up his job. He is out of there early 2011. End of term. Asta la vista.

But to make the exit painful, the Democrats won California’s governorship in the mid-term elections earlier this month. That’s a blow to Arnold. The Austrian muscles who went from Mr Universe to Conan the Barbarian to the Terminator and then Governor. Who knows...., in true Hollywood style there might be a sequel.

Wondering if his Democrat, Kennedy-dynasty wife is happy with Arnold’s end of term and the Democrats take-over in California.

It’s amazing how simple, routine US mid-term elections keeps the globe on the edge. Every political so-called-analyst, and every media outlet from Tokyo to Johannesburg reported and commented on the US ballot battle. It’s often just hype and wagging the dog. It’s Obama mania. It’s the fascination with the Tea Party. It’s the human need for some tragic-comedy on a larger scale and the battle lines for seats in the US Congress and Governorships just ticked the boxes for media fever worldwide.

And of course, as media unfortunately goes these days, it comes with the usual simplicity that kills all explanation. And exaggeration. Overdoses of cream and ketchup on the TV news-show. Stress the show part! The end of Obama. The republican revenge. Right wing take over. Obama lame duck. And on and on. Did any journalists not had a 5 second look at voting history over the last 20 to 30 years in the US? No, that would just be too intellectual and time consuming. Who needs reference points, context and...deeper truth? Well if some of them would do their real job they would have found out that many US presidents’ party lost heavily in mid-term elections in their first terms, and still many bounced back and took a 2nd term. Bill Clinton is just a simple example that comes to mind. And yes things change and times are different,... but for sure the more they change the more they are the same.

The Tea Party populists remain an interesting ‘event’. Still plenty of 1-liners and over-simplistic slogans. But a cattle-like crowd is always hungry for some mind filling crap. The simpler the better so the brain doesn’t need to be activated. Deaf, dumb and dumber. Politics come from all types and sorts, but the Tea Party’s realistic content is just absent. It’s hot air amidst a junk food society. It doesn’t mean they are just evaporating. No on the contrary, unfortunately. Their screams and shouts fit in today’s society and political games. Time will tell but time is a confused thing. But of course, the freedom to be dumb is a constitutional freedom. Guaranteed!

Human behaviour is too often in regress.

Across the Atlantic students went on the rampage in London. The current government wants to increase student fees to help pay off the state’s debt. And that’s just not going down well with the students. They feel education is being turned into a money game and thus the richer your parents are the better an education you can get, and thus the democratisation of education is being slaughtered. Students also clashed with riot police in France recently. Different reason, same anger. France has raised the pension level and thus youngsters feel their entry into the stressed labour market is being made more difficult. And thus Parisian stand offs. And in Marseille and in Lyon,....

Memories of the historic student riots from 1969 filled the air.... for a few days.

So the military junta in Burma held elections. Controlled elections. Just a farce. Nothing free nor fair,... nor democratic. And rightly so has the democratic world rejected the outcome which – haha – was victory for a military associated so-called-political-party. Burma is a basket case. Dictatorship. Corruption. Poverty. Abuse. If the world really wants, these freaks would be toppled within a few days.

Human behaviour is often different from human speech.

Forgotten about them? The Somali Pirates are truly still in action. Still roaming the seas around Somalia, Kenya and Yemen for their next hijack. Some clashes with European naval forces have occurred but nothing to stop the pirates’ threat.

Good news now. First female president elected in Brazil. Viva!

Bad news. More terrorism threats. This time via FedEx parcels. And some suspected ink cartridges too. Cargo transport is now the new target. And thus action taken against cargo handling from suspected sources like Yemen and Somalia. But the cargo and courier business is certainly a weak link. All energy needs to be brought to bear to track down the sources of the explosive packages and then those fuckers need to be taken out. Basta!

Yemen is certainly falling to pieces fast. Failed state. Rotten to the core. Central authority too corrupt and too weak to do what it is supposed to do. Al Queda’s presence growing and across its narrow strait lies the ultimate failed state Somalia. It’s a breeding ground for extremism and religious nutcases.

Good news again. South Africa’s animal welfare activists from LionsRock saved 6 lions from abuse in Europe. One of them was born and raised in a hotel in Bulgaria. How nuts is that!?

Human behaviour towards animals is often just crueler than animals themselves could ever be.

Throw out. OFF! What’s in a name? OFF! is a new, explosive punk band from Keith Morris who made his historic mark with Black Flag and Circle Jerks in the 80s. Morris’ return is an in your face blast of old style fast and furious punkrock. No holds barred.

C -Ya

collateral – November 2010 is progressing at an unwelcoming pace

One by one

2010-10-14T19:36:00.001+03:00

And up they came. One by one. Into the light. Back to the surface from the belly of darkness.

From despair, to hope, to hugs and kisses. The rescue of the 33 Chilean miners is an amazing tale. Humanity united worldwide. United in hope. United in suffering. United in joy. A unity also in the rescue operation with advise, technicians, equipment and skills coming from around the globe to the desert planes of Chile. South African drilling techniques, American rock experts, Austrian technology,... And as the binding factor, the ultimate commitment from the Chilean people that these men must be saved by all means necessary. Never surrender!

And so it happened. After 69 days hundreds of meters below the surface, the miners were brought back to their loved ones. It’s the best story in years. And a show of positive attitude and joining hands by the human race.

And amazing tales. From the foreman, who was the last miner to come up. To the worker in his 50s who had caused a family rift while he was stuck underground when as well his wife and his lover came to the mine to pray for better days. Or the one that was planning to quit mining in August,... till disaster struck. Or the teenager who just started going underground weeks ago. All amazing stories from amazing individuals during amazing times. And they all lived to tell it all.

Human behaviour can still inspire greatness.

But then some other human behaviour is just there to stir and rock the boat. To spoil the fun. To upset. To export evil. The Iranian nuke freak president went to Lebanon and addressed a large crowd just a few kilometres from the Israeli border.

How much more can you destabilise a region? It’s pure warmongering. Fuelling the hatred. Undermining fragile efforts within Lebanon to keep a shaky coalition government together and work towards rebuilding the nation. The Iranian dictator is exporting instability and sucking the whole region further away from any hopes of a better future for its citizens. It’s criminal!

And of course the mad Hezbollah supporters welcome the mad Iranian neighbour. Unity in insanity. Hezbollah has no peaceful plans. It’s an organisation that only exists in its hatred for Israel and only drives on its dream to annihilate its Jewish neighbour. It’s insanity with extra topping. Israel needs to be recognized as a fully independent state that is here to stay. Yes it has plenty of unacceptable foreign policy tactics, but the basis of all humanity is the recognition that Israel exists. So that’s the starter square of all realistic walks towards some kind of peaceful living together in this messed up region where hatred, indoctrination, religious hijackings and populist madness rule.

Human behaviour is too often slaughtered on the altar of blind stupidity.

So Southern Sudan is counting down towards its secession from big brother Khartoum. January 9, 2011 will see a referendum deciding if the south will break away from the mother nation with whom it fought a very bloody civil war for too many years. 2005 Saw a peace deal that stopped the guns and grounded the jets. But the peace deal didn’t solve all the problems. At least it stopped the slaughter.

As part of this 2005 deal, the south will decide its faith early next year. It is widely expected to be a clear vote for independence. A new African state is likely to be born. But there is an oil-rich disputed region where the north-south border still needs to be drawn. And oil, as too often, is a curse. A reason for bloodshed. A reason for war. And skirmishes in that region are on the increase. And the fear that after January 9 there might be an independent Southern Sudan but without an exact and fully agreed northern border with its motherland Sudan. And back there in Sudan’s capital Khartoum sits the butcher of Darfur, President Al Bashir.

So the growing tensions are a bad omen. A dark cloud gathering as the referendum nears. Of course the deadly skirmishes will be underplayed by all sides and their supporters. Khartoum wants to avoid too much publicity on that instability as it is already in the doghouse of international opinion, and Al Bashir has an arrest warrant around his neck from the International Criminal Court for genocide in the sandpit of Darfur. Khartoum needs to spin it loud and clear that it is acting as a respectable nation and only follows non-military tactics in its dealings with it soon-to-break-away southern part. The south as such doesn’t want any negative publicity at this crucial stage in its history. Nothing, and really absolutely nothing, should and will derail its referendum towards independence. So for the hopeful in southern Sudan the mention of any incident are evil thoughts. And Washington certainly doesn’t want any focus on the border fights and the yet-to-be-resolved demarcation. The US is fully behind an independent Southern Sudan. It has oil. It’s Christian, compared to its Muslim motherland. It borders the Nile and water is a sensitive topic in the region. Cairo and Khartoum are already stressed about each others’ plans for Nile irrigation projects. And the US needs allies in the region as Somali Muslim fundamentalist terrorists are spreading their shadows further and further. It is hard for Washington to find trustworthy allies in northern and eastern Africa these days, so an independent Southern Sudan is a welcome need. And , let us not forget, there is oil. With the US trying to be less and less dependent on oil from the volatile Middle East, a foot in the oilfields of Southern Sudan is more than welcome. To say the least. So the US support for self determination for the southern Sudanese is more than just a good feel factor. Much more. It’s pure and cold geopolitics. And that’s the way the world turns. No doubt about it. It’s political realism.

Human behaviour always has extra layers and darker sides.

Throw out. Out of the blue came a new musical project. And it came as a blast. Black Country Communion. A UK-US partnership by 4 very well skilled musicians with very serious rock credentials and brought together by South African music producer Kevin Shirley. Kevin resides in NY and has worked together with most rock greats (Iron maiden, Aerosmith, ....). He brought together blues guitar magician Joe Bonamassa, bass player Glenn Hughes from deep purple and Black Sabbath fame, drummer Jason Bonham, son of legendary Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham (Jason paled with led Zep during their brief reunion in 2007), and keyboardist Derek Sherinian who worked with Alice Cooper. It’s a cracking ensemble. The name BCC comes from the dark, gloomy, broken industrial heartland of England where John and Glenn come from. BCC’s self-titled album was released in September and took the British rock charts like a thunderstorm. It sounds like a perfect mix) with a superb production) of Gary Moore, Led Zeppelin and Audioslave. Amazing tunes!

C-Ya

Collateral - as October 2010 nears its halfway mark

Fidel

2010-09-25T18:21:00.002+03:00

Too much booze can harm your health. Too much too fast can harm you beyond repair.

In remote northern Mozambique (the whole nation is remote) five men died during a drinking contest which was part of promoting a new brandy. Instant death. The ridiculous contest was to test who could empty five bottles of brandy the fastest. Drink fast die, die now.

An investigating was launched as there are suspicions that the new brandy might have been poisoned – unintentionally – during the making process.

Humanity is a risky affair.

Down in some part of Flemish speaking Belgium a teacher decided to segregate his Belgian pupils from his students from immigrant origin. The small West European nation has a high number of immigrants with North African roots. The regional authorities reacted in a flash and the teacher got suspended. No apartheid style tactics in Flanders!

Humanity needs better history lessons.

So the elections in Afghanistan passed without too much disturbing events it seems. 19 Deaths can sadly be considered a local success amidst the ongoing killing fields. The caveman of the Taliban had promised an avalanche of death and destruction, but that seemed mainly to have been warnings in the wind. The cavemen don’t like democracy. They want to stick to threats and terror campaigns. They don’t like equality between men and women. They don’t like modern economy, be it Reagonomics or state controlled, They don’t like TV nor cinema. They don’t like education for girls. They don’t like freedom of speech. They don’t like freedom of religion. They don’t like social justice. They don’t like the rule of law. They don’t like rock ‘n’ roll.

The Taliban are the club of ultimate anti-everything. They’ don’t want progress of any kind. Not economically, not socially, not morally, not humanly. They just like their caves!

Humanity is sometimes stuck in dark ages and dark thinking. Darkness is the antipode of light, and light is life.

So some Tea Party freaks got elected here and there across the USA in some fill-the-vacant-seat polls. Interesting and sad. The US nor the world needs the narrow minded numbness of Sarah Palin and her one-brain-cell extremists. Are they the cavemen and -women of the USA? The one-line politicians with an extreme populist approach and lack of sense of reality. The salespeople of pipedreams? But these tactics sadly work in economic hard times. History is the proof of that in many nations across Europe and even spilled over into the former Soviet Union parts. Of course many people like them. It’s like a MacDonalds burger. You got a craving and little cash. So you get a bite from a drive-through and it feels alright there and then. It’s bad for your health and you’re probably hungry again in 2 hours or so, but hey it does the trick for now and doesn’t cost too much (well it’s little money for crap).

Time will tell.

Humanity is responsible for its own demise. Be it just a kick in the teeth or the amputation of an arm.

South Africa’s ruling party ANC wants to nationalise the mines. The southern tip of the old continent is full of gold, iron, platinum,... Nationalisation hasn’t worked anywhere over the last 50 years but the ANC thinks it can beat history. Some even wanna go a step further and nationalise the banks too. They don’t seem to read the news. Leftwing hero Fidel Castro himself even said a few weeks ago that the Cuban economic model didn’t work. And his brother who runs the show now on the island has started a vast campaign of liberalisation. If even Fidel has given up on the idea that the state needs to run everything, then clearly it hasn’t worked. The commie model is dead and in many nations buried for a long time. And the corpse is absolutely not revivable. You maybe can mummify it in some places, but dead is dead. Life’s breath is gone.

So why does the ANC think they can resuscitate the model is a mystery to most. Sadly it feels like a simplistic, populist slogan at a time in history where the frustrations amongst all South Africans are growing as the gap between rich and poor has grown since democracy brought the ANC to power in 1994. Massive poverty is a very hard reality in South Africa despite the ongoing promises by the ANC and in the face of massive self-enrichment by the party’s elite. So the nationalisation slogan seems just an exercise to keep the focus away from the rot. Sad.

Humanity is sometimes adrift.

Bosnia is going to the polls very soon. With war ghosts roaming the minds. Russia’s PM Vladimir Putin said he is probably gonna try another presidential stint. Tough guy Putin did two presidential terms, then stepped aside for his puppet as the constitutional only allows two terms. But power is just too addictive, so Putin is gonna go for it at the next presidential ballot. Mr KGB will soon be back in the Kremlin. Nigeria is going to the polls next year. That’s another tough one. Sadly, the campaign in Africa’s most populated country will likely be bloody. Political emotions turning violent. South Sudan is voting for independence from the north next January. A new African nation is expected to be born. The presidential butcher in Khartoum will feel betrayed. Belgium and Holland still don’t have a government despite having send their people to the polling stations months ago. Iran is still working on its nuke program. Madness has no limits.

Humanity needs a cure to survive its own insanity.

Throw out. Californian punkrockers Bad Religion are still alive and kicking after 30years in the scene and on the stage. Their new album “The dissent of man” is being released any day now and they still sound great (got it already!). Like a solid diesel engine, they just keep going. Full speed ahead and no turning back. No surrender and no defeat.

C -Ya

collateral – September 2010 is doing its final twists and turns

Mental

2010-08-26T15:22:00.002+03:00

Some recent evens seem to come from a horror show. A real one,... not from a game station of from some Hollywood series on cable TV.

A German priest has been charged with rape of an underage girl. And not just a one-off (how disgusting that already would be) but ongoing rape for 3 years.

The girl was 14 years old when the pervert violated her for the first time. The priest told her she would not go to heaven (!!!) if she did not comply with his sexual urges. Sick desires. Mental!

Arrest, sentence, jail, throw away the key. Sick fuckers like that do not belong in society. And on top of it all he is a priest. Somebody whom believers think they can blindly trust. A man of God. A man preaching love, forgiveness, respect but then violates for years on the innocence of a young girl. It is sickening. Very sickening. Outrageous. The priest betrayed his own faith. Betrayed his own being. Betrayed humanity.

Human behaviour is sometimes very inhuman.

Down in the sandpit of Saudi Arabia a man has asked for some special operation on his spine which would leave him paralysed forever. Mental?!

It seems the man was in a brawl with another man and stabbed and damaged the spine of that person. The victim is now paralyzed. So the attacker in his state of utter madness and using his Muslim faith as “guidance” is looking for a hospital to make his suffering equal to the suffering of his victim.

What way of seeking justice is this? From way back in the dark ages. Don’t know if any medical doctor would accept to do such a surgery because if so then also that doctor needs urgently be taken to a mental institution and put on sedative drugs. Two mental cases for urgent treatment. Electroshocks might be required. Sick society.

Human behaviour is sometimes a very dark mystery. A labyrinth of insanity.

Staying in Saudi Arabia. A Sri Lankan maid has fled back home because her employer slammed 23 nails into her body when she needed a rest after hard labour in the Saudi’s man mansion. The Saudi claimed his maid needed some punishment. Mental?!

There are many stories of serious abuse of domestic workers in those rich Gulf states. Total racist disrespect for their maids, mainly coming from Asia. It’s a horror show beyond those big walls of those palaces of opulence. And too often the “boss” is not facing justice for his (or her) violent actions against the domestic workers.

Sad.

Human behaviour sucks.

Kick that. It seems that maybe Adolf Hitler had African and Jewish (!!!) descendents. If he would have known this he might have killed himself before kick starting world war two and letting his genocide madness loose on the Jews, gypsies and gays. It would have saved humanity lots of suffering. It’s scary to even think about it.

Some Belgian researcher did DNA testing on 39 relatives of the Fuhrer. The DNA results trace the Hitler-branch back to chromosomes found in the Berbers from northern Africa, as well as in Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews.

It’s amazing. Tell that to all the Nazi lovers still around. It’s a Sieg Heil to scientific reality. And DNA doesn’t lie. So here you have it. Hitler should have walked around with his own yellow star of David back in the 30s when his Nazi party started the pogrom against the Jews. He should have put himself on the train to Auschwitz. He should have exterminated himself.

Just can’t imagine what would have happened if the ugly bastard just would have known. He probably would have rejected the scientific results as an evil Jewish plot.

Human history is a scary place.

Australian elections deadlocked. Just as their British family, Australia is just not used to coalition forming and thus a nation in political distress. Obama on holiday. South African President Zuma (and polygamist) in China. Meanwhile one of his wives got a baby back home. But husband Zuma was in faraway Commie-land with another wife. Massgraves in Mexico. Deadly drug wars. Still flooding in China and Pakistan. Fear of looming food crisis in Pakistan once the waters reside. It’s a crazy planet. An angry planet. Angry with itself and its residents.

Human behaviour is listening to the hymns of an angry planet.

Throw out. Eddie Sutton, the singer of NY punkrock-with-a-crossover-metallic-edge band Leeway, is back with a new band called Truth N Rights. He teamed up with some of his friends from the band Agents Of Man (rip) and started a new musical journey. Truth N Rights just released its first tracks on Six Feet Under records and they sound like a mix of Leeway and Agents of Man. No surprises there but still kicking, and still of course with that high pitched vocal cord of Eddie.

C -Ya

collateral – August 2010 is nearing its final moments of reality before becoming history

The rot

2010-08-18T15:59:00.002+03:00

Corruption is a worldwide rot. But some countries are more rotten than others. Some have solid control mechanisms in place that cut out the rot before it grows to wide and too deep. Other nations unfortunately are rotten to the core. Terminally ill.

And sadly lots of serious and systematic corruption is happening in African countries. One of the growing worry, according to international organisation that watch these developments, is the downwards spiral in South Africa.

But some light in the tunnel, although the ray of light also exposes the extent of the rot. And thus maybe the ray of light is just a passing train. But at least something is happening somewhere.

The Housing Department, officially called the Ministry of Human Settlements, has gone on the attack.

