Sunday, December 19, 2010

South African White farmers 'being wiped out' by Dan McDougall in Ceres, Western Cape





THE gunmen walked silently through the orchard. Skirting a row of burnt-out tires, set ablaze months earlier to keep the budding fruit from freezing, they drew their old .38 revolvers.

Inside his farmhouse Pieter Cillier, 57, slept with his 14-year-old daughter Nikki at his side. His 12-year-old son JD was having a sleepover with two teenagers in an adjoining room.

As the intruders broke in, the farmer woke. He rushed to stop them, only to be shot twice in the chest.

In his death throes he would have seen his killers and then his children standing over him, screaming and crying.

The attackers, who were drug addicts, simply disappeared into the night. Cillier’s murder, at Christmas, was barely reported in the local press. It was, after all, everyday news.

Death has stalked South Africa’s white farmers for years. The number murdered since the end of apartheid in 1994 has passed 3,000.
In neighbouring Zimbabwe, a campaign of intimidation that began in 2000 has driven more than 4,000 commercial farmers off their land, but has left fewer than two dozen dead.

The vulnerability felt by South Africa’s 40,000 remaining white farmers intensified earlier this month when Julius Malema, head of the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) youth league, opened a public rally by singing Dubula Ibhunu, or Shoot the Boer, an apartheid-era anthem, that was banned by the high court last week.

Malema’s timing could hardly have been worse. Last weekend in the remote farming community of Colenso, in KwaZulu-Natal, Nigel Ralfe, 71, a dairy farmer, and his wife Lynette, 64, were gunned down as they milked their cows. He was critically injured; she died.

That same day a 46-year-old Afrikaner was shot through his bedroom window as he slept at his farm near Potchefstroom. A few days later a 61-year-old was stabbed to death in his bed at a farm in Limpopo.

The resurrection of Dubula Ibhunu, defended by senior ANC officials as little more than a sentimental old struggle song, has been greeted with alarm by Tom Stokes, of the opposition Democratic Alliance. He said the ANC’s continued association with the call to kill Boers could not be justified.

“Any argument by the ANC that this song is merely a preservation of struggle literature rings hollow in the face of farming families who have lost wives, mothers and grandmothers,” he added.

He was supported by Anton Alberts of the right-wing Freedom Front Plus party: “Malema’s comments are creating an atmosphere that is conducive to those who want to commit murder. He’s an accessory to the wiping out of farmers in South Africa.”

Rossouw Cillier, Pieter’s brother, bristled as he pointed to the bullet holes in the panelled kitchen of the farmhouse near Ceres in the Western Cape. “They shot him through the fridge from the back door — the bullets came straight through here, into his heart. He never had a chance,” he said.

A successful apple and pear grower, he believes his community is living on borrowed time: “More white farmers have been killed than British soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yes, we are at war here.”
His brother’s farmhouse is now shuttered and empty. “I can’t spend time here. We’ll have to sell. This farm has been in our family for generations but it must go. Who’ll manage it? The children will never come back here. They held their own father as he died in front of them. Will they ever get over that?”

As we walked across the orchard, fruit destined for the shelves of Tesco and Sainsbury’s in the UK was still being picked. A tractor passed a 10ft cross erected in honour of the murdered farmer.
“It lights up at night,” Rossouw said. “My brother was a religious man. It’s all that’s left of him here.”

Across South Africa many farmers feel endangered. In Northern Province a tribute has been created beneath an enormous sign with the stark Afrikaans word “plaasmoorde” — farm killings. Thousands of white wooden crosses have been planted across a mountainside, one for each fallen farmer.

Recently the government’s department of rural development has been airing proposals to nationalize productive farmland as a “national asset”. Critics claim it is designed to deflect criticism from the ruling ANC’s failures.

“It’s a lot easier talking about nationalizing farms than building decent houses, making clean water come out of taps or honoring promises to redistribute farm plots to millions of landless poor,” said a spokesman for AgriSA, the farmers’ union.

