Last week i was in fiesch (high on the Swiss beautiful mountains) engaged in a conference with about 300 people talking about world issues and our impact as individuals and communities. There were people from different parts of the world and it was really interesting, below is a clip of what happened.
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Shoot the bastards!
...that is what the South African deputy safety and security minister said the police should do to criminals if they feel their lives threatened. The statement has received an enormous publicity attention from the media all over and attracted human rights activists and so on and so forth…
There is always an issue of human rights, the constitution, etc, one has to consider when it comes to such statements from a public representative but all of this issues are debatable under 2 perspectives for me i.e. from those who’ve experienced violent crime and those who have not!
When you have been pickpocket you last transport money at the age of 12 by 3 guys, had your laptop stolen from your bag at gun point in the middle of the night in a place thought to have been safe, had your house ‘broken-in’ that they even stole your room-mate’s underwear because she packet them in a fancy bag (they did not bother to look inside) in your absence then I suppose it would be automatic for one to support the deputy minister because one’s life has been threatened on many occasions!
But there are others who have not experienced such brutality and would advocate that giving license to shoot is not proper – we should look at the root of the problem and do ‘the right’ thing and not a ‘good’ thing and that is have a highly trained police force, get an efficient and effective justice system and get competent human capital to execute this tasks. hmmm…this reminds me of the argument: the right to life vs the limitation clause (every right is limited) – this discussion is very interesting and can get really heated when you talk about abortion – does life begin at conception? …anyway this is discussion for another day!
Personally because of my above experiences I choose the first option. Hypothetically – if someone jumps over my wall at odd hours of the morning then drags me at gun point, fastens & blind folds me to help themselves to my hard earned furniture and food that I continuously pay for and they just come and take (they invaded my right to privacy & psychologically scared me about safety in my own yard. I might forgive them but I won’t forget) but if someone jumps over my wall at odd hours of the morning, drags me and my family at gun point and rapes my kids then I will shoot the bastard and forget about who has rights in which circumstance.
…Yet again I don’t want the country to emulate the US where people have killing spree paranoia even in high schools by advocating that guns solve the issues but what is the short term solution that will benefit a long term solution of re-educating a criminal mind? Ohh and I don’t think offering a job is a short term solution – some criminals prefer not to work hard for their money.
….so if you look at this was the minister really wrong in saying what she said, I think she spoke from a parent’s perspective and let down her guard as a minister.
There is always an issue of human rights, the constitution, etc, one has to consider when it comes to such statements from a public representative but all of this issues are debatable under 2 perspectives for me i.e. from those who’ve experienced violent crime and those who have not!
When you have been pickpocket you last transport money at the age of 12 by 3 guys, had your laptop stolen from your bag at gun point in the middle of the night in a place thought to have been safe, had your house ‘broken-in’ that they even stole your room-mate’s underwear because she packet them in a fancy bag (they did not bother to look inside) in your absence then I suppose it would be automatic for one to support the deputy minister because one’s life has been threatened on many occasions!
But there are others who have not experienced such brutality and would advocate that giving license to shoot is not proper – we should look at the root of the problem and do ‘the right’ thing and not a ‘good’ thing and that is have a highly trained police force, get an efficient and effective justice system and get competent human capital to execute this tasks. hmmm…this reminds me of the argument: the right to life vs the limitation clause (every right is limited) – this discussion is very interesting and can get really heated when you talk about abortion – does life begin at conception? …anyway this is discussion for another day!
Personally because of my above experiences I choose the first option. Hypothetically – if someone jumps over my wall at odd hours of the morning then drags me at gun point, fastens & blind folds me to help themselves to my hard earned furniture and food that I continuously pay for and they just come and take (they invaded my right to privacy & psychologically scared me about safety in my own yard. I might forgive them but I won’t forget) but if someone jumps over my wall at odd hours of the morning, drags me and my family at gun point and rapes my kids then I will shoot the bastard and forget about who has rights in which circumstance.
…Yet again I don’t want the country to emulate the US where people have killing spree paranoia even in high schools by advocating that guns solve the issues but what is the short term solution that will benefit a long term solution of re-educating a criminal mind? Ohh and I don’t think offering a job is a short term solution – some criminals prefer not to work hard for their money.
