I am really a self-fulfilling prophet of late … Talking myself into awful tummy trouble as described in my last blog which had to do with beliefs, then I started to rummage around for material to write about another favourite, blame-shifting. The same day, yesterday, one of my current schools, a primary school, hit me, […]
2009
Posted inBusiness
Is Islamic finance a solution?
Even the Christian world is embracing Islamic banking and finance as a response to the international economic crisis. The Vatican has endorsed the values of Islamic finance as a solution to the problems in the world of conventional, interest-based finance. It has stated that Western banks should carefully examine Islamic financial regulations in order to […]
Posted inGeneral
The problem with female judges
Nobody believes Minister Radebe when he says the judiciary must transform to reflect the racial, gender and demographic reality of the country. Everybody thinks this is about making sure the ANC never has to go through another Zuma-Shaik fiasco. But the ANC says this impending transformation is in fact about reflecting the racial, gender and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Put navy chief Mudimu in sub on bricks at the bottom of the ocean
If South African Navy chief Johannes Refiloe Mudimu has suggested that he will not pay allegiance to our commander in chief, President Jacob Zuma, then the submarine that has been put on bricks must be taken out of mothballs, the gentleman placed therein and immediately sunk without a trace. I must in all fairness point […]
Posted inGeneral
SA’s future broadband scenario
About a week ago I went up to Mtunzini to visit the cable station that recently finished construction. Seacom is an underwater fibre-optic cable being installed along the coast of East Africa — a tremendous boost for all the countries affected. When it comes to internet bandwidth, Africa has always been left behind, thanks to […]
Posted inGeneral
The next frontier in web technology
It’s no secret that the web has opened up an exciting world of information. Curiosity piqued? Type it into Google, hit enter and et voila, instant knowledge. But that frontier has been pushed even further with a new web application that makes systematic knowledge immediately quantifiable by anyone. I recently finished a project for a […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Transforming the judiciary in SA
Applications are invited from suitably supported candidates to be admitted to the exalted status of being a judicial commissioner, an arbiter in a subsidiary court, a magistrate, a high court judge, a supreme court of appeals judge or a constitutional court judge. Please note that the following requirements subsist in respect of all applications: Are […]
Posted inBusiness
If SA can’t create 500 000 jobs, then your job is on the line
President Jacob Zuma says we have to create 500 000 jobs by year-end. As a nation of dedicated whingers, we look at that stat, sit back and say, “We can’t do it”. Actually if we can’t do it then we need to figure out how much financial pain, we the employed, are able to bear in […]
Posted inBusiness
So, how useful was your university degree anyway?
While I was trawling through my favourite meme blogs, I happened across this trenchant piece of social commentary on GraphJam. “Where a philosophy degree gets you in real life,” the pie chart demonstrates — 95% of the chart is red, and represents “Nowhere”, 5% of the chart is green, and represents “Also nowhere”. Is this […]
Posted inGeneral
Intellectual vandalism
A friend told me about a house he was building. It took months to get it nearly complete. Lots of work by lots of people, creating something of beauty that everyone could admire. A week before completion vandals broke into the property and ripped the place to pieces, just for fun. Vandalism sits on the […]
Posted inGeneral
Zimbabwe: A nation in need of healing
The decade-long crisis in Zimbabwe has affected the psyche and social fabric of the nation. There were senseless and callous murderous acts that today dominate the news headlines and community talks. From Beitbridge to Victoria Falls, Gokwe to Zaka, stories abound about rampant killings and general decay in morality. Not only have these been normalised […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SABC: Time to start becoming accountable
With the SABC and its financial problems very much in the news at the moment I was interested to read a letter headlined “Others share blame for SABC woes” in the Mail & Guardian of May 29 2009. The letter was published under a pseudonym, “SABC staffer — name withheld” — and suggested that despite […]