When Iraq was invaded in 2003, ostensibly to crush the imminent threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and undeniably as a belated form of retribution for the 9/11 attacks, there were those in the western world who felt that it was a plausible response for the acts of terror that had materialised […]
2008
Posted inGeneral
Does architecture have an ethical function?
In his book, The ethical function of architecture (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1997), the American philosopher, Karsten Harries,* presents a persuasive, if novel, contemporary philosophy of architecture. In a series of short, accessible chapters he discusses a number of related themes in a clear and well-formulated manner. The themes that he addresses pertain to what […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Bob the Boss
The crowd went into frenzy. Old and young, men and women, all listened attentively as Innocent Batsani Ncube recited his poems. I had listened to Innocent earlier on in the afternoon when he did a short piece on the “R” factor in reference to the just ended elections in Zimbabwe. The “R” referred to Robert […]
Posted inNews/Politics
We must prevent a Zimbabwean genocide
Sokwanele [“Enough is Enough”], a Zimbabwean human rights NGO, has a flickr photo album that illustrates, rather graphically, the means that Zanu-PF and its fascist affiliates are using to cling to power. Images copyright Sokwanele The photos in this album are not of extras in Hollywood’s latest “Afritragedy”. Neither are they the spurious efforts of […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
West Texas polygamist sect ranch – Whatever happened to great pick-up lines?
It’s funny how people see things so differently. To me my girlfriend is the most beautiful, caring, kind-hearted and special woman in the world – but to my wife she’s… Mind you I’m sure the police weren’t laughing when they removed hundreds of children from a ranch in Texas recently. According to the Houston Chronicle […]
Posted inGeneral
A society where discrimination has no place
I always get a kick out of recounting the story of the strictly religious Jewish youngster from the UK who a few years back accompanied me on a visit to the Sterkfontein Caves. When we arrived at the site, the first thing he did on leaving the car was to replace his yarmulka with a […]
Posted inTech
Science for sustainability!
I confess that gadgets in sci-fi and ‘spy vs. spy’ movies have always intrigued me. You have to admit that some of these ‘inventions’ are quite novel and innovative, and play quite an important element to the success of the movie. It is difficult not to marvel at the idea of being beamed from one […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Who turned down global warming?
The Australian, a newspaper in, well, Oz, reports that global warming appears to have stopped in 1998, that 2007 saw a 0.7°C drop in temperature, and that sunspot activity suggests we may be entering a period of global cooling again.
Posted inNews/Politics
Proposed process for disciplining judges may be unconstitutional
Judges have got their knickers in a knot over the Judicial Services Commission Amendment Bill now before the NCOP – so much so that the Judicial Services Commission (“JSC”) made an extensive and detailed submission on the Bill when it was before the National Assembly’s Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development last year. However […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
What should be done to curb rising food prices in South Africa?
This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: What should be done to curb rising food prices in South Africa?
Posted inBusiness
Bring on the Chinese
A few months ago, at the height of the Christmas shopping season, Oxfam encouraged us Britons to give “the gift of dung” to Africa. That’s right: dung. Apparently poor African farmers like nothing better at Christmas time than to receive a bucket of shit with which they can fertilise their crops. Oxfam called on British […]
Posted inNews/Politics
People in pain — please help
What is it about the situation in Zimbabwe that has produced one of the most severe cases of stick-your-head-in-the-sand-itis that one can imagine? Watching a video on the online New York Times on the refugees streaming into South Africa got me into such a state that tears were running down my cheeks. Of course, as […]