Why this country disgusts me - Another absolute shocker

SHOOT: This must be the most dangerous job in the world. Here's the rub. Either you get caught helping your mates rob the company you work for [and then go to the CCMA for firing you], or your colleagues kill you for not being part of the scam.

On my way to work today I drove by one of these heavily armored vans. I don't think I have seen one that is in mint condition. Most looked banged up, with one window a spiderweb of bullet damaged glass.

clipped from www.sowetan.co.za FORMER cash-in-transit guards have provided chilling insights into the sometimes bloody violence and death that accompany heists. “You live with the constant fear of being killed, yet when you escape with your life you face harassment by your bosses and the police,” one of them said. The guards who spoke to Sowetan have been fired by one of the leading international security companies, SG4, on suspicion of having masterminded two seperate heists. They admitted that many robberies were inside jobs. “It is true that some heist are inside jobs,” one former guard said. “Guards are paid very little, which makes them vulnerable to crime. “They easily get involved with criminals and carry out robberies. And they kill their own colleagues during these heists.” He said guards who were not in cahoots with the robbers were often the ones who were seriously wounded or died during the robberies.

Johann Hack, 42, of the Strand, 3rd South African swine flu death

SHOOT: Hack had no no nunderlying medical condition. This means there is the POTENTIAL, when you catch this virus that you can go from being prefectly healthy, to having the flu, to fighting for your life and conceivably losing that fight. I'd say that is something worth being very, very concerned about.

clipped from www.iol.co.za The Western Cape government issued a statement on Tuesday night that the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) had confirmed that Johann Hack, 42, of the Strand had the H1N1 virus. Hack died a week ago on August 5. Two other swine-flu-related deaths have been recorded in SA, one each in Stellenbosch and Bloemfontein. A Durban man suspected to have died of swine flu last week, did not. Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said on Tuesday while Africa was the last continent to be affected by swine flu, it may become the most severely affected continent, reported Sapa. Schools have continued to be hard-hit by absenteeism among students. The Education Department had said up to a quarter of pupils were staying away from school, but added this was not unusual for this time of year. On Tuesday 238 across the province reported suspected H1N1 cases, up from the 190 last week Friday.

Volt is four times more efficient than Prius, but the world needs fewer cars

Two critical areas, battery life and the electronic switching between battery and engine power, are still being refined, but the car is on schedule to reach showrooms late in 2010, he said.

GM is simulating tests to make sure the new lithium-ion batteries last 10 years, Posawatz said.

"We're further along, but we're still quite a ways from home," he said. "We're developing quite a knowledge base on all this stuff. Our confidence is growing."

SHOOT: Nice to know, but the real focus needs to be on walkable living and working arrangements, not alternative driving arrangements This is because resources are becoming scarcer, and human populations increasing. The solution isn't more cars, it's fewer cars, and also fewer people.

clipped from news.yahoo.com WARREN, Mich. – General Motors Corp. said Tuesday its Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car should get 230 miles per gallon of gasoline in city driving, more than four times the mileage of the current champion, the Toyota Prius. The Volt is powered by an electric motor and a battery pack with a 40-mile range. After that, a small internal combustion engine kicks in to generate electricity for a total range of 300 miles. The battery pack can be recharged from a standard home outlet. If the figure is confirmed by the EPA, which does the tests for the mileage posted on new car door stickers, the Volt would be the first car to exceed triple-digit gas mileage, Posawatz said. Henderson said charging the volt will cost about 40 cents a day. "The EPA labels can and will be a game changer for us," he said. Most automakers are working similar plug-in designs, but GM could be the leader with the Volt, which is due in showrooms late in 2010.

A stressed population is primed for widespread sickness

NEWS24.COM: He said the medical scheme had noted a significant increase in serious ailments requiring hospitalisation, such as cardiovascular illness - hypertension, strokes and heart attacks - as well as psychiatric conditions such as depression and other mental disorders.

These stress-related conditions could well be linked to the recession, he said.

SHOOT: Which makes the appearance of swine flu right now somewhat ominous.

clipped from www.news24.com Johannesburg - South Africa's first recession in 17 years could be to blame for an increasing number of stress-related illnesses, Pro Sano Medical Scheme said on Tuesday. "Quite simply, it seems as though money worries and job insecurity are making people sicker and leading to increased hospitalisation and medical treatment," he said. Arens said a number of medical schemes had reported a significant change in the usual claims patterns and it appeared medical aid claims were on the increase. "Claims expenditure in the first half of the year are usually much less than what we've seen this year," he said. "We normally notice peaks around May, June and July linked to winter ailments," he said. However, claims received in the first part of 2009 were almost as high as mid-year claims, which was "worrying", Arens said. He said hospitals run as businesses were also feeling increased pressure to show profits and keep their shareholders happy.

