23 April is World Book Day, actually World Book and Copyright Day, but the first rolls off the tongue and mind easier.  It is a yearly event on 23 April, organized by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing and copyright. The Day was first celebrated in 1995. The connection of the date to literature is because it is the anniversary of the birth and death of William Shakespeare, the death of Miguel de Cervantes, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and Josep Pla, the birth of Maurice Druon, Vladimir Nabokov, Manuel Mejía Vallejo and Halldór Laxness, the first two greats being the main motivation.

http://bit.ly/BlFx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Book_and_Copyright_Day

ZIM NEWS

From The Economist:  ‘Foreigners and local whites out – A muddle over “indigenisation” looks set to slow down an economic recovery’

http://www.economist.com/world/middle-east/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1595548

Tsvangirai ‘snubs’ Ahmadinejad

Iranian President Mamoud Ahmadinejad arrived  in Zimbabwe on Thursday for a two-day official visit – amid signs that Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai would keep away from the president’s tour.

http://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/Tsvangirai-snubs-Ahmadinejad-20100422

WEIRD NEWS STORY OF THE DAY

In the last few days we had the story of  the senior Iranian cleric who said women who wear revealing clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes.

Now we have Bolivian President Evo Morales who has blamed “deviations” such as homosexuality and widespread baldness in Europe on modern diet. As my FB friend Conor Walsh said, “Please read this  before you eat at KFC again”.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/0422/1224268870109.html

YOU TUBE MOMENTS

YouTube doesn’t actually work for me on my bottom of the range netbook but I  see lots of links for interesting stuff.

In the light of the focus on sexual mores within the Catholic Church, here is a cynical offering from Monty Python‘s The Meaning of Life: Every Sperm is Sacred.

http://bit.ly/9kx85b

And the FIFA world cup ANTHEM South Africa by K’naan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYfa0__P_pI&feature=related

TECH

As I and a lot of my friends are very involved with Facebook, this is an important article on the future trends in FB and their implications for privac:y ‘ Facebook’s Future: Less Privacy with Open Graph?

And from TIME, 10 best social networking applications, to enhance your social networking experience:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1812756_1812759,00.html

MEDIA AND MARKETING

The South African Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (SA GLAAD) has criticised the verdict of Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) that the use of the word “gay” to denote stupid is not a claim it will hold up as derogatory.

This follows a complaint lodged by Cecil Janse van Rensburg about a regular feature on the University of Pretoria’s radio station, TUKS FM, hosted by DJ Konstant de Vos, in which listeners are asked to call or SMS about whether a person’s behaviour is “gay” or “ok”.

http://www.bizcommunity.com/OrnicoA

KNOW OUR CONSTITUTION

Because of World Book Day and its focus on reading, and yesterday’s focus on global education, here is the right to education from our Bill of Rights:

29 Education
(1) Everyone has the right-
(a) to a basic education, including adult basic education; and
(b) to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures must make progressively available and accessible.
(2) Everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable. In order to ensure the effective access to, and implementation of, this right, the state must consider all reasonable educational alternatives, including single medium institutions, taking into account-
(a) equity;
(b) practicability; and
(c) the need to redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws and practices.
(3) Everyone has the right to establish and maintain, at their own expense, independent educational institutions that-
(a) do not discriminate on the basis of race;
(b) are registered with the state; and
(c) maintain standards that are not inferior to standards at comparable public educational institutions.
(4) Subsection (3) does not preclude state subsidies for independent educational institutions.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

‘Ingenuity, plus courage, plus work, equals miracles.’ –  Bob Richards

For more quotes like these and excellent poetry, join the Poetry & Quotations Lovers group on Facebook and receive regular messages in your in box with quotations or poetry.