"Durban - A white taxi's reign of terror in Hillcrest that claimed a young soccer star's life on Thursday night continued on Friday when a third motorist was shot at, but managed to get away...."
Join the Facebook Group and offer your sympathies to the Boreham family.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Food for the Soul
Thought for the Day ~ October 27th
"We must give up, not because we are dejected or battered. We must give up because there has come a certain ripening within.
The steady-minded by giving up all attachments for the fruits of action, obtains peace, born of steadfastness. The unsteady being attached to fruits through desire, is ever bound by action. (Bhagavad-Gita)
The great secret of life is to learn to maintain an even tenor in the midst of all things. Life as a rule does not run evenly. It has many ups and downs. It has many changes. But those who have found the way of wisdom, have learned how to maintain evenness in spite of all the unnevenesses which circumstances offer. We do not accomplish this by calculation or by any material means. We accomplish it by going within and attaining inner tranquility.
O Thou who art One and All-abiding, I offer up my thoughts , words and actions unto Thee. Grant that each act of the day may be an act of devotion. Thou art the source of my being; I turn to Thee with wholehearted love and trust. In Thee alone do I find rest and satisfaction. From Thee alone can I draw life and strength."
(Swami Paramananda - Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers)
"We must give up, not because we are dejected or battered. We must give up because there has come a certain ripening within.
The steady-minded by giving up all attachments for the fruits of action, obtains peace, born of steadfastness. The unsteady being attached to fruits through desire, is ever bound by action. (Bhagavad-Gita)
The great secret of life is to learn to maintain an even tenor in the midst of all things. Life as a rule does not run evenly. It has many ups and downs. It has many changes. But those who have found the way of wisdom, have learned how to maintain evenness in spite of all the unnevenesses which circumstances offer. We do not accomplish this by calculation or by any material means. We accomplish it by going within and attaining inner tranquility.
O Thou who art One and All-abiding, I offer up my thoughts , words and actions unto Thee. Grant that each act of the day may be an act of devotion. Thou art the source of my being; I turn to Thee with wholehearted love and trust. In Thee alone do I find rest and satisfaction. From Thee alone can I draw life and strength."
(Swami Paramananda - Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers)
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Top 5 Most Dangerous Countries in the World
The email from Kas made me do my own google search and this is what I found today from:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/159175/top_5_most_dangerous_countries_in_the.html?page=2
2. South Africa. The rich class in South Africa has moved into gated communities, creating a schism between classes and evidently races, one which was theoretically abolished during the apartheid. It is ranked first in rapes per capita amongst the whole world and has a notorious record for car hijacking. The problem is so severe, that women are allowed to speed through red lights to avoid being car hijacked, or worse. One of its capitals, Johannesburg, is the most dangerous, with almost all middle-class and high-class families carrying weapons merely for protection. Peter Murgatroyd, resident of Cape Town, says "As a 30 year old born in SA spending most of my life here, I have stab wounds in my back, a few times I've had a gun shoved in my face, my car and house broken several times and I purchased another 'security' product this week. Enough said." (BBC.com) South Africa averages 50 murders a day in a nation of 47 million.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/159175/top_5_most_dangerous_countries_in_the.html?page=2
2. South Africa. The rich class in South Africa has moved into gated communities, creating a schism between classes and evidently races, one which was theoretically abolished during the apartheid. It is ranked first in rapes per capita amongst the whole world and has a notorious record for car hijacking. The problem is so severe, that women are allowed to speed through red lights to avoid being car hijacked, or worse. One of its capitals, Johannesburg, is the most dangerous, with almost all middle-class and high-class families carrying weapons merely for protection. Peter Murgatroyd, resident of Cape Town, says "As a 30 year old born in SA spending most of my life here, I have stab wounds in my back, a few times I've had a gun shoved in my face, my car and house broken several times and I purchased another 'security' product this week. Enough said." (BBC.com) South Africa averages 50 murders a day in a nation of 47 million.
