Flora Toadfoot

The Greatest Mystery

2011-03-23T22:45:00.004+02:00

Fractal Art with a message for you, Namaste !!

Lymenaide Holiday Bazaar / Upcycled by Ash

2010-11-23T01:29:00.002+02:00

Whimsical Ocean Necklace

Ashley is the creative brain behind Lymenaide.com and is dedicated to spreading Lyme disease awareness and to supporting the Lyme community in their struggles.

To help survive through the financial desperation of Lyme disease/treatment Ashley started Upcycled by Ash. She upcycles clothing and left over materials into the most awesome pieces.

She likes to pair her projects with non-profits to make a difference. Through Lyme she has learned that one person can make a difference.

All item are handcrafted by Asjley. Some products are made from lightly used clothing items, like her messenger totes that are made from pre-loved pants. Other items are made from not previously used fabric bought by me or donated by crafters who never found a use for them. Please feel free to contact me at ashvantol@gmail.com orashvantol@lymenaide.com

http://upcycledbyash.blogspot.com/

http://upcycledbyash.blogspot.com/p/sale.html

Creative Writing

2010-08-18T15:17:00.000+02:00

This paragraph caught my eye ;-)

"Words are like cockroaches – only once the lights are off do they feel free to scuttle around on the kitchen floor."

Gregg Braden talks about his book Fractal Time

2010-07-17T18:41:00.000+02:00

Barking Mad SMS Campaign (South Africa)

2010-04-26T21:54:00.019+02:00

(Click above for link to Barking Mad Web Page)

I homed these two cuties and would like to help Barking Mad with some fund raising.
Pleeze can you help ?

SMS dog to 38919

sms charged at R10-00.

Thank you so much for your support.
Pam :-)

More from Eyjafjallajokull - The Big Picture - Boston.com

2010-04-23T13:08:00.006+02:00

This is fabulous! Kevin Richardson

2010-01-15T00:13:00.028+02:00

Oh! how I envy this guy !!

Check out the video of him swimming with the lioness at the end of the article or go to this link:

SA`s skills black hole - Soapbox | Moneyweb

2010-01-14T19:55:00.004+02:00

SA`s skills black hole - Soapbox | Moneyweb

This is SCARY !!

Healthcare

A report in the Sunday Times in October 2009 revealed that South Africa was facing a crisis because of the number of surgeons and other medical specialists leaving.

According to the South African Society of Anaesthesiologists (Sasa) there were only 800 anaesthetists still in the country. Since the beginning of 2008, some 110 anaesthetists had left, with 40 leaving in a single month.

At the Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town there is a waiting list of 1 600 people for orthopaedic surgery. The last person on the list would theoretically be operated on only in 2019.

Refirement Network

2010-01-04T00:19:00.004+02:00

Refire not Retire

Visit Refirement Network

We Are All One !!

2009-12-28T23:45:00.011+02:00

There is a new awareness growing that sees the earth as a single organism, an organism that is at war with itself and that is dormant.

We are one species
We are star-stuff
Harvesting Sunlight....

Carl Sagan.

What lies Beyond the Black Door ?

2009-12-20T23:26:00.005+02:00

Once upon a time ....

Many years ago during a terrible desert war in the Middle East, a spy was captured and sentenced to death by a wise old Persian warlord. Despite the harsh sentence, the warlord was actually a man of mercy and compassion.

Over the years he had adopted a strange custom. In death penalty cases, he would allow the condemned a choice: either a quick death by firing squad or take his chances by passing through a mysterious black door.

As the moment of execution drew near, the warlord ordered the frightened spy brought before him. "What have you chosen? Will it be the firing squad or the black door?"

It was a horrible decision for the prisoner to make. Each time he moved close to the massive black door, his trembling hand stopped short of the key. Finally he informed the warlord that he much preferred the firing squad to the unknown horrors that might lurk in the shadows behind that mysterious black door. A few minutes later, a volley of rifle shots signaled that the sentence had been carried out.

The old warlord, gazing off to the distant horizon, turned to his aide and said,

"You see how it is with people; they will always prefer the known to the unknown. That man went quietly to his death even though I gave him a choice."

The aide asked, "What lies behind the Black Door?"

"Freedom", replied the warlord, and I've known very few men brave enough to take it."

How many of us can relate to this story ?

With thanks to Melissa for forwarding this on to me :-)
????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Healthy Chocolate For Johannesburg, South Africa Gauteng

2009-12-19T12:29:00.000+02:00

Healthy Chocolate For Johannesburg, South Africa Gauteng

Strategies to Improve Writing Style

2009-08-15T22:02:00.018+02:00

You don't have to spend more than a few minutes in a marketing forum, to discover that everyone seems to be looking for Strategies to Improve Writing Style that will solve their internet marketing challenges.

