Keith Scott

Medical doctor committed to the legalisation and regulation of all drugs. Co-founder of @sadpiza

[Keith Scott @drkeithscott]

Basically, not a nice person.

[J Stewart @triffic_stuff_]

🔥 Jeremy Clarkson had a fiery clash with BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire at the farmers’ protest against Reeves’ inheritance tax raid on family farms.

Victoria went straight for the gotcha:

“So it’s not about you, it’s not about your farm and the fact you bought a farm to avoid inheritance tax?”

Clarkson, visibly stunned:

“Classic BBC there, classic. The ‘fact’ that I bought a farm to avoid inheritance tax? The ‘fact’?”

Victoria doubled down: “You told The Sunday Times in 2021 that’s why you bought it?”

Clarkson, laughing in disbelief:

“These people… BBC. Let’s start from the beginning. I wanted to shoot. That’s even worse to the BBC. Which comes with the benefit of not having to pay inheritance tax.”

He pointed out the tax isn’t even an issue for him personally as he can simply put the farm in a trust, but he’s standing with ordinary family farms that will be hammered.

After sparring over the real numbers affected, Clarkson urged the government to U-turn.

Victoria: “And get the money from where?”

Clarkson: “Walk into any of the offices around here and if you don’t understand what somebody’s job is, fire them.” 😂

Classic Clarkson.

[Keith Scott @drkeithscott]

How often does Jimmy travel to the poorer, oppressed regions? His take is valid - only for the middle class and above. People suffer.

[Camus @newstart_2024]

Jimmy Carr nailed something a lot of us feel but can’t explain.

We’re living better than 99.9% of humans who ever walked the earth, hot showers, modern medicine, endless entertainment, kids that actually survive infancy, yet so many of us feel miserable.

He calls it “life dysmorphia.” We get used to how good we have it (the hedonic treadmill), then compare ourselves to everyone else and tank our own happiness.

As he puts it: happiness = quality of life minus envy.

Marcus Aurelius put it perfectly: “Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.”

When was the last time you caught yourself feeling unhappy despite objectively having it pretty damn good?

[Keith Scott @drkeithscott]

Agree. Henry Ford was something of a genius in his field yet a strong supporter of Hitler and Nazism

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

It is possible to think Elon Musk is a business genius and find his politics (support for Restore Britain and the AFD, for example) abhorrent.

When it comes to investment, the politics of the investor is, within (broad) reason, irrelevant, or at the very least much less important than driving growth and job creation.

I think all of this is quite obvious.

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

South Africa’s elite is constantly coming up with priorities that trump growth and jobs.

Well-paid politicians and senior public servants, “activists” of various sorts, businesses that want protection from competition, academics in a range of fields - for too many of these people there is always something more important than an economy that generates jobs in a country that makes it easier to start and grow a business.

In a country with decades of world historical levels of unemployment there is something staggeringly self-regarding about powerful people who refuse the idea that the interests of those in or near poverty are not the priority.

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

Officials in national government that preside over dysfunction and dubious tenders enjoy complaining that DA ministers are “interfering” in their work. Yes, they are. And they will continue to interfere, as is their legal and ethical obligation. “Don’t touch me on my cadre” is not a position DA ministers will ever accept. Get used to it.

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

The historic mission of liberalism in South Africa is to find a way to transcend racial division and ensure every person has the rights, the social space and the resources to live a life they value. It’s not an easy sell.

But what is striking about the Emfuleni by-election last week is that it makes the DA the only party in the history of South Africa that has managed to win in wards that are almost entirely black, white, coloured or Indian - and of course many wards that are diverse. There is a long way to go - the politics of the long haul remains the requirement. But there is progress, against all the odds of history.

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

I hold no candle for Musk but what I really cannot abide anymore is the sort of rich person, often but not always paid by the public, who always thinks there’s something more important than growth and jobs.

South Africans are so inured to our staggering level of unemployment that we simply cannot see the world historical scale of it. It is more or less unprecedented globally, outside of war zones. Ever.

Public policy-making involves tradeoffs. Given our mind-blowing level of unemployment, there are very, very few things that make risking more growth a good idea. Very few. Starlink is not one of them.

Yes, there are security considerations to take care of, and we should take care of them. But for Pete’s sake, can we just, for once, work backwards from the real problem here?

[Dirk Hermann @SolidariDirk]

Dis ’n wen!!!!

‘n NGV-pilaar val in Grondwethof.

