A Disgrace for our High Court!

The history of this case is that Bafana Matwa raped a 7 year old girl. He at first denied the rape, but when DNA linked the sleazy sex offender to the crime, he pleaded guilty. Correctly he was sentenced to a life term by the Vereeniging Regional Court. So far, so good.

Then, a shocker: Acting Judge Bert Baum, in the Pretoria High court,  in his infinite wisdom and compassion for victims, reduced the sentence to 22 years imprisonment. His wise and touching reasons were that although the little girl had suffered serious mental anxiety, she had not been physically injured when she was raped.

Seriously..an acting judge thinks like this. Doctor's notes clearly state that the little girl weighed a mere 29,3kg at the time and  'features of forced vaginal penetration were found to be present.' The piece of useless human meat, who raped her, forced himself on her and covered her mouth when she tried to scream. Then this waste of a life, tries to claim his plea of guilty, is a form of remorse. (Even though he only pleaded guilty when the DNA proved he was).
Luckily the wise, badly acting judge, saw through this desperate ruse, but still found that he was a first time offender and other than the vaginal injuries, he had not harmed her further...and the idiot on the bench sees this as a mitigating factor and actually has the gall to add that the magistrate who handed down the life sentence, should have taken this into account!!!! What baffles me even more, is Judge Dread Baum, actually acknowledges that, because of her age, the crime would have a severe psychological impact on the child. So he sees this..yet finds it in his logic, his, who knows what, to reduce, what was a correct sentence.

Firstly, the magistrate handed down the correct sentence, should be applauded for being hard on crime. This monster Matwa should never see freedom again.
Secondly, our waste of time, criminal sympathizing government needs to re-look at punishment for violent and severe crimes and stop kissing the arses of these criminals and respecting their rights above the victim's. Thirdly, Acting Judge Baum should stop acting, and bugger off to the rock from which he crawled under. We cannot have people on the bench who have any sympathy for criminals, especially sex offenders, and even more so, those who harm children. I am unapologetic when I say that the death penalty needs to be brought back to South Africa.

Swine flu-the real death figures

I am sure we can all remember the panic over the 2009 outbreak of Swine Flu. It gripped the world and had medical science in a frenzy.
Swine Flu, is caused by the good old H1N1 influenza virus and is transmittable from person to person via fluid contact. It was declared a pandemic in June 2009, just 4 months after the first reported case, in March 2009. This was after cases where confirmed in 74 countries.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), placed the number who died from this strain of flu, at 18 500. In their defense, they did indicate this was a gross underestimate. These were apparently the deaths only confirmed by lab testing. The low figure also stems from the fact that the virus is not always detectable once somebody dies and many cases go unreported in cases where people do not have access to health care.

Now, a shocking new study published in Lancet Infectious Diseases, by an International group of scientists, places the real death toll at a staggering 284 500! The real figure may even be closer to 579 000 deaths.
Africa and South East Asia account for 51% of the tally, even though together these areas only account for roughly 38% of the world's population.

Dr Fatimah Dawood, from the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, advises the results will help when there are future outbreaks, as they will know the worst affected areas and can act accordingly by way of treatment and prevention measures.

This is a worrying sign. Viruses are a natural success, due to their constant mutation and ability to adapt in need. This is why we cannot kill them off and this is why our bodies cannot build a resistance to them. The fact that the world is so unprepared for major out breaks is terrifying. The bird flu is another that had the world in a spin. We as a race, are retroactive and in cases of pandemics, this is our downfall. Also, due the over population and that many of the most densely populated countries, have very poor, if nay type of healthcare, it is difficult to quantify or control any outbreak. This, together with our constant and easy means of travel worldwide, makes any virus impossible to contain.

Should a virus, like the N1H1 flu virus, mutate, so it is contagious through airborne transmission, it will cause the largest death toll from a virus this world has ever seen and there will be no way of stopping or controlling it.

The racist drug scandal

I was going to leave this subject, but to me I need to comment.

The 2012 Comrades Marathon was won by a South African, Ludwick Mamabolo. The first South African to win in seven years. We rejoiced and were so proud to have a South African win one of the premier ultra marathons on earth.

