The Fifa 2010 opening was supposed to be a day of great rejoicing for Nelson Mendela to see his nation host the Fifa World Cup. But the moment turned to grief when he learned of his great grand daughters death in a tragic car accident just on the eve of the opening day.
The former president was expected at the opening match between South Africa and Mexico to celebrate his country’s triumph of hosting the World Cup on the African continent for the first time ever. Instead, the 91 year old Mr Mendela spent the evening in mourning on the death of his 13 year old great grand daughter Zenani Mandela which occurred in a fatal one car accident while on her way back home from a concert.
According to the police, the male driver was drunk while driving and was charged accordingly. He may also be charged for homicide.
Showing posts with label World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label World. Show all posts
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Gaza flotilla attack: there are shades of grey on both sides
If the Israelis should not have dropped the wrong kind of forces from helicopters, the protesters were surely wrong to have placed themselves in harm’s way in such large and disparate numbers.
The worldwide chorus of criticism over Israel’s seizure of the Gaza Freedom flotilla has become so deafening that there must be something to be said in Israel’s defence. Let’s try.
Mind you, launching special forces onto the decks of crowded vessels in darkness – and in international waters, too – those Israelis don’t make it easy, do they?
As the Israeli commentator Yossi Melman srote in Ha’aretz yesterday, don’t they remember anything from their own brilliant Zionist propaganda coups of the 1940s – sending crowded boats full of European Jewish refugees to break the Royal Navy’s blockade of British-mandated Palestine? The other side obviously remembered.
Does this sound familiar this week? The armed British assault on the SS Exodus in 1947 and its aftermath were such a “success” – ie a PR disaster for the Brits after three people on board died – that Leon Uris wrote the book Exodus about it and Otto Preminger made a movie out of it. For Exodus, substitute Mavi Marmara.
Needless to say, the French were unhelpful and the British left Palestine to its unhappily divided fate soon after. We still live with the consequences.
But, then as now, in such conflicts where ardent protagonists on both sides see everything in black and white, the sensible reaction is surely to start looking for shades of grey.
I happened to be reading John le Carre’s Islamist thriller A Most Wanted Man over the holiday weekend, and it was a subtle study of everyone’s ethical greys, right up to the last few pages when the author clearly decided to finish it quickly and go out for lunch.
So let’s look for greys. If the Israelis should not have dropped the wrong kind of forces from helicopters – always scary when overhead – the protesters were surely wrong to have placed themselves in harm’s way in such large and disparate numbers.
I mean to say, would you want old people and women with children – especially with children – on a trip like that, however strongly you felt about the plight of Gaza under siege?
When I read of people doing that sort of thing, I’m afraid it reminds me of Mrs Jellaby in Dickens’s Bleak House, who espoused all sorts of good causes far from the home and family she so neglected.
We understand why activists feel moved to do such things, but we don’t always have to approve. Every day, I pass within sight and sound of the activist camp on Parliament Square, protesting about all manner of things such as “peace in Afghanistan NOW”. I’m not sure they’re doing anyone but themselves much good.
The worldwide chorus of criticism over Israel’s seizure of the Gaza Freedom flotilla has become so deafening that there must be something to be said in Israel’s defence. Let’s try.
Mind you, launching special forces onto the decks of crowded vessels in darkness – and in international waters, too – those Israelis don’t make it easy, do they?
As the Israeli commentator Yossi Melman srote in Ha’aretz yesterday, don’t they remember anything from their own brilliant Zionist propaganda coups of the 1940s – sending crowded boats full of European Jewish refugees to break the Royal Navy’s blockade of British-mandated Palestine? The other side obviously remembered.
Does this sound familiar this week? The armed British assault on the SS Exodus in 1947 and its aftermath were such a “success” – ie a PR disaster for the Brits after three people on board died – that Leon Uris wrote the book Exodus about it and Otto Preminger made a movie out of it. For Exodus, substitute Mavi Marmara.
Needless to say, the French were unhelpful and the British left Palestine to its unhappily divided fate soon after. We still live with the consequences.
But, then as now, in such conflicts where ardent protagonists on both sides see everything in black and white, the sensible reaction is surely to start looking for shades of grey.
I happened to be reading John le Carre’s Islamist thriller A Most Wanted Man over the holiday weekend, and it was a subtle study of everyone’s ethical greys, right up to the last few pages when the author clearly decided to finish it quickly and go out for lunch.
So let’s look for greys. If the Israelis should not have dropped the wrong kind of forces from helicopters – always scary when overhead – the protesters were surely wrong to have placed themselves in harm’s way in such large and disparate numbers.
I mean to say, would you want old people and women with children – especially with children – on a trip like that, however strongly you felt about the plight of Gaza under siege?
When I read of people doing that sort of thing, I’m afraid it reminds me of Mrs Jellaby in Dickens’s Bleak House, who espoused all sorts of good causes far from the home and family she so neglected.
We understand why activists feel moved to do such things, but we don’t always have to approve. Every day, I pass within sight and sound of the activist camp on Parliament Square, protesting about all manner of things such as “peace in Afghanistan NOW”. I’m not sure they’re doing anyone but themselves much good.
