Monday, March 23, 2009

Found In Translation

My girlfriend comes from Finland and her entire family still lives there. Luckily she speaks perfect English (with a slight American accent, a result of watching so many TV shows) or we would never have understood each other. I speak two languages fluently - English and Afrikaans, with a growing understanding of German which I find interesting because of my ancestry. 

Learning a Germanic language after knowing one is relatively easier, seeing as they basically have the same roots. She also speaks a little Swedish and I find the similarities between German, Swedish and Afrikaans uncanny. Not that I haven't tried to learn Finnish, but to be quite honest after a few minutes, I feel like I have been sucking unsuccessfully on a very thick milkshake and my head is about to implode. In short, it really 'Finnishes' me. (She also stopped laughing at jokes like that a long time ago.)

Assumption Is The Father Of All Screw Ups

While browsing a site on the treatment of transgender and intersex patients, I noted the following assertion: "Newborns with intersex deformities must early on be assigned to one sex or the other."

WHY?

This is surely the biggest error medical caregivers can make.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Unity And Strength In Diversity

Spending quality time with the people you love - and who love you - is more than just goofing off or finding ways to spend time not actually doing anything useful. Many activists feel that taking such time is risky and wasteful and could be put to better use promoting the cause of human rights. After all, we are greatly outnumbered - and our enemies have no shortage of volunteers eager to drive another nail into the coffin of our human rights while our backs may be turned.

However, it does serve a very important purpose. Aside from reducing or countering the stress we as activists are met with in the world, it helps to remind us what it is we are fighting for - and why we are fighting in the first place.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

What Goes Around, Goes Around

I have often wondered why it is that some Christians have this annoying drive to spread the news about their religion by pestering and annoying other people. You don't see troupes of Muslims or Hindus hitting a neighbourhood near you and going door to door "spreading the word". Well, aside from the usual Jehovah's Witnesses passing by on a regular basis, annoying as they are (they know by now to skip my door), recently I have started seeing "regular Christians" taking up this tactic as well. This morning in fact I was awoken by a knocking without the door only to find a father and son couple attempting to enthusiastically hand me a (full colour nogal) leaflet through my security gate announcing a "memorial service for the late Jesus Christ". Not only are these (undoubtedly) well-meaning folk only about two thousand years too late, but these smiling, beaming and suited folk also claim theirs is the "one true faith" and that nobody else - especially Jehovah's Witnesses - has it right. 

Friday, March 20, 2009

WARNING - Sense Of Humor Failure Imminent!

"Comedian Rowan Atkinson has criticised hate speech legislation, saying that the House of Lords must vote against a government attempt to remove a free speech clause in a homophobic hatred offence.

The Blackadder actor, addressing a meeting of Lords on Tuesday, warned of creating a culture of "censoriousness" by removing free speech." - Pink News UK

I used to be, right up until this moment, a fan of Atkinson, be it for Mr Bean, Black Adder or Keeping Mum - but that is IT.

How is discrimination against sexual orientation in the form of HATE speech in any way different from racism? Is sexual orientation and gender identity not also an inborn trait like race? Hate is hate and I think Mr Atkinson has lost sight of that small detail.

Flexible Morality & Other Fairy Tales

SA Government has today launched into a tirade of criticism of Madagascar's latest coup. They have also asked the AU to expell Madagascar from membership on this basis. Curiously enough, they claim they will not support a government which has taken power through undemocratic means yadda, yadda, yadda. Pull the other one, apparently it has bells on.

Interesting hypocrisy. For quite some time they have done or said nothing at all of the kind for our friendly northern neighbours in ZimBOBwe who have for a decade or so been suffering under the yoke of a senile fool who seeks his own glorification and enrichment and has set these goals ahead of the good of his own people and is not even moved by their suffering. He has insanely clung to power through intimidation, violence, corruption and manipulation of election results - and still, STILL - after nearly railroading unity government negotiations for months, he is referred to as PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe. Why is that?

Thursday, March 19, 2009

In Africa The Last Light Flickers And Wanes

This morning I heard the news on 5fm, and the thing that caught my attention was the announcement that Barrack Obama had announced the USA was going to sign the UN Declaration to decriminalize homosexuality. This, following the previous administration under Bush who refused to sign, along with the Vatican. Not very surprising because we all know those religious fundamentalists think they are better than everybody else and make a big show of hating gay people and anybody who happens to be different.