Our glory was short lived, as last week, it was announced, his A urine sample had tested positive for methylhexaneamine, a banned stimulant. This stimulant can give an athlete a heightened sense of awareness, euphoria and energy. It also masks fatigue levels.

His B sample is expected to be tested at the request of the athlete, who has denied any wrong doing. We are not judging him on this platform either. This will be done at a hearing and once his B sample is eventually tested.

My issue here, is the family suddenly makes this a race issue. His father saying that he was targeted because he was a black winner. His father is quoted in the Sowetan  news paper as saying, " He came second in 2010 and nothing was probed. Now he sacrificed his job and trained to win the race, there are issues. Could that not be about the fact that he is black?'
Really!!

All top ten finishers, had urine samples. Many of these were black athletes. The winner tests positive but instead of looking at him, the family play the good old South African trump card-RACE. And in short, they are saying whites don't want a black winner. However, they fail to see, how many black winners there have been- without finding them positive for substances.

As I said-I will wait for the outcome of the second test and the hearing to see about the charges. But I will say now, that I am disgusted at his family for making this a race issue and diverting from the facts of the case.

My Big Apology....

Hi all.....just an apology for not writing much this week. I have been concentrating on my Ghost Hunting side, so I am ashamed to say, I have neglected my blog.

I will get my arse in gear, and try to be more productive this coming week.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and see you next week for some more (hopefully) hot topics......

And another scientific catchy music study..??

And no sooner was the ink dry on the previous piece, when I read another one...also a study my London scientists, claiming the 10 catchiest songs of all time. They recruited thousands of volunteers and proceeded to use the scientifically proven method of listening to them sing along to carefully selected tracks.
Their key elemets for catchy songs were: a) They contain long and detailed musical phrases. b) The chorus had many pitch changes. c) All were male singers and d) The male vocal level was noticeably higher.

Needless to say, this study lacks the scientific formula and credibility that the previous one. This one the subjects were obviously limited to the songs they could choose, thus already lowering the credit of the results. Also important to note, the previous one consisted primarily of pop songs, where this top 10, is more on the rock side.

Amusing none the less..even if neither study is worth much to any of us.

To quote Doc Daniel Mullensiefen's:

Every musical hit is reliant on maths, science, engineering and technology; from the physics and frequencies of sound that determine pitch and harmony, to the hi-tech digital processors and synthesisers which can add effects to make a song more catchy.

We’ve discovered that there’s a science behind the sing-along and a special combination of neuroscience, maths and cognitive psychology can produce the elusive elixir of the perfect sing-along song.

We hope that our study will inspire musicians of the future to crack the equation for the textbook tune.

Here are the top 10 ...

1) Bon Jovi -Living on a prayer

2) Wheatus- Teenage dirt bag

3) Van Morrison- Brown eyes girl

4) Jimi Jamison- I'm always here

5) Kaiser Chiefs-Ruby

6) The Automatic- Monster

7) Europe- The final countdown

8) Sum 41- Fat lip

9) Village People- YMCA

10) Queen- We are the champions. 

Science defines catchy songs????

A Dr Rupert Till, of Huddersfield University, has now written a formula to establish the 10 catchiest songs of all time. In his defense, he does play for a electronica collective, called, Chillage People. (I kid you not.)


Now, the catchiness Quotient, is based on many things- like distance in semi times between the highest and lowest notes in the chorus, number of chords, promotional spend by the record company and number of steps in a dance routine. All very scientific.

I will not even comment further, as to do so will dilute this wonderful scientific thing Rupert has going here.

And here they are...Rupert's results of his wonderful scientific formula....:

1. ‘The Ketchup Song’ – Las Ketchup
2. ‘Macarena’ – Los Del Rio
3. ‘Y Viva Espana’ – Sylvia
4. ‘Holiday’ – Madonna
5. ‘Agadoo’ – Black Lace
6. ‘Boys (Summertime Love)’ – Sabrina
7. ‘The Birdie Song’ – The Tweets
8. ‘Saturday Night’ – Whigfield
9. ‘Paloma Blanca’ – George Baker / ‘Una Paloma Blanca’ – Jonathan King
10. ‘Summer Holiday’ – Cliff Richard

The prisoner for votes release problem

In a country with so much violent crime, it shocked and disgusted many that our dodgy president, Jacob Zuma, decided in his 'great' wisdom, to announce a remission of sentence for certain offenders. In all, 37 783 prisoners were released, thanks to Captain South Africa's kindness to the dishonest.

