I have been wanting to write another blog on the fascinating phenomenon of perception for some time. Khaya Dlanga’s recent blog on banning the old flag was a good way to ground it in a controversial, hotly debated example of perception. I sympathise with Khaya’s impassioned request for the banning of the old South African […]
2009
Posted inGeneral
Is Zapiro all we get?
By Paul McNally Jonathan Shapiro is a lovely man, soft-spoken, his cartoons are delightful, but is he all we get? During the audio commentary on The Times website — concerning the repeated axing of the Special Assignment documentary on political satire — he sounds weary. He dutifully explains his position for an umpteenth time on […]
Posted inGeneral
Kommetjie whales: Did emotion trump logic?
I was deeply moved as much as the next animal lover by the recent whale beaching in Kommetjie. As a diver, general marine enthusiast and sort of person who frequently daydreams about swimming with dolphins, seeing those graceful giants of the ocean dying in agony in such large numbers is certainly not my idea of […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Abuse in Ireland: Will we scrutinise our institutions in SA?
By Patric Tariq Mellet There are so many stories and issues in the lives of South Africans that have for too long had to take a backseat in our media which seems to be stuck in a groove. Generally the South African media are besotted with the world of politicians and high-society figures, coasting from […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma’s state of the nation challenge
South Africa isn’t short of skills, people, resources or imagination. What it is short of is a common vision. Common implies most of us buy into it and will take whatever steps it takes to achieve it. Sometimes we will need to make sacrifices in the short term for the long. The world has known […]
Posted inLifestyle
Simple is good, simplistic not
By Roger Diamond I recently read there are proposals afoot that use a geoengineering approach to deal with climate change. Geoengineering involves making changes to the Earth’s surface and basic physical makeup on a scale that can influence large-scale systems such as weather, river flows and so on. Humans have been geoengineering for centuries, chopping […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SA gun owners up in arms
The Firearms Control Act (60 of 2000) has long been the cause of heated debate between those who would possess firearms as opposed to those who regulate and administer control thereof. I recall an evening about ten years ago when one particular genius — who I’m sure slept with his guns while his missus took […]
Posted inGeneral
Is David Bullard arrogant?
“Oh wow,” said the Canadian classical guitarist, Norbert Kraft, to me, ” … you mean to say you watched me play through your binoculars for most of the show … must have been boring,” he chuckled self-deprecatingly while he signed my copy of his album after a live show in Montreal, Canada. I winced. What […]
Posted inLifestyle
Polo drivers: (Possibly) the lowest form of life
Some of my best friends are Polo drivers. Honest. In fact, one of my very dearest friends drives a sensible blue Polo Classic. We were all tremendously relieved when he finally went out and got a proper car after years of driving around in the tuna can on wheels otherwise known as a CitiGolf. But […]
Posted inGeneral
Rooting for the underdog?
An acquaintance recently indulged me in one of my favourite pastimes — arguing over inconsequential matters using our respective employers email facilities. Nought out of the ordinary there you may say. And you’d be right, I imagine at least 60% of time spent on work email is not in the furtherance of an employer’s “global […]
Posted inGeneral
The ethics of digital advertising…
I’ve been victim (stupidity or entrapment, I’m not sure yet) to a couple of mobile subscription services recently. Browsing any old half-decent mobile site only to be hit with a 5 euro/month charge that apparently I opted into once downloading the content. And no. It wasn’t THAT kind of content. It brings to mind the […]
Posted inGeneral
The case for optimism
Even if I’m completely wrong. If there had been two ways that something could work out and I have chosen the incorrect one. If I had been smoking my socks and there is no validity in what I thought would happen. If it is now entirely clear that I have been unrealistic and out of […]