Carsten Koall / Visum
Der Spiegel
For Turkish men living in Germany, talking about difficult life issues -- sex, women, abandonment and raising children -- is not always easy. But one group in Berlin has found a way to help its members reflect upon their roles and their traditions -- and sometimes to change their lives.
The last time Muhammet A. saw his wife outside a courtroom, she hit him. They'd been married for 20 years and had five children together, but now she stood in the doorway of his new apartment in Berlin's Neukölln district, screaming and pounding her fists against his chest.
He had hardly seen her since she left him abruptly in the spring of 2005. Now she was yelling at him in Turkish and demanding the children back. But Muhammet had already decided that she wouldn't get the children. So, now, there was only one important thing to do -- stay calm. "If you stay calm," Kazim Erdogan, a 55-year-old psychologist, had told him in a fathers' group, "then you can have everything, absolutely everything."
So Muhammet held his fingers firmly laced behind his back -- another trick Erdogan had taught him -- so that his hands wouldn't accidentally slip out of his control. If they did, the Office of Youth and Family Services would certainly take his children away, even if he lashed out only once and in self-defense. The world can be so unfair -- and the others in the fathers' group agree.
__________________________________________________________________________
Read the whole article, it's very illuminating. Why are there not more of these? In our society, although it must be even harder when an immigrant, in an alien social environment. One of the things i feelvery strongly about, is that today's men are not men, merely overgrown little boys.
Now before all the woman cheer, i am being serious, and it is a problem. Woman enter womanhood early, with the onset of natural physical symptoms, which make them aware of themselves, and their coming adulthood. Men have no such thing. Moreso, they don't even think, or speak of manhood. It's accepted. You're a MAN from early, if you behave in certain ways. Yet the numbers of "boy-men" i encounter is quite alarming. These are men in their 20's, who still behave, feel and act, as teens.
One of the greatest losses our society suffers from, is the loss of manhood rites. For my part, i have been able to identify certain scenarios in my life which achieved that end, and eventually i was able to understand, i am a man. The truth is though, i'm a terribly inward sort of person, given to pondering these things. Most don't. Most accept almost anything that comes their way, with a sense of entitlement, without understanding the responsibilities OF THAT entitlement.
And frankly, there are no "wise men" around, to have that quiet word in the man's ear when he has erred. The best he can hope for are his buddies, as much deluded and blind as himself. Something as simple as this, where the man humbly recognises that despite everything, he needs help, and is also willing to help his friends.
This is not about competition, we've all lost the race already. This is about comeraderie, about making it yourself, and helping others along the way.
Kazim Erdogan, a 55-year-old psychologist, is a man among men. He not only understands the problems, but is willing and able to give a small amount of good advice, to the unsung leaders in our midst.
Tuesday, 12 May 2009
Sunspot cycle beginning to rise
11/05/2009 14:10 - (SA)
Crap. Total bullshit. How on earth can they call this news?
This news article is wrong, misleading ... the sun is at it's quiet in living history. It was DUE to start cycle 24 last year already, and NASA has been wiping egg off it's face since then. They said: ... then they said: ... and then theysaid again. Each time udating their forecasts to reflect the total failure of their previous forecasts.
While it's a fair article in terms of Sunstorms 101, and how they may affect us, it's typical that its so broadly put, just numbers and facts, all unrelated and frankly has nothing to do with the current solar minimum.
I quote: "A preliminary forecast issued in 2007 was split over the outlook for the upcoming cycle, Biesecker said the researchers have now reached consensus."
No, that preliminary forecast was updated SEVERAL times, and no, the only consensus that those monkeys have reached is that they know less than fuckall about their chosen subject.
11/05/2009 14:10 - (SA)
Crap. Total bullshit. How on earth can they call this news?
This news article is wrong, misleading ... the sun is at it's quiet in living history. It was DUE to start cycle 24 last year already, and NASA has been wiping egg off it's face since then. They said: ... then they said: ... and then theysaid again. Each time udating their forecasts to reflect the total failure of their previous forecasts.
While it's a fair article in terms of Sunstorms 101, and how they may affect us, it's typical that its so broadly put, just numbers and facts, all unrelated and frankly has nothing to do with the current solar minimum.
I quote: "A preliminary forecast issued in 2007 was split over the outlook for the upcoming cycle, Biesecker said the researchers have now reached consensus."
No, that preliminary forecast was updated SEVERAL times, and no, the only consensus that those monkeys have reached is that they know less than fuckall about their chosen subject.
Congratulations Captain Charles Stobbart
SAA captain breaks 70-year flight record
May 12 2009 at 06:27AM
By Jenny Gross
"I'm absolutely blown away," said SAA captain Charles "Chalkie" Stobbart, 60, after walking out of the one-engined, home- built airplane he flew to beat a 70-year-old aviation record by 18 hours and 59 minutes.
Stobbart flew the return trip from Cape Town to London in three days, 15 hours and 17 minutes, bringing the world record back to South Africa.
The previous record was set in 1939 by Alex Henshaw, who flew the return trip from London to Cape Town in four days, 10 hours and 16 minutes in a single-engined aircraft.
"I'm elated, and of course my head is still shaky from all the bouncing in the airplane," Stobbart said. "There were hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror," he said, citing dust storms in the Sahara and freezing rain.
The trip had been well-prepared, well-planned and well-executed, but Stobbart experienced some technical difficulties, he said. He accidentally sat on his satellite phone, which broke, and his stormscope, which shows weather patterns on the route, was not functioning either.
"The full moon shining was my only guide through the thunderstorm between Kano and Brazzaville after sunset to see the developments in the clouds," he said.
Stobbart made three fuelling stops in Africa on both legs of the trip. He arrived in London, slept for 12 hours and left early on Sunday morning for the south-bound trip.
"I'd hoped to knock a day off the record, but with the bureaucracy in Africa, every stop I planned for a one-hour rest became two hours," he said.
His first delay was in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, because the airport was closed while the president was flying to Jacob Zuma's inauguration.
Stobbart's wife Maureen said she was overwhelmed by the fantastic response and support the family has received.
"We've all been glued to watching his flight on the computer," she said, adding that she has slept for about eight hours since he took off on Thursday. When she talked to him during the trip, he said he was exhausted, had a "numb bum", and was also deaf in one ear because of the non-stop noise on the aircraft.
"It's been a stressful three- and-a-half days, and the team has battled with communications because they could only talk to him while he was on the ground while the plane was refuelling," said challenge co-ordinator Dolph Kruger.
jennifer.gross@inl.co.za
May 12 2009 at 06:27AM
By Jenny Gross
"I'm absolutely blown away," said SAA captain Charles "Chalkie" Stobbart, 60, after walking out of the one-engined, home- built airplane he flew to beat a 70-year-old aviation record by 18 hours and 59 minutes.
Stobbart flew the return trip from Cape Town to London in three days, 15 hours and 17 minutes, bringing the world record back to South Africa.
The previous record was set in 1939 by Alex Henshaw, who flew the return trip from London to Cape Town in four days, 10 hours and 16 minutes in a single-engined aircraft.
"I'm elated, and of course my head is still shaky from all the bouncing in the airplane," Stobbart said. "There were hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror," he said, citing dust storms in the Sahara and freezing rain.
The trip had been well-prepared, well-planned and well-executed, but Stobbart experienced some technical difficulties, he said. He accidentally sat on his satellite phone, which broke, and his stormscope, which shows weather patterns on the route, was not functioning either.
"The full moon shining was my only guide through the thunderstorm between Kano and Brazzaville after sunset to see the developments in the clouds," he said.
Stobbart made three fuelling stops in Africa on both legs of the trip. He arrived in London, slept for 12 hours and left early on Sunday morning for the south-bound trip.
"I'd hoped to knock a day off the record, but with the bureaucracy in Africa, every stop I planned for a one-hour rest became two hours," he said.
His first delay was in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, because the airport was closed while the president was flying to Jacob Zuma's inauguration.
Stobbart's wife Maureen said she was overwhelmed by the fantastic response and support the family has received.
"We've all been glued to watching his flight on the computer," she said, adding that she has slept for about eight hours since he took off on Thursday. When she talked to him during the trip, he said he was exhausted, had a "numb bum", and was also deaf in one ear because of the non-stop noise on the aircraft.
"It's been a stressful three- and-a-half days, and the team has battled with communications because they could only talk to him while he was on the ground while the plane was refuelling," said challenge co-ordinator Dolph Kruger.
jennifer.gross@inl.co.za
Monday, 11 May 2009
Axe man
I need an axe.
I've developed a twitch under my left eye. Its annoying.
Suits my mood though .... and intent.
I've developed a twitch under my left eye. Its annoying.
Suits my mood though .... and intent.
One of my turns
Day after day, love turns gray
Like the skin of a dying man.
Night after night, we pretend its all right
But I have grown older and
You have grown colder and
Nothing is very much fun any more.
And I can feel one of my turns coming on.
I feel cold as a razor blade,
Tight as a tourniquet,
Dry as a funeral drum.
Run to the bedroom,
In the suitcase on the left
You'll find my favorite axe.
Don't look so frightened
This is just a passing phase,
One of my bad days.
Would you like to watch T.V.?
Or get between the sheets?
Or contemplate the silent freeway?
Would you like something to eat?
Would you like to learn to fly?
Would'ya?
Would you like to see me try?
AAAH, no!
Would you like to call the cops?
Do you think it's time I stopped?
Why are you running away?
- Pink Floyd
Like the skin of a dying man.
Night after night, we pretend its all right
But I have grown older and
You have grown colder and
Nothing is very much fun any more.
And I can feel one of my turns coming on.
I feel cold as a razor blade,
Tight as a tourniquet,
Dry as a funeral drum.
Run to the bedroom,
In the suitcase on the left
You'll find my favorite axe.
Don't look so frightened
This is just a passing phase,
One of my bad days.
Would you like to watch T.V.?
Or get between the sheets?
Or contemplate the silent freeway?
Would you like something to eat?
Would you like to learn to fly?
Would'ya?
Would you like to see me try?
AAAH, no!
Would you like to call the cops?
Do you think it's time I stopped?
Why are you running away?
- Pink Floyd
Friday, 8 May 2009
The Tide is Turning
I used to think the world was flat
Rarely threw my hat into the crowd
I felt I had used up my quota of yearning
Used to look in on the children at night
In the glow of their Donald Duck light
And frighten myself with the thought of my little ones burning
But, oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning
The tide is turning
Satellite buzzing through the endless night
Exclusive to moonshots and world title fights
Jesus Christ imagine what it must be earning
Who is the strongest
Who is the best
Who holds the aces
The East
Or the West
This is the crap our children are learning
But oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning
The tide is turning
Oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning
Now the satellite's confused
'Cos on Saturday night
The airwaves were full of compassion and light
And his silicon heart warmed
To the sight of a billion candles burning
Oo, oo, oo, the tide is turning
Oo, oo, oo, the tide is turning
The tide is turning Billy
I'm not saying that the battle is won
But on Saturday night all those kids in the sun
Wrested technology's sword from the hand of the war lords
Oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning
The tide is turning Sylvester
The tide is turning
[Morse Code:] "That's it!
Now the past is over but you are not alone
Together we'll fight Sylvester Stallone
We will not be dragged down in his South China Sea
Of macho bullshit and mediocrity"
- Roger Waters
Rarely threw my hat into the crowd
I felt I had used up my quota of yearning
Used to look in on the children at night
In the glow of their Donald Duck light
And frighten myself with the thought of my little ones burning
But, oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning
The tide is turning
Satellite buzzing through the endless night
Exclusive to moonshots and world title fights
Jesus Christ imagine what it must be earning
Who is the strongest
Who is the best
Who holds the aces
The East
Or the West
This is the crap our children are learning
But oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning
The tide is turning
Oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning
Now the satellite's confused
'Cos on Saturday night
The airwaves were full of compassion and light
And his silicon heart warmed
To the sight of a billion candles burning
Oo, oo, oo, the tide is turning
Oo, oo, oo, the tide is turning
The tide is turning Billy
I'm not saying that the battle is won
But on Saturday night all those kids in the sun
Wrested technology's sword from the hand of the war lords
Oh, oh, oh, the tide is turning
The tide is turning Sylvester
The tide is turning
[Morse Code:] "That's it!
Now the past is over but you are not alone
Together we'll fight Sylvester Stallone
We will not be dragged down in his South China Sea
Of macho bullshit and mediocrity"
- Roger Waters
CME -5 May
5th May Coronal mass ejection
Just caught this, very impressive explosion on the sun. It's beautiful :)
Also very notable since there are 2 sunspots close to each other, seemingly quite large. Keeping an eye on this.
Just caught this, very impressive explosion on the sun. It's beautiful :)
Also very notable since there are 2 sunspots close to each other, seemingly quite large. Keeping an eye on this.
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Nuclear weapons
So the US and Isreal have made A LOT of noise about Iran aquiring any nuclear technology. Yet time and again ALL inspectors, form the UN to the US's own investigations have confirmed that Iran does not have weapons grade plutonium or uranium. Also, Iran is not close to getting it, and cannot in fact produce anything remotely close to weapons grade material for several years.
There is no threat from Iran.
However, closer to home (for the US) is Egyp, a country who is firmly pro america, anti freedoms and fairly close to an islamist state.
So what a urprise when highly enriched uranium (HEU) -- at or near weapons grade level has been traced there.
"The IAEA says that it is the first time such traces have been found since Egypt failed to notify the agency of its nuclear activities in 2004 and that it was continuing its investigation into the matter."
From: PressTV
Update: and then i found this little snippet at MOA:
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit conveyed the concerns this week when U.S. envoy Dennis Ross, who is dealing with Iran, visited Cairo.
"Iran's behavior in the region is negative in many aspects and does not help in advancing security, stability and peace," he told Ross.
There is no threat from Iran.
However, closer to home (for the US) is Egyp, a country who is firmly pro america, anti freedoms and fairly close to an islamist state.
So what a urprise when highly enriched uranium (HEU) -- at or near weapons grade level has been traced there.
"The IAEA says that it is the first time such traces have been found since Egypt failed to notify the agency of its nuclear activities in 2004 and that it was continuing its investigation into the matter."
From: PressTV
Update: and then i found this little snippet at MOA:
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul-Gheit conveyed the concerns this week when U.S. envoy Dennis Ross, who is dealing with Iran, visited Cairo.
"Iran's behavior in the region is negative in many aspects and does not help in advancing security, stability and peace," he told Ross.
Monday, 4 May 2009
Ducati 1000S
So this weekend i was in soweto, part of GO-GP.ORG's efforts to create awareness for the upcoming world superbike championship at Kyalami mid-May.
And after arriving early,and walking around the parking, just looking, a van pulls into the lot with 2 Ducatis on the trailer. Now Ducati's are pretty, but like all super vehicles, i lose interest when they are too glamorous.
However from across a parking lot, on a trailer, next to much more modern, sleek bikes, my attention was totally taken by this baby. Love is the only word. The classic cafe racer look, with modern technology, it is a masterpiece of design.
