Below, my comments on some of the recent pieces from the Carnival of the Africans #5.

Michael of Irreverence shares a piece I had intended to comment on previously: 7 Myths about the SA Economy. I enjoyed his summary. I disagree with Cronin and Nzimande on the 'scientific' nature of Marx, but still believe that he made occasional relevant points (as exemplified in work by Stiglitz, Bowles and others).

The Skeptic Detective discusses an encounter with Tarot Reading. I used to have a Tarot Deck (I know, I know). I always thought the pictures particularly pretty and liked the mythological ties, but I gave up on the divinatory stuff a long time ago (forgive me). Anyway, the discussion is interesting and entertaining.

A blog I had not read previously, Ambient Normality, has a report on a Christian campaign for the death of Santa Claus as a "new Pagan god of Materialism." The blogger comments on how odd the double standard is, and, particularly, how odd the assertion that the 'true' reason for Christmas is the birth of Christ, rather than, say, the Winter Solstice (northern hemisphere). Brief and cutting.

Limbic nutrition gives a good bullet point summary on the riots in Greece. Worthwhile to read covering most of what you 'should' know about the riots.

Lastly, a comment from retroid raving on the state of Science in SA was enlightening. I am in the process of applying for funding from the NRF so I won't voice an 'actual' comment, except to say that I hope that they support me as an 'unrated' researcher.

Ok, that's enough for now. If I feel enlivened enough to escape from research and read some more blog posts I'll see what I can do later.