Many African countries, 40 or 50 years after independance are still unstable and not worth the effort of visiting. It is a sad reflection on how these countries are ruled, and, although many blame the colonial masters of the past , mismanagement and corruption do not reflect this. Here are some countries you should avoid traveling to--with great caution or at your peril. Guinea-Bissau-President Viera has been assassinated. Country in turmoil. Avoid. Zimbabwe-Victoria Falls may be...

Thanks to the few guys who replied to my previous blog on Guantanamo. Unfortunately an editing problem came up and I was not the only one who could not edit or submit comments. If you wish to re-submit comments I'll gladly answer.  

Guantanamo Bay and its comings and goings don't shock me in the least. It is a prison of exraordinary ruthlessness overseen mainly by the CIA and the British MI5. It is also a prison wrought by fear and harsh punishment. The fear emanates from the shocking and traumatic events of 9/11. The harsh punishment is retribution for any person who dare attack the United States. Don't get me wrong. Retribution of some sort is necessary for such a heinous deed. The methods of retribution worry me. A...

I'm not going to attempt a lengthy post or a persuasive argument. I'm just going to say that I believe in Darwin's theories because there is no other logical explanation for man's evolution. We are mammals (with mammal characteristics), with highly developed brains yet we often use those brains for petty reasons, aggressive reasons (war) and cruel reasons (our treatment of others and defenceless animals). The mammal we are, developed over millions of years,  may have come fr...

There is absolutely no doubt that Gaza city is swarming with Hamas terror criminals and amateur rocket launchers. However, to use an apt quote I heard the other day:" You don't shoot the hostage to get the hostage taker!" This is what Israel is doing. 1000 Palestinians killed, many children and women included, little aid let through, hospitals under-equipped and understaffed, few infrastructural facilities left. To my mind Israel is a thug nation using Phosphorus bombs, overkill and little...

Yesterday 10 th December, Sky News reported that 764 people had died from cholera in Zimbabwe, 15 000 and upwards were suffering from the disease and 500 cholera victims were being treated in South Africa.   Today 11th December, Comrade Robert Mugabe, President of a dying nation, announced that there were was no more cholera in Zimbabwe---his valiant doctors had conquered the disease. This is nothing short of a miracle. No drugs, no clean water, no infrastructure, and the Gre...

Rich Limbaugh is a God in his own little heaven. How Americans can place a thug like this on such a high pedestal beats me. Obama hasn't taken three steps yet and is now a Chicago thug. Who's next : The Pope---a Vatican pimp?   Makes me sick. Enough said.

I am shocked at the inane, insensitive comments posted on JU about the upcoming election. Here are some of the things that irk me:   Many bloggers (and you know who), seem to to relate Obama with a certain Mr Ayers. Like old gossip-knitters terms proceed from Ayers to activists to terrorists. Ridiculous assumptions are made, stupid accusations spread and 1,2,3 Barack is hiding in the same cave as Bin Laden. I do not include all JU bloggers in my condemnation but I do include s...

The captain of the 737 was inclined to say goodbye to all his passengers as he stood at the top of the steps. On this particular day he had banged the plane down at speed as he landed and ruffled all the passengers. He asked a little old lady who was disembarking whether she had enjoyed the flight.  "Tell me somethng, sonny", she asked, " did we just land or were we shot down?"   Jokes about EgyptAir were once commonplace. The Captain came over the tannoy and announced: "...

Don't you love Spam? I'm one of those unfortunate people who have 3 e-mail addresses and , although I have blockers , spam still to creep through. I don't reply, and please don't for your own sake. It was my birthday and I received an anonymous e-card---I opened it and thwang, I had a bug bigger than Disneyland! Got rid of it eventually.   Then I thought of some whacky answers to spammers (they're in my head---I won't reply.). Some adult content here but nothing risque: Spam: ...

I do not consider myself, at 61, as an old man, and I'm pretty active and fully employed at least for the next five years. I remain deeply worried about my state of health when I turn 70 (nine years time) . I have the early signs of arthritis in my fingers and feet.; I am heart healthy (up till now--but I smoke); my teeth which have served me for decades, are starting to rot but not seriously: my weight is just above average for my height. My body, thus, is telling me it's time to clo...

My wife thinks I'm an atheist because I believe in some of the teachings of Richard Dawkins. Dawkins simply tells us that religion is a personal thing. Whether he seeks to make out that religion is waylaid by false beliefs is his way way of saying : don't believe everything you read . This is the era of technology and questioning and I question whether a book of phrases, gobbledygook and shaky history is something that should stick to like glue to a blanket. I don't believe I'm an ath...

I've blogged about this before but I was very negative at the time so I thought I would look at pros and cons this time around. By the way, how do other countries compare? My wife and I spent a "gap" year in Britain in 2004/5. It was a wonderful experience . We wanted to be near our daughter who left South Africa in 1998 to marry an Englishman. As South Africans we found the Winter demanding but heated housing helped. The Summer was a surprise with the beauty of England exposed in all its ...

I know that many Joeusers are interested in History so I decided to provide some factual evidence on the Siege Of Sarajevo for you to link to. It makes heavy and horrific reading but it is all factual evidence provided by the United Nations Commission of Experts. I prefer to look at the involvement of Milosevic, Karadicz, Mladic and others rather than condemn them outright---because I do not understand the reasons. But, if you read this report and read various reports on Srebrenica and the...

I'm sure many Joeusers are as puzzled as I am! Do you wonder why President Al Bashir of the Sudan visits Darfur to a great and tumultuous reception when he has committed the most vile atrocities against these people? He was received with dancing, ululating and posters of support. No one told him that the crowd could have been much larger if he had not wiped most of them out. The ICC has declared him a war criminal and rightly so. They'll get him eventually. Do you wonder why Rado...