Email from Kas - Crime Update in South Africa
See below an email I received from Kas & Lenny this morning regarding the crime stats in South Africa.
Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 13:33:42 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Info on SA
Hi there
Please see attached the latest CRIME stats on SA. We feel the need to share with you that are planning to relocate to or from SA. We are been compared to the countries at war, this is so sad. What future does our kids have here. Well I have been back for less than a week and have had 3 people close to us either mugged or hijacked this week. We have had an attempted break in on sat nite. This is very scary to feel unsafe in your own home. We don't want to scare you but this is the truth about our beautiful country that we love so much. Our families live here.We are so ready to leave for a free and safe life for our precious little girl. Yes we pray for God's protection, but he gives us wisdom to use accordingly. Sorry if we sound negitive but we need to share this with you our loved ones, that you can feel and know what we feel and go thru daily living here in fear and scared for the safety of our children, parents and our own lives.
God Bless
Regards
Kas & Len
Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2007 13:33:42 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Info on SA
Hi there
Please see attached the latest CRIME stats on SA. We feel the need to share with you that are planning to relocate to or from SA. We are been compared to the countries at war, this is so sad. What future does our kids have here. Well I have been back for less than a week and have had 3 people close to us either mugged or hijacked this week. We have had an attempted break in on sat nite. This is very scary to feel unsafe in your own home. We don't want to scare you but this is the truth about our beautiful country that we love so much. Our families live here.We are so ready to leave for a free and safe life for our precious little girl. Yes we pray for God's protection, but he gives us wisdom to use accordingly. Sorry if we sound negitive but we need to share this with you our loved ones, that you can feel and know what we feel and go thru daily living here in fear and scared for the safety of our children, parents and our own lives.
God Bless
Regards
Kas & Len
Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Top 5 most dangerous countries in the World
2. South Africa. The rich class in South Africa has moved into gated communities, creating a schism between classes and evidently races, one which was theoretically abolished during the apartheid. It is ranked first in rapes per capita amongst the whole world and has a notorious record for car hijacking. The problem is so severe, that women are allowed to speed through red lights to avoid being car hijacked, or worse. One of its capitals, Johannesburg, is the most dangerous, with almost all middle-class and high-class families carrying weapons merely for protection. Peter Murgatroyd, resident of Cape Town, says "As a 30 year old born in SA spending most of my life here, I have stab wounds in my back, a few times I've had a gun shoved in my face, my car and house broken several times and I purchased another 'security' product this week. Enough said." (BBC.com) South Africa averages 50 murders a day in a nation of 47 million.
Kree's Reflections on Ulearn07 Conference
Sunday 7th October 2007
Hi All,
Hope you have all had a good break and are feeling refreshed for the 4th and final term – only 79 days to Christmas :-)
I spent the first week of my holidays entertaining visitors from South Africa – it was wonderful catching up with two of my neighbours from Durban, who I have known since the age of four. The second week kept me busy with spring-cleaning and the last three days I was fortunate to attend the Ulearn07 conference at Sky City. What a fabulous conference it was with three inspiring keynote-speakers and some amazing NZ teacher/presenters.
I have learned so much and by the last day I was on overload. The biggest message for me was about networking, collaborating and connecting with others in order to prepare our students as lifelong learners of the 21st century.
I have learned that one of the aims of teaching is to develop and extend students' thinking and learning by catering for pupils’ individual learning styles, multiple intelligences and providing meaningful assessment which informs learning. Computers and the Internet has revolutionized the world we live, learn and teach in. There are numerous exciting programmes, tools and software for teachers and students that can make learning fun. ‘Many computer applications have been developed explicitly to engage learners in critical thinking.’ ‘…computers should be used as tools to help learners build knowledge…’ If teachers have an attitude of: ‘Please don’t give me any more information; I already know what I think!’ (Longworth, 2003) then I believe today’s classroom is not the place for them because learning is a lifelong process and it is forever changing. According to Tony Ryan, in this Information Age of the 21st century, computers are rapidly overtaking many of our analytical functions. Occupations for future generations will probably require a strong imaginative and personal component that computers are not capable of doing. It is therefore important to integrate a variety of creative teaching strategies into our classroom practice in order to prepare students for success in their learning as well as in their uncertain future.
