Smash & grab

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