Here is proof that most education systems are not adequately keeping up or preparing students to deal with tomorrow today. That’s almost OK, because students are eventually going to adapt their experience and their educational choice accordingly, so something will have to give. But in the meantime, today’s students are in a major transition stage, […]
2007
Posted inMedia
Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?
I can’t help thinking that we used to handle violent behaviour in children far more elegantly than we appear to do today. Ever thought that violence may, in fact, be quite normal?
Posted inNews/Politics, Sport
From a bitter, twisted person: my blood remains red; I could care less about the Boks
Days ago, I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to be bombarded with rugby news until, at least, the end of next week. That’s fine. I suppose our national rugby team getting into (and possibly winning) the World Cup final is a big deal. To each her own. It’s not my […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Lucky Dube: A complete human being
“South Africa needs a lot of love at the moment…” It is easy to react to Lucky Dube’s murder with outrage and grief. It is right to do so. I would also wish to celebrate the life of a friend. It is appropriate to do so in this blog, because Lucky Dube was an unheralded […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Can suicide bombings be rational?
I’ve always considered suicide bombings somewhat of a human anomaly. Yesterday, there was an attempted suicide bombing assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto immediately after her return from eight years of exile. There are already 124 fatalities, and this is expected to climb. Bhutto herself was uninjured. But it brought me to a […]
Posted inMedia
I have the right to remain silent
This was published in Grocott’s Mail on November 17 2006: Captain Riaan Havenga pulled out a brown file stamped with the SAPS badge and started to fill it in. “Name?” “Jonathan.” “Surname?” “Ancer.” “ID number?” I rattled off the numbers and he wrote them down and then paused. His lips formed into a small smile. […]
Posted inGeneral, Media, News/Politics
Newspapers without government … How about that, Mr President?
Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States of America, once famously said: “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” That was before he became president. After he’d experienced a taste of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Quick, hit your kids
Well, it’s official. Quick, go hit one of your kids. You still can. It does have to be one of your children — but, still, rejoice, rejoice, the Children’s Amendment Bill has been defeated. Not, admittedly, by a decisive vote in the hallowed halls of Parliament, with ringing speeches on the merits or demerits of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Elites, chattering classes scared of the people?
Reading the papers can be scary. Earlier this week, while attending a conference in The Hague, I read in the London Guardian about a country where the most popular political interviewer was fired from his job at a TV station because of pressure from the president of the country. For the liberals and the opposition […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Media veterans recall October 19 1977
Here’s how two media stalwarts sum up the significance of the 30th anniversary of the bannings of three newspapers on October 19 1997: Thami Mazwai The day found me doing the rounds in Soweto for the World newspaper. I’ve been a journalist on the active side, never enjoyed journalism on other side of telephone. So […]
Posted inLifestyle, Sport
What crazy rituals will you be performing come Saturday?
One of my favourite human behavioural idiosyncrasies is the level to which we all delude ourselves about our perceived rationality. Rubbish. Our “rationality” is at the same level as that of poultry. We might not bury our heads in the sand physically, but we sure do it inside our brains. One of the manifestations of […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
An editor goes to jail … Does anyone care?
Journalists are not above the law, right? So why the fuss over the legal action against Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya? The reason is threefold. The first is that images of editors being dragged off to prison (exaggerated as these seem to be in this case) are not good for a country that is a […]