The three Hebrew boys

All eyes on Botswana: Its election time!

2009-10-16T10:31:00.001+02:00

hey guys did you know? Botswana is at the polls today, keep watching and comment, fair and peaceful elections is what we all need... dont compromise let us know how we are doing.
thanx
chao

These Kids are crazy! They playing with a python, can you believe it?

2009-10-13T13:13:00.004+02:00

Part two of the snakes.

These Kids are crazy! They playing with a python, can you believe it?

2009-10-13T12:41:00.004+02:00

It happened right in my office. I couldn't believe it, but I do now. We are currently filming a documentary about snakes in Botswana, hey, these things are scary but also enticing to watch. I guess the adrenalin rush is pretty integral to a human being's life. My secretary was shaking but she just couldn't miss her chance of handling the snake also, like everybody else but me. I don't take chances, for me its either black or white. I don't deal in grey areas, no! forget it...

Been a while since I blogged

2009-10-13T12:33:00.002+02:00

Hi, bloggers out there. It has been a while since I blogged. Otherwise, it so nice to be able to blogg yet again.

अ कल्तुरे shock!

2008-10-16T12:14:00.003+02:00

माय ब्लॉग इस स्पेअकिंग ओंठेर लैंगुएज! कानान्योने तेल में वहत इस गोइंग ओं हियर? हे ब्लोग्गेर्स?

AND... WHAT CAN COME OUT OF A RURAL AFRICAN VILLAGE... IN THE FORMER APERTHEID SOUTH AFRICA's TRANSKEI?

2008-08-22T17:06:00.000+02:00

I have been to this area for a number of times now.In fact I just got back from Hamburg last night. But everytime I go to Hamburg, I feel like I am visiting the place for the very first time. Hamburg is a unique place in South Africa. It is a place with a story to be told.It is a place rich in History and love. It is a place that brings you closely in touch with true nature. People here know how to love and care for one another. Hamburg resembles those places that we only hear about and read about in novels, it is too good to really accept its existence. But there is indeed such a place somewhere in South Africa. Such a place exists. I really fall shot in trying to describe this unique,indeed a very anthological village that welcomes all and offers more than just love and support to its dwellers but to all who care to visit. Hamburg a village of hope, of love, of sharing and a village full and well renoun for its creativity. It is the mother of the famousALTERPIECE which is touring the world as I write.A home of many colours.A home of everything. A home that woke-up and said to Africa and the rest of the world: "we can and we are alive with oppprtunity, and yes something can come out of our village, out of Africa. Hamburg defies the odds!

CHILD SOLDIERS, AFRICA WHY?

2008-08-22T17:03:00.000+02:00

Unlike Angola, this documentary was a direct eye-witness account chronicling a heartlessly inhumane,behaviour demonstrated by the “lord resistance army” on children. I really find it hard not to blame colonialism and its exploitative practices for this legacy of brutality and the consequent evils perpetrated agains children and other civilians in countries affected by civil wars. These wars are economic wars other than just political wars.

"ANGOLA SAUDADES FROM THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU”

2008-08-22T16:59:00.000+02:00

Angola is a documentary that tells the story of the people of Angola as they grapple with coming to terms with their new "peace" following years upon years of civil unrest. It is very clear and worth noting that the civil unrest that threatened to destroy this country, which is rich in natural resources were deliberately perpetrated by evil colonial forces:" Unlike Portugal's other African possessions, which had made relatively peaceful transitions to independence months earlier, by November 11, 1975, Angola was in chaos". See ANGOLA:INDEPENDENCE AND THE RISE OF THE MPLA GOVERNMENT for more on Angola.

In attempting to make sense of the events highlighted by this documentary, I find myself having to grapple with the question of meaning making. In other words what “truth” if any was the director trying to communicate to us the viewers when he set out to making this documentary? There are of course numerous compartments that ultimately make an “ideal” called “truth”. But over the years the notion “truth” has seen different debates reducing it to a mere relativity. “The truth” as a concept is now considered a relative concept. I don’t agree, but I will not deal with this phenomenon here. My basic endeavour here is to extrapolate themes running through or addressed by the director of this award-winning documentary which to the best of my convictions is indeed a brilliant documentation of such issues as the one here addressed.
The documentary "Angola Saudades from the one who loves you” is based on Angola’s struggle to recover from a 27 years of civil war. Angola is just one among many African countries which have just emerged from a devastating legacy of atrociously inhuman sufferings at the peril of civil wars. The documentary does extracts or represents in a kaleidoscopic way different strands of causative forces that can rightly be implicated in the face of these national atrocities. To capture and utilise this filmatographic art of story-telling, the director uses an anonymous voice that reads letters chronicling the events of the war, in a way that takes the viewer on a journey. These letters sample different realities of life in this oil producing country in ways that creates a dichotomy of livelihoods, between rich and poor, street kids and their squalor versus the duality of the lives that the fashion models of that country live under. Through this medium we encounter yet another kaleidoscope of aesthetics emanating from the juxtaposed differences in livelihoods.
For once we are transferred into a state of psychological engagement with the documentary. Our political, anthropological, economical and linguistic strands of reasoning are pulled into “excruciating” and laborious actions. We begin to reckon with the mechanisms of exploitation laid bare before our eyes by the documentary. We try to make sense of it in the “normal” way of making meaning of such activities but this one betrays in many ways our normalised ways of reading our world. Personally, I am stretched beyond what I have experienced before. I am forced to read the situation from a political point of view, but no, that is not entirely what it is. It’s an economical battle. But also not in its entirety. There are more forces to reckon with here than meets the eye, but I am only equipped with just a little knowledge to grapple with the aforementioned issues.
I feel a bit overwhelmed by circumstances these people had to grapple with. I want to make sense of these happenings in an objective way that journalists should approach their subject matters with. However, the pain these people had to go through, affects me so bad I can’t stand the colonial exploitation the African continent had to reckon with. I see clearly the devastating effects this system left on our poor continent. It’s painful to even think about it. Here is a country, rich in natural recourses but very poor in any other means possible. I see the poverty in the art and skill of leadership. I see the ignorance perpetrated by this lack. Black people against black people. Colonialism is over in theory but still deeply imbedded in the way things are run and systems articulated on the ground in most of Africa. For most of the black folk as was indicated by one of the characters, we have lost hope in not only our leaders but also in those systems: humanitarian systems that are supposed to be protecting us. The system is now bought and initiated into the western colonial patterns now unfortunately propagated by the leaders African people elect to represent them. Greed and exploitation is now a new definition of a truly democratic democracy in Africa. The only thing that remains to the people on the ground is to ‘act’. The fashion models carry this painful metaphoric re-enactment of life-after-colonialism with such fervency that betrays any kind of illusion by which the political and economic realities of the Angolan problems can be evaded.
It is so clear in this documentary that outside we appear happy and jovial, but the truth is: it’s just an act and the sad thing about it is this happiness is momentary and it keeps office hours, that’s it. Beyond the office it’s over—completely non-existent. The models who brings this reality to bear in our minds, after acting in the world that exploit and mines their talents for selfish gains do go back to the squalor to which they were born, after office hours. This is how I read the events of this documentary and to me it makes much sense that way. Meaning it is said is a re-enactment of our on socialisations and I think my social upbringing gave me such spectacles by which I read through the events chronicled in this documentary.
This collage of events is effectively presented rather descriptively through a clever and catchy usage of very symbolic sound tracks that make the thematic journey through the documentary one that hooks and engages the audience with almost the same convictions as the makers of the documentary themselves. Together, the film and the music create a vivid extrapolation of the enigma that is Angola. Coupled with the soothing poem and the soul piercing music and pictures that for once makes one’s heart skip a beat, the film is given a poetic and yet a very strong feel, that it almost speaks loudly to the reformer in each audience whose motivation is to do just that. The constant recitation of the phrase “He wrote” resounds with an air of determination and a vehement spirit, painting with the rigour of the strokes of a rough textured paint-brush in the hands of an amateur painter, the immediacy and accuracy of the events chronicled by the documentary. This anonymous voice reads or should I say recounts and rubs-in the question that is in everyone’s mind: “will Angola (or Africa) rise from the ashes and rebuilt again?”
Furthermore, by the beautifully sound-tracked journey through the documentary, the director seems to take us through a cul-de-sac of impossibilities. He paints descriptively quite a world of contrasts presented through a kaleidoscope of visuals sampling the diverse experiences of Angolans: from wealthy oil barons to street children, with mansions and malls juxtaposed against rubble and decay. By painting such a landscape of dichotomous events, the award-winning documentary seem to suggest that a prosperous future is still out of reach for the majority of Angolans in this theoretically rich but practically anguished land. And the politics and colonial exploitation re-lives yet again…

THE NUBA PEOPLE

2008-08-22T16:57:00.000+02:00

I recently watched a documentary on the Nuba people: The Nuba people are made up of ninety-nine black African tribes living in the Nuba Mountains situated in the Sudanese province of South Kordofan. Like most if not all of African people, these tribes have lived for decades as forgotten people.But it wasn't long before they became part of the political and economic concerns of their country, including the west. However, it is most amazing, in fact it is disheartning that these people only became important in as far as their natural resources could be exploited for the enrichment of the powerful west and the greedy leaders of the African continent.For 15 years the Nuba mountains which had for long been their (Nuba people) own were besieged by the regular Sudanese Army. However, "the genocide perpetrated on the Nuba people, which is obviously the result of the world powers’ struggle over Sudanese natural riches, remains concealed from the world public" See Nuba a pure people by Tomo Kriznar for more on the Nuba people.

The Paralysis of unity: Are we one like Christ, The Father & The Holy Spirit?

2008-08-05T09:20:00.000+02:00

By Prince t.

© God’s Business Mag, 2008
All rights Reserved. To use this article contact: Prince on 0721290602/ 011 211 3651
Or email: monnapt@gmail.com
Offenders will be prosecuted.

ENNERDALE: Fear, nostalgia, skepticism, a lethargic preponderance to please hang like seed-pearls and characterized the atmosphere around the council chambers. It was yet another one of those rocking-chair types: ‘almost century long’ Ennerdale Ministers’ Forum meetings all of which had been convened with one purpose and mandate: the adoption of a constitution which would govern the business of the Forum.

This particular evening, determination characterized the steering committee’s chair. The fair-skinned, almost grey haired gentleman came determined to see the constitution adopted. The Committee’s chair sat on pins and needles trying so hard to maintain a servant heart as the affairs of the meeting almost dead-locked yet again. In what almost seemed like the Mugabe-Tsvangirai saga, one minister wouldn’t agree with the meeting over the adoption of the constitution. His reasons: the usual problem Ennerdale has been recycling for centuries- failure to attend meetings by Ennerdale Religious leaders.

However, Mr. Chair… displayed a remarkable ability to serve his colleagues and never lost heart, explaining even the most redundant of queries from the floor. Ultimately it paid off: the constitution was adopted to the relief of many.

Now action will be the pudding as the saying goes: the taste is in the pudding.
Prior to this meeting, about 120 invitations were drafted for invitations, but of all the people who got the invitations, only about three cared to send an apology in, while the rest decided their ‘business’ was much more important than the business of their community which by the way is in shambles. Drugs, car theft, teenage insolence, pregnancies, alcoholism, murder, the breakdown in the family nucleus to name but a few, couldn’t concern some ministers. One wonders therefore, which God they represent, because my Jehovah is total different, He is completely concerned about Ennerdale and her state disturbs Him bad.

However, and eventually after, I almost quit the Forum; a decision was made to adopt the constitution as a working or a living document which will be open for amendments during the cause or tenure of its existence. That’s at least fair, I thought to myself and at least there is some snail-pace of a progress…phew! What a sigh of relief.

You may wonder what on earth is this boy writing about? But let me answer your question before you put words in my mouth. I am a self appointed critic of the body of Christ under the banner of what I call ‘God’s Business’ and I hope you realize it is really His business, although most of us make it ours! And that is a very big mistake, God can do without us, need we make ourselves important and therefore bar the ameliorative dispensation of his business and mandate on earth. To that end, we will be required to give due account. Ignorance is no bliss. Forget that excuse, it’s as old and out-dated as the devil’s other tricks are to a praying child of God. You will not be pardoned on the basis of: “I did not know”!

Amen. I’m out.

The Importance of Play

2008-08-01T17:11:00.001+02:00

The Importance of Play

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Krotoa

2008-07-31T18:13:00.001+02:00

By Prince t.
© God’s Business Mag, 2008
All rights Reserved. To use this article contact: Prince on 0721290602/ 011 211 3651
Or email: monnapt@gmail.com
Offenders will be prosecuted.

To me this woman was either one of these two things. Either she was a complete sell-out (pimp) or a complete genius.
But, who was this woman and why is it important this morning that I write about her?
I just read a very interesting article about her in the Times Newspaper (Tues, July 28, 2008). The author, a certain Nica Cornell, entitled her piece: Eva opened my eyes and I must admit mine were opend too. I am not meeting the legendary of Krotoa for the first time though. The first time I did was in my Media class at Rhodes University. I did a bit of study about the women but then I was fully laden with prejudice myself because I had just read along with that article for my course another author who writes without mincing his words about “Blackness”. For anyone who knows him Franz Fanon is a dynamite in these matters, and his expositions on the topic will truly mess you up (in a good sense though). I recommend his book: BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASKS to anyone who wants to know what I am talking about.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Krotoa, or Eva, was the niece of Autshumato, a Khoi leader and trader. While she was young, she worked in the household of Jan van Riebeeck, the first governor of the Cape colony. While still a teenager, she learned Dutch and Portuguese and like her uncle, worked as an interpreter.
By 1664 she had married a prominent member of the Dutch colony, junior surgeon Pieter van Meerhoff, who was then assigned to be superintendent of the prison on Robben Island.
Eva returned to the mainland in September 1668 after her husband was killed on an expedition and returned for a time with her children to the mainland.
Suffering from alcoholism, she left the Castle in the settlement to be with her family in the kraals. In February 1669, she was imprisoned at the Castle and then banished to Robben Island.
She died in 1674.
Know you history, South Africa and you will see that prejudice has no place within your boarders. The discourse of Rainbowism perfectly discribes what kind of people you are. You are neither black nor wahite, you are simple the shade that lies between. But have you ever seen that shade? I havent, which tells me that shade doesn’t exist and if it doesn’t then what? Read through the following and may be it will help dispel the indentity confusion and crisis you are facing right now that is if you still think you are white therefore privileged or Black therefore underprivileged. That’s nothing but nonsense. Grow up!
Diary, Jan van Riebeeck Krotoa, called Eva by the Dutch, is the...
http://chnm.gmu.edu
Krotoa, called Eva by the Dutch, is the first Khoikhoi woman to appear in the European records of the early settlement at the Cape as an individual personality and active participant in cultural and economic exchange. Eva joined Commander Jan van Riebeeck’s household at the Dutch fort at around age 12. She was closely related to Oedasoa, chief of the Cochoqua Khoikhoi, but it is unclear whether her family sent her to the Dutch to work and learn the language or whether she made this decision on her own.