….so if you look at this was the minister really wrong in saying what she said, I think she spoke from a parent’s perspective and let down her guard as a minister.
Tuesday, 01 April 2008
Saturday, 22 March 2008
Dear God
I missed home thoroughly today, Easter is spent with family – going to church and listening to the 7 phrases Jesus spoke at the cross – and having a feast of lunch with close relatives and neighbors.
. . . I have been meaning to drop by at a Methodist church in Bern (…once I have found it!) and say a word or two to the man upstairs, it would have been more fun to go with other people except people I have asked said church is for either a wedding or a funeral or you must be someone aging (…mother laughed and thought something is seriously wrong with the Swiss).
So when I woke up and pierced through my window, the weather was not agreeing to my adventure as there was snow – carried by strong wind and a bit of rain….. I was not about to freeze myself so I thought I should embrace the day with this message in a form of a song.
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
Infuriated!
I am at work its midday, I read my normal dose of South Africa news on mail and guardian, then I come across disturbing news: Free State University Racist video. I am livid, I can’t even think – how could such elderly women be disrespected like this by a bunch of out-of-puberty dick-heads?
After taking 5 deep breaths…let me tell you what happened.
On Tuesday a video was distributed showing five black cleaners at a traditionally white men’s residence on the campus being “initiated”. Amid loud laughter, they are shown taking part in races, downing beers and drinking a mixture in which a student had secretly urinated.
The narration on the video begins: “Once upon a time the ‘boere’ lived peacefully here on Reitz Island, until one day when the less-advantaged discovered the word ‘integration’ in the dictionary.”
The cleaners take part in a “boat race” (a beer-downing competition), a dance, a sprint race, a mock rugby practice and finally, they’re given a mixture to drink.
The video shows garlic being put into a dish full of what looks like dog food.
“We know they’re less privileged so we’re adding a bit of meat,” says the narrator.
Another student puts the bowl on the toilet and urinates into the mixture.
The brew is then distributed in plastic glasses to the cleaners.
All five of them spit out the first mouthful, but try to finish it amid loud encouragement from the students.
The video ends with the words: “That, at the end of the day, is what we think of integration.”
This is followed by one of the students asking a cleaner: “What does ’sefebe’ mean in Afrikaans?”
“A black whore,” she replies.
For the video go to click here
ps: i need a shot of vodka,pity i am at work!
After taking 5 deep breaths…let me tell you what happened.
On Tuesday a video was distributed showing five black cleaners at a traditionally white men’s residence on the campus being “initiated”. Amid loud laughter, they are shown taking part in races, downing beers and drinking a mixture in which a student had secretly urinated.
The narration on the video begins: “Once upon a time the ‘boere’ lived peacefully here on Reitz Island, until one day when the less-advantaged discovered the word ‘integration’ in the dictionary.”
The cleaners take part in a “boat race” (a beer-downing competition), a dance, a sprint race, a mock rugby practice and finally, they’re given a mixture to drink.
The video shows garlic being put into a dish full of what looks like dog food.
“We know they’re less privileged so we’re adding a bit of meat,” says the narrator.
Another student puts the bowl on the toilet and urinates into the mixture.
The brew is then distributed in plastic glasses to the cleaners.
All five of them spit out the first mouthful, but try to finish it amid loud encouragement from the students.
The video ends with the words: “That, at the end of the day, is what we think of integration.”
This is followed by one of the students asking a cleaner: “What does ’sefebe’ mean in Afrikaans?”
“A black whore,” she replies.
For the video go to click here
ps: i need a shot of vodka,pity i am at work!
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
Being Informed
….yes….I reluctantly follow US elections, if you missed the recent market slum that affected stock markets all over the world (rather big economies) or did not know that the US is the biggest Official Donor of Aid, then maybe you should follow….as sad as it is when the US sneezes , we all catch a cold!
Now I added this video, shared by Luca, because I was impressed on how informed this guy was about the politics and candidates’ policies for the upcoming elections. I was sitting and wondering weather I would have pulled it off if I was interviewed about South African politics, and even more wondered if youngsters back home realize that the next elections are in 2009 when we have to make informed decisions about our country’s future. We have voted on emotions for the last 3 elections, which was fitting for the last 3 occasions, but now its time to vote on policies and implementation.
