As a Weegie by birth I'm proud to say that not only was Glasgow the first place in the world to confer Mandela "Freedom of the city" in 1981; but also in 1986, whilst he still had four more years in Robbins gaol, we changed the name of Royal Exchange Square to Nelson Mandela Square.
One of the Square's residents wasn't too happy though, but then I guess a letter to
But of course the reality is that, in the way that he forgave the people who had treated him as a second or third class citizen, he would almost undoubtedly forgive and forget, and fetch a hose and put the fire out.
I guess that was part of what made him a great man.
Great man and we have to hope and pray that others will follow in his foot-steps.
I was given a plaque when I left my previous employment and it quoted Mandela
"Over-coming poverty is not an act of charity, it is an act of justice. Like apartheid and slavery poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can and must, first be overcome and then be eradicated by the actions of human beings."
Like most of the Mandela quotes, John, that I've read over the last 20 hours or so, that is so utterly self evident (once you see it written down).
On the other hand I was completely sickened to hear Cameron's tribute to him.
I appreciate that people grow older and mature in intellect as well as body, and that frequently their extremist views are toned down as they grow more sensible with age.
But Cameron was a member of a group that called for Mandela to be executed; he supported the white supremacist regime that imprisoned Mandela and he fought against the sanctions that the rest of the world called for and Mrs Thatcher opposed. Quite a change then for him to be so snivelling in his obit.
Two faced bastard.
My consolation was that even the BBC (world service) quoted Mr Obama, Mr Xi, m Hollande and Mr deClerke (but missed out Cameron altogether, as presumably being of no interest to the rest of the world.
Even the national radio station ran with Mr Obama's tribute, followed by Eton Boy's.
I regret that he is going to the funeral. He certainly doesn't represent me.
A pity the ANC which now remains is an utterly homophobic, corrupt, self serving bunch of former marxist sellouts more interested in their own anti-democratic aggrandisement than doing a damn thing for the majority poor black population.
A rainbow nation? Not if your LGBT it isn't. Mandela failed the LGBT community utterly, it surely goes down as one of his rare failures.
Rethink what exactly? Mandela did fail, even when he was leading the ANC as President, to deal with LGBT issues. A total lack of progress on HIV/AIDs awareness, a failure to promote LGBT awareness on issues like homophobic abuse, anti-gay killings and bullying.
For all his successes (a vast majority of his endeavours fall into this category) lets not pretend he was a saint, he had failures too. Its vital to accept the Mandela record for what it is, the legacy of a thoroughly decent man, but man nonetheless.
And after he left ANC leadership, he refused to speak out about rising party corruption, or condemn Mugabe across the border.
He made poor choices, we need to learn from the mistakes as well as appreciate the strengths.
Dean this thread is respecting something that this man achieved under the greatest odds against him internally and externally so please wait until after he is buried before letting any personal gripes cloud the basic premise, thanks in anticipation.
Of course, Dean, Mandela was not perfect. But it is also true to say that he was dealing with a myriad of problems affecting South Africa.
I often wondered who would have chosen to emigrate to South Africa, but having met a few of the relatives of my friends who did go out there, I may have come upon the answer. I repeat that this is based on my own observations of a few people so please do not be insulted if anyone’s granny, cousin, uncle or whatever went there, and is as bright as a button.
It occurred to me that SA was a place you could go and immediately join the elite and privileged, just by being white. Canada, New Zealand, etc, you had to be hardworking and bright too!
So as well as the colour problem, things were inefficient and badly run.
You have to remember too that this is Africa. Christian faith there is of the traditional type and very widespread. However, South Africa legalised homosexuality and indeed some research shows that it was the 5th country in the world to legalise gay marriage in 2005. That’s a full 7 years before France, Scotland and England.
What you cannot do, I suppose is alter the religious beliefs of the people.
That takes more than a Mandela to do.
I got this information from Wikipedia and it comes with the usual reservations of an online encyclopaedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_South_Africa
Thanks and yes, it was a Champagne glass, well Loire Vouvray anyway. However it was scientific allegory about using a prism to generate a rainbow and by rethreading the rainbow you can separate the colours into individual ones, I think.
At least that is what I remember of Mr Bell's optics labs, a long time ago.
A great man and a sad loss to all.
ReplyDeleteThere are so few real leaders in the world. So few politicians who do it all for what they believe will make the world a better place.
DeleteNelson Mandela was one of these few.
He made a difference in the world. And it was by and large a good one.
As a Weegie by birth I'm proud to say that not only was Glasgow the first place in the world to confer Mandela "Freedom of the city" in 1981; but also in 1986, whilst he still had four more years in Robbins gaol, we changed the name of Royal Exchange Square to Nelson Mandela Square.
ReplyDeleteOne of the Square's residents wasn't too happy though, but then I guess a letter to
South African Consulate
Nelson Mandela Square
was probably one in the eye for them.
Wow PP.
ReplyDeleteThat must have been a right slap in the face to them, at the same time as Thatcher was supporting their vile regime.