It screams "ride me!" and carresses your senses until in a haze, you can only submit and climb on board, the handlebars and dash so beautiful in simple brushed metal, white clocks, and elegant chrome trim.
And after arriving early,and walking around the parking, just looking, a van pulls into the lot with 2 Ducatis on the trailer. Now Ducati's are pretty, but like all super vehicles, i lose interest when they are too glamorous.
However from across a parking lot, on a trailer, next to much more modern, sleek bikes, my attention was totally taken by this baby. Love is the only word. The classic cafe racer look, with modern technology, it is a masterpiece of design.
It screams "ride me!" and carresses your senses until in a haze, you can only submit and climb on board, the handlebars and dash so beautiful in simple brushed metal, white clocks, and elegant chrome trim.
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Swine flu
Flying Pigs, Tamiflu and Factory Farms By F. William Engdahl
All you will ever need to read on the subject.
All you will ever need to read on the subject.
Riding forever
I was riding home from work yesterday afternoon, on the highway just coasting along. The bike was purring in a harmonious way exactly as it should. My fazer is a very smooth and quiet ride, something i appreciate more than other things, like speed.
The traffic had cleared somewhat, and i had my on piece of road. They're doing construction on that stretch, so the road surface alternates between the old concrete, and newer tar, with a large amount of dust and rubble, as heavy concrete blocks running along the side off the highway. I'm assuming that they are only temporary, since they are too close into the road, and the traffic is much tighter than is comfortable.
Anyway i'm riding along, and the wind and speed and tyre noise and bike's vibration sort of fuse together into a hum. A background noise getting further and further away ... seemed to resonate somehow, and echoes floated back. It wasn't just spacial, although the heavy concrete surrounds helped with that, but forwards and backwards too. I was being pulled along as in a strong river, except not water, but sounds, vibration, a hum. Like a river of hum. <-- nice song title ;-)
It startled me, gave me an eery sense of precognition. Having considered, i'm tempted to compare the sensation with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's doppelganger ... except i met me going the same way.
The traffic had cleared somewhat, and i had my on piece of road. They're doing construction on that stretch, so the road surface alternates between the old concrete, and newer tar, with a large amount of dust and rubble, as heavy concrete blocks running along the side off the highway. I'm assuming that they are only temporary, since they are too close into the road, and the traffic is much tighter than is comfortable.
Anyway i'm riding along, and the wind and speed and tyre noise and bike's vibration sort of fuse together into a hum. A background noise getting further and further away ... seemed to resonate somehow, and echoes floated back. It wasn't just spacial, although the heavy concrete surrounds helped with that, but forwards and backwards too. I was being pulled along as in a strong river, except not water, but sounds, vibration, a hum. Like a river of hum. <-- nice song title ;-)
It startled me, gave me an eery sense of precognition. Having considered, i'm tempted to compare the sensation with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's doppelganger ... except i met me going the same way.
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Parajet Skycar
Ever since chitty-chitty-bang-bang took to the skies, people have been wanting a flying car. This is it.
The skycar. With an off road buggy, and a parachute, this really does seem like a viable possibility. It goes almost anywhere on land, and then can even take off and fly, literally. It's safer than a conventional plane, and easier to manoevre, with a back up emergency parachute if all else fails.
The only thing left is to fit a diesel engine, and this would be the ultimate long lasting go anywhere machine. I want. :D
Go see all about it at the Parajet Skycar Homepage
The skycar. With an off road buggy, and a parachute, this really does seem like a viable possibility. It goes almost anywhere on land, and then can even take off and fly, literally. It's safer than a conventional plane, and easier to manoevre, with a back up emergency parachute if all else fails.
The only thing left is to fit a diesel engine, and this would be the ultimate long lasting go anywhere machine. I want. :D
Go see all about it at the Parajet Skycar Homepage
Friday, 24 April 2009
Evo Morales
"We now must begin to realize that the Earth does not belong to us," he said. "It's the other way around. We belong to the Earth."
- Evo Morales
CNN
Thursday, 23 April 2009
I voted
Took just over an hour, we went on the bike so had gear for the chilly wionds,wasn't too bad though, infinitely prefereable to having a scorcher day.
Well enough managed, just way too slow, i believe they did THAT on purpose, WORKI for your democracy plebians!!!!
Ah well, we see what comes of it.
Well enough managed, just way too slow, i believe they did THAT on purpose, WORKI for your democracy plebians!!!!
Ah well, we see what comes of it.
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
An ill wind blows ...
Something strange in the air today. A weather system moved in, bringing cooler air and cloudy skies, but i like that.
I don't like the energy. After having a seriously disturbing ride to work, i discovered that several bikers had listened ot their inner voices, and use the car today. Even i was thinking, bikers going DOWN today :(
Elections tomorrow, frenzy, chaos, madness. This election thing is EVIL, downright hellish in EVERY aspect.
I don't like the energy. After having a seriously disturbing ride to work, i discovered that several bikers had listened ot their inner voices, and use the car today. Even i was thinking, bikers going DOWN today :(
Elections tomorrow, frenzy, chaos, madness. This election thing is EVIL, downright hellish in EVERY aspect.
Monday, 20 April 2009
Friday, 17 April 2009
Consensus climate science
I have to give this credit entirely to Anthony Watts of Watt's Up With That, and his guest writer Paul McRae.
Go read it. Not only a brilliant resurrection of a past scientist and philosopher Thomas Huxley, but a refutation of the mis-science that is global warming.
See image 1, an overlay of both CO2 and temperatures over the last few million years, and compare with image 2, the origional global warming scenario, which gained notoriety in 2001, from James Hansen, a climatologist.
Perhaps i should remind you of the first impact of global warming, which would be taxes. Carbon taxes. Carbon footprint. Carbon output. You breathe out carbon dioxide. You will be taxed on breathing out. I find that spine chilling.
I DID believe the global warming thing, it's reasonable to assume that we would get some comeback from mother earth. But again politics has subverted, abused, misled, etc. There is much that could be said for Mr Gore and his ilk of jetsetting friends, and their personal culpibility for much of the world's misery. Their snake oil charms work so well, for a while.
That's what's nice about science, it levels the playing fields between generations quite nicely.
Full post here.
Go read it. Not only a brilliant resurrection of a past scientist and philosopher Thomas Huxley, but a refutation of the mis-science that is global warming.
See image 1, an overlay of both CO2 and temperatures over the last few million years, and compare with image 2, the origional global warming scenario, which gained notoriety in 2001, from James Hansen, a climatologist.
Perhaps i should remind you of the first impact of global warming, which would be taxes. Carbon taxes. Carbon footprint. Carbon output. You breathe out carbon dioxide. You will be taxed on breathing out. I find that spine chilling.
I DID believe the global warming thing, it's reasonable to assume that we would get some comeback from mother earth. But again politics has subverted, abused, misled, etc. There is much that could be said for Mr Gore and his ilk of jetsetting friends, and their personal culpibility for much of the world's misery. Their snake oil charms work so well, for a while.
That's what's nice about science, it levels the playing fields between generations quite nicely.
Full post here.
Funeral music
Caught this story. What music is played at funerals, in Britain that is. Over the rainbow? And many believe they're on the way to hell, and i'd guess they wouldn't be "christian" folk either, and seem happy about it. Odd.
Here are some of the top pieces of music chosen in Britain, according to the poll commissioned by Co-operative Funeralcare.
- Top 5 popular songs:
1. "My Way" - Frank Sinatra/Shirley Bassey.
2. "Wind Beneath My Wings" - Bette Midler/Celine Dion.
3. "Time To Say Goodbye" - Sarah Brightman/Andrea Bocelli.
4. "Angels" - Robbie Williams.
5. "Over The Rainbow" - Eva Cassidy.
- Top 5 hymns:
1. "The Lord Is My Shepherd".
2. "Abide With Me".
3. "All Things Bright And Beautiful".
4. "Old Rugged Cross".
5. "Amazing Grace".
- Top 5 classical pieces:
1. "Nimrod" from "Enigma Variations" - Elgar.
2. "Pie Jesu" from "Requiem" - Faure.
3. "Ave Maria" - Schubert.
4. "Nessun Dorma" - Puccini.
5. "Canon in D Major" - Pachelbel.
- Other chart movers (no rankings):
- "Hallelujah" covered by talent show winner Alexandra Burke.
- "Bat Out Of Hell" - Meatloaf.
- "Spirit In The Sky" - Doctor and the Medics.
- 'Highway To Hell" - AC/DC.
Here are some of the top pieces of music chosen in Britain, according to the poll commissioned by Co-operative Funeralcare.
- Top 5 popular songs:
1. "My Way" - Frank Sinatra/Shirley Bassey.
2. "Wind Beneath My Wings" - Bette Midler/Celine Dion.
3. "Time To Say Goodbye" - Sarah Brightman/Andrea Bocelli.
4. "Angels" - Robbie Williams.
5. "Over The Rainbow" - Eva Cassidy.
- Top 5 hymns:
1. "The Lord Is My Shepherd".
2. "Abide With Me".
3. "All Things Bright And Beautiful".
4. "Old Rugged Cross".
5. "Amazing Grace".
- Top 5 classical pieces:
1. "Nimrod" from "Enigma Variations" - Elgar.
2. "Pie Jesu" from "Requiem" - Faure.
3. "Ave Maria" - Schubert.
4. "Nessun Dorma" - Puccini.
5. "Canon in D Major" - Pachelbel.
- Other chart movers (no rankings):
- "Hallelujah" covered by talent show winner Alexandra Burke.
- "Bat Out Of Hell" - Meatloaf.
- "Spirit In The Sky" - Doctor and the Medics.
- 'Highway To Hell" - AC/DC.
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Hogan got beated
Cape Town - Health Minister Barbara Hogan will keep her job after apologising to Cabinet colleagues for criticising the decision to bar the Dalai Lama from the country last month, government said on Thursday.
______________________________________________________________________
As much as i'd love to hate her for this, take note ALL who wish to criticize the current status quo, they will make you regret it.
Oh bother.
______________________________________________________________________
As much as i'd love to hate her for this, take note ALL who wish to criticize the current status quo, they will make you regret it.
Oh bother.
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Thermite
From: http://informationclearinghouse.info
Thermite
By John S. Hatch
April 14, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- -A recent article published in the respected peer-reviewed Open Chemical Physics Journal by nine noted scientists offers incontrovertible proof that the dust from the Twin Towers and Building Seven of the World Trade Center contains small intact samples of Thermite.
Thermite is a highly explosive agent consisting mostly of aluminum and iron oxide, and is used to cut steel in building controlled demolitions, and is also used in welding and in military applications.
Using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry, the scientists were able to determine that the Thermite present is of a specialized type called Nano-thermite or Superthermite. It burns hotter and has a lower ignition temperature than normal Thermite, and is produced at laboratories such as Lawrence Livermore, incidentally thought to be the same lab that produced the anthrax sent out shortly after 9/11.
Nano-thermite could not be accidentally present in dust samples collected at four different sites, nor could it be the result of clean-up operations at ground zero, as one of the samples was retrieved a mere ten minutes or so after the collapse of the second tower. All samples show the same consistency.
Thermite
By John S. Hatch
April 14, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- -A recent article published in the respected peer-reviewed Open Chemical Physics Journal by nine noted scientists offers incontrovertible proof that the dust from the Twin Towers and Building Seven of the World Trade Center contains small intact samples of Thermite.
Thermite is a highly explosive agent consisting mostly of aluminum and iron oxide, and is used to cut steel in building controlled demolitions, and is also used in welding and in military applications.
Using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry, the scientists were able to determine that the Thermite present is of a specialized type called Nano-thermite or Superthermite. It burns hotter and has a lower ignition temperature than normal Thermite, and is produced at laboratories such as Lawrence Livermore, incidentally thought to be the same lab that produced the anthrax sent out shortly after 9/11.
Nano-thermite could not be accidentally present in dust samples collected at four different sites, nor could it be the result of clean-up operations at ground zero, as one of the samples was retrieved a mere ten minutes or so after the collapse of the second tower. All samples show the same consistency.
Germany bans Monsanto!!!
Well only the last used of the monsanto brand of death.
From the BBC:
"Monsanto's variety, called MON 810, is resistant to the corn borer, a moth larva which eats the stem.
MON 810 is controversial in the EU. Several countries have banned it, defying the European Commission."
"In March EU governments resisted European Commission pressure to get bans on MON 810 lifted. The commission wanted Austria and Hungary to allow cultivation of MON 810. The variety is also banned in France and Greece."
"Ms Aigner, a member of the conservative Bavaria-based Christian Social Union (CSU), said she had concluded that "there is a justifiable reason to believe that... MON 810 presents a danger to the environment"."
What reason, i wonder?
From the BBC:
"Monsanto's variety, called MON 810, is resistant to the corn borer, a moth larva which eats the stem.
MON 810 is controversial in the EU. Several countries have banned it, defying the European Commission."
"In March EU governments resisted European Commission pressure to get bans on MON 810 lifted. The commission wanted Austria and Hungary to allow cultivation of MON 810. The variety is also banned in France and Greece."
"Ms Aigner, a member of the conservative Bavaria-based Christian Social Union (CSU), said she had concluded that "there is a justifiable reason to believe that... MON 810 presents a danger to the environment"."
What reason, i wonder?
Photos - russian bikers
http://www.tinyvices.com/ledare_bikers_14
Brilliant on the moment photograpy, my favourite style. Very evocative images of russian bikers.
I miss having a camera :(
Thursday, 9 April 2009
ANC plans
Right, so we have zuma taking aim (and likely revenge) on the judiciary:
African National Congress President Jacob Zuma - likely to become the country's next president - has blasted the conduct of the judiciary and questioned the supremacy of the Constitutional Court as the highest court in the land, saying it "is not God".
IOL
And phosa doing the same for the treasury:
The government under ANC leader Jacob Zuma would set up a commission after the election to oversee all the ministries, including the National Treasury, a senior official of the ruling party said yesterday.
The commission would co-ordinate the implementation of government programmes, as well as spending, budgets and "how they are being handled from top to bottom", said Mathews Phosa, the ANC's treasurer general.
BUSREP
These are the 2 sections of government which have fared well for the last few years years. They have both been consistant and (mostly) effective.
Interference in either of these WOULD be the final curtain for stability in south africa. And they are already celebrating their victory, and revenge.
God help us all.
African National Congress President Jacob Zuma - likely to become the country's next president - has blasted the conduct of the judiciary and questioned the supremacy of the Constitutional Court as the highest court in the land, saying it "is not God".
IOL
And phosa doing the same for the treasury:
The government under ANC leader Jacob Zuma would set up a commission after the election to oversee all the ministries, including the National Treasury, a senior official of the ruling party said yesterday.
The commission would co-ordinate the implementation of government programmes, as well as spending, budgets and "how they are being handled from top to bottom", said Mathews Phosa, the ANC's treasurer general.
