Learn by Google, Live by Gandhi: In the beginning...

Learn by Google, Live by Gandhi: In the beginning...: "So recently I've been asked to start 'blogging' - The infamous way to become famous, I guess. 'Blog about what' - was my first reaction, and..."

Foreign nationals settling in urban South Africa - Are we at risk?

It has become more and more apparent that something strange is afoot.

In the normalcy of suburbia, almost invisible, foreign nationals are moving in and forming a core of foreign ideas and businesses, whilst we are oblivious to the change that is coming... that of a rather radically new society im the aftermath of upheavals in Africa and other parts of the world.

Also See: The International Federation's Disaster Relief Emergency Fund report of 8 November 2010 confirming the influx.

Since the advent of its democratic dispensation in 1994, South Africa has become a primary destination and point of transit for people from across the African continent and beyond. In addition, there is a mix of people who come to South Africa seeking protection, prosperity, or passage, whilst a small but important number of this population are migrants who have been forced to flee their respective countries for various reasons and seek safety in South Africa.

TO BE COMPLETED

My Fervent Wish

I desire peace for all the people of the world!

Deseo la paz para toda la gente del mundo

Je désire la paix pour toutes personnes du monde

Voglio la pace per tutta la gente del mondo

私は世界のすべての人々のための平和を望む

Eu desejo a paz para todos os povos do mundo

Я желание мира для всех народов мира

Ich wünsche Frieden für alle Leute der Welt

我渴望和平，为全体人民的世界

لي رغبة في السلام لجميع شعوب العالم

I am one of the relatively new kids on the block, having joined Facebook only on August 14, 2007, but it has now become part of my daily routine, maybe too much so, but I am amazed at the FB phenomena. I have made some very dear new friends, young and old, male and female, and from different cultures through this incredible medium and do so on a daily basis.

It is truly amazing how close we all are and how much we are "ONE FAMILY" on this beautiful planet of ours. I believe that we all have a part to play, being facilitators to bring a vastly different and new experience to human interaction - in love, in camaraderie and in the knowledge that together we can make a difference in this world.

This beautiful planet we live on is going through vast changes, caused by mankind's desire to use and abuse its resources, its wildlife and the very air that we need to sustain life ~ coal power stations, large fires and deforestation, pumping billions of particles of the so-called green-house gases into our fragile atmosphere. But apart from the desire to live on a cleaner planet, one thing everyone living here must desire, is Peace... Not only the peace of mind that you will have a meal and a warm bed at night, but the inherent desire to live and let live.

Yet, we are reminded on a daily basis of the unnecessary conflicts between individuals, between groups, between factions, between countries and between religions. We are now in a fast learning curve, in that our fragile earth is being systematically destroyed by man, and man destroying man.

This has to STOP. We need to take a stand - take hands and together change the way we think. The age of Aquarius is upon us and we should live up to its expectations. In a small way we can all help. Do you really need to print a lot of paperwork? Do you really need a plastic bag for those few items on your daily shopping stop? Could you not take a brisk walk down the block to the café in stead of driving. Do you really need to kill your body with those drugs? There are so many little ways in which we all can share.

Say YES to Tolerance, Say YES to Friendship, Say YES to Love, Say YES to Peace...

Our life rests upon a single breath...
Let us all breathe each other's breaths...
Thank you for reading this, and if you feel the same, please comment...

Love
Michael

----------------- # -----------------

If this were my last day I'm almost sure

I'd spend it working in my garden. I

Would dig about my little plants, and try

To make them happy, so they would endure

Long after me. Then I would hide secure

Where my green arbor shades me from the sky,

And watch how bird and bee and butterfly

Came hovering to every flowery lure.

Then, as I rested, perhaps a friend or two,

Lovers of flowers would come, and we would walk

About my little garden paths and talk

Of peaceful times when all the world seemed true.

This may be my last day, for all I know;

What a temptation just to spend it so!

~ Anne Higginson Spicer

I am just a picture in the window pane of the world.

Image from loanna_Art at www.flickr.com/photos/ioannart/2371253100/

I was standing in my kitchen tonight after showing my two best friends pictures from my life, and it suddenly came forth in my mind and I uttered:

"I am just a picture
in the window pane of the world."

Who am I in that picture? How do I portray myself towards my lover, family, friends, work colleagues and the general public?

Should we not all ask that very pertinent question and when I answer myself, let it be with a conviction that I will try and better myself...

for the root of it all stares us in the face

“Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave”. - Muhammad
“The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge”. - The Bible ; Proverbs 18:15
“... try to solve these mysteries and seek knowledge of a reality beyond ordinary knowing”. Upanishads ; Part of the Hindu Scriptures

So I want to leave this with you to quietly contemplate...

You will find the answers you seek

Lucky Dube

August 3, 1964 – October 18, 2007


Lucky Dube gunned down in the prime of his life - Read about the tragedy

It is with such sadness that we yet again witness the senseless killing of an international star. The world has gone mad!

In dedication to Lucky Dube and his desire to live in peace, I place here his view of life and the celebration of it and his pleas about the crazyness of it all.

Celebrate Life

We're living in the world
With alot of crazy people
We're living in the world
With psychopaths
Everyone of them wants to rule
The world
Some people have the front row seat
At the top of the world
Some people have nothing but just a life
Problems are there left and right
Liars, cheaters, politicians and black stabbers
Making life a little bit more unbearable
It is a give or take world
So you got to take what you can when you can
Make the best of it. Wo!!

Chorus
say yeah!! Celebrate life
Say yeah!! Life is good.

We're living in the world
With demented people
There's a man standing on the edge of the bridge
Ready to end it all
Some people don't know what life is worth
Some people have the front row seat at the gates of hell
You could be having problems right now
But there's no problem worth your life
People fight to stay alive every day
Cause they know, life is worth more than worries.
So you got to take what you can when can
Make the best of it, Wo!! Ho!! Wo!! Ho!!

Chorus
Say Yeah,yeah celebrate life
Say Yeah, yeah life is good.

Till fade.

South Africa 36 - England 0

No matter how you look at it, South Africa is set on its winning streak in The Rugby World Cup and the performance against England can only be described as fantastic..

THE RUGBY WORLD CUP
The Top Try Scorer so far is our Brian Habana with 4 tries.
The Top Points Scorer so far is our Percy Montgomery with 47 points.

THE GAME
J P Pietersen scored 2 tries in the South Africa v England match and the best scrum-half in the world, Fourie du Preez not only made tries possible, but scored a try about 15 minutes from full-time and deservedly was Man of the Match.

When England's star player Jason Robinson limped off the field with a hamstring injury, things started to really go awry for the champions, and they never recovered.

All in all, South Africa is cruising to the quarter-finals and the inevitable meeting with New Zealand. Lets put our hearts behind the Boks!

Sept 11, 2001

Today it is 6 years since that day we sat glued to our television sets watching in disbelief the destruction.

We must remember the 2993 souls (including the 19 terrorists) that perished in the madness perpetrated in the name of religion. May this day also remind us that as the human race, we have failed terribly over the millennia - starting wars, killing people, all in the name of religion.

No wonder that religion is starting to take a back seat.

The time has come for a new world order - of peace and tolerance between nations, between races and even between sexes. The time has come to mend our mistakes of the past.

We should look towards our True Leaders and The Elders amongst us to help save this planet from total destruction.