Mandela started the process of change, The Sprinbok win in 1995 cemented it - and then what happened?

Working with his regular collaborators like cinematographer Tom Stern, editor Joel Cox, and his son Kyle writing the score, Eastwood has focused on one particular story that illuminates just how difficult it can be once a country decides to make a change. The decision can be difficult enough, but then making that change can be near-impossible. For South Africa to have put apartheid behind it, to any extent, is something that seemed unthinkable at one point, and the mere fact that it happened gives me hope that no matter how difficult a problem seems in this or any country, it can be addressed, and with the right people leading, overcome.

SHOOT: In essence to move forward as a country South Africa needs another charismatic leader, and an honest one.

clipped from www.hitfix.com Really, though, the film boils down to one relationship, that between Mandela and Pienaar, and it's interesting how the film manages to make that relationship so important while really only putting the two of them face to face a handful of times during the film's running time, and they don't really have any long or in-depth conversations.  It's more the way they react to each other, the way they influence each other, and the way their actions then play out in South Africa as a whole.  Damon's fine as Pienaar, although it's a role it feels like he could have played in his sleep.  He's a decent guy who looks good on the rugby field and who manages to inspire his fellow players by example. I'm glad it's not a biopic that tries to tell the whole story of Mandela's life, and that it doesn't ladle on the white guilt with both hands.

Michael Moore on South Africa/USA

South Africa's biggest Sunday newspaper punts World Cup, and gives the last word to Julius Malema

SHOOT: SA DAZZLES WORLD that's the headline TIMESLIVE uses in a feel good, pat yourselves on the back article. It's a giant advert for the world cup, but the article is soft on critical thinking. What impact will swine flu have in mid-winter in South Africa? What will happen to the workers of these stadiums when work is wrapped up? Can security be assured if unemployment in South Africa - and strikes - continues to worsen? Will transport be sufficient? What about road signage? Can electricity to the stadiums be guaranteed in mid-winter? You do have to wonder what the Sunday Times is thinking when they leave the last word - in an article promoting the country to its citizens - to Julius Malema. The newspaper is giving credibility to the least inclusive, the most divisive public personality in this country. A friend tried to register on FIFA's site to buy tickets. The cost? R6000. The headline behind the headline is simply this: MONEY MONEY MONEY.

clipped from www.timeslive.co.za The Fifa secretary-general said: "I can safely take the risk of telling the world that South Africa is ready for the 2010 World Cup. And the message I want to send to the world is: 'Come and see for yourself.'" Foreign media described the draw ceremony as "spectacular, slick and glitzy". The mood around the country was similarly upbeat this week. Western Cape premier Helen Zille said: "We've just got to put everything into it to make sure it's the best World Cup ever, a great African World Cup. Phindile Makwakwa, 2010 coordinator in the office of the KwaZulu-Natal premier, said: "We're going to be hosting big guns like Brazil and Portugal. This is our opportunity to put ourselves high up on the map." ANC Youth League president Julius Malema said: "The youth should go out there, buy tickets and support our team. They should welcome and protect all those who will be coming to this country for the event."

Eastwood on Madiba

Eastwood shares an incident that tells me a great deal about how he works.

"One day, after the shoot, we were driving home from the township, and there was an open space full of garbage on which a bunch of black kids were playing rugby," he says. "My host pointed them out and remarked that if Madiba had not pushed for the Springboks, or if they had not won the World Cup, those kids would not have been playing rugby. But there they were, barefoot, in cut-off jeans and torn T-shirts, and I said: 'We have to get a shot of this'."

So in the middle of a township, with no security detail beyond a couple of bodyguards, they unpacked their cameras and filmed the impromptu game and that footage became the closing credit sequence of the film.

It wasn't just a bit of atmospheric local colour. Eastwood, with his spontaneous, instinctive skill as a director, saw its value. It wasn't in the script and nobody had even thought of the idea, but Eastwood looked through the car window after a long day's shoot and knew exactly what to do with those images.

On Freeman playing Mandela

Morgan has a certain bearing and charisma. He was built to play this role. But also, as a man, he is just as pragmatic and resourceful as Madiba. When I met Madiba, I could see at once that very few people are as charismatic as he is. You can see in his demeanour that he has been through a lot, but he is also open to a lot. He has faults, as all men do, and it was a tough choice for me not to portray him as a kind of Christ-like figure," he tells me. "But the key was his honesty."

SHOOT: What a great project and wonderful that it is being handled by a group as talented as Eastwood, Freeman and Damon. Oscar alert!

clipped from www.timeslive.co.za I meet with Clint Eastwood at a gala at the presidential palace in Paris the day after President Nicolas Sarkozy had awarded him France's most coveted prize, the Legion of Honour. It's typical of Eastwood, however, that the next day he was up early to do interviews with journalists, which he does with great courtesy and minimum fuss. He ambles into the room without an entourage, his hair tousled, wearing well-worn denims and sneakers, and shakes my hand. A pert young makeup artist bustles up, but he gives her a wry smile and says: "At my age, there's not much you can do about this face." And then we begin. It is a reminder that the really big stars show up on time, give you their full attention and say "Thank you for coming such a long way to see me" at the end of the interview. Not only did he leave prison to become president, but he did not hold a great sense of bitterness towards the people who had imprisoned him.

