Women should NOT have children after 35!!

This is one of those controversial statements but I fully stand behind it. Women should not have children after 35!

I strongly believe that I can back up this statement with sound psychological, medical, and financial data. Some say, "Of course women can have children after 35!" They don't know what they are talking about and I can guarantee they have had very little experience in the matter. I don't care what the doctor says. I don't care what your friends say. I don't even care what your pastor says. Women should not have children after 35!

I don't advise it, I vehemently recommend against it, and loudly and even at times rudely tell people "don't even consider it." You can quote me on this. If you want to say that Mzwandile said it, then so be it. I said it. And I said it more than once. "Women should not have children after 35!"

Some will post rude comments proclaiming the freedom of the womb but I still stand by what I said. You may disagree with me, that's your right. I still stand firm on the issue. With most things I keep an open mind but not on this issue. If I find an exception to this rule, then I will be open to change but for now, it's firmly closed because I have never seen an exception. Women should not have children after 35!

Because really now, 35 children are enough.....

The Ten Commandments of Doing "Good" in Business

1. The customer is always right. Even when he is wrong.

2. Don't promise what you know you can't deliver.

3. Honor your verbal contracts with the same seriousness as you honor written agreements.

4. When negotiating, always aim for a deal that is as good for your partner as it is for you.

5. If a deal turns out badly for your partner but stays good for you, change it to be fair to him.

6. Always pay your employees as much as or more than they are worth - or, if that is impossible, as much as you can afford to pay them, with the promise of making it up to them later.

7. Share your business wisdom with everyone, including your competitors.

8. Never engage in gossip. Speak as if the person you are speaking about will find out what you are saying. (Because he will.)

9. Never take advantage of your vendors simply because you can. Your goal should be to compensate them fairly, even if it means paying them more than the market demands.

10. Never engage in recriminations and try to avoid litigation. In the long run, it is better to be the screwee rather than the screwer.

- Micheal Masterson

Nginibhaqile

Khaphela catches Senzo and Jason red-handed. Hilarious!!!

Unconditional Faithfulness

In the book of Daniel, in the third chapter, we read about King Nebuchadnezzar who:
1. Had the most awesome name EVER in the history of humankind, EVER!
2. Was a rabid lunatic.

He set up an image of gold and then ordered everyone in his vast kingdom to bow down and worship the image or die. The bible doesnt go into detail as to what the purpose of this image was, if it was a diety associated with anything in particular, so clearly this detail isnt very important... to us. But it was helluva important to king 'Chad, because he declared that anyone who doesnt bow down to his image will be immediately thrown into a burning oven. Immediately.

The heroes of this story, however, are three Jews named Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. This event occured during one of the many, many times in history where Middle Eastern nations were engaging in their favourite pasttime i.e. hating on Israel. So most of the Jews were second class citizens at the time. These three men, though, had managed to distinguish themselves profoundly with their spirit of excellence and faithfulness, and had endeared themselves to the king, even being placed in positions of authority throughout the kingdom. Naturally, haters sprung up all over the place, and they were always looking for an opportunity to smear mud on their faces.

This opportunity presented itself when king 'Chad decided to erect this image of gold. Being devout Jews and very, very faithful to their God, our three heroes decided to give the king's order the proverbial middle finger, and they continued praying to their God. You know the story, the haters rushed to the king to inform him of the rampant insubordination. Our crazy king decided to have the three men brought before him, and he ordered them to bow to the gold image immediately, or risk being thrown into the oven. This is when our heroes uttured what I believe are some of the most courageous words to ever exit a human mouth:

King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in
this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve
is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s
hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty,
that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up
- Daniel 3:16-18

Notice how our heroes chose to not put their wellbeing first, but placed their faithfulness above all else. Notice how their faith in God's abilities never wavered. And, importantly, notice how their faithfulness to God was unconditional! They had a complete faith in God and His abilities to rescue them from the oven. However, they said even is He doesnt rescue them, they will stay faithful. Even if He doesnt show Himself in their lives, they will stay faithful. Their faith didn't depend on God displaying His power for all to see. They knew Him, they knew who they were serving, and they knew that God is much, much more than His powers and His miracles. They knew that He cannot be contained in a small box of miracles. He defines His powers, His powers do not define Him!! And because of this attitude of unconditional faith, God was compelled to come down and rescue them Himself. He did not send a legion of angel, but He came down Himself! Most bible scholars believe that the fourth man who was seen in the oven was actually Jesus Christ, and we know that Jesus is God, so God came down Himself to rescue them.

