The Casual Observer

Piercing the Veil: Behind the Greek Debt Tragedy

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 2 July 2015 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

Did 863 Commonwealth Soldiers really have to die on the last day of WW1?

Nowadays most generals are extravagant in their use of ammunition but parsimonious with the lives of their troops. Not so during WW1. By the end of WW1, the British Commonwealth had suffered more than 1.1million deaths and countless millions more maimed and injured. Most of the deaths on the last day occurred between the Armistice being signed at 5:10am within a railway carriage in Compiegne Wood and the ceasefire coming into effect at 11am that same morning. How could 10 000 soldiers become casualties that day when the Deed of Cessation of hostilities had already been signed?

For those with a conspiratorial disposition, be assured that there was no significance in the fact that the time and date of the cessation of hostilities comprised the number eleven. This was pure happenstance. The German delegation led by a civilian Matthias Erzberger had arrived some days earlier to conclude a peace treaty. In spite of the Allies being aware that the German’s mandate was peace at any cost, the Allies under Marshal Ferdinand Foch was truculent and in no mood to make any concessions to the Germans. This truculence was to delay the peace by three days.

Main picture: Carriage in which the Deed of Armistice was signed
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What will Shopping of the Future be Like?

By Dean McCleland in Other Miscellaneous Topics, Other Opinion Pieces 28 June 2015 0 Comment

There are two types of shopping. To differentiate them I will classify them as consumables such as groceries, cleaning materials and toiletries and personal and luxury items such as clothing and appliances. To date internet shopping has not superseded personally shopping for one major reason; the cost of the delivery. Secondly should internet shopping become the norm what will the role of physical shops become?

I have been a keen follower of the internet shopping from its exuberant birth in the 1990s. The prognosis was that within 10 years, the demise of physical stores would become a reality. Reality TV shows showcased celebrities attempting to survive without ever entering a shop. Doomsday predictions abounded. Even within the steel industry where I was working at the time, the death of the steel merchant was predicted.
Main picture: A worker is seen in the Amazon.co.uk warehouse in Milton Keynes, north of London

Omar al-Bashir: South Africa sides with the Oppressor

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 25 June 2015 1 Comment

On obtaining power in 1994, there was a wide-spread expectation that South Africa’s foreign policy would confound the trend of realpolitik and support the underdog and oppressed wherever this situation was manifest in the world. Today African Solidarity triumphs over such high-minded ideals. The Omar al-Bashir incident is but the latest example of this trend where the Dalai Lama is banished but a tyrant like al-Bashir is lauded. How far has South Africa fallen from its ideals and sullied its image?

The democratic South Africa was conceived in a wave of optimism that finally there would be a nation which would buck the international trend and base its international relations on a firm foundation of human rights.

Main picture: Omar al-Bashir attending the AU Summit in Sandton

E-Tolls – The Tale of Two Cities

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 22 June 2015 1 Comment

Normally they just stand on the overpasses with their banners unfurled. “NO TOLLS” they read. Last Friday was different. Instead of a peaceful protest against the iniquities of the e-toll system, the Metropolitan Police descended upon the small bunch of protesting claiming that they were disrupting traffic. Instead it was the 10 police vehicles which were causing the obstruction. A visitor from Dubai then enlightened us what was their experience with toll roads. It could not be more different than Gauteng’s response.

Like all protest action, facts and reasons are lost in the squabble. So it is with e-tolls. Regurgitating the arguments at this juncture is pointless. In his revised proposal, the Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa did make two salient points. Firstly, somebody has to pay for the new roads. By converting the e-toll to a fuel levy as advocated by OUTA, the poor would bear portion of the cost as taxis would also be liable for a fuel levy whereas if the cost were split between tolls and other taxes, the effect would be felt mainly by the affluent citizens.

Main picture: E-Toll gantries are now part of the landscape of Gauteng
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Vintage Photographs

By Dean McCleland in Other Galleries 21 June 2015 1 Comment

None of these photographs represent earth shattering events. Rather they are old photographs that provide a view on the minutiae of an older age. That age cannot be accorded the epithet of gracious, rather it should be have the appellation of a bygone age.

All of them are part of the National Geographic Found series

Main picture: A British airman gives a signal to another friendly aircraft, 1918

Trail Run in the Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy

By Dean McCleland in Personal, Running 20 June 2015 2 Comments

Trail Runs are not my favourite form of running for two reasons: Invariably I trip and fall and secondly because, unlike road running, one can never get into a steady stride. As such, it is a case of changing gears all the time which is tiring. However it does have some advantages such as viewing some of the stunning places within less than an hour’s drive from Joburg.

This morning’s 15km trail run was held in the Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy just off the R511 to Pretoria. Starting at a drug rehabilitation Centre called Netso Plaas – Just so Farm – the owner must be a Rudyard Kipling fan as Kipling is famous for his Just So stories.

Meeting the Neighbours or How the Other Half Lives

By Dean McCleland in Other Opinion Pieces, Running 18 June 2015 0 Comment

Road Running certainly exposes one to how the other half of South Africa lives. To be more mathematically correct: how most South Africans live. Last Saturday, the Solomon Mahlangu half marathon ran through Mamelodi and today’s race – on Youth Day – was held in Kagiso in the far West Rand.

When I first started running about 31 years ago, running through the black townships was considered life threatening for whites in light of the “antipathy” with which whites were regarded in the townships. Most whites would boycott such races but by participating in the 1000 Km Challenge as well as the Around the World Challenge, certain of us had no option but to participate in all races including those running through these supposed death traps.

Main picture: The township of Kagiso is surprisingly clean. Very few corrugated iron shacks are to be seen. In fact, the township has uplifted itself over the the past two decades to represent a lower middle class black stratum with mainly well-maintained livable houses maybe not with the opulence of Sandton or Steyn City but certainly comfortable.

Warthogs have Feelings Too!

By Dean McCleland in Animals 16 June 2015 0 Comment

Of all of my friends, Ashley Wood was the only one who truly loved this creature, the unattractive and unlovely Warthog. Not that they are hideous like the much maligned snake or repellent like a macabre bat, but they certainly lack the cuteness factor of a lion cub or the majesty of a tiger. That was why Ashley loved them because nobody else did. Even though they will never grip the imagination like the furry cuddly animals, somebody had to befriend them, so Ashley accepted that role.

As always, Ashley might have been the eccentric iconoclast but warthogs have feelings too. As such they deserve our protection.

Main picture: A sounder of warthogs absorbing the heat from a bushveld fire

My Travel Plans for Next Year

By Dean McCleland in Jokes 16 June 2015 0 Comment

I have been in many places, but I’ve never been in Kahoots. Apparently, you can’t go alone. You have to be in Kahoots with someone.

I’ve also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however, been in Sane. They don’t have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my children, friends, family and work.

I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I’m not too much on physical activity anymore.

I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.

I’ve been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.

Sometimes I’m in Capable, and I go there more often as I’m getting older.

One of my favourite places to be is in Suspense ! It really gets the adrenaline flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age, I need all the stimuli I can get !

I may have been in Continent, but I don’t remember what country that was in. It’s an age thing. They tell me it is very wet and damp there.