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Quote from Jim Rohn

2009-06-22T21:54:00.004+02:00

"There lies within each person a huge reservoir of untapped potential for achievement, success, happiness, health and greater prosperity. It's like an ocean unsailed, a new continent unexplored, a world of possibilities waiting to be released and channelled toward some great good." - Jim Rohn

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Be Happy Elephants don't flaai....

2009-06-12T20:42:00.009+02:00

If a birdie in da skaai

Drops a poopy in ur aai,

Don’t ju worri don’t ju kraai,

Just be happi that

Elephants don’t flaai !!

Unknown.

This ditty was sent to me by my dear friend Judy Gierut who passed away peacefully on 28th November 2009. Love you Judes - and Fly High !

LINDA SCHAFF/ DAVIS SCAM - Google Cash Kits

2009-05-16T10:27:00.016+02:00

BE WARNED - DON'T FALL FOR THIS SCAM...... Linda Schaff also advertises as Linda Davis.

http://mysuccessblogpage.com/lindadavis/blog/

I read this link and thought it MUST be genuine...

Nice picture of her and her family.
How she worked at different companies (whose names I recognised)as being in South Africa and she earned peanuts. They found themselves in debt and she managed to pay it off using this kit. I could relate to that.....

Since I have made some money selling ads on Google Adware I was taken in.....

DON'T YOU ALSO BE TAKEN IN....

IF YOU PAY THE $1.00 HANDLING FEE YOU WILL KICK YOURSELF - YOU WONT GET AN E-BOOK AND YOU WILL FIND YOUR CREDIT CARD CHARGED AN AMOUNT OF $47.00 AND YOU ARE LOCKED INTO A MONTHLY COST OF SOMETHING IN THE REGION OF ABOUT $72.00 :-(

This person is now using the name Linda Davis ---- same website and picture of that of Linda Schaff - don't say you were not warned !

Are Dreams 'Whisperings of the Soul' ?

2009-05-03T17:38:00.038+02:00

Click the link above for a preview of the DVD.

I experienced some very profound dreams recently, which started me on a quest to try to see if I could find meaning to them. They were too real to ignore and never before have I felt that I 'was the dream'. It was scary but left me realizing I needed to work through them.

Soothing music, lovely settings and mingled with some really thought provoking quotes that make good food for thought.

......................................................................................

South African Artists : Johannes Phokela

2009-04-26T23:17:00.023+02:00

Some weeks back I was invited along with some friends to view the work of the internationally acclaimed Soweto-born artist, Johannes Phokela, which was being exhibited at the Standard Bank Art Gallery in Johannesburg.

I was blown away by the grandeur of his work. I'm not easily moved by paintings, but this exhibition was exceptional. Not only the splendor of his work but the way it was exhibited put me in absolute awe of his art.

My preference in the past was for soft water colours, but these were Big and Bold Oil paintings. Johannes has re-worked images of the old Dutch Masters incredibly well, allowing his sense of humor to creep in at times. His paintings imitating the Blue Delft Tiles are fabulous - in fact his work is too incredible for words!

If you ever have the opportunity to see his work, don't miss it !

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12 Keys to Spiritual Activism

2009-04-25T14:11:00.030+02:00

Again, soothing music set to some very profound statements.

Spiritual Activism seeks to raise up others, not make them dependent and compassion flows from the understanding of the connectivity of all living things and needs to be applied with wisdom.

"The whole idea of compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all these living beings , which are all part of one another and all involved in one another." - Thomas Merton

Learn to choose your causes carefully.
Learn to act and not re-act.
Apply synergy and teamwork to accomplish goals.

"Integrity is doing the right thing even if no one is watching." - Unknown

"An eye for an eye make the whole world blind" - Mahatma Ghandi

Learn to cultivate Metta (The act of loving-kindness) in your heart.

Faith is taking the first step without seeing the staircase.
(click title for link to the 12 Keys)

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ANC holds "Mock Funeral"

2009-04-23T21:43:00.013+02:00

The votes have not yet been counted and members of the ANC Party this evening carried caskets bearing the logos of the opposition party through the streets of the CBD of Johannesburg earlier this evening, in a mock funeral procession.

The crowd sang struggle songs and blew their vuvuzelas. Jacob Zuma has not yet been proclaimed president but this is how his followers behave. Now if any of the opposition parties had dared to behave in such a manner, there would be acrimonious mutterings from the ANC to put it mildly!

This just goes to show how low the ANC and their supporters can go. How childish and pathetic the supporters are, not to mention the leaders that condone this behaviour!

I mourn for this country that I call 'my home'.....

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The Dash Movie

2009-04-20T23:19:00.015+02:00

Here is a lovely poem set to soothing music and stunning scenery !
Click the link on the title to take you away to another land.....