She learned to speak fluent Dutch and Portuguese, and acted as an interpreter for the Dutch for most of her life. She converted to Christianity and in 1664 married a Danish surgeon, Pieter van Meerhoff, who was rising in the service of the Dutch East India Company. Together they had three children. After his death on an expedition to Madagascar, Eva became an alcoholic and was eventually sent to the prison colony on Robben Island for disorderly conduct. She died in 1674 and was given a Christian burial.

21 June 1658:
“Fine weather with N.W. breeze. The freeman Jan Reijnierssen came to complain early in the morning that during the night all his male and female slaves had run away, taking with them 3 or 4 blankets, clothing, rice, tobacco, etc. We thereupon called the new interpreter Doman, now called Anthony, who had returned from Batavia with the Hon. Cuneus, and asked him why the Hottentots would not search for the runaway slaves, to which he coolly replied that he did not know. [Little is known about Doman, though he was one of the important interpreters between the Dutch and the Khoikhoi in the early years.

He was taken to Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia) to learn Dutch, and there he seems to have noticed the threat that the Dutch posed to indigenous ways of life. When he returned to the Cape, he consistently advocated Khoikhoi interests, especially of the Peninsular tribes, over those of the Dutch in trade negotiations.] The Commander, not trusting him, then called the interpreter Eva alone into his office and privately asked her whether our blacks were not being harboured by the Hottentots.

On this she asked whether such was the Commander’s opinion, and being answered in the affirmative, she (speaking good Dutch) said these words, namely: “I tell you straight out, Mijnheer Van Riebeeck, Doman is no good. He told the Hottentots everything that was said in Mijnheer’s room the day before yesterday.

When I told him that it was wrong to do so, he replied: ‘I am a Hottentot and not a Dutchman, but you, Eva, try to curry favour with the Commander, etc.’” She added: “Mijnheer, I also believe that the Fat Captain of the Kaapmans harbours the slaves.” On being asked what the chief would do with the slaves,
Eva replied: “He will present them to the Cochoquas to retain their friendship, and they in turn will deliver the slaves to the Hancumquas living far from here and cultivating the soil in which they grow daccha [also dagga, of the cannabis family], a dry herb which the Hottentots chew, which makes them drunk and which they highly esteem.”

23 September 1658:
“The interpreters Doman, or Anthonij, and Eva wished to visit their friends and asked for some copper, iron, beads, tobacco, bread, and brandy as a reward for their services as interpreters, and presents for her mother and their friends and all the natives whom they, especially Eva, would visit, to induce them to bring a larger number of cattle, as well as young horses, tusks, civet, amber, seed pearls (of which they were shown and given samples) and hides to the eland, hart, steenbuck, etc. They promised to do their best and hoped that we would soon see the fruits of their efforts; toward evening they thanked us politely and gratefully in good Dutch words for the presents they had received. They then left.

When Eva reached the matted hut of Doman, also known as Anthonij, outside the fort, she at once dressed herself in the hides again and sent her clothes home. She intended to put them on again when she returned to the Commander’s wife, promising, however, that she would in the meantime not forget the Lord God, Whom she had learnt to know in the Commander’s house; she would always think of Him and endeavour to learn, etc.”

26 January 1661:
“The interpreter Eva has remained behind to live in the Commander’s house again, laying aside her skins and adopting once more the Indian way of dressing. She will resume her services as an interpreter. She seems to have grown tired of her own people again; in these vacillations we let her follow her own will so that we may get the better service from her. But she appears to have become already so accustomed to the Dutch diet and way of life that she will never be able to give it up completely.”

This lady, whoever she was did one thing right, and that is: break the barier of animosity that existed between the white and the Black race. And lets use her as a point of reference to understanding who we are, where we come from and where we must go as a nation.

Krotoa

2008-07-31T18:13:00.000+02:00

By Prince t.© God’s Business Mag, 2008
All rights Reserved. To use this article contact: Prince on 0721290602/ 011 211 3651
Or email: monnapt@gmail.com
Offenders will be prosecuted.

To me this woman was either one of these two things. Either she was a complete sell-out (pimp) or a complete genius.
But, who was this woman and why is it important this morning that I write about her?
I just read a very interesting article about her in the Times Newspaper (Tues, July 28, 2008). The author, a certain Nica Cornell, entitled her piece: Eva opened my eyes and I must admit mine were opend too. I am not meeting the legendary of Krotoa for the first time though. The first time I did was in my Media class at Rhodes University. I did a bit of study about the women but then I was fully laden with prejudice myself because I had just read along with that article for my course another author who writes without mincing his words about “Blackness”. For anyone who knows him Franz Fanon is a dynamite in these matters, and his expositions on the topic will truly mess you up (in a good sense though). I recommend his book: BLACK SKIN, WHITE MASKS to anyone who wants to know what I am talking about.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Krotoa, or Eva, was the niece of Autshumato, a Khoi leader and trader. While she was young, she worked in the household of Jan van Riebeeck, the first governor of the Cape colony. While still a teenager, she learned Dutch and Portuguese and like her uncle, worked as an interpreter.
By 1664 she had married a prominent member of the Dutch colony, junior surgeon Pieter van Meerhoff, who was then assigned to be superintendent of the prison on Robben Island.
Eva returned to the mainland in September 1668 after her husband was killed on an expedition and returned for a time with her children to the mainland.
Suffering from alcoholism, she left the Castle in the settlement to be with her family in the kraals. In February 1669, she was imprisoned at the Castle and then banished to Robben Island.
She died in 1674.
Know you history, South Africa and you will see that prejudice has no place within your boarders. The discourse of Rainbowism perfectly discribes what kind of people you are. You are neither black nor wahite, you are simple the shade that lies between. But have you ever seen that shade? I havent, which tells me that shade doesn’t exist and if it doesn’t then what? Read through the following and may be it will help dispel the indentity confusion and crisis you are facing right now that is if you still think you are white therefore privileged or Black therefore underprivileged. That’s nothing but nonsense. Grow up!
Diary, Jan van Riebeeck Krotoa, called Eva by the Dutch, is the...
http://chnm.gmu.edu
Krotoa, called Eva by the Dutch, is the first Khoikhoi woman to appear in the European records of the early settlement at the Cape as an individual personality and active participant in cultural and economic exchange. Eva joined Commander Jan van Riebeeck’s household at the Dutch fort at around age 12. She was closely related to Oedasoa, chief of the Cochoqua Khoikhoi, but it is unclear whether her family sent her to the Dutch to work and learn the language or whether she made this decision on her own.

She learned to speak fluent Dutch and Portuguese, and acted as an interpreter for the Dutch for most of her life. She converted to Christianity and in 1664 married a Danish surgeon, Pieter van Meerhoff, who was rising in the service of the Dutch East India Company. Together they had three children. After his death on an expedition to Madagascar, Eva became an alcoholic and was eventually sent to the prison colony on Robben Island for disorderly conduct. She died in 1674 and was given a Christian burial.

21 June 1658:
“Fine weather with N.W. breeze. The freeman Jan Reijnierssen came to complain early in the morning that during the night all his male and female slaves had run away, taking with them 3 or 4 blankets, clothing, rice, tobacco, etc. We thereupon called the new interpreter Doman, now called Anthony, who had returned from Batavia with the Hon. Cuneus, and asked him why the Hottentots would not search for the runaway slaves, to which he coolly replied that he did not know. [Little is known about Doman, though he was one of the important interpreters between the Dutch and the Khoikhoi in the early years.

He was taken to Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia) to learn Dutch, and there he seems to have noticed the threat that the Dutch posed to indigenous ways of life. When he returned to the Cape, he consistently advocated Khoikhoi interests, especially of the Peninsular tribes, over those of the Dutch in trade negotiations.] The Commander, not trusting him, then called the interpreter Eva alone into his office and privately asked her whether our blacks were not being harboured by the Hottentots.

On this she asked whether such was the Commander’s opinion, and being answered in the affirmative, she (speaking good Dutch) said these words, namely: “I tell you straight out, Mijnheer Van Riebeeck, Doman is no good. He told the Hottentots everything that was said in Mijnheer’s room the day before yesterday.

When I told him that it was wrong to do so, he replied: ‘I am a Hottentot and not a Dutchman, but you, Eva, try to curry favour with the Commander, etc.’” She added: “Mijnheer, I also believe that the Fat Captain of the Kaapmans harbours the slaves.” On being asked what the chief would do with the slaves,
Eva replied: “He will present them to the Cochoquas to retain their friendship, and they in turn will deliver the slaves to the Hancumquas living far from here and cultivating the soil in which they grow daccha [also dagga, of the cannabis family], a dry herb which the Hottentots chew, which makes them drunk and which they highly esteem.”

23 September 1658:
“The interpreters Doman, or Anthonij, and Eva wished to visit their friends and asked for some copper, iron, beads, tobacco, bread, and brandy as a reward for their services as interpreters, and presents for her mother and their friends and all the natives whom they, especially Eva, would visit, to induce them to bring a larger number of cattle, as well as young horses, tusks, civet, amber, seed pearls (of which they were shown and given samples) and hides to the eland, hart, steenbuck, etc. They promised to do their best and hoped that we would soon see the fruits of their efforts; toward evening they thanked us politely and gratefully in good Dutch words for the presents they had received. They then left.

When Eva reached the matted hut of Doman, also known as Anthonij, outside the fort, she at once dressed herself in the hides again and sent her clothes home. She intended to put them on again when she returned to the Commander’s wife, promising, however, that she would in the meantime not forget the Lord God, Whom she had learnt to know in the Commander’s house; she would always think of Him and endeavour to learn, etc.”

26 January 1661:
“The interpreter Eva has remained behind to live in the Commander’s house again, laying aside her skins and adopting once more the Indian way of dressing. She will resume her services as an interpreter. She seems to have grown tired of her own people again; in these vacillations we let her follow her own will so that we may get the better service from her. But she appears to have become already so accustomed to the Dutch diet and way of life that she will never be able to give it up completely.”

This lady, whoever she was did one thing right, and that is: break the barier of animosity that existed between the white and the Black race. And lets use her as a point of reference to understanding who we are, where we come from and where we must go as a nation.

AN Age of Political Psychosis: a snippet of African politics.

2008-07-28T14:00:00.000+02:00

By Prince t.

© God’s Business Mag, 2008
All rights Reserved. To use this article contact: Prince on 0721290602/ 011 211 3651
Or email: monnapt@gmail.com
Offenders will be prosecuted.

Ennerdale: Last week Thursday, I attended a meeting, dubbed the “Faith based Forum” a City of Jo’burg’s sterling initiative aimed at involving and providing a forum for deliberating on tangible deliverables that would see to it that all people, citizens and immigrants to this city enjoy the peace and tranquillity commensurate with every human beings right for free movement.
In what seemed like a democratic agenda, xenophobia, or should I say the aftermath thereof was on top of the agenda. The presentation was made, and what caught my often very critical yet objective mind as a journalist were two very important points. I want to make reference to these two points in passing.
1. The re-integration issue: that is to say; ways or efforts made by the government of South Africa to re-integrate the displaced victims of xenophobia back into the blazing heat of the fire of hate, anger and brutal barbarism as perpetuated against immigrants to South Africa, including asylum seekers for that matter, by South Africa citizens.

