General

“I see trees of green, red roses too  I see them bloom for me and you  And I think to myself, what a wonderful world  I see skies of blue and clouds of white  The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night  And I think to myself, what a wonderful world…” Louis Armstrong’s sweet song […]

Good news is no news would seem to be the case when it comes to the international media’s reporting on the Middle East. This would seem to be particularly true of the Israeli-Palestinian conundrum, where it is rare to read anything beyond the usual head-shaking reports on poverty, repression, violence and general hopelessness (especially when […]

I recently watched a documentary called Poison Fire produced by Lars Johansson in conjunction with Friends of the Earth International and communities affected by gas flaring in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. Poison Fire documents Ifie’s (a local artist, feminist and environmental activist who works to promote dialogue between the communities, the oil industry and the federal […]

Holed up at our beach cottage in the Eden district, I maintained an interest in the proceedings of the Third cricket Test between South Africa and England in Cape Town. Amidst mounting tension as the game entered its final day with South Africa needing seven English wickets to win and square the series, I deliberately […]

The holiday season has come to an end, and while most people take time off and enjoy this time of family, presents and often boozing at the office Christmas party, there has been one sour note that continues to needle me as I sit in front of my computer, not working (right now anyways…don’t tell […]

Enough has been said about how the first year of Cope’s existence has been a rough ride characterised by a mix of leadership difficulties as well as a sense of disorganisation at both administrative, strategic and policy levels. So how should Cope fix these obvious impediments that have made its founding year an overall disappointment […]

Last year was a grim one for the country, although South Africa’s irrepressibly genial president appeared not to notice. So for the government to view the Soccer World Cup as 2010’s miracle cure-for-all national ills is a little naive. President Jacob Zuma hopes that the World Cup will somehow deliver the magical bonanza that will […]

In my previous post, I reconstructed Kierkegaard’s aesthetic model for existence briefly, pointing out the implications this way of living has for human relationships and for one’s sense of identity. This is not unproblematic, of course. Hence the rejoinder, on Kierkegaard’s part, to the implicit claims made by the pseudonymous A in praise of the […]

Innocent Togo footballers were made to pay a heavy price for Angola’s lack of foresight when their team bus came under attack in Cabinda on Friday. While Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor emerged unharmed, two players were among the nine injured and the driver was killed. The team bus, as it crossed the border from the […]

By Richard Kaplan As the old year ended, Schabir Shaik was again spotted shopping in one of death row’s supermarkets. In the new year, he will presumably continue with this terminal preoccupation until he is struck down by a sudden surge of blood pressure. And while his good friend Jacob Zuma has ascended to high […]

In what may prove to be a groundbreaking discovery, Professor Gershon Galil of the department of biblical studies at the University of Haifa, has managed to decipher an inscription on a pottery shard which dates back to the 10th century BCE. The archaeological find was made in the Elah valley where David famously slew the […]

Anyone can come up with a new word, a new term or new concept, right? Here’s one for you for today: Ubuntelligence©. This is the ability and courage to seek out and connect to other, seemingly different, fellow human beings. It is about establishing meaningful connections with others within given timelines and without due regard […]