You won't regret it !

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Umshini Wami ! ....... I want to runi wayi....!

2009-04-17T23:43:00.024+02:00

Recent photos and articles on Jacob Zuma’s “love of dressing and dancing like a Zulu Warrior” have given me the opportunity to give some thought to his macabre dance routine.

Every time I see this man on television, he has a microphone, is dancing and singing his now famous campaign song, which translated from Zulu to English means “Bring me my Machine Gun” – Umshini Wami!

Click Title for video.

Now, I don’t know about you, but if your new President to-be was heard calling for his machine gun, what would YOU make of it???

For my part, I have to ask why he keeps on singing this song that is to me so obviously still fixed in the days of "the struggle".

Some years back, there was a call for “One Settler – One Bullet” made by the Pan African Congress. Apparently, their intent was to drive the whites into the sea! The PAC was formed by members of the ANC who thought the Party was too white and not violent enough!

Some years back, Peter Mokaba coined the phrase “Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer”. He caused quite a stir at the time. I met him once, body guards, et al, and there was something about him that really disturbed me.

Now it is Jacob who Zuma is visiting these very Boers and Farmers (the same Settlers who had a bullet with their name on it). These very farmers are now, ,according to Zuma, the only true white South Africans – the Afrikaners who not so long ago they wanted to kill. Now because he is looking for votes, Zuma has the audacity to try to gain their vote and confidence. I know what I would tell him to do! #$@$#@$!

These are the very same settlers who were seen in the past to have ‘stolen their land’, never mind the fact that they were actually providing basic foodstuffs for the majority !

Every time I see Zuma doing his dance I have a panic attack. I actually now cannot bear to see him on TV any more. When I drive on the M1 all I see are these huge pictures of his face, the Fear of God strikes me!

Although I have lived in SA for 55 years and have a green bar-coded ID book and consider myself to be a South African Patriot, I am excluded from voting, despite my being able to vote in 1994. I can only presume that because I am white, it would be preferable to keep the likes of me from voting because I definitely won’t be voting ANC.

I would like to be an ostrich now and stick my head in the sand for the next week or so. I will start digging just in case I need to make a quick exit, and maybe I will burn in hell anyway, but that would be preferable to living in the hell on earth that I foresee with a President who has a cloud of corruption hanging over his head, even tho they have been dismissed now! Even that action smacks of corruption.

However, I am hoping that sensibility will prevail and that a non-violent party will be elected who will lead us into the Light.! Then I will lift my head from the sand and party and rejoice with them.

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We are all "true" South Africans

2009-04-08T19:31:00.023+02:00

Yesterday, Jacob Zuma patronisingly attempted to curry favour with white Afrikaners by telling a gathering of Afrikaner interest groups that: "Of all the white groups that are in South Africa, it is only the Afrikaners that are truly South Africans in the true sense of the word".

The ANC does this every election. It is the well-known "divide and rule" tactic which authoritarian racist governments always use to divide their opponents. Zuma thought he was flattering Afrikaners. He was actually insulting them. The implication of Zuma's message was clear: "By seeming to flatter, I can actually fool you all into forgetting about the corruption allegations against me. By pressing the ethnic button, I can also distract your attention from the ANC's power abuse." This is an outrageous insult to every Afrikaner.

But it was not surprising to see the leader of the Freedom Front Plus (FF+), Pieter Mulder, warmly welcoming Zuma's comments. He does this before every election, when we are treated to a little mating-dance between the ANC and the Freedom Front Plus. Like the ANC, the FF+ believes in emphasising ethnic divisions. As a tiny minority, the FF+ behaves as if its salvation lies in sucking up to the ANC rather than confronting it. The DA, on the other hand, believes in building a new majority, to defeat the ANC in elections, so that we can offer real opportunities without an oppressive, racist government putting arbitrary obstacles in the way of citizens. In a constitutional democracy you don't have to beg for your rights, as the FF+ does. You claim your rights, as the DA does - for everyone.

The good news is that Afrikaans-speaking voters never fall for the ANC's divide-and-rule tactics. They never have. Last night I spoke to a group of Afrikaans-speaking South Africans in Upington, and when I mentioned Zuma's comments, they said: "He should really stop trying to patronize us".

The ANC always tries to divide and rule before elections, and this is a classic case. It suits the ANC to divide South Africa into separate boxes of race and ethnicity, because then it will be able to rule forever, and that is exactly what it wants to do.

The Freedom Front Plus (FF+) doesn't understand this because it agrees with Zuma that everybody should go into their separate ethnic box. Like Zuma, the FF+ is out of touch with the Constitution. It would rather spend its time trying to secure a piece of semi-desert for Afrikaners to be isolated from the rest of South Africa than building a united nation, where everybody feels they belong. The ANC also wants Afrikaners to be isolated and separated from the rest of South Africa. That is why it was so appropriate that Jacob Zuma and Julius Malema paid an official visit to Orania recently. They demonstrated how much the ANC and FF+ have in common: they both fundamentally support the politics of ethnic division.

