General

Last night I watched, with a sizeable amount of sadness and frustration, Earl Rose get the bird from the Newlands crowd. How on earth could anyone think this is the kind of behaviour you can display toward your own countryman while he wears a national jersey? Just who exactly does this serve? Snor picked the […]

So, word on the street is that the Europeans want the vuvuzelas to be banned from the Fifa Confederations Cup and 2010 World Cup. So what? Even the “Europeans” in Cape Province have previously alluded to the fear of black people blowing the horn in Greenpoint. Ok. Maybe there is distortion abound. For the record, […]

It can be a laugh a minute living in this country. Oh I am sure the PCs and semi-literates will find my sense of humour (heck I don’t make it up, it is in your face and waiting to be photographed or copied) completely inappropriate. I am glad. Funny is funny. To hell with appropriateness. […]

In a timeless collection of African short stories, folk tales and poetry, edited by Barbara Nolen, the poem titled The Moon succinctly captures what this polemic is about. Let me reproduce the said poem: “The moon lights the earth It lights the earth but still The night must remain the night The night cannot be […]

Will humanity one day look back on the days when people were regarded as greater or lesser beings because of their racial origins in the same way as we now look back on the era of witch hunting? This question assumes that at least some progress has been made in eliminating racial prejudice, and certainly […]

My Nokia and I are slowly bonding, as I figure out its quirks and get to grips with its sophisticated technology. I’m even starting to like its pulsing light which bathes everything around it in a warm gentle glow. On Friday we completed a right of passage. Wearing my Polar heart rate monitor my phone […]

Football in rural areas is generally not structured. That is, there is no league, competitions or proper administration of the sport. As a result the passion for the sport is reduced to a mere hobby, something that young boys do just so they don’t get bored. Sadly, a lot of talent gets lost. Some never […]

Here is a letter I sent today to Apple’s European customer-relations representative. Core buys their stock from Apple Europe so they seem like the right people to contact. I hope I get feedback. To whom it may concern I am sending you this email because I have had service from you in the past and […]

This week’s Talkback question on the Mail & Guardian Online: Is South Africa doing a good job of hosting the Confederations Cup?

You win five on the trot and then you stumble at the penultimate hurdle. For most teams, that would be a pretty good run which was bound to end some time. But for Graeme Smith and co, that is mere confirmation of their world-class choke-ability, right? Wrong! It cannot be classed a choke when you […]

By Roger Diamond I hear and read everywhere that what we all “need” is economic growth, but nobody seems to be talking about how this can be done. Let’s make jobs, let’s stimulate industry, and so on, but not much proper thinking into the roots of what comprises economic activity. The simple fact of the […]