Indice dei contenuti per 2022-05-25 in Mercury

WHAT do you do with emotional pain? If, in the middle of emotional pain, I tell myself that “all people have pain”, that “it’s normal to have pain” or that “my pain is not as bad as the pain others have to endure”, I know I am not facing it and it’s not serving a useful or healing purpose. This form of self-talk – often an inner barrage – retains the experience in my head and blocks its necessary journey to my heart, my inner being. It’s playing a game, often a cruel one, with my head. This can go on for years, running around my head, forming a pathway, a deepening, inescapable ditch. If I admit that pain is a useful messenger and that some of it is a…

THE Reuters report in The Mercury of May 20 concerning the FDA’s approval of Pfizer booster doses for children exemplifies the lack of objectivity typical of mainstream media reporting on the vaccine narrative. In justifying continued Pfizer shots for children, the FDA claims that Covid cases are on the rise. But a reality check reveals that Covid rates among children in the US are so low that not a single severe case has been recorded (see: RF Kennedy’s The Defender, May 19). In short, there is no Covid emergency in the child population, particularly when it is widely acknowledged that children have far higher natural immunity than adults. Omitted from the report are details which should alarm even the most ardent vaccine fan. The Pfizer trials of its BioNTech drug…

Now detecting the risk of breast cancer may be simple – a saliva test, according to UK scientists. A team at the Manchester University in the UK has developed a saliva test that can accurately predict a higher risk of breast cancer. The study followed about 2 500 women for almost 10 years to gauge their risk of breast cancer. Of these, 644 developed breast cancer. The new saliva test was used, along with standard medical and life history information, and a measure of women’s breast density. It predicted a higher risk in just under 50% of those who got it, the report said. “If all these women took drugs to prevent breast cancer, that could prevent a quarter of breast cancer cases and potentially save the lives of 2…

SOME of the resorts owned by the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife that are central to its tourism business are in desperate need of repairs. That is the view of some members of the environmental affairs portfolio committee who said that some resorts were in an acceptable condition, but many were in a poor state. A report on the state of Ezemvelo that looked at the challenges it faced was released recently. The challenges ranged from rhino poaching to the state of the reserves. Compiled six years ago, it found at that time that the standard of tourism facilities then had dropped significantly. It called on the entity to improve the quality and attractiveness of its accommodation facilities in order to boost tourism numbers and generate the revenue it needed to fund…

Home Affairs Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has announced the department will open offices in shopping malls across the country to take pressure off other offices. Motsoaledi told Parliament yesterday that the project would start with Menlyn Mall in Pretoria and the equipment would be installed in September. This is one of the interventions the government is implementing ahead of building 15 new offices in different parts of the country. He said the opening of the offices in the shopping malls would come as an important intervention. The department will also be hiring more staff to beef up their front-line service points after the National Treasury gave it more than R200 million to do so. Motsoaledi said there were a number of interventions they would implement to jack up the Department…

Russian and Chinese military planes conducted joint exercises to patrol the Asia-Pacific region, Russia’s defence ministry said yesterday, as US President Joe Biden concluded an Asia trip that rankled Beijing. Japan’s defence minister called the military exercise a provocation and scrambled jets after Russian and Chinese warplanes neared its airspace while Tokyo was hosting the leaders of the Quad nations of US, Japan, India and Australia, the Defence Ministry said. China’s defence ministry confirmed the joint aerial patrol over the Sea of Japan, East China Sea and the Western Pacific and called it part of an annual military exercise. Biden said yesterday there was no change to a US policy of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan, a day after he angered China by saying he would be willing to use force…

Sydney: Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) state is gearing up to implement its total ban on single-use plastic bags as it looks to slowly phase out all single-use packaging. From June 1, all single-use bags would be banned in the state. The Environment Ministry said single-use plastics made up 60% of all the state’s rubbish, and as such it would be crucial to transition away from them. The state will also from November ban plastic cutlery, plates, polystyrene cups, plastic straws, and cotton buds. Overall, the staged phase-out of plastic is projected to prevent almost 2.7 billion plastic items from entering the environment over the next 20 years. | IANS…