2. Secondly I want to touch on the “alleged misrepresentation of facts by the media concerning this aforementioned issue”. The claim made by one religious delegate or participant at this meeting was that “the media blew out of proportion what was actually happening on the ground.”
I was appalled to say the least and I find these types of remarks an indication of gross misinformation on the part of those people who call themselves leaders of their respective communities. For your own information the convening forum (above) is meant to hold accountable and vet the ‘business’ of the government from an impartial stand point. However, the above claims which are obviously meant to please blazes a trails which, as far as I am concerned, leaves a lot to be desired.
It is in this vain, that I have therefore deduced that a “political psychosis” of sorts exists in Africa, if not around the world today. This said ‘Psychosis’ can thus best be captured in one word: DENIAL. Why I called this ‘condition’ (medically) denial will be clear a little later, but first the definition and a brief historic background to orient you to the position I am coming from.
Definition
Denial is the refusal to acknowledge the existence or severity of unpleasant external realities or internal thoughts and feelings. (www.minddisorders.com).
Theory of denial
In psychology, denial is a concept originating with the psychodynamic theories of Sigmund Freud. According to Freud, three mental dynamics, or motivating forces, influence human behaviour: the id, ego, and superego. The id consists of basic survival instincts and what Freud believed to be the two dominant human drives: sex and aggression. If the id were the only influence on behaviour, humans would exclusively seek to increase pleasure, decrease pain, and achieve immediate gratification of desires. (More like the current Mugabe, Vavi and Malema’s preponderance, to brutality as have been making headlines in our print and electronic media)
The ego consists of logical and rational thinking. It enables humans to analyze the realistic risks and benefits of a situation, to tolerate some pain for future profit, and to consider alternatives to the impulse-driven behaviour of the id. (Much more like the MDC Tsvangirai and ANC’s Jacob Zuma, whatever their legitimate motivations may be).
The superego on the other hand consists of moralistic standards and forms the basis of the conscience. Although the superego is essential to a sense of right and wrong, it can also include extreme, unrealistic ideas about what one should and should not do. (More like the religious personalities).
Suffice it to say that these three categories or personalities or forces all have different goals (id, pleasure; ego, reality; superego, morality) and continually strive for dominance, resulting in internal conflict depending on the amount and magnitude of pressure they are able to exert onto the often unbridled demands of the other.
Such resultant conflicts (as emanating from the said (above) pressures produces anxiety on a much more gradable scale at least. For example, the ego, which is a mediator between the two extremes of the id and the superego, attempts to reduce this anxiety by using defence mechanisms.
Definition
Defence mechanisms are indirect ways of dealing or coping with anxiety, such as explaining problems away or blaming others for problems which we are not prepared to bear responsibility of, especially if they are face-threatening to us.
Thus, Denial is indeed one of these many defence mechanisms. Its primary tenet entails ignoring or refusing to believe an unpleasant reality. This is exactly what the ANC government is currently doing with regard the xenophobic attacks that happened in the country recently.
My claims are not at all unfounded. I just read this morning with much consternation, indeed a new episode of violent eruptions levelled against foreigners whose re-integration into the communities to which they once belonged were, according to government officials (including the one from the meeting referenced above) “were a success.” I reckon this statement refers to another imaginary, place indeed probable, in which the profundity of ‘success’ as a lexicon is indeed gradable on a scale of mediocrity and utter disdain, in as far as the value accorded human life (even immigrants) in South Africa and Africa (Zimbabwe) is indeed concerned.
Human crisis were turned into political stunts and an extra mileage to de-humanise, manipulate and abuse people and tie their lives to a ballot paper elsewhere in Africa. Crisis of humanity was reduced to talks-about-‘nonsense’-talks, all in the name of saving a dictatorial face. Such is the power of defence, and in the wrong hands its power can be utterly obliterate and at worst pretty dogmatic to say the least.
Defence mechanisms are necessary and very crucial to human living. They protect one's psychological wellbeing in traumatic situations, or in any situation that produces anxiety or conflict. However, they do not resolve the anxiety-producing situation and, if overused, can lead to psychological disorders.
Here is a political psychosis in full-throttle, as captured by Yazeed Kamaldien of The Times. Kamaldien writes: “RENEWED violence greeted foreigners who returned to Cape Town townships this weekend, BUT, government officials have claimed reintegration is a “success.” A terrible psycho-drama in action, indeed. But then political careers are at stake… therefore a career is mightier than a human life in this instance, I guess.
Although Freud's model of the id, ego, and superego is not emphasized by most psychologists today, defence mechanisms are still regarded as potentially maladaptive behavioural patterns that may lead to psychological disorders. And it is true that we are facing another neo-episode of psychosis or mental disorders which I would like to call, “politico-mental-psychosis”
The Freudian research postulates that certain personality disorders tend to be characterized by denial more than others. For example, those with narcissistic personality disorder deny information that suggests they are not perfect. This is a very likely stance of political governance in Africa especially. Not being perfect in Africa is not only a threat but an insult, however, history shows that heroes elsewhere were never perfect people, no wonder they surrounded themselves with a myriad of advisers to counter their imperfections, hence appearing perfect to those to whom know knowledge and insight has been given.
Antisocial behaviour is characterized by denial of the harm done to others (such as with sexual offenders or substance abusers). Therefore, denying the harm done to the foreigners in our neighbourhoods and areas of jurisdiction, for fear of jeopardizing our political careers is very much commensurate of a political, full-blown psychotic malignant. Denial will only allow this malignant to fester and spread to other areas of the same body. This can be avoided. Shout for help and “you shall find it, knock and the doors will be opened, ask it shall be given you”, I quote and paraphrase the Biblical words of wisdom.
Furthermore it should be noted that Denial can also be exhibited on a large scale— among groups, cultures, or even nations. Lucy Bregman gives an example of national denial of imminent mortality in the 1950s: school children participated in drills in which they hid under desks in preparation for atomic attacks. Another example of large-scale denial is the recent assertion by some that the World War II Holocaust never occurred. (www.minddisorders.com).
Treatment of denial
The most crucial treatment is accepting ones condition before any other means of intervention will be effective. Denial is treated differently in different types of therapy. Reintegration of foreigners is too early and secondly, the attacks were never only xenophobic. Therefore research should be undertaken to ascertain the real cause and roots of the problem, then address those problems first before any effort is wasted in the so called re-integration process. These are just fancy words that simple means irresponsible and lack of pathos with regards the present situation. Talk to South Africans and remind them of bombings that happened in Botswana due to the people who sought refuge in Botswana in order to dethrone the apartheid monster, remind these forgetful citizens how their plight affected and cost their neighbouring countries whom they now see as “aliens” to be brutally detested at all cost.
Borrow a page from psychoanalytic therapy and put these unthankful brutes on therapy. In psychoanalytic therapy, denial is regarded as an obstacle to progress that must eventually be confronted and interpreted. Timing is important, however. Psychoanalytic therapists wait until clients appear emotionally ready or have some degree of insight into their problems before confronting them. In the humanistic and existential therapies, denial is considered the framework by which clients understand their world. Not directly confronting denial, therapists assist clients in exploring their world view and considering alternative ways of being. In cognitive-behavioural therapies, denial is not regarded as an important phenomenon. Rather, denial would suggest that an individual has not learned the appropriate behaviours to cope with a stressful situation. Therapists assist individuals in examining their current thoughts and behaviours and devising strategic ways to make changes.
Power abuse is just similar to substance abuse, so study Traditional treatment programs for substance abuse and other addictions. These programs view denial as a central theme for hampered progress in life. Such programs teach that in order to overcome addiction, one must admit to being an alcoholic or addict. Those who are unable to accept such labels are informed they are in denial.
South Africa should know by now that they are sitting on a crisis time bomb and should do all in their power to militate against such. Otherwise, what goes around comes around, not in a bad sense but what if tomorrow the sun doesn’t sun on our ground, but shines next door? How will we speak to our neighbours? How will we approach them? I wonder!

What is New Media and what is its impact on me as a journalist?

2008-07-27T14:25:00.000+02:00

By Prince t.

© God’s Business Mag, 2008
All rights Reserved. To use this article contact: Prince on 0721290602/ 011 211 3651
Or email: monnapt@gmail.com
Offenders will be prosecuted.

Personally, my definition for new media is just that: New Media. In other words new media is for me any new ways of dispensing information which are aided and influenced by the recent proliferation in technological advancements. The latest forms of which is Digital and electronic communications forms, particularly the internet and the World Wide Web.

According to newpeoplemedia.org, these new forms of mass communication developed by society always tend to be given the label “new”. To further substantiate their claim they further argue that in years past it was radio, television, cable TV, satellite TV, but nowadays the term tends to be used primarily to talk about emerging digital/electronic communications forms, particularly the internet and the World Wide Web.

Using digital media and computer technology to create innovative and interactive instructional and presentation materials for delivery via CD, DVD and the Internet is as far as I am concerned descriptive of “New Media”. Never before has such achievements been made in the history of the media and information dissemination than now.
www.cmp.unt.edu/glossary.htm

For me “New Media” is indeed symbolic and of course truly representitative of a new tidal wave of media and technological change that has and is still happening paralleled with the on going changes in technology. According to Martin Lister, the newness of new media is in part real, in the sense that these media did not exist before now.(New media: A critical introduction: ed. Martin Lister).

According to Lister some so-called critics of new media often, substantially deny that there have been some change at all, either in the media or in the culture to which they form a part. Such critical accounts, Lister further argues do frequently stress the continuity in economic interests, political imperatives, and cultural values that drive the new as much as the old. They seek to show that the preoccupation with media’s difference, with the way that it outstrips and parts company with our old, passive, analogue media is an ideological trick, a myth, writes Martin Lister.

They argue that new media can largely be revealed as the latest twist in capitalisms ruthless ingenuity for ripping us off with seductive commodities and the false promise of a better life.

Having out lined the definition of new media and of course the historical trends it took for new to change, it now becomes very crucial that I say how much of an impact these changes have on me as a journalist. New media and all the changes that have happened are very influential in how information will be disseminated from now on. However, for me to make it as a journalist in this era I must embrace the changes that new media has brought for the journalism trade and also make use of the advantages of provided by this changes in media.

Also it should be noted that with the advent of new media especially the internet and the World Wide Web, journalism will be affected and those that keeps up with the technology are the only ones who will make it in this trade.

What is Web 2.0 and does it advance Democratic ideals?

2008-07-27T14:18:00.001+02:00

By Prince t.

© God’s Business Mag, 2008
All rights Reserved. To use this article contact: Prince on 0721290602/ 011 211 3651
Or email: monnapt@gmail.com
Offenders will be prosecuted.

Web 2.0 is, according to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0 “a term often applied to a perceived ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform serving web applications to end users. According to Tim O'Reilly and John Battelle, web2.0 can rightly be defined as:

“a social phenomenon embracing an approach to generating and distributing Web content itself, characterized by open communication, decentralization of authority, freedom to share and re-use, and "the market as a conversation”.

In other words, it is that form that moves away from static websites (i.e. the use of search engines and surfing the net from one website to the next) to “a more dynamic and interactive World Wide Web” (ibid). It is characterized by interactivity, by sharing and open communication or its tendency toward a decentralization of power, with regard the dissemination of information.

Web 2.0 thus has a huge tendency toward leaning toward building interactivity and rudimentary social-networkingsocial networks which are aimed at producing content and thus exploit
network effects available to its end-user.

In this sense web 2.0 encourages and advances democratic ideals among, firstly the consumers who benefit from the products produced by members and also it helps provide enough information and aids interactivity and discussions between the investor, the consumer and the media as regards what each expects in the relationships that they have with each other.

In this regard, access to consumer-generated content facilitated by Web 2.0 brings the web closer to Tim Berners-Lee's original concept of the web as a democratic, personal, and (Do It Your self) DIY medium of communication. In fact Paul Graham reckons Democracy is one of the greater ideals for which Web 2.0 was established. See for more.

To demonstrate this democratic ideal, Paul Graham href="http://www.paulgraham.com/bubble.html"> argues that examples of amateurs surpassing professionals in this business is a testimony to Web 2.0’s commitment to advancing democratic and providing equal opportunities for amateurs to channel their efforts in the right direction.

Wikipedia Wikipedia he argues may be the most famous form of such efforts, although ‘experts’ have given it middling reviews. It (Wikipedia) advances democratic ideals in that it is free for all to read. Most web based articles are for sale and even if one was willing to pay for them, they do not in most cases provide the option for one to link to them for future use.

For Paul with whom I concur this shows that such articles are not “part of the conversation”.Web 2.0 as an advancer and proponent of democratic ideals in information production and dissemination, has as one of its portal the involvement of the reader in deciding what counts as news. This is indeed one other place for which the democratic ideal it safe guards seems to win the race against its rivals.

News sites like Reddit Reddit. carry quality news and allow people the opportunity to choose not to be bothered with reading the front pages of newspapers or magazines anymore. Whereas Wikipedia's main appeal is that it is good enough and free, these sites suggest that voters do a significantly better job than human editors. Readers are participants in deciding what qualifies as news; they are actively involved in the process as democratic participants whose say is worth something.

According to Paul Graham the most dramatic example of Web 2.0 democracy is not in the selection of ideas, but their production. He further notes that the news we often read on individual people's sites is as good as or better than those we might read in newspapers and magazines. Thus such a realisation gives the reader independent evidence: besides, the top links on Reddit href="http://reddit.com">Reddit are generally links to individual people's sites rather than to magazine articles or news stories.

On the Web, people are free to write what they want and nearly all of it falls short of what Paul Graham calls “the editor-damped” writing common in print publications. Furthermore, Paul argues that because the pool of online writers is very, very large, then if it's large enough, then the lack of damping means the best writing online should surpass the best in print. He further claims that because the web has evolved mechanisms for selecting good stuff, it means therefore that its selection of stories beats the damping-down of print media, for the same reasons market economies beat centrally planned ones.

However, it must be noted that sceptics may see the term "Web 2.0" as little more than a buzzword; or they may suggest that it means whatever its proponents want it to mean in order to convince their customers, investors and the media that they have begun building something fundamentally new, rather than continuing to develop and use well-established technologies[2].

Whatever the case might be, it should be noted that Web 2.0 has brought a completely new spin to the information dissemination than ever before. And it should also be noted that not having a centrally directed editorial body or governor, predisposes Web 2.0 to a lot of vials. The ‘Free-flow’ of its information may not necessarily be such a good ideal in dispensing information.

The line that separates right and proper dissemination of information and its abuse thereof is quite faint to say the least. Thus it is with much faith in those that are involved in disseminating information through the use of Web 2.0 networking effects that I argue that Web 2.0 should be seen as a system that advances democratic ideals with regards information production and dissemination.

The coolest gadget that can change the way we work.

2008-07-27T13:55:00.003+02:00

By Prince t.

© God’s Business Mag, 2008
All rights Reserved. To use this article contact: Prince on 0721290602/ 011 211 3651
Or email: monnapt@gmail.com
Offenders will be prosecuted.

Technological advancement is becoming faster and faster everyday. As technology advances, so is the need and sophistication of those who keep up with its changes. The faster the advancement in technology the higher the need for even more portable and easy to carry gadgetry. People, especially businessman are constantly on transit and this has necessitated at least now than ever before in the history of technology, the need for more sophisticated, portable and easy to use gadgets.

The Universal Serial Bus (USB) Gadgetry is just one among many. The USB devices connect people to more computers and peripherals. It has the power to connect computer users with a whole new world of PC experiences. According to the USB has many functions and it has revolutionarised the way we now communicate with the rest of the world. Among some of its very crucial functions is that the USB now affords people, especial the businessman on transit the ability to connect back to his/ her office by means of video conferencing from anyway in the world.

