A South African Remembers Mr. Mandela

A gentleman I met ten years ago in Cape Town, South Africa, sent along a copy of his remarks made at his Rotary Club in Cape Town and I consider them most worthy for sharing:

Hello All

It's nearly the end of the year and Denise and I wish you all a very blessed and also merry Christmas.

The last few days have certainly allowed us all to focus, one way or another, on the meaning of life, on the value which needs to be given to real values, on humility, generosity and also to focus on our society and our social conscience. This event, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela's death, has given us the opportunity to rethink the issues of showing empathy to our fellow beings, caring for those who need it, of showing us all the responsibilities to be faced – our responsibilities. And it has highlighted the job that needs still to be done most urgently to improve and uplift our South African society. May this occasion, sad as death is, also have a positive effect in creating a new vision in the minds of those who run this country and coerce them and in turn all of us to live and lead in a substantive and effective manner.

Thank you Mr Mandela for  once again reminding us about caring.

May you rest in peace, but your principles blossom.

Regards

Steven Boers

Cape Town Rotary Club 

/Architects Boers Associates 

(Complete blog here.)

42 Great Shots

Great pictures are a visual delight and these are in that category. I've included one of them below. They are from the 2013 National Geographic 25th annual Traveler Photo Contest,and appeared in The Atlantic, where Alan Taylor wrote "National Geographic was once more kind enough to allow me to share some of the early entries with you here, gathered from four categories: Travel Portraits, Outdoor Scenes, Sense of Place, and Spontaneous Moments. Photos and captions by the photographers. "
Scroll down in the story and Enjoy!

A group of 12-14 hyenas were chasing a herd of 7-8 elephants. The elephant herd included 2 adult females, a few teenagers, and a baby that was a few days old (belonging to one of the adult females). The hyenas were trying to get at the baby. In this picture, the mother is kicking at the hyenas. (© Jayesh Mehta/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest). 

 

(Complete blog here.) 

 

(To opt out e-mail: arch@archibald99.com) 

Fighting over Nelson Mandela

The vultures are out in South Africa. Members of the ruling party, African National Congress, and the opposition, Democratic Alliance, are staging photo ops to bask in the image of the ailing, fading 94-year old Nelson Mandela, life-long activist for equal treatment of all South Africans, 27-year prisoner for his opposition to apartheid, and first black president of South Africa. Amidst all this members of his family squabble publicly over the executor of the trust set up to handle his estate when he dies. This is shameful in the extreme. To be used as a political prop and have your family fighting over your estate is a sad way to end a life of struggle and victory.

This downloaded picture of Mr. Mandela is from a happier time when he was enjoying his later life in his beloved South Africa. 

  I took this picture in 2003 of Mr. Mandela's former cell in the Robbin Island prison where he was held for almost three decades.

 

(Complete blog here.)

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Riding a cab in New York City

The New York Times ran a story, April 10, 2013, "Sometimes, Riders Find a Cabby Worth Praising," and invited comments related to the theme. Among those published was one I submitted:

"I was in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, about ten years ago. My wife and I stopped at a restaurant for an early supper. We were the only customers until six men came in and sat at an adjoining table. One of them had recently been in New York City and was recounting the bad attitude of a cab driver. He went on and on and I thought he would have a heart attack. On the way out I stopped at his table and told him I was sorry he had had such a bad experience; that I was the Deputy Commissioner for hack licenses in NYC and when I got home we were going to work even harder on drivers with bad attitudes. I hope he would visit NYC again soon. As we got into our car my wife asked if I had too much beer for dinner. I shrugged and laughingly told her it would give him something pleasant to talk about and take his mind off the bad attitude driver."
(Complete blog here.)

Where the danger is

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, in his first major public address since being confirmed, spoke at the National Defense University on April 3 about the threats the United States faces today and tomorrow. Addressing the senior military and civilian personnel pursuing a year of study at the prestigious NDU, including some foreign military officers, he said (in part):


 "The security landscape of 2013 is of a far different character than the world of 1960, or even the world of a few years ago.  *****  The United States is emerging from more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the threat of violent extremism persists and continues to emanate from weak states and ungoverned spaces in the Middle East and North Africa.  
"There also stands an array of other security challenges of varying vintage and degrees of risk to the United States:  the proliferation of dangerous weapons and materials, the increased availability of advanced military technologies in the hands of state and non-state actors, the risk of regional conflicts that could draw in the United States, the debilitating and dangerous curse of human despair and poverty, as well as the uncertain implications of environmental degradation.
"Cyber attacks – which barely registered as a threat a decade ago – have grown into a defining security challenge, with potential adversaries seeking the ability to strike at America’s security, energy, economic and critical infrastructure with the benefit of anonymity and distance.
"The world today is combustible and complex, and America’s responsibilities are as enormous as they are humbling.  These challenges to our security and prosperity demand America’s continued global leadership and engagement, and they require a principled realism that is true to our values."
The Secretary reminded us that "the most destructive and horrific attack ever on the United States came not from fleets of ships, bombers, and armored divisions, but from 19 fanatical men wielding box cutters and one-way plane tickets."
(Emphasis added.)

The entire speech is well worth reviewing.  
(To respond e-mail: arch@archibald99.com.) 

Bring back crucifixtion

The United Nations Security Council has given the Secretary General 90 days to come up with a strategy for dealing with piracy. I have given some thought to the subject and offer my opinion as to what may have beneficial results: Bring back crucifixion.

This simple strategy against the pirates in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia, and in the Straits of Malacca, is worth trying. Acts of piracy are on the increase. Holding ships and people for ransom are outrageous criminal acts.

There is no indication that any pirates are acting out against "oppression by infidels" or any other reason often quoted by terrorists. Pirates are not terrorists. They are pure and simple brigands, criminals, murderers and all-around low life's. There is no political movement supporting piracy, no claim to desire a Kingdom of Pirates under any law, man or God's.

We know that Caesar crucified pirates who had kidnapped him and held him for ransom, (admittedly he never succeeded in putting an end to piracy.) Although crucifixion has largely fallen out of style in the Western world, as recently as 2003 an Englishman was sentenced in Saudi Arabia to partial beheading and crucifixion. Partial beheading and crucifixion is one of the punishments known under sharia (traditional Islamic law) as al-hadd, the limit, a reference to the ultimate sanction allowed by God.

Although the Englishman's sentence was not carried out,Saudi Arabia reportedly crucified two highway robbers a few years ago.

We ought not to adopt Islamic law totally in the Western world but in dealing with people to whom Western law (arrests, lawyers, courts, trials, juries, prison sentences, fines, parole, and eventual release) has no fear factor then we should deal with in terms they may well understand and appreciate.

Ships can try to defend themselves with heavy water cannons and ear splitting music to ward off pirates. They may also "pour on the coal" and outrun pirates usually attacking in smaller boats. But it is worth considering the potential payback to catching and crucifying a few pirates and letting them rot in the sun for three days to a week.

Dr. C. Truman Davis* more than 30 years ago wrote an essay on crucifixion which describes the grisly procedure in detail and is worthy of reading. Many pirates may not be able to read and thus may not be scared off, but seeing their buddies Ali, Hosea and whoever hanging on a cross rotting in the hot African sun may well send a message to other pirates to consider a new line of work.

(* Dr. C. Truman Davis is a nationally respected Ophthalmologist, vice president of the American Association of Ophthalmology, and an active figure in the Christian schools movement. He is founder and president of the excellent Trinity Christian School in Mesa Arizona, and a trustee of Grove City College.)