Words on Mandela!

...The prisoners faced sabotage rather than treason charges. Under the sabotage legislation, and unlike the earlier treason trial, the onus was now on the defense to prove the accused were innocent...Each of the Rivonia trialists was accused of 222 acts sabotage between 1961 and 1963 in preparation for guerrilla warfare. The state asked for the maximum penalty: death by hanging...

..On December 3, 1963...Mandela had put the South African Government on trial. Together with the crowd assembled outside Pretoria's Supreme Court, the world held its breath for the outcome...


...April 20, 1964 was a wet and miserable Monday. Mandela's mother and his young wife sat side by side in the Palace of Justice.His mother had come all the way from rural Transkei to watch her only son stand up....

....reading from his own script, carefully drafted over two weeks...Mandela refused to change his parting words. He put his script on the table and turned to face the judge. He did not break eye contact as he spoke the final risky words engraved in his memory:

" I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal I hope t live for. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die for"

It was the last time the judged looked his famous prisoner in the eye.

Mandela finished.

The courtroom was silent.
Even the aggressive, jumpy prosecutor was quiet. Mandela had been speaking for hours.

He sat down.

One of the worlds greatest speeches was over.

(Culled from the book NELSON MANDELA written by Christiana Scott, 2005- Random House Inc)

Today, Mandela is free and still alive. South Africa is liberated from colonialism..

...so one question I ask...do you have any values you hope to live for and if needs be die for?...or are you just one of those people who are carried away by the winds? we live in a country with dead values and no one is ready to stand up for change. I ask...and once again I ask, what will you be known for when you time is up? Mandela is still alive and many values stand already in his name..the battle is over..South Africa is a free land!!
!

Richard Branson's Virgin Success

Richard Branson's Virgin Success
The Incredible Triumph of an Enigmatic Entrepreneur

By: John Shepler

When Richard Branson's granny was 99, she wrote him to say that the last 10 years had been her best. He should read the book, "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking. She had loved it. But most of all, her advice to Richard was "You've got one go in life, so make the most of it." Those are words that mean so much to Richard Branson, as they go right to the heart of his belief in making it on your own. Now, head of 150 or so enterprises that carry the Virgin name, with a personal wealth estimated at nearly $3 billion, he has followed that personal dream and made the most of it. He still holds the record as fastest to cross the Atlantic ocean by boat. He still hopes to be first to circle the globe in a balloon. It is a success that was never expected for a dyslexic, nearsighted boy.
Richard didn't breeze through school. It wasn't just a challenge for him, it was a nightmare. His dyslexia embarrassed him as he had to memorize and recite word for word in public. He was sure he did terribly on the standard IQ tests...these are tests that measure abilities where he is weak. In the end, it was the tests that failed. They totally missed his ability and passion for sports. They had no means to identify ambition, the fire inside that drives people to find a path to success that zigzags around the maze of standard doors that won't open. They never identified the most important talent of all. It's the ability to connect with people, mind to mind, soul to soul. It's that rare power to energize the ambitions of others so that they, too, rise to the level of their dreams.
Ironically, Richard Branson's talents began to show themselves during his adolescent school years. Frustrated with the rigidity of school rules and regulations, and seeing the energy of student activism in the late 60's, he decided to start his own student newspaper. This might not have been remarkable, except that this paper was intended to tie many schools together. It would be focused on the students and not the schools. It would sell advertising to major corporations. It would have articles by Ministers of Parliament, rock music stars, intellectuals and movie celebrities. It would be a commercial success. That was the business plan that 17 year old Richard Branson put together with his pal, Jonny Gems.
The had a little help. Richard's mother donated four pounds to help cover postage and telephone expenses. It was enough to start. They worked in his basement and scrimped on everything except the grand vision of the magazine. The first edition appeared with a cover picture of a student drawn by Peter Blake, who designed the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper album cover. He also agreed to give an interview. Student debuted in January, 1968. The headmaster of Stowe, where Richard and Jonny were students, wrote: "Congratulations, Branson. I predict that you will either go to prison or become a millionaire."
In 1970, the British government abolished the Retail Price Maintenance Agreement, but none of the stores elected to discount records. Richard Branson saw an opportunity for Student to offer records cheaply by running ads for mail order delivery. The student readers of Student spent a great deal of money on records even at full price. How would they respond to this opportunity?
It turned out that the orders so flooded in that they were more lucrative than magazine subscriptions. Richard rounded up the staff of Student and recruited them to spin off a discount music business. They found an empty shop above a shoe store and persuaded the owner to let them build shelves and move in a couple of old sofas for their first store. In lieu of rent, they promised that they'd bring so much traffic that the shoe store's business would pick up too. Now all they needed was a name.
The first candidate was "Slipped Disc." It had promise. It was catchy and appealed to a wider range of buyers than "Student." Then one of the group piped up "Virgin." Because, she said, "we're complete virgins at business." In retrospect, Richard says he's happy they went with the alternate name. Slipped Disc Airlines just wouldn't have the customer appeal of Virgin Airlines.
Virgin Airlines is very much a Richard Branson style company. Instead of getting caught in the downward spiral of chopping fares and cutting service, he's taken a stand of reasonable fares on transatlantic flights with amenities like in-flight massages, ice cream with movies and soon, private bedrooms, showers and exercise facilities. Far from failing, Virgin Airlines is a big money maker.
In fact all 150 companies make money and Richard Branson claims no prior expertise in any of them. He has no giant corporate office or staff. Few if any board meetings. Instead, he keeps each enterprise small and relies on his magic touch of empowering people's ideas to fuel success. When a flight attendant approached him with her vision of a wedding business, Richard told her to go do it. He even put on a wedding dress himself to help launch the publicity. His Virgin Cola is bigger than Pepsi in Europe and looking to take on Coke in the United States. Richard drove a tank up to the Coke Sign in Times Square and fired at it to launch that challenge. Flamboyant? Yes. Greedy? Well, certainly not in the sense we normally use that word. "I never went into business solely to make money," he says. Yet, over and over again, he's done just that.
If he is greedy, then it is a craving for turning possibilities, even unlikely ones, into raging successes. "It all comes down to people," he remarks in an interview with David Sheff of Forbes. "Nothing else even comes close." He writes them all, all 5,000 Virgin employees, a chatty letter once a month from his paper notebook, and invites them to write or call him with their problems, ideas and dreams. They do...and new Virgin successes are born.

