Category: politics

Germany’s electricity now comes from er… nuclear and coal

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Eina!

After Angela Merkel’s short-sighted and silly plan of closing down Germany’s atomic power stations in a desperate attempt to prevent any more nuclear electoral disasters, it quickly appeared that Germany would run short of electricity. No matter, said Merkel – we’ll import our power from France while we decide what to do.

That’s France, which has 58 nuclear power stations and which produces almost 80% of its electricity using nuclear power.
Right.

Well, it seems that Merkel has flip-flopped her way to another momentous decision: her Government is going to encourage the construction of new coal and gas power plants using millions of Euros from a fund for… er… promoting clean energy and combating climate change.

Remember what risk perception expert David Ropeik told us about this?

We can fear too much (vaccines), or too little (particulate pollution from coal-burning power plants), despite the available evidence, and our perceptions can create risks all by themselves. Excessive fear of vaccines is allowing diseases that had almost been eradicated to spread once more. Conversely, inadequate concern about coal-burning power stations has meant coal has been favoured over “scarier” nuclear power, risking sickness and death for thousands of people from particulate air pollution. Fukushima is now playing a powerful part in this retreat from nuclear power.

Clear evidence, if any were needed, that for Merkel it was never really not about the issue of safe or green electricity production, it was only ever about the issue of trying to be popular with the electorate.

I think she’s messed that bit up now too.

Important Youth issues tackled

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With yesterday being Youth Day here in South Africa, youths have been very much in the news. It’s only right that the Youth should have their own day when one looks at the sacrifices made in Soweto in 1976. And the Youth of today still face a huge number of challenges, so what better plan than to focus on these issues on June 16th each year? Step forward then, Simon Molefe: Gauteng Chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), who called on Provinical Premier Nomvula Mokonyane to address the most pressing of problems facing the Youth of today: unemployment, crime, lack of education and educational opportunities and HIV/Aids. Well, no, actually, first of all he had a bit of a pop at taxi drivers who play loud music in their vehicles:

The agency’s Gauteng chairperson, Simon Molefe, called on Premier Nomvula Mokonyane to deal with the issue of taxis playing loud music before next year’s Youth Day because of the negative impact some of the music played in taxis has on the youth. Speaking at a wreath-laying ceremony at the Hector Pieterson Memorial in Soweto, Molefe said, “This thing of taxis transporting students from Soweto playing “Imoto entshontshimali” (“The car that steals money”) loudly must be history. The driver of any taxi playing music while taking pupils to school must be arrested.”

OK, but then he called on Provinical Premier Nomvula Mokonyane to address the most pressing of problems facing the Youth of today: unemployment, crime, lack of education and educational opportunities and HIV/Aids. Right? Wrong. Then he got annoyed about churches only being used 14.29% of the time:

Molefe called on communities, especially the youth, to create partnerships with faith-based organisations. “For six days a week the churches are empty. Each church space must be a youth centre focusing on technology and science skills,” he said.

Where’s the Women’s Institute supposed to meet on Thursday mornings now, then? Honestly, sports stadiums are empty most of the time too: must we set up art colleges in them? The Karoo is empty – really empty – all of the time: must we explore for shale gas deposits there? And what are we going to do with all the free space between Simon Molefe’s ears?

Blade’s Big Words

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You know how it is. You emerge from the lab, having metaphorically flung all that you possess at the TB growing in there and you need a coffee. And while the kettle is boiling, you glance at Monday’s newspaper, dozing casually on the tea room table and you catch sight of Blade Nzimande’s outburst which was “not directed at anyone in particular”, but actually was.

Blade talks mainly sense, but I had to sit down with an oat crunchie and work my way through these two lines in the middle of his emotional monologue:

We are dealing with an anti-worker, anti-left, pseudo-militant demagogy that betrays all our long-held ANC-alliance traditions of internal organisational democracy, mutual respect for comrades, non-racialism and service to our people.

It has created space for the anti-majoritarian, conservative reactive groundswell that seeks to tarnish the whole movement, portraying us all as anti-constitutionalist and as narrow nationalist chauvinists.

So many ists. That can’t be good.

Blade’s concern is seemingly for the ANC-alliance, but the divisions he speaks of here are being created across the country “not by anyone in particular”. I almost feel sorry for Blade and his chums. He’s correct that the entire Alliance is being tarred with the same brush, through no fault of his own.
At what point those “in charge” of the ANC finally find the guts (or indeed the ability) to prevent “anyone in particular” from causing more hurt and harm, I don’t know.
But like not learning someone’s name at a party, the longer the conversation goes on, the more difficult it becomes to ask.

Shaik: In of uit?

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Incoming from bizcommunity.com:

Draftfcb Cape Town ‘Shaiks’ things up in the Mother City with this proactive piece it recently developed for Die Burger to emphasise the newspaper’s pay-off line, ‘Praat Saam’, which loosely translates as ‘join the conversation’.

Posters of convicted fraudster, Schabir Shaik, who has been in and out of jail a number of times, were placed behind and in front of railings around Cape Town. The headline asks: ‘In or Out?’

Here’s the piece in question, doing its thing:

Provocatively proactive indeed. And popular too, apparently:

“This tongue-in-cheek way of drawing attention to Shaik’s prison antics – he’s been incarcerated, released on medical parole, rearrested for assault and released again – has been loved by the people of Cape Town,” said one of the Creative Directors on the piece, Aaron Harris. “There’s been a lot of hooting and laughing as people pass the strategically placed ads.”

But look out – there’s some ad-speak coming:

“At the same time, however, the treatment challenges readers to form their own opinion, backed by the insights they have gleaned from Die Burger’s superior quality journalism. So, does he deserve special treatment? Was he framed? As Cape Town’s ‘information partner’, Die Burger is a reliable source of honest and unbiased fact, giving its readers’ the input they need to decide for themselves.”

I don’t think there will be too many people who will disagree with me if I stick my neck out here and suggest that the readers of Die Burger might well have formed their own opinion long before they glean any insights from the superior quality journalism therein. However, who am I to doubt someone the words of an individual who can create something as challenging as this treatment (“treatment”? -Ed) and is probably a thoroughly nice bloke?

I therefore plan to take my Google Translate in hand and do a quick overview of the honest and unbiased fact which Die Burger has given us on the Schabir Schaik saga. Once I’ve done that, I’ll report back (think Kwa-Zulu Natal Correction Services Medical Parole Appeals Board timescale).