Anton Kannemeyer – The Alphabet of Democracy
Anton Kannemeyer -Via we make money not Art
Bob’s moustache
Is it a moustache, do you think? I’m not sure. Ask many professed Africa experts about Robert Mugabe’s moustache, and about half of them will say, ‘He hasn’t got a moustache, are you thinking of Daniel arap Moi?’ It’s a tiny thing, nestling in the dimple of his upper lip. It can’t be a birthmark, because he didn’t have it when he was younger. I reckon he grew it in the late 1980s, when he decided to give dictatorial tyranny a proper crack. A dictator needs facial hair. The full Stalin can’t be pleasant in a tropical climate, and the Hitler, that’s just derivative. Nobody wants to be just another Saddam, and the African gentleman may often struggle with the full Fidel. Bob needed something new.
Britain has lost an empire and found a role: to faff on about pirates and biofuels (The Spectator)
Someone’s watching you
Until recently, the concept of private life was basic to civilisation. Its value could be measured by the thoroughness with which totalitarian states and religions always did their best to stamp it out. But now we have to face the possibility that the latest stage of civilisation might also be trying to stamp it out.
John Cleese’s “Letter to America”
In view of your failure to elect a competent President and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.
Her Sovereign Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy), as from Monday next
Pakistan’s flawed and feudal princess
Pakistan’s flawed and feudal princess | Comment | The Observer
Benazir Bhutto was a courageous, secular and liberal woman. But sadness at the demise of this courageous fighter should not mask the fact that as a pro-Western feudal leader who did little for the poor, she was as much a central part of Pakistan’s problems as the solution to them.
South Africa doesn’t have democracy – yet!
Simply saying that everyone has the vote doesn’t do it for me. Until at least two parties have been in power, i don’t think a country can have any claims to democracy. How many African countries have universal suffrage, and have peacefully changed the ruling party. I don’t know, but precious few I suspect.
South Africa presently has no opposition party that has any chance of meaningful power. Perhaps in time, the best option would be a split in the ruling African National Congress, but then the fear of violence and bloodshed will surely increase.
The ANC is now well and truly ensconced, with widespread corruption and syphoning of funds through all levels of power. Its clear that to rake in the bucks, you have to be a member of the ANC. And the problem of course is that it takes a powerful opposition to keep the ruling party on the straight and narrow. So while you are riding the gravy train what chances are there that you will join the opposition or split away.
Not until the abuse of power becomes absolutely clear to an educated majority of the voters.
Education is the key here, it may take a generation of educated South Africans before it becomes clear that the ANC should not be in power forever. While i am sure there are plenty of high minded moral ANC members – if i was a corrupt official I wouldn’t be that interested in improving the standards of education any time soon, nor would i be interested in expanding a diverse media through a free press, or supplying new media channels (say the Internet) to all points of this large country.
Dorp – Photos
Some new photos from South Africa – Dorp means small town in the middle of nowhere (or in this case the Free State).
silence of the lambs?
eye of the beholder
I remember arriving on a beach in Martinique with a group of Americans I worked for. The males, on seeing the almost naked french girls on the beach, attired in only string thongs, thought, based on past experience, that they were about to have sex. Perhaps not on the beach, but very soon.
Of course nothing could be further from the truth. There is nothing less approachable than naked french girls on a Martinique beach, attired in little more than red nail polish. But Americans at the time were not accustomed to being around real live naked girls unless they were about to get laid. My boss promptly checked into the hotel and spent the next few days fruitlessly strutting his stuff.
French television and billboard advertising will often use female breasts in a variety of formats, right in front of the poor impressionable kids during prime time television. No-one bats an eyelid, or pays much attention for that matter, including the kids.
Benazir Bhutto
I remember watching the BBC’s Newsnight a few years ago when Benazir Bhutto, the rather pretty Muslim ex prime minister of Pakistan was being interviewed about some serious political and religious matters. I forget what they were. During a long – perhaps 20 minute debate, her head scarf was slowly slipping backwards off her head. Was she permitted to appear in public without a head scarf? I didn’t know. Nor did she realize that her scarf was slipping off. The tension was incredible, was it going to slip off? A few times it was tugged back into position, but finally her head and hair were uncovered.
It was very sexy show. I can understand that some might find this level of titillation unacceptable, but had she appeared without her head scarf, I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, and might have paid attention to the arguments she was doubtless expressing with great skill.
Tea from the African Bush
The tea plant, Camellia sinensis, comes in many forms—black, green, oolong. What makes Camellia so healthful is its polyphenols, antioxidants that protect against cell damage and help prevent diseases like age-related decline, cancer and heart disease. But herbal teas like chamomile don’t have the same benefits. That is, all except one. The South African “rooibos,” meaning red bush in Afrikaans, has the benefits of Camellia without the caffeine.
Psychology Today: Tea from the African Bush
I have been addicted to Rooibos tea for several years now – excellent brew for the evening – but beware, it may not have caffeine, but it gives a little lift – not unlike the other Indian and Chinese herbs of the variety Camellia sinensis.
God is the Question
I am an atheist, but recently I started an RSS search feed in my feed reader (FeedDemon) to search the blogs and news for the keyword “God”.
The problem with the word GOD, or GAAD in American Baptist (GAWD in London), is that no one can define what they mean by GOD – it could be almost anything, from a bearded man in the sky, to a general term for the sum total of everything. And if the answer is GOD – what is the question?
There is no point rattling on about a term if there is no clearly defined definition. I have a feeling that if you manage to define the term you will be half way to forming a new religion – and before long you will have more money than god (who is always broke).
