Freedom of the Press – Time to make your voices heard!

Call me a tad paranoid if you want, but it strikes me as funny that only after SH-Zuma’s political enemies were silenced, and the free press as we know it did their job in dishing out the filth on these enemies oh SH-Zuma, did a quick call come from up stairs to push the Bill through.

Because for whatever people say about Starvi Vuk, one cannot say that he is not a ice cold and calm strategist, pulling the right threads at the right time so that it would benefit him, this was clear when he pulled Potty Mouth Malama’s strings back when he needed him to oust Keeping on Walking Mbeki.

I have no doubt in my mind that this Secrecy Bill will go through, unless by some miracle it happens that some of those MP’s actually start caring for the good of South Africa as a whole, and not only to hide away their shame.

The Freedom of the Press should be protected by any means possible, because our Government can’t govern themselves into making the right choices, hence our need to all stand up and protect our right to know what the State is doing with our money, our futures and our lives.

Only a morally corrupt Government would need to curb the flow of information to keep them in power for as long as possible, so that they can leech and siphon off the “life” that was intended to better South Africa for everyone.

Hear me on this, I will not sit idly by and watch the patriarch hyena and his ilk, destroy this country.  I will intensify my push to get people across the colour divide to think critically and rationally, and I will do this in the way that I’ve always done, by sharing knowledge.

I will even sacrifice my leave days, which I could have spent with my family over the traditional family gathering time to go and protest as a middle class, taxpaying South African.

To quote Patrick Henry:
“Give me Liberty or give me Death!”

Because this morally corrupt Government who squabbles between themselves for riches, and who allows for a environment to exist where children in one of the most advanced and prosperous  countries in Africa dies of hunger, have no business governing me or anyone else!

The Role of Government in Modern Society

One should ask, what is the role of Government in today’s modern society?  In my eyes the role of the Government must be limited, and there should be no room for self enrichment, since we must assume that these people are in Government because of their love for the people and their country and not due to their own desires for financial and political gain.

1. They should ensure a secure and stable environment to enable free trade, innovation, development and production through securing our national borders and protect against internal threats such as racketeering, intimidation, violence and corruption, and defend the country from any external threat to our way of life.

2. They should enable the citizens of the country to better themselves in every possible way though quality education by the means of creating quality infrastructure such as housing and roads; delivering basic services like running water and electricity to each home and telecommunication for further development in regards with education.

3. They should not be allowed to have parastatals like Eskom or Telkom. Any funding which the Government give to public enterprise ventures should be seen as loans after an in depth due diligence report was drawn up, and their must be little or no interest.

4. Financial institutions should be regulated in regards with the amount of personal loans they give out to an individual, and the interest charged on these loans, as well as keep an eye on bank administrative charges.

5. Lastly, the salaries of serving political figures and leading figures in the public sector like the police and defence force should be voted on by the public themselves.

Governing the Government falls in the hands of the citizens of the country, and we should not be lax in our attitudes or our resolve towards the Government, because this creates the perfect opportunity for the human condition called Greed to raise it’s ugly head.  We voted them into power, and it is our common responsibility to make sure that they stay on the straight and narrow, long past are the days of Monarchs and Feudal Lords who believed that the peasants where there to serve their every whim, the Government is the Public’s servant.

In essence I believe that people don’t need a Government, a body or entity that will herd them like sheep or cattle into specific areas where they think it is best for livestock, and of course, from which they as the Government would stand to gain the most out of.

Sadly there is no room in today’s society for such a view, since we as human beings are not responsible enough to govern ourselves and our inherent need for greed and hoarding.

Maybe through education we will be able to move past these factors which are holding us back sometime in the future.

Knowledge is Power – A brief overview of what happened in Africa

Knowledge is power, and there is no denying the fact.  This is why countries like America and China spend millions on gaining information, and protecting that which they have.