Because of the legacy of apartheid, the growth of its population and the urbanisation of the country, South Africa faces an enormous housing backlog. Hundreds of thousands of its citizens live in dirty, smelly, sickening, inhuman circumstances. So social housing projects have always been high on the government’s agenda since the dawn of democracy in 1994.

But as the projects grew so also grew the rot. Budgets disappeared. Construction materials disappeared. Houses were built very badly as crap, cheap materials were used and the builders just didn’t care. Builders and material were ‘transferred’ to private residences of municipal officials. And on and on did the rot spread.

But now the housing minister had enough of the shambles and a corruption probe was launched. Is he doing it for PR reasons for self-promotion towards a political (presidential?) career? Or did he really woke up one day and said enough is enough. The future will tell, but in the meantime the pressure is on, dodgy builders blacklisted and corrupt officials taken to court.

7373 Officials were investigated so far. That resulted in 930 arrests of which 762 got already convicted. Justice done. 762 Corrupt officials out of 7373 investigated. That’s about a 10% rot factor. Scary.

On top of that it has now been revealed in South Africa's parliament that whistleblowers on corrupt housing deals are being threatened and murdered while they are in witness protection programmes. The housing rot is clearly in the hands of criminal syndicates who now feel threatned that the corruption investigations is cutting off their cash flow.

Human behaviour is sometimes a crawling decay.

Staying in same African country and on same topic of white collar crime.

Pietermaritzburg is a town in the historically famous Zulu region of South Africa. The city needs every month about US$28.5 million to function. Well, it has just over half a million US$ left in its bank account. The city is currently operating on a 3 day look-ahead basis. After that,.... who knows who will pay what.

Money was just wasted and mismanaged for too long and it took much too long for somebody to raise the alarm bell. The rot has gone to the heart of the matter and thus all is rotten and rotten deep and systematically.

On top of that it seems that 90% of all small and medium sized business in town have tampered with their water meters. The rot is everywhere.

Sad story. Human behaviour is its own demise.

Hope that is what Southern Sudan is living on. Hope that the dawn of being independent will bring a better life. Peace and prosperity after too many years of conflict and poverty.

Southern Sudan is on its way to become a new African nation, cut off from the mother nation Sudan. Next January a referendum will decide on self-determination. And it is widely expected that the Christian south will cut itself loose from the Muslim north. How Sudanese president Al Bashir (and its army) will react is another question. The butcher-of-Darfur doesn’t have too much peace credentials. He already has an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court around his neck. That’s for his bloodbath in the Darfur sandpit. Hope that Al Bashir keeps his MIGs grounded.

But hope makes people grow taller. Lots to do in ravaged Southern Sudan and thus hope that the new government will use its oil revenues carefully, wisely and corruption-free. One has to have hope.

A new nation on the banks of the river Nile.

Staying wet. Spotted that Obama (and daughter) took a dive in the Gulf of Mexico. Great PR exercise to lift the spirits in the ocean of despair since the massive oil spill from the BP well. Years of negative impact to follow for sure, but Obama’s splash has brought hope that the worst is over and recovery of destroyed lives and environment can kick start.

Humans need hope.

Tell that to the Pakistanis. An estimated 20 million people affected my ravaging floods. Walls of destructive water rolling down the valleys and taking everything in its swells. People, animals, crops, houses, factories,...

Very sad affair. And the international community is slow in reacting and committing funds. Donor fatigue it’s called. The quake in Haiti earlier this year seemed to have been a “sexier” cause for good deeds. Pakistan is probably also lacking a positive image, which doesn’t help when massive amounts of cash injections are needed. A bad image doesn’t help when the begging bowl is out.

Remember not so long ago, WikiLeaks published some secret US military documents in which American intelligence operators had very clear fears about links between Pakistani intelligence officials and terrorist organisations. And for years Pakistan’s external image was dented by its political chaos, by its political assassinations, by its links to bombings in India, by corruption, by Muslim extremism in its northern regions, by lack of border security with Afghanistan,.... Just too much stains on its image to built an bond of trust with donors and the so called international community.

Hope is what the affected Pakistanis need. Hope that the future can be better. For now it’s pretty dark (and wet) out there.

Never give up. Never surrender!

Throw out. Troops Of Tomorrow is a new punkrock band from Washington DC. Their 3 track demo has clear influences from the early 80s underground punk(rock) scene on America’s east side. Raw, aggressive, uncompromising tunes. And maybe they choose their band name in reference to an early album by punk heroes The Exploited.

C -Ya

collateral – August 2010 is moving on

River runs red

2010-07-28T14:59:00.004+03:00

So the oil and gas rich sandpit of Abu Dhabi (an exploding glass and concrete metropolis near Dubai) is planning to maybe ban the use of Blackberry phones.

Yes indeed. It is busy building a high tech, super modern, no-taxes-paid, international business hub in competition to its better-known neighbour Dubai, but doesn’t like it that Blackberry technology stores all data on servers outside the country as such.

Meaning, in difference to regular cell phone operation systems, all Blackberry data operations are transferring through a US-based server. And so the Abu Dhabi authorities are afraid that state secrets are passing through this US server.

Can’t have it all I guess. Busy promoting yourself as the new, have-to-be-based-in, hi-tech, flashy, international biz hub..... but then having issues with the main communication tool that all CEOs, COOs, MDs, executives, conglomerate bosses, managers, directors, lobbyists, advisors, consultants, financial gurus, board members, company presidents, VPs,... have these days. Can’t be the new biz hub but blocking the main communication tool of the ones that keep the hub flipping and tripping and rock ‘n’ rolling. Something’s gotta give.

Human behaviour sometimes struggles with its own development speed.

As Abu Dhabi is busy building its high-tech future but struggles with high tech comms, South Africa seems to be considering taking its future two steps back.
The ruling party ANC under president Jacob Zuma is planning to introduce a far-reaching Information Bill, and is also thinking of setting up a media tribunal.

Steps back to apartheid era tactics? The victims learned tricks from their oppressors?

It is without a single doubt very important for every state to protect its sensitive information. Be it military secrets, diplomatic background notes or sensitive industrial plans. But leaving the description of what exactly falls under ‘state secrets’ as vague and broad as possible, makes it in fact impossible for most information to be scrutinized, printed in newspapers, ... even openly discussed in parliament. It’s a serious attempt to cover up and hide government affairs as much as possible from daylight. Sounds like censorship.

Same with the intention to set up a media tribunal. The plan has been lurking around in the darker corners of the ruling party’s policy documents for some time, but came to the forefront recently when several South African newspapers criticized ministers of wasting millions on very long stays in 5-star hotels, buying top of the top range luxury cars, splashing out on thousands of soccer world cup tickets,.... A sea of luxury amidst a pool of poverty. South Africa is the world ‘leader’ when it comes to the gap between rich and poor.

So it seems the Zuma cabinet is reviving the evil ghost of the oppressive apartheid regime’s tactics when it comes to media freedom and free flow of information. A flourishing, free, strong media is a cornerstone of a solid democracy. That’s key anywhere in the world. North or south. Rich or poor. White or black.

Look at the nations around the globe where press freedom is under threat or nonexistent or very restrictive. Zimbabwe, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Morocco,.... Remember China and its Google conflict. Is this the path South Africa wants to take only 16 years after it became free of minority rule and apartheid oppression and finally got democracy? It sucks.

Human behaviour is sometimes crawling around in dark corners. Spinning in its own vomit.

Sticking to the same topic. So the spill-the-beans website WikiLeaks put out about 19000 US military and diplomatic documents that were classified.

That’s not a little leak of some secretive info, that’s a whole tidal wave. A tsumani of classified documents. It’s a two sided coin. It is great for trying to understand the unspoken truths/lies and hidden agendas - in this case the US (NATO) operation in Afghanistan and the tense relationship with chaotic neighbour Pakistan. It’s great to bring some of the issues raised – f.i. civilian death count, relations between Pakistan’s secret service and the Taliban – into the open and known to the public. The public that is ending its sons and daughters to the killing fields of Afghanistan (and Iraq). And it is pretty clear since a long time that the US military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq are mired in secrets, hidden agendas, spin, double-speak, commercial goals, historic backdrops, murky geopolitical perspectives,...

But the other side of the coin is that maybe some of these leaked documents can be used by terrorists and fellow cavemen to kill or maim NATO soldiers or Afghan politicians or members of international aid organisations, or even terrorize local communities. So there is some aspect of national security at stake here probably.

From official and unofficial military operations in and around the mountains of Afghanistan to the dirty waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The BP boss has been moved aside to save the oil giant’s image and US operation (and it’s falling share value). The old BP boss was a Brit who wasn’t always the smartest in his statements about the environmental disaster in the Gulf. He famously once said that he wanted the oil spill to stop as he wanted his life back,... without mentioning the vast devastation the BP f*up caused on the livelihood of the many communities in the area. So BP put a Yank at the helm this time. Should smooth the way with the White House and Congress. The old BP boss is likely to be moved to BP’s Russian operations. So it’s not like the old boss will be joining the unemployed queue and ask for social benefits.

From thick, smelly, sticky oil slicks to crushing killings in a tunnel. All in a week’s global events.

The massive Love Festival in Germany turned into a tragedy. From love to death. From techno beats to cries of pain and final breaths.

The crowd was just too big to handle and when crowd control and crowd flows get out of hand disasters are sadly often lurking and that’s what happened in the festival tunnel entrance/exit.

Sad but true. How a musical afternoon can so easily and so fast turn into a grim reaper’s fury. 20 Killed.

News flashes.

Belgium went to the polls last June 13 but still no government formed in its complex multi-party political landscape.

Mass graves were found in northern Mexico. It seems it was a dumping ground for the victims of Mexico’s druglords. Bullet in the head.

The tiny but super-rich Arab nation of Qatar wants to bid to host a soccer world cup. Strange but true. No soccer tradition at all. Geographically very small with hardly any city development outside the ever growing capital Doha. But too much cash to handle and thus it can throw billions and build new everything. They might aim for the first soccer worldcup with all stadiums enclosed and air-conditioned because their summer is very very very hot.

Qatar has been throwing tons of cash to host big sporting events like Asia Games, ATP tennis, cycling, swimming,... It’s all about prestige and nothing else. And money spins the globe....

But something went ugly wrong recently. The Emir’s TV station Al Jazeera had the TV rights to show the soccer world cup (held in South Africa) live across the Middle East. But as the soccer showpiece kicked off on June 11, and thousands of people gathered around the Middle East to watch it, there was only a black screen. No picture. Nothing. Something went wrong technically. And again for part of the US-England game. The money throwing Qataris were ashamed but couldn’t face reality so they blamed so called ‘saboteurs’ for the mishap. The real truth about why the image stayed black was never made public.

From the South African worldcup in the Middle East to.... South Africa.

Serve & Protect. That’s the slogan for many police services around the world. But for some South African cops the Serve & Protect meant Help Yourself first.

5 Cops have been arrested for stealing chocolate and alcohol from accident scenes. And not just from the backseat of a private car, or just once. No, when you Help Yourself, do it for real. Firstly the cops stole alcohol to a value of US$88000 from an overturned truck on one of the country’s highways. Then 5 days later the same men stole chocolate (!!!) from the wreckage of a crashed truck. This time the value of the goods was US$41000.

But the men in uniform were caught and are facing justice. So when you are unlucky and are involved in a traffic accident in South Africa and you see a cop coming to help you, be aware he might not be there to Serve & Protect, he might just be there looting your car or truck or van or caravan. And maybe afterwards, just maybe, he might come and save you from your wreckage.

It’s all about priorities!

Throw out. So Brooklyn’s punkrockers Life Of Agony just released a commemorative live album called “20 Years. River Runs Red live in Brussels”. The release celebrates the 20th anniversary of this NY underground band. In 1990 LoA recorded its first demo tape. Then 3 years later the band released its debut album “River Runs Red” and made history. Tight riffs, pounding bass, stand out vocals,... and deep, depressing lyrics. The album became a milestone of the underground punkrock scene. After that it went kind of downhill. Or call it ups and downs but the peak of “River Runs Red” was never reached again. LoA broke up, re-united, broke up and re-united again. But here it is. Life Of Agony’s commemorative gig in Brussels back in April 2009 during which it played the whole 1993 album.

C -Ya

collateral – July 2010 is exiting soon

The spill

2010-07-01T12:31:00.002+03:00

The oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico keeps being a depressive reality. British Petroleum thought some clever engineering would solve its bad handling, but it sadly didn’t and oil keeps coming to the surface. Still...

With disastrous consequences for nature and local communities around the Gulf. Those communities’ lives depend on the sea, and thus those people’s future is in serious jeopardy. Sad, sad, sad.

BP needs to realize and recognize they did not handle this drilling and the spill well. On the contrary. It started with a shortcut on some needed security valve. And now it’s a manmade disaster with long term consequences for man and animal and plants. Very sad affair.

Human behaviour is slick.

The Taliban freaks in Afghanistan have refused any talks with NATO. A British General had suggested that a chat with the cavemen might be useful.

One must seriously wonder what any talks with the extremist Taliban might be good for. What level of trust is there? The Taliban don’t like democracy, male/female equality, education for girls, human rights, social development,... so one wonders what is the point of talking if the opposite players in any talks have vastly opposing views on life and society. There is no use to talk to the cavemen as they are not interested in honest civilisation.

Human behaviour can be backwards.

Meanwhile a pregnant woman somewhere in South Africa wanted to deliver her baby in a hospital. But the hospital refused any assistance and the baby was born on the streets. And it died. A South African government official called it “unfortunate”.
Understatement of the year!! Outrageous, unacceptable, brutal, disgusting,... would be better used. Find the one who refsued to help and sack him/her!

Reality is tough.

Human behaviour is sickening.

So Obama is signing into law a new set of sanctions against Iran. No choice really than to go that route. Iran keeps pushing the international community against the wall. And the presidential nuke freak in Tehran keeps uttering outrageous comments. He is really a destabilising factor in the region and the world. Words of a madman. Delirium.

He is set on destroying Israel as he does not recognize its right of existence. And that is without a single drop of doubt totally unacceptable. The civilized world cannot talk serious business and politics with a nutter like that. Without a doubt one has to criticize Israel loud and clear on some of its actions and policies, especially towards the Palestinians. But it is also without a doubt obvious that Israel is living with crazy neighbours. Neighbours who don’t even believe you have the right to breath. Now that’s an insane situation as a starter.

And on top of it the recent Iranian elections have been far from free and fair. It’s a farce. A dictatorship with a nuke program. Nothing good about that.

So the only way for the civilised world is to isolate Iran. Close down trade, finances, assistance,... French oil giant Total announced a halt to its business with Tehran. Right move. Sad thing is that not so fair-playing nations like China will maybe enter the void. But a democratic, lawful nation like the US and the Europeans need to act like a democratic, lawful nation and thus sanctions and turning the screw on Tehran are respectable options. Something’s gotta give.

A region and a world cannot keep being hostage to a madman with nuke-phobia.

From nutter to sports fever. It’s all about human emotions.

The soccer worldcup in South Africa is reaching its climax. Quarter finals up next.
The Latin American nations are in full swing while Europe is a mixed bag. Half of the quarter finalists are from South America. Disgraceful France and current world champions Italy did not even make it through the group stage. The French players even went a day on strike because the coach had sent one of the players home after some tough words were spoken. England is another disappointment. Lots of hype and bold tabloid headlines before the world cup, but the overpaid stars went home after a crushing 4-1 defeat against Germany. And yes the game was killed by a massive error from the linesman disallowing a perfectly legal goal from England, but the English defence was nowhere to be seen during the whole game. So home they went.

And before the June 11 kick off there were high hopes that the first world cup on African soil might see the glory of African soccer. But the hope turned into a sad dream. Only 1 of the 6 African nations made it through the group stages. Africa’s broken expectations now fully lie on Ghana’s shoulders. Host South Africa was a mixed bag, but super-egos Nigeria did not even win a single game. Not even a draw.
It was so bad that the Nigerian president announced a 2 year ban on any Nigerian international football. A move that outraged the world’s football body FIFA as they, rightly so, are massive opposed against political interference.

And anyway, honestly, how can you get better as a soccer team if you don’t play serious games?! So Nigeria’s presidential, emotional reaction makes it even worse to turn Nigerian soccer around. Sure there is more to come from that corner....

Throw out. Californian old timers Bad Religion have released a free downloadable album called “30 Years Live” that brings a collection of 3 decades of on stage punkrock action. An amazing achievement. 30 years on non-stop, fast-paced tunes. Keep it up boys!

C -Ya

collateral – July 2010 is here

Hate for hate

2010-06-01T10:11:00.001+03:00

Pirates on the high seas. Not Somalis this time, but representatives from the state of Israel. Official pirates.

Israeli soldiers stormed an aid ship in international waters and killed 19 people. The ship was on its way to the Gaza strip which has been blocked by Israel. Gaza is like a big prison for Palestinians as Israel controls all access and often restricts access of goods (including petrol) and people.

Outcry around the world but be guaranteed that after a couple of heated days, Israel will get away with it once again.

Israel is the master of tactics and spin. The Israeli army have taken the aid ship into an Israeli harbour and claims the ship was carrying weapons. By taking the ship into custody any neutral checking of that ship has become impossible. And thus any claims of whatever might be found on that ship is now already null and void. Nothing stops the Israelis to plant weapons on that ship now and then “proof” their claims to the world. Nothing says too that indeed amidst the aid there were weapons on that ship. Weapons for mad boys Hamas. But if the Israelis indeed thought there are weapons on that ship why not block the ship on the high seas and ask for an urgent UN inspection of the ship?

All very sad and stupid and ridiculous. And where is Nobel peace price winner Obama? The US just said sorry for the loss of life and wants an investigation into the deadly matter. Is that all Obama and his team can say?!? Nothing to say louder and bolder?

The sad thing is that US politics are a big cash event and too often Israeli lobbies and companies are funding election campaigns of candidates. And keep in mind there are US Congressional elections coming up later this year. And Israel also gets away with it because it is surrounded by hostile Arab nations, especially the nuke freak in Iran. And also, and let us be open and honest about that too, it still plays often on his world war 2 victimhood. The Nazi holocaust was indeed without a drop of doubt the ultimate form of hatred and insanity. But often Israeli authorities, and especially Zionist extremists, play on their victimhood to get away with murder. Cold blooded murder. Officialised assassinations. And that too, without a drop of doubt, is unacceptable.

Actions like this high seas killing spree and the too soft US response can only fuel the flames of hatred across the Arab world. And the Arab world that also likes to use the Palestinian cause to shift attentions away from their won issues and often undemocratic behaviour. Let us also not forget and be honest about it that Palestinians are too often also considered 2nd class citizens in Arab nations. That too is often swept under the carpet. Obviously the apartheid style politics by the government of Israel through the years is unacceptable and despicable.

Hate for hate.

The blocking of the Gaza strip is the cause this current madness and terror attack by Israel. A democratic state like Israel cannot block a whole community from the outside world. Gaza is similar to caging humans and let them rot slowly. What Israel is doing to the people of Gaza is torture. You cannot condone terrorist attacks by groups like Hamas while at the same time you fool around with international law and principles. That brings you down to criminal level. That turns you into a criminal state.

Sad. Very sad. Moment like this need bold leadership. Courage and vision. Not politics of hatred and politics of sell-out. Obama we are waiting to hear some real words from you now!

Human behaviour is sickening.

