What it sometimes takes to get to School

As a child we never got a lift to school. In Primary School it was on foot albeit only for half a dozen blocks. High School was a little further, so I cycled to school. Given the fact that my mother could not drive, and that we were a one car family, that was our lot. In my children’s generation, they never experienced the pleasures of walking or cycling to school as they were fetched and carried.

In the case of many third world children, even our experiences are minor in comparison. This blog highlights their plight or perhaps that their real determination to obtain an education.

Main picture: Children of Gulu in China should be run up to 5 hours on a cliff path that is sometimes 50 inches wide to reach their schools

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Quintessential Images of Various Countries

Every country has its own set of images which evokes the essence of that country; England with its lush verdant fields, Norway with its fjords and Japan’s paddy fields. Each of these photographs will evoke such a response: “It only happens in…………”

Main picture: This was an easy one. Of course it could only be Australia where one would take a pet kangaroo to the supermarket.

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The Yukon Quest: The World’s Toughest Dogsled Race

Of the dogsled races, its contemporary, the Iditarod is the better known. Both cover 1600kms of frozen terrain. In the case of the Quest it stretches from Whitehorse, the tiny capital of the Yukon to Fairbanks in the heart of the Alaskan interior. Notwithstanding that, of the two the Quest is widely acknowledged to be the more difficult.

The surprising aspect of the race is the unbelievable resilience and hardiness of the dogs. The most prevalent breed is the Alaskan Husky as opposed to its purebred Siberian variety. Their stamina is demonstrated by the ability to run all the way between check points which are up to 320 kms apart with tails still wagging as if it was a Sunday picnic jaunt.

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What happens when the fatal disease called Aging is cured?

Last weeks’ Time Magazine has a series of articles on how science can retard the rate of aging and possibly even halt it completely. Of more significance to me – which was unstated – was what would the social & societal consequences of such a process be? Does this even bode well for humankind in terms of the quality of those additional years? For instance would one then be senile for fifty years instead of ten?

 Main picture: I bet that Bridgette Bardot has many regrets about her life but probably her main misgiving was about getting old and more importantly, looking decrepit. Continue reading

Only in Australia

A previous blog entitled “Only in Africa” revealed the essence of Africa with its idiosyncrasies and quixotic behaviour. Every country has a unique image which evokes that essence. As is usually the case that quintessence represents more than the landscape even though that forms an important backdrop to that imagery.

This time is the idiosyncratic behaviour of Australia and Austrailans that is portrayed.

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Eskom: Where Politics Trumps the Production of Electricity

The latest in a long succession of upheavals in the key parastatals relates to the suspension of the CEO of Eskom after being appointed only eight months previously in August 2014. Instead on their focus being the delivery of their services rather it is factional fights and other considerations that take precedence.

At the highest political levels in South Africa, there seems to be no understanding of the fundamental requirements for a sophisticated economy. Surely the ANC should realise that the requirement to provide power to South Africa supersedes parochial political considerations?

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Have we got the balance in life correct?

In this regard, I am referring not to the work / life balance over which most working people agonise especially working mothers but how we should handle the life portion of the equation. A number of issues crossed my mind over the past week or two which reminded me that either I am focusing on what is truly important due to wisdom – some would call that experience – or due to stage of life – some would call that age.

Main picture: This cat does not accept that a box in which he curled up as a kitten was now too small
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