General

As I said in my previous posting, there is a clear divide between those who deny the existence of an ecological crisis, on the one hand, and those who assert that the inhabitants of planet Earth face an ecological crisis of unprecedented proportions. On both sides there are scientists — at least people who claim […]

The Dutch word for “soon” is “straks”. In Afrikaans, “straks” became “maybe”. Obviously, one can have quite a bit of fun speculating on the reasons for this linguistic divergence. “T.I.A.”, some of my friends would say (usually while relaxing with sundowners on a beach): “T.I.A. — you can’t be sure of anything.” Don’t worry, I […]

I usually reserve my judgements about Safa and SA football around the braai, or in a pub, since I don’t claim to know everything about football in this country. I can tell you that it is the country’s most popular sport, and with SuperSport hopping on the PSL wagon after winning the broadcast right from […]

Sometimes food for thought can come from the least expected quarters. The other week, I watched a fascinating presentation on pricing theory by Greg Classen from TNS. He showed us graphs predicting the percentage of sales a brand could expect to lose depending on the size of a price increase. The more loyal consumers a […]

When I think about all the divisions among people in the world — economic, political, religious, ideological (which is already included in all three the previously mentioned concepts) — it appears somewhat ludicrous to raise the question about what people have “in common”. Right here on Thoughtleader the divergence of opinions, judgements and interpretations that […]

No, this is not an unsavoury campaign in any way. It is, however, a very noble and innovative campaign aiming at raising money for Breast Cancer Research. Tweet for Boobs is a US-based initiative in which Twitter users can use the tag #tweetforboobs and even mention @tweetforboobs in their status updates. For a good summary, […]

By Sipho Hlongwane Awulethe umshini wami, ngiyawudinga! I realise that talking of mshini wami is so 2008, but bear with me. We’re a little behind here in the provinces. Four words that forever changed the country. And really, why? As slogans go this is one of the tamer ones out there. Remember “One farmer, one […]

By Emil Pohl I’m white. I’m a young white Afrikaans man living in South Africa. Now apparently according to some, I have to feel like a victim for this fact. According to some, I’m being discriminated against permanently, the government is constantly out to get me, and I have to be careful of war from […]

While some are having sleepless nights over the non-existence of “authentic blacks”, can we add another question to the cart? Why is there no black in the colours of the rainbow? If South Africa is, according to the former archbishop Desmond Tutu, a “rainbow nation”, what does that say about non-racism, freedom and democracy? Are […]

The Sharks and Western “Problems” are in. The Bulls are a shoo-in and Griquas should be able to do enough to make it. I’m backing Griquas over the Cheetahs because with the Sharks needing a full house of points, the game is surely to open up and Griquas should be able to get the bonus […]

Greatness is measured in many ways and one of the players who springs to mind is Ryan Giggs. He has never really achieved anything with Wales at international level, be it the European Championships or the World Cup. Medals, statistics and individual awards show what a great player the Welsh man has been for Manchester […]

Archbishop Emeritus Mpilo Tutu is turning 79 and still going strong. I had the privilege of working with him in many capacities in my life and have never been able to understand the deep-running humility of this prophetic man of God. In the church he did more than his share when he led the entire […]