Donna Simpson, NJ Mom, Tempts Death By Donuts
Donna Simpson, aspirant for the Heaviest Woman Alive title, is a true anomaly at school pick-up time. Or she would be, if she could make it to school pick-up. This New Jersey mom, who weighed 600 lbs. several months ago and is aiming to hit 1,000, can’t get around much. Sadly, she doesn’t care.
Ms. Simpson eats 12,000 calories a day, costing her $750-a-week in grocery bills (she lives in Old Bridge, NJ, and her bills are funded in-part by internet viewers who pay to watch her eat). Her 150-lb. boyfriend supports the quest. She’s said, “I think he’d like it if I was bigger. He’s a real belly man, and completely supports me.” He’d better, since he, or someone else, needs to help her with basic everyday tasks. She can’t walk and gets around with the help of a scooter, and has trouble even taking a shower. She also has Type-2 Diabetes. Despite these setbacks she claims to be “healthy.” Heathy?
Okay, she admits that, despite the hoards of sushi, cakes and donuts, she may not reach her goal. “When you have a 3-year-old daughter and you’re trying to run a household, things like this tend to be a fantasy,” Simpson told The New York Post. What’s her true aim? To be named the Heaviest Woman to Give Birth. She was 532 lbs when she had her daughter in 2007. There’s currently no Fattest Delivery category in Guinness, but the Records Book folks are currently considering her request. Seriously? This is going to be encouraged? A category in which people about to be responsible for children are prompted to gain excessive weight?
In the Biggest Loser and moms-getting-tummy-tucks era, this woman is truly one of a kind.
It’s not her ability to care for her child that worries me. It’s the way that this kind of weight shortens a woman’s lifespan. Donna Simpson’s kids are now ages 3 and 14. I’d argue that she owes it to her children to try to stick around as long as she can. Didn’t she see Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution? Because as this story winds up and gets more and more press, only one thought is going through my mind:
Ms. Simpson eats 12,000 calories a day, costing her $750-a-week in grocery bills (she lives in Old Bridge, NJ, and her bills are funded in-part by internet viewers who pay to watch her eat). Her 150-lb. boyfriend supports the quest. She’s said, “I think he’d like it if I was bigger. He’s a real belly man, and completely supports me.” He’d better, since he, or someone else, needs to help her with basic everyday tasks. She can’t walk and gets around with the help of a scooter, and has trouble even taking a shower. She also has Type-2 Diabetes. Despite these setbacks she claims to be “healthy.” Heathy?
Okay, she admits that, despite the hoards of sushi, cakes and donuts, she may not reach her goal. “When you have a 3-year-old daughter and you’re trying to run a household, things like this tend to be a fantasy,” Simpson told The New York Post. What’s her true aim? To be named the Heaviest Woman to Give Birth. She was 532 lbs when she had her daughter in 2007. There’s currently no Fattest Delivery category in Guinness, but the Records Book folks are currently considering her request. Seriously? This is going to be encouraged? A category in which people about to be responsible for children are prompted to gain excessive weight?
In the Biggest Loser and moms-getting-tummy-tucks era, this woman is truly one of a kind.
It’s not her ability to care for her child that worries me. It’s the way that this kind of weight shortens a woman’s lifespan. Donna Simpson’s kids are now ages 3 and 14. I’d argue that she owes it to her children to try to stick around as long as she can. Didn’t she see Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution? Because as this story winds up and gets more and more press, only one thought is going through my mind:
The Rachel Corrie incident
After it ignored not to head for Gaza, Israeli forces boarded the Rachel Corrie aid ship. According to the military, its troops boarded the ship with full compliance of the crew and passengers in a peaceful operation and there was no use of violence by either parties.
“Our forces boarded the boat and took control without meeting any resistance from the crew or the passengers. Everything took place without violence,” one of the spokeswomen commented and also added that there were no shots fired.
There were 15 people on board, most of them Irish and Malaysian activists. The ship along with its occupants is being escorted into the southern Israeli port of Ashdod. The aid will be transferred to Gaza through land crossings, said the military.
This is a very sensitive time for Israel as it is contending with diplomatic fallout of an earlier raid on flotilla of Gaza bound aid boats, leaving 9 people dead most of which were Turks.
Despite the outcry by international community on this deadly commando incident, Israel has vowed to block all attempts to reach Gaza by Sea in defiance of the tight blockade it has imposed since 2006
“Our forces boarded the boat and took control without meeting any resistance from the crew or the passengers. Everything took place without violence,” one of the spokeswomen commented and also added that there were no shots fired.
There were 15 people on board, most of them Irish and Malaysian activists. The ship along with its occupants is being escorted into the southern Israeli port of Ashdod. The aid will be transferred to Gaza through land crossings, said the military.
This is a very sensitive time for Israel as it is contending with diplomatic fallout of an earlier raid on flotilla of Gaza bound aid boats, leaving 9 people dead most of which were Turks.
Despite the outcry by international community on this deadly commando incident, Israel has vowed to block all attempts to reach Gaza by Sea in defiance of the tight blockade it has imposed since 2006
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