Below are some links that you may find useful:
Keynote speakers
http://blog.core-ed.net/derek/
Conference Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ulearn/
Kree’s Ulearn Pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kreeraman/
Kree’s twitter
http://twitter.com/kree4sai
Kree’s favourites/bookmarks
http://del.icio.us/kree12
Ewan McIntosh’s Blog
http://edu.blogs.com/
http://newzealand.takingitglobal.org/
Tonnes of valuable resources
http://www.tki.org.nz/e/tki/
Evolution of Communication
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/evolution_of_communication.php
http://aucklandregion.takingitglobal.org/connections/stories/story.html?MemberID=25064
Free Books on the Internet
http://users.erols.com/jonwill/freebooks.htm
http://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=tab_h
Kree Raman
Room 12 Teacher
Kelvin Road School
Hi All,
Hope you have all had a good break and are feeling refreshed for the 4th and final term – only 79 days to Christmas :-)
I spent the first week of my holidays entertaining visitors from South Africa – it was wonderful catching up with two of my neighbours from Durban, who I have known since the age of four. The second week kept me busy with spring-cleaning and the last three days I was fortunate to attend the Ulearn07 conference at Sky City. What a fabulous conference it was with three inspiring keynote-speakers and some amazing NZ teacher/presenters.
I have learned so much and by the last day I was on overload. The biggest message for me was about networking, collaborating and connecting with others in order to prepare our students as lifelong learners of the 21st century.
I have learned that one of the aims of teaching is to develop and extend students' thinking and learning by catering for pupils’ individual learning styles, multiple intelligences and providing meaningful assessment which informs learning. Computers and the Internet has revolutionized the world we live, learn and teach in. There are numerous exciting programmes, tools and software for teachers and students that can make learning fun. ‘Many computer applications have been developed explicitly to engage learners in critical thinking.’ ‘…computers should be used as tools to help learners build knowledge…’ If teachers have an attitude of: ‘Please don’t give me any more information; I already know what I think!’ (Longworth, 2003) then I believe today’s classroom is not the place for them because learning is a lifelong process and it is forever changing. According to Tony Ryan, in this Information Age of the 21st century, computers are rapidly overtaking many of our analytical functions. Occupations for future generations will probably require a strong imaginative and personal component that computers are not capable of doing. It is therefore important to integrate a variety of creative teaching strategies into our classroom practice in order to prepare students for success in their learning as well as in their uncertain future.
Below are some links that you may find useful:
Keynote speakers
http://blog.core-ed.net/derek/
Conference Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ulearn/
Kree’s Ulearn Pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kreeraman/
Kree’s twitter
http://twitter.com/kree4sai
Kree’s favourites/bookmarks
http://del.icio.us/kree12
Ewan McIntosh’s Blog
http://edu.blogs.com/
http://newzealand.takingitglobal.org/
Tonnes of valuable resources
http://www.tki.org.nz/e/tki/
Evolution of Communication
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/evolution_of_communication.php
http://aucklandregion.takingitglobal.org/connections/stories/story.html?MemberID=25064
Free Books on the Internet
http://users.erols.com/jonwill/freebooks.htm
http://www.linkedin.com/home?trk=tab_h
Kree Raman
Room 12 Teacher
Kelvin Road School
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Monday, October 1, 2007
Kas & Regina in NZ
It was really cool having my childhood neighbours visiting in Auckland for a month. Kasturi & Aunty Regina (who is still Amma's neighbour), arrived in Auckland 29th August and returned to Johannesburg/Durban on 1st October. Kas and I have known each other just under 4 decades, and it was wonderful sharing our childhood memories after all these years. Kas had 3 job interviews while she was on holiday as Lenny and her are serious about relocating to New Zealand. Through God's Grace, we shall see them back in Auckland early next year.
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