On the outskirts of Ceres there are few groceries in the township store — tins of pilchards, baked beans, some dried biscuits. A group of teenage boys sit on the burnt-out remains of a Ford Escort. This is where Cillier’s killers gathered, in a shebeen, a drinking club, where they fortified themselves with cheap hooch before they set off to rob him. They escaped with nothing.

According to Rossouw Cillier the most telling detail is that his brother was unarmed when they attacked. “If we brandish a weapon, we’ll go to prison, not them. What did they gain from this murder? It was an act as pointless as their lives.”

Dan McDougall in Ceres, Western Cape as he reported 
 

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Ontario Works Program Requirements Lacking Permanent Residence and Canadian Citizenship Eligibility Requirement?




Apparently at present the main eligibility requirement for people seeking to receive benefits of financial assistance and other such program and service is that the person be living in Ontario without first having to be a Canadian citizen or legally landed immigrant.

Experts put the number of undocumented immigrants in Canada at between 175,000 and 250,000 people.  While it is illegal for companies in Canada to hire undocumented workers this law is rarely enforced because of Toronto’s  Don’t Ask” policy.

Many illegal immigrants in Canada are failed refugee claimants who never leave the country, or people who overstay visas. In Toronto and Vancouver there are a large number of undocumented people who are working in the underground economy.

It further appears that the city under the previous administration ran up a bill in excess of $53 Million dollars for services that are over and above the mandatory health services required by the province.

To date the province according to Andrew Chornenky has paid out over $135 Million to the city for welfare alone this year. However it seems that the previous city administration was asking for an additional payment of some $35 Million for what I am not sure?

At present the city thanks to taxes paid by Toronto taxpayers  helps with additional health costs for people living in Toronto that the province does not reimburse because one assumes they were not mandated service that the province is willing to pay for and rightfully so.

Toronto taxpayers presently fund such services as 
1.    Ontario Disability Support Program,
2.   Dental services,
3.   Eyeglasses and eye care,
4.   Health benefits for people leaving Ontario Works,
5.   Medical supplies and special devices,
6.   Medical transportation,
7.   Medication,
8.   Physiotherapy services,
9.   Special diets,
10. Other health related resources? 

The question that must be answered, if we are paying these costs to non citizens, is why when Canadian citizenship should come first?

The MPP responsible for the Ministry of Community and Social Services is James J. Bradley, MPP  mailto:jbradley.mpp@liberal.ola.org



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Saturday, December 4, 2010

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas and an Exciting, Active and Healthy Holiday Season to All Who Celebrate Same in Their Personal Way.

 


Hanukkah  2010  December 1-9
Hanukkah which this year started on December 1, is a Jewish holiday celebrated for eight days and nights. Hanukkah has become much more popular in modern practice because of its proximity to Christmas.
With many Jewish people living in predominately Christian societies, over time Hanukkah has become much more festive and Christmas-like.
Jewish children receive gifts for Hanukkah – often one gift for each of the eight nights of the holiday. Many parents hope that by making Hanukkah extra special their children won't feel left out of all the Christmas festivities going on around them.






Christmas 2010 December 25



Around about 400 AD, Christians started celebrating the birth of Jesus. 'Christ' means 'Messiah' or 'Anointed One' - the title given to Jesus - and 'Mass' was a religious festival.

Unfortunately in most of the world today, the real meaning of Christmas is often forgotten. It has become a non-religious holiday!

More children believe in Santa Claus or Father Christmas than in Jesus. Christmas Day has become a time of exchanging gifts and for eating, drinking too much and watching television.

To find  the real Christmas story it can be found in the Christian Bible. It is told in two different books, Matthew and Luke chapters 1 and 2.

By reading the story of the birth of Jesus and seeing how Christians celebrate Christmas today you will see that unfortunately they do not seem to have many connections in  Christian society to day.