BUSREP
These are the 2 sections of government which have fared well for the last few years years. They have both been consistant and (mostly) effective.
Interference in either of these WOULD be the final curtain for stability in south africa. And they are already celebrating their victory, and revenge.
God help us all.
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
Imagine ...
Peter Hitchins in the Daily mail
Very insightful article, and sadly not a happy view.
Selected quotes:
"Imagine how you would react if Gordon Brown opened and closed his election rallies by bursting into a song called Bring Me My Machine Gun, swaying and jigging to the hypnotic chorus of this menacing ditty.
And how would you feel if the Prime Minister were alleged to be taking campaign money from Colonel Gaddafi; faced 783 counts of fraud, racketeering, tax evasion and corruption which somehow never came to court; and had been acquitted of rape while his fearsome supporters mobbed the courthouse?"
"Mr Mandela himself, personally decent but politically ineffectual and naive, served as both figurehead and figleaf for the new order. The world ignored or forgave his continuing friendships with the world's worst despots, and the fraudulent bungling that surrounded him.
Now, looking frail, bemused and ancient, he recently had to be helped on to the stage by his suspect would-be successor, to endorse the grotesque rabble who seek to succeed him.
Once, South Africa dominated the nightly news for weeks on end. Now the liberal media barely mention it. Why not? Because post-apartheid South Africa is a failure."
"Zuma is wholly African. He has at least four wives and 18 children. He has for years avoided standing trial on fraud and corruption charges. Nobody seriously believes he ever will: his approaching election is already spreading fear in South Africa's legal establishment."
"The grisly Winnie Mandela, a convicted fraud with a creepy past, is number five on the ANC's parliamentary election list, despite the fact that as a criminal she is legally banned from being an MP. She is expected to be a minister in any Zuma government.
Zuma's old friend and business partner, Schabir Shaik, has just been released early - on medical grounds, although almost nobody believes this - from a 15-year sentence imposed in 2006 for fraud and corruption, including a payment to Zuma himself."
"Kate Mantsho, mother of five of his children, killed herself with an overdose in 2000, and left a devastating suicide note denouncing him. In one harrowing passage she said: 'I hope it is true we will meet again - but not as husband and wife. I dare not take that chance again due to the bitter and most painful 24 years of married life I have gone through.'
South African coverage of this event was muted, and many journalists denounced the small newspaper that broke the story."
Very insightful article, and sadly not a happy view.
Selected quotes:
"Imagine how you would react if Gordon Brown opened and closed his election rallies by bursting into a song called Bring Me My Machine Gun, swaying and jigging to the hypnotic chorus of this menacing ditty.
And how would you feel if the Prime Minister were alleged to be taking campaign money from Colonel Gaddafi; faced 783 counts of fraud, racketeering, tax evasion and corruption which somehow never came to court; and had been acquitted of rape while his fearsome supporters mobbed the courthouse?"
"Mr Mandela himself, personally decent but politically ineffectual and naive, served as both figurehead and figleaf for the new order. The world ignored or forgave his continuing friendships with the world's worst despots, and the fraudulent bungling that surrounded him.
Now, looking frail, bemused and ancient, he recently had to be helped on to the stage by his suspect would-be successor, to endorse the grotesque rabble who seek to succeed him.
Once, South Africa dominated the nightly news for weeks on end. Now the liberal media barely mention it. Why not? Because post-apartheid South Africa is a failure."
"Zuma is wholly African. He has at least four wives and 18 children. He has for years avoided standing trial on fraud and corruption charges. Nobody seriously believes he ever will: his approaching election is already spreading fear in South Africa's legal establishment."
"The grisly Winnie Mandela, a convicted fraud with a creepy past, is number five on the ANC's parliamentary election list, despite the fact that as a criminal she is legally banned from being an MP. She is expected to be a minister in any Zuma government.
Zuma's old friend and business partner, Schabir Shaik, has just been released early - on medical grounds, although almost nobody believes this - from a 15-year sentence imposed in 2006 for fraud and corruption, including a payment to Zuma himself."
"Kate Mantsho, mother of five of his children, killed herself with an overdose in 2000, and left a devastating suicide note denouncing him. In one harrowing passage she said: 'I hope it is true we will meet again - but not as husband and wife. I dare not take that chance again due to the bitter and most painful 24 years of married life I have gone through.'
South African coverage of this event was muted, and many journalists denounced the small newspaper that broke the story."
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
ANC official bust with abalone
... News 24
Ok typical story, but how's this last line:
Garth Strachan, ANC spokesperson and Western Cape MEC for finance, economic development and tourism, reacted with shock to the incident.
"The law must run its course, regardless of who the individual is. Criminal behaviour must be punished. If necessary, a disciplinary process will follow."
_____________________________________________________________________________
Ok, don't say it ... don't freakin say it ....
Ok typical story, but how's this last line:
Garth Strachan, ANC spokesperson and Western Cape MEC for finance, economic development and tourism, reacted with shock to the incident.
"The law must run its course, regardless of who the individual is. Criminal behaviour must be punished. If necessary, a disciplinary process will follow."
_____________________________________________________________________________
Ok, don't say it ... don't freakin say it ....
SA Blogging Awards
Hey!! They happened. Yawn.
I just found about about them, didn't even know they were there. Ah well, so much for being enlightened and informed. Curiously, 1 blog won all 6 categories. I never like it when that happens.
Congrats to http://www.2oceansvibe.com/, the blog that won it all.
Moving swiftly along, it seems one of the judges wasn't entirely comfortable either, not with the blog, but, with blogging standards in South Africa. Very limited scope it seems.
Puhlease had this to say:
I’m not disagreeing with this blog winning the SA Blog of the Year; I actually think it’s well deserved: it’s popular, well-supported and hugely appreciated by its woolly-headed fans. Just like Jacob Zuma is.
But, I have to say that I agree that it’s an indictment on South African blogging when the best blog - the very best - we can present to the world is one that recycles all the usual Internet flotsam and jetsam, and presents it as if it’s something new and original.
Now THAT is very well said. Blogs are unique and individual, as such i can't really say this is right, or that is wrong, but it should be creative, and HOPEFULLY different. We have a huge problem in South Africa and that is POPULARITY. Everything is a popularity contest, from the presidency downwards and frankly that is retarded.
Like a bunch of monkeys agreeing on who smells best. *shrug*
Nothing wrong with Oceans2vibe, kinda cute, except for the UK lottery stickers all over, that alone would deter me from going there, ever. I found a nice link there: http://www.zigzag.co.za/ surfing stuff :D some nice wallpapers too.
Perhaps i'm suffering from a similar malady? I don't think so, but then maybe ... a lot of blogs i find are also depressingly self centred, each post regurgitating the trivial of each day, but i suspect that's a female thing ;-)
And while i'm putting this post together, i notice that HBLOG's Heather Ford is a writer for Global Voices, on my blogroll.
I just found about about them, didn't even know they were there. Ah well, so much for being enlightened and informed. Curiously, 1 blog won all 6 categories. I never like it when that happens.
Congrats to http://www.2oceansvibe.com/, the blog that won it all.
Moving swiftly along, it seems one of the judges wasn't entirely comfortable either, not with the blog, but, with blogging standards in South Africa. Very limited scope it seems.
Puhlease had this to say:
I’m not disagreeing with this blog winning the SA Blog of the Year; I actually think it’s well deserved: it’s popular, well-supported and hugely appreciated by its woolly-headed fans. Just like Jacob Zuma is.
But, I have to say that I agree that it’s an indictment on South African blogging when the best blog - the very best - we can present to the world is one that recycles all the usual Internet flotsam and jetsam, and presents it as if it’s something new and original.
Now THAT is very well said. Blogs are unique and individual, as such i can't really say this is right, or that is wrong, but it should be creative, and HOPEFULLY different. We have a huge problem in South Africa and that is POPULARITY. Everything is a popularity contest, from the presidency downwards and frankly that is retarded.
Like a bunch of monkeys agreeing on who smells best. *shrug*
Nothing wrong with Oceans2vibe, kinda cute, except for the UK lottery stickers all over, that alone would deter me from going there, ever. I found a nice link there: http://www.zigzag.co.za/ surfing stuff :D some nice wallpapers too.
Perhaps i'm suffering from a similar malady? I don't think so, but then maybe ... a lot of blogs i find are also depressingly self centred, each post regurgitating the trivial of each day, but i suspect that's a female thing ;-)
And while i'm putting this post together, i notice that HBLOG's Heather Ford is a writer for Global Voices, on my blogroll.
Monday, 6 April 2009
Lighthouse
From: Economist
The Fastnet Rock is about as rugged as they come. Its Irish name, An Charraig Aonair, means “The Rock that Stands Alone”. Its name in Old Norse, Hvastann-ey, stood for “Sharp-Toothed Island”. The rough waters round about claimed numerous lives and were sung about in 17th-century laments. But it was considered mysterious as well as dangerous. Legend had it that on the summer equinox, it would set sail and visit its neighbours; Bull, Cow, Calf and Heifer Rocks. For centuries it was part of the rich fishing grounds of West Cork’s O’Driscoll clan, and the locals would not have been averse to the odd shipwreck giving them an opportunity for plunder. “Please God, send us a ship,” was long a private prayer along the coast, according to one of Fastnet’s keepers brought up near Crookhaven, the nearest port.
Douglass’s method of building was one invented by his father, Nicholas, on another lighthouse in the 1860s (and used long afterwards in British lighthouses). Concrete blocks were dovetailed into those around it, and cemented into those above and below, like a Chinese puzzle, so that it was impossible to remove any one stone without removing those above it. “This system of dovetail joggles absolutely bonds the entire structure into a virtual monolith,” wrote Scott. The contract to supply the granite was won by Messrs John Freeman and Sons of Penrhyn, Cornwall. In 1897 its workers started chiselling away at 2,074 stones, each weighing from 1.7 to 3 tons to create the puzzle.
Fastnet was peculiar, he says, as he points to a picture of the lighthouse on his sitting-room wall. It may look like Alcatraz on the outside, but inside time never drags. Perhaps that is because of the weight of green and white water that surrounds one; it never stops churning. In stormy winter weather, the “big seas would come sailing up over the entire building like the field of horses in the Grand National,” as one former Fastnet keeper put it. Sometimes, there were almost disastrous consequences; Mr O’Driscoll remembers a storm in 1985 when a wave reached as high as the light and came crashing through the glass, overturning the vat of mercury and sending the poisonous liquid pouring down the stairs. He doubts the tower would have withstood another wallop as great as that, but it never came. Suddenly, there was a great calmness. There were moments of deep sadness, too. Missing children’s birthdays, for example, because the weather turned and the ship could not get close enough to the rock to take him ashore. What do you do at those times? “There’s nothing you can do,” he says. “You slowly climb back upstairs and bake more bread.”
Friday, 3 April 2009
Personal notes
Nothing to say, yet so many thoughts and ideas bouncing around, looking for minds to infect ;-)
I've been going through the Elena Filatova website (below) and am stunned. This is the most comnprehensive look at Chernobyl available, more informative that the official reports even, but as she points out, the official death toll remains at 31, and will do forever.
Local news etc seems to invite comment at least, but i couldn't be bothered. THEY are still fucking US over ...
My personal life has just exploded, nothing bad, just busy, and to some extent all good :) Lots of kids birthday parties, lots of biker events, and lots of everything else in between.
Keep checking my bogs too, i read most of them regularly, and always awesome stuff in there that sometimes i repost, but other times am too lazy to ...
peace and love
I've been going through the Elena Filatova website (below) and am stunned. This is the most comnprehensive look at Chernobyl available, more informative that the official reports even, but as she points out, the official death toll remains at 31, and will do forever.
Local news etc seems to invite comment at least, but i couldn't be bothered. THEY are still fucking US over ...
My personal life has just exploded, nothing bad, just busy, and to some extent all good :) Lots of kids birthday parties, lots of biker events, and lots of everything else in between.
Keep checking my bogs too, i read most of them regularly, and always awesome stuff in there that sometimes i repost, but other times am too lazy to ...
peace and love
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Pluto's realm
It is really Plutonium that will reign here for thousands of years. It is extremely toxic and highly chemically reactive, half-life of Plutonium-239 is over 24,000 years. Plutonium is appropriately named after Pluto, god of the dead and ruler of the underworld.
elenafilatova.com
Monday, 30 March 2009
Earth hour
SO i had a busy sturday, lots of marshalling, great fun but hard riding, and it was hot. By the time i got home i was finished, went to lie down a bit.
Woke up at 20h30 sharp. I was muggy headed, and wifeys guests were leaving and so on, truth be told i never realised i had forgotten anything.
I wasn't going to "celebrate" anyway ... strikes me as another of those mass distraction exercises our leaders seem to enjoy so much. My take is if you want to make a change, ground all pvt jets, and switch off the US military. Simple. Share a ride to work, get a bike, switch off lights, walk to the shops ... damn so many BETTER ways to make a contribution.
To stumble around in the dark for an hour means fuckall, less than. Crikey we been doing that and calling it load shedding. Except that COSTS money. go figure.
I guess awareness plays a part, but a lie to justify another lie is silly.
Anyways, the point of this post was at 20h30, some kind of energy woke me up very sharply, literally like someone switched the lights on. I wonder how much damage was done by this event to the power grids.
Woke up at 20h30 sharp. I was muggy headed, and wifeys guests were leaving and so on, truth be told i never realised i had forgotten anything.
I wasn't going to "celebrate" anyway ... strikes me as another of those mass distraction exercises our leaders seem to enjoy so much. My take is if you want to make a change, ground all pvt jets, and switch off the US military. Simple. Share a ride to work, get a bike, switch off lights, walk to the shops ... damn so many BETTER ways to make a contribution.
To stumble around in the dark for an hour means fuckall, less than. Crikey we been doing that and calling it load shedding. Except that COSTS money. go figure.
I guess awareness plays a part, but a lie to justify another lie is silly.
Anyways, the point of this post was at 20h30, some kind of energy woke me up very sharply, literally like someone switched the lights on. I wonder how much damage was done by this event to the power grids.
Friday, 27 March 2009
Election madness
So election time is coming up and the bullshit is in full swing.
Then i find this story: on IOL
"However, if it was carried out by an individual with no political ties, there would be no option of a fine and the offender would face up to two year's imprisonment."
So an image of zuma is more valuable to south africa than the lives of all those destroyed by violence and road (lack of safety). A taxi driver can purposefully drive over a schoolgirl, and walk out on bail, and have all sorts of mitigating factors, and still have rights, but don't fdeface an election poster, then you will get nailed.
Makes me think, one day all along the local main road several groups had election posters put up on the streetlamp poles. The next day, all were removed except for those containing that fucking wankers face.
I mean, if i were a judge, that would be evidence that the other posters had been removed by the only group who's hadn't. Logic.
The total chaos is sickening. I can't get over the double standards, lying, bullshit, evasion, etc from the anc.
Then i find this story: on IOL
"However, if it was carried out by an individual with no political ties, there would be no option of a fine and the offender would face up to two year's imprisonment."
