BORDER PATROL

WASTED FOOD

These days reality TV programming seems to dominate most TV channels . It is cheap to produce and the average couch potato enjoys watching "reality TV" purely because the cast is typically ordinary people and not professional actors, although celebrities may feature in some episodes. However, there is very little that is real about reality TV.

It is supposedly unscripted real-life situations about how ordinary people behave in everyday life but its really not the case. The episodes may be unscripted but there are writers who craft plot and write lines, do so purely to create conflict. "Conflict and controversy creates fame" and every one wants to be famous, hankers after both. Just look at the unknown actors who "act" in programs like Big Brother, Survivor, Cake Boss, The Apprentice, Extreme Home Make Over, The Osborns, Crossing Over with John Edward, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, The Real Housewives, Hardcore Pawn, Border Security:Canada, Border Patrol, and Fear Factor, etc, etc...

I find the bulk of these programs irksome, because the producers are constantly insulting the intelligence of their audiences. Restated, they lie and cheat to get better ratings although there are some shows that are "factual", like Border Security: Australia. And other programs that highlight behind the scene events of Australia's Customs and Border Patrol: New Zealand  and airs the work of their Department of Immigration, and their Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service, as they enforce Australian immigration, customs, quarantine and finance laws.

I find these programs the pits. Because not an episode goes by that some Airport Customs official doesn't harass some, Asian, Chinese, Vietnamese, or Indian, national, confiscates their food and slaps them with a fine. In not saying that they are racist or prejudiced against these nations but its more than coincidental that these peoples are predominantly their victims. Again, it's the customs and culture of these Asian peoples to gift food to one another, especially those living abroad. 

Understandably there needs to be a measure of control in place but to dump / incinerate thousands of kilograms of food daily is disgraceful, especially when considering there are millions of people in Asia who lives below the breadline. Not to mention Africa. If these "suspect foods" really needs to be confiscated for whatever reason, I'm certain these millions of tons of food per month could find its way to the less fortunate as food aid and food relief to people affected by flooding, earthquake, Tsunami, or other natural disaster. 

Africa is probably the richest continent in the world but the majority of its peoples live on less than 1 US dollar per day if not less.  This is purely because colonial powers  have been usurping Africa's wealth for centuries and its high time for payback even if its going to be with confiscated food.

USURPERS

USURPERS

Sometime ago, I saw a television ad, in which a senior citizen is chasing after flies, swatting them with tremendous vigour. He was having tea with his wife when a couple of flies were bothering then. With fly swatter in hand, the old man lunged at the flies, smashing them one by one, with more force than necessary, loudly shouting, "Got you, you Banker" and no sooner did he squash the next fly under the brute impact of the swatter, when he loudly exclaims, "I got you, you Lawyer". I found this advert seriously amusing because I share this old man's sentiments. I found myself smiling whilst pondering on the what may have triggered an association between bankers, lawyers and flies in the mind of this old man, albeit an advert. 



Most people do find flies abhorrent, detestable, disgusting, despicable and loathsome, even revolting. Flies vomit digestive enzymes onto the foods they wish to eat, which then liquefies the food, allowing the fly to  simply suck it up with its straw like tongue, called a proboscis. Considering flies are terribly pervasive and land on everything, from dog excrement, to dirt bins, to decaying rats, cats and birds that die in the fields, to farm animal manure, to domestic drains, etc. Their legs and bodies are covered with tiny hairs which are the transporting agents for bacteria and disease. Somehow we've become accustomed to their bothersomeness, thus tolerate them  as a minor annoyance. However, they are far more dangerous than we even realize because flies are known to carry more than 200 different forms of bacteria on their bodies.

Having one or more of these critters perch on your hair, fly into your face or land in you food whilst eating will certainly evoke some sort of reaction from you. A quick hand gesture to shoo them away, or a short bust of air from your lips targeting the fly, or even both hands waving frantically  to chase the "filthy pests" away. These hand gestures are often accompanied by some obscure facial expression. When flies are bothersome, some people may feel compelled to go eat elsewhere and some will more often than not get out the aerosol insecticide and vanquish them.

