Dear South Africa

Here's a little collaborative effort between myself and fellow blogger Vanilla Ice. I must state that production credits and technical whizz bangs all go to VI. Cheers mate, you did a great job!

Tequila lady

The only problem Exzanian has with tequila, is that he cannot always remember is it the salt or the lemon first?

Rules for living

Ardi the Missing link is found

Moral values without Religion


A couple of recent posts on ILSA (I linked them above) one about human evolution and the other on morality, got me to thinking. Given that evolution is a fact, where does that leave morality for humans? Evolution is design-denying; all life on earth has resulted from a slow, laborious process of natural selection. In an environment of limited resources, the fittest (differential variation through chance mutation) live longer than competitors less "fit", and leave more offspring, in a never ending spiral of birth, competition, reproduction and death.

Life is an arms race. The strong overcome the weak. The cheetah runs faster, not only than the gazelle, but faster than his own spotty cousin can and so is privileged to pass on those genes for "fast running". In the meanwhile, the gazelle that lost the race against the cheetah was slower at escaping compared to his pronking cousin, and ended up as dinner. The Gazelle that got away will be the one to propagate it's own genes into the future.

It's no different for humans. It's a dog eat dog world out there, so you better get the edge, because somebody somewhere, is going to get it before you do. So where does morality come into it?

I turned to Carl Sagan for a little insight...The article ends on a lame note, but there is a lot more to be discovered in terms of game theory if you select the link provided. Personally, I subscribe to the Bronze rule, but I find myself tipping into the Iron rule at times...After all, I'm only human; the product of 3.5 billion years of evolution...LOL

I have excerpted a few passages from Chapter 16 of his beautiful book "Billions & Billions"

Food for thought, and to be honest with you, it opens a whole can of interesting worms to be explored...

The most admired standard of behavior, in the West at least, is the Golden Rule, attributed to Jesus of Nazareth. Everyone knows its formulation in the first-century Gospel of St. Matthew: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Almost no one follows it.

When the Chinese philosopher Kung-Tzi (known as Confucius in the West) was asked in the fifth century BC his opinion of the Golden Rule (by then already well-known),of repaying evil with kindness, he replied, "Then with what will you repay kindness?" Shall the poor woman who envies her neighbor's wealth give what little she has to the rich? Shall the masochist inflict pain on his neighbor?

The Golden Rule takes no account of human differences. Are we really capable, after our cheek has been slapped, of turning the other cheek so it too can be slapped? With a heartless adversary, isn't this just a guarantee of more suffering?

The Silver Rule is different: Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you. It also can be found worldwide, including, a generation before Jesus, in the writings of Rabbi Hillel.

The most inspiring twentieth-century exemplars of the Silver Rule were Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. They counseled oppressed peoples not to repay violence with violence, but not to be compliant and obedient either. Nonviolent civil disobedience was what they advocated... putting your body on the line; showing, by your willingness to be punished in defying an unjust law, the justice of your cause. They aimed at melting the hearts of their oppressors (and those who had not yet made up their minds).

"Repay kindness with kindness," said Confucius, "but evil with justice." This might be called the Brass or Brazen Rule: Do unto others as they do unto you. It's the lex talonis, "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," plus "one good turn deserves another." In actual human (and chimpanzee) behavior it's a familiar standard. "If the enemy inclines toward peace, do thou also incline toward peace,"

President Bill Clinton quoted from the Qur'an at the Israeli-Palestinian peace accords. Without having to appeal to anyone's better nature, we institute a kind of operant conditioning, rewarding them when they're nice to us and punishing them when they're not. We're not pushovers but we're not unforgiving either. It sounds promising. Or is it true that "two wrongs don't make a right"?

Of baser coinage is the Iron Rule: Do unto others as you like, before they do it unto you. It is sometimes formulated as "He who has the gold makes the rules," underscoring not just its departure from, but its contempt for the Golden Rule. This is the secret maxim of many, if they can get away with it, and often the unspoken precept of the powerful.

Finally, I should mention two other rules, found throughout the living world. They explain a great deal: One is Suck up to those above you, and abuse those below. This is the motto of bullies and the norm in many nonhuman primate societies. It's really the Golden Rule for superiors, the Iron Rule for inferiors. Since there is no known alloy of gold and iron, we'll call it the Tin Rule for its flexibility. The other common rule is Give precedence in all things to close relatives, and do as you like to others. This Nepotism Rule is known to evolutionary biologists as "kin selection."

Read the entire article

SA satellite finally lifts off

It's not rocket science is it?

This is an oft-repeated rhetorical question we often use when dealing with simple problems.

But sometimes, it really is about rocket science. Sometimes, you need to know a little bit (or just about everything there is to know) about rocket science. Trajectories, gravity, meters per second per second, and of course, differential calculus.

