The Casual Observer

Can there ever be somebody worse than Sheldon Cooper?

By Dean McCleland in Other Galleries 5 January 2017 0 Comment

I daresay that some TV watchers have not yet viewed at least a few episodes of the award winning show “The Big Bang Theory.” If not, they would not have had to wince, cringe or shake their heads in horror at the lead character, Sheldon Cooper, a complex mosaic of child prodigy with a genius level IQ, highly idiosyncratic behaviour, lack of humility, empathy or tolerance of weaknesses in lesser mortals.

Coupled with a tenuous understanding of humour, he also exhibits extreme difficulty in recognising irony and sarcasm in other people.

If not, I hereby usher in a whole host of similar infuriating geniuses except that they actual operate in the real world.

Main picture: Technically correct, but why be condescending?

No more walks in the Wood

By Dean McCleland in Other Opinion Pieces 4 January 2017 2 Comments

With the world’s population growing at 200,000 per diem, the world’s children of the 2050s face the very real risk of never being afforded the opportunity of walking through a wood or even playing sport on a grassy field. In Gauteng, the towns of Pretoria, Joburg and Van der Bijl Park have already almost converged into one megacity within the past 30 years.

Contrast this with early man. Was the impact of these peoples such as the Aborigines of Australia or the Maoris of New Zealand as benign as is supposed? Or is modern man with its industrial scale re-engineering of the topography, the proverbial poster boy of environmental destruction or despoilation?

Main picture: An aboriginal woman performs the Woggan-ma-gule morning ceremony on Australia Day in Sydney, Friday, Jan. 26, 2007. Australia Day marks the arrival of the first European settlers in 1788. (AP Photo/Paul Miller)

The Funny Side of War

By Dean McCleland in Opinion Pieces 3 January 2017 0 Comment

War is always supposed to be a very serious business yet the wits will always find a way of cracking a joke or some other witticism to lighten the mood. Surprisingly even the German forces during WW2 had their fair share of jesters.

Main picture: Guard dog guarding the FLAK gun

Reverend Francis McCleland per Theal’s “Records of the Cape Colony”

By Dean McCleland in McClelands 31 December 2016 0 Comment

George McCall Theal was the most prolific and influential South African historian, archivist and genealogist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In his epic compendium Records of the Cape Colony, he records all the correspondence by and to the Colonial Office in Cape Town for the period 1793 to 1827. As the last seven years coincide with the arrival of the original batch of Settlers, this series of 35 books contains a rich vein of data to be mined.

Before even landing in Saldanha Bay, Francis McCleland had already made a name for himself as a heavy drinker and troublesome priest. As well, William Parker – the Party Leader – and Francis McCleland were a volatile mix, ever on the brink of ignition.

For these reasons, the McCleland name is often fairly and sometimes unfairly denigrated in these pages. For ease of reference, I have extracted all references to the irascible Irish clergyman however oblique.

Main picture: George McCall Theal

Rev Francis McCleland: An Interlude in Clanwilliam 1820 – 1825

By Dean McCleland in McClelands 29 December 2016 1 Comment

This, the fifth episode in the life of the Reverend Francis McCleland, deals with his arrival in Cape Town in early May 1820 and their disappointment at being redirected to settle in Clanwilliam instead of the Eastern Border.

Not to put too fine a point on it but the five years spent at Clanwilliam were character forming with the man in the cassock not always cutting a fine figure. Casting a long shadow over this Party was the leader himself. Self-serving, megalomaniac and irascible, William Parker was to add to their woes.

Beset by troubles from every quarter, acrimony and dissension descended on this disparate party.

Main picture: A Settler House in Clanwilliam

Were Adam & Eve Monogamous?

By Dean McCleland in History 28 December 2016 1 Comment

Amongst laymen, it is widely believed that Adam & Eve were monogamous? How did mankind arrive at this conclusion? Was it due to their religious upbringing or due to a general assumption that people in the “old days” were more moral or even prudish?

Let us explore the possibility.

Main picture: Adam & Eve in the quintessential fashion of the Stone Age Era or was this only one of the pieces that they displayed this day Continue reading

Did Man domesticate Plants or Vice Versa?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 27 December 2016 1 Comment

Before the advent of the domestication of plants, man led a carefree existence. They roamed in groups from location to location in search of food. If food was readily available in an area, they might settle for a while but, being itinerants, they carried little. Furthermore, they sought shelter rather than built shelter.

What happened when they elected to settle permanently in an area and to domesticate plants and animals? Will another orthodoxy be overthrown in this debate?

Main picture: The false idyll of domestication

Can Medium Size Countries still afford Main Battle Tanks?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 27 December 2016 0 Comment

Given the fact that a modern Main Battle Tank such as the basic Abrams M1A2 now costs $10 million [R 150m], even a modest fleet of 300 tanks would today be prohibitively expensive at a cost of R 44 billion.

If so, how can any self respecting nation with a pretence of having an army still afford them?

If not, what is the alternative?

Main picture: Stridsvagn 103

Did Neanderthals and Humans ever interbreed?

By Dean McCleland in Other Miscellaneous Topics 26 December 2016 2 Comments

It is probably trite to question whether they could have but we must also enquire whether they would have. Stating the obvious, they could have subject to the caveat that they only would have if they were members of the same species as different specious refuse to mate.

**How and why did these other species of humans disappear? The answer to the “same species” question will determine which theory takes primacy: Interbreeding or Replacement?**

Main picture: Theoretically the DNA of the Neanderthals & Homo Sapiens should be so far apart that they never should be able to interbreed. However is that correct?

What form will Zuma’s comeback in 2017 take?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 26 December 2016 1 Comment

Bereft of options, the guilty are at their most disingenuous, duplicitous and mendacious. Even the guile card is now useless. If they are in a supreme position of power, they are especially dangerous as they can abuse their authority and the levers of powers.

It is instructive to recall that Zuma’s 2016 was an unmitigated disaster. From losing his case in the Constitutional Court to the ANC losing control in three Metros after the local government elections, Zuma has been on the defensive. Then came the most galling of all: an attempted vote of no confidence in his leadership within the NEC.

As he surely will, what will the wounded Zuma do as a counter strike in 2017?

Main picture: South African president Jacob Zuma (2nd R), the man with nine lives, poses for photographs with an assortment of his wives: Sizakele Khumalo (R), Nompumelo Ntuli (L), and Thobeka Mabhija (2-L) after the State of The Nation address in Parliament, in Cape Town, on June 03, 2009. The rest were indisposed.