Look at the Great Firewall of China for one, and then do a search on In-Q-Tel and read up about their investments in software that can monitor posts, chats and tweets on the Internet.  There is also talk that In-Q-Tel (investment arm of the CIA) invested greatly in Facebook.

Knowledge and it’s far reaching affects does not stop there.  Think about the invention of fireworks, which eventually led to the discovery of gun powder and then think about the  consequences it brought.

Some nations or groups were just not content with what they had, and I believe that their quest for more land, more resources and ultimately more power also drove them to develop and research the technology which would allow them to acquire the fore mentioned.

History shows us that for those with superior technology anything was possible when going to war with people with inferior technology, take for example the natural inhabitants of South America and how their civilization crumbled before the Spanish, the Native Americans in North America, and the countless of black nations in Africa.

To quote Martin van Creveld:

War and technology have always been linked very closely. Indeed, without technology, there would probably have been no war. After all, without technology, if only in the form of sticks and stones, man’s ability to kill his own kind is extremely limited.

This should not come as any surprise for anyone, but again, it does not stop there.

It is also here that I have to say that not all colonization were achieved through the smoking barrel of a gun, but again a lot of it were, especially if you look at North and South America and a couple of countries in Africa.

Europeans needed new territory, more wealth, and more power and so the quest for land grabs started, and the solution was simple.  Either they traded for land from the original inhabitants, and failing that, they would just take it with their superior technology.

Being of European decent I can’t look past these facts, and I also can’t help but stare into the legacy these land grabs left us,  whom we have to deal with 300-400 years later.

Retaining the competitive edge meant that knowledge was not really transferred to the people whom were conquered or subjugated  since this had the potential to open the door for a rebellion and the loss of new found land and riches, which could not be allowed.

Now, 400 years later we are sitting with a huge dilemma.  Masses and masses of uneducated people who are a drain on natural and economic resources, but who are a political force of note because of their sheer numbers.

There has been a lot of social studies as to why poverty stricken people with low or no education have huge families, but not going in to too much detail, it is my opinion that it was triggered by the human desire for survival.  More on the topic at (http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/family/Publications/mtdesilva.pdf)

These people are here, and there is no easy solution for the problem.  I am pretty sure that most of World turns a blind eye to the human crisis on the African continent, because why fight for something if you can manipulate from the side and wait until they kill each other off so that you can come in, be the hero of the day and help them rebuild their nation … for a price of course, natural resources.  I am also certain that this is one of the reasons why African despots and dictators do not really worry about education their youth, because it is much easier to dish out propaganda to the uneducated than it is to a rational thinking man or woman.

Greed, and the lack of education will be the undoing of the human race and civilization as we know it.

Time to take charge and review our situation before it is too late.

Occupy Wall Street – The America you don’t see

I’ve been trying to follow as much as the OWS movement as possible, but I must say that I mostly spend my time focusing on what happens on my side of the equator, and mostly what happens in my country, South Africa.

It was with shock then, that tonight, after going through the local papers I popped over to http://www.rt.com (Russia Today) and saw some video footage (http://on.rt.com/mfpbpo) of how the American police treated the people they swore to protect.

If you don’t know what OWS is about, then here is a brief summary found on Wikipedia

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is an ongoing series of demonstrations in New York City based in Zuccotti Park in the Wall Street financial district. The protests were initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters, mainly protesting social and economic inequality, corporate greed, corruption and influence over government—particularly from the financial services sector—and lobbyists. The protesters’ slogan, “We are the 99%”, refers to the difference in wealth and income growth in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population.

This for me is a worthy cause, and it is also why I’ve been trying to follow the movement to see if something similar could be done here in South Africa, since we are sitting with the same problems down here.

What bothers me about what I saw tonight is the violent reaction from the American Police, with one of the protesters, a US Marine called Scott Oslen being shot at close range against the head, fracturing his skull.

Another Irak war veteran called Sgt. Shamar Thomas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5wTWIP2p5w&feature=player_profilepage) came out and stood up against the way the police treated the civilized, but dissident protesters in the link above.

