Today may have seen the beginning of the end of the dreaded monster lurking in the tangled forests of South African telecommunications law. When Justice Norman Davis ruled in the high court this morning that value-added network services (VANS) must be allowed to provide their own networks — and that the regulator is obliged to […]
2008
Posted inNews/Politics
Stop bitching about crime; send for the submarines
Why is it that every time the government does something positive to ensure our safety and security, you lot start moaning and bitching about crime, schools, hospitals and all the other unnecessary crap that we don’t need? I mean what is the point of their making the effort if this is the thanks they’re going […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Top secret Wrigley’s chewing gum
After a gruelling session of learning oral English at the campus on Dong Chang road in downtown Shanghai, the eight or so kids in my class jumped at the chance of playing Blind Man’s Buff, you know, where one kid is blindfolded and has to catch one of the others. It was ten in the […]
Posted inLifestyle
Smoking is dangerous to your health
At my funeral my rabbi has been given strict instructions to throw a last carton of Camel Filters and a Zippo lighter into the casket with me just in case, heaven forbid, I wake up six feet under only to find myself without a smoke. Knowing my form I won’t be able to find them […]
Posted inNews/Politics
One ANC, many voices: A crisis ahead of elections?
This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: One ANC, many voices: A crisis ahead of elections?
Posted inGeneral
Jake White’s response to the speculation
As the co-writer with Jake on his official blog, I include herewith his response to the speculation appearing in the media. Jake believes the post of director of rugby should be created. Read it all at http://jakewhiterugby.blogspot.com/2008/08/director-of-rugby-needed-for-springboks.html Let’s give Jake our full support by either putting a comment on here or on the official blog. […]
Posted inGeneral
Lessons from Beijing
After years of bitter controversy, Beijing rose to the occasion and produced an Olympic Games which will be remembered for its sleek organisation, spectacular ceremonies and a feast of sensational sport. London may have received the baton for the next Olympiad, but the reality is the spotlight has now shifted to South Africa as the […]
Posted inMedia
Are you aspirational?
“Aspirational”. Of all the words I encountered whilst working in the advertising industry in South Africa, it was the one I came to hate the most. Every consumer was aspirational. Every marketing manager and her shih tzu wanted her brand to be aspirational. Cars were aspirational. Bank accounts wanted to be aspirational. Deodorant, toothpaste, even […]
Posted inGeneral
Help us find a name for a feed reader
After a couple of weeks of development we’re putting the finishing touches on a brand-spanking new feed reader: yes, the internet does in fact need yet another feed aggregator! If you have time to spare please check it out and let us know if everything works anything breaks. We now need a name for the […]
Posted inGeneral
Of feminism and the misconstruction of equality
The rise of feminism in the early 19th century was inspired by subjugation of the rights of women and the need to promote the ideals of equality among women and men; the advocacy of their political and legal rights as well as their interests; and the need to trounce male chauvinism. Over the years, there […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The great Saudi Arabian mosque hypocrisy
On the 25 July 2008, the Rosebank and Killarney Gazette published an article about the proposed building of a large mosque in the heart of residential Houghton. The building will house between 1 500 and 2 000 people in prayer and provide for the increasing need for places of worship for Houghton’s Muslim community. Phase […]
Posted inGeneral
Of savagery and barbaric virtues of nations
Winston Churchill (1874 – 1965), the most beloved and respected son of Britain, a decorated war hero, a noted statesman and undisputable orator; in his account of the campaign in the Sudan and the Battle of Omdurman, in The River War (1899), said of Africans: “The indigenous inhabitants of the country were negroes as black […]