General

“So I got this cool plot nearly worked out for my new blockbuster novel,” I grinned at Dylan, Marion’s Kiwi grandson. “Blockbuster?” the eleven-year-old said. “You mean like it’s selling lots?” “Well, I haven’t got there yet,” I said with a mock bruised ego, while he was busy painting his Warhammer toy ogres. I grimaced […]

By The Creator Socio-political conditions in South Africa are bad, and getting worse. At present no organisations, in or out of Parliament, appear able to improve this situation. (Most such organisations, from the SACP to AfriForum, appear devoted to making conditions still worse.) What is to be done? Obviously, the government must be changed. Unfortunately, […]

By Sphiwe Hlongane Vincente del Bosque’s men stayed true to themselves and the beautiful game, I still don’t know why Germany decided to employ defensive tactics in that game instead of playing the free flowing attacking game that they have been dishing out in this tournament. Their approach denied us a better spectacle, no wonder […]

June 11 seems like an age ago doesn’t it? It was only yesterday that us South Africans lost our collective shit in celebrating Siphiwe Tshabalala’s goal against Mexico in the opening match of the 2010 World Cup at Soccer City Johannesburg. Since then, 61 further matches have been played across the country featuring great goals, […]

The origins of democracy can be traced back to ancient Greece and it was a Greek philosopher, Aristotle (384BC — 322BC), who said that “the basis of a democratic state is liberty” After many years of persistent tyranny that engulfed Greece in the period leading towards to the 6th century, the people of Athens reclaimed […]

On Tuesday, July 6, the news broke that Muttiah Muralitharan, at the age of 38, will play one final Test match, against sub-continental rivals India, before he retires from the longest form of cricket. The announcement follows months of candour and speculation about the world record holder’s (for the most wickets in Test and ODI […]

Originally featured in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on June 30, 2010 and written by Danielle Nierenberg, Molly Theobald and Stephanie Hanson. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the fact that 1 billion people worldwide are going to bed hungry every night. And, in the United States, it is easy to look at sub-Saharan Africa — where the […]

After all the euphoria, back-patting and chest-thumping of the MWeb uncapped DSL offering, which spurred on other ISPs to follow suit, we are now going through the first major test of what happens when real service delivery (this time not the governmental variety), and genuine customer support is required. The Seacom undersea cable went down […]

What do soccer and philosophy have in common? Or, to put it another way — what interest do they share? It is probably safe to say that these interests are, first and foremost, moral and aesthetic. Was it Camus who said that everything he had learned about morality — or was it life — was […]

To have lost 3-0 would have been better, far better, than this. Sport, mirroring life, can be cruel. Very cruel. Ghana had showed such character and discipline in withstanding Uruguay’s sustained initial onslaught, carefully restoring parity in possession, to the point whereby with the first half on the point of expiration, the Black Stars had […]

By Siphiwe Hlongwane There seems to be a big problem brewing between technical directors and head coaches in South African football. With the new PSL season looming on the horizon, a number of coaces have lost their jobs and are seemingly being replaced by the very same technical directors who were appointed to assist them. […]

The biggest game of the tournament is upon us. Every World Cup has a game such this — a final outside of the final so to speak. When the two teams that are probably the best — or, at least, the most effective and on-form — meet. Brazil vs Holland in PE this afternoon. Spain […]