Current Affairs Archives - Page 18 of 26

South Africa: How about some really cheap electricity?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 17 January 2015 0 Comment

Being South Africa, I am not referring to some less expensive method of actually generating electricity but due to the inventive ways that South Africans have found to bypass the system. The impact of this sharp practice will place more pressure on the paying consumer in two ways: additional price rises and unregulated peak demand of up to 1500MW.

According to Chris Yelland, a director of EE Publisher, an electricity expert and a frequent guest on 702 Talk Radio, About 32% of all electricity delivered by City Power Johannesburg is lost to theft and non-payment.

Is there a Hint of Hypocrisy over the Charlie Hebdo Massacre?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 16 January 2015 0 Comment

Before I continue let me make my stance abundantly clear. This atrocious act can only be classified as despicable without any mitigating factors. Nothing people say even if it is profane or blasphemous can EVER justify the taking of another person’s life. Given that most religions’ mantra is that their religion is one of peace, understanding and respect for human rights makes it even more abhorrent and indefensible.

Surely if Islam was a religion of peace then senior members of the faith would gather their members and condemn this action in no uncertain and forthright terms. Instead one hears of isolated incidents of condemnation. What is required as an alternative is for the Muslims to unequivocally rebuke fellow Muslims who perform such heinous crimes.

Main picture: Charlie Hebdo is an equal opportunity blasphemor as all religions are rebuked by this satirical magazine

Mamparas for the week ended 11th January 2015

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, SA Heroes and Mamparas 12 January 2015 1 Comment

The Al-Qaeda Islamic militants in Paris might have been the recipients of the award for the most centimetres of newspaper space across the globe devoted to their dastardy deeds this week, but Boko Haram – meaning literally Western Education is Forbidden – indisputably won the prize for the Mamparas of the week.

An explosive vest was strapped to the body of a 10 year old girl who was then sent to saunter through a crowded market in Gambaru, Nigeria. It is not certain whether this girl herself set off the explosives or whether they were linked to a Cellphone so that her leader could set it off at the appropriate time. Whatever it was, the result was 16 deaths.

Classifying this terrorist group as Mamparas is not harsh enough. They are worse than cold-blooded killers as the use of impressionable callow youngsters is despicable.

Main picture: Attack by Boko Haram

Is the Current Nostalgia for Mao Zedong Mass Delusion?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 6 January 2015 0 Comment

Forty years after his death in 1976, Mao Zedong, the embodiment of evil, is revered as the father of modern China. How is it possible that the greatest mass murderer of the Chinese themselves attained such a cachet? Do the Chinese suffer from an apparent mass delusion that Mao himself created the current vibrant capitalist economy when Mao in reality would have been virulently opposed to its current non-socialist modus operandi?

China is currently experiencing an unprecedented revival of the Maoist Personality Cult almost four decades after his death. Shrines and gargantuan monuments are being constructed in his honour. Devotees will spend their weekend travelling to these places of worship in the latest luxury vehicles to lay wreaths or to have their photographs taken with the latest high-tech equipment exemplifying modernity.

Attitude Maketh a Man

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Inspirational 4 January 2015 0 Comment

Of course manners do too, and so do a multitude of other attributes such as behaviour and vanity. We could make a case for any one of them being equally important but I contend that despite their being important, attitude occupies the number one position.

Why would I assert that attitude is the numero uno attribute which determines one’s future? We have all worked or dealt with “difficult” people, people who take umbrage at whatever one says or does that is contrary to their world view. Of course they may well be correct about certain aspects of life due to their perspicacity but definitely not about everything.

Should the Right Wing Resurgence in Germany cause Disquiet?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 28 December 2014 2 Comments

It goes without saying that any right-wing resurgence in Germany is viewed with mistrust by the rest of the world and Europe in particular. An article in the local German news magazine Der Spiegel of 15^th December 2014, deals with this issue. What are the underlying causes of this resurgence and what is the prognosis? Finally are there any similarities with the rise of the NSDAP [Nazis in English] of the 1930’s?

Felix Menzel is no Hitler, at least not in the outward manifestations. Unlike Hitler he never uses virulent vitriolic rhetoric. Instead he engages one in an intellectual manner.

Menzel, now 29 years old, is the same age that Hitler was when the Armistice ending WW1 was declared & Hitler for the first time became actively involved in politics. In contrast Menzel has for the past 10 years been active in politics via a conservative right-wing magazine called the Blaue Narzisse, the Blue Daffodil whereas Hitler had not yet formulated a clear political direction and philosophy other than an inherent anti-Semitism.

Main photo: Recent PEGIDA demonstration in Desden. In English PEGIDA means “Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West,”

The Mampara of the Year: 2014

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, SA Heroes and Mamparas 23 December 2014 2 Comments

In South Africa at the moment, it is not difficult to pick a Mampara as we are spoilt for choice. Of course our beloved country is not the only one that has its prominent citizens involved in half-witted and mindless actions. In the forefront of these imbecilic actions, as if to be in the limelight albeit for 5 minutes, are mainly politicians or political appointees.

The candidates for this prestigious award are not only politicians as non-politicians have also tried exceptionally hard to clasp this award. The first such person who springs to mind is Steve Hofmeyer who should have stuck to music. Instead he ventured into the realms of politics which is known to dull one’s thought processes. In one such memorable comment and reverse logic so beloved of politicians, he claimed that the Blacks in South Africa were responsible for Apartheid!

Political Correctness in Extremis

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 20 December 2014 0 Comment

The initial concept of Political Correctness was to preclude the use of gratuitous generalisations regarding races, religions, sexes and politics that contained a negative connotation. The use of these words is generally demeaning of that race or grouping and often unfairly categorises all members of such a group with the same degrading or humiliating appellation. With the principles now being extended into all facets of life, has the concept thwarted free speech or, as shown in the examples below, prevented the enjoyment of one’s own culture and way of life.

In tracking down feel-good stories for a blog, adjacent to one of these stories in the British Telegraph was an article on Town Councils in the UK which had banned the word Christmas as being too indicative of one religion and hence offensive to Muslims in their Communities. Their staffs were instructed to replace it with the words Happy Festive Season.

Electricity: Crisis? What Crisis?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 12 December 2014 0 Comment

Typical political spin. How can I tell? The new CEO of Eskom had barely put his feet under the desk and the denials commence yet again. What would the typical response of the new appointee in the private sector? In order to ensure that the sins of his predecessors are not borne by himself, he will perform a rigorous, if not over-diligent abd exhaustive cleaning of the Augean Stables. What is the politician’s instinct? A cover-up!

“Crisis? What Crisis?” was an iconic album by Supertramp in the 1970s. The cover of the Album shows a member of the band in a bathing costume reclining in a deck chair as if he was on Brighton Beach in mid-summer sunning himself. So far so good except that littered all around him are scenes of devastation.

Wild Animals: Sacrificing the Future for the Present

By Dean McCleland in Animals, Current Affairs 11 December 2014 0 Comment

South Africa has the scourge of rhino poaching but Asia has the canker of the plundering of their tiger populations. In a recent Time Magazine it states that 274 of a population of approximately 1700 have been killed over the past few years. At that rate, the chances of my grand-children being able to view tigers in the wild, is modest at best.

So far humankind has only been able to arrest the decline of one animal species and that is the whale. With the price of these animal’s body parts sky-rocketing – apparently it has increased by tenfold over the past five years – the supply of poachers has exceeded the demand.

The Opinion Pieces are an eclectic bunch on current affairs & history often with a human interest aspect. The Movie/DVDs reviews are mainly on documentaries with a smattering of movie reviews.

Category Archives: Current Affairs