RAVE: Eurovision Song Contest - Tackarama Time Again

I have not written on this blog for two months now, and what is the first thing that compels me to post again after such a long hiatus? The death of Maggie Thatcher? No. The continued slide of Greece and others in the Eurozone ongoing crisis? No. The continued Western-manipulated madness in the so-called 'Syrian civil war'...? No again.

No, I'm afraid what compels me this time to return to this blog with which I sometimes have a love-hate relationship is none other than this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Yip, it's that time of the year again, and sometimes it is only the ridiculous and not the sublime that motivates one to recommit to one's blog.

What can I say - at times I can be a shallow fellow...

Anyway, the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest will be held in just a few hours time in the Swedish city of Mälmo. The two Semi-Finals have come and gone, and once again there have been some pretty good songs and way too many poor ones.  And so I must myself give my top 10 and award my douze points to my favourite for the year in homage to the Contest and Grand Final tonight.


Thankfully, the field wasn't rife with utter dirge this year, as happens way too often at Eurovision, but neither has it been a stellar year. Whilst few songs utterly offended (although there were a few, trust me...Greece, anyone?), there were fewer really great or stand-out songs in the 2013 field when compared with the last few years. For one thing, there has been no song that I absolutely loved and so want to win this year, as happened last year with the fabulous disco entry from Sweden (Euphoria by Loreen), which did go on to win the 2012 Contest in emphatic style, or the utterly charming 2011 entry from Finland (which went nowhere in the final that year, alas). No, this year had a few that I liked quite a lot, and quite a few middling songs, but nothing that I am really, really cheering on. 

And, for another, there were just way too many songs playing the ballade or quirky ethnic card. And those are two genres that seldom rock my boat come Eurovision time.

Perhaps when they all perform tonight I will suddenly find myself cheering on one particular song, or a few that I wouldn't mind winning, but that only time will tell. 

But anyway, here then are my top 10 songs for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest:

1 point (10th place): 
GERMANY
Glorious by Cascada

I don't love this song, but it's got a catchy hook and it's a half-decent techro dance song, that could be a passable hit on the dance floors of Europe this summer. Cascada sings with aplomb and is sexy enough, and she just beat out the songs from Estonia and Azerbaijan to just make my top 10. it's also the best of the Big Five nation entries (see more below).

Chances? I think Germany will do very well in the voting, although not a possible winner as many are predicting. It could well make the Top 5 though.

2 points (9th place):
NORWAY
I Feed You My Love by Margaret Berger 

This song doesn't start too well, and it missed out on being a truly terrific electro-inspired dance hit by the way it's mixed and the lack of a resounding and memorable tempo. However, I like it, and I think Margaret Berger is quite a beautiful and compelling presence on the stage in a very Nordic sort of way.  

Chances? Not that good, actually. It will score well with other Nordic nations, of course, and may make the top 10 on the night, but that'll be it's best aspirations in terms of votes.It will probably finish more mid-table.

3 points (8th place):
HUNGARY
Kedvesem by ByeAlex

Hungary continues its frankly surprising tradition in being one of my favourite Eurovision countries, although I' not as mad about this one as their 2011 entry, or even last year's. And, to be honest, this wasn't even in my initial top 10 before the semi-finals. However, a very cool, very breezy song came to the fore during the 2nd Semi-Final and it really caught my attention. In a field dominated by overwrought or too-simplistic ballades or euphoric dance wannabes, this very low-key but catchy entry from Hungary stands out.

Chances? Once again, Hungary will bomb in the voting and come close to last in the voting, which, once again, will be a pity and undeserved.

4 points (7th place):
FINLAND
Marry Me by Krista Siegfrids

This is not a great song by any means, but it has one hell of a catchy riff and some cheeky and ironic lyrics to boot. Krista Siegfrids is no doubt Pink-inspired but her tune is all rainbow-hued, given the genuinely surprising little twist at the end of her ditty when she kisses one of the chorus girls and it becomes apparent this was a gay-themed wedding proposal. Very cute and very knowing, and for that alone it garners this place. And it's annoyingly catchy too!

Chances? This may surprise, and do quite well, maybe even a top 10 finish, although I do think the lesbian kiss at song's end may offend the sensibilities  of half of  Europe (the eastern and Muslim Europe, of course), so it'll probably do quite poorly in the end. Too bad.

5 points (6th place):
MALTA
Tomorrow by Gianluca 

This is a sweet song and the boy sure can sing. He has a lovely, distinct voice and the song is catchy. However, that's about it - he's sweet, the song is sweet, but it's hardly a wow song and has a tendency to be a bit too low-key and lackadaisical for its own good, which is a pity - Gianluca deserved a more memorable and better song. He should be singing for Belgium, in fact! Still, a charming little song (of sorts), and I do like it.

