Japan is … well, different. Which does not say much, if one considers that the minutiae of experience make every day (even in familiar places) different from one day to the next. But the differences in Japan are palpable, albeit reminiscent of China, which I visited last year, in some ways. But only up to […]
2010
Posted inNews/Politics
Assange and Polanski, brothers in arms
It’s time for Assange to face the music. And for his howling supporters to remember that his accusers, even if they are only women, also have rights.
Posted inLifestyle
‘The only difference between you and a Hillbrow hooker’
“So how was your weekend?” I ask the copywriter at the next desk. You know, being chatty and everything. “Oh,” she says — she has this deep, smoky voice — “I was burgled on Friday”. We commiserate over the frustration of losing laptops and the sentimental work we hadn’t backed up. Same thing happened to […]
Posted inGeneral
Symptoms of the ‘post-political’
I recently attended two international conferences — one in Brisbane, Australia, on Stem (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in education, and the other in Osaka, Japan, called ACE, or the Asian Conference on Education in the Age of Globalisation. What interested me about these conferences was their focus on (mainly, but not only, tertiary) education, […]
Posted inLifestyle
Disturbing beach habits 2
Will the 85-year-old lady with the droopy breasts please cover up and you with the size 12 Caterpillars on, take them off. The beach is full of sand. Sand feels good between your toes. You won’t feel the sand with the Caterpillars on. Grass rugby fields is where they play touchies and if one more […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Zuma makes a joke of justice (again)
The rush. The people asking you questions like you’re someone important. The small glass of water for your gentle sipping between questions. The cameras on you. The lights. The news coverage. Is our president addicted to court? I can’t see any other explanation for his decision to once again waste taxpayers’ money on suing someone […]
Posted inGeneral
English football: Everything, everyone, has a price
The “roaring” 1920s saw the US economy explode in a manner befitting an octopus encircling an unsuspecting prey. Driven by Europe’s bankruptcy after World War I, the Marshall Plan ensured that apart from propping up capitalist states in the Old World, it allowed American industrialists to conduct business wherever they wanted to without their now […]
Posted inEquality, News/Politics
Two queer decisions
A soccer World Cup in Qatar and a UN vote. What do they have in common? Both of them deny the rights of gay and lesbian people. Queer decision number 1: Executions for homosexuals In November, the South African representative to the UN voted with 78 other representatives to remove the clause “sexual orientation” from […]
Posted inGeneral
Disturbing beach habits
Sex, volleyball, metal detecting — the beach lends itself to so much yet some human endeavours here defy logic. We’re already stripped down to our bare necessities — a deranged minority even prancing around in Speedos — is it really necessary to go the whole nine yards and disgrace humanity with outlandish behaviour? Ab crunches, […]
Posted inGeneral
E-books: Publishing on the eve of a revolution
The mercurial world of the internet remains a catalyst for change. In recent history, iTunes, the seminal digital music download platform, has turned music distribution upside down. Now, with e-books poised to hit the mainstream, we’re on the eve of a revolution to rival that. People don’t appreciate how deep the impact will be on […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The Catholic Church and WikiLeaks not a smokescreen
The priest shoved me to the ground, lay on top of me and whispered filthy language in my ear. I could smell his tobacco breath and feel his spittle. It only lasted a moment, I think, but stuff like that you remember for a lifetime. At the time I was a twelve-year-old schoolboy at a […]
Posted inGeneral
What exactly is the agenda against Ruud Krol?
Orlando Pirates coach and Dutch football legend Ruud Krol must think he is in some kind of bizarre dream. Reports, radio phone-ins and internet forums have seen him painted as some kind of dead man walking. Which to be fair is not an unusual position for football coaches, except Krol is actually having a good […]