The FF+ believes that it can negotiate good deals for Afrikaners by begging, bartering and bargaining for favours from the ruling party. This approach offers no protection for minorities. On the contrary, as we have seen in Zimbabwe, minorities end up having to demonstrate more and more subservience in return for fewer and fewer favours. They have to pick up the crumbs tossed from the table of the dominant patronage party. And they end up sacrificing their constitutional rights. By the same token, through their subservience, they allow the ruling party to entrench and abuse its power, which results in corruption, economic decline, and ultimately, poverty.

Pieter Mulder responded to Zuma's comments yesterday as if they represented some kind of victory for Afrikaners. Does he not know Zuma better by now? Zuma is well-known for telling people what he thinks they want to hear. If Mulder believes Zuma's comments are a victory for Afrikaans-speakers, then he is as foolish as Zuma. Because the truth is that the ANC has undermined the rights of Afrikaners since 1994.

The clearest example of that is the ANC's assault on Afrikaans language rights in schools. The Mpumalanga Education Department, for example, tried to force the Afrikaans-medium Ermelo High School to accept a group of 113 pupils that the Department claimed needed to be taught in English, even though there were other English-language schools in the area where the children could be accommodated. It was left to the Pretoria High Court to enforce the right of Ermelo High School and its governing body to use Afrikaans as the medium of instruction. This is an example of people standing up and claiming their constitutional rights, rather than begging for them.

Zuma's comments yesterday flew in the face of the Constitution. In fact, they showed his disdain for the Constitution, the Preamble to which states that "South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity". One of the founding provisions of the Constitution is that there is a "common South African citizenship", and that "[a]ll citizens are equally entitled to the rights, privileges and benefits of citizenship". There are no second-class citizens in South Africa, despite what Zuma thinks.

According to the Constitution, the President's duty is to "uphold, defend and respect the Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic" and to promote "the unity of the nation". Should he become President, Zuma would be the defender-in-chief of the Constitution. It is hard to think of a less suitable individual for the job. He doesn't understand the purpose of the Constitution, or the function of a government whose authority is checked and balanced by the Constitution. He doesn't see it as the government's role to protect and defend everyone's rights; he believes that the government is there to dispense rights selectively.

If our bitter history has taught us anything, it is that to avoid becoming a failed state, and to make our constitutional democracy work, we must do two things. We must prevent South Africa from becoming a one-party state by supporting a real alternative that is big enough to take on the ANC. And we must come together to assert, protect and defend each other's rights, because all rights - including the right to citizenship - are indivisible.

The only real alternative for South Africa is to build a new majority: a new majority that is based on shared values and principles, not on arbitrary criteria such as ethnicity or race. South Africa needs a new majority founded on the values of the Constitution, which recognises and protects each person's cultural and language rights, and the right to freedom of association on the basis of these rights. Under a new majority, these rights will be far more secure because everyone protects them, not just the minority directly affected.

This is the alternative the Democratic Alliance promotes. And at present we are the only party in South Africa that promotes this alternative in principle, policy and - where are in government - practice.

Best wishes

Helen Zille

Printed with kind permission of Democratic Alliance

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How far will Zuma Go ....... ?

2009-04-02T19:35:00.020+02:00

How far will Zuma go to suck up to a the Afrikaner population group in South Africa in an attempt to get their vote? It is laughable. First Malema goes to Oranje, now this!

According to Zuma, the only 'true white South Africans' are the Afrikaners!!

I was brought to SA by my parents, so had no say in where I was to live and be schooled.

The reason I still have One foot in SA and One foot in the UK is twofold.
In 1984 I decided to apply for SA citizenship. The then Nationalist Government took my British Passport away from me. Why? Scotland is where I was born. That is where my roots are even if I decide I want to be a South African Citizen. Nothing can change that. I still want to be South African but I come from Scottish parentage.

So I asked for my passport back and didn't complete the application.

Then, after Nelson Mandela was released from prison, I decided for a second time to apply for SA citizenship. This time one cheeky little youngster from the ANC told me I had to fill in the form and then they would decide IF I could still stay in South Africa. I can't write here what I thought and needless to say, I never bothered to complete the application for a second time.

So Mr Zuma, that is why one little white Engels lady who has lived in SA for 56 years who wants to be a South African, wants two passports. I won't stand for some little upstart speaking to me like that. His attitude to me was one of hatred and he so enjoyed telling me that the ANC would decide my fate/future!