So an image of zuma is more valuable to south africa than the lives of all those destroyed by violence and road (lack of safety). A taxi driver can purposefully drive over a schoolgirl, and walk out on bail, and have all sorts of mitigating factors, and still have rights, but don't fdeface an election poster, then you will get nailed.
Makes me think, one day all along the local main road several groups had election posters put up on the streetlamp poles. The next day, all were removed except for those containing that fucking wankers face.
I mean, if i were a judge, that would be evidence that the other posters had been removed by the only group who's hadn't. Logic.
The total chaos is sickening. I can't get over the double standards, lying, bullshit, evasion, etc from the anc.
Another mass hysteria ....
And hot off the press, this almost identical report from hundreds of miles away.
Priests asked to chase away 'evil spirits'
march 25 2009 at 11:37AM
By Nondumiso Mbuyazi
Classes at Suleman Patel Secondary School, in Inanda, had to be suspended again on Tuesday after pupils became hysterical.
The mass hysteria, which affected more than 20 pupils and a teacher, began last Friday.
School principal, Nonhlanhla Zulu, said the pupils, who seemed to be possessed by evil spirits, were screaming hysterically and behaved aggressively towards anyone who tried to subdue them. She has asked local priests to hold a prayer meeting at the school on Thursday.
'They were screaming, jumping up and down and crying'
Department of Education spokesperson Ntokozo Maphisa said district officials would be deployed to the school to assess the situation, and they would advise the teachers on a way forward. He said: "Writing of exams will continue and we will ensure the pupils don't miss out on any of the work."
On Monday, a teacher and several pupils had to be admitted to hospital after they became violent, injuring themselves and anyone who dared to go near them.
Police spokesperson Captain Jabulani Zwane said when they arrived at the school, the pupils were wild and uncontrollable.
A parent said she suspected that one of the pupils in the school was a devil worshipper, saying she feared the pupil's peculiar behaviour might affect more pupils.
"It starts with just one person and in no time the other students will be doing the same thing," she said.
Zulu said pupils were about to write their first-term exams when they became hysterical.
"They were screaming, jumping up and down and crying. Some pupils were punching themselves in the stomach, complaining of strange movements in their bellies," she said.
Mbali Myeza, 18, a Grade 11 pupil who was also affected by the hysteria, said she was still terrified of going back to the classroom. She said she was about to write her economics paper when she suddenly became weak and dehydrated.
"I felt hot and I couldn't feel my arms and legs. I felt like I was standing alone in a dark tunnel and there was this huge snake which was heading towards me," she recalled.
She said when she finally regained consciousness, she could not remember what had happened. "It was like I had had a long dream, but I couldn't remember what I had dreamed about," she said.
Zulu said this was not the first time the school had been plagued by the bizarre behaviour. "There were two matric boys who had the same problem last year, but after they left we thought everything would be back to normal," she said.
Zulu said after the incident, they called in priests to pray for the pupils. She said she hoped classes would resume tomorrow after a mass prayer meeting.
"We urge all the local pastors to come to our school on Thursday where we will be praying for the pupils, teachers, school and the community," she said.
Earlier this month, 90 Windsor Secondary School pupils in Ladysmith were taken to hospital, after suffering from dizzy spells and fits.
This article was originally published on page 3 of Daily News on March 25, 2009
Priests asked to chase away 'evil spirits'
march 25 2009 at 11:37AM
By Nondumiso Mbuyazi
Classes at Suleman Patel Secondary School, in Inanda, had to be suspended again on Tuesday after pupils became hysterical.
The mass hysteria, which affected more than 20 pupils and a teacher, began last Friday.
School principal, Nonhlanhla Zulu, said the pupils, who seemed to be possessed by evil spirits, were screaming hysterically and behaved aggressively towards anyone who tried to subdue them. She has asked local priests to hold a prayer meeting at the school on Thursday.
'They were screaming, jumping up and down and crying'
Department of Education spokesperson Ntokozo Maphisa said district officials would be deployed to the school to assess the situation, and they would advise the teachers on a way forward. He said: "Writing of exams will continue and we will ensure the pupils don't miss out on any of the work."
On Monday, a teacher and several pupils had to be admitted to hospital after they became violent, injuring themselves and anyone who dared to go near them.
Police spokesperson Captain Jabulani Zwane said when they arrived at the school, the pupils were wild and uncontrollable.
A parent said she suspected that one of the pupils in the school was a devil worshipper, saying she feared the pupil's peculiar behaviour might affect more pupils.
"It starts with just one person and in no time the other students will be doing the same thing," she said.
Zulu said pupils were about to write their first-term exams when they became hysterical.
"They were screaming, jumping up and down and crying. Some pupils were punching themselves in the stomach, complaining of strange movements in their bellies," she said.
Mbali Myeza, 18, a Grade 11 pupil who was also affected by the hysteria, said she was still terrified of going back to the classroom. She said she was about to write her economics paper when she suddenly became weak and dehydrated.
"I felt hot and I couldn't feel my arms and legs. I felt like I was standing alone in a dark tunnel and there was this huge snake which was heading towards me," she recalled.
She said when she finally regained consciousness, she could not remember what had happened. "It was like I had had a long dream, but I couldn't remember what I had dreamed about," she said.
Zulu said this was not the first time the school had been plagued by the bizarre behaviour. "There were two matric boys who had the same problem last year, but after they left we thought everything would be back to normal," she said.
Zulu said after the incident, they called in priests to pray for the pupils. She said she hoped classes would resume tomorrow after a mass prayer meeting.
"We urge all the local pastors to come to our school on Thursday where we will be praying for the pupils, teachers, school and the community," she said.
Earlier this month, 90 Windsor Secondary School pupils in Ladysmith were taken to hospital, after suffering from dizzy spells and fits.
This article was originally published on page 3 of Daily News on March 25, 2009
Mass Hysteria
People in groups often experience strange effects of the group. In the 60's there was much research into the mass mind, zener cards and such. That mostly fizzled, 50/50 success means little to science.
And then you get THIS.
Quotes:
"He said when paramedics had arrived at the school they had found several "patients" hyperventilating while others were having "seizures".
"At least 10 of the pupils were in serious condition and various medical tests were conducted.
"Police were also called to the scene and conducted drug tests on 10 of the pupils.
"Nothing medically wrong could be found with any of the pupils and all the narcotics tests were negative. Scientifically, we don't know what is wrong with these children," he said, adding that the cause of the hysteria was unknown."
So scientifically inexplicable.
More quotes:
"Within moments of the unexplained attack - the fifth to occur since February - about 25 pupils in various classes and grades were affected and started screaming hysterically, fainting and convulsed as they succumbed to the strange occurrence.
The attacks came two weeks after a pupil at the school committed suicide. It is said the hysteria affected schools in Sunnyside and Laudium last week."
Fifth since February? THAT's news, why have i only read of 1?
"The attacks came two weeks after a pupil at the school committed suicide. It is said the hysteria affected schools in Sunnyside and Laudium last week.
Many reported seeing visions.
At least one of the visions was believed to be that of the boy who committed suicide.
Confirming it was the fifth "attack" since February, principal Gerhard Olivier said: "We are at our wits' end. We do not know what is happening or why this is happening."
He said the hysteria had gripped the entire school.
He declined to comment on the suicide, but said Satanism items had been discovered around the school recently and they were believed to be some of the causes."
Everything else aside, this story alone shatters the conventional scientific world view. This cannot be made up by all these kids, all "planning" to pretend to faint at the same time. Aside from the fear they must feel, there is a definite unexplained element here.
The report hinted that a "group experienced in these things" was being brought in, echos of twilight zone.
And then you get THIS.
Quotes:
"He said when paramedics had arrived at the school they had found several "patients" hyperventilating while others were having "seizures".
"At least 10 of the pupils were in serious condition and various medical tests were conducted.
"Police were also called to the scene and conducted drug tests on 10 of the pupils.
"Nothing medically wrong could be found with any of the pupils and all the narcotics tests were negative. Scientifically, we don't know what is wrong with these children," he said, adding that the cause of the hysteria was unknown."
So scientifically inexplicable.
More quotes:
"Within moments of the unexplained attack - the fifth to occur since February - about 25 pupils in various classes and grades were affected and started screaming hysterically, fainting and convulsed as they succumbed to the strange occurrence.
The attacks came two weeks after a pupil at the school committed suicide. It is said the hysteria affected schools in Sunnyside and Laudium last week."
Fifth since February? THAT's news, why have i only read of 1?
"The attacks came two weeks after a pupil at the school committed suicide. It is said the hysteria affected schools in Sunnyside and Laudium last week.
Many reported seeing visions.
At least one of the visions was believed to be that of the boy who committed suicide.
Confirming it was the fifth "attack" since February, principal Gerhard Olivier said: "We are at our wits' end. We do not know what is happening or why this is happening."
He said the hysteria had gripped the entire school.
He declined to comment on the suicide, but said Satanism items had been discovered around the school recently and they were believed to be some of the causes."
Everything else aside, this story alone shatters the conventional scientific world view. This cannot be made up by all these kids, all "planning" to pretend to faint at the same time. Aside from the fear they must feel, there is a definite unexplained element here.
The report hinted that a "group experienced in these things" was being brought in, echos of twilight zone.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
The santity of life - George Carlin
"But you know, the longer you listen to this abortion debate, the more you hear this phrase 'sanctity of life.'" You've heard that, 'sanctity of life.'" You believe in it? Personally, I think it's a bunch of shit. Well I mean, life is sacred? Who said so? God? Hey if you read history, you realize that God is one of the leading causes of death, has been for thousands of years. Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Christians, all taking turns killing each other because God told them it was a good idea. The sword of God, the blood of the lamb, vengeance is mine, millions of dead motherfuckers, all because they gave the wrong answer to the God question.
'You belive in God?'
'No.'
*BANG* Dead.
'You belive in God?'
'Yes.'
'You belive in my God?'
'No.'
*Bang* Dead.
'My God has a bigger dick than your God!' That's how it is, isn't it? Thousands of years, and all the best wars too, the bloodiest, most brutal wars fought all based on religious hatred, which is fine with me. Anytime a bunch of holy people want to kill each other, I'm a happy guy. But don't be giving me all this shit about the sanctity of life. I mean, even if there were such a thing, I don't think it's something you can blame on God. No, you know where the sanctity of life came from? We made it up! You know why? Cause we're alive! Self-interest. Living people have a strong interest in promoting the idea that somehow life is sacred. You don't see Abbott and Costello running around, talking about this shit, do you? We're not hearing a whole lot from Mussolini on the subject. What's the latest from JFK? Not a god damned thing, cause JFK, Mussolini, and Abbott and Costello are fucking dead. They're fucking dead, and dead people give less than a shit about the sanctity of life. Only living people care about it, so the whole thing grows out of a completely biased point of view. It's a self-serving, man-made bullshit story. It's one of these things we tell ourselves so we'll feel noble. Life is sacred, makes you feel noble.
Well let me ask you this, if everything that ever lived is dead, and everything alive is going to die, where does the sacred part come in? I'm having trouble with that. Because even with the stuff we preach about the sanctity of life, we don't practice it. Look at what we kill. Mosquitos and flies, because they're pests! Lions and tigers, because it's fun! Chickens and pigs, because we're hungry. Pheasants and quail, because it's fun, and we're hungry. And people! We kill people, because they're pests... and it's fun!
And you might have noticed something else, the sanctity of life doesn't seem to apply to cancer cells, does it? You never see a bumpersticker that says 'save the tumors' or 'I brake for advanced melanoma.' No, viruses, mold, mildew, maggots, fungus, weeds, e. coli bacteria, the crabs, nothing sacred about those things. So at best, the sanctity of life is kind of a selective thing. We get to choose which forms of life we feel are sacred, and we get to kill the rest. Pretty neat deal, huh? You know how we got it? We made the whole fucking thing up! Made it up, the same way we made up the death penalty. We made them both up, the sanctity of life and the death penalty. Aren't we versatile?!"
'You belive in God?'
'No.'
*BANG* Dead.
'You belive in God?'
'Yes.'
'You belive in my God?'
'No.'
*Bang* Dead.
'My God has a bigger dick than your God!' That's how it is, isn't it? Thousands of years, and all the best wars too, the bloodiest, most brutal wars fought all based on religious hatred, which is fine with me. Anytime a bunch of holy people want to kill each other, I'm a happy guy. But don't be giving me all this shit about the sanctity of life. I mean, even if there were such a thing, I don't think it's something you can blame on God. No, you know where the sanctity of life came from? We made it up! You know why? Cause we're alive! Self-interest. Living people have a strong interest in promoting the idea that somehow life is sacred. You don't see Abbott and Costello running around, talking about this shit, do you? We're not hearing a whole lot from Mussolini on the subject. What's the latest from JFK? Not a god damned thing, cause JFK, Mussolini, and Abbott and Costello are fucking dead. They're fucking dead, and dead people give less than a shit about the sanctity of life. Only living people care about it, so the whole thing grows out of a completely biased point of view. It's a self-serving, man-made bullshit story. It's one of these things we tell ourselves so we'll feel noble. Life is sacred, makes you feel noble.
Well let me ask you this, if everything that ever lived is dead, and everything alive is going to die, where does the sacred part come in? I'm having trouble with that. Because even with the stuff we preach about the sanctity of life, we don't practice it. Look at what we kill. Mosquitos and flies, because they're pests! Lions and tigers, because it's fun! Chickens and pigs, because we're hungry. Pheasants and quail, because it's fun, and we're hungry. And people! We kill people, because they're pests... and it's fun!
And you might have noticed something else, the sanctity of life doesn't seem to apply to cancer cells, does it? You never see a bumpersticker that says 'save the tumors' or 'I brake for advanced melanoma.' No, viruses, mold, mildew, maggots, fungus, weeds, e. coli bacteria, the crabs, nothing sacred about those things. So at best, the sanctity of life is kind of a selective thing. We get to choose which forms of life we feel are sacred, and we get to kill the rest. Pretty neat deal, huh? You know how we got it? We made the whole fucking thing up! Made it up, the same way we made up the death penalty. We made them both up, the sanctity of life and the death penalty. Aren't we versatile?!"
Peace conference postponed
IOL
Johannesburg - Convenors of the SA Peace Conference, which was scheduled to start on Friday, have postponed it because of the controversy surrounding the attendance of the Dalai Lama.
"Given that the purpose of the conference is peace, the convenors don't want to put the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in a position where there will be conflict," Irvin Khoza, one of the committee members, told a media briefing in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
The government refused to grant the Dalai Lama a visa, saying it did not want to remove the world's attention from the 2010 Soccer World Cup preparations.
_______________________________________________________________________
WOOT!!! Wonderful!! Bloody marvellous!!!!
*singing and dancing in the streets*
Brilliant, through their own stupid narrow mindedness, they have scuppered their own selfish agenda.
Johannesburg - Convenors of the SA Peace Conference, which was scheduled to start on Friday, have postponed it because of the controversy surrounding the attendance of the Dalai Lama.
