When earlier this year or maybe going back to late last year, Toyota started recalling lots of its cars due to one defect or the other, I thought that maybe only a batch or 2 had been affected but the recalls continued. I believe over a million cars have been recalled to date. What's up I asked myself. Considered one of the most solid and reliable cars of the past 25yrs, they have combined elegance and reliability in their saloon cars and ruggedness and comfort in their 4 wheelers. They had something for all; conservatives, upwardly mobile, adventurers, explorers, armies and the many world and charity bodies whose businesses are traversing rough and rugged terrains. Suddenly 'KABOOM' and problems after problems.
First thing that crossed my mind was Industrial espionage/sabotage but who is responsible? Let us look at the natural suspects of which other car manufacturers must come first. There are the European, American, Korean and other Japanese car manifacturers. I was about to start sleuthing when certain things happened that forced me to start from a particular end.
Come late september/early october and it is Honda recalling cars. Late october and Nissan has recalled 2.1m cars. What da!!!. Is this a case of tit for tat, do me I do you, an eye for an eye sorry I mean a car for a car? Is this sweet revenge by Toyota? Maybe! Has Toyota taken revenge on the wrong rivals? Have they eliminated all other possible suspects?
What about Korea? Could it be Kim Jung-Il? I doubt that; he's working on bombing out Japan, South Korea, and just about anywhere else that irritates him. He does'nt do cars, it's too petty. But wait a minute! what about Kim Jung-Un, his heir apparent? Could he be practising to perfect his evil machinations in lieu of taking over from his father? This might just be a gift from his father. "Look here son, I dnt want you just hanging around doing nothing & waiting to takeover from me; You might be tempted to overthrow me which could be bad for our health. The idle mind is the Devil's workshop"(look who's talking) "Find something to occupy your time; terrorise those Chinese and Japanese fishing vessels or better still wreck the Japanese motor industry. That should be fun; I like that, get going kiddo" Kim Jung-Il says to Kim Jung-Un. I believe this is quite plausible or dn't you!!!
What about South Korea with potentially the biggest car market which is only being slowed down by the Japanese? They have come to the party looking good but are not getting enough attention so, sabotage the competition. If Japan recalls 5 million cars and South Korea can get 50% of the sale, it would mean the highest turnover it has ever had. I make South Korea my chief suspect.
I have not given Western Europe much of a look because most of their cars are over priced and have a patronage which could be said to be within the world of the conservative and the nouveau riche.
For the Americans, the motor industry has nothing good right now to talk about and recalling cars is not the injection they need.
It beats my imagination how so many cars can be recalled and yet the companies still stay afloat.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
LIARS, LAWYERS AND POLICEMEN
So the police arrest somebody, anybody and call him the suspect. Anybody will do; just get the matter done with. So they manipulate everything manipulatable but most of all manufacture lies against the maybe or maybe not innocent person. They send their manufactured evidence and lies to the office of the Director of Public prosecution/District Attorney. They, the police convince(with or without incentives) the office of the DPP/DA that the accused is guilty and must be charged to court. The DPP's office appoints a counsel to handle the case; he will henceforth be known as the prosecutor.
The case gets to court and the accused now also known as the defendant has appointed a lawyer who will henceforth be known as the Defence counsel.
In no time, the prosecution starts to realize that the police have not done a good job of the case so it also employs untoward means in order not to lose face. More lies, fake and false witnesses and fabricated stories.
The defence realizing what the prosecution is upto starts to manufacture its own lies & evidence to counter the prosecution. The defendant is schooled in a way that could have earned him a PHD.
Let us not think that this is a one way traffic; when an accused is as guilty as sin, his defence lawyer starts to fabricate all the lies neede to protect him.
Meanwhile, the presiding Judge although maintaining a stern outlook is not fooled by all that is going on because the Judge has also gone through the whole hog. His or her judgement is going to favour who so ever has told the better lie.They see through each contender but I wonder why they cannot just say to either party to stop the rubbish.
