How good has the world been to me this week? Man so much material to work with. How are you my good people really do hope all is going splendidly, if its not, worry not cos promise that wont help.

So last week I wrote about the fact that there was word on the street that Islamic fundamentalist want to bomb the stadiums where the Danes are set to play in the Soccer World Cup, here in South Africa. A day or so later I hear on the news that our very own Zapiro has done the same thing, in the Mail and Guardian. I read the cartoon and its typical Zapiro, quirky and highlighting a point. Now I have the utmost respect for Islam and its followers, (I even contemplated converting once upon a time), but I have had a debate with a whole bunch of people most of whom are at best Atheists over the weekend, they were of a similar thinking. The caption was not meant to be inflammatory. We all laugh when he draws anyone else, though some people may find his ways offensive but we have all at one stage laughed at his work even though someone may have felt that someone they hold dear has been ridiculed. We live in a world of diversity, diversity in thought, word, deed, beliefs, culture you name it and we cant all be the same otherwise we would all be called Yaw, size 10.5 shoes, 104kg (yes pie eater) Ghanaian born, South African raised….blaaah….wait I mean zzzzzzz.

If government was to gag Zapiro and forbid him from drawing pictures of JZ with with a shower over his head, most of these people that are vehemently opposing the depiction of the prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, will be the self same people crying foul over the slow murder of democracy and freedom of speech. Yes I know some might think its not the same but it so is exactly the same. To those who voted for JZ, some of them believe strongly that he is their chosen one, just like Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last prophet of God…we all have our belief systems and we all live in a diverse world…cant we all just get along??!!

Let me give you another example of diversity but absolutely beautiful. So on Saturday, cos I know people, we managed to get some tickets to the first ever S14 game in Orlando, Soweto. Now from memory, the last time there were more than a tour bus of Afrikaans people in Soweto was in 1976, and they were there to kill some blacks. This weekend my good people was just superb. People walking through Soweto as if they were walking through Menlyn, Vuvuzelas blasting. Not one single comment about hey Pirates aren’t playing Chiefs here. The people were so accommodating. We walked past this house I think it was which had one wall painted in light blue and white with the Bulls logo on it and read Soweto welcomes the Bulls. People were being allowed to park in peoples houses it was all too nice (for a lack of a better word) busses were stuck in traffic so people got out and started walking to the stadium I mean have you ever?! Mhlungus (white people) not foreigners, cruising on foot in Soweto?

That to me is a clear indication of the power of the mind. We create our own fears and perceptions in our minds and that becomes our realities. Yes, I know truth is that a majority of the ill will in this country are committed by a black face, but a lot of the times there is a white face acting as the puppet master, but that isn’t my point, my point is say out of 30mil or so black south Africans, say if 100000 are criminals does that make they all criminials? Say out of say 8 mil white south Africans, and say if 100000 are racists are they all racists. This thing is so easy, but we insist on complicating it. Take a little time. Try and get to know your neighbour, understand why is it that he likes to blow the Vuvuzela and you like to sing Delaray and lang arm, in the end we will find out that in as much as we are different we are so alike.

But that being said, there could be a situation where we should be very similar but in reality nothing could be further from the truth. For this one I take you on a lovely picturesque trip down to the Western Cape. The only place that the ANC doesn’t run in the country, the only metropole that apparently is the best run in the country, id say this is true, if you live in Sea Point, Camps Bay, Constantia, Bishops Court, Rondebosch…you get my drift. Anyway in one of the areas where things aren’t so rosy, Khayaletsha, there has been a little fracas of late. This fracas is over ablution facilities. Unacceptable ablution facilities were established, which were uncovered, so basically anyone wandering past could see you doing a no 2. The residents were supposed to pay for structures to cover them themselves but weren’t able to so as a result with the permission of the residents (allegedly), the DA erected corrugated iron structures to enclose these ablution facilities. Along comes the ANCYL and tears these structures down, saying that this is not acceptable, thus leaving them bare and open to the elements. I shake my head….again I shake my head!!

