Thursday, September 17, 2009

Britain’s unions commit to a mass boycott movement of Israeli goods

Press release – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
17 September 2009

Britain’s unions commit to a mass boycott movement of Israeli goods

In a landmark decision, Britain’s trade unions have voted overwhelmingly to commit to build a mass boycott movement, disinvestment and sanctions on Israel for a negotiated settlement based on justice for Palestinians.

The motion was passed at the 2009 TUC Annual Congress in Liverpool today (17 September), by unions representing 6.5 million workers across the UK.

Hugh Lanning, chair of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: ‘This motion is the culmination of a wave of motions passed at union conferences this year, following outrage at Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, and reflects the massive growth in support for Palestinian rights. We will be working with the TUC to develop a mass campaign to boycott Israeli goods, especially agricultural products that have been produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank.’

The motion additionally called for the TUC General Council to put pressure on the British government to end all arms trading with Israel and support moves to suspend the EU-Israel trade agreement. Unions are also encouraged to disinvest from companies which profit from Israel’s illegal 42-year occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.

The motion was tabled by the Fire Brigades Union. The biggest unions in the UK, including Unite, the public sector union, and UNISON, which represents health service workers, voted in favour of the motion.

The motion also condemned the Israeli trade union Histadrut’s statement supporting Israel’s war on Gaza, which killed 1,450 Palestinians in three weeks, and called for a review of the TUC’s relationship with Histadrut.

Britain’s trade unions join those of South Africa and Ireland in voting to use a mass boycott campaign as a tool to bring Israel into line with international law, and pressure it to comply with UN resolutions that encourage justice and equality for the Palestinian people.

• Media contact: Palestine Solidarity Campaign 020 7700 6192

Friday, August 21, 2009

SAMWU asked by Government to deal with complex social problems.

SAMWU asked by Government to deal with complex social problems.

South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) press statement

By Tahir Sema

Local Government is currently facing complex social problems. These problems are; institutional incapacity, corruption, nepotism and erratic service delivery protest actions. According to Government these problems require a collective approach. These are problems which the Government admits it cannot resolve by itself, challenges that SAMWU has been asked to help deal with.

Local Government stakeholders such as organized labor unions and the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) had been given this mammoth task to deal with; to strategically reposition Municipalities, in order to respond to these prevailing challenges.

The Minister for Cooperation Governance and Traditional Affairs Sicelo Shiceka established a Ministerial Strategic Team to deal with the root cause of the prevailing challenges and to advice Local Government on appropriate interventions.

The Ministerial Strategic Team will comprise of the South African Municipal Workers Union, Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (IMATU), SALGA, National Treasury (NT), Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Department of Public Services and Administration (DPSA).

The objectives of the Strategic Team will be to conduct impact assessments of the global economic meltdown on the viability of the municipalities, to investigate the genesis of the current service delivery challenges, to assist the stake holders to develop the turnaround strategy in the local Government, to enhance the relationship between SALGA and organized labor both nationally and provincially and to undertake the comparative assessment of the wage gap between the highest paid employee and the lowest salary worker in Municipalities.

SAMWU welcomes the recent and affirmative engagement with Minister Sicelo Shiceka and foresees positive outcomes emanating from the Ministerial Strategic Team, which would undoubtedly assist Government in dealing with the complex social problems it is faced with.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Corruption; We Told You So!

Corruption; We Told You So!

And No Doubt, More arrests to follow.

SAMWU Press statement; on the recent arrests in the North-West province.

By Tahir Sema.

This morning, three senior officials in the North-West Municipalities were arrested on corruption charges. This follows strike actions and demonstrations by members of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU). Workers called for end to the corruption that has been rampant in the Province. On the evidence that SAMWU had collected, more arrests are to follow.

This morning the Acting Municipal Manager of Rustenburg, the suspended Municipal Manager of Madibeng and his Chief Financial Officer were arrested and face corruption charges following the presentation made by SAMWU shop stewards to the Ministerial Task Team.

SAMWU in the North West was part of a special Ministerial Task Team to investigate corruption charges in the North-West Municipalities. This task team was established by the Minister Sicelo Siceka of Corporative Governance and Traditional Affairs. The task team was put in place after SAMWU had raised serious concerns of corruption. This vindicates the concerns of SAMWU.

We hope this is a clear indication that the Government is not going to compromise on any form of corruption that exists anywhere in the country. We will continue to work with the government and other authorities to ensure that those who abuse the public’s trust are brought to book.

