Ek wil graag Johan Pienaar nomineer as een van die groot Afrikanerverraaiers. Hy skryf gedurig op litnet.co.za, veral kommentaar op enige persoon wat net 'n bietjie probeer opkom vir Afrikanervryheid of -kultuur. Ek is wel bewus dat daar ʼn hele klomp sulke linkse kommentators is wat hul eie kultuur en taal haat maar hierdie is die eerste een wat ek teëkom wat Max du Preez wragtig staan en verdedig. Ek voel dat die verraaierlys uitgebrei moet word om elkeen van hierdie bliksems te noem en vir die nageslagte bewaar moet word. In Afrikastyl wil ek ook nou “demand”: ek dring daarop aan dat Johan Pienaar harakiri pleeg.
Minister of Children and Equality Karita Bekkemellem, Labour, was replaced by party colleague Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen, the surprise change in the cabinet.
Osmundsen, born on the French island of Martinique, was educated as a lawyer in France. She is married to Conservative politician Terje Osmundsen, is a long-time resident of Norway and newspaper VG’s web site reported that she became a Norwegian citizen two weeks ago.
She has held a variety of positions in the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) and resigned as director of the UDI over the controversial granting of residency to a group of 200 Kurdish asylum seekers, which occurred when she was assistant director.
Stoltenberg said it was high time that the Norwegian government had a minister from an immigrant background.
"Now we get a government that reflects multi-cultural Norway better than before. I want Manuela to have a clear role," Stoltenberg said, and added that there was a historic perspective to the appointment.
Stoltenberg said that the Labour Party had a tradition of fighting for workers’ and women’s rights and the time had come to make the same fight for immigrants, in cooperation with coalition partners SV and the Center Party.
According to Stoltenberg the two SV ministers asked to be relieved of their duties, and he refused comment on Bekkemellem’s exit.
"I believe it is important with renewal. I think every government should have some after two years," Stoltenberg said.
"I am looking forward to working with all of the new ministers," Stoltenberg said outside the palace, and thanked all the outgoing ministers for their work. The changes involving the two SV ministers were widely linked to SV’s poor performance in recent local elections, when voters complained that SV wasn’t doing a good enough job in the areas of higher education and the environment, where it’s traditionally drawn support.
Ricardo Lumengo, who arrived in Switzerland 25 years ago from Angola, was savouring a victory that surprised him more than anyone else.
It was a victory made all the sweeter in the context of an election campaign fought on the anti-immigration, anti-crime views held by the right.
The highly controversial poster from the Swiss People’s Party showing a black sheep being kicked out of Switzerland by three white sheep gained them headlines at home, loathing in the foreign press and a substantial increase in votes and seats at home.
The backlash though, from the message of zero tolerance for foreigners who commit crimes on Swiss soil, apparently played on the sympathies of those voters outraged by the tone.
"I am red and black. I like it," the Socialist Party member told the German language paper Blick, referring to his party colours as well as his skin.
The 45-year-old lawyer fled Angola to Switzerland in 1982 and started by washing dishes in a restaurant in Fribourg to fund his legal education before eventually moving into politics.
His rise from nowhere is not unlike that of his inevitable political rival, Christoph Blocher – the man identified as the strongman of the People’s Party.
The 67-year-old billionaire businessman made his fortune in the chemical industry after his humble start as a farm hand. The son of a priest, he too trained as a lawyer.
While Blocher’s party is perceived as racist in how it wishes to deal with criminals the majority of whom, according to statistics, are foreign, Lumengo is the archetypal immigrant the right would claim it wishes to embrace.
Lumengo rejects the idea of Blocher or his party as his nemesis.
"I am a symbol for Swiss people from abroad but I am not trying to be anti-Blocher," he told the French language paper Le Matin.
When asked by the reporter if he was afraid of encountering the majority People’s Party in parliament, he said. "Why? Now I can speak to these people directly."
Lumengo has received quantities of hate mail during his career. He may have proclaimed "I am the UDC’s black sheep," after his election victory, referring to the People’s Party by its French acronym, but he insists that he has succeeded in politics in spite of, rather than because of his colour.
Lord Ashdown said: "We have lost, I think, and success is now unlikely."
The assessment will be considered extreme by some diplomats but timely by those pressing for more resources for Nato operations.
Lord Ashdown added: "I believe losing in Afghanistan is worse than losing in Iraq. It will mean that Pakistan will fall and it will have serious implications internally for the security of our own countries and will instigate a wider Shiite [Shia], Sunni regional war on a grand scale.