It was with wonderment (and not to mention consternation) therefore that I stumbled upon the headline on news24, that SA had launched her satellite. Way to go SA!!!!! I thought, my heart swelling with pride.

It was a short lived feeling. This was a Russian rocket that had been launched. In Khazakstan. The SA effort was merely a camera that had been "piggy backed" into space on a Russian rocket, which was co-incidentally on another mission altogether, but could afford to accommodate an extra 81 KG camera at a cost of R21 million to the SA taxpayer. Not quite engendering feelings of fierce pride.

What did this launch actually have to do with SA? What did we do, except purchase foreign expertise? Can SA actually design and launch her own satellite?

Praying for Sipho

”Anyone with needs to be prayed over, come forward, to the front at the altar!!!!,” proclaimed the Preacher.

Sipho gets in line, and when it's his turn, the preacher asks: “Sipho, what do you want me to pray about for you?”

Sipho replies: “Preacher, I need you to pray for my hearing.”

The preacher puts one finger in Sipho's ear, and he places the other hand on top of Sipho's head and prays and prays and prays, he prays a blue streak for Sipho.

After a few minutes, the Preacher removes his hands, stands back and asks, “Sipho, how is your hearing now?”

Sipho says, “I don't know, Reverend, the Court case is only being heard next Wednesday ..!”

Work Balance

Work is the bane of my life. Wherever I have been, I hated it, in SA, or the UK, it is pretty much the same. No free lunch, no money for nothing or chicks for free. Nevertheless, it is often challenging, sometimes boring, occasionally fulfilling. But it is NEVER nice.

But one thing is for sure, despite all the obstacles, I KNOW for sure that I am absolutely indispensable to my company. I add value. I create. I work!

In my humble opinion, this is how I view my performance:





The problem is, I have a sneaking suspicion that my boss differs on some occassions. Sometimes I have had reaction similar to this:

SA's 605th Refugee

No doubt you have heard the howls of outrage at the decision by the Canadian refugee board's decision to grant Brandon Huntley refugee status, but have you heard there are already 604 SA refugees worldwide?
Here's the link.

No doubt you will have heard that the ANC regime has been deeply humiliated in being exposed for their lack of basic protection to white SAn's living in SA and that they have pressured the Canadian Government to take the decision on appeal?

Well, it's not over till the fat lady sings. I urge you to send an e-mail to the honourable Jason Kenne, Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, as I have done...Here's the e-mail addres kennej@parl.gc.ca

Dear Honourable Sir

I am writing to you to express my support of the Canadian decision to grant Mr Brandon Huntley refugee status in Canada. I believe the Canadian Government has called for a review of the decision on appeal, at the instance of the ANC regime.

I urge you to uphold the decision reached by the board and continue to allow Mr Huntley to remain in Canada indefinitely as a refugee.

No doubt your investigations will confirm that there are currently 604 South Africans scattered around the world who have already been granted refugee status.

The whole Huntley saga has in my opinion been blown out of proportion by the main stream media. It has resulted in an embarrassing situation for the ANC regime which in turn has resulted in a massive backslash of anti white sentiment. In particular, Mr Huntley has become even more vilified and hated. He has been described as a coward and malingerer. Your investigations will reveal that there have been howls of outrage and loathing expressed in informal blogs, as well as MSM sources. I fear that if the decision to grant him refugee status is reversed, it will mean deportation back to his land of birth to an extremely hostile reception, and placing him in a far worse position.

It is hypocritical for the current ANC regime in South Africa to oppose the Canadian Board’s decision whilst opening South Africa’s own borders and accepting millions of displaced Zimbabweans and other African refugees into the country without expecting criticism.

I too am an expat South African citizen currently residing in the UK. I am one of the lucky South Africans to have applied and found a job in a safe country, away from the constant crime and harassment that white SA citizens experience on a daily basis.

Please uphold the current decision and allow Mr Huntley the freedom to continue a life without crime and fear as I am currently enjoying as a fundamental right.

Yours Sincerely

V

My thoughts are Free...How about you?

Die Gedanken sind frei
My thoughts freely flower,
Die Gedanken sind frei
My thoughts give me power.
No scholar can map them,
No hunter can trap them,
No man can deny:
Die Gedanken sind frei!

I think as I please
And this gives me pleasure,
My conscience decrees,
This right I must treasure;
My thoughts will not cater
To duke or dictator,
No man can deny--
Die Gedanken sind frei!

And if tyrants take me
And throw me in prison
My thoughts will burst free,
Like blossoms in season.
Foundations will crumble,
The structure will tumble,
And free men will cry:
Die Gedanken sind frei!

Neither trouble or pain
Will ever touch me again.
No good comes of fretting,
My hope's in forgetting.
Within myself still
I can think as I will,
But I laugh, do not cry:
Die Gedanken sind frei!