All is calm

Remember Easter in 2007?

No – me neither. But I found a nice sunset picture from back then that I thought might be appropriate for a quick quota photo this evening. It’s quiet, serene, beautiful: calm.

Sun

South Africa has made it safely and quietly through two days since the death of Eugene Terre’Blanche. It’s a good start.
Life goes on, despite the supposed threats, anger and hatred.

What now?

Even as the Easter Bunny (me) was busy laying bunny tracks and eggs in the back garden at dawn, news was filtering through of the murder of Eugene Terre’Blanche. Now, while Eugene was not a terribly nice bloke by any stretch of the imagination, he was still (genetically, at the very least) a human being and he met a horrible and unnecessary end. His death is a bad thing for his organisation, his family and his friends. It could be a very bad thing for South Africa.

That said, I don’t think that Terre’Blanche’s murder will be a trigger for mass racial violence. For all his bravado and words, he actually wielded very little power. His ideas were outdated and laughably extreme, his organisation largely ignored. For this reason, I don’t believe that there was anything more to his death than meets the eye. Whatever they may wish to believe, the AWB is nothing more than a fly on the thick skin of the ANC elephant – not even acknowledged as an irritation. So why bother?

The concern for me is some possible retaliation for Terre’Blanche’s death. That some idiot goes out and – unilaterally – avenges the murder with some act of mindless violence. And so it escalates: quickly.
Branko Brkic paints the perfect scenario for the start of a  civil war, citing Yugoslavia and Rwanda as examples. Many of the ingredients are worryingly present in the current SA. As he points out, South Africa needs to think clearly now.

Many will blame this murder on Julius Malema, the firebrand leader of the ANC Youth League. Some already have. But the truth is that we will never honestly know whether Malema’s words and alleged hate speech were a factor in this attack. But the continuing simmering racial tension is undoubtedly being heightened by his actions. As Helen Zille remarks:

“The singing of songs such as ‘kill the boer’ creates a climate in which violence is seen as an appropriate response to problems, whether personal or collective.”

This is a potential turning point for South Africa and it’s important to choose the correct direction. Sense should prevail.
Jacob Zuma could aid in this by reining Malema in. Whether or not Terre’Blanche’s death was due to Malema’s much-publicised recent comments, his words are divisive and unhelpful, just as Terre’Blanche’s were. The only difference is that Malema is getting as much free publicity as he wants to spread his gospel. And that has to stop.

It’s time to take a step back, a deep breath, some time out. And listen again to the sense of Branko Brkic:

White people should understand that their black friends are not going to kill them tomorrow because two frustrated, drunken youths killed Terre’Blanche somewhere in North West.
Black people should understand their white friends will not form the Ku Klux Klan just because a couple of hotheads are threatening revenge.

I hope that South Africa has come far enough to overcome this latest and difficult hurdle.
Watch this space, I guess.

Google Ads Cat’s Eye Love

Since my excitement over the wonderful new road-based traffic lights in Lower Buitengracht, my google ads (subtly placed all over the site for your clickthrough delectation) have been going crazy for all things cat’s eyes. The company that seems to have benefited most from this sudden new trend is NightSight LED products. It’s a niche market and I guess that these sort of ads are aimed more at technical websites in the construction sector. 
You know, the sort of people who should be blogging about cat’s eyes.
In the same way, the Korean marine safety products that google put all over the post on the Fishhoek shark attack were aimed at the shipping sector and not about a commentary on someone getting eaten in Fishhoek bay. (It’s worth pointing out that none of the Korean marine safety
products advertised would have helped the unfortunate swimmer, incidentally.)

NightSight have got some really odd stuff in their 2008 catalogue (which seems to be the most recent available).
For example, what is “fibreglass nosing”? 
They also have some awesome stuff: who in their right mind could resist the “Glow Mining  Helmet” or the concerningly-named “Solar Road Flares”? Not me – I’ve ordered several of each. 
This company is undoubtedly the first place you should visit before your next outing to a fancy dress party dressed as any sort of robot or individual with a shiny helmet. You’ll be the talk of the jol.

I’m going to start paying more attention to google ads from now on. Obviously, I’m not allowed to click through my own (nor can I suggest that you should either), but my new aim in life (apart from the obvious world domination thing) is to find the weirdest products advertised by google ads.

I would guess, from what I’ve seen so far,  that the competition will be quite stiff.

Long weekend, part one

Ah. The opportunity of four days of rest & relaxation.
Ja, right.

Easter weekend used to be the time that spring started in the UK. Not this year, I hear. But while spring cleaning the garden was the norm there, I find myself doing the same here, despite the fact autumn is setting in – it was only 29°C today. While spray-painting some railings, I found time to grab some quick autumnal pics betweeen coats:

Now I find myself, tired and aching, with the only three of my sixteen jobs done. The only one that looks even vaguely like fun is “Buy Beer”. I might try and stretch that one out as long as possible, since the rest involve hard work and no beer.
Therefore, I’ll be doing a meet and greet session at Ultra Liquors in Wynberg from 8-6 tomorrow. If you’re coming along, please bring one of those KFC buckets.
Not only will the food be essential, the bucket will surely come in useful after sampling bottle store wares all day.

The End

Hi.

I’m going to keep this brief, because it’s a difficult thing to write. Following on from yesterday’s post and the situation it described and following a lot of thought during a very sleepless night, I have decided to pull the plug on 6000 miles… with immediate effect.
While I have enjoyed much of my time writing all sorts of nonsense on all sorts of subjects, it has become too difficult to fit quality blogging into a hugely busy schedule.

The rise and rise of this blog has made me very proud and I would hate to see it deteriorate to the level of certain other sites. Therefore I think it’s best to go out at the top – or as high as I got, anyway.

Many thanks are due to Mrs 6k for putting up with this extra individual in our lives and to The Guru, without whom much stuff would never have happened. But most of all to you, the readers – especially those loyal and regular commenters.

It’s been a fun ride.

Cheers.
6k.

Noon update: Some of my favourite other April Fools included “Labour’s new “Tough Guy” approach” to the election campaign in The Guardian, News24’s “National Anthems to be banned at the World Cup” and The Independent‘s LHC II on the Circle Line brilliance:

It would mean that two beams of protons would be travelling in clockwise and counterclockwise directions at 99.999999 per cent of the speed of light, within feet of Circle line passengers stuck in perpetual immobility.

None of which had me fooled for a moment.
Just like you and this post, right?