CONTROVERSY MAKES MONEY

CONTROVERSY MAKES MONEY

If ever there was a controversial businessman, it is Billionaire, real estate mogul Donald  Trump who is currently the presumptive nominee for president of the US of America. As a businessman, he made his fortune in the  television, investment and real estate realm. Undoubtedly he is good at what he does and none can fault his commitment to making money, especially since he is in his office at 6 o' cock in the morning when he clearly doesn't have to be there, if at all. So the way I see it, he is a  control freak of epic proportion, with an "irreplaceable complex" unable to delegate his post to anyone, or he is just driven by pure greed. Always wanting more and willing to step on other's constitutional rights with his snide remarks and narcissist attitude of superiority. 

For a conservative presidential candidate he really has an abrasive nature and always seems to stir  up controversy, justifying that he is a strong defender of American values that embodies the principles of Ronald Reagan. But is't just his excuse for being rude, opportunistic  and unprincipled. However, he is willing to relinquish his position at Trump International for the position of global world leader because he has already spent $18 million in campaign funds to help him secure it.

Controversy makes money. There are hundreds if not thousands of people doing controversial things, saying controversial things in order to get attention. Sufficient attention creates potential fame, and fame potential money. Money equates to power for some. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

In a 2011 interview with  David Brody of the Christian Broadcast Network (CBN), Trump  stated his Islamophobic position, saying that there is a serious problem with Muslims. Adding that he has serious reservations about the teachings in  the holy book of Islam - the Qur'an. Ever since, Trumps negative view of Muslims globally has never abated even though a very small minority of a very small minority of  "Radical Muslims / Islamist extremists"  are responsible for "acts of terrorism". In 2016  Trump called  for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States."  Causing outrage among Muslim leaders across the globe, by the  anti-Islam prejudice demonstrated by Trump and the  75 % US Republicans  who think that  Islam  is un-American.

Based on his perception of the attack on the world trade center in 9/11, he paints all Muslims with the same brush even though  there is overwhelming evidence of a controlled demolition in all three World Trade Center buildings.  It is common knowledge that the twin tower bombing was an American inside job involving the CIA, Dick Cheney, George  Bush and his father in a 30 year conspiracy with the white house playing cover up to fool the masses. Thereafter Rumsfeld reported a whopping $2.3 trillion missing from the Pentagon. Essentially the twin tower attack was the impetus for George Bush's "war on terror".

Having said that, about a third of all Americans don't  believe the official story put forward by the "White House" and as much as 90% of the global population don't  believe the "official story " either. Unfortunately Trump isn't one of them or his just in denial.

INSIDE JOB

CNN/FOX/MSNBC and BBC reported the collapse of WTC 7 a good 20 minutes before it even happened. (how would they know if they didn't get the brief?) 

Large amounts of Nano Thermite was found in the dust at Ground Zero which melted the steel and cause it to stay in a molten form 21 days later. (Did the "terrorists" bring the thermite?)

George Bush delayed starting the 911 Commission for 441 days whereas as under JFK, the Pearl Harbor commissions were started within 7 days. (seems like it wasn't important!)

The 911 commission was limited $15 Million to investigate the 9/11 disaster yet more than $60 Million was spent investigating Clinton's affairs with Monica Lewinsky. (Was 911 a side show?) But there are also a thousand other reasons that screams cover up. 

Anyway, in June of 2015 Donald Trump voiced his dislike for Mexican immigrants by calling for a wall to be erected between Mexico and the U.S. and force the Mexico government to pay for it. Soon after he proposed to deport more than 11 million illegal immigrants from the United States. Honduran born Comedian Carlos Mencia makes jest of Donald Trump's aspirations in his comedy show, drawing attention to who is actually going to to the home repair work if all the Mexicans are deported. In a nutshell Trump hates "beaners"  and is Islamophobic and certainly doesn't know that Islam is a peaceful religion.

