Wednesday again, and it’s mountain time

You drive west on 80 and it won’t take too long
‘Til the road starts climbing up to mountain time
There’s a girl I know there, she lives free and easy
And she shows me wonders and she takes my mind

And she’s wild as eagles
She’s as sweet as honeysuckle
Her life’s flowing like a mountain stream
And she takes me somewhere
And it’s good to be there
And she pulls me into her bright golden wing

Now I hate the city and I love the country
And I love that feeling on that mountain high
And that girl is waiting, but she won’t wait too long
So I drive all night to that clear blue sky

And she’s wild as eagles
She’s as sweet as honeysuckle
Her life’s flowing like a mountain stream
And she takes me somewhere
And it’s good to be there
And she pulls me into her bright golden wing

I can feel it in the wind blow
I can feel love flow
And I’ll be there when the morning comes, yeah

And she’s wild as eagles
She’s as sweet as honeysuckle
Her life’s flowing like a mountain stream
And she takes me somewhere
And it’s good to be there
And she pulls me into her bright golden wing

Bright golden wing

And she’s wild as eagles
She’s as sweet as honeysuckle
Her life’s flowing like a mountain stream
And she takes me somewhere
And it’s good to be there
And she pulls me into her bright golden wing

Bright golden wing

Bumper charity weekend ahead

The guys and I have a hectic weekend ahead of us as we take on our most ambitious charity project in the 12 or so years we’ve been doing this.

We’ve invited some of the poorest families from an economically depressed residential area South West of Johannesburg to join us for a lunch the guys will be cooking, and we’ll also be distributing food hampers to each family. We’ve secured the assistance of a local school which has kindly allowed us use of the premises, and a few classrooms and the ablution facilities.

The classrooms are for the use of a general practitioner, a dentist and an optometrist who have magnanimously donated their time and services to conduct basic medical screening and checks on all the invited folks who are in such need. The SA Blood Services (SANBS) will also be at hand to perhaps carry out some tests, present a talk, and hopefully collect some much-needed blood from willing donors.

Tomorrow, we’ll finish up some last-minute shopping and spend the day putting together the food hampers which will consist of basic dry provisions, vegetables and fruits. The guys will then spend the rest of the afternoon preparing the meat, vegetables etcetera for the traditional Indian chicken briyani, we will be cooking in two huge pots over an open fire at the school.

The cooking will start very early Sunday morning. Tables and chairs will be set up for the few hundred people who are expected, and some classrooms will be prepared for the health professionals to do their thing.

I’m expecting to be exhausted by Sunday afternoon, but gratified at pulling off this mammoth [for a handful of guys] task.

A sikh joke you say?

The Indian population of India and abroad really have to get over this ridiculous insecurity about their many religions.

Hot on the heels of India’s pathetic dispute with Facebook and Google over content that they myopically view as hostile to local religions, comes the Jay Leno affair. And only recently, celebrated author Salman Rushdie was forced to cancel a planned appearance at the Jaipur Literature Festival after threats and protests from Islamist groups, while the Indian authorities apparently turned a blind eye.

Back to the Jay Leno affair: Jay Leno, host of the Tonight Show is in hot water following a quip he made about the Golden Temple in Amritsar being the holiday home of Republican, Mitt Romney. While some sensible Indians (Sikhs included) appreciated the joke and accepted it as quite normal,  it has apparently angered the Sikh community in the USA and in India. They believe that the joke is a deliberate affront to their religion.

However if you watch the clip below, you’ll find that Leno made no reference to Sikhs or the temple itself. So you have to wonder what all the fuss is about.

The obvious answer is that like the adherents of all other religions in the world, the Sikhs have this obtuse notion that their god or gods require constant defending against perceived attacks, both from adherents of competing religions, heathens and non-believers alike.

How utterly pathetic?

It’s time you life-sucking god-botherers grew up and started attending to the real problems in the world, not the imaginary ones that seem to make up all these pointless religions we have.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t…

I belong to that group of individuals who believe that banning something only serves to push it underground and make it more desirable.

So it is with this in mind that I’m a little disturbed by an article in the Mail & Guardian about the banning of witchcraft and exploitation emanating from superstitious beliefs, by a political lobby group in the Indian state of Maharashtra.

Chanting to cure snakebites, claiming to be a reincarnated spouse to obtain sex, and charging for miracles could soon be banned by an Indian state seeking to stop charlatans preying on the vulnerable.

Many superstitions are widely held in India but a campaign group is lobbying hard for a new law in the western state of Maharashtra to outlaw several exploitative activities, with penalties of fines or up to seven years in jail. [more here]

According to the article, religious groups are already arguing that the banning is an attack on their religious freedoms. They will undoubtedly find support in the large Hindu population who thrive on superstition and archaic religious belief. The banning will ultimately only give their primitive needs added impetus when it becomes taboo.

While the proponents of the legislation known as Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil Practices and Black Magic Bill, mean well, they could in fact be causing more harm.

It’s not a pleasant situation to be in, and is a damning indictment on mankind which is still prone to being deceived by religious charlatans, mostly through their own ignorance.

The rest of us are damned if we do something about it and damned if we don’t.

A man-god who is soon to be just a man

Image via Wikipedia

Satya Sai Baba who claims to be a living god residing in India, and who has a following of millions around the world, lies in hospital with a lung infection and possible renal complications as well.

That’s hardly a befitting circumstance for a man-god to find himself in. Rather embarrassing actually, considering his claims over the years to have performed many miracles, including bringing people back to life from death.

But what about his many devotees who include high-ranking Indian politicians, even Prime Ministers, other bureaucrats, businessmen and even some cricketers who have just won the World Cup? Surely they doubt his claimed amazing powers, as this report in the hindustan times seems to suggest that the political elite who support him have mobilized vast medical and other resources to manage his condition and save him from impending death.

It’s always a telling indictment on the power of religion, faith and the gods, when ardent followers turn to medical science to seek a cure for common ailments, while consistently advocating the infallibility of divine intervention.

There have been damning allegations over the years over the deviant sexual conduct of Sai Baba, but he has never been prosecuted. This is probably due to the immense influence his wealthy but allegedly fraudulent religious organization has over the country’s political elite. Some of the so-called powers he demonstrates regularly which seem to have his rather followers enthralled, have also been exposed as common parlour tricks by skeptic investigators.

If this charlatan somehow escapes death on this occasion, it won’t be because of his assumed prowess as a living divine entity, but rather due to the power of medical science.

I am convinced that a successor is waiting in the wings of Sai Baba’s ashram in Puttaparthi, to assume the reigns of quackery, should he die. The [phony] show must go on, after all.

Enough already, of this Bollywood hijacking of the Indian Premier League

Okay, this is officially the start of spleen busting week. And my first victim of anger is Bollywood and the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament that has been relocated to South Africa, from India.

I actually love cricket, and it’s great having so many former and current cricketing stars all in South Africa at the same time. Everyone’s also saying how good the tournament’s relocation is going to be for us, in terms of the foreign revenue that will be earned. But, did they have to drag Bollywood along to South Africa for the ride as well?

You see, I’m really peeved at the way ageing Bollywood stars are using the IPL to grab whatever media attention they can, and milk it for all its worth. Every time you hear something about the IPL, there is always mention of some or the other Bollywood star as well and it’s just sickening. I know that some of these ageing stars have shareholdings in the cricket franchises participating in the tournament, but couldn’t they just remain behind the scenes and allow the cricketers to the fore? I really don’t need the song and dance routine every time one of the cricket teams are mentioned. I mean, it’s just not cricket!

Could you Bollywood stars please get out of my face already, so that I can enjoy some cricket?