Obama is also facing tough times at home. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is still not contained and all efforts by the BP culprits have failed so far. Very sad indeed. All these communities living of fish, oysters, tourism, sailing, diving..., are facing very very hard times. Big oil companies are in the spotlight.

The US maybe might have been too soft of oil giants pumping in the Gulf of Mexico as Washington has been for years trying to be less dependent on Arab oil and thus wanted more US oil. But more drilling and pumping in your own backyard is indeed raising the prospects of more accidents and carelessness buy the oil giants because those big business know very well that Washington is desperate top increase US oil production.

Obama needs to act decisively and tough. Make sure those oil giants are controlled severely and regularly.

Meanwhile fish is dying. Pollution expanding. Communities facing bankruptcy.

It’s a sea of despair.

Throw out. At least some good feelings around. Melissa Etheridge’s new album “Fearless love” is rocking. The lady ahs been around for a long time and has produced some very memorable songs. With “Fearless love” she prove sin the best way possible that she ain’t ready to stop yet. Pure rock in its simple, enjoyable form. Etheridge is here, loud and clear.

C -Ya

collateral – June 2010 is in town

British mathematics

2010-05-09T14:49:00.001+03:00

So the UK elections came and shocked the Brits. They are so used to very simple situations and thus when one party doesn’t get the overall majority it’s all shock and horror and stress and nervousness.

The Mother of all Parliaments is shaken. And stirred too.

The main parties need to talk about forming a coalition government now, and that is so uncommon for the simplistic UK politics. Shock and horror once again. Traditions on the rocks.

But take an honest look at the basic numbers and the unfairness of the UK election system will slap you in the face. On both cheeks. It is so undemocratic that it looks close to a dictatorship of the two traditional parties – Conservatives and Labour – than real and honest and representative democracy.

The 1-person-1-vote issue; the basis of any democracy anywhere; is being raped here in a brutal way. It’s tainted democracy. Fabricated. Manipulated.

Stick with the following numbers and you’ll be shocked. Guaranteed. Just looking at the numbers for the three biggest parties (Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats) and you will see how the system is being screwed in favour of Labour and the Conservatives. Massively screwed.

Here we go.

The Conservatives got 307 seats in the House of Commons, out of a total of 650 seats. They got 36% of the total vote which in numbers mean 10,706647 Brits voted for the blue party.

Just do some simple arithmetic and you get that the Conservatives got 1 seat (equalling 1 Member of Parliament) for every 34875 votes they got.

And their 307 seats out of a total of 650 equals 47% of seats. Meaning that with 36% of the total vote, they got 47% of the total seats. Mmh! Kick that. But hold your breath.

The Labour party of outgoing Prime Minister Gordon Brown got 29% of the total vote. Meaning 8,604358 Brits marked the X for the red party on the ballot paper. Labour gets 258 seats in the newly elected parliament.

Take out the calculator once again. So 1 Labour seat for every 33350 votes. And their total of 258 seats (out of the 650 available to fill) represents 39% of the number of seats in the House of Commons. Meaning with 29% of the votes across the UK, Labour gets 39% of the seats. Mmh. Hold on some more because the real dirt is coming.

Then the 3rd biggest party. The Liberal Democrats, coming after the old traditional suits of Labour and the Conservatives. The yellow LibDems, as they are called, got 23% of the total votes across the UK, representing 6.827938 people that voted for them.

They got 57 seats in the House of Commons. Only 57 seats. So take the calculator and get shocked. So that’s 1 LibDem seat for every 119788 votes. That is nearly 4 times more votes for 1 seat than the 2 oldies!! Kick that for fairness.

Take a closer look and it really smells bad. Stinking stuff. So the Liberal Democrats’ 23% of the total votes casted only gives them 57 seats. 57 Out of a total of 650 seats equals 8%. So the LibDems get 23% of the votes but only 8% of the seats. How in your face unfair is that?!?

This is not democracy. This is fabricated, controlled, manipulated so-called democracy.

It sucks!

It has that same taste of disgust as when Al Gore got more votes than George Bush Jr but still George got the keys to the White House. It’s when democracy goes wrong.
It institutionalised theft. It’s holding big speeches about democracy and the right of voters and free and fair political system, but at the same time openly hijacking and screwing the system so the two old parties keep the cake for themselves. A stiff middle finger to that.

And then the Brits, especially the conservative traditionalists on the (extreme) right side of life, say that they favour a two party system because it brings stability. Well no it doesn’t because now the UK is in political turmoil (and this instability) as neither the Conservatives nor labour got a majority. And now Brown is bunkering himself in his office in famous Downing Street awaiting to see if rivals LibDems and Conservatives can make an agreement to govern. And the Brits are just not used to collation talks. And thus fear for the unknown. And fear is the ultimate conservative emotion. Basic instincts.

Those traditionalists point out they don’t like the continental European way of coalition politics. They never like anything from the continent anyway. It’s their arrogance drenched in emotions from the former Empire. Former! Continental Euro-politics are without a doubt sometimes a bit messy and coalition talks can take some weeks here and there. But Germany, France, the Scandinavian nations, the Benelux trio,... all have very high standards of socio-economic development. And that is what it should be all about. Politics (and the political system in place) at the service to built a better world to live in for all the citizens. And continental Europe certainly has high living standards; be it roads, schools, hospitals, public transport,... So what’s wrong then with coalition politics? It clearly hasn’t brought continental Europeans a bad life.

So the Brits need to re-focus and get real. There are plenty of mechanisms in place to avoid that full blown and honest democracy turns into a quagmire of too many small parties. Continental Europe proofs it.

If the United Kingdom wants to keep spinning of being the Mother of all Democracies, it better gets honest with itself and adjusts its corrupt political system and start walking the talk on the path of real, representative democracy.

Human behaviour needs to walk up sometimes.

From a screwed election system to screwed minds. Just a stone throw away.
Morocco’s islamists want to ban Elton John from doing a gig in their kingdom. It’s pretty simple. The extremists just don’t want a gay performer on their soil. So an islamist party is pushing authorities in the capital Rabat to ban Elton.
Cultural fascism from the Muslim kind. Narrow mindedness is never a friend of the arts. Never has and never will.

Recently the South African Culture Minister stormed out of the opening of an exhibition because there were some photos of naked ladies holding each other. Nothing sexual. Just sensual. She ordered an investigation on who within her department authorised the funding for such an evil event.

Back to the bunker! Sandbags and barbed wire. The outside world and its creative thinking is evil. Pure evil. Needs to be killed. Exterminated. Exorcism required urgently.

Human behaviour is often limited to basic instincts within a narrow dark tunnel of limited brainpower.

Throw out. NY’s Eddie Sutton from Leeway-fame has joined forces with some ex Agents of Man members to form a new punkrock-with-a-metallic-edge band called Truth N Rights. The tunes are hard-hitting with Eddie and his AoM mates come with plenty of experience and underground-music credentials.

C -Ya

collateral – May 2010

10.000

2010-05-05T16:42:00.000+03:00

Red seats. These are now available to sit on in busses in the Danish capital Copenhagen. A few per bus.

These red seats have a symbol to it. A gesture. A message. When you – the bus traveller – decides to take a seat on/in the red seat you indicate to fellow commuters that you are open to communication with strangers. As simple as that. It’s like “Yo! I’m sittin’ here so ya can talk to me!”

A chat room on the bus. A mobile chat room. Chat on the go. Indeed, a red seat passenger gives the green light for any stranger to come and chat to him/her. And because these random chats sometimes can / could lead to something more, the red seats have informally been called ‘love seats’.

Martin Wex from the Copenhagen bus operator said that the aim is to attract more commuters. He added that the red seats offer passengers a chance to talk, chat, converse, laugh and maybe even to fall in love. How a bus ride in a red seat can change your life.... for the better or sadly for some for the worse.

As simple as that. From former warmongering Vikings to love-matchmaking public transport. Public blind dating. Love on wheels. Getting up to go to work is just looking a bit more brighter and more fun in Copenhagen.

From love bugs to corrupt cops. Lots of them! Human behaviour remains an unlimited source of adventure. Kisses and sleaze.

More than 10.000 cops are serving jail time in South Africa. Yes, ten thousand police officers broke the law themselves. Serve & Protect!!

General Bheki Cele, the national police commissioner, made this nearly surreal statement at a funeral of a cop. K.I.A.

That’s 10.000 crooked cops out of a total of 150.000 men and women in blue. Kick that! Wondering if they are trying to get into the Guinness Book of records, cause it’s pretty insane. The rot within. The stench coming from the police stations.
So that means that 6.66% of South African cops are dirty. Corrupt. Helping criminals. Part of gangs themselves. Fraudulent. Murdering. Stealing. Raping. Dealing dope. Forging legal documents. Pimping. Trading in weapons. Smuggling. You name it, some South African cop is doing it.

Did some Google search. This 6.66% is 20 times more than the likelihood that the average South African citizen is a criminal. Serve & Protect indeed.

Some more numbers to crunch. In 2008 South Africa had 340 prisoners for every 100.000 citizens. That was back then the 7th highest rate in the world. The police ratio comes to 6600 per 100.000. Insane. Abuse of power?

But put that against the background of total population and it’s more frightening. In 2008 South Africa had 166.267 jailbirds for a population of 47 million. Mexico had 217.436 inmates, but against a population of 104 million. Puts a hell of a different perspective on some numbers.

But sticking to these dirty cops. Soon there will be the need to built prisons just for cops. The blue prison. And free access 24/7 to episodes of CSI on TV. Or the Crime Channel. Ten thousand cops that just could not resist the temptation to abuse the badge and the gun. They just could not stick to their pledge to serve and protect. They took a dirty side road. Serving the community as just too good to stick to, so 10.000 flicked the switch and went rogue. From serve & protect to kill, maim, steal, rape,...and so much other crap. Cops playing bad guys should get double sentence cause besides becoming criminals they also abused trust and dirtied a profession where many die in the line of duty,... especially in crime-ridden South Africa. Kick that.

Human behaviour sometimes just stinks.

And oil on the shores of Louisiana stinks too. Obama got some headaches at home. A very ugly oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico because oil giant BP didn’t install some kind of special emergency cap as was needed. Saving money to make a bigger profit. The environment can go to hell and so thus the livelihood of the fishermen in Louisiana. The arrogance of big companies. Sue the hell out of them!

And then Times Square escaped a bloodbath. On the edge of purgatory! A nutter with insane views on how to solve his disagreements filled his Nissan Pathfinder with a homemade killing machine. Thanks to the vigilance of a t-shirt selling army veteran, the carnage was avoided. And the nutter from the Pathfinder will now find his path to jail. Caught and handcuffed he will face justice! What a sad story. How hatred and narrow-minded dumbness can lead to innocent deaths.

New Yorkers are surely a bit edgier again. Let’s hope the Bush and Cheney lovers don’t play political gutter-games and use this near-disaster to score ugly political points for the upcoming Congress elections. But something tells me they will.... Scum remains scum.

And the Iranian nuke-freak was in Zimbabwe meeting mad Bob. That’s a pair from the freak show of insanity. A mentally unstable dictator who turned his beautiful African nation from breadbasket into starvation, and an Iranian extremist who wants to wipe Israel of the map. Nice duo. A meeting of minds. Troubled minds. Short-circuited minds. Dictators always come together for champagne and caviar. Alcohol free champagne for the man from Tehran I guess. Anyway, the handshake smells of a dirty deal of Iranian cash for the bankrupt Zimbabwe against Zimbabwean minerals (uranium??) for the angry Iranian.

Human behaviour always has a price.

Throw out. The lads from New Jersey have done it again. The Gaslight Anthem has released a new album called “American Slang”. And it’s another great collection of fine, rocking tunes. Maybe a bit more polished than their previous stuff, but still sounding great and fresh. They still have that New Jersey, underground-ish Springsteen feel to it. Some tracks on “American Slang” explore a bit wider musical avenues but The Gaslight Anthem lads are still going for it a 100%. A great listening pleasure.

C - Ya

collateral – May 2010

Rocked to heaven (or hell)

2010-04-29T16:42:00.001+03:00

Sometimes surprise reaction follows once action.

Street justice. Revenge of the brutal kind. Served hot there and then.

Three men tried to rob school kids at their school in South Africa. The men had knifes and a gun. They wanted the cellphones of the students. And the little cash the kids had on them.

But that’s where the thieves miscalculated. The school kids fought back and stoned to death one of the robbers. The two others escaped.

Death by rocks. Very likely those thieves didn’t even dream of such a reaction from the kids as they woke up that morning and decided to go and steal some stuff from youngsters. Kick that. Those two surviving losers wont try that again. At least not at that school. Live and learn, and sometimes die by the sword if you live by the sword. In this case, die by the rock if you live like a criminal. Deadly fighting back by the school kids! Rocked to death.

Surprisingly human reactive behaviour can be the end for some.

The fakeness of political campaigning exploded in the open in the UK. Prime Minister Brown was out and about on the campaign trail for the May 6 general elections. You know, meeting people on the streets of the former empire and having chit chats about education , healthcare and immigration. All hot potatoes in 2010 in the UK (as in so many countries in fact).

So Brown meets this woman and has a chat with her. He then walks backs to his car and forgets he is still wired with a microphone from one of the British channels. Once inside the car he has a frank discussion with his aid about “that woman” and “who put her there” and calls her a “bigot”.

Later that day as he sits in a BBC radio studio, but with cameras rolling, he is confronted with the sound recording of that backseat chat. And you see Brown putting his head in his hands. He just knew there and then his world was coming down. Like a jumbo jet crash. And this so close to election day. He quickly summoned his team and off he rushed back to the woman to apologize.

Speaking of a PR disaster! But it also brutally exposed how fake these campaign walkabouts are. All set up and prefabricated. All fake. Brown didn’t expect that woman there and then asking those questions. It wasn’t part of the script and that’s why he asked his aid, when back in the car, “who put that woman there?”. And it showed the weakness and depth-less of political leaders these days. If it’s not part of a meticulously scripted campaign then they are taken by surprise and exposed for the fakes they are. The smiles, handshakes, comments as the cameras are rolling and the snappers snapping and the microphones capturing all the hot air, are just all fake. Like fast food. No substance. Not for real. Not openly honest and from the heart. Pre-cooked. Pre-heated. Pre-planned. Pre-scheduled. Pre-spinned. Pre-faked. Pre-lies.

So it’s a blessing, whoever the politician and his/her views are, that the fakeness was exposed so brutally and directly. It’s a heavyweight punch in the face in the 10th round. And there rings the bell.

Politicians are a specific breed. A breed apart. Detached from reality and living in a bubble of fake.

Political behaviour is a pre-cooked meal with no energy content nor creative composure and straight out of the microwave oven. So déjà vu...

It’s colourful chaos in Thailand. Have seen the images passing by on the TV screen. Political opponents of the current Prime Minister dressed up in red. The colour of anger. But also of blood. The Red Shirts’ protests in the capital Bangkok seem soon to turn into full scale revolt and turmoil. The UK government has already warned its citizens to avoid the touristic attractive Asian nation.

It’s red Shirts battling it out with blue-scarf wearing soldiers. Gun battles. A soldier killed. In other parts of the town Yellow Shirts are gathering to support the government.

Red versus yellow versus blue. Colours of uprising and resistance. Political disagreements and stalemates turned violent onto the streets of Bangkok. Season of trouble. And probably more trouble ahead. The standoff seems only to get worse. The clash of colours will spill more blood,... and all blood is red. Pools of life pouring out of protesters, soldiers, supporters, bystanders,... For now it all looks like a spiral downwards. Political disagreements spilled out of parliament and onto the streets. Dark clouds over Bangkok.

Throw out. “I thought that you were joking when you said you could not breathe”, Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba sings on the track “Dead End Road” from their “Remains” album. Gloomy punkrock. Alkaline Trio originates from Illinois and was formed in the mid 90s. They released a whole series of albums and many of its members have been involved in side projects, other bands and have done guest appearances on other bands’ albums (like for instance Matt on a track on NY’s H2O’s “Nothing To Prove” album).

C -Ya

collateral – as April 2010 is coming to its end

DJs on the run

2010-04-19T10:57:00.000+03:00

The sound of silence. Well not really. Better would be the sound of Muslim prayers and I guess here and there some propaganda.

The powerful Islamists that are fighting against the Somali government and the African Union peacekeepers (peace??) have banned all music on the radio in the areas they control with an iron fist.

So it’s a bad time for radio DJs there. DJs on the run.

Another step in the madness of religious zealousness. We’ve seen how extreme Islamic rulers can get in regions they violently control. Girls not allowed going to school. No cinemas. No DVD stores. No bars. No fun at all. Strict control over every inch of life. The claustrophobia of extreme-Muslim life. Tunnel vision. Bunker mentality.

So Somalia’s Islamists are just advancing their cause and insanity a step further. No more Jailhouse Rock across the sands. No more Springsteen shouting “War! What is it good for?”, nor sexy Shakira tunes or the Sex Pistols drunkenly screaming “God save the Queen”! That’s all gone. No more of that disgusting liberal cultural for the devoted Somali Islamists. Just more brainwash to keep the abused sufferers across Somalia in line and under their thumb.

Outrageous. Mad. Insane. Brutal. Inhuman. Religion as torture.

And to keep full speed ahead on this narrow path of ridiculousness, the same Islamist extremists have now also banned the school bell in the Somali parts they control. They say the school bell is a Christian invention and thus evil and thus banned. As simple as that. Maybe they wanna replace the start and ending of classes with whip lashes! And keep in mind that classes are any way only for boys! Girls don’t get education under their mad rule!

Narrow-minded freaks amidst a destroyed country where people die of hunger and war every day.

Human behaviour is sickening. Some people just don’t deserve air.

And sometimes very strange. Nearly extra terrestrial.

In Croatia a 13 year old girl came out of 24 hour coma but that coma seemed to have deleted all knowledge of her mother tongue. Scary. Instead she spoke fluent German, a language she hardly knew before her come. Even more scary.

The doctors are the hospital in the coastal town of Split are baffled. Doctors have now ordered urgent paediatric, psychological, psychiatric and neuro tests. A mystery!

Is there a German bio-warfare bug flying around the Balkan? Escaped for a top secret military lab? A new bio-program to rule the world? The 4th Reich? Scary stuff. Or maybe ET really exists and has taken possession of this girl’s brain. Scary monsters, super creep.

Alien invasion. Galactic encounters. Attack of the body snatchers. Revenge of the brain suckers. The human race on the brink of annihilation. 2010 As the end of us. Crazy virus on the loose? Fill the churches, reborn-Christian-halls, mosques, temples, cathedrals and all other places of worship and pray for salvation cause the creepy brain bugs are here!

Salvation is what all these stranded tourists, businesspeople, best men heading to weddings, mourning uncles en route to funerals, .... need. And salvation is what the airline industry needs too. They’ve already had sp pretty touch economic times recently and now nature just kicked them in the stomach. Amazing how volcanic activity on the tiny island of Iceland totally freezes European airspace and grounds thousands and thousands of flights around the world. Europe is cut off. And the amazing ripple effect of the global planet. People stranded in Florida that needed to get to Scotland. People stranded in Hong Kong that should have taken their kids back to school in Amsterdam today. Journalists stuck in Paris that should have been in South Africa by now to report on the final preparations for the upcoming football/soccer world cup. Wives and kids stuck in London that should have been reunited with their fathers and husbands in Cairo yesterday. Dubai, normally a big hub for global passengers, losing millions of US$ per day. It’s a brutal domino effect. Amazing how in the 21st Century a prehistoric-old, natural event still is almighty. The human race might have invented thousand of amazing things and progressed living life (and in many cases also unfortunately so called ‘progressed’) but volcanic power is still above all that. Nature can still rule everything.

