The South African blogging numbers for 2007 and the beginning of 2008 are in, and they tell a story almost as eloquent as do some of the blogs. Just six months ago, blogging was the next big internet fad in South Africa. Seemingly from nowhere, in the middle of the year, the number of blogs […]
2008
Posted inLifestyle
ANCYL and the tale of the fabled small print
* Not for sale to persons under the age of 18 * There has never been a more redundant piece of small print than the one stated above and which forms a neglected part of the artwork panels for labels of alcoholic beverages in marketing-agency work-boards the country over. Now, obviously bored, the ANCYL leadership […]
Posted inGeneral
And the anti-coconut parents descended upon the sandwich platter …
If you had told me that South Africans were passionate about their constitutional right to call each other by derogatory terms, I would have told you to put the blunt down or pass it along coz you’re clearly smoking potent stuff. If you had told me that South Africans would be sufficiently moved to pen […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Militant atheism, wicked untruths from the church or the island of Dr Moreau?
In November 2007, in an effort to update the laws on fertility treatment and embryo research, the British government introduced the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. Key proposals in the Bill are: ensuring that all human embryos outside the body — whatever the process used in their creation — are subject to regulation; regulation of […]
Posted inGeneral
Racists (accidentally) admit the inherent equality of all people
Reading the responses to my last blog, one can only wonder if honest introspection is at all possible in this society, rent as it is by greed and bigotry. An anonymous little letter landed on my desk the other day. It was a photocopy of a book excerpt on the missionary, philosopher and physician Albert […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Energy-crisis myths, misrepresentations and fallacies
Submitted by Bryan Hadfield Much of the recent reporting on the Eskom crisis is based on a poor understanding of the true nature of the energy problems and what would constitute useful responses from the public. Half-truths, disingenuous excuses, obfuscation and myths abound. Turning off your hot-water cylinder for a few hours a day saves […]
Posted inLifestyle
My Coke Fest 2008 report
I spent most of yesterday milling around with the many thousands of other people who turned up en masse for the Cape Town leg of My Coke Fest. How was it? In a word, fantastic. Here’s why: I’ve been to many a music festival and although I love them, they’re usually a tad exhausting because […]
Posted inBusiness, Tech
MyEnergy: A tool for powerless South Africa
That’s a powerful image of Africa’s most advanced country… Power outages in South Africa has had everyone up in arms for the past couple weeks. A simple search on M&G, The Times or Thought Leader will give you its history and interesting commentary on it. Load-shedding by Eskom, the local power supplier which also provides […]
Posted inGeneral
Between antagonism and ambivalence: Russia-China relations
For decades the antagonism between Russia and China was a constant of international politics. Such mutual relations tend to be marked by ambivalence. With hardly any other country has Russia fostered contacts with such intensity as with China. External trade relations have developed with similar intensity. Second only to Germany, China has become Russia’s most […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zimbabwe: A bonfire of Mugabe’s vanity
In 2000, Slate magazine’s David Plotz, while describing Zimbabwean tyrant Robert Mugabe, observed: “He does not wreak havoc out of evil, caprice or lunacy. He does it out of cynicism. Mugabe, who liberated his nation from colonial oppression 20 years ago, is the father of his country. He is what would have happened if George […]
Posted inLifestyle
A vegetarian’s nightmare, oozing blood and attitude
Vegetarians throughout the land will be sharpening their carrots on reading what I’m about to write, but in the interests of levity I have to own up to my one acknowledged prejudice: no, not vegetarians, but vegetarianism. There is a difference. Many vegetarians do not make much of an “ism” of their chosen diet. They […]
Posted inGeneral
Open letter to Mondli Makhanya on metro cops, City Power and Eskom
Dear Sir, I was outraged by your attack on the fine young men and women of the metro cops who have become almost like policemen to us. I mean, how dare you offend the very people who ensure that, after being gridlocked at a robot for three hours due to an Eskom blackout with no […]