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On the subject of war…this is my favourite anti-war song. Written by Pete Seeger and Joe Hickerson, “Where have all the flowers gone?” was performed by Marlene Dietrich and became a huge hit in the early 1960s.
It’s chillingly beautiful.
Yesterday, Dame Vera Lynn – “The Forces’ Sweetheart” – became the oldest living artist to make it into the Top Twenty in the UK. Lynn at 92 entered the albums chart with “We’ll Meet Again – The Very Best of Vera Lynn.” BBC reports that The album was released to coincide with the 70th anniversary on Thursday of the declaration of war.
The MDC released this on Friday after Zuma’s visit to Zimbabwe:
The MDC applauds today’s statement by the SADC chairman and South African President Jacob Zuma which made it clear that all parties forming the inclusive government should be committed to fulfilling the letter and spirit of the Global Political Agreement.
The statement by the SADC chairman is refreshing. President Zuma has made an unequivocal statement that African nations should commit themselves to human rights, good governance and democracy if our continent is to extricate itself from the bad-boy image. Read More…
In today’s The Times, we published a letter from Charl du Plessis who makes a very interesting point.
Semenya’s testosterone levels were three times higher than those normally expected in a female sample. Du Plessis did some Google research and found that a typical female sample could range from about 15-80ng/dL (nanograms per decilitre). A typical male sample for someone Semenya’s age is about 750ng/dL.
Du Plessis says that means that if her testosterone level is three times the upper level of ordinary female testosterone, it still falls short of a typical male sample. Good point.
And in the West, some are surprised by our support of Semenya. From The Daily Dish: “South Africans are embracing a sexually ambiguous, possibly intersex woman while we are adhering to very rigid, chemically-based definitions of gender. Given all that we’ve heard about the abuse of women in Africa, this is surprising, no?”
Jarmila Kratochvílová is a former Czech runner who has been holding the 800m world record for 26 years with a time of 1:53.28. That’s a whole two seconds-plus faster than Caster’s 1:55.45.
Dominic Lawson in the Times of London reported this week that at the time a US doctor had said that “This is not a normal physiological female body. I’ve treated Olympic female athletes in 34 countries but I’ve never seen a body like that.”
She’s still the fastest woman, and nobody has doubted that.
He wants the rest. He needs time with his family. It looks good. But stuff has happened which must be seriously affecting his time out. There was the explosive CIA report on Monday. Ben Bernanke’s re-appointment. Ted Kennedy’s death: he will be attending Ted Kennedy’s funeral on Saturday. And his holiday is due to end on Sunday. Too soon, I’d be saying.
George Charamba has been insisting that Zuma is going to Zimbabwe to open an agricultural show… Zuma joked today about this official line. “I was invited to be the guest of honour at an agricultural show…Naturally I will be looking at cows and how nice they look. They have very beautiful cows there,” Zuma said. We know that he does like cows…But actually our president will be discussing the issues raised by Tsvangirai when he met with Zuma a few weeks ago here. “The fact of the matter is the prime minister had come here to raise certain issues which I raised with the facilitator,” Zuma told Sapa today. “Certainly I will also have to raise those issues with the leaders in Zimbabwe.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu issued this statement on Senator Edward Kennedy’s death.
“Senator Kennedy, one of America’s greatest senators, was a passionate and committed supporter of our anti-apartheid struggle. When he visited South Africa, he stayed with us in our house in Soweto for one night. Ted played a significant role in US politics and will be sorely missed for his valuable guidance and contribution towards justice. We and the world owe him much. We send our condolences to his family and pray for the repose of his soul.”
Soon, Zuma will be arriving in Harare to meet with the leaders of Zimbabwe. We’re expecting Mugabe to meet Zuma at the airport. That’s if he is well enough to do so.
Zuma is expected to be critical of Mugabe’s “adolescent” and “deviant” behaviour. Gwede Mantashe was quoted in the Business Day today saying “President Zuma will be more vocal in terms of what we see as deviant behaviour by our neighbours.”
He will be mediating differences between the parties of the new unity government in Zimbabwe. AFP is reporting that the MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa says of Zuma’s visit “We hope that his visit will unlock and unblock the political logjam in our country.”
However, Mugabe’s spokesperson, George Charamba has been saying that Zuma is in Harare to open an agricultural show. In a local newspaper state-controlled Herald, he was quoted saying: “What we know is that President Zuma is a guest of the Zimbabwean government and has come to officially open the agricultural show… We are also aware that matters to do with the global political agreement fall under the purview of the facilitator, who is comrade Mbeki.”
And Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, Mugabe’s lead negotiator told AFP that “Our position is very clear. We hope our principal, President Robert Mugabe, tells President Zuma that the outstanding issues are that of sanctions and external interference.”
Yes, sure.
More later….
My outrage yesterday about Helen Zille’s “South African Today” letter last week evoked a response from the DA. Zille used an example in a long discussion about the rights of deaf people which made an implicit point about funding HIV/Aids sufferers. The rights of deaf people is an honourable issue. And so are the rights of HIV/Aids people. Civil society has spent the last twenty years trying to de-stigmatise HIV/Aids and to get state-funded-treatment for people suffering from this disease (which 600 000 thousand people now receive). Read More…