There is no greater crime than that of a sexual offence. Chimpanzees, you see, practise rape as a sort of demonstration of hierarchical dominance. They have no control over the inclination to rape in order to demonstrate power. It is clear that the opposable thumb may assist in pinning down the victim but the faculty […]
2009
Posted inLifestyle
‘Men shouldn’t have to beg for sex’
Sex always gets people talking, and Australia is no different. Over the past week, the media have buzzed with responses to the argument by sex therapist Bettina Arndt, who says that Australian women should have sex even when they don’t feel like it. (You can check out her website, which appears to have been inspired […]
Posted inGeneral
Zuma’s not my president
by Christopher Holdridge Yesterday, I was horrified to read Jacob Zuma’s comments about Afrikaners being the only true white South Africans. With an election only three weeks away, Zuma was addressing a group of representatives of Afrikaans-speaking organisations in Sandton, Johannesburg. He stated before the gathering that “in South Africa it is only the Afrikaners […]
Posted inGeneral
Who turned JZ into Mr Min?
Ok, who turned the world upside down? Who turned the bad guys into the good guys and the good guys into the bad guys? Who turned the ANC into the old Nats and The Arch into PW Botha? Who turned the Dalai Lama into Pol Pot and Jacob Zuma into Mr Min? April Fool’s Day […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Time to reclaim our values?
Politicians and policy makers too often swing on a pendulum between unbridled ego and blinkered groupthink. Self-preservation at all cost, parading as “national interest”, is the key to understanding this dynamic. This was patently evident in the wake of the uproar over the decision last week to ban a Nobel Peace Laureate (the Dalai Lama) […]
Posted inMedia
Black journos disappearing from the editorial front line
I am about to comprehensively lose confidence in the future of print media, especially newspapers, in South Africa. Worse, the major groups compound the problem by denying that not only are most of their black editors tokens but now confirming that they never appointed them on merit in the first place. The recent trend in […]
Posted inLifestyle
Stretch and change
“Change? I guess change is good for any of us … I ain’t mad at you, got nothing but love for you. Do ya thang boy!” The late, great Tupac Shakur. People sometimes feel the need for change; well they don’t feel it so much as it makes itself necessary for the individual’s happiness and […]
Posted inLifestyle
The bakkie: SA’s sweetest icon
I just couldn’t figure out what to call a bakkie when I left SA to roam the world. I struggled to bring my tongue around words like UT, yoot, pick-up truck. A bakkie’s a bakkie, a naartjie a naartjie, a braai a braai, lekker is lekker, and, sexist version or otherwise, a doos is a […]
Posted inGeneral
Let Benni bounce into oblivion
Ah, the internationals week. A perfect time for the forgetfully inclined to suddenly remember the full extent of niggling injuries and writhe in pain to avoid an arduous trip back home for an irritating friendly. The antics of Benni McCarthy last week highlighted the pitfalls of letting past glories go to your head. Benni is […]
Posted inLifestyle
The pointlessness of bling
I’ve never really seen the point of bling. Of course, I have my wedding and engagement ring (which used to be two separate rings until a bee flew in through the window and stung the fourth finger of my left hand, causing it to swell grotesquely and forcing me to cut them off. Long story.) […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Spag Blog reveals the truth about Malema
Blogs and Twitter have become the hot new breaking ground for news stories, so remember that you read this here first: today, Spag Blog can reveal that there has been an imposter in our political midst for much of the past year and that all of us, from the ACDP all the way down to […]
Posted inGeneral
Arch’s arrows nothing but a point-scoring exercise
It is now common for Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu to talk of boycotts, be it of the elections or attending the peace conference. Of course, this creates a lot of publicity and mileage for the Arch to maintain his position as one of the most outspoken critics of the South African government. But I am […]