"Given that the purpose of the conference is peace, the convenors don't want to put the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in a position where there will be conflict," Irvin Khoza, one of the committee members, told a media briefing in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
The government refused to grant the Dalai Lama a visa, saying it did not want to remove the world's attention from the 2010 Soccer World Cup preparations.
_______________________________________________________________________
WOOT!!! Wonderful!! Bloody marvellous!!!!
*singing and dancing in the streets*
Brilliant, through their own stupid narrow mindedness, they have scuppered their own selfish agenda.
Dalai Lama drinks from SA's Cup of anxiety
Look at that heading, after SA decides to not let him into the country. South Africa has become the embarassment of the world. I stand ashamed. Although, once gain, being south african, we have Tutu, and De Klerk even, both idiots, but their intentions are good. Tutu speaks with his conscience, which is an embarrasing trait sometimes, but oh so preferable to the well groomed deception of others.
Quote: "This decision is not against the Dalai Lama. The South African government has nothing against the Dalai Lama. We have, in fact, on a few previous occasions hosted him in the country."
Masebe confirmed that the presidency had received a letter from Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, protesting at the refusal to grant the Dalai Lama a visa.
In the letter, Tutu reiterated that he would boycott the conference if the Dalai Lama was barred.
... the South African government has, in our view, acted unconstitutionally
"The SA World Cup Committee 2010 requested the three Nobel Peace Prize laureates - namely, myself, Nelson Mandela and F W De Klerk - to issue the invitation to the peace conference as part of the World Cup celebrations," he wrote.
"I cannot understand why the Dalai Lama's visa application of 4 March, through the SA High Commissioner in New Delhi, has not been granted as yet.
"Any assistance from your office in this regard will be greatly appreciated.
"Should His Holiness be denied a South African visa, and so be prevented from attending the South African peace conference, I would reluctantly have to reconsider my own participation in it."
De Klerk is also to pull out if the refusal is not overturned.
"The decision to refuse the visa makes a mockery of the whole purpose of the peace conference," he said in a statement.
"South Africa is a sovereign constitutional democracy and should not allow other countries to dictate to it regarding whom it should and should not admit to its territory - regardless of the power and influence of the country."
It had not been intended that Mandela would attend the conference, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said.
PS
Oh yeah, we let robertFUCKINGmugabe in to buy his fat wife clothes, but we refuse the Dalai Lama? (I cannot think of another human being who ranks as highly as Mandela??)
Quote: "This decision is not against the Dalai Lama. The South African government has nothing against the Dalai Lama. We have, in fact, on a few previous occasions hosted him in the country."
Masebe confirmed that the presidency had received a letter from Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, protesting at the refusal to grant the Dalai Lama a visa.
In the letter, Tutu reiterated that he would boycott the conference if the Dalai Lama was barred.
... the South African government has, in our view, acted unconstitutionally
"The SA World Cup Committee 2010 requested the three Nobel Peace Prize laureates - namely, myself, Nelson Mandela and F W De Klerk - to issue the invitation to the peace conference as part of the World Cup celebrations," he wrote.
"I cannot understand why the Dalai Lama's visa application of 4 March, through the SA High Commissioner in New Delhi, has not been granted as yet.
"Any assistance from your office in this regard will be greatly appreciated.
"Should His Holiness be denied a South African visa, and so be prevented from attending the South African peace conference, I would reluctantly have to reconsider my own participation in it."
De Klerk is also to pull out if the refusal is not overturned.
"The decision to refuse the visa makes a mockery of the whole purpose of the peace conference," he said in a statement.
"South Africa is a sovereign constitutional democracy and should not allow other countries to dictate to it regarding whom it should and should not admit to its territory - regardless of the power and influence of the country."
It had not been intended that Mandela would attend the conference, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said.
PS
Oh yeah, we let robertFUCKINGmugabe in to buy his fat wife clothes, but we refuse the Dalai Lama? (I cannot think of another human being who ranks as highly as Mandela??)
Monday, 23 March 2009
Go Shell ...
No really ... fuckoff.
The Guardian
Shell will no longer invest in renewable technologies such as wind, solar and hydro power because they are not economic, the Anglo-Dutch oil company said today. It plans to invest more in biofuels which environmental groups blame for driving up food prices and deforestation.
Executives at its annual strategy presentation said Shell, already the world's largest buyer and blender of crop-based biofuels, would also invest an unspecified amount in developing a new generation of biofuels which do not use food-based crops and are less harmful to the environment.
...
Until recently, Shell's investment in wind power featured prominently in its corporate advertisements. FoE said the company's move heralded a slightly more honest approach. "Shell is at least being a bit more honest about the fact they are a fossil fuel company. It has seen the limitations of the greenwash it was putting out a few years ago."
The Guardian
Shell will no longer invest in renewable technologies such as wind, solar and hydro power because they are not economic, the Anglo-Dutch oil company said today. It plans to invest more in biofuels which environmental groups blame for driving up food prices and deforestation.
Executives at its annual strategy presentation said Shell, already the world's largest buyer and blender of crop-based biofuels, would also invest an unspecified amount in developing a new generation of biofuels which do not use food-based crops and are less harmful to the environment.
...
Until recently, Shell's investment in wind power featured prominently in its corporate advertisements. FoE said the company's move heralded a slightly more honest approach. "Shell is at least being a bit more honest about the fact they are a fossil fuel company. It has seen the limitations of the greenwash it was putting out a few years ago."
Capitalism
I keep reading updates, about the world financial situation and meltdown, and many of the commentators point out how capitalism has failed, Marx is laughing, and we need a new system now.
I disagee. Capitalism has worked, well too. It has achieved it's long term goal of over capitalisation.
In the beginning there was natural resource. The resource was common, and shared by all. Then came barter, and soon after, trade.
This was a rabbit's hole, where resource now became abstract.
This abstract money grew, sucking resource up faster than before, without returning any value to the resource. The system of trade which has led to this fall origionated in Babylon, the land called Iraq. It's taken 3000 years, to find all the money on the other side of the globe, and attacking it's home mercilessly. It has now sucked itself up. Money has trwisted money to the degree that money bars no relation to itself. The MONEY i get paid, is not the same as the money i buy bread with. It's value has lessened.
While most people seems to think of this as an accident, an error, this was always the goal, to control everything. It's worked. You may not agree, but you're not legally entitled to a tenth of this planet, as some are.
Friday, 20 March 2009
Thursday, 19 March 2009
The politics of climate
OK, so we all know about the incconvenient truth by Al Gore. I posted recently about 36 less convenient truths that Al Gore ignores.
Now i have found the nails for the global warming coffin. I would like to state categorically that global warming is a political and not scientific phenomena, and i as a human am quite humbled that despite the amount of crap we have thrown at the planet, it still maintains it's equilibrium.
Obviously planet earth is sick, pollution is choking her, and she is certainly not pristene anymore, BUT, she maintains the equilibrium, that is MOST important.
Most of what has been produced about the "facts" of global warming stems fom this graphic:
It's alarming, very. But, as with many things, it's not worth a damn. Global warming is most certainly man made, more like man made UP.
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2008/8/11/caspar-and-the-jesus-paper.html
From the Bishopshill Blog:
"There has been the most extraordinary series of postings at Climate Audit over the last week. As is usual at CA, there is a heavy mathematics burden for the casual reader, which, with a bit of research I think I can now just about follow. The story is a remarkable indictment of the corruption and cyncism that is rife among climate scientists, and I'm going to try to tell it in layman's language so that the average blog reader can understand it. As far as I know it's the first time the whole story has been set out in a single posting. It's a long tale - and the longest posting I think I've ever written and piecing it together from the individual CA postings has been a long, hard but fascinating struggle. You may want to get a long drink before starting, and those who suffer from heart disorders may wish to take their beta blockers first."
Now i have found the nails for the global warming coffin. I would like to state categorically that global warming is a political and not scientific phenomena, and i as a human am quite humbled that despite the amount of crap we have thrown at the planet, it still maintains it's equilibrium.
Obviously planet earth is sick, pollution is choking her, and she is certainly not pristene anymore, BUT, she maintains the equilibrium, that is MOST important.
Most of what has been produced about the "facts" of global warming stems fom this graphic:
It's alarming, very. But, as with many things, it's not worth a damn. Global warming is most certainly man made, more like man made UP.
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2008/8/11/caspar-and-the-jesus-paper.html
From the Bishopshill Blog:
"There has been the most extraordinary series of postings at Climate Audit over the last week. As is usual at CA, there is a heavy mathematics burden for the casual reader, which, with a bit of research I think I can now just about follow. The story is a remarkable indictment of the corruption and cyncism that is rife among climate scientists, and I'm going to try to tell it in layman's language so that the average blog reader can understand it. As far as I know it's the first time the whole story has been set out in a single posting. It's a long tale - and the longest posting I think I've ever written and piecing it together from the individual CA postings has been a long, hard but fascinating struggle. You may want to get a long drink before starting, and those who suffer from heart disorders may wish to take their beta blockers first."
Rewilding
I was pointed towards this post on rewilding by Aquila ka Hekate.
A very well written article by Kinoo Doodaym on the ideas around REWILDING, not only a good introduction to the subject, but comprehensive too.
"Human animals evolved to live in small egalitarian groups and live a leisurely lifestyle. We're not supposed to work 40+ hours a week just for mere survival and a few useless trinkets. We're supposed to work half that or less and thrive. A typical hunter-gatherer can feed five people working two hours a day on subsistence. We're supposed to interact with the rest of the world, instead of shielding ourselves away from the rest of life. Part of my motivation is spiritual/religious. We're supposed to have real connections to family and friends, not just superficial relationships and MySpace "friends". Hunter-gatherers spend a lot of time hanging out with their friends and family, telling stories and playing games of chance."
A very well written article by Kinoo Doodaym on the ideas around REWILDING, not only a good introduction to the subject, but comprehensive too.
"Human animals evolved to live in small egalitarian groups and live a leisurely lifestyle. We're not supposed to work 40+ hours a week just for mere survival and a few useless trinkets. We're supposed to work half that or less and thrive. A typical hunter-gatherer can feed five people working two hours a day on subsistence. We're supposed to interact with the rest of the world, instead of shielding ourselves away from the rest of life. Part of my motivation is spiritual/religious. We're supposed to have real connections to family and friends, not just superficial relationships and MySpace "friends". Hunter-gatherers spend a lot of time hanging out with their friends and family, telling stories and playing games of chance."
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
MAN
Again, thanks to Mickeyz for this reminder:
Henry David Thoreau sez: “If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.”
Murray Bookchin sez: “The notion that man must dominate nature emerges directly from the domination of man by man … The plundering of the human spirit by the marketplace is paralleled by the plundering of the earth by capital.”
Henry David Thoreau sez: “If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.”
Murray Bookchin sez: “The notion that man must dominate nature emerges directly from the domination of man by man … The plundering of the human spirit by the marketplace is paralleled by the plundering of the earth by capital.”
Udookashun
The national education system is a "disaster," the Afrikaans teachers union SAOU told the ANC on Thursday.
It emphasised that the success rate of pupils who started in Grade One in 1995 was only 24 percent, union general secretary Chris Klopper told reporters.
"There were 1,2 million pupils who got lost along the way, we want to know what happened to them."
Klopper was speaking after meeting African national Congress secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and other senior party officials in Johannesburg.
Klopper said 1,5 million pupils started in Grade 1 in 1995 and only 360,000 completed matric in 2007.
"The same happened with the 1996 intake and matric results in 2008." The success rate for 2008 was only 22 percent, he said.
IOL
________________________________________________________________________
Cry, the beloved country.
Further, this is obviouly something close to my heart, and with 3 kids, 2 in school, i'm seeing the down side all the time.
I was going to make a post entitled the "Misconception of condoms". My dughter (12) comes home the other day, and tells how she was learning about HIV and AIDS. Now for some strange reason, she picks up on this topic as IMPORTANT. Something in the way it's presented certainly stands out for her.
Already i get told: "i know about SEX" her emphasis not mine. And that condoms are for when you want to make babies.
STOP THE FUCKING BUS .... WHAT?
So, we have this 12 year old girl, who got the idea that sex is ok before marriage, that its important, and she completely misunderstands the use od condoms.
We very quickly mended the damage, but she's a smart girl, with a good broad knowledge of the subject (our bitch had puppies a while ago) and parents who take an interest in her work, and she got it wrong anyway.
Something is wrong with that entire scenario.
Exactly the same happened with voting. "Well you see, dad, that voting is about PARTIES, like, um, the ANC, and you have to go and vote for them."
She could not name a single other political party. She came home recently with a woksheet describing the bantu civilisations as having having huge cities which rivalled those of Europe. No, they didn't. That's a lie. They had many things perhaps, but comparing 18th century Africa with 18th century Vienna, well you see what i'm getting at.
I dropped out of school, because i could smell the lies and hypocrisy. Not really my finest moment, but the point is kids KNOW value, and they're not getting it.
It emphasised that the success rate of pupils who started in Grade One in 1995 was only 24 percent, union general secretary Chris Klopper told reporters.
"There were 1,2 million pupils who got lost along the way, we want to know what happened to them."
Klopper was speaking after meeting African national Congress secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and other senior party officials in Johannesburg.
Klopper said 1,5 million pupils started in Grade 1 in 1995 and only 360,000 completed matric in 2007.
"The same happened with the 1996 intake and matric results in 2008." The success rate for 2008 was only 22 percent, he said.
IOL
________________________________________________________________________
Cry, the beloved country.
Further, this is obviouly something close to my heart, and with 3 kids, 2 in school, i'm seeing the down side all the time.
I was going to make a post entitled the "Misconception of condoms". My dughter (12) comes home the other day, and tells how she was learning about HIV and AIDS. Now for some strange reason, she picks up on this topic as IMPORTANT. Something in the way it's presented certainly stands out for her.
Already i get told: "i know about SEX" her emphasis not mine. And that condoms are for when you want to make babies.
STOP THE FUCKING BUS .... WHAT?
So, we have this 12 year old girl, who got the idea that sex is ok before marriage, that its important, and she completely misunderstands the use od condoms.
We very quickly mended the damage, but she's a smart girl, with a good broad knowledge of the subject (our bitch had puppies a while ago) and parents who take an interest in her work, and she got it wrong anyway.
Something is wrong with that entire scenario.
Exactly the same happened with voting. "Well you see, dad, that voting is about PARTIES, like, um, the ANC, and you have to go and vote for them."
She could not name a single other political party. She came home recently with a woksheet describing the bantu civilisations as having having huge cities which rivalled those of Europe. No, they didn't. That's a lie. They had many things perhaps, but comparing 18th century Africa with 18th century Vienna, well you see what i'm getting at.
I dropped out of school, because i could smell the lies and hypocrisy. Not really my finest moment, but the point is kids KNOW value, and they're not getting it.
Famous faces
Although i would urge you to look at the full image.
Every now and again soething astounding comes along. This is it.
