My Time-Out

See more of Uncle Ruckus of Boondocks fame at Aaron McGruder's official site. ;)

I will be back bloggin' in a week. Peace to all.

Onward!

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Mugabe Turns ... ummm 86

The article that accompanies this picture in the Times Live says that Mugabe will likely "cling to power for the rest of his life."

Ummmm, is the rest of his life not over yet?

Guess not.

Ok, I am taking time off here to find more time to fill in the time I lost thinking about the time I need.

I'm looking for the rest of my life or maybe just to rest ... dunno.

Time-out.

Onward!

Harley's Johnny Cash Tribute

This commissioned bike is based on a Harley-Davidson Night Train. The Shaw Speed and Custom Shop in the UK produced this beauty.

I am slowly being converted to the cult of Harley-Davidson. If even the customs only.

Nice bike huh?

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Recall This Moron

If there was ever any measure of doubt that President Jacob Zuma is an empty vessel his State of the Nation speech last night ended all doubt.

I understand that his speech was most likely written by advisers and other experts in the presidency but damn.

For at least the first 20 minutes we listened to rehashed drivel about the course of freedom and the actors that made it possible.

Of course, folks like Robert Sobukwe, Steve Biko, and even Chris Hani, were not mentioned.

In the gallery sat old President Mandela. His face mostly stern and showing little emotion. From time to time he seemed to be reading from what must have been a copy of Zuma's speech.

For what seemed an eternity our sex-pest president smacked his lips, a most annoying habit, while he ambled without much conveyed confidence through his speech.

As I watched Zuma read it reminded me of lazy students who plagiarize and hope to be invisible enough to just get by.

They usually don't.

I have said it here before. South Africa deserves more than a vacuous party playa.

If the African National Congress (ANC) wants to regain its credibility the time is now to recall Zuma.

The man does not inspire any confidence and he obviously lacks credible presidential substance.

Those who would disagree with me and press for supporting Zuma do so out of induced habit and nothing more.

What was clear last night is that the ruling party is in disarray. Zuma's speech was nothing more than a wishful stroll through a conveniently constructed, and historically reduced, past.

But their past is in the past.

As for now, the president and his advisers lack the leadership vision to lead South Africa out of its corruption infested abyss.

So we are in trouble, yet again. And this time no amount of rehashing the Mandela myth can save the ANC's day.

Recalling Zuma is the way to go ... but don't hold your breath.

Onward!

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20 Years On

Today marks the 20th year since the release of Nelson Mandela from from Victor Verster prison near Paarl in what is now the the Western Cape of South Africa.

I was somewhere in the US midwest when he walked with his then wife, Winnie Mandela.

I bet many of you can also remember exactly where you were.

Two decades later I wonder what Mandela thinks about the liberation cum political party he gave his life to.

Mmmmmmm .... eish.

Onward!

Obama's War(s) Is Peace

The Nobel Peace Prize and "change we can believe in" president, Barack Obama, has requested Congress fund a $708 billion defense (read war) budget for 2011.

This "is the largest war budget ever" according to a Reuters article.

Obama's budget reflects a 3.4% increase for the Pentagon's budget and an allocation of $159 billion to wage his 'war is peace' policies in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The budget sets aside $112.8 billion for "weapons procurement".

Obama is also seeking increased spending on "nuclear weapons research and security programs" even as his duplicitous ass wanks on about nonproliferation and reducing nuclear arms in the world.

Is this "change we can believe in" by any standard?

Obviously not.

Obama is a war mongering president just like his predecessor.

Nothing has changed in the settler empire.

Imagine what could be done with $708 billion if peace and change was really the objective?

Onward!

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The Guarded Mind

"As a fletcher makes straight his arrow, a wise man makes straight his trembling and unsteady thought, which is difficult to guard, difficult to hold back." (Dharmapada Sutra Verse 33: Muller 1881 translation)

"Let the wise man guard his mind, incomprehensible, subtle, and capricious though it is. Blessed is the guarded mind." (Dharmapada Sutra Verse 36: Wagiswara 1912 translation)

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