If it hasn’t struck you yet, the similarities between African National Congress president Jacob Zuma and deposed, perhaps soon to be new, Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, are incredible. Let’s start by looking at an article in the Times of London. Anyone? Thaksin is a Thai in exile, facing charges of corruption yet sealed a […]
2007
Posted inGeneral
The critical task of universities
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that the educational task of universities is fundamentally twofold: first, to train and prepare students for a specific profession, or at least to develop capacities and skills on their part with the purpose of enabling them to play a constructive role in a country’s economy — as the […]
Posted inGeneral
Warahulu: An anthology of scariness
Is there a word for the ability, no, the power to move people, to stir them to act as you want them to? Persuasion: “cause to believe, provide a sound reason to do something” doesn’t quite capture the essence. Charisma: “compelling charm, attractiveness that can inspire devotion”; closer, but no coconut. Inspiration: “divine influence, fill […]
Posted inMedia
Need a sticky marketing idea? Try offending someone
For many of us small-business owners, marketing is the hardest part of the job. At EBW, we’ve learned the hard way that none of our four members are much good at it. We’ve taken to hiring freelance publicists project by project, which is fine, though we’re yet to generate the kind of social epidemic we […]
Posted inLifestyle
Tony Blair’s a Catholic
While the more left-leaning British media thrill to the news that Nick Clegg, new leader of the Liberal Democrats, does not believe in God, tonnes of ink is being spilled over Tony Blair’s conversion to Catholicism. And that’s not all. If you buy the Sunday Telegraph (UK) this week only, you’ll learn that Britain itself […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Just a ‘good ol’ boy’ from Nkandla
In December 2000, I stayed up every night watching CNN as the challenges to George Bush’s election never quite achieved tidal-wave proportions. They ebbed away when Al Gore finally quit. In South Africa people shook their heads: “Do the Americans understand what they have done?” Now the shoe is on the other foot. In December […]
Posted inBusiness
Legalese vs the little guy
In a telling op-ed piece in the New York Times, legal-lingo expert Adam Freedman cuts to the chase on the debate about the “right to bear arms” mentioned in the US Constitution’s Second Amendment: it’s all about a comma that means everything to us now, but meant very little to its writers. The article is […]
Posted inLifestyle
Santa Claus gone bye-bye now
Shopping, any kind of shopping, at this time of year is like taking a course in suicide bombing for beginners, or how to make your own nuclear device with household detergents. There’s a fair probability you might get injured. After two hours of futilely looking for two very run-o’-the-mill power-tool accessories, I grabbed copies of […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Denzel Washington and predictions for 2008
Denzel Washington once said to me: “The wonderful thing about predictions is they’re simultaneously the front door and the back door. You can be wrong a thousand times, but you only gotta be right once.” After the party in Polokwane, which, by all accounts went fairly well and a moerse lot of animals died, we […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mine’s bigger than yours
The ego of a politician, I’ve decided, rests less on the size of the manaconda (as my colleague Niren Tolsi so eloquently describes the penis) than on the size of the convoy. For a full week now, we’ve been bullied off roads by minor pols with big convoys. You should’ve seen the dickheads on the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The sinister Marc Dutroux cover-up (part two)
This is the second part in our investigation of the sinister police mishaps surrounding the case of Marc Dutroux. Read part one here. In December 1995, Dutroux was arrested for stealing a car. While in custody, plans were made for the search of his house. Hearing about this proposed search, the “rival” police agency gatecrashed […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma sings Umshini Wami at the ANC conference
The Mail & Guardian Online team just got back from Polokwane and Thembelihle Tshabalala had this video on her camera of ANC president Jacob Zuma singing Umshini Wami with the delegates after his first address. For those who weren’t there, or didn’t watch it on television, this clip gives you an idea of the power […]