I find it somewhat amusing how humans seem to have designed and created incredibly successful societies based on the availability of different commodities. There was the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age, the industrial age and now our own current information age. The logical progression from rock and caves to fire and […]
2007
Posted inGeneral
Human race will split into two species — the Robert Mugabe story
A hundred thousand years from now, or so a top scientist claims, the human race will split into two separate species. The one group will comprise smart, attractive and ready-to-rule geniuses; the other will be ugly, dim-witted goblin-like creatures. What a load of bollocks, I thought after reading the article. But then it hit me […]
Posted inGeneral
A radical rethink of our lifestyles is required to save the planet
The latest assessment by the United Nations of the state of the world’s environment paints the worst picture of the health of the planet yet, according to an article in the Independent. Since the last report, published in 1987, almost every index used to assess the planet’s well-being has worsened. The three worst problems are […]
Posted inLifestyle
A radical rethink of our lifestyles is required to save the planet
The latest assessment by the United Nations of the state of the world’s environment paints the worst picture of the health of the planet yet, according to an article in the Independent. Since the last report, published in 1987, almost every index used to assess the planet’s well-being has worsened. The three worst problems are […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Lucky and Patrick: Tale of two friends
They both grew up in small towns. Both had a burning vision. Both achieved acclaim on the stages of the world. But the manner of Lucky Dube‘s and Patrick Mynhardt‘s deaths told two very different stories about the South African reality. Patrick, who grew up in a small town half-an-hour’s drive from my home town […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
Festival of what, precisely?
Publicists Total Exposure have announced a “Festival of Festivals”, showing at Ster-Kinekor’s Cinema Nouveau theatres from November 2: “For two weeks in November, Johannesburg will be transformed into Cannes and Cape Town into Venice when some of the world’s most acclaimed new films will be screened at the first annual Festival of Festivals,” goes the […]
Posted inSport
Rugby administrators bungle again
As I sit, gazing out of my office window, through the pouring rain, at the 15th green at Johannesburg Country Club, I take small comfort in that my only consolation is that those well-heeled midweek golfers who taunt me on a daily basis will not be able to do so for the remainder of this […]
Posted inSport
Rainbow nation my foot!
Black consciousness as a political movement may be suffering from a image crisis in this age of non-racism and rainbow-nationhood, but once in a while events remind us of how its teachings remain as relevant as when they first surfaced at black universities in the 1960s and early 1970s. For it were the Zim-Zims (as […]
Posted inMedia
Who will tell the South African story?
For a while now I have been wondering who will rescue us from the scandalous and agenda-driven reportage of political and social developments in our country as we labour forward in search of a common national consensus and national identity. I have long concluded we will never be the people we aspire to be as […]
Posted inBusiness, Media
Facebook and Google: Who should worry?
Microsoft has invested $240-million in Facebook, resulting in a $15-billion evaluation for the social network. I fear that this might be the beginning of the end of the Facebook mania. Personally, I would have preferred to see an investment by Google. It is a company I admire, and one that I trust to have a […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Hidden from sight
Have you ever asked yourself where South Africa’s disabled are? According to the Casual Day Welfare Organisation, 3,5-million people in South Africa are disabled. That’s almost 8% of our total population. But where are they? Apart from the odd person in a wheelchair or on crutches, our streets seem to be surprisingly empty of anyone […]
Posted inBusiness
Chop suey or McDonald’s? You decide …
We learned on Thursday that Standard Bank had sold 20% of its operations to the Chinese. As a customer, my wife is well positioned to take advantage of this — she recently spent some time heaving with the crowds in Bangkok, celebrating Chinese New Year with the 9 048 423,3 Thai people of Chinese descent. (Source: Wikipedia […]