Amazing.

From the purity and natural power to the silliness of humans. Just a step away.
Sue Mills is mayor of Torrington, somewhere in England. And she couldn’t keep her racist braincells silent.

Sue went on Facebook and posted a comment saying that illegal immigrants are like sperm. Millions enter but only one really works.

Kick that.

As always with politicians, after being caught out she apologized and said she was misunderstood. So deja-vu! So predictable! And so stupid. If you put something controversial on Facebook and you are a politician and the UK is in election fever, of course it’s gonna get noticed. It’s obvious. Some politicians are clearly too stupid to be in the position that they are are. And she is a mayor on top of it all. Vote her out!

Sticking with human stupidity. Brain errors.

From the UK down under to its former prison colony Australia.

A cook-book publisher has to recall thousands of its “Pasta Bible” and burn them all into history. The recipe for tagliatelle with sardinnes had the unusual advice to add “freshly grounded black people”.

A cannabilistic error from note! The “people” should have apparently been “pepper”. But that’s more than just a quick, slippery finger on a keyboard.

Recipe of stupidity.

Throw out. Discovered The Great St Louis. The GSL is a band from the UK. Indie-punkrock. Great tunes. They just released their 2nd album, “In your own time”. 10 Quality tracks. No clue why they chose that band name but they know how to rock.
Check them out!

C - Ya

collateral – 2nd half of April 2010

Death of the ghost

2010-04-13T15:26:00.003+03:00

You gotta fight for your rights! That’s what some workers at the Carlsberg beer factory near the Danish capital Copenhagen thought. Firmly thought. A matter of principle!

They went on a 5 day strike because management had reduced their daily ration of 3 free beers to only 1. And that was just unacceptable! Those damn capitalist bosses and cutting costs all the time!!

Those Carlsberg-Vikings got their priorities clearly in order. Reducing their access to free quality lager was just a declaration of war. That’s plain abuse! And so they went on strike to fight for their right to 3 free bottles of Carlsberg per day.

You wont have that labour issue in Sudan. Certainly not in the Muslim north, but probably not even in the Christian south.

The south is very conservative in that freakish reborn-Christian kind of way. Rap music is a no-go. Any alternative music in fact is the incarnation of pure evil. Ladies in pants are just not accepted (and sometimes even get attacked as a “corrective measure”), and forget any modern art. In fact any liberal, free thinking can end up being a dangerous lifestyle in southern Sudan. So probably no worker there will strike over eventual reduced free alcohol access at the beer factory. On top of that jobs are not a luxury in the poor, post-war southern Sudan. And thus that labourer wont lay down tools over free beer because it’s very likely that that would be his or her last day at the factory. The replacements are already queuing outside the factory gates.

So Sudan is in election mode. Putting that X down for several layers of government, including the almighty presidency. And remember current president Al Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court for his role in the Darfur onslaught. Wanted – dead or alive, as cowboy George Bush Jr would say proudly.

But the voting didn’t start well in the vast country because of plenty of logistical troubles, and also because many opposition parties had withdrawn before the voting stations even opened. They claim the vote is already rigged before the first Sudanese citizen even puts down the X.

It’s all a bit chaotic. Voting is set for several says. Remote voting stations opened with hours delay. Some registered voters didn’t find their name back on the voting roll. And then so many parties withdrew days before polling day, but after the ballot papers were already printed. So in fact on the ballot paper that voters get as they walk into the voting stations are many parties that have in the meantime withdrawn from the race. Confusing.

Al Bashir will just be re-elected easily in such circumstances. The pariah will remain in his palace.

And then in the south this is all a warming-up exercise for the referendum for independence that is scheduled for early 2011. Wondering how a re-elected Al Bashir will react when the south votes – as is expected - to break away from Sudan. Will his jets fly over south Sudan? Will the war-torn south feel the pain of a new conflict with the north? It’s going to be a tense countdown till that referendum. Will the birth of the new nation, called Southern Sudan, be drenched in blood or will the secession be reasonably smooth? And once again, oil is a core factor in the stand-off between north and south. Black gold fuels the flames of war.

From the sandpit of Sudan southwards to South Africa. Hope of Africa. Host of the soccer world cup in less than 2 months.

Easter Saturday saw white-supremacist Eugene Terre’Blanche being slaughtered to death by 2 of his black farm workers. A very brutal affair. Racial tensions got a spike. Suspected killers will face their trial and meanwhile Terre’Blanche has been buried on his farm. Ashes to ashes, dirt (oh yes) to dirt.

His party, the Afrikaner Resistance Movement, first claimed revenge but then quickly put water on the flames of hatred. But tensions remain. But his party is a spent-force. A ghost of the dark past. Last October Terre’Blance wanted to revive, relaunch his party but only 200 or so fellow narrow-minded whites showed up at the party. He really had lost most of his attraction and the vast majority of whites have moved on. Either they emigrated to Australia. Either they never believed in white supremacy. Either they decided to stay within the democratic playground and marked their X behind the name of democratic opposition parties (or some for the ruling party of the African National Congress).

Terre'Blanche, himself from a French bloodline traced back to the French port of Toulouse, kept believing in the dream of the rebirth of a white, Afrikaner homeland.

But now it seems that there might be a very dark secret to his brutal death. The slaughter by his 2 farm workers (a teenager and a young man in his 20s) might follow years of sexual abuse. Indeed, white supremacist Terre’Blanche might have been involved in gay activities. The white supremacist with firm Christian beliefs might have sodomised a black, teenage farm worker. Kick that! If it wouldn’t be so damn sad it would make a great Hollywood script.

In his views blacks were the lesser race,... but just maybe good enough for a gay s**k and a gay f**k. The ultimate treason to his own beliefs and speeches and arguments and views and opinions. His community is in shock and hates the outside world even more. Reality is hard to accept. The first black president in 1994 was already a crude shock to their system, but now this possibility that their proud, horse-riding leader had this dark, evil, sick secret is really pushing his followers to the bottle.

Pharmacies and bottle stores will do booming business. Pills and booze for the betrayed.

The trial of his 2 killers should bring out some interesting revelations. And not those of the bible-kind. Ashes to ashes, dirt to dirt.

Human behaviour needs a drink to wash away the vomit.

Throw out. The hard-hitting lads from Queens, NY are still pounding. Sick Of It All is about to release a new album – “Based On A True Story”. And once again it’s full of energy, in-your-face rhythms and lots of power. The band has been releasing demos, singles, albums since 1986 on a very regular basis. And although age is catching up unavoidably, after nearly 25 years Sick of It All still rules and rules hard. “Based On A True Story” has 14 tracks that simply proof these 4 lads are far from finished. Kick that. Respect.

C -Ya

collateral – somewhere near the middle of April 2010

Blood stained shoes

2010-04-07T17:10:00.002+03:00

Shoes kill. Or say, shoe-fetish kill. Shoe-madness. Shoe-insanity. How shoes let the beast out of the cage.And kill....

A 46 year old woman got stabbed to death in South Africa during a fight over shoes. Her brother is in hospital with stab wounds to the chest. The shoe-killer is still on the loose.

New shoes and a bloody knife in one hand. Easy to spot.

The incident did not happen at a mad shoe sale in a large shopping mall. It happened at the home of the victim. A simple disagreement on who owned a specific pair of shoes got out of hand. Seriously out of hand. Slipped into insanity and ended up in murder.

Speaking of tainted shoes!

From strangely and bloody human behaviour to breakfast with a buzz.

The fire brigade drove out in full force. I think it was in London, UK. The automatic alarm came from a VVVIP. And thus red lights were flashing brighter and sirens sounded louder. Pedal to the metal.

And off they went. And they arrived at Tony Blair’s house. That former British prime minister, better known as Bush’s poodle. Interesting legacy Blair left behind. He modernised the British Labour Party which saved it from oblivion. And then blindly followed George Bush Jr’s orders and took his nation to war all based on some lies and spin.

Anyway. All the mad rush for nothing. It was just a burned toast. Will we ever know if at the start of it all it was white or brown bread?

Staying in the United Kingdom. That former world power, now just some industrialised nation struggling to cope with reality. Anyway.

So a German person died in the UK. Obviously the family wants to take the body back to Germany for a burial. But they fear the repatriation costs.

So they put the corpse in a taxi and drive to Liverpool airport to catch a cheap flight back home. Put the dead one in a wheelchair and roll him/her up to the check in desk. Act like he/she is asleep and see if the trick works.

It didn’t! Caught out and fined. You just can’t take dead meat onto an airplane. Regulations are there for a purpose! Strange Germans...

The world has gone astray. Murder for shoes. Burned toast. And a dead man wants seat 24C.

So the Brits are having national elections on May 6. Only 4 parties in the contest. With some weirdoes on the fringes here and there.

The 2 traditional ones, Conservatives and Labour. Then the not-so-new-kids-on-the-block-anymore Liberal Democrats. And then the up and coming extreme right BNP. So the campaign has started. Politicians and politico-wannabees crisscrossing the UK in the next 4 weeks. Serious carbon footprint this campaign stuff. Flights, busses, cars.

The Conservatives still live in the dream to revive the Margaret Thatcher era. Hallucinations. There was a time when Maggie and her clone Ronald Reagan across the Atlantic were the rulers of the world. The Iron Lady and the 2nd hand cowboy. What a match! But those days are gone and the damage done.

So the Conservatives now have a young lad on the posters trying to appeal to a broader based UK public. For now opinion polls put him in the lead. But many polls worldwide have proven too many times pretty wrong over the many years they are being used as the holy grail of political uncertainty.

The youngster with the private education is up against the bulldog-looking Gordon Brown from Labour. Brown was handpicked as Blair’s successor and thus is now facing his first real election test. He doesn’t look as slick as his opponent and he spins things less convincing too. And he’s got baggage. Baggage from being in government for a long time. And baggage is difficult to sell. The trick is to turn baggage into experience. Brown with the scars of having been in the hotseat versus the young lad with the baby face. How appealing are scars of life? So it's the too often sad looking Brown (in a boring suit) against the botox smile of the young lad.

And then there is the Liberal Democrat party in 3rd place. Also with a young face on the posters. They bring some kind of alternative to the 2 traditional dinosaurs of British politics. But will the so called LibDems finally break through and become the2nd largest party?

And then there are the dark horses from the British National Party. A traditional extreme right party like similar clones in France, Austria, Belgium, Holland,... Anti this and anti that. They have been growing recently cashing in on voters’ frustrations with the economy, immigration, bad weather and the quality of breakfast sausages.

So we’ll see how it all goes on May 6. Democracy is a beautiful thing. Plenty of potholes and pitfalls but for now the best power tool humans have invented to manage a free and fair society based on the rule of law.

I wonder if Gordon Brown also has toast issues in the morning?

Throw out. The Texas punkrock’n’rollers from Born To Lose have just released their new, 11-track album “The dreams of kids”. And once again it kicks ass. Loud and proud. These lads have been around for a quite a while now and every release has just been great. And they don’t seem to stop. Rolling on. Like drunken bikers through the Austin night. “The dreams of kids” is once more full of anthemic songs and greasy guitar. Close your eyes as track 4 - “The bored and the lost” – kicks off. You might think for a few seconds that you are listening to Motorhead’s classic of classic albums “Ace of Spades” from way back when.

C-Ya

collateral – April 2010

Married at the age of 8

2010-03-26T09:09:00.001+02:00

So Yemen might ban child marriages. Yes, indeed they might consider this.

Just maybe. They are not really sure in fact, but maybe Yemeni parliamentarians might consider to pass a law banning kids being forcefully pushed into marriage.

Maybe when they got a moment they might wanna talk about this law. Just maybe. We are not speaking about a headline saying ‘Yemen outlaws child marriages’. No, just maybe.

Mad beyond madness. Delirium.

Hundreds of mothers protested outside parliament in the capital Sana’a recently to demand a halt to this barbaric practice. And in defiance of sanity, two days earlier there was a large march to oppose such a ban. Kick that. The opponents, to no surprise, are conservative Islamists. They already have an image problem, but just seem to like walking on the path of ridiculousness. A path of oppression. A path where human rights are just a daydream.

So a whole bunch of Yemenis just love it that kids are being out-married like cattle. Like possessions. And the US is supporting such a country in its war against Al Queda related fighters. Who is barbaric and retarded here? Al Quada or those Yemenis supporting child marriages? It’s evil vs evil. A competition in madness.

In the women’s march there was a lady who got married at the age of 8 (!!!!) to a 28 year old man. How nuts is that? Barbaric. Crazy. Unacceptable. Torture. Sick. Empty the buckets of vomit please.

The law under discussion would fix the age threshold for marriage at 17 for girls and 18 for boys. Don’t get it why there is this difference between the sexes, but anyway a galactic improvement from the existing practice. But the law isn’t law yet as many conservative, Islamist members of parliament are opposing it fiercely. They seem to like barbarism. They say it is un-Islamic to fix a legal marriage-age. Religion again used for madness. Religion as a tool to own, use, abuse, violate, hurt,....

Last September a 12 year old girl died in childbirth in Yemen. How about that?
Human behaviour is often very sickening. Very!

So the US health care reform plan got voted. An American revolution.

But it seems some Americans don’t understand democracy nor are they politically tolerant. A majority of US representatives voted for the bill – otherwise it would not get passed. For sure you can protest about it and organise marches and rant on blogs. But this bill has passed all the democratic requirements in place, so democracy did what it had to do. But some Americans seem to have taken protest a step too far and too dirty and too undemocratic by throwing bricks through windows of Democrats and cutting a propane line at the home of the family of a congressman.

These are ridiculous tactics that don’t belong in a democracy. Probably these same perpetrators would scream and shout about thuggish behaviour when this would happen in an African or Arab state.

Probably very few citizens (if any) read the 2500-ish pages of the bill. Most of the screamers and shouters probably just base their anger on over-simplified, biased media and blog articles. And on their own narrow minded conviction of what freedom means. And on top of that for some it comes from a black president. The ultimate disgrace.

So for some communism has arrived in their living room. The US might have won the cold war in the 20th Century, but the 21st Century is a different beat. China is becoming the driving force on this planet (sadly), and now this health care reform has introduced communism within the US. The ultimate defeat. So load the guns and read some Bible passages because evil has arrived. Big evil. Dark evil. Monster evil. The evil within. Traitors. Red whores. Anti-Americanism. Americans will soon be all enslaved and tortured and all their freedoms taken away by the communists from the Obama camp. May the Lord come and save America! First a black president and now communism. It’s truly the end of the world. Isn’t there something in the Bible about the end of the world and the return of Jesus? Well I guess some in the US think that time has arrived. So they gather in their churches and peep through the windows awaiting their saviour. Pray and sing and burn candles. Because for sure, the Lord has to be against this health bill. I mean, really!

Millions of Americans can’t afford health care. It’s health care for the rich and f*ck the rest. Nice that in the US of A people need to mortgage their home to be able to get their kids a needed operation! Is that the type of so called civilisation America should stand for? Is that progress?

This has nothing to do with communism. Nor socialism. Nor state control of what you do and what you want. This is about decency for those that can’t afford the basics of a civilised society. These systems work in the UK and continental Europe, why not in the US? Will it bring extra administration? Probably it will. So what, it’s the good of its goal that is the matter. And it won’t stop the middle and upper class from going to whatever doctor and clinic they want. You still can do your botox and lift your tits.

Debates on policy are great and necessary, but people should put it into perspective and stick to reality instead of blindly and dumbly spreading brainless vitriol. So get real, stay honest and debate in a democratic, wise fashion. That is part of a civil society!

And what is freedom exactly? The type of ultimate freedom is chaos, because ultimate freedom cannot have society rules. So traffic regulations are anti-freedom. Alcohol ban for under age youngsters is anti-freedom. Whoever decided to have 4 seasons per year and 24 hours in a day is anti-freedom. Must be communist plot! Gun laws are certainly a left wing conspiracy. Community regulations are totally anti-freedom. The fact that killing your neighbour is a crime is in fact anti-freedom. So there can’t be murderers or rapists because they were acting out their ultimate freedoms. Get real!

Oh and of course that child marriage ban under discussion in Yemen is anti-freedom too!

Human behaviour is a strange cocktail.

Throw out. The Flatliners from Canada are about to release their new album “Cavalcade”. I got the luck to get an advance copy and it rocks! Interesting that these lads played ska fused punkrock in their early years and now have shifted to straight forward powerful punkrock without much of a ska beat left. Like the new tunes.

C-Ya

collateral – last days of March 2010

Bastards in the Vatican

2010-03-20T14:33:00.001+02:00

Kick that. It reads like a Hollywood movie. Maybe something for Tarantino!

According to documents, recently made public, at the British National Archive, it seems that the Hitler freaks from Nazi-Germany had plans to infiltrate the Vatican. They were planning to send spies dressed up as monks into the holy HQ. Monks with swastikas! Aryan monks undercover for the fatherland.

It’s really made for a a Tarantino movie! “Bastards in the Vatican”

The documents were put together by the British James Bond crowd – MI5. According to the British intelligence service the plan was made up in 1943 at a time that the allied forces were advancing, slowly, through the Italy of madman Mussolini. The German Nazi forces were busy evacuating from the Italian capital Rome under the famous withreat tactic of “leave while you can”.

And thus as Rome would be Nazi-free soon, the Germans wanted to plant some monk-spies inside the Vatican to try to keep a foot in Italian affairs. A real thriller!

But, according to MI5, the 6 spies coming from Berlin were uncovered before their mission could really get of the ground because the real monks felt that the spy-monks’ knowledge about Christian faith was disturbingly weak. And also (!!!) that the would-be-monks were too interested in the opposite sex. Well for Germans camping out in Rome and trying to control their libido amidst all those beautiful Italian ladies is indeed a mission impossible. Torture. And then again maybe also that already back then the Vatican had issues with paedophili a and thus just mentioning the reality of the existance of women might right away be suspicious. But still, you would have expected much better spy-101 knowledge from the Germans. Seriously disappointing!!

And so it ended. Somebody in the Vatican expressed his doubts of the 6 newly arrived German monks to an Italian cop. This cop, who clearly didn’t belong to the Hitler fanbase nor the Mussolini supporters group, informed the British agents. And that was the final breath of this crazy Nazi monk-plan.

Please Tarntino recognize and realise the fantastic opportunity here. A blockbuster guaranteed. Nazis, dressed as monks, undercover in the Vatican but with hard-ons and not knowing the names of the Apostles. It’s just perfect drama for the big screen!! Too good to be true. “Bastard in the Vatican” coming to screen near you.

History can sometimes be the perfect script for an entertaining movie.

But sometimes not. So the US sends its vice president to put new batteries in the Middle East peaceplan. The roadmap with too many potholes. But as Biden crisscrosses Israel and Palestine, the Israeli authoritie sthink it’s a great opportunity to announce the construction of more settlements in East Jerusalem.

How tall is that Israeli stiff middle finger to Biden, Obama and the whole world (besides the hardline Jews living here and there obviously). I mean, you want peace or you just keep fueling the flames of hate? The Israeli superiority mentality is just mindblowing. Didn’t they really learn nothing from the Aryan white power craze back in the 40s?

It’s madness on a grand scale. It’s apartheid. It’s racism from the upper-shelve. It’s inhuman. It’s Jewish fascism. It’s disgusting. It’s immoral. It’s criminal. It’s unjust. It’s plain wrong. As imple as that.

Resist and revolt against this madness.

