Ok, so I REALLY need to get better at keeping to a set schedule, trying to do this on a daily basis with a full-time day job isn't the easiest, as a result I think I'm going to try cutting this down to a once a week type deal.
So there area a few things I wanted to chat about, firstly if you remember I was talking a while ago about rapist Bob Hewitt and his appeal to the constitutional court to try and block his incarceration after being convicted of rape, well thankfully sense has prevailed and his appeal has been overturned, meaning that he now has seven days to present himself to a police station to be put into prison.
Next up is the American Baptist Pastor Steven Anderson who had applied for a visa to enter the country on a soul winning mission. For those who don't know, Stevie boy is a bit of a cunt, in his own words he celebrated after the shooting in Orlando left 50 gay people dead, "there are 50 less paedophiles in the world". More than that, he has also publicly called for the execution of all homosexuals. So you know, all round great guy!
Well the South African Minister of Home Affairs has denied his visa application on the basis that he will most likely incite social violence. personally I'm very much in two minds about this, is the guy a complete twat? I don't think there are many that would disagree. Does that mean that the South African government has the right to restrict his travel and free speech? Technically yes. According to the South African constitution, freedom of speech can be limited if it discriminates and incites violence, lines that Anderson clearly crosses.
My problem is that I have a very difficult time whenever free speech is impeded, I think that the argument could definitely be made that neither Anderson, nor any of his ilk would have the balls to actually DO anything and thus doesn't actually pose a danger. That's just my view though and certainly doesn't line up with the constitution.
In other infuriatingly ironic news Richard Keenen, formerly the mayor of Hubbard, Ohio, who was quoted as saying "I'm a Christian. Dedicating my life to Jesus has changed my life," going on to say "Don't preach it, but live it". That was back in 2010 after being sworn in as mayor holding the position for two years. So what's the wanker been up to lately? Why nothing other than raping a four year old of course! He voluntarily admitted to this after checking himself into a psychiatric facility after feeling suicidal. Even worse the arsehole blames the victim, saying that she initiated the acts and was a willing participant. Here's a free tip Richard, I'd actually respect you if you had gone to a psychiatric ward and admitted that you had an attraction to kids BEFORE you raped a four year old, that way you could at least get some help!
Well, that's all folks, as usual, comment and subscribe. Have a good one!
Ta,
G
Wednesday 14 September 2016
Sunday 26 June 2016
Weekley news roundup 26/06/2016
Evening all,
I've decided to leave Saturdays open for the moment, even I need a little sleep occasionally, as a result, blogs will run from Sundays to Fridays, with Saturdays open for the moment to allow me to recover. That said, let's have a look at the recap for the week.
On Monday we chatted about the worldwide refugee problem, the lychee and dog festival and an inflatable Donald Trump, (not the sex toy). With regards to the refugee crisis, there's not much that we can say. The past year has been particularly bad what with ISIS being the shitheads that they are, inevitably creating more refugees. The lychee and dog meat festival in China has gone on despite calls from thousands online to stop it. To those who missed the picture of an inflatable Donald Trump dressed up as a member of the KKK, have a look below.
Tuesday's blog was in honour of Mthetho Sandla, a policeman killed in Cape Town in an attempt to stop an ATM robbery. unfortunately there have been no new announcements. If anyone has any information that could lead to the arrest of his killers, please sms your tipoffs to Crime Line: 32211. As usual, the court case regarding SABC censorship concerning the Tshwane riots drags on, Hlaudi Motsoeneng argues that his decision has been based on concern for public safety, claiming that broadcasting the images would have made the riots worse. I for one am not buying it. The last story from Tuesday was regarding good news from the cancer treatment front. Australian scientists have discovered a drug that seemingly helps fight breast cancer in women.
Wednesday's blog started off criticizing Facebook for their bad company policy, the fight continues under the #FacebookVsFreeSpeech hashtag, please remember to share posts concerning this, the more pressure we put on facebook the more likely something will be done about it. No news regarding the charges laid against police for assault and intimidation, it's doubtful that anything will come of the charges though I hold onto hope. By all accounts, Nadia Murad is still doing well all things considered, she continues to campaign for the extermination of ISIS and I wish her all the best.