"Some people refer to the First and Second World Wars as European civil wars and I think a similar regional civil war could be initiated by this [failure] to match this magnitude."
Lord Ashdown, 66, the former leader of the Liberal Democrats, was speaking in advance of a Nato summit in the Dutch town of Noordwijk yesterday.
Britain and the US infuriated by the lack of assistance granted by allies to those countries with forces operating in Afghanistan.
The tensions are particularly acute given that members pledged a year ago that they would do everything within their power to ensure "success" in the country.
With a growing sense in Kabul that the reconstruction and military efforts are lacking focus, Britain and the US are pushing for the creation of a super envoy and are looking for a political heavyweight to fill the role.
Both countries consider that Tom Koenigs, the current UN special representative to Kabul who is a former regional politician in Germany, lacks the international standing to fulfil such a role. He will complete his posting by Christmas.
It is understood that the super envoy would have the existing duties of the UN representative but also greater powers to co-ordinate the rebuilding of the country after decades of war. Progress in reconstruction and development – especially in the violent south – has been sporadic and considered largely unsatisfactory by the international community.
However, there remains widespread discussion over the precise remit that the new figure would have, particularly in relation to any oversight they might have of Nato operations and Operation Enduring Freedom, the US’s separate mission.
A spokesman at the British Embassy in Kabul told The Daily Telegraph: "There is an important role for the United Nations to play in co-ordinating efforts in Afghanistan and we would like to see the international effort better co-ordinated."
A senior diplomat who declined to be named said: "The overall leadership here is that of President Karzai.
"So whoever takes on this role needs to be able to co-ordinate the international community but also serve the interests and structures of a sovereign state."
Apart from Lord Ashdown, candidates under consideration for the new enhanced role include Joschka Fischer, the former German foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, the serving French foreign minister, and Jaroslav Kaczynski, the former Polish prime minister who lost Sunday’s general election.
Turkye beplan, met die goedkeuring van die VSA, ‘n reeks oorgrensoperasies in Noord-Irak. Sestigduisend Turkse troepe is reeds op die grens saamgetrek en volgens berigte is daar Turkse hakkejagte in Irakse gebiede. Konflik in dié olieryke gebied dreig egter om oor te spoel na ander lande indien Turkye te hardhandig optree.
Die oorsaak van Koerdiese terreur teen Turkye het geen oorsprong in die huidige staatsbestel van Irak nie, ten spyte daarvan dat tussen 15% en 20% Koerde tans in Irak woonagtig is. Die geweld is gemik teen die Turkse behandeling van Koerde in Turkye soos die onlangse voorbeeld waar ‘n gewilde Koerdiese sanger van die verhoog afgejaag is in Turkye toe hy Koerdies gepraat het.
In Sirië en Iran woon daar onderskeidelik 10% en 7% Koerde, terwyl daar in Armenië net meer as 2% woon. Indien die Koerde die oliereserwes in die noorde van Irak toeëien, sal die geveg verhewig omdat die oliebronne in Irak veronderstel is om aan alle groepe te behoort. Alhoewel die Turke ingestem het tot versigtigheid, wil hulle nie direk met die PKK onderhandel nie.
Toegewings oor taal- en kultuurregte, waarvan die Koerde maar min gesien het, sal baie doen om gemoedere te kalmeer. Die stygende lewensgehalte van die Koerde kan ook help om die PKK se invloed te breek. In Koerdiese provinsies in Irak heers groot armoede.
Standard Bank said on Thursday it was selling the stake for a total of R36.7bn ($5.56bn), of which R20.7bn would go to shareholders and the remainder to Standard Bank Group.
ICBC, the world’s largest bank by market value, will get two non-executive directors on the South African group’s board, one of whom would be vice-chairman.
The deal requires shareholder and regulatory approval. It is understood the South African Reserve Bank will cap the percentage the ICBC can go to at about 25 per cent.
In a statement to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the South African group described the deal as “a landmark transaction for Africa, South Africa and Standard Bank Group itself. Standard Bank Group’s proposed partnership with ICBC will place it at the cross-roads of economic interaction between China and the African continent and will represent a strong vote of confidence in the future relationship between the two regions.”
The announcement followed a cautionary statement from Standard Bank on Tuesday, which said it was in talks that could affect its share price.
The deal is a clear sign of a maturing of China’s presence in Africa as Standard Bank is widely considered the most blue chip and stable financial group in South Africa.
It cements the impression that China is seeking to move beyond its standard strategy of the past few years of offering cheap loans in return for access for the continent’s mineral wealth.