Human behavior is plain cruel. The victims of the past have become the oppressors of the present.

And then they wonder why Palestinians wanna blow themselves up. Also a dispicable act when innocent shoppers or Pizza-eating civilians get killed, but the hatred is just fueled and fueled and fueled. Circle of blood.

So sex-maniac Tiger Woods is going onto the greens again. The return is set for the Masters. It’s gonna be a media hype from hell. It’s gonna be all scripted, PR-managed, over-hyped, over-done, over-broadcasted to extreme boredom. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Chile, Haiti, Toyota, Obama’s health reform bill, Israel, Palestine, Iran, North Korea, Sandra Bullock and her unfaitfull biker who loves a girl who loves tattoos (lots of them) and breasts implants,.... all of that wiped of the frontpages and headlines by Mr Woods himself. Ridiculous but you gotta give the masses the drugs they need. Just like the gladiator games in Roman times. Give the masses their games or they go nuts.

Meanwhile one of Tiger’s many many sex sidekicks has made public several text messages between her and Tiger. And Tiger-boy seems to like some spanking stuff. Controlled Tiger on the greens is not so controlled when he hits the sack (or the backseat of a car). Mr Golfing-role-model has a different beat when he is of the course. Juicier.

Anyway it’s going to be so overdone and over-explained and over-hyped that all sense of reality is really out of the door. Gutter vibes.

Is Woods returning to play golf because his bankaccounts have hit a snag as sponsors have withdrawn and he has some legal bills to pay? And the rehab bills too? Did that sex-rehab work? We’ll know soon for sure. Can Tiger refrain his libido from going wild and astray? A Tiger on the hunt.

Human behaviour is too often plain and dumb.

Throw out. LA-based Irishmen Flogging Molly (I think there is 1 woman in the band too!!) have released an amazing live album (and DVD) simply called “Live At The Greek Theatre”. It magically captures their gig in LA last year. A great record with an absolute perfect production. A whirlwind of great Celtic punkrock.

C-Ya

collateral – March 2010 paces on towards its final moments

Milk

2010-03-11T17:03:00.003+02:00

So the Iraqi elections went well. Well despite the 30 or 40 people that got killed, that is.

It’s bad and good at the same time. Many feared a serious bloodbath and a seriously disrupted poll, and thus those that hoped to kill of Iraqi democracy there and then failed. Sad but true, but 30 or 40 so people killed on such a key day is for Iraqi standards very low. Sad that when 30 to 40 innocent people get slaughtered on and around election day, the world says it’s a success,... but the sad state of affairs in Iraq makes that indeed a success. Says a lot about how low the state of the nation there is really, and how far up the mountain Iraq still has to climb to become a “normal” society.

At least the election success brings hope for the many fathers and mothers and loved ones awaiting their army sons and daughters and loved ones to return home from the sandpit. It should help the exit strategy.

It’s time for the Iraqis to pick up the pieces, unite and built their future. It’s time they all think about their kids’ future. A better life for the next generation instead of fighting proxy wars based on ethnicity, religion, past hatred and today’s alliances. Break the spiral of death and think about tomorrow for real.

Human behaviour needs hope.

As Iraqis vote for their future, Hollywood celebrates the Oscar for best movie to The Hurt Locker – the trials and tribulations of a US bomb squad in Iraq. From the Persian sandpit to the red carpet in Los Angeles. Celebrations.

Human connectivity. Would the Hollywood stars really know that Iraqis were voting that same day?

How sick can you get? Mentally sick. Loose wires in the head.

Several men gang raped an ambulance medic in a township in South Africa. How sick is that? The ambulance was called out to treat a child from burn wounds when the 3 sick criminals attacked the female medic as she was helping the kid. They dragged her into the bushes and raped her. Her female collegue was held down at the same time. Then these lesser-than-animals escaped the scene with the ambulance. How totally insane is this? Madness of the purest kind. Evil of the purest kind. These monsters need to be caught, castrated and locked away for life. And make sure the other inmates know what they have done. Monsters like that deserve to suffer for the rest of their miserable life. Disgusting!!

Human behaviour is sometimes worst than the lowest form imaginable.

Toyota seems to have more and more trouble with more and more models in more and more countries worldwide. The image of the near-perfect company seriously dented. A crash when quality had to give in for quantity and speed of production. Damaged and more than just an issue of a new lick of paint. Toyota doesn’t come automatically anymore with satisfaction guaranteed.

It’s that human touch that caused the crash.

So about 500 people got slaughtered in northern Nigeria. Very déjà vu unfortunately. Christians vs Muslims. The eternal fault line of madness. When religion brings the human race down to insanity, cruelty, barbarism and lower-than-animalistic behaviour. You would think that as we move on in the 21st century we would grow up, learn, get smarter, get more civilised,.... but none of that.

Humans remain very very very basic creatures. Technology takes leaps on the road of progress. Humans don’t.

From blood in the Nigerian dust to breast milk in NY. Sounds totally nuts but possible as all happening here and now on this round planet. It’s all about human liquid.

A chef in a trendy, so called hip-cool restaurant or super trendy bistro in NYC thought to take the hip-cool thing to the next level. And the sky is the limit when it comes to trying to out-do your competitors. And, for sure, in the Big Apple and during a recession it’s a tough world out there in the resto business. The gloves are off. It’s do or die. Even if the ‘do’ is over the edge.

So, this NY chef introduced cheese made from breast milk! His wife’s breast milk!! Chef Angerer from Klee Brasserie in NY’s Chelsea district indeed put “human cheese” on the menu. Desperation to make some headlines and attract some customers? And Angerer said that it tastes like sweet cow milk. Did he tell that to his wife? Is she now the official cow of the bistro? The Chelsea cow. And what if a customer demands to suck it straight from the nipple there and then?

It’s kind of over the top. But over the top is hip-cool and trendy and makes headlines and thus brings customers and thus extra cash. And that is of course the goal of it all. My wife’s breast juice for cash.

Apparently NY Health Chiefs aren’t too pleased and advised Angerer to keep his wife’s breast milk out of the bistro and exclusively for their little toddler.

Right on. Don’t go over the edge for some public relations stunt. Maybe concentrate on getting that perfect steak or that lovely Minestrone right to perfection.

Human behaviour remains an unlimited source of inspiration. It comes with piles of stupidity, but hey, we’re only just humans.

Throw out. Nothing new in the car-iPod recently. Some Mark Lind, some Rise Against, and some Killing Time. But the months ahead look promising. Live album by the almighty Boston Irish punkrockers of Dropkick Murphys next week. Then lesser-known Greg MacPherson will release “Mr Invitation”. Still this month should see the new K’S Choice too. Great Belgian band around US resident Sarah Bettens. April should deliver new material by NY hard-hitters Sick Of It All, as well as the “fearless love” album from Melissa Etheridge. Good times are coming.

C-Ya

collateral – March 2010 tick tocks on

God's killing spree

2010-03-02T10:14:00.001+02:00

Bastard! A man in South Africa hung his dog till death because he/she stole a piece of meat that was lying around.

Cruelty of mankind is appalling. Maybe we should hang that man for a piece of cake of his own taste.

Some good news after this murder story.

The Colombian constitutional court rejected the presidential request for a referendum on his possible third term in office.

No way. Don’t use a democratic referendum to rape the constitution for an anti-democratic third term in office. The two term limit, valid in most presidential democracies, is there for a reason. It’s to avoid abuse and so called life-long presidencies as is typical for dictators around the globe.

Even if current Colombian president Alvaro Uribe maybe doing a good job (according to some), he still gotta stick to the rules of the democratic game as spelled out in the constitution of his country. Constitutions are the holy grail of stability and democracy. Cause once you allow to fool around with the constitution to stay longer in the presidential palace then you are on a very slippery slope. A slope that only goes downhill. Next is the “need” for a fourth term. Then he will want to stay in office indefinitely so called “for the benefit of the nation”. And after that it’s to put elections on hold for so called “stability reasons” and put his son at the head of a newly created presidential guard. At the same time trade unions are banned “for stability of the nation” and tough media laws are put in place “to protect the State”.

Next his presidential convoy is enlarged from 5 4x4s to 25. And all people need to bow their heads as the convoy cruises through Bogota. And on we go to full dictatorship where parliament is sacked and sent packing “to protect continuity and stability”. The army gets pay rises, gold mines taken over by generals and oil refineries run by the Armani-wearing son-in-law. And new money is printed with the face of the president on it. It’s all very déjà-vu. Ask the Africans, amongst others.

And that’s that. The rot has set in.

From a failed third term in Colombia to Europe’s stallion-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian business mogul wouldn’t reject a “power-for-life” option. He just loves the spotlight.

Anyway, Silvio is still embroiled in several fraud trials and has now said that Italian prosecutors and judges are like the Taliban in Afghanistan. Silvio’s never afraid for some farcical statements to distract from the fraudulent facts. Classic tactics. Act like a clown to veil reality. The populist in all his glory.

Maybe he should read up on reality and realize that the Taliban are far from defeated, despite the glorious Italian forces helping the US and NATO in that forsaken land. Wonder how many Italian troops are in Afghanistan and what they are doing there, because we know about US and British troops on a new offensive in the south. We know Belgian C130 pilots are flying in and out. We know the Canadians are there. We know Germans are busy up north. We know Dutch troops are there too because the Dutch coalition government just collapsed because of a disagreement on the exit strategy and more importantly the exit date. But what are the glorious Italians doing? Maybe chasing local ladies? Maybe in the kitchen? Maybe watching football/soccer on TV?

Politicians remain made of the same cloth everywhere in the world. Be it in drug infested Columbia, or touristic Italy. They are a specific abbreviation of the human species.

From politics to brainless women with fake breasts, fake eyelashes, fake hair, fake tans, fake dreams, fake happiness, and maybe even fake sex. The world of 5-stars fake-ness. Dumb, dumber and fake. The Miss-world of hot air and too much lipstick.

One of its cheapest products has decided to act real for 3 seconds and let all stupidity out in the open. Miss Beverly Hills said on numb-TV, aka Fox TV, that God wants all gay people to die.

As simple as that. Miss Beverly Hills has the divine knowledge of God’s intentions. Miss Beverly Hills is the disciple of God’s anti-gay crusade. God is good. God is great. God is almighty. And God is on a killing spree. Of course, for the sake of humanity!

And while you’re at it, probably God has also laid out to Miss Beverly Hills his/her/it (??) genocidal plans to rid the planet of all Muslims, obviously also all lesbians (falls in the gay slaughter category), all Toyotas, all environmentalists, all non-conservative politicians, without doubt all Chinese commies that are about to take over the world, all AIDS sufferers (cause they are all gay, right?), all Cubans, those funny looking Buddhists and Krishna followers, the French probably too, all teachers that don’t start classes with half an hour of prayers,.... Lots of ‘cleanup‘ work to do!

Maybe Miss Beverly Hills should just shut up and walk to Venice beach for some fake poses for tourists’ photographs. Bible and a beach towel at hand.
Human stupidity is a constant.

From very ridiculous to very serious. 2010 Has really started with a vengeance. Is the planet reacting against the fact that the climate summit in Denmark last December didn’t deliver the goods to curb global warming? Kicking and screaming.
Devastating earthquake in poverty stricken Haiti. Port of Prince wiped of the map. Historic snow storms across the US and Europe. Earthquake in Chile. Violent weather battering Europe. And we’ve only done 2 months so far. Better put your helmet on!

Good news to end it all. News of hope and the good use of advanced technology.
German carmaker Volkswagen announced it is planning to roll out an electrical Golf model in 2013. That’s just 3 years away. The VW Golf is an immensely popular car across Europe and further away. So an electrical model, mass produced, is really great news. Well done VW!!

Sometimes humans produce sparks of hope.

Throw out. Punkrocker Tony Sly has just released an acoustic-based solo album called “12 Song Program”. Tony’s been in the rock scene for ages with his band No Use For A Name. He’s done acoustic stuff before in projects with fellow punkrockers, but if I’m not mistaken this is his first fully fledged solo album. I like acoustic tunes. Not always and not every day, but when it’s well done it’s welcoming. Tony’s efforts here are somewhere in the middle. Not a bad album but it doesn’t blow me away. Give it a try.

C-Ya

collateral – the early days of March 2010

Sarah's tea

2010-02-15T16:53:00.001+02:00

How was the tea, Sarah? The Alaskan Barbie doll is still stalking the airwaves and the world wide web and newspapers and all that. And that is of course her aim. So well done to her.

The Tea Party. A gathering of naggers to nag about life but without advancing alternative solutions of any depth and realism. Just airing cheap one-liners for a 23 second hit on the evening news. It’s pretty frightening that US politics has turned into a tea party where the competition to be dumber than your neighbour is in full effect.

Hell yeah, critical debates and conversations and newspaper editorials and blogs about the State of the US Nation and President Obama’s chosen paths are necessary, welcome and even vital. That’s what real democracy is all about.

But don’t take it down to gutter level of dirty populism based on emotional cheap shots. That’s what silly dictators do – be it on the left (like Venezuelan president Chavez) or be it on the right (like Italian stallion Berlusconi).

Republican or democrat or none of both, one thing surely cannot be denied. And that is that Sarah Palin’s intellectual capacity to have the knowledge and the brains to be a leader with serious responsibility for the US and the wider world is non-existent. It’s not about IQ or Masters Degrees or rich kids in rich colleges. It’s about understanding the world you live and work in. Understanding the framework you act in. Have perspective. Have historic background. Try to understand instead of laughing it off with a dumbass one-liner with some lipstick on and a fresh hairdo.

Come on. Dick Cheney’s views of the world are 100 times more liberal and contextual than hers. Has Alaska limited her intellectual growth? Since her rise to become republican vice presidential nominee (or whatever you exactly call that ticket) she has openly shown that she is a... joke. She had no clue why there was a South and a North Korea. She thought Africa was 1 country instead of a continent. She believes that the US first amendment (a pillar of American society) means that politicians can’t be criticised by the media. She thinks that global warming is non-existent. She firmly believes gays and lesbians can be cured (Couple of lashes? Plus disciplined bible lessons? Plus some water-boarding techniques?). Sarah has the in-depth understanding that foreign policy is just an issue to bomb now or bomb a bit later. And she openly says that her future is only decided by God. I would right away wonder if her stupidity is also decided by God? It’s an insult to believers.

And her Bible-fundamentalism and conservative morals clearly didn’t work well at home. Cause the daughter forgot all the guidelines and hit the sack at a pretty young age. And why talk about doing it for America. And never giving up. And going the whole mile. Meanwhile Sarah was elected to be governor of Alaska but quit before the job even started. That’s not nice towards your electorate.

She really sounds like a Reborn-Christian crusader galloping into the plains. Bible in one hand and a gun in the other. What’s the difference between that and the Muslim extremists gathering in religious schools in the mountains of Pakistan to brainwash each other with more hatred for the outside world and plot their next killing spree? What’s the difference? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

It’s racist narrow-minded populism fuelled by religious fundamentalism. She is trying to tap into emotions that are similar to what brought the likes of Hitler or Mussolini or Pinochet or Stalin to power.

Is this the path America wants to go on as we advance in the 21st Century? Or is she just a joker passing buy while sipping tea?

Time will tell. Sometimes voters have indeed the power to decide the future of their country and of the world. Meanwhile, I guess, the (dirty) show must go on.

Human behaviour can be scary.

Throw out. Rick Barton is an amazing guy and musician. The man from Massachusetts was the original guitarist of the by now well established Boston-based, Celtic punkrockers Dropkick Murphys. Before that he hit the punkscene with The Outlets. After lending his talent to the Murphys he started a punkrock-ska band called Everybody Out! And now it seems he started Continental with his son on bass duties. Besides rocking it, Rick is also a music producer. Currently fine tuning the new studio album by his Boston mates Street Dogs. A fine man!

C-Ya

collateral – February 2010

From the outskirts of nowhere

2010-02-12T16:57:00.001+02:00

Once again and once again. Conservative, American, would-be politician from the outskirts of nowhere, Sarah Palin has shown her true colours (and stupidity) once again.

It’s all hot air and no truth or honesty. What a looser! Her attack on Obama’s usage of a teleprompter by using her own hand-prompter was a serious joke. A serious expression of her two-facedness. If you can only attack Obama with such rubbish, please take the next Amtrak train back to the snowy plains of Alaska. Put the kettle on, have a cup of coffee and have the guts to look in the (frozen) mirror and admit you are very low scum.

But when people admit something they need to realize and recognize it first and that is way beyond the capacity of the narrow-mindedness of her 1 brain cell. If American politics has fallen so low that she has any support of any importance, then it has become a joke of itself. An irony of what it should and could be. Instead of a beacon of democracy it is a comedy show. A circus of fools.

Human behaviour sometimes gets silly beyond recognition.

And of course everybody can criticize Obama’s politics. That’s the beauty of democracy and free speech. But at least add some content to criticism and analysis instead of just dirt. Compared to the witch from Alaska, Obama this week made a bold move by announcing he will meet the Dalia Lama in the US.

The commie dictators in China will for sure be very upset and issue all kinds of statements on how it is damaging relationships. Maybe they should look up “democracy” onto Google,... but then likely their paranoid spooks have blocked access to those Google results.

Well done for Obama. If you can’t even meet pro-democracy fighters in your own country, then it’s time to close shop. Big difference with South Africa who blocked the Dalai Lama’s visit last year out of fear of Chinese reactions. How 1 old man in orange cloth can upset a nation of millions.

Human behaviour is a labyrinth of fear and misjudgements.

So the almighty Japanese auto industry is in turmoil. As well Toyota as Honda have to recall thousands of cars for some changes. Big blow to their smooth image. And in good old Japanese tradition of honour and respect, I guess we will soon see some CEO’s throwing themselves out of the 45th floor of their headquarters.
You can have all the technology know-how of the world, but human error and human failure will sometime indeed just slip into the machinery.

Anybody out there still thinking about Haiti? The spotlights have moved on to Palin’s hand, Iran’s protests, European currency troubles and the Superbowl.
The sad thing is that the real work starts now. Reconstruction of a new capital city. And rainy season is starting soon which will add to the existing misery. Interesting, but absolutely not surprising, that the avalanche of stars and famous faces have forgotten about the miserable island. The spotlights are gone and thus the same for the red carpet. How caring is directly linked to seconds on a TV screen.
Human behaviour in its crude form.

So how’s Tiger Woods doing in his sex rehab 6-star facility? Any slip ups? Any banned jerk offs? Sad he lives in the USA otherwise he could say it’s all just cultural. That’s the excuse by South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma. Bit of a storm down there as the 67 year old polygamist has fathered his 20th (or is it 21st) child but this time out of wedlock. In fact with the much much younger daughter of a friend. Zuma is currently married with 3 wives. IS divorced once and one of his earlier wives committed suicide. And he is engaged to another lady. But all that, besides running the country of course, doesn’t stop him with fooling around with other girls. Friends of the president better lock their daughters indoors when Zuma passes by for tea.

And all at the same time he preaches the so called ABC philosophy in tackling the vast AIDS crisis in South Africa: abstinence, be faith full and condomize. Maybe he is taking lessons from Sarah Palin. But she better be warned, Zuma is “hot” material.
Human behaviour is sometimes just all about sexual needs.

Meanwhile up north of the African continent lies the devastated, miserable, no-hope sandpit of Somalia. The Islamic insurgents seem to prepare for a massive onslaught on the useless government forces and their protectors – the African Union troops. Hundreds of do-or-die fighters have been infiltrating the capital Mogadishu. The future looks even bloodier in Somalia. No hope.