Not to long ago Trump Trump blasted Apple for refusing to assist the FBI to gain access to the phone that belonged to one of the San Bernadino shooters by saying  “Who do they think they are?” and called for  a boycott of the iPhone manufacturer. Trump has also criticized other big companies for outsourcing their manufacturing and avoiding paying taxes. He said   “We’re going to get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country, instead of in other countries." Trump even accused Amazon of not paying taxes.   Yet he owns large stock portfolios in both companies.

He even had a go at President Barack Obama, saying he's done a terrible job running the country, calling him incompetent and accusing him of divided the country on a matter he refers to as  "radical Islamist terrorism".

Trump even alienated some women voters with cynical remarks about Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina's personal appearance. Trump  also insulted Sen. John McCain,  a decorated Vietnam War veteran, by sarcastically  saying  “He’s not a war hero,”  “He’s a war hero because he was captured.” In effect this is an indictment against every American soldier who defended his American interests. Ever since these unkind remarks, Trump's financial portfolio has grown  by almost 50%. He claims that his net worth is 10 Billion whereas Forbes estimates it at 4.5 Billion. 

Donald Trump discloses his financial holdings in a  104-page financial document which he recently filed with the  Federal Election Commission (FEC).  But this may not be full declaration because he vehemently refused to release any of his tax returns for scrutiny, claiming that he is undergoing an IRS audit, beside doing so is purely a voluntary act and not mandatory. He says this in the face of each and every presidential nominee who complied to this request since 1976. So what does Trump really have to hide?  There is also a huge disparity  between what Donald Trump says his golf courses are worth, and what he actually reported to uncle Sam. 
His claims  that he has the most expensive golf courses in the world - (just ask him) yet declared them at 97% less his claimed  value on his  nomination filings.

Ever since the prejudicial comments about Mexican immigrants during his campaign launch speech he has won favour with the democrats and his 4.5 Billion has miraculously grown into more than 10 Billion. (according to Trump). Based on this, Trump should be audited. 

Jeff Bezos the CEO of Amazon very correctly said  "This is not an appropriate way for a Presidential Candidate to behave." But that's just putting it extremely mildly. In my opinion Donald Trump is an opportunist, a ego-maniac and a threat to world peace and security and the epitome of a hater and a racist.  In a nutshell, he is an “insane bigot” comparable to the likes of  of  Adolf Hitler. Allowing such a person to occupy the US presidency is an extremely bad refection on the US voters as a whole.  Donald Trump is certainly not your best choice but rather the absolute worst. 

Voting for a bigot xenophobic racist like Donald Trump shouts very loudly that you're  a bigot xenophobic racist as well. It doesn't matter how much you may like what he says now, you will regret it big time later. Trump says Hilary Clinton has bad judgement, adding that she's "worse than Obama". However, Hillary, would certainly be the  better option because if American presidents could go from  all white presidents to a  black president - Obama, then it can also go from all male to female - Hillary Clinton.

GOUDINI SPA CONTINUED

GOUDINI SPA LOOMING ACCIDENTS

On the afternoon of my first day at Goudini Spa, I accompanied my wife to the pools. I accidentally cut my foot on a broken or raised edge of a tile. Looking around I saw several other broken and missing tiles, so I decided to capture it in order to alert other potential day visitors to the looming accidents at Goudini Spa.

The hot mineral water gets pumped into the shallow kiddies pool that is joined to the centre pool by means of 110 mm plastic pipes. Here the water cools  by several degrees and the now tepid water enters the final pool via sluces. This may be a good principal for cooling but we all know that little children will not tell you that they need to pee and relieve themselves into the water source that supplies the other two larger pools. I have even seen the expression on adults faces when they wee in the water. They just try too hard to make the poker face which inevitable gives their game away. This is kinda disgusting, yet adults with the need to pacify themselves that the mineral water helps with their arthritis are willing to wallow in others peoples urine.

I remember the movie adults when someone pee in the water it turns blue. Compared to Caledon Spa it sucks and compared to Club Michanos, it doesn't come close. They don't even have client feedback forms to determine whether or not you enjoyed your holday and if you would recommend it to friends and family. I know of spa that received a bad review room a customer and for the sake of pleasing the customer, gave them a free weekend to any of their resorts as compensation for their poor/ bad service.

