A South African X-men

This Is a totally random Post

I was browsing around one of my usual comic information resources and I found a list of non American X-Men. To my pleasant surprise I found a South African X-men called Maggot! . What a Terrible Name, but still how cool is that. He has a unique power but he lacks the power of a true South African hero Nelson Mandela, the power of Madiba Magic! Proudly South African.

For Interest sake check out the other non-American X-Men. Click the link and scroll down to the International Characters Section.


Kuwabara, Kuwabara
The Lone Writer

Innocence Lost!

The Middle East (*sigh*) what can I say that hasn't already been said. Just the mere mention of this blood stained part of the world in any context conjures up images of war, suffering and religious tension. Being the birthplace of the the worlds three main religions Islam, Christianity and Judaism it should rather be a place of peace and religious solitude, but we know differently, where religious ideals clash people die. Throughout history it has been embroiled in conflict and I doubt the conflict will end anytime soon.

You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war.Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

The disproportionate use of force by Israel against the people of Lebanon is appalling to say the least, they have "Hijacked" a nation, but with The United States of America backing them, condemning them verbally is the best we can do. I have been keeping up to speed with the conflict online and I came across the above photo and thought that to myself that something as innocent as a toy doesn’t belong in that picture.

A toy in essence is something that brings about happiness and joy to children all around the world but to the children in Palestine and Lebanon this is a foreign concept. These faceless souls do not have any toys, all they have are the images of war which they will never forget. They wake not to the sound of their mothers voice but rather to the sound of the bombs crashing down around them which resonates throughout their minute frames. Clutching their ears, tears rolling down their cheeks they try to make sense of what is happening around them, but they cant. No child deserves this, No human deserves this.

Children might or might not be a blessing, but to create them and then fail them was surely damnation. Lois McMaster Bujold, "Barrayar", 1991

Children are amazing in many ways and are very adaptable but in an environment that is inherently wrong on so many levels how can they adapt without loosing their innocence, which is undeniably the hallmark of a child. This war is not their war, they don’t understand what its about or why it is happening, but they are learning about the harsh reality that is their life. Does the life of Israeli soldiers justify destroying the lives of thousands of innocents? How do you quantify either’s worth?

This conflict may end tomorrow or next month, but the scars it will leave will remain for years to come. Many children will be left traumatized, homeless and orphaned as a result of this madness, with nobody to console them and wipe their tears. Forever changed by this conflict, they may harbor a deep seeded anger towards their oppressors. Isn’t it funny that no matter how many so called "Terrorists" they kill, they help to create thousands more?

Kuwabara, Kuwabara
The Lone Writer

Campus Beckons!

The sheer peace, solitude and reckless abandonment which are all link to childhood innocence is finally over. Now I didn’t undergo any kind of Freudian hypnotic treatment nor did I undertake some spiritual journey with a hermit named Bob to the Himalayan Mountains, the simple truth is that my holidays have finally come to an abrupt and shuddering end and the beast that is WITS is calling for blood.

On Monday thousands of students arose from their slumber in the early hours of the morning, rubbing their eyes and thinking to themselves, why? Why do we do this to ourselves why? Memories of the month that had been flashed before them, just as fast as the month had done. The realization dawned upon them, that it was now finally over, the uphill battle was about to begin, caffeine driven and with a silly smirk they prepared to brave to cold, traffic and minibus taxi’s just to appease this monstrosity.

No matter how hard they tried the beasts call could not be ignored. Like mindless ants driven by instinct they flocked from every direction to the cold unforgiving embrace of the beast. The daily rituals of fighting for parking (Survival of the Earliest) followed by students scurrying around to their respective lectures had begun. Their faces consumed with dread, they took their seats and prepared to assimilate the knowledge that was thrown at them, whilst battling against the natural response to sleep.

Why do they do this? Because strangely enough, however evil or sinister it seems there is a feeling that the beast brings knowledge, power, and a sense of accomplishment. The beast prepares us for the cut throat reality which lingers beyond its stone walls and boom gates, servitude to the beast is nothing compared to servitude to the working world. It drains our very essence only to replace it with so much more.

The beast has called and I have given in to its will.

Kuwabara, Kuwabara
The Lone Writer

Reality PowerSlam

Like most things these days when something is a big hit with the masses it can hardly be stopped, and reality TV was no exception, I mean there is a TV channel called Realty TV. It slithered it's way into our homes like a quirky relative that is amusing at first but after a while you just wanna stab him/her in the neck with a pencil, and hope and pray that they dont come to visit unless they have a substantialy large estate and you in line for some of the inheritance. Yes I know that sounds harsh but work with me here.

Coming back to the topic at hand which is reality TV and not ways of trying to bump off a rich relative, everyone has at some stage or the other seen a reality show, even under duress, whether it be Big Brother, Survivor or Donald Trumps Hair a.k.a The Apprentice. All our lifes have been touched by this so called "reality" (which at times seems very scripted), but Reality TV has taken it to far now with HULK HOGAN yes HULK HOGAN of WWE fame having his very own reality show called, "Hogan Knows Best".

