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Archive for July, 2010

Some delayed in egg in the face of the World Cup – FIFA Chief Financial Officer Shot in Joburg

28 Jul

Was waiting for the day this would happen. Not all peaches and cream as it it made out to be.

From News 24

Police were on Wednesday following leads on the whereabouts of gunmen who shot the chief financial officer for FIFA’s local organising committee outside his home in Sandton, Johannesburg, a spokesperson said.

“I can’t really tell you what happened, but we were called to attend to a shooting at Gallo Manor at about 10 in the morning yesterday [Tuesday],” said Captain Kym Cloete.

Full article

This news does NOT make me happy, but it is indicative of the real South Africa, not the South Africa that was staged to the world for 30 days during June/July 2010. Now it will be interesting to see how quickly (if at all) the police apprehend the person(s) concerned, given that on an average day the police are unable to catch anything but the sniffles. I wonder with some FIFA clout if it will make any difference to catching the shooter??? Hmmm, we’ll see.

 
 

How many South African Millionaire’s did the 2010 World Cup Produce?

28 Jul

The road leading to the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa had many South African’s thinking they were going to become Millionaire’s in a month. People were renting out their houses at ludicrous rates and then moving in with family for the month or moving into their garages while guests occupied their houses. Hotels, Lodges and Venues bumped their rates to insanely high amounts to capitalise as much as possible on tourists. But from the migration figures quoted by the department of home affairs, figures of visitors to South Africa were rather dismal. Add to this the fact that Match (FIFA’s hospitality wing) dropped huge blocks of bookings a mere 8 weeks before the events started with no remuneration to those concerned. This no doubt left many establishments unable to fill those spots at such short notice.

I know of several establishments in my area who did not go with Match, kept their rates only very slightly elevated above what they would normally charge and as a result were booked up almost the entire period whereas those who stood with empty rooms trying to catch people at R5000 pppn stood empty.

It seems many people were under the illusion that tourists are stupid and don’t know what things cost and really thought they would become rich in a month from World Cup visitors but I think many of them got a nasty surprise indeed.

I really wonder just how many millionaire’s (other than FIFA) the 2010 World Cup Produced.

Know something I don’t or have a great success story please comment about it.

 
 

Google’s New Image Search – A Copycat of Bing

28 Jul

Many of you may have noticed a sudden change in Google’s image search function. This change appeared a mere 24 hours after a review of search engines was released publicly, the results of which showed Bing had gained significant ground on Google. No doubt Google was aware of the report to be released and did some planning to release their new image search right on time. Sure seems that way anyhow.

The only problem is that Google, the company who has been nothing short of fresh ideas, simply did an almost mirror like copy of the way Bing produces search results with one major annoyance over what Bing produces. Google image search now has the MOST IRRITATING popup of the image so when you click on it your browser gets invaded with this annoying popup. Additionally Google’s image search is now slower than before and I think it’s a big step backward for the giant of search engines. In fact a lot of the changes at Google in recent weeks have a Bing’ness about them.

In fact a lot of Google’s recent changes have NOT been accepted so well by the community. Google has taken the simplest, fastest search engine and started to clutter it with too much extra unecessary “stuff”. Google forgets that 90% of their users simply want to search and get an answer and in today’s ever speeding up world they want it RIGHT NOW !!!! I do hope Google does some serious reviews of their recent changes and start going back to the  working recipe they’ve had for years, the recipe that made them the giants of Internet search.

Many Search Engines in the history of the Internet have lost ground due to making too many changes which start to clutter the simplicity, I hope that Google is not on this same path to doom.

Also read “Bing debuts well as Google tanks in satisfaction survey” and “Does Google Have Bing Envy?

 

What’s up with MIDRAND’s roads?

27 Jul

I used to live in Midrand (Halfway House) up until 8 years ago and lived there for 7 years. Midrand was the up and coming place to be, growth like nowhere else in the Southern Hemisphere and teaming with new business. Midrand was THE destination for a corporate head office and a much sought after place to live.

Midrand has unfortunately had a permanent problem with it’s town council, namely that it’s stifled with inhouse politics and infighting, and the result of this shows in the dismally poor way in which this city is managed and it’s NOT to do with any shortage of taxes because Midrand was and probably still is one of the more expensive places to live when it comes to taxes. This was sure how the town council ran when we lived there and I doubt much has changed.

In particular the road system of Midrand sucks more than an Electrolux. Hardly anything is done to maintain the roads.

