With Mandela’s 90th birthday coming up, a lot of South Africans out there will be getting more nervous by the day, all as a result of an urban legend that has been doing the rounds for ages, called ‘Nag van die lang messe’ (Night of the long knives), which originated from visions by Siener van Rensburg.

In short, one of the visions of Van Rensburg predicts that as soon as Nelson Mandela dies, all the black people in the country are going to slaughter the white people… As an article on World Net Daily states, “One of the operations planned entails 70,000 armed black men ‘being transported to the Johannesburg city center within an hour’ in taxicabs to attack whites… Sources say most blacks in the country are aware of the plans. When racial disputes occur, blacks often tell whites, ‘Wait until Mandela dies.’ … The article also goes on quoting someone saying: “I have prepared myself and we have a gathering place where we can fortify for four weeks after Mandela’s death…If nothing happens it will be a miracle.”

Apparently the killing will move to Pretoria from there (Johannesburg), and that will be the sign to the rest of the black people in the country to kill the rest of the whites. Even more astounding, is that it is said by these prophets of doom that the blacks are getting impatient with Mandela not dieing! And that a while ago some of them were on the verge of starting with the killings, and had to be stopped by taxi-drivers! How ludicrous. It is blatently obvious that by far the most people in the country, regardless of their colour, absolutely adores Nelson Mandela.
As can be expected, there are tons of debate surrounding the issue, and this forum is just a typical example of this. These rumours are mostly rife among Afrikaans people, but plenty of English are also concerned, as is evident by forums like these. However, on a predominantly Afrikaans pop-culture website called Litnet, I found an article that I tend to agree with, saying that the people who are the most aware of colour and race, are the ones who know the least about that specific race and culture.
Personally I don’t believe in any of these rumours, but find it interesting how urban legends and fear can drive people to behave totally unreasonably and illogically. And I don’t even want to think how these people are going to react the day that Mandela does unfortunately pass away… I have a feeling that it will be them creating all the chaos.

The name Amy Winehouse has always been synonymous with drugs and alcohol. However, recently it has also become connected with Emphysema, a serious lung condition mostly associated with smoking. According to a medical website, “Emphysema involves damage to the air sacs or alveoli in the lungs, reducing the amount of oxygen the body can take in. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath and a chronic cough, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. The most common cause is smoking. The disease, once entrenched, cannot be reversed. The condition can be stabilized, however, if a person stops smoking.” It is usually only found in people over 45 years of age though, and that’s what makes this rather shocking, as Amy is only 24. The website also said that: “There’s also the possibility — not a probability — that she’s got a genetic variation. Five percent of people with emphysema have a genetic predisposition” Although let’s face it, in her case it’s probably as a result of smoking.

The Telegraph newspaper website states that this will affect her singing in that “The big difference for singers is that they require more breath and so those with emphysema can’t hold the phrases and notes that their colleagues can. They also have difficulty with volume and sometimes have trouble with high notes because they have to take in more breath.” However her singing should be the least of her problems, as her father, Mitch Winehouse said that “The doctors have told her if she goes back to smoking drugs, it won’t just ruin her voice, it will kill her. There are nodules around the chest and dark marks. She has 70 percent lung capacity.” She has also been warned that she will have to wear an oxygen mask unless she stops smoking drugs. There is not much that can be done for Emphysema, and the only real treatment in the end would be a lung transplant, although should she continue her current behaviour, she would not be eligible.

While having 70% lung capacity is a far cry from needing supplemental oxygen, she will definitely need it in the future should she not change her behaviour, which seems unlikely, as she was apparently spotted smoking in the week following her diagnosis. In an CNN.com article her father also said that “she was covered in nicotine patches and is “flourishing” in response to treatments”. It’s quite hard to imagine an addict covered in nicotine patches being described as ‘flourishing’, but let’s hope she does stop smoking, even if it’s just to set an example for some of her impressionable fans. Although I guess that even if she fails to be an example, at least it would serve as a warning.