The has been defined as your instant connection to the fun of digital photography or the limitless creative possibilities of digital imaging. The USB is a very cool gadget that allows us to connect with other people through the power of PC-telephony and video conferencing. This device has several uses some of which are the following:

1. The USB card reader:

This is a small and portable (the size of a keychain really, this image works as a proof) USB2.0 card reader that has 2 versions compatible with the following memory cards:

• the old Memory Stick - launched in 1998 by Sony
• the Secure Digital card, best known as SD card – launched in 2000 by Panasonic, SanDisk and Toshiba, it was like direct competition between the two cards.

To better suit the portability function, the USB plug is foldable – capable of being folded up and stored as you can see in this image.It’s also very light and very small as previously mentioned. If you can’t imagine the real size of something with the following dimensions – 33×33x18mm – then check this site out: Sizeasy .With the assistance of SIzeasy the Card Reader is compared with a matchbox, check the image and get your own conclusion:

The USB Cube Card Reader can be a useful device to transfer files of your memory cards to/from your laptop since you can take it virtually anywhere, and

Then there is the magnetic LED scrolling badge.There are a number of uses for this little magnetic LED scrolling badge. The magnetic back allows you to stick it to your PC case for example, allowing you to talk smack without actually talking. Cordless operation means it will look clean no matter where you put it. Battery life is claimed to be 12 hours with a full charge via your PC USB port. Both English and Japanese characters can be displayed on the badge as well. Up to 512 letters can be programmed into the device with eight different cases available (which I assume to mean something to the Japanese since we only have two cases in English). The price is set at 4580 Yen and it is available now. I think this would make a cool name badge for the office too.

USB Ghost Radar.
Japanese have always found ways to associate stuff in real-life with USB flash drive. The most notable examples are the USB Sushi and USB Dimsim. While the plastic food has no real correlation with functionality of the USB flash drive, it serves to jump-start sales. And now, they have come up with a GhostRadar USB flash memory that detects, well, ghosts.

USB Heating Seat Pad. check: In olden times, Japanese life centered around tatami; pretty much most of daily activities take place in this tatami-carpeted rooms. Instead of sitting on sofa or armchairs, people sit or kneel down on soft seating pads. Now, you know what this doormat look-alike is all about, and this USB version is supposedly to keep us warm during winter times.

USB Noodle Strainer. check: Preparing soumen with this "USB cookware" is quite a unique experience. Simply add cold or iced water to the oval-shaped plastic bowl, connect this strainer to a USB port, and the machine will create a water flow. Next, place the pre-cooked noodles into the water channel, and they will be carried along with the circulation of the water.

More than yet another Business Breakfast By the Church.

2008-07-26T16:08:00.002+02:00

By Prince t
© God’s Business Mag, 2008
All rights Reserved. To use this article please contact: Prince on 0721290602/ 011 211 3651 or
Email: monnapt@gmail.com
Offenders will be prosecuted.

Ennerdale: The church is slowly discovering its purpose and mandate within the communities in which it is based. This morning I attended a “couple’s breakfast” hosted by AFM Shalom Ministries in Ennerdale.

The heart of the ‘talks’ or discussions at this breakfast I gathered were relationships-based: between parents and children. The major discussion seemed to revolve around “basics” of ‘rearing’ children, and I use the word ‘rearing’ very loosely here. One speaker nostalgically traced her childhood memories under the now so-called, yet extremely effective way of raising children her parents subjected her to: the so-called old-school-parenting system. She very thankfully praised her parents for instilling in her “values, which I would love to pass on to my children”, she said matter-of-factly.

In our societies today, no wonder the young people are referred to as the ‘generation x, a question of ‘values’ let alone morals never really arise. Lack of values and morals are the most celebrated traits in our times. This is a shame. I have personally seen very old people who still behave like babes, now that’s pathetic and I won’t mince my words about it.

Not so long ago, the South African government in its quest to Americanize or Europeanize its citizens passed a law, which has no value or place in an African country or context. Africans are raised to respect the elders, and other people are raised to negotiate ‘rights’. Rights or respect? Which should we opt for in today’s times of brutal moral decadence our communities are living at the mercy of? I reckon, like me you opted for respect, because within respect exists the highest order of ‘Rights’ and their upholding and enforcement.

This (above) widely opposed (I say so because I was involved in a match against it) piece of legislature gave way to a heart ranching onslaught of unbridled truancy to our children. It allowed children at the age of twelve years old to make life altering decisions without the consent of their parents. A twelve year old girl can now go to the hospital and solicit for an abortion, legally without her parents ever knowing about it. I guess they will only know when something goes wrong and she dies, in which case they will be acting solely as ‘undertakers’ (those funeral guys, know them?)

Times are changing and this has come as a rude awakening for committed and loving parents, especially the church. There is need now more than ever before in its inception for the church to brace itself and go beyond praying and fasting to squarely tackling-head-on the perils of our times that threatens its sanctity and legitimacy as the moral pulse and barometer of our communities.

In its quest to do this the church is doing church the “unusual” lethargic way it used to. It has and must definitely be as fast and ahead of its time than technology is, or else it is only remedying what has been damaged. A proactive church is what our communities need today. That old, lethargic hymn-singing church did well for its time, but it is not enough for today.

Get me right here. What I am saying here is not, that the church should bring the world into the church but that the church should aggressively now more than ever before go out into the world and dilute and in time completely transform it (the world philosophies about life) into the image and likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Education is needed. And I want to speak briefly about “Temperaments” or as they are often referred to as “The Four Temperaments”. These formed part of the discussions that took place at the breakfast I just made mention of above.
Mrs. Mc Gluwa, the speaker who presented this topic, did it in the vernacular so that no one says they didn’t get it. (She spoke in Afrikaans).

I summary her presentation was: if we don’t understand our children and if we can’t provide the answers to their questions, verbalized, subliminal and unvoiced, then the world will. The world has nothing to offer us, as I just showed you through the types of legislatures our governments are toying with.

BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE FOUR TEMPAREMENTS:

Temperament theory has its roots in the ancient four humors theory of the Greek doctor Hippocrates (460-370 BC), who believed certain human moods, emotions and behaviors were caused by body fluids (called "humors"): blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Next, Galen (131-200 AD) developed the first typology of temperament in his dissertation De temperamentis, and searched for physiological reasons for different behaviors in humans.

In The Canon of Medicine, Avicenna (980-1037) then extended the theory of temperaments to encompass "emotional aspects, mental capacity, moral attitudes, self-awareness, movements and dreams."

Nicholas Culpeper (1616-1654) disregarded the idea of fluids as defining human behavior, and Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), Alfred Adler (1879-1937), Erich Adickes (1866-1925), Eduard Spränger (1914), Ernst Kretschmer (1920), and Erich Fromm (1947) all theorized on the four temperaments (with different names) and greatly shaped our modern theories of temperament.

Hans Eysenck (1916-1997) was one of the first psychologists to analyze personality differences using a psycho-statistical method (factor analysis), and his research led him to believe that temperament is biologically based. He proposed in his book Dimensions of Personality that Neuroticism (N) or the tendency to experience negative emotions, and Extraversion (E) which is the tendency to enjoy positive events, especially social ones were his equivalnet of the four ancient temperaments.

THE FOURTEMPAREMENTS:
According to Hans Eysenck, temperaments are divided into two biological based categories: which are: NEUROTICISM (N) or the ability of a human being to experience NEGATIVE Emotions, and secondly EXTRAVERSION (E)which is the tendency of a human being to experience or enjoy POSITIVE social events especially. The following is his classification of the four, in relation to his Neurotic and Extraversion classification of the same.
• High N, High E = Choleric
• High N, Low E = Melancholic (also called "Melancholy"/pl. "-ies")
• Low N, High E = Sanguine
• Low N, Low E = Phlegmatic
1. Sanguine
Sanguine indicates the personality of an individual with the temperament of blood, the season of spring (wet and hot). A person who is sanguine is generally light hearted, fun loving, spontaneous and confident. However they can be arrogant, and indulgent. He/She can be day-dreamy and off-task to the point of not accomplishing anything.This also describes the manic phase of a bipolar disorder. Their humour is often exploitative.
2. Choleric corresponds to the fluid of yellow bile, the season of summer (dry and hot). Cholerics are doers and leaders. They have a lot of ambition, energy, and passion, and try to instill it in others. They can dominate people of other temperaments, especially phlegmatic types. Many great charismatic military and political figures were cholerics. On the negative side, they are easily angered or bad-tempered.
In folk medicine, a baby referred to as having "colic" is one who cries frequently and seems to be constantly angry.
3. Melancholic is the personality of an individual characterized by black bile; hence (Greek μελας, melas, "black", + χολη, kholé, "bile"); a person who is a thoughtful ponderer has a melancholic disposition. Often very kind and considerate, melancholics can be highly creative - as in poetry and art - but also can become overly pre-occupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world, thus becoming depressed.
The temperament is associated with the season of autumn (dry and cold). A melancholic is also often a perfectionist, being very particular about what they want and how they want it in some cases. This often results in being unsatisfied with one's own artistic or creative works and always pointing out to themselves what could and should be improved.
This temperament describes the depressed phase of a bipolar disorder.
There is no bodily fluid corresponding to black bile; the medulla of the adrenal glands, which decomposes very rapidly after death, can be associated with it.
4. Phlegmatic
A phlegmatic person is calm and unemotional. Phlegmatic means "pertaining to phlegm", corresponds to the season of winter (wet and cold). While phlegmatics are generally self-content and kind, their shy personality can often inhibit enthusiasm in others and make themselves lazy and resistant to change. They are very consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, and observant, making them good administrators and diplomats. Like the sanguine personality, the phlegmatic has many friends. However the phlegmatic is more reliable and compassionate; these characteristics typically make the phlegmatic a more dependable friend.
Armed with this information and much more, christians will be able not only to understand their children, but also to interact with them in ways that would foster a dialogue of understand amongst them all. This is needed now than a decade ago, or else we have no one to blame because very soon we will cry fowl after the world has finished dealing with our children. Prayer is fuondational, but prayer must go with action. The world acts while we pray in a vaccum. The Bible encourages action (see James).

Government Partners with Faith Based Religious leaders to create a better life for all.

2008-07-24T19:41:00.000+02:00

By Prince t.

© God’s Business Mag, 2008
All rights Reserved. To use this article please contact: Prince on 0721290602/ 011 211 3651 or
Email: monnapt@gmail.com
Offenders will be prosecuted.

24 July 2008.
Johannesburg, South Africa: The legislature of the City Of Jo’burg (CoJ) has partnered with Religious leaders in the Gauteng area in an attempt to echo a common tune towards remedying a host of issues that concerns the wellbeing of the people of Jo’burg. Today marks the fifth (5th) Faith Based Forum meeting with the City of Jo’burg.

In her welcome note, as appearing in the fourth (4th) issue of The Stakeholder’s Newsletter, the speaker of Council, councillor Nkele Ntingane said the challenges the City of Jo’burg faces in creating a “better life for all are not only issues of service delivery”. “Government, no matter how committed it is to the principles of good service delivery, cannot operate in an unfettered manner”, she added.

She further advised that there is need for “a strong and critical supportive” Council to ensure that the proposals of the Executive, are “effectively scrutinized” and appraised as necessity demands. She added that for the democratic process to be legitimate and be seen as such by all stakeholders “there must be on-going community participation in the democratic process”.

For her part, the Human Development Directorate (HDD) representative Ms. Thuli Mlangeni today told the delegates that it is a duty and an obligation for the city of Jo’burg to ensure that “all its people”, that is every human being who falls within its jurisdiction, whether migrants or not, “do not feel socially excluded nor victimized”. Ms. Mlangeni was delivering a presentation on the progress made by her department so far, especially following the aftermath of the atrocious xenophobic attacks which almost tarnished the reputation of the country.

“Faith Based Forum is going to be the main catalyst in the reformation and reintegration of the xenophobic-displaced immigrants”, she said. She also said “the city’s programme on common Citizenship and counter xenophobia is committed to the agenda of addressing social exclusion.” According to Ms. Mlangeni, the implementation of the Re-integration plan for the 2730 displaced persons within the Human Rights parameters remains a major challenge for the CoJ. She however acknowledged the involvement of various churches that helped in this aftermath. “Immediately after the attacks, churches made donations towards solving the problem” she enthused.

She further called on the church to get involved in grooming community leaders who will be able to harness the youthful energies of the violent perpetrators within our communities. Ms. Mlangeni bemoaned the quality of leadership within our communities today, saying perpetrators of violence are the youth, “therefore leadership is a necessity”.

Addressing the delegation on violence in schools, an executive from Phaphama Initiatives, said at least 15% of learners (at least two million learners) in South Africa have been exposed to violence at school, while at least 20% of secondary school learners are exposed to violence, other than sexual violence. She continue to say that at least 15% have been exposed to drug use by a family member, while the other 20% know siblings who have been in jail.

She said that exposure of youngster to criminal activities thwarts the psychic and mental development of these children. “if children see that solving a problem is through the use of violence, then, that is what they will learn”, she cautioned.

However, she further lamented the fact that although children grow up seeing such violence in the home, research have shown about 90% of students as saying they felt much safer at home than on the streets. Commenting on this she said this shows that these youngsters have accepted the ‘normality’ of violence at home and have been numbed by its effects.

Therefore, violence in schools is a direct reflection of violence in the community, she lambasted. Furthermore she said that absent fathers were contributing negatively to the general welfare of society and requested pastors present, to take up the issue of fatherhood at their pulpits. “Criminals are not out there, they are in our homes, we are breeding and fostering criminals in our homes” she lamented.

She warned the delegates, saying that at least 16% of youngsters between the ages 12 to 14 have considered getting involved in crime or criminal activity. While for those aged between 18 to 20 about 22% of them have considered crime.

She went on to make some recommendations towards alleviating violence in our schools and homes, saying that “targeted early preventative interventions” should be the focus of our efforts. “We have a duty to lobby the government on these issues as religious institutions”, she exhorted.

