Category: learning curve

#Rabbit4Nic – Friday morning update

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Hello.

Please accept my apologies for what will almost certainly be a very disjointed blog post.

I’m a bit snowed under, but I think that after yesterday’s exceptional efforts by online South Africa, people deserve thanks, recognition and a quick status update of where we stand right now.

First things first  – do we have rabbit?

Almost, yes:

  • We have one rabbit coming down from Charné & Ilse Stapelburg in Pretoria. He’s being picked up this morning and should be with me on Saturday morning.
  • We have another rabbit pledged by Nicolene de Klerk in Bloemfontein. He’s being picked up on Monday for delivery to Cape Town on Tuesday.
  • We have a third  rabbit from Bernadette Beckley. I’m following up on that at the moment. Should be arriving Friday afternoon!
  • Finally, we have another potential rabbit, pending (probably delicate) negotiations with its young owner.

So yes – as good as. And a huge thank you to all those who have donated their much-loved toys for Nic.

And from yesterday – and I will post about this again in more detail when I get a moment – big some thanks are due too:

  • @capetown – who coined the #rabbit4nic hashtag and was instrumental in getting the campaign going.
  • @StephanieBe – whose own blog post was widely shared and made a big difference.
  • @anib – who quietly assisted in spreading the word and also thought of getting in touch with:
  • @youmagazine – Herman and his online team at You and Huisgenoot have been really great in finding readers with bunnies!
  • @Woolworths_SA – Who were copied on literally hundreds and hundreds of tweets, and have helped in the search.

There are many, many others who blogged, reblogged, share and retweeted the original post. I wish I could thank you all personally.

We’re (“we’re”, hark at me!) The appeal is on the You website today, mentioned on the front page of the Cape Argus and probably lots of other places I haven’t been told about. I was on Talk Radio 702, Cape Talk 567 and Radio Tygerberg yesterday as well. For someone who runs a blog in his spare time, it’s been completely overwhelming. My inbox is full of prayers, media requests, suggestions and good wishes.
I’m going to be playing catch up for a while. Bear with me.

Finally, I – like everyone else – have been completely blown away by the response to the #Rabbit4Nic campaign. While I think we did absolutely the right thing by concentrating the search specifically for identical rabbits for Nic, so many people have offered other bunnies that it would be wrong to stop this here. I’m going to chat with Nic’s parents over the weekend and I think the intention will be to make something more from this.

As ever, I will keep you informed.

Just another letter to the newspaper

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As “the powers that be” (the er… democratically elected government) in New Zealand pass the first part of a law to allow “gay marriage”, people continue writing letters to newspapers. This one is from Jasmin, age 14 (and homeschooled) in Scargill on New Zealand’s South Island and enlightens us as to the potentially horrific consequences of homosexuality spreading.

Yep – you read it right there. The ducks are coming and they’re going to take over the world. Human liver pâté and Human a l’Orange will be the dishes of the day in their cosy nested pairs.

If the Romans did indeed practise homosexuality, then 2,000 years on, we should actually all be pretty good at it by now. And by using Jasmin’s logic (this was not necessarily my best decision), that means that the ducks are probably already more equal than us. Even if they are currently disguising it very well by not taking over the world just yet, this remains a concern.

I agree with Jasmin’s sentiment that she doesn’t want her children to compete with ducks, (although I am disappointed that this indicates her intention to procreate).
I don’t want my children to compete with ducks either. Frankly, the image of them hanging around ponds and rivers, fighting with the local wildfowl over scraps of bread sends shivers down my spine. And once the ducks realise that they have the evolutionary advantage over us because they’re not gay, they surely won’t hold back with their heterosexual pecky beaks and their lack of opposable thumbs.
Carnage will ensue on the riverbank.

But then, none of this really bears any weight for me, because I do believe in evolution and I trust that eventually Jasmin’s kind will disappear from the human race pretty quickly once they realise that the only way that they can guarantee the eradication of homosexuality in the human race is actually not to breed.

Just like the ducks didn’t.

UPDATE: The dark truth about ducks, via @JacquesR

Woolies counters new allegations

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Having apparently survived the ridiculous Justin Harrison’s ridiculous calls for a boycott against it, Woolworths in South Africa now finds itself having to counter allegations regarding the contents of its pre-prepared fruit salads.

Some unnamed individuals have suggested that the list of ingredients as “fruit” is vague and requires clarification. Perhaps mindful of their tardy addressing of the previous issues, Woolies has this time been quick to respond:

Yes, in a fruit salad related revelation probably only equal to that of their previous fruit salad revelation, it seems that Woolworths’ Seasonal Berry Mix includes Berries. (Probably seasonal ones.)

Who knew?

A Heads Up

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I know about this. I think most of us know about this. But do we actually heed the warnings?

The (current) top comment is worth a mention too: This information wasn’t gained through any hacking – it was all freely available information voluntarily provided by the individuals concerned.

So what have you shared that you maybe shouldn’t have done?