It’s Friday, it’s near the end of the day, it’s slowly nearing the end of the year, and if you’re like everyone I know, you probably need a break. My suggestion? Give yourself a few minutes for a good laugh and Yearbook yourself. What exactly does that mean? Well, there’s this website (www.yearbookyourself.com) that’s spreading […]
2008
Posted inGeneral
From your head in the clouds to working the cloud
I’ve been lending a hand to my brother to get a business idea out of his head and into the ‘real world’. It’s an interesting concept called “The Productivity Paradox”, a notion he has been talking about for some time already, which he now wants to turn into something more tangible. Disclaimer: There are certain […]
Posted inLifestyle
“I’m a racist. You’re a racist. Let’s talk.” Huh?
“Where are you from? What is your nationality?” are the regular questions I get asked by friendly passers-by (invariably Chinese) as I hasten through People’s Square park in downtown Shanghai, just off West Nanjing road. I say “invariably Chinese” because there are easily one thousand Asians to one foreigner even in cosmopolitan Shanghai. When I […]
Posted inLifestyle
“Come on mate, one billion customers in Choina, whadda yer waitin’ for?”
“Excuse me,” the bloke says with an Aussie drawl at a local watering hole, Big Bamboo, near Jing’an temple, one of Shanghai’s few remaining Buddhist temples. (The building survived the tender mercies of the Mao era because the monks astutely pasted pictures of Chairman Mao across its doors along with heaps of praise for China’s […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics, Tech
More nukes on the way
What lingered in my mind after his speech on the nuclear future for South Africa was not Dr Rob Adams’ confident prediction that we would have another 10 Koebergs in the next 20 years. It was his assertion, in replying to a question from the audience in the Rhodes University lecture theatre on Tuesday, that […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Arms trade: corrupting the soul of Africa and developing countries
The government’s strategic arms procurement (the so-called “arms deal”) has been the root of all troubles for our young democracy. The arms manufacturers prey on young democracies and the developing countries, enticing them with promises of endless benefits that industrial participation projects (offset arrangements) make possible. Shortly after freedom ushered a new government after 1994, […]
Posted inGeneral
Hansie: have we forgiven him?
Next week, we will see the premiere of the Hansie Cronje movie and already, the nation is once again divided on the late Proteas’ skipper. Before it is even screened in South Africa, the movie has been met with mixed emotions with sceptics suggesting that the movie is nothing but an attempt to recreate the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Save the Scorpions, kill the press leaks
As my regular readers know, the survival of the Scorpions as well as special police units like Organised Crime, has been one of my priorities over the past year. This arises not only from having dealt with many of their people and being able to appreciate their professionalism but also as a result of our […]
Posted inGeneral
Jake White plays for Sarla against Scottish Legends
I had to laugh when I spoke to Jake who was in Bloemfontein to attend Os du Randt’s benefit dinner. They had just returned from Scotland where our legends played theirs. He was a man in pain. Read about it here: jakewhiterugby.blogspot.com/2008/09/on-playing-fields-of-scotland.html
Posted inNews/Politics
Disturbing political interference in the NPA continues unabated
Judge Nicholson in his judgment correctly indicated that politicians should not interfere with the functions of the NPA nor impede or influence the manner in which they discharge these functions. President Mbeki has been ridiculed by those less informed of the judgment by Nicholson; and accused of being the chief conspirator against Jacob Zuma. If […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma ruling: What now for Mbeki?
This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: Zuma ruling: What now for Mbeki?
Posted inBusiness
Wall Street turning the American dream into a nightmare!
James Truslow Adams (1878-1949), the American writer and historian, in his book The Epic of America stated: “The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European […]