In an earlier post in this blog on  the 14 of July

 at

 http://connect.nmmu.ac.za/Blogs/Developing,-Problematizing-and-Testing-An-Applied/July-2014/Middle-East-problems

on the Middle East Problems I wrote

The Palestinians are being denied their most basic freedom of movement and freewill, because of the fear and traumas of the Israeli Jews who are living the traumas of their collective history. The Palestinians are forced to pay a collective price for the terrorism of the few.

The Jews are seeking their own piece of haven and their own self-determination in their biblical homeland. They do so after two thousand years of exile and diaspora, which entailed a complete and utter dependency on other nations and people, and suffering horrific persecution and systematic killing and butchery, the latest of which being the Shoah (holocaust). In their biblical homeland, they are met by the Palestinians who do not think they should pay the price for this ill justice that happened far away. 

--

Two main events dominate international news at the moment:

1. Israel-Gaza and

2. http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/jul/22/ukraine-train-carrying-mh17-bodies-arrives-kharkiv-video

 Critiques, and there are many, of blogging see the medium as "self-absorbed, narcissistic, and pretentious".

I agree that blogging can be that.  Still, they can also be experimental writings for readers to comment on, and challenges of unorthodox positions and ideas wherein the blogger is expressing ideas and positions outside the traditional media that design at challenging the mainstream thinking and opinions. 

Here is what I am trying to do here

Our values at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University are stated as follows  

http://www.nmmu.ac.za/About-NMMU/Management---Identity/Mission,-Vision---Values

I share them all, abide by them and follow them in my work.  I arrived here in 2012 because I liked these values and shared them.  I would not work at an institute that prefers one ethnicity over the others and has quota for members of the other ethnicities.  This clearly clashes with my values and I cannot work or be at an institute that practices those values that horrify me.   Personally, I'd rather do all jobs, except prostitution, or organizational crimes, or selling drugs, than work at a place that does the above.   Are our values - NMMU and mine - universal and absolute? What if somebody finds it hard to abide by them and has different sets of values to live by, implement and follow.