Lets start from the obvious. The DA has only been in power in this area since the last elections, so just about a year or so. They erected these ablution facilities. So tell me please, what were the people using prior to this which was more acceptable?
Next observation, I as resident x used to do a no 2 for all to see, now at least I have some dignity and I can go and be with my own damn self and not the rest of the community, yes its corrugated iron and not concrete, but that’s bliss man, I can lift up my legs and let it all go…now you tell me how much better off I am now that you have torn down my only bit of privacy whilst performing an entirely private affair?
If I had to follow that logic, then I as an individual have every right to go and tear down all the informal settlements in this country, not just in the DA run Western Cape, but all over because, such accommodation is unacceptable. The rains are coming, so too the bitter cold, but u know what u should sleep outside because currently sleeping in corrugated iron structures is totally unacceptable!!!

And these are our future leaders? Once again I shake my head vehemently

And for the last little one, well not so little considering that about 31 people have died, the majority being civilians…There is this drug lord in Jamaica called Charles Dudus Coke, middle name and last are quite apt aren’t they?? Anyway, this man is seen as a Robin Hood of sorts, but not really because he kills people and feeds others drugs and kills them too, ok maybe not at all. What he does do though is he builds schools and hospitals for the community, he provides food sometimes even shelter. Now this community that he does assist is the poorest of the poor. Story goes that his crime networks are far reaching and most deadly and so America is wanted him extradited to face charges. So along comes Mr Jamaican police to arrest Mr Coke, the community says fork that mate you aint getting our guy!! He gives us this that and the next, what do you give us mr governmet and secondly who will look out for us when he goes?

I think the drug pedaling etc is wrong and he should have his day in court, but is the community wrong for protecting him? And for me that’s a leetle grey area. It goes with mans survival instincts and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Our most basic needs being physiological (food) and safety form the 2 base levels that we strive for then it moves to the sexy stuff and ends up with self actualization (morality).

Now lets be some dude who has a kid or two, but no food, no school, no shelter. Along comes Dudus, and offers me all of this and life is ok. Do I care where he got the money from? Emm I think not. Do I care about how many people have become junkies so my kid can heat a peanut butter sarmi and go get medicine for chicken pox…err I think not! So when mr police man comes and threatens my safety and that of my children, what will I do, I will fight….yessir.

Anyway those are my thoughts for now, lets hear yours. http://mondaymail.blogspot.com

Birthdays
23rd Chacha
24th Rich
25th Inge
27th monica
28th Candice, Nielfaar, Monde
29th Delia, Lauren, nyamekye, Keyser, Vuyo, Zeze

And that’s me outta here

Enjoy the rest of your week and weekend even more.

Maximum respect

Y

7 Golden Rules Of Life

1st

Don't let someone become a priority in your life, when you are just an option in their life.
Relationships work best when they are balanced.

2nd

Never explain yourself to anyone.
Because the person who likes you doesn't need it, and the person who doesn't like you won't believe it.

3rd

When you keep saying you are busy, then you are never free.
When you keep saying you have no time, then you will never have time.
When you keep saying that you will do it tomorrow, then your tomorrow will never come.

4th

When we wake up in the morning, we have two simple choices.
Go back to sleep and dream, or wake up and chase those dreams.
Choice is yours.

5th

We make them cry who care for us.
We cry for those who never care for us.
And we care for those who will never cry for us.
This is the truth of life, it's strange but true. Once you realize this, it's never too late to change.

6th

Don't make promise when you are in joy.
Don't reply when you are sad.
Don't take decision when you are angry.
Think twice, act twice.

7th

Time is like river. You can't touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again.
Do it Now !

I received this a few days ago and it was rather enlightening (to me) and it would be amiss of me not to spread my enlightening experience with you all.

The last few weeks haven’t been too eventful man, no real massive news worth discussing or wasting brain space over, well up until yesterday. Not one but 2 headlines got me thinking, what goes through peoples minds? Is it a power thing or just plain stupidity?

First thing big headlines on the cover of The Star newspaper, World Cup Terror plot, or something like that. And its basically about a thought that was bandied around Al Qaeda to bomb Soccer City.