This is the metal grating against which I stomped my toe and crack my toenail. Yes it was Eina!

GOUDINI SPA

GOUDINI SPA

The name Goudini Spa plastered against the mountain-side along the N1 enroute Worcester intrigued me, ever since I was a child. As a family, we've traveled past this huge sign on countless  occasions when we were on our way to the Big Hole Kimberley, the Sani Pass Drakensberg Mountains in Lesotho, or to Lost City resort in Sun City  Johannesburg, or the Cradle of Mankind Sterkfontein Caves Pretoria, or the  BMW Motorrad Buffalo Rally via Beaufort West, etc. At least 2 decades later when my son turned 5 during August of 1989 we decided to visit Goudini Spa as a family, but were chased away as if dogs and told never to return. We discovered the hard way, that Goudini Spa was reserved exclusively for whites. Goudini Spa management enforced South Africa's apartheid policies to the hilt and as a "non-white,  though Afrikaans speaking family" we couldn't  even make it past the gate. 

Goudini Vakansie Oord by ETKV 

The Goudini Plaque against the Mountain visible for several kilometers.

Goudini Spa is an initiative of the Afrikaanse Taal  en Kultuurvereniging (RSA), abbreviated ATKA, hence named ATKV Goudini Spa. It was a resort by white Afrikaaners  for white Afrikaaners who subsequently acquired 6 more resorts situated at ATKV Buffelspoort North West, ATKV Drakensville, ATKV 

Eiland Spa Limpopo, ATKV Hartenbos Western Cape (George), ATKV Klein-Kariba Limpopo, and ATKV Natalia on Kwa-Zula Natal beach, all operated on the premise and aims to promote the Afrikaans language and culture. Membership was exclusive to members of the Afrikaner Christian community.  

After the "demise of apartheid"  many non-white families flocked to Goudini Spa to see what the hype was about, but we still avoided it as if a penal colony because of their newly found religious prejudice. As recent as the year  2000, ATKV Goudini Spa management denied a Muslim couple membership because they weren't Christians, a case that ended up at the  SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). By implication Muslims cannot or not allowed to benefit from the 30 percent discount that Christian members are entitled to and enjoy at Goudini Spa. 

In my book, this amounts to open  discrimination and  prejudice and is a violation of the right to religious freedom. If this was done to a Jew, he would very loudly shout "anti-semitism" but ATKV management banks on Muslim complacency. A complacency that virtually guarantees Goudini Spa 100% pax off season. To further this paradox and add insult to injury Goudini Spa has a fast-food restaurant advertised as  "Strictly Halaal" in red writing on a yellow board, seeking Muslim patronage yet they cannot become members. Its a blatant case of, we cannot stand you and nor your religion but we really want your money. 

However, as non-members paying the non-christian rate, my wife and her siblings have frequented Goudini Spa and always raved about what a great time they had. One day whilst surfing the net I stumbled on some beautiful photos of Goudini Spa which looked really enticing. The photos of the mountainous region, the vinyard valleys, the fynbos, and above all my wife's incessant nagging to go to Goudini Spa served as the deciding factor to go spend a few days of well deserved rest at the resort, right before their annual price increase which kicks-in on the 1 March.

What follows is a pictorial expose of the three days I spent there. But before I continue, I need to say I was disappointed by the overall Goudini Spa experience, especially by the main attraction which are the Spa pools. Perhaps my disappointment doesn't stem from the resort and its amenities itself  but rather from my expectations of Goudini Spa, considering we paid real money to be there, 30 percent more than any Christian guest.  This blog is not a placard to boycott Goudini Spa nor an attempt at reverse racism but rather an insight into its shortcomings and perhaps what needs to be done to improve relations among  all South Africans.  

The following few pics are really cool and depict the weather during various times of the day over a three day period when I looked out of the front door of our rondawel in which we stayed.