I'm not religious at all, but the thought of Thatcher burning in hell, and Mandela refusing to piss on her, appeals to my sense of humour.
ReplyDeleteMine too!
DeleteBut of course the reality is that, in the way that he forgave the people who had treated him as a second or third class citizen, he would almost undoubtedly forgive and forget, and fetch a hose and put the fire out.
I guess that was part of what made him a great man.
Great man and we have to hope and pray that others will follow in his foot-steps.
ReplyDeleteI was given a plaque when I left my previous employment and it quoted Mandela
"Over-coming poverty is not an act of charity, it is an act of justice. Like apartheid and slavery poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can and must, first be overcome and then be eradicated by the actions of human beings."
Rest in peace.
Like most of the Mandela quotes, John, that I've read over the last 20 hours or so, that is so utterly self evident (once you see it written down).
DeleteOn the other hand I was completely sickened to hear Cameron's tribute to him.
I appreciate that people grow older and mature in intellect as well as body, and that frequently their extremist views are toned down as they grow more sensible with age.
But Cameron was a member of a group that called for Mandela to be executed; he supported the white supremacist regime that imprisoned Mandela and he fought against the sanctions that the rest of the world called for and Mrs Thatcher opposed. Quite a change then for him to be so snivelling in his obit.
Two faced bastard.
My consolation was that even the BBC (world service) quoted Mr Obama, Mr Xi, m Hollande and Mr deClerke (but missed out Cameron altogether, as presumably being of no interest to the rest of the world.
Even the national radio station ran with Mr Obama's tribute, followed by Eton Boy's.
I regret that he is going to the funeral. He certainly doesn't represent me.
A good and honest man has passed on.
ReplyDeleteA pity the ANC which now remains is an utterly homophobic, corrupt, self serving bunch of former marxist sellouts more interested in their own anti-democratic aggrandisement than doing a damn thing for the majority poor black population.
A rainbow nation? Not if your LGBT it isn't. Mandela failed the LGBT community utterly, it surely goes down as one of his rare failures.
Deanne
ReplyDeleteWe are talking about the man, not what his political party has become since he no longer was the de facto head of it.
Please rethink your post and think of the man and his heritage and not his faux cul arrivist inheritors?
Rethink what exactly? Mandela did fail, even when he was leading the ANC as President, to deal with LGBT issues. A total lack of progress on HIV/AIDs awareness, a failure to promote LGBT awareness on issues like homophobic abuse, anti-gay killings and bullying.
DeleteFor all his successes (a vast majority of his endeavours fall into this category) lets not pretend he was a saint, he had failures too. Its vital to accept the Mandela record for what it is, the legacy of a thoroughly decent man, but man nonetheless.
And after he left ANC leadership, he refused to speak out about rising party corruption, or condemn Mugabe across the border.
He made poor choices, we need to learn from the mistakes as well as appreciate the strengths.
Dean this thread is respecting something that this man achieved under the greatest odds against him internally and externally so please wait until after he is buried before letting any personal gripes cloud the basic premise, thanks in anticipation.
DeleteI think that's a fair comment CH.
DeleteOf course, Dean, Mandela was not perfect. But it is also true to say that he was dealing with a myriad of problems affecting South Africa.
I often wondered who would have chosen to emigrate to South Africa, but having met a few of the relatives of my friends who did go out there, I may have come upon the answer. I repeat that this is based on my own observations of a few people so please do not be insulted if anyone’s granny, cousin, uncle or whatever went there, and is as bright as a button.
It occurred to me that SA was a place you could go and immediately join the elite and privileged, just by being white. Canada, New Zealand, etc, you had to be hardworking and bright too!
So as well as the colour problem, things were inefficient and badly run.
You have to remember too that this is Africa. Christian faith there is of the traditional type and very widespread. However, South Africa legalised homosexuality and indeed some research shows that it was the 5th country in the world to legalise gay marriage in 2005. That’s a full 7 years before France, Scotland and England.
What you cannot do, I suppose is alter the religious beliefs of the people.
That takes more than a Mandela to do.
I got this information from Wikipedia and it comes with the usual reservations of an online encyclopaedia! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_South_Africa
I lost a comment apologising to Dean for misspelling his name.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Ah cannae be ersed to remind the rest of the lost post.
It is Friday post sun down , efter all.
One understands urchin.
DeleteC'est bien la fin de la semaine!
Ah yes, it was something about seeing the rainbow light through the wrong facet of a prism, one who only lets one colour to pass.
ReplyDeleteIs that not something like seeing the world thought the bottom of a wine glass... hic
Delete:)
Thanks and yes, it was a Champagne glass, well Loire Vouvray anyway.
DeleteHowever it was scientific allegory about using a prism to generate a rainbow and by rethreading the rainbow you can separate the colours into individual ones, I think.
At least that is what I remember of Mr Bell's optics labs, a long time ago.
Hmmm... well, I'm not that terribly good at scientific allegory... More likely allergy in my case...
Delete:)