The English Premier League title race has passed its quarter-mark, with a familiar look to the top three: Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City. Everton have broken the tedium through some impressive performances to be in fourth, while traditional powerhouses Arsenal, Liverpool, and Tottenham (and perhaps Newcastle) seek greater consistency as they jostle for position below the coveted […]
General
Posted inGeneral
What ‘wisdom’?
Can humanity today show itself capable of developing a way of life that may be called, against all odds, one marked by WISDOM? This seems highly unlikely, given the state of the world economy (which has a lot to do with short-sightedness and wastefulness), and more importantly, the planetary ecology. Fact is, humans have shown […]
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Cloud-based contact centres of the future
How hosting enables customer responsiveness in small business With instant gratification a fact of everyday life, a strategy of customer-centricity is a hallmark of competitiveness. Market leaders employ cutting-edge technologies that connect them more closely with their customers, enable a better understanding of their needs and allow shorter response times. A few well-hyped technologies are […]
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Fancy tools won’t make up for a bad forecasting strategy
A lot of business planning depends on forecasts and in the quest for ever more accurate and reliable forecasts, a lot of people turn to increasingly fancy tools and algorithms. But what if the problem with your forecasts isn’t the tools you are applying, but your whole approach to forecasting in the first place? If […]
Posted inBusiness, General, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Driven by necessity? You be the judge
It was interesting to note that at last month’s Judicial Service Commission interviews for the post of KwaZulu-Natal deputy judge president, Judge President Chiman Patel chose to grill Judge Isaac Madondo over the fact that he was the only judge in the division to enjoy the services of a dedicated driver. Judge Madondo responded that […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Obama and Mangaung
Truth never damages a cause that is just — Mohandas Gandhi And so Barack Obama takes the presidency. A congratulatory note to the American people for choosing leadership continuity. We must take this moment to recognise the smooth and painless electoral process that sees Obama with another opportunity to effect change domestically and internationally. Presumably […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle, Media
An incorrigible perversion…for men
Last month, linked to Breast Cancer Awareness month, I emphasised a local South African product called Breast Protection Formula™ and its claim that it contains nutrients and plant extracts that help prevent breast cancer. As the US surgeon and breast cancer scientist David Gorski (MD, PhD) stated in commenting on the product: “No, it does […]
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Province deserve credit where it’s due
As regular readers of this blog will know, I’m a Lions fan and have been one since 1997. It might be because I favour some form of rugby schadenfreude with a gift for seeing the future, considering the Lions’ struggles over the last while especially at Super Rugby level. But the last two seasons have […]
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Smith’s grand adventure begins
Graeme Smith’s Proteas have landed in Australia facing history. As the only South African captain to win in the land of the kangaroo, Smith and coach Gary Kirsten will be hoping to further entrench themselves in the country by winning their second away series in a row against the Baggy Greens. Being the first side […]
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Framing Romney’s big-money politics
In the October 1 2012 edition of TIME magazine, James Poniewozik wrote an incisive piece of journalism on the imminent US presidential election – more precisely on Mitt Romney’s aspirations and the occasion of his gaffe about “the 47%” although Poniewozik concentrates on a different, to my mind, more telling aspect of the donor banquet […]
Posted inBusiness, General
Postcard from a recovering China
Preparing to leave Beijing last week after a splendid fortnight’s rail tour of the two neighbouring (and confusingly named) provinces of Shaanxi and Shanxi, I was startled to find evidence of a very different China to the one that is often portrayed in mainstream English-language media – “never mind the quality, feel the growth!” What’s […]
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Five SA books that should have won literary awards
In 2011 the literary awards season gave rise to hopes that the establishment was finally starting to recognise some of our younger and more innovative writers. Cynthia Jele’s Happiness is a 4-Letter Word and Sifiso Mzobe’s Young Blood both enjoyed outstanding critical success, raking in a bouquet of wins between them. This year the winners […]