Juju the poor trustafarian and the US debt crisis

Its like 4am on Friday morning, I should be sleeping but all of a sardine I am inspired to write, perhaps it’s the company I kept or the vulgarity of the opulence of some of the residences I traverse on my way home this morning. Yes it’s a beautiful world we live in, a grossly unfair and unjust one, but it’s what makes this existence so interesting not so. I truly hope that you have all been well and challenged in being the best you, you can be in the last few weeks when I have been absent. Yoh, so early and yet such English spewing forth ☺ Shoo what a week ey, Amy Winehouse’s passing, a lovely talent gone too soon, but I guess her job here was done and her maker was calling her home. Then there is that crazed dude in Norway, I mean really what goes on in some peoples minds ey? Such a damn shame so many young lives lost once again as a result of one mad man’s interpretation of religion and what they perceive to be right. Damn shame ey. One thing that has been grating me a lot is all this talk of the US defaulting on its 14.3 trillion dollar debt. The saddest thing is I feel nothing for them and to be quite frank I am quite bored with the whole dialogue about whether or not they will increase their debt ceiling or whatever. Someone tell me what the consequences of a default would be? A downgrade in credit ratings? Resulting in an increased cost of borrowing? You tell me how different that is from the rest of the world, particularly this lovely continent of ours? What did you expect when you let the bankers run amok and then decide to hire them into senior government position and continue borrowing? What did you think would happen when you borrowed to fund an unnecessary and never ending war in the Middle East? I don’t know enough about this ‘financial armagedeon’ that will beset the world come 2nd August and the mighty USA defaults on its debt obligations, but to be honest if I had to speak to a street vendor on the streets of Accra or a budding entrepreneur in Diepkloof, with not much to his name, looking for a loan to finance his bright idea, if I had to speak to either of them and ask them about their thoughts on this big deal, they my dear friends would be like welcome to my world byaaatch!!!!! ☺ Default don’t default, I am sure on the 3rd the sun will rise and set again… Ooh then there is this breaking story of how a man who earns R20 000 a month can afford to drive a pimped out car, allegedly sport a R250k watch and knock down a perfectly sound R3,6mil house so he can build a R16m military barak meets the One and Only. There is a fat expose about how he has a trust fund set up where business people looking for a little bit of influence make a donation for a good cause. Dear friends, as wrong as it may seem, there are a few things I need asking. A lot of us are in business or work for big business right, or even in just general life. How often have we entertained certain people in a special manner hoping that they would influence a decision in our favour? Yes that’s right all the time. A rugby game here, a VIP treatment to theatre shows, a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue because its your birthday….my good people, that’s all in the name of generating good favour when certain tenders or jobs are up for grabs. It is what it is fair enough the difference between those situations and Juju’s is that its public money, but at the end of the day. Lets be honest, how many of us have set up trusts so we can dodge Mr taxman as best as we legally can? The saddest thing about all this noise about rules being broken, is that the self same people who made the rules to suit themselves are the ones crying foul because Juju is adopting those rules… I have been helluva fortunate to be residing in the tranquil suburb of Bishops Court in the Western Cape for the last few weeks, and my friends, there hasn’t been a day when I haven’t been gob smacked by the vastness of the enclosed areas around some of these houses. Insane I tell you. My comparison on many days, is how many informal settlements can you fit onto one of these plots, note I said settements, not houses, because that’s how big these places are. That got me thinking. A good few years ago, these beautiful lands at the base of Table Mountain (not just here also those lucrative ocean facing lands on the Atlantic Seaboard) had some thriving communities living on here till one day someone, in their infinite wisdom decided to pull up with a truck and a gun and tell all these communities to vamoose to outlying areas. And that was that. No compensation, no alternatives provided, just see you later! Yet there is talk of expropriation of lands with no compensation and we all lift up our hands and wave them wildly chanting no no no as if reciting Amy Winehouses response to a suggestion of attending rehab. There is a complexity in solving the issue that is South Africa, make no bones about it. Our checkered past has been built on forcible removals at no compensation because it served the purposes of a few. Time has past and we have realized that these ‘ill gotten’ gains and the ramifications on the vast majority of the population was unjust, yet we are hesitant to entertain corrective measures. There has been years of talk of compensation for certain lands in dispute but very little agreement seems to have been reached on a number of these lands. What is next? I pray not a Zim style expropriation because that my dear friends does no one any good. So my suggestion is before we point fingers and wax lyrical in racial and unconstructive ways, best we start engaging each other with the sole aim of finding an amicable solution, speak to each other not at or past each other. Because these rules were created many years ago and we best all learn to play with them or find new rules that will work for us all… Birthdays 8th DJ 11th Rudi, Santie, Mark 12th Yao 14th Natasha 15th Garth, Yashika 21st Belinda 22nd Mish 26th Gina 27th Mike, Tabi, Courts 28th Folks 38th Wedding anniversary 29th Sheya and Reids 30th ETO, Lesley Sleep summons I, trust you all will have a great weeks end! Till we next ‘e-speak’, lots of light and laughter man, because its damn good for the soul Maximum respect Y

Kids without marriage....

