Aandiebeginwasdaar

The International Whaling Commission’s annual meeting has passed a resolution condemning Japan’s scientific hunting programme in the Antarctic. This is not bad, but it almost means nothing. Japan has been ignoring these condemnations for years now. In fact they are openly flaunting it.

áI’m afraid action is needed and this is where the IWC falls flat. For this I admire people like Sea Sheperd and Greenpeace. But until the global community (through the IWC or other means) take action Japan will continue to get away with this cruelty.

áRead the full article on BBC.

I’ve just seen on Scott Kelby’s blog (at http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2007/archives/211) that Lightroom is set to release a minor upgrade any day now. As I understand the updgrade is supposed to be free (phew!) and includes improved sharpening and noise reduction, improved file mobility & improved preset organisation (through folders).

All of this sounds superb, but I would love a performance improvement more than any of the other stuff. Time will tell I guess.

Update: Lightroom 1.1 is now out. Read my initial thoughts here.

I don’t particularly have an interest in this website other than the fact that it is being censored by the powers that be in South Africa. And if there is one thing I can’t stand it is censhorship. The mainstream media are too cowardly to list the website so I have decided to do just that.

So without any further ado here it is: http://samaleprostitute.wordpress.com/.

Note: Readers of blogs must always remember that blogs are unmoderated alternative mediums. Nothing stops someone creating a blog and lying through their teeth on the blog. In my experience it is easy to establish if a blog is legitimate or not. For a start anonymous blogs are obviously suspect. However I feel it is of fundamental importance that people are allowed to write whatever they want on their blogs/websites even it is lying or hurtful. The alternative has far more serious consequenses.

Elke has been getting really close to crawling all week, but today she officially started crawling. Three days shy of turning 8 months. This is meant to be early (babies usually crawl anything from 9 to 12 months), but I expect nothing less from our genius baby

I am deeply troubled by China’s commitment to spend $20bn on infrastructure and trade financing over the next three years as reported by the Financial Times.

I’ll be frank: I don’t trust China and I don’t trust any African leaders with $20bn. It is no secret that China are after Africa’s resources. This is quite clearly a play for those resources. At least China is not attacking African countries because of an “evil dictator” like the Hicks (read Americans) are, but their intentions are no more honourable.

African leaders from top to almost bottom (for now I will leave out Thabo Mbeki) are all for sale. Just look at the devastation that the oil industry has caused in Western Africa. There is more than just a hint of slavery. But it is not only the oil companies that are to blame. The African leaders and as such Africans themselves are responsible for their own fate (by the way slavery would never have worked if the African leaders weren’t in on the deal).

Africans MUST stop begging and start being held accountable. Individuals must take resbonsibility for electing their leaders, educating their children, looking after their environment etc. People like Bono try to do good, but they have no idea how wrong they are – they’re making it worse not better.

If Africans took responsibility for themselves they can say to China and the West: “we don’t need your money”. They wouldn’t be in a position where they have no bargaining power. I urge Africans to stop begging and be choosers.

As a nature lover China’s influence in Africa is deeply concerning. Generally speaking Asians (excluding South-East Asia) don’t have respect for wilderness or wildlife. There is no such thing as ethical treatment of animals. Any animal is just a meal that hasn’t been slaughtered yet.

If you feel different, don’t hesitate to comment.

I urge you to read this article from FT.