Why Zimbabwe Matters Now Top 3 (OHMYNEWS)

What happens now though will enlighten outsiders more about the realities and motivations of South Africa's, Africa's and the rest of the world's leaders than about anything new we can learn about the poor beleaguered country itself.

[Opinion] A defining moment for Africa, South Africa and the world

NVDL: As it turns out, Zimbabwe is providing an excellent magnifying glass to assess the motivations and virtues of the South African government in particular. If you weren't sure about Mbeki, his assessment that 'there is no crisis in Zimbabwe' is a clear indication of what sort of leadership is operating in South Africa. The South African president and Mugabe holding hands at the airport drives the point home even further. Meanwhile the newspapers are filled with various racist angles. I have a problem with how the media treat news. When do they ever exercise insight? This is why Oprah is so popular. Report the news, but if you only do that, so what? Why is what is happening happening? What does it mean? The leaders say what they say and the media report it. It gets mirrored and reflected, but no one takes it further and looks at how actions contradict words, how patterns of behaviour demonstrate actual intent. In the sense that newspapers fail to interpret, but only report, what value do they have other than perpetuating the propaganda and advertising jingles of government and business? In the case of Zimbabwe, not a single newspaper that I am aware of correctly predicted that Mugabe would cling to power. Can the media not apply their own intelligence to the war in Iraq, Zimbabwe and other issues, direct a mindset rather than attempt to follow it, rather than being a mouthpiece for political leaders, reporting on an ad hoc basis?

And all the while, more and more Africans, black and white, experience the same disillusionment...I have dreamed a dream, but now that dream is gone from me.

Zimbabwe farm invasions begin, poll officials detained - and Why Zim Matters (Top Story on OHMYNEWS)

In many ways, no news now from Zimbabwe is bad news for Zimbabweans. What happens now though will enlighten outsiders more about the realities and motivations of South Africa's, Africa's and the rest of the world's leaders than about anything new we can learn about the poor beleaguered country itself.

For the full article, go here.

Latest News:
Zimbabwe poll officials detained
Invasion not the answer to Zimbabwe quandary
New York Times reporter is released on bail in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's white farmers fear for future
Boosting Zimbabwe Post-Election Tension, War Veterans Invade Farms

My Horton Story Now At Number 4 (OHMYNEWS)

The juice on the new Seuss movie

For the first time a motion picture transports audiences into Dr. Seuss' incredible imagination through state of the art CG animation. Dr Seuss' "Horton Hears a Who!" is Seuss as you want to experience his work at the movies -- and as it was meant to be seen.

It starts "on the fifteenth of May, in the jungle of Nool, in the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool. He was splashing … enjoying the jungle's great joys … When Horton the elephant heard a small noise."

The premise is charming, but also profound. More.

Sense now at No:1 (OHMYNEWS)

Perhaps most alarming in South Africa is a counter-trend of positivism in the face of all the "negativity." E-mails are circulated encouraging South Africans to "spot the opportunities" and "find ways to profit" a la The Secret.

Read the full article here.

Budget Reviewed and Sense and Sensibility (or lack of) now no: 2 on OHMYNEWS

Above: SASOL stands to benefit as the world's leading coals to liquids synethesiser in the world. Invest in SASOL stocks and you'll do very well. Coal too.

Part of the job of Finance Minister (think of Allan Greenspan too) is to 'be positive'. To say things that will please the market. Greenspan has made some pretty worrying statements after he resigned, including the most obvious one: "The war in Iraq is about oil." Are the markets too sensitive to deal with 'too much' reality? Apparently so.

So the cup is ALWAYS half full. Last night the Rand was R7,87 to the dollar (a five year low) as speculators feared capital flight, but after checking the fineprint we're back to 'normal' levels (whatever that is). Sure enough the economy - reflected in terms of the JSE - is right as rain again, bouncing happily up to 30 000 based on fundamental bullshit. Someone makes a speech and says, "Hey, things aren't so good, but really, they're not so bad either." What does that mean? So if everything is right as rain and the storm clouds are gathering (presumably for more rain) but all's well in Vegas, where is all this going? Back to Delusionville. Financial Wishfulthinkington. The JSE is up 1.82% to 30025.240.

