A different view on current affairs & history
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Like all immigrants internationally, their initial priority was to make a living. For most waves of immigration to South Africa this was the least of their concerns as they were part of an organised importation scheme; the Indians in Natal to the sugar cane fields, the Chinese to the underground gold mines on the Witwatersrand and the English Settlers to the Eastern Cape border regions. The Chinese in Port Elizabeth were an exception to that rule. Being overwhelmingly single and without a family they probably initially relied upon the settled Chinese to survive. In a strange land with little understanding of English, they resorted to the time honoured tradition in order to overcome communication barriers viz sign language
Main picture: Chinese general dealers store in Dassiekraal circa 1920
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Historically South Africa has always experienced segregation except that with the accession to power of the National Party in 1948 separation in all facets of one’s life was now governed by its own separate and restrictive legislation. Amongst the avalanche of legislation in the early years of Nationalist rule was one law that mandated the separation of beaches by the local councils.
This is the story of the ascendance of beach segregation and its ultimate demise.
Main picture: Map of segregated beaches along Port Elizabeth’s coast
Continue readingPerhaps this piece should have been titled, And Now for Something Completely Different, à la the 1971 Monty Python film. Then again, perhaps not as it is not a send-up, but after a year of SMACs where Trump has been the target of SMAC’s disgruntlement, it was definitely time for something completely different. So, instead of the normal vitriol, this is a tribute piece to an icon, or is it an iconoclast as she was a rebel and a breaker of moral codes. We are talking about the passing of Bridgitte Bardot, aged 91.
To appreciate the effect she had on the world, one must remember that she was coming of age in the early 1950s. Europe had been shattered by two World Wars within a generation and was ripe for social revolutions. One of those was the sexual revolution which was to really gain traction in the 60s. French films and Bardot were in the vanguard. Although acting since 1952, the film that made her an international sensation was And God Created Women in 1956. It earned her the nickname ‘sex kitten’.
She did not have the high cheek-boned beauty of a Sophia Loren or the voluptuousness of the later sex goddess, Rachel Welch or Marilyn Munroe’s overt sexuality. Yes, she was a bottle blonde, but her tousled bouffant and wide-eyed innocent look hinted at a playful and cheeky naughtiness, ideal attributes for a mistress. Her naturally luxurious lips also added to her desirability. Because she was not part of American culture which largely dominated the world, we are unaware of her extensive oeuvre that consisted of 47 films, several musicals and 60 songs before her early retirement in 1973.
Although the world was enamoured with her, it was her home country that she particularly affected. In 1967 she was invited to meet the French president, Charles de Gaulle at the Elysée Palace, where women were banned from wearing trousers as evening wear. In an audacious breach of protocol, Bardot turned up dressed as a Napoleonic hussar (no, not hussy) with her blonde locks tumbling over her epaulettes. De Gaulle, then in his late seventies, was transfixed, solemnly declaring her to be a ‘French export as important as Renault cars’. (I would not have described her as such as I personally knew those cars to be unconventionally engineered – typically French. Then again, maybe it was apt.) In 1969, Bardot became the first real-life model for Marianne, the fictitious emblem of the French Republic, personifying liberty, equality, fraternity and reason – a bust of whom is displayed in every town hall.
Personally, she was always her own woman and her life mirrored her cinematic personality. She was married four times and had 17 romantic relationships; she explained, “I have always looked for passion. That’s why I was often unfaithful. And when the passion was coming to an end, I was packing my suitcase.”
She became an animal rights activist from the 70s, but unfortunately, Bardot didn’t age well like a fine Bordeaux, that other classic French product. In the latter part of her life, she became Islamophobic and a supporter of Le Pen’s far-right political party.
Nevertheless, the current French president, Emmanuel Macron, led the tributes; “Her films, her voice, her dazzling fame, her initials, her sorrows, her generous passion for animals, her face that became Marianne – Brigitte Bardot embodied a life of freedom. … A French existence, a universal radiance. She moved us. We mourn a legend of the century.”
For many people in the world, 2025 was confusing, just like a solar eclipse is to the animal kingdom – the world was turned upside down, day became night and east became west. Political alliances were suddenly uncertain and global trade agreements were unilaterally (quite literally) upended.
It was all due to one man, Donald J Trump, who was somehow allowed out to cosplay again as leader of the most powerful country in the world. Apart from a rotting brain full of petty grievances, retribution and a simplistic world view he has pursued bewildering policies with the compliant help from Conservatives who control all levers of power. All his bizarre actions ultimately have one goal – to see his name writ large.
And he has succeeded so far. He is definitely the most talked about person in the world. However, his orange tan addled brain does not realise that he will not be celebrated in fame, but infamy.
