TE Lawrence: Was he an Accidental Hero?

By Dean McCleland in History 0 Comment

Born in an age when class and status in life preordained one a priori to a particular station in life, Thomas Edward Chapman aka Lawrence of Arabia rose above such strictures to become universally acclaimed and renowned for his exploits in the Arabian Desert, Transjordan and Mesopotamia. How was that meteoric rise possible for somebody so taciturn, ascetic and iconoclastic in outlook?

Much of which is known about TE Lawrence is discerned from his autobiography entitled The Seven Pillars of Wisdom which I have never actually finished reading in spite of various attempts. Many accounts of Lawrence’s exploits and ordeals are at odds with one another. In broad outline and Lawrence own sang froid attitude have been attested to by many colleagues but Lawrence will forever remain an enigma where one is never able to grasp the real man with any certainty.

Main picture: Thomas Edward Lawrence in traditional Arab garb

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Killings Most Vile

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 0 Comment

Hardly a day goes by in South Africa with poachers not decimating our wildlife especially our rhino. Also in their sights are lions; the most depraved aspect of which is the so-called “canned hunting” where specially bred lions are shot at point blank range. In this case, the majority are foreigners, usually wealthy Americans. These “heroes” can be seen posing as they celebrate their killing of this majestic creature. Both types of hunting are as vile and depraved as the other. They represent base motives which should no longer be tolerated if we are to call ourselves civilised.

Before I cover today’s shocking news in this regard, let me tell you about the killing of black bears in Ely, Minnesota, USA. The Discovery Channel presented a program on the senseless killing of these bears which were part of a study into their behaviour.

Main picture: This is what poachers did to Hope the Rhino in order to obtain the maximum amount of horn which consists of benign keratin

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Can the World really cope with an additional 200 000 people per day?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 2 Comments

Rampant population growth coupled with increasing longevity, begs the question whether unchecked growth is still possible given the human’s voracious appetite for resources. Has a pivotal moment been attained when the rate of consumption, wasteful use of resources and the befouling of the environment in concert with population growth culminates in dire consequences for humanity?

Just take your utility bill and consider what 200 000 more people will mean in terms of just two resources: water and electricity.

Main picture: A lignite power plant contaminates the air with its emissions

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Greece: What now?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 2 Comments

Against the odds, the Greek Parliament passed the necessary austerity legislation as demanded by the EU. In all likelihood it was a grudging acceptance of the harsh conditions and an even an enduring lesson for all politicians with populist proclivities, but its adherence does not bode well for Greece and the EU. Moreover it highlights the dangers of post 2008 growth in sovereign debt and the future of banks too-large-to fail.

Of more immediate concern is whether Greece truly possesses the political will and societal cohesion to fully implement what is expected of them. The extent of what is demanded of them is without precedent except for the onerous conditions imposed on Germany at the Versailles Conference subsequent to WW1 during 1919.

Main picture: Santorini

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A Sudden Jolt of Reality Strikes Mr Alexis Tsipras

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 0 Comment

Seldom if ever in politics do the consequences of poor economic or political judgement force a humiliating volte face as abrupt and as dramatic as the one that the Greek Prime Minister has just had to endure this week. What does it mean for Greeks? Is it emblematic of realpolitik in action?

Like humans across the globe whenever bad things happen to them their response is always to blame a third party. In the case of the Germans after WW1, it was the perfidious Jews who had “stabbed Germany in the back” as they articulated it. In fact this idea was first propagated by General Erich Ludendorff even before the Armistice was signed. Even though it was his personal miscalculations that had resulted in Germany’s defeat, even somebody as resilient and as obdurate as Ludendorff could not utter the words mea culpa – I am to blame. Instead he insulted the virtues of the ardent patriotic Jewish population!