Solidariteit het pas die regering se gewraakte planne om vir dokters voor te skryf waar hulle mag praktiseer, in die Grondwethof, gestuit.

In ‘n eenparige uitspraak het die regters van die Grondwethof artikel 36 - 40 van die Gesondheidswet ongrondwetlik verklaar. Die regering moet Solidariteit se kostes dra.

’n Kernpilaar van die regering se beplande Nasionale Gesondheidsversekering (NGV) is só in die Grondwethof omvergewerp.

Die hart van die NGV is sentrale beplanning. Die regering wil besluit waarheen en na watter dokter jy mag gaan.

Sentraal daartoe is die regering se plan om vir dokters voor te skryf waar hulle mag praktiseer.

Die regering wil bepaal waar daar ’n behoefte is, en dan wil hulle aan ’n dokter ’n sertifikaat uitreik wat bepaal waar hy/sy mag praktiseer.

Dit is hierdie planne van die regering om vir dokters voor te skryf waar hulle mag praktiseer, wat Solidariteit suksesvol ongrondwetlik laat verklaar het.

Die stryd teen die NGV is nie verby nie, maar hierdie is ’n strategiese oorwinning!

Baie trots op Solidariteit se regs- en navorsingspan!!!

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

Interesting talk yesterday at @franschhoeklit involving @wicks_jeff and @CowansView on crime in SA. The scale of crime is of course staggering. When asked what should be done, Cowan suggested the police need to be purged root and branch, which is a view with much merit. But I sat there and thought, well, unless and until the ANC is gone, whatever it is there must be done, can’t and won’t be done. Replacing the ANC is, in the end, the only path to improvement for SA, in this and in every other respect. It’s a necessary condition.

[Keith Scott @drkeithscott]

About 10 years ago a senior member of SAPS informed me that there were (at that time) 6 factions within the force - each with their own agendas.

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

Almost the entire senior echelon of the SAPS is compromised. It doesn’t matter what the strategy or plan for an organization is if it is without leadership. There is nothing it can or will do to improve until there is competent, ethical leadership.

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

This isn’t accurate. The money funds infrastructure. Infrastructure is literally what makes Cape Town so investable. That infrastructure (and private sector investment) benefits everyone, not just poor people. It also means property owners have seen the value of their properties rise dramatically, uniquely for SA’s metros. Please don’t complain about collapsing infrastructure in other cities and expect Cape Town’s infrastructure to fall like manna from heaven. It doesn’t work like that.

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

The point is that the ANC chooses a small number of black people over the vast majority of black people. Driving up the price government pays for goods and services means (a) less money spent on people who need it most and (b) a service that doesn’t draw from all the talent in the country.

It gets worse: higher prices mean more money spent on servicing government debt, and that means less money for the people who need it most - who need the opportunity to exit poverty and build a life better-off people, like those who run the ANC, take for granted.

The ANC truly is for the few, not the many. It should be the other way around.

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

Why are we world beaters at rugby?

1. Because players and coaches are held accountable for outcomes. Winning is the aim. The “main thing”, as Rassie puts it.

2. Because we are able to draw on all the talent in the country. 18 year olds coming through from every background and community. Rugby has got the supply-side of redress right. You can’t empower disadvantaged people simply by demanding diversity. You have to ensure you develop the talent required. Then diversity takes care of itself.

Rugby (who would have predicted it?) represents everything that SA can be. It represents what government can be, and what business can be too.

So here’s a thought: why don’t we learn from it? It’s not good enough to enjoy our success at rugby and ignore its lessons.

[Keith Scott @drkeithscott]

Their respective quotes typify their nationalities.

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

So much that is interesting and revealing about this clip, but the reminder that Mitterrand said of Thatcher that she “has the eyes of Caligula and the mouth of Marilyn Monroe” is unimprovable.

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

The quality of the mayor matters, but what also matters is a united party behind the mayor that backs up the difficult choices needed, and stares down the corrupt vested interests at play. Otherwise the good mayor gets eaten alive.

[Paul Rees. ex Rucksack. @HannahIamthest1]

Things I have learned from the movies"

Having watched hundreds of movies, they have taught me many things that I would like to share with you today:

1. If being chased through town, you can usually take cover in a passing St Patrick's Day parade - at any time of the year.

2. All beds have special L-shaped top sheets that reach up to armpit level on a woman but only waist level on the man lying beside her.

