I have been watching the rescue of the Chilean miners. They have been underground, more than 600m under the ground for 69 days now. I have goosebumps.
Not only because a S.African company has been involved with the rescue attempt and has consulted extensively in getting the miners out sooner rather later, but also imagining the conditions that these men have lived under makes me stand in awe of man's capabilities.
Humanity over adversity.
30 degrees heat, 85% humidity, not having opportunity to clean or wash themselves, being couped in the dark with 32 others.
A global effort.
Ah-ah I could never. Makes me think of a father saying that he has to remind and/or force his daughter to at least brush her teeth!! haha!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Pigspotter for President!
I love the Pigspotter!
The pigspotter uses twitter to warn his followers of speed traps. Whats wrong with that? You might as. I, for one, think its wonderful and seriously what harm does it do? If nothing else it keeps motorists within that vicinity under the speed limit.
But no! Here in this great country of ours where the ANC government is keen to introduce the Information Act which will take us 10 steps back instead of a leap forward, here the National Prosecuter(N.P.A) has brought charges against the Pigspotter saying that he is giving information that should not public and insulting the South African Police Service by calling them PIGS!! Haha!
And that is the big worry concerning the proposed Info Act...
Surely, the government cannot seek to avoid all possible harm that might arise from the disclosure of sensitive information. Some risk of harm has to be tolerated in a democracy because the dangers posed by secrecy - lack of accountability, abuse of power, infringements of human rights and a culture of impunity - can imperil the democratic order itself.
The pigspotter uses twitter to warn his followers of speed traps. Whats wrong with that? You might as. I, for one, think its wonderful and seriously what harm does it do? If nothing else it keeps motorists within that vicinity under the speed limit.
But no! Here in this great country of ours where the ANC government is keen to introduce the Information Act which will take us 10 steps back instead of a leap forward, here the National Prosecuter(N.P.A) has brought charges against the Pigspotter saying that he is giving information that should not public and insulting the South African Police Service by calling them PIGS!! Haha!
And that is the big worry concerning the proposed Info Act...
Surely, the government cannot seek to avoid all possible harm that might arise from the disclosure of sensitive information. Some risk of harm has to be tolerated in a democracy because the dangers posed by secrecy - lack of accountability, abuse of power, infringements of human rights and a culture of impunity - can imperil the democratic order itself.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Blonde Moment!!!
I have reversed out of my garage innumerable times but this one time, my mind scattered and distracted by unhappiness and discontent I reversed with vigour and scrappped the bottom of my driver's door along a small wall.
Damn! F**K!! And blast it!!
R8500 later. That should teach me to focus on what I am doing and I cannot even blame the cell phone!!
Damn! F**K!! And blast it!!
R8500 later. That should teach me to focus on what I am doing and I cannot even blame the cell phone!!
You forget...
Today I was told that I forget how good my life is.
And I can say with conviction that I do not and I am grateful for my good fortune. I like, everyone I suppose, mope around at times at the mundanity of everyday life.
I, sometimes, feel that maybe I could do, could have done more in and with my life. I just finished reading Joanne Fedler's book "When Hungry, Eat" and in her final chapter she says: "Keep a journal, make a note of the daily aspects in your life and never assume that noone would be interested."
I think that this is what my blog is about. A record of my random thoughts and maybe I can expand on it and add a daily entry. My daughter was little when my father passed on and the other day she says tell me the Dreams of my Grandfather and I want her to know him through my memories of him and yet even this powerful force in my life fades with memory.
Keep a record of this life, even if it is mundane, if not for nothing more than for the opportunity to look back at leisure.
And I can say with conviction that I do not and I am grateful for my good fortune. I like, everyone I suppose, mope around at times at the mundanity of everyday life.
I, sometimes, feel that maybe I could do, could have done more in and with my life. I just finished reading Joanne Fedler's book "When Hungry, Eat" and in her final chapter she says: "Keep a journal, make a note of the daily aspects in your life and never assume that noone would be interested."
I think that this is what my blog is about. A record of my random thoughts and maybe I can expand on it and add a daily entry. My daughter was little when my father passed on and the other day she says tell me the Dreams of my Grandfather and I want her to know him through my memories of him and yet even this powerful force in my life fades with memory.
Keep a record of this life, even if it is mundane, if not for nothing more than for the opportunity to look back at leisure.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
CAN BILLIONAIRES WITH A CONSCIENCE MAKE THE DIFFERENCE?
I couldn't resist! Soon after posting my earlier post I came across this so as an addendum...
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have caused widespread debate with their recent call on the wealthiest people in the world to give half their fortunes to charity, writes WMG Media. Some saw their move as unacceptable interference in the private affairs of others, while activists resurrected the argument that taxation would achieve social justice far more effectively than philanthropy.
The Gates Foundation is now by far the biggest philanthropic foundation in the world, with three times the endowment of its closest rival, the Ford Foundation, and has a truly global reach to its activities, reports The American Prospect, in an examination of the giving game.
One of the reasons that such foundations are needed is because efforts by national governments and international organisations to address world poverty, such as the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, have been rich in promises and poor in delivery. Melinda Gates believes that persistent nagging – including with powerful world leaders – is key to improving outcomes in neglected areas.
It is an approach they are hoping to expand upon. Along with Warren Buffett and David Rockefeller, Bill and Melinda Gates recently convened a series of secret meetings to convince other billionaires to become ‘Great Givers’, in line with Buffett's belief that “huge fortunes that flow in large part from society should, in large part, be returned to society.”
