Posted inSport

China looks forward to making its mark

As the date of the Beijing Olympics draws nearer, the buzz around the Games is increasing. Events of such magnitude will have some problems. As is the custom nowadays the media seems to be focusing predominantly on the controversial bits during the lead up to the sports festival. The IOC is meeting trying to address […]

Posted inLifestyle

On discovering Mongolian pop music

It is seldom that Mongolia makes the news headlines but it did at the beginning of July. A rare republic in their part of the woods with Russia and China as neighbours, Mongolia’s people protested against alleged vote rigging forcing the President to declare a state of emergency. I knew so little about Mongolia, I […]

Posted inNews/Politics

Obama trips in Germany

The Obama road-show is building up to quite an event. It would come as no surprise if one were to discover that a Hollywood director had a hand in the staging of the show. A shot of the air force plane landing in Berlin, suitably adorned with Obama’s logo, made a statement; never mind the […]

Posted inGeneral

And the poor shall forevermore be downtrodden

Question: what is it about governments, big business, institutions, non–profits, charities etc that they want to keep the poor, poor? Alright, as generalisations go, this one is one of my better ones. Two articles that made me think this appeared in the media today. The first one was in the Independent and discussed the farming […]

Posted inNews/Politics

People in pain — please help

What is it about the situation in Zimbabwe that has produced one of the most severe cases of stick-your-head-in-the-sand-itis that one can imagine? Watching a video on the online New York Times on the refugees streaming into South Africa got me into such a state that tears were running down my cheeks. Of course, as […]

Posted inGeneral

Equal rights for women still a pipe dream

An article on BBC News online caught my eye. It dealt with the bias that women face worldwide. In a UN-commissioned report the findings were that women are discriminated against in almost every country around the world. The report was compiled by Fareda Banda, a Zimbabwean-born law professor based in London. In itself this was […]