General

The announcement of the resignations of 14 Cabinet ministers including the deputy president and Trevor Manuel, regardless of arrogant denials of the ANC, caused a frightful tremor along the corridors of Luthuli House, the ANC’s headquarters. The hurried press conference called by Gwede Mantashe — when markets began tumbling on the news — was a […]

West Ham’s new manager Gianfranco Zola came down to earth following a win at the weekend with the Hammers crashing out of the Carling Cup at Vicarage Road thanks to a Hayden Mullins own goal. Fulham is another premiership side from the capital also making a third round exit going down to a late winner […]

In ‘Truth and power’ (1980), Michel Foucault elaborates on different kinds of intellectuals – the ‘universal’ and ‘specific’ intellectual, respectively – in the context of the question regarding the political status of science and its potential ideological functions, especially within universities. The issues raised by this are summed up by Foucault in ‘two words: power […]

Sky news are suggesting that a Nigerian group are in the process of trying to acquire Newcastle United from chairman Mike Ashley. Should the deal go through they will be reinstating Kevin Keegan as manager. UEFA president Michel Platini in a newspaper interview has strongly criticised Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger for having a business rather […]

What on earth is THAT thing? Jesus, Mary, Mariah and Whitney! Did you see that? Are they for real!? That looks like something you would get if you moved Joburg Zoo to the inner reactor at Koeberg and let some saboteur loose with a bolt. How on earth did an entire collective of professionals decide […]

Ok, it didn’t actually save my life but I definitely felt something change this weekend. I was sitting at home in quiet, decidedly suburban Durbanville when I heard a tremendous bang and the front door shook like it had just been hit by something very heavy. What the bork was that? I evaluated my sources […]

“Personal branding” is just a fancy way of saying “marketing yourself”. Most geeks aren’t fans of marketing. They tend to prefer unambiguous technical specifications and logical arguments to the artificiality and cheap tricks they perceive as being used by too many marketers. So, “personal branding” to geeks basically means “creating an artificial impression you project […]

If you are looking for goals, skill and a will to thrill, you will find it in Manchester. Sorry, not in the red bit that houses the European and English champions. No, no. I mean the blue bit. You know the one that’s been a joke for years, until the day some Arab oil magnate […]

What about Mbeki the man? That was all I could think about during Mbeki’s resignation speech last night. It was a beautiful speech. He said it nobly and with great respect and I was very impressed and even quite moved (which, from the man who has been anything but an emotional president, is quite remarkable). […]

On Sunday evening, September 21 2008, I somehow felt that no human being could fail to be deeply moved by the address of President Thabo Mbeki to the nation on occasion of his resignation from the highest office, after being pushed by vindictive members of the party to which he had dedicated his life and […]

Arsenal were in irresistible form at the Reebok on Saturday, overturning an early Kevin Davies goal to run out 3-1 winners. They looked like the Gooners of last season and, while they’re back on top, the fear is that once again there are too many babies in the side. On current form the only sides […]

I’ve been lending a hand to my brother to get a business idea out of his head and into the ‘real world’. It’s an interesting concept called “The Productivity Paradox”, a notion he has been talking about for some time already, which he now wants to turn into something more tangible. Disclaimer: There are certain […]