SAMWU congratulates our members in the Province for their unfaltering campaign against corruption. Perpetrators should be warned! Whether you are in a ruling elite or a minor position, this union commits itself to rooting out corruption. There is no room for the corrupt in Government!

For comment contact Walter Theledi (Deputy General Secretary) on 0825586580

Monday, July 27, 2009

Tens of thousands of municipal workers protest latest wage offer.


By Tahir Sema

Tens of thousands of municipal workers protested throughout the country, rejecting the South African Governments wage offer of 11.5% this year and 1.5% next year.

Municipal workers are demanding a 15% increase, a minimum wage of R5000 a month, 70 percent housing loan assistance for a bond up to R300,000 and the filling of vacant posts at municipalities.

South African Municipal Workers' Union (Samwu) spokesman Dumisani Langa told the assembled workers in Johannesburg, “we want a better life for all. Not just a better life for Masondo and others.”


The largest gathering had been in Johannesburg today, where an astonishing number of municipal workers chanted slogans such as "Essentialise my salary, I will essentialise your service."


According to SAMWU and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union, further protest activity will continue indefinitely, until protestors demands are met.


Demands were handed over to Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo today, as he promised to co-operate with the Unions demands, even though as he claimed in his speech to the workers, “the economic climate had made wage increases difficult and circumstances had changed."


Masondo promised the angry demonstrators that “Government will work to arrive at compromises and reach an agreement that is mutually acceptable."


In response to Masondo, Union leaders made it explicitly clear and reiterated that it would not settle for any less then the demands workers are currently calling for.


Meanwhile the ruling ANC party condemned the protests and the trashing of streets witnessed in numerous parts of the country. The effect of the strike is expected to hurt the economy and cost the country millions of Rands of irrevocable damage.

Friday, July 24, 2009

150 000 municipality workers to strike countrywide on Monday.

150 000 municipality workers to strike countrywide on Monday.

“While workers legitimate wage demands are being ignored and denied, local government managers are paying themselves exorbitant salaries.”

By Tahir Sema.

On Monday 27th July, workers employed by the municipality are expected to stop work and take to the streets across the country, calling for better pay and better benefits. The municipal workers and their respective Unions have rejected the latest wage offer of 11.5 percent by the South African Local Government Association (SALGA).

Essential services that would be suspended during the strike; refuse removal, metro bus services, train services, maintenance and any other services directly or indirectly associated to the municipality.

The South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) and the Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union (IMATU) are demanding the following for it’s members; Minimum wage of R5000 for the sector, a wage increase of 15%, 70% housing loan assistance or 70% housing rental, rejection of the multi-year agreement and filling of all vacant posts within municipalities.

In a joint press conference with SAMWU and IMATU, union affiliates made it clear that the country wide strike action was a last resort, saying that its members will continue striking indefinitely, until its demands are met. The unions are hoping that SALGA acknowledges the seriousness of these strikes.

SAMWU said, “the municipal workers received a below inflation level increase in the last financial year, effectively leading to a 4.5% cut in real wages, the union added that workers demands for a 15% increase is not unreasonable.

“While workers legitimate wage demands are being ignored and denied, local government managers are paying themselves exorbitant salaries, in most cases well over R1 million a year. Is this just and equitable?” SAMWU President Petrus Mashishi.

In a 2007-2008 local Government financial year report, it has been mentioned that 45% of all municipalities have engaged in unauthorized and wasteful expenditure. This has angered workers further, suggesting that with proper control of finances, the government could easily afford a decent wage for the men and woman who provide South Africa with vital services.

The unions strongly believe that their demands are both reasonable and affordable for municipalities. They have assured the country that adequate steps will be taken to ensure that no violence ensues from the countrywide strike.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

A call by Iran’s youth to Westernize.

SPECIAL REPORT; IRAN

By Tahir Sema.

We are watching what could probably turn out to be the fall of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with every passing day the possibility tends to seem more likely. In 1970 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini laid the foundation of Theocracy for Iran, central to this Theocracy was a concept called Velayat-e Faqi (divine sanction). This concept stipulated that Islamic jurists were accepted to have divinely ordained powers to rule as the guardians of society, concerning both moral issues and political issues of Iran’s people. Little did Khomeni know, that this concept, 30 years later would become the single biggest threat to Iran and its future.

The rapidly growing youth population in Iran is at odds with the concept of Velayat-e Faqi, they do not buy this concept and would rather have a western set of rules to govern their country in a democratic way, replacing a Theocratic rule of guardians, who would rule the country with religious principles. This in quintessence is what the quarrel is about, more than the disputed election results; it is the call by a rapidly increasing number of youth, for Iran to Westernize.

