Nic’s blog
I write about building businesses, failing and building a life, not a legacy.
Anderson Cooper - CNN's world-traveling...
Anderson Cooper - CNN's world-traveling investigative war-correspondent recently stepped in to Haiti and broached the #1 ethical debate by his heroic actions. Just a quick disclaimer - the video below verges on graphic content so if you are easily offended and don't like reality, then don't watch the below.Now, the reason that I am quite intrigued by this particular video is that Cooper has dived in and made a very very big statement; by assisting the boy Cooper changed the news. He stepped in and altered his position in the Haiti situation. He is no longer simply an objective journalist, he is no a participant in the news and the one who altered the course of events that he was reporting on.It's not very often that journalists themselves become the news by their own choices. For Cooper to have stepped in he must have felt that the boy was in dire straights and needed assistance that he wasn't receiving from anyone else at the scene.Personally I completely respect and admire him for stepping in. I made the decision a while back that I refuse to be an observer. I am a doer and people who want to do things have to get involved and not just report the news. I cannot do this. So it's very interesting to me that a journalist of Cooper's quality, experience and standing chose to step in, instead of waiting for the news headline to create itself.
The New Yorker doesn't want you to read...
The New Yorker doesn't want you to read their content. At least, they don't want you to read the content first. They want to force you to look at an advert smack-bang over the key eye-track position of a story, top left. Then while it's loading (and the close [x] option isn't visible) they want you to think "Hmmm, this can't be happening, can it? An advert over the main body of text."They then want you to close the advert and continue reading the story. I don't think anyone's content is good enough to overcome this sort of hurdle. Not only will I not click your stupid advert but I will not not read the article, leave the page and not return. Tsk tsk.Downturns in the economy should be handled slightly better than this. Surely the answer to revenue issues is not to shove unwanted adverts as users who actually do visit your site?
Apartheid Flag Flies High
A school in the North-West Province is said to still be flying the old South African Flag on its masts. I found this story on the Citizens news page.
How sad is that? What is wrong with people (that's the second time today that i've asked that question)? Can these fools not see what they are doing to the children at that school?
The Christelike Volksonderwys (CVO) School is apparently still singing Die Stem at school assemblies instead of the new national anthem (I say new as if it was implemented a week ago... IT'S BEEN OVER 10 YEARS!!!!).
School management claims that the old anthem and flag are cultural expression. What the hell does cultural expression have to do with representing the new and 'non-racial' world of South Africa today? These people are morons and I don't feel bad saying that. Wake up and smell 2006 you idiots.
Baby dead, Penis gone... what is going on?
What the fuck is up with the world today? I just read a story on MG Online that tells of a baby that was found by its 3 year old sister. It was dead (murdered) and had its penis removed and missing.This shocks me to the core. It warps me and taints me and makes me completely hate what the world has become. The police say they are still looking for the bottel that may have been a murder weapon.Where were the parent? What baby is out of its own parents care for longer than a minute? Where is the responsibility? I am upset by this. I truly am.
Schools pull out of rugby ranking system
I am not one of those old boys that wears his school brand 20 years after leaving school but I love my school and support it unashamedly. But one thing I do not agree with is the pressure that schools, players, parent and public put on 1st team players at school level.
A friend of mine, BigBev, alerted me to a story on rugby365.co.za that has surfaced. Certain Private school's have all banded together and decided to take their schools out of the rugby ranking systems available online. Not only are these schools pulling out of the rugby rankings, but are also pulling out of any ranking system at all.
The schools involved have noted that they feel that the ranking systems create unhealthy competition between school which they say has an indirect effect on "marketing, scholarships and post-matric issues, as well as relationships between schools, parents and old boys."
I think that this is a great move by these schools, however rugby365.co.za does have some interesting rebuttles:
How are schools going to stop people from ranking their rugby if the results of fixtures are made public? What is to stop me for example, from starting my own ranking site and keeping it up to date with the published results from the weekend?
They also noted that its a bit tought to blame the ranking sites and systems for bad blood between schools.
I think it's an interesting argument.