Why hippies make me want to vomit (... and why GM crops will save the world)

So having been labelled a hippy before, I know this is a massive generalisation ... but to be frank most hippies and in particular 1 hippy make me want to vomit.

It's terrible I know, we should respect and understanding for people's positions, thoughts and way of thinking about things, but really .. this level of idiocy and stupidity is more than even my iron cast stomach can handle.

When you consistently talk about GM crops with an authoritative tone of voice, but actually know close to nothing, it's actually kind of revolting. Comments like "GM crops only have 10% of the nutritional value of organics" are not only wrong but so clearly wrong it boggles the mind that they could be even considered plausible.

Sure, I get the whole "we should go back to nature vibe" (said in your best stoner drawl) but to be honest, organic food can not feed the planet. Actually it could, if we got rid of all our livestock, but the plausibility of that scenario is even more far-fetched. So sure, let's get back on our moral high horses and talk about how Gaia knows best and continue to let millions of Africans starve and die because we refuse to utilise drought resistant high-yield crops.

By the by, GM crops, would alleviate the need for herbicides and pesticides by allowing for disease resistant crops. And yes, Monsanto is an evil corporation, but their crops and their innovations will help mankind. And yes, terminator genes (so that you need to buy new seed every year) is not ideal, but is the only way to allow people to invest the necessary resources to allow for innovation. It's the same like saying that big pharma shouldn't be allowed to make money; all it betrays is a lack of understanding and gross naivety.

Honestly I think it's the idioticy that irritates me the most. The lack of understanding that conceptually there's very little difference between GM crops and selective breeding, which is something mankind has been doing with both livestock and crops for over 2 millenia (not 1oo years as our hippy friend would have you believe)

So i'm really sorry that my first blog in months is little more than a rant about stupid people, but that's the way it is. I'm sorry, people that dumb are little more than a waste of Oxygen

Work, life and the elections

This post is dedicated to all of you who have yelled, urged and cajoled me into blogging again. 

So the main reason I haven't blogged in a while, 3 odd months, is that my working life is insane .. my average day is 12hours whilst a rough one is around 19 hours. When late nights are followed by early morning for more than a few days, the ability to do much more than sleep when going home becomes severely compromised. It's all in the fabulous life of a management consultant!

To be honest with myself though, I haven't had much that really stirred my emotions enough, for me to make the time to blog. Today however, is different; the elections yesterday really stirred my soul.

Those of you who know me well, know that at heart I am an ANC man, that I believe that the party that brought us liberation will and should continue to rule in the public good, until as Mr Zuma says "Jesus Christ comes". But, simultaneously I am a firm supporter of COPE; because as a South African citizen, I believe that a 2/3 party system is a fundamental underpinning to a healthy multi-party democracy. I do believe that everyone in life needs a little pressure to be put onto them; that in the absence of a threat to the ANC's majority; the drive to ensure delivery will continue to be missing.

In this regard I must agree with the noted political analyst Adam Habib, that whilst the DA remains rooted in minority politics, that is attempting to scare-monger the white, coloured and indian populations, they can not emerge as a viable alternative to the ANC. That whilst slogans such as Stop Zuma, do indeed effectively mobilise their support base; they can never win the hearts and minds of the people. "A better life for all", not only explains the aspirations of the party it is infact a highly effective manifesto conveying all the multi-layered discussions around access to housing, electricity, water and social grants. It is therefore that I voted as the slogan so aptly puts it, "for Hope". Knowing full well that the possibility of COPE winning this election was non-existent that even the odds of becoming the official opposition were slim; but rather voting for the promise of a real viable alternative to the ANC in the 2014 elections and beyond. That COPE's policies often closely correlate with those of the ANC's does not disturb me in the least, for I continue to believe that these represent the most effective policies for this nation. The important thing is thus not to focus on the similarites but rather the differences in policies - for that is the key; not the parts of policy that everyone is in consensus upon. We all agree for the need for freedom of speech; yet no-one complains about this common position... Moving along swiftly and before this post becomes too much a analysis of the 3 main parties, I need to touch upon the mass hysteria that seems to be sweeping the country vis a vis the ANC's 2/3 majority.

There are 3 key elements that we need to all remember before we decide that Mr Zuma and the ANC's massive election victory, which is likely to have a 2/3 majority, means the end of this country as a functioning state:

1) The ANC has had a 2/3 majority for the last 5 years, the only major constitutional amendment during this time was the floor-crossing legislation. Remember if you will that this amendment was carried out on the request of the DA to allow for the dissolution of the DA/NNP alliance; remember also that this particular amendment was done with the support of 90% of parliament. Evidently the opposition parties aren't too worried about the sanctity of the constitution when the changes are beneficial towards them. Whilst the ANC may have the power to change the constitution, they are also the governing party and realise that any changes would likely lead to massive investor panic; and would thus have a major negative impact on the ANC's goal of "A better life for all".

2) The key possible constitutional amendments that people panic about are actually not possible with a 2/3 majority. They actually require a 3/4 (or 75% majority for those whose maths skills are decaying) majority to effect. This majority is required for changes to for example abrogate freedom of speech or change the term of office of the president.

3) Whilst the ANC if frequently portrayed as a monolithic organisation, remember that the people sitting in parliament are exactly that people. People not faceless drones, people who fought and suffered for the liberation of this country. People who saw their comrades laying down their lives for the freedom's that we now enjoy. Thus, I do not fear; even for a moment that they will now abrogate their duty to defend our democracy and our fledgling nation.

