Opinion Pieces Archives - Page 34 of 43

Cats can be so Damn Dramatic

By Dean McCleland in Animals, Other Opinion Pieces 14 September 2014 0 Comment

I will be brutally frank and state boldly that I am not a cat person. Dogs are my preference. Now that I have incurred the wrath and enmity of all the cat lovers in South Africa, let me alienate another important segment of the population: the females. On what grounds would I do that willingly? It is simple: I equate cats with females and dogs with males.

The basic dichotomy between cats and dogs is that dogs offer unconditional love whereas cats are more detached, remote and complicated. Not to put too fine a point on it, cats are moody creatures.

Quo Vadis Self-Actualisation?

With most of the lower order needs in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs having been met, the Millennials are focusing on self-actualisation albeit by a different name but for the self-same reason. The basic premise of self-actualisation is that passion drives purpose which in turn generates inspiration. Is this theory attainable or does it only apply to ennobling ideals and not to the mundane aspects of life?

Western Europe is currently facing a crisis of unemployment with record levels of productive people being unemployed. A cursory investigation reveals a startling dichotomy: the huge number of graduates who cannot find employment whereas on the other hand in France, for example, it is experiencing huge shortages in fields such as teaching and nursing.

The iWatch: Will it revolutionise the Textures and Rhythms of Life?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 11 September 2014 0 Comment

Like its predecessors from the Church Clock to the Pocket Watch & finally to the Wrist Watch, will the Apple Watch, as it is officially being called, fundamentally revolutionise the textures & rhythms of life? Furthermore will it initiate the march to a totally connected always-on world?

The very idea of a wearable computer has existed in the human imagination since at least the birth of the James Bond movies. Fifty years ago it was a science fiction gadget which nobody least of all the scientists took seriously. Finally Apple has placed it at the pinnacle of its new revolution – a wearable computer. Continue reading

Bean there, pooped that

By Dean McCleland in Other Opinion Pieces 9 September 2014 0 Comment

The story of the most exotic coffee – Kopi Luwak – and its highly extraordinary origins: coffee beans retrieved from the defecated matter of the Asian Palm Civet.

The issue that intrigues me most of all is why somebody would have wanted to separate the faecal matter of an animal and then to test whether it made a delectable brew. Clearly someone has. Somebody with an obtuse mind.

Main picture: Source – http://skuddl.com/5-best-coffee-machines-2017/

Should Speer also have been sentenced to death at Nuremburg?

By Dean McCleland in History, Military History 7 September 2014 0 Comment

Of all the Nazis in Hitler’s inner circle, only Albert Speer escaped the hangman’s noose. How was he able to achieve this when the armaments’ industry used slave labour on an epic scale?

Unlike most of Hitler’s circle, Albert Speer and Hermann Goering were not regarded as archetypal Nazi thugs. Most such as Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy until his arcane mission to Britain in 1941, were wastrels and professional thugs in keeping with their narrow-minded views on society and the solutions to social problems. If there had to be a psychological attribute for being a member of the Nazi inner circle, that trait would be sociopathy.

The Bear, Lion and Tiger Gang

By Dean McCleland in Opinion Pieces, Other Opinion Pieces 4 September 2014 1 Comment

This is a heart-warming story of the so-called BLT – Bear, Lion and Tiger – Gang. As babies this affectionate trio of animals was abused by an Atlanta drug dealer who kept them in the basement of this apartment. They are now inseparable. Though the efforts of the Noah’s Ark Sanctuary they have been able to lead the life that animals should. Aside from the pathos and tragedy of their initial abuse, it is the story of their subsequent bond which is truly evocative of what unconditional friendship & love should be.

The Middle East Imbroglio: Selective Outrage & Morality

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Military History 3 September 2014 0 Comment

What was the Muslim response to release of the United Nation’s report on the civil war in Syria condemning it as the greatest human tragedy in decades? A deafening silence! The displacement of 6 million people, the creation of 2 million refugees and the deaths of 200,000 civilians in the space of 3 years did not rate a mention.

This flagrant hypocrisy does not relate solely to Syria’s heinous crimes but also to the whole of the Middle East. What has been the Arab response to the genocidal actions of the ISIS forces against the Iraqi Yazidi Sect. In fact why has Adam Habib, a vocal support of the Palestinian cause, not issued a sharp rebuke to Abu Bakr al-Bagdahi’s forces for the mayhem, death & destruction caused by their forces against a peace-loving Sunni sect. It was left to the “hated imperialist” American air force to prevent the ultimate slaughter of the Yazidis in their mountain fastnesses.

How does one Handle the Loss of a Loved One especially a Child?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 1 September 2014 0 Comment

Heaven forbid that I would have to lose a child especially one who is still very young. How would I cope with it? Hopefully I will not react like this mother on 702 Talk Radio.

This topic is one that most of us do not even dwell on for a second as if the maxim “out of sight out of mind” would automatically apply. Perhaps one is forced to contemplate this eventually if one reads about this occurring. Aside from the fact that it is the death of a child, one cannot possibly imagine what those other parents are enduring. By imagine I mean to be in their shoes and not some bystander or some passer-by.

First it was Malema’s “Kill for Zuma”, now the ANC’s “Kill Malema”

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 28 August 2014 1 Comment

Instead of the “over-exuberant youth” that the ANC labelled the uncouth ANCYL Leader, Malema has now become enemy #1 for the ANC. The ANC’s true colours are revealed in the spat between itself and the EFF about bringing Parliament into disrepute.

Among the multitude of mendacious traits of the ANC such as having a culture of impunity, is that they define their opponents not as rivals but as the enemy. I contend that it is this milieu that is at the root of such repugnant comments that Malema made whilst head of the ANCYL.

Was the English Idyll of Yore a Myth?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs, Opinion Pieces 18 August 2014 0 Comment

Does the romantisised imagery of verdant fields, sylvan lined cobbled streets and stone walled meadows belie the real England obscured beneath such idealistic mythology?

Being an avid reader of history and subscriber to history magazines such as the BBC History Magazine, I possess a smidgeon of an insight into the medieval world. The error that ordinary people make when they conjure up visions of the “good old days” is that they extrapolate what the Tudor reign would be like by means of picture postcards of the English countryside idyll of half a century ago.

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: Opinion Pieces