It is the 24th day of protests; Protesters openly defy the calls for silence and calm made by the current Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Protestors are venting their anger and frustration through social media channels, organizing daily protests and coordinating marches that have brought Iran to its knees for the third week. Below are some of the updates that were channeled to the world, from Iran via social networking sites;

“Live from the Islamic Republic of Iran; Mousavi calls on people of the world to march on SUNDAY in support of Sea of Green”. 3:08 PM Jun 19th. Twitter

“Live from Iran; More than 100 000 people at Tehran protest. We students do not chant death to America, we want the American constitution”. 7:09 PM Jun 17th. Twitter

Chants of Allahu-Akbar (God is great) resonate from the streets and rooftops of Iran. Angry and aggravated, the protestor’s promise that they will not give up or give in their struggle to regain Iran. The street is against the state. To make matters worse the state is as divided as ever. An Iranian analyst says “it’s a clerical mutiny, for the first time ever you have all these big clerics openly challenging the leader’s decision.” The West has partially succeeded in destabilizing the Islamic Republic of Iran, the CIA destabilization plan, announced two years ago has manifested in its initial steps.

A massive sandstorm has swept into Tehran this week, bringing with it an uncanny atmosphere filled with discontent and uncertainty, the rooftops from which thousands chant Allhu-Akbar is no more visible. The atmosphere is perfect for a new round of fierce demonstrations, one in which it would be easy to disappear from the infamous Basij (pro-government militia), who rule with an iron first, acting on orders given directly by the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guards.

Picture; A man attaches an Iranian flag to a statue of John Cockerill, a prominent British-Belgian 19th century industrialist, during a protest in Brussels. (AP Photo/Jim Buell)

The state condemned reformist challenger, Mir-Hussein Mousavi and called him a ‘criminal’. The only time, relative calm was seen, was when the Supreme Leader passed a ruling that organizers and facilitators of these damaging protests will be ‘executed,’ but this only frightened demonstrators for a day and not more.

According to official records "1,100 people were detained during post-election unrests in Tehran" says Police Chief Brigadier General Ismail Ahmadi Moqaddam.

Unfortunately the voices of many were lost, in favor of the constant jabbering of pro Mousavi Supporters, creating a biased view of the post election crisis. The lost voices were of those who are in support of Iran, its denouncement of the West and its Islamic principles.

Among the un-reported voices is an Iranian youth, who requests to remain anonymous, she made the social networking media and the world stop and ponder with the following words, that addressed the West’s deep concern over the Islamic Republic;

"If morality is so important for western governments, why do they see Iran and they don't see Gaza?!" 10:39 PM Jun 26th. Twitter

"Western democracy is not suitable for Iran, for cultural, social, political, religious & geographical reasons," said a prominent Iranian blogger.

(Continued below)

Monday, July 13, 2009

The anatomy of the Iranian election crisis and the “color revolution”.


By Tahir Sema

"Something happened in Iran" - Barack H. Obama

The most definitive issue, of which many organizations and analysts stay clear of answering is whether the Iranian elections was a fraud or not, these organizations sheepishly shy away from this question, after they ran stories that were disguised as fact. Some right wing organizations have already accepted the election results as a fraud, based on opinion and unsubstantiated claims of voter statistics and voter patterns recorded from previous Iranian elections.

Stephen Zunes a professor of Politics and chair of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco says the following in terms of the Iranian election results;


Picture; Opposition demonstrators carry a large green flag through the crowd during a demonstration in support of defeated reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousav. (AFP/File/Behrouz Mehri).

“So overwhelming were the signs of imminent Ahmadinejad defeat and so massive was the margin of his alleged victory, the only reasonable assumption was that there has been fraud on a massive scale. The polls that were available showed Mousavi leading by a clear majority and Ahmadinejad well below 40%, a margin roughly similar to what most analysts had suggested based on anecdotal evidence. Instead, the official results show Ahmadinejad winning by an overwhelming 63% of the vote.

The unmistakable political trend in Iran in the past four years has been toward greater liberalism and moderation, particularly with the addition of millions of new younger voters who are overwhelmingly disenchanted with Ahmadinejad’s ultra-conservative social policies and failed economic policies. The very idea that he would do substantially better than he did in the election four years ago, therefore, is ludicrous at face value. Indeed, in municipal and other elections held over the past couple of years, Ahmadinejad’s preferred slates lost heavily to moderate conservatives and reformers.”

