JADB

My friends sometimes get a bit annoyed with my refusing to acknowledge that Yankeeland has any meaningful contribution to make in International Society. They also wonder why I flat-out refuse to go to that country.

Now since I’m of the opinion that there had in history only been three worthwhile inventions out of America (the Colt 45 ACP, Air Conditioning and Coca Cola) I don’t really have any reason to go there. Most certainly not for the scenery, since I’m fortunate enough to live in South Africa, the most beautiful country on the face of the planet.

Be that as it may, I will also admit that the American’s apparent attitude to tourists makes the idea of going there more frightening than the idea of streaking through Soweto at eleven o’clock on a Friday night…

Via BoingBoing we have a wonderful example of how the USA chooses to treat tourists, by holding an Icelandic woman shackled in isolation for two days, before deporting her, over a ten-year-old visa mistake…

She has blogged about her experience and, reading it, I feel both vindicated about my stance on the Fourth Reich and quite determined to keep avoiding the place for as long I humanly can.

To any Americans reading this, I’m sorry, but it’s impossible not to have a very negative idea of your country when you have little people with big attitudes and way too much power for their little minds to comprehend treat visitors like this.

But I do feel that you might want to consider coming to visit us here in South Africa; it’s a stunningly beautiful place and we actually like tourists over here…

Update: It seems like Turkey is also off of my list of places to go see…

Justice be done!

It took long enough, very nearly two years in fact, but finally the guilty have been brought to book.

Now I am a cynic and frequently expect the very worst from humankind. A stance far too often reinforced by the actions huimanity as well. But some days, quite seldom unfortunately, a faint glimmer of hope appears for the species.

Don’t worry, it won’t last… Mankind will do something for me to lose faith in them before the day is over. But for now, for a brief moment…

Man, am I so with this guy!

Too many institutions use bullying tactics — manipulating people into paying various superfluous or even illegal fees — figuring (quite correctly it would seem) that most people would not be able to afford either the time or the money to take legal or other action and would rather just pay said fees to make it all “just go away”.

Two distinct groups with this tactic immediately comes to mind: the Mafia and SABC TV Licenses….

It’s amazing, given the context, how much effort people will put into finger-pointing exercises. Not that I’m excluding myself for even a second, mind you, but it still is quite fascinating.

Equally engrossing is how a democratically elected president of a First-world country, arguable the country with the best communication and transport infrastructure in the world can take nearly a week to respond in earnest to a calamity that’s devastated one of his nations great cities.

Very few people outside of America really like the Americans, but some things are not wished upon even your worst enemy, let alone people you merely feel ambivalent about.

That being said, it is another American president’s administration– Theodore Roosevelt’s, 99 and a half years earlier — that gives one of the best examples in modern history yet of how a calamity like this should be handled.

On 18 April 1906 the San Francisco great earthquake struck at 5h13. By 7h00 the first troops reported to the Mayor of the city; by 8h00 they were patrolling the streets.

By 10h30 on the same day, the USS Preble had already landed a medical team and had set up an emergency hospital.

Within two days, the USS Chicago had reached San Francisco, where it evacuated 20,000 refugees.

Now please compare that to how the current president of America handled New Orleans. 100 years later and incomprehensibly more advanced with infinitely better infrastructure.

America needs another statesman, and they need to get rid of the politicians running the show at present.

And, Thabo, if ever something like this had to happen in South Africa, I will expect considerably more from you than your American counterpart managed to achieve…