THE 2009 SOUTH AFRICAN ELECTIONS

Listening to Andy Rice on 702's Ad Feature, he spoke of the upcoming election and the opportunity for political parties to really create something vibrant and special with their BRAND and bring something with a hook to the campaign trail.
Remembering Obama's: YES WE CAN! catchphrase, here's the best our uninspiring political hopefuls could come up with:

ANC: WORKING TOGETHER WE CAN DO MORE

DA: ONE NATION. ONE FUTURE

UDM: NOW'S THE TIME FOR ALL SOUTH AFRICANS

And last but not least:

COPE: A NEW AGENDA FOR CHANGE AND HOPE

People - with all due respect - here's my slogan response to them:

THEY ALL SUCK

These have got to be the least imaginative and uninspiring slogans I have ever heard - the DA probably being the catchiest but that's not saying much.

What about something dynamic like;

COPE: KEEPING IT REAL
or something fast and vibey along those lines?

There is an amazing opportunity for this party to shed the skin of the old, tired political dreariness, again like Obama did - speak to the people. Keep it short. Keep it to the point. Keep it real! We are tired of all the longwinded hyperbole and hollow promises;
And how about COPE's name being part of the campaign thrust as another acronym?:

Clarity - A clear vision for the future
Objectivity - Allowing autonomy in government & NGO organs
Prosperity - A share for us all in SA's growth
Equality - For each gender and every race group

Some sketchy ideas but man oh man - what has been put together is as dull as ditchwater in my humble view!

This is an exciting time - some of that excitement should be engendered within the campaign and spread to the people COPE hope to harness.

Isn't democracy fun...

BARACK OBAMA - 44th PRESIDENT OF THE USA

Think what you want to but the Yanks do this ceremonial stuff even better than the Brits in my view.
In the dark old days we had that unsavoury alliance of Bush Blair - BB. Now we have the African American and the Scot or could I call them Black and Mac without offending the sensibilities of the Politically Correct analists? Bollocks to them!
And while it is most certainly naive to imagine one leader can turn the world around from its current state of despair in many quarters - war, famine, disease, financial instability, rampant bigotry, racism, ethnic cleansing, (alleged) global warming etc. Barack Obama gives one the impression that he can make that happen. His eloquence and stature, his evangelical conviction and delivery evokes within the listener (American and foreigner alike) the belief that we have truly turned a corner and the world (never mind the US) is on the path to healing.
The cynics (myself among them) would simply say - "anything after Dubya is a step in the right direction..." but Obama is inheriting a minefield from GWB as has been described above with the confidence of US citizens at an all time low. He can work that in his favour of course with his fresh approach (and ability to speak English) but it will only work for so long until he starts to deliver on his promises (or not).
The key to this potential success, in my view, is his consummate ability of including the American people in the effort by acknowledging their true potential every time he speaks and without making it sound like ersatz hyperbole (like most politicians are prone to do).
Maybe I'm just getting more sensitive as I mature (perish the thought!) but every time this dude hits the podium I feel tears welling up in my eyes because I get this feeling that Obama has entered the world stage at a point where the very consciousness of humanity has undergone a significant shift and whether we would like to acknowledge it or not, I believe the GW Bushes of this world actually helped to get us to this point even if it was by trudging down a long, hard, nasty road.
It's that old dark and light thing isn't it - how can we achieve balance if we don't have appropriate / equal proportions of both?
It isn't always the lessons imparted by the shining "leading by example" people of this world - the people of this planet have always (and I mean always) got the choice to learn from any example shown them from a drunken father to a saintly mother - whatever. It's as beneficial to see what we shouldn't be doing as it is to be going down a path behind a saint.
We need to make mistakes (hopefully not fatal ones) to learn and Obama has that concept firmly in hand.
As naive as I may be, this man inspires confidence and that mere fact alone is contagious and brings people together and with confidence comes belief and with belief comes positive action and a lot less guilt and the nett result has the potential to make us more temperate, tolerant and humane.
I like him - VIVA OBAMA
Is it true that his first policy decision will be to petition congress to have the White House painted black?
I can hear the Rolling Stones in the background as we speak!

THE GREAT GLOBAL WARMING SWINDLE DEBATE

As soon as politicians and the media put their collective weight behind a particular viewpoint to the exclusion of any other opinion, is the day that my bullshit barometer kicks in. The whole concept of informed choice and a balanced representation of the two sides of the debate are forgotten and the popular viewpoint becomes the status-quo. This has been true of the issue concerning the correlation between HIV and AIDS where people like Thabo Mbeki and Manto Tshabalala Msimang have been vilified for saying things that don't conform to the accepted view. To such a degree that our erstwhile health minister became nothing more than a cartoon figure without any credibility when, in fact, anyone actually bothering to research the data behind what she claims rather than lampooning the messenger, may be very surprised at what they find - I certainy was.
But by then it was far too late - public opinion had already been swayed to accept everything the mainstream protagonists were saying and denouncing anything that contradicted that. As I said - so much for informed choice. In our country it doesn't exist and coupled with the apathy of much of the public and their innate sloth when it comes to actually conducting their own research in these matters, we are now facing an even greater deception when it comes to the issue of AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming) where both the media and the political community isn't offering a balanced representation of both sides of this debate. The generally accepted perception is that Global Warming is a reality and it has come about as a result of humanity's activity on the planet and particularly with regard to our emission of so-called greenhouse gases into the atmopshere, the main culprit being Carbon Dioxide. Moreover, our activities in this regard have initiated sudden and potentially catastrophic climate change which threatens the very survival of this species (and others) on planet Earth. All very dramatic but is it true?
Whether we choose to believe it is or not, what irks me beyond reason is the spin being placed on the issue (that clearly suits a specific agenda) that disallows both sides of the debate being given equal representation in our mainstream media.
Whether or not this is to influence our thinking (and again, like religion, it's done through fear and guilt) and steer us away from fossil-fuel based technology in a managed transition to newer, more environmentally friendly energy technology and ensure that such a transition doesn't fatally impair the global economy - isn't the point. I'm all for being ecologically aware and responsible but I would like the opportunity of being able to make up my own mind about the issues and choose a path once I've seen all the available DATA not biased media spin or spurious so-called science. Both sides, please!
But it isn't happening and I believe we should be asking ourselves - Why not?
I urge you to take the time and view the full series of the "SWINDLE" debate on Youtube which makes for very interesting and thought-provoking viewing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIjGynF4qkE&feature=related

PS - Happy 2009 everyone - I'm truly happy really - never been more so xxx