KIDS of today – get on your marks for the feasting that lies ahead! British scientists have drawn up a list of little-known plants that could be top of the menu by 2050. In the future, according to the BBC, you could be breakfasting on false banana or snacking on pandanus tree fruit. On what? False banana grows in Ethiopia. The actual fruit is inedible, but its starchy stems and roots can be fermented and used to make porridge and bread, according to the scientists at Kew Gardens in London. Hey, yum-yum! Pandamus tree fruit? This currently grows only on the Pacific islands and in the Philippines. The leaves taste vaguely of pineapple and the fruit can be eaten raw or cooked. Sounds delicious! Bring it on, bring it on!…

PETER Sharland’s letter about the important role of engineers (The Mercury, May 24) should serve as a timely warning that far better oversight of municipal and provincial development-related projects is essential. A friend living in one of the areas worst affected by the recent flooding north of Durban believes that the devastation there is linked to massive developments in the area in which the municipality and developers collude when plans are passed. She might be wrong but, given endemic municipal corruption, should there not be an independent inquiry involving engineers, geologists and surveyors into the reasons for the unprecedented damage? Since people living near planned developments bear the costs if such damage occurs, should they not be entitled to insist that independent opinions about it are obtained?…

THE Shepherd Bushiri scandal has come back to haunt former chief director at the Department of Home Affairs, Ronney Marhule, who has been dismissed by the department for having approved Bushiri’s permanent residence application. The application was submitted in 2016. Political parties have reacted to the dismissal of Marhule, who was found guilty of irregularly approving Bushiri’s permanent residence permit. Marhule was dismissed after a disciplinary process, which lasted over a year, found him guilty of gross negligence, dishonesty and non-compliance with the Immigration Act. Political party Cope said Marhule should be criminally charged. “The Home Affairs official who was involved in the approval of Shepherd Bushiri’s permanent residence application, must be criminally charged. “Dismissal is not enough. The said official is accused of having recommended permanent residency for Bushiri,…

Civil rights body has emboldened racists to unleash untold harm A FEW days ago, our country woke up to the infuriating news that a neo-Nazi moonlighting as a student urinated on the belongings, including a desk, books and laptop, of a first-year African student, Babalo Ndwayana. The outrage against this despicable act that happened while we were struggling to heal with the wound caused by another racist Free State University urine incident forced the issue of racism and white supremacy on to the national agenda. As we have become accustomed to, it was the social media channels that came alive with an outpouring of indignation against what constitutes a blatant violation of a native’s rights to dignity. The disgusting urine incident is not an isolated case at Stellenbosch University, as…

Russian forces were launching an all-out assault to encircle Ukrainian troops in twin cities straddling a river in eastern Ukraine yesterday, a battle which could determine the success or failure of Moscow’s main campaign in the east. Three months after Russia invaded Ukraine, authorities in the second-largest city Kharkiv were expected to open the underground metro, where thousands of civilians had sought shelter for months under relentless bombardment. The reopening is a symbol of Ukraine’s biggest military success over the past few weeks: pushing Russian forces largely out of artillery range of Kharkiv, as they did from the capital Kyiv in March. But the decisive battles of the war’s latest phase are still raging further south, where Moscow is attempting to seize the Donbas region of two eastern provinces, Donetsk…

morgan.bolton@inl.co.za The Bulls will have to front-up in all departments, especially in their physicality, this weekend if they are to stay ahead of an unbeaten Free State Cheetahs side, assistant coach Hayden Groepes argued yesterday. The Currie Cup has entered the business end of the season where the men are separated from the boys and where any slip-up could mean the difference between hosting a home semi-final and final, or travelling out of one’s comfort zone to play a knockout match in a more hostile environment. For the Bulls it is no different, despite a commanding lead that separates them and the Cheetahs from the chasing pack. Only one point separates the men from Pretoria and the men from Bloemfontein at the top of the Cup standings – the Bulls…

