A different view on current affairs & history
Instead of merely adding some minor technical detail to my blogs, my brother, being the Technical Editor, has ventured out and written a whole article. He always has the knack of examining the minutiae of photographs and in doing so, discovers unnoticed anomalies or points of contention or interest.
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With the gatslag of the announcement that the AstraZeneca vaccine does not work against the SA variant, the health department seems to favour the J&J vaccine since its SA trial leg encountered the SA variant which none of the others did. However, when you unpack the numbers, it is not hopeful as the effective sample size is exceedingly small. I posit, with good reason, that the effective sample size on which they base their unimpressive efficacy of 57% is 49!
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The SADF process, that so many white South Africans endured against their will, wasn’t such an aberration after all. The military mind is the same no matter where you find yourself. What made me rediscover this? It was this article on the coup d’etat in Myanmar. I am not talking about the coup itself, although I believe most Generals have wet dreams above usurping power, it was the picture that invoked suppressed memories from 40 years ago.
I’m talking about the distinctly non-military white wall tyres on this APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier) in Myanmar.
Continue readingSouth Africa always seems to hit the worldwide headlines for all the wrong reasons. Normally, the reasons are self-inflicted but South Africa has again become a household name when a South African Variant of the SARS-CoV-2 was discovered and found to be more infectious, if not more lethal. Luckily, we’ve been upstaged by a new variant, known as the Brazilian Variant, that popped up in Manaus and overwhelmed their medical system within 24 hours.
With all the profligate wastage of money by the government that is coming to light at Zondo, it’s worthwhile revisiting what Nkandla cost.
Main picture: In 2021 Rands, Nkandla cost R450mill
Continue readingSince July 2017, Adobe has been telling the world that they were pulling their Flash Player as at 31 December 2020. SARS woke up to the problem too late and could only migrate half their input forms to the new method in time. On 24 January 2021, they announced that they had created their own browser which could accept the plug-in to solve their self-created problem. This is a very dangerous approach given that they are dealing with highly sensitive and confidential information and given it takes an immense effort to ensure that any home-grown software is unhackable. In addition, it does not run on the Apple operating system, iOS. This led me to think whimsically about SARS creating its own operating system, tOS-SARS (Tax Operating System – SARS) or tOS for short.
Coincidently, one month prior to Adobe’s announcement, Mmamathe Makhekhe-Mokhuane was appointed Chief Officer – DIST (Digital Information Systems and Technology, I presume). Who can ever forget that hilarious interview in October 2018 on SABC-TV conducted with her where she struggled to answer softball questions? This led her to plead, “Ma’am, can you give me protection from yourself?” In reply to a parliamentary question, Tito Mboweni provided the following information on her qualifications:
A due diligence was conducted on the following qualifications prior her appointment and were Verified:
(1) Diploma in Practical Accounting, Damelin, 1996
(2) Diploma in Bookkeeping, Damelin, 1996
(3) Diploma in Business Organization & Management, Damelin, 1997
(4) Diploma in Personnel Training and Management, Damelin, 1997
(5) Master of Business Administration, University of North West, 2004
A due diligence was not conducted on the following foreign qualifications prior her appointment:
(6) General Certificate of Education. University of Cambridge, 1985
(7) Diploma in Information Technology, Square one, Data processing College, 1987.”
Moegeng Moegeng’s day job is to be the Chief Justice but his real passion seems to be a ranting televangelist in the style of Pastor Mboro et al. Rounding off a thanksgiving address with a prayer at Tembisa Hospital in December last year, he stomped around behind the podium railing against suspect vaccines: “I lock out any vaccine that is not of you. If there be any vaccine that is of the devil, meant to infuse 666 in the lives of people, meant to corrupt their DNA … Any such vaccine, Lord God almighty, may it be destroyed by fire, in the name of Jesus.”
While he might not have directly accused anyone of producing a vaccine that would corrupt DNA, the unsophisticated listener might have made the connection that they do exist otherwise why would a venerated person get so worked up about it. With a worldwide rollout of vaccines gaining momentum, it’s worthwhile revisiting that topic.
* Song by Neil Young released in 1972
Most countries, at some stage or another, have promoted large families. It would seem that fecundity is a source of national pride if not a desire to outnumber their enemies in the long term. Hitler avidly promoted this and Stalin created the medal, Mother Heroine, in 1944 for mothers who raised over 10 children. This was awarded 430 000 times by 1991 when it was discontinued. There were also other medals for woman who were not as fecund or who were perhaps more sensible.
Main picture: Soviet propaganda poster, 1944 & Soviet Mother Heroine Medal
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On 22 December, Trump retreated to his Winter White House/ Winter Palace, Mar-a-Lago for the final Christmas of his Presidency. In this blog, my brother Blaine, provides a wacky look deserving of the wacky lame Donald Duck.
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