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Thursday, December 18, 2008
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
To the Victor, Go the Spoiled
I got up at five this morning and logged on, looking for the latest US Presidential Election results. The first thought that crossed my mind when it became clear that Obama was streets ahead of McCain was that the soil on quite a few graves across the USA, must be looking disturbed, as though…
Anyway, this is not about the dead; this is about the living, learning, citizens of the United States of America that have put personal fears and doubts aside, to elect their first Black American President. Historians could not be denied their chance to write a bold new page in the history books. People of America, take a bow, you have made the world proud. The undoing of the great harm perpetrated on your country by the Bush administration, can now begin in earnest. I am sure the world waits eagerly to walk with you on the tough road that lies ahead.
And so to President Obama I say, savour your victory for now; a great nation spoiled by the excesses of the previous administration awaits your urgent attention. I wish you well on the hard work that lies ahead, to return your country to its former glory.
Anyway, this is not about the dead; this is about the living, learning, citizens of the United States of America that have put personal fears and doubts aside, to elect their first Black American President. Historians could not be denied their chance to write a bold new page in the history books. People of America, take a bow, you have made the world proud. The undoing of the great harm perpetrated on your country by the Bush administration, can now begin in earnest. I am sure the world waits eagerly to walk with you on the tough road that lies ahead.
And so to President Obama I say, savour your victory for now; a great nation spoiled by the excesses of the previous administration awaits your urgent attention. I wish you well on the hard work that lies ahead, to return your country to its former glory.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
The ANC Is In A "League" of Their Own
The African National Congress (ANC) under the leadership of Nelson Mandela scaled great heights in the 90's to transform from a liberation movement into a fully-fledged political party, founded on sound ethical principles. In recent times, however this once great force for political change, has fallen on hard times, bedevilled by corruption, incompetence, immorality, unethical behaviour by senior members, the resignation and break-away of senior party members, and a disturbing leaning toward dictatorial rule.
Some, if not all of these unhealthy qualities are no more evident than in the organization's Youth and Women's wings; the ANC Youth League and the ANC Women's League respectively. Freshly elected Youth League leader, Julius Malema and Women's League leader, Angie Motshekga both started off their "reign" of ignominy within their respective areas, with a strange case of foot-and-mouth disease. Their public rantings ranged from mildly
amusing, to the bizarre.
Malema's famous "kill for Zuma" speech got him into a lot of bother; and then he went on to repeat the same nonsense, cloaked in different terms, even after public and organizational censure. And if that was not enough to label him a lunatic, he went on to lead the charge for President Mbeki's dismissal from public office. A little while ago, Motshekga on the other hand broke out into a serious sweat over several senior ANC members who were planning to form a break-away political party, labelling them as "dogs" who were "sick in the head." More recently though, she has been quoted as publicly stating that education is not important (while being in the position of MEC for Education in Gauteng Province), when it was revealed that Malema had really rotten matric exam results (of which one was a G symbol in Woodwork and another, an H symbol in Maths, both on the standard grade). And to top that, in a recent interview she declared that it was in the interests of democracy to have a one party state.
It's bad enough when public figures mouth off with no regard for decency and the harm their ill-considered remarks causes, but it's downright despicable when they try to back-track and deny meaning what they said; even blatantly refusing to apologise. When you look and listen to these two representatives of the ANC as it exists today, it's not hard to imagine the makings of a tyranny in the works.
Some, if not all of these unhealthy qualities are no more evident than in the organization's Youth and Women's wings; the ANC Youth League and the ANC Women's League respectively. Freshly elected Youth League leader, Julius Malema and Women's League leader, Angie Motshekga both started off their "reign" of ignominy within their respective areas, with a strange case of foot-and-mouth disease. Their public rantings ranged from mildly
amusing, to the bizarre.
Malema's famous "kill for Zuma" speech got him into a lot of bother; and then he went on to repeat the same nonsense, cloaked in different terms, even after public and organizational censure. And if that was not enough to label him a lunatic, he went on to lead the charge for President Mbeki's dismissal from public office. A little while ago, Motshekga on the other hand broke out into a serious sweat over several senior ANC members who were planning to form a break-away political party, labelling them as "dogs" who were "sick in the head." More recently though, she has been quoted as publicly stating that education is not important (while being in the position of MEC for Education in Gauteng Province), when it was revealed that Malema had really rotten matric exam results (of which one was a G symbol in Woodwork and another, an H symbol in Maths, both on the standard grade). And to top that, in a recent interview she declared that it was in the interests of democracy to have a one party state.