Obviously, there are exceptions to the rules.
Now do not believe for one moment that only matters involving the police contain fabrications. Landlords who want a tenant out are just as bad. That broken louvre that you have not fixed will be termed as willful damage to the property. A young bachelor living alone comes home pretty late once or twice a week is a nuisance and menace to the neighbours; it is worse if the tenant is a lady; she is immediately termed a prostitute and such a life style is not compatible with the very responsible co-tenants. In such civil cases the Landlord is referred to as the PLAINTHIEF; sorry, I beg your pardon, the right name is plaintiff.
The tenant makes a very brave effort to defend; he tells the court how the landlord habitually wants to raise the rent by over 50%; how he has built a shop in front of the house which has devalued the property & ruined the landscape. It goes on and on and I wonder why judges do not just lose their temper and throw them out. I do not envy Judges, what with all the crap they have to cope with.
Can I get a witness.
The case gets to court and the accused now also known as the defendant has appointed a lawyer who will henceforth be known as the Defence counsel.
In no time, the prosecution starts to realize that the police have not done a good job of the case so it also employs untoward means in order not to lose face. More lies, fake and false witnesses and fabricated stories.
The defence realizing what the prosecution is upto starts to manufacture its own lies & evidence to counter the prosecution. The defendant is schooled in a way that could have earned him a PHD.
Let us not think that this is a one way traffic; when an accused is as guilty as sin, his defence lawyer starts to fabricate all the lies neede to protect him.
Meanwhile, the presiding Judge although maintaining a stern outlook is not fooled by all that is going on because the Judge has also gone through the whole hog. His or her judgement is going to favour who so ever has told the better lie.They see through each contender but I wonder why they cannot just say to either party to stop the rubbish.
Obviously, there are exceptions to the rules.
Now do not believe for one moment that only matters involving the police contain fabrications. Landlords who want a tenant out are just as bad. That broken louvre that you have not fixed will be termed as willful damage to the property. A young bachelor living alone comes home pretty late once or twice a week is a nuisance and menace to the neighbours; it is worse if the tenant is a lady; she is immediately termed a prostitute and such a life style is not compatible with the very responsible co-tenants. In such civil cases the Landlord is referred to as the PLAINTHIEF; sorry, I beg your pardon, the right name is plaintiff.
The tenant makes a very brave effort to defend; he tells the court how the landlord habitually wants to raise the rent by over 50%; how he has built a shop in front of the house which has devalued the property & ruined the landscape. It goes on and on and I wonder why judges do not just lose their temper and throw them out. I do not envy Judges, what with all the crap they have to cope with.
Can I get a witness.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
SLAVERY IS ALIFE & WELL
So there is slavery everywhere and why are people shocked about this??? Not me! I have seen slavery and I have met slaves and touched slaves. Slavery is everywhere and I know it is deep in the Earth’s crust, on the ocean floors, in international business and relationships, in every nook and cranny of this Earth. Even some of the UFOs sighted now and then are carrying alien slaves or have probably whisked away some earthlings into inter galactic slavery.
Slavery was the topic on Larry King Live this morning and the discussants mentioned how slavery is on the rise in every corner of the world. I thought to myself ‘Are they just knowing that? There might even be a slave in the CNN studio or maybe one of the discussants is even a slave plotting his or her escape through the show.’ Jokes aside, did anyone really ever think that slavery would disappear just like that, something that has been with us for all eternity? From the moment man developed society where there were tribal chiefs, clan heads etc etc, someone had to be at the bottom rung of the ladder. Whipping and torture do not define slavery although they formed a basic part of ancient slavery. For a good while, Larry king thought that the slave issue was all about illegal immigrant workers but got a rude awakening when told that there were American slaves, citizens of the US of A. Slavers would comb the streets for vulnerable young boys and girls. The bait would be a well turned out good-looking boy or girl, an epitome of the good life.