Thursday was an interesting day to say the least, Andre Slade forgot to stop digging and in an interview with a black reporter told her that she wasn't Homosapien. A short read through of Slade's book shows that his grasp of scientific concepts is minimal at best and you do have to wonder just how much acid the fucker has taken to end up so fucked up. It turns out that the German shooter was most likely not using real weapons, I almost hope that this was a stunt for a YouTube video, anyone that's watched some of the more idiotic prank videos on YouTube will know what I mean. Lastly I talked about Isabelle, the 10 week old baby that ended up contracting whooping cough because fucktards didn't have the sense to vaccinate their kids. Remember people, vaccines save lives!
Well, that's me done for a Sunday night, hope you guys enjoyed. Please remember to comment and follow this, as well as to like the Facebook page!
Ta,
G
I've decided to leave Saturdays open for the moment, even I need a little sleep occasionally, as a result, blogs will run from Sundays to Fridays, with Saturdays open for the moment to allow me to recover. That said, let's have a look at the recap for the week.
On Monday we chatted about the worldwide refugee problem, the lychee and dog festival and an inflatable Donald Trump, (not the sex toy). With regards to the refugee crisis, there's not much that we can say. The past year has been particularly bad what with ISIS being the shitheads that they are, inevitably creating more refugees. The lychee and dog meat festival in China has gone on despite calls from thousands online to stop it. To those who missed the picture of an inflatable Donald Trump dressed up as a member of the KKK, have a look below.
Tuesday's blog was in honour of Mthetho Sandla, a policeman killed in Cape Town in an attempt to stop an ATM robbery. unfortunately there have been no new announcements. If anyone has any information that could lead to the arrest of his killers, please sms your tipoffs to Crime Line: 32211. As usual, the court case regarding SABC censorship concerning the Tshwane riots drags on, Hlaudi Motsoeneng argues that his decision has been based on concern for public safety, claiming that broadcasting the images would have made the riots worse. I for one am not buying it. The last story from Tuesday was regarding good news from the cancer treatment front. Australian scientists have discovered a drug that seemingly helps fight breast cancer in women.
Wednesday's blog started off criticizing Facebook for their bad company policy, the fight continues under the #FacebookVsFreeSpeech hashtag, please remember to share posts concerning this, the more pressure we put on facebook the more likely something will be done about it. No news regarding the charges laid against police for assault and intimidation, it's doubtful that anything will come of the charges though I hold onto hope. By all accounts, Nadia Murad is still doing well all things considered, she continues to campaign for the extermination of ISIS and I wish her all the best.
Thursday was an interesting day to say the least, Andre Slade forgot to stop digging and in an interview with a black reporter told her that she wasn't Homosapien. A short read through of Slade's book shows that his grasp of scientific concepts is minimal at best and you do have to wonder just how much acid the fucker has taken to end up so fucked up. It turns out that the German shooter was most likely not using real weapons, I almost hope that this was a stunt for a YouTube video, anyone that's watched some of the more idiotic prank videos on YouTube will know what I mean. Lastly I talked about Isabelle, the 10 week old baby that ended up contracting whooping cough because fucktards didn't have the sense to vaccinate their kids. Remember people, vaccines save lives!
Well, that's me done for a Sunday night, hope you guys enjoyed. Please remember to comment and follow this, as well as to like the Facebook page!
Ta,
G
Saturday 25 June 2016
It's all bullshit
Evening all,
I can't help but feel as if I've been harping on at the Abrahamic religions for too long and think I ought to turn my attention towards some of the more contemporary, though no less ridiculous beliefs held by a good number of people. It has become fashionable to throw away old beliefs without so much of a 'by your leave' and look to other superstition to fill the void.
I have again chosen the above words with care, I personally have had a long hard struggle to get to where I am in my journey of discovery, many hours of research and inner searching have lead me to the conclusion that the supernatural is nothing more than a hoax. Personally, losing my faith was a long, hard road, biut one that has been all the more worth it in the end.
I can't help but feel as if I've been harping on at the Abrahamic religions for too long and think I ought to turn my attention towards some of the more contemporary, though no less ridiculous beliefs held by a good number of people. It has become fashionable to throw away old beliefs without so much of a 'by your leave' and look to other superstition to fill the void.
