A different view on current affairs & history
Two Danes, writer Mikael Wulff and cartoon artist Anders Morgenthaler produced a comic strip formerly called Wulffmorgenthaler being an amalgam of their surnames but is now called simply entitled Wumo. They subsequently produced a series of 34 graphs which, whilst they concede are highly unscientific, nonetheless reflect life precisely. Continue reading
Being an avid fan of 702 Talk Radio what frequently exasperates me is the facile thinking process that the average person utilises when proposing a solution to a problem. If the presenter attempts to force the listener to be more specific about what must be done to alleviate or prevent the problem at hand, the person is at a loss for words in order to provide any constructive suggestion. Alternatively the suggestions made often have unintended consequences which are worse than the problem being addressed.
The worst affected area appears to be the town of Buffalo in New York State where 6 feet [2 metres] of snow has been reported. The rate of the snow fall could rapidly trap people at work, on the highway and more embarassingly at their lovers apartment. Of course they could always claim without fear of contradiction that they were trapped in their vehicle somewhere. Meanwhile they were enjoyed an uninterrupted 48 hours in a romantic tryst!
Main picture: Don’t let the snow in!
These aircraft are even able to land on autopilot. In fact certain airlines such as Turkish Air have mandated that all landings will be performed using the autopilot. This policy was to have tragic consequences for its crew when on attempting to land at Schiphol airport near Amsterdam, the autopilot malfunctioned. Instead of reverting to manual control, the pilot resolutely stuck to Company Policy regarding the use of the autopilot. Amongst the deaths were the 3 flight crew whereas most passengers escaped without serious injury.
Main picture: The cockpit of the 1903 Wright Flyer
Hardly likely! Given Julius Malema’s predilection for spectacle, theatre and outrageous comments this year’s SONA is likely to be accompanied by some form of ructions in Parliament. The ostensible intention will be to embarrass the ANC and Jacob Zuma in particular. With the TV cameras and the world’s media in attendance, what does the natural populist and showman that is Malema have up his sleeve?
Like most South Africans, in previous years I did not even listen or read about it. All that every year’s SONA appears to be is a series of platitudes and a plethora of promises all of which will not be actioned.
Main picture: Another tough day in Africa. It is a phrase that we use in the Quo Vadis HIking Club a lot.
Main picture: A rare and beautiful type of lightning, positive lightning can be significantly more powerful than the far more common negative lightning. Often known as ‘bolts from the blue’, positive lightning can appear several miles from the center of a thunderstorm, as can be seen in this photograph on the Bahamas coastline.
Main picture: ‘Feel Safe’ by Juan Carlos Mimó Perez
While the newly appointed CEO at Eskom, Tshediso Matona, was last week performing a classic mea culpa by conceding that Eskom’s woes were self-inflicted, Jacob Zuma was telling the denizens of the Western Cape that Apartheid was culpable for the current crisis. On one point Mr Matona was adamant: Eskom had breached the golden rule of plant maintenance in that it had deferred planned maintenance due to political pressure. Examples cited were the World Cup and the 2014 Elections.