Now could someone please tell me what the hell would be interesting about watching the daily antics of a famous wrestler, unless every five minutes Hogan rips of his t-shirt, flexes his muscles and proceeds to wack his wife, children and the postman over the head with a steel chair, now thats entertainment. The ridiculous reality reel doesnt end there, there are a string of shows which have no point, The Osbournes being a fine example where the networks only draw card is when ozzy swears just about everything on the show including a sandwich in a very inaudible british accent. There is even a reality show called "Wife Swap" where husbands swop their wives, yes they swop their wives for God sake (though looking at some of their wives I don't blame them).

Most of these shows have no entertainment value except perhaps if you want to have a good laugh at the expense of these reality showparticipants, which could just aswell be replaced by a ring tailed lemur or your garden variety fern. I wonder what the next big thing in television will be but for the moment the Reality TV wave is riding high and I for one is definately tired of this ride.

Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it. Alfred Hitchcock (1899 - 1980)

Kuwabara, Kuwabara
The Lone Writer

Blood Sucking Leeches, Lawyers?

There are a variety of leeches on earth, but the most commonly known (and ironically the rarest) are haemophagic parasitic blood-sucking leeches, which have been show cased in many an action movie sucking the blood of the hero and now are also used as a medical treatment. However in my opinion one variety of "so-called" blood sucking leech has been given a bad reputation by a few bad apples. The leeches’ I am talking about are Lawyers. Now looking at my profile you may have seen that I am a law student so of course I would be bias towards lawyers, but this is the "Second Age" of my studies and in the "First Age" I was a science student so I am objectively writing this.

It is true that some lawyers do in fact SUCK the life out of their clients and are only concerned with the amount of money they can make but this is not the case with all lawyers. These lawyers are described in the first part of this quote:

"A lawyer without history or literature is a mechanic, a mere working mason; if he possesses some knowledge of these, he may venture to call himself an architect." Sir Walter Scott

They are merely simple mechanics (no offence to any mechanics reading this) of law, trying to fix the problem in the quickest way possible not using their moral judgment nor taking into account that they are dealing with the affairs of another person.

A true lawyer as the second part of the quote mentions is an "architect" who uses his knowledge to try and represent his client in the best way possible. It must be remembered that morality or ones personal sense of morality and law are separate constructs. This may be the reason why people have a bad image of lawyers, they don’t understand that legal decisions may be morally wrong but legally correct, no body says that the legal system is full proof but with out which, we would surely be in a state of anarchy. People study and practice law to promote law and the ethos of fairness and justice, not just to make a fast buck, and nobody can argue that they haven’t studied a particular degree or gone into some business venture not to make some sort of money so why should lawyers be looked at differently.

Law is not an easily grasped discipline that’s why Lawyers provide an important service to society serving as the link between the common man and our judicial system. The tangled mess that is our judicial system will never be truly straightened out, but lawyers aid in untangling some of the tricky knots. People get themselves into such predicaments but never fail to lambaste their lawyers who are there to assist them and pull them out of the quagmire they find themselves in. One minute its "thank you", the next minute it like they did it all by themselves, the nerve of the ignorant is amazingly vast.

"O what a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive"

Living with a lawyer for my entire life I have first hand knowledge that lawyers have fleeting moments to relax or spend time with their families because they are at the beck and call of their clients at any time. It is as if their clients own them, just as a master owns a slave. Clients are always impatient and everything has to be done on their time, they forget that just like them, lawyers are human and can only do a certain amount of work in a day. Clients may in fact be the real leeches.

In my opinion the reputation of a lawyer will always be shrouded in deceit and lies, which is not the case and lawyers will still be called "liars" because apparently they lie for a living but I assure you they don’t. So please the next time you feel like saying something nasty about lawyers just think, you may need their help one day, and hopefully you won’t get a blood sucking parasite of a lawyer to represent you.

Got to thank Queen_Lestat for the quotes, it just sparked something in my head.

Kuwabara, Kuwabara
The Lone Writer

Homo sapiens ignoramus

Ladies and Gentleman, boys and girls of all ages I have successfully found a previously unknown branch of Humans, the "weak" link in human evolution, Homo sapiens ignoramus (H.ignoramus). They walk amongst us unknown and unaware that they are in fact different, "special" because they are in fact ignorant!

I think I was always aware of there presence from a young age but my first encounter with H.ignoramus must have been in high school with the subclass H.ignoramus indianus africanus (the ignorant South African Indian). My suspicions were only further reinforced when I came to Wits (The University of Witwatersrand) and I observed the subclass in all its glorious stupidity.