I have again chosen the above words with care, I personally have had a long hard struggle to get to where I am in my journey of discovery, many hours of research and inner searching have lead me to the conclusion that the supernatural is nothing more than a hoax. Personally, losing my faith was a long, hard road, biut one that has been all the more worth it in the end.
Scientology
Before the christians, jews and muslims start sneering, I'd like to point out that Scientology has no more bizarre beliefs than you. Fuck, at least they don't have a talking snake or a burning bush, (though I still think Moses just had a case of the Clap). Claiming a weird affinity to science, which any scientist will deny, scientology tries to fit everyone's ideas of god into one neat bundle. The major problem being that 99% of religions are exclusive. John 14:6 - "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me." It's not exactly a new idea and one can find examples in almost every religion in the world.
One of the problems that I have with scientology is the cult like overtones. much like the mormon church, it becomes nigh impossible to leave once your life is intertwined with the church. It's not as bad as islam which demands death for the sin of apostasy, but there are multiple accounts of people whose lives have been ruined because they decided to take their journey another way. Another problem with scientology is it's obvious falsehood. I mean com'on, the crafty fucker wrote (bad) science fiction before he decided to start his own religion.
Buddhism
Another religion that seems to be popular at the moment, buddhism at least has the credit that it's a couple of thousand years old. Most people who follow "buddishm" follow a more than half bastardized version of it, barely touching the surface of the true intricacies of the religion, though seemingly admiring it's views on reincarnation. I'd not like to degrade the struggle of the Tibetan people with the Chinese government, but let's be honest, it's easy for you to to tell the poor that in the next life their going to be millionaires when you have everything now.
At first glance, buddhism seems harmless, "do good and good will be done to you". Where it all starts to go awry is when we start to incorporate previous lives. No matter how one looks at it, the idea of learning lessons from previous lives is sinister at best. I don't remember any of the previous lives that I've lived, so how the fuck am I meant to remember the lesson that taking taking advantage of an elderly person is wrong. I don't remember any lesson's in my next life, so how the fuck is the future "me" meant to avoid the same pitfalls on the road to nirvana as me?
Naturalism
I may have the definition of naturalism worng but I'm pissed enough on a Friday night not to care. What I mean by naturalism or naturalists is the group who can't stop talking shit about mother nature, as if nature is a conscious entity that makes decisions. Nature has no conscious, it is incapable of giving a shit what we do to this planet. It doesn't send plagues to wipe mankind out in an effort to rid the world of overpopulation, nature just is. If you want to know what nature really is, do a little research on evolution. It's simply process that all living, and for that matter non-living, matter experiences on a daily basis. Nature not only doesn't care, it lacks the ability to care. If all life on this planet was extinguished, nature wouldn't have the capacity to care.
Ok, I'm going to leave his one here as I'm struggling to make sense of what I'm writing. I may or may not come back to this post later to clarify thoughts but hope that I'm being understood. the video od the day is again from Tim Minchin.
Please remember that I own none of the material, visit Tim's site to download the origionals.
Well, that's me for the evening, I hope tat my drunkenness hasn't marred quality too badly, I figure I'm going to read this in the morning and cringe, but regardless, I hope I've been entertaining and that you've had a good time. please remember to like, subscribe and follow the blogs.
Ta,
G
Please remember that I own none of the material, visit Tim's site to download the origionals.
Well, that's me for the evening, I hope tat my drunkenness hasn't marred quality too badly, I figure I'm going to read this in the morning and cringe, but regardless, I hope I've been entertaining and that you've had a good time. please remember to like, subscribe and follow the blogs.
Ta,
G
Thursday 23 June 2016
No cure for being a cunt...
Evening all,
I trust you all had a good day, I know I did considering that tomorrow is Friday, can't fucking wait! The first thing I want to talk about is Andre Slade. For those of you who don't know, Slade is the owner of Sodwana Bay Guesthouse who it appears has some rather archaic ideas when it comes to race, OK that's a little inaccurate. Basically the man makes the AWB look like an anti-racism organization. He's written a book, "Where to from here, Cognition" which explains his theories in detail, he sights some interesting scientists, namely Carelton S. Coon, an American scientist who's work on the origin of races has been widely criticized by multiple scientists from multiple disciplines.