- There are potholes all over the place and in the last year hardly any of them have been fixed and they keep growing in number and in size.

- Kyalami Road which leads through Crowthorne, and is the main entrance to Beaulieu, has remained in the same state for as long as I have been going to Midrand (20+ years), not ONE change or modification has been done to improve that. Daily this road is absolute chaos with tailbacks stretching for several kilometres. The intersection at Crowthorne is littered with stones and loose particles which causes those with fancier cars to slow down so as not to scratch their cars and this causes even further congestion. The road surface is warped, cracked and uneven but in nearly 15 years diddly squat has been done to amend it. To add to the traffic chaos it’s doubtful you’ll ever find a pointsmen on duty there to help traffic flow.

- Van Heerden road which runs past the High school and Primary school is absolutely shocking, I drove there last week and nearly lost a front tyre due to the massive pothole there, luckily the vehicle in front of me swerved out. Had it been at night that would have caused serious damage. It probably has already caused damages to numerous vehicles travelling that road at night. It’s NOT like Van Heerden road does not carry some serious traffic, so why then are repairs not being carried out and timeously?

- Almost all heavily used back roads are in a rather dismal state too, again it’s not like the Midrand town council does not know how much traffic these roads carry it seems more like they just don’t care.

I struggle to believe that maintenance is being held back from a lack of taxes, I think it’s more of a case of a lack of ability or lack of knowledge on spending public funds wisely or the funds are being used for “other purposes”. Either this is the case or the Midrand Town Council is still stifled by the politics and infighting as it was when I lived there.

Midrand ratepayers should really not be just accepting that this is the way it is, it takes a bit of effort to stand up and fight for what’s right but on the surface it appears nobody is actually doing that. I just avoid Midrand like the plague, on occasion I have no choice but to go there but every time it is the most unpleasant experience. I’ve even told my one suppliers to move shop and they actually did not disagree with me.

 
 

Have the expensive upgrades to the Rigel Avenue Offramp (M9/R50 – Centurion) been as effective as planned?

27 Jul

I regularly travel to Pretoria and have been doing so for years now. The Rigel Avenue off-ramp has always had a backlog of cars often resulting in waiting for 3-4 changes of the traffic lights to make it through. Last year some very expensive upgrades to the Rigel off-ramp and bridge were carried out. The upgrades look all fab and wonderful to the untrained eye and it certainly looks very modern and impressive BUT has it achieved the desired result? Has it improved traffic flow?

From my personal experience using this new off-ramp several times already I say not really. The upgrade to the off-ramp has added an extra lane which thereby can hold more traffic but there is not much difference to the flow of traffic. You can get to Rigel avenue now and still wait 3-4 changes of the traffic light to get through, how is that different?

The real problem is not so much the upgrades, I believe the upgrades were the correct thing to do and were much needed, it’s the timing and operation of the traffic lights that is still causing a problem and it’s probably been left up to some plunket to manage that side of things. When the traffic light changes it allows barely 16-20 vehicles through at a time which keeps a constant backlog of 3-4 changes of the traffic light to make it through. Had these Einstein’s set the light to be green for a mere 30 seconds longer at least 50 vehicles could make it through.

I hope this is just an oversight from the traffic planning department and I do hope to see it amended. Right now as it stands I give them a thumbs down.

 
 

Censored Protest Against Mosque At Ground Zero – (Sept 9/11)

27 Jul

Friends,
Have you seen anything about this story on the evening news?
Of course you haven’t! So please forward this email to all those
you know who feel the way you and I do about this country . . .
Thank you,

Not one major network sent a satellite truck or camera crew to this event. Without bloggers this newsworthy event would have remained unknown to the public and history

On Sunday, June 6th, a multi-ethnic, multi-racial coalition of Americans opposed to Islamic violence and intolerance rallied at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City .

9/11 families were joined by immigrants from India, Russia, Egypt, Israel, Africa, Iran and Europe to show opposition to the construction of a mega-mosque at Ground Zero. Others flew in from overseas to speak or just to share their particular ethnic communities’ experiences at the hands of Muslims.

These are parents and spouses of firefighters killed on 9/11. The rally took place just a minute’s walk from Ladder 10 Firehouse, where their loved ones were stationed for duty that terrible day. Ladder 10 lost seven firefighters.

Crowd estimates ranged from 5,000 (NYPD) to 10,000. The crowd overflowed the police barrier enclosures that ran the full length of two city blocks. This photo shows the enclosure in front of the stage at the intersection of Liberty and Church Streets. The second enclosure ran the length of the next block and can be seen on the other side of the traffic lights.


