Don't Say Why, Say Why Not Says Dr Chrsito Wiese

Speech Delivered by Dr Christo Wiese to the Members of the Adele Searll Mount Nelson 100 Club On Friday 7 May 2010:

A few years ago I read a very interesting book, by a Lebanese writer, one Taleb,  titled the Black Swan.  By now, I am sure, we’ve all heard the story of the “once enigmatic” Black Swan  -  but what was the lesson of this story?   Simply,  that  when confronted with incomplete data one often  draws incorrect conclusions,  and therefore –  people often think they know more than they actually do know.    Perhaps one should  pay more heed to what Donald  Rumsfeld,  former US Secretary of Defence said on occasion:

“There are known knowns.  These are the things we know that we know.  There are known unknowns.  That is to say,  there are things that we know we don’t know.   But these are also unknown unknowns.  There are things we don’t know we don’t know.”

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The Middle is Holding

By Matthew Choate

(Africa The Good News newsletter 15 April 2010 #45)

The South African democracy is 16 years old; a virtuous and impressive accolade considering her violent past and the track record of so many African countries, which descended into anarchy during a change from colonial regimes to locally controlled governments. There was no coup, there was no war, there was no bloodshed, just people standing in lines and casting their vote. A day the old adage "the pen is mightier than the sword" proved true.
2010 was set to be another iconic milestone in the country's history. As the poster child of African business, social development, democracy and ingenuity South Africa was the perfect host for the continent's first FIFA World Cup. The country celebrated the successful bid, with commentators saying that this was finally an opportunity to show the world how far the nation had come since the end of apartheid.

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