Now a scientific analyses of their anatomy is not required here, but what is required is a few defining features of H.ignoramus indianus africanus. The preliminary data has shown that this Indian subclass seemed to act as normal as possible but their love for ignorance shone through. They valued ignorance over knowledge and looked down upon those of us (H.sapiens) who spoke properly without vulgarity and slang, and those who had some semblance of knowledge and intellect. H.ignoramus indianus africanus had a distinct affinity for procrastination and never attempted to better themselves by going for lectures or God forbid the library, which was seen as a place of weakness like kryptonite is for Superman, and was only used at the last minute before exams or to escape the cold. They congregated on “The Steps” (a possible symbolic place for them) playing cards from 8am till 5pm unaware that their inability to think in a mature and moral way is costing thousands of Rands every year. One card game in particular called “thunnie” (forgive my spelling for this word is not known to me) were viciously contested and often ended in conflict between the players. H.ignoramus indianus africanus also seemed to try and out do each others ignorance and the most ignorant were celebrated as if they were warriors returning from the battlefield whereas the so called “geeks’ were cast aside, (they probably have a hierarchy where the most ignorant rule, that my explain our politicians).

As far as their appearance goes it is very similar to ours, in fact you cannot tell us apart. They place a lot of importance on the Brand names on their clothes, so much so that wearing something that isn’t branded is frowned upon. The males (and some females) use this gel like substance to style their hair into weird and wonderful shapes, probably in order to attract the opposite sex, or maybe it’s an adornment that they can’t live without. Some of the females in their dressing leave nothing to the imagination however they cover there hair, the reason for this I have yet to ascertain, why cover your hair when your entire body is exposed? I have a theory that they are either blending in with us, or we are following them, which would mean that their ignorance may be contagious and that we may be heading for dark times, very dark times.

Even thou they place so much emphasis on being ignorant there is only one thing more valuable to H.ignoramus indianus africanus, and that is money. Money is partly where their ignorance stems from, because most are rich, spoilt and completely rely on there fathers money. So they feel that there is no reason for them to make there own money because that would mean actually learning and why do that when they already have money, they are under the false assumption that it will never run out. There lives are driven by money, the males fathers buy them expensive clothes and cars and the Females look at these aspects when attempting to acquire a male. I fear that H.ignoramus indianus africanus will breed and become the majority, though I fear this may already have occurred. I will continue my observations in order to ascertain if they are a threat, but in the interim time please be careful of these people because it is folly to be wise in the land of the fools.

Kuwabara, Kuwabara
The Lone Writer

Pink Propaganda!

Firstly a definition of Propaganda is required:

The systematic propagation of a doctrine or cause or of information reflecting the views and interests of those advocating such a doctrine or cause.

When the word Propaganda is mentioned or used it usually conjures up images of Hitler's Nazi propaganda campaign or the present day Zionist and American Propaganda which is being force upon a largely ignorant populace on this planet. However the purpose of this post has got nothing to do with such important world issues, but rather something lighter, something PINK.

I'm sure everyone has noticed the meteoric rise of the colour pink in men's clothing. Its something of a clothing revolution according to some and everyone has their own opinions on the topic, well I think its getting abit out of hand and im bold enough to label it PINK PROPAGANDA. I went shopping for some clothes a week or so back and walking into a clothing shop that specifically tailors for men I was taken aback by the multitude of different colours of pink that faced me. If the clothes were not completely pink there was splashes of pink everywhere as if an artist had ripped his eyes out and very arbitrarily painted all the clothes pink ruining them for those of us who loathe or rather dislike pink, loathe is such a harsh word. Even in stores that sell both male and female attire you cant tell the difference between the mens and the ladies section because everything is PINK, you find yourself looking like an idiot wondering whether you are in the right section until a shop assistant comes over to ask if you need help.

This Pink Propaganda started gathering momentum ever since the term "METROSEXUAL" came about and this was just made worse by tv shows like Queer Eye For The Straight Guy. They had the effect of normalising the colour pink in mens clothing and the effects can clearly be seen because pink apparently is a unisex colour. Now I have no problems with guys taking care of themselves, but guys going for facials and waxing their arms, legs and face now thats where I draw the line. The Propaganda is being continued by the major clothing labels who flood the market with pink and we are forced to accept but I will not. Pink is just not a masculine colour and looks terrible on most men, unless you are 007. On women its a different story because pink is a pretty colour and has been linked with females, just as blue is linked to males since time immemorial. Who said pink is a female colour? I dunno but it is. If you dont believe me then when you have a child and if its a boy then make his room pink and we will see whether the child develops into a man or RuPaul (or nataaniel for the South Africans out there).

The rise of pink is merely as the definition puts it a "systematic Propagation" that pink is a unisex colour, and the masses are excepting it with open arms until another colour becomes the new pink. Which is so predictable of current mental climate we live in.

Now some of you might think I'm an ego centric male who is rigid and doesnt want to except that times are changing, well im not. Times are changing but at least im not conforming to the whims and fancies of the latest fashion trends by jumping on the ever changing fashion band wagon like sheep. So who is the conformist and who is the rebel and free thinker? you decide.

Oh and for all those who use the phrase "Pink is the new Black!", for the love of all things sacred in this world please stop because Black cannot be beaten.

Kuwabara, Kuwabara

The Lone Writer