I stopped going to church at about the age of 10 because I questioned and could not understand why a so-called Christian Government wouldn't allow black people into our church. That was my way of making a statement! Surely that practice goes against all christian principles and I wanted no part of it. To this day I still do not attend 'so called Christian Churches'.

So hey, if you think I'm not a true South African because I'm not an Afrikaner, well then you can go and take a running jump. Maybe I'll just vote for COPE !!

If truth be told I'd vote for the DA IF I was recognised as a South African citizen.

I find your statement offensive and you have incensed me -

You've just shown me how LOW you can go !

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A day in the life of an ordinary South African...

2009-03-31T23:10:00.015+02:00

A day in the life of an ordinary South African - or rather a night!

Well what's new. It was our turn to get a part of the action tonight. We were sitting relaxing in front of the TV at about 8pm tonight when we heard the sound of a cracker going off. WHO is setting off crackers NOW?!

Then suddenly there is a rush of 'crackers' and they are getting louder.

One seems to go off right opposite our front door. That's when we realise these AINT crackers - these are real live bullets being fired rapidly.... by this stage my heart is in my boot/s - feet/foots who cares. I grab the little dogs before they dash out the back door and hit the ground. SH*T - it is SCARY. There are about 6 shots that ring out, them more and more, my God, when is it going to stop, what the hell is happening, where's the goddam remote panic button that is always supposed to be at hand.

What button do you press, the loud one that makes a noise or rather grab the dogs, dash past the open front door, to try to find the quiet panic button that will summon ADT without drawing attention to what you are doing. By this stage there must have been at least 10 shots that have rang out. You've pressed the quiet button but now where's your cell so that you can phone ADT and tell them to get here QUICK!

Unbeknown to us, 3 houses up the road our neighbour had been hijacked and an armed robbery had been taking place in their home. The neighbour had been talking on his phone to his sister when he found himself being hi-jacked. Fortunately she had the good sense to get someone else to phone ADT immediately he told her what was happening and ADT arrived to save the day. Give them their due, ADT are quick to respond.

The only person to be shot was one of the ADT guards who took the shot on his bullet proof vest. A little shaky with a grazed knee was all that was visible, but I have to wonder how he must have been feeling inside. The back window of his bakkie with an obvious bullet hole. He was lucky his head wasn't in the way and he lives to see another day. Wasn't he lucky !

It was the first time we'd seen our neighbour in over a year!

17 bullets in all, but four were not discharged. It has been quite a night.
And there I was thinking Diwali was early this year!

Tonight takes me back to the 15th July 2001 when we had an armed robbery. God! What an awful moment. I can just feel for the neighbours having experienced something similar. They must be feeling numb.... but wait until the adrenaline sets in tomorrow!

Ah well! The ADT squad have been thanked for their bravery. The SA Police have packed up having taken photos, statements. I'm sat at my computer and life goes on. Tomorrow is another day!

We are lucky there was nothing more serious, just a hi-jacking!

Don't you just get sick of hearing that phrase "we were lucky"!

Whose turn will it be tomorrow ?

@#*&*&^!!

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Trevor : Who is the Dalai Lama ?

2009-03-28T15:40:00.020+02:00

Well, it has taken me a few days to compose myself after these stupid comments, but I am still gob-smacked at our Minister of Finance's statements!

Trevor, I hope you viewed Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu's feelings on e-TV last night about your comments on the Dalai Lama. And to think I used to think you were the only one in the ruling party with some credibility!

They say Birds of a Feather, flock together - why was I so dumb!

In answer to your question, Trevor - "Who invited the Dalai Lama?"

He was invited by three South African Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, former presidents Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu - That's Who !

Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu are part of "The Elders", together with:

* Graça Machel
* Kofi Annan
* Ela Bhatt
* Lakhdar Brahimi
* Gro Brundtland
* Fernando H Cardoso
* Jimmy Carter
* Mary Robinson
* Muhammad Yunus
* Aung San Suu Kyi

http://www.theelders.org/AnnouncementVideo.aspx

http://www.theelders.org/

I hope you will be honest enough to tell us what your REAL reasons are, for supporting the refusal of a visa to the Dalai Lama.

Seems it is our Minister of Health who is the only one with some B*LLS!
(PS:the * is not an 'i')

Wits University strongly condemns the action of the South African government in denying His Holiness the Dalai Lama access to SA.

2009-03-25T22:17:00.003+02:00

25th March 2009
Message from the VC, Prof. Loyiso Nongxa
Vice-Chancellor and Principal
University of the Witwatersrand

Dear Colleagues

As you may know, His Holiness the Dalai Lama was scheduled to deliver a public lecture at Wits University on Saturday, 28 March 2009. This event has been cancelled due to the South African government not granting a visa to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The University will issue the following statement publicly this morning.