Wednesday, 06 February 2008
Morals, values and democracy
Nice combination, hey…. past weeks I have come across articles from different countries on brothels, prostitution and rights! And I thought I’d say something on the issue as well…the constitution does provide for freedom of expression, although every right has a limitation…. gosh I miss my law classes.
The first article I read talked about a Russian guy meeting his wife at a brothel, how deeply saddened he was to see her there and that this has affected their marriage, apparently she worked there so she could earn some extra-money to support the financially burdened family and he clearly did not see it that way. The moral question is what was he doing there in the first place, why was he so heavily upset that he wanted a divorce…shouldn’t she be as well?
The second article this morning (http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=331504&area=/insight/insight__international/) was about how sex workers protested against the Nicaragua government (second-poorest country in the Americas after Haiti) who shutdown brothels in the area of a city, they were protesting in what they said was a violation of rights. Prostitution for them is a ticket out of poverty and what the government was doing is shutting down their livelihood. The girl who was interviewed talked about how her first boyfriend and some of the men from her hometown recognised her while visiting the brothel/ bar and how ashamed she felt…. It is funny how our society’s perception is that the girl has done something wrong yet the guys coming to purchase her services are immune from guilt…. Just picture the negotiation of the verbal contract when monetary value was placed for the service that was going to be provided to the guy’s needs, must have been on an equal footing yet the human value of that woman is seen to be lesser than that of a guy e.g. if he were to beat her up – she would probably land in jail, he would walk free and the pimp will have his/her commission anyway, isn’t that just regressive! But I must say it has become so progressive that the most taboo topic of society, which I may add has been practised way before any of our time, has become open…well atleast open enough to write about it.
The last article (http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/pierredevos/2008/02/05/real-transformation-requires-protection-of-sex-workers/) writes about how a sex worker challenged the fairness of her dismissal by her employer, who would have thought this would land at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, but the case got thrown out as sex work is still criminalized in South Africa.
…. Law in this day and age has been influenced by society trends/changes, where social dialogues take place to accommodate the best solution to our lives, yet sex workers are being punished because of the moral prejudices of the majority of our society, especially countries that have still criminalized it. The question that still keeps on popping to my mind is why is there prejudice against the practitioners and not the clients.
I think gender equality has a long way to go in society still and prostitution is a fraction of it.
The first article I read talked about a Russian guy meeting his wife at a brothel, how deeply saddened he was to see her there and that this has affected their marriage, apparently she worked there so she could earn some extra-money to support the financially burdened family and he clearly did not see it that way. The moral question is what was he doing there in the first place, why was he so heavily upset that he wanted a divorce…shouldn’t she be as well?
The second article this morning (http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=331504&area=/insight/insight__international/) was about how sex workers protested against the Nicaragua government (second-poorest country in the Americas after Haiti) who shutdown brothels in the area of a city, they were protesting in what they said was a violation of rights. Prostitution for them is a ticket out of poverty and what the government was doing is shutting down their livelihood. The girl who was interviewed talked about how her first boyfriend and some of the men from her hometown recognised her while visiting the brothel/ bar and how ashamed she felt…. It is funny how our society’s perception is that the girl has done something wrong yet the guys coming to purchase her services are immune from guilt…. Just picture the negotiation of the verbal contract when monetary value was placed for the service that was going to be provided to the guy’s needs, must have been on an equal footing yet the human value of that woman is seen to be lesser than that of a guy e.g. if he were to beat her up – she would probably land in jail, he would walk free and the pimp will have his/her commission anyway, isn’t that just regressive! But I must say it has become so progressive that the most taboo topic of society, which I may add has been practised way before any of our time, has become open…well atleast open enough to write about it.
The last article (http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/pierredevos/2008/02/05/real-transformation-requires-protection-of-sex-workers/) writes about how a sex worker challenged the fairness of her dismissal by her employer, who would have thought this would land at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, but the case got thrown out as sex work is still criminalized in South Africa.
…. Law in this day and age has been influenced by society trends/changes, where social dialogues take place to accommodate the best solution to our lives, yet sex workers are being punished because of the moral prejudices of the majority of our society, especially countries that have still criminalized it. The question that still keeps on popping to my mind is why is there prejudice against the practitioners and not the clients.
I think gender equality has a long way to go in society still and prostitution is a fraction of it.
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