50 years of NASA

2008 is the 50th year of operations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration – that’s Nasa, to you and me.

Nasa is very nearly as old as space exploration itself, having partly grown out of the Cold War rivalry between the US and the Soviet Union.

When that country beat the US to the punch in October 1957 by launching Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, it was a spur to Congress and President Eisenhower – who signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act the following July.

July 29 specifically marks 50 years since US Congress passed the legislation that officially established the agency. This brand new organisation was established with a broad mission: to explore and use space for the benefit “of all mankind”.

For all of 2008, Nasa is celebrating its 50 years of endeavours and accomplishments in space. The celebrations take the form of lectures, galas, forums on the future of space exploration, school competitions– and a golf tournament

In 1972, President Nixon gave Nasa the go-ahead for developing a new ‘Space Transportation System’ (STS).

This system was the reusable Space Shuttle: a vehicle still used by the US for human spaceflight missions today. The first flight of the new system (STS-1) was with the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1981.

Pictured: Columbia launches April 12 1981, beginning the first Space Shuttle flight.

Nasa history has not been without its tragedies. Among them is the 1967 launch pad simulation aboard Apollo-Saturn 204, during which a flash fire broke out in the capsule and killed three astronauts: Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee.

In 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger was destroyed and its seven-member crew lost in an explosion shortly after take-off. In 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entering Earth’s atmosphere; again, all seven crew members were killed.

Pictured: Space Shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after take-off, January 28 1986

In 1977, Nasa launched the two Voyager probes. These were to fly away from Earth and towards the edges of the Solar System, exploring all the giant outer planets and many of their moons on the way out.

Some 30 years later the probes are still flying, with Voyager 1 15.7 billion km from the sun and its twin, Voyager 2, 12.7 billion away.

Nasa has undertaken a number of diverse missions to Solar System planets: the ongoing Mars Exploration Rover mission, for instance, which placed two robotic rovers – named Spirit and Opportunity – on the surface of Mars in 2003.

Pictured: a view from the surface of Mars from Spirit, the Mars Exploration Rover

The Hubble Space Telescope launched from the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-31) in 1990.

The orbiting telescope is a collaboration between Nasa and the European Space Agency (ESA), and has amazed astronomers and the public alike with the spectacular images it has beamed back over its 18 years in space.

Pictured: A Hubble Space Telescope image of sparkling young stars within giant nebula NGC 3603

In 1998, representatives from 15 countries met in Washington DC to formally agree to cooperate on the design, assembly, operation and use of an International Space Station (ISS).

Expedition One of the ISS launched in late 2000, and after the first resident crew entered the station on November 2 2000, the ISS has been continuously inhabited – that is, it is the first permanent human presence in space.

Zooming along at 27,700 kmph, the ISS is in a low Earth orbit and can be seen at night with the naked eye. The station is expected to be fully built in 2010.

Nasa’s work today is varied: in 2004, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft became the first to orbit around Saturn after an epic seven-year journey to that planet - a joint effort of Nasa and the European Space Agency.

The Stardust mission brought a precious sample of material from a comet back to Earth in 2006.

Also in 2006, the New Horizons spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral and began its nine-year voyage toward Pluto, and Dr. John Mather of Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center received the Nobel Prize for Physics.

In 2004, President Bush announced the new Vision for Space Exploration in a speech at Nasa headquarters.

Among the goals outlined in the speech was a human return trip to the Moon by 2020, in preparation for human exploration of Mars and other destinations.

