America's Daftest Criminals

This is a survival story, as you see on Discovery-okay, maybe not.
Monica Usher (above), 32 years old, of Hudson, Florida in The States, needed to have a wee, it seems she was dying for one. There was a problem for dear Monica though- she was stuck in the woods. Now let's face it, the woods really has nowhere private to urinate, so our dear Meth Head did what one always does in these situations- she called 911 for their educated guidance.
Pasco Sheriff's Officers were dispatched to the call and wound up at Monica's house. Amazingly, she was 'lost in the woods' in her own front yard. Surprisingly, she seemed intoxicated and was guzzling beer. (Bet nobody saw that coming- great twist)
With her kind permission the cops searched a cooler box and for them the night just improved- they found a handgun, neatly placed on top of the cold beer. Of course this resulted in her violent arrest and subsequent strip search. The surprises just kept on rolling in- authorities discovered a vile with Methamphetamine residue in her body. (no guesses to 'where' that means)
She was booked for the hat-trick of the handgun offence, the meth and resisting arrest. However, whether she actually got to have her wee, remains a mystery.

This one is also pretty good.
A 20 year old Mishelle Salzgeber (above), of Dade City, Florida was incarcerated in New Port Richey jail. Her transgression was failing a drug test and thus violating her probation.
All was not lost for Mishelle though, because she has a brilliantly thought out plan to cheat the drug test in jail. Sadly, this most brilliant plan was thwarted when a routine x-ray was done and a bottle was discovered in Mischell's Vagina. (Well, where else would she have hidden it?)
Her crafty plan went as such- fill up a small Vodka bottle with somebody else's urine, place it strategically inside your love tunnel and then submit this urine as your own, when being asked for a sample. How could this have failed?
Wow, she really thought this through. On top of being found out, it turns out the urine in the Vodka bottle, also tested positive for drugs, so her amazing plan would have come apart in the end anyway. Guess she put the 'fool' a foolproof plan.

Our next hilarious tale come from Minnesota. Faribault to be exact.
Daniel Sanchez (21-above) and his equally evil mastermind of an accomplice,  Alonso Silva (19-below), broke into a business and were probably patting themselves on the back for escaping when the alarm went off.
This however, is a case of learning to cover your footsteps. Literally.
The police caught them hanging out or rather hiding out, in a cemetery. Don't make any mistake, though, their quick arrest was not due to any brilliant detective work.
You see, the ground was covered by snow- so all police did, was follow the idiotic due's footsteps from the scene of the crime, to a store and then to where they were so cleverly hiding. Once the footsteps were matched up, the IQ busting couple were promptly arrested and face felony third degree burglary charges.

Was the past SO bad?

As I battled with opening an account on Facebook and making it visible to the rest of the Facebookians, I got to thinking. (It happens sometimes.)

We are now in the year 2012. We have made many advances in medicine, technology, power harnessing, food growing, entertainment and on the list goes. In our never-ending quest for growth and advancement (ie making life easier for us), we have had to make some small sacrifices- like ruining the Ozone layer, poisoning the air we breath, helping other species to the land of extinction (some even before we knew they existed), killing each other, creating deserts that grow in size, producing products that produce radiation-without knowing the long term effects of this (Look Sally, Billy has 5 ears) in the future, pumping growth hormones into foodstuffs to make them grow bigger and quicker (again, with no research done with the future effects in mind) and of course, coating our crops and orchards with vile poisons to drive insects away- again, not taking the effect into consideration until later down the line. Small things that may cause us grave harm in decades to come.

Granted we are not as advanced as we thought we would be at this stage of our evolution. I remember in the '70's and '80's we thought that by the year 2000, among other things, we would have flying cars, human filled and thriving bases on other planets, pills for food, regular space travel for the man on the street and of course-time travel. The year 2000 was a big thing then.