It's bad enough when public figures mouth off with no regard for decency and the harm their ill-considered remarks causes, but it's downright despicable when they try to back-track and deny meaning what they said; even blatantly refusing to apologise. When you look and listen to these two representatives of the ANC as it exists today, it's not hard to imagine the makings of a tyranny in the works.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Who Will It Be, Obama or McCain?
The culmination of a long, and what is arguably the most interesting Presidential election campaign in recent times, is at hand. On 4th November, 2008, Americans go to the polls and the world waits with baited breath...
Will Americans write a bold new chapter in the history of the United States of America by returning Obama to the White House, or will narrow-minded conservatism triumph once again? Come November, 04, will America have its first non-white President or will the White House remain aptly named?
We, the people of the world wait to celebrate with you, America. Please do not disappoint us.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
The Sharks Have Done It!!!
Yesss, finally. It's been a loooong wait. And it feels soooo good.
Curry Cup 2008 Final: Sharks 14, Bulls 9. Well done boys.
Sharks forever!!!
Curse All Automated Telephone Answering Systems
Last Friday, my broadband connection suddenly stopped working. Since I was out partying the whole weekend, I did not get a chance to report the problem to my service provider. When I did eventually try on Monday afternoon, I became embroiled in a battle of raw perseverance with my service provider who shall remain nameless.
After following the voice prompt process of keying in what seemed like interminable choices, I waited on the line for about 25 minutes, listening to crappy music interspersed with some guy with the most irritating voice droning “You are currently holding for a (name of service provider) Broadband Consultant, please stay on the line; we will be with you shortly,” and then gave up. After trying to re-configure my router and a few other things, I decided to call it quits for the night.
I tried again on Tuesday night, this time determined to outlast that droning voice and the boring music. I settled into a more or less comfortable position, with the receiver cradled between my left ear (for some reason, I tend to hear better with my left ear) and my shoulder, and I started to read Christopher Hitchens’ book “The Portable Atheist.” After an hour and twenty minutes of bad music and “You are currently holding for a (name of service provider) Broadband Consultant, please stay on the line; we will be with you shortly,” I decided to put an end to this torture by telephone. By this time my neck was sore as hell and I finally realised that the reason I was waiting so long for this elusive Broadband Consultant, was probably because my service provider had not hired him or her yet.
Anyway, I tried another tact the following day; I got onto my service provider’s website at work, and bombarded them with nasty, nearly threatening mails and complaints about their poor service. This seemed to do the trick and my broadband link was restored on Friday afternoon.
So there you have it, don’t put up with poor service, get nasty…
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The Silly Season Has Started
You just know the silly season is upon us, when there is an announcement that Public Office Bearers (POB’s) are to receive an 11% salary increase. Of this lot, there are arguably a few public departments that deserve their increases, such as the South African Revenue Services (SARS) who are doing an excellent job.
However, those POB’s who are better known as politicians surely do not deserve another cent, because their performance in all areas (except maybe the Minister of Finance), has been nothing short of atrocious. Since hardly any of these lazy, incompetent bunch of freeloaders have put in a decent days work, they should actually be asked to pay back some the fat salaries they have already drawn (notice I don’t say earned).
South African politicians have grown fat (literally) from the excessive perks they have awarded themselves, but their track records for service delivery makes for shameful reading. And to cap it all, such have they become enamoured to the trappings of luxury, that in order to maintain it, corruption and fraud has become the norm. Almost on a daily basis, incidents of fraud and corruption in public office are exposed, only to be met with glib denials by the perpetrators and their cohorts. If South Africa is not among the top ten most corrupt countries in the world today, I’d be most surprised.
So how about it Santa; this Christmas, could you please put in a good word for South Africa to be blessed with more honest politicians, the kind that earns their salaries and makes us feel proud, not disgusted to grant increases.
However, those POB’s who are better known as politicians surely do not deserve another cent, because their performance in all areas (except maybe the Minister of Finance), has been nothing short of atrocious. Since hardly any of these lazy, incompetent bunch of freeloaders have put in a decent days work, they should actually be asked to pay back some the fat salaries they have already drawn (notice I don’t say earned).
South African politicians have grown fat (literally) from the excessive perks they have awarded themselves, but their track records for service delivery makes for shameful reading. And to cap it all, such have they become enamoured to the trappings of luxury, that in order to maintain it, corruption and fraud has become the norm. Almost on a daily basis, incidents of fraud and corruption in public office are exposed, only to be met with glib denials by the perpetrators and their cohorts. If South Africa is not among the top ten most corrupt countries in the world today, I’d be most surprised.
So how about it Santa; this Christmas, could you please put in a good word for South Africa to be blessed with more honest politicians, the kind that earns their salaries and makes us feel proud, not disgusted to grant increases.
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