I would also like to point out that the entire premise of the second chapter of his book, (Ironically entitled Scientific Fakt) is based on Coon's theories, which in turn rely heavily on evolutionary science. The funny part is the fact that on the books website, (wtfh.org/chapters.html) says that the third chapter completely disproves evolution, (still getting there, should be an interesting read).
The reason Slade is in the news is the fact that he sent an e-mail to a black lady who wanted to book into his guest house. Essentially the e-mail informed her that the Sodwana Bay Guest House was no longer accepting either blacks or government officials. Now I know some of you may be thinking that the man deserves the same protection I have pointed should be implemented for Penny Sparrow. The problem for Slade is the fact that he took his racism from thoughts and speech into action. I only hope that the courts can pick this up and prosecute Slade to the full extent of the law.
I would also like to make a personal appeal to anyone reading this, first and foremost, please don't threaten or do Slade or his loved ones any harm. I am simply asking that you spread the word that Sodwana Bay Guest House is to be avoided at all costs, let's hit this fucker where it hurts, his wallet. Having said that, I somehow doubt he will change, as Bron from Game of Thrones said of Jeoffrey, "There's no cure for being a cunt."
On to other matters, there's been an incident in Viernheim, Germany where an armed gunman took hostages inside a movie theater late this afternoon, no one died other than the gunman though over 29 people were injured. Details are still sketchy at the moment but police seem certain that the motive was terrorism. What I wanted to talk about was a comment I saw from an American, something along the lines of, "So how's that gun control working for you Germany?". As someone who is very much pro-gun control I can't help but say, "Pretty well? our shooting ended in one death, that of the gunman's, remind me how yours ended again?"
I really don't mean to take the Orlando Shootings lightly but one really does have to wonder when America as a nation is going to wake up to the fact that making guns easier to get hold of is making the problem worse. Of course there will always be guns available illegally, but when someone can happily walk into a shop and but semi-automatic assault rifles without a background check it's no wonder you end up with tragedies like Orlando.
Last but by no means least is a story about a 10 week old baby named Isabelle. Isabelle's mom isn't an idiot, she plans on getting Isabelle vaccinated as soon as she's old enough, but Isabelle has contracted whooping cough. Isabelle is too young to get the vaccine, but she should have been perfectly safe except for one problem. Not everyone is as smart, (or simply not stupid) as Isabelle's mom, and so some fucking moron has now endangered poor Isabelle by not vaccinating their child. Please people, there are mountains of evidence that show that vaccines are safe and harmless, with little to non showing that there is any link at all between vaccines and autism.
The video for today is another Tim Minchin piece, a nine minute beat poem entitled Storm:
As always, I don't own the above, please do check Tim's stuff out, the man is funny as all hell.
Well, that's my rant over for tonight, please feel free to comment and follow. Also please remember to like the Facebook page.
Ta,
G
I trust you all had a good day, I know I did considering that tomorrow is Friday, can't fucking wait! The first thing I want to talk about is Andre Slade. For those of you who don't know, Slade is the owner of Sodwana Bay Guesthouse who it appears has some rather archaic ideas when it comes to race, OK that's a little inaccurate. Basically the man makes the AWB look like an anti-racism organization. He's written a book, "Where to from here, Cognition" which explains his theories in detail, he sights some interesting scientists, namely Carelton S. Coon, an American scientist who's work on the origin of races has been widely criticized by multiple scientists from multiple disciplines.
I would also like to point out that the entire premise of the second chapter of his book, (Ironically entitled Scientific Fakt) is based on Coon's theories, which in turn rely heavily on evolutionary science. The funny part is the fact that on the books website, (wtfh.org/chapters.html) says that the third chapter completely disproves evolution, (still getting there, should be an interesting read).
The reason Slade is in the news is the fact that he sent an e-mail to a black lady who wanted to book into his guest house. Essentially the e-mail informed her that the Sodwana Bay Guest House was no longer accepting either blacks or government officials. Now I know some of you may be thinking that the man deserves the same protection I have pointed should be implemented for Penny Sparrow. The problem for Slade is the fact that he took his racism from thoughts and speech into action. I only hope that the courts can pick this up and prosecute Slade to the full extent of the law.