However, it came and went without that much change to the way we were living back then. Granted we had new cool things like Cell Phones and flat screen TV's, and the clumsy Walkman was replaced by the cool MP3/4 player and Ipod but generally not much changed. (Have to add-We had really brilliant music in that era though, unlike the commercial rubbish of today)

 Life was simpler then. Now we live in a world where technology is the backbone of everything we do- from the running of electricity grids to the very radio stations we listen to. Look, I am not saying that our advances have been all bad, because they have made life a lot easier and more pleasant. But with technology, comes headaches, especially when the tech fails to work. For example, in the 80's when particles from sun flares rushed towards earth, nobody cared, because there was little it could harm. However, now it is a big thing that could cripple GPS systems, communication, entire power grids.....wow!

Yes, time has moved on and we have grown in many ways with it. With an ever increasing human population, we have needed to find way to feed more hungry mouths, thus we have genetically altered genes to make them stronger and immune to insects. We have developed new and powerful drugs, we can perform medical operations we never could, we use lasers for everything(In the 80's lasers were stuff of Sci- Fi Weaponry), we can splice genetic material, our computers and the like are growing ever more powerful and intelligent..the list just goes on and on.

As I mentioned though- there is nothing without consequences. For example, many drug resistant strains of bacteria are emerging, our reliance on technology, makes us impotent when it does not function as it should.n Strangely, our life expectancy has not lengthened much. Hypertension, heart disease and respiratory disease are on the rise. As are a number of cancers. All of these have been attributed on one way or another to the lifestyle and the world we live in today. 

I could go on and on and on some more, comparing eras and showing the pay off from the technology we currently use and mostly enjoy. But I won't!
Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of technology- I mean photography has become a breeze and has made everybody think they were a born photographer and thanks to technology, many mess ups can be fixed to a certain degree. Music sharing and listening is a breeze as is recording. Games are fun as anything to play.

Anyway- there I was, cursing, as I often do, at the program for not playing along, and I thought, if life was simpler in the 80's, think how simple life used to be thousands of life ago. The biggest issues you had were to be born, stay alive until you could outrun or out-hide predators, find a robust cave and an even more robust partner, provide food and use the food's skin as clothes and produce some fur covered children to carry the cycle forward. That was pretty much it. You became sick- either your immune system won or you died. Simple. Having said that, I am sure nobody died from hypertension or stress related diseases.
Yes, life was simpler then.

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The dread of the poverty virus

In South Africa, as in many African and I guess, in many countries worldwide, there is a gigantic gap between the rich and poor. This gap is growing larger, with the middle glass moving toward the poor section, not the rich side. Poverty does not discriminate in terms of race, all South Africans face this danger.

Inevitably the big government players are well situated in the top rungs of richness. Not only do they milk the public for whatever they can tax, but they ensure that you cannot go to the toilet without a license, renewable every couple of years, at a cost. On top of this, government officials are directors or have family who are directors of enterprises that secure most large government tenders.
The latest scam- the well aired and despicable toll road system will go one more step further to screw precious money from a helpless taxpayer.  Oh, and not forgetting that they are now taxing all dividends as well, a smashing 15%-many pensioners rely on these funds to live.

The cost of living is rising daily and there is very little chance of it falling. With petrol always on the up, toll fees, the ripple follow on increases on everything from bread to alcohol and so on, the public are finding it hard to keep up. Especially due to the ever increasing unemployment rate and the low salary increases given to those lucky enough to be employed. (Bar the bosses, who will always ensure they are well taken care of.)

Given the sad situation that millions are either going hungry or battling to survive, governments need to look at ways to help the public as well as the economy. I will suggest a few, although there would be more.

Firstly, entrepreneurs are an important cog of the economy. These small concerns have the ability to grow and as they do, they make employment available. Many people have business minds or a good idea, but the biggest problem is funding to begin any venture. Due to the unemployment rate, Bank loans are out, so it is up to government to assist with the financial side as well as furnishing some guidance. They need to do this by assessing each application and only giving funds for individuals who have something tangible. This obviously would require knowledgeable people in the department, employed to analyse each application. Time consuming yes. But the eventually pay off would be worth it. The alternative is they will just be handing money out of nothing and this will produce no growth. .