You spectacular annual awards 2009 held at Emperors palace [SLIDESHOW + Winners]

The winners are:

FEMALE NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: InCha
MALE NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Derek van Dam
SA COUPLE OF THE YEAR: Connie and Shona Ferguson
SEXIEST WOMAN: Lee-Ann Liebenberg
SEXIEST MAN: Loyisa Bala
MOST POPULAR FEMALE CELEB: Jeannie D
MOST POPULAR MALE CELEB: Bryan Habana
FAVOURITE ACTRESS: Sophie Ndaba
FAVOURITE ACTOR: Menzi Ngubane
SPORT STAR OF THE YEAR: Bryan Habana
MUSIC STAR OF THE YEAR: HHP
RADIO PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR: DJ Fresh
CELEB ROLE MODEL OF THE YEAR: Zola
NEWSMAKER OF THE YEAR: Natalie du Toit

SHOOT: Interesting to see Bryan Habana winning two categories. Probably because Ryk Neethling has essentially walked out of the limelight. Is Natalie du Toit newsmaker of the year? The only category readers did not vote for was Newsmaker of the Year - YOU editor Esmaré Weideman chose the winner, and I think she's a bit off on that one. Must be a chick thing. Click on the link below to see other celebs.

clipped from www.sowetan.co.za

"It's especially ironic that given our preoccupation with numbers, we have arrived at the point where numbers just can't be comprehended anymore."

Kunstler: One of main reasons behind the vast confusion now reigning in the USA, our failure to construct a coherent consensus about what is happening to us (or what to do about it), is our foolish obsession with econometrics -- viewing the world solely through the "lens" of mathematical models. We think that just because we can measure things in numbers, we can make sense of them.
We're entertaining ourselves with shell games, musical chairs, Chinese fire drills, Ponzi schemes, and Polish blanket tricks (where, to make your blanket longer, you cut twelve inches off the top and sew it onto the bottom).
Now that Newsweek Magazine -- along with the mendacious cretins at CNBC -- have declared the "recession" officially over, it's a sure thing that we are entering the zone of greatest danger.

SHOOT: Problem is we tend to focus on some numbers and purposefully ignore/avoid others. Off balance sheet accounts and massaging statistics. Graphs that emphasise greater or lesser changes than actually happen. Yup, with things as horrible as they are, and no fundamental response or change in our course of activites - other than bailouts [for banks] - inexplicably we're told, 'They're about to improve.' http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090810/us_nm/us_usa_economy_survey
Yes, we may see a recovery, based on sentiment and spin. And it might last 1-6 months. But when reality sets in, and it will, our circumstances will change color, this time, noticably. Noticable changes in the living standards of the middle class and their [our] prospects.

clipped from kunstler.com This week, outstanding world derivatives were declared to have reached the 1 quadrillion mark.  Commentators lately -- e.g. NPR's "Planet Money" broadcast -- have struggled to explain to listeners exactly what a trillion is in images such as the number of dollar bills stacked up to the planet Venus or the number of seconds that add up to three ice ages plus two warmings.  A quadrillion is just off the charts, out of this world, not really subject to reality-based interpretation. You might as well say "infinity."  We have flown up our own collective numeric bung-hole. The number problems we face are now hopeless.  America will never be able to cover its current outstanding debt.  We're effectively finished at all three levels: household, corporate, and government.

Need to stimulate jobs? Wind power boosts local demand for labor

In wind power, local demand often means local jobs -- that's especially true in China where an unofficial rule says all installed turbines must include 70 percent local content.

SHOOT: Going green has the advantage that it is fairly labor intensive. South Africa needs to turn the Karoo into a Solar Power Mecca, especially around urban centres such as Beaufort West and Upington, Kimberley and possibly Colesberg.

clipped from www.reuters.com LONDON (Reuters) - China is winning a global race to create "green collar" jobs, six months after countries worldwide launched $500 billion spending plans to drive a low-carbon economy. Following the economic downturn, both the United States and Europe aim to spur jobs in a green push to fight climate change and boost energy security, but China may leapfrog both this year in new wind power -- a key measure. China passed the United States in numbers of new wind turbines built in the first half of 2009, data from Beijing-based specialists Azure International shows, and is also increasing its share of the main solar demand market, Europe. "I think China is definitely winning the race," said Wu Changhua, China director of the London-based environment body The Climate Group, citing support for low-carbon LED lighting and electric cars as well as wind and solar.