* Well done, Germany! They cut it fine, but what matters is that they won the 2014 World Cup!
* The best player at the World Cup, who received the 2014 Golden Ball award, was Messi. The other nominees were (Argentina) – Angel Di Maria, Javier Mascherano; (Germany) – Mats Hummels, Toni Kroos, Phillip Lahm and Thomas Muller; (Colombia) James Rodriguez; (Brazil)
Neymar; and Arjen Robben of Netherlands. I don’t think that was the right decision though. I think James Rodriguez deserved the Golden Ball. Best goalkeeper at the World Cup was Manuel Neuer. He beat Costa Rica’s Keylor Navas, and Argentina’s Sergio Romero. Netherlands’ Memphis Depay and Paul Pogba, and Raphael Varane of France were nominated for the best young player at the tournament.
* Israel has a new weapon against Hamas: International Indifference. Ordinarily, the recent onslaught by Israel would be accompanied by a cascade of international opprobrium from Palestinian supporters, demands for restraint, and perhaps calls from Israel’s own allies to rein in
its forces. Yet even as the death toll in Gaza grows from the Israeli campaign, there has been relative quiet about the battle. The normally raucous international chorus has barely made a peep so far. There are many reasons for this seemingly peculiar insouciance. Here are a
few: Officials and diplomats are exhausted, spread thin, and focused on seemingly bigger problems, as Syria’s civil war grinds on and ISIS continues marauding across Iraq; Israel and Hamas are battling for the third time in less than six years, in a conflict that more or less resembles the two previous ones; Hamas doesn’t have a neighbour to turn to. Egypt actually seems disinterested in getting involved at all. Hamas has also lost Iran’s patronage over Hamas’ criticism of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and his attacks on Sunni Muslims in the Syrian civil war. Sadly, in this ping-pong battle for Palestine, the victims are the civilians, many of whom are children. For whatever reason, the relatively deafening silence by the international community cannot be condoned. Is there anyone who can stop this? The scenario in SA is very pro-Palestine. People from various denominations and political leanings have generally condemned the Israeli actions. But will it flutter Israel’s eyelid? I doubt it. Israel has an agenda and is pursuing genocidal annihilation, come what may.
* Yakoob Butler has a word of advice to globetrotters: When visiting Brazil, never order a 7-up!
* I am no fan of Rihanna, but admire her pizzazz. The Barbados-born babe headed to New York City in nothing but a pink, silk nightgown. She paired the slinky number, which featured spaghetti straps and lace appliqués along the chest, with several gold necklaces, bracelets and rings, and a pair of black Converse sneakers. Swapping her bed wear for daywear is nothing new for the star. She recently stepped out in a fiery, sheer, lace negligee for a party in Hollywood. She polished off the spicy look with a set of matching, stripy sandals, bright-red lipstick and sunglasses. That lady has spunk.
* Call me old-fashioned if you will, but I have a yen for women who expound the dying art of crochet or knitting. I recently spotted Sarah Sader producing a work of art and I reminisced about ladies of yesteryear doing so in large groups. The result was an item that lasted generations. Oh, to witness “one pearl, two plain” yet again was a nostalgic trip down memory lane.
* “The pipes are old” is a retort one receives when one queries the delay in repairing burst water pipes. That excuse is way past the sell-by-date! In Leonardsville over the weekend, a pipe burst and was repaired, only for it to spring a leak again! Why the f*&^ can’t they do it right the first time? To add insult to injury, the poor workers had to clear water from the hole using plastic containers! You can imagine how long that took!