Ummmm...guys...the Rand is R7.84 to the $ and oil prices are at $97. Koo Koo. A bit more gloom might be called for. After all, the country remains what it was yesterday today. The pothole below (now a small mine shaft) has been around for upwards of a month now...and growing. But ha ha, there's so much money in the budget, all these little niggly things will be fixed chop chop.


Re-he-heally? Maybe it's just more money to be lifted, creamed off the top. I don't know about you, but despite massive budgets allocated to roads, I don't really see much roadworks going on. But I'm not going to join a street protest (excuse the pun) anytime soon. We don't need our roads in good nick, we need rail to be on song.



So this was the aspect of the Budget (2008) that I was particularly interested in - New Infrastructure Investments.
From AllAFRICA.COM:
Also in the Budget is an additional R8.2 billion for public, transport, roads and railway infrastructure, while there is an additional R2 billion for 2010 FIFA World Cup stadiums and related infrastructure.

R8 billion to be spread across transport infrastructure in a generalised sense...Hmmm. Seems like there is no awareness, no need to affect TRANSFORMATION in the manner we are living. I know it's to be expected. But we will come back one day and say: "In the face of the overwhelming evidence that we could no longer afford to continue living the way we were, why did we continue?" In this sense the Budget is inappropriate. I'd support the allocations to the poor, but we are going to sukkel to remain a car crazy culture as soon as between now and the end of the decade. By sukkel I mean there will be times when we will not be able to drive anywhere simply because we won't be able to supply the whole country with daily fuel demands. This has happened before and it will happen a lot more in future. Hence investments in rail.

This is a soft voice withering in the wilderness, but mark these words. All the applause for a great budget is also a national endorsement of a license to consume - in a basic sense - as we have been. And that's nuts.

South Africa: 2008 Budget Lowers Taxes, Keeps Surplus

To read 'Where's the Sense in South Africa?', go here.

Senseless in SA: Now on OHMYNEWS Top 10

My article Where's the Sense in South Africa? posted on OHMYNEWS has already made their Weekly Top 10 ranking (currently 9th) after being up for just two days. There have been a few comments and personal messages sent in response to the article.

On Amatomu (the South African aggregator) seems like South Africans in South Africa aren't particularly interested in the idea of waking up to reality, or doing anything about it. My website has also fallen off their News&Politics Top 30. I guess I'm not relevant?

On the poll running on my website people say they want to read about my personal life and see my photography. No one is interested in the news. Even Hot Girls gets more votes.

The news I generally post on my website is very very urgent news. But no one cares. Meanwhile the fuel price goes up 50 cents next month, and on this website I've predicted we will see $110 oil by July. When that happens everyone will act so so surprised. How did this happen? KOO KOO! When do we start shifting our focus from what we 'want' to hear about, to reality? It doesn't make any sense.

To read the Ohmynews article, go here.

Botswana (PHOTOGRAPHY)

Click here to view additional footage.

I am Legend (VIDEO)

While a swarm of problems infest "I Am Legend," I must admit I was quite taken with the film's sensation of misery and isolation. Typically, a Will Smith genre film is a noisy monster, equipped with endless one-liners and explosions. However, "Legend" is introspective and paranoid. It's almost worth a ticket just to witness a wildly marketed, blockbuster film remain so still and mannered.

When a cure for cancer mutates, killing off 90 percent of the planet, Robert Neville (Will Smith), a military scientist, is left alone in New York City with his dog, hoping with every passing year that he can reverse the mutation. Slowly drained of his sanity and growing weary of battling the vampire-like creatures that attack during the night, Neville is losing hope that his nightmare will end. When other survivors start to surface, the revelation stuns Neville, who finds his struggle to remain optimistic is in constant battle with his knowledge that humanity has likely been snuffed out for good.

"I Am Legend" is the third attempt to bring Richard Matheson's 1954 novel to the big screen, coming after the 1964 Vincent Price production "The Last Man on Earth," and the 1971 Charlton Heston curiosity, "The Omega Man." "Legend" is perhaps the first film to be blessed with a budget large enough to render the extensive isolation Neville is facing, the absence of community that slowly eats away at his soul.