And across the sea Yemen is in full attack, as expected, against all its internal enemies in the north and south. Wonder how many US military instructors are calling the shots there now.

It’s all war and destruction.

Speaking of... A Russian bloke somewhere in a region called Primorye has laid mines to protect his property from burglars.

Well if alarm systems, razor wire, electric fences don’t do the trick, I guess the guy just wanted to take it to the next level. On top of it all he built the mines himself, not just on the local market.

Human behaviour has its explosive moments.

Throw out. They’re back. After 13 years! Killing Time from Queens, NY has just released its 3rd full length album “Three steps back”. These lads hit the NY underground scene in the 2nd half of the 80s with a milestone demo tape under their previous band name Raw Deal. In 1989 came their debut release “Brightside”, and the name change into Killing Time. It was, and still is, an amazing album. It is still a reference point within the worldwide alternative, punkrock scene. In 1997 came “The method”, but was a shadow of their debut album. Soon after the band called it quits. But 2 years ago the bug bit again and Killing Time started playing gigs again. And then now “Three steps back” is out and rocking hard. The thrilling 80s sound of the NY underground scene is very much at the heart of Killing Time’s return to reality. It’s hard, fast, angry and honest in its simplicity. Not trying to fake some new trends or add some unnatural sounds. This is what Raw Deal and Killing Time represents. As simple as that.

C-Ya

collateral – as February 2010 soon hits the half-way mark

Caroline

2010-01-30T16:58:00.001+02:00

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

2010-01-21T10:57:00.003+02:00

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

Google's freedom

2010-01-14T09:29:00.001+02:00

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

The new frontier

2010-01-05T13:28:00.002+02:00

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

What happened to Farouk?

2009-12-29T15:58:00.001+02:00

So Yemen is about to become the new member of the axis of evil. There are clearly some issues with the rising presence of extreme Muslim organisations (Al Queda spring-offs or others) there and their worldwide recruiting efforts. A new wave of blind hate.

It remains a serious mystery and a worrying fact that the son of a very rich Nigerian banker becomes a suicide terrorist in just a few years time. Just like that. Grows up without social issues. Gets top class education in Nigeria, the British International School in Togo and then in London. No money worries. A decent future more or less guaranteed. A life path that many kids of his age can just dream of. And then something changed.

The web of international terrorists using the Muslim faith as rallying cry got him tangled. How does a smart young man with neither social nor financial troubles get attracted by a killing hate? What’s the trigger towards such mad act? Why leave a decent life full of prospects and hope, to enter a dark world of dusty training camps and to agree to blow yourself up together with plenty of totally innocent people. You can dislike the US for its foreign policy. You can dislike Western culture. You can dislike capitalism. But from dislike – after having fully benefitted from its “fruits” – to becoming a once-off killing machine is a hell of a step to take. It’s evil madness.

What did happen to Farouk? What made him leave his comfortable life and go to Yemen to become a suicide bomber? What made him step onto the Amsterdam-Detroit flight with a desire to kill himself together with innocent people. Young and old victims. Americans and many other nationalities. Muslims, Christians, agnostics,... Why? Why? Why?

Trying to understand what is the trigger that makes a bright youngster switch of and become pretty seriously indoctrinated into a merciless killer and suicide bomber. It’s a very baffling reality.

Human behaviour in a very dark spot.

And Yemen is certainly not on a healthy path. A poor country amidst a sea of oil wealth. Neighbour of the biggest oil producer, Saudi Arabia,... also the birthplace of Bin Laden. It seems that some of the Al Queda officers that trained alongside Bin Laden are now based in Yemen. And the other Yemeni neighbour lies across the Gulf of Aden,... the lawless Somalia. It’s a very unstable part of the globe. Yemen itself is fighting a civil war in the north and a secession battle in the south. And it has strong tribal alliances – just like in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A tribal labyrinth where the central authority means nothing. The US and Saudi Arabia are currently helping Yemen fighting its many wars and on top of that are also helping in tackling the growing Al Queda presence. And let’s not forget that the US naval ship, the USS Cole, got attacked in Yemen some years ago. It’s all very shaky and rocky. 2010 Could be a very unstable year for Yemen. It wouldn’t come as a surprise that the US “presence” in Yemen will very soon increase: financial aid (how much will end up in the right hands?), military and intelligence instructors, weapons, coordinated airstrikes in alliance with worried Saudi Arabia, more naval ships in the Gulf of Aden – already plenty of US Navy presence there to hunt for Somali pirates.

But there is nothing concrete with direct impact Washington can do? Invade Yemen? Let’s not go there. It would be another Somalia visit. Black Hawk Down – part 2. And anyway it would lead to what? The Taliban is still very much alive (unfortunately) in Afghanistan and has even grown in neighbouring Pakistan.

The immediate steps are obviously increased security at airports. But there will always be gaps and always new ways of putting a bomb together from basic stuff. Sad but true.

Re-visit the warning systems and existing suspects’ lists. There certainly can be improvement there. Apparently Farouk was on a so called extended watch list, but that did not stop him from boarding a transatlantic flight.

And more work and spy activities and research and investigations and infiltrations in the worldwide networks of terrorist recruitment. It’s clearly the 21st Century's challenge.

And certainly abandoning blind, simplistic profiling. Remember, Farouk was rich and well-educated. It’s madness. Sheer terror on an insane level.

Being a Muslim from Nigeria who made some visit or even some phone calls to Yemen looks like an unhealthy situation today.

Human behaviour is sometimes walking evil paths. Indoctrinated and brainwashed into senseless killing.

What’s the purpose of blowing yourself up on a plane full of innocent lives? Is there any logic explanation? Religious influence in pulling that mental trigger to go down that path is clearly present. Religion is a deadly virus. All religions. Be it the Spanish invading Latin America some centuries ago with the sword in one hand and the Bible in the other. Or South Africa’s apartheid government finding justification in the Bible for its delirious policy. Or the 9/11 bombers finding strength in the Quran. Or the Palestinian finding guidance in the Quran before detonating himself in a crowded Israeli shopping mall. Or the Israeli hardliners finding reason in their scriptures for taking Palestinian land and blockading the Palestinians in the Gaza strip like caged animals. Less than animals in fact. Religion is too often used for death and destruction. For hate. For a feeling of superiority. For war. For brainwashing. For the suppression of equal rights for women. Religion sucks.

But what happened to Farouk? It remains a mystery. And how many more Farouks are there out there. From bright scholar to killing foe. From brightness to darkness. From smart to deaf, dumb and blind. From human to inhuman.

Human behaviour is worrying.

As a breather some lighter note, despite it being about a bank robber. Xmas stress. Financial stress. A 28 year old Swiss man robbed a bank to be able to afford xmas presents. For real! He was armed and had a mask on. He got away with lots of cash but the Swiss police caught him at home thanks to sniffing dogs. An extra juicy bone for the dogs as xmas present!

2010 Looks scary. Hope and disillusion in the same cocktail mix.

Throw out. Saw the band’s name passing by some time ago but didn’t listen to them. Done it now. Jackson United’s 2nd release “Harmony And Dissidence” was released last year. The band is a side project by Chris Shiflett from Foo Fighters fame (and also from No Use For A Name and Me First And The Gimme Gimmes). Chris’ brother Scott, from Face To Face, plays bass. And Chris convinced his old friend and Foo-mate Dave Grohl (now playing with Them Crooked Vultures) to go behind the drums again for this album – at least for some of the tracks. The drums on the other songs are hit by Foo Fighters stickman Taylor Hawkins. So there’s a lot of Foo Fighters connections here. Jackson United’s 2nd release brings powerful rock with touches of punk, some hints of powerpop, and some snippets of ska here and there. Some tracks have organ and piano as extra, delivered by Rami Jaffee who has recorded with The Wallflowers, Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters. So this Jackson United project brings together musicians with pretty good rock / punkrock credentials. It’s a reasonably good listen.

C-Ya

collateral – as December 2009 and the whole of 2009 draw to a close. As today slides into history and tomorrow looks uncertain.

Copenhagen was a joke

2009-12-21T14:17:00.001+02:00

Copenhagen was a joke. A very sad one. No bold leadership. No realization of reality. The poorer countries face death and destruction. The richer world just thought about profit. No second thought for future generations. No legal binding agreement that can be used as a stick against violators. No clear targets for cutting CO2 emissions. It was 2 weeks of gathering to result in an insult to humanity. A gathering of unseen levels of hot air. The biggest deception and the biggest slaughter of hope.

The back-door deal was forced down the throat of the majority of the nations without democratic consultation. The useless deal takes note about aiming to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celcius. In reality this so called ‘limited’ warming up of the planet will directly lead to increased desertification, especially in Africa. 2 Degrees on a global scale will be 3 to 3.5 degrees in Africa. That will very likely force draught onto a extra 600 million people. It’s a human onslaught.

Copenhagen became the killing fields of Africa. Copenhagen became the end of the small island States in the Pacific. A new Atlantis. Whole nations will disappear under rising sea levels ‘thanks’ to the lack of visionary, courageous leadership by the world’s politicians.

It’s a sell out! The main leaders are guilty of murder.

And then this ridiculous hand-out to the poorer nations to help them adapting to newer, greener technology.

Before the conference the Ethiopian president announced Africa was demanding US$400bn in financial aid. On his way to Copenhagen, the president stopped over in Paris. Once he reached the Danish capital he agreed to US$10bn. What did he get in exchange from the French president? A filled Swiss bank account? Some luxurious property across France? It stinks like an alleyway gutter in summer heat. Then Hillary Clinton met the Philippine president Arroyo and all of a sudden the toughest Filipino negotiator gets the sack. Arroyo bought off by the US. The sell out of the planet.

The industrialized nations guilty by conspiring against the future. Humanity sacrificed fir short term political and financial gain by a few. Obama’s shine across the world got some serious dirty stains on it. Of course back across the US the spin has made the majority deafer, dumber, blinder. Obama went live on TV even before he informed the other nations about the so called deal he helped brokering. That’s basic political politeness and fairness screwed.

How the world leaders showed its people they do not have vision, boldness, and the courage to lead. Good leaders lead. The others are just hot air. And Copenhagen was full of it.

Soon the Hollywood plastic surgery bunch can go down to Africa for another ‘caring’ trip to face up to growing starvation as draught stricken areas expand. Another quick photo-up and then back to the air-conditioning, the specially imported bottles of water and the 5-star hotel suits at US$10000 per night. And for sure Bono and Geldhof will see another opportunity to show the world how much they really are involved in saving the poor from death. At least for the next PR campaign.

Human behavior is a lost cause. Sickening, sad, rotten.

Sadly so, but we probably need another 10 New Orleans’s to get wiped of the map before any real political steps will be taken. Cataclysm before political courage can be found.

More than ever before the political gang has shown the world’s citizens they just don’t care about the so called average man and woman. Political chess games with the future of the globe. Financial deals blindfolded by the realization that global warming will affect us all. For sure the Africans, the Pacific islands, Bangladesh,... will be face the onslaught first and hardest, but it’s gonna hit everybody. Of course most of the current political world order will be dead and gone before the real disastrous impact starts to hit the Northern hemisphere too. Just shows how they do not even care of the future of their own children and grand children. Politicians without humanity. Robotic killers.

Copenhagen 2009 when humanity’s “representatives” showed they lost their vision, intellect and courage.

Throw out. The Fake Boys got a new album called “This is where our songs live” I discovered them through an appearance on Boston’s radio WERS. Kind of sound like the Ramones of the 21st Century. Somewhat boring after several tracks because of lack of originality and diversity.

C-Ya

collateral – December 2009

Prozac

2009-12-14T10:00:00.002+02:00

Interesting how a nation and its leader can change so fast from being an African example (especially in the eyes of the US) to a barbaric threat to human rights.

Uganda and its president Museveni have been praised for a long time for stability and open minded AIDS policies. But that was in a recent past. Now the East African country is going ugly and is turning the clock back. From progress to backwards. One step forward, 2 steps back.

Before its parliament lays a new bill, supported by the president, which would issue the death penalty to gays and lesbians. Yes, the death penalty! This is anti-gay legislation from a barbaric kind. And not just gays and lesbians are targeted. If you know gays and lesbians and you do not report them to the police you are guilty too and will face tough justice. Kick that!

We are about to go into 2010. Ten years into the 21st century and then Uganda is about to pass such a prehistoric law. Inhuman, barbaric, violating basic human rights,... against everything progress and civilisation stands for. If Museveni allows this to pass, he should be banned from entering civilised states. Isolate him!

It’s amazing while the world is gathered in Copenhagen trying to save its future; Uganda decides to go back into a dark age.

Human behaviour is often shocking. Sadly so.

From Uganda to New Jersey, but same battleground.

Old rocker Bruce Springsteen is on the barricades in his home state of New Jersey to support the equal-marriage bill that is being debated there. It's welcoming that The Boss is vocal about a worthy human rights cause. He might be old but certainly still knows when to stand up and fight.

The bill, supported by New Jersey’s governor, would stipulate equal rights for same sex couples as it sees it as a basic civil rights issue. Bruce joined in and wants the voices of those who believe in equal rights for every citizen to be heard and to be heard loud and clearly.

Right on Bruce, right on. Maybe Museveni should listen to some Springsteen tunes and get enlightened.

Human behaviour has sparks of hope.

But then again, human behaviour remains too often disgusting. Former British prime minister Tony Blair, also known as the Bush-poodle, said in an interview that he would have invaded Iraq anyway even if his (and the CIA’s) spies didn’t tell him Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.

Now, in the mean time we all know that Saddam did not have any of those weapons and that the US presentation before the UN Security Council (by then Secretary of State Powell) about the need to go to war to stop Saddam from making the bomb, was a pack of lies. Only lies, total lies, disgusting lies. So we know that.

Now Blair comes out and says that he would have gone to war anyway. Why? So first he is treated like a dumb kid by his so called US friends as Washington passed on fabricated “proofs” to him, and now he says he was war-hungry anyway anyhow. Why? To remove a dictator? Noble cause, but maybe then start with Zimbabwe, China, Burma, Sudan,....

Blair should just shut up and leave politics right now.

Human behaviour and its lies.

Get this. Between the start of the month and December 11 (so that is less than 2 weeks) there have already been 186 people killed on South Africa’s roads. It’s like a slaughterhouse. It’s worse than a warzone.

South Africa already has one of the world’s highest crime rates, but it is clear that just getting from point A to point B is a pretty risky business too.

If you look at population size and extrapolate these road-death figures from South Africa to the USA, you would have 1240 people killed on American roads in 11 days. For China that would be 5514; and for the United Kingdom 252 killed on the roads in 11 days. It’s all very mad.

From mad humans on crazy roads to mad humans in an old-age home. Welcome to earth.

In Dartmouth in the US state of Massachusetts a 98 year old lady strangled and killed her 100 year old roommate. Kick that. Never too old to kill.

Apparently Laura Lundquist killed her roommate Elizabeth Barrow because she was sleeping closer to the window than herself. The human race has slightly gone nuts here. Wires tripped in the head.

And how do you serve justice on a mad 98 year old pensioner? Sentence to life? From an old-age home to a prison cell. Might be an adventure for Laura. A welcomed change of scenery. A last thrill before a last breath.

Mad, mad, mad.

Human behavior is a killing zone. From death penalty for gays and lesbians; to death and destruction across Iaq; to carnage on South Africa’s roads; to Darthmouth’s strangling oldie.

Is Prozac still available?

Throw out. Yes! The Mighty Mighty Bosstones; the kick-ass, Boston, ska-rockers; are back with a full album. “Pin points and gin joints” brings 14 tracks of pure entertainment. These lads have been around for a long time but still kicking it. Great tunes, great vibe.

C-Ya

collateral – December 2009 slowly sliding towards its final hour

The heat is on

2009-12-08T09:38:00.002+02:00

And there they are gathered in Copenhagen. The world’s representatives talking about how to face up to reality and do something about the obvious: global warming.

The Earth Summit is unique opportunity to get real and do something practical and right away to tackle the undeniable, negative effects of human development on our planet.

And yes there are still denialists. Many. Those that will accept the truth when it’s too late. When hurricanes increase in frequency and devastating strength. When longer periods of draught devastates harvests in Africa. When longer periods of rain leads to increased flooding across Asia. When Pacific islands like Kiribati plan mass evacuations as sea levels rise. There will always be denialists till death. Those that rather hide from the truth than be bold and act.

It is not about a Hollywood end-of-the-world blockbuster, nor about which University has the best climate data, nor about the West versus India and China. The majority of scientists all over the planet acknowledge that the planet is warming up and that this will have a direct effect on sea levels, storms and draught. It’s not fatalism. It’s realism with the optimism that the human race is smart enough to do something about it. If they want and have the courage.

Copenhagen is the time for leaders to lead. To show vision and boldness. Not to sit and hide and just care about the next opinion poll. Good leaders lead.

CO2 emissions can be lowered. New, cleaner energy can be developed. Solar energy is the obvious one. It’s amazing in fact how little research, tax incentives and promotional campaigns there are for solar power. Let’s take a country like South Africa. Sunlight all year round while its main energy source for providing electricity is still burning coal. A massive CO2 producer. An obvious case for solar power investment. And hybrid cars should also be stimulated – in campaigns, with tax breaks, with sexy ads,....

This is not about stopping development or a government that wants to curb personal freedom (the ultimate American lie). This is about the future.

And Copenhagen should not be a PR exercise or a game of numbers. Action is required. After agreeing on something, the real boldness is the implementation.

And for those denialists,... talk to African farmers, talk to the resident of Pacific islands,... they will tell you how global warming is already affecting their life. Every day.

Human behaviour remains a challenge. The need to look beyond the next headline is urgent.

And then Obama faces another reality check. Afghanistan. He has recently announced 30.000 extra troops to deploy and his NATO allies have committed an extra handful. It feels more and more like a quagmire. Sadly. More troops, informal exit-deadlines, a weak central government, an enemy hiding out in the mountain caves awaiting spring. It just feels rotten with no easy answers to the challenges. So far the policies of the US and NATO have not really worked. That is undeniable. Would the automatic conclusion then be to just pack and leave? What about the Taliban then? It is not unthinkable that they would easily overrun the Afghan forces and rule once again. Flash back. And then what. Move back in in a few years? Merry go round and round. Honestly,.. there is no straight solution nor a simple answer. And the US Secretary of Defence admitting he doesn’t know where Bin Laden is hiding out. Well it would be a shocker from hell if the US would know where the Al Queda boss is hanging out but not doing anything about it. That would be the ultimate betrayal.

It’s complex and sad and wasting plenty of money and without a clear vision what the future in Afghanistan might bring. Peace or extended warfare?

From the Afghan mountains to Africa. From the grand politics of war, to simple actions with a PR swing.

Ugandan President Museveni apparently flew back from London in economy class. Kick that! A stunt to shame big-spending civil servants. Nice one.

His office admits it was a public relations effort to scold Ugandan officials whom have been submitting extravagant travel expenses. Let’s hope it will be more than just a headline grabber and action against money wasting government officials will be taken. Right on.

Staying in the ‘hood.

Sudanese authorities still behave madly. Last Sunday the opposition parties wanted to hold a rally in the capital Khartoum, but it was banned last minute. Political tensions in the war-torn, oil-rich country are rising ahead of national elections in April next year.

The usual reason was used. Police claimed the necessary paperwork to get a permit to demonstrate wasn’t issued. They need an urgent lesson in democracy!
And after next April’s elections Sudan’s southern region is expected to hold a referendum on independence. Tensions ahead guaranteed. Watch this space.