It will also be the largest banking deal in South Africa since Barclays of the UK bought Absa Group, the country’s largest retail bank in 2005. Goldman Sachs is advising ICBC, in which it has a small shareholding.
Jiang Jianqing, ICBC chairman, last week said the bank planned to open a branch next month in Russia, take over a bank in Sydney, and open branches in Dubai and Qatar. Media reports had indicated that it is looking for acquisitions in South Africa.
Standard Bank, whose assets totalled R1,100bn ($165bn) on June 30, operates in 18 African countries.
Separately, ICBC said on Thursday that its third-quarter earnings jumped 76 per cent to Rmb22.46bn ($3bn), on the back of a widening interest margin and fee income growth.
But it is understood at least one force has been found to be in breach of the Race Relations Act after specifically referring to Vietnamese nationals in its letters.
The development has infuriated detectives seeking to break the stranglehold of Vietnamese barons, who control 75 per cent of UK production of cannabis.
Senior police sources confirmed there has been an "explosion" in Vietnamese-run cannabis factories over the past year.
Often the whole house will be given over to cultivation of the drug with a small living area reserved for the "gardener", often an illegal immigrant, who tends the plants.
Sometimes the gangs rent up to four properties in a row from the same landlord.
Each house can produce up to four harvests a year, worth up to £600,000.
Electricity connections are often tampered with to offer a free supply to power the lighting around the plants.
Following a recent crackdown by Scotland Yard, many of the crime syndicates have relocated out of the capital to rented properties in places such as Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Nottingham, Leicester and Derby.
There are now three million cannabis users in the UK and more than 60 per cent of what they use is produced here, compared to just 11 per cent ten years ago.
According to investigators, the Vietnamese gangs have a distinct four-tier structure.
There is usually a financial backer, who owns a UK business such as a nail bar or restaurant.
There is a "consultant" who travels around the country advising people how to set up a cannabis farm.
Then there is the "gardener", and finally a seller, responsible for distribution of the drug.
The groups typically launder their vast profits in businesses, vehicles and property. Links to casinos have been uncovered in the Midlands.
Senior officers believe privately that the Government’s decision to relax the laws on cannabis is the cause of the surge in home-grown production.
Chief Superintendent Jon House, of South Yorkshire Police, said the downgrading of the drug from Class B to Class C should be reversed.
He told Police Review magazine that the factories were setting up at an "alarming" rate.
"My recommendation would be that legislation should be introduced that would hold landlords accountable," he said.
Home-grown "skunk", the most powerful and harmful type of cannabis, is flooding our streets, Government scientists have warned.
It accounts for three quarters of the cannabis seized, with 9,460lbs confiscated in the first half of this year.
"There is now an easy way to grow cannabis in this country because of the availability of equipment, specialist lighting and a cheap labour source through foreign nationals," said Dean Ames, head of the Forensic Science Service’s drugs unit.
The potency of skunk, said to be two to three times more powerful than other forms of cannabis, was a major factor behind Gordon Brown’s recent decision to review the downgrading of the drug from Class B to Class C in 2004.
Op ‘n keer is ek en twee Suid-Afrikaanse kollegas genooi om te gaan seil op Chesapeake-baai in die VSA. Toe ons aan boord stap, bied die Amerikaanse eienaar van die jag ons almal beleefd sonbrandroom aan, tot my en een van die ander Suid-Afrikaners se groot vermaak. Die derde persoon, Ntobeko, ‘n Xhosa met donker gelaatstrekke, het dit minder amusant gevind. Hy het moontlik die Amerikaner se beleefdheid of politieke korrektheid verkeerdelik aangesien vir ‘n spottery.Beeld se voorblad jubel vandag oor ‘n "referendum" wat glo gehou gaan word onder alle Suid-Afrikaners oor die embleme van nasionale sportspanne. Let op dat ek die woord referendum in aanhalingstekens plaas, omdat dit by nadere ondersoek blyk dat dit nie noodwendig ‘n referendum gaan wees nie. Die "strukture" wat betrek kan word, kan heel moontlik bloot sinspeel op die ANC se interne strukture, siende dat die ANC geneig is om homself, die staat en die volke van Suid-Afrika te verwar, ‘n siening wat kennelik nie deur die oorweldigende meerderheid blanke Suid-Afrikaners gedeel word nie.