Main picture: Greeks vent their anger against austerity in general and the Germans in particular
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A Retrospective Look at Cycling and the Tour de France in particular

By Dean McCleland in Historical, History 0 Comment

With the 102nd Tour de France currently underway, this epic three-week-long event is emblematic of man’s tenacity and perseverance. The unremitting odyssey encompasses tortuous mountain climbs, harrowing hairpin bends and breakneck speeds through hamlets and villages along the 3360km route from Utrecht in Holland to Paris in France.

The agonies and the ecstasies will be closely followed by hundreds of millions every day. What attracts these viewers is not merely the regurgitation of facts about each participant but more importantly the verdant fields, the Alpine vistas and the quaint forgotten hamlets through which the race traverses.

Main picture: The finish of the first Tour. At the right: the first winner, Maurice Garin. At the left: probably Leon Georget (not sure). Tour de France 1903.

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Initiation Schools Open and the Killing Season Commences

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 0 Comment

Initiation within the black community is a cultural imperative or rite of passage. With the initiation season barely started, so far this year the death toll already stands at 23. Foremost amongst the various trials that the initiates undergo is a circumcision by a traditional healer. The number of penectomies – the amputation of the penis – has not been recorded and never is as it normally merely included under the figure of disfigurement and other serious injuries. In any other society there could even result in the downfall of the government but in South Africa it only rates a mention on page three or five of the newspaper.

 The use of an initiation to induct a member into a society, club or institution has a long history across all civilisations. The form of initiation which subjects the initiate to physical pain, mental torture or death has been severely circumscribed within most of the first world over the past few decades. Within South Africa’s black society on the other hand, it appears still to play a significant role especially within rural communities.

Main picture: Initiates or amaKwetha covered in white clay and the traditional knobkerrie
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The Luddites and Bullies of the Taxi Industry

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 0 Comment

Two recent events have once again highlighted the bullying uncompetitive attitude of the South African Taxi industry. Firstly there was the shooting of a bus driver in Mamelodi together with the associated violence and then this week the harassing tactics against Uber drivers and passengers outside Sandton City confirming this attitude.

The use of “mini buses” – colloquially called black taxis – as the preferred method of transport for the lower classes in South Africa arose as a direct consequence of Apartheid. The use of these vehicles is an aberration as it is cheaper to use other modes of public transport such as buses and trains rather than these smaller vehicles. Moreover these vehicles were never designed to carry 18 passengers.

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Was the WW2 German Tank design philosophy of bigger-is-better correct?

By Dean McCleland in History, Military History 3 Comments

Nazi Germany undoubtedly produced some of the most advanced and impressive tanks of WW2 but were they truly better than their opponents vehicles? Were the designs after the Panzerkampfwagen iv including the renowned Tiger 1 as excellent as was claimed or were they merely a vanity project of Adolf Hitler which was ultimately an evolutionary cul-de-sac or did their design presage the future of tank design?

Disregarding the fact that Hitler had been only a corporal in the Deutsche Wehrmacht during WW1, Hitler ever the indolent dreamer had never held a proper job before becoming leader of the Nazi Party. Instead he had been a dissolute layabout without an income apart from charity of family and friends.

Main picture: The 1,000 tonne Landkreuzer
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Piercing the Veil: Behind the Greek Debt Tragedy

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 0 Comment

Like a delinquent wayward child who discovers the keys to the cavernous underground wine cellar, his parents do not notice when a few bottles go missing let alone a few cases. After a while the wine bottles are being replenished by the child. The small matter of culpability by only using water to refill them seems to have escaped the miscreant who ultimately loses track of whether the bottles contain wine or water and where he placed them. When his parents inevitably open one with water instead of wine, the secret is exposed. Instead of blaming the alcoholic delinquent teenager, the parents blame the purveyor, the transporter and even the vineyard & its vintner; anybody but the child. Even the second opinion of an expensive child psychologist concurs with the parents’ viewpoint.

Of course in this case substitute the parents for the government, the child for its citizens, the suppliers for the ECB, the EU, the Germans, Angela Merkl and the IMF. In tow corroborating their story would be the likes of renowned economists such as Joseph Stiglitz.

Main picture: Sunset in Oia, Santorini

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