On their part, the FBF said following the deliberations they made towards this noble goal by the government, they would consider their voices crucial to the process should a report back be availed them in the form of an appraisal. “Report back is very crucial”, they said.

Its business “unusual” for the church.

2008-07-24T00:33:00.001+02:00

By Prince t.

© God’s Business Mag, 2008
All rights Reserved. To use this article contact: Prince on 0721290602/ 011 211 3651
Or email: monnapt@gmail.com
Offenders will be prosecuted.

23rd July 2008.
Florida/ Johannesburg: “Money indeed makes the world go round, but it is certainly not the most important thing for which human beings exist.” This seemed to be an obviously unsolicited consensus among an extraordinary breed of Christians, who had convened in one accord under an extremely peculiar spirit of a “business Unusual” gathering, to quote President Thabo Mbeki’s post Polokwane National Address coinage.

The importance of money to living can not be over emphasized. However, this all time truth continues to find varied expressions among people of different colours, creed or faiths, especially. While some are to this day still shy to acknowledge its importance others can do just about anything to have it.

It is to the latter category that the Bible finds no solace and therefore vehemently disproves. According to the Bible, it is not money but the love of money that is the root of all evil. The Bible attributes its claims to the evils as perpetrated by man, whose singular pursuit in life is to amass and accrue wealth in the form of money. According to the first book of Timothy 6:10b, “people, in their eagerness to get rich, have wandered away from the faith and caused themselves a lot of pain (ISV).

The church is ready and prepared morally and ethically to do business the unusual way. A day with Pastor Ray was one such exploits of the church as it embarks on the spirit of business Unusual. This annual event is one among many other business related events under the auspices of The Business Fellowship, a business wing of the Heritage Faith Worship Center, under the capable leadership of Pastor Earl Morrison. According to Pastor Morrison the vision of this ministry is to “help business and career people walk in the blessing of the Lord which makes rich and adds no sorrow”, he said. He further explained that the focus of this seminar in particular is “to develop a consciousness of unity in the area of commerce and group economics”. Through this ministry, we develop business owners and career people who are committed to responsible prosperity” he emphasized.

For his part Bishop Sherman gave the delegates, John 15:1-8 as a strategy and a fault proof process to success. “If you are not fruitful you mean nothing to anybody”, he said. “A man is measured by his fruits”, he further warned the delegates. Bishop Sherman is a very successful Christian business tycoon, who started from nothing. To his name he does not even have a grade 12 qualification. But that did not deter him from building for himself a multi-million wealth portfolio, to which he takes no glory. Bishop Sherman was yesterday testament to the fact that making money is not a sin. “Your labour is the premium expression of your worship”, he told a delegation of Christian Business man and women at a one day business seminar organized by the Heritage of Faith Worship Center in Florida, Johannesburg.

He lamented the fact that the “so-called “church” has commercialized Christianity, saying that “everybody is embracing the ‘word’ Christianity but are you supporting a Kingdom cause?” he asked. He then told the delegates that the process of life “starts with a thought, then speech and then action”. Furthermore Bishop Sherman said that fruitfulness or success starts with a gift in service. In other words Christian businessman should be determined to serve God’s people in accordance with their needs and in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ, who Himself is a true epitome of a servant ‘in-service’.

He also said that it is crucial that Christian business people invest in relationships because it is through relationships that they will be able to be of influence to anyone within their sphere of influence. “Without influence you are a slave to the atmosphere of another”, he said. According to Bishop Sherman, if you are dominated by another’s atmosphere you will change toward it, because the atmosphere enacts change. “Change puts a seed in your hand, and then a harvest, anyone with seed has dominion”, he said.

Edwin foster of Foster Transport suggested that delegates form syndicates if they wanted to start businesses citing the fact that institutional lending was very difficult to obtain, especially these days. He also advised the delegates to consider franchise business ventures saying that franchise business was a very lucrative venture whose failure is very minimal in South Africa, which stands at a measle 11% considering the fact that at least a third of all new businesses fails in South Africa.

He further indicated that the franchise market in South Africa was very open, citing that at least about 17 sectors are involved, compared to the 50 and 25 in the USA and Australia respectively.

On his part, the key note speaker of the day, Pastor Raymond Le Fluer reminded the attendants that “we are not business people to make money, although we can not avoid making it, but we are “in business so that God may be glorified when we help the poor” he said. “Sustainable leadership is therefore a requirement and a necessity”, he added.

Pastor Le Fluer further indicated that “ethics were very crucial in Christian business because business is not a game”. He therefore suggested that as Christians we need not rush into the kitchen to serve Jesus, before we sat at His feet and be served by Him in his manifold wisdom. “The fact that He (Jesus) is in your house does not mean that you have a relationship with Him”, he warned. He further referred the delegates to John 12, the story of Martha, Mary and Jesus. He said that Mary knew how to wait on Jesus while Martha was busy with everything else but waiting on Jesus. “Don’t go to the kitchen before first sitting at His feet”, he advised. He moreover said that a big business requires an equally big prayer life”therefore.

AMAGGEDON? a trilateral government ,USA, CANADA & MEXICO

2008-07-23T20:55:00.000+02:00

The Religious Right Is AWOL From The Real War
By Chuck Baldwin
July 23, 2008

This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2008/cbarchive_20080723.html

I want to begin this column with one of my all-time favorite quotes. It
comes from the great German reformer Martin Luther. He said, "If I profess
with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of
God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at
that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be
professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier
is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides is mere flight
and disgrace if he flinches at that point."

Luther's trenchant statement reminds us that today's Christians, especially
our Christian leaders, are conspicuously absent from the field of battle.
Oh, they may host large crowds in their gatherings; they may deposit
multiplied millions of dollars in their financial accounts; they may receive
thunderous applause from politicians, but they have fled the battlefield at
the point of attack.

For the record, the real battlefield today is not abortion. It is not
homosexual marriage. It is not Social Security. It is not al Qaeda. It is
not taxes. It is not inflation. It is not electing conservatives. It is not
posting the Ten Commandments. It is not even the high cost of gasoline. That
is not to say that those issues are not important and not deserving of our
best efforts and attention, because they are. But those issues do not
represent the major battlefield today.

The battlefield where the devil has amassed his greatest forces and is
thrusting his deadliest armies is the surrender of our national sovereignty
and independence, and the creation of global government. And it is our own
political and corporate leaders that are facilitating this chicanery.
Furthermore, by refusing to oppose this surrender, our Christian leaders are
complicit as well.

Obviously, the surrender of our independence has been ongoing for some time.
However, under Bill Clinton and especially under G.W. Bush, the pace has
quickened exponentially.

Doubtless, the biggest reason President Bush has more aggressively hastened
the pace of America's merger into supranational government is because he
enjoys widespread support among evangelical Christians. Absent opposition
from Christian leaders, G.W. Bush has virtually had a free hand. And please
know this: before Bush was a Republican, before he was a "conservative,"
before he was a Christian, he was and is a globalist, as was his father and
grandfather before him.

Because our national Christian leaders are content to revel in the lap of
political cronyism with President Bush (and the Republican Party), they have
abandoned their positions as watchmen on the wall. Instead of being watchmen
and heralds of truth, they have become political lackeys and toadies for the
GOP.

Now, just yesterday, James Dobson declares that he "might" support John
McCain. This in spite of the fact that only a few months ago Mr. Dobson
promised, "I cannot and I will not vote for Sen. John McCain as a matter of
conscience."

Ah, but that is just the problem: when it comes to groveling before the GOP,
our Christian leaders have no conscience. Hence, James Dobson is now
publicly saying he "might" support McCain.

The ones who are doing the yeoman's work in trying to warn the American
people to what is happening in regard to the surrender of our country's
liberties and independence are people such as Congressman Ron Paul and Dr.
Jerome Corsi.

Many of you know Corsi as the man who co-authored the Number 1 New York
Times best-seller, "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against
John Kerry."

Jerome Corsi holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University in political science. He
is not some fringe-radical (not that Harvard hasn't produced its own
radicals). Religiously, my understanding is that Corsi is either a Roman
Catholic or Episcopalian. However, Corsi is doing what James Dobson, Tony
Perkins, et al. should be doing, but aren't: he is sounding the trumpet of
truth for the real battlefield.

In a nutshell, Corsi warns us that G.W. Bush is secretly working to merge
the United States into a trilateral government with Canada and Mexico. Corsi
maintains that back in March of 2005, President Bush, Mexican President
Vicente Fox, and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin entered into an
agreement that binds the three countries into a regional or hemispheric
government.

Corsi insists that this is one of the central reasons why Bush is so adamant
about granting amnesty to Mexico's illegal aliens. Bush is simply following
through with his commitment to Fox and Martin.

Corsi also notes that this new hemispheric entity already has a name. It is
called the North American Union (NAU), and it is being created without any
input (or even knowledge) from our legislative or judicial branches of
government. The official name of the agreement made between the three
leaders is the "Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America" (SPP).
Obviously, the new NAU is modeled after the already established European
Union (EU).

Folks, please be aware that President Bush has already committed the United
States to a regional or hemispheric government. When completed, this
regional government will control everything relative to the "security" and
"prosperity" of this new North American Union. That includes everything
relating to travel, law enforcement, trade, education, military matters,
etc. So, what is left out? Nothing.

Please remember, too, that all of this is being done without any input from
the American people or their elected representatives at the state or federal
level. I would even dare say that the vast majority of congressmen and
senators are completely oblivious to the fact that this is even happening.
With the attention of the American people (and Congress) focused on the
Middle East, Bush and his cabal of elitists are moving forward with plans to
surrender our national independence and merge our country into a regional
government. Friends, this is the real war; this is the real battlefield.

When America loses its sovereignty and independence, we will lose all of our
fundamental liberties. The Constitution will be meaningless and irrelevant.
The Bill of Rights will be moot. The principles of religious liberty, the
right to life, and the Christian foundation of our country will be passé.
And, as I said at the outset of this column, our national leaders,
especially our Christian leaders, are totally absent from this battlefield.

The surrender of our national sovereignty and independence is where the
battle currently rages; it is where the devil is at this moment attacking
(to quote Luther). But where is the Religious Right? They have flinched and
fled in the face of battle. They would rather hold onto their precious perks
of power within the ivory towers of partisan politics. Luther is right:
their actions are disgraceful.

BIBLICAL IQ EQUALS LIFE-LITERATE!

2008-07-20T22:02:00.000+02:00

This article is a response to an article in the Business times, Sunday the 20th July 2008, duly entitled “Big mouth, big money”. In this article Business Times’s Abdul Milazi spoke to one of the celebrated businessman and author of the “Popular Rich Dad, Poor Dad series which sold more than 17 million copies” according to Business Times, (pg11,2008). I read this man’s Business views and found his business acumen and “financial IQ” (to use his own words) quite impressive.

However, there is one very important error in theological cognition (for lack of a better word) and comprehension that I particularly want to highlight and briefly allude to. I have taken the liberty and the audacity to shed some light to proponents of wealth like Mr. Kiyosaki here, in order to clear the air of misconceptions such people often find themselves engaged in for lack of real knowledge about Biblical issues or simply put, Biblical discourse.

Let me be quick to note that the said lack is mainly due to their erroneous propensity to purport to have certain understandings about certain issues such people have no literate authority over. I refer here particularly to matters whose bases are Biblical in nature. And I want to caution people who are not only given to sophistry in much of the cases but also who are grossly ignorant of; first the inerrancy of the Bible and secondly the infallibility of the same. It is very important for such a class of people to understand that the Bible is a ‘discipline’ in and of itself and it is more so, a one discipline that one should not attempt to engage ones intellect, except such a one is given that insight and such an ability to disclose or engage at a reputable level with its content and insights, by the Holy Spirit.

The Bible is not just a book, as most are given to thinking. It is the living word of God. And I am not saying this to amuse or to propagate any particular dogma or religious position. I am saying this to enlighten those who would like to engage themselves with its sayings and wisdom which is beyond any human intellect.

Unless the Bible is illuminated and its sayings broken down to man’s level by the same Holy Spirit, who by the way is the spokesperson of the trinity, then, all guys like Mr. Kiyosaki are doing is further propounding as it were the gross lack of insight and understanding that the Bible requires of its scholars- the Christians. Note that Christians here again I am referring not to that religious bunch, like Mr. Kiyosaki’s Sunday school teacher, who denied him (Mr. Kiyosaki) the opportunity to have his question (see Business Times, Pg 11, 20th, 2008) answered appropriately therefore, aiding him to avoid what is now transpiring through Mr. Kiyosaki’s understanding, with reference to 1 Timothy 6: 10, although Mr. Kiyosaki is not quoting the whole scripture because should he have done that, he would have understood its meaning even without his religious Sunday school teacher.

The following scripture is very simple and straight forward. It does not say be poor! It says do not covert or worship money. Money, to quote one of those many slogans about it, indeed “makes the world go round”. I am typing this on a computer, money was used to buy it, I am posting this article on the World Wide Web, and money played a role. I am in a house, I am using electricity, and money is needed for all these. But what the scripture is saying in part is: money is not the be-it-all, end-all of life. There is more to life than money. Have you ever seen a rich man die? Ever heard of one taking his money with into and beyond his grave? Ever asked yourself why? So if none does then what does that say about money and its value or importance in our lives as people?

Do you not realize there is a much larger cause than money or its pursuit that we are here now? Our lives are much more precious than money, and if that is the case then it means we live for something much more valuable than accruing wealth and money. We need money in order to aspire toward that noble purpose. And I want to be quick here and suggest that the reason why many people think money is evil while some think it is ‘life’s be-it-all’ is because both campuses are devoid of Biblical wisdom and are therefore LIFE-ILLITRATES. Ever heard of computer illiterates? Yeah that same concept is what I am referring to here. As much as some or most people are computer illiterates especially in Africa, it is also true that a huge majority of people, especially money lovers are totally LIFE-ILLITRATE, and this is sad.