Fast forward a month and already 47 of these are already in jail again for re-offending. Now, 47 would seem a small percentage and in terms of mere percentage, I guess it may be. Having said that, many have been re-arrested for serious crimes, like murder, attempted murder, rape and violent robbery. (other offenses are assault, kidnapping, stock theft, drug possession, housebreaking and possession of stolen goods).

One woman deliberately offended as she wanted to be re-arrested as she had nowhere else to go. Another male jail bird, was arrested for rape, allegedly committed due to him being 'bored'. One prisoner from Thohoyandou, was arrested for murder and assault, a whole two days after being released.
This is just the tip, of the dirty iceberg.

What this does, is places the public in danger, further impacts an already strained police force and justice system and adds further work to correctional services.

Once again, the government issues an empty statement through Zuma's hand puppet and presidential spokesman, Mac Maharaj, saying JZ 'had noted what had happened and would take that into consideration as we move forward.'......what is that supposed to mean?
Does this make the poor people who have been murdered and the affected families feel better because 'dancing queen' Zuma will take this 'into consideration'? What an idiot.

Sibongile Khumalo, the Correctional Service spokesperson, states pre-release assessments were conducted and they run pre-release preparation programs, aimed at assisting offenders with their adjustment, reintegration into society and social functioning'. She went on to say that the community must play a supportive role in rehabilitation. Great, so it is the communities fault in the end. Obviously these programs are not working very well, or are not really being attended by all those due to be released.

No matter what, and yes, it may be idealistic...but from the release of prisoners, one rape, death or assault is too much. There cannot be any reason why serious offenders are released early- end of story. Should our inefficient president, need votes, and decide to release crooks, surely it should be for minor crimes and not serious offences. This further leads the public to question his leadership. From comments on the radio, from letters in newspapers, from comments on news websites and from speaking to people, the Zuma administration is doing more damage to the ANC, than anybody has previously done. This release of hardened offenders and the subsequent re-offense of many (and many more soon I am sure), will not place any added confidence in his presidency.

We need a change of leadership, come December, because another four years under this circus of a leadership, will be worse than if the Muppets took over.

Malema's almost final appeal...

In what should be the final chapter in Julius Malema's expulsion from his precious African National Congress, the National Executive Committee (NEC), overwhelmingly voted against his appeal.
Oh wise spokesman, Gwede Mantashe stated, " After a long deliberation on whether the NEC should use it's discretion, overwhelmingly, the NEC agreed that that there was no compelling grounds to review the decision." He went on to say that the matter is now considered closed by the NEC.

Having said this, the matter can be raised once again by delegates at the conference in December, showing that no decision with the ANC is really final. If Malema can get the support, he could use this conference as a last ditch attempt to get back his valued membership. This will, however take brave supporters, as our dubious president, Jacob Zuma, is rallying his troops, re-shuffling parliament to cement his support base, and subduing those who may not be for him. Malema is an anti Zuma revolutionary fool, who is losing support at an alarming rate, now that he is in the political wilderness.

Interesting and backstabbing times lie ahead for the ANC, as they fight for internal power. As they do, their support base is slowly eroding and they are neglecting the country. Well done guys. They are basically robbing the tuck shop while the school burns down.

The SAPS joke that is..

"Out of this capital expenditure of R98 Million, R81 Million was blasted on vehicles. The sad part is that they spent R35 Million in the first quarter. This is evident that they just wanted to spend the money."

This comes from a secret report, due to be handed to the Joint Committee on Intelligence. The report alleges that acting national police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi (pictured below), authorized the use of funds from the Secret Services Account, for use on operational expenditure- despite this being in direct contravention of the Secret Services Act. Apparently ever so clever move, was to spend the unspent portion of the budget- even though, this was not what the budget was intended for. The decline in the spending of the Crime Intelligence has been put down to infighting within the South African police Services.

