The Victoria Cross: What it takes to Acquire One
Moral values: Immutable, Transient or Relative?
A number of issues arising over the past week have made me reflect on this subject. [Mid April 2014]. These made me contemplate whether values were truly immutable as in a Biblical sense. Perhaps Biblical Values merely represent the outward manifestation of values rather than the core value. Maybe values are not immutable but are indeed transient and conceivably even relative. Anchored in another epoch, perhaps Biblical values reflect the norms and values of a bygone age rather than truth.
Let me commence with the issue in the Saturday Star which firmly set the ball rolling and that issue was sex on the Big Brother Show. We are not talking about movies or TV Shows where the actors are play acting sex scenes. This was the Real McCoy down & dirty or close & personal whatever one’s preferred idiom or metaphor is. It was raw unadulterated passion & sex.
What issues did the Reporter take issue with? Maybe it should have been the sex scene itself albeit blurry through the frosty glass or perhaps the fact that the guy was cheating on his girlfriend or even the fact that they were not married?
Oscar: From Hero to Zero in Four Easy Shots
A Personal View – March 2013
I have never been a fan of Oscar Pistorius mainly because, despite being a road runner myself, I have no real interest in the sport apart from watching Usain Bolt in action. His turn of speed is mesmerising. His galloping style enthrals me as he powers past the opposition.
Of course I will admit that I used to admire Oscar immensely because of the challenges that he had to overcome in order to become a world champion in spite of his impediments.
Performance Bonuses: Are they justified & do they drive the correct behaviour?
A Personal View – April 2014
This issue has been on the agenda since the concept of bonuses was first invented but with the bonus levels in the overseas Banking Sector in particular now being at obscene levels, various governments world-wide including the EU [European Union] have stepped in by proposing legislation in an attempt to curb the awarding of unrealistic bonuses.
Possibly one of the most far-reaching is the vote by the EU on the 21st May 2014 on this issue. What has raised the ire of Regulators especially in the UK was the case of RBS [Royal Bank of Scotland] where the Executives were paid handsome bonuses from the bail-out money provided by government. This action has enraged all parties in the UK except the bonus recipients themselves as they shamelessly defended their grasping behaviour.
Japanese Economic Malaise: What should Shinzo Abe do?
A Personal View – April 2014
Six decades ago Japan surrendered after an atomic bomb obliterated Nagasaki. It convinced Emperor Hirohito that fighting to the last man, woman & child would be calamitous for the Japanese.
A new war commenced; economic growth with industrialists such as Marita Akio of Sony at the forefront. Her economy was export driven with vehicle manufacturers such as Toyota together with the electronics producers comprising the battering ram.
WW2 War Crimes: German Remorse, Japanese Denialism
A Personal View – April 2014
Imagine what the response would there be if the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel co-wrote a book with a well-known German author who recently had written extensively on the fact that the existence of the Holocaust was fictitious.
Vociferous condemnation would have arisen not only externally but also more importantly from within Germany itself. It would be unthinkable that it could possibly happen.
Afghanistan: The Great Game DVD
Short heading: Hugely informative & very topical
Rating: 5 out of 5
Rudyard Kipling, the great British poet & novelist, introduced this extant term into mainstream consciousness. It referred to the strategic rivalry & conflict between the British & the Russian Empires for supremacy in Central Asia.
In comparing three “invasions” of Afghanistan viz the British in mid-19th century, the Russians in the 1978 & the Americans in 2001, Rory Stewart, the producer is guilty of disambiguation. Strictly speaking only the initial British forays into Afghanistan fall within the accepted definition of the Great Game.
Elections May 2014: Vote for the Future, Not for the Past
A Personal View – April 2014
This affliction pervades all political parties contesting this crunch election, but the ANC more than most.
Firstly the ANC. What message is the ANC campaigning on? Its glorious past. By providing South Africa with an inclusive future not comprising disparate races, it has undoubtedly done South Africa a huge service. One can never detract from this momentous achievement but what does South Africa now have: crony capitalism, moral turpitude on a grand scale & ineffective government in most spheres?
The Platinum Industry Strike: Who Blinked First?
A Personal View – April 2014
South Africa has not experienced a strike of this intensity & magnitude since Cyril Ramaphosa led NUM [The National Union of Mineworkers] to strike on the mines in the mid-eighties.
However this strike will be a seminal event for many reasons. This comes hard on the heels of the Marikana Massacre in 2013. If for no other reason, this factor will make the mine workers less amenable to a mediocre wages increase. But more importantly, given Joseph Mathunjwa’s loathing of NUM, his former Union, he would like to settle scores with them after his less than amicable departure from his former Union. He is determined to prove a point against NUM as well as the mine bosses.
IQ & Brain Size: Are they the Sole Arbiters of One’s Worth?