I don’t want to go further explaining this scripture, beyond what I have already done. I want you to study this scripture believing that the Holy Spirit will give you revelation of what exactly this scripture is saying, especially about money. And I also pray that He (The Holy Spirit) will lead you into all Biblical truth, and also I pray that you will begin to take Biblical illiteracy, therefore LIFE-ILLITRACY as something not to be proud of but rather something to be shunned and condemned utterly.

International Standard Version (©2008)
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, in their eagerness to get rich, have wandered away from the faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.
GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Certainly, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people who have set their hearts on getting rich have wandered away from the Christian faith and have caused themselves a lot of grief.
King James Bible
For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Bible in Basic English
For the love of money is a root of all evil: and some whose hearts were fixed on it have been turned away from the faith, and been wounded with unnumbered sorrows.
Darby Bible Translation
For the love of money is the root of every evil; which some having aspired after, have wandered from the faith, and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
English Revised Version
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil: which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

What Happens to Zimbabwe After Mugabe?

2008-07-18T13:29:00.000+02:00

This a title of a book I browsed through last night. Whats amazing to me is the timeliness of this book which was first published in 2005.

I recommend it to anyone who is interested to go find it and read it. I havent yet but I do have it so I will read it and comment as best I came on its or the author's views about the Zim situation as the case may be.

THE FLU CALLED AFRICAN DEMOCRACY!

2008-07-04T09:38:00.001+02:00

Africa is a beautiful continent. Flu is a deadly disease caused by a virus. At face value the two, dont seem to amount or simply put, command the attention they both are worth. Democracy on the other hand is a philosophy, or an ideology: indeed a meta-textual ideal, which is only as good as the extent to which the ever-transient normative conditions favourable for its existence are recognised and abidded by.

Studying the pathway, from the entry of the RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae or (influenza viruses)to the infection and ultimately the contraction of the flu virus, one can learn very useful lessons around the so-called African Democracies.

A lot can be said about the African Democratic ideals which are mostly hinged upon certain insignificant nostalgic 'heroic exploits' to say the least. From Zimbabwe, to most unfortunately South Africa, especially with the advent of the recent "...kill for Zuma" idiosyncratic yet potentially dogmatically obliterative Zuma-farce anthem, and the most unfortunate Human Rights commission's stance towards dealing with these potentially destructive,and truly anger inciting and at worst babaric utturances, one wonders what the future of our Democracies really is?

Different stakeholders who are supposed to keep the politician on check or accountable are slowly and surely becoming accomplices of the much shunned human right abuses that are witnessed daily within the beautiful boaders of our continent. If these organisations are slowly becoming toothless bull-dogs especially in the midst of the unbearable heat emitted by these intolarable human right abuses by the people we sent to represent us at governmental level, then one wonders again what the future entails for the common man on the African soil? Hope seems to be dissipating under our feet and this is a very big problem.

The flu virus, like I mentioned earlier on is deadly. Statistics and research shows and further attest to this claim.Research demonstrates that flu spreads around the world in seasonal epidemics, killing millions of people in pandemic years and hundreds of thousands in non-pandemic years. Furthermore, it is postulated that atleast three influenza pandemics occurred in the 20th century and killed tens of millions of people, with each of these pandemics being caused by the appearance of a new strain of the virus in humans. Often, these new strains result from the spread of an existing flu virus to humans from other animal species. A deadly avian strain named H5N1 has posed the greatest risk for a new influenza pandemic since it first killed humans in Asia in the 1990s. Fortunately, this virus has not mutated to a form that spreads easily between people (Wikipedia).

Lessons we should learn from the flu virus is that:
1. it kills both in pandemic and in non-pandemic years
2.each pandemic is caused by an existing strain of the virus appearing as a new strain but operating with the potency of the old
3. there are deadlier strains of the same virus such as the Avian strain named H5N1
4. there are 50/50 chances of the Avian virus mutating and therefore posing the greatest threat to human existence ever posed a flu virus.

Such lessons are caution marks and they require us as Africans to belt-up and tackle our impending problems with the view of nipping all the bad seedlings right back into their buds before they blossom and cross polunate. But it seems African leaders are either too afraid or too complacent to act...and this scares me.

Symptoms of influenza on humanbeings:
In humans, common symptoms of the disease are the chills, then fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe headache, coughing, weakness and general discomfort.What is amazing is that these sympotoms have fooled the human race to the extent that we regard them as normal. Flu vaccines are out there but we dont make use of them, because flu, dispite its perils is a disease we think we are so acquinted with. But research has just shown not only its perils but also its deceptive tendencies. I say its deceptive tendencies because often times we dont know which type of virus we have, except that we are 'familiar' with the symptoms...

Symptoms of democratic decadance:
1. lack of trust in the succession process
2. an attempt to changing the constitution to extend one's term in office
3.polarisation of democratic ideals i.e. creating gery areas within the democratic process (pathetic)
4.utterances of hate speech in and during political campaigns
5.references to 'freedom fighting'
6. embellishing the so-called freedom fighters with status beyond them (what happened to sacrificial service?)
7. silence diplomacy with regard issues of national urgency
8. diplomatic approach to rectifying wrongs perpetuated against citizens or the nation by ruling elites
9. condoning and impatial dealing with wrong, i.e. some people being brought above the law (what????)

I am not going to make or draw conclusions for you readers out there, but I want you to please respond to these writings. I need to know how you see our future democracies. Just click on the comment link at the end of this text and add your comment or views. You dont have to agree with me, you just have to have an opinion of your own.

You can also drop me an e-mail at: monnapt@gmail.com

taaa!

THABO MBEKI

2008-07-03T15:06:00.001+02:00

Exactly who is this man? And what is his African mandate? People please help me, do we really need the likes of Mbeki as leaders of Africa?

Its amazing. Really is. How can someone be so confident in Mugabe, even when Mugabe totally discredited himself before the international audience? First there is no crisis in Zimbabwe, then America and Europe, stay out of African problems, then to African leaders "don't openly condemn Mugabe, whats next then?

During the Xenophobic attacks here in South Africa, an issue which is almost threatening to take the much needed 2010 soccer world cup from Africa and South Africa, Mr President was in Japan, one of the Zimbabwean, ZanuPF Allies, I wonder what they were discussing, perhaps, let them die? But anyway, I couldnt care less, besides that today, Thabo Mbeki was leading the nation in a memo???what? what memorial in respect of those that lost their lives due to the attacks.

I find this pretty, confusing. I dont know but where is the logic in this. Perhaps if Zuma or Winnie Mandela were the ones leading the nation then I would understand because they expressed concern then, but anyway Africa is Africa and to its problems there is no mention nor logic.

Mr. Mandela,celebrating 90 glorious years and displaying great and immesurable integrity. But Sir, I watched with great enthusiasm and mounting expectation as you gave your very influential speech, but unless I missed it, which couldnt have happened in a million years, I dont recall you making mention of your should I say proteges exploits as a great leader and a man of wisdom, indeed the great African and world visionery and hero that you are. We need you to speak on these issues.

Sir you did not speak on Zimbabwe and the issues there especially that Thabo your hand-picked successor is supposed to be mediating in a case to which he sees no cause for concern. How can he mediate on Zimbabwes issues if he doenst see a crisis in Zimbabwe. People are being slaughtered and dispalce but that is 'normal' in some way?

I am confused. AU? I dont even want to mentioned them, except again applaud BOTSWANA and MR. ODINGA! and oh, the rest of the African leaders who held a similar view as I and Botswana does.

KEEP ON KEEPING ON with those good moral ideals and good governmental indeed judicious judgements. Because Mugabe, needs people of your calibre. He will thank you one day. Just be patient and consistent to the extent of tightening you grip on him, If you dont know what I mean ask BISHOP DESMOND TUTU, he knows his stuff.

I am out for now!

AU OUGHT TO BE SERIOUS ABOUT ZIM!

2008-07-01T12:09:00.001+02:00

I wounder why Mugabe was invited to the current AU summit in the first place? On what capacity is he in Egypt? Isnt that saying something about the AU's stance towards Zimbabwe and its one-man-show Mugabe? On what basis is Mugabe labelled the president of Zimbabwe, because if the elections were not fair and free, then he is not a legitimate presidential candidate, unless our leaders are hiding something.

I do not see the wisdom in inviting Mugabe to the AU summit to deliberate on African Affairs especially after demonstrating clearly to Africa that he cant listen to them. How are these so-called African leaders going to speak about Mugabe in his presence if they failed to speak against him in his absence? Its a puzzle I am struggling to solve really.

We need the likes of President Ian Khama rule Africa, and I fully understand why our President did not see it fit to waste time at this AU summit. Our president sees an URGENT CRISIS in Zimbabwe but it seems not so with the rest of Africa. Africa is slowly and shamfully adopting the South Africa's Mbeki's silent diplomacy towards Mugabe, despite the fact that the rest of South Africa, in particular the DA and most importantly the ANC president Jacob Zuma has and still continues to lambast this cowardly-bordering complicity stance with regards the humanitarian atrocities we see in Zimbabwe.

Mugabe still has a bit of dignity left and he really needs someone who can tell him its ok to leave! But the African brotherhood doesnt seem to know how to phrase such a statement: that is if they know its the right thing to do. I WONDER!

I am reminded of a Proverb in the Bible which says: (Proverbs 27:6)
"Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses". Just a friendly Advice to Mugabe: You better start counting your friends, these African brothers, NO, I dont trust them, especially on the basis of this proverb...

Anyway, down the corridors of time, there exists a detour no-one can miss. Not even a blindman.

MANTLWANENG!

2008-06-30T15:04:00.000+02:00

In setswana Mantlwaneng is when children play games where they pretend to be what they are not. Forexample one would be a 'father and the other a mother' in a house made of sticks. I liken this analogy to that of the Zimbabwean government. The only difference here is that kids know for a certainty that they are just purporting to be what they are not. I am not so sure the Zimbabwe government know the difference though.

However, if this is the case, then I am yet to see if AU really is genuine or they are also just playing "Mantlwane" like children. Something tells me these guys are real but that I can't at this jucture ascertain for a fact, except that time and tide waits for no man, its a matter of hours or even minutes before we know who our leaders are.

But then one would love to know what we would do? I mean us journalists and socialists, law-enforcers and leaders of tomorrow? Are we going to complain and do nothing or our we going to determine to see the difference in our political and social IQs. One leader whose name is worth this much said something that I found pretty comical, that a pen is not mightier than a gun, I am yet to see what is indeed mightier. I view dying for a worthy cause a migration to a better life and one thing remains, ones ideals never die with them especially if they were for a worthy cause.

Guys lets brace up and take our stands. Our pens, our mouth our intellect wields much more power than any gun! especially if you are a praying journalist like I am.

God is in control and In Him I am complete and I fear no man, because He alone is my Refuge!!
Godbless yol!

Washington's Culture Of Deception, by Chuck Baldwin

2008-05-30T21:15:00.001+02:00

May 30, 2008

This column is archived at

Dr. Chuck Baldwin

A bomb exploded inside Washington, D.C., this week, and, no, it was not the work of a Middle Eastern terrorist. It was the work of former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. He, perhaps more than anyone else, was the face of President Bush's White House. He faithfully served President George W. Bush for close to a decade and served as Bush's Press Secretary for some three years, resigning on April 19, 2006. He was also regarded as one of the most loyal and tight-lipped of the Bush insiders. However, his new book, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception" has exploded in the face of what history will probably regard as one of the most deceptive and manipulative Presidential administrations in American government. The Washington Post (and a host of other media) released a report regarding McClellan's book this past Wednesday.

According to McClellan's book, the Iraq war was sold to the American people with a sophisticated "political propaganda campaign" led by President George W. Bush himself. McClellan charges that Bush aimed at "manipulating sources of public opinion" and "downplaying the major reason for going to war." He also says he was deceived by some within the President's inner circle about the leak of a CIA operative's name.

He has especially harsh criticism for former White House advisor Karl Rove for misleading him about his role in the CIA case. He also accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of being "deft . . . at protecting her reputation," and called Vice President Dick Cheney "the magic man" who steered policy behind the scenes.

In a chapter titled "Selling the War," McClellan says the administration repeatedly "shaded the truth." He also stated, "In the permanent campaign era, it was all about manipulating sources of public opinion to the president's advantage." In what might be the most disturbing statement in the book (at least among those that were released by press reports), McClellan said, "What I do know is that war should only be waged when necessary, and the Iraq war was not necessary."

McClellan said his motive for writing the book was this: "Like many Americans, I am concerned about the poisonous atmosphere in Washington. I wanted to take readers inside the White House and provide them an open and honest look at how things went off course and what can be learned from it. Hopefully in some small way it will contribute to changing Washington for the better and move us beyond the hyper-partisan environment that has permeated Washington over the past 15 years."

I am confident the reaction that will spew forth from both sides of the political aisle will simply reinforce McClellan's basic assertion. Republicans will attempt to impugn McClellan's credibility, while Democrats will shout, "We told you so!"

In previous columns, I have written much regarding the poison of deception that emanates from Washington, D.C., which is mostly due to the preoccupation with political partisanship. It seems the only time the Republican and Democratic parties care about "ethics" and "honesty" is when it condemns the other party. Otherwise, life in Washington, D.C., is exactly as McClellan describes it: a culture of deception.

McClellan's book will be a bitter pill to swallow. To think that the war in Iraq was "unnecessary" creates angst and even anger in the meekest of men. Yet, how many times have governments spent the lives and fortunes of their people for causes and reasons that historians would later judge to be "unnecessary"? It might even be safe to say that most of history's wars have been "unnecessary."

The propensity of rulers to engage in war for personal, transient, or even adolescent purposes is exactly why America's Founding Fathers created a constitutional republic in this country. In America, the Constitution--not the President, Congress, or even the Supreme Court--is the Supreme Law of the land. Each branch of government is to remain separate from the other, and no branch is supposed to be able to run roughshod over the other. It is fidelity to constitutional government that forms the vanguard of our liberty, not to mention our safety.

