back from haitus

well its been a very long time since i last posted, and unfortunately/fortunately this one will be short and sweet, with hopes of long and sweet posts to follow shortly.

- first, i've come to the realisation that i have been a junkie for US presidential politics for almost 2 years now. i've always been a fan of politics (esp US and 'african'), but this period has been even better/worse (however you look at it). I wonder how much worse it would be were I actually living in the states and inundated with 24-hr polical coverage and robo-calls. hmm, i really wish i was still living in stl right now, actually. there was a nyt op-ed about a week or so ago in which the author lamented the fact that she didnt live in a "toss-up" or "battleground" state, and therefore was not privy to all the robo-calls and visits and negative campaigning and polling calls during dinner, etc. i feel the exact same way. shame. maybe one day. I'm also very proud of ST. LOUIS for showing such a huge sign of support for b-obama, coming out a record (at the time) 100,000+ strong to a rally held in one of the most beautiful spots in the city - the lawn of the Arch.

- second south african politics is no less exciting these days either. since 1994, sa has been effectively a 1-party state, belonging to the African National Congress (ANC). sure, there are other 'opposition' parties, but not nearly strong enough or black enough or 'comrade' enough. but in the last few weeks, scores of people have been resigning from the ANC to potentially form another party soon in time to contest for next years elections. this party will be a bit strange (in my opinion), because essentially they are billing themselves as the 'real' ANC and their name will probably be something like South African National Congress (SANC), and their charter will be very similar to the ANC and their history will be shared with that of the ANC, save the breakaway part. so in essence, they are the tru followers of the freedom charter. lots of educated blacks (and whites) that i've spoken to are actually pretty pumped about this new breakaway party. for the 1st time since '94, it has the potential of giving black who are disappointed with the way the ANC is currently being run and the crazy personalities currently running it are behaving. one of my role models, desmond tutu, has clearly stated that he may not vote for the anc next year. and i cant imagine that former prez mbeki and reigning idol, nelson mandela are too thrilled with the way the party is going. it's unclear that any of these individuals will actually vote for another party, particularly since the party has played such a huge part in their lives and their making; however, it is also clear that they appear to be disgruntled by the current leadership and the direction towards which the party is heading. mbeki himself publicly (in a letter) just disassociated himself with any party politics (esp the ANC) in the near future. i can;t blame any of these guys; its difficult to be proud of a party that has behaved like the ANC has recently with 1) the current pres still trying to settle criminal charges lobbied against him; 2) the sexual assault/rape accusation still lingering over the president's head (even tho that case has been closed); 3) uneducated, thuggish hooligans running the ANC youth league threatening to "kill" for zuma and seemingly attempting to take on a more prominent role in the future of sa politics; and the list goes on... so in a sense, the breakaway party will provide citizens that aren't happy with the current ANC, but are way too afraid and suspicious of any other (read: white) party (a very legitimate concern) an avenue to turn to. stay tuned.

3rd. these next 3 points are exciting times for me. on tuesday, im going to an all-night party. woohoo. starting at 10pm and ending 6am wed morning. yes i have work to do on wednesday, but i'll get lots of sleep when i'm dead, right?! plus theres much more important things than sleep. like the celebration or mourning of an obama victory or loss! this party is for "americans in africa for obama"! and is an election night watch. basically cnn and wine/champagne/beer and friends and free gifts and raffle stuff all night long. should be good times and heres to hoping it ends well! an aside, people outside of the US are pretty sure this election is a foregone conclusion. i think thats because outside the US (much more so than within) the media and people have gone ga-gah over obama and thats all u hear. me, i'm not so sure this election is fore-gone anything. i do not underestimate the power of americans to screw things up and make wrong decisions, like they did in 2004. plus there are way too many factors involved, not the least of which being race ("did u hear that b-obama is black?...well, kinda...more importantly, he's not like us...")

4th, in 2 weeks, i'm finally gearing up for my trip to cape town. I've been meaning to go for so long and now am finally making the trip. but this trip is no ordinary trip. its a ROAD TRIP. btw, it takes about 18 hours to get to cape town by car from joburg (2hrs by plane), so we're a bit nuts, but whats a trip without adventure?! plus i'll be accompanied by 3 of the best people in sa! ill share lots of pics when i get back.

5th, i finally bought my ticket for xmas to the states. i'll be there from 16dec to 7jan, so if you're around, hit me up or let me know (cuz i may have a different #, my old phone was victim to pick-pocketing!). so ye, excited about that. i'll be in chi-town and stl for sure, and maybe some other places.

6th, this is a last minute add-on, but i thought this was interesting. i've been meaning to write more about nigerian politics, cuz im kindof a junkie for that too. but a read this article not too long ago that a couple individuals (just normal people) that blog about nigerian politics and all the shit going on in the country that few outside hear about had been detained when they tried to enter the country, for no reason other than the fact that the run anti-nigerian government blogs. thats a bunch of kak in my opinion. but im not at all surprised; a 'civilian' nigerian government finds it hard to shake off the old habits of the 'military' government we've known for so many years. anyway, thats not really a deterrent for me, but i thought it was interesting. to all the nigerian authroites reading this (and im sure they number in the millions!), i don't have anything against nigeria, very few nigerians do. we love this great country more than most people love their countries. we simply long for the day when the rampant corruption is reigned in to an acceptable and workable level (it will never be eradicated, but it can be brought down to a level where ordinary citizens are not deeply and daily affected) and where civil liberties are obeyed and laws lawfully enforced. thats all we ask!

right, so that was longer than the short and sweet promised, but hopefully it was worthy reading. cheers and lekker dag.

edit: i forgot to mention in my earlier post that i moved this weekend. it wasn't a big move (or at least i thought in the beginning), simply moving inside the same complex but different apartment. but like i said the last couple times i moved, i'm never doing that again. it turned out to be pretty hectic. i was supposed to have movers to do most of the work, but then they left before they did a lot of the work. and cuz i relied on the movers, i hadnt told many people that i was moving so had no help. ended up moving most things by myself (and there were a lot of little things, cuz i didnt pack properly, no surprise). luckily towards the end, i was able to get some good friends to help me out and actually help me set up in the new place after i was completely spent. these guys/gals were awesome. i owe you big time! now i'm at a new place which looks a lot like the old place anyway...