On the 7th of July, in a live television interview to the Iranian nation and in defense, Ahmadinejad said “in the last 30 years, we have had 30 elections, all with different results, which in some cases the results have been far from political analysts expectations," he added that the June 12th election was the healthiest, freest, and the most beautiful worldwide.

According to Michael Green a retired forensic psychologist living in Los Angeles, however compelling Mr. Zunes arguments/opinions maybe, there is no substantial facts to support any of his assumptions. In addition he does not cite a single source to validate his claims. Many right wing organizations and individuals have accepted Mr. Zunes theories as fact, demonizing Iran. Zunes has been e-mailed by Green, asking for proof and asking how was it possible for the Professor of Politics to attain so much of information in such a short time, of which he uses to convince the reader that the election was a blatant fraud. To date Zunes has not replied with proof of his claims. He made his claim just a day after the election result, duping the unsuspected world into believing that the election was a barefaced fraud.

Though we are not able to fully ascertain if the election result was a fraud or not, it is already clear that there exists a resounding amount of people who have sinister motives, some reside within the Islamic Republic while others exert their influence from abroad.

As for the grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s claim that the election was stolen, it is apparent that he has a score to settle with the current Supreme Leader, as Montazarei was the preliminary choice to replace Khomeini. Montazeri has motive to challenge the election results as he will undoubtedly gain, should leadership change hands.

There exists a power struggle between the Ayatollahs, which has only fuelled the protests. Many clerics are not in favor of Ahmadinejad as he accused them of corruption. In what numerous pit as a surprise move, Iran’s biggest group of clerics declared Ahmadinejad’s re-election to be illegitimate, condemning the subsequent crackdown by Government forces.

Commentators are also seen to be explaining the current crisis in terms of vested interests and based on partial information, signifying that the election has been stolen.

The most important and credible information (often overlooked) we do have at our disposal about the current predicament in Iran, is that the CIA has been working for two years to destabilize the Iranian government.

On May 23, 2007, Brian Ross and Richard Esposito reported on ABC News: “The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert “black” operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell ABC News.”

On May 27, 2007, the London Telegraph independently reported: “Mr. Bush has signed an official document endorsing CIA plans for a propaganda and disinformation campaign intended to destabilize, and eventually topple, the theocratic rule of the mullahs.”

A few days prior to the above date, the Telegraph reported on May 16, 2007, that Bush administration neo-con warmonger John Bolton told the Telegraph that a US military attack on Iran would “be a ‘last option’ after economic sanctions and attempts to foment a popular revolution had failed.”

On June 29, 2008, Seymour Hersh reported in the New Yorker: “Late last year, Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush, and are designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership.”

These facts are often neatly hidden away and ignored in favor of assumptions and opinions fed to the media. The protests in Iran are riddled with sinister motives, by those who stand to gain from a fallen state.

Daniel McAdams has revealed the most compelling of research articles a few days ago, in terms of understanding the Iranian protests and its origins, in an article titled “Who Put the ‘green’ in the Green Revolution? America of course”. In what may have been sensitive information neoconservative Kenneth Timmerman wrote the day before the election that “there’s talk of a ‘green revolution’ in Tehran. No one knew what he was talking about, mainly because he was accurately predicting what was to redefine Iran.

“How would Timmerman know that unless it was an orchestrated plan? Why would there be a ‘green revolution’ prepared prior to the vote, especially if Mousavi and his supporters were as confident of victory as they claim? This looks like definite evidence that the US is involved in the election protests.

Timmerman truthfully went on to write that:

“The National Endowment for Democracy has spent millions of dollars during the past decade promoting ‘color’ revolutions in places such as Ukraine and Serbia, training political workers in modern communications and organizational techniques.

“Some of that money appears to have made it into the hands of pro-Mousavi groups, who have ties to non-governmental organizations outside Iran that the National Endowment for Democracy funds.”

Timmerman’s own neocon Foundation for Democracy is “a private, non-profit organization established in 1995 with grants from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), to promote democracy and internationally-recognized standards of human rights in Iran.”

Coincidently shortly after the “Green revolution” had begun, experts and analysts alike had given up their impartiality and critical thinking in support of this revolution, “embracing their inner green” heavy weighted experts immediately gave their support to the green revolution and Mousavi. It had been the first time in recent history were liberal organizations had simultaneously come together in support of an opposition party and their cause.