Director Francis Lawrence ("Constantine") is a skilled enough stylist to pull off the visual majesty of "Legend," and the finest moments of the picture are easily the sequences of Neville and dog Sam driving around the city streets, interacting with a world frozen in 2009. Hunting deer or shooting golf balls into buildings, Neville has the world to himself in the daytime, employing careful street choreography honed over three years of seclusion. It's a game of boredom and survival, and the balance between the two is where "Legend" finds the strongest dramatic flavor, carefully studying Neville's brittle sanity while upping the tension with the menacing "Dark Seekers" and their escalating aggression toward the viral survivors.

I Am Legend - Watch more funny videos here
For the rest of this Review by Brian Ormdorf, go here.

`I Am Legend' Has Record $77 Million December Sales



Weekend Ranking: US Movie Houses
1. I Am Legend
2. Alvin and Chipmunks
3. Golden Compass

NVDL: I am very excited about this film, not least of all because it stimulates and inspires along the lines of another post-Apoc story I've recently embarked upon. Titled Fire, Ice and the Whole Wide World, I intend to explore and render the isolation and dismantling of community in a gritty, austere story. So far I have cave-dwelling Luc van Lierde (based on the real Ironman Wiorld champion) pitting his triathlon skills into a new game: kill or be killed by roaming survivors. Fellow human beings turn out to be the most dangerous predators in the world, and he is forced to become his most dangerous self. Is it worth it? Meanwhile, against this war within and without, the world paints itself in blindingly white sun, a light that cools and is dimmed by almost permanent rain. The rain turns to snow, and the snow to ice. It is in this bleak world that van Lierde finds himself completely, utterly, miserably alone. It is then that he stumbles upon a small tribe of female survivors, and their pregnant patriarch...

This weekend I watched Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith and it really must be the best sci-fi movie ever made, in terms of the feast of visuals. The plot is not great, but not bad. It is a pity Lucas has quit (or has he?). It would be great if he re-rendered the next 3 movies, starting with A New Hope, which while some see as classics, could obviously be jazzed up a lot with today's technology. And then the final 3 Star Wars films?

I also found the political undertones in Revenge of the Sith very intelligent: 'if you're not with me you're my enemy' (eliciting George Bush), the law of absolutes (Bush again), and the simple use of passion to sway the masses astray. And what does Natalie Portman say: Padme: So this is how liberty dies - with thunderous applause. It ends though in a frigid wasteland.

Ronge Now On Right Track In Terms of Compass' Direction

Last week I posted an article on this blog raising an eyebrow at Barry Ronge's review of The Golden Compass. I was surprised in that review because Barry Ronge had downplayed the anti-Christian statements made in this film, probably because it's the sort of delightful fantasy that seems appropriate for a Christmas flock. It's also the sort of uncomplicated populist view that is easy. Except that Pullman conceived his stories with an explicitly anti-Christian intention, employing an anti-control ethos. And knowing the Christian community, it was probably a little naive to think that this film wouldn't create a storm.

‘Why should Christians sit back and meekly accept these attacks on their faith? When Muslims think their religion has been insulted, they take to the streets, but when Christians speak out, they are called bigots’

Just so: in today's Sunday Times Mr Ronge set things right with this article: Movie sparks a virtual jihad for Jesus. This made the front page of News & Opinion.
In my review of the movie and Barry's review I said: I think Barry is trying to say that it's a flick that can be enjoyed without getting drawn into religious bickering. This is confirmed in this second article of his. Although audiences ought to enjoy the flick for its superb story, its creative exposition of courage and loyalty, and enthralling special effects, it is just too much of stretch to expect Christian audiences not to screetch foul and add poster burning to carol services all over the country.

Barry Ronge calls the brou ha ha erupting the biggest storm in a tea-cup since Harry Potter. Well, for sure Christians are going to object to the nomenclature involved: witches and demons, and the church/Magisterium itself is represented by very Dark Lords. It does demonstrate how silly and precious the Church is about itself. If I want to stir, I can write a story and call my pet dog, who is supremely loyal and good, Demon, and my dad, Lucifer, and basically subvert all the mythology. Does that make it evil? Evil stories essentially encourage malevolence, they have an anti-hero, and they often lack virtue. Most movie stories never eschew courage, and courage is a form of standing by one's beliefs. The Golden Compass is essentially about this, and this is a very encouraging and heartwarming trait in a young person. Harry Potter does the same, so does Jesus, Robin Hood, Hercules and Luke Skywalker. More important than names is intent, motivations, and actions. That's why telephone books don't inspire, but stories about virtue do.