This is why our President and members of Congress take an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. They are not sworn to uphold the will of party bosses or special interest groups, or even the whim of the people. They are required to uphold the Constitution.

Sadly, America's civil magistrates (especially at the federal level) have been ignoring the Constitution for much of the 20th Century, and--for the most part--still ignore the Constitution today. And it has not mattered to a tinker's dam which party has been in power. Both major parties are equal opportunity violators of the Constitution.

None of us (including this writer) wants to believe that McClellan's bold assertion is true. None of us wants to believe that we are spending trillions of hard-earned tax dollars and sending thousands of brave soldiers and Marines (not to mention tens of thousands of Iraqis) to their deaths "unnecessarily." I sincerely pray that McClellan is wrong about that.

One thing I do believe to be true, however, is this: Unless the American people begin demanding that their civil magistrates uphold their oaths to the Constitution, and until the American people rid themselves of this blind loyalty to the two major political parties, we are going to be continually subjected to "Washington's Culture of Deception."

*If you enjoyed this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link:

The Proverbial Woman

2008-05-30T18:10:00.000+02:00

Proverbs 31:10 simply asks: "who can find a virtuous woman,for her price is above rubies?" We don't have to look far away to find the "proverbial woman. A mother is the be-it all of every child's life; including you. During xenophobic attacks here in South Africa, it is no doubt mothers suffered the most devastating blow of all the victims!

To all the mothers there who suffered at the hands of the brutal and insensitive attackers, my heart goes out to you and I pray God repay your perpetrators their dues. Long life mothers, and continues the good work that you are doing. God is watching and he sees every tear of disparation that drops off your eyes. You are more valuable than rubies.. but some fool somewhere doesn't understand that.

Pray for such ignorant men to come around one day and know their duties. To men out there, your duty is to love, respect and protect those women you are busy violating and brutalising. SHAME ON YOU!

The Truth: how should we present "The Gospel Truth"?

2008-05-30T17:54:00.000+02:00

The truth is something that most people are dying to tell but many can’t speak the truth in love. Truth without love is at most equivalent to a mere pronouncement of judgement but as we all know, not only are we not fit to pass judgement onto our brothers but we are above all else commanded not to judge others, because that task is reserved for the only one true judge, the Christ without any wrongs whatsoever.

I have been chatting to some folks about such issues but it came to my attention that a lot of us don’t even know or do they see any wrong in doing what they do, as long as they think they are onto something…but wait a minute. Who are you to tell me what I should or should not do? This is quite a fitting question to ask. It should be one question that guides and governs our interactions and relations with other people regardless of what we think of them or how we have classified them according to the standards God knows where we get them… perhaps we ought to realise and be aware that all that we do whether good intentioned or bad will one day be judged for what it was worth. One thing I have realised is that through our love of truth we have destroyed a lot than we have actually preserved, so what’s the use? Shouldn’t we rather work on our methods then if these are the types of results we are getting after all the labour we put into it?

Of course we possess the truth! This is truly an undoubt-able fact. There is definitely no contesting its validity. However what is at stake is the packaging and ultimately the way we then present our truth to those that we think need it. As much as we want to give it to them we should also realise that these people also reserve the right to be heard and for their opinions to be respected no matter how skewed to our perceptions such views might seem. It is love beyond all else that straightens these perceptions other people have about certain things that we hold so dear to us and have such a conviction of, to the extent that we just want to shove all of it into their mouths even if they don’t want it or don’t understand why their views, but not ours are wrong.

This is quite a psychological issue if you come to think about it…and the only way to win this battle is to go the psychological way and of course with God’s wisdom because whether you like it or not He created psychology and He wants it to be used to convict and to shed some light to His truth to those whose minds and thinking are shaped and bear an inclination towards psychological fact.

just checking why videos dont work here

2008-05-30T16:13:00.002+02:00

Dogma by Anton Brink

July 2nd, 2006 - One Response

HOTTEST HEADLINES-A WOMAN DIES AFTER LIFE SPENT IN IRON LUNG

2008-05-29T11:36:00.000+02:00

An oddessy of another power failure.
CNN, May 28, 2008 -- Updated 0117 GMT (0917 HKT)

Story Highlights
Dianne Odell of Tennessee, 61, lived in iron lung after contracting polio at age 3

She died after a power failure cut the breathing device's electricity

Spinal deformity kept her from using portable modern machine

"Dianne was one of the kindest and most considerate people," friend says

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) -- For almost 60 years, Dianne Odell lived inside a 7-foot-long metal tube, unable to breathe outside it but determined not to let it destroy her spirit.

From her 750-pound iron lung, she got a high school diploma, took college courses and wrote a children's book about a "wishing star" named Blinky.

"I've had a very good life, filled with love and family and faith," she said in 1994. "You can make life good, or you can make it bad." more see cnn.com/US

AND THEN? WHATS NEXT AFTER XENOPHONIA?

2008-05-26T18:53:00.000+02:00

One cannot help but wonder what is gonna be next after people were brutally slaughtered in acts of hate here in South Africa. I held a community talk show as I had announced last week Thursady and one speak from the audience made a very compelling statement. She gave an historic example of violence in South Africa and related the so-called heroic exploits of the mighty Shaka Zulu to the rewards South Africa is reaping today. She said as Africans we applaud people who kill others without questioning the future consequenses of their actions.

Of course Shaka Zulu Killed to protect himself and his people from the whites, but then what happened? According to this speaker, the spear was then turned on to family members! Ever wondered why Mzilikazi of Zimbabwe left? Thats why he left.

Africans read and study your histories and stop killing each other! The Bible says God will punish your sins to the first, second, third and fourth generations if you do. I dont care if you believe the Bible or not. One thing remains and that is, "you cant stop God on His word" His word shall never return to Him void, but it shall always accomplish that for which He sent it. AMEN!

TODAY'S HOT HEADLINES: US general apologises for Quran target

2008-05-18T15:20:00.000+02:00

CNN: U.S. commanders arrived at a police outpost in heavily armored vehicles to be met by a human tempest; hundreds of chanting tribesmen lined up behind razor wire, offering their blood and souls in sacrifice for the Quran.

"I am a man of honor, I am a man of character. You have my word, this will never happen again," the general told the angry crowd through loudspeakers, pounding the makeshift podium three times with his fist.

"In the most humble manner, I look in to your eyes today and I say, please forgive me and my soldiers." The act of his sniper was criminal, he said. "I've come to this land to protect you, to support you...this soldier has lost the honor to serve the United States Army and the people of Iraq here in Baghdad."

A former college quarterback, Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, stood facing the angry crowd. His face was grim and fixed as tribal sheikhs swirled around him.

Martin stood before the crowd next, opening his address with an Islamic blessing. Holding a new Quran in his hands, he turned to the crowd. "I hope that you'll accept this humble gift." Martin kissed the Quran and touched it to his forehead as he handed it to the tribal elders. The crowd's voice rose, "Yes, yes, to the Quran. No, no, to the devil."

TODAY'S HOT HEADLINES: Chemist gets life for hubby's acid vat murder

2008-05-17T21:26:00.000+02:00

FRESNO, California (AP) -- A biochemist was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Friday for killing her estranged husband by knocking him out and stuffing him into a vat of acid, possibly while he was still alive.

Larissa Schuster was convicted in December of murdering Timothy Schuster with the special circumstance that the murder was committed for financial gain. At the time of his death in July 2003, the Schusters were in the middle of a divorce after nearly 20 years of marriage.

FULL STORY AT: http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/16/acid.slaying.ap/index.html?

CHRISTIANS UNPLUGGED!

2008-05-17T19:30:00.003+02:00

A couple of Christians in my neighbourhood have decided to finally have a voice in relation to the issues and events good or bad that happens in and around our communities. This coming Thursday evening at around 7pm, we are meeting to discuss and debate the recent events, so gruesome and utterly barbaric that happened in Alexandra township in Johannesburg. Brutal instances of xenophobic perpetrated violence was reported and lives have been endangered. The reason? some people see others as foreigners and therefore a threat. But wait a minute! How long has it been since apartheid ended in South Africa?

Wasn't it African countries like Botswana, Zimbabwe,Namibia and many others that gave the freedom fighters of those times a place from which to execute their plans against dismantling the horrendous evil that personified apartheid and all that it stood for?

But then, is it not these the very Africans that these forgetful bunch of men and women of South Africa are vilifying?

Do these so-called foreigners really take South Africans' jobs? Was not the city of Gold or Egoli built through the sweat of migrant labour?

So then, what really went wrong?

Give us your comments and join the rest of us as we deliberate on these issues and many more of like kind.
sms your views and opinions to: 0721 29 06 02 or e-mail: monnapt@gmail.com

And lets get talking... Our topic this coming Thursday is:
Ref:ALEXANDRA TOWNSHIP-'RIOTS. Xenophobia and Spiritual Connotations?" What are the spiritual connotations of xenophobia? and what are its ultimate social and economic implications on South Africa?

GORDON BROWN A SCHOLAR OF Dr. CHIKA ONYEANI'S?

2008-05-16T15:14:00.001+02:00

I say this because these is a speech consumerate with what Dr. Onyeani's Capitalist Nigger, propagates.

Now, this is what Gordon Brown says: Some argue that it is the presence of big international corporations that is the cause of the problems in developing countries, but I disagree. Indeed, I believe it is the absence of business - and not the presence of business - that blights the lives of poor people, leaving them dependent on aid and denying them the opportunity to work, denying them the chance to support their families and denying them the means to ensure their children get the chance to succeed.
(Source, Africa Unchained)

How is this for freedom of speech in Africa?

2008-05-16T15:07:00.000+02:00

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan security forces on Saturday raided the offices of a magazine seen as critical of President Yoweri Museveni's government, arresting three journalists and taking computers, a lawyer said.

And then? why can't we be free to differ with their opinions? What is a president but a politician elected to that post by people of whom we journalists are party. Do we cease to be citizens just because we are now 'journalists?' and if we are still citizens, then where are our rights or freedoms to opinion?

I wonder?

Umtshato-A Xhosa wedding

2008-05-14T19:18:00.002+02:00

Hey Readers

2008-05-14T18:43:00.001+02:00

I am still alive and kicking. Recently I've been so busy with dead lines hence my not posting anything, I am still quite busy with deadline. I slept this morning at about 4am finishing a comedy script for SABC. For those who believe in the power of prayer I'd very much appreciate your prayers especially concerning this deal. I handed it in early this morning.

I also have an offer standing with a christian community radio station here in Johannesburg, to be precise in Rooderport, they also need a radio drama and I will very much appreciate good Ideas for a debut christian radio drama. This project is for a radio which goes by the name 'Rainbow FM 90.7 if you are in Jorburg and surrounding areas you should be able to get hold of us.

Investing in the future

2008-05-14T18:19:00.003+02:00

I recently read an article on investment and the future, and honestly speaking this article sent me thinking. I don't know, but for those of you who know the investment guru by the name Warren Buffett http://www.pt78.wordpress.com/ would aslo may be attest to the same convictions I have now of investment and the future. This guy started investing at the age of 14 and he regrets having started so late. But the question is how many of us reading this article had a concept of investment at that formative age, let alone how many of us are even thinking of investing or creating an investment portfoloio that will benefit them and their children in future.

You know to most of us Africans especially have no concept of investing in the stock market. We wait for the day we retire, get our retirement package and then decide to open a spaza shop (tuck shop). This is indeed a very small minded view of the future, let alone life itself.

Talk to me about your own discoveries in as far as the above question is concerned. You can reach me on monnapt@gmail.com

Phew!

2008-04-26T13:38:00.000+02:00

I am back on again. My site had just dissappeared without trace, i dont know what had happened but it just came back again, all by itself. If anyone has some info as to how or what could have happened please, your advice will be highly appreciated. I logged off and the following day it was gone, i did nothing to cause that.

thanx and looking forward to hear from anyone who cares...

ZIMBABWEANS, YOU ARE THE EMPLOYER

2008-04-23T19:16:00.000+02:00

I recently went for an interview for a job. To my surprise, (or did I really expect to be the only one called for this interview) there were about just over thirty of us, all-competing for the same few posts that the organization could spare for us, the ‘C4 scalers’. There was absolutely no mistaking who the boss(es) was or were. It was quite obvious. The bosses came up with all the terms of engagement even before they knew (if at all they cared) what our varied preferences for the interview would be.

There existed within the atmosphere at that interview, an unseen constitution to which we all (prospective employees) respected without question. In like manner we signed an unwritten or un-negotiated Declaration that we unanimously ‘take an oath’ if you like to abide by those rules which were in actual fact never made available for either our perusal or negotiation. However, each party to this ‘deal’ understood the terms and were all prepared to consciously make the necessary effort required to ensure that we all abide by these unseen terms and conditions.

I want to liken the process I just sketched above to the ‘polling process’ in which we the citizens or compatriots of the electoral candidates, who have heeded the call for the expression of interest for whatever position in the system or the democratic process to which we aspire as electorates ultimately engage.

Suffice it to say the two, above; all lead to a singular goal: employment. And in both cases there is an employee and the employer or the boss-element. Often in political lingua franca especially in Botswana my home country, a Tswana word, often metaphorically over burdened with euphemism is preferred by the vote-seekers (bo nthlopheng). Quoting the former president, H.E President Festus Mogae at one of his farewell speeches at Mochudi, he categorically used the phrase “nne le nthumile… to describe his tenure in office.

This phrase so heavily burdened with a romanticized accent bothering on rhetoric is the root word /ROMA/ meaning to send or rightly so, implying the one who has been sent to do something. However, I often find quite a huge disparity between the linguistic usage of this word and what then actually translates into its actual meaning in practice, i.e. contextual meaning as evidenced by the democratic atmosphere or the articulation thereof by both the voter and the voted.

It is this very disturbing anomaly that I want to base my writing on. Peradventure I strike a cord and offer a distinctive ray of linguistic knowledge between the black, grey and white areas as subsumed and confused often within this lexico-grammatical continuum.