3. All grocery shopping bags contain at least one stick of French bread.

4. Once applied, lipstick will never rub off - even while scuba diving.

5. The ventilation system of any building is a perfect hiding place. No one will ever think of looking for you in there and you can travel to any other part of the building without difficulty.

6. Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German officer, it will not be necessary to speak the language. A German accent will do.

7. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window of any building in Paris.

8. A man will show no pain while taking the most ferocious beating but will wince when a woman tries to clean his wounds.

9. When paying for a taxi, never look at your wallet as you take out a note - just grab one at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare.

10. If you lose a hand, it will cause the stump of your arm to grow by 15cm.

11. Mothers routinely cook eggs, bacon and waffles for their family every morning, even though the husband and children never have time to eat them.

12. Cars and trucks that crash will almost always burst into flames.

13. A single match will be sufficient to light up a room the size of a football stadium.

14. Medieval peasants had perfect teeth.

15. All single women have a cat.

16. Any person waking from a nightmare will sit bolt upright and pant.

17. One man shooting at 20 men has a better chance of killing them all than 20 men firing at one.

18. Creepy music coming from a graveyard should always be closely investigated.

19. Most people keep a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings - especially if any of their family or friends has died in a strange boating accident.

20. It does not matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts - your enemies will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked out their predecessor.

21. During a very emotional confrontation, instead of facing the person you are speaking to, it is customary to stand behind them and talk to their back.

22. When you turn out the light to go to bed, everything in your room will still be clearly visible, just slightly bluish.

23. Dogs always know who's bad and will naturally bark at them.

24. When they are alone, all foreigners prefer to speak English to each other.

25. Rather than wasting bullets, megalomaniacs prefer to kill their arch-enemies using complicated machinery involving fuses, pulley systems, deadly gases, lasers and man eating sharks that will allow their captives at least 20 minutes to escape.

26. Having a job of any kind will make all fathers forget their son's eighth birthday.

27. All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red readouts so you know exactly when they're going to go off.

28. It is always possible to park directly outside the building you are visiting.

29. A detective can only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty.

30. If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.

[Imtiaz Mahmood @ImtiazMadmood]

Islam cannot be reformed because Muslims around the world believe that the Quran is Allah's final and perfect message to humanity. The distinction between “moderate” or “reformed” Islam and “radical” or “violent” Islam is false and misleading. Islam can only be defined by what is written in the Quran, not by what a group of Muslims believes or does not believe.

The Quran contains both types of verses—peaceful as well as violent ones. When Muhammad was politically weak, he preached peace. These peaceful verses are also referred to as Meccan verses, as it is assumed they were revealed in Mecca. The Muslim promoters of “moderate Islam” derive their positions from these verses.

After Muhammad emigrated to Medina and became politically strong, he began to preach aggressively against non-Muslims in order to spread Islam by the sword. These have become known as Medinan verses. The proponents of “radical Islam” derive their support from these verses.

Thus, “moderate Islam” and “radical Islam” do not stand in opposition to each other. Rather, they complement one another. Each of them is a strategy for spreading Islam. The strategy of “moderate Islam” works when Muslims are in the minority or politically weaker. The strategy of “radical Islam” works when Muslims become politically stronger.

“Moderate Islam” paves the way for the Islamization of a non-Muslim society. It spreads the myth that Islam believes in tolerance, peace, freedom of thought and opinion, pluralism, democracy, and secularism. This lulls non-Muslims into the belief that Islam poses no danger.

Meanwhile, Muslims continue to increase their population by dramatically raising their birth rates and join political forces in non-Muslim societies that show great tolerance toward them. They also organize themselves better and become more politically influential.

They exploit the democratic, secular, and non-discriminatory legal structures of non-Muslim societies to increase their political, economic, and numerical strength.

As the strength of Muslims grows, so does their aggression proportionally. Once Muslims become stronger, they seize political power either democratically or militarily. (This scenario can be observed particularly well in the recent past.) Then they begin implementing Sharia.

Apostates and Islam critics are then persecuted or killed. The persecution of non-Muslims begins. Jizya (poll tax for religious minorities) is imposed on all those who do not belong to the family of Islam.

Non-Muslims are forbidden from building new places of worship or publicly preaching their religion. Resisting non-Muslims (Kafir/unbelievers) are then pursued with the full force of Sharia. In this way, “radical Islam” replaces “moderate Islam.” The goal is achieved.

- @kiankerman

[Keith Scott @drkeithscott]

Comedian George Carlin pointed this out decades ago. "It's a big club and you aint in it"

[Ricardo @Ric_RTP]

The world’s most respected political scientist just admitted that governments no longer run the world.