Education, from grade 1-12 and then a degree or diploma, should be at a decent cost or free. Many have the intelligence to study but few can afford it, so as a result good minds are wasted. Educated people would be in better positions to start and grow successful businesses or assist others in doing so.

We may have some of the best labour laws, heavily in favour of the workers, but these stringent laws are making South Africa an undesirable place for overseas companies to invest. Just look at the recent Walmart debacle. We need to relax the labour laws and union influence on the government, to make SA look a country that welcomes investment.

On top of this, we need leaders who look and act the part. We are not an island, and out top leaders cannot just do and say as they wish and think the outside world is not taking note- because they are and future decisions are based on how they present themselves. (look at all the shock-waves about the privatization of mines etc). Our president has numerous wives and children, still has affairs, sometimes says the daftest things- yet he is the leader of South Africa. This is the image we are sending out. ,

Corruption has to be tackled head on. Jacob Zuma has pledged on numerous occasions, to root out corruption- but he forgot to mention that you will only be in the doo doo, if you are not a supporter of the Don President. If you are in the Zuma Cirlce, you are pretty much protected.
Government have to have a proper tender process in place and it should be legislated that nobody in government or their family can benefit from government or state tenders.

Government and all it's departments, must pay their creditors on time. Their tardiness is leading to many small and even large, enterprises having to shut their doors due to severe cash flow problems.

Then there is government expenditure. South Africans are taxed on virtually everything and what we are not taxed on, we have to somehow pay some type of penalty for anyway. If the government were seen to use this income wisely, it may make the blow easier. But they do not. Our media is always full of stories about corruption, multi- million Rand upgrades of official's houses, the million Rand official vehicles, the perpetual flying in business class and staying at 5 star hotels, the expensive meetings and get- aways, the ridiculously priced parties and of course the inflated salaries. If they could prioritize, then there would be enough money in their coffers to fix roads, hospitals etc without having to kick an already down public. If they cut their spending, there would be more money available. If they took strong legal action against corrupt officials, it may act as a deterrent for others not to follow the corruption route.

It is time government changed their actions. They are leaders yes, but this does not give them the right to rape and pillage the country and only look after themselves and their families. Government spending can and should be cut dramatically and they need to put steps in place to assist with the recovery of South Africa. If this is not done, South Africa will head the way of many other countries where the government is rich and the rest are poor. The economy would fall to pieces This will lead to civil unrest.

It is time to wake up for these greedy leeches that rule South Africa in a way that power is paramount and the public is seen as a cash cow.

Chemicals that lead to obesity

Obesity is one of the major killers on earth today as it leads to a number of other diseases. It has been attributed to many factors, heredity, poor eating habits, lack of exercise, stress, certain antibiotics.

So it is a worry that it has been reported in a report, commissioned by the CHEM group, that many Gender-Bending chemicals are found in the materials we use every day. For example toys, Cellphones, Sunglasses, Tin Cans, Shampoos and so on and on and on.

Spanish and South Korean researches powered through around 240 separate studies on obesity, pollution and diabetes. Apparently, not only could these chemicals lead to obesity, but also diabetes.
It was concluded that there was sufficient evidence to suggest that these chemicals cause weight gain in animals. Unfortunately, due to ethical constraints, these experiments cannot be tested on humans in a controlled situation.

It seems many of these chemicals mimic or/and interfere with the effect of hormones, thus leading to the 'Gender-Bender' label.

A Dr Tim Lobstein of the International Association for the Study for Obesity, feels that these chemicals will sabotage people's weight loss attempts, as one cannot see or taste these chemicals, yet come into contact with them daily and are pretty unavoidable.