I would also like to make a personal appeal to anyone reading this, first and foremost, please don't threaten or do Slade or his loved ones any harm. I am simply asking that you spread the word that Sodwana Bay Guest House is to be avoided at all costs, let's hit this fucker where it hurts, his wallet. Having said that, I somehow doubt he will change, as Bron from Game of Thrones said of Jeoffrey, "There's no cure for being a cunt."
On to other matters, there's been an incident in Viernheim, Germany where an armed gunman took hostages inside a movie theater late this afternoon, no one died other than the gunman though over 29 people were injured. Details are still sketchy at the moment but police seem certain that the motive was terrorism. What I wanted to talk about was a comment I saw from an American, something along the lines of, "So how's that gun control working for you Germany?". As someone who is very much pro-gun control I can't help but say, "Pretty well? our shooting ended in one death, that of the gunman's, remind me how yours ended again?"
I really don't mean to take the Orlando Shootings lightly but one really does have to wonder when America as a nation is going to wake up to the fact that making guns easier to get hold of is making the problem worse. Of course there will always be guns available illegally, but when someone can happily walk into a shop and but semi-automatic assault rifles without a background check it's no wonder you end up with tragedies like Orlando.
Last but by no means least is a story about a 10 week old baby named Isabelle. Isabelle's mom isn't an idiot, she plans on getting Isabelle vaccinated as soon as she's old enough, but Isabelle has contracted whooping cough. Isabelle is too young to get the vaccine, but she should have been perfectly safe except for one problem. Not everyone is as smart, (or simply not stupid) as Isabelle's mom, and so some fucking moron has now endangered poor Isabelle by not vaccinating their child. Please people, there are mountains of evidence that show that vaccines are safe and harmless, with little to non showing that there is any link at all between vaccines and autism.
The video for today is another Tim Minchin piece, a nine minute beat poem entitled Storm:
As always, I don't own the above, please do check Tim's stuff out, the man is funny as all hell.
Well, that's my rant over for tonight, please feel free to comment and follow. Also please remember to like the Facebook page.
Ta,
G
Wednesday 22 June 2016
So long and thanks for all the... free speech?
Evening all,
It was all of six days ago that I was praising Facebook for their awareness in terms of their social responsibility by releasing tools to assist those thinking of suicide or self harm internationally. Well, six days later it seems I have a bone to pick with Mr Zuckerburg, to those who have not seen what's been happening, Facebook seems to be deleting Facebook groups dedicated to Atheism in Northern Africa and the middle east.
Now to clarify, Facebook aren't simply going around deleting these pages on a whim, the pages have had complaints laid against them by various users in the region. The basis for their complaint? Apparently the pages violate so-called "community standards". The Atheist Alliance - Middle East and North Africa (AA-MENA) have been rallying atheist worldwide to bring attention to the violence and censorship that atheists are subjected to in Muslim communities under the hashtag #FacebookVSFreeSpeech.
Obviously this is not something that Facebook is at fault for, current policy in the company says that community standards are violated when enough of a particular demographic lays the complaint against a page or person, so all that needs to happen is that Facebook needs to change it's policy and stop strangling free speech in Africa.
In local news, two reporters have laid charges against members of the SAPS for assault and intimidation following an incident earlier today where the police tried to stop the reporters from filming them using rubber bullets to disperse crowds of protestors in Pretoria. Having lived in London for five years, I remember the furor when members of the London police tried to stop people filming them and I happen to agreed, if the police are doing as they should, why would the be afraid of public scrutiny?
Last but by no means least is the tale of a very courageous woman named Nadia Murad. Nadia is a 23 year old Yazidi woman who was taken as a slave by members of ISIS when they took control of parts of northern Iraq in 2015. She was beaten and raped but in a supreme display of human courage and tenacity managed to escape and has had a few words for the rest of us. "ISIS will not give up their weapons unless we force them to".
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm by no stretch of the imagination a pacifist, my personal opinion is that if ISIS wants a war, the world as a whole should set everything else to one side and give them one. Every nation should band together to wipe this stain from the face of the earth. To those who point to freedom of speech, please remember that ISIS is not a big fan of talking, they are and always have been all about action against anything that they feel is anti-islamic and the free people of the world need to respond in kind. We will not be terrorized, we will not be cowed, we will fight you and we will win.
