Co-authored by Kirsten Harris Richard Nixon declared the “war on drugs” in 1971. However it was Reagan who took the “war” to “the streets” by implementing a number of detrimental economic and social policies that further divided America along racial lines. Under Reagan’s leadership, Nancy Reagan implored nice middle-class white kids to “just say no” […]
General
Posted inGeneral
SPCA paint can help
When Jody Yong went to select a dog from her local SPCA in March this year, she was shocked at the state of the facilities – both that of the staff and the animals who call the Springs SPCA their home. Even if it is only till adoption or premature death do them part. Although […]
Posted inGeneral, Health
In the arms of the angel
We all need an “angel” now and again. Life gets in the way of our plans and dreams, and these angels offer an escape for a while, a respite from the real world, a safe place in our search for comfort. These angels are not your stereotypical spiritual beings, but the kind recorded in the […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
Is Radiohead really a cheap version of Coldplay?
It really gets me upset when people tell me this. That Radiohead is a cheap version of Coldplay. I don’t understand it. In fact, it makes my blood boil. No, they are obviously not as iconic as Coldplay. I will give you that. They will never fill a stadium like Chris Martin. But not everyone […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
The ICC is not Africa’s enemy
On New Year’s Eve in 1989 in Monrovia, Liberia, 17-year old Leymah Gbowee was finishing high school and looking forward to starting university to study to become a doctor. Like many middle class Liberians at the time she did not think that the coup by Charles Taylor on 24 December 1989 from the outskirts of […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Of walls and refugees
Well, hallelujah! Turkey has started to build a wall along its border with Syria. Guess what, most of the wall is 2m tall and in some stretches will be over 2.5m high. The first part of the wall will extend for over 900km. Walls separate people and break up families. Walls cut people off from […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
I love and hate Mitchell’s Plain
By Kirk Krotz This has been one of the most interesting weeks of my life. I posted a music video on YouTube last week about my experience of growing up in Mitchell’s Plain and, for reasons unknown to me, the video has gone viral with over 200 000 hits. For the first time in my life […]
Posted inEquality, General
Enough about penises – let’s talk about c*nt.
While the world is only just coming to terms with saying the word vagina out loud, cunt remains a term that takes people’s breath away as they cringe at the sheer power it contains. Pushed underground, banished from conventional language, cunt has long since been appropriated by patriarchs and misogynists and used as an utterance […]
Posted inGeneral, Health
The pet food multinationals that almost killed our cat
As a student in Moscow in the late 90’s, my wife Sonja decided it was time to own a cat. As a kid, her parents had always refused to allow a cat into their apartment. Now that she was 18, those rules dissolved and nothing could stop her. It was time. She hopped onto that […]
Posted inGeneral
Recycling can help
Not everyone knows this, but the people pushing their trolleys full of junk all over our cities, or trolley people as Rowen Anderson calls them, actually have method to their madness. Although they may not know it, these pioneers are pushing our country towards a first world culture of recycling when they collect the recyclables […]
Posted inGeneral, Health, Lifestyle
Six observations about penises
“My friend told me about a man with a large penis,” said one of the other students. “She said his technique was terrible. He just rammed and rammed. It was actually painful.” Her eyes widened. So did mine. These were the sort of conversations that make an impact on a rather sheltered 22-year-old from the […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
The ‘new’ South Africa #BroughtToYouByTheANC
I was reading through status updates on Facebook when I saw one in particular that caught my attention. It was a photo of a DA billboard with lettering that reads: “E-tolls, proudly brought to you by the ANC”. I then decided that I’d provoke a discussion on my wall about what people thought of the […]