Most of the changes that he sought will be largely undone. The creative destruction that his MAGAlites wanted might yield some lasting changes like woke policies becoming a bit more rational and an end to unfettered migration. But the scars in terms of world trade, geopolitical relationships and alliances will fundamentally change. The US has shown that its peculiar form of horse-trading democracy cannot be trusted and its guardrails are insufficient to prevent quasi-dictatorships or worse from developing in America. Western democracies will not lightly accept American leadership in future world affairs again. Trump’s main legacy is to irrevocably hasten the end of American hegemony and Pax America and future domination by China will be brought forward by a decade or more.
History will also denote 2025 as the year that AI stopped lurking in the shadows, so together with ongoing climate change, the world will face many challenges. However, these along with most of Trump’s outcomes will little affect the world in 2026 beyond that which have already occurred. Hence, 2026 will be a year of upsetting and threatening actions but largely empty rhetoric and bluster while China continues to eat America’s lunch.
Braggadocio refers to empty, arrogant boasting or proud, exaggerated talk about one’s achievements, courage, or importance, often masking insecurity. It’s characterized by showboating, swagger, and self-importance. Sounds like a perfect description of Trump on a good day.
His thing with Marilyn Monroe aside, John F Kennedy was an inspirational President for America and, as such, Congress voted after his assassination that the Performing Art Center, completed in 1958, be named in his honour – The John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. In any case, just being assassinated while in office normally ensures immortality, but he deserved it. As opposed to Trump, he actually fought in a vicious war, WWII, and did not use fictitious bone spurs to get out of it. He commanded a small motor torpedo boat in the ‘slot’ of the Solomon Islands and was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his heroic actions over a period of six days in saving his crew when his boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer.
Fast forward to his presidency. His impact on geopolitics and American self-belief was significant. On January 20, 1961, he delivered his inaugural address with the conclusion that inspired a generation with the words, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. …” He never boasted about his crowd size nor did he insult his predecessors or talk about himself. Rather he was unifying and focussed on the future of America and its leadership role in the world.
After the erection of the infamous Berlin Wall, he visited West Berlin to reassure them of US support by declaring “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner). Although lagging behind the USSR in the space race, in 1963 he committed America to landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade which they did with five months to spare.
But his biggest achievement was staring down the Soviet Union. The nuclear arms race was becoming deadly serious when US intelligence picked up in late October 1962 that Russia intended placing nuclear missiles close offshore in Cuba. Kennedy decided on a naval blockade of Cuba and although nuclear tensions ratcheted up, he stood firm until Russia backed down. This is diametrically opposite to Trump’s craven sucking up to Russia for personal enrichment in the post-war reconstruction.
Compared to Trump, JFK was a giant yet Trump had the temerity to have his tacky name tacked onto the Memorial Center’s existing name. The only thing he has in common with JFK is the name of John. When asked about the change, he feigned surprise and pretended he had nothing to do with it. Pull the other one.
Shortly after taking office, Trump fired all the Center’s board members, and replaced them with stooges, who then voted to make him chairman of the board. He teased the name change and, although superficially nothing was happening, a lot was obviously going on behind the scenes. This is witnessed by the fact that after the Board voted for the change, the extra signage was immediately installed on 18 December 2025.
It remains to be seen whether it will remain so. The original name was conferred by an Act of Congress, hence a change to it would also need Congressional approval. In typical Trump style, thinking he is master of the universe, he acts faster than the system and then dares Congress or the legal system to overcome their inherent inertia to thwart him. Perhaps it is appropriate that Trump’s name has been attached to the Center for the Performing Arts after all, since both of Trump’s presidencies have been a gigantic over-the-top metaphorical cosplay dedicated to himself.
It is said that there are five stages of grief, but it seems as if one only needs three stages of shaming to reach the depths of one’s depravity if one is a narcissist. This is the level Trump has reached in his latest bout of childish pettiness. I’m talking about the Trump Arab chic touch to the colonnaded walkway that connects the White House proper to the West Wing. It is a pleasant walk along the front face of the White House complex with Lafayette Square and the city beyond as a backdrop. Many heads of State and other dignitaries walk along this connection.
Stage 1: A brain fart in the ‘wee’ hours of the morning kicked off the process. While ruminating on the state of the presidential prostate, Trump conceives a brilliant idea. Since his brain is like a child’s that can’t abide a blank wall without scribbling on it, he decides that he will line the wall with portraits of every president mounted in his go to gold baroque frames. Not a bad idea except that in his pathetically childish and churlish way he could not resist sticking up a picture of Biden’s autopen instead of his face.
