The Fletcher Memorial Home for Overgrown Infants and Incurable Tyrants

P W Botha, South African Prime Minister between 1978 and 1984 and their first President from 1984 to 1989 died on 31 October this year. He was credited for taking the first tentative (weak?) steps towards the end of the Apartheid system which segragated races in South Africa between 1948 and 1994. However, he was a stauch advocate of the system and remained unrepentant of it right up until his death. The system was comdemmed internationally as unjust and racist.

In 1999, Botha was "implicated" in the killings of anti apartheid activists by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up in South Africa after Apartheid ended. Botha refused to have anything to do with the Commission.

Some comments after his death ...

"They called him the Great Crocodile I will not weep tears for this crocodile. It would be hypocritical. He promised to make a land fit for all its citizens. He put them in prison. He let loose his torturers. He used his army of occupation in the townships. Children were shot down in 1976 when he was in the cabinet as minister of defence. He attacked Angola. He occupied Namibia. He destabilised Mozambique. He bombed Zimbabwe. He bombed Zambia.

"He was ruthless. He claimed to uphold human rights. He denied human rights. I will not mourn for him."

"We should not forget the kind of regime he represented, he was ruthless, he was brutal, he was a leader of apartheid during the harshest years of that regime, the sad truth is that he is leaving with many secrets which he should have revealed perhaps during the time of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission."

PW Botha used his army of occupation in the townships. Children were shot down in 1976 when he was in the cabinet as minister of defence. He attacked Angola. He occupied Namibia. He destabilised Mozambique. He bombed Zimbabwe. He bombed Zambia.

So where were the invading forces from the UN? Instead, South Africa were subject to years of international sanctions and endless diplomatic interventions. Crikey, we even stopped playing sport against them.

In the end Botha realised that they couldn't maintain the system of segregation he so loved. Yet, when it came to punishment after the end of Apartheid, he was allowed to retire gracefully to the coast and lead a relatively quiet existence.

Generally, I don't particularly have a major problem with this. But when you compare Botha's treatment to that of the recent trial of Sadaam Hussain, you have to wonder where the consistency is.

Forgiveness and WW1 again

This raises its head again over at Monty's blog following Ben's trollish commentary.

The pick and mix culture of our pluralistic society gives some people the impression that they can take some aspects of the Chrisitian faith and apply them to their own individual brand of Christianity. That way they are still able to exercise total personal control over their belief system with no element of individual sacrifice. They apply their rules and not God's. They become comfortable with their "brand" and then have the audacity to try and convince others that it is the real deal and fix it in stone by giving it a label.

There are some key fundamentals of the Christian faith. Forgiveness is one of them.

I may not understand or indeed agree with all of what God instructs us to do. For example, total personal sacrifice for my God is one of them. And I certainly have major issues with today's Church and (to quote viewnewsandpews) spiritual bullying. (Check out the VNP blog and Tim's letter to Christianity Today)

However, I hope I am big enough to be flexible and contemplate the issues with which I'm not fully happy in the hope that one day I might fully understand.

I tell you something,it's far from easy. In fact some days it's like wading through treacle.

The Cricket - Ball Tampering - Cheating or Not? Is any sport straight?

There have been many stories on the facrce at The Oval last Sunday but this one in The Guardian this morning caught my eye, particularly the final paragraph. Is Mike Selvey accusing the England bowlers of cheating this time last year against the Aussies?

He says (following claims that Duncan Fletcher may have had a word about possible ball tampering with match referee Mike Proctor on Sunday morning) ...

If, however, it was established that England had indeed prompted the umpires' investigation, it would throw back Anglo-Pakistan relations by a decade. It might further draw comment on whether they themselves were speaking from the high moral ground when it was their mastery of reverse swing, often as early as the 30th over of an innings, which helped win the Ashes and drew admiration. Suggestions that this was aided by the use of sugar-infused saliva from sweets has not been proved, but it is a wonder that a number of England players still have their own teeth.

Michael Holding had made a similar obscure comment about sugar coated ball polishing on Sky during the debacle last Sunday afternoon.

The last few years have been littered with bent players and officials and in the last few months we have seen major scandals with our top horse racing jockeys, cyclists banned, athletes caught (with much here say around others), the Italian football league in disarray and accusations of a major betting scam over the appointment of a permier league football manager.

But is it any surprise when you consider the amount of cash at stake?

With the explosion of a global gambling phenomenom over the last five years, this situation can only deteriorate. It's clear to me that the desire to win, money or otherwise, the level of corruption can only rise. But in the meantime, let's glamorise gambling by getting the major casinos to sponsor our football teams. And while we're at it, let's deregulate the industry so it's easier to access.

Maybe the time has come to allow sportsmen to complete on any terms they choose.