Bottom line, these are peoples responses to flies. However, this is also how most people feel about bankers and lawyers; the heartless bastards, usurpers and bottom feeders of the world. Most people are probably not vocal about the feelings about Bankers and lawyers but the grudges they feel are real and imminent. Every year thousands of home owners who were unable to service their bond for whatever reason, for a period of three months or more have encountered the wrath of these "flies". Interest upon interest for missed or late payments; and don't forget the lawyers fees piled on top. Much lie flies, they siphon their filthy interest money into every deal and much like flies they slurp up the earnings of the less fortunate with an insatiable greed. Annually thousands of home owners have their homes repossessed by greedy bankers and lawyers. 

Much like we tolerate flies, usury has become an "accepted norm", even though it is defined as an unethical and immoral  practice of making monetary loans at unreasonably high rates of interest. The art of usury (loan sharking) was practiced and perfected by the Jews  over millenia, hence Jesus upset the money lenders tables in the synagogue, saying that they turned the house of God into a den of thieves. Jesus was really angry at these money lenders, so can you just imagine if Jesus were here today, how pissed he would be at every, banker, lawyer, loan shark and other financial institution practicing usury, for charging their clients crazy fees for services that are essentially provided by a network of computers. Below is some of the fees charged by three competing banks. Each trying to entice potential clients to use there services.  I was dismayed at how expensive it is to deposit a large sum of cash into your own account, let alone how expensive it is to get that same money our again later. Besides the interest  banks pay is minuscule compared to the charges they levy for their thieving services.

ABSA Bank 

Monthly Monthly account fee R40.00
Cheque deposit at counter         R25.00
Cash deposit at  counter         R8.00 + 1.50% of deposit value
Cash deposit at ABSA ATM R3.00 + R1.30 per R100
Cash withdrawal branch counter R50.00 + R1.55 per R100
Cash withdrawal at Absa/Barclays ATM R3.95 + R1.30 perR100
Cash withdrawal at Point-of-Sale R3.95
Cash withdrawal at Absa-supported ATM R6.95 + R1.30/R100
Cash withdrawal at Saswitch ATM R9.95 + R1.30/R100
Cash withdrawal at Overseas ATM/ POS R50.00
Balance enquiries branch counter R5.00
Balance enquiries Absa/Barclays ATM R1.50
Balance enquiries Absa-supported ATM R4.00
Balance enquiries Saswitch ATM R5.00
SMS / Email / Fax (respectively) R0.80 / R0.80 / R6.50

FNB 

Monthly Account Fee R4.95
Cash deposit at ATM R0.70 per R100 (minimum R5.50)
Cash Deposit at FNB ATM R4.55
Password Reset (Consultant Assisted) R55.00
Balance Enquiries R3.55
Email / SMS / Fax (respectively) R0.70 / R1.10 / R5.00

Capitec Bank 

Monthly admin fee                R5.50
Cash Withdrawal at till points R1.50
ATM Cash withdrawal R8.50
ATM Cash withdrawal (International) R50.00
Cash deposit at Capitec ATM             R0.90c per R100
Cash withdrawal at a Capitec ATM R6
Cash withdrawal at Saswitch ATM R8.50


This is but a fraction of the fees they charge and also a fraction of the banks that operate without impunity.  Multiply these fees, and bonds and loans by several hundreds of thousands of bank clients, then you can really see the kind of money banks make. Hence they can afford to own those huge buildings they occupy. Essentially every person that has a bank account is obliged to pay their bank  a few hundred rands per month for bank fees. This isn't something they wanted, or aspired to, but were coersed into it by there employers and the "system" to use cashless money. 

SARS,  VAT, TV Licence, Automobile licence, Income Tax, Rates, Dog licence, Bank accounts, life Insurance, Car Insurance, Rica, etc. is all about getting your details into a database that can be sold for cash.

Operating a cashless society is purely about numbers on paper and there doesn't really have to be any money. It's a case of smoke and mirrors. Yet thousands of young people aspire to become bank clerks and tellers and as a consequence live off the interest of others. Banks are encouraging our youth to lend money, and use their credit / debit cards to swipe, and use the mobiles to snapscan QR that make electronic payments immediate and easy.  This convenience makes it more likely that customers will pay on time, thus improving their business cash flow. Yet charge them a fee for every transaction 

Interest is a vile form of oppression. It virtually makes everybody a slave of the system; and the only reason why most people leap out of bed in the morning, is to service the debt they  owe to banks, be it bonds, business loans, short term cash loans, car payments or student education loans. Lawyers grrrrr. Bankers double grrrrr.