Stage 2: He stood back and admired his work, particularly those of himself, and felt like God after he had created Adam. But there was something missing. Hmm, some décor touches maybe? This thought nagged at his wizened little brain. In another early morning brain fart between rants on Truth Social while on the toilet waiting for his prostate to behave, it came to him. Eureka, I have it he shrieked as he rushed into Melania’s room with his robe flapping around the Royal white bum, but Melania was hiding in her cupboard. Undaunted, he woke up his staff and explained what was needed. Just like the Oval Office when all the portraits had been put up, he had added his chintzy gold applique tat on spare wall space to complete his personal Garden of Eden. And so it was to be for the walkway particularly since he had some spare tat leftover from the Oval Office décor upgrade.
Stage 3: He still was not satisfied. Just like God who demanded that he be routinely praised and his foes demonized, He wasn’t going to wait for his MAGA flock. He was going to take that onerous job on Himself. He conceived putting gold lettered plaques below each portrait describing the respective Presidents. He doubled up plaques for himself and the two that give him irritable bowel syndrome – Biden and Obama. Naturally his eulogy of himself was straight out of some book of fables (actually his Truth Social posts of self praises and false claims). For Biden, in particular, he hauled out all his campaign slurs like, “nicknamed ‘Sleepy’ and ‘Crooked’ Joe Biden …” Of course, the only person who used that nickname was the petty petulant President Himself. Amongst other false claims, he reiterated his claim that Biden was, “by far, the worst President in American History,” as well as the comprehensively debunked claims of the 2020 stolen election.
All societies consist of their fair share of ne’er-do-wells, addicts, cheats and liars. Others with no such character flaws become engulfed in such destructive behaviours due to not overcoming life’s challenges. The calamities that befall them comprise the kaleidoscope of events such as the loss of a child, serious injury or collapse of one’s business. In all probability the Chinese of Port Elizabeth were no more or less guilty of engaging in such destructive behaviours. For the most part, the bulk of the Chinese population was law abiding and industrious citizens to boot.
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Over my life of 72 years, I have witnessed this building slowly crumble and fade away. Now little more than a pile of bricks, my memory was pricked after 40 years after relocation to Joburg when a Mrs. Charlotte Brunette surprised me with a photo of an oil painting of this building. Now yet another piece of the giant PE puzzle has found its niche in the mosaic.
Main picture: Church on Kragga Kamma-AI Enhanced
Continue readingMost of us at one time or another have had an earworm apart from RFKjr, of course, who had a brain worm which soon died of indigestion. For many this takes the form of a song. Abba produced many ear worms which catch people of a certain age unawares. Some even have to resort to therapy or psychedelics to get rid of them. Mine tend to be The End by The Doors or something by Neil Young – but that’s me. Trump’s musical ear worm is obviously YMCA (You Make Crap Again) which he dances to with gay abandon. But he has another, more sinister ear worm.
It’s one he’s had since the early 2000s when Western banks started seeing the charlatan as a bad risk and he broke bread with Russian money men. His peak interaction with them and probably their honey trap came in 2013 when he staged his Miss Universe contest in Moscow. He’s had their back ever since then and they seem to have his balls in a jar in the Kremlin. They probably term it Kremlin Brûlée, the ultimate honey trap.
Normally, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving by serving turkey to be ritually carved up by the head of the house for his guests. This year, it is not Turkey but but that tough old bird, the Ukraine, that the head of the world, if not the universe, wishes to serve up to Russia with his demand that Zelensky surrenders by Thursday, 27 November – Thanksgiving Day. On top of it all Trump demands that the turkey prostrates itself in gratitude for being carved up which he says they have never done. Poor hard-done-by bully-boy Trump.
As usual, the gap between Trump’s statements of fact and the truth is wider than the Gulf of America (formerly known as Mexico). Since the war began, Zelensky has expressed his gratitude to America and its leaders no less than 78 times. 40 of those have been on X (formerly known as Twitter) and many addressed to Trump (formerly known as accused number 1).
What transpired roughly a week ago was a unilateral announcement of a 28-point peace plan for the 3½ year Ukraine-Russian war with the simultaneous demand of the immediate surrender by Thanksgiving. This shocked the world because this was ‘negotiated’ between Russia and Steven Witkoff, Trump’s real estate developer buddy, without input from NATO, the EU or the main victim of Russia’s aggression, the Ukraine!
However, it transpired that Witkoff was not acting as an unbiased intermediatory but actually an interlocuter for Putin as all the 28 points were just Putin’s talking points. The deep concern expressed by the unconsulted Ukraine and EU led Trump to have to pivot. Soon he was saying this was just the beginning of a consultative process, blah, blah, blah. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit.
Trump doesn’t give a damn about the security guarantees that America signed or for the Ukrainian soldiers and citizens who have been brutalised and murdered by Russian soldiers. He wants a deal on Putin’s terms because then Putin will welcome Trump Inc with all their ‘beautiful’ real estate developments and other deals into Russia.
One must factor in Trump’s motivations into all his words and actions. He does not have a scintilla of morality, conscience or sense of justice. It’s like he was lobotomised at birth. It’s all about ME.