Kom ons neem egter Minister Stofile se woord daarvoor. Een of ander vorm van sogenaamde nasionale meningsopname gaan plaasvind, waartydens die inwoners geraadpleeg gaan word. Die regime gaan die inwoners se mening dan kort daarna ignoreer. Of staatsgeld en die OVK se tyd gemors gaan word op ‘n landwye referendum na die fatsoen van ‘n politieke referendum, betwyfel ek sterk. Die debat of peiling gaan heel waarskynlik eerder ‘n sinnelose een in die parlement of binne die ANC wees, wat weer eens sal neerkom op ‘n rassesensus en in die praktyk die afdwing van die ANC se wil gaan beteken. Voorts is enige sprake van ‘n nasionale debat in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks fundamenteel ‘n teenstrydigheid, gegewe dat daar weliswaar een geografiese gebied by name Suid-Afrika is, maar geen sprake van ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse volk nie.
Die grootste probleem is egter dat enige sogenaamde nasionale debat of peiling die feit gaan ignoreer dat belangstelling in sportsoorte grootliks langs volksgrense heen verdeel is. Ek het byvoorbeeld geen belangstelling in sokker nie. En nee, dis nie omdat sokker ‘n "swart" sport is nie. Die beste sokkerspanne op aarde is óf Europees óf Suid-Amerikaans. FIFA se nommer een span is tans Argentinië, die wêreld se blankste land. Ek sal egter sukkel om een speler in die huidige Suid-Afrikaanse span te noem. Speel Benny McCarthy nog?
Om my te raadpleeg oor ‘n geskikte simbool vir die Suid-Afrikaanse sokkerspan, is dus die ekwivalent daarvan om vir Ntobeko te vra wat sy gunstelingsonbrandroom is. Insgelyks maak dit geen sin om almal in Suid-Afrika te raadpleeg oor die Springbok nie, gegewe dat die oorweldigende meerderheid inwoners glad nie in hetsy die sport rugby, hetsy die Springbok belangstel nie. Die belangstelling wat die ANC in die sport en embleem toon, is van dieselfde aard as die spreekwoordelike twee leeus en ‘n bok wat ‘n gesprek voer oor wat op die spyskaart vir aandete is.
‘n Veel sinvoller metode vir so ‘n opname sou gewees het om mense met vorms by die hekke van rugbystadia te laat staan by wedstryde van die 2008 Super 14- en Curriekbekertoernooie, en die toeskouers sonder aansiens des persoons of ras te vra wat húlle mening is. Uiteraard is ek nou hopeloos naïef hieroor, en is ‘n rasionele benadering soos hierbo voorgestel, nie ‘n moontlikheid nie. Dit gaan immers glad nie oor wat die ondersteuners van elke sportsoort se mening is nie. Die ware teiken is ook nie sokker of ander sportsoorte nie. Dit is Afrikaners se geliefde sport, rugby.
Dit gaan veel eerder oor ‘n kamma-"demokratiese" proses, waartydens die regime sal voorgee dat die "volk" geraadpleeg is, maar met die wete dat dit bloot net weer sal neerkom op die afdwing van die regime se wil op ‘n minderheidsvolk. Ek as Afrikaner weier egter om aan die regime of Naspers se rassespeletjies deel te neem, en sal derhalwe die ANC se "referendum" en Naspers se entoesiasme oor hierdie deursigtige weerligafleier met die minagting wat dit verdien, verwerp.
Nobelpryswenner, Doris Lessing, het Sondag in ‘n onderhoud aan die Spaanse koerant El Pais gesê dat 11 September 2001 "nie so erg was" as die bloedvergieting veroorsaak deur aksies wat die IRL geloods het nie. "Die 11de September was vreeslik maar as ‘n mens weer na die geskiedenis van die IRL kyk en dit vergelyk met die VSA, was dit [11 September] nie so erg nie."
"Sover dit Bush aangaan, is hy ‘n wêreldwye ellende. Almal is sat vir daardie man. Hy is òf dom òf regtig baie slim." Die onderhoud met die Spaanse koerant is ‘n dag voor haar verjaarsdag gepubliseer. Sy het Maandag 88 jare gevier.
Sy het ook gesê dat Bush uit ‘n sosiale stand kom wat reeds baie voordeel uit oorloë getrek het. Lessing werk tans aan ‘n boek wat oor oorlog handel. Sy is die oudste persoon tot nog toe om die prys te wen.
Die Sweedse Akademie het die prys aan haar toegeken omdat sy blykbaar "deur die vroulike ervaring met skeptisisme, vuur en visionêre krag ‘n verdeelde beskawing aan ondersoek onderwerp het."