Anyway, that's my rant for the night over, tonights clip comes from Jimmy Carr regarding the most offensive joke in the world:
As always, I don't own any of the content, please do check out Jimmy's website here though a word of warning, the man has a very dark sense of humour.
Please remember to comment and subscribe and as usual, please like the Facebook page, there is a button at the top of the page that links to it.
Ta,
G
It was all of six days ago that I was praising Facebook for their awareness in terms of their social responsibility by releasing tools to assist those thinking of suicide or self harm internationally. Well, six days later it seems I have a bone to pick with Mr Zuckerburg, to those who have not seen what's been happening, Facebook seems to be deleting Facebook groups dedicated to Atheism in Northern Africa and the middle east.
Now to clarify, Facebook aren't simply going around deleting these pages on a whim, the pages have had complaints laid against them by various users in the region. The basis for their complaint? Apparently the pages violate so-called "community standards". The Atheist Alliance - Middle East and North Africa (AA-MENA) have been rallying atheist worldwide to bring attention to the violence and censorship that atheists are subjected to in Muslim communities under the hashtag #FacebookVSFreeSpeech.
Obviously this is not something that Facebook is at fault for, current policy in the company says that community standards are violated when enough of a particular demographic lays the complaint against a page or person, so all that needs to happen is that Facebook needs to change it's policy and stop strangling free speech in Africa.
In local news, two reporters have laid charges against members of the SAPS for assault and intimidation following an incident earlier today where the police tried to stop the reporters from filming them using rubber bullets to disperse crowds of protestors in Pretoria. Having lived in London for five years, I remember the furor when members of the London police tried to stop people filming them and I happen to agreed, if the police are doing as they should, why would the be afraid of public scrutiny?
Last but by no means least is the tale of a very courageous woman named Nadia Murad. Nadia is a 23 year old Yazidi woman who was taken as a slave by members of ISIS when they took control of parts of northern Iraq in 2015. She was beaten and raped but in a supreme display of human courage and tenacity managed to escape and has had a few words for the rest of us. "ISIS will not give up their weapons unless we force them to".
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm by no stretch of the imagination a pacifist, my personal opinion is that if ISIS wants a war, the world as a whole should set everything else to one side and give them one. Every nation should band together to wipe this stain from the face of the earth. To those who point to freedom of speech, please remember that ISIS is not a big fan of talking, they are and always have been all about action against anything that they feel is anti-islamic and the free people of the world need to respond in kind. We will not be terrorized, we will not be cowed, we will fight you and we will win.
Anyway, that's my rant for the night over, tonights clip comes from Jimmy Carr regarding the most offensive joke in the world:
As always, I don't own any of the content, please do check out Jimmy's website here though a word of warning, the man has a very dark sense of humour.
Please remember to comment and subscribe and as usual, please like the Facebook page, there is a button at the top of the page that links to it.
Ta,
G
Tuesday 21 June 2016
#Fuckyouiwontdowhatyoutellme!
Evening all,
First and foremost I feel I have to honor a hero, Mthetho Sandla, an SAPS officer in Cape Town was brutally murdered in the early hours of the 13th of June while he and his partner are believed to have thwarted an ATM robbery as there were explosives found at the scene. To ntate Sandla's family from the people of South Africa, our heart felt thanks to you for giving us your son's life in serving his country and it's people. We can offer little by way of comfort but hope that knowing he died to protect the people of South Africa gives some sense of pride and solace. One can only hope that the bastards who killed him are caught and have the full weight of the law thrown at them. It's stories like these that make me want capital punishment to be reinstated.
In other infuriating, though hardly surprising, news, the SABC is censoring any and all coverage of protests around the country in the run up to the local elections in August. Clearly an apartheid-like ploy to censor what news the majority of South Africans have access to. Thankfully though, the SOS Coalition have created an online petition with over 4000 signatures to hand over to ICASA tomorrow when the regulator will hear arguments from the SABC as to why it has made the decision. For those wishing to sign the petition (I have just done so) please go here.