Thousands of additional participants filled the treed area of Zuccotti Park .


Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller are the founders of STOP ISLAMIZATION OF AMERICA, which sponsored the rally. Ms. Geller is a citizen journalist and blogger who runs the human rights web site Atlas Shrugs . Mr. Spencer is the author of several books on Islam and head of the influential web site Jihad watch.

Pamela Geller:

“Ground Zero is a war memorial, Ground Zero is a burial ground. We are asking for sensitivity…It is unconscionable to build a shrine to the very ideology that inspired the jihadist attacks at Ground Zero, right there. We are asking the imam Rauf and Daisy Khan to be sensitive. For mutual respect and mutual understanding that is demanded of us every day.

There’s a hair-trigger sensitivity in the Muslim world, you can’t run the cartoons, you can’t say Mohammed, this is offensive. This is an offensive mosque. To build a shrine, an Islamic flag of conquest on the sacred ground the cherished site, of a conquered land. This is historic, this is Islamic history. It’s what they do. The St. Sofia in Turkey, the al-Quds, at the holiest Jewish site in Israel. Not here. This is where we take a stand. We must take a stand. We must say no.”

I do not believe that the landmarks commission controlled by Mayor Bloomberg, is going to stop this mosque. It’s not going to happen. Here’s Omar Muhamedi, on his human rights council, a CAIR lawyer, who sued the airlines and the Jane and John Does that saw something and said something on those airplanes, if you remember. That’s who’s on his human rights commission. It ain’t gonna happen with Bloomberg. We have to make it happen. You have to get involved.” (Pamela Geller)

Police enclosure on left, with crowd flowing out of park on right. The new Tower 7 and World Trade Center site are in the background. The green tent, center, is located immediately behind the stage.

Port Authority and NYPD officers kept watch over the rally and were well aware of the need for heightened security at this event. One of their own Port Authority officers, WTC Sergeant Alan T. De Vona was on duty at the World Trade Center on 9/11, 2001, and was one of the first to help victims of the terrorist attack. He spoke these words to the SIOA rally:

“It’s almost nine years. I’m hoping that America is watching. I’m hoping that America is remembering. Because, make no mistake. September 11 was an act of war. And thank the military that has lost almost 5,000 troops from that day, defending us. I don’t know what to say to jar America’s memory. I want America to remember.


Port Authority Police and FDNY firefighters are seen here gathered beneath this banner.


The issues at stake will certainly affect the heart of American freedom, democracy, cultural values and tolerance. America is a tolerant country that allows for the free worship of all its citizens. But our tolerance has limits. Do we have to tolerate intolerant Islamic ideology and Muslims who preach intolerant Islam?”

Hindu human rights activists Narain Kataria, Prasad Yalamanchi and unidentified friend came from Mississippi and Chicago with banners and flyers highlighting the radical statements of imam Rauf and his jihadist roots.

Stephen Dyer and Gary Jules journalism students at York College, with Pamela Geller. Not one major network sent a satellite truck or camera crew to this event. Without bloggers this newsworthy event would have remained unknown to the public and history.

Pamela Geller is greeted by Hindu human rights activists Prasad Yalamanchi and Narain Kataria.

Bhupinder Singh Bhurji, Pamela Geller, and Robert Spencer. Singh Bhurji is the president of the  NAMDHARI SIKH FOUNDATION. The foundation is a member of the Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam (HRCARI). HRCARI is a coalition of Hindus, Sikhs, Christians from Sudan, Egypt and Iraq, moderate Muslims and Jews — who are victims and targets of radical Islam around the globe. He said, at another rally:

“Radical Islamists are killing people in India, trying to dominate that nation. And here too they come with violence against “infidels.” We are “infidels united,” standing together, brown, black and white, against this epoch’s fascist movement. Radical Islam wants to dominate entire world. They want everyone to surrender. Islam radical or otherwise. They want to put the Islamic flag on White House.”

Because of Islamic terrorism, America and the world have seen massive new security measures become a way of life. Anyone openly critical of Islam, or terrorist ideology, must surround themselves with security, or live in hiding. Those courageous enough to confront Islamism are criticized by the cowards and appeasers of the left who seek safety by supporting the enemy. Moderate Muslims were silent when Theo van Gogh was brutally murdered in Amsterdam, just as moderate Muslims in the United States are generally reluctant to speak out against violent Islam. Moderate Muslims also face great danger in speaking out.