STATEMENT FROM WITS UNIVERSITY PERTAINING TO THE GOVERNMENT’S REJECTION OF A VISIT BY HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA TO SOUTH AFRICA

Wits University expresses its profound dismay at the decision taken by the South African government not to grant a visa to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to attend a Peace Conference in South Africa along with other Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.

The University does not accept the rationale offered by the South African government to bar this stalwart of peace from entering the country. The decision of the government ridicules the values enshrined in our Constitution, and the freedoms for which so many South African have lived, and indeed died.

The Dalai Lama was scheduled to deliver a public address at Wits University on Saturday, 28 March 2009, following on a similar lecture that he delivered to a full capacity audience at Wits during his last visit to the country. To have the voice of the Dalai Lama silenced at both the Peace Conference and the Wits Public Lecture is a setback to the principle that rigorous intellectual debate and reflection is central to the defence of democracy. As part of its commitment to being a publicly engaged institution, Wits hosts numerous public engagement activities and provides an intellectual platform for robust debate. We believe that making differing perspectives and views accessible to our community is a vital part of sustaining and defending the constitutional values that we express as a country.

No country in the world has produced as many Peace Prize Laureates as South Africa, a testament both to the struggles that we have waged in this country for the principles of human rights, as well as to the great stature of the South Africans who have found transcendent ways of expressing the struggle for freedom. It is with this tradition in mind that we view the exclusion of the Dalai Lama from our shores with grave misgivings. This betrayal of a key constitutional value provides a clear window into the fragility of the democracy we are trying to sustain.

It is our responsibility as a University to express our concern at this development. Wits University takes this opportunity to strongly condemn the action of the South African government in denying His Holiness the Dalai Lama access to South Africa.

We add our voice to that of other leaders, calling on the South African government to apologise to the nation for this oversight. It is a betrayal of everything that we, as South Africans, fought against during the apartheid regime and a gross violation of the values we espouse as a nation.

Prof. Loyiso Nongxa
Vice-Chancellor and Principal
Wits University

Dalai Lama denied visa to South Africa

2009-03-23T23:15:00.014+02:00

ANC you AINT getting my vote - that's for sure!

I listened to the news this evening, absolutely stunned !

The Dalai Lama has been refused a visa to attend the 2010 World Cup peace conference in Johannesburg this week.

President Kgalema Motlanthe's spokesman, Thabo Masebe, told Sapa,
"The South African government does not have a problem with the Dalai Lama".

Well let me tell you something, I have a problem with the reasoning behind this stupid decision.

The Dalai Lama was invited by three South African Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, former presidents Nelson Mandela and FW De Klerk and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu to attend the event to discuss ways of using football to fight racism and xenophobia ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Pray tell me, why would a visit by the Dalai Lama move the focus from South Africa onto issues in Tibet. This can only be done by people with ulterior motives.

Congress of the People (COPE) leader Mvume Dandala is purported to have said the South African government had rejected the visa because the Chinese government was one of the ANC's funders.

Well, there go my chinese suppers and the supporting of the little chinese shop around the corner that sells inexpensive (albeit seconds) clothing. I'm not supporting the chinese any longer and I will encourage every person I speak to not to as well. I'd rather pay more for my goods or go without!

What kind of rubbish is this that we have to kowtow to the Chinese now? Or am I missing something here. Is this where the start of China's expansion into Africa begins?

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is reported as having said:

"I will condemn government's behaviour as disgraceful, in line with our country's abysmal record at the United Nations Security Council, a total betrayal of our struggle history. We are shamelessly succumbing to Chinese pressure. I feel deeply distressed and ashamed."

Me too.

I was blessed to be present at the talk by the Dalai Lama several years ago at the Wits Great Hall. He is a man of peace and compassion and I was deeply moved.

The South African Government has bowed under pressure from the Chinese authorities and have denied a visa to the Dalai Lama.

What can I say - SA SUCKS! for more than one reason!

News for the Soul

2009-03-11T16:58:00.025+02:00

Click here for an interview with Credo Mutwa
http://www.newsforthesoul.com/icke-june25-2005.htm

Credo Mutwa pleads - Open Your Eyes !

Nicole Whitney interviews both DAVID ICKE & Zulu Shaman / South African Elder CREDO MUTWA together on News for the Soul!

What secrets are held in African culture?

What was it that compelled David Icke to become active in trying to preserve Credo's knowledge and experience for future generations??

We need to Wake Up...
Knowledge is being suppressed to keep us repressed, so we need to become informed.

We need to Wake Up from the hypnotic state we are being placed under.

Dead Mars, Dying Earth

2009-03-10T21:33:00.007+02:00

Authors:
Dr. John E. Brandenburg & Monica Rix Paxson

We know there was once life on Mars: We have found the evidence in meteorites.
So the question is, how alive was Mars and how did it die?