Late afternoon the mist came up and it was quite cold.

Midday  and the clouds were standing still

When the wind came up he clouds blew north

When the sun was overhead but overcast

Hazy weather

The Rondawel in which we stayed

My understanding of the hotel/ resort star rating is that a 1 star is usually a small to medium-sized room /apartment with facilities  and furnishings that  are clean but basic which typically includes a telephone and TV and a bath tub.  The Rondavel in which we stayed, is rated as 2 stars with most of the TV channels TV snowy, the remote control didn't work and the manual buttons to operate were situated on the top edge of the  TV which was perched on a shelf above the fridge. To change the channel of even decrease the intensity of the sound level, one needed to climb on a chair with the hope of pressing the correct button to do the necessary. When we vacated the Rondawel after our stay, we discovered that reception gave us the wrong TV remote - a Hisense remote for an LG TV.  LoL. And all we got was a sooorrrry.

A HiSense remote control for the LG TV below.

TV reception sucked, and the annoyance of a non-working remote control made things worse.

This must have bee a storeroom and not accommodation.

The door scraped every time it was opened or closed while
 the mosquito net had a massive hole in it.

The TV aerial cable just hanging like a cloths line

Cracked window panes... are they serious!

I wasn't prepaired to put my clothing in this damp, musty smelling cupboard

Incomplete tiling in the bathroom is definitely not worth 2 stars.

The outside of the Rondawels looks more appealing than the inside.

My garden tools shed floor looks better than this.

When I touch the curtain it just came off the rail 

So within the first hour we were there, I had to get the plumbers
out to unblock the drain that overflowed with human feces.  

Look at this... This must be the 1 star and the picture below the 2nd star

Certainly not fit to be called a 2 star resort.

The TV aerial was mounted on the rafters of the thatch roof
with the cable hanging like a cloths line 

This is for newly weds. When you close the bathroom door, white confetti falls on your head. 

This is probably the air vent where the steam vapours need to escape.
However when the wind blows the dust comes pouring out immediately after you showered.

This must be the  "Chip" and dale bathroom suit. Lots of chips but no dale.

This is where the Goudini Spa king cockroach lives.
You know the one that walks over your toothbrush when you not looking.

Continued .....

#FeesMustFall

#FeesMustFall

The year 1976 was the year of student uprising and protests that shook the apartheid regime, which brought them to their senses. Using the term "Soweto Student Uprising" just diminishes the efforts and successes of all other student groups across South Africa; and it is therefore more politically correct to say that their collective protesting was the catalyst that fragmented and finally transitioned South Africa from its demeaning system of apartheid to one of majority rule and equal opportunity.  This was a major achievement for the previously disadvantaged, even though apartheid only officially "fell" in 1994. With the "fall of apartheid" universities enrollments were available to everyone and ratio of privileged whites to underprivileged blacks gradually changed. By looking at the figures below, it is very evident that there are currently far more black university students than white students. The difficulty with being previously disadvantaged, money or rather a lack of it was more often than not the problem and to pay exorbitant fees for an education is almost impossible for most previously disadvantaged families.  #FeesMustFall is a student led protest/march/demonstration  that began in October 2015 in response to a controversial increase in  South African universities fees.

University of Pretoria (UP)

The University of Pretoria has some 62 000 full-time and part-time students and it also has the largest residency in South Africa.  Black students represent about 56% whereas White accounts for some 39% with other race groups and international students composed of the shortfall. They want  Fees #Must Fall

North West University (NWU)

North West University has more than 47 000 students which resulted from the merging of the historically black University of North-West and the  historically white Potchefstroom University. Black students currently  stands at 28%  whereas White  students amount to some 69% and once again the shortfall is composed of other race groups and international students. They want  Fees #Must Fall

University of Johannesburg (UJ)

University of Johannesburg also has some 47 000 students because it was a merger  of  the Technikon Witwatersrand (TWR) and the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU). It has  73% black students and  20% white students. They want  Fees #Must Fall

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU)