Tears in Gaza

150 are dead in the Gaza Strip, as I sip my latte. 200 are dead as i watch the evening news. Hundreds are wounded, as I eat my dinner. Remote distant, separated from the reality of their existence; insulated from their suffering by the euphemistic phrases in which their deaths are wrapped; "collateral damage" they call it.

I stand before my lord, tears rolling down my face. We are told in that famous hadith, ".. then change it (the oppression) with your heart, but that is the weakest of faith" . And so, unable at this point to do more than this we pray. As we make dua, I am shocked from my reverie. The Imam, a kind gentle man, supports a two state solution in Palestine; he believes an end to the suffering of the people immediately is better than ultimate justice many years down the line.

His voice is raw with emotion, the sound of crying evident to the Jamaat, "Oh Lord you can destroy entire nations in a single moment, Oh Lord as you destroyed the Ad and the Thamud, we call upon you to destroy Israel. Lord destroy the Jews. You have said that the day will come when the rocks and trees will call out to kill the Jews, let that day be soon; so that the suffering of these people may come to an end!"

People's emotions run high, I see one women cursing the tv when they show Olmert at a press conference. A janaza is planned for the slain Palestinians in Johannesburg (Sunday @ 3pm @ zoo lake, ladies facilities available). I'm struck first by grief, then guilt. My complicity, has allowed this to happen; our failure to be more vocal in condemning the actions of Israel. Or has it?

Pain and suffering is part and parcel of the world we live in. Why should the Palestinians be more worthy of our solidarity our pity than anyone else. The Kashmiri's have been occupied as long as them, the Chechens still suffer from an occupation even more brutal than Israel's and the Afghan's have not known peace for almost two generations. Taking a step back from our co-religionists, almost two million people have died in the DRC over the last decade, victims of Africa's first world war. Why such deafening silence from society at their plight?

I think that the tragedy of the Palestinians captures our imaginations because of four main reasons. Firstly, perhaps it is the sheer magnitude of their suffering. Over 4 million people displaced from their homes, two generations growing up in refugee camps. Secondly, the utter brutality of their suffering in particular the apartheid system that they are subjected to. Jimmy Carter, the former US president describes the Israeli regime is his book, Peace not Apartheid, as ‘worse than apartheid’: "When Israel does occupy this territory deep within the West Bank, and connects the 200-or-so settlements with each other, with a road, and then prohibits the Palestinians from using that road, or in many cases even crossing the road, this perpetrates even worse instances of apartness, or apartheid, than we witnessed even in South Africa."

Thirdly and this is one of the main issues for Muslims, the issues surrounding Masjid al-Aqsa and the people of Shams. Finally, and this really is one that continues to astound people, that the perpetrators of these evils are Jews. From the people who suffered the horrors of the holocaust, it is inconceivable that they should inflict this suffering on others. That the cry of "Never Again" has become "Never Again shall Jews suffer", is an anathema to the free people around the world. This hypocrisy, this moral double dealing is the main cause of the revulsion of people from around the world.

And yet what can we do? What have our marches, our chanted slogans and consumer boycotts achieved? No progress has been made, their suffering yet to be alleviated. And so in the end, we are left with the only thing that we had to start with; faith, belief in God, trust that in the end justice will prevail. As we go to sleep tonight, remember the hadith of the prophet "The du’â of a Muslim for his brother (in Islam) in his absence is readily accepted. An angel is appointed to his side. Whenever he makes a beneficial du’â for his brother the appointed angel says, 'Aameen. And may you also be blessed with the same.’” [Sahih Muslim]

Concerning Scrapbooking

Perhaps it's just me, growing ever more intolerant as i totter towards my dotage. Yet the sheer incomprehensibility and pointlessness of people is driving me insane. Or rather I suppose I should say South African Indian Muslims, because that's who they are by and large.

You see I heard about a former friend of mine, now married, and the futility of her new life just infuriated me. Not that I'm judging or anything or that I know what is best for her or for her marriage. What's infuriating me is that we have a society that not only condones these attitudes but actively encourages it.

How many highly educated, smart, driven women are out there - sitting wasting their time in trivial activities instead of ameliorating our society or our country. I mean really .. qualified doctors, scientists and journalists spending their time Scrapbooking?! Are we on the same planet here?

There exists a worldwide shortage of qualified professionals and we are wasting the talents of those precious few, our sanity should be questioned! I suppose this returns us to the heart of the debate around the role of Muslim women, particularly in the West.

It's an issue around which there is some furious debate. I'd like to add an important quote from Professor Abdus Salaam, the first Muslim Nobel Prize winner for science. He said "Of all the lands in the world, the most technologically backwards are the Muslim ones". He further went on to say that this can be attributed to the failure of Muslims to utilise the talents of women. It is a sentiment that I must whole-heartedly agree with. How can you hope to see Islam rise once again, to regain the lead it once held in Science and Technology when as Muslims we utilise only 50% of our resources. Logic alone tells you that this is surely a losing battle.

And yes, I do know and respect the opinions of the majority of the Ulema who say that the first task of a women is to raise her children. But what about those women who are childless, or have just gotten married yet do not intend to have children for a few more years. Why are they not out there using the intelligence given to them by Allah to improve the lives of those around them?

So to the women out there, whiling away their time, Scrapbooking. I implore you, stop wasting your time and talents and start becoming active, productive members of society!