The South African media seems to have blissfully ignored one of the most important health stories of the decade — last week’s report by President Obama’s Cancer Panel (PCP) which, finally, has turned the tables on the entire cancer industry from within. While the PCP report focuses on the cancer epidemic in the US — […]
2010
Posted inTech
Should we reply before or after the RT on Twitter?
When retweeting and then replying to a tweet at the same time, where should one write their response? Before or after the RT? This is an age-old debate that has raged for some time. In fact it has not even raged, it’s been completely ignored. People are doing their own thing. They’ve turned this into […]
Posted inGeneral
Will Adobe’s Flash survive?
By Yoav Tchelet Steve Jobs has openly displayed his disdain for Flash in his recent letter to the Adobe faithful. The Adobe faithful have long been hoping for Apple to include support for the Flash platform in its devices, but this recent spat has cemented the fact that Apple will not support Flash in any […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Freedom still a distant dream
Now that the dust has settled on Freedom Day — April 27, the 16th anniversary of the first time all South Africans voted in a democratic election — it is worth reflecting on what it means to be free, what we still need to do to achieve more freedom and what we need to do […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Malema could give a sneak preview of ANC 2012
While Business Day are suggesting a Malema guilty plea to shorten today’s disciplinary hearing, IOL are speculating on points in limine being taken by the youth league president’s advisers. In the first instance the guilty plea, in return for a suspended sentence, has been making the rounds and appears to be a sensible exit strategy […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Shape without drape: Muslim fashion du jour
Tens of thousands of Muslims marched through the streets of Paris yesterday to bid farewell to the burqa that is due to make its way out of French society, just in time for Summer 2010. Demonstrators cried, sang victory songs and waved an array of screaming banners: from the eccentric “Free at last” and “Thank […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News/Politics
This one’s for the (dim-witted) denialists
I tell you what, I’ll pander to your pathetic pussyfooting. I’ll play your game: let’s assume that global warming is an elaborate hoax. Let’s pretend that any climate change is entirely unrelated to human actions; that the big, green bogey man is nothing but a stuffed toy to dangle from the review mirror of your […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Why corruption is good for SA
In a world of stupid politicians, sometimes the most you can hope for is the opportunity to pay someone to do the right thing. Barely a day goes by in South Africa without someone accusing someone else of being corrupt. Newspapers are filled with scandal after scandal involving “millions” or “billions” of misappropriated funds; we […]
Posted inNews/Politics
SA World Cup a disgrace
Examine the latest available Human Development Index (HDI) figures — a measure of education, life expectancy and standard of living — and you will find that the 2010 World Cup hosts are ranked 129 out of 182 UN member states. Or a whole 19 places below both Gaza and the West Bank. The effect of […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Is Metrorail benefiting from the strikes?
We all have a right to strike, but does it follow that others should pay more while we strike? If so then Cape Metrorail is within its bounds, but if not I’d like some answers. A notice appeared on the heavily protected windows of the wildly confusing and inarticulate Metrorail ticket sellers last Monday (3rd). […]
Posted inLifestyle, Media
Simply Slim ‘defies’ the MCC
Simply Slim relaunched their new product, as spokesperson of the Department of Health (DOH) Fidel Hadebe stated on 15 April 2010, “in defiance of the MCC [Medicines Control Council] directive” — ie before it had been registered and a certificate of registration issued by the Registrar of the MCC as is required by the Medicines […]
Posted inGeneral
Lacan’s theory of discourse
A commentator on one of my recent posts on discourse asked a question about the discourse analysis of capitalism. Lacan had something interesting to say about that — he remarked that the discourse of the capitalist is the “cleverest discourse” ever devised by humans. One may wonder why, but it is only when one has […]