The day before yesterday (23rd) was the 1 year anniversary of the launch of this blog. I totally forgot about it, probably because it hasn’t felt as a whole year. Anyway I, The Evolving Ape, have to congratulate myself for hanging in there for so long. I don’t know if anyone else enjoyed it, but it has been 12 months of joy for me. Hopefully I can continue writing on regular basis in the future.
Some memorable moments from the past year:
220 posts have been uploaded since the start, which equals an average of 0.6 posts/day.
The most common tag to my posts has been “South Africa”, used for 29 posts.
I have written some 14 posts about Robert Mugabe, but only around 5 posts about sustainable development (I probably should change the subtitle of my blog…)
The post that generated most visitors in a single day (approx. 5 000 unique visitors) was the one where I claimed that Obama will be dead within four years (Link).
The post the generated most comments (112 in total) was the one about my wish for Israel to wipe out Palestine (Link).
My Israel/Palestine series (Link1, Link2, Link3, Link4) resulted in several death threats sent to my e-mail. Kind of interesting experience...
All in all The Evolving Ape have had some 100 000 visitors (not unique visitors), which averages at around 2 000 per week.
Anybody who wants to celebrate The Evolving Ape may do so by having some cake and champagne (which you buy yourself), and I will try to provide some good atmosphere by continuing bloging.
The election in South Africa seems to have passed without any major incidents yesterday (although a Cope party member was shoot dead outside his home in Port Elizabeth). I predicted that ANC would get less then 50% this time around, but the primarily results say around 60% for the ruling party. This is nonetheless a step forward for South Africa, that doesn’t end up in the palm of a party with 2/3 majority. However the fact that there is no clear opposition force to be recon with may send the country towards a dictatorship á la Zimbabwe. All the signs are there...
It is practically determined that the next president of South Africa will be Jacob Zuma. Much can be said about this man, but even more should be said about his supporters, who are a ranging bunch of semi-bandits. The leader of the ANC youth league, Julius Malema, is a faithfully devoted supporter of Zuma and have on more then one occasion threaten with violence if things didn't go his way. Just the other day he promised to take to violent action against the restaurant chain Nando’s in South Africa if they didn’t removed a TV-ad where he was depicted as a puppet (see clip below).
Moreover, Zuma’s stronghold lies in the, relative, far left-wing and I wouldn’t be surprised if he owes the communist party some debt. The influence of “revolutionary” forces in South Africa can send chill down the spine of anyone that have experienced communism. Referring to each other as “comrades” the party members of ANC shout either “contra-revolutionarist” or “racist” when being criticized for their leadership. And we can all see what a wonderful leadership it has been so far...
Some would say that the light in the tunnel is the fact that the party DA (Democratic Alliance) seems to have won the provincial elections in Western Cape. The party’s leader, Helen Zille, is said to have done wonders during here time as mayor of Cape Town. Apparently she was voted the best major of the world last year (unconfirmed rumour). Nonetheless, the violence and the ever-growing informal settlements (shanty towns) in and around Cape Town doesn’t leave me raving about Zille’s skills. In my eyes and ears DA seems and sounds very much like a white ANC, but maybe I’m wrong.
Perhaps the best party for South Africa would be the ID (Independent Democrats), which seems to be the only South African party with a clear anti-corruption profile. Furthermore, the party have the most diverse “race” composition in South Africa, with some 30% coloured voters, 25 % whites, 25 % blacks, and 20 % Indians. Sadly a vote for ID is regarded by South Africans as a vote wasted, as the party is still very small (but managed to get over 8% in Western Cape according to primarily reports).
Lets hope and pray that Zuma and his thugs can either start to do a very good job, or totally screw everything up. If the latter, at least South Africa can leave this limbo it is situated in at the moment. Hopefully, the ANC’s lack of skills in leading a democratic country will become obvious to the majority of people before the next election in 2014, and before South Africa will become a new Zimbabwe.
Depeche Mode’s Sounds of the Universe was released today. It is my sad duty to inform you that this is the worst of the band’s 12 full-length albums. It seems like the momentum that was picked up during Playing the Angel is lost again, and the majority of the songs sound like Dave Gahan’s solo project. However, Depeche Mode have a very high lowest level, and Sounds of the Universe still stands out in competition with most of the “music” being produced today.
