Bestiality, Doping and Fickleness

So the famed American cyclist has ‘come clean’ to paraphrase the media hype. Really?

Given the American propensity for hype, truth-and-reconciliation marketing and self-aggrandisement, the well-publicised talk show was a beautifully choreographed piece of circus performance complete with a voluble ring-master, obedient slew of lawyers and agile camera shots. All that was missing were the wild animals, dogs and clowns; and maybe they were all present…just in disguise!?

I wonder what the famed cyclist’s appearance fee was?

And speaking of criminal congress, the constitutional court has found that the South African sex offender’s act is unconstitutional in that consenting persons should be allowed to entertain copulation without the fear of being labelled criminals. Of course the section in question is mainly about teenagers engaging in consensual sex and not really about adults but still, given the population growth, there are a lot of young orgasms taking place irrespective of laws, mandates and adult aversions.

Then there is a clip in the South African media about a ‘petite blond’ having been sent for mental evaluation for having had intercourse with a Terrier and a Labrador. Is this because the breeds in question did not give their consent or is it just because she found sex with the loving breeds sensual?

And speaking of defloration, I wonder if SANRAL will also be sent for mental evaluation due to them screwing the public without their consent; or the use of protection?

And on the subject of being screwed by the system, it was reported that some rating agencies have warned the USA that they will suffer a rating downgrade if they do not raise their debt ceiling. If one follows the line of logic, debt is master. In other words go ahead and create more debt i.e. print more money, and all will be well with you. Pity that the same opportunities are not afforded the masses. These will just have to continue to bend over and smile. After all, it is the American way.

Personally I find the whole flaccid affair distasteful. America is still classed as the greatest world economy yet it owes more than it has. What does that say for the people earning in US Dollars? How valuable is their money really? How will this whole sexual affair affect us as outsiders to the whole game play? Maybe our saving grace is the other American invention; Viagra.

As for erections, our dear farm workers down in the Western Cape have once again taken to the streets with whatever they could get their hands on to protest their miserable salaries, blaming everything and destroying everything in the process. What a warm afterglow the SAPS must be enjoying, having had to face the brunt of anything that can be thrown, hurled and chucked. Maybe the SAPS should take a step back, cordon off the area and let the protesters do what they do best. At least this way the SAPS can’t be blamed for hurting a poor protester or innocent onlooker. In retrospect, this type of passive action would also be judged as criminal by public opinion. I find the whole affair offensive and prejudicial to all concerned for winners there will not be; especially not for the workers.

Anyways, while I type in the afterglow of all the excitement I am confronted by the idiocy of it all. 

I am struck by what strikes people as important e.g. Lance Armstrong. Since when is the doing and screwing’s of a sport personality of such importance that it occupies center stage in world news; specially when wars are raging, unemployment continues to escalate, and the financial systems is in tatters?  Oh wait, Tiger Woods…and now he wants to re-marry his ex. 

I am in awe of the general commentaries made by those with access to on-line news sites and the blogosphere. Commentaries that judge and hold in abhorrence human infractions and public incidences without first checking on and ensuring that the facts are correct.

I find it interesting that for every ridiculing article written about dear uncle Zuma, the more the ire of the ANC rise against the press. In the laws of physics, sooner or later the one will disappear for no two forces can occupy the same place, space or time. History will tell.

And now that France has joined the conflict in Mali, all is as it should be: Fucked up! At least I know that the sun rises in the east.

Money is only paper, nickels and dimes

We know (or have been told) that America is in the Red and China is in the Green; financially speaking of course. Same goes for the countries in the Euro zone: some are in the green, others in the red. In other words, some have true money while others only have printed money.

Not being a financial person I am fascinated by the machinations of the money energy!?

Take the following speculation: A country has a huge deficit base. To overcome its repayment responsibility, it raises its deficit base so as to allow for the printing of more money which also allows for the borrowing of more money.

The monies of a country is regulated and issued by its Reserve Bank.

The company that I work for gets its operating money from a Commercial Bank who in turn is supplied by the Reserve Bank.

Does this not imply that, because of the high deficit base of the country, the printed money I receive as a salary is not worth much if at all (here I am not referring to the inflation factor)?

How does negative money turn into a positive entity just because it exchanged hands?
If America’s negative money is of a larger proportion than that of China’s positive money, does that not mean that the negative difference turns China’s real money into baseless paper money?

Similarly, I understand that SA has positive reserves that can be used to offset its national deficit base. Money that can be used to bail out the economy should the negative offshore effects of all the negative ‘developed’ economies reach our shores. This is good news, yes?

But does not the same mathematical principle apply: if a negative is higher than the positive, the difference is still negative? Thus, are we not fooling ourselves into believing that all is Ok in the land of finances?

What intrigues me further is the fact that when Uganda’s Idi Amin tried the same stunt i.e. he wanted to print more money, he was shot down by the developed world!?

But I must be missing something for investors (people of whom I presume know what they are doing) are still throwing their money around...and getting richer by the day (an interesting aphorism seeing that it is mostly negative paper money that they are playing with.)

Life should be Just and Fair!

It is said that the ideal behind civilisation is for humanity to continually grow and evolve by making life that little bit more just and fair with each passing generation.

How can that ideal be achieved when most of the information floating around is biased one way or the other?

