SPACE (Field Reporter) US astronaut Scott Kelly is not happy with the red romaine lettuce served on board the International Space Station. Speaking from space, a clearly emotional Kelly declared the dish “an insult to anyone who’s ever worn a space suit”. “I didn’t come to space to lose weight,” he said. Kelly (43) said […]
General
Posted inGeneral, Media
Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and American gun culture
A recent article on Yahoo addresses an interview with Miley Cyrus in which she expressed the view that she is often labelled a bad role model while, by contrast, the pop star with the squeaky clean image, Taylor Swift, is seen as the good role model. This divergence, she argued, hides double standards, more particularly […]
Posted inGeneral
‘Kist’ – did you know it’s a uniquely South African word?
Recently I finished writing a novel titled Orphan Country, which is partly set in South Africa in the Seventies and Eighties. One of my main characters, Ruth, is half-Chinese and was adopted at birth. She has little clue as to who her parents really are and part of the storyline is her finding out more […]
Posted inEnvironment, General
The consequences of a total ban of trophy hunting
By Professor Peet van der Merwe This is a response to the call on a total ban on trophy hunting as a result of the hunt of Cecil the lion. When people and organisations make such a call to ban hunting, it is important to understand the consequences thereof to countries that market themselves as […]
Posted inGeneral, Media
Movies and robots: society’s unconscious anxiety?
How much importance should one attach to recurrent cinematic themes involving humanity-destructive robots, which arguably represent what might be called society’s collective anxiety about technology gone seriously wrong? Cinema could perhaps be understood in Freudian terms as the collective dreams of society, which, not unlike ordinary dreams (sometimes nightmares), function as “wish-fulfilment”. Nightmares are also […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Shouldn’t South Africa create a new flag?
The discussion here in New Zealand about Kiwis getting a new flag has made me wonder, as an expat South African, what South Africans see and feel when they look up at that rainbow bit of history rippling against an African horizon. Does the impulse rise to put hands on hearts while throats lump with […]
Posted inEquality, General
The UN is hiding the true extent of global hunger
As the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) expire, the United Nations and the international NGO community are rallying around the conclusion that this has been “the most successful anti-poverty movement in history”. Poverty has been cut in half, they tell us. And hunger has taken a serious hit, falling narrowly shy of the target. It’s a […]
Posted inEquality, General
A commemoration of Nelson Mandela
By Zuki Mqolomba ”Bring back Nelson Mandela/Bring him back home to Soweto/I want to see him walking down the streets of South Africa tomorrow/Nelson Mandela” [Hugh Masekela, Bring back Nelson Mandela] ”The year 1963/The People’s President/Was taken away by security men/All dressed in a uniform/The brutality, brutality/Oh no, my black president/Him and his comrades/Were sentenced […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Once again, NKANDLAAAA
By Mphutlane wa Bofelo You can’t tell me that the political officials and administrators in South Africa — from ministers and director-generals to CEOs and finance managers — are so ignorant of the prices of goods and services, and the costs of construction of buildings and installation of appliances and devices that they would not […]
Posted inBusiness, General
ILO mistakenly assumes that its old ANC pal is pragmatic
Voters elect politicians on the basis of their proclaimed ideology. However, it is not ideology that drives government effectiveness. Rather it is how ideology is adapted to resolving real-life problems. This week’s report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is a reminder to what extent, despite all evidence to the contrary, African National Congress (ANC) […]
Posted inEnvironment, Equality, General
The humanities and the advent of the ‘posthuman’
One of the most promising and exciting developments in recent thought has been the emergence of the “posthuman” as a distinct field within, and simultaneously transcending, the humanities. It comes from within this disciplinary field insofar as thinkers working in humanities disciplines such as philosophy and literary departments have contributed to what can perhaps be […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
The Donald adds an Obama-like spark to 2016 race
By Perry Munzwembiri After years of “Obama-mania”, following President Barack Obama’s brilliance on the campaign trail, the 2016 White House race just needed something that would add the “X-factor” to the campaign. At first, it seemed Donald Trump brought the “Y-factor” — as in — why is he even running for president? Every day, however, […]