Yes, it’s a terrorism threat etc etc, but you tell me ne, what good it will do, or the thinking behind, planning to bomb a soccer team…IN SOMEONE ELSES country??
What message does that send out? I mean whatever you are trying to prove it wont be proved. All it will prove is that you are a bunch of renegade thugs. Islam teaches that you shouldn’t illustrate the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Christianity says that there is God in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Hindus hold cows sacred. Right, so some artist from my country decides to make this illustration, another decides there is only one God and the son and the Holy Spirit don’t matter and another takes a cow and puts a knife to its throat for food and/or for profit? Can any person or group wage war on the whoooooole forkin nation that this person hails from? And attack its soccer team, a recreational side, in South Africa, a very neutral country, where they are here to give loads of people joy, not here to promote any religion or belief but express their version of this beautiful game called Soccer. Somebody, please help me because I am a stupid! I just don’t get it. I have respect for all and their religions, but your rules don’t apply to me neither should I expect mine to apply to you. As long as I don’t encroach on your civil rights which really seems to be the basis of most religions/ cultures, don’t steal, kill, rape blah blah, then y cant we all just get along?

Somebody please give me a different view on this.

The next thing that got my mind debating…with itself, special skill us middle children have…was this headline I read…”Kill the Boer to go to court” basically what it says is that the ANC is going to court because in their opinion the judge deeming the song unconstitutional is incorrect as it “imposed an absolute prohibition” on the words, “irrespective of time, place, manner and context”.

Logically it’s a sound case because I could be playing touch rugby with an Afrikaans dude ne, a friend ne, and he screws up a pass, and I say shit okes kill that boer, I could be taken to task for that….apparently and that just aint right now is it? But that aside…I am more concerned about the context of the appeal. If its to say the term in itself shouldn’t be outlawed but the song or any variations of it uttered by public figures in a public gathering should be deemed unconstitutional. But then I sit back and thing. Dude why would you as a public figure want to make such utterances anyway. What does it profit you? In all honesty if the FF+ youth league member had to sing out, die swarties is mos dom, skiet die ka**irs it would be such a no no? so the difference is what exactly.

I don’t understand, but then again you guys are sensible folk, so I guess this is tantamount to preaching to the choir… so I will stop now and bid thee all fond adieu till next we e-meet!

Birthdays
16th Cousin Frank, Ham
17th Fiona Zinqi
19th Vimal
20th Daniel
21st Iza and Hornay
22nd Sivan, Harps, Neo

and that’s me, remember, if you are reading this you have been blessed with an opportuinity to change, the world, your world or nothing but at least u have the opportunity

Next week then

Y

Aluta continua!!

Aaah Joburg winter, welcome!! Blue skies, sunshine, happy days!! Sitting here taking a trip down memory lane, listening to…
“I get my kicks from watching people, Running too and fro, And if you ask them where they`re going, Half of the don`t know, Let the world to think I`m crazy,'Cause they don`t realize
That I`m just groovin, grooving, Grooving out on life, I`m just groovin and i can't stop grooving, Grovin till I die
I see a river flowing by me, Heading for the sea, I get a feeling deep inside me, It`s so good to be free”

You know I had this email all planned out till I logged on and found this email that my cous sent me. Its an interesting perspective, one that many of us haven’t either spoken about or if we have not loudly enough. But have a quick read of this…

'We are Wall Street. It's our job to make money. Whether it's a commodity, stock, bond, or some hypothetical piece of fake paper, it doesn't matter. We would trade baseball cards if it were profitable.

I didn't hear America complaining when the market was roaring to 14,000 and everyone's pension plan doubled every 3 years. Just like gambling, its not a problem until you lose. I've never heard of anyone going to Gamblers Anonymous because they won too much in Vegas!

Well now the market crapped out, and even though it has come back somewhat, the government and the average Joes are still looking for a scapegoat. God knows there has to be one for everything. Well, here we are.