Chances? Middling at best - Malta of late invariably does quite poorly on the night of voting, and I suspect this year will be no different.

6 points (5th place):
MOLDOVA
O Mie by Aliona Moon  

Believe it or not, this is more Italian-sounding than either the entries from Italy or San Marino, even though it is sung in Romanian. This was one of the most pleasant surprises of the semi final stages. Aliona Moon can sing, no doubt about it, her dress and the staging of the song were incredible by any standards, and the song has quite some power to it. I do wish the song were more memorable, but even so Moldova should take pride in what is a beautifully stage and sung entry, never mind a sophisticated one at that.

Chances? I would love to think this one will do well, and it may just sneak in to the Top 10 or even possibly the Top 5 if it can garner enough of the Balkan and Eastern European votes, which it just may. Middling at worst, I think this could be one of the surprise entries in voting terms tonight.

7 points (4th place):
UKRAINE
Gravity by Zlata Ognevich

I really like this one. Unabashedly Eurotrash electro disco-inspired, this year's Ukrainian entry is sung with real verve and power by Zlata Ognevich, who has terrific stage presence and is beautiful to boot. I usually don't like the Ukrainian entry, so this was a really great surprise for me this year. This one has grown and grown on me, and I won't be surprised if it even sneaks into my own Top 3 by the end of the night. Knowingly catchy, this is slick techno pop production at its best. 

Chances: This could go two ways - it'll either do amazingly well on the night and make the Top 3 in the votes, or it'll just get lost in all the voting and come a disappointing mid-table or even worse. I do hope it'll be the former. Go, Zlata!

And now my top 3 songs for Eurovision 2013:

8 points (3rd place):
RUSSIA
What If by Dina Garipova

This lady has a beautiful and assured voice, that much I know. And it came across without a shadow of a doubt during her semi-final performance. However, to be honest, her sweet song is not usually teh type of song that appeals to me, and I would hardly classify it as brilliant. But it is memorable, and it has E-u-r-o-v-i-s-i-o-n writ write across it. A cynical ploy by the Russians to win this year's Contest? Perhaps, although I somehow doubt it, and anyway it's a lovely, beautifully sung song in its own right. After the embarrassing debacle that was the Russian grab-a-granny entry last year, this has amply made up for that.


Chances? Whatever everyone is saying about either Denmark or Sweden being the big favourites this year, I say that this Russian entry could go the whole way and win it. I certainly don't see it doing worse than about 10th place or so, and will very probably make the Top 5 or even Top 3 with ease. 

10 points (2nd place):
IRELAND
Only Love Survives by Ryan Dolan

I actually didn't much care for this when I first heard it prior to the semi-finals. But, I must say, Ryan Dolan blew me away with his fantastic stage performance on the night and, better still, the guy can sing really well. And I really like this song, Eurotrashy, poppy and quite thunderous dance tune that it is. It's got great pace, it makes you want to dance and its the best of its type. After so many years of giving us frankly dull or overly campy entries, it's such a treat to see Ireland back with such a strong, memorable song. 

Chances? I know that some are saying that this will do very well on the night, but I'm going to be a party pooper and say it's going to fizzle rather than sizzle in the votes, and will be middling at best, or, probably even low in the table. A top 5 position will be amazing - and for all the wrong reasons. Which is a shame - it deserves a great finish, and I would be even happy with it winning Eurovision. Surely I'm not the only one who misses Dublin being a host city?    

And finally, my favourite song for Eurovision this year:

12 points (1st place):
BELGIUM 
Love Kills by Roberto Bellarosa

 

I cannot remember the last time my favourite Eurovision song was such a touch-and-go choice and whose singer made me so damn nervous. Belgium's entry was definitely my favourite going into the semi-finals - I loved the build-up in the song, thought the orchestration multi-layered and really terrific, and loved it for being catchy and yet modern enough without being cloying. However, I soon started reading online reports that 17-year-old Roberto Bellarosa was extremely shaky in voice on stage and also lacked charisma as a performer. His semi-final performance was decent enough, but I did see evidence of a shaky voice at times, and the kid is neither gorgeous nor a natural stage talent. Still, he did pull it off, and the song is very strong and compelling. And, for all my hesitation with his voice and showman persona, I still really love this song and so Belgium must get my douze points for 2013.

Chances? I'm a realist, and I do believe Belgium will score poorly on the night, and may even come in the bottom 5, unfortunately. A lower middle ranking in the voting will be a stellar result, which is really not fair - but so it goes at Eurovision. 

So, there they are: my top 10 songs for the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest.

