Referring to South Africa and/or South Africans, Pusch Commey (in the July 2008 issue of NewAfrican) argues that ‘the trouble is with a massive psychologically-scarred population left behind by a psychologically-devastating system – apartheid’. This is probably one of the few very direct appraisals of the challenges that face us as a country and the […]
2008
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Proteas vs the Poms: A heavyweight clash worth savouring
The England-South Africa Test series is upon us and sets up as a mouth-watering prospect. Let’s look at some of the match-ups. Graeme Smith vs Ryan Sidebottom Biff no doubt has some fairly decent memories of the 2003 tour, but a lot’s changed since then. Most importantly, the Poms have probably learnt over the past […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zimbabwe: G8 is racist? Not so bright, Matonga
“Zimbabwe’s Government called the G8 statement racist and an insult to African leaders. “They want to undermine the African Union and [South African] President Mbeki’s [mediation] efforts because they are racist, because they think only white people think better,” said the Deputy Information Minister, Bright Matonga. “It’s an insult to African leaders.” The Times As […]
Posted inNews/Politics
No wonder Zuma is silent
Julius Malema’s ‘kill for Zuma’ comments managed to turn yawns into wide-mouthed dismay for even the most jaded amongst us. With Mugabe terrorizing his own and the attacks on foreign African nationals (aka xenophobic attacks) still fresh in our minds, the comments seemed rather callous to say the least. The book (not the Bible, rather […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The politics of Mbeki vs Biko
“MAN is born free; and everywhere he is in chains……common liberty results from the nature of man. His first law is to provide for his own preservation, his first cares are those which he owes to himself; and, as soon as he reaches years of discretion, he is the sole judge of the proper means […]
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Economics – what utter rubbish!
“EVERY man is rich or poor according to the degree in which he can afford to enjoy the necessaries, conveniences, and amusements of human life.” Adam Smith (1776) It would perhaps be most appropriate before I examine the uselessness and irrelevance, under certain circumstances, of the science that economics is purported to be — to […]
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The flawed nature of humans
“Judgment of our friends ought to be suspected when they are in favour of ourselves” – Rene Descartes (1659 – 1650) We are as humans, endowed with the abundance of prejudice; and which like reason is by nature equally distributed among all of us; it however manifest in varying degrees. None of us can with […]
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Why Twitter doesn’t innovate
On Twitter today, Web Goldenboy Charl Norman posed the question: “When will Twitter innovate?” (Watch this video if you’re unfamiliar with Twitter) I suspect that Charl means to ask when Twitter will add more features, such as those seen in Plurk, where you can add pictures, videos and see responses to your ‘plurk’ (equivalent to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Unravelling the Zimbabwe problem
It has long been suggested by many that Mugabe cannot rig the economy. It is an interesting but unconvincing argument. The complexity of the Zimbabwe problem is one which we may only fully understand with the benefit of hindsight, assuming all the pieces of the puzzle fit together in our lifetimes. It was the economy, […]
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World champions don’t cheat!
Unless Peter de Villiers and the Springboks stop their whinging after losing against the All Blacks last Saturday and focus on playing rugby, they will experience more suffering at the House of Pain in Dunedin this weekend. I have been a staunch Springbok supporter since I saw my very first Test as a primary school […]
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On identity in America
Catherine Parker’s blog a few weeks ago entitled “African-American: Meaning what exactly?” raised several interesting points and got me thinking. The blog reminded me of something that happened in my freshman (first) year of college. I was working in the scheduling and events office of my university’s student union, processing requests for room space for […]
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Who owns digital marketing?
I have been following the series of Direct Marketing articles by Kieth Wiser published on Marketing Web with interest. I have noticed with particular interest, some defensive views from the Above The Line (ATL) crowd who are laying claim to the digital marketing crown. As an outsider to the both ATL and direct marketing, the […]