Over lavish meals, they convinced 37 other major money-makers including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, media executive Barry Diller, Oracle founder Larry Ellison and energy tycoon T Boone Pickens to embrace their view that more money donated equals fewer problems, writes The American Prospect.
The American Prospect: Gatekeepers
But what works in one society does not necessarily work in another, writes WMG Media.
The announcement that Gates and Buffett would visit China to promote the Giving Pledge was met with a distinct lack of enthusiasm from China’s roughly 500 000 millionaires, reports Global Times. Columnist Mike Freier writes, “while strong Christian traditions and the frontier heritage have forged charity into an integral part of American society, in China altruism typically does not extend outside of the family circle.
“Statistics prove that their stinginess hardly is a unique Chinese attribute but is shared by rich people virtually worldwide from countries with a collectivist legacy,” argues Freier.
Global Times: China’s rich haven’t caught on to charity’s benefits
And then there is the small matter of what the motivation is and whether that should even matter, writes WMG Media.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100m donation to inner-city schools, made on the Oprah Winfrey show just hours before the release of an unauthorised biography and a film that depicts Zuckerberg in an unflattering light, is a case in point. A sceptical nation asks, was it all a PR stunt?
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have caused widespread debate with their recent call on the wealthiest people in the world to give half their fortunes to charity, writes WMG Media. Some saw their move as unacceptable interference in the private affairs of others, while activists resurrected the argument that taxation would achieve social justice far more effectively than philanthropy.
The Gates Foundation is now by far the biggest philanthropic foundation in the world, with three times the endowment of its closest rival, the Ford Foundation, and has a truly global reach to its activities, reports The American Prospect, in an examination of the giving game.
One of the reasons that such foundations are needed is because efforts by national governments and international organisations to address world poverty, such as the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals, have been rich in promises and poor in delivery. Melinda Gates believes that persistent nagging – including with powerful world leaders – is key to improving outcomes in neglected areas.
It is an approach they are hoping to expand upon. Along with Warren Buffett and David Rockefeller, Bill and Melinda Gates recently convened a series of secret meetings to convince other billionaires to become ‘Great Givers’, in line with Buffett's belief that “huge fortunes that flow in large part from society should, in large part, be returned to society.”
Over lavish meals, they convinced 37 other major money-makers including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, media executive Barry Diller, Oracle founder Larry Ellison and energy tycoon T Boone Pickens to embrace their view that more money donated equals fewer problems, writes The American Prospect.
The American Prospect: Gatekeepers
But what works in one society does not necessarily work in another, writes WMG Media.
The announcement that Gates and Buffett would visit China to promote the Giving Pledge was met with a distinct lack of enthusiasm from China’s roughly 500 000 millionaires, reports Global Times. Columnist Mike Freier writes, “while strong Christian traditions and the frontier heritage have forged charity into an integral part of American society, in China altruism typically does not extend outside of the family circle.
“Statistics prove that their stinginess hardly is a unique Chinese attribute but is shared by rich people virtually worldwide from countries with a collectivist legacy,” argues Freier.
Global Times: China’s rich haven’t caught on to charity’s benefits
And then there is the small matter of what the motivation is and whether that should even matter, writes WMG Media.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s $100m donation to inner-city schools, made on the Oprah Winfrey show just hours before the release of an unauthorised biography and a film that depicts Zuckerberg in an unflattering light, is a case in point. A sceptical nation asks, was it all a PR stunt?
Its been a while...
Have you missed me? I am not a very dedicated blogger, I know, but every now & again I hear something which makes me want to put it out there into cyberspace...
So our very own Julius Malema shot his mouth off once again!
I am by all means an ultra conservative capitalist. I believe that through your own hard work, you should reap benefits and no welfare government should in anyway impede on your proceeds. Each to his own. Pull yourself up from your bootstraps and fend for yourself... haha! A paragraph full of cliche's! No Boooker Prize here!
But back to Malema, he said something that got my antennae up. Free education needs to get funding from somewhere and why not from beneath our very own soil? Yes! He is back on that bandwagon, the nationalising of the mines. You have, to consider it though, surely. Those resources that are burieed under our land, do they not belong to all of us? And should we not use them to educate our future leaders? Why is Anglo the only one profiting? Do Anglo & other mining companies subsidise enough university bursary? It would be interesting to look into that!!
I can't stop smiling because I just saw a real-life person with the exact same profile as Homer Simpson!! Haha! And here I thought only in the imagination of a cartoonist!
So our very own Julius Malema shot his mouth off once again!
I am by all means an ultra conservative capitalist. I believe that through your own hard work, you should reap benefits and no welfare government should in anyway impede on your proceeds. Each to his own. Pull yourself up from your bootstraps and fend for yourself... haha! A paragraph full of cliche's! No Boooker Prize here!
But back to Malema, he said something that got my antennae up. Free education needs to get funding from somewhere and why not from beneath our very own soil? Yes! He is back on that bandwagon, the nationalising of the mines. You have, to consider it though, surely. Those resources that are burieed under our land, do they not belong to all of us? And should we not use them to educate our future leaders? Why is Anglo the only one profiting? Do Anglo & other mining companies subsidise enough university bursary? It would be interesting to look into that!!
I can't stop smiling because I just saw a real-life person with the exact same profile as Homer Simpson!! Haha! And here I thought only in the imagination of a cartoonist!
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