When does news become the glorification or pornography of violence?
2008
Posted inGeneral
The excesses of capitalism
I am constantly surprised by the disingenuous defences offered for the often unforgivable practices of capitalism, where some (including some on Thought Leader) even claim that a company’s concern for ‘its market’, instead of its blind pursuit of profit, is simultaneously a concern ‘for others’. Capitalism is driven by the profit motive, and by nothing […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Quo vadis Zimbabwe?
The African Union conference at Sharm el-Shekh was a fitting response to the sham Zimbabwean election. In essence, a wishy washy call by African “leaders” for some form of negotiations despite the fact that the parties concerned have effectively ruled it out. While the USA has confirmed that it is headed for full blown sanctions, […]
Posted inGeneral
The pros and cons of World Cup rugby
As the Tri-Nations is about to start and the World Cup holders will play the World Cup favourites, it is time to think about the World Cup: what it means, what it delivers and its impact. I know there has been a huge debate on whether the All Blacks were poisoned in 1995, and whether […]
Posted inGeneral
Gavin Varejes and John Allan take the fight to grassroots levels
One of the biggest bugbears of South African sports fans has been the issue of forced quotas being introduced into team selections. Fourteen years after our becoming a fully fledged multiracial democracy, the next generation of sportsmen and women are available for selection on merit to our club and national sides. If we allow politicians […]
Posted inGeneral
Building a legacy for our children
The South African Rugby Legends Association has been running a number of projects designed primarily to uplift the disadvantaged people of South Africa. As a result, literally tens of thousands of children have been through Sarla clinics conducted by rugby legends who have given freely of their time. In this way we have been able […]
Posted inGeneral
We don’t buy it, Mr Henry
“Thouth Afwica ith a 10-out-of-10 wugby-pwaying countwy tho we know we are in for a weally tough Test. Goth, I’m in thuch awe of them; they’th the world championths.” If New Zealand coach Graham Henry thinks we’re buying that crock of crap, best he thinks again. If there is anyone on the planet right now […]
Posted inMedia
The war of the newspapers?
I have been meaning to put this down for a while but kept procrastinating until yesterday afternoon, when I again drove past that billboard on the M1 South that reads “We’re ahead of the times”. Now normally I would not give a rat’s you know what at such an advertisement, except this one is courtesy […]
Posted inGeneral
Durban name changes a missed opportunity for reconciliation
Submitted by Michael Francis There is much furore and debate about current street name changes in Durban. I see it as a missed opportunity for reconciliation as it is merely an exercise in petty politics by a group of ideologues. South Africa is a society in transition. A large part of transformation is symbolic and […]
Posted inGeneral
The future of search-engine optimisation
It seems like everyone is practising a little search-engine optimisation (SEO) these days. While you might have the basics covered, do you know where SEO is heading? I’ve been optimising websites for search engines since the late 1990s and this has given me the fortunate opportunity to witness the evolution of search-engine algorithms over the […]
Posted inGeneral
Send your message to the Boks in New Zealand – right now!
Drop your greeting and message to the Springbok team and Peter de Villiers in the message box below. I will forward all messages on to De Villiers in New Zealand, so that he can print these and post them on the wall in the Springbok war room — their hotel team room in which they […]
Posted inGeneral
2010: If not SA, who then?
We have been riding this roller-coaster train since South Africa’s announcement as the host of the 2010 World Cup finals. It seems, however, that as the “rainbow nation”, we are yet to agree on whether we would like to see this beautiful country of ours deliver the showpiece to the world. Though one concurs that […]