What I principally want to make clear is that democracy is a true democracy only if the voice of the voter determines what goes and what doesn’t. Secondly I want to clearly state to both parties to this system that the voter is in fact the employer and the voted is therefore the employed and thirdly I want to suggest that, this being the case then means that whatever decisions are made or are to be made, the employer and the employee ought to have discussed it thoroughly and in the end, the employers’ word goes and never the other way round. Otherwise a compromise should be entered into and still then the ultimate objective of this rigorous process should be that all parties stand to benefit equally out of this process.

The reason I am going to call the relationship I am painting here with word-pictures a pseudo-demo-dictatorship is because the actual process of democracy is only lived in the minds of the voter but never in practice. The ideologically phrased words such as the one idiom specific to the Botswana process are such hypnotic tools the politician has coined and exploited to the utter detriment of the unsuspecting electorates. The painful truth, however, is that these sexed-up words and phrases only find currency when they conveniently serve and propel the purposes of the employee and not even that of the employer. Else we would say the employer is abusing the employee. Otherwise the way things are manifest now, I find it hard even to coin a word or term for it.

However, Professor Graham Murdock of Loughborough University has identified the implications of the media for the democratic process by making references to the different dimensions of what constitutes citizenship. He identifies three important ways in which the communication media contribute to the constitution of citizenship.

Firstly, according to Murdock, in order for people to be able to exercise their full rights as citizens, they must have access to the information on what their rights are. But how many Africans or at least Zimbabweans especially those who worship Mugabe, has access to the information that made him so obdurate about staying in power at any cost? If people knew what they don’t wouldn’t they be also as equally adamant as he is to see him off the state house of Zimbabwe? However, I also want you to realize that there are those in life who are born-scared. All they are capable of is DENIAL for fear of facing REALITY. And to those NOTHING can be done.

Otherwise, according to Murdock, they would need advice on, and analysis of, how they are to pursue these rights to which they are barred, effectively.

Secondly, Professor Graham Murdock, with whom I fully concur, suggests that, the citizens of any given country, however small or insignificant in the eyes of the international or affilliative bodies, all such citizens must have access to the broadest possible range of information, interpretation and debate on areas that involve public political choices, representing a wide range of viewpoints.They must, according to Graham Murdock (ibid) be able to use media of different kinds to register and express criticism and come forward with alternative models for development.

In Zimbabwe, whether or not the people had full information or were able to use media of different kinds, fact remains that the people “came forward with an alternative model of governance under the banner and emblem of the Tsvangirai regime. To the people of Zimbabwe the Mugabe model of governance is obsolete, but not quite to the Mbeki Mediation and in part also to the diplomatic SADC and the newly formed AU conglomerate. Whether or not the people of Zimbabwe want Mugabe or not, these conglomerates and mediation-supermarkets still stocks Mugabe. What happens to “customer is king” is it a phrase relevant only in movies like, “I AM SAM or what?” I thought it would go a mile deeper than that. But I guess I was wrong, I think I watch too much movies!

Murdock further says that citizens should be able to use the media “on the basis of information and interpretation of events in the local, national and international scene”. I recently watched Botswana TV and was amazed to find a man, an intellectual I used to respect prior to that broadcast firmly endorsing the rags-of-a government and a country to which Mugabe is taking the nation of Zimbabwe. The language, the zeal and blind passion this man displayed left my stomach in knot so growling I was completely lost of speech. I was reminded of a scripture in the Bible that rightly asserts that “…they have eyes yet they don’t see”.

I wondered how big a set of eyes a Christian needs or desire if he or she can’t see the highly magnified trashing of human rights in the country of Zimbabwe through the Holy Spirit enabled eyes. It’s amazing that this man is from Zimbabwe and he works in Botswana, not in Zimbabwe. If Zimbabwe is such a diamond or a gem of a country then why is he not buying a bakkie and go back to Zimbabwe and get three or four loads full of Zim Dollars each month than take few Pulas from my country, and in fact he might be occupying some other man’s job. Unemployment in Botswana is soaring high these days and Batswana are just as skilled.

Thirdly, and lastly, still concurring with Professor Graham Murdock, people must be able to recognize themselves and their aspirations, their cultures and life styles, in the range of representations on offer within the various media, be it political and they should be able to contribute to developing and extending these representations to the development not only of themselves individually but also of their wider communities through an amelioration of governance that transcends pretence and hypocritical consent.
Zimbabwe (and Africa) wake up and smell the brewing coffee!

The question of Religion and Politics!?

2008-04-23T16:00:00.000+02:00

I read this essay and found it very fascinating,yet potentially very confounding for the Christian whose present notion or idiom of state and religion scathes only but the peripheries of the ideology herewith propagated in this essay.

According to Kenneth Cauthen (http://www.frontiernet.net)the question of religion and politics is not the same as the question of church and state. Failure to make this distinction results in confusion. The problem of church and state has to do with institutions and practices. Neither must trespass the boundaries that define their legitimate sphere of influence. Here the concept of separation is valid. Thorny problems arise in two particular areas.

1. The first involves trying to steer between avoiding an establishment of religion and permitting its free exercise. Prayer in public schools and is among the most contentious.

2. A second range of problems arises when religious belief and practice conflict with secular law.

Do you agree or do you disagree? What are your thoughts, because some people think like this and they believe or contest the above notions. which camp do you fall on?

Note that I simply copied this text the way it was presented by its original author. I have no intention of trying to interpret it for you, all I want is for you to share with me your own thoughts or sentiments concerning this essay whose full text can be found on the website whose URL is provided above.

In future I will provide a direct link from my site for you so you can just click and see the whole texts from which I quote, however I am unable, presently, because I have one or two errors on my page, which makes it difficult for me to do that for you. Bear with me till then.

Inspired by an Old forwarded message!

2008-04-23T15:15:00.000+02:00

A very long time ago a friend(Lee-ann Stober) sent me this message and today, as I felt the need for inspiration I went thruough my old e-mails and I stumbled upon a very catchy one. It was simply entitled "The Ant and the contact lens" The title caught my attention and after re-reading this e-mail I thought some of you might need it as much as I did. So, here is it. Read it to the very last word and tell me if you are not challenged.

Here goes:

I think we all need this right now, remember, the Lord will not
give you a load which you are unable to carry. He is there to help.
Blessed
carrying everyone. Remember, you are not alone

A true story by Josh and Karen Zarandona

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing.
Although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a
tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear,
took a
hold on the
rope, and started up the face of that rock.
Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she
was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye
and
knocked out her contact lens. Well, here she is on a rock ledge,
with
hundreds of
feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she
looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but
it just
wasn't there. Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She
was
desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help
her to
find it. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her
clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found.
She sat
down,
despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them
to make
it up the face of the cliff. She looked out across range after range
of
mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, The eyes of the
Lord run
to and fro throughout the whole earth.
She thought, Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know
every stone and leaf. At the bottom there was a new party of
climbers just
starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, Hey, you
guys!
Anybody lose a contact lens?
Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the
climber saw it?
An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it!

Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him
the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens,
he
drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words,
"Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat
it, and
it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll
carry it
for
You." I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally
say,
"God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no
good
in it, and it's awfully heavy But, if you want me to carry it, I
will."
God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

The War of Ideas?

2008-04-22T16:35:00.002+02:00

Many people today have ideas on how to 'change the world.' Christians and other religious groupings are at the fore-front and possess such an immeasurable zeal to see things changed.

The question i have to all of you guys who are burning with zeal and passion to effect change in any sphere of human life is, what is your strategy? What problems are you addresing? What do you want to achieve at the end of it all ( I am speaking here of what tangible results you would love to see in order for you to measure your own personal progress).And ultimately what is your plan? how do you intend on tackling the problems with which you or your society or loved ones are grappling?

Ideas,ideologies or what ever you want to call them are a web of systems of understanding,approaches or ways of doing things which are deeply engraved into ones psyche to the extent that you dont have to think of drawing from them faced with any given situation that neccesitates their application.

According to wikipedia, "an ideology is an organized collection of ideas". The word ideology was coined by Count Antoine Destutt de Tracy in the late 18th century to define a "science of ideas" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideologies).

What I want to suggest here, after following most of the strategies that the church and the so-called democracies to which most of us belong is this:

I want to suggest to you who is feed up with the current systems of ideologies and philosophies that if you are really serious about effecting change, then start off by changing your philosophically madned mind. Work your attitude about things first, and when you are able to think not with your emotions, but with your mind, then sit down and devise a strategy about which to follow on your course toward changing anything in the world in which we live.

Realise that the world is a system of ideologies and ideas. Now I dont know what this statement says to you, but to me it says that for me to impact the world, i must first know the systems which makes up the world that I so badly want to impact.After knowing these systems it then tells me, I must come up with a system of ideas more superior than the ones I am currently not happy about. To quote a colleague of mine "the war of ideas needs no constitution but alternative ideas which are more superior than the former", (Pastor Edgar).

In the Bible spies were sent to spie the land. But the most interesting thing about them is that the attitude that was possesed by each set of spies pre-determined their report and perspectives on the land. You also need to determine what attitude will best help you impact the world in the way that you think it should be impacted.

Begin or Depart from a neutral position. In other words, determine to have a learning attitude and learn as best you can of everything you must know about your area of interest before embarking on a futile journey to impact the world you really dont understand, because if you dont understand your world or your enemy or subject it will definitely influence you.

Watch out, listen, learn, plan and then act.

The looming Zim CRISIS

2008-04-21T15:39:00.003+02:00

A deadly crisis looms in ZIM, but the mediators are too busy bunting diplomatic jargon and allaying the real situation on the ground with layers of cosmetic beauty that will not obviously last.

The question that I find fit to ask is WHY? Is there some interest this mediator is protecting by making the international community believe that the MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his party are just paranoid-attention-seekers acting like babies when there is really nothing to worry about? If this is the case then, can anyone explain to me why a cargo full of weapons is oscillating the shores of countries neighbouring Zimbabwe, fighting so desparately to deliver weapons of nation-destruction to Mugabe?

Why is Mugabe buying weapons for? Afterall there is peace in Zimbabwe...and to be honest only a lunatic neighbouring country would dare attack Zim, because there are no spoils to loot out of her boarders, as it is right now. Her people are hungry and are scattered all over, especially in South Africa, whose president see them as spoilt brats who dont like the luxury at home, but would rather beg from neighbours.

"It is no use going back to Zimbabwe and become captive," the MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai told Canada's The Globe and Mail in an interview yesterday.

My President Sir Ian Khama Seretse Khama does not play hide and seek. I trust his judgement. He is a man of great integrity, and if he saw it fit to offer Tsvangirai asylum in his country then there must be some crisis in Zimbabwe. And these here are words from an intelligent leader, one whose main concern goes beyond his selfish enrichment and fame to that of protecting his people and his country against the demonic on-slaught to which it is exposed.

"Do you want a dead hero?" This man does not care much about his heroism. All he wants is a fair and democratic transition to power, no wonder he sought asylum from someone who would understand the language he speaks--Ian Khama, because he too had just been a beneficiary of such a democratic process and Khama knows the merits of such a process if well articulated.

AU stop being diplomatic about this and help Mbeki with some salve for his eyes. Help Zimbabwe and get Mugabe moving, the people spoke, He is trashing the voice of the people... dont be party to his brutality. Be a good brother and offer him good brotherly advice and while you at it give him accommodation also.

SICK'O CHINA

2008-04-21T15:08:00.001+02:00

How dare they? How could they? Did you China not hear? Zimbabwe is in trouble and no doubt war is looming and you have the audacity to supply them with arms? For what? This step is worse than anything the beast prophesied in the Bible could ever match in a million years! China you are a shame to Africa! and we are ashamed of dealing with you as Africans!

We need peace in our continent, not what you are doing, How dare you fuel the fire that is just about to engulf the nation of Zimbabwe? With the little dignity thats left, pack your cargo and get out of our Ports, take your stuff out and if I had the power I'd say never step in Africa again, because we are to you a bunch of animals that needs to be hunted and slaughtered mercilessly...

Is Mugabe your son-in-law or what? Cant you see what he is doing to the people of Zimbabwe? The abuse of human rights in Zimbabwe? Where is the Beijing pronouncements of women rights? The women ans children in Zimbabwe are suffering more than anything possible for humanbeings to habour.

They need our help! As individuals. As nations, as the international community and especially as China who recently was busy lobbying for relationships with Africa. What I am saying exactly here is your actions are very suspect and we do not welcome them within our shores.

We dont want any Chinese colonisation. You are insulting our intelligence as Africans to come and court relations with us and them turn the tables on us like this. Be careful, because our continent is not a dark one anylonger if it ever was, that is.

I am dissapointed in China. And any aid to Africa from China should be looked at as poisonous...and be rejected outright by all African Nations who care about their people, because we just saw the strings attached to the so-called relations sought for by China.

I rest my case, not that I said all I wanted to say, but because anymore thing I would say here might lead me into prison...this here is how far my freedom of speach can take me for now.

The crux of the matter.

2008-04-19T12:33:00.000+02:00

Hi folks. I just want to take this opportunity to appreciate you all and say that of all people I have meet in my life time, none has ever wielded an opinion, as sharp and as enlightening as yours. Recently I felt now was the time,for me to meet the trend-setters, that is to say people who are not just satisfied with the current status quo. I have meet very interesting people today in because of the sharpness of the minds, coupled with cutting-edge and very genuine concerns about the politics, the economy, the religious, the church, the social,the anthropological, the sociological, the psychological and the linguistic make up and tendences of our socialisations with regards the future let me into creating this blog.

The aim of this blogsite is to engage people of similar or even more sharper minds in a dialogue of concerns, deliberating and corporately identifying problems and again corporately devising if not suggesting rightful solutions to such trends or issues as deliberated upon. The trend here is to provide and create a platform on which you will share your views and interpretations about certain life-concerning issues. Vent your displeasure with certain things in your society or community here and let see waht others think about a similar situation.

Looking forward to seeing your views,

Godbless!
PT