Finally. Leaving grand politics and threats of war aside for some high-end example of ridiculousness. Human behaviour as a joke.

A man has wasted more than US$100 million in a casino in Las Vegas. For sure people can do with their money what they want. But such a waste is just plain ridiculous and proves this rich fool just has no heart, no soul, no humanity.

It’s human behaviour below zero.

Throw out. Listened to The Flatliners’ new release “Cynics”. It’s a 3 track ep. Previously these Toronto lads blended punkrock, reggae, and straightforward rock, but their latest songs are purely punkrock. And nice sounding too. Power and melody, and a great voice on top of it.

C-Ya

collateral – early December 2009

Fat

2009-11-29T22:04:00.001+02:00

Incredible. Police in Peru have arrested 2 men and a woman for trade in human fat. Yes, human fat. Kick that. These Peruvians killed tens of people for their body grease. Slick business.

It’s an out-of-space horror movie. The trio said they were killing people – the fatter the better I guess - to sell fat to the European cosmetic industry. Wow. It’s even more out of space. Beyond Mars. The next universe. If true, I seriously wonder what the hell the cosmetic industry is using body fat for. Slimming pills based on human fat? Massage oil from pressed human grease. Uh.
Apparently the Peruvian cops are still on the hunt for several Italian associates of the fat-collectors.

Apparently the cops discoverd a so called lab where victims were killed, decapitated and their legs and arms cut off, before their organs were taken out. Then the remaining body was being melted. Horror house deluxe.

What was left over was buried or thrown in a local river. Mad, madder, maddest. The cops now are looking in all the missing people cases from the region. Maybe they were all victims of the fat suckers.

Investigators have strong doubts the culprits’ story about European cosmatic industry buyers is for real. The question remains why the hell were these poeple doing this evil business. It’s sickening beyond reality.

Human behavior remains a mystery. Too often a scary mystery. Dirty, bloody, scary, mysterious.

And sometimes human bevahior is also brutal, unfair, unbalanced. Inhuman in fact. The Israeli government has announced they want to built another 900 new settelment homes in East Jersualem. Path to peace? Or aggressive policy of expansion? It feels like a stiff middle finger to the outside world. Talking peace to Obama and Hillary and European diplomats, but out there on the ground doing the exact opposite. It’s pretty disgusting.

It often seems that the Israelis pursue aggressive policies. They attack and then whne the world demands a halt to their attacks they see that as the world demandinga concession from them. So they use aggression (in different forms) to force concessions from the Palestinians. They don’t reach out a hand. They firts slap and then demand the other side gives them something before the slapping stops. It’s high time the world stands up to such negative policies and refuse to play game on their terms. Stop aggression first before any concessions can come to the table. Otherwise it is very much an unfair, unbalanced approach. And that is not a right path to peace and stability. That is not a path for a better future for all – Palestinians and Israelis. It’s warfare, nothing more, nothing less. And warfare cannot be seen as negotiations. It’s a destructive act.

Human behavior, especially in the Middle East, is too ften an emotional, unrealistic reaction to dead-end actions as hope is fading and gung-ho politics gain the upperhand. Path to nowhere.

From nowhere to somewhere else. If the somewhere else might eventually to a wall or a dark hole is certianly possible.

The small, rich, Alpen-nation of Switzerland has just re-conformed its status as the home of dark conservatism. Through a referendum the country has bannend the construction of minarets. More than 57% of voters supported the ban.

The referendum was called by Switzerland’s largest party, the SVP, as they see minarets as a sign of Islamisation of the snowwy white ski-resorts. And a majority pf the Swiss people seem to agree with that view and thus don’t want any minarets no more. They have only 4 so far across the whole country and thats eemed to be enough for the conservative Swiss to start fearing an Sialm tidal wave. All back to the bunker tod efend the nation against the advancing hordes of Muslims.

It wont give them favours in the Muslim world, but that’s their choice. But on the other hand the well-known Swiss banking world happily accepts the bank accounts from Muslims and finance some dark channels of payments and bribes for some of the Muslim’s world dictators and hardline, anti-democractic rulers. Speaking of double talk. Hypocrisy in the snow.

Human behavior. As always confusing, dark and lacking standards.

Throw out. Just heard Skarhead’s “Drugs, music & sex” album. Skarhead is a project-band from Lord Ezec from Crown of Thornz fame, and also known as Danny Diablo when wearing the rap hat. Their new release after years of being on hold was highly anticipated, but I don’t think it delivered to the hype. It has some good tracks, but sadly also some very poor tracks that are very repetitive and very déjà-vu. But still plenty of respect for Ezec’s efforts in the underground music industry. The guy seems to have massive energy.

C-Ya

collateral – November 2009 is reaching its final hours

2014 Exit

2009-11-19T14:59:00.000+02:00

So Afghanistan’s weak president announces that he wants full security control over his nation in 5 years. Meaning, the US and NATO forces have now an exit deadline for end 2014. Wow!

I wonder if that is optimistic, realistic or day dreaming. Clearly Karzai came to power in a very shaky fashion after a collapsed democratic process. And meanwhile, without any doubt, the bearded Taliban are just sitting in their mountain caves awaiting the harsh winter to pass by. They are not defeated nor retreated nor on the run. They are re-planning, re-organising, re-arming for a spring offensive. April in Kabul looks like an uncertain future.

Not too far from there lies Iraq. Land of death and destruction. Land of hope. Land of pitfalls. Land of rotten politics. There was a dream and a plan to have elections in January. That just got shot down as the election plan didn’t pass the parliamentary process. Shot down. Back to the drawing board.

Tough times in the region! And also the Palestinian elections in January will be a shaky affair. Do the Palestinians have any hope left?

Human behaviour will face a crucial test.

From instability and a very uncertain future to religious insanity.
Islamists in 5-star chaos Somalia have stoned to death a 20-year old women accused of adultery,.... although she was divorced. Welcome to the 21st century! Some people just seem to wanna go back to the stone age. In the name of religion. More like in the name of ultimate stupidity and bestiality.

The stoning took place in front of a crowd of about 200 people. Fellow nutters. Bloodlust freaks. And check the unbalanced line of thought in their prehistoric thinking. The woman gets brutally killed. The man she slept with gets 100 lashes. The lashes as such are without any doubt pretty brutal and beyond humanity too, but compared with being stoned to death it’s even more surreal.

The world should catch those bastards and castrate them. Maybe Tarantino’s blockbuster Nazi hunters, The Inglorious Bastards, should be sent after them.

So Obama went to Asia. Talk, talk, talk. Asia is certainly the future. If you look at population and economic growth of India and China, then you know what’s coming. It’s take-over time! There seems to be some optimism for some (little) breakthrough at the global warming talks in Denmark next month. World leaders will gather to face reality. Many of them will refuse to accept reality because it clashes with their election programs. The majority of people on planet earth will accept the reality of global warming when it is too late. It’s sad. The data is there. The vast majority of scientists sing the same song. Just some wackos here and there are day dreaming after intake of alcohol and heroin. It’s real and happening. The world is warming up because of human development and the warming up will have pretty shitty effects. Pretty devastating for some, like farmers in Africa or islands like the Kiribati group. But unfortunately for many people, especially in the Western world (and even in India and China) the global warming warning is far from their daily work-junkfood-TV-sleep rhythm. And thus it’s not easy for politicians to take decisive measures that will to a degree hurt day to day live for the unknown citizen. Because that citizen won’t understand why these actions are taking and will have a limited scope and thus reject that politician. And thus many politicians can’t handle that pressure. Good leaders lead, but weak leaders capitulate. And there are just too few strong, good leaders. So I fear that the Denmark summit is a nice try but nothing more.

I hope I am wrong.

Human behaviour is a joke and based on little knowledge and too many emotions. Change, even little baby-step-change, is just too much to handle for the vast majority of earth’s citizens. Till catastrophy comes to town. Wait and see.

Throw out. It’s out. The self-titled, debut album by supergroup Them Crooked Vultures. A new project/ban consisting of Dave Ghrol of Foo Fighters and Nirvana stardom, Josh Home of Queens Of The Stone Age, and 63-year old John Paul Jones of the legendary Led Zeppelin. What a mix of talent! I heard 3 tracks of the album so far and it sounds to me like the Led Zeppelin of the 21st century.

C-Ya

collateral – November 2009 is just cruising along

Down in Louisiana

2009-11-10T21:43:00.000+02:00

Down in Louisiana some seem to compete with the narrow-minded Taliban from the caves of Afghanistan. Competition in stupidity.

An American judge down in Tangipahoa Parish in the state of Louisiana refused to marry an interracial couple because he said their kids would have a bleak future in the US as they wouldn’t be accepted by whites nor blacks.

In case you wonder, yes this is 2009.

On top of that then the judge says he is not a racist but that he “just doesn’t believe in mixing races”. Am sure he doesn’t mix brain cells too because he doesn’t have any! Have they checked his KKK membership? The interracial couple is thinking of complaining at the Justice Department. And so they should.

Human behaviour remains underdeveloped. Stuck in its narrow, dark tunnel. Everything you know is maybe a lie.

Remaining in the madness zone, with stupidity on top.

An armed robber in South Africa kept 12 people hostage in a house and threatened to shoot them one by one. Another violent crime situation in a nation that lives on the edge every minute of every day.

But instead of going on a mad killing spree, the robber shot his own penis off! That’s vengeance for you. Immediate justice there and then. Stupidity of the next level. The mad criminal wanted to take the stolen gun out of his pants and hit the trigger by accident. And his penis was no more. Blown to pieces and into history.

From crazy to crazier.

What’s this shooting madness at the US military barracks in Texas? An army-psychiatrist had issues of being send to Iraq (or was it Afghanistan?) and starts emptying his weapon on his colleagues, killing a whole bunch. Mad. A psychiatrist in need of treatment. Over the edge. Passed the line. Insanity setting in. A killing spree. And now the terror topic pops up because he was Muslim and had issues with the war(s). Is this for real or a cheap way out of this mess? The terror label is a very easy tool to avoid deeper thoughts and more rational look into the soul and social environment of this madman. A madman in uniform. What pushed him over the edge to pull the trigger over and over again? But if indeed there is a real, true terror link then it’s scary because then the attacks are clearly coming from within and with ease. Then this can happen anywhere anytime inside the US. And that is very scary. Then nobody is safe, not even in US military compounds within the US of A. That’s seriously a threatening situation. That’s deep. That will raise the tensions even more and put people even further on the edge of fear. And more stereotyping too. Not good. Not good.

Human behaviour has very dark zones.

Flashes from the world of news from around the globe that are just sticking (for a little while).

After 5 months are so Lebanon has finally a new government. Right away one wonders how long it will last. And the Taliban in Afghanistan have shown captured US ammunition. And festivities for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the evil Berlin Wall are happening in the German capital these days. People power! And South Africa’s recent police informal guidelines to shoot-to-kill have just had its second deadly accident. Some weeks ago it was an innocent, young woman behind the wheel of her car. Now it’s a 3 year old boy. It’s the wild wild west. Killing armed criminals is one thing. Having trigger-happy and poorly trained cops on the streets is another thing.

Human behaviour needs plenty of tender loving care. And some vitamins. And a some deep healing.

Throw out. There has always been some common ground, especially in New York, between underground punkrock and rap. Sounds of the boroughs. Danny Diablo, aka Lord Ezec (born Danny Singer) has just released another rap album. He made underground fame when he started Crown of Thornz (with reputed guitarist Mike Dijan) and then with his Skarhead project (which is about to have a new release too). I just had a quick listen to Diablo’s new “International Hardcore Superstar” album and, as with his other rap releases, I am not really digging it much (despite being a big fan of his non-rap work). And then there is the debut, rap album from Freddy Cricien under the name ‘Freddy Madball’. Freddy is well-known as the brother of Agnostic Front singer Roger Miret and the voice of hard hitters Madball. He is now also venturing into the rap world with his debut release “Catholic Guilt”.
C-Ya

collateral – November 2009 sails on

What a mess! - the sequel

2009-11-02T18:03:00.003+02:00

Breaking news. Breaking news.

At once it's all going fast in Afghanistan. It took them ages to count the results of the 1st round (which took place last August), but the last 3 days have been a rollercoaster of self-destructing democracy.

Opponent Abdullah Abdullah warned about fraud in a 2nd round, run-off between him and sitting president Karzai. The next day (yesterday) he pulls out of the race leaving the democratic process in limbo with a 2nd round set for November 7th but with only 1 candidate remaining - Karzai. And then today the 2nd round is cancelled and Karzai sworn in.

What a mess! Clearly not from the handbook of traditional, solid democracy.

What legitimacy will Karzai have now? What representative power? Karzai is weaker than ever and the US and its Allies have egg on their faces. Sticky stuff. The future looks pretty rocky for Afghanistan.

Why not let the 2nd round happen anyway? Even with only 1 candidate. The independent election commission said it was better to scrap the 2nd round to save money and for security reasons. What crappy reasons! The US and its Allies have invested billions of money into Afghanistan (troop deployments, economic development,...), so what would an extra round of democracy cost in reference to what has been spent already? Since when has the democratic process a pricetag? And fears of security? So is that a confirmation that the ruling powers, be it the Afghan forces or be it NATO, cannot guarantee the safety of a next round of voting?

Or is the truth something else? What if the democratic process would run its course and there would be a 2nd round. Indeed with only Karzai on the ballot paper. What if the turnout would be just a few percentages? That would totally undermine Karzai's legitimacy. What if the voters turn up but a majority spoils their ballot - which is their democratic right. And thus that you might then end up with Karazi getting less than 50% of the voters that came to the voting stations. How embarrassing would that be? That would totally be democracy in limbo.

So were Kabul and Washington DC and London and Berlin afraid that the 2nd round might be full of those ugly surprises and thus better to kill it off here and now?

One thing is for sure, democracy is not the winner at all here. It has crashed and is dented, critically wounded, maimed. More than ever Karzai will look like a puppet of NATO. The ghosts of Vietnam are roaming the mountains....

Human behavior in Afghanistan has inflected bloody wounds on itself. Self mutilation.

What a mess!

2009-11-01T16:24:00.001+02:00

What a mess! The 2nd round of the crucial Afghan elections is in turmoil. Total confusion. Democracy at a crossroad. Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah announced that he was withdrawing from the 2-men race because he doesn’t believe it can be a free and fair election.

Obama and his allies must be pulling out their hair. Their democratic process in rocky Afghanistan has crashed. The Taliban must be laughing. What now with the US plan-under-consideration for extra troops as a so called final push? What now with all the extra, allied troops that were sent to Afghanistan to create a peaceful environment for the elections? Remember that the 1st round already took place in August. But as it was torpedoed from within with massive fraud a 2nd, decisive round had to be organised. It was set for November 7th and would be a race between sitting president Karzai and his opponent Abdullah.

Now it’s a 1-man race. And everybody is very confused on how to proceed. This is unchartered waters and Afghanistan’s constitution is mum on what to do next. This is beyond expectations. Beyond planning. Afghanistan sinks deeper into despair and hopelessness. It seems the 2nd round will happen as planned but a 1-man race elections just doesn’t look right. Doesn’t look solid. Doesn’t feel real democracy in the making. Lacks serious legitimacy. What happens when the only candidate left, Karzai, gets less than 50% of the vote if the majority of the voters spoil their ballot in protest against the process? That would be really putting the country in political disarray.

It’s bad for the whole region too. And don’t forget as Afghanistan’s democratic process slips and tumbles, Iraq is getting ready for elections next January. That’s just around the corner. It’s very déjà-vu. A messy Afghanistan with the Taliban preparing for a spring offensive, and Iraq holding its breath to see how bloody its election process will be. It’s all sad and shaky.

From a rocky road to justice.

It’s the way it should be. Politician or not. President or not. Justice for all. And all equal before justice.

A noble principle that too often is abandoned around the world. But France might show the light. A magistrate has ordered former French President Jacques Chirac to stand trial on corruption charges. No hiding behind status or popularity. No hiding behind fat cat lawyers, immunity clauses or the fact that the past is the past.

The charges go back to when Chirac was mayor of Paris. That was before he got elected as President of the Republic back in 1995. He served two presidential terms, and retired in 2007. Retired but still very popular it seems amongst the people of France. The charges are related to 21 fake contracts. It is alleged that tons of money was used to provide bogus jobs to family and associates. You know,... spread the wealth amongst relatives and allies while you control the tiller. It’s a classic example of building a political empire through tax payers money. Disgusting. Sickening. Rotten.

Of course in full respect of an independent judicial system, all are innocent till proven guilty. At least Chirac will face the music. And that’s the way it should be in a democratic society built on the rule of law. Too many times rulers built their own mountains of wealth on the back of their citizens and never face justice for it as their civil societies are too weak. There are plenty of dictators in Africa for instance whom have sucked their country dry and opened hundreds of private bank accounts abroad to stash up personal wealth. And they know they hardly risk facing justice because they have never intended to build up an independent judicial system and a democratic society. It’s a big cancer of world politics. Power corrupts and ultimate power ultimately corrupts.

Chirac, as anybody in his fancy shoes would do, proclaims innocence. The future will tell. As long as justice is done, guilty or innocent, everything is on the right track.

What is absolutely not on the right track is the political situation in Zimbabwe. Personal fiefdom of President Mugabe. In power since 1980 and keeps hanging on. By all means necessary.

Elections have been rigged. Opponents tortured and killed. Judges have been threatened and replaced by allies. The economy is in ruin. Starvation a reality. Every day Zimbabweans keep fleeing hell into misery in neighbouring South Africa, Botswana and Mozambique.

Since last year the region forced a so called Unity Government onto Mad Bob. He accepted under pressure and with the hope that the gesture would open the cash flow from international donors. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai became Prime Minister. But the real power remained with Bob. His cronies kept control of the army and the central bank.

At the end of last month the UN wanted to send in a special envoy to look at growing cases of political violence and torture across Zimbabwe. The envoy got the invite from Morgan. But Bob didn’t like the visit and refused him entrance as he landed in the capital Harare. In a proof who really controls the decaying nation, Mugabe’s army stopped the convoy sent by Morgan to pick up the UN envoy to get to the airport. It’s as simple as that. Crude politics of power.

The Unity Government has been close to collapse for some weeks now. It’s a government written on cheap paper with dissolvable ink. It has never really worked and Mugabe never wanted it to work. It was doomed to fail as the dictator kept the tools of brutal power totally under his control. Sad story as once again it is the average Zimbabwean that starves and goes hopeless. The dictator himself for sure has plenty of cash stashed away in secret accounts abroad. Meanwhile death roams the country.

Human behaviour when given power is sick. It’s often madly brutal too.
Throw out. Mark Lind has just released a new solo album it seems. “Homeward bound”. I reasonably liked his previous 2 efforts. Not outstanding, but listenable. Has a certain old style Springsteen touch to it. So looking forward to hear his new tunes. Apparently the new album has some guest vocals by his brother Rob from Blood For Blood and Ramallah fame.

C-Ya

collateral – as November 2009 kicks in

Flight 188

2009-10-30T17:37:00.000+02:00

"The pilots in command of Northwest Flight 188 remain suspended until the conclusion of the investigations into this incident." That’s the clear message from their bosses. Grounded till further notice! Pilot licences revoked for now!

