USS New York: Ship Built from the World Trade Centre

Made from the Remains of World Trade Centre

 

The USS New York, the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, is the fifth ship of the United States Navy to be named after the state of New York. New York has a crew of 360 and can carry up to 700 Marines. It is notable for using a symbolic amount of steel salvaged from the World Trade Centre after it was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.

Continue reading

Fallacies of Infallible Leadership and other such Fables

Mandela and the Struggle – A Contrarian View

Was Mandela a saint? “Hell no!” I would argue against that assertion but then Mandela conceded that fact on numerous occasions himself so I am in good company.

Then why was Mandela sanctified, beautified and deified all in ten days? Even the Pope cannot achieve such miracles

Or more controversially, should he have been commemorated at all?

Continue reading

This Day in History: 6th June 1944 – D-Day

The largest beach landing in history

The 6th June 2014 represented the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Nazi occupied Europe and has widely become recognised by the generic military term known as D-Day or the first day of the attack. Hence D+1 would be the second day et cetera. Due to this conflation, the term D-Day in common parlance is synonymous with the landing on the Normandy Beaches.

As a tribute to the men who fought and died there, on every tenth anniversary of the battle, paratroop veterans would parachute into Normandy. On the 60th anniversary, ten years ago, this practice was abandoned due to the superannuation of the veterans being a minimum of 80 years of age. On this anniversary, ten years later, one brave solitary soul, a Scotsman, Jack Hutton, elected to show that he was made of sterner stuff and represented all those still alive but now too fragile to do so.

Continue reading

Saving a Whale at Great Personal Risk

Sometimes an attempt to save an animal places the rescuer in great personal risk. This is one such case.

From a personal perspective, Man has unilaterally usurped the rights to the sea and all its wealth and abundance. Through its determined and mindless efforts at overfishing, places all marine animals in jeopardy. Furthermore humankinds’ thoughtless deeds endanger species and in this case, the life of a giant of the sea.

This act of human kindness appeared on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle some time ago. It told of a female humpback whale that had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines.

Continue reading

My Running Redux

The Journey from Searing Back-Pain in late 2013 to Running Races again in Respectable Times

Last Saturday’s [31st May 2014] 10km race entitled The Great Race produced an eponymous result for me: a great race. After battling for 6 months to run even something as short as a 10km race without leaving me almost comatose, finally I experienced a running redux.

A redux means to be brought back or to arise but it does not imply or denote any religious connotation like a resurrection but rather an activity that occurs in some non-religious manner.

Continue reading

Jacob Zuma: Is he sufficiently competent to appoint capable Candidates?

A Personal View – 2nd June 2014

The latest debacle swirling around a recent appointee relates to the alleged misconduct of the current Head of the NPA is proof writ large of Jacob Zuma’s inability to appoint capable candidates. Ex post facto it is uncovered as part of a Security Clearance check that Mxolisi Nxasana is guilty of various offences including assault but had been found not guilty of murder.

Surely in the year-long search for a suitable replacement of such as key appointment such as this, Mr. Nxasana would have been meticulously vetted and a thorough background check performed.

Continue reading