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University was formed when the University of Port Elizabeth, the Port Elizabeth Technikon and the Port Elizabeth campus of Vista University merged with a collective of 23 500 students composed of 58% Black students and 25% white students. They want  Fees #Must Fall

University of the Western Cape (UWC)

University of the Western Cape is also known as bush collage and targeted towards the  “coloured community”, since inception. UWC has a long history of activism by disadvantaged groups. The total number of students exceed  15 000, of which 38% are Black,  4.5% are White and the difference is predominantly Coloured. They want  Fees #Must Fall

Stellenbosch University

Stellenbosch University  is traditionally an Afrikaans university and one of the few institutions that didn’t undergo a merger  with a historically disadvantaged institution, even though it is one of the oldest universities in South Africa. Of its 26 000 students 67% are White and 13% are Black. They want  Fees #Must Fall

University of Cape Town (UCT)

University of Cape Town is the oldest university in South Africa and one of its leading teaching and research institutions. UCT was formerly an advantaged institution yet opposed to apartheid, admitting its first black students as long ago as 1920 and also didn't  merge with any other previously disadvantaged institutions. With 22200 students 19% of them are black whereas 38% of its students are white. They want  Fees #Must Fall

#FeesMustFall

The problem with the Fees #Must Fall is that the opportunistic thug element takes advantage of the situation and destroys the property of the educational institutions. Just a few days ago as many as 17 schools were torched /destroyed in Vuwani, Limpopo Province. Resulting in schoolchildren walking  around aimlessly throughout Masakoma and Mashau villages contemplating their future after their schools and their records were reduced to ash. In his Presidency budget speech President Zuma said "A school or two is one thing‚ but when it is 17 schools is not a small thing‚ it looks suspicious"‚ and added that "We must look deeper because there are some rumours that in many of these protests there is some motive and some people take advantage of that". Each school will cost an approximately R30 million to reconstruct. Based on Zuma words, there could be a third force at work. "Third Force" is exactly the term used by ANC leaders during the late 80s to early 1990s referring to a clandestine forces believed to be responsible for a surge in violence in KwaZulu-Natal, and in townships in and around the Witwatersrand.

POLIGAMY VS POLYAMORY

POLIGAMY VS POLYAMORY

There is an old quotation in prose by John Donne that very correctly says "No man is and Island." Sticking to the analogy, it implies that man (island) is intrinsically connected, part of the mainland or part of the continent. In the same vane man is connected to his family and his community, firstly through his family tree, parents and siblings then through neighbours friends, colleagues and acquaintances. This perpetuation continues through marriage and  fosters a genuine sense of belonging. Man invariably has an inherent feeling of belonging called "love and togetherness" hence he finds himself a mate to marry so that he can start his very own family tree and community.   

Marriage is a natural part of living. It is an institution that is highly recommended by all religions because it's a standard of morality. It is that promise to marry your partner with God Almighty as the witness, to honour and love and cherish and share and procreate until death do you part, along with the blessings of your parents that makes the difference in marriage as apposed to living together. These are but a few reasons that makes marriage honourable and worthwhile and sought after. In the same sense a tree is married to the soil, the branches married to its trunk and the leaves married to its branches. All owning a sense of belonging. Like the leaves have a sense of belonging, offspring should also have the same sense of ownership to their parents. Not a warped ownership, because they were born bastards (a child born of parents not married to each other). No moral person would want to be accused of fornication (sexual intercourse between people not married to each other) because it is generally considered disgraceful. Neither would any unmarried young girl take kindly to being accused of being a whore due to an accidental pregnancy, because it is frightfully embarrassing. Yet this does happen, in fact it happens on a global scale. To make matters worse, adultery (voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not their spouse), has become the favourite pastime for colleagues working side by side for at least 8 hours daily. The moral excluded.