********************************************************************************************************

And what of the other entries? As I said before, Denmark is a big favourite, and whilst the song is catchy and she has a good voice, I just don't like the song. Way too many fiddles and evocations of middle-Europa Celtic music for my liking. Host country Sweden's entry I think sucks, whatever all the hype with the boy who belts it out. It'll do very well in the votes, of course, but it's still forgettable. Iceland were a total surprise for me in qualifying from their semi-final, and now people are saying it'll do well in the votes, but I don't believe that at all. The guy has a great voice, but the song is forgettable shite.

I do like the Azerbaijan entry and it just missed out on making my Top 10. The boy is very cute (if very short, it must be said LOL) and he has a good voice, and the song is catchy, albeit a bit too weak form me at times. BUT I think this song will score very well and even possibly make the Top 5 with the votes. Another Eurovision night in fabulous Baku? That may be pushing it too far. 

Estonia has possibly the most beautiful girl singing on the night and she has a really beautiful, melodious voice. I applaud the Estonians for submitting a song in their own language, but I just so wish the song were memorable or more rousing, It may score okay on the night, although probably not more than middling at best. 

Greece should have its entire band put up against a wall and shot. The worst entry of the year (even crappy Montengro at least was funky and out there), with an ethnic noise that is actually very cynical in trying to get the Euroyouth vote - and it will score very well, of course. Just watch Greece make the top 3. Just to annoy me. The Romania entry, sung by a campy contratenor that lets rip and makes Jimmy Somerville look butch, is loved by some, and loathed by others - I tend to be firmly in the latter camp, if you pardon the pun. I admire his courage and the song has its moments, but Somerville did falsetto far better and I ultimately hate the whole thing, even if it will probably do quite well on the night. Or it may come mid-table. Georgia's effort is a swooning ballade by a couple with lovely voices, but it never stops building and just gets too shrieky and too over-the-top for my liking. It will do well in the voting, though, of that I am quite sure.
Lithuania is loved by my mom, but I think the guy is off-key and the song is frankly crap, and I don't think it'll do well on the night. She also really likes Armenia, another entry which I think is rubbish, this time because it just sounds like really bad 80s soft rock. I also think it'll do very poorly in the voting. It's really yuck, mom! The Netherlands was a shock qualifier, and whilst the lady is really lovely to look at and has a great smoky voice, the song is so bad and so off the wall that it simply remains...bad. And, no, I do not expect it do well in the voting - at all. Belarus is the scary dark horse of the night, along with the detestable Greeks, and some are even saying Eurovision 2014 could be in Minsk. I really hope not - it's a valiant enough attempt at amped up Eurotrash beat, but the hook is annoying and she sings English so badly, bless her.  

The 'Big Five' who automatically qualify for the Grand Final once again let all and sundry down with a hash of indifferent and unmemorable songs, which is a real pity. Italy is the best after Germany, although it is a very typical Italian ballade sung by a raspy-voiced guy who sounds just like Eros Ramazotti (although this San Remo winner is decidedly cuter, I must say). Italy will score okay, but nothing beyond mid-table this year. France's entry is, once again, so off-the-cuff and so clearly a non-winner that one wonders why they even bother, even if each year I am still glad to see that France is around. It'll score very poorly. The UK is going with Bonnie Tyler this year, and the song is weak and quite forgettable. Furthermore, I never liked Ms. Tyler's voice, and this entry does nothing to enhance my opinion of her, pro that she is. The UK will once again tank in the voting. As for Spain - incredibly forgettable and utter rubbish. It'll come last on the night and it could even be nul points for Spain this year - just watch.
 
And so that's it for now - now all I must do is sit back and watch the whole tacky, wonderful spectacle unfold. And probably hate the winner, of course. And for all of that I am thankful.

Go Belgium, Go Ireland! :-) 

Yes, it's Eurovision Song Contest time again!



      
  

BITCH OF THE MONTH: Marissa Mayer

This story has been festering with me for nearly a month now, but it warrants the villain(ess) hereunder being touted as the ultimate Bitch of the Month.

The mean-spirited harridan in question is the CEO of Yahoo!, a certain Marissa Meyer. She caused quite a sensation in the upper echelons of blue chip corporate America at the beginning of the month when she cancelled her company's generous flexitime and work from home working policies for its employees all over the world.

It made headline news - and no doubt gave many corporate honchos wet dreams the world over.

Nothing like slashing hard-earned and deserved rights to have a more pleasant, humane means of earning a living.

This from a cutting-edge IT company that has for some years now considered one of the most progressive workplaces and best companies to work for, not only in Silicon Valley, but anywhere in the world.

