One way or another we live in dangerous and stressful times. Close to home it’s political shenanigans; further afield it’s the rantings of a dangerous and unpredictable tyrant who wants to blow up parts of the world; then there are topsy-turvy weather events; and finally a “rogue” planet on its way to slam into Earth.
We know what’s happening in South Africa. There’s very little in the way of good news at present and we live from day to day wondering what the next instalment of violence, corruption and politics will be.
It isn’t pretty.
So let’s start with the small (!) business of North Korea’s unpredictable Kim Jong-un and the nuclear bombs he likes setting off to show the world he means business. He’s no lightweight when it comes to frightening us all.
Imagine living in the country next door to this perverse freak, or across the water where the Japanese cower as another of his ballistic missiles flies overhead and crashes into the Pacific Ocean.
It is all totally bizarre.
Even the United States mainland and its island territory of Guam are parts of Kim’s plan to shake up his perceived enemies.
What does one do when threats of nuclear bombs being aimed your way are bandied about as if they are lollipops being handed out with blithe abandon?
How is it that a third-class country is able to hold the world to ransom?
Easily, it seems, and nobody knows quite how to deal with this prickly situation – least of all the most powerful country in the world.
So maybe it’s not such a bad thing living where we do at the bottom end of Africa, well away from what’s happening elsewhere.
Sure we also have our problems, a shortage of water being the main worry right now, and there’s little prospect of decent rain to fill dams which would give us a bit of breathing space.
Veld and farmland are in dire straits in many areas and the poor condition of farm animals can be seen when driving through the Eastern Cape.
We need rain desperately this end of the country.
So does the Western Cape, even more than we do. Storage dams are heading for rock bottom.
For them industry and human needs for water are becoming critical.
However, there is one plus, and that is the predictions that the next wine crop will be of exceptional quality – but table grapes will suffer.
I suppose it’s like the sugar content being high, and the liquid being more concentrated than usual.
Bring on the good wine, I say, but you can bet the wine industry will take advantage and prices will soar.
Talking about strange weather patterns, one couldn’t help being concerned for those who were nestled in the way of hurricanes in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
The first, Hurricane Harvey, which struck the heart of Texas and dropped zillions of litres of rain, flooding Houston and its surrounds, was then challenged by Hurricane Irma to become the biggest ever event of its kind.
This time it was the low-lying islands including Cuba, the Antilles, Bahamas and the state of Florida that were in its path. You wouldn’t have wanted to be there.
On Wednesday, as I write this, damage looked severe with a high percentage of framed (wooden) homes being destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power lines have isolated residential areas due to power outages, expected to last for weeks and months.
However Irma, which was being given the title of most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history, fortunately spared forecasts and didn’t quite meet predicted wind speeds hitting 252km/h – and the resultant catastrophic damage.
Now there’s all the clearing up, restoring water and power to millions of homes and getting back to life as it is meant to be.
I must say I admire all those who were affected for their courage and stoicism.
And that’s not the end of this story. Predictions of a new planet in orbit around the sun about to destroy the earth have cropped up recently.
Yes, I know, one way or another we’ve heard it all before, but one day it might just happen.
The death planet, Niburu, it is said, is going to kill us all when it strikes between September 20 and 23.
Dammit! That’s the weekend the Chiels head off on a camping trip.
Clues to this cataclysmic event are said to be hidden in the Bible and are written on the pyramids.
Oh well, why worry? It sounds like hooey to me. — robinrosst@
gmail.com
Mad tyrants, terror hurricanes, rogue planets ... this is a world gone crazy
We know what’s happening in South Africa. There’s very little in the way of good news at present and we live from day to day wondering what the next instalment of violence, corruption and politics will be.
It isn’t pretty.
So let’s start with the small (!) business of North Korea’s unpredictable Kim Jong-un and the nuclear bombs he likes setting off to show the world he means business. He’s no lightweight when it comes to frightening us all.
Imagine living in the country next door to this perverse freak, or across the water where the Japanese cower as another of his ballistic missiles flies overhead and crashes into the Pacific Ocean.
It is all totally bizarre.
Even the United States mainland and its island territory of Guam are parts of Kim’s plan to shake up his perceived enemies.
What does one do when threats of nuclear bombs being aimed your way are bandied about as if they are lollipops being handed out with blithe abandon?
How is it that a third-class country is able to hold the world to ransom?
Easily, it seems, and nobody knows quite how to deal with this prickly situation – least of all the most powerful country in the world.
So maybe it’s not such a bad thing living where we do at the bottom end of Africa, well away from what’s happening elsewhere.
Sure we also have our problems, a shortage of water being the main worry right now, and there’s little prospect of decent rain to fill dams which would give us a bit of breathing space.
Veld and farmland are in dire straits in many areas and the poor condition of farm animals can be seen when driving through the Eastern Cape.
We need rain desperately this end of the country.
So does the Western Cape, even more than we do. Storage dams are heading for rock bottom.
For them industry and human needs for water are becoming critical.
However, there is one plus, and that is the predictions that the next wine crop will be of exceptional quality – but table grapes will suffer.
I suppose it’s like the sugar content being high, and the liquid being more concentrated than usual.
Bring on the good wine, I say, but you can bet the wine industry will take advantage and prices will soar.
Talking about strange weather patterns, one couldn’t help being concerned for those who were nestled in the way of hurricanes in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
The first, Hurricane Harvey, which struck the heart of Texas and dropped zillions of litres of rain, flooding Houston and its surrounds, was then challenged by Hurricane Irma to become the biggest ever event of its kind.
This time it was the low-lying islands including Cuba, the Antilles, Bahamas and the state of Florida that were in its path. You wouldn’t have wanted to be there.
On Wednesday, as I write this, damage looked severe with a high percentage of framed (wooden) homes being destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse. Fallen trees and power lines have isolated residential areas due to power outages, expected to last for weeks and months.
However Irma, which was being given the title of most powerful Atlantic Ocean hurricane in recorded history, fortunately spared forecasts and didn’t quite meet predicted wind speeds hitting 252km/h – and the resultant catastrophic damage.
Now there’s all the clearing up, restoring water and power to millions of homes and getting back to life as it is meant to be.
I must say I admire all those who were affected for their courage and stoicism.
And that’s not the end of this story. Predictions of a new planet in orbit around the sun about to destroy the earth have cropped up recently.
Yes, I know, one way or another we’ve heard it all before, but one day it might just happen.
The death planet, Niburu, it is said, is going to kill us all when it strikes between September 20 and 23.
Dammit! That’s the weekend the Chiels head off on a camping trip.
Clues to this cataclysmic event are said to be hidden in the Bible and are written on the pyramids.
Oh well, why worry? It sounds like hooey to me. — robinrosst@
gmail.com
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