Sex

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