Pictured: President Bush greeting Space Shuttle astronaut Clayton Anderson

On April 21 2008, in a special commemorative lecture entitled “Why We Should Go Into Space,” Prof. Stephen Hawking spoke eloquently on the importance of Nasa’s work:

“There will be those who argue that it would be better to spend our money on solving the problems of this planet,” he said.

“I am not denying the importance of fighting climate change and global warming, but we can do that and still spare a quarter of a per cent of world GDP for space. Isn’t our future worth a quarter of a per cent?”

On May 28 1959, a rhesus monkey named Able and a squirrel monkey named Miss Baker became the first living creatures to successfully return to Earth after travelling in space.

Aboard a Jupiter missile AM-18, the two monkeys flew at speeds above 16,000 kmph and withstood acceleration 38 times that of Earth’s gravity.

Pictured: Able being released from his life support capsule after a safe return to Earth

On May 25 1961 President John F Kennedy vowed that there would be an American on the Moon before the end of the decade – upping Nasa’s budget and pace at once.

In his “Urgent National Needs” speech, President Kennedy told the US:

“No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space… in a very real sense, it will not be one man going to the moon - if we make this judgment affirmatively, it will be an entire nation. For all of us must work to put him there.”

July 20 1969 will be forever remembered as the day humankind first set foot on the Moon.

The Apollo 11 mission delivered astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin and Michael Collins to the Moon; Neil Armstrong made the “one small step for man”, followed by Aldrin. Collins orbited overhead in the Apollo command module.

Pictured: Aldrin descending the steps of the lunar Module ladder

In mid-April 1970, 56 hours into the flight of Apollo 13, an oxygen tank exploded, damaging life support and power systems.

With televisions all over the world tuned to the developing drama, the crew members and Nasa flight controllers fought to return the spacecraft safely to Earth. An ingenious course correction and improvisation of a ‘lifeboat’ from the lunar lander module saved the day.

Pictured: Apollo 13's Command Module Odyssey floats in the Pacific Ocean after splashdown

Meet Richard Branson - A Man i love so much!

Richard Branson was born in 1950 and educated at Stowe School.

It was here that he began to set up Student Magazine when he was just 16.

By 17 he'd also set up Student Advisory Centre, which was a charity to help young people.

In 1970 he founded Virgin as a mail order record retailer, and not long after he opened a record shop in Oxford Street, London. During 1972 a recording studio was built in Oxfordshire, and the first Virgin artist, Mike Oldfield, recorded "Tubular Bells" which was released in 1973.

This album went on to sell over 5 million copies! Since then many household names, including Belinda Carlisle, Genesis, Phil Collins, Janet Jackson and The Rolling Stones have helped to make Virgin Music one of the top six record companies in the world. The equity of Virgin Music Group - record labels, music publishing, and recording studios was sold to THORN EMI in 1992 in a US$1billion deal.

The Virgin Group has now expanded into international music Megastores, air travel, mobile, financial, retail, music, internet, drinks, rail, hotels and leisure, with around 200 companies in over 30 countries. Yes, we've been busy!

Virgin Atlantic Airways, formed in 1984, is now the second largest British long haul international airline and operates a fleet of Boeing 747 and Airbus A340 aircraft to New York, Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, Orlando, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Tokyo, Las Vegas, Delhi, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Shanghai and the Caribbean. The airline is based on the concept of offering a competitive and high quality Upper Class, Premium Economy and Economy service. The airline has won many major awards, including Airline of the Year Award several times.

During 1997 Virgin took over Britain's two most run-down rail franchises, CrossCountry and the West Coast Main Line. Virgin is currently engaged in a £2billion fleet replacement programme.

In 2002, the combined sales of the different Virgin holding companies exceeded £4billion. In addition to his own business activities, Richard is a trustee of several charities including the Virgin Healthcare Foundation, a leading healthcare charity which was responsible for the launch of a health education campaign relating to AIDS in 1987.

The Foundation has also become involved in a lobbying campaign called Parents Against Tobacco, which aims to restrict tobacco advertising and sponsorship in sport.

His help in the initial funding of charity projects helped that organisation to raise over £100 million, through campaigns such as Comic Relief and many other charities. For more information on the Virgin Group and charity, please click here to visit our charity section.

And to keep his adrenaline levels high, Richard has been involved in a number of world record-breaking attempts since 1985. In 1986 his boat, "Virgin Atlantic Challenger II" rekindled the spirit of the Blue Riband by crossing the Atlantic Ocean in the fastest ever recorded time. This was followed a year later by the epic hot air balloon crossing of the same ocean in "Virgin Atlantic Flyer". This was not only the first hot-air balloon to cross the Atlantic, but was the largest ever flown at 2.3 million cubic feet capacity, reaching speeds in excess of 130 miles per hour (209 km/h).

Still after the ultimate adventure, in January 1991 Richard crossed the Pacific Ocean from Japan to Arctic Canada, the furthest distance of 6,700 miles. Again, he broke all existing records, with speeds of up to 245 miles -per hour in a balloon of 2.6 million cubic feet.