The State of the Nation address that our bold leader Zuma gave last week was a joke. I haven't heard a single person who was happy with it. A reiteration of ANC dogma was NOT what the thinking people of South Africa were looking for in this troubled time. I for one was hoping for something a little more concrete, not load of promises about how our government will create jobs, fix the economy and bring us all breakfast in bed, I wanted to know exactly how they planned to pull it off.
In South Africa we are all afflicted with the curse of Revolutionary Politics... as I see it, this means that the people who fought for freedom, having achieved it, have no idea what to do with it. Instead of actually working for the betterment of their country, government officials seem content to make empty promises and fill their not-so-empty pockets. This won't change until the electorate gets fed up enough to stop voting as if we were still under apartheid... until they realise that, while the ANC has done great things in the past, they don't have the capability or the motivation to lift South Africa to a more prosperous future.
It's not all the ANC's fault though, the opposition hasn't exactly covered itself in glory either. Where are the alternative plans? Where is the mass educational drive that will teach the disadvantaged masses about the real power of the vote and how democracy is supposed to work?
Still.... I suppose it's better to have a government that does nothing, rather than one that actively goes out of it's way to screw things up. As long as they keep that kid Julius muzzled, I'll be content (if not happy).
In the News:
How long till human level AI - a nice article about a survey of industry leaders, asking when they think we'll take the big step
Six-legged Robot Teaches Itself to Walk - a neat new robot ^^
Appeals Court Rules On Internet Obscenity Standard - The californian courts have set a worrying precedient with this one.
Where's Your Flying Car (and Your Jetpack)? - apparently... they're nearly here... Cool!
Fall Into A Black Hole At the Speed Of Light With New Simulator - a couple scienctists have developed a graphic simulation of what happens at the event horizon of a black hole. Nice.
Mixing Man and Machine - the world's first cyborg (now ex-cyborg) talks about artificially enchancing the human race.
Digital/Real World cross over - A huge step in Augmented reality, you HAVE TO watch this! it's a very different approach, and I'm seriously considering trying to build a similar rig. This guy is my new hero.
Brain Surgery Linked To Sensation of Spirituality - quite troubling if you're the religous sort (or maybe not... depends on how much of a control freak you think God is, i guess).
Scrapheap Transhumanism - this dude is seriously whacked... I, for one, would not have the balls to do this.
In an unrelated matter, I had an Epicly Awesome weekend... I officially have the coolest girlfriend in the world... so sorry for the rest of you guys ^^. Hope you enjoyed the post. As always: If you've got a comment post it, and if you enjoyed it... click the link on the right to follow... and tell your friends ^^
-Odd
"What do you mean I could be the president, of the United States of America? Tell me something, it's still WE, THE PEOPLE right?" -Megadeth, Peace Sells.
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