Not now, because along the biggest Scroogette of them all, a certain Ms. Meyer. What raised the ire of so many of her employees, and countless others around the world, myself included, is that not only has this corporate frau set back the clock in terms of corporate working hours and other cherished strides in making the workplace more humane, but that she's also a bloody hypocrite: because it was reported that whilst she insists that Yahoo! workers worldwide must give up working from home and being able to raise their children and having a semblance of a bloody life, she has her own little son in a private nursery right next to her no doubt very plush office at Yahoo! HQ.

Typical - nothing like double standards by the corporate high and mighty when they're at the top - it's the whole 'I'm-the-Boss-therefore-what-I-say-goes-and-so-what-if-the-rules-don't-apply-to-me that pervades most corporations and skins lesser employees of their own sense of dignity in the workplace.

I detest this woman because:

- She sets back the clock - and I do not like people who do any such thing in the already often soul-destroying place that is having to make a buck to earn a living

- Yahoo! set the benchmark for all the right reasons - now corporations will use it as their benchmark for all the wrong reasons

- She's just another woman in a position of power trying to be an even bigger bastard than most men, just to prove how 'touch' she really, really is

- You just know this will have the blessing of most shareholders and other 'investors' in Yahoo! who don't give a flying damn about how much better it is that employees get treated like adults with a life beyond being captive prisoners in a corporate hellhole

- What she proposes is anti-labour, anti-environment, anti-sustainability and, above all else, anti the future and where work should be heading

But taking a look at her picture says it all: severe blonde hair cut so straight it wouldn't budge in a hurricane, pursed, pinched Anglo Saxon lips and that smug Ivy League expression we all love to hate. It's a face dying to be slapped:


Photo courtesy of The Columbus Dispatch

Yes, I detest everything this woman stands for. Yes, I don't know her -  and I shouldn't give a damn as it hardly affects me. But I do, because in this ever-globalized, ever-homogenized world, decisions like this have ripple effects everywhere.

And that is why I have made Yahoo!'s corporate honchette my absolute Bitch of the Year.

You so thoroughly deserve it, Ms. Meyer.

RAVE: Latuff Salutes Chavez

I knew my favourite cartoonist, Carlos Latuff, would come up with something inspired to honour the untimely death last week of the great and inimitable Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez.

Latuff did not disappoint:


Courtesy of Latuff Cartoons


Hugo will indeed stride into the history books, his head held high.

Thank you, Carlos. And thank you, Hugo.

TRUTH: Bradley Manning - the Conscience of America

I came across an excellent article by Michael Ratner entitled, "Bradley Manning: The Conscience of America" via the ever-excellent Common Dreams. Please read the article here. It is important that you do so.

Michael Ratner is not only the president emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights, but, more impressively for those of us outside the United States, he is the lawyer for none other than Julian Assange and Wikileaks. This is a man no doubt himself of great conscience and intellectual sincerity. 

He has been attending the military court facility proceedings against Manning at Fort Meade, Maryland, and has clearly been quite overwhelmed by the Bradley Manning he has seen before him. In military legal terms, this is without a doubt 'the trial of the century,' if not all of US legal military history, given that Manning is accused of the biggest leak of classified military documents in US history. He could be sentenced to death for what he did.

Far from being a broken or emotionally fragmented young man, Manning has instead presented himself with tremendous poise and conviction of what he did. As quoted from Ratner's article, "Yet, facing life in prison, possibly execution (which the government says it will not request), and all but sealing his fate for at least a lengthy prison term by his guilty admission to 10 of 22 charges against him, Bradley Manning exhibited calm, collection, great intelligence and, yet again, incredible bravery. In fact, if there was any room for doubt about Manning acting from a powerful moral compass, and representing the best and bravest of our military, the plea into which Manning entered must remove it."

That in itself is remarkable, and as Ratner correctly observes, shows the character and moral rectitude of the man accused by many of some of the most 'heinous crimes' in recent United States history, and by possibly even more as surely being a 'traitor.'

Fundamentally, when all is said and done, Bradley Manning did what he did not for the glory, not for the infamy, not for anything but all the right reasons. As he himself stated in his plea statement before the court on February 28th: 

“I believed that if the general public, especially the American public, had access to the information… this could spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general…” 

The United States military and government have been unmasked for the hypocritical, lying bullies that they are, and they are assuredly hell-bent on making an example of Manning. They will almost certainly succeed. Bullies and hypocrites always succeed - in the short-term.

In the longer-term Bradley Manning will be vindicated and praised as the true American patriot for what he did.

For now, those of us with a conscience and with more open eyes and minds can only hope for the best outcome from this farcical trial that he must endure. And hope that his spirit and resolute sense of self will persevere. 

What has happened and continues to happen to Bradley Manning is a slap in the face of every truth-seeking person on this planet. His torture, lack of due process and now mockery of a trial are a slap in all our faces. 