“South Africa’s white supremacist paramilitary leader, Eugene Terre’Blanche, is back and he wants his own homeland.” This is according to an article that appeared in the Sunday Times on Sunday. The article also stated that the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) leader “…seemingly has lost none of his old fire, railing against the “communist-inspired” ANC government, Muslims, Catholics and whites who sold out the “volk” at a protest rally in the wintry town of Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal this week.” He has also been known to say that the Afrikaners are “chosen by God to bring the white light to the darkness of Africa”. By the “white light”, does he mean white-rule, or the gospel…?

In a BBC profile on Terre’Blanche, they say that “Terreblanche’s thunderous voice and magnificent style of delivery - alternating between roar and husky whisper, with gestures to match - helped to disguise the complete meaninglessness of what he was saying. His oratory would sweep from the plight of white farmers, to ancient Greek philosophy, to the state of the Soviet Union, without any apparent logic. Terreblanche seemed to walk a tightrope between racist menace and national joke.”

Terre’Blanche was sentenced to six years in prison for assaulting a petrol station worker, as well as the attempted murder of a farm worker. He was released in June 2004, almost exactly four years ago. He also claims to have become a ‘born-again’ Christian while serving his prison sentence. He was quoted in an article in The Mail and Guardian as saying ‘”I have always been a religious man,” he said. “But like many Christians, God was my back-up, not my rudder. That changed while I was in prison.”’ However he also says that he doesn’t regret any of the things he has done… “I am willing to go to jail another 10 times for what I believe in,” he roared to cries of “amen” from the audience. “They will have to kill me to stop me.”… And this definitely shows in his renewed yearning for an Afrikaner Homeland.

What I don’t understand, is how someone can be so horribly stuck in the past, and can devote all their energy to something that is completely ridiculous, and is never in a million years going to happen. Who in their right mind can possible believe the the ANC will give Afrikaners their own Homeland, where they can live separately without blacks interfering with their lives? And how many Afrikaners does he actually believe will join him? He is an embarrassment for all white, Afrikaans people.

Why can’t he just go and retire in Orania, and leave the rest of us in peace? Or, as the Sunday Times said in their Mampara of the Week segment… “…if you could find a nice cave somewhere and settle down there to a quiet Cro-Magnon existence, that would be nice. Honestly. And please don’t scare the children.”

Yesterday marked the celebration of Youth Day in South Africa. In 1976 an estimated 20,000 young people from Soweto led a demonstration against the segregated Bantu Education system which forced many blacks into poorly paid, subservient positions of employment, designed to provide them with skills to serve their own people in the homelands or to work in labouring jobs under whites. To add insult to injury, the Department of Education issued its decree that Afrikaans was to become a language of instruction at school, when most of the pupils and teachers could not even speak it. Add this to the fact that “the government spent R644 a year on a white child’s education but only R42 on a black child”, and due to lack of space and facilities, many young people had to stay in Primary School, and you’ve got a revolution on your hands. According to an article on About.com, “In June, Form 1 and 2 students from Orlando West Junior Primary School (also known as Phefeni) staged a classroom boycott. They were joined by students from seven other Soweto schools. The Department of Bantu Education sent the police in…” The result was students setting fire to symbols of Apartheid, police vehicles being overturned, shots fired, teargas released, bottles and stones being throwed… and it continued throughout the night.

The official death toll was 23, but other sources claim anything from 200 to 700. “A new generation had made their voice of opposition to apartheid heard, and we’re determined to be listed to.” As one of the students wrote to The World newspaper… “Our parents are prepared to suffer under the white man’s rule. They have been living for years under these laws and they have become immune to them. But we strongly refuse to swallow an education that is designed to make us slaves in the country of our birth.”

