A different view on current affairs & history
Outside of America, the mindless stupidity of heroin addiction, that is currently ravaging the white Middle Class, is a relatively unknown phenomenon. Even the Presidential hopefuls are being intensively interrogated about their plans to remedy the situation. Teenager-dom is a turbulent period in youngsters lives and experimentation is the norm, but why is there is sudden spike in heroin addiction in the United States?
Main picture: The final humiliation
After the shocking increase of 14% in the number of road fatalities this Christmas season to 1755, the Department of Transport is proposing to re-classify all road traffic offences to Schedule 5 of the Criminal Procedure Act, the same as murder and rape, thus making it more difficult for people to get bail. In effect by delaying the granting of bail by up to a week, the alleged guilty parties are de facto being punished. Firstly is this constitutional and secondly will this amendment actually improve driving behaviour? What unintended consequences will ensue?
I could dwell on all South Africa’s major ills such as an incompetent ANC or Zuma’s single-handed attempt to detail the South African economy. Alternatively I could lament about other ailments such as Zuma’s friend Dudu Myeni’s bid to insert some crony into the Airbus deal at a cost of R1.6 billion to SAA. No. Let me rather rail against my everyday experiences which indicate that all is not well in sunny South Africa.
Main picture: This surreal walkway recently installed in Cape Town, South Africa, creates a meandering, aerial path that allows visitors to stroll through the treetops. The steel-and-pinewood Kirstenbosch Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway begins on the forest floor, gradually sloping upward and eventually elevating guests to a spectacular vantage point above the canopy.
Many magazines including Time and Popular Science list their choices of the best innovations for the year. Time Magazine has just released theirs. Whilst many of them may be classified as innovative none will significantly improve the lives of the majority on earth. None are particularly earth-shattering nor do many inspire my imagination. My list of breakthroughs and innovations for 2016 is not a prophesy but rather a wish-list. Instead they should be transformative second order changes. This blog deals with the intractable problem of non-polluting power.
Main picture: 1000 years temperature versus CO2 readings Continue reading
Anecdotal evidence suggests that most taxi drivers must commit at least a 100 traffic violations per day. It is their egregious behaviour of failing to adhere to any traffic ordinances that incenses the other road users. After a Facebook video went viral showed a motorist taking on a taxi driver in Durban, the general consensus was that the ordinary motorist should confront the errant taxi drivers more often. But is that the correct method of preventing them disobeying of the traffic regulations?
Main picture: In these scenes from a Facebook video, a motorist can be seen refusing to give way to a taxi driving on the wrong side of the road in Glenwood. In frame 1 the taxi pulls into oncoming traffic, in 2 he tries to push in but in 3 he is stopped, in 4 and 5 he reverses and in 6 he makes his escape.
Jacob Zuma’s election by the ANC as President was never going to bode well for South Africa. His rise to being the only candidate to stand against Thabo Mbeki despite two latent but revealing moral flaws – unresolved charges of rape and corruption – was extremely worrisome for clear thinking people. Zuma has revealed himself to be every bit as corrupt and venal as was expected but his seminal decision to fire yet another competent minister, Nhlanhla Nene, and replace him with an incompetent epitomised a man out of his death.
Main picture: Jacob Zuma (2ndR) poses for photographs with his three wives Sizakele Khumalo (R), Nompumelo Ntuli (L), and Thobeka Mabhija (2-L) after the State of The Union Address
Continue reading
The first student protest in South Africa occurred 50 years ago on 8th April 1965; these were not some radical English speaking students from Wits or UCT but rather conservative Afrikaans students. Their grievances related to mother-tongue education and the removal of liberal lecturers. Contrast this protest with the #FeesMustFall campaign in October 2015 when students once again held protests in Pretoria.
Main picture: The caption reads South Africa First Continue reading
Zuma’s decision to banish Nhlanhla Nene to the South African equivalent of the Siberian salt mines is more than reckless. Like a wildly swinging wreaking ball, it destroys everything in its path. The one centre of sane thought and policies within the ANC Administration has always been Finance. It was the voice of common sense & reason in the midst of Zuma’s shambolic management of the South African economy.
Now that too has gone.
Main picture: The regard that Zuma has for South Africa, the one-fingered salute
My first reaction was incredulity. It must be a scam against a profitable company. Many people have voiced similar concerns. To say that I was dumbfounded would be an understatement. Knowing Nigeria’s reputation as the epicentre of scams such as the notorious 419 extortion racket, the imposition of a fine amounting USD 5.2 billion is out of all proportion to the crime committed. This nightmare scenario for MTN would not be out of character – morally and financially – for a bankrupt government.
Continue reading
Very few books, songs or photographs leave a profound impact upon anybody. Like bubble gum, most are enjoyed for a few moments and then spat out. Ironically I read this book about the devastating effects of racism whilst serving three months in the Army on the Zambian border. It was ironic for another reason too. Prior to reading this book, I was under the mistaken belief that the Jim Crow laws in the USA and Apartheid laws in South Africa benefitted my black brethren. Why did it have such a profound effect upon me?
Main picture: The modern equivalent of a 1960s issue: Blacks lives do matter
Continue reading