Ian Bremmer's firm writes the risk report every major hedge fund, bank, and government reads before making decisions.

He doesn't do hot takes. He does FORECASTS.

And buried under a 90-minute discussion with Steven Bartlett, he dropped this bombshell:

Anthropic built a model so powerful it could hack every bank, power grid, and water system on Earth.

They didn't call Congress.

They called Jerome Powell and Scott Bessent directly.

Within hours, every major bank CEO was in an emergency meeting.

Jamie Dimon called it a "five alarm fire."

No hearings. No votes. No public debate.

A private company detected a threat, called two people, and the US financial system reorganized around it overnight.

That's not a "government."

And this is the pattern nobody's connecting:

Michael Dell just moved $6.25 BILLION to 25 million American kids using federal infrastructure Trump's team built for him. Government does the accounting. Dell gets the PR.

Jeff Bezos just came out of retirement with $6.2 billion to build "AI for the physical economy." 100 researchers. Day one. No board. No IPO. Just: go.

Jensen Huang told Joe Rogan that CUDA, the single technology that made AI possible, was built because ONE guy at Nvidia believed in it when the stock crashed 83%. Nobody voted on it. Nobody approved it. He just did it.

Elon has Starlink turning wars on and off in Ukraine.

None of these decisions went through a legislature.

None of them were debated on CNN.

None of them were on any ballot.

In Bremmer's own words:

"The most important new global leaders aren't countries. They're technology companies writing their own rules."

And once you see it, you can't unsee it.

There are two economies running in parallel right now:

Economy A is the one you see. Elections. Tariffs. Tweets. Midterms. Iran. Congressional hearings where senators ask Mark Zuckerberg how Facebook makes money.

Economy B is the one that actually decides things. 5 CEOs, 3 central bankers, and a handful of billionaires in group chats and private dinners, rerouting trillions and deploying technology that rewrites physics, biology, and labor.

Economy A is theater for the 99%.

Economy B is where the 1% already live.

And the gap isn't closing.

Bremmer's real warning wasn't about China or Trump...

It was this:

We're heading toward a split between "empowered hybrid individuals" with AI as a core relationship, and people we "won't even treat as human beings anymore."

Not different classes.

A different SPECIES.

This is a forecaster who advises Goldman, BlackRock, and the White House telling you the taxonomy of humanity itself is about to fork.

Meanwhile the public is fighting about who's going to win the midterms.

Trump is a symptom. Mdani is a symptom. Farage is a symptom.

They're all reactions to a system average people can feel has already left them behind, but can't articulate why.

But the why is simple:

The people making the decisions that will define the next 50 years of your life stopped asking for permission.

They stopped running for office.

They stopped filing quarterly reports on what matters.

They just build, deploy, and inform the government after.

[Keith Scott @drkeithscott]

Spot on. I'm tired of the privileged in CT complaining about the DA's valiant and sensible efforts to improve service delivery in poor areas while maintaining their excellent services in wealthier suburbs.

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

Being a party for all really enrages the DA’s opponents, who want a country where governments exist for their in-group only.

So the DA is simultaneously accused of ignoring the needs of poor black people and privileging rich white people, and of robbing rich white people blind and spending the money on poor black people.

In reality of course the DA governs for everyone. Yes, people who need more support from the state get more, as the billions being spent on transport and sewerage upgrading on the Cape Flats attests; but people who are well off are not neglected, as a short drive through Cape Town’s well-maintained Southern Suburbs will attest.

And isn’t that the sort of country you really want to live in?

[Ryan Coetzee @RyanCoetzee]

It’s true that well-off people put a lot of money and time into their properties and communities. But it’s also true that their roads are maintained, their water flows, their sewerage systems work, their traffic lights work, their parks are maintained.

But actually, what the City of Cape Town does most for well-off people is it creates opportunity for poor people to live better lives, because if we left people to live without sanitation, water, electricity, public transport, community amenities etc, the rich would be confronted daily with millions of desperate people with nothing to lose. And just think how that would impact investment, growth, employment creation. A cycle of utter doom.

And do we want to live in a country like that anyway, where some people live in abject poverty?

If there is one thing South Africa’s history teaches, it is that our country cannot succeed unless it succeeds for everyone. As that history shows, when some feel ignored, left behind, relegated to inferiority, it doesn’t end well.

Why not choose then to build a country in which there is opportunity for everyone and in which everyone’s basic needs are met?