Go ahead and continue to take us down, but you're only going to hurt yourselves. What's going to happen when we can't find jobs on the Street anymore ? Guess what - we're going to take yours. We get up at 5am and work 'till 10pm or later. We're used to remaining at our desks, working for hours on end. We don't even need to pee. We don't take an hour or more for lunch, and we don't take much time off for holidays. We don't demand a union to represent us. And we don't retire at 50 with a pension. We eat what we kill, and when the only thing left to eat is your job, we'll eat that instead

For years teachers and other unionized labor have had us fooled. We were too busy working to notice. Do you really think that we are incapable of teaching 3rd graders ? We're going to take your cushy guaranteed-for-life-jobs - you know, the ones that come with four months paid holiday a year. So say goodbye to your overtime and double time, as we'll be in the market for some of your cushy lifestyle - and we'll undertake your jobs more efficiently, and with none of your constant whining that the pay isn't enough and that the working conditions are too tough.

So now that we're going to be making $85k a year without any bonus upside, Joe Mainstreet is going to have his revenge, right ? Wrong! Guess what - we're going to stop buying those luxury items that help make the economy grow, and we aren't going to leave those 35% tips at our business dinners anymore. And from now on, we're going to landscape our own back yards, and wash our cars with a garden hose in our driveways, instead of spreading that wealth around. There'll be no more free rides on our backs. Don't forget, our money was your money. You spent it. When our money dries up, so does yours.

The difference is, though, you lived off of it, we rejoiced in it. The Obama administration and the Democratic National Committee might get their way and knock us off the top of the pyramid, but it's really going to hurt like hell for them when our fat a**es land directly on the American middle classes and knock them to the bottom of the food chain.

We aren't dinosaurs. We are smarter and more vicious than that, and we are going to survive. The question is, now that Obama and his administration are making Joe Mainstreet our food supply, will he survive ? And will all those we displace ?'

Interesting read ey because up until I read this I hadn’t given it 2 thoughts, but I guess that old saying of a coin and 2 sides. Here we are ripped because the self same Investment Bankers we now chastise had been making us plenty money over the last few years, our investments had been soaring, they had been gambling and the investors were winning life was poifect. 100% returns in 3 years, is that logical, who cares, gimme some more gimme gimme gimme. Ok we will but please do note that nothing is guaranteed, who cares we say just give us MOOOOOORRRREEEEE!!!

Boom, bank goes bust, as was more than likely a reality because those super profits we became accustomed to were no more than an exception, an anomaly , but we turned a blind eye as we do when we are winning. I really felt they had been giving the raw deal till I read this article on a site called www.thedailymash.co.uk and it read as follows and then I was over feeling sorry for them : )

BANKERS last night rejected calls to live in the real world insisting it was full of badly-dressed poor people with only one house.

Senior ministers launched a stinging attack on the banks yesterday insisting they had to act more responsibly if they were going to let them invest the profits they made on all the houses they bought with taxpayers' money.

But the British Banker's Association hit back, claiming it would be impossible for its members to inhabit the same world as people who do not own cliff-top property in Sardinia and float around on a cushion of air.

Tom Logan, head of equity distribution at Donnelly-McPartlin, said: "I got into investment banking because I'm actually allergic to the real world and my doctor says that if I live in it I could die.

"None of this is real. If I stop imagining it we would plummet the equivalent of 50 storeys to our certain deaths."

He added: "Allow me to explain. Yesterday I used exchange-traded derivatives to buy 140% of a property development that hasn't been built yet - and, crucially, will never be built. I then converted the hypothetical profits into ratio-spread bond futures and invested it in oil that hasn't been discovered yet - and, crucially, will never be discovered.

"At no point did I come within 200 yards of anything resembling reality - and that's why I get the really big bonuses."

Julian Cook, chief economist at Madeley-Finnegan, said: "There are, essentially, two universes existing in parallel at the same point in the space-time continuum.

"This means that we can see all of you - queuing for things, eating out of packets and coughing violently - and sometimes you can even see us - but you can't touch us. And of course we live with the constant fear that if we touch you, we could become one of you. Our tans would fade, our teeth would separate and we'd forget how to order wine."

He added: "All this talk of reality is very dangerous. It would be like forcing Peter Pan to work at Carphone Warehouse and share a flat above an off-licence with his chubby, flatulent mate from university. It would kill him.

"Do you want to kill Peter Pan? Is that what this is all about? What's wrong with you?"

Birthdays
2nd Mike Bonsu
4th Pi el
5th Peace, Nana Sao
6th Taz Magil
7th Bish, Shakira Essop
8th D and Nkuks

Tooldes

Y