Christians forget, when you criticise their faith, that you are not always attacking morality. You're more often than not attacking dogmatism (the same thing Pullman drives against). Blind morality isn't moral. In Christianity you are revered all the more for accepting something on the least amount of evidence. Sometimes this doesn't work. The pastor of a church I once belonged to went to Mozambique and died of malaria. He died because he refused to take anti-malarials, and made it a faith issue. He left behind a wife and four children. It's that sort of dogmatism that is dangerous and scary.

Christians and atheists ought to be able to agree that what is important is that community is preserved. We ought not to find reasons, take out licenses, to attack one another because the fine print doesn't match. Our intentions, our basic moralities ought to be enough. We ought to find those things that affirm, that we can agree upon. The rest is silliness.

Golden Compass world premiere (REUTERS VIDEO)

Actors Nicole Kidman, Eva Green, Daniel Craig and Dakota Blue Richards attend the world premiere of 'The Golden Compass'.

The story is set in a world where witches rule the northern skies, ice bears are the bravest warriors and where every human is joined by an animal spirit representing their soul.

But the film has already come under attack from conservative Christian groups for portraying religion in an unflattering light.

Also: Taking Direction From 'The Golden Compass'

Blogging For Money

You can earn around R30 every time you Blog. It’s not a lot, but add it up and it can pay your cellphone bill, and if you’re disciplined, your gym membership fees too.

And another reason to consider citizen mediated websites is you are finding a wider audience for your pearls of wisdom, or pictures worth so many words. And you never who might pick up on these contributions, and where it might take you from there.

On the 20th of February 2006, having become an almost daily blogger for about a year, I submitted my first story (a motoring review) to Reporter.co.za – a citizen journalism website based entirely on user generated content. Since then I have submitted over 300 stories and hundreds of images. Do the math: that’s around R10 000 extra pocket money for stuff that was going on my blog anyway.

The Plot Thickens

Although none of my Nobel-worthy contributions* were snapped up by TIME or NEWSWEEK, I was asked to attend (all expenses paid) a blogging conference (representing Reporter.co.za), and there have been a number of soapie dramas that have spun out of the citizen media stuff. The most controversial articles included my attacks on Southern Free State Cycling (Free State Cycling a Shambles), and then the follow-up lambasting that went on at the cycling forum The Hub (breach of contract (to the value of about R8000).

The point is, even if you don’t want to rant, you can get money and attention for the sort of socially important, socially acceptable and particularly altruistic stuff you want people to take cognizance of.


International Coverage

There are not many citizen media sites that pay, but there are others. Ohmynews International pays more than Reporter, but they’re also stricter about quality and have far more people writing for them. It also helps to have a Korean bank account (as international cash transfers can eat into what you earn). I’ve submitted over 230 and earned – hold your breath – over W1.3 million. Relax, that’s about R10 000 over an extended length of time. But at W20 000 (R149) per story, you get rewarded for quality, and incidentally, being more ‘international’, they HAVE had contributors who’ve been picked up by TIME.

Video

Another site that you may not have heard of is Metacafe. It’s basically a You Tube-that-pays. It probably gets less stuff submitted, but it is certainly a site worth visiting. They pay you based on pay-per-view ($5 for every 1000 Views). If you think you can’t make money, ask the guys who walk away with $30 000 (some videos get over a million hits).

Local Blogs That Pay

Although I have not done this myself, I've heard that you can also earn money at MY DIGITAL LIfe - a South African site. MDL allows you to earn money based on hits to your content. Register, submit 10 stories (to gain 'author' status), and you get 10 cents for every hit.

Quality Control

The great thing about sending your content to these citizen media sites is that it controls the quality of what you’re doing in the reverse direction too. When you’re writing with an audience (and a possible income) in mind, I think there is a tad (and a vital tad) more discipline and afterthought involved. This is good news for the Blogosphere, which needs consciousness, and a few streaks of light – the lights of revelation, insight and activism (and not just vitriol, porn, rants and raving) to flow through it. In this sense the internet and blogs can begin to fulfill the promise and potential we once believed it had.

*My most popular story on Ohmynews received 14 498 hits, and was titled Why Insects Can't Fly Straight At Night.

To get involved in this process, in this intelligent conversation, register at reporter by clicking here.
Register at Ohmynews here.
Register at Metacafe by clicking here.