Where Is the Sweet Music of South Africa?

One thing we looked forward to in Africa’s first World Cup was the wonderful music of South Africa!

But where is it? If the people are singing in the stands, we cannot hear it.

If the people are silenced by the vuvuzelas, that would be a crime borne out of a troubled past. If the people lose their hearing because of the buzzing of the plastic bees, what is accomplished out of that?

It is not too late for the world to hear the beautiful music of South Africa. I hope that this tremendous, special opportunity will not continue to go wasted.

—Gozo Usa

Hello! I Must Be Going

Well, it’s certainly good to see  me here this morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Today is Tax Day 2010, and I’m jazzed by the opportunity to perform my patriotic duty as an American citizen and taxpayer. (Though I have to admit that I am filing an extension, Form 4868: Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.)

(For you income-tax novices, filing Form 4868 does not mean you can delay sending in your tax money. Any additional tax money that you expect to owe the government must be sent with the form, or you will owe it, plus interest and penalties, later.)

It was then-Senator Joe Biden who said, during the 2008 Presidential campaign, that “I always thought that paying taxes was patriotic.”

And so it is. So it is.

How refreshing it should be for the American people to finally have some adults back in the White House and in control of our big 300-million-member family.

As I write to you now, I am waiting on information from XM Radio’s Tim Farley, whose Daily Briefing I caught on my drive out to Starbucks this morning. Tim has a kind of a “Man on the Street” feature, presented by Patrick Ferrise. Today’s feature included brief outtakes from Patrick's interviews on the subject of (1) “Have you filed your taxes yet?” and (2) “Would you pay additional taxes, if you knew the money would go to reducing the national debt?”

The answer of three out of the four interviewees was a thoughtful, “Yes....Yes, I believe I would.”

Tim Farley’s Morning Briefing Twitter Link

P.O.T.U.S. (XM Satellite Radio Link)

P.O.T.U.S. (Sirius Satellite Radio Link)

What a great way to start the day! And free coffee at Starbucks® today, if you bring in your own reusable cup:

Starbucks, Inc.®

You’ll find a really cool video here, just one minute long, about 1,000 people in New York trading in their throw-away cups. [NOTE: The cool video is gone. If it comes back, I’ll let you know.]
 

 

-(($;-)}
Gozo!