Should you be able to define Gaad , you will also probably discover all his hidden names, and he will appear before you and split your head asunder. Though I doubt you can find any of His names, as God uses a different vocabulary to the average mortal – when was the last time you used the word “asunder” (or “smite”)?
But using “God” as a search term is always rewarding, you get the occasional theological discussion, a lot of cussing/swearing, a fair smattering of politics (too much GW Bush perhaps), the latest news on just about every war on the planet, and a not inconsiderable amount of Eric Clapton and various guitar legends. Not a half bad search term for a broad view of the general zeitgeist of the day. Economical to type, mostly entertaining and informative, even a little mysterious.
If Architects Had to Work Like Web Designers!
Please design and build me a house. I am not quite sure of what I need, so you should use your discretion. My house should have somewhere between two and forty-five bedrooms. Just make sure the plans are such that the bedrooms can be easily added or deleted. When you bring the blueprints to me, I will make the final decision of what I want. Also, bring me the cost breakdown for each configuration so that I can arbitrarily pick one.
Keep in mind that the house I ultimately choose must cost less than the one I am currently living in. Make sure, however, that you correct all the deficiencies that exist in my current house (the floor of my kitchen vibrates when I walk across it, and the walls don’t have nearly enough insulation in them).
Funny Band Names
In need of a name for your new band?
Web manipulator and Dilbert funny man gets his readers to do all the work.
My Favorite from the 70′s – The Sex Beatles.
Fundamentalist Influence In Military
Fundamentalist Christian right "para church" ministries with apocalyptic theological views have penetrated the United States military in a pattern, we’ll shortly be demonstrating, that goes from the Pentagon on down to the base level, in which evangelical organizations, under the Campus Crusade for Christ, teach Biblical literalism and "Rapture" theology. These ministries have been invited onto US military basic training facilities to run "religious education" programs and evangelize recruits.
Daily Kos: Pervasive Pattern Of Fundamentalist Influence In Military
There is no safe harbor from change
BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » There is no safe harbor from change
I continue to see news people wishing upon stars for some salvation from the change bearing down on them: fairy godmothers who will swoop in from government or foundations or rich families to provide magic money that lets them continue to do business as they have. Consider this Columbia Journalism Review piece wishing for government support of news and this New York Times report setting up the Poynter-Institute-owned St. Petersburg Times as an ideal.
How to Survive as the Family Tech Support Guy
How to Survive as the Family Tech Support Guy (or Gal) – lifehack.org
One of the most insidious pressures on tech-savvy people these days is the seemingly constant pressure to provide quick, top-quality computer and web support — to our families.
But it’s a responsibility that can quickly grow to wreak havoc on our schedules. You soon find yourself barraged with calls, making house calls, and squeezing in last-minute requests. It’s like the freelancer’s worst nightmare client, except a) you’re not being paid, b) you can’t ask them to take their business elsewhere, and c) you’re expected to offer a lifetime guarantee.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad, public enemy No. 1?
Two very similar articles in the last few days from completely different sources – I guess there are plenty of Americans who don’t fall for all the smoke-up-arse-blowing that is being done by the government lackey media.
The first from Salon:
the U.S. State Department denounced Ahmadinejad as himself little more than a terrorist. Critics have also cited his statements about the Holocaust or his hopes that the Israeli state will collapse. He has been depicted as a Hitler figure intent on killing Israeli Jews, even though he is not commander in chief of the Iranian armed forces, has never invaded any other country, denies he is an anti-Semite, has never called for any Israeli civilians to be killed, and allows Iran’s 20,000 Jews to have representation in Parliament.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad, public enemy No. 1? | Salon.com
The second from Dilbert Blog:
Ahmadinejad also called the holocaust a "myth." Fuck him! A myth is something a society uses to frame their understanding of their world, and act accordingly. It’s not as if the world created a whole new country because of holocaust guilt and gives it a free pass no matter what it does. That’s Iranian crazy talk. Ahmadinejad can blow me.
YouTube – Imagining the Tenth Dimension
You CAN get there from here … if you fold through the dimension above
Burning water and other myths
Here, however (for what it is worth) is the definitive verdict of thermodynamics: water is not a fuel. It never has been one, and it never will be one. Water does not burn. Water is already burnt — it is spent fuel. It is exhaust.
Inside Mugabes Zimbabwe
Newsnight | Inside Mugabes Zimbabwe
Last nights Newsnight on BBC2 painted a disturbing picture of life in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe – check the link above for an outline and link to the video.
What is even more disturbing to me – with cholera epidemic just around the corner, people starving, and a life expectancy in the middle thirties for most people – is the continued complicity of the South African government and all that this implies – they are not about to condemn a brutal dictator because of the colour of his skin.
Its hard to imagine that conditions are any better for most people than during apartheid regimes of the past. The new rulers of southern Africa don’t seem to have read George Orwell’s Animal Farm – they seem to relish the prospect of grabbing power for themselves and screwing the people into the earth. There is going to be no revolution while people are busy starving. Meanwhile as the rulers in South Africa look over their shoulders in paradoxical envy, South Africa itself is flooded with poor Zimbabweans surviving as best they can in gangs that rob loot and rape.
Someone once suggested to me, that if the rest of the world threw up a fence around Africa – no one outside of Africa would give a damn. Apart from some resources – its hard to argue with this viewpoint. Is Africa going to be a mess forever? Is it all the fault of the colonial past – if so why isn’t East Asia in the same mess?