Fast forward to 2008 and what have you got? These students are now grown-up, Apartheid has ended 14 years ago, and what is happening now? Xenophobic attacks… Could it be that the same school pupils who fought so hard for their freedom are now killing other Africans who are doing just that? Granted, the unemployment rate, failure of government to deliver services etc. plays a role, and as president of the IFP, Mangosuthu Buthelezi says in an article in The Times: ‘The reality was that, after 14 years of democracy, SA still couldn’t boast that a better life for all had been achieved. In some instances, the country had gone backwards, he said.” Food prices are skyrocketing. Electricity supply is unstable. Fuel costs are exorbitant and rising fast. Criminality is rampant. Jobs are scarce. For many, houses are still unaffordable. Education is not up to scratch. During the apartheid era, school children were exposed to intimidation and violence by the police. Today, school children experience intimidation and violence in their own classrooms from their own teachers and classmates.”’ He urged young people to more politically involved again.
President Thabo Mbeki spoke at Youth Day commemorations at the University of the Western Cape yesterday, and urged the youth to honor those students of 1976 by focusing on education and personal skills development, and he also stated that: “Whereas the youth of 1976 went into exile to train as soldiers of liberation, the youth of today should go to school and college or university to acquire the skills they would use for their advancement and the development of our country and continent”. This is good advice, but what is the president himself doing to develop the country and, especially (wrt Zimbabwe), the continent?
Nelson Mandela made a rare public appearance in Cape Town yesterday, and addressed the youth by saying: “As future leaders of this country, your challenge is to foster a nation in which all people irrespective of race, colour, sex, religion or creed can ascertain a social cohesion fully. Mindful of your own challenges, you must continue to promote the principle of relentless freedom and democracy as it is the foundation upon which issues of human rights are ingrained.”
I would stick to Mandela’s advice, which, if followed, would achieve some good, and really honor those students of 1976, contrary to xenophobic hate…

Most people agree that one’s mental health/ emotional wellbeing affects one’s physical health. This is evident in simple things such as exercise being an effective antidepressant, and, even more interesting, according to an article by Becky Ham: “Annual costs of general, non-psychiatric medical care for people with persistent anxiety or depressed mood are 70 percent higher than for other patients, according to new research.” The article also goes on to explain that “There may be several reasons why patients with psychiatric problems incur greater medical care costs, according to Hunkeler and colleagues. A panic attack may mimic medical conditions like heart trouble, they say, sending patients to the emergency room. Patients with psychiatric problems may also be more worried about their health or have more trouble caring for themselves.” And according to Harvard Health Publications, “Stress, depression, and anxiety can contribute to a host of physical ailments including digestive disorders, sleep disturbances, and lack of energy”. This makes perfect sense, and I don’t think anyone would dispute these facts.

A discussion that is more recent however, is the effect that your IQ has on your health… According to a blogger who calls himself The Audacious Epigone, being smart is good for your health. “That’s a sensible assertion given the relationship in people between greater intelligence and long-term orientation. Impulsivity drives a person to engage in activities with transitory benefits but costly and lasting price tags (cigarette smoking, drug use, junk food consumption, lack of exercise, etc)… Conversely, smarter people are more capable of denying themselves these sorts of indulgences to avoid the heavy toll they take on one’s health. They are also less likely to fall for risible myths, such as the incorrect belief that AIDS carriers can eradicate their disease by having intercourse with virgins. And they are more likely to seek legitimate medical attention when something does go wrong.”
Of course income/socioeconomic class also plays a huge role, as having money obviously makes it easier to be healthy, but as another blogger states, IQ and income are “strongly and positively correlated”. However, two people with similar IQ’s but vastly different incomes should be able to lead similar lifestyles, as long as they’re able to afford similar food etc. So as far as I’m concerned, unless you’re extremely financially disadvantaged, your socioeconomic status shouldn’t affect your health that much, which means that IQ definitely plays a huge role. And as webMD states: “Few studies have been done on IQ and health inequalities; future research shouldn’t just gather data; it should see how the links between low socioeconomic status, low IQ, and poor health might be broken”. Whatever the outcome is, it should prove to be very interesting…

AIDS is a huge problem in South Africa. One of pandemic proportions as a matter of fact. According to a website called Avert, “almost half of all deaths in South Africa, and a staggering 71% of deaths among those aged between 15 and 49, are caused by AIDS. So many people are dying from AIDS that in some parts of the country, cemeteries are running out of space for the dead. A recent survey found that South Africans spent more time at funerals than they did having their hair cut, shopping or having barbecues. It also found that more than twice as many people had been to a funeral in the past month than had been to a wedding.”

