The odds

Looking for some (real) news these days is nearly a mission from hell. Every media outlet on any platform is overloaded with Year Reviews and Best Of 2010 lists. They are as useful as an arctic Northface jacket in the sandpit of Darfur.

But just to add to the meaningless waste of time and space,... here’s what comes to my mind when 2010 kicks the bucket.

We had of course our headline magnet Julius Malema. We won’t forget that bloody agent moment. Staying in the same downtown corridors. The ANC remains (only) focused on internal power struggles ahead of the 2012 Bloemfontein party conference (which – the way it’s going - seems will make the backstabbing of Polokwane look like a tea party). JZ wasn’t much around it seems. He has been collecting airmiles (didn’t we criticise Mbeki for being on the road too much??). He seemed a bit MIA most of the time, but then hit back with a cabinet reshuffle that looked more a pre-Bloemfontein positioning tactic than a delivery-based assesment.

Then of course we had the toilet sage in the Western Cape. How a load of crap can turn nasty and beyond ridiculousness.

And for sure we had our headline grabbing honeymoon killing. The Dewani mystery. This will be without a doubt a very juice tale for 2011. And Hollywood's scriptwriters are probably hard at work with it too. Maybe new public relations spin for SA. Cheap SAA offers. Fly in for the weekend, stay at a nice hotel or lodge, and we’ll add a hit man if requested. A gap in the market!

There was also this little saga about Gupta and his helicopter and Zoo Lake.

And of course the second half of 2010 had plenty of sushi stories and semi-naked bodies as serving trays. Eish.

Zapiro kept kicking around. Cartoons with a Christian touch pissed off the Christians. When a bearded Muslim was drawn, the Muslims screamed and shouted insults. When a reference to Israel was depicted, the Jewish community cried foul. When JZ was fitted a showerhead (again) the ANC spindoctors went on the attack. Like a merry go round and round. And 2011 will be the same selective anger and outrage.
Across the Limpopo and beyond, 2010 really had only 1 big hitter and that was/is the ongoing WikiLeaks thriller. Great stuff. More to come for sure.

So that’s that for 2010,.... oh I forgot. Some months ago we went into delirium for the worldcup. South Africa was another country for those few weeks,.... but soon after we fell back to reality (crime, dirty politics, strikes,...). Well done to Spain for taking the cup to Madrid. Shame on the French. And Bafana Bafana shouldn’t worry too much about being the first host to be kicked out in the first round. In 2022 when the football circus (and FIFA’s money making racket) moves to Qatar, our boys won’t be alone anymore in that category.

So 2011 is getting ready to come and tease us. Besides the Dewani saga, we’ll have guaranteed more and more Sarah Palin nonsense as the US is moving slowly into election fever (first primaries kick off early 2012). SA will happily host U2 for 2 gigs. The ANC will continue on its dark slope of internal fights and gravy train ticketing. I hope I’m wrong, but the odds are against me.

And probably Man Utd will be England’s champion again despite attempts by Arsenal and Man City to take the crown. Chelsea will fire its coach. Barcelona will make Madrid bite the dust once again.

And probably nature will scream and shout again with floods, blizzards, earthquakes and droughts in parts of the globe. The pattern of increased freak weather will make the globe warming doubters hang their heads in shame. Wake up and get real!

Stay sane!