Courtesy of OccupyLV

Ratner was wrong about one thing: Bradley Manning is not merely the conscience of America. He is the conscience of the world. 

Do you get my point?

IT SAYS IT ALL: Chavez Somos Todos

The fantastic poster below says it all about Hugo Chavez...


Image courtesy of Fundacite-Zulia, Venezuela


We are indeed all Chavez...

RAVE: A Salute to Hugo Chavez

I have become quite emotional as I search the Internet for pictures and images of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. It has made me realize just how much I valued this man, and, unfortunately, took him for granted for 'just being around' and being a monumental headache to the United States. 


Photo courtesy of Annalisa Melandri, Italy

And now he is gone.

Below are some pictures and images of Hugo Chavez that are my own small, personal way of saluting this great man and great leader in this blog of mine:


Photo courtesy of World Bulletin


Courtesy of Voices from Russia


Courtesy of The Big Story


Photo courtesy of Blouin News


Photo courtesy of CBS News


Photo courtesy of CTV News, Canada


Courtesy of Keep Calm And Posters


RIP Hugo.

RIP: Hugo Chavez

I was shocked and saddened to hear about the death of Hugo Chavez yesterday. The highly charismatic Venezuelan president died of a heart attack in Cuba after nearly two years battle with cancer. He was just 58 years of age.

Photo courtesy of Greenreport, Italy

I don't profess to being an expert on either Chavez or Venezuelan politics, but there is no denying that he was a game-changer in Latin American politics and that he was an iconic figure in the world. Chavez did much to raise the living standards of the poorest of Venezuelans, even if it was to the detriment of the country's economic growth, as his vociferous detractors (and haters) would often accuse him. Or so they say.

He no doubt had his flaws as both leader and person, but there are many, many reasons to mourn the passing of Hugo Chavez:

Because his 'Bolivar revolution' was at least an attempt at a better, more equitable life for Latin Americans

Because he changed the lives for millions of his nation's poorest in a region where the gulf between the haves and the have nots is so immense

Because he was born poor, rose to the top and tried to make a difference as a leader

Because he made the rich and the plutocrats in his country genuinely scared and angry

Because he gave socialism a modern, Latin face

Because he was the catalyst for leftist governments to sweep into power in countries like Bolivia and Ecuador, and even the leftish turn of Argentina

Because he nationalized key state enterprises, at a time when neo-liberalism reigns supreme for the Naked Emperor that it is

Because he survived an outrageous rightwing coup in 2002 against him - and came back stronger than ever

Because he stuck it to American imperialismo whenever he could - and that's good enough for me

Because leaders like this are so very rare

Because he was Hugo

I feel for the millions of poor and socially sensible Venezuelans who are in deep shock and mourning over the death of their Comandante. He changed many of their lives forever, so I can only imagine their terrible sense of loss with his death. For all those of us who yearn for a more just and equitable world, a world devoid of the crass and neo-liberalist casino capitalism that crushes the planet, and who felt and knew Chavez was on our side, we too have a sense of loss.

He will be missed - very missed.

RIP Hugo.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Bertrand Russell

Today's quote is by the brilliant philosopher, social essayist, pacifist and Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Bertrand Russell:

"Every advance in civilization has been denounced as unnatural while it was recent."

 

The abolition of slavery, anyone?
The rights of women, anyone?
The equal rights of gays and lesbians, anyone?

How true are his words?

On a day in which I have already posted my opinions on this little thing called civilzation, the words of this towering colossus of an intellect, this most moral man and most eloquent philosopher, could not be more pertinent - or true.

RANT: Egypt's Clash of Civilizations

Chaos continues to rock Egypt.

The country has been gripped in a vice of popular uprising and all-out dissent for weeks now, very much in the aftermath of the highly controversial and divisive constitutional vote that has almost but swept the Muslim Brotherhood and sharia law into this brave land.


Photo courtesy of Russia Today (RT)

The outrage is palpable - and very real. For, as I see it from the outside and from afar, it is the clash between those (mostly urban) who desperately want a secular, democratic post-Mubarak Egypt, versus those Islamic (mostly rural- and poor-supported) fundamentalists, decidedly undemocratic forces that have been fermenting for years in that country, and who now very much have the upper hand.  

Is this synoptic analysis the musings of a typical Westerner who does not understand the complexities of Egyptian politics and society? I believe not. Whilst I would never, ever presume to be an expert on Egyptian issues and societies, nor am I that clueless about history and the machinations of how society falls apart when it is plain to see secular forces on the one side, and religious fundamentalist forces on the other.

The recent declaration by a court in Port Said to sentence a group of supporters to death for their 'role' in causing a stampede and subsequent riot at a football match in that port town, which resulted in many deaths, is indicative of in just what serious trouble this country is.