On June the 16th at about 7:00 PM all powerful BBC websites had magically turned green. The BBC’s website changed from the traditional red, grey and light blue, to green, in support of the Iran protests. Many other institutions around the world followed suit. Twitter, a social networking website was used extensively by protestors to get their message out to the world and to organize protests not only in Iran, but in many other Western countries such as; the United States, Europe and even Germany.

The day the demonstrations started the Twitter website was due for scheduled, downtime maintenance. Twitter was immediately approached by the United States Government and asked not to interrupt the Twitter service with downtime, because the protestors were sending out millions of tweets, planning crippling marches and gathering the sympathy of the world, convincing millions that Iran is a rogue state, oppressing its people.

The protests and the “revolution” Mousavi and his supporters so much desire, are far from over. The demonstrators are planning a three day strike this week, to be carried out under the pretext of a religious holiday in Iran called Itikaf (seclusion/retreat). Mousavi’s Web site has called on Iranians to use the state-sanctioned holiday to launch a three-day, nationwide strike and boycott all businesses and banks, to openly challenge the regime.

The post election crisis has manifested into a full scale ploy to westernize and destabilize the Iranian Government. Outside support and interference continues to hype the morale of those who are bent on destroying the founding principles of Iran’s Islamic Theocracy.

The greatest threat to the 30 year old regime has materialized, based on the above; the fall of the Islamic Theocracy has dawned upon the world. Whether Ahmadinejad’s victory is fraudulent or not, the wheels for a confrontational approach by Iran’s enemies have undoubtedly been set in motion.

(Continued below; Social Media timeline).

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Social media timeline of post-election crisis in Iran

By Tahir Sema

The entire Iranian post election crisis had been recorded extensively via social networking sites, the progression of the events following the election results can fully be understood by using only social networking sites, due to the vast amount of information available, from hundreds of thousands of ordinary Iranians. This timeline utilizes information from Twitter, Flicker and Wikipedia.

June 12: The Election

From Wikipedia: Iranian Presidential Election, 2009

The election had seen huge candidate rallies in Iranian cities, and turnout was very high with over 80 percent of the electorate reportedly voting. If no candidate had received a majority of support, a run-off election would have been held on 19 June 2009. At the closing of election polls, both leading candidates, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mir-Hossein Mousavi, claimed victory, with both candidates telling the press that their sources have them at 58–60% of the total vote. Early reports had claimed a turnout of 32 million votes cast. Mousavi warned the Iranian people of possible vote fraud.

Picture Credit; kaka. 0098

June 13-14: The protests begin

From Wikipedia: 2009 Iranian election protests, June 13

In what was dubbed the worst civil unrest in Iran in over a decade, clashes broke out between police and groups protesting the election results from early Saturday morning onward. Protests were initially mostly peaceful but became increasingly violent. Demonstrators chanted phrases such as “Down with the dictator”, “Death to the dictator”, and “Give us our votes back”. Mousavi urged for calm and asked that his supporters refrain from acts of violence

From Twitter, June 13-14.


From Flickr: Iran Protests, June 13-14

Picture Credit; kaka. 0098

From Wikipedia: June 15 to June 18

Candle-bearing protesters massed in central Tehran on Thursday near Toopkhaneh square, following a call by Mousavi to commemorate those who were killed on Monday’s protests. Varying reports placed the crowd size between “tens of thousands” and “more than 100,000.” A second, simultaneous protest with several hundred participants took place near the UN headquarters, while a counter rally was held by hard line students protesting former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s role in the pro-Mousavi protests.

From Flickr: Iran Election, June 15-18

Picture Credit; alanoftulsa

From Wikipedia: June 20 and Neda Soltani

State-run television reported that at least 10 were killed and 100 injured on Saturday, as thousands of protesters swept into the streets of Tehran, in open defiance of warnings issued Friday by Iran’s Supreme Leader and Security Council. A young Iranian woman, identified as Neda Soltani, was shot by the Basij and died in front of recording cameras on Kargar Avenue in Tehran. Highly graphic amateur videos of the killing rapidly spread virally across the internet to many websites, including Facebook and YouTube.

From Twitter: June 19, June 20, June 21


From Flickr: Iran Election, June 19-21

Picture Credit; Armin Ghasemi

The social networking media provided instant information to people around the world, created sympathy for the demonstrators and unofficially created funding lines for the Mousavi demonstrators. Even though the Iranian Government attempted to clamp down on communications such as; the internet and cell phone services, the content emanating from the streets of Iran still kept on coming in droves and spreading virally to the furthest corners of the globe. Social media will ultimately decide the fate of the Iran post election crisis.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Defying an official ban.