This is shocking information. And amidst all of this, the Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has recently said that “…the 2007 (HIV antenatal ) survey would show that HIV prevalence had declined by 1,2 percent (from 29,2 percent in 2006 to 28 percent in 2007) among antenatal patients and by 0,8 percent (from 13,7 percent to 12,9 percent) among 15- to 19-year-olds” According to the article, which appeared in The Star on Friday, Ms Tshabalala-Msimang was also quoted as saying: “I am therefore delighted to report to this house that through our collective efforts we have begun to reverse (previous) trends... We are achieving these encouraging trends because of our intensive prevention campaign, which we believe is starting to make a difference,”

Statistically speaking, is a 1.2 and 0.8 percent difference really a difference? How accurate are these figures? How can we be sure that an adequate number of woman even participated in their survey? And should government be congratulating themselves at all when they have been widely criticised about the lack of access to antiretroviral treatment across the country. The government has also been condemned for failing to provide drugs that could prevent mother-to-child-transmission of HIV. Even their AIDS-awareness campaigns, such as loveLife, have been subjected to serious critisim. Global Fund, one of their main financial backers, felt that it was poorly targeted and implemented, and hence withdrew all funding.

So instead of saying that her department “had achieved much in the past years”, they should be more critical of themselves and actually really try to make a difference.

Apparently the remnants of apartheid, poverty and hunger play a significant role in most of the crimes against children, as well as the food shortage in neighbouring countries. I’m not that convinced about how the legacy of apartheid still has a role in this, but I’m convinced that the crisis in Zimbabwe is only making things worse. According to a website called Stop Demand, “Girls aged 12 to 17 are the most common targets of the gangs, brothel owners and others - including their own mothers - who are forcing them to sell sex”, and that girls are often abducted from shopping malls, taxi ranks, and even schools. Their findings also include those facts that: “Once they are recruited, girls are used to bring in their sisters and friends. Gangs trade in girls, exchanging them for money and weapons.” And “In some reports, communities knew of child prostitution, but justified it as a “necessary evil” given their socio-economic hardships.” In this case, being 14 years into democracy, the current government should be blamed, and not the previous one.

South Africa has no specific laws against child prostitution and child trafficking, although it is illegal to have sex with a child under the age of 16 and to abduct or kidnap a child. There is also the Children’s Act and the Children’s Amendment Act, which are instruments of fighting child poverty and of promoting the rights of the child. The theme of Child Protection Week, “CARING COMMUNITIES PROTECT CHILDREN”, probably sums it up best... Although looking at our xenophobic communities, it doesn’t leave these children with much hope…

Do cells have feelings and emotions? As far as I’m concerned they don’t, however I do firmly believe that your state of mind influence the ‘health’ of your cells. I also believe the old saying ‘healthy body healthy mind’. What really interests me though is a theory/phenomenon called Cellular Memory. It involves the idea that “things as memories, habits, interests, and tastes may somehow be stored in all the cells of human bodies, i.e. not only in the brain”. This would mean that with organ transplants information and energy stored in the organ is passed on to the recipient. The theory would apply to any organ that has cells that are interconnected, but it seems like heart-transplant recipients are most affected.

What are the consequences of this, should it be true? According to those who believe in it, organ recipients experienced changes in personality traits, tastes for food, music, activities and even sexual preference after their transplants. Many such stories have been recorded. One of the most dramatic examples, according to an article by Leslie A. Takeuchi, is ‘… an eight-year-old girl who received the heart of a ten-year-old girl who had been murdered. After the transplant, the recipient had horrifying nightmares of a man murdering her donor. The dreams were so traumatic that psychiatric help was sought. The girl’s images were so specific that the psychiatrist and the mother notified the police. According to the psychiatrist, “. . .using the description from the little girl, they found the murderer. He was easily convicted with the evidence the patient provided. The time, weapon, place, clothes he wore, what the little girl he killed had said to him . . . everything the little heart transplant recipient had reported was completely accurate.”’

