Christopher Rodrigues

Forgive me for being so presumptuous, but I suspect that even the well informed are unaware of some of the most remarkable international news in recent weeks. Now if this supposition is correct then ask yourself, dear reader, for we will surely agree about the significance of the following — whether a corporate dominated media […]

In spite of being unsuccessful last week’s attempt by the Guardian columnist George Monbiot to arrest as a war criminal the former US ambassador to the UN, and Under-Secretary Of State for Arms Control, is a salutary reminder of civic duty. The charge against John Bolton, who was speaking at a literature festival in Wales, […]

On 21 April 2008, the American Defence Secretary Robert Gates, told the West Point Military Academy’s cadets that they could expect “years of persistent, engaged combat all around the world” for — note well — “there are no exit strategies”. At the Academy, much is made of their claim that “the history we teach was […]

Recently a friend asked me what I, as a former member of the organisation, now make of the ANC Youth League. Her question resulted in me googling the names of my former comrades, who in the early Nineties had been activists in a range of Congress-aligned associations at the formerly named University of Port Elizabeth. […]

These six simple words are widely acknowledged as one of the greatest short, short stories. Ernest Hemingway wrote it, and with it won his barroom bet to that end. A Cape Town tabloid once came close with “Man dies kak death”, but I think you’ll agree that, despite its gain in brevity, it lacks the […]

Events recently have made John McCain’s boneheaded interpretation of the Beach Boys’ Barbara Ann seem far less inconsequential than he claimed it was, this time last year, while campaigning in South Carolina. His belligerence was, you may recall, prompted by a question from a war veteran on when he thought the US military might “send […]

Before considering a few arguments on why a boycott is obligatory, let’s be clear about why this is not yet happening on any significant scale. There are, I think, at least two broad reasons. The most pivotal has to do with the ambivalent attitude of power towards human rights and the other with the inherent […]

Recent calls by Gordon Brown for a cricket boycott against Zimbabwe are at face value justifiable — after all no one can disagree about the brutal kleptocracy of Robert Mugabe; but think about it less superficially, and it seems to be characteristic of the hypocritical sanctimony of the West. Let’s leave the implications of the […]

According to Prince Harry, his experience as a forward air controller (FAC) giving the final clearance to the aircraft dropping bombs on Helmand province has made him realise that “this is about as normal as I’m ever going to get”. “Cornet Wales”, whom the Guardian showed wearing a baseball cap with the Stars and Stripes […]