Naghshe Jahan Sq / Esfehan / IRAN. 17th June
This square is about 70 000 sq. yards (60 000 sq. meters) and can hold 150 000 people



Defying an official ban, hundreds of thousands of Iranian sup... on Twitpic Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 14, 2009 on Twitpic Share photos on twitter with Twitpic Esfahan - 16/06/2009 on Twitpic


LATTEST PICS FROM PROTESTORS; Defying an official ban, hundreds of thousands of Iranian supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi demonstrate in Tehran on Monday and Tuesday, 2009.

All powerful BBC websites have currenlty turned green in support of the Iran protesters.

Eyewitnesses say 200+ already reported dead.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Career advice you haven’t heard before


Career advice you haven’t heard before.

The top 4 steps to choosing the perfect career.


By Tahir Sema.

Today more then ever before, it has become increasingly difficult to make a career decision. It has become problematic to make a sound career choice, due to various factors that are rarely taken into account. The factors that have complicated matters are as follows; there exists an infinite amount of career choices to choose from, including fields of specialization which one ought to consider, careers are changing rapidly, (to such an extent that in a few years time those same careers may not be as valuable as you once pictured it to be) and finally the levels of expectations on the youth of today are much greater.

The more unusual jobs or career parts are often not considered in favor of the main stream careers. Today in the United States, 1 million job losses later, a perplexing trend has emerged, those individuals who chose off-beat careers and jobs have been saved from the grip of the US economic meltdown. Their counter parts, working in the main stream were mercilessly retrenched by the tens of thousands. A similar trend is being witnessed in South Africa at present.

False stereotypes within the Muslim community should be eradicated almost entirely, or else the difficulties with making a career decision could be exponentially aggravated, this aggravated state has been witnessed repeatedly, with disastrous effects. The statistics speak for themselves.

Muslim families in South Africa and the world over, believe that careers in the medical, sciences and or engineering fields are the only rewarding career paths to pursue. This kind of thinking has had a grave impact on Muslim youth, often forcing them to choose careers they are unhappy with, eventually leading to an unfulfilled life.

Research developed in the United Kingdom, has revealed that 60% of all individuals are not satisfied with their career decisions, and if they could go back in time, they would have undoubtedly selected a different career path.

The top 4 steps to choosing the perfect career;

Step 1: Have or develop a passion.

Discover yourself, explore and learn more about yourself in order to find out what’s your passion. Being passionate about something is the most important step in choosing the perfect career for you. It is passion that has driven ordinary people to become the most successful of people. “Very few of the great leaders ever get through their careers without failing, sometimes dramatically.” It was passion that kept them motivated through the good and the bad.

Step 2: Don’t forget step number 1, under any circumstances.

Even if it may mean taking a gap year in your studies to scrutinize and learn all there is to learn about yourself, it should be done. You should be aware of what’s your interests, what you enjoy doing, your strengths and weaknesses. Figure out what innate skills and interests you posses and what abilities you have that make you different from your friends.

Step 3: Research and network with people

Don’t be afraid of step 3, with the internet at our finger tips, there awaits a wealth of information, websites claiming to offer free career tests that are 99% accurate! Every possible career has already been thoroughly researched for you, which can easily be accessed on the internet. Read about one career everyday with an open mind, and see which career path most appeals to you, your passions and abilities. Network with people already in the various career paths, they will be more then willing to assist you, and maybe even take you to work with them, so you may test drive the career. Experience first hand what’s it like to be in that specific field.

Step 4: Do not let money be the deciding factor

In the final step to choosing the perfect career for you, one should not let money be the deciding factor when choosing a career path. Your success in choosing a career path that would best reflect your abilities, passions and interests is dependant on the above three steps. Monetary gain would follow unquestionably, should you choose to study that which you are passionate about. Money has the ability to take a person away from the things he loves and is fascinated by. Root out all concerns for money, especially when exploring and learning about the various career options available.

“The darkest day in a man's career is that wherein he fancies there is some easier way of getting a dollar than by squarely earning it” Horace Greeley a renowned American newspaper Editor.

By following the above steps to choosing a career path, and keeping in mind the factors that are rarely taken into account, it would enable you in due course to find a career and job which you would love doing. Warren Buffet, who is the world’s richest investor, says he is grateful that he gets to earn a living from doing that which he loves doing. The harder you work at the above 4 steps to choosing the perfect career for you, the more successful you would become in your present and future endeavors. In the words of the famous South African golfer, Gary Player “The harder you work, the luckier you get.”