It was an amazing story when it happened. That Northwest flight overshot its destination by 240 km. Anybody on board watching where this plane is going? Amazing. The 2 pilots said they were busy on their personal laptops – both at the same time – instead of keeping an eye on the control panel and all the other stuff you have to watch out for while you are flying a commercial airline high in the sky. Autopilot or not, you have an important and serious job to do. There were 144 passengers on board whose lives are in the hands of the pilots. The airmen said that as they were busy with their personal stuff they lost track of time and destination - which was Minneapolis. Isn’t there also a sound alarm from the automatic pilot if you overshot your destination? Or maybe the pilots were on their laptops as well as having an ipod on?

It’s pretty crazy stuff. Flight 188 was out of communication for more than an hour. The air traffic controllers kept trying to contact the Airbus, but no luck. Silence on the airwaves.

From high in the sky down to earth. And face reality.

Some NATO official said that time is not on the Allies’ side in Afghanistan. Wow, that official must be promoted right away. Give him/her an extra star on the shoulder and a pay rise. Such a ‘clever’ statement! What an insight! Time is not on NATO’s side for sure. It is running out fast. Really fast. If it’s not too late already.

Run-off presidential elections on November 7th after an imploded 1st round when mounting evidence of election fraud forced the election commission to call for a 2nd round. And the international community is red-faced about it all. They are there to build a democratic society but the exercise has been torpedoed from within. It weren’t the bearded cavemen of the Taliban that disrupted the poll. It was the system itself. The system managed by sitting president Karzai. The rot came from within, not from the mountains. The Taliban are probably having the best laugh of their lives. They are just looking on from the hilltops and getting ready to let the harsh winter pass and start a new offensive next spring. There should not be any doubt about that. And how solid in place any new government will be by then remains to be seen. And how real its legitimacy will be is certainly also another question. It’s all a bit shaky in Afghanistan for now. Sadly so.

And how will the looser, Karzai or Abdullah Abdullah, react? Tricky question. Political alliances never work long in Afghanistan. Its history is overloaded with betrayal. So where does the looser go? Back to the rural areas and become a warlord? Remaining in Kabul and undermining the new president through verbal attacks on a daily basis? And how does the winner reacts? Reaching out? Defensive because unsure of his real powerbase, or aggressive like a wounded animal? We haven’t seen the end of it. That at least is guaranteed.

Human behaviour in Afghanistan remains a minefield of hope and failure.

Sliding deeper into despair. Into madness. A bloody pool of insanity.

A mother in South Africa killed her 2 small kids to ‘destroy’ evidence of child rape by her husband.

Wait! Read that line above once again and slowly. It’s beyond acceptance. It’s beyond reality. It’s madder than mad.

It is alleged that her husband raped her 5 year old daughter. And to avoid his conviction the mother/wife goes and stabs, hacks and cut the throats of her 2 kids. It is just beyond belief.

At least the (alleged) rapist has been arrested, and also the butchering mother/wife. What a sour conciliation. Justice needs to be done fast and firm. And then they need to be locked up for life. Both of them. Animals like that do not belong in society. And the poor kids,... may they rest in peace.

In urgent need of lighter notes.

Interesting perspective. North Korea is qualified for next year soccer/football worldcup in South Africa. I think this might be the first time it reaches the final stages.

And also qualified are its southern brothers and the USA. A North vs South game is like a clash of brothers. A fight for national proud. A struggle for supremacy. A US – North Korea game will be headlined in the North Korean state media as a fight against the evil imperialists. An atomic struggle on the soccer/football pitch. Should be fun.

Throw out. Tuned in to the latest release by Chicago’s punkrockers The Lawrence Arms. It’s a 5 track, mini-cd called “Buttsweet and tears”. Good stuff. These lads have been going for a long time and pretty constant in their deliveries. Check out track 2 “The slowest drink at the saddest bar on the snowiest day in the greatest city”. With a title like that.....

C-Ya

collateral – as October 2009 reaches its end

It read "Sponsored by Jesus"

2009-10-26T08:38:00.001+02:00

He often shows it the way it should and can be done and said. And he did it once again.

South African Archbishop Emeritus, and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Desmond Tutu launched the ‘Tutu Tester’. A mobile HIV/AIDS testing facility. South Africa has one of the highest HIV infection rates and thus such a mobile testing unit is a great way forward as it brings access to knowing if you are HIV + or not a step closer to the communities. And obviously knowing if you carry the virus or not is a crucial, first step. Cause if you don’t know, you don’t know and thus you will keep spreading the deadly virus without knowing it. You would be a killer on the loose without really knowing your deadly impact. And once you know you can adapt your attitude, sexual behaviour, and get treatment. So knowing your HIV status is vital,... especially in a country like South Africa.

So great move by Tutu. Especially from a clergy man it is highly applauded. Most of the times the Church (all of them) are very silent or conservatively ignorant about the reality of the HIV pandemic. They hide in their bunker of morals and traditional values to avoid having to cope with reality. And the reality out there, good or bad, is that people have sex. Unprotected sex. Lots of it and with multiple partners, be it at the same time are roaming from one short lived relationship to a one night stand to another short term fling. That’s the reality. So if the churches want to put their heads in the sand to avoid having to tackle the real life out there, then they are partly responsible for the ongoing spread of HIV. Culpable.

So it’s extremely welcome that religious leaders like Tutu break this bunker mentality and come out and be open about it and try to help and assist. That is real leadership. That is the moral voice that should be screamed of all rooftops. Respect!
And more good news. Another reality check that sunk in. The Brazilian Catholic Church announced it will launch its own campaign to promote AIDS-testing. It said it is still against condom use (there is the bunker mentality again) but wants to make sure people are aware of the risks of HIV and AIDS and that treatment is available once you know your status.

At least some good steps forward. And this in a very catholic country. Signs of hope that reality kicks in the door to the bunker of conservative narrow mindedness. Everybody can have their own set of principles and moral standards, but if the reality out there is a cold hard one, then let’s face it and do something about it instead of building extra doors to the bunker.

So well done to Tutu for being bold and leading the way. And well done to the Brazilian church for taking a first step to really face up to reality and help its flock.

And more good news. More great human initiative.

Nice. Very nice. When human behaviour is put to good use it can do wonders.

An 11 months old vulture that was born nearly totally blind because of cataracts has been given good eyesight. Vets in South Africa have operated on the vulture and restored his vision. It was a so called African White-backed vulture, aka Gyps Africanus. The operation was a world-first. History made.

It was still in the parent’s nest but would have been kicked out soon and that would have been the end of it. Because a young, blind vulture doesn’t survive long in the wild out there.

If the bird would not fully rehabilitate from the operation, it would stay at a vulture sanctuary and be used for educational purposes, and become an ambassador for the African White-backed vulture. Represent!

From the vulture to some off-track cultural and religious expressions.

Saw a picture of a man with a sword pierced through his tongue. Deliberately. No cruel attack by evil enemies or something like that. It was a devotee of the Jui Tui shrine in China. His mad action formed part of a street procession part of a vegetarian festival. Sounds off the wall? Yes it is! Which sane human being would stick a sword through his/her tongue for the sake of some religion or belief or to support a cause or make a point...? It’s straight forward insanity from the simple kind. Stick to your beliefs if need be, but without self-mutilation. It’s beyond sanity. In any culture or any part of the world. Sorry to say but that type of devotion only fits in a mental asylum. Case closed. Get the straight-jackets.

Same when you see Muslims from the Shia, or is it from the Shi’ite, tribe flogging themselves with metal slings with little metal balls at the end. Flogging till their backs and torsos are bleeding madly. Like medieval torture. What is this all about? Religion is one thing, delirium devotion is another thing. Mad. Ticket to the same asylum. Is there any sensible explanation for this? Suffer for your sins? Start by accepting whatever you call your sins and then change them. Self-mutilation won’t change them. Your acceptance of them, understanding of them and commitment to change your so called sins will change them. Not the blood streaming down your body. It’s a numb cocktail of blind, mindless devotion and peer pressure dressed up in tradition. The brains are put on hold. Infliction of pain upon yourself is pretty much inhuman.

Human development. Two steps forward, three steps back. Therapy requested.

Human behaviour resembles sometimes a mystery dance of fools.

Speaking of foolishness. As the US and its allies are focusing hard on Afghanistan and awaiting the November 7 runoff elections, Iraq has had its deadliest blast of the year. More than 130 people killed and hundreds maimed and wounded after suicide blasts in the centre of Baghdad. Sunday bloody Sunday.

It just shows that security remains a major challenged in Iraq. Attacks might be down. Some stability seems real. But clearly the country is still at war within. Right away fingers pointed at Al Quada but also at members of the former Baath part of dictator Saddam Hussein. Interesting mix. Before the invasion the Bush cronies were doing everything they could to link the Bin Laden clan with Saddam. It was clear to the rest of the world that there was absolutely no link between the dictator of Baghdad and the 9/11 terrorists. But Bush and co needed a link, wanted a link and fabricated an imaginary link. Bush needed to tap into the emotional anger and bloodlust of post-9/11 to be able to send America’s sons and daughters to war in Iraq. Anyway there was no link then, but those two unlinked camps might now, after all these years of death and destruction, have find a common enemy and might be joining forces. Don’t like that prospect.

The future remains uncertain in Iraq,.... as in Afghanistan.

Throw Out. And there he was. A biker with a “membership-jacket” that read “Soldiers For Jesus”. Commentary could easily follow but it could turn ugly. Easily. Let’s just say that there and then I thought about Rage Against The Machine’s kick-ass song “Killing In The Name Of”. And some days later I spot a bike parked and it had a sticker that read “Sponsored by Jesus”. How ridiculous can you get?

C-Ya

collateral – October 2009 is still moving on like a mountain stream

Clear evidence of fraud

2009-10-19T17:26:00.001+03:00

One could nearly get a fright. Finally some kind of movement on the Afghan election results. But it’s movement towards maybe more chaos and certainly more doubts. Confusion reigns. There were crucial presidential polls in August but no results yet. Don’t grab a calendar. August was indeed a distant past.

And now the UN-backed election commission has thrown the results from 210 polling stations in the trash bin. “Clear and convincing evidence of fraud” it announced. Estimations and indications had put sitting president Karzai solidly ahead and above the 50% mark. The UN bombshell has now thrown everything in disarray and it is expected that a run-off, second voting round between Karzai and his rival Abdullah Abdullah will now be on the cards. And Karzai really doesn’t like this. He is apparently furious like hell. Red hot anger. He had dreams of another term in the palace, but the avalanche of fraud has derailed those dreams. At least for now. But Karzai’s image, standing and representative power has clearly got a serious dent. And the US and Europe are pretty nervous about it all. Their ‘democracy export’ model has been heavily damaged.

This is the country the West has sent international troops and ‘development agents’ to in an attempt to build a free and democratic society modelled on the rule of law and strong institutions. It’s nearly farcical. If this represents the building of a modern state, then let’s tear it down and start from scratch. And let’s hurry up because otherwise the rot will set in deeper and deeper. Sometimes admitting a degree of failure is better than just to drag on and on and on and hope for the better. But admitting things have gone seriously wrong requires boldness by leadership. And too many politicians across the globe are under pressure from latest opinion polls, upcoming elections, opposition parties’ attacks, TV news bulletins’ 30 second one-line analysis, opportunists within their own political parties, lobbies, military stars and stripes, alliances, and their own array of advisors and so called experts,... that boldness melts too often down to indecisiveness. And this drastic change of course is too often put aside unfortunately. And as we all know, humans also never ever learn from history.

The Western alliance is facing a double edged sword now. Instability within Afghanistan is growing. Political and people pressure on both sides of the Atlantic to have a clear exit plan is growing. If Karzai wins the 2nd round of voting how strong a leader will he able to be? What will be his legitimacy? After the mountain of complaints and election fraud charges, how strong can Karzai be? How really representative of his people? And how will the defeated candidates react? It’s a nation with a warlord history and mentality, so sliding back to internal struggle and strife is a realistic possibility in Afghanistan. If Adbullah Abdullah wins an expected 2nd voting round, then all bets are off.

And then of course there are the bearded cavemen of the Taliban. Awaiting for the mountain winds to blow away the election fever. And probably also they will let the harsh Afghan winter pass by to regroup, rethink, re-arm, enlist, and attack with a vengeance by spring time next year. You’ll have a weakened central government, a doubtful international community and the Taliban back in full force. It’s gonna be a rocky spring in Afghanistan. Watch this space.

Are the ghosts of Vietnam roaming Afghanistan? On paper a much inferior opponent. But difficult terrain, growing pressure at home to bring the troops back. Little social development. The heroin poppy fields were a key income for many farmers. Obviously the West wanted to destroy those fields as the heroin ends up on European and US streets anyway, but taking that away from the local farmers is pushing them into poverty. And thus for some in the arms of resistance.

And then you bring elections but it’s a pile of fraud across the nation, and thus what’s the point of the (enforced) exercise? What’s the legitimacy of it all? Remember Vietnam where the regime was very much a US puppet. The proud civilians didn’t like that at all, communist attacks from the North or not. Might be the same ballgame in Afghanistan. The people there are very proud. They resisted many invaders throughout history and not too long ago kicked out the almighty Soviet forces.

From the ghosts of Vietnam to a more recent one.

Apparently British TV channel Sky One has made a deal with a so called ghost talker. One of those people that claim they can talk to dead people. Communication with the beyond. The deal is that this guy would attempt to talk to...... Michael Jackson during two live shows. And then apparently he would try for fans to talk to dead Wacko during the show. It’s just ridiculous. Can the world not just let go. Even in death Wacko is being chased for entertainment value. Why not focusing on his medical assistants, nurses and doctors that clearly saw the signs of his breakdown but just kept pumping him fuller and fuller with whatever chemicals? That’s the real story. Let Michael just rest in peace and bring the killers to justice.

Human behaviour is criminal.

Criminal and deadly. The Iraqi government has for the first time compiled a report; and released it; about the death toll amongst Iraqis of the ongoing war. The report compiles official death certificates for the 2004-2008 period.

Result? 85694 Dead Iraqis. And 147195 wounded. That’s a lot of dead people. Lots of roaming ghosts. Some of them likely cruel bastards. Most of them likely just innocent civilians trying to survive day to day. And then blown to pieces. Either by so called insurgents. Either by US and allied forces. That’s also some kind of friendly fire I guess. Sorry if you get wacked as we are here apparently to help. The killing saviours.

And apparently some 15000 bodies are still unidentified and have not been claimed by anybody. They have been buried in special cemeteries. The resting place for the unknown. Unknown souls that died in a war based on lies and fabricated presentations at the UN Security Council. May bible-loving George Bush Jr recite some prayers for all these dead Iraqis. Meanwhile Dick Cheney is still calculating the profit he made through his companies that were involved in the US invasion and occupation. Millions of profit as thousands of Iraqis died for nothing. Profit and lies, as unknown Iraqis are buried and forgotten forever. It remains a sad story.

Human behaviour with its ugly face. Money making amongst the killing fields.

From all that to domestic killings. Blood links.

But journalistic question marks over it. The worldwide, 24h news channel from the BBC – simply called BBC World – reported that a woman had killed her own 2 kids in Los Angeles. Just like that. Nothing more. The woman wasn’t a politician or a sports hero or a Hollywood star. Same day a female cop killed her 2 young children in South Africa. That didn’t make the BBC news. Why? What’s the difference between a woman killing her own kids in LA and the one doing the same in South Africa?

No comments.

Throw out. Discovered Ohio punkrockers The Sidekicks. It’s straight forward, no-frills punkrock with some gruffness here and there. Was listening to their 2007 album “So long, soggy dog”. Some kind of cocktail tunes of Gaslight Anthem, Banner Pilot and Lawrence Arms blended together. Not bad, not blowing me of my socks either. Worth a listen.

C- Ya

collateral – as October 2009 moves swiftly on

Just breathe

2009-10-12T09:01:00.000+03:00

Ugly statistic. Over a period of 19 months 426 South African police officers were charged with murder, rape, corruption and armed robbery. Kick that! “Serve and Protect” they say.

With statistics you can really play around to make a point stronger. So this situation means that every month just around 22 cops are charged with any of the above criminal acts. I should say, pretty serious criminal acts. That’s between 5 and 6 cops per week. Every week of every month. How bad is that? The men and women in blue turned nasty criminals. Then the authorities wonder why mob justice is growing across South Africa (sadly so). Well if you can’t trust the cops, who to turn to? It’s a creeping rot. A blue rot. A rot with a badge. And a gun.

From the rot within to efforts of peace.

So Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize. Surprisingly I might certainly add. Isn’t this noble award traditionally for people that have contributed to peace and the development towards peace on planet earth? Isn’t it an award for peace deeds done and not for possible future peace deeds done? Obama has good intentions and probably decent plans, but what practically has he done so far that he merits this prestigious prize now. With all respect, but....

And Obama was only 2 months or so behind his desk in the White House when the Nobel Peace Prize Committee closed its nominations list. So what did Obama practically already do and/or achieved by March 2009 to advance peace? It just feels that the understandably Obama-fever also has hit Norway where the Nobel Peace Committee hangs out. It feels that the awarding of this medal to Obama is more a sigh of relief that Bush-clone John McCain didn’t make it last year November. A deep breath of happiness that the Republican warmongers, with the bible in one hand and a machinegun in the other, were pushed to the sidelines of world politics (at least for now). And that is a relief for sure. But the Nobel Peace Prize Committee should stand above that. Haven’t they diminished the real importance of this award by giving it to Obama now? Rewarding intentions have replaced rewarding real action. Commitments to peace have replaced actions towards peace. This prestigious award should be about facts and actions and legacy, instead of hopeful speeches and likable intentions. Too early to put Obama on that pedestal. It’s poisonous.

And where to from now? The prize is nearly a set up for Obama to fail. The hopes are higher than ever while he is just a politician (maybe a good one, but still) in an inhuman, unfriendly American political system. And peace in the Middle East is not just something you do at the flick of a switch, even with the best intentions in mind. The hate there is generations deep. And what about Afghanistan? Are more troops gonna help? Is leaving an automatic surrender to the Taliban? Is staying keeping president Karzai in the saddle against all odds and despite massive fraud in the recent elections? There are, by the way, still no final results of these elections. Still not. And how will Obama’s negotiating partners react? The hawks in Israel. The nuke freak in Tehran. Hamas in Gaza. The Taliban in their mountain caves. They know now that Obama has extra weight on his shoulders. The weight to live up to the expectations of having been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Has the Nobel Committee not torpedoed peace itself by awarding Obama this glorious prize and now raising the bar so high that Obama can only fail when it comes to peace in the Middle East, and bringing Iran back from its mad nuke plans, and building a democratic, just society in Afghanistan? How can Obama achieve success now with the Nobel Peace Prize around his neck making every move harder; every plan more scrutinized; every hope shot down faster. The peace dove needs Prozac!

The Committee might have shot themselves in the foot. And oh yes, the Taliban were quick to react. The cavemen are clearly avid followers of world news events. Maybe they have CNN’s Breaking News on their cell phones beeping away.

Let there be peace. Human behaviour is already bloody enough.

Throw out. I had the chance early last month (or was it August?) to hear the then upcoming album “Backspacer” from Seattle rockers Pearl Jam. I was impressed. Now I got the release as such. Great artwork too by the way. And wow, what an album. From the rock-‘n’-roll-on-steroids from “Supersonic” to the intimate, nearly acoustic “Just breathe”; it’s all pure gold. “Are you dropping bombs? Have you heard of diplomatic resolve?” Eddie Vedder sings on “Got some”. An amazing track. The return of producer Brendan O’Brian, who worked with them on their earlier albums, has probably something to do with it that this album is such a jewel.

C - Ya

collateral – October 2009