losing faith in democracy

In trying to end poverty and change the world, we are subjected to the belief that poverty alone as an issue is not as important as the consensus that is needed around the issue.

I hope you understand that I am in support of democracy because it enables change of whole countries and ideology. However democracy plays best in the field of numbers. In other words, change can happen if you have enough numbers behind a cause.

This then should be encouragement for me (and us) to join up in movements to end extreme poverty. We should do this in huge numbers. But if I have to wait for another march, protest, conference or summit to see the living conditions of the poor improved then I feel deeply disillusioned.

My solution ... may sound immediately controversial, but what hey, this is the internet: I think it is time we took the fight to end poverty away from governments and back into the hands of people.

hate computers: confessions of a sysadmin

I hate computers: confessions of a sysadmin

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everywhere you go

OK, this was unexpected. I found Kelly Rowland's World Cup theme song (CD) and a press release in my post box today.

I'm pretty sure I'm not the station manager at Rock Out Radio, but I was curious, so I opened it.

May I also point out it had no return address.

Inside, I found a thick press release titled "Kelly Rowland confirms collaboration with African artists". The document went on for another 18 pages, but I stopped reading at page 1. The CD cover is very eye catching and certainly futuristic. Then I listened to the song.

Well, I think Americans shouldn't fake an interest in soccer to extend their world domination agenda. Soccer is more of a 'rest of the world thing'. The song, called "Everywhere you go", is full of electronic jingles, I got bored soon after 10 seconds. And come on, that title is so MTN.

To the people at MB Publicity, specifically GK and EM, check your mailing addresses and don't just copy and paste. It may also help to call people before sending them world cup theme songs that need airplay. I don't own a mass media outlet, except this small corner of the internet. I doubt my kind of publicity is the kind you were looking for.

2050

In 40 years time, the world will have 9.2 billion people, and I will be Jacob Zuma's exact age (68). The current life expectancy of a black male in South Africa is 49. In 2050, Zuma will be 108 years old. Will he be alive? All signs point towards NO. He will definitely be dead. Perhaps in that time, when he’s dead and climate change has wiped out our ecosystems, we will realise that polygamous people who needed more resources to support themselves were selfish.

fire and loss

Today at around 3pm this Caltex caught fire. Its a block away from my work, so when the commotion broke out, I ventured out to see.

Its a sad reminder that nothing in life is permanent, even the things that bring us essential services will all eventually blow up.

It was interesting to see how many people were gathered to see the "caltex on fire". No one showed fear of a possible explosion, not even the firemen were chasing people off the site. For the owner, well I'm sure this is an event he was hoping would never see the light of day.