Josef Stalin and Leonardo da Vinci are deep in conversation, Vladimir Putin rests his legs next to a sprawled Mike Tyson, while Margaret Thatcher – clutching her handbag – looks on with disdain.
This extraordinary painting depicting 103 figures from world history in striking detail has become the latest internet hit.
Message boards have erupted with contests to identify all those featured, who range from instantly recognisable figures like Gandhi to some more obscure figures such as Liu Xiang, the Chinese hurdler who limped out of the Beijing Olympics in the summer.
An element of mystery also surrounds that origins of the picture, which appears to have drawn inspiration from Raphael's Renaissance fresco The School of Athens.
While the figures in Raphael's painting were all ancient philosophers, there appears little to connect the characters in the recent work which finds room for historical greats like Napoleon as well as Bill Gates, the bespectacled face of modern success.
But eagle-eyed observers have spotted clues to the painting's provenance in some of those depicted.
Many of the figures in the painting – including Chinese communist leaders and poets – have little profile outside of Asia.
And the inclusion of Juan Antonio Samaranch, the career bureaucrat and former International Olympic Committee chairman would be inexplicable unless the artist came from China, where Mr Samaranch is well-known as the man who awarded Beijing the 2008 Games.
Another clue comes from the three undistinguished men in contemporary dress who survey the scene from behind a wall at the top right of the picture.
See how many you can identify:
Answers
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Let Me Chew My Coca Leaves
New York Times
By EVO MORALES AYMA
Published: March 13, 2009
La Paz, Bolivia
THIS week in Vienna, a meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs took place that will help shape international antidrug efforts for the next 10 years. I attended the meeting to reaffirm Bolivia’s commitment to this struggle but also to call for the reversal of a mistake made 48 years ago.
In 1961, the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs placed the coca leaf in the same category with cocaine — thus promoting the false notion that the coca leaf is a narcotic — and ordered that “coca leaf chewing must be abolished within 25 years from the coming into force of this convention.” Bolivia signed the convention in 1976, during the brutal dictatorship of Col. Hugo Banzer, and the 25-year deadline expired in 2001.
So for the past eight years, the millions of us who maintain the traditional practice of chewing coca have been, according to the convention, criminals who violate international law. This is an unacceptable and absurd state of affairs for Bolivians and other Andean peoples.
Many plants have small quantities of various chemical compounds called alkaloids. One common alkaloid is caffeine, which is found in more than 50 varieties of plants, from coffee to cacao, and even in the flowers of orange and lemon trees. Excessive use of caffeine can cause nervousness, elevated pulse, insomnia and other unwanted effects.
Another common alkaloid is nicotine, found in the tobacco plant. Its consumption can lead to addiction, high blood pressure and cancer; smoking causes one in five deaths in the United States. Some alkaloids have important medicinal qualities. Quinine, for example, the first known treatment for malaria, was discovered by the Quechua Indians of Peru in the bark of the cinchona tree.
The coca leaf also has alkaloids; the one that concerns antidrug officials is the cocaine alkaloid, which amounts to less than one-tenth of a percent of the leaf. But as the above examples show, that a plant, leaf or flower contains a minimal amount of alkaloids does not make it a narcotic. To be made into a narcotic, alkaloids must typically be extracted, concentrated and in many cases processed chemically. What is absurd about the 1961 convention is that it considers the coca leaf in its natural, unaltered state to be a narcotic. The paste or the concentrate that is extracted from the coca leaf, commonly known as cocaine, is indeed a narcotic, but the plant itself is not.
Why is Bolivia so concerned with the coca leaf? Because it is an important symbol of the history and identity of the indigenous cultures of the Andes.
The custom of chewing coca leaves has existed in the Andean region of South America since at least 3000 B.C. It helps mitigate the sensation of hunger, offers energy during long days of labor and helps counter altitude sickness. Unlike nicotine or caffeine, it causes no harm to human health nor addiction or altered state, and it is effective in the struggle against obesity, a major problem in many modern societies.
Today, millions of people chew coca in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and northern Argentina and Chile. The coca leaf continues to have ritual, religious and cultural significance that transcends indigenous cultures and encompasses the mestizo population.
Mistakes are an unavoidable part of human history, but sometimes we have the opportunity to correct them. It is time for the international community to reverse its misguided policy toward the coca leaf.
Evo Morales Ayma is the president of Bolivia.
By EVO MORALES AYMA
Published: March 13, 2009
La Paz, Bolivia
THIS week in Vienna, a meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs took place that will help shape international antidrug efforts for the next 10 years. I attended the meeting to reaffirm Bolivia’s commitment to this struggle but also to call for the reversal of a mistake made 48 years ago.
In 1961, the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs placed the coca leaf in the same category with cocaine — thus promoting the false notion that the coca leaf is a narcotic — and ordered that “coca leaf chewing must be abolished within 25 years from the coming into force of this convention.” Bolivia signed the convention in 1976, during the brutal dictatorship of Col. Hugo Banzer, and the 25-year deadline expired in 2001.
So for the past eight years, the millions of us who maintain the traditional practice of chewing coca have been, according to the convention, criminals who violate international law. This is an unacceptable and absurd state of affairs for Bolivians and other Andean peoples.
Many plants have small quantities of various chemical compounds called alkaloids. One common alkaloid is caffeine, which is found in more than 50 varieties of plants, from coffee to cacao, and even in the flowers of orange and lemon trees. Excessive use of caffeine can cause nervousness, elevated pulse, insomnia and other unwanted effects.
Another common alkaloid is nicotine, found in the tobacco plant. Its consumption can lead to addiction, high blood pressure and cancer; smoking causes one in five deaths in the United States. Some alkaloids have important medicinal qualities. Quinine, for example, the first known treatment for malaria, was discovered by the Quechua Indians of Peru in the bark of the cinchona tree.
The coca leaf also has alkaloids; the one that concerns antidrug officials is the cocaine alkaloid, which amounts to less than one-tenth of a percent of the leaf. But as the above examples show, that a plant, leaf or flower contains a minimal amount of alkaloids does not make it a narcotic. To be made into a narcotic, alkaloids must typically be extracted, concentrated and in many cases processed chemically. What is absurd about the 1961 convention is that it considers the coca leaf in its natural, unaltered state to be a narcotic. The paste or the concentrate that is extracted from the coca leaf, commonly known as cocaine, is indeed a narcotic, but the plant itself is not.
Why is Bolivia so concerned with the coca leaf? Because it is an important symbol of the history and identity of the indigenous cultures of the Andes.
The custom of chewing coca leaves has existed in the Andean region of South America since at least 3000 B.C. It helps mitigate the sensation of hunger, offers energy during long days of labor and helps counter altitude sickness. Unlike nicotine or caffeine, it causes no harm to human health nor addiction or altered state, and it is effective in the struggle against obesity, a major problem in many modern societies.
Today, millions of people chew coca in Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and northern Argentina and Chile. The coca leaf continues to have ritual, religious and cultural significance that transcends indigenous cultures and encompasses the mestizo population.
Mistakes are an unavoidable part of human history, but sometimes we have the opportunity to correct them. It is time for the international community to reverse its misguided policy toward the coca leaf.
Evo Morales Ayma is the president of Bolivia.
Bernard_d'Espagnat
Bernard d'Espagnat
"There must exist, beyond mere appearances … a 'veiled reality' that science does not describe but only glimpses uncertainly. In turn, contrary to those who claim that matter is the only reality, the possibility that other means, including spirituality, may also provide a window on ultimate reality cannot be ruled out, even by cogent scientific arguments."
"The doctrine that the world is made up of objects whose existence is independent of human consciousness turns out to be in conflict with quantum mechanics and with facts established by experiment."
"There must exist, beyond mere appearances … a 'veiled reality' that science does not describe but only glimpses uncertainly. In turn, contrary to those who claim that matter is the only reality, the possibility that other means, including spirituality, may also provide a window on ultimate reality cannot be ruled out, even by cogent scientific arguments."
"The doctrine that the world is made up of objects whose existence is independent of human consciousness turns out to be in conflict with quantum mechanics and with facts established by experiment."
Monday, 16 March 2009
McAuley loves Zuma
On Sunday Rhema leader Pastor Ray McCauley prayed for Zuma: "We pray for peace in our nation - we pray for our leader and we pray for absolute peace during the election. Bless him, keep him protected, guide and lead him."
Church spokesperson Vusi Mona said on Sunday that during apartheid, cabinet ministers routinely addressed congregations and that, post-democracy, a number of politicians had visited his church.
But when he was asked to name them, he listed only names of senior ANC stalwarts such as Mathews Phosa, Tokyo Sexwale and former Gauteng premier Mathole Motshekga. He said leaders from other parties were welcome to visit.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
And i thought EVERYONE ageed that the apartheid era of politicians in churches was dispicable.
The success of drug decriminalization in Portugal
From: Glenn Greenwald
In 2001, Portugal became the only EU-member state to decriminalize drugs, a distinction which continues through to the present. Last year, working with the Cato Institute, I went to that country in order to research the effects of the decriminalization law (which applies to all substances, including cocaine and heroin) and to interview both Portuguese and EU drug policy officials and analysts (the central EU drug policy monitoring agency is, by coincidence, based in Lisbon). Evaluating the policy strictly from an empirical perspective, decriminalization has been an unquestionable success, leading to improvements in virtually every relevant category and enabling Portugal to manage drug-related problems (and drug usage rates) far better than most Western nations that continue to treat adult drug consumption as a criminal offense.
Read it all.
_________________________________________________________________________
Following the Netherands, and taking a realistic approach to drugs. It works too.
In 2001, Portugal became the only EU-member state to decriminalize drugs, a distinction which continues through to the present. Last year, working with the Cato Institute, I went to that country in order to research the effects of the decriminalization law (which applies to all substances, including cocaine and heroin) and to interview both Portuguese and EU drug policy officials and analysts (the central EU drug policy monitoring agency is, by coincidence, based in Lisbon). Evaluating the policy strictly from an empirical perspective, decriminalization has been an unquestionable success, leading to improvements in virtually every relevant category and enabling Portugal to manage drug-related problems (and drug usage rates) far better than most Western nations that continue to treat adult drug consumption as a criminal offense.
Read it all.
_________________________________________________________________________
Following the Netherands, and taking a realistic approach to drugs. It works too.
Police firearms go missing
March 16 2009 at 06:48AM
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has lost, had stolen or has otherwise misplaced 8 286 firearms - including pistols, shotguns, rifles and revolvers - over the past three years.
Of these, it has recovered less than 900, according to a written reply by the Safety and Security Ministry to a parliamentary question posed by the Democratic Alliance.
Up to the end of January in the current financial year - from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009 - the police force had 329 of its firearms stolen and it lost another 183.
The SAPS also cannot account during this period for the whereabouts of 1 995 weapons listed under the heading, "not yet classified".
From: IOL
____________________________________________________________________
Next time these guns get seen is going to be pointed at you, in your bed, late at night. Sleep tight.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has lost, had stolen or has otherwise misplaced 8 286 firearms - including pistols, shotguns, rifles and revolvers - over the past three years.
Of these, it has recovered less than 900, according to a written reply by the Safety and Security Ministry to a parliamentary question posed by the Democratic Alliance.
Up to the end of January in the current financial year - from April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009 - the police force had 329 of its firearms stolen and it lost another 183.
The SAPS also cannot account during this period for the whereabouts of 1 995 weapons listed under the heading, "not yet classified".
From: IOL
____________________________________________________________________
Next time these guns get seen is going to be pointed at you, in your bed, late at night. Sleep tight.
Friday, 13 March 2009
The Holy Roman Catholic Church
TRINITY OF ASININITY
In a blog post, "The Trinity of Asininity," Vancouver's Mike Cowie gave this summation: "Doctrine over common sense. Canon over compassion. Ideology over humanity. That's right, it's the Trinity of Asininity."
A little 9-year-old girl in Brazil has been raped repeatedly by her stepfather ever since she was six.The girl was found last week to be four months pregnant after being taken to the hospital for stomach pains, reports The New York Times. The girl was pregnant with twins. Doctors told her distraught mother that the 80-pound child was too small to carry the twins to full-term. Labor would be dangerous and probably kill her.
EXCEPTIONS TO ABORTION LAW
Although abortion is illegal in Brazil -- the nation with the largest percentage of Catholics in the world -- there are two exceptions to this law. Abortions are allowed in cases of rape or when the mother's life is in danger. Both of these exceptions apply to this case. An emergency abortion was performed.
TOO BAD, SO SAD
Here's the shocker. The Catholic Church does not care that the girl became pregnant due to rape. Too bad. The fact that she would probably die if she gave birth to two babies? Too bad, so sad. Her mother should be willing to sacrifice her child's life.
Archbishop Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, from Brazil's coastal city Recife, has announced that the Vatican was excommunicating the mother of the local girl -- along with the doctors who performed the procedure. By the way, the accused stepfather, the rapist, is not being excommunicated. The archbishop said that the rapist would not be thrown out of the Church, because although he had allegedly committed "a heinous crime," the Church took the view that "the abortion, the elimination of an innocent life, was more serious," reports the Belfast (UK) Telegraph.
Taken from: www.ethicsoup.com
__________________________________________________________________
And this coming from an archaic pedophile cult???????????????
In a blog post, "The Trinity of Asininity," Vancouver's Mike Cowie gave this summation: "Doctrine over common sense. Canon over compassion. Ideology over humanity. That's right, it's the Trinity of Asininity."
A little 9-year-old girl in Brazil has been raped repeatedly by her stepfather ever since she was six.The girl was found last week to be four months pregnant after being taken to the hospital for stomach pains, reports The New York Times. The girl was pregnant with twins. Doctors told her distraught mother that the 80-pound child was too small to carry the twins to full-term. Labor would be dangerous and probably kill her.
EXCEPTIONS TO ABORTION LAW
Although abortion is illegal in Brazil -- the nation with the largest percentage of Catholics in the world -- there are two exceptions to this law. Abortions are allowed in cases of rape or when the mother's life is in danger. Both of these exceptions apply to this case. An emergency abortion was performed.
TOO BAD, SO SAD
Here's the shocker. The Catholic Church does not care that the girl became pregnant due to rape. Too bad. The fact that she would probably die if she gave birth to two babies? Too bad, so sad. Her mother should be willing to sacrifice her child's life.
Archbishop Jose Cardoso Sobrinho, from Brazil's coastal city Recife, has announced that the Vatican was excommunicating the mother of the local girl -- along with the doctors who performed the procedure. By the way, the accused stepfather, the rapist, is not being excommunicated. The archbishop said that the rapist would not be thrown out of the Church, because although he had allegedly committed "a heinous crime," the Church took the view that "the abortion, the elimination of an innocent life, was more serious," reports the Belfast (UK) Telegraph.