Some of my personal reflections on the Sounds of the Universe tracks:
In chains – If there would have been an album between Sounds of Faith and Devotion och Ultra, it would probably sounded a bit like this. Also contains some Enjoy the Silence vibes. Score: 2.5 (out of 5)
Hole to feed – One of countless tracks that sounds like a Dave Gahan solo album. Moderate exciting, not particularly interesting. Score: 2
Wrong – The first single from the album. Has a cool beat and rhythm but feels slightly unfinished. Sounds like nothing else from Depeche. More of that please! Score: 3
Fragile tension – See description for Hole to feed… Score: 2
Little soul – Pretty cool song that seems to flirt a bit with Construction time again. Score: 2
In sympathy – See description for Hole to feed… Also some vibes from Playing the Angel. Score: 2
Peace – One of my two favourite tracks from the album. Almost sounds like being produced by the Knife (by the way, can’t we start a campaign that demands Karin and Olof being the producers on the next Depeche album?). This is how Depeche would have sounded if the hadn’t left the synth 80s behind them. Score: 3.5
Come back – See description for Hole to feed… Score: 2
Spacewalker – Short instrumental track. Very cool, sounds like Stjarna would have sounded like if it was written today. Score: 3
Perfect – Potentially the second single of the album. May very well grow to something big eventually. Like a mix of Vialotor and Songs of Faith and Devotion. Score: 3
Miles away – Some interresting beats, but otherwise se description for Hole to feed… Score: 2
Jerzebel – Probably the best track of the album. The stronget piece sung by Martin since The things you said. (Me being weak for the pling-plong sounds might render a very bias opinion in this case). Score: 3.5
Corrupt – Mixture of Songs of Faith and Devotion and Exciter, and the results is hence a diluted Depeche… Score: 2.5
Avslöjande om rasistiska tendenser bland Sverigedemokraterna kommer säkert inte som någon överraskning för de flesta. Att svenska politiska partier innehåller sorgliga ”element”, som gärna graderar människor efter tvivelaktiga skalor, har varit allmänt känt ända sedan Janne Josefssons valstuge-undersökning 2002. Man kan till och med ha förståelse för att det inom SD, som har relativt gott om anhängare med fokus på endast en fråga (invandringen), återfinns individer som passerar gränsen för att vara främlingskritiska och går över till att vara främlingsfientliga och sedermera enbart komiska. Vad jag däremot har svårare att förstå är den brist på intelligens som tycks återfinns hos många av medlemmarna i SD.
Lite analogt med att det inte är girigheten som är problemet hos bankchefer som döper om bonusar till löneförhöjningar (se inlägg) så är inte rasismen det stora problemet i SDs fall. Istället ligger problemet i att partiets medlemmar verkar sakna förmåga att vara offentliga och hårdgranskade personer. De tycks sakna förmågan att förstå vilka reaktioner och uppmärksamhet deras beteende kan leda till.
Må vara att jag inte alltid håller med SDs hållning i en mängd politiska frågor, men jag ser ogärna att man förbjuder åsikter. Emellertid så ogillar jag starkt dumhet och anser att denna borde utrotas alternativt förbjudas. Följaktligen så hoppas jag SD kan skicka sig själva på några kurser om hur man uppför sig och beter sig som en politisk figur. Det kommer säkert fortfarande finnas rasism inom SDs led, men jag slipper åtminstone bevittna någon mer dumhet och dåliga bortförklaringar.
Well... not particular unexpected China is now increasing its presences in Africa. Chinese investors are flocking to the continent and already we can see how high some African leaders value their new trade partners (The South African government upholds its tradition).
I think that African leaders are relieved to have money/investors coming in, without any questions asked. For the African people it might be a different story, especially if the African countries are about to adopt China’s strategy of ruthless capitalism.
Jag har vid tidigare tillfälle ”analyserat” Sveriges utrikesminister Carl Bildts engagemang för Afrika och dess länder (länk). Genom att räkna antalet träffar för vissa specifika sökord på Bildts blogg ”Alla dessa dagar” så får man en någorlunda bra bild av hur utrikesministern tycks nerprioritera den afrikanska kontinenten till förmån för andra länder/regioner/konflikter.
Det är möjligt att UD/Bildt tillämpar en omfattande tyst diplomati gentemot afrikanska konflikter. Detta verkar särskilt uppenbart i fallet med fängslade Dawit Isaak i Eriteria, där Bildt vägrar svara på frågor som berör det fallet. För Sveriges del så är denna tystand inget annat än en stor skam. Tyst diplomati är detsamma som ett tyst godkännande.
”Det är inte ett fåtals brutalitet som skrämmer mig utan den stora massans tystand”