These hormone altering chemicals include
1) Phthalates-Used in rubber, PVC products, soft toys, bath mats, soap packaging, to name a few. A Danish study also attributed certain food contamination from this chemical on environmental pollution.
2) Oestrogen- like substances- These include chemicals known as Parabens and are found in products like sunscreens and moisturizing lotions.
3) Pesticides- DDT, dioxins and PCB's are all known as hormone interrupters.

Good news if you stay in the European Union area- they are set to tackle this problem with both science and the law. As for the rest of the world, at least we can eat like mad, drink beer and blame the chemicals.

The exhuming of President Zuma's trial?

One thing that is for certain, although dysfunctional, South Africa's political landscape is far from boring.

The latest news come from the courts- The Supreme Court of Appeal in fact. This section of the legal framework has ruled that the Pretoria High Court must review Mokotedi Mpshe's decision to stop legal proceedings against Jacob Zuma (JZ) in 2009.
Despite overwhelming documentary evidence, many related court battles lost by JZ and the court's finding that JZ was bribed by Schabir Shaik, when the latter was sentenced to 15 years for fraud and corruption, Mpshe ruled that it would be 'unfair, unjust, undesirable' to prosecute Zuma.

Further to this, it was Mpshe who claimed that the charges were part of a larger conspiracy to discredit Zuma (he has pretty much done that for himself since) and apparent intercepted phone conversations between Leonard McCarthy (Head of the then Scorpions) and then NPA head, Bulelani Kqcuka were used as evidence of this claim. How the NPA came across theses tapes, allegedly compiled by the National Intelligence folk, remains a mystery. But this was a case of not only throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but throwing away the tub as well.

It has always been contended that this was a political move that would pave the way for Mr Standard Two to become president. Which it did.
This latest ruling means that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) must hand over all documents relating to the case, to the relevant court for review. Well, we hope they do as it is also common in South Africa for organs of the state to ignore court judgments or the parts they dislike.

The Democratic Alliance did not stop in their pursuit of justice though, resulting in this momentous decision.  Although I have no doubt that the DA have some political motives behind this, I also have no doubt that a review of this case is in the public interest. Should the High Court dismiss Mpshe's reasons for stopping the prosecution, JZ is likely to face the courts-again. The irony here,is that Jacob always and famously at the time, wanted his day in court (although he did everything in his power to avoid prosecution) to prove his innocence. He never did though and still has a dark cloud hanging over him.

This come hot on the heels of Zuma announcing a probe into the corruption involved with arms deal (from which he and many other high ranking politicians have sticky fingers) and then stating that the finding will not be made public if he so decides. In other words, the media and public will be fed a lie, despite the finding.

The worry though, is that this latest decision will entrench the ANC's fight against an  independent judiciary as well as make them fight harder to get the famous Media Bill passed.

The ANC fought hard for democracy and since gaining freedom, has done what it can to curtail freedom and enrich the leaders. Corruption is scorned but pretty much accepted. Wait for the Nuclear Plant deal and who will gain millions from this.

Jacob Zuma needs to be tried for corruption, as do ALL of those who had their grubby little hands in the Arms Piggy Bank. Come to think of it, all government members who gained from corruption, should be prosecuted. Of course this will never happen though.
If Monty Python were still making comedy today, they could easily tap into this tragic comedy we live in.

Iran and the nuclear debate

With the talk of Iran and it's nuclear program, it put me on the road of thought about what is the right option.
Iran claim it's nuclear program is for peace and power purposes, but it still leaves a hint of weapons suspicion, to enable it to be able to negotiate with the Western powers, as always, led by the USA. Israel is obviously on the brink of air strikes against nuke facilities, contending that Iran will be a danger to the country, should it nuke up. This is a valid argument, seeing that Iran would like nothing better than to send Israel to Mars, and they have said as much. It is no secret that the hatred between Israel and Iran run deep and they have clashed before.


