While Jews agonise over anti-Semitism and Muslims rail against Islamophobia, both of which are supposedly on the rise everywhere you look, remarkably little is being heard on behalf of arguably the world’s most persecuted religious group today, namely Christians. I say “arguably”, because anti-Buddhist persecution in Tibet and Myanmar/Burma is also an unhappy reality. Still, […]
General
Posted inGeneral
SA isn’t perfect
No doubt South Africa still has the potential to be one of the super-nations on earth. Yes, we can be one of the most powerful and influential players on the world stage. It is just that we measure our success in terms of problems and not the solutions that we have provided for some of […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
I won’t take money for my socks!
“I won’t take money from you for my socks!” the sock lady cries, “Take them! They’re yours for free”. “No ways, you’re crazy,” I mutter in Chinese. She is shaking her hand at me, palm raised in the classic Han Chinese gesture for NO. (This was like waving a red flag at a bull in […]
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You will look like biltong when you are 60
Braaivleis, cricket, sunny skies and cabriolets. Ah yes, Joburg does summer well. So does Cape Town (even if they don’t have our fantastically amazing thunderstorms, the ones we tweet about obsessively). In fact, the whole of South Africa is pretty generous when it comes to drenching us in sunshine. Naturally, we take advantage of this. […]
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Bad light, bad umpiring, bad for cricket
The Test series between SA and Australia is quite sadly coming to an end. I find myself almost thinking was this even worth it for all concerned. Sunfoil sponsored the Test. When I first heard this I thought it was a sunscreen company to then realise it was cooking oil. What am I trying to […]
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Understanding collaboration and unified communication
While social media is grabbing the headlines there are equally dramatic changes currently occurring across the world in the way groups of people are collaborating and working together. These changes should be throwing up many interesting communication questions for corporate decision-makers. A massive number of collaboration tools exist at every level of economic activity. These […]
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Like, so now what?
As brand warriors battle it out on the social media platform for consumer favour, “Like” has shed its identity as a plain old verb in the English dictionary to become a sought-after means of creating a following of potential brand champions … and buyers. Social media is definitely one of the biggest trends of this […]
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Douglas Kennedy — a novelist to read
Through my daughter, as much a bibliophile as her father, I recently discovered the novels of Douglas Kennedy. Her birthday gift to me was Leaving the World, a novel she described as “beautiful, but sad”, which propelled me and my partner into a very rewarding fictional journey of discovery. I haven’t come across references to […]
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Education the key to our economic freedom, not land expropriation
By Khethelo Xulu The gloomy outlook on the attainment of economic freedom in SA is yet to be spelt out to the disadvantaged and desperate young citizens of the nation. Unemployment, poverty and the lack of access to natural resources such as land are the issues that plague our societies the most. In particular, they […]
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Sailing the stormy seas of recession
The world is moving yet again towards the threat of recession: exchange rates are yo-yoing, and even our kids know that “double dip” is not a kind of ice-cream topping. Under these circumstances, the natural instinct of many is to batten down the hatches and find a safe shelter in which to weather out the […]
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Rugby players cash in on books
The Rugby World Cup has come and passed. New Zealand slayed the dragon, Quade Cooper was average, France are still the most predictably unpredictable team on earth and Peter de Villiers said it was the end of the road, then changed his mind. One would think with the tournament now out the way, the rugby […]
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The bitter-sweet barrier
He is staring as if from a void, which is what catches my attention as I stand at the blackboard. His eyes are pristine, tear-less, lit from without, not within. The Chinese gentleman leans on his broom like a Gandalf, watching me attentively through the classroom window. The Chinese children here in a poor “village”, […]