Facebook’s rapid SA growth is changing and replacing the moral compass


Exposé

Facebook’s rapid SA growth is changing and replacing the moral compass.


By Tahir Sema

South Africa is among the top 10 countries (outside the United Kingdom and the United States) in order of active facebook users in the world. As of March 2009 South Africa had more then 1.2 million active users. When compared to three months earlier, the number of active users in SA grew by a mind blowing 33.4%. The rapid increase in active users puts the youth and various other age groups of this country at risk, changing their perceptions and replacing their moral/religious values, with a fantasy world of immorality in which the race is on, to be perceived as the “most desired”.

For those whom haven’t used or heard of the social networking site before (I doubt there are many). The modern day marvel Facebook, can be described as “a social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and coworkers. The company develops technologies that facilitate the sharing of information through the social graph, the digital mapping of people's real-world social connections. Anyone can sign up for Facebook and interact with the people they know in a trusted environment.” Facebook Press Room.

Facebook is the second most-trafficked site in the world, with over 200 million active users who have returned to the site in the last 30 days. The rapid growth of this website has been witnessed all over the world, more noticeably in certain countries such as: Turkey, Australia, France, Sweden, Norway, Colombia and South Africa.

The social effects Facebook has on the youth of South Africa, is worrying. It has promoted a culture of promiscuity and is threatening to kill social interaction. Though the effects cannot be scientifically measured, as evidence, startling trends among the youth and even older age groups have emerged, below a few of them with catastrophic consequences will be discussed.

Many youth due to the lack of self control, loose hours each day to socializing online and flirting with total strangers, friends and family.

More recently professional Photographers in South Africa have experienced a tremendous boost in earnings year on year, as a result of Facebook. An immeasurable amount of active Muslim users in South Africa are now going to professional photographers to have their pictures taken, so they may appear more desirable, as voted by their friends.

Based on research conducted among a wide set of Muslim Facebook users, provocative, seductive and revealing pictures made up the majority of pictures uploaded and categorized into albums by individual users. According to Facebook more than 850 million photos are uploaded to the site each month.

Keeping the site nice and clean has proved to be a huge challenge for the 850 plus members Facebook employs. Semi formal rules were developed by its staff to weed out disgusting pictures, among these semi formal rules are the Exposed Butt Rule, the Crack Rule and the Nipple Rule. Members of the site can report offensive pictures, which would immediately go to the more then 150 staff members assigned to carry out policing duties for the website. On any given day the team deals with over 400000 obscene pictures.

Unfortunately Facebook is becoming a site for wild and crazy kids in South Africa and the world over. There are more than 30 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices, mainly youth. 150 mobile operators in 50 countries are working to deploy and promote Facebook mobile products on a daily basis.

For a conservative Muslim population in South Africa, Facebook has proved to have disastrous effects when abused. The social networking site is slowly warping people’s perceptions. An extract from a Muslim girl’s Facebook over the weekend;

“OMG!!! (Oh my God) WTF (What the Fu**) happened last night??? I don’t remember anything!!! Later on during the day, while explaining to her inquisitive friends what had happened the night before, she said “I drank a whole lot! not just storm! STORM DOESNT MAKE ME DRUNK LOL” (laugh out Loud). The girl responsible for these comments lives with her parents and comes from a respectable and conventional Muslim home.

Another incident, published on Facebook two weeks ago, was by a 16 year old girl, attending a well known Muslim school in Johannesburg, it read as follows; “Thanks to my friends X and Y for the awesome weekend, I can’t believe we almost got caught while we were high on weed and other stuff ha ha”.

Facebook is not just killing social interaction; it is turning a conservative Muslim population into a shameless one. Many Muslim youth have displayed a similar behavior, and revealed disgusting facts about themselves and what they have been up to in pictures, video and words. This kind of behavior has become acceptable by the Muslim youth because many participate in a similar kind of shameful behavior, which is now viewed as “normal”, in what may, at times be defined as a desperate bid to attract the opposite sex. This kind of interaction online helps one build their social profile to “very cool”, “most spontaneous “very fun” and “very desirable.” These tags will ultimately be placed on your profile for everyone to see.

Both Male and female are using the social networking site as a tool, to market themselves to the opposite sex. All Facebook users I have spoken to claim to have people on their “friends list” that they have never met or seen before. An anonymous Muslim female who is a Facebook user claims to get 2 new invites from random guys on a daily basis; she adds “I am not complaining. I like the attention; most guys invite me or want to chat to me because of my profile pictures”.