Adultery closely follows the heels of  extramarital sex (sexual relations outside of the marriage) as the integrity of some husbands and some wives become blurred. Both forms of infidelity (being unfaithful  to your spouse) are frowned upon by religion as a grave sin. However, living together in sin (sexually intimate) rather than marriage has become a social norm in modern society, yet not socially accepted, it is certainly not condoned by the religious nor tolerated by the majority of women. The old saying "to make an honest woman of her"  implies that a man was dating a woman and was having an intimate/sexual relationship with her, and that its high time that her marries her.  Needless to say in every such a situation women have an expectancy of marriage. Women want to get married, they want to be brides, the want a husband. The obstacle is that globally the gender ratios are out of whack.

Three years ago (2013) this figure stated that 49.59% of the global population were women, implying that men outnumber women on the planet by as much as 60 million. The two countries with the largest populations China and India, both having a preference for sons and due to this now have a major population imbalance . However, they are not the only countries struggling with this problem. Looking back there are as many as 81 countries that have a majority of women, with as few as 37 countries having a majority of men.  The remaining 75 countries were are within 0.5% of gender parity. Russia, Armenia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania,  Estonia and Belarus  are just a few among the many countries with the largest female populations, most of them potential brides seeking marriage from men in foreign countries. Considering that the global prison population is 90% male which is further compounded by the astronomical global gay figure, automatically excludes a large percentage of available men from marriage.  Looking at the amount of men that gets killed in armed conflicts and war torn zones globally (Ukraine, Sudan, Turkey, Mexico, Syria, Afghanistan, etc,) reduces the available  men for marriage substantially. Then the life expectancy of women outstrips that of men my as 5-19 years and more. The aforementioned countries also lead world statistics in the life-expectancy gap between males (average 66 years) and females (average 77 years). 

This leaves us with a glut of surplus women, all of whom would like to get married but stymied by the lack of available men. But that's not the actual problem. The real problem is the democratic law against polygamy (having plural wives at the same time) and the vigorously condemnation of it by the mainstream church and state. Polygamy has been a customary practice in many cultures and in many societies. Since ancient times this is very prominent in biblical scripture in a Hebrew setting  and in modern times in a Mormon setting. Both forms of polygamy is strongly patriarchal intrinsically tied to a strong sense of mutual acceptance by the families involved beside being part of their religious doctrine. 

However  in the  Reynolds vs. United States case, the Supreme Court  banned polygamy in preference of  heterosexual monogamy but did not outlaw Polyamory (engaging in multiple sexual relationships with the consent of all the people involved) in fact it wasn't even mentioned. Based on this one could quite comfortably say Democratic lawmakers prefer Polyamory  above polygamy, thereby giving both men and women swinging (sexually liberated and rampant promiscuity)  rights which invariably raise paternity issues in the case of pregnancy, bastard children in the event of birth, whores for mothers, mhores (male whores) for fathers. Condoning indiscriminate sex, sexually transmitted diseases, plural single women impregnated by the same man, some of whom  will have abortions, others will raise their illegitimate children with an absentee father who they will sue  for alimony payments and have him imprisoned  if they can't pay. They then become a burden of the state in the form of child support. Law makers also condone gay and same sex marriages leading to confused children. Is this   Democrazy or just crazy?

Instead they punish the  father willing to marry plural wives, seeing to their needs (food shelter clothing etc,) and remains responsible for caring for all his children from these plural wives, all of whom get to share the love of their sisters and brothers and have both their parents as a family unit living under one roof. It is a case of the have's and the have nots. Those women who have a husband tend not to want to share, but those women who don't have a husband are genuinely willing to share a husband.  The reason being, there is just too few men to go around.  And when an  woman's body clock is ticking and can't find a husband, and not willing to embrace a polygamous marriage, may opt to cheat with any available married man,  instead of letting one of them make an honest woman out of her. This is a recipe for a broken marriage and irate wife, a sexually transmitted disease and an unwanted pregnancy and a possible divorce.

In reality all the prospective brides from Russia Armenia, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania,  Estonia and Belarus would like to have a monogamous marriage though many of them would opt for a polygamous marriage providing those cards are on the table. Polygamy is a God send to women but how many are willing to embrace it.