Thursday, December 2, 2010

Our Toronto City Council Should Implement a Zero Based Budgeting Process for 2011 ?





 I strongly believe Mayor Rob Ford and his new administration can come in with No tax Increases for 2011 and replenish the city reserve funds if.....

He insists that a zero base budgeting process be put in place for all city departments, services, commissions and programs for 2011 and beyond immediately.

A zero-based budgeting process requires that the existence of a government services and programs be justified in each fiscal year, as opposed to simply basing budgeting decisions on a previous year’s funding level.  As such it would force all city departments, commissions etc. to assign every dollar of income to an expense (or savings) category.

This ZBBP puts the burden of proof on the Commissioner and managers and demands that each justify the entire budget in detail and prove why he or she should spend the taxpayers money in the manner proposed. As In zero-based budgeting, each dollar spent by management must be justified with a detailed account of what will be spent

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Do We Canadians Have a Right to Know How Much Time Our Civil Servants Spend on Social Media Sites While Working on Our Dime and Supposedly for Us?

                                                                                  






Studies show us that the cost of illegal use of Internet access by employees from corporations or governments based on 1,000 employees is $36 MILLION or more annually in lost productivity for one hour of such daily illegal web surfing by civil servants or other employees.


Statistics relating to employee computer and Internet abuse are alarming and should be of great concern not only to corporations but also to our elected representatives of the government.


How do our elected representatives who are supposedly in charge of looking after our tax dollars, in a prudent manner, continue to allow such unnecessary costs and abuse by civil servants unabated and without termination procedures in place.


Such flagrant disregard for taxpayers’ money is itself a breach of trust by our politicians.


Please take the time to read more about such facts @ http://www.snapshotspy.com/employee-computer-abuse-statistics.htm for future reference.

Our government has spent millions of our tax dollars arguing that taxpayers have no right to know how much time civil servants spend on social media sites, sports and entertainment websites or trying to access websites that show porn or promote “Racism and Hate” or “Drugs.”

The Toronto Stars' recent article @ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/896435--civil-servants-internet-habits-kept-secret-from-taxpayers confirms such a waste and abuse of our tax dollars and the fact that our government continues to hide such information from us, the ones paying the bills.

When it involves public service work habits, public funds, transparency and openness must prevail.

The refusal to make public the Internet habits of our civil servants is a shady one at best.

Elected representatives, with such nonsensical, irresponsible and undemocratic approaches, deserve to be kicked out of office as such actions are not consistent with open and honest public service or a government that works for the people.

Let’s hear from you the ones having to foot the bill for such abuse by our civil servants.


More fact sources @ http://profit.ndtv.com/news/show/social-networking-costs-uk-businesses-22-2-billion-87716

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Toronto Island Airport Gets Environmental Approval for Tunnel Link




Now that we have learned that a pedestrian tunnel would have no significant environmental impact and the fact that the TPA requires a an easement from the City to build any such tunnel, mayor elect Rob Ford must set a precondition that the outstanding tax arrears of $33,096,000 owing to the taxpayers of Toronto by the TPA shall be paid up in full prior to any further discussion with the city concerning the island airport expansion or consideration of an easement from the city for such a tunnel.

Until this precondition, that all TPA tax arrears are fully paid up, is met the enforcement of existing constraints on expansion must of course remain in effect.

Also the Canada Marine Act Regulation 2005-690 states, “the Toronto Port Authority shall not use, or permit any other person to use, the port to build a bridge or similar fixed link between the mainland of the City of Toronto and the Toronto Islands”.

One would hope that the waterfront community and the Island airport could hopefully reach a compromise position on any proposed expansion of the airport facilities which would be for the benefit of all Torontonians in the not too distant future.

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local/article/903904--environmental-report-gives-ok-to-proposed-city-airport-tunnel

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Voting, like Jury Duty, Should be a Compulsory Civic Duty to Enhance Democracy, Participation and Political Awareness?