What could the demise of Mars reveal about the future of our own planet, Earth?

In this compelling account, scientist John E Brandenburg, Ph.D. and Monica Rix Paxon reveal the deadly connection between the two planets.

Dead Mars, Dying Earth is the remarkable true story of scientific discoveries that have consequences for the entire human race, present and future. Detailing three decades of Martian exploration – from the first pictures sent back by Mariner 9 to the discovery of Martian microfossils – the authors show how the facts about Mars expose the danger that our own planet is in. We are on course for global disaster; unless we take immediate action our own planet may suffer a similar fate to Mars.

Through global warming, the thinning of the ozone layer and our continued use of fossil fuels, we are reversing the process that first made human life possible on Earth and that once nurtured life on Mars. We have set ourselves on course for extinction, but we can certainly slow the process down. And we may even be able to reverse it completely by adhering to the suggested strategy outlined in this book.

Blending scientific reason with human passion, Dead Mars, Dying Earth calls us to take immediate responsibility for the world in which we live.

Posted with kind permission of Dr John E. Brandenburg

My Story

2009-03-08T17:36:00.007+02:00

Oupa Teddy from Scotland, Pippa, Piet and Poppie (handmade by Pam)

I arrived
I saw
I travelled the seas
Boat
South Africa
A teddy bear
A wicker chair
Highland dancing
School
Work
Money
Car
Qualified draughtswoman
Mat-Hand
Married
Baby
Move to Johannesburg
Second baby
Work
Children boarding school
Patchwork
Pottery
Started a new job

Now I spin
Now I write
Now I look forward to trips to the mountain

I will travel
I will weave with the yarn that I spin and dye
I will write regularly
I will do pottery again
I will laugh
I will dance
I will age but my spirit will never die.

Pam
1 March 2005

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Who Am I ?

2009-03-01T01:14:00.018+02:00

Who am I ?
Which mask do I wear?
Who is the real me?

With all the masks I wear,
I can no longer tell.
Then I realize -
I am no longer me.

Too many masks,
Swapped too many times.

I really need to know –

Who is that little person,
Hidden deep down inside of me?

Flora 24 April 2006

Quote from Mark Twain

2009-01-29T22:12:00.003+02:00

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.

So throw off the bowlines.

Sail away from the safe harbor.

Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore!

Dream!

Discover!

SPEAK TO ME

2009-01-25T23:37:00.012+02:00

Speak to me
Of days gone by
When we would walk the fields

Gone are the days
When we roamed free
In a state of peace and tranquility

What have we now -
It is but a jail
In the battlefield called Earth

Onward we go
Battling each day
Trying to preserve our sanity.

The terror slices
At my very core
I need to know it is not in vain.

PT April 2007

Photograph courtesy Stuart Thomson

....................................................

Are you Thinking Green

2008-11-23T11:56:00.024+02:00

Eclectic Green was started to link to an environmental magazine that is with the designers as I write. Our aim is to raise awareness of the plight of the Planet and to promote 'Green Thinking'.

Please leave comments....

Please forward this link to your friends who may be interested
http://eclecticgreen.blogspot.com/

Let us know what You think.

Questionnaire:
Please click Above to to participate in our market research

Question yourself:
What have you done to help improve the environment?
• Changed to Compact Fluorescent light bulbs
• Stopped buying bottled water
• Started a Car Pool
• Using environmentally friendly laundry soap and cleaners
• Recycle your waste products weekly/monthly
• Started a compost pile / worm farm
• Unplug electrical appliances at work or home when not in us

German Proverb:
To change and to change for the better are two different things.

For a bit of fun ....

2008-11-16T16:16:00.001+02:00

Nat Geo Green Tip of the week

2008-11-16T16:02:00.008+02:00

Custom Search

WESTERFORD HIGH SCHOOL 1970 MATRICS

2008-06-20T18:51:00.071+02:00

WESTERFORD HIGH SCHOOL
MATRICS 1970

Does this look familiar?
Anyone interested in a 2010 Reunion can drop me a line pam.thomson@tiscali.co.za

Those interested to date:
Pam Thomson (Watt)
Bruce Phillips
Roy Alger
Jenny Nolan (Andrews)

2008-04-06T16:59:00.001+02:00

Dexter's Lesson

2007-08-31T16:52:00.005+02:00

I sit in the garden, watching Dexter climb in and out of the old dried out plants with not a care in his world. Maybe he heard the rustle of a field mouse and decided to explore. I would be too scared – it could be a spider or even worse, a snake!

He climbs over the old tree stump which is kept together only by the disintegrating outer bark. The inside of the stump is just a powder of broken-down bark and tree dust. Sad. This dust used to be the core of the tree.

Could this be a symbol of what I am now, as I sit in this garden, full of despair?

