By Danny Glenwright I have a tiny place in my heart for decay. Well, rather a bit larger than tiny. There’s something about dilapidation and dereliction that make me feel comfortable and ensure a place feels special. If I’m travelling it’s usually what entices my camera from my pocket. Most people like shiny and new. […]
2011
Posted inNews/Politics
The problems with defining #African
By Jason van Niekerk Sentletse Diakanyo is not a journalist, and tells his readers not to unreasonably expect balanced articles. He’s not a scientist either, so apparently we shouldn’t unreasonably expect his cherry-picked wikiscience to accurately reflect human evolution. What he is, though, is a stirrer, and his Thought Leader post “We are not all […]
Posted inGeneral
Euthanasia, a kind way to end suffering
By Dr E V Rapiti I fully support the views of Professor Sean Davison on euthanasia and his intention to set up an organisation to assist the terminally ill to die in dignity. I am sure that there are many that would support him but they remain silent fearing the reprisals by the small group […]
Posted inGeneral
The Grace Mugabe story: If you can’t get to the man, go after his wife
By Jane Madembo The first lady of Zimbabwe, Grace Mugabe, was in the papers again recently. She is suing the Zimbabwean Standard newspaper US $15 million. The Standard published a story based on a report from the WikiLeaks US embassy cables, which alleged that the first lady was involved in illegal diamond trafficking. There is nothing […]
Posted inGeneral
Melbourne ‘Bokkie’ eyes the next step
Professional rugby has seen players represent teams from all over the world, with the number of South Africans plying their trade in Europe a well-known phenomenon. One man who already knows more about travel than most is 19-year-old JP du Plessis. Du Plessis represented Western Province at the 2009 Craven Week in East London, and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Nailing down Vampire Bob’s electoral coffin
Until the coffin is nailed shut, Zimbabweans will fear that Vampire Bob will find a way of rising from electoral death.
Posted inNews/Politics
A lecture on conjecture
Wow. South Africa is at it again. Apparently our beloved country of soothsayers has refined its general problem-solving skills for solving criminal investigations from their armchairs without any real facts or perspective to such a degree that our courts should just pack up shop and ask Judge Judy for a job. Granted, it’s hardly a […]
Posted inGeneral
A tale of two averages
By Greg Hurvitz Undoubtedly the purist cricket enthusiast is in cricket heaven over this festive season and rightly so, with the Proteas dismissing the Indians for another surprisingly low first innings total, this time 205 all out. These are the “ranked” number one and two teams playing against each other. Way down under we have […]
Posted inGeneral
Kallis, Pollock among SA’s all-time cricket greats
Cricket, as a sport, has a habit of indulging itself in its own legend. Players are elevated above mere mortal status to something divine, something Bradmanesque as it were, where their influence on the game goes way beyond the boundary ropes of their personal selves. Sachin Tendulkar is the best example of a man who […]
Posted inGeneral
The imagined threat of ‘die swart gevaar’
It is often difficult for human beings to readily discard particular views and prejudices that had long been imprinted in their minds through socialisation and experience. Often our worldview is informed by these particular conceptions, however preposterous they may be. People interpret facts before them according to their well-ingrained conceptions of what reality is and […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Must we create another monster?
So, the years of stirring are finally paying off. After spending aeons pissing off the members of the Mail & Guardian Forum, Sentletse Diakanyo has spread his wings and succeeded in knotting the knickers of half the known world. How else to explain how one blog entry can elicit responses, not only from other Thought […]
Posted inLifestyle
Where have you walked in those shoes?
This afternoon it occurred to me that I was wearing the same pair of shoes I had on when I got retrenched in Sydney a little more than two years ago. A pair of black Nine West pumps, I got them on sale from the store on Military Road in Mosman, which is the least […]