Maybe it is time that America start focusing on what is happening in their own House, before they meddle in the affairs of other countries, like Iran for instance.

America does not like the world to know what is happening on it’s own doorstep, thus you you will only find moderate or diluted versions of the story in the American Press about it, but RT is a good source of info should you want to find out more about it.

Lastly, I can’t help but wonder, with the American leaders being backed into a corner regarding foreign policy and the economic and social crisis which they are experiencing, what will be next? FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) camps filled to the brim with dissident OWS protesters?

My heart and hopes go out to the decent American people out there

Malema’s Fate

Sunday marked the closing date of the internal hearing within the ANC structures regarding their Youth League President, Julius Malema and by the end of the week we should know the fate of the charismatic leader of the uneducated, and unemployable youth.

Malema has backing from the fringes of within the ANC itself.

People like Winnie Madikizela-Mandela who has a distinguished history, during Apartheid and Post-Apartheid.  She instigated people to use the “necklace” (basically shoving a tyre(s) over the victims head, dousing it with petrol, and lighting it) way of ending the Apartheid regime,  she was convicted of the murder of Stompie Moeketsi after trying to coerce him into saying that the reverent he was staying with (which was white) sexually assaulted him, and she was convicted of corruption, fraud and theft.

Then there is Tokyo Sexwale, the Dark Horse who is so squeaky clean compared to other ANC cadres that it is creepy.  The man who I suspect is patiently waiting to for his change to run the country, and for that he needs support, support he can muster from our “youthful” Youth Leader, Julius Malema.

Personally I am of the opinion that Malema, even with his high profile ANC stalwarts who are backing him, will have a hard time to survive this encounter with the ANC top brass after the comments he made about Botswana and for trying to take the “Stari Vuk” of South Africa, Jacob Zuma who was survived worse, on without thinking it through.

Then there is also the probe into his financial assets and the alleged corruption that he is involved him, along with very senior ANC officials from the Limpopo province he hails from which will most likely get him if the ANC doesn’t get their piece of meat first.

Problem being, the gap that this “young” man will leave, and the question that needs to be asked, is who is going to fill it? Someone even more militaristic?

And how long will it be before the uneducated and unemployable masses will outnumber the semi-educated and employable masses who are now backing the “Old Guard” of Mandela’s era?

I suppose only time will tell

“I love the smell of naplam in the morning” – Another reason to invade Iran

While we have our own issues down here in South Africa I can’t help but worry more and more about the state of affairs up north.

There is talk in the papers from all around the globe that Israel is planning a pre-emptive strike on Iran and wants it allies, the US and UK,  to join in on the “crusade”, once again under the pretence of finding and destroying Weapons of Mass destruction.

So maybe Iran has nuclear weapons project under way, but who can blame them?  A point rightly made on PrisonPlanet.com by one of the activists there reminds us that one of the most antagonising nations in the world, the US,  is the fore runner in the world of who has used the most atomic and chemical weapons against other nations.  Think about Agent Orange, the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan and the depleted uranium which was used in Afghanistan.

With this in mind, and the fact that the US and it’s allies have been in every major conflict in the Middle East and North Africa for the last decade would also prompt me as sovereign nation to develop a deterrent against a possible invasion.

America has changed considerably since it was founded, and I believe the Founding Fathers are turning in their graves right about now.  America, the land of the Free has changed into a police state where people who are protesting the wars, the expenditure and the cost in human lives are being treated as terrorists in their own country by a militaristic police force, much the same that has happened in UK with the 2011 summer riots.

So here is to another day, with the impeding cloud of doom hovering above our heads, and here is to a quote that sums it all nicely.

Robert Duvall as Lieutenant Colonel Kilgore … “I love the smell of Napalm in the morning. The smell, you know that gasoline smell. Smells like victory.” – Apocalypse Now