With this in mind, we also know that Iran is led my fundamentalist leader. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, their president, is no stranger to controversy. His human rights track record is tainted to say the least and he is known to crack down on political opponents. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is just as extreme, if not more so. Thanks to sanctions, Iran produces it's own weapons, among them short, medium and long range missiles- which could theoretically carry Nuke warheads the desired distances. Israel is well with striking distance of course, as are some Western countries.
Whether they would take this step is unknown. We know that in Iran, martyrdom is supported and celebrated, but would the leaders go to the extreme of launching a nuclear attack, knowing that the return volley would kill them, most of their population and Iran would be a glow in the dark bit of barren ground. 

The problem with extreme leaders, is that they are unpredictable.
It is common knowledge that Iran supports terrorist groups like Hamas. Therefore, there is a realistic danger of, if not giving them weapons directly, sharing information and/or materials, that could assist in the building of some crude nuclear device, to be used on Western targets.

The Western options are not that rosy. Currently sanctions are in place, but seem to deter the nuclear program little. Negotiations are always the best option, but these can be dragged out and perhaps Iran may seek more than the West is willing to give. All the while, the nuclear program marches on.
Then there is the option Israel is rooting for- military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. The problem is that it will not end there, and Iran will retaliate. A war will draw in the allies of both countries and an expensive and drawn out campaign is in nobodies best interests. This will send oil prices sky high as well. SO, the military  route does not seem viable, unless it is to deter a first strike from Iran.

North Korea have admitted to having at least a mushroom-cloud making bomb or two. In this case, though, they are using their nuclear program to manipulate the west. Again, they have extreme leaders which are unpredictable and have an intense hate for the USA and all that is associated with it. As it is, North and South Korea have a very uneasy ceasefire. Not having oil though, North Korea is of less importance than Iran is. So negotiations will take longer and talk of a military strike will on materialize, once South Korea is threatened.


It is a difficult situation. Who decides what countries can and what countries cannot have a nuclear arsenal? Wrong or right is a subjective point of view. I do support the military option, once ALL other options are exhausted, but even then, is this the correct way to go? As we have seen with Afghanistan and Iraq, wars are costly and they usually drag on. The ripples are felt worldwide. Having said that, can you really allow one country to openly threaten another with war and not respond? There are no easy answers and Iran holds the cards at present.

  

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The Royal wingers

This is one I could not ignore...I wanted to at first, but I have this dislike for anything Royal- so here goes...

In a Television interview, Prince Harry of Britain, (like nobody knows who he is) has told the interviewer that he and his Princely brother, William (or Wills, as I like to refer to him), would much rather be normal than royalty.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!

He laments how difficult it would be for a suitable girlfriend to put up with his role of being a prince. I mean, who would like to not have to work, attend an engagement every now and then, have the best clothes, live in luxury, tour the world on 'business' mixed with lots of pleasure and take holidays anywhere on the planet? I can imagine no woman would want that.

Granted they do have to do some work- but they have the life anybody would wish for. Fame and fortune with very little work and all they did to deserve this privilege is be born into it. I feel their pain.

They are so removed from reality that they do not realize that to be normal, one has to rise early, spend 8-10 hours five to six days a week, in a job you probably hate, just to eek out a living, just like millions of British taxpayers who pay their taxes to support undeserving royalty.
Or is it perhaps they would like to be normal, but with all the fortune and limited work commitment.

I bet next time they are together on some tropical or skiing holiday, they can sit together while they eat the best of foods, and cry in their champagne how normal they would like to be.

The government should grant their wish and dissolve the royalty- then they would have to earn their living and be normal.

The Alcohol Problem

It turns out South Africa is among the three biggest alcohol consuming nations worldwide. Yes indeed, we have another negative 'Best of' to be proud of. Right up there with Murder, Rape, Violent Crime, Road deaths and so on.

The government has long made it known that is is worried about the misuse and abuse of alcohol. Now it is proposing laws to curb the use and sales of the good stuff.