Taken from: www.ethicsoup.com
__________________________________________________________________
And this coming from an archaic pedophile cult???????????????
comments
I wish i knew how to fix this, but for now COMMENTS takes centre stage :)
Aquila ka hekate: Re: war on drugs, since the 80's, everything that needed attention became a WAR ON ... and whatever the war was on subsequently slid into chaos. Education, obesity, pollution, drugs, guns ... and all the rest. The US seems to love its wars, but at the same time seems astoundingly bad at conducting ANY war, never mind the old-fashioned ones, like Iraq, Afganistan, Korea, Vietnam, the Phillipines, South America (pick any country).
It's a war-like attitude from a war-like people who know no other way to resolve any issue. Perpetual war, anyone recall how it is one of the basic tenets of 1984? It's EERY how much we have come to resemble a book written decades ago. And a most unflattering book, at that. Of course, being africa we carry a large degree of Animal Farm too.
As to the VHEMT .... :How do I order stickers, T-shirts, and stuff?
Which is near as dammit to what Pstonie said.
Aquila ka hekate: Re: war on drugs, since the 80's, everything that needed attention became a WAR ON ... and whatever the war was on subsequently slid into chaos. Education, obesity, pollution, drugs, guns ... and all the rest. The US seems to love its wars, but at the same time seems astoundingly bad at conducting ANY war, never mind the old-fashioned ones, like Iraq, Afganistan, Korea, Vietnam, the Phillipines, South America (pick any country).
It's a war-like attitude from a war-like people who know no other way to resolve any issue. Perpetual war, anyone recall how it is one of the basic tenets of 1984? It's EERY how much we have come to resemble a book written decades ago. And a most unflattering book, at that. Of course, being africa we carry a large degree of Animal Farm too.
As to the VHEMT .... :How do I order stickers, T-shirts, and stuff?
Which is near as dammit to what Pstonie said.
Thursday, 12 March 2009
UN admits it is losing the war on drugs
Al Jazeera
The United Nations says it is losing its global war on drugs.
Anti-drug policies have in fact indirectly created "a criminal market of macro-economic size", said a UN report presented at a global drug conference in Vienna on Wednesday.
Citing the report, Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said the estimated value of the illicit global drug trade had ballooned to more than $300bn a year.
...
Owen, who was one of the first Canadian politicians to advocate a rethink of traditional anti-drug policies, said "the ideology saying that this is a criminal issue has absolutely not worked anywhere for decades and decades".
Saying that policy-makers must "accept that the user is sick and the dealer is evil", he called on them to look at scientific and medical evidence.
"Dozens and dozens of reports written all around the world from a scientific and medical point of view ... support drug policy reform, not prohibition," he said.
_________________________________________________________________
Wild applause .... common sense, that's what it is. But then we've known this all along, and when the CIA finally gets its fingers chopped off, drugs will simply disappear. You know what the Taliban's worst crime was? They banned poppies. Eradicated the crop ENTIRELY in 2 seasons. It took the US and it's "northern alliance" to INCREASE poppy production in 1 season.
The United Nations says it is losing its global war on drugs.
Anti-drug policies have in fact indirectly created "a criminal market of macro-economic size", said a UN report presented at a global drug conference in Vienna on Wednesday.
Citing the report, Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said the estimated value of the illicit global drug trade had ballooned to more than $300bn a year.
...
Owen, who was one of the first Canadian politicians to advocate a rethink of traditional anti-drug policies, said "the ideology saying that this is a criminal issue has absolutely not worked anywhere for decades and decades".
Saying that policy-makers must "accept that the user is sick and the dealer is evil", he called on them to look at scientific and medical evidence.
"Dozens and dozens of reports written all around the world from a scientific and medical point of view ... support drug policy reform, not prohibition," he said.
_________________________________________________________________
Wild applause .... common sense, that's what it is. But then we've known this all along, and when the CIA finally gets its fingers chopped off, drugs will simply disappear. You know what the Taliban's worst crime was? They banned poppies. Eradicated the crop ENTIRELY in 2 seasons. It took the US and it's "northern alliance" to INCREASE poppy production in 1 season.
Harvester of Sorrow
My life suffocates
Planting seeds of hate
I've loved, turned to hate
Trapped far beyond my fate
I give
You take
This life that I forsake
Been cheated of my youth
You turned this lie to truth
Anger
Misery
Youll suffer unto me
Harvester of sorrow
Language of the mad
Harvester of sorrow
Pure black looking clear
My work is done soon here
Try getting back to me
Get back which used to be
Drink up
Shoot in
Let the beatings begin
Distributor of pain
Your loss becomes my gain
Anger
Misery
Youll suffer unto me
Harvester of sorrow
Language of the mad
Harvester of sorrow
All have said their prayers
Invade their nightmares
See into my eyes
Youll find where murder lies
Infanticide
Harvester of sorrow
Language of the mad
Harvester of sorrow
Language of the mad
Harvester of sorrow
Planting seeds of hate
I've loved, turned to hate
Trapped far beyond my fate
I give
You take
This life that I forsake
Been cheated of my youth
You turned this lie to truth
Anger
Misery
Youll suffer unto me
Harvester of sorrow
Language of the mad
Harvester of sorrow
Pure black looking clear
My work is done soon here
Try getting back to me
Get back which used to be
Drink up
Shoot in
Let the beatings begin
Distributor of pain
Your loss becomes my gain
Anger
Misery
Youll suffer unto me
Harvester of sorrow
Language of the mad
Harvester of sorrow
All have said their prayers
Invade their nightmares
See into my eyes
Youll find where murder lies
Infanticide
Harvester of sorrow
Language of the mad
Harvester of sorrow
Language of the mad
Harvester of sorrow
Wednesday, 11 March 2009
The Cool Observer Interview
?
1. What skill(s) would you teach a child to aid their passage through this world?
2. If you could have a new society tomorrow, how would you describe the relationship of its citizens in this new society?
3. What are you going to write a song about tomorrow?
4. Have you heard of anyone yet having a satisfactory explanation for the success of P. Diddy (a.k.a. Puff Daddy or Sean Combs)?
5. It’s time to make a choice. Would you fight or flee, and why?
6. When did the first monkey go to hell?
7. If you were a stock character in a dystopian sci-fi film/novel which would it be: the overlord, the scientist, the ultimate warrior, the lone explorer, etc.?
8. What food/meal do you make that requires the most effort to prepare?
9. What was your last moment of clarity?
10. Are we all fucked?
Thank you to MickyZ
1. What skill(s) would you teach a child to aid their passage through this world?
2. If you could have a new society tomorrow, how would you describe the relationship of its citizens in this new society?
3. What are you going to write a song about tomorrow?
4. Have you heard of anyone yet having a satisfactory explanation for the success of P. Diddy (a.k.a. Puff Daddy or Sean Combs)?
5. It’s time to make a choice. Would you fight or flee, and why?
6. When did the first monkey go to hell?
7. If you were a stock character in a dystopian sci-fi film/novel which would it be: the overlord, the scientist, the ultimate warrior, the lone explorer, etc.?
8. What food/meal do you make that requires the most effort to prepare?
9. What was your last moment of clarity?
10. Are we all fucked?
Thank you to MickyZ
They made it
http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22182.htm
The Viva Palestina convoy drove slowly along the Salah Eddine road leading to Gaza City taking in the atmosphere around them and savoring the moment of history they had just created.
Along the way, thousands of Palestinians, the other heroes of this beautiful story of resistance, defiance and hope approached every vehicle kissing, touching, hugging the bravest of Britain. They handed their babies, their young children, to the convoy members so that they could be embraced, as if the angels were in town. Drenched in flowers, tears were flowing on both sides.
Further up the road, they could see people coming out of their tents and the ruins of their destroyed homes running towards them, rubbing their eyes in disbelief that the siege has been broken and they were not alone.
According to the Palestinian Information Centre, George Galloway in his historic speech from Al Katiba Square, confirmed that Ismael Hania is the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and a prime minister for all the free of the world
He also said that the members of the convoy are not from the upper class of the UK, but from all walks of life, all religions, all colours. The donations came from ordinary people, from mosques and churches. He also said that millions could not make this journey, but they are all praying today for you, the people of Palestine.
In Gaza City, it was jubilations and celebrations tonight where the guests of honour did not want to be considered as guests - but as part of the ever-growing Gaza family. The Gaza authorities have organised a rally in honour of Viva Palestina and a program of activities that includes a tour of the damaged areas including schools, hospitals and other amenities.
Some support members of Viva Palestina who managed to cross on foot after a ten-hour wait at the border are staying at Rafah tonight as guests of the Gaza governing authorities. Unfortunately, some other members are still awaiting permission to cross. They are hoping that the Egyptians will allow them to join their friends tomorrow.
An eventful day, with a roller-coaster of emotions, is drawing to an close. Tomorrow Viva Palestina will tour Gaza to see, at first hand, the plight of one and half million people in the densest concentration of people per square kilometre on the globe.
They will report on the scale of the calamity in what, in reality, is the world’s biggest concentration camp, where people have endured a never-ending siege and where they have nowhere to run when the F16s decide to play their deadly game with the children of Gaza.
Farid Arada
The Viva Palestina convoy drove slowly along the Salah Eddine road leading to Gaza City taking in the atmosphere around them and savoring the moment of history they had just created.
Along the way, thousands of Palestinians, the other heroes of this beautiful story of resistance, defiance and hope approached every vehicle kissing, touching, hugging the bravest of Britain. They handed their babies, their young children, to the convoy members so that they could be embraced, as if the angels were in town. Drenched in flowers, tears were flowing on both sides.
Further up the road, they could see people coming out of their tents and the ruins of their destroyed homes running towards them, rubbing their eyes in disbelief that the siege has been broken and they were not alone.
According to the Palestinian Information Centre, George Galloway in his historic speech from Al Katiba Square, confirmed that Ismael Hania is the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people and a prime minister for all the free of the world
He also said that the members of the convoy are not from the upper class of the UK, but from all walks of life, all religions, all colours. The donations came from ordinary people, from mosques and churches. He also said that millions could not make this journey, but they are all praying today for you, the people of Palestine.
In Gaza City, it was jubilations and celebrations tonight where the guests of honour did not want to be considered as guests - but as part of the ever-growing Gaza family. The Gaza authorities have organised a rally in honour of Viva Palestina and a program of activities that includes a tour of the damaged areas including schools, hospitals and other amenities.
Some support members of Viva Palestina who managed to cross on foot after a ten-hour wait at the border are staying at Rafah tonight as guests of the Gaza governing authorities. Unfortunately, some other members are still awaiting permission to cross. They are hoping that the Egyptians will allow them to join their friends tomorrow.
An eventful day, with a roller-coaster of emotions, is drawing to an close. Tomorrow Viva Palestina will tour Gaza to see, at first hand, the plight of one and half million people in the densest concentration of people per square kilometre on the globe.
They will report on the scale of the calamity in what, in reality, is the world’s biggest concentration camp, where people have endured a never-ending siege and where they have nowhere to run when the F16s decide to play their deadly game with the children of Gaza.
Farid Arada
Comments
Hey irondad ... *chuckle* ...
Look at the faces, soldier face wide, open, alert ... inscrutable. Photographer ... like a child screwing his face up to pear into the unknown.
It would actually be funny if it wasn't a gun. As to where i find these? Ok, i'll admit a HUGE weakness for visual imagery, i used to do photography, and have been told i have talent, but at this point can not afford either 35mm d+p or a digicam.
So i surf the web, and revel in other's ability to capture the world n a 100th of a second. And like with this soldier pic, how apt, certainly only 1000 words would be an insult, you could wax eloquent for months on the various nuances and associations of that photo.
One i just found this morning on a "private" biker site, well the comment under it says all, sometimes a picture only needs a few short, sharp words.
Strains of AC/DC, Back in Black.....
Mike, thanks but no.
For some arbitrary reason i cannot comment (?) ... silly technology. Ah well, my fucking blog i'll just use the main page to reply, i can do that :D
Found a really interesting video last night, it was in some stuff a friend brought for the pc. The B52's, 1978, live on stage in front of about 30 people, doing Rock Lobster. OMG, wow!! Awesome to watch, and odd, because it is a really intense song, musically too, and yet on stage it take a whole new persona. The BEST part is, after a really hot live performance, the lead singer says: "Waiters work for tips, i should know, i'm a waiter too .... "
YOU tube - Rock Lobster
And my story of the day .... : The old man and the bicycles
March 11 2009 at 07:34AM
Geneva - A Swiss retiree in his seventies was convicted on Tuesday of being a serial bicycle thief, rolling away nearly 900 bicycles over a six-year period.
The former insurance agent began snatching bikes after he retired in 2001, and quickly resold them, the Swiss news agency ATS reported.
By the end of 2007, he had pilfered a total of 873 bicycles.
A court in the northwest Swiss city of Basel handed the bike thief a two-year suspended jail sentence and fined him 66 000 Swiss francs for unpaid taxes on his illegal gains. - AFP
I ASK you, what the fuckity fuck fuck?
peace
Look at the faces, soldier face wide, open, alert ... inscrutable. Photographer ... like a child screwing his face up to pear into the unknown.
It would actually be funny if it wasn't a gun. As to where i find these? Ok, i'll admit a HUGE weakness for visual imagery, i used to do photography, and have been told i have talent, but at this point can not afford either 35mm d+p or a digicam.
So i surf the web, and revel in other's ability to capture the world n a 100th of a second. And like with this soldier pic, how apt, certainly only 1000 words would be an insult, you could wax eloquent for months on the various nuances and associations of that photo.
One i just found this morning on a "private" biker site, well the comment under it says all, sometimes a picture only needs a few short, sharp words.
Strains of AC/DC, Back in Black.....
Mike, thanks but no.
For some arbitrary reason i cannot comment (?) ... silly technology. Ah well, my fucking blog i'll just use the main page to reply, i can do that :D
Found a really interesting video last night, it was in some stuff a friend brought for the pc. The B52's, 1978, live on stage in front of about 30 people, doing Rock Lobster. OMG, wow!! Awesome to watch, and odd, because it is a really intense song, musically too, and yet on stage it take a whole new persona. The BEST part is, after a really hot live performance, the lead singer says: "Waiters work for tips, i should know, i'm a waiter too .... "
YOU tube - Rock Lobster
And my story of the day .... : The old man and the bicycles
March 11 2009 at 07:34AM
Geneva - A Swiss retiree in his seventies was convicted on Tuesday of being a serial bicycle thief, rolling away nearly 900 bicycles over a six-year period.
The former insurance agent began snatching bikes after he retired in 2001, and quickly resold them, the Swiss news agency ATS reported.
By the end of 2007, he had pilfered a total of 873 bicycles.
A court in the northwest Swiss city of Basel handed the bike thief a two-year suspended jail sentence and fined him 66 000 Swiss francs for unpaid taxes on his illegal gains. - AFP
I ASK you, what the fuckity fuck fuck?
peace
Monday, 9 March 2009
Friday, 6 March 2009
Earthbag Building
New idea, or an old idea, i'm not really sure. Old idea reworked more like it.
www.earthbagbuilding.com
by Kelly Hart
The idea of making walls by stacking bags of sand or earth has been around for at least a century. Originally sand bags were used for flood control and military bunkers because they are easy to transport to where they need to be used, fast to assemble, inexpensive, and effective at their task of warding off both water and bullets.