To place this whole debacle into perspective- Jackie Selebi (pictured right), former SAPS and Interpol head, is now serving a jail sentence (in hospital like most connected people), his replacement, Bheki Cele (pictured in all his pimp looking glory below), is due to be fired due to fraud relating to lease agreements, Ex Crime Intelligence boss, Richard Mdluli is in and hot of hot water relating to fraud, murder etc (see previous posts) and now current cop boss, Lt Gen Mkhwanazi is being fingered in fraud. 

What makes this expenditure worse, is the funds went to purchase luxury cars, like Mercedes Benz ML 350 CDI, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Lexus 350  RXI..to name a few. Having said this, many police stations country wide, sit without patrol vehicles to respond to emergencies, have no electricity or running water, lack of stationary, no fund to purchase Bullet proof vests...the list of vital needs is endless. Yet, Our Lt Gen Genius, blows the money on luxury cars. 

The big spender, has been called to appear before Parliaments Police Oversight Committee, next week, to explain the Richard Mdluli )pictured below) saga. (The on and off and then on and then off and on again suspension..then the SAP saying they will fight for the apparent fraudster and former Crime Intelligence Boss). 

Mkhwanazi must be given the boot as well. 

But then, you ask, what do the SAPS (and other Civil Servants) do when on suspension. They continue to draw their inflated salaries of course. In Mduli's case (and after being stripped of all police power) he pockets R1 Million a year. Cele draws around R1,3 Million. How great is that!

The whole mismanagement issue, in my view, stems from police chiefs being political appointments and not career police persons. They are appointed to protect the interests of whoever is the most powerful group in parliament, so that they are protected due to the many skeletons, dancing in their collective cupboards of the current ruling party. The matters of crime and citizens is often an afterthought. 

Until they choose a policemen/woman, who is a career police person, and not a politician, we are going to see this farce being repeated time and time again. 

SAFA...another poor payout performance

Years ago South African soccer did our country proud. We won tournaments and were decently placed on the rankings.

But since then millions upon millions have been thrown into the pockets of coaches, who see this as an opportunity to get rich, with very little effort.

This time it is current coach Pitso Mosimane. He has been sacked, due to the prolonged poor performance of the South African national side. Now, one would think that by now, SA Football Association (SAFA) would have learned to place a performance clause in the contract. Sadly the fools have not and this termination will cost a cool R20 million (estimated)- or more now that our ex-coach intends going to court for more.

Seriously....time to wake up...put a performance contract in- if the dude does not perform, get rid of him without the massive payout that is all too common.

Who really hold the cards on rights?

The law is a delicate part of our functioning as a society. As are the rights of individuals. However, being human beings, there are times when one’s actions will infringe on the rights of others, to varying degrees.

It is important to have a model that balances the rights of both parties out.

Many legal systems are written and function to protect the rights of the perpetrator of the illegal action. Two valuable protections they enjoy is doctor/ patient and attorney/ client privilege. Both state that the professional who ‘works’ with them, may not reveal information about the client/patient, even if it is pertinent to a legal case, unless of course, ordered to my a court of law. Both professions face censure if this law is broken and they reveal information that was shared in terms of this privilege.

Under normal circumstances I do agree that there should be some sort of protection for clients or patients that would legally stop these professional people from sharing sensitive information with a third party. However, it is when we, as a society, place this privilege before the value of a human life, it becomes a worrying factor.

For example, should a Mr. A kill a Mr. Z in cold blood, and at the time he is a patient of Dr. D, a psychiatrist, and confesses to him. Dr. D may not talk about the act or report it, all he can do is try to talk Mr. A into confessing. Then, should Mr. A be arrested and retains the services of an attorney, Mrs. K, then, even if he confesses, her hands are tied.

If the attorney puts up a good defense, then Mr. A might just get away with murder.

To me, this is morally wrong. The protection of an obvious criminal is morally wrong. The essence of the matter is, a serious crime has been committed and the very same people protecting the criminal, are the ones who swore a duty to society. If we as the general public withhold information, we are liable for prosecution as an accomplice, or defeating the ends of justice or a similar offense. But, if you are a professional, then this silence is actually expected of you. To put it as it is, the criminal’s right to protection is higher than the need for justice.

