Niehaus, Loyalty and the Rule of Law

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Niehaus, loyalty and the Rule of Law

It is a difficult call: when one’s friend finds himself in a tight spot - say because he defrauded the government or is exposed as a serial liar - should one support him or condemn him? There is something laudable about friends sticking together, after all and when a mother of a convicted murderer stands outside the court and refuses to condemn her son, I personally feel empathy for that mother.

So when it transpired that Carl Niehaus defrauded the Gauteng government, that he is not only an ANC spin doctor trying to convince us all that Jacob Zuma is the victim of a dark conspiracy, but also a man who lied about his own sisters death in order to score a business class ticket to London for his wife, I was not surprised that some in the ANC leadership would feel some sympathy for the man.

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• Spin doctor blames 'chaotic' ruling party for his massive debt (thetimes.co.za)
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• More woes for Niehaus as ID lays charges (thetimes.co.za)

Oz team to tour SA is a more balanced outfit – Peter Roebuck

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ALL things considered, Australia have chosen a handy team to tour South Africa. Quibbles can be held about one or two of the minor positions, but overall the squad is as strong as circumstances permit. Of late Australian cricket has had more headaches than a tall drunk. By and large the older players were to blame. Matthew Hayden could not find his form, Brett Lee could not find his pace and Andrew Symonds had mislaid his brain.

Full report - The Witness - 16th Feb 2009

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• Australia cricket selectors plump for youth over experience (telegraph.co.uk)

The Pirate Bay

 

The Trial of the Century

Well, the piracy trial of the century, at least. The Pirate Bay, a massively popular torrent-sharing site goes on trial this upcoming Monday in Sweden. But the defendants won't be coming alone. As Ars Technica is reporting, shortly to arrive to Stockholm will be the social networking equivalent of a tsunami. Bloggers, Twitterers, photographers, live audio streamers, translators, and a myriad of other Pirate Bay fans are all converging on Stockholm.

More than this, a city bus is currently on its way from Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro, packed full with Pirate Bay supporters. The Pirate Bay, for its part, is ready to help its own cause. On it's own "Spectrial" (spectacle + trial) page , it invites everyone who is interested to participate. Stream the live audio, watch the live press conferences, blog, Tweet, do what you will.

Simply put, this is a fantastic WOMM campaign looking to draw support for its cause.

Here is your latest update from the Belgrade --> Stockholm bus (by the time you read this, it will already be in Stockholm. Let the party begin...) The bus, S23K, is closing in. Right now, the bus and its crew are on a ferry towards Sweden. Estimated time of arrival is lunch time tomorrow friday.
We also really, really need some help with electricity and some interwebs connection to the bus while standing outside the court house. Plz, plz, pretty plz?
And last, but not least, if you’re in Stockholm on monday, please stop by the court house to meet us and all the other ppl that are planning to be there. At 1130 there will be a demonstration, with speeches, live music and lots of friends. Drop by, won’t ya?

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Expat Votes – South Africa

 

Fears of expat vote 'nightmare'

Any delays in announcing election results ‘could fuel violence’, reports Qudsiya Karrim.

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UK Visas

 

Visas the tip of an iceberg

Nic Dawes, Mandy Rossouw and Ilham Ravoot examine the deepening freeze in relations between South Africa and the United Kingdom.

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• Countries face new UK visa rules (news.bbc.co.uk)

Check this out

Find Interesting Places in Google Maps

When you search for the name of a city or an address, Google Maps lists interesting places from that location and illustrates them with excerpts from Wikipedia articles. To find other locations that have Wikipedia articles, click "More" on the map and select "Wikipedia".


But even if Google highlights very few data layers, you can add to the map many other layers from the directory . For example, you can add the Webcams Worldwide layer to find webcams, the Virtual Tourism layer to explore 400 locations using YouTube videos or find places of interest .

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• Google Maps Integrates Video (blogoscoped.com)

Social Media

Bill Clinton (via last.fm)

 

Friday Rant: Giving the Court of Public Opinion a Chance with Social Media

When Bill Clinton consorted with his favorite intern in the Oval Office, was there any written rule against it? When UN procurement officials accepted favors and rewards from suppliers, did they deem them legitimate as part of the regular course of b...

Measuring Social Media

 

How Do You Measure Success On Social Media? - Digital Life Blog - InformationWeek (via delicious)

Do You Measure Success On Social Media? - Digital Life Blog - InformationWeek22 minutes ago -Comment -LikeMitch Wager: "Social media is like a great hallway conversation...And yet that (measure) seems unsatisfying." - Steve Rubel

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• Micro Persuasion: All Media Is Social, All Social Is Media (tsurch.com)

Stimulus Bill

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Obama to sign $787 billion stimulus bill Tuesday

Savoring his first big victory in Congress, President Barack Obama on Saturday celebrated the newly passed $787 billion economic stimulus bill as a "major milestone on our road to recovery."

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• Obama's Stimulus Package Has Passed, Will Be Signed (dvorak.org)

mioNews

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mioNews allows us to sort the news via our friends. The more you rate stories high,the more they will show up high for me. It's kind of like Digg but where your friends have the biggest influence on story ranking.

Please get it for yourself and add me as a friend. My news will never be the same.