“You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.”

~ Rosemarie Urquico

“Interfering with information undermines the very need of [information providers],” Khoza said.

Yes. Please keep your voters as uninformed as possible.

An educational, relaxed Friday evening. Hard climbing Saturday morning.

<breathe>

“I used to do a little bit a little wasn’t doing so the little got more & more” – GnR

Life a 100ft of the deck is just a little nicer.

The dinner party I was invited to got cancelled, so I went to see The Black Cat Bones – what a show!!! Do not bother to go see these guys at a venue with no dance floor, it’s just wrong. Almost all the songs they played were new and it looks like they are getting ready to launch their next album – here’s a little teaser. The amount of energy these guys put into their performances never ceases to amaze me.

Sushi and good wine with a fine woman’s company on Saturday night, a lot of sleeping on Sunday ended by a couple of DVDs and here we are.  Monday. Perhaps I should have crappy weekends so that the weekdays are a little more palatable. Actually I’m just full of shit, weekdays are pretty cool,  it’s the working part that’s a bit dull. We’ll fix that then. It’s been a while since I went climbing during the week, I think that will be the mission for this week.

Ok, so to get to the cheesy parts. I made myself Italian 4 cheese tortellini topped with red pepper & sun-dried tomato pesto, which I juiced up a bit with Bulgarian yogurt, paprika, chili en a little peppadew. Pretty good if I may say so myself.

I heard this quote today: “Love is friendship set on fire” (Jeremy Taylor). Sounds pretty good, hope I can find that some day.

Apparently the Latvian word for "Love" is Milestiba, which is then why the photographer captured the shadow "M"

Dear friends across South Africa,

‘Corrective rape’, the vicious practice of raping lesbians to ‘cure’ their sexuality, is becoming a crisis in South Africa. But brave Cape Town activists have built a massive online campaign and are risking their lives to get urgent action — and finally Minister Radebe is beginning to respond. Let’s help stop these vicious rapes — sign the petition and send it to friends!

Millicent Gaika was bound, strangled, tortured and raped for five hours by a man who crowed that he was ‘curing’ her of her lesbianism.

She barely survived, but she is not alone — this vicious crime is recurrent in South Africa, where many lesbians live in terror of attack. But no one has ever been convicted of ‘corrective rape’.

Amazingly, from a tiny Cape Town safehouse a few brave activists are risking their lives to ensure that Millicent’s case sparks change. Their appeal to Minister of Justice Radebe has exploded to over 140,000 signatures from around the world, forcing him to commit on SABC to meeting with them.

Let’s show the government that South Africans and citizens across the whole world stand with these activists and call on President Zuma and the Minister of Justice to publicly condemn ‘corrective rape’, criminalise hate crimes, and ensure immediate enforcement, public education and protection for survivors. Sign the petition now and share it with everyone — we’ll deliver it to the government with our partners in Cape Town.

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_corrective_rape_za/?vl

SOURCES:

Blog of Luleki Sizwe, South African organization leading the call to their government to stop ‘corrective rape’, and provides support to victims
http://lulekisizwe.wordpress.com

Minister of Justice Radebe’s nationally televised interview (SABC)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkx-PYqHM0U

Protest against ‘corrective rape’ (The Sowetan)
http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2011/01/06/protest-against-corrective-rape

Rape of lesbians a ‘hate crime’ (Business Day)
http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=130862

Petition launched on Change.org by activists from Luleki Sizwe
http://humanrights.change.org/petitions/view/south_africa_declare_corrective_rape_a_hate-crime

“Exploring homophobic victimisation in Gauteng, South Africa: issues, impacts, and responses” (Centre for Applied Psychology, University of South Africa)
http://www.avaaz.org/out_ucap_gauteng_study

“We have a major problem in South Africa” (The Guardian)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/nov/18/south-africa-murder-rape

“South Africa: Rape Facts” (Channel 4)
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/articles/south-africa-rape-facts

“Understanding men’s health and use of violence: interface of rape and HIV in South Africa” (Medical Research Council)
http://gender.care2share.wikispaces.net/file/view/MRC+SA+men+and+rape+ex+summary+june2009.pdf

“Preventing Rape and Violence in South Africa” (Medical Research Council)
http://www.mrc.ac.za/gender/prev_rapedd041209.pdf

“Kids living in the rooms, with their often unemployed parents, come to the center to get a cooked meal and get help with their homework.

The project is run by a NGO called Eleos. Check them out on www.eleos.co.za“

See the whole article, more pics & info at Gerhard Uys Media

“Thanks, Emile, for the mention. This petition was individually suggested/ requested by about 100 South African members of Avaaz, says the Campaign Director Alice Jay. (I was one of them and literally drove Avaaz crazy until they took the decision to go ahead).

The petition was launched amongst the 60 000 SA Avaaz members at 5pm on Wednesday 22 September 2010 (only a week ago). Its first 20 000 signatures (achieved in less than 2 days) was delivered by letter to Pres Jacob Zuma and leaders of ANC Alliance partners at their National General Council in Durban, as well as to relevant Parliamentarians in Cape Town, on Friday 24 Sept 2010.

Earlier today, we reached 30 000 signatures. The aim is now 50 000.

If any of you have ideas on how to go about delivering the petition again (say when it reaches 50 000), please let me know.

Benita”

This is not going to fix itself, enough people need to make a noise about this:

http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/nzimande-slams-media-1.682207
Print media in South Africa was a threat to democracy, SA Communist Party general secretary Blade Nzimande said in a report published on Tuesday.

“We have a huge liberal offensive against our democracy… The print media is the biggest perpetrator of this liberal thinking,” Nzimande said at the National Education,

http://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/editors-concerned-by-anc-rules-1.682508
Johannesburg – Editors on Wednesday voiced concerns over restrictions placed on the media at the ANC’s national general council in Durban last week.

Sign the petition here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/protect_south_africas_democracy/98.php?CLICKTF

The secrecy measures in the “Protection of Information Bill” and the proposed “Media Appeals Tribunal” threaten press freedom enshrined in the Constitution and will hamper public scrutiny of the government and security agencies, blocking the media from exposing corruption and abuse of power. Hundreds of prominent South Africans, business executives, civic leaders and journalists have condemned the measures and submitted amendments on the Bill to Parliament, but so far the ANC is defending both proposals. Only massive pressure from citizens across South Africa can wake them up and preserve hard-won freedoms!

You can read more below and sign the petition here:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/protect_south_africas_democracy/98.php?CLICKTF

(These guys have had tremendous success with past petitions, please do take the time to sign!!)