Syria, a country that is usually self sufficient, now finds itself importing wheat from other countries for the first time in 15 years. The country is trying to cope with the effects of the worst drought in 40 years. Farmers and villagers in the east of the country are worst affected by the poor rainfall […]
2008
Posted inNews/Politics
So? What’s changed?
Five years ago, this column was published in several South African and European newspapers. Having survived another half-decade in the land “alive with possibilities”, having changed careers, made history, saved some ordinary people, exposed a fraction of the spooks and crooks that lurk in the shadows everywhere, seen my children to safety in exile, become […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Does ‘Congress of the People’ make branding sense?
When selecting a name for your new brand, you should ask yourself a couple of questions. Is it differentiated? Is it memorable? Is it meaningful? Does it fit your brand image? Does it roll easily off the tongue? If it were to be shortened or altered in some way, such as in the form of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Will we ever see black people the same way again?
I have been drumming my fingers waiting for a dozen or so Chinese friends to tell me what they thought of Obama winning. I told them I would weave their thoughts into a blog. They promised me they would. So far I have caught only two tadpoles on my email: “Personally, I think for a […]
Posted inLifestyle
‘Upon entering, abandon all reason’
“Why can’t I use one of our new classrooms downstairs when I teach on weekends?” I asked Cindy, the campus manageress. It’s too dangerous,” Cindy replied. My eyebrows rose as I tried to figure out that one. One of the really good private schools I freelance for in Shanghai, with the stunningly unoriginal and redundant […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Lack of political leadership with maturity of character and conviction
Addressing the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) conference, secretary general of Cosatu made a very refreshing admission. He said “Only unscrupulous politicians hell-bent to use our divisions in order to use us against one another for their selfish political ends stand to benefit from our disunity.” For a long time the ANC and its […]
Posted inGeneral
Ruan Pienaar could make Bok No 10 his own!
The doom prophets, including several well known, so-called “experts”, are at it again. In fact, they’ve been at it for almost two weeks – predicting disaster for the Springboks’ tour of the United Kingdom, which starts on Saturday. And much of it is because of the inclusion of Ruan Pienaar as the first-choice flyhalf. There’s […]
Posted inNews/Politics
What real change will Barack Obama bring to the world?
This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: What real change will Barack Obama bring to the world?
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Rwanda on my mind …
His smiling face popped up on a faded, scanned-in picture on one of the millions of Facebook groups. The class photograph was taken in front of the building of Ecole Privée Belge in Gisenyi, Rwanda. It was 1986, the sky was blue, the rain season had finally come to an end and Rwanda’s future looked […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Obama will change Africa starting with Zimbabwe?
If regard is had to the fact that African American voters in the USA and white voters in South Africa form roughly the same percentage of the overall population then the result we witnessed in Tuesday’s US presidential election is the equivalent of Helen Zille capturing the South African presidency. Stop and think about that […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Would an ANC by any other name smell as sweet?
Two scholars reflect on the implications of Lekota and Shilowa’s ANC breakaway party for South African political leadership … “Thank heavens for Shikota” The South African political situation has never truly been ideal; for the most part it has always seemed that the average South African has had a choice been the devil and the […]
Posted inGeneral
Switched on to digital TV
South Africa officially switched on its digital TV signal on November 1 2008. Wanting to be a part of the revolution, I acquired a digital TV tuner so that I could play … I decided to get a digital TV tuner for my media center PC, the reasoning being that instead of the poor quality […]