At first natural materials such as burlap were used to manufacture the bags; more recently woven polypropylene has become the preferred material because of its superior strength. The burlap will actually last a bit longer if subjected to sunlight, but it will eventually rot if left damp, whereas polypropylene is unaffected by moisture.
Because of this history of military and flood control, the use of sandbags has generally been associated with the construction of temporary structures or barriers. Using sandbags to actually build houses or permanent structures has been a relatively recent innovation.
In 1976 the Research Laboratory for Experimental Building at Kassel Polytechnic College in Germany began to investigate the question of how natural building materials like sand and gravel could be used for building houses without the necessity of using binders. The use of fabric-packed bulk material was found to be a cost-efficient approach. They used pumice to pack in the bags, because it weighs less and has better thermal insulating properties than ordinary sand and gravel. Their first successful experiments were with corbelled dome shapes ( an inverted catenary) which was obtained with the aid of a rotating vertical template mounted at the center of the structure.
www.earthbagbuilding.com
by Kelly Hart
The idea of making walls by stacking bags of sand or earth has been around for at least a century. Originally sand bags were used for flood control and military bunkers because they are easy to transport to where they need to be used, fast to assemble, inexpensive, and effective at their task of warding off both water and bullets.
At first natural materials such as burlap were used to manufacture the bags; more recently woven polypropylene has become the preferred material because of its superior strength. The burlap will actually last a bit longer if subjected to sunlight, but it will eventually rot if left damp, whereas polypropylene is unaffected by moisture.
Because of this history of military and flood control, the use of sandbags has generally been associated with the construction of temporary structures or barriers. Using sandbags to actually build houses or permanent structures has been a relatively recent innovation.
In 1976 the Research Laboratory for Experimental Building at Kassel Polytechnic College in Germany began to investigate the question of how natural building materials like sand and gravel could be used for building houses without the necessity of using binders. The use of fabric-packed bulk material was found to be a cost-efficient approach. They used pumice to pack in the bags, because it weighs less and has better thermal insulating properties than ordinary sand and gravel. Their first successful experiments were with corbelled dome shapes ( an inverted catenary) which was obtained with the aid of a rotating vertical template mounted at the center of the structure.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Think Bike in Cape Town
I'm a Cape Town boy, and DAMN does this make me proud ....
From the Think Bike website
The Mayors office of Cape Town, in particular, the Executive Deputy Mayor, Councillor Grant Haskin, has thought it good to support Think Bike and its initiatives into the future.
Support, as a start, comes to the tune of 50 000 (thats fifty thousand) bumper stickers which the Mayor's office has ordered from Think Bike. Deputy Haskin has committed to putting a bumper sticker on every Cape Town City Council vehicle - thats 12 000 vehicles
We see this as the tip of the iceberg in Cape Town with many spin-offs coming from this - and it has already started rolling in. Think Bike has been invited to participate in the upcoming NMT workshop as well as participating in the planned Safety & Awareness forum.
We are confident that other organisations and institutions will follow in their support for Think Bike. I must add here that Councillor Haskin rides both a motorcycle and bicycle and safety and awareness lies dear to his heart. He is outspoken in his views on safety and his input into the process into the future is invaluable.
Discussions are already underway to ensure a greater co-operation with the traffic authorities in Cape Town and other influential departments.
THINK BIKE ROCKS
Councillor Grant Haskin
From the Think Bike website
The Mayors office of Cape Town, in particular, the Executive Deputy Mayor, Councillor Grant Haskin, has thought it good to support Think Bike and its initiatives into the future.
Support, as a start, comes to the tune of 50 000 (thats fifty thousand) bumper stickers which the Mayor's office has ordered from Think Bike. Deputy Haskin has committed to putting a bumper sticker on every Cape Town City Council vehicle - thats 12 000 vehicles
We see this as the tip of the iceberg in Cape Town with many spin-offs coming from this - and it has already started rolling in. Think Bike has been invited to participate in the upcoming NMT workshop as well as participating in the planned Safety & Awareness forum.
We are confident that other organisations and institutions will follow in their support for Think Bike. I must add here that Councillor Haskin rides both a motorcycle and bicycle and safety and awareness lies dear to his heart. He is outspoken in his views on safety and his input into the process into the future is invaluable.
Discussions are already underway to ensure a greater co-operation with the traffic authorities in Cape Town and other influential departments.
THINK BIKE ROCKS
Councillor Grant Haskin
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Tuesday, 3 March 2009
Shaik
Fuck you Shabir ... you winging whining little poep. Big man and all that, bring him to earth he cries like a little baby for his mommy.
""The act is very clear. It talks about people who are in the final stages their terminal illness - but that determination is not done by the officials of the department, that is done by medical doctors that submit their reports to the parole board which then makes a decision," said Wolela.
Shaik has served two years and four months of his 15-year term, spending most of that time in hospital due to high blood pressure, depression and chest pains.
Asked whether Shaik was in the final stages of a terminal illness, Wolela replied: "In terms of the act, as now pronounced or determined by medical practitioners.""
This is the ANC, a bunch of cowards. *spit* Make OTHER people die in prison, but not their struggle hero friend. I cannot express my disgust enough.
""The act is very clear. It talks about people who are in the final stages their terminal illness - but that determination is not done by the officials of the department, that is done by medical doctors that submit their reports to the parole board which then makes a decision," said Wolela.
Shaik has served two years and four months of his 15-year term, spending most of that time in hospital due to high blood pressure, depression and chest pains.
Asked whether Shaik was in the final stages of a terminal illness, Wolela replied: "In terms of the act, as now pronounced or determined by medical practitioners.""
This is the ANC, a bunch of cowards. *spit* Make OTHER people die in prison, but not their struggle hero friend. I cannot express my disgust enough.
Rules of Transition
Monday August 28, 2006 (0134 PST)
Anwar Hussain
eagleeye@emirates.net.ae
From: Paktribune
It is no more a secret that a select group of powerful men of a certain Western Judeo-Christian strain (Anglo-U$raeli henceforth), and their regional touts, are indeed busy carving a new world for us all, a world where we all will be ‘equal’ at last.
It is also a fact that all world orders, from the olden to the present ones, have always been shaped and reshaped from the Middle East. Earlier, it was done in the name of God by kings and Crusaders where adding huge chunks of real estate to the Empire was their actual aim. Now, it is being done in the name of liberty by ruling charlatans for the left over riches in the innards of the earth. While the convenient banner of divinity has been replaced by the equally expedient flag of freedom, we the underdogs, force-fed with the illusory diet of religion and patriotism, continue as ever to remain the fodder, fuel and engine for the schema of the devil.
That we cannot learn not to be their tools remains yet another unfortunate fact. History repeats itself and we are its unlucky medium. Therefore, for a smooth transition from the present to the future, there are certain rules that need to be learned first.
Rule # 1. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, the war is being fought against a stateless, invisible enemy called a ‘terrorist’. As the enemy is unseen and unquantifiable, so too shall be the end of the war. This is an endless war.
Rule # 2. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, for the sake of liberty and freedom, all rules of fair play, standards of justice and canons of human rights etc etc. shall stand null and void for the duration of war (see rule # 1 for the duration of war).
Rule # 3. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, none shall resist the onslaught. It is a ‘war on terror’ and any one resisting it shall be ‘the terrorist’.
Rule # 4. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, when the ‘liberators’ help each other, it shall be called ‘helping friends’ but when the victims do the same, it shall be called ‘abetting terrorists’.
Rule # 5. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, the ‘liberators’ may kill hundreds of thousands of human beings. This is called ‘War on Terror’ and there is neither any limit on human casualties in such wars nor is there a need to prove guilt by trial. A single ‘liberator’ being killed in retaliation, however, shall be viewed as an ‘act of unmitigated terror’ inviting an overwhelming rejoinder.
Rule # 6. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, the ‘liberators’ may capture, imprison and torture thousands at will. The victims doing the same, even in limited numbers like one or two, shall be called ‘kidnapping’ and a pure act of ‘terror’ and a ‘dis/proportionate’ response shall be immediately proffered.
Rule # 7. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, as a general guideline to the media pundits, it shall always be the Arabs that attack first and the Anglo-U$raelis who defend themselves. This shall be called ‘retaliation’. Likewise, a single Anglo-U$raeli being killed shall be called ‘terrorism’ and the Anglo-U$raelis killing the Arabs et al, an act of ‘self-defense’, or ‘collateral damage’, as the need may be.
Rule # 8. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, as a further guideline for the media pundits, when Anglo-U$raelis kill too many civilians, the world must call for ‘restraint’ and the needless uproar be termed as ‘reaction of the International Community’. On the other hand, the world community must be ‘outraged’ over the act of a single killing on the Anglo-U$raeli side and must ask the international public to condemn the ‘evil doers’.
Rule # 9. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, plots after ‘terror plots’ shall be discovered ‘just in time’ as and when the need arises. If the world citizenry does not act spooked enough, this activity of discovering terror plots ‘just in time’ shall be ceased forthwith. From then on, as a collective punishment, such terror plots shall be allowed to be carried through to their logical ends.
Rule # 10. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, the solitary role of the United Nations Organization shall be that of a debris sweeper after the Anglo-U$raelis conduct their operations. In between these operations, however, the organization may be used, whenever deemed necessary, to impose sanctions to soften the next targets for future operations.
Rule # 11. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, finally and most importantly, all thought crminalls like George Orwell and John James Ingalls etc. are now declared heretics and lunatics, even if posthumously. All such works are declared as the works of Devil and banned for the duration of war (see rule # 1 for the duration of war). Anyone found reading, disseminating or otherwise being in the general vicinity of printed material carrying such works shall be liable for a lynching death by nearby comrades. To recognize such works of the devil, the following sample excerpts from poisonous creeds of the two earlier mentioned thought criminals are circulated for general public awareness. The first ones are from George Orwell;
Quote # 1. Big Brother is watching you.
Quote # 2. Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.
Quote # 3. Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.
Quote # 4. All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.
And this next one from , John James Ingalls;
“In the democracy of the dead all men at last are equal. There is neither rank nor station nor prerogative in the republic of the grave.”
Note : While there shall be no abrogation in the Rules of Transition for the duration of ‘War on Terror’ (see rule # 1 for the duration of war), further additions, as the need arises, may be made from time to time. General public be warned.
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.
Copyrights : Anwaar Hussain
Anwar Hussain
eagleeye@emirates.net.ae
From: Paktribune
It is no more a secret that a select group of powerful men of a certain Western Judeo-Christian strain (Anglo-U$raeli henceforth), and their regional touts, are indeed busy carving a new world for us all, a world where we all will be ‘equal’ at last.
It is also a fact that all world orders, from the olden to the present ones, have always been shaped and reshaped from the Middle East. Earlier, it was done in the name of God by kings and Crusaders where adding huge chunks of real estate to the Empire was their actual aim. Now, it is being done in the name of liberty by ruling charlatans for the left over riches in the innards of the earth. While the convenient banner of divinity has been replaced by the equally expedient flag of freedom, we the underdogs, force-fed with the illusory diet of religion and patriotism, continue as ever to remain the fodder, fuel and engine for the schema of the devil.
That we cannot learn not to be their tools remains yet another unfortunate fact. History repeats itself and we are its unlucky medium. Therefore, for a smooth transition from the present to the future, there are certain rules that need to be learned first.
Rule # 1. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, the war is being fought against a stateless, invisible enemy called a ‘terrorist’. As the enemy is unseen and unquantifiable, so too shall be the end of the war. This is an endless war.
Rule # 2. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, for the sake of liberty and freedom, all rules of fair play, standards of justice and canons of human rights etc etc. shall stand null and void for the duration of war (see rule # 1 for the duration of war).
Rule # 3. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, none shall resist the onslaught. It is a ‘war on terror’ and any one resisting it shall be ‘the terrorist’.
Rule # 4. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, when the ‘liberators’ help each other, it shall be called ‘helping friends’ but when the victims do the same, it shall be called ‘abetting terrorists’.
Rule # 5. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, the ‘liberators’ may kill hundreds of thousands of human beings. This is called ‘War on Terror’ and there is neither any limit on human casualties in such wars nor is there a need to prove guilt by trial. A single ‘liberator’ being killed in retaliation, however, shall be viewed as an ‘act of unmitigated terror’ inviting an overwhelming rejoinder.
Rule # 6. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, the ‘liberators’ may capture, imprison and torture thousands at will. The victims doing the same, even in limited numbers like one or two, shall be called ‘kidnapping’ and a pure act of ‘terror’ and a ‘dis/proportionate’ response shall be immediately proffered.
Rule # 7. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, as a general guideline to the media pundits, it shall always be the Arabs that attack first and the Anglo-U$raelis who defend themselves. This shall be called ‘retaliation’. Likewise, a single Anglo-U$raeli being killed shall be called ‘terrorism’ and the Anglo-U$raelis killing the Arabs et al, an act of ‘self-defense’, or ‘collateral damage’, as the need may be.
Rule # 8. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, as a further guideline for the media pundits, when Anglo-U$raelis kill too many civilians, the world must call for ‘restraint’ and the needless uproar be termed as ‘reaction of the International Community’. On the other hand, the world community must be ‘outraged’ over the act of a single killing on the Anglo-U$raeli side and must ask the international public to condemn the ‘evil doers’.
Rule # 9. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, plots after ‘terror plots’ shall be discovered ‘just in time’ as and when the need arises. If the world citizenry does not act spooked enough, this activity of discovering terror plots ‘just in time’ shall be ceased forthwith. From then on, as a collective punishment, such terror plots shall be allowed to be carried through to their logical ends.
Rule # 10. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, the solitary role of the United Nations Organization shall be that of a debris sweeper after the Anglo-U$raelis conduct their operations. In between these operations, however, the organization may be used, whenever deemed necessary, to impose sanctions to soften the next targets for future operations.
Rule # 11. In this Anglo-U$raeli campaign for New World Order, finally and most importantly, all thought crminalls like George Orwell and John James Ingalls etc. are now declared heretics and lunatics, even if posthumously. All such works are declared as the works of Devil and banned for the duration of war (see rule # 1 for the duration of war). Anyone found reading, disseminating or otherwise being in the general vicinity of printed material carrying such works shall be liable for a lynching death by nearby comrades. To recognize such works of the devil, the following sample excerpts from poisonous creeds of the two earlier mentioned thought criminals are circulated for general public awareness. The first ones are from George Orwell;
Quote # 1. Big Brother is watching you.
Quote # 2. Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.
Quote # 3. Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.
Quote # 4. All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting.
And this next one from , John James Ingalls;
“In the democracy of the dead all men at last are equal. There is neither rank nor station nor prerogative in the republic of the grave.”
Note : While there shall be no abrogation in the Rules of Transition for the duration of ‘War on Terror’ (see rule # 1 for the duration of war), further additions, as the need arises, may be made from time to time. General public be warned.
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.
Copyrights : Anwaar Hussain
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