Many of us enjoy indulging every now and then, and it has been medically proved that moderate alcohol consumption, actually benefits the body.
However, some people over indulge every day. Alcohol abuse has been linked to diseases like cirrhosis of the liver, cardiovascular diseases, certain types of cancers and so on. It can also lead to contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted disease and Tuberculosis. These are a consequence of actions under the influence. Added on to this, there is the danger of injury from accidents, assault and murder and suicide, while under the influence.

It therefore, goes without saying that abusing alcohol is a bad thing and I will not argue otherwise. I will also not argue that something needs to be done about it. This is where the water gets a bit muddy for me.

Proposals are - increase the drinking age to 21 from 18. In theory good, but when I was under 18, under the strong laws that the old National Party imposed, I was able to get my hands on booze, dagga and porn. (All banned) So this will not work as teenagers will find a way to obtain alcohol. (and anything else they want). Peer pressure is the strongest influence in this regard.
Another suggestion is to ban alcohol advertising. Once again, great in theory, but this also will not work. What it does is increases the unemployment rate, as the ban on smoking did. Oh yes, cigarette use has reportedly increased among the youth, despite advertising being banned. Why would alcohol, which is probably more popular, follow a different path.

Then there is the bright idea to shorten trading hours for outlets that sell alcohol. Under the National Party we had shortened hours and yet, everybody always had enough booze. All this does, is increase the amount purchased at one time to cover for the times when you cannot buy it.
Another bright idea is to increase taxes and duties on Alcohol and to make it mandatory for the industry to contribute to a fund that will help and treat alcohol abuse. As with any addiction, price will not stop people from purchasing. All this will do, is fatten the government purse and allow them to spend even more of our money on nothing. As for the fund, somebody will find a way to put that money in their back pockets- this is South Africa after all. Currently, the Alcohol industry pays some R35 Billion Rand in annual taxes.


The 35 proposals put forward at the anti-substance abuse summit include:

• Raising the legal age for alcohol consumption to 21.


• Restricting the time and days of the week that alcohol can be legally sold.


• Implementing regulations to restrict the number of liquor outlets.


• Regulating home brews and "concoctions".


• Raising duties and taxes on alcohol products.


• Increasing the criminal liability of those who sell alcohol to underage drinkers, intoxicated patrons, and people they know will operate motor vehicles.


• Imposing a mandatory contribution by the liquor industry to an independent fund.


• Banning all advertising of alcoholic products in public and private media.


• Banning all sponsorship by the alcohol industry for sports, recreation, arts and cultural events.


• Reducing the legal alcohol limit for drivers.


• Disallowing novice drivers from consuming any alcohol before driving.

Some of them are just daft. Who defines what a 'novice' driver is? And how does one regulate 'home brews and concoctions' without monitoring everybody?
And of course, we are forgetting the discriminatory law that they want to introduce to ban pregnant woman from purchasing alcohol. I mean please.
The alcohol industry does a lot for sport and I am certain, their sponsorship does not make people feel a craving for the product that is sponsoring a team. Sport needs money for development and the alcohol industry through sponsorship, gives the governing bodies these funds. I can guarantee, that banning this, will not stop drinking or even reduce it.

We are becoming a 'nanny state' where the government wants to think and dictate to us what, where and how. If they have their way, we will  have little choice on anything. As the ANC led bunch have proved to us-they do not listen or care about public opinion. (look at the criminal Toll system or the proposed media laws).

None of the above proposals will stop the abuse of booze. Socioeconomic problems are one of the biggest reasons for alcohol abuse in South Africa. Many drink because that really is all that they have to escape their sad reality.

The government needs to do more to create conditions for employment, for example, stimulate the growth of Micro, small and medium enterprises, to make post matric education affordable.  Furthermore, they have   to educate the public about alcohol abuse in a family and work environment. They need to tackle the root cause of the problem and not think that introducing laws (Which like many of our laws, are not enforced anyway) will 'poof', make the problem go away. Unless you address the roots of the issue, it will be here to stay.