While some stories are very dramatic, there are also more ‘ordinary’ examples of people whose taste in food have changed etc. According to Takeuchi’s article, Dr Mehmet Oz, famous for appearing on the Oprah Show, believes that there must be something to it. “Mehmet Oz, MD, heart surgeon at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, has invited an energy healer, Julie Motz, into the operating room during transplant surgery. Initially, Motz practiced energy healing to help reduce anxiety prior to surgery and depression following surgery. Then the team noticed that there seemed to be less incidence of rejection in these patients. They were curious to see what would happen if she were present during the operation. Motz registers, through sensations in her own body, the emotional state of the patient during the surgical procedure. Through her touch or words, Motz attempts to alleviate any worries, fears or anger the patient may be experiencing. She works with the recipient’s ability to accept the new organ and also works with the donated tissue so it will accept a new body. The results have been favorable, and the team reports reduced rejection and increased survival rates”

However not everyone feels this way about Cellular Memory. According to The Skeptic’s Dictionary “Maybe our ancestors were right. Eating the heart of one’s enemy might give you his courage. Eating brains might make you smarter. Maybe the promoters of TCM are right: eating seal penises can restore erectile function. But what if you eat too much chicken? Might you grow a beak, start clucking uncontrollably, and develop a craving for seeds? Are those squealing and mooing sounds you hear in the night your diabetic neighbors who are using porcine and bovine insulin? Pity the poor child who received a baboon’s heart.” Admittedly, eating something is not the same as having it transplanted in your body! More seriously though, they do feel that ‘an organ transplant is a life-altering experience, literally. It might well be compared to the near-death experience since transplants are done only if death is imminent. It should not be surprising to find that many transplant recipients change significantly. Some of these changes might easily be interpreted as being consistent with the donor’s likes and dislikes or behaviors. Recipients would want to know about their donor and might consciously or unconsciously be influenced by stories about the person who now “lives inside them.”’.
I also feel that the effect of post-transplant medications should be taken into account. For example Prednisone may cause increased appetite, depression and changes in personality. The human mind is also very suggestible. If I for example had to be told that my donor loved a certain kind of food or music, I could definitely start imagining liking those things myself. And because I’ve seen no difference in myself, I’m not convinced…

Do cells have feelings and emotions? As far as I’m concerned they don’t, however I do firmly believe that your state of mind influence the ‘health’ of your cells. I also believe the old saying ‘healthy body healthy mind’. What really interests me though is a theory/phenomenon called Cellular Memory. It involves the idea that “things as memories, habits, interests, and tastes may somehow be stored in all the cells of human bodies, i.e. not only in the brain”. This would mean that with organ transplants information and energy stored in the organ is passed on to the recipient. The theory would apply to any organ that has cells that are interconnected, but it seems like heart-transplant recipients are most affected.

What are the consequences of this, should it be true? According to those who believe in it, organ recipients experienced changes in personality traits, tastes for food, music, activities and even sexual preference after their transplants. Many such stories have been recorded. One of the most dramatic examples, according to an article by Leslie A. Takeuchi, is ‘… an eight-year-old girl who received the heart of a ten-year-old girl who had been murdered. After the transplant, the recipient had horrifying nightmares of a man murdering her donor. The dreams were so traumatic that psychiatric help was sought. The girl’s images were so specific that the psychiatrist and the mother notified the police. According to the psychiatrist, “. . .using the description from the little girl, they found the murderer. He was easily convicted with the evidence the patient provided. The time, weapon, place, clothes he wore, what the little girl he killed had said to him . . . everything the little heart transplant recipient had reported was completely accurate.”’