When I said there are slaves in the crust of the earth and in the depths of the oceans, I meant it because there are slaves working the mines and diving for oysters, scallops and other exotic shellfish. They mostly only get a meal or two daily for these dangerous jobs while the slavers or middlemen and the big guns in the cities make a killing. Farmers are not exempt from this and they are just as culpable as the others.
There are those employed as domestics aka houseboys and housegirls as they are generally referred to in my country and West Africa. Readers from this region must be familiar with these young children directly or indirectly. It is still common practice to go into a home and find a child from about 6yrs upwards doing menial jobs from sundown to sunset. The child (mostly girls) sleeps on the bare floor, is up at about 5am, gets the children ready for school, prepares their meal, washes their clothes and gets little or no medical treatment. As soon as there is a sign of dangerous ailment, she is bundled back to her village. Starvation forces villagers to sell their children outright or just hand them over to people from the city who have promised to treat the kids as one of theirs. In fact, some of the children and the slavers are related but you would not know that when you see the treatment meted out to them.
Prostitution I gather is the most profiting of the slave trades and the most successful are the East Europeans. East European girls and women are the hottest in this biz. They are wanted in the Americas, Western Europe, Africa and anywhere there are men. Asian women, especially children are hot in illegal sex trade not only outside their borders but also within. It is a great tourist attraction.
Men seeking a better life outside their countries get involved with all sorts of dubious characters and death is never too far from them. They suffocate in containers, die by drowning, fall off Lorries, and are crushed to death by oncoming vehicles. Many more are killed by those they have engaged to see them through. What bugs me is the kind of money paid for these ill-fated adventures, I wonder why such amounts could not be put to better use.
What about slavery involving Nations or one Nation and an International body? This I believe is called Economic and financial slavery. Where a Sovereign state owes so much money that its day to day affair is supervised by creditors. Do you remember when the IMF almost had our soul?
In almost everything we wear or eat there is a touch of slavery but how are we to know; be vigilant, discourage slavery where you can . Cheap labour is another disguise for slavery. Be reasonable with people you employ; do not cheat or cash in on their lowly status.
Slavery was the topic on Larry King Live this morning and the discussants mentioned how slavery is on the rise in every corner of the world. I thought to myself ‘Are they just knowing that? There might even be a slave in the CNN studio or maybe one of the discussants is even a slave plotting his or her escape through the show.’ Jokes aside, did anyone really ever think that slavery would disappear just like that, something that has been with us for all eternity? From the moment man developed society where there were tribal chiefs, clan heads etc etc, someone had to be at the bottom rung of the ladder. Whipping and torture do not define slavery although they formed a basic part of ancient slavery. For a good while, Larry king thought that the slave issue was all about illegal immigrant workers but got a rude awakening when told that there were American slaves, citizens of the US of A. Slavers would comb the streets for vulnerable young boys and girls. The bait would be a well turned out good-looking boy or girl, an epitome of the good life.
When I said there are slaves in the crust of the earth and in the depths of the oceans, I meant it because there are slaves working the mines and diving for oysters, scallops and other exotic shellfish. They mostly only get a meal or two daily for these dangerous jobs while the slavers or middlemen and the big guns in the cities make a killing. Farmers are not exempt from this and they are just as culpable as the others.
There are those employed as domestics aka houseboys and housegirls as they are generally referred to in my country and West Africa. Readers from this region must be familiar with these young children directly or indirectly. It is still common practice to go into a home and find a child from about 6yrs upwards doing menial jobs from sundown to sunset. The child (mostly girls) sleeps on the bare floor, is up at about 5am, gets the children ready for school, prepares their meal, washes their clothes and gets little or no medical treatment. As soon as there is a sign of dangerous ailment, she is bundled back to her village. Starvation forces villagers to sell their children outright or just hand them over to people from the city who have promised to treat the kids as one of theirs. In fact, some of the children and the slavers are related but you would not know that when you see the treatment meted out to them.