Now how many Christians have conditional faith. Visual faith and faithfulness. "God, if you dont do this for me, I will stop coming to church" or "God, if you don't do this for me, you're not the real God". Love and faithfulness based on miracles. Based on what God can do for you. Of course, this is how most people come to know God, by what He can do for them (I came 'coz there was free food in the youth group). But we need to move beyond that. We need to seek to know more of God, to the point that our faithfulness is not dependent on the material, because we know the creator of the material. Whether we are provided for physically or not, we stay faithful.

Please note that this does NOT mean just accepting whatever appalling physical condition we may be in at any given time (que Gideon and King Hezekiah). We approach His throne with confidence and remind Him of His promises of providence to us as the need arises. But regardless of all of this, we stay faithful, we dont abandon our cross, we are prepared to face a blazing furnace for what we believe in. Even when we cry out in pain, we are still faithful (que Job). This is faithfulness.

Ngiyayigoba,
Mzwandile

What did Jesus look like?

Most of us have some image in our heads of what Jesus Christ looked like, or might have looked like. If you grew up in a Christian household, there's a good chance you had a picture of Jesus hanging on your living room wall at home. There's many different variants of the picture of Jesus, but almost all of them have a few common traits. Jesus will most probably be caucasian, have a long beard; long, flowing, shiny hair that most Hollywood celebrities would kill for; flawless skin;, bright red/pink lips; ocean blue eyes with a sad and far-away look in them and, if his hands are up, shiny manicured nails too. Ooh, and his heart will be on fire. Yeah.

Now, nothing wrong with this picture. I think most people would like to believe that our supreme Lord and Saviour was flawless and perfect in every way, including his physical appearance. And the thought of Him being gentle and kind and meek and humble would also go with the gentle blue eyes, welcoming face, soft pink lips and soft, gentle hands. But the problem is, this picture goes against most things that the bible says about Jesus.

First of all, Jesus was a Jew, an Israelite. That means, Jesus was of Middle Eastern descent. He therefore most probably looked more like an Iraqi nomad than a Milan model. Of course, some people would curse at any proposed similarity between Jesus and Arabs, but if you know your history and geography, you'll know that Israelites and Arabs have lots in common, especially physical appearance. Also, common knowledge would say Jesus lived in a desert, or a semi-desert. And deserts are hot and windy and dry. You know what all that wind and all that whirling sand and all that exposure to the sun will do to your hair and skin? Split ends, dry hair, tough leathery skin, sun-spots etc. And the lips, the dry, chapped lips; Labello would have a very hard time protecting them. One could argue that He used primitive shampoos and conditioners and other chemical treatments, but, if they did exist in his time, they were probably way too expensive for Him to afford. Add that Jesus walked everywhere he went, and you'll have a better idea. And finally, Jesus was a carpenter. That means he worked with wood, hammers, nails, glue, fire, saws, axes and a host of other woodworking tools (ask Julius Malema for the complete list). So his hands were most probably tough as hippo hide, and bigger than most men's. And cracked nails too. Yup, definitely cracked nails. Not the prettiest picture then. I can't explain the heart on fire though, no thoughts on that.

The thing is, most of the pictures that we see of Jesus were originally painted by Italian and other European artists, the likes of Michelangelo and Da Vinci. And, being Italian, they based their illustrations on the Italian men around them. Also, these were mostly painted centuries after His death. So the illustrations are heavily misguided, and were made to appeal to the generation at the time. If you can look at His circumstances, and the times he grew up in, and the experiences he went through, you will most definitely have a different picture of the man that Jesus was.

