It seems that every other week we are confronted with the reality of an ever changing nation. Summer rolls around, housing developments go up, presidents change, ministers and premiers shuffle around. “We live in exciting times” is a refrain I’ve heard often over the course of the past two months. And every so often, in […]
2008
Posted inNews/Politics
Mbeki’s Zimbabwe deal will succeed
While the world’s media speculate on the imminent collapse of the power sharing agreement in Zimbabwe, the realities on the ground preclude President Mugabe’s ministry grab, which is jeopardizing the deal’s implementation, from succeeding. The fact of the matter is that unless the MDC control the ministries of Home Affairs and Finance there will be […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Content and readership analysis of the M&G and Thought Leader
In a recent post Bert Olivier referred to being called a “clown” for being critical of capitalism. As it goes I have been doing some research about commentators and contributors to Thought Leader. I am still collecting and analysing the data. Of the thousands of entries I have in my spreadsheet, so far, the clearest […]
Posted inMedia
While I was thinking about collective guilt and innocence — I gave up
There’s a question that has been bothering me for as long as I can remember. I can’t quite tell it straight. It has to do with the causes with which we associate ourselves, and the extent to which we will go to justify the means employed to achieve the objectives of said causes. Let me […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
ANC split: good for what?
Never mind that no one seems to have the faintest idea about what exactly is going on in our country over the past few weeks, but apparently all of this serious pushing, pulling, shoving and other such forced removals, is good for our democracy. I don’t know. Perhaps too much is happening too fast for […]
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle
Global meltdown: China’s a cool place to stay
On the whole, mainland Chinese people just don’t do debt. During this global meltdown I visited a Chinese friend’s Korean restaurant the other day in Nanhui, the somewhat rural end of Shanghai, which is an hour and a half commute from where I live. As I walked through the door just before lunch rush hour […]
Posted inGeneral
Will the declining economy benefit online marketers?
With the economy going through a really bad stage and the rand plummeting against the dollar, euro and pound, I wonder to myself how this is going to affect web agencies and more specifically, online marketers. Let’s face it, most companies have websites already, some being brilliant and others being simple static ones. Regardless of […]
Posted inGeneral
PW Botha & SA Rugby — steeped in the past or doomed for the future?
The Krokodil is well known for his Crossing the Rubicon speech in 1985 in which Botha was widely expected to announce new reforms. Instead, he refused to give in to pressure for concessions to the black population including the release of Nelson Mandela. His defiance of international opinion in this speech led to further isolation […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The rise and rise and spectacular fall of the ANC!
The law of nature suggests that what goes up must eventually come down. I think Newton’s law of gravity said something to that effect. When the Romans engaged in expansionist military adventures, terrorising and conquering territories that existed outside of Rome, none of the Roman warlords imagined any succession of events that could lead to […]
Posted inGeneral
Is Luke Watson an idiot?
Luke Watson is incredibly difficult to like. Mind you, I fall into the side of those who believe he gets a pretty raw deal as a player and a person, but its pretty obvious that, Bhutana Komphela aside (hands up anyone who thinks Komphela is presenting his own agenda when he shoots off the hip? […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
What would happen if you took Oprah’s advice …
… about everything? The First Lady of talk-show television is always offering words of wisdom — on her show, on her website and through her magazine. What would happen if you took these tips? How would you live, what would you spend your money on, what movies would you see, what books would you read, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Dear Mr Lekota: Let’s open the arms deal (part 2)
Dear Mr Lekota After your performance in the Western Cape, it is obvious that you are alive and well, so there is no necessity of asking. Let’s get on with these issues. Both you and I know very well why we are all here. It is the arms deal, in case you have forgotten. A […]