To put a positive spin on this story, the fact that this has been caught by ICASA is one of the reasons I still have faith in this country, as well as our democracy. Sure, we have corruption, and the current government is trying every trick in the book to try and stop word of their misdeeds getting to the majority of South Africans, but thankfully we live in a country where even the mighty are held accountable. (Unless their name is Jacob Zuma of course) :P.
To end on a more positive note, scientists in Australia have discovered a drug to help combat breast cancer in women. Not to get into the sciencey jargon, the drug essentially helps prevent breast cells with a high likelihood of mutating into cancerous cells from doing so. The previous recommended solution was a mastectomy, though this will hopefully allow this life altering surgery to become a last resort. It will be a good few years before it will be available to patients outside of clinical trials but initial research looks very promising.
For tonight's entertainment I've chosen the music video for Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name. Please remember I don't own the media, if you are into something heavy with a bit of hip-hop thrown in, give them a look up.
Well, that's all folks, please remember to follow and comment, also remember to like the Facebook page :)
Ta,
G
First and foremost I feel I have to honor a hero, Mthetho Sandla, an SAPS officer in Cape Town was brutally murdered in the early hours of the 13th of June while he and his partner are believed to have thwarted an ATM robbery as there were explosives found at the scene. To ntate Sandla's family from the people of South Africa, our heart felt thanks to you for giving us your son's life in serving his country and it's people. We can offer little by way of comfort but hope that knowing he died to protect the people of South Africa gives some sense of pride and solace. One can only hope that the bastards who killed him are caught and have the full weight of the law thrown at them. It's stories like these that make me want capital punishment to be reinstated.
In other infuriating, though hardly surprising, news, the SABC is censoring any and all coverage of protests around the country in the run up to the local elections in August. Clearly an apartheid-like ploy to censor what news the majority of South Africans have access to. Thankfully though, the SOS Coalition have created an online petition with over 4000 signatures to hand over to ICASA tomorrow when the regulator will hear arguments from the SABC as to why it has made the decision. For those wishing to sign the petition (I have just done so) please go here.
To put a positive spin on this story, the fact that this has been caught by ICASA is one of the reasons I still have faith in this country, as well as our democracy. Sure, we have corruption, and the current government is trying every trick in the book to try and stop word of their misdeeds getting to the majority of South Africans, but thankfully we live in a country where even the mighty are held accountable. (Unless their name is Jacob Zuma of course) :P.
To end on a more positive note, scientists in Australia have discovered a drug to help combat breast cancer in women. Not to get into the sciencey jargon, the drug essentially helps prevent breast cells with a high likelihood of mutating into cancerous cells from doing so. The previous recommended solution was a mastectomy, though this will hopefully allow this life altering surgery to become a last resort. It will be a good few years before it will be available to patients outside of clinical trials but initial research looks very promising.
For tonight's entertainment I've chosen the music video for Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name. Please remember I don't own the media, if you are into something heavy with a bit of hip-hop thrown in, give them a look up.
Well, that's all folks, please remember to follow and comment, also remember to like the Facebook page :)
Ta,
G
Monday 20 June 2016
All apologies
Evening all,
First and foremost I need to apologize for the lack of posts over the weekend, I've no real excuse for Saturday other than laziness, (and getting caught up in playing Borderlands 2 again). In typical South African style, I had no electricity for around 8 hours on Sunday and so was unable to post then. The plan had been to reserve weekends for a more personal blog, discussing what I've been up to in the past week etc but I'm not sure if enough people would give a fuck to make it worthwhile writing about. As a result I think Saturday's will be up in the air, if anyone has any suggestions regarding content please let me know, Sunday's I will do a weekly roundup and catch-up of stories covered in that week.
So with the apology out of the way, let's have a look at some of the news from over the weekend. A pretty scary statistic is the fact that the number of refugees worldwide has reached over 65 million, the largest that number has ever been. I suppose it's not difficult to understand why, considering the rise of ISIS but it's definitely still a startling number, especially when you consider the burden on the countries that refugees are fleeing to. One needs only to look at what's been happening throughout Europe to know that this has had far reaching effects.