Prostitution I gather is the most profiting of the slave trades and the most successful are the East Europeans. East European girls and women are the hottest in this biz. They are wanted in the Americas, Western Europe, Africa and anywhere there are men. Asian women, especially children are hot in illegal sex trade not only outside their borders but also within. It is a great tourist attraction.
Men seeking a better life outside their countries get involved with all sorts of dubious characters and death is never too far from them. They suffocate in containers, die by drowning, fall off Lorries, and are crushed to death by oncoming vehicles. Many more are killed by those they have engaged to see them through. What bugs me is the kind of money paid for these ill-fated adventures, I wonder why such amounts could not be put to better use.
What about slavery involving Nations or one Nation and an International body? This I believe is called Economic and financial slavery. Where a Sovereign state owes so much money that its day to day affair is supervised by creditors. Do you remember when the IMF almost had our soul?
In almost everything we wear or eat there is a touch of slavery but how are we to know; be vigilant, discourage slavery where you can . Cheap labour is another disguise for slavery. Be reasonable with people you employ; do not cheat or cash in on their lowly status.
Monday, October 18, 2010
patrick hornblower: TRAFFIC OR POCKET CONTROLLERS
patrick hornblower: TRAFFIC OR POCKET CONTROLLERS: "I am one person that believes in paying up all bills on time & I always make sure all documents legalizing things that I employ for every da..."
TRAFFIC OR POCKET CONTROLLERS
I am one person that believes in paying up all bills on time & I always make sure all documents legalizing things that I employ for every day life are in place. “Pay your utility bills on time; obtain your Tv & radio licence; do not drive out without your vehicle particulars & your driving licence ,” I always say to myself. Apart from the fact these are your civic responsibilities more important to me is the fact that the extortionists from the various agencies will not have a chance to harass you. The palaver these people can put you through will make you wish you had done the right thing in the first place. You get to realize that playing Roger the dodger is not worth your while. Persons that you would normally have authority over will belittle you but because you have compromised yourself they will take total charge of you & your soul; you will have that sinking feeling & even after regularizing your documents, which you probably would have done by offering something in exchange, you would have lost face. Despite all of these, there are people who abhor paying bills; you will find water bills that come at no more than N500.00 a month accruing to over N24, 000.00. Why I ask myself & I say, it is a disease & it is not a rare disease. Go past your Nepa office and everyday there are long queues of people begging to be reconnected. Of course, some are there to correct errors but a majority is looking for an illegal way out.
For people who drive without complete documents I cannot understand. The fact that they inconvenience themselves would be of no bother; more annoying is the inconvenience to others. At a police checkpoint, one driver with irregular papers can cause a traffic build up going back a mile not to mention accidents arising from these checkpoints. The commercial vehicle (danfo, molue, taxi) drivers are slightly better because they have their contributions for the day or trip ready. With extended hands out of the vehicle, they hand over anything from N10.00 to N100.00 to the policeman or traffic controller and just keep moving. The fall out of this is that they develop such audacious & indifferent attitude to the flow of traffic. They stop, park, embark, disembark, off-load, load etc, anywhere while the traffic controllers turn a blind eye. It is not unusual to find both the supposed law enforcer & the commercial vehicle drivers totally stoned out of their minds by drugs or alcohol or both. It is frightening to think that some of these police officers are heavily armed while under the influence of drugs or alcohol & quite a number of people have lost their lives in circumstances that never warranted the use of arms. The police force, on most occasions, has referred to such incidents as ‘accidental discharge’.