With all the Optimum Moor Cup Premier Division and Wylie Cup games postponed due to the inclement weather over the weekend the main focus was on the First Division. In the only game played Dynamo Travel Hillcrest beat Ballito Dolphins 36-13 at home in Shongweni. Hillcrest scored six tries in difficult conditions, with Robbie Skilton crossing for three touchdowns and the others going to Cameron Capes, Andries Botha and Martin van Rooyen. Mack Mackie was successful with four conversions, The Dolphins responded with Mark Akkers scoring all their points with two tries and a penalty. In the Frank Norris Under-20 matches, UKZN Durban beat Durban Collegians 26-0, SKZN beat UKZN Durban B 36-6 and Varsity College edged out Crusaders 8-5. This weekend sees Durban Collegians hosting Crusaders, while Synergy Westville…

There is an ancient Greek saying: “Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad.” This saying aptly reflects the behaviour of some of our senior ANC politicians; witness the “flagpole” fiasco and the alleged visit to Ukraine by our minister of transport, as well as media reports, denied of course by an ANC politician, that the minister was “kicked out” of a Cabinet meeting by the president for failing to be prepared to talk to his submissions. While these might just be interesting, hilarious diversions from reality, some of the matters being ineptly handled by the minister and his department very seriously affect the country’s well-being. The inability to manage the taxi industry, which has become a law unto itself, the driving licence card fiasco and the…

THE entire area from Ballito to Umkomaas, encompassing the geographical heartland of that area, is in trepidation after a rampaging second indescribable tsunami of water swept across KwaZulu-Natal, two months in a row. The furious pace of the watery disaster threatened to engulf afflicted areas, turning them into islands of desolation and despair as hunger and immense tragedy stalk the area in a sea of mud. Graphic scenes are emerging, depicting an apocalypse on a biblical scale. Sadness and helplessness are flashed across the global media in real time, as a devastated community watches in horror the scale of destruction. Scenes emerging from most areas are a flashback to the carnage in April, that decimated parts of KZN. The entire province is enveloped in a global health emergency that is…

The Southern Africa Agricultural Initiative (Saai), which protects the rights and interests of farmers, has voiced its opposition to elements of the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill. Saai said it advocated for a legalised and carefully regulated cannabis industry that boosted economic growth while curbing harm. In September 2018, the Constitutional Court made room for Parliament to rectify “constitutional defects” in 24 months, but 44 months later that still has not been done. Saai said the bill criminalises practically all commercial activities while at the same time “authorising” general “commercial activities” related to cannabis. This contradiction created confusion that undermined the rule of law, Saai said. Recreational use, consumption and cultivation of cannabis by adults in private have been legalised under the right to privacy, but practically all private cannabis…

Staff members in the eThekwini Municipality are angry and have accused the municipality of not caring about its workers after two of their colleagues went missing this past weekend. The workers disappeared on Saturday. It is feared that the two workers, who were employed in the water unit and attached to the Phoenix Treatment Works, might have been victims of the floods as the municipal car they were travelling in was recovered in a river. EThekwini was battered by heavy rains this past weekend, which caused more devastation and damaged more houses. This was after devastating floods in April that left more than 350 people in eThekwini dead, thousands homeless and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed. The South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) in KZN said the union was…

President Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday that “bystander countries” were suffering due to sanctions against Russia and called for talks as the AU prepared a mission to foster dialogue between Moscow and Kyiv. Ramaphosa spoke as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited South Africa on the final leg of a trip to the continent that aimed, in part, to rally diplomatic support for Ukraine. South Africa has close historical ties to Moscow due to the former Soviet Union’s support for the anti-apartheid Struggle. It abstained from a UN vote denouncing the invasion of Ukraine and has resisted calls to condemn Russia’s invasion. The EU has aggressively pursued sanctions and a severing of economic ties in a bid to punish Moscow for its military operations in Ukraine, a strategy which Ramaphosa said was…

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday faced renewed accusations of lying after photos emerged of him drinking at a Downing Street party during lockdown in 2020. The revelations came as a senior civil servant was expected to publish her long-awaited full report into the “Partygate” scandal, despite claims that Johnson was trying to have it dropped. A slew of revelations earlier this year about lockdown-breaking parties caused widespread political and public anger, and put Johnson’s position in jeopardy. But the heat was taken out of a potential mutiny from his own MPs by the war in Ukraine. The photos published late on Monday by ITV News were taken during a leaving party for Johnson’s communications chief Lee Cain on November 13, 2020, days after the government ordered a second…