Geller and Spencer will press on despite the danger. They hope to inspire Americans to stand up and say enough of political correctness and work to stem the galloping islamization of America and Europe.

 
No Comments

Posted in Life

 

The Dangers of Quoting from the Bible

27 Jul

This is very good.

In her radio show, Dr Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, penned by a US resident, which was posted on the Internet. It’s funny, as well as informative:

Dear Dr. Laura:

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God’s Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination … End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God’s Laws and how to follow them.

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?

2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of Menstrual uncleanliness – Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord – Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?

6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there ‘degrees’ of abomination?

7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?

8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?

9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I’m confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

Your adoring fan,

Dr. James M. Kauffman

(It would be a damn shame if we couldn’t own a Canadian :)

 
No Comments

Posted in Humour

 

Drinking and smoking is fantastic

26 Jul

One of my favourite comedians, this is a clip from the show Black Books.
The main character Bernhard is the most wonderful character and drop dead funny.

 

IBM Solutions

26 Jul

At least once a year I dig this one out of my archives, it’s a classic and if you’ve never read this before I hope you have a good laugh too :)

IBM Solutions

KABINDA, ZAIRE -

In a move IBM officials are hailing as a major step in the company’s ongoing worldwide telecommunications revolutions, M’wana Ndeti, a member of Zaire’s
Bantu tribe, used an IBM global uplink modem yesterday to crush a nut.

Ndeti, who spent 20 minutes trying to open the nut by hand, easily cracked it open by smashing it repeatedly with the powerful modem. “I could not crush
the nut by myself,” said the 47-year-old Ndeti, who added the savory nut to a thick, peanut-based soup minutes later. “With IBM’s help, I was able to break it.”

Ndeti discovered the nut-breaking, 28.0 v.34 modem yesterday, when IBM was shooting a commercial in his southwestern Zaire village. During a break in shooting,
which shows African villagers eagerly teleconferencing via computer with Japanese schoolchildren, Ndeti snuck onto the set and took the modem, which he believed would serve well as a “smashing” utensil.

Just after Ndeti shattered the nut, a 200-person Southern Baptist gospel choir, on hand for the taping of the IBM commercial, broke out into raucous, joyous
song in celebration of the tribesman’s accomplishment.

IBM officials were not surprised the longtime computer giant was able to provide Ndeti with practical solutions to his everyday problems. “Our telecommunications
systems offer people all over the world global networking solutions that fit their specific needs,” said Herbert Ross, IBM’s director of marketing.

“Whether you’re a nun cloistered in an Italian abbey or an Aborigine in Australia’s Great Sandy Desert, IBM has the ideas to get you where you want to go today.”

According to Ndeti, of the modem’s many powerful features, most impressive was it’s hard plastic casing, which easily sustained several minutes of vigorous
pounding against a large stone. “I put the nut on a rock, and I hit it with the modem,” Ndeti said. “The modem did not break. It is a good modem.”

Ndeti was so impressed with the modem that he purchased a new state-of-the-art IBM workstation, complete with a PowerPC 601 microprocessor, a quad-speed internal
CD-ROM drive and three 16-bit Ethernet networking connectors. The tribesman has already made good use of the computer system, fashioning a gazelle trap out of
it’s wires, a boat anchor out of the monitor and a crude but effective weapon from it’s mouse.

“This is a good computer,” said Ndeti, carving up a just-captured gazelle with the computer’s flat, sharp internal processing device. “I am using every part of it. I will cook this gazelle on the keyboard.” Hours later Ndeti capped off his delicious gazelle dinner by smoking the computer’s 200-page owners manual.

IBM spokespeople praised Ndeti’s choice of computers. “We are pleased that the Bantu people are turning to IBM for their business needs,” said company CEO William
Allaire. “From Kansas City to Kinshasha, IBM is bringing the world closer together.

Our cutting-edge technology is truly creating a global village.” The Bantu tribesman are members of an ever-growing, international community of users who have turned to IBM to solve their networking needs.

 
No Comments

Posted in Humour

 

Excuse my ignorance but what is the meaning of Waka-Waka?

26 Jul

I’ve tried to no avail to find the meaning of Waka-Waka, the official song by Shakira and Freshly Ground for the World Cup 2010 in SA. Having grown up in SA I’ve never ever heard the term Waka-Waka and I wondered if anyone else knew the meaning of this term. Personally it sounds very “Oz” like to me, but I may be very wrong. Love to hear any feedback on this.

 
 
 
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