Maps of Swine flu resistance, outbreaks, double infections and mutation

SHOOT: Mutations and double infections are of the most concern.

clipped from en.wikipedia.org      Confirmed community outbreaks See also: H1N1 live map, WHO updates      Confirmed mutation of H1N1 virus      Confirmed double infections      Confirmed cases of tamiflu resistance

8 weird ways to save the Earth

SHOOT: Personally I think after warming has melted the ice caps, we'll have the opposite problem, a world that is too cold. What could work is something like an atmosphere processor, industrial sized buildings as one saw in ALIENS.

clipped from money.cnn.com Geoengineering, or deliberately tinkering with the earth's climate, could help if global warming proves disastrous for mankind, but the ideas are untested and the risks unknown. Cloud whitening How it works: The idea here is to use satellite-guided sailing ships to crisscross the oceans, constantly spewing a fine stream of sea mist into the clouds. Turns out particles, in this case the salt in the sea mist, will cause clouds to become denser, reflecting more sunlight back into space and keeping the planet cooler. Each ship would cost $2 or $3 million, making the entire program cost just a few billion dollars. About 1500 ships would be needed to maintain current temperatures, according to John Latham, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. clipped from money.cnn.com Space-based Frisbee deflectors How it works: Deflect the sun's rays with a cluster of translucent disks, each two feet in diameter, placed in orbit between the earth and the sun. clipped from money.cnn.com A permanent haze clipped from money.cnn.com Carbon-sucking machines clipped from money.cnn.com Ocean seeding clipped from money.cnn.com clipped from money.cnn.com clipped from money.cnn.com

Snow falls in Texas - first time in over 100 years

SHOOT: Another record broken.

clipped from news.yahoo.com Now Playing Up Next Snow Storm Slams Texas Sat Dec 5, 12:30AM PT ABC News 1:16 | 19521 views

The truth is, humanity is facing a future that is at best uncertain and at worst apocalyptic

SHOOT: Not a bad article although a bit thin on facts, and these insights are already dated by the standards of Peak Oil commentators. Not much mention here on urbanism or economics [currencies in crisis] or facts or figures on actual extraction or decline rates, and no graphs. But a useful commentary for the amateur who hasn't taken this issue - of energy, and the climate - seriously until now. That includes the magazine publishing this piece.

France exports 18% of its energy production, 90% of which comes from about 60 nuclear power plants. South Africa's electricity production is overwhelmingly dependent on coal (93%). China is building two large coal-fired power stations a week.

clipped from www.thedailymaverick.co.za The nations set to gather soon in Copenhagen are on a twisting, misty, potholed road in a car with one rickety headlight and hardly any white lines to drive by. The truth is, humanity is facing a future that is at best uncertain and at worst apocalyptic. But the problem isn’t refinery capacity (itself a highly variable issue), but the overall supply of oil and gas – including a scarcity of supply of offshore rigs and associated infrastructure, which take time to build and bring on line. For a start, while the US expects 900 of its next 1,000 power plants to use natural gas, China (which has four times the population – some 1.3 billion people) is building two large coal-fired power stations a week. Photo: Electric cars can be downright sexy, as the soon-to-be launched Tesla Model S easily proves. South Africa's electricity production is overwhelmingly dependent on coal (93%), with Koeberg’s nuclear plant in the Western Cape supplying only 6%. May the future have mercy on us.

Growth, the health of the economy depends on consumers, and consumers have taken a hit

SHOOT: Nobody gets this. In a consumer economy you need consumption to feed consumption, and how can that happen when jobs are being lost, energy costs are increasing and inflation is trneding upwards? We're not going to see a return to the way things were, the Happy Motoring lifestyle, the fast food and easy money mindset. What comes next? Contraction. Fewer choices. Less money. And forget about credit. For cars, or homes.

clipped from www.economist.com America’s holiday shopping season will bring little yuletide cheer to ailing retailers THINGS had begun to look better. In October, after a bad year for the industry, retail sales began to show signs of improvement, exceeding forecasts and rising 1.4% compared with the previous year. Even one of the most battered retailers, Saks, a luxury department store, announced a small profit for the year to the end of October. This spurred cautious hope of a revival for retailers. Much was pinned on holiday season shopping. News of November sales, delivered on Thursday December 3rd, dampened any holiday cheer. Sales were up by only 0.7% in November in comparable shops compared to the previous year according to Retail Metrics, a research firm. Sales at Saks and Abercrombie & Fitch, a clothes retailer, were down by 26% and 17% respectively. Even discount stores, such as Target, did not live up to analysts’ forecasts.