Many e-books exist on the internet on how to pick up girls on Facebook, pitching the networking site as the ultimate playing field for pick-ups.

The Facebook debate has always centered on the question is it killing real social interaction or not? More importantly it is eroding our moral compass and promoting a promiscuous society, devoid of values, religious laws and regulations.

The rapid increase in Facebook’s numbers for South Africa is unsettling, as the youth fall victim to its fantasy world. A 33.4% increase in SA users in fewer than four months are figures that would go down in technology and history books, but this is not the end, not nearly. Growth of active users is expected to double and quadruple in the near future, to be precise, in no more then a year’s time.

The Muslim youth’s perceptions of themselves have changed and continue to change, due to social networking sites, lack of self control and a weak set of values. The lack thereof has made them openly display behavior that is at best immoral by any standards and at its worst simply hideous.

Leader of largest Islamic group calls upon all states to abandon ICC membership.


Leader of largest Islamic group calls upon all states to abandon ICC membership.

“ICC is a double standard discriminatory court which issues its decisions on an unbalanced scale.”


By Tahir Sema

Mr. Mahdi Akef leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt has called all Arab and Islamic states as well as Eastern and Western state members of The Hague International Criminal Court (ICC) to walkout and abandon their membership, “in order not to participate in a double standard discriminatory court which issues its decisions on an unbalanced scale, according to the American and Zionist policies.”

Mr. Mahdi Akef in a statement to IkhwanWeb, condemned the decision by the ICC to arrest the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, emphasizing that “this decision exceeds the limits of law, justice and political decorum and is part of an unending double standard series, the new world order follows.”

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir is accused by the International Criminal Court of masterminding a campaign of extermination, rape and pillage during the six-year conflict in Darfur.
According to media reports up to 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have fled their homes
in the region since the war in Darfur began in 2003, which was sparked by ethnic African groups, complaining of discrimination and neglect, as they took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum.
The arrest warrant by the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court is the tribunals first against a sitting head of state. Humanitarian aid agencies based in Sudan and other international officials said, they will continue to deal with Omar al-Bashir in Sudan since he remains the president of the country.
The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood stressed that the prosecutor in this case is politically blackmailing the entire Arab nation, not only Sudan, as this is the main reason for the trial, not as alleged, to prosecute a war criminal.

“If it were true that the ICC has actual grounds for such a ruling, it should have sought the arrest of American officials and their allies as well, for their crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. The same kind of treatment should be dealt to the officials of the Zionist entity for their crimes in Palestine, in Gaza in particular” Said Mahdi Akef.

He called on Arab and Islamic countries in particular to take a unified stance, “rejecting the court’s decision and declaring solidarity with Sudan, not for al-Bashir but in defense of the Arab and Islamic will, facing the attempts to make the nation kneel down and to blackmail governments and regimes. This requires a unified stance, for governments to stand together with their people” said Akef.
Meanwhile on Thursday Omar al-Bashir spoke out for the first time since he became an international fugitive in the eyes of the ICC and its member states, saying that his arrest on war crimes charges is a conspiracy aimed at destabilizing the country and disrupting peace efforts in Darfur.
In a televised cabinet meeting al-Bashir said, the court, the United Nations and international organizations operating in Sudan were "tools of the new colonialism" meant to bring Sudan and its resources under control, "an attempt to get at Sudan".
In the recent flurry of international condemnation over the ICC’s decision, China which buys two-thirds of Sudan's petroleum exports in a statement said, attempts by the International Criminal Court to arrest Sudan's leader on war crimes will only hurt efforts to bring peace and stability to the war-scarred Darfur region.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said that China backed a call by African and Arab countries to have the arrest warrant dropped. "China opposes anything that could disrupt efforts to realize peace in Darfur and in Sudan".

Thousands gathered on Thursday in Khartoum's Martyrs Square shouting support for Sudan's veteran leader and denouncing ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
It was at this gathering that the Sudanese President echoed the sentiments and concerns of the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Sudan’s people, African countries and many other Arab nations who believe that the ICC’s decision is unfair and unjust.
In the strongest of words and the backdrop of continuous applaud from his supporters al-Bashir dismissed an international arrest warrant against him for war crimes, telling a mass rally in Khartoum that Western leaders were the real criminals. "The true criminals are the leaders of the United States and Europe".
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