General

If all the world’s glaciers were to melt and engulf the coasts on all continents, would you get a sinking feeling? Here I have to reminisce a little about physics and geology lectures (which I rarely attended) and the fact that buoyancy of continental plates is a factor of the density of the Earth’s mantle […]

Last year, Time magazine voted me (and you) as Person of the Year. Advertising Age also voted me (and you) as Marketing Agency of the Year. Why? Because suddenly, you and me, we’re important. And we have a voice. And people listen to us. And they respond. Pity then, that many businesses are missing this […]

Circumstances prevented an earlier response to Ryland Fisher’s recent piece on racism — drawn from his book, Race. I am happy that he urges us to join in a conversation about race, a topic whose relevance has not diminished in post-apartheid South Africa, judging from media reports and articles. The major problem with his work […]

According to Jan Chipchase, principle researcher for Nokia, there will be three billion people connected on cellphones by the end of 2007. That is a fair chunk out of the approximately 6,3-billion people inhabiting the Earth. He also anticipates that within another two years, a further billion people will be connected. Wow. That puts a […]

My last posting suggested that the decision to scrap Soweto off the Springbok victory parade was racist. The response was predictable. There were as many who agreed as those who didn’t. Of course none of us who wrote were unfamiliar with the real reasons, so it is possible that some of us were wrong and […]

A hundred thousand years from now, or so a top scientist claims, the human race will split into two separate species. The one group will comprise smart, attractive and ready-to-rule geniuses; the other will be ugly, dim-witted goblin-like creatures. What a load of bollocks, I thought after reading the article. But then it hit me […]

The latest assessment by the United Nations of the state of the world’s environment paints the worst picture of the health of the planet yet, according to an article in the Independent. Since the last report, published in 1987, almost every index used to assess the planet’s well-being has worsened. The three worst problems are […]

Giving back to society is something to which we all should aspire. This whole “giving back” thing is too often associated with only the rich and famous. That is just plain wrong. Our society cannot afford to wait for Sol Kerzner to throw crumbs our way. We’ve got to grab this bull by the proverbial […]

So, now that an Aussie has helped us in our World Cup endeavours, it’s probably not bad form to agree with that Aussie when he says something worth listening to. In the aftermath of the World Cup, much has been said and written about the final as a spectacle, specifically portraying it as a drab, […]

What most people shrugged off as rubbish 20 years ago is now perceived to be the gospel truth. And now there are such vitriolic evangelists in favour that one has to be superbly courageous to even voice an opinion against it. This truth is the issue of global warming. There, I can already see the […]

What most people shrugged off as rubbish 20 years ago is now perceived to be the gospel truth. And now there are such vitriolic evangelists in favour that one has to be superbly courageous to even voice an opinion against it. This truth is the issue of global warming. There, I can already see the […]

I’m tired of hearing how I need to play a role in fighting crime. In the wake of Lucky Dube’s shooting last week, President Mbeki said we should “act together as a people to confront this terrible scourge of crime”. The Ministry of Arts and Culture said in a statement that “crime is a South […]