Is this the platform from which I must launch myself to embark on the journey of finding my ‘Authentic Self”, my Inner Child, - my ‘Mini Me’?

Dexter has moved onto another part of the garden now, still looking, still investigating. I wonder what he has found?

He struts off to another part of the garden, lies down to rest and basks in the rays of the sun. He lies a while and then he is off again, leaving the old stump and the dried out plants and wanders to another part of the garden, the part of the garden where the grass is green and plants survive.

He comes bounding back and lies down beside me, his story told.

Is this his lesson?
Is this why this little dog came so inexplicably into my life?

What if I am that old decrepit wasted tree stump? My core in tatters, like dust.

Old bark holding the ashes of my core together. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

The time has come. I must transform myself and let the Phoenix rise again.

Dexter moves onto another part of the garden, still looking, still investigating.
I wonder what he has found?

Has he found the secret to life and has he, in his own little way, played out this scene to show me what it is all about.?

Pam
7th August 2005

Poem to Dexter

2007-08-31T16:08:00.003+02:00

You came into our lives one day
Enriching our lives like never before
You were only three weeks old
Found discarded in a rubbish bin

We didn’t think you’d make it
But you proved us all wrong
Your strong spirit prevailed
As you wove your way into our lives

At first you looked like a tiny bat
On that dark, wet, freezing cold day
Your life blood flowed
And you grew stronger day by day

Your playful antics keep us on our toes
You are a little dog who gives us your all
We love you little Dexter
You are the epitome of Joy

Pam
March 2005

Sunset Beach

2007-07-15T22:48:00.000+02:00

I walk along the beach
On broken shells
On the wet and dry sand
On a seaweed laden shore.

Waves rolling like white horses
Dashing to and fro
Rolling crashing receding
Intoxicating all that is near.

Reflecting light
From a shimmering setting sun
A golden ball slips
Lower and lower.

It hovers like a kite in flight
Then suddenly it is gone
It dips away and leaves behind
A sky of pink and blue

The dusk sets in as the clouds float by
The sky takes on the colours
From the light of the fading sun.
The colours dissipate.

It leaves behind an inky sky
The sun is gone ‘til the morrow
Blackness leads you back to the shore
The light celebration over for the night.

All that is now left
Is the a deserted beach
Waves still rolling like white horses
In the dark of the night.

Reality kicks in, dull and bleak
It is now a dark winter’s night
Clutching you in it’s unwelcome cold.
Edging you back home.

Back in your bed
You lie in the black inkiness of night
Your dreams hover over you
Then sweep you into the warm rose tinted light.

Out of the reality of the darkness
Dreams envelop, guiding you on
To the warm honey coloured images
Of the other life.

Escaping reality of your internal clock
It ticking freeing and guiding you
To the light of a timeless setting
Of the other life.

Dance and song all fill the air
Birds twitter, music fills the air.
Free from the darkness of the bleary night
Entangled in laughter and light.

Pam 16 July 2005

The Road Not Taken

2007-07-14T18:56:00.000+02:00

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both and be one traveler,

Long I stood and looked down one as far as I could -

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other,

As just as fair and having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step has trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost

Purple Reign (Rain)

2007-07-13T21:37:00.000+02:00

2007-07-13T20:53:00.003+02:00

PURPLE REIGN.

The drag home from work has just begun

Winding along side-roads avoiding the mad rush

Despite all the filth and crime

That lines the roads

There is a beauty that strikes one-

Flowering Jacarandas all along the way.

They bring life to the streets of my hellhole Joies

And ease the stress of the day as I gaze upon them

The purple sooths my eyes

And in turn my soul

There is a presence out there

Pretty purple flowers which line the way.

As each day moves from one to the next

The colourful flowers add more beauty and colourful zest

It eases the ache deep inside

Of the need to get away

There is a peacefulness they exude

The pretty purple flowers sustain me ‘til the next day

The season moves on and as time would

The pretty purple flowers have done all that they could.

They have budded and flowered and lived

But their job is now done

And they must wane like the moon

The pretty purple flowers give way for new life.

Then come the first rains of the summer

That taints the air with the smell of new grass

Then come the accompanying storms

That smashes all the flowers

Down to the ground

The pretty purple flowers have had their day.

The drag home from work still goes on

No longer hanging from the branches of their trees

Now the pretty purple flowers lie flattened on the ground

Smothering the pavement

In a deep carpet of spent blooms

Announcing the end of the purple reign.

Pam 2 June 2007

Greetings from South Africa

2007-07-13T20:32:00.000+02:00

Hello,
I decided that it was about time I created my own blog - everyone seems to have one. So here goes. I'm not sure what topics will develop - maybe a mixture for interest. This is just for fun, so anything goes.
So long for now, Pam