Sentenced to death for (possibly) contributing to people dying at a football stampede? It's madness - it is the rot of a society completely in disarray, with no notion of due process and with no firm moral compass. 

In my opinion, that immense, primal clash between these two forces are plain to see in current-day Egypt. And I defy anyone to see it as anything else - essentially and fundamentally, that is, and with all the nuances and peculiarities of the Egyptian context and reality, of course. And with all due respect to all involved.

However, history is more common to all of us than not. And as a secular humanist, I cannot sit back and see what is going on in Egypt for anything less than what it fundamentally appears to be - the clash between the secular and the religious. And I know for which side I must root. 

In the clash between modern Enlightenment values (which is the only way forward for any modern, democratic state, regardless of ethnicity, history or religious persuasion) and religious barbarism, one cannot sit back impassively. One must get angry - and worried. Religious fundamentalism of any kind is a cancerous, festering wound on any society, and must be vilified and fought at every turn.

That is why I hope that the demonstrators in Egypt keep fighting and baying for the ouster of President Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood henchmen - they have no choice in the matter. It's either fight, fight, fight, or be turned into yet another society shackled by religious fanatics - fanatics who are far more cynical and sinister than any secular forces could ever be.

Do you get my point?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: John Stuart Mill

I've seen this quote before, but coming across it again I just had to post it on my blog. It's by the 19th-century British philosopher and economist, John Stuart Mill:

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid, it is true that most stupid people are conservative."

Courtesy of Sentado Frente al Mundo

Brilliant. Truer words were never spoken, Mr. Mill.

"

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Cruising Cheetah

I came across this excellent photo today, which shows a cheetah riding atop the roof of a moving jeep in the Maasai Mara in Kenya.

According to the blurb in The Telegraph, "[Cheetahs] climb the highest point available, usually a termite mound, to spot their prey, but this clever cheetah was so determined to find food for her cubs that she thought nothing of jumping onto a moving Land Cruiser."


Photo taken by David Lloyd and courtesy of The Telegraph and Shakesville

Reminds me of a few felines that happen to reside in my home...

Simply stunning.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Carl Sagan

The world-renowned and charismatic astronomer and writer Carl Sagan once said the following:

"If you wish to make an apple pie truly from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

It is the very best of a pithy statement - at once amusing, even simple, yet ultimately profound.

It is quintessential Sagan. 


Courtesy of The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

IT SAYS IT ALL: Love Letter from Israel

In the week in which Israel held parliamentary elections and the rightwing warmonger Benjamin Netanyahu was predictably the victor, we need to all be reminded about just how utterly Zionist, expansionist and dangerous Israel has become over the years - and more so now than ever.

Below is a telling swipe at a convenient Zionist ploy, as done by my 2012 Cartoonist of the Year, Carlos Latuff:


           Courtesy of Carlos Latuff at Latuff Cartoons

It really does say it all.

A WORD FOR 2013: Cyberazzi

Having just ranted in my last post about a phrase too often hacked by too many people, I now came across a very interesting if chilling word being discussed at the excellent CorpWatch:

CYBERAZZI

A play on the words 'cyber' and 'paparazzi,' this portmanteau will no doubt become an increasing part of our lexicon as more and more people discover just how very little privacy one has online these days.

And all the paparazzi do is make the lives of celebrities and the rich and famous a living hell with their constant prying and clicking away. To be honest, their work, vacuous as it is, can even be fun for the rest of us. But the work of the cyberazzi is anything but mindless pop culture in overdrive, snapping away at useless princes caught naked and ditzy reality starlets bonking on yachts.

It is far more sinister than that.

'Data mining' is the bland, innocuous-sounding term that gives these cyberazzi their blanket cover so that they can pry ever more into our tastes, purchases, opinions and very lives using software and cutting edge spy technology that grows in sophistication at a seemingly exponential rate.

And all of it at our expense.


Courtesy of Bright Base

What is their purpose? Why must so much of our cyber lives be up for grabs? To whose benefit? And why?

Forget Big Brother - this is Big Daddy. And he's the suspicious, devious and soulless type. Certainly not to be trusted or loved.

Do you get my point?

TINAPA: "Coup de Gras"

There are misused words that drive me absolutely dilly; hence my introduction of 'TINAWA' (That Is Not A Word Asshole!) last year. One gets assaulted so often by them that one is almost numbed to it, whether they come flying out from e-mails, on the Web, or (my absolute pet peeve) even in supposedly reputable newspapers and TV stations (just unacceptable!).

But there are also phrases that also get mangled to an inch of their poor lives; hence my need to introduce 'TINAPA' (That Is Not A Phrase Asshole!).

