Medical costs in the US are high! Anybody who has recently made a trip to the ER, been hospitalized, or even had some routine medical tests done, will agree.
The question is, are high US medical costs simply out of control or are they justifiable?
A friend who recently visited us from South Africa (i.e. no US health insurance) got sick on a Saturday evening. All of the symptoms pointed to the possibility of meningitis.
Over the past 20 years, hundreds of thousands of people, and by some estimations, more than a million people have been leaving South Africa and settling in other countries.
Some might say, “So what? People have migrated for thousands of years and will continue to do so in the future!”
Last year, South Africa’s ANCYL leader, Julius Malema started making a lot of noise about nationalization, and specifically, the nationalization of the mines, a major source of revenue for the country, and the possible establishment of a state mining company.
At the time, as this article suggests, South African President Jacob Zuma said that nationalization is not ANC policy, and that the ANC has not shifted its policy on nationalization.
Yet, a mere 4 months later, Jacob Zuma launched a state mining company!
In this recent article published in News24, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, the rector of the University of the Free State, is reported as saying that racial tension is building in South Africa, comparing it to a volcano waiting to erupt.
On the eve of Soccer World Cup 2010 that is being held in South Africa this year, I was wondering how South Africans living abroad feel about sports’ biggest event and the fact that it is held in South Africa this year.
While soccer is a hugely popular sport around the world, not all South Africans are soccer fans. Some may not care to watch SWC 2010 whether it is held in South Africa or not. Others may be very excited about it and can’t wait for it to start.
South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, has a long history with the ladies and he adds more episodes on a fairly regular basis.
Zuma is a polygamist. In January 2010 he married his 5th wife, and no, the first four wives are not deceased (except for wife #1), and neither is he divorced from them. He is apparently also already engaged to what will be wife #6.
The flag on the right, the old South African flag, has been the subject of a lot of controversy since it was replaced in 1994.
The controversy usually seems to be stirred up at rugby matches where one or two spectators wave the old flag among a sea of people waving the new flag.
Many of us (South Africans living in the US) get green cards that eventually lead to qualifying for US citizenship.
Once you reach that point, the question becomes, “Do I give up my South African citizenship, or do I go for dual-citizenship?”
There are some issues with both options…