General

Here is proof that most education systems are not adequately keeping up or preparing students to deal with tomorrow today. That’s almost OK, because students are eventually going to adapt their experience and their educational choice accordingly, so something will have to give. But in the meantime, today’s students are in a major transition stage, […]

A news headline on BBC‘s daily newsletter practically jumped off the page at me. It says: “Obesity ‘not individuals’ fault’”. And it continues with the first paragraph stating that individuals can no longer be held responsible for obesity. Furthermore, it is now up to the UK government to act and do something about this. What? […]

As I lay face down next to my husband, David, with our hands and feet tied up, I thanked him for six years of marriage and three children. My knees felt like jelly and I had the urge to lose my dinner. Despite pleading with Thabang* not to harm my family, I feared he would […]

My God, is it just me or is this crushing, pervasive near-religious rugby fervour downright depressing? I know, it’s just me. I don’t get sport. I mean, I get why people play it. Out there on the field in the sun. Breathe in some fresh air, kick a ball around, whack one with a racquet […]

Pardon me if this blog is interrupted by the sound of gunshots; intermittent power failures or typhoons, but I’m in Johannesburg at the moment. I lived here for seven happy years before venturing through the curtain of pallid stares from eyes-too-close-together in the dusty Karoo and settling in the Cape. Returning — as I do […]

Oscar Wilde’s quote, which I like to qualify with Mark Twain’s “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.” Expedience, however, usually dictates that we follow that which we perceive to be in our own self-interest. The masses are swept along, being driven by the few, unwilling to […]

(I swear I was composing this in my head before I read Matthew Buckland’s post “Name changes: ‘Cost argument’ is nonsense”.) I was driving home from Pretoria (sorry, Tshwane) last night, just before midnight. I followed the N1 south after Midrand, took the overpass that curves frighteningly (when it’s around midnight and you want to […]

In my previous post I argued that the question of God’s existence is largely an unsolvable one and that, in that limited sense, we must all allow the possibility that there is such an entity in the universe (or not). Which brings me to the other big question: 2. Is the Bible true? Bundled into […]

Let there be no doubt, the future of our children is seriously at stake. A growing social crisis in our schools and townships has engulfed the youth, particularly teenagers. While this crisis has manifested itself in diverse forms in our society it is its wide-ranging negative effects in schools across the country that demands the […]

There is no evidence, whatsoever, that Jesus Christ ever lived, or, in fact, that any of the key biblical stories ever happened. I have done some research now, after the ongoing raging debate sparked by my post “Why the atheists are just plain right” posted about a month ago. With just less than 100 comments, […]

As a specialised criminal attorney, nobody appreciates more the incredible job performed by not only the police, but also by other members of our criminal justice system. Theirs, in the main, is a thankless task performed by, primarily, professional people under very trying circumstances. The citizens of South Africa are deeply indebted to them — […]