I know - the use of the word 'asshole' is very déclassé of me, but I just can't help it, such is the impact on me when the English language is needlessly trashed - again and again and again...(and why the hell is Blogger underlining the word 'déclassé' as if it were incorrect?! Count to 10, Vittorio...)

My first TINAPA goes to one that crops up all over the place, and is one of my pet peeves - the use of a foreign phrase as if trying to be clever or sophisticated. I really hate those, because when a foreign phrase is ill-used all the person lands up sounding like is a clueless twat and rube.

Enter the phrase 'coup de gras'...used here in South Africa with wild, reckless abandon - especially reckless abandon, because there's no such phrase.

Which basically translates from the French into 'a stroke or blow of fat' - huh? Exactly.

It's coup de grâce, my little ones at sea, meaning a death blow or a decisive or finishing blow or flourish.



 I think some people actually know how the phrase is spelled, yet assume that every last syllable in every single word in the French language must somehow always be silent...those pesky French and their inability to pronounce a word in its entirety! Which is how grâce mutates into gras, I guess...

This from the mouths of the countless proles that shuffle all around me I can (just barely) excuse, but from journalists, politicians and other people who should know better...it's simply inexcusable.

I know how difficult it is for some users of an Anglo-Saxon language to reconcile themselves with the fact that French was once the lingua franca of the civilized world, but that's what has made English such a rich language, grabbing words from all over the globe, bless it's poaching heart. But it's poaching we're talking about, not hacking.

"Coup de gras" be gone!

RANT: Barmy Bali Drug Rot

56-year-old British grandmother Lindsay June Sandiford was today sentenced to death in Bali for trying to smuggle $2.5-million worth of cocaine into the Indonesian island.

Yes, sentenced to death.


Courtesy of 3 News, New Zealand

She claims that she did it because she was forced to do so when a drug gang threatened to harm her family if she did not, a not altogether unfeasible story, even if difficult to prove. But even the prosecution was seeking just 15 years imprisonment for her smuggling.

Instead, she may face death by firing squad.

This in a country where you don't get the death penalty for raping a woman or even torturing a woman or child. But bring drugs onto a (reportedly) drug-saturated island like Bali and - wham! - you could die for that.

It has been claimed that she is hardly a drug kingpin and, according to the Associated Press, "she has no money to pay for a lawyer, for the travel costs of defense witnesses or even for essentials like food and water."

I find all of this unacceptable. Death for drug smuggling? It's ludicrous, even if Mrs. Sandiford should have known better.

And I do NOT accept the argument that a country has the right to pass the laws it wishes. Not when those laws are as barbaric and medieval as condemning someone to death for what is clearly small-time smuggling. Yes, Indonesia - barbaric. And that goes for Singapore, Thailand, and all the other Asian nations who espouse these outrageous drug laws like some sick badge of honour.

The 'war' on the international trade in drugs is flawed to the hilt. Whilst there is no denying that the international drug trade has spawned a disgusting legacy of international gangsterism ruled by some of the most vicious and vile thugs on the planet, there is also no arguing that the 'war' to fight this drug scourge is often hypocritical, futile and even downright ludicrous at times.

I feel genuinely appalled by this case. Not because I believe drug smuggling should go unpunished or because I think Mrs. Sandiford should walk free with a mere slap on the hand, but because so outrageously penurous a penalty such as death is so uncommensurate with the act and so utterly morally warped as to make a mockery out of any sense of civilization.

Sentences such as these are the very epitome of the uncivilized.

I do not accept unjust, unduly harsh law of any kind. And I never will.

Do you get my point?

RAVE: Lancing the Armstrong Myths

I came across an excellent article today on Yahoo! Sports' ThePostGame. Written by Lisa Hoehn of the Active Times, and entitled "Lance Armstrong Myths Debunked," it provides very believable evidence of just how many myths have surrounded the entire Lance Armstrong doping scandal.




Courtesy of The Observer

Many of these myths were created and brandished by Armstrong and his handlers, of course.

The five myths debunked included:

1. Armstrong took up to 600 drug tests. False. He barely took over 200
2. And he passed all his drug tests. False. He failed at least two - read the article for more
3. Drug tests would have found PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) in his body. False. And it's not that difficult to pass one, so it appears
4. Lance was still a winner amongst a field where everyone was doing it anyway. False. There were cyclists speaking out against all the doping. And is that really the point anyway?!
5. He founded and is the heartbeat of Livestrong, a basically terrific charity for cancer patients and cancer research. Mostly false. Especially when one reads what journalist Bill Gifford has to say (read here) about the organisation and its (in)famous poster boy. And Livestrong, for all its good, hasn't donated to cancer research in years.

