Welcome to barnacle.za.net

This site is meant for any comments about whatever I feel I want to talk about. I will make critically assess the people and parties that run our country/ies or our world. Not only will I look at politics and political parties, but also at so-called political journalists that seem to have to most to say, while showing a severe lack of insight in how the world in fact functions. Items will mainly be from a South African perpective, but I will comment on international news and events too.

At this stage this is probably one of the LEAST updated sites on the internet. Seems that at one stage I had the time to make some comments ans make some updates. Now I barely have time available to visit my own pages. So, feel free to join and add your own comments. This site is about freedom of speech and if you have something to say, feel free to say it...

At this time of year, South African “matriculants” reflect on their successes or failures. For those unfamiliar with the term, it indicates persons who would now be allowed to enter university or you can say that they graduated from high school. While the correct use of the term would reflect that a person would now qualify to attend university, the term is loosely used just to indicate that a person finished high school.

Much is said about the performances of some individuals who obtained distinctions in up to twelve subjects. Newspapers are filled with articles about these learners and their accomplishments. This creates the impression that students are performing much better than they had in the past. To see this in perspective, however, we need to look at a number of aspects that would influence the results.



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“Conservatives used to have choice words for foreign aid. It was ‘money down a rathole’ (Jesse Helms), and it amounted to ‘putting Ghana over Grandma’ (Tom DeLay). These quips are not nearly as fine as the late Sir Peter Bauer’s opposition to ‘taxpayer’s money compulsorily collected…outside the area of volition and choice.’ Still, they are a lot better than the boasting of a pickpocket administration that has proudly committed 70 cents out of every $100 earned by an American to corrupt Third-World coffers. Bush, not content with ’spending three times as much on aid to Africa as the lowest figure during the Clinton years’—by the New York Time’s Nicholas D. Kristof’s approving estimation—has asked Congress to authorize a further $50 billion to fight AIDS in Africa.”



More about “‘The Heart of Darkness’ that is Africa,” and the futility of development aid, in my new WorldNetDaily column, “Yet More of Your Money Down the African Rathole.“ Comments are welcome here.

“Libertarians have a keen appreciation of how governments monkey with the money supply. This is but one of the reasons principled libertarians abhor the optional war pursued in Iraq. By and large, the war accounts for the $9 trillion in national debt. It’s a debt that has been increasing ‘an average of $1.47 billion per day since September 29, 2006.’ At the time of writing, every one of us owes $28,921. Yet, never once have the war harpies and their hombres in the ideological trenches indicated they comprehend how and WHO is paying for all this. I know they believe we’re not being taxed in lieu of the debt, a faith they base on Bush’s promise not to raise taxes…”

Here’s hoping that “Inflation 101 for Women Pundits & Other Tyrants”—a primer about inflation at home and hyperinflation in Zimbabwe—will persuade ‘the distaff side of the commentariat,’ especially, to stop whooping it up for war.”

New on Barely a Blog:

'New Socialist Low For ‘Conservatism’

'Resa Aslan's Pogrom Amnesia'

Best to all,
Ilana

www.ilanamercer.com

About a week ago, an Australian commentator, Dean Jones was relieved of his duties as commentator, after jokingly commenting about Hashim Amla, a South African Cricketer. He made a comment, while thinking he was off the air, that the “terrorist” got another wicket or something similar. Any thinking individual would of course see it as a joke, a joke in poor taste, but still a joke.

The comment probably also referred to the appearance of Amla, who grew his beard to indicate his devotion to his religion. He is of course a Muslim. Anyone remotely up to date with international politics will of course know where this leads to and how the joke would start.

Enter the head clown...

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