My experience on a not so very nice day was devoid of any serious incidence & all because I was very much under the weather. I was suffering from my usual gouty arthritis, which has been my ailment since I was 27, some 35yrs ago. My wife’s driver took me to the hospital because this was a serious attack & on our way back we ran into a police checkpoint. I told the driver to get all particulars ready and paid no further attention. I raised my head from the paper I was reading to notice one officer getting into the passenger seat. Being one not known to be tolerant of police harassment, I aggressively asked the officer to get out of the car. He turned round, faced me & what I saw told me to cool down. He had bloodshot eyes & what looked like fumes were coming out of his nostrils and ears. When he opened his mouth, the putrid & pungent smell of cheap alcohol rocked me. This man could have been used as a caricature of the fire-spitting dragon that St. George slew. He got out of the car and with his rifle swinging in every direction he told me that he was taking us to the police station because my driver did not have his licence on him. The driver had told him that he left the licence in the other car. I told him I would wait there while the driver goes home to fetch his licence. This he said was not possible as the driver was the culprit. I was not ready to succumb to him so I said we should go to the police station to which he responded that that would be at 4pm when he finished at the checkpoint; time was still 10.30am. His mate now playing good cop approached me, condemned his action and advised that I give him something to end the matter. The audacity of this cop; he wanted N10k but at the end of the day I parted with N2k.
For people who drive without complete documents I cannot understand. The fact that they inconvenience themselves would be of no bother; more annoying is the inconvenience to others. At a police checkpoint, one driver with irregular papers can cause a traffic build up going back a mile not to mention accidents arising from these checkpoints. The commercial vehicle (danfo, molue, taxi) drivers are slightly better because they have their contributions for the day or trip ready. With extended hands out of the vehicle, they hand over anything from N10.00 to N100.00 to the policeman or traffic controller and just keep moving. The fall out of this is that they develop such audacious & indifferent attitude to the flow of traffic. They stop, park, embark, disembark, off-load, load etc, anywhere while the traffic controllers turn a blind eye. It is not unusual to find both the supposed law enforcer & the commercial vehicle drivers totally stoned out of their minds by drugs or alcohol or both. It is frightening to think that some of these police officers are heavily armed while under the influence of drugs or alcohol & quite a number of people have lost their lives in circumstances that never warranted the use of arms. The police force, on most occasions, has referred to such incidents as ‘accidental discharge’.
My experience on a not so very nice day was devoid of any serious incidence & all because I was very much under the weather. I was suffering from my usual gouty arthritis, which has been my ailment since I was 27, some 35yrs ago. My wife’s driver took me to the hospital because this was a serious attack & on our way back we ran into a police checkpoint. I told the driver to get all particulars ready and paid no further attention. I raised my head from the paper I was reading to notice one officer getting into the passenger seat. Being one not known to be tolerant of police harassment, I aggressively asked the officer to get out of the car. He turned round, faced me & what I saw told me to cool down. He had bloodshot eyes & what looked like fumes were coming out of his nostrils and ears. When he opened his mouth, the putrid & pungent smell of cheap alcohol rocked me. This man could have been used as a caricature of the fire-spitting dragon that St. George slew. He got out of the car and with his rifle swinging in every direction he told me that he was taking us to the police station because my driver did not have his licence on him. The driver had told him that he left the licence in the other car. I told him I would wait there while the driver goes home to fetch his licence. This he said was not possible as the driver was the culprit. I was not ready to succumb to him so I said we should go to the police station to which he responded that that would be at 4pm when he finished at the checkpoint; time was still 10.30am. His mate now playing good cop approached me, condemned his action and advised that I give him something to end the matter. The audacity of this cop; he wanted N10k but at the end of the day I parted with N2k.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
patrick hornblower: FOOD: EVERYBODY'S FOOD IS BEST
patrick hornblower: FOOD: EVERYBODY'S FOOD IS BEST: "I sit down today, watch television with disgust, disbelief, and sometimes with nausea as people consume all sorts of living things ranging f..."
patrick hornblower: Poverty and governments
patrick hornblower: Poverty and governments: "It was heart warming to have listened to Wen Jiabao's (chinese premier) speech at the UN moreso because I believed he sounded truthful and b..."
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
patrick hornblower: Poverty and governments
patrick hornblower: Poverty and governments: "It was heart warming to have listened to Wen Jiabao's (chinese premier) speech at the UN moreso because I believed he sounded truthful and b..."
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