Boy, how all the you-know-what is flooding and stinking up all over the place since he was forced to show some contrition and confess all to Oprah Winfrey this past week. He basically had no choice, of course, and those endorsements were hemorrhaging big time. 

Never mind the mounting lawsuits against ol' Lance - every single one of them very deserved and a classic case of poetic justice.

I have no patience or a shred of sympathy for Lance Armstrong. He's a sporting fraudster and a moral charlatan, who smugly rode the high waves of celebrity and mega endorsements for many years, only to come crashing down on the rocky shores of his monumental ego and neverending lies.

He knowingly destroyed careers and played the moral high ground, even though he was the biggest liar and cheat of all. He is nothing more than a contemptible asshole.

I wish upon Lance Armstrong an endless tide of legal writs, financial ruin and ever diminishing returns on his so-called 'legacy' and undeserved celebrity. He deserves nothing less.

Do you get my point?

MY SAYING FOR 2013...

I decided at the beginning of this year that my go-to phrase for 2013 will be this:

Some may say that this is the cop-out statement, that it's all too fatalistic. For me it offers comfort in the now and reminds me that there is always another tomorrow...and that can be precious on certain days.

Other sayings will have other meanings for me in the future, but for now this is the one that resonates with me going forward into 2013...

IT SAYS IT ALL: Greece and the Blasted Euro

During my images research today for my post on my wishlist for 2013 I came across this quite revealing and quite brilliant photo of graffiti in Athens:


Courtesy of Bloomberg

The euro is indeed nothing less than a bomb threatening to blow up the Greek economy, never mind its society and very dignity as a nation.

Exit the euro in 2013 and save your nation, Greece!

It really does say it all.

PREVIEW: A Wishlist for 2013

Here are some of my biggest wishes (and causes) for 2013...

NO WAR WITH IRAN: 


Courtesy of Value Walk

Is it even possible? The world cannot afford it...

NO WAR WITH SYRIA:


Courtesy of World News Curator

This is even more likely than war with Iran, but, well...one can hope...

ANOTHER REVOLUTION IN EGYPT:

Courtesy of Political Humor

This time to overthrow the Islamic fundamentalist thugs that have usurped power.

A TRULY DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION IN BAHRAIN:


Courtesy of Kentoh as appeared in Dreamstime

A real Arab Spring success - to make up for the bitter disappointments of Egypt, etc.

GREECE TO EXIT THE EURO:


     Courtesy of The Telegraph, UK

They must do it - to save their country and dignity. Portugal too would be great.

FREE TIBET:


Courtesy of alienangels, Germany

Will this country ever be free? Or is the world too scared of the mighty China?

SILVER TO GO THROUGH THE ROOF:


Courtesy of Bloomberg

Enough with worthless paper money and manipulation by JP Morgan et al - hi ho, silver!

THE COLLAPSE OF MAJOR BANKS:


Courtesy of TTC News

A few big bank collapses to expose the casino fraud that is international banking.

BRADLEY MANNING TO BE FREE:

Courtesy of RussBLib

JULIAN ASSANGE TO BE FREE:


Courtesy of The Telegraph, UK

To be really free.

PALESTINE TO BE (MORE) FREE:



Courtesy of Glittersnipe

To build on the (limited) UN recognition Palestine received in 2012 - it's a start...

EUROPE TO REGAIN ITS SECULAR GLORY:


Courtesy of England Today

It is NOT fascist or rightwing to want to defend a secular, democratic and free Europe!

WIKILEAKS TO BOUNCE BACK:


Courtesy of Podopolog

They need to bounce back in 2013. We need them to bounce back.

RHINOS TO THE FORE:



Courtesy of African Wildlife Foundation

May the fight to save the magnificent rhino grow from strength to strength.

AND DON'T FORGET THE WHALE AND THE...:


Courtesy of National Geographic

More success in saving the whales...and the dolphins and every other maligned species...

CLIMATE CHANGE REALITY CHECK?:


Courtesy of Political Humor
2013: the turnaround year for global action on climate change? Will this ever happen?

MORE MAGIC FROM RUSSIA TODAY:



RT - the only 24-hour satellite news channel worth watching. Keep it up, RT!

MORE MAGIC FROM MAX AND STACY:


Courtesy of Max Keiser

Simply the best couple (and intellectual Bonnie and Clyde) on TV. 

FERRARI TO BE F1 SUPREMOS:


Courtesy of Glitterazi

To really, really stick it to the damn Pink Cows and McCheats. And all the others.

A FERRARI WORLD CHAMPION:



Courtesy of Miami City Social

Felipe Massa or Fernando Alonso - either one will do. ;-)

MY OWN DREAMS TO COME TRUE:

    Photo of me courtesy of Mandy Steenkamp

  And I have quite a few of those! Here's to 2013 - I always did like the number 13...