“YOU ARE AT a crossroads, Virgo, with tempting offers raining down on all sides. Yet Saturn, planet of materialism, keeps things constant, demanding you get qualified and hit the professional high road.” Yeah right. Horoscopes are amusing rubbish at the best of times, and this one, in the Sunday Life magazines that comes with the […]
2008
Posted inNews/Politics
The dismissal of the national director of public prosecutions to protect alleged criminals
“President” Kgalema Motlanthe (or perhaps acting on instructions from Luthuli House) decided to fire the suspended national director of public prosecutions, Advocate Vusi Pikoli, even though the Ginwala Commission of Inquiry absolved him of any wrongdoing and further recommended that he be reinstated to his position. He believes it is illogical to reinstate Pikoli but […]
Posted inLifestyle
Pregnant & smoking – the Sumo’s moral dilemma of debt
Am I being unreasonable? Am I expecting too much from an expectant mother who is also a smoker? Should pregnant woman legally be allowed to smoke? I ask these questions because I am really at a loss. Where does one draw the line of between being a responsible citizen and condemning unethical behaviour and interfering […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma backs mediation in Zimbabwe
While aid agencies are confirming that thousands of unreported Zimbabwean deaths are taking place as a result of the collapse of the country’s healthcare in tandem with a breakdown of communications, the Times of London are leading with ANC president Jacob Zuma’s view that mediation offers the best solution to the current crisis. This comes […]
Posted inGeneral
Mantashe reveals true colours of the ANC
The ANC has always claimed to be oriented towards non-racialism but under the current leadership the opposite appears increasingly to be true. All the gains made by Nelson Mandela since the liberation in building an inclusive and non-racial society are being reversed in populist pursuits for the preservation of the ANC’s political hegemony. In 1996 […]
Posted inGeneral
Casino culture rots our souls
Here’s one suggestion for helping ease South Africa’s economic and moral woes: close all casinos. Right now. For they have utterly no redeeming features whatsoever. And while we’re at it, let’s draw a knife across the throat of that monstrosity called the lottery. At a time when South Africa is crying out for good old-fashioned […]
Posted inGeneral
Dear despot
It is with a heavy heart that I write to you. I am convinced I cannot continue to address you as a leader, because you’re no longer one. You are a failure. You have messed up everything. Indeed, you have messed up with disastrous results! Your people have been shamed all over the world. Their […]
Posted inGeneral
How much do you hate your expats?
Going through my collection of Australian insults a couple of days ago, something struck me. Knock me down with a budgie feather, but Australians don’t particularly like their expats either. So it’s not just Jarred Cinman comparing South Africans who leave to a cancer that must be cut out in order for the “healing” to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Time for SA to invade and occupy Zimbabwe
I am one of the most decisive people that I know. “Come on Chook, let’s go live in China,” I brightly announced one day to my wife in England after being “let go” from my second job (I was a terrible salesman by England’s cut-throat standards). “Okay,” she said, “hmmm … sounds interesting”. So, amid […]
Posted inGeneral
Zanu-PF conference to cost millions: Are you shitting me?
While South Africa are sending assessors up to Zimbabwe next week in order to ascertain how much we need to spend on food and medical supplies to save that country’s long-suffering millions, IWPR are reporting that several million US dollars are being budgeted for the Zanu-PF conference to be held in Bindura from December 10 […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SA foreign affairs team must visit victims in DRC and Zimbabwe
Leah Chishugi, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide and a trained nurse, went into the DRC and filmed the testimony of over 400 women who were raped and abused by militias in flare-ups in the eastern regions of the Congo. The Guardian (UK) carries footage of her coverage. In November 2007 South Africa (and Angola) […]
Posted inBusiness, Media
Regional Commercial Radio — The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Regional Commercial Radio – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly A lot of South Africans will be taking to the road over the next few days and weeks. For those who don’t really feel like talking while speeding down the highway, there’s always the radio. The last year or so has given us a […]