Now, you're probably thinking "Whats the point of all this?" and truth be told, there is no final point, I'm not out to prove anything. Because at the end of the day, it doesnt matter one bit what you think Jesus looked like. Whether he was white, black, Chinese, fat, thin, tall, short, long hair, bald, toothless, wore pink robes etc... it doesn't matter! As long as you believe in His death and resurrection, and you have complete faith in Him, and He is your #1, that is all that matters. What I'm trying to say here is, most Christians have a completely distorted view of who Jesus was, what His character was, how He saw the world, how He saw other human beings. Over the centuries, His person has become twisted and contorted beyond recognition. This is just to open your eyes to any misconception you might have. His physical appearance is just the tip of the farce iceberg. In the near future, we shall explore in more detail the other, deeper side, personality, character, thought process, what ticked him off etc.

Till then, I rest,
Mzwandile

Judging

People in general oppose passing judgment on others, and this is a good thing because most of us are really not equipped to pass judgment on anything, let alone on stuff which we know NOTHING about. There's a reason why judicial judges have to have years of legal training and practice behind them before they can be qualified to pass judgment, and even then it is not uncommon for them to take months and many separate hearings in order to pass judgment, and it usually takes them even longer to settle on fair sentencing. Why then do we "common" human beings feel that we are adequately skilled to pass judgment on our fellow man? No, knowledge of the bible and spending years in church does not make u adequately skilled.

However, there is a flipside to this. Yes, its quite true that a person is innocent until proven guilty. Here's a question: if I see with my own eyes a person taking something that does not belong to him, can I call that person a thief immediately, or do I first have to wait for the courts to find him guilty first? And if I do decide to call him a thief without waiting for the courts, am I then passing undue judgment or am I simply stating a fact based on what I witnessed with my very own eyes? And does it matter if the stuff I saw him taking belongs to me or if I had nothing at all to do with it? Some people think it matters.

Another question is, if I am a thief myself, does that mean that I am then not qualified to label other people as thieves, even though they clearly are, simply because I am guilty of the same crime as well? Should we be differentiating between labels which are merely descriptive (thief, prostitute, liar etc) and those which pass condemnation? Do we even know the difference? And lastly, to which should we be focusing more: honesty, brutal as it may be, or political correctness, to protect feelings and not be defamatory? Or does it vary depending on the matter at hand?

Think about it, tell me your thoughts.

Mzwa

Whats up?

Just about everyone who knows me will tell you that I'm not very fluent in slang, whether township slang or American slang. Some of my most embarrassing moments have been when I'm visiting Soweto and my sister introduces me to some of her friends. As I extend my arm for a handshake the other dude goes "Fede?", and I'm always left with this "Uuhhh...." look on my face. Because it always takes me a few seconds to register exactly what "Fede?" means. And to be quite honest, I still have very little idea what it means.

Granted, I may be too analytical. I don't like saying or doing things unless there is a very clear reason why I should do that thing that way, and there's a defined result in doing that thing that way, and there isn't a better way to do that thing. But every now and then something comes along that everyone just takes to like a duck to water, and it becomes such an integral part of life that you don't really have a choice but to join in, get with the program.

But there's some things I can't get a hold of. You'll find this strange and nerdy of me (what's new?) but I just can't get used to the phrase "What's up" or "Wassup" or even worse "Sup". I just cannot respond to that, whenever someone greets me that way. I mean, what do I say? Do I say "I'm good" or "I'm ok"? But that wasn't the question. Do I look up first, and then answer? Most of the time I say "Nothing", not because there's really nothing, but because that's the only answer which sounds right. I mean, I can handle other slang greetings, like if someone says "Howzit" or "Hoezit", I know immediately that the answer to that is "Sharp sharp". Its clearly defined and I can't get confused. And the question is a simple "How is it?" which makes sense. What's up? Not so much hey.

Thing is, everyone uses it. They especially like "Sup" which I especially don't like because to me it's just lazy. You're asking a senseless question and you're abbreviating it. Mnxm. They use it on instant messaging, on the phone, facebook, even e-mails. It's like, you don't really know what you want. I mean, when you say "Sup", what exactly are you expecting? Look up your damn self man!!! Unless you sprained your neck and you seriously need to see the sky but you're physically unable to do so, you shouldn't ask that. It's not on. Not one bit.