While some stories are very dramatic, there are also more ‘ordinary’ examples of people whose taste in food have changed etc. According to Takeuchi’s article, Dr Mehmet Oz, famous for appearing on the Oprah Show, believes that there must be something to it. “Mehmet Oz, MD, heart surgeon at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, has invited an energy healer, Julie Motz, into the operating room during transplant surgery. Initially, Motz practiced energy healing to help reduce anxiety prior to surgery and depression following surgery. Then the team noticed that there seemed to be less incidence of rejection in these patients. They were curious to see what would happen if she were present during the operation. Motz registers, through sensations in her own body, the emotional state of the patient during the surgical procedure. Through her touch or words, Motz attempts to alleviate any worries, fears or anger the patient may be experiencing. She works with the recipient’s ability to accept the new organ and also works with the donated tissue so it will accept a new body. The results have been favorable, and the team reports reduced rejection and increased survival rates”

However not everyone feels this way about Cellular Memory. According to The Skeptic’s Dictionary “Maybe our ancestors were right. Eating the heart of one’s enemy might give you his courage. Eating brains might make you smarter. Maybe the promoters of TCM are right: eating seal penises can restore erectile function. But what if you eat too much chicken? Might you grow a beak, start clucking uncontrollably, and develop a craving for seeds? Are those squealing and mooing sounds you hear in the night your diabetic neighbors who are using porcine and bovine insulin? Pity the poor child who received a baboon’s heart.” Admittedly, eating something is not the same as having it transplanted in your body! More seriously though, they do feel that ‘an organ transplant is a life-altering experience, literally. It might well be compared to the near-death experience since transplants are done only if death is imminent. It should not be surprising to find that many transplant recipients change significantly. Some of these changes might easily be interpreted as being consistent with the donor’s likes and dislikes or behaviors. Recipients would want to know about their donor and might consciously or unconsciously be influenced by stories about the person who now “lives inside them.”’.
I also feel that the effect of post-transplant medications should be taken into account. For example Prednisone may cause increased appetite, depression and changes in personality. The human mind is also very suggestible. If I for example had to be told that my donor loved a certain kind of food or music, I could definitely start imagining liking those things myself. And because I’ve seen no difference in myself, I’m not convinced…

According to a joint submission by the Aids Law Project (ALP) and the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), proposed new laws (draft medicines and related substances amendment bill, 2008) may grant the Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, undue power with regard to registration of new medicines. An article on Health24.com stated that the new laws would “allow the Minister of Health to block the registration of medicines of proven quality, safety and efficacy, as well as to allow the sale and provision of untested “treatments” and “cures”.”

In light of the minister’s attitude that garlic, beetroot, lemon etc is the answer to AIDS, and the controvercial AIDS-drug Virodene’s development and testing, this is indeed concerning. Then there is also the fact that the Minister has always said that traditional medicine should not be judged by Western standard. Which, as I understand it, means that it should not have to be scientifically proven.

Up untill now the job of regulating medicine has been that of the Medicine Control Council. According to the MCC, “It is appointed by the Minister of Health and its main purpose is to safeguard and protect the public through ensuring that all medicines that are sold and used in South Africa are safe, therapeutically effective and consistently meet acceptable standards of quality.” However Jonathan Berger, of the ALP, says that “the MCC, as it stands, is only semi-independent.” and “Much of its independence has been undermined already. It must be independent (reporting to parliament in terms of empowering legislation, not floating freely without any lines of accountability) to protect it from political and commercial pressure. Its mandate on quality, safety and efficacy cannot and should not be compromised to satisfy political or commercial considerations” Should this new laws be passed, the MCC will lose all independence.

It has also been said that the MCC does not take the regulation of Alternative medicine very seriously. The Democratic Alliance alleges that, “in relation to alternative medicines, the MCC has almost completely ignored its responsibilities. …there are several avenues available to it to respond to misleading or false claims. The Medicines Act, for example, specifically prohibits the sale of any product as a medicine unless clear specifications are met, including meeting safety and efficacy standards. Yet contraventions of this law happen every day, with apparently little action.” As a result of this, the Health Products Association of South Africa (HPA) launched a self-regulatory programme with the stated aim of excluding manufacturers who are destroying the industry by means of unethical behaviour in June 2006, which is run by the people it intends to regulate… which could most definitelly pose a problem.
So once this Bill is passed, the MCC and HPA’s self-regulatory programme would be of little use. What South Africa needs is something simmilar to the American Food And Drug Administration, that is responsible for the regulation of “most types of foods, dietary supplements, drugs, vaccines, biological medical products, blood products, medical devices, radiation-emitting devices, veterinary products, and cosmetics”, and that is totally independent from government, and scientifically based.