Category Archives: Human Accomplishment

UPDATED: New Victors (& Old Anchors)

Human Accomplishment, Media, Politics, South-Africa, Sport

“The charmed men and women gracing the podiums of modern Olympia are there for no other reason than that they are the finest in their fields. What greater contrast can there be between the Olympian (like swimmers Missy Franklin, Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Matt Grevers) who powers himself to the pinnacle, and the politician, who drapes himself in the noble toga of idealism, in the famous words of Aldous Huxley, so as to conceal his will to power.” (“COMPETE, DON’T KILL”)

The story of the underdog is often more inspiring. Once superb sportsmen, South Africans were ousted from international competitions until they agreed to hand over the country to the African National Congress. (Nowadays, on winning, each young winner prays publicly to “Madiba,” Nelson Mandela’s African honorific, and an adopted affectation among liberals.)

Notwithstanding lack of sponsorship—South African Olympian Cameron Van der Burgh trains in “a 25 meter pool in his local gym“—great South African talent is emerging again.

Chad le Clos beat Michael Phelps in the 200 meters butterfly. A gold medal went to le Clos’s compatriot, Van der Burgh, “who broke the breaststroke world record on Sunday.”

The 24-year-old Van der Burgh “became the first South African man to win Olympic gold in an individual swimming event, after he powered through a race that left champion Kosuke Kitajima and previous record holder Brenton Rickard trailing in his wake.” (NewsDay)

He set a world record of 58.46 seconds on Sunday, beating the 58.58 set by Brenton Rickard in 2009. It also eclipsed the Olympic record of 58.83 he set in his semi-final on Saturday.
“Tonight, as I came in, I said to myself, ‘a man can change his stars, you can write your own destiny tonight’. I had my chance and I took it,” he said, after a victory that saw him lie back in the pool in sheer exhilaration at the finish.

Unrelated (and not to be rude), but has anyone noticed the frightful hags NBC has unleashed among the athletes, to gather news and interviews? OMG. I’m all for merit over pulchritude, so I hope this is what this is all about, but the stridency of Mary Carillo is quite something.

UPDATE: Facebook thread: Apartheid-era South Africa was subjected to sporting boycotts. I am not sure about boxing. In fact I do remember watching Gerrie Coetzee box.

‘You Didn’t Build That’: Obama’s Political Epitaph

Barack Obama, Government, History, Human Accomplishment, Individualism Vs. Collectivism, Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, Political Philosophy, Private Property, Republicans, Socialism

“‘You Didn’t Build That’: Obama’s Political Epitaph” is the current column, now on RT. Here is an excerpt:

“… Not once but four times did Obama repeat the gist of his clinching line, ‘You didn’t build that.’ With each iteration, his voice dripped contempt for individual achievement.

‘…you didn’t get there on your own.
You didn’t get there on your own.
If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that.
Somebody else made that happen.’

‘You didn’t build That’ will be Barack Obama’s political epitaph.

Obama’s collectivism, and vertiginous ignorance, called for a one-two punch. A knockout. Patrick J. Buchanan was the only rightist—I hesitate to libel Mr. Buchanan as a Republican—who delivered the blow.

‘Barack Obama, with due respect, does not understand America — at least that part of America that produces and creates,’ roared Buchanan on Fox News. ‘Obama spent his whole life in tax-exempt, tax-subsidized and tax-supported institutions. Does he not understand what creates the wealth in America?’

‘For the first 175 years of our existence as a people, there was no federal government. Who does he think created that country of 3 million who defeated the greatest empire in the world, other than the individuals who built the farms and little factories; who clothed and fed and housed themselves and created one of the greatest societies on earth, again, before the federal government was created?’

Indeed, America is the culmination of the individual principle of voluntary cooperation…

… Obama’s remarks at Roanoke, Virginia, on July 13, 2012, were more than a faux pas.

With these remarks, Obama has come out of the closet as a most odious collectivist, who believes religiously that government predation is a condition for production. Or, put simply, that the parasite created the host.

With his near-religious repetition of the ‘you didn’t build that’ phrase, the president of the United States demonstrated his faith in the statist principle of compulsory cooperation. …”

The complete column, “‘You Didn’t Build That’: Obama’s Political Epitaph,” can be read on RT.

Also available from WND is my book, “Into The Cannibal’s Pot: Lessons for America from Post-Apartheid South Africa.” The paperback edition features bonus material, including an Afterword by Burkean philosopher Jack Kerwick, Ph.D. Order it from WND.

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Hero & Ho Athletics @ The Fascistic Olympics

Africa, Homeland Security, Human Accomplishment, Sport, The State

As a longtime-medium distance runner (and a one-time sprinter at school), my Olympic heroes are always the runners. And, in particular, the African marathon runners. They seem to embody the spirit of the marathon.

The pampered runners of the West, with their coaches, sponsors and carefully honed running techniques, don’t do it for me.

(The high point of the competition is still, however, the testosterone-fueled, always magnificent, 100-meter men’s dash.)

You know that Geoffrey Mutai got good at distance running because he had to ran to school every day, and then stuck with this grueling sport—way of life, really—against all odds.

All interested eyes will be on Wilson Kipsang, who won the 2012 London Marathon.

What a shame that the cameras at the fascistic Olympics—what a production of the police state this Olympics is proving!—will be on ho athletics, or Beach Volleyball, rather than on the games’ real heroes.

Samuel Williams: American Hero

Constitution, GUNS, Human Accomplishment, Individual Rights

Her legions of soft, flaccid fans insist Karen Klein is an American hero. Wrong. Samuel Williams is the genuine article.

The spry senior sprung into action faster than any of the helpless young-ones around him. Williams chased and took aim at the armed robbers who had attacked patrons of the Palms Internet Cafe, in Marion County, Fl, where he and his wife were hanging out.

He took aim and HIT them. Take a look:

“…the Florida senior pulled a .380 semi-automatic gun, and started firing away at the crooks,” writes Jim Kane of News.

Wrong. As you can see, Williams took aim and hit both crooks, who suffered “minor gun-shot wounds,” and wound up in hospital.

The zip codes with the strictest gun laws, also have the highest numbers of rapes and murders. More firearms equals less crime.

This gentleman’s courage is astounding, given that the assailants were armed.