For those who don't know, the Lychee and Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China is around the corner again, sparking debates around the world concerning animal rights and welfare. Now before I go on, I must confess to being a carnivore, there is little in this world as good as a good rare steak, I don't feel particularly guilty about the fact, humans are omnivores after all and whilst we are now able to survive without meat, provided that we take various supplements, I'm holding out on the vegan train until we can grow a decent steak in the lab, (we aren't too far off either).
On that note, I feel more than a little conflicted regarding the Festival. First let's assume that the reports of dogs being tortured or skinned alive are false, (though sadly these reports seem to be accurate) and that the animals are treated humanely, killed quickly and do not suffer. As a dog person my first emotional reaction is still to shout "...but you can't do that to man's best friend!!" but intellectually, I understand that there are people who keep pigs, (or raw bacon as I call them) as pets. They, I assume, feel just as outraged at my Saturday morning breakfast.
The point that I'm trying to make is that we need to separate the issue's at hand. For most the worst part may be the incredible pain suffered by the animals, but added to that is the species of animal the pain is being inflicted upon. Well, what makes a dog's life any more valuable than a pig or cow? The emotional connection is what leads the majority of us to feel disgust, but surely that makes us nothing more than hypocrites? My opinion is that provided that the animal is not endangered, and does not suffer unduly, there cannot be any animal "safe" from our plates, at least not until we can inexpensively grow good tasting meat in a lab for human consumption.
In more light-hearted news, did anyone else see the inflatable Donald Trump dressed up like a KKK member? To those that didn't it's a please :)
Right, That's me done for the evening, thanks again for reading and please remember to comment and follow.
Ta,
G
First and foremost I need to apologize for the lack of posts over the weekend, I've no real excuse for Saturday other than laziness, (and getting caught up in playing Borderlands 2 again). In typical South African style, I had no electricity for around 8 hours on Sunday and so was unable to post then. The plan had been to reserve weekends for a more personal blog, discussing what I've been up to in the past week etc but I'm not sure if enough people would give a fuck to make it worthwhile writing about. As a result I think Saturday's will be up in the air, if anyone has any suggestions regarding content please let me know, Sunday's I will do a weekly roundup and catch-up of stories covered in that week.
So with the apology out of the way, let's have a look at some of the news from over the weekend. A pretty scary statistic is the fact that the number of refugees worldwide has reached over 65 million, the largest that number has ever been. I suppose it's not difficult to understand why, considering the rise of ISIS but it's definitely still a startling number, especially when you consider the burden on the countries that refugees are fleeing to. One needs only to look at what's been happening throughout Europe to know that this has had far reaching effects.
For those who don't know, the Lychee and Dog Meat Festival in Yulin, China is around the corner again, sparking debates around the world concerning animal rights and welfare. Now before I go on, I must confess to being a carnivore, there is little in this world as good as a good rare steak, I don't feel particularly guilty about the fact, humans are omnivores after all and whilst we are now able to survive without meat, provided that we take various supplements, I'm holding out on the vegan train until we can grow a decent steak in the lab, (we aren't too far off either).
On that note, I feel more than a little conflicted regarding the Festival. First let's assume that the reports of dogs being tortured or skinned alive are false, (though sadly these reports seem to be accurate) and that the animals are treated humanely, killed quickly and do not suffer. As a dog person my first emotional reaction is still to shout "...but you can't do that to man's best friend!!" but intellectually, I understand that there are people who keep pigs, (or raw bacon as I call them) as pets. They, I assume, feel just as outraged at my Saturday morning breakfast.
The point that I'm trying to make is that we need to separate the issue's at hand. For most the worst part may be the incredible pain suffered by the animals, but added to that is the species of animal the pain is being inflicted upon. Well, what makes a dog's life any more valuable than a pig or cow? The emotional connection is what leads the majority of us to feel disgust, but surely that makes us nothing more than hypocrites? My opinion is that provided that the animal is not endangered, and does not suffer unduly, there cannot be any animal "safe" from our plates, at least not until we can inexpensively grow good tasting meat in a lab for human consumption.
In more light-hearted news, did anyone else see the inflatable Donald Trump dressed up like a KKK member? To those that didn't it's a please :)
Right, That's me done for the evening, thanks again for reading and please remember to comment and follow.
Ta,
G
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