If life is to be made that little bit more just and fairy with each passing generation, change is required, for that is what human progress is all about. History attests to that.

It is all very well and noble but the reality is not that simple.

Change to capitalism will mean that most will have to forego some of their material gains which mean that the governmental types will not get their due recompense through taxes and other clever manipulations of the fiscal system.

Change to Democracy also carries with it much risk. Loss of voter control being one of the major concerns. Control of the masses is paramount to enabling cash flow and continued existence and survival.

Both change scenarios form the vicious circle of everyday existence that prevents any virtuous progress from taking place.

It is for this reason that Governments spend millions in advertising initiatives trying to convince the populace that a certain way of action or thought is the best way forward. It is for this same reason that media moguls spend time and thought into shaping public onion. The same goes for the feel-good lobbyists who throw money at telling all and sundry that life will be ok if one just keeps a positive outlook on things.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a French political philosopher, once stated that “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.”

The will to affect change, whether political, personal or financially, is paramount to our continued development and human progression.

The Poor be Damned!?

The other day while listening to another well-meaning politician sprout foibles on the eradication of poverty, I was struck by the lack of solutions in his speech. This phenomenon is common whenever politicians or people get-together to source solutions to an ever-present, and growing, social ailment.

This lack of presentable solutions is more of an ill than the whole poverty paradox. Poverty is solvable. The problem arises mostly from the reality that solutions are money based and that in itself, will require a mindset change by the way many think about money.

Money or even the mention thereof is a taboo in most languages. Yes, most will talk freely about other peoples money, but their own is a guarded secret.

Many, when confronted by poverty, will jump on the get-a-job horse. Others will look the other way. Some will put some pennies into the begging-tin and drive off in a rush. Few will attempt to come up with short term solutions (meals-on-wheels, shelters, charity drives, etc) but find themselves alone in the fight-to-eradicate-poverty.

There have been many workable solutions put forward by thinking individuals on changing the way society views and thinks about money:

1) The National Dividend. This was invented by engineer C. H. Douglas and has been revived by Ezra Pound and designer Buckminster Fuller. The basic idea is that every citizen should be declared a shareholder in the nation, and should receive dividends on the Gross National Product for the year.

2) The Guaranteed Annual Income. This has been encouraged by economist Robert Theobald and others. The government would simply establish an income level above the poverty line and guarantee that no citizen would receive less. This plan would cost the government less than the present welfare systems, with all its bureaucratic red tape and redundancy factors.

3) The Negative Income Tax. This was first devised by Nobel economist Milton Friedman. The Negative Income Tax would establish a minimum income for every citizen; anyone whose income fell below that level would receive the amount necessary to bring them up to that standard. Again this would cost "the government" less than the present welfare systems. It would also dispense with the last tinge of humiliation associated with government "charity," since when you cashed a check from IRS nobody would know if it was supplementary income or a refund.

My take on the whole eradication of poverty is a simple one.

In South Africa we have a Lotto entity that pays out huge amounts of money in a given year (In excess of 50 Million Rand.) With an estimated population of 50 million persons, a conservative disbursement of 250 thousand Rand per person would elevate all to a liveable economic level and rid the SA society of the terms poverty, poor and the-poor-of-the-poor in an instant

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From the outset, my avaricious money-based common-sense screamed louder than a wailing ambulance siren: the rich would get richer, many would stop working thus creating economic chaos, employers would loose their power over their remaining employees, politicians would not be happy, inflation would shoot sky high, the money markets would suffer, what about the work ethic (did not the ancients say that one needs to work to acquire wealth,) how would the disbursement work, who would oversee the disbursement process, etc, etc, etc.

On the other hand, would people not revert to doing what they enjoy doing, would not their creative potential rise to the fore collectively, etc?

As the global situation stands, the human race future looks bleak. To survive longer than its nose, it needs to elevate itself above clichés of old, do away with wage slavery, embrace humanity and move forward to a co-operative mind-set for the good of all.

Alas, I feel that humanity will remain doomed.

(with thanks to Robert Anton Wilson)

The People have Spoken

For fifteen years, we the people of South Africa, have been told by our illustrious democratically elected Government that they represent the voice of the people. Yet, the people are not being heard.

Take the recent attacks of so called xenophobia, where the people are voicing their outrage at all the lay-about african foreigners who are transgressing established norms daily. Have the people not spoken?

What about the Kutsong debacle where the people wanted to be incorporated into Gauteng but were told by the Government to behave. Have the people not spoken?

Then there is Eskom. The people have on numerous occasions told the Government that Eskom must stop selling electricity to other countries, to put SA first, only to be told that the whole ‘crisis’ is the peoples doing and that they should behave. Have the people not spoken?

For years, the people have been telling the Government that they are not happy with the way that their tax money is being used. Dictums that have fallen on governmental deaf ears. Have the people not spoken?

The lists of public-outcries are long, and, given the modern state of parliamentary attitudes, will continue to grow exponentially.

The problem arises from the fact that no government can be seen to be loosing face. This scenario creates a sense of distrust amongst the voting citizenry which in turn can lead to anarchy; an administrative condition that no government can allow. Given the a foregoing, the present state of adversarial situations are doomed to continue.

Maybe the present conditions will force our idyllic Government to exude some form of political will and listen to the will of the people.

“Hegel was right when he said that we learn from history that man can never learn anything from history. - George Bernard Shaw”