I would like to share an email with you that, according to its content, may contain information which is confidential, private or privileged in nature. Indeed, I have been advised that I must notify the sender that I am not the stated addressee or such person’s authorised representative. Moreover, I must refrain from printing, copying, […]
2008
Posted inNews/Politics, Tech
Towards the digital donga
It’s comforting to know that South Africa now has a formal, cabinet-approved digital migration policy, and even more so that our digital TV future will be curated by a Digital Dzonga (“digital south”) Advisory Council, drawn from the industry, labour and public, and reporting to the Minister of Communications. The announcement will come as a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Open borders!
Not far from where I live is a woman who, like many others from her class, have the best of all the worlds possible. She owns a house somewhere here in Yorkshire and one in Cape Town, allowing her to live here for six months during the best of weather conditions in Britain, and to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Reason for Scorpions closure is obvious
Think of a number, add the CIA then divide that answer by two, then multiply your answer by MI5, take away the number you started with and your answer is Thursday. FFS, I’ve heard some cock and bull stories about why the Scorpions have to be disbanded along the way but the Kikinegate revelations yesterday […]
Posted inGeneral
South Africa, a sadly divided house
As I watched the Beijing Olympics, I could not help myself but envy the Chinese. One question kept coming to me: Can we, as South Africans — the sport-mad nation that we claim to be — show such a united front when the world’s media and tourists descend on our shores to capture South Africa’s […]
Posted inNews/Politics
South Ossetia: Russia is like the USSR on steroids
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili made two major miscalculations when he attacked South Ossetia — firstly, in respect of the resolve of the EU or Western world to bail him out if he got into trouble; secondly, with regard to Russia’s determination to re-establish its prominence in the region and on the world stage. “In the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Entering fortress South Africa
I have had several South African friends and acquaintances complain to me about the difficulty of entering the United States since September 11. A friend of a friend was denied a visa just recently on the ludicrous fear that he would emigrate during his vacation to America. As much as I bemoan this situation and […]
Posted inGeneral
The wonderful, horrible world of spiders
Comments by readers of my entry on urban wildlife got me thinking more about spiders. Why do they inspire such horror? Why is it that humans generally agree on the notion of two legs good, four legs good, six legs bearable, eight legs bad (and no legs also bad, for that matter)? There are all […]
Posted inLifestyle
There are good-bad movies (and then there are bad-bad movies)
I’m actually a fan of the bad movie category. You know those movies that are so bad they’re funny? Purposefully bad, purposefully funny. Bad as in: over-the-top, cheesy, obvious. Take Zoolander, for instance. As far as I’m concerned, the first good-bad movie of its kind (I stand corrected if anyone knows of one before that?) […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Decoding the revolutionary rhetoric of the new ANC
The term “revolution” has been in vogue among the new ANC leadership since the Polokwane conference in December 2007. Many of us knit our brows in shock and have often been left astonished and wondering, “What the hell are they talking about? What damn revolution?” Having listened painstakingly to the revolutionary rhetoric of the new […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Rights, but no freedom — except for Tony Leon who is free at last, and great at it
Tony Leon is different now and yet maybe this is who he always was buried below the stress. Tony Leon on a public platform today is engaging, charming, witty, erudite and dare I say it – cute. This is a far cry from the leader of the opposition who often came across as belligerent and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Would the real Jacob Zuma please stand up?
Submitted by Carl Wesselink Dear Mr Zuma As an ANC voter and with the elections around the corner, there are a number of issues that are perplexing to me and to those of us who still think about political affairs and try to follow the facts. For the record, most of our friends, colleagues and […]