The reading

I used to read a lot when I was younger , much younger. Untill I was about 24. I read anything: Storybooks, newspapers, magazines, you name it - I read it. Then the urge disappeared. I think it is the right brain that started kicking in. The bigger picture. Books bore me. I will read short articles and news worthy news. Nowadays I read the newspapers on the internet.
But then a few years ago my wife starting reading a book to me whenever we drive for longer than an hour
So it was that I "heard"   "The language of God" A book about the human genome -stunning stuff - no dogmas here, just plain facts.  And this weekend she started reading   "The shack" to me. At first I found it quite boring but as she went on I really started  to enjoy it.( It is not for the feint hearted)  About half way through now and I am starting to think this is a must for everyone calling themselves Christians.  It is about exactly that : Get rid of the dogmas you grew up with and start thinking for yourself.
One other quote I would like to repeat from the book " A bird was meant to fly , not to walk - they do not walk easily because their feet was not made for that purpose ! "
What were you made for ?  Just think on that one - no more no less !

Are you in control?

Where is your locus of control?  Internal or external.  Comments you read on external locus of control sometimes give the definition of this as blaming everyone except yourself for what happens to you.
This of course is not what it means :  It means that you are not in control of you locus (locality,personal space , call it what you will ) You allow the control to be taken from you. You do not decide,you have to get some-ones opinion on the matter before you decide.You accept that some-one , something will make the decision for you.
And you allow it. You give away control – Most probably a belief that you grew up with. You parents made the important decisions for you. You never propertly learnt to think for yourself .
Locus of control is a term in psychology that refers to a person’s belief about what causes the good or bad results in his life, either in general or in a specific area such as health or academics. This is another definition of this. E.g. External locus  is(could be) the acceptance that you are being punished for something you did beacuse  you got  ill or some other misfortune happened.  This is especially true amongst some Christians and of course is totally untrue and disastrous thinking lines.
Take control of your life – Keep control of it and amazing things will happen.
You will not be walked over. People will listen to you when you speak. Take a view and stick to it ( like I am doing here – whether I am right or wrong – this is what I believe and I stick to it).  Never be afraid to differ from people, it makes interesting conversations.  Never be a Yes person.
You will suddenly find that people will not be making contentious statements in groups where you are present. And they will be unwittingly seek your approval for what they say. If just in the way they look at you when they do make a statement.

White squater camps

Ever been to one ? a White squater camp. I spend some time there this morning and what I saw is a bit disturbing.  The people living there are all white with no visible signs of  income.  The one "chalet"(see pictures)
had a dirt floor, one bed and nothing else visible - some old clothes were lying in the dirt.  The whole place is very clean on the outside although it is all dirt area.  No electricity to the shacks.  A distinct smell of dagga was in the air in one corner of the settlement.

These people are down and out. Do no look you in the eye when  you pass. Has hope foresaken them ? I don't know.  The children seem quite happy running around all over the place.  So does about 50 dogs (about one dog for ever 2 people there) , pigs , chicken, turkeys all happily running around. What is interesting that although some of the people I saw looks like they are underfed the dogs all look healthy.

I think normal day to day South Africans should make a day trip to one of these settlements and most probably they will stop complaining about life, crime , the government and a lot of unimportant things. Here it is evident that life is a day to day challenge.

Besigheidsgeleenthede en MLM

 n Vriend het my die week gevra na my opinie oor n besigheidsgeleentheid wat hy ondersoek by die MLM

(Multilevel marketing ) maatskappy Manatech.  Hierdie was my antwoord :

Ek dink ek is die verkeerde ou om te vra vir ’n opinie oor MLM.  Ek het eenvoudig te veel navorsing daaroor gedoen en ongelukkig is die negatiewe hier baie groter as die positiewe.   Daar is nie een enkele MLM maatskappy waar meer as 10% van die verspreiders geld maak nie! 

Soos jy waarskynlik agtergekom het, dink ek nie veel van MLM nie .  Die Spesifieke maatskappy(Manatech) was al op my ondersoek lys en is daar vir my te veel onbe-antwoorde vrae.  Hulle produkte het nie SABS merk nie – Na die debakel met Simply slim kan jy verwag dat die Mediesyne Raad op al hierdie tipe produkte gaan toeslaan.  Daar is eenvoudig nie wetenskaplike bewyse vir dit wat hulle sê hulle produkte doen nie. Dit is ”Getuienis” gebasseer – en ons weet hoe maklik dit is om te fabriseer.

Die grootste probleem wat ek het met MLM as bemarkingsmetode is dat jy nie die vlak van kennis en opleiding van die downline kan beheer nie – Die oningeligtes leer die oningeligtes leer die oningeligtes ens ens. (Dit word ook genoem die verlies van inligting deur skakels)  Indien ’n fout inkruip in die eerste ”laag” van die piramide sypel dit vinnig deur na die ander lae.  Daar is werklik goeie besigheidsgeleenthede in die normale vraag en aanbod stelsel waar werklik geld gemaak kan word.   Ons beplan binnekort ’n besigheidsgeleentheid skou waar ons hierdie geleenthede gaan bemark.

Wat betref die oudword proses kan jy gerus hierdie artikel gaan lees:

http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/antiagingpp.html

Die webblad www.quackwatch.com het baie interesante leesstof  oor allerhande middels en medisyne.

 

“But that is only one man’s opinion” soos my goeie vriend Wayne Bisset sal sê   (http://www.mygenius.com) 

Pro activeness

Reading through some of the recent articles on farm attacks and other murders, attacks and burglaries it is evident that a lot of faith is put in burglar bars and alarms systems and nothing on early warning systems.  We have started with research on what is available in the market and will probably commission an interested party in the high tech security field to develop a reasonably cheap hight tech early warning system.
One of the other major problems is awareness or rather the lack thereof. Police and other authorities stress the importance of good neighbourly-ness but when you talk to victims it is very evident that in most cases they do not even know the name of their neigbours.
Some form of an awareness campaign need to be driven from somewhere and we are looking at this at present

Anyone interested in getting involved is welcome to contact me :  0828051615   or john@brandow.co.za

When is enough enough ?

If you intend reading this do it and respond asap.   I am Gatvol , Mad and a few other unexpress-able words.
Normally when problems arise people tend to say :They must do something about it , Crime , roads , etc etc
The "They" are never defined.  The government ?   Nobody I know trust them to actually do anything ?
The municipality ?  The Police ? 
I think it is time that we start looking after ourselves.  We are looking into the electronic security system
environment to come up with state of the art , kickass early warning systems .  If you know of anyone or yourself
have technical knowledge of some state of the art systems please contact me with some info

We. are setting up meetings with policing forums , The TVL landbou unie, victims of crime and a few other interested parties
Watch the press - Talk to me - Come South Africa - wake up - let us become the "they" that does something

Simply (deadly) Slim

Dit is darem ironies hoe mense eenvoudig nie die gevare in al hierdie snaakse produkte wil sien nie. Gister was daar n stormloop om Simply Slim produkte te koop terwyl dit potensieel dodelik vir mense kan wees. Daar is eenvoudig nie n "Simply easy" manier om gewig te verloor nie. n Oordentlike dieet en n oefen program is al wat op die ou einde help.  Al hierdie foefies (jammer mense Simply slim was net n foefie ) werk eenvoudig net nie

"If it is too good to be true it most probably is"