Hands off my chocolate

Bombs are falling in Yemen. Not a US and/or NATO invasion (not yet maybe). Before the Nigerian madman tried to blow up the transatlantic flight before landing in Detroit, Yemen was reasonably passive about the Al Queda presence on its soil.

It was pretty busy fighting secession rebels in the south to worry too much about Bin Laden fans in the northern hills. But the Nigerian madman has changed this. The phone communication between Washington Dc and Sana’a must have seriously increased after the failed xmas terror attack. And US and UK ambassadors in Yemen must have been active knocking on the doors of local powermen, especially after perceived threats on their embassies in Sana’a. So the pressure increased and increased. And now the Yemeni military and intelligence and special forces and undercover agents are all pretty busy re-focusing. A public relations effort was needed because Yemen was sliding into the dark corner of failed states with terror bases. And the PR campaign is happening. It’s coming from the sky with a blast. Only the near future will tell if it will have any success and if the government’s efforts will be sustained or is just a temporarily show of acceptance for the US and UK pressure calls.

Sad thing for Sana’a is the tragic Haiti earthquake. It has thrown Yemen’s anti terror offensive totally of the international radar. And that is absolutely not what the powers that be in Yemen wanted. They wanted full attention and spotlights on them. Tell that to the suffering Haitians. Without a doubt they also wanted to keep the spotlights on Yemen.

Nobody’s happy now.

The tragedy in Haiti is indescribable. There are in fact no words to describe the level of suffering and the never ending rollercoaster of bad luck. There can be plenty said about foreign diplomacy in Haiti’s past, and probably also enough for a weeklong debate on the pace (or lack of it) of the international rescue and aid efforts. And certainly questions could be raised about the seemingly sometimes strange US priorities to let military planes land before aid planes. But that’s not at the heart of this now and would be another slap in the face to Haiti’s suffering. Let us hope, more importantly, that the world keeps Haiti on their priority list. Because after the rescue teams have left and the dead buried in mass graves and the international media count their in-the-red-budgets and left the islands, that is when Haiti needs help. Sustained help. Rebuilding a nation from scratch is the challenge for the coming years. And there is always the fear that when the spotlights turn away from Haiti the donors and politicians and Hollywood billionaires will also start to forget about the Haitians.

Let’s hope human behaviour will rise to the challenge.

In the northern mountains of Yemen the explosions follow airforce jets dropping their load. In Afghanistan’s capital the explosions follow madmen blowing themselves up in hotels and shopping malls. The Taliban have clearly shown, some days ago, that they can strike in the heart of Kabul when they want and how they want. Multiple attacks in a few moments time.

The Afghani quagmire remains a sad story. A complex affair and rollercoaster of pain, suffering and political disasters. A weak government that came to power after a failed democratic process. A culture of deep rooted corruption. A US and NATO intervention that just wants to exit as soon as possible. A growing cocaine yield. A rejuvenated Taliban. Volatile border region with shaky Pakistan. A rejuvenated Al Queda presence in Pakistan’s Swat valley. It is difficult to see any light at the end of the tunnel for now. And on the other side of Afghanistan lies Iran. A country still ruled by a nuke-freak who let his thugs-on-motorbikes lose on democratic protestors. A ruler who uses state machinery to silence critical voices and opponents, be it by shutting down internet sites or by political show trials. Another dark tunnel.

Human behaviour remains darkened.

Anyway. The golfer with the permanent hard-on is seeking sex addiction therapy apparently. Tiger Woods seems to take his infidelity rollercoaster into the doctor’s room for now. But be sure, he is plotting his return to the greens for sure. A comeback is always good for extra publicity. People love comebacks.

And in South Africa the vice president walks into a classroom and tells the tailing media that students need to focus on learning (right on!) and that classes should not be interrupted by anybody. He said inside a classroom during school hours. Get that! How to shoot yourself in the foot there and then.

And there are elections in Iraq next month. That’s where the Haiti-media-cavalry will move to soon.

And another mass shooting in the US this week. In Virginia. 8 Killed, if not mistaken. Very sad. But gun control remains a don’t-go-there subject for many Americans. Crazy. That delirious dream of personal freedom.

And Asia just seems so quiet. Probably soon another very deadly mine disaster in China. It’s kind of regular business there. Protection of the workforce is not high on the agenda for the commies there it seems. Which should theoretically be the opposite. But that’s theory.

And the UK is up in arms that US company Kraft is about to buy British chocolate maker Cadburys. Interesting how the propagandists of free trade and open markets retreat to a bunker mentality when one of their historic trademarks is about to be bought and sold. Something pretty normal in a free trade and free investment area I would think. It’s food fascism. Hands of our chocolate.

Human behaviour is sometimes a sweet affair.

Throw out. Somebody recently mentioned the US band Heartsounds to me. So I did a search and found it/them. And listened to their debut album “Until we surrender”. It was released last year. It’s not bad (after a first listen). Melodic punkrock with male and female vocalists nicely harmonized throughout the 12 track album.

C-Ya

collateral – January 2010 moves on