I’m sitting here looking out the window, all I see is brightness, blue skies, it looks like such a majestic day. Don’t be fooled its as cold as a woman rejecting a guy who is pestering her out there. But its pure bliss, I love me some cold. Most Sundays I pull in at my folks, this Sunday was no different, I was having a chat to my pops about last weeks blog. You know what he said to me, Yaw, I see that nowadays you are becoming more radical in your views and that doesn’t suit your conservative profession. I thought it was just pure social commentary but if he thought that was radical, I think he will disown me after reading this weeks blog, I can see him sitting in a dark corner shaking his head saying oh dear Lord, where did I go wrong with this young man, I tried everything but look at these things he writes, whyyyyyyyy!!!! ☺ So anyway over the last few years yeah, I have been thinking about this more and more and I guess the more mind time I give it the more a reality it becomes but alas. It is what it is (iiwii). I have touched on it a few times. Ok so I am in my mid 30s and not once ever have I seen myself as Mr married guy. Perhaps it’s a function of not having found the one lass who makes me say hmm…wait correction perhaps it’s a function of not having found the lass who makes me say hmmm and is available in mind body and soul, cos you know these things neh…that being said, for the longest time, I have wanted the spawn of Yaw. A mini me that will wake me up at 2am screaming its lungs out, for what I will never know till they are about 2 when they can tell me what they want. A little mini me that will force me to find a way of earning regular income, bleed me dry of my available time, emotions and money. A young one to play around with. A young one that I’ll try pass on what my folks, friends and this world has taught me in the hope that they will become good citizens of the world. I say HOPE cos you can try your best with these young ones and they could turn out stooped. Ok so established I’d dig to have a kid. Problem though is ideally (a few months ago it was a definite no no) I would prefer to raise a kid in an environment like the one I was raised in. Folks there most if not all the time….BUTTTTT this marriage situation she is a problem. A lot of my mates are married at the moment, some are as happy as Leisure Suit Larry, others are as bleak as a Stormers supporter over the past weekend. A good few are divorced, and the many others are cheating on their spouses in one way or another. If I had to be honest those that are content with their marriage situation are by far overshadowed by those who are bleak. It makes me think what is it all for. Yes granted you create your own situation, but my dear friends lets be honest, its not an environment where you operate in isolation, there is another person involved and in as much as you could have done all your due diligence things em change. My view on marriage is its for ever ever ever…but us people we are selfish, instant gratification peops. In the old days people used to stick with a job for example for 30-40 years, someone must tell you that they are in a job for 5 years nowadays, you clap your hands….after asking them if they are ok. The world has changed. Stats are there to show, more marriages are failing than succeeding. I am not passing commentary on whether its right or wrong, but it is what it is and it would be naïve to assume otherwise. Gone are the days of the guy being the dude, out there slogging to make the deniros to look after his family, hell no, world has changed so much that the lass has to go out and also earn a living just to make ends meet. So now there are 2 bosses, no one really needs the other to make it in the world. So you want blue walls, I want cream of mushroom walls…boom explosion you take me for granted, you don’t respect me, the love is gone, we are just co-existing in this house, I want out…boom divorce, because its OK!! NO its not OK, but you cant have a situation where just one party is putting in the effort to make something work cos I don’t care who you are, it wont!!! Shoot I sound cynical, but its not the intention at all, actually total opposite man. So enough about knocking marriage and back to my radical thought So I’m in my mid 30s yeah, folks in their mid to late 60’s they would make such great grand parents particularly my moms, cos kids are her thing. I want a little one. So what is wrong with finding a lass (with decent genes ;)) that I am reasonably compatible with, because you have to get along, cos this is a lifelong journey. Unlike you ladies who can just tell the man to step, its not so easy for us boys. So find this lass who is also not on too hectically on this bright lights, fat piece of pressured coal on the finger, white dress, princess for a day, look at me now thing, cos if you know me, me im a simple soul, if you have come to my punch parties you’ll know mos, its not about trying to put on a show, music, good people, booze, and we have a good time…simple to the point and effective I think. Speaking of which I think a punch party is well overdue, watch this space. I digress, so I meet/rediscover this lass, we hang for a while see if we cool. Manufacture a little us, fun way or artificially. Both commit to making sure this little one is all good and well taken care of and and and. What happens between us is irrelevant well as long as we keep the young ones interest at heart then we will end well hopefully. I have come to this softening of my stance regarding children out of wedlock because, I know kids who grew up with both parents and some of them are pretty poked, some are well balanced. Other side of the coin is true too, some kids from broken homes are pretty stable, whilst others are pretty poked too, so I am not sure what difference it makes as long as one or both of you are available and committed to the cause, the odds are the young one will be ok…no guarantees in this life. So that’s my plan you think it will fly? I am open to commentary and suggestions and expressions of interest, no joke ey ;) Easi now… Birthdays 3rd Jenn 7th Mark Evans 8th Dinesh Respect always Y