But I suppose it's just one of those things I'll have to get used to, along with sms shorthand (a longer tirade on that later).

I rest,
Me

Some brilliant soccer videos

Aphi Amakwerekwere

Yesterday (16 June '10) I decided to go and watch the South Africa vs Uruguay game in the township of Khayelitsha. They have one of these really cool "Fan Jols" which they have set up in most of the townships around the country so that those without tickets can watch the games on big screens for free, and its a very cool vibe there, what with the vuvuzelas buzzing inceasantly.

No, this is not a piece about how Bafana embarrassed the nation so much last night (tempting but I won't), but it centers around the game.

Now, as I said, there was a lot of jubilation at the fan jol, with everyone everyone else's friend. Of course, this didn't last long as you probably know. After the second Uruguayan goal everyone was hating Bafana and people started leaving. And then the third goal came in, and people started swearing, and people went off to the tarverns, and while they were leaving, you could hear shouts of "Aphi amakwerekwere, awashe amakwerekwere (where's the kwerekweres, let the kwerekweres burn)".

In case you are not aware, kwerekwere is a derogatory term that is used in South Africa to refer to foreigners of African descent. Yes, when Bafana was losing, some guys were looking to take out their frustrations on innocent foreigners. And these were such young guys, teenagers some of them. They were not drunk too, some of them maybe high on the ganja they managed to sneak into the grounds, but most of those shouting like this were, from what I saw, sober. Of course, it wasn't everybody in the crowd shouting these things, it was a minority, less than 5%, but it was still disturbing. And try as I might to find comfort in the chance that they might be joking, I couldn't find it. They looked serious, especially when they were waving the sticks and empty bottles.

I was embarrassed. This is what some call the "township mentality" and its the few rotten apples who give the rest of the people there a bad name. Having grown up in a township myself (Umlazi, what a place) I'm quite aware of some of the negative elements of growing up in that environment (slums, unemployment, no services), it creates a mindset which is hard to crack. And I know the "herd effect" when the stupidity of one is multiplied by the number present, so it escalates. But I hadn't expected what I saw there. And I was just glad that I had resisted the temptation to invite my Zimbabwean and Ugandan friends to join me in Khayelitsha, as I had planned.

Now, clearly there is substance to the rumours we've heard that some people are planning the purging of foreigners as soon as the world cup is over. This is not very surprising, considering how the debacle of two years ago was never resolved, only dealt with for the moment and the underlying issues swept under the carpet. And we know how quickly and effeciently pests and dust and germs can multiply under carpets. Simply taking the victims and placing them in distant compounds and telling everyone that its now alright was never gonna be a permanent solution. The ignorance which culminated in the original "purgings" is still there, the misinformation is still there, the fear is still there, the loathing is still. Cutting a tree at the trunk while leaving the roots intact does not kill the tree. In fact, it gives the roots more time to grow farther and stronger, so that by the time the tree rears its ugly head again, it'll be harder to get rid of.

We need more decisive action in this matter, from all fronts: the government, the ANC, the ANC Youth League, the Police, Home Affairs, Department of Education, the media, churches, everyone!! What people need to realise is that, in this country, there is really enough to go around. Those in the know say this country is operating way below full capacity. With the right systems in place and, more importantly, the right national mindset, we could easily double South Africa's GDP. We do not have to be fighting over scraps, especially to the point of spilling innocent blood. Its frustrating to see that there are really people who think in such twisted ways, who see life as being so cheap only because it comes from the DRC. Maybe its because I have so many friends from other African countries, and members of my youth group too, and I saw how terrified they were two years ago, that I feel the need for more decisive action. This cannot go on. Our rainbow is tainted, in fact it doesn't exist at all, as long as these elements still persist in our societies.

It also doesn't help that these things happened on Youth Day, after Bafana played #&$% soccer.

Bantu Steven Biko, Walter Sisulu, Solomon Mahlangu, they would be ashamed at the attitudes of some of the present day South African youth.

I rest,
Mzwa

Have you hugged a shark today?