Why, when somebody has wronged society as such, transgressing consciously, do they suddenly enjoy so much protection? This is very evident in our society. If an alleged criminal injures a victim and then in turn is also injured, the criminal would go to a private hospital at the tax-payer’s expense, whereas the victim (assuming he has no medical aid) gets taken to a provincial hospital. If a criminal attacks you in your own home, you do not have an automatic right to fight back, because you have to prove that your actions were in no way, excessive in dealing with the threat. This is only one of a few cushy protections our criminals enjoy.

Now, we as law abiding, tax paying citizens should be the ones who have the say. We should be the ones who are protected against this ruthless mob that we fall victim to every day. Medical and legal professions should be given a clause that deals with criminal knowledge and there should be penalties for not furnishing information in a criminal case, especially if the case is a capital crime like rape or murder.

The laws that are put in place to protect the victims, should do just that. Instead though, the perpetrator has more and more rights and it is virtually impossible to punish them to the extent that their crime deserves. Our criminal justice system is also horrible inadequate. People who sit on the bench are tied down so that all sentences handed down the criminal, must run concurrently. Therefore, if somebody is sentence to a total of 300 years for let’s say murder, robbery and a couple of smaller crimes, he will only serve the length of the longest sentence, which, if it is a life sentence would be 25 years. This is of course excluding parole and pardons and so on. So, in effect a total of 300 years amounts to around 15-18 actually served. Sometimes even less. 

 It is obvious to any outsider, that this system is frightening. It would appear that the criminal enjoys a protection law abiding citizens deserve, but don't really have.

I am not by any stretch saying that prisoner’s should not have rights. But I am saying when their rights are in conflict with the society or the victim that they wronged, then the criminal’s rights are the ones that should be set aside.  Pillars of society like medical and legal professionals, even the religious professions, should be encouraged to furnish information on known crimes and criminals. They should be the ones setting the example for society to follow and in turn, make this a safer society to live in without criminals hiding behind legally built walls that do not serve the people that they were meant to protect.

We live in a society where the criminal is protected as his/her rights are so important to the detriment of the law-abiding citizens. Surely the scale of justice should tip in the correct direction and the laws should actually protect those that they are written to protect. I think with all of our focus on protecting the right’s of individual’s , particularly prisoners, we have taken our eye off the ball. We end up protecting those who transgressed the laws we set and in the end, those we should be protected, are the ones who get the short end.

For example, somebody breaks into your house with a weapon. The law has been interpreted by experts to mean that the trespasser has to attack you first before you can defend yours or your families’ life. Should the trespasser’s attack prove fatal, however, you will not be able to defend yourself or your family. It is ludicrous. Should somebody steal you belongings, let’s say a car, you may not use lethal force to stop them, unless your or somebody else’s life is directly threatened by this action. So, in short, according to the law, the person may take your belongings and you basically have to let them go. Yes, an over simplification, but that is what it amounts to.

The governments of the world, the judiciary and the entire legal system should take a step back and have a look from the outside in. They need to realize that the protections that they are affording criminals, are actually to the determent of law abiding citizens. We need a legal system that places the innocent first, that protects those who uphold the law and places their rights first. Criminals are criminals and should NEVER enjoy more rights or protection against the innocent party. 

Teen pregnancy

South Africa has a major problem with teen pregnancies.
Here are some statistics..Of all pregnancies in South Africa, 40% are under 19 years old. 35% of girls have given birth before even reaching 19. Alarmingly, of these 7% are ages between 15-16 years old. 93% between 16 and 19.
Studies reflect, between 11% and 20% of teen pregnancies are the result of rape and a massive 60%, by fathers 6 years older than the mother, or more. One in 5 teenage fathers, admit to forcing the girls to have sex with them. This is very concerning.

Experts also blame the use of drugs and alcohol, ease to obtain porn and peer pressure.

The study also found that one in three young men, had more than one sexual partner. It is well known, the majority of South African men refuse to wear condoms. This places the female partners at a higher risk of contracting sexually transmitted disease (STD's) and HIV. They are literally playing Russian Roulette with their lives, and their partners.

The above is nothing short of shocking. Government has admitted that education is a major problem. Admitting it is the first step...but the second and more important step is to actually doing something about it. Parents also need to take responsibly to educate their children about sex, so they know what they are risking. The children themselves must learn to take responsibility as well. It is brilliant to have somebody else to blame..

Something need to be done urgently..and it is every-bodies responsibility.