*Reassurance: Does not contain spoilers* Best description of the last episode of Breaking Bad: “Tense, witty, violent, oddly tender.” So last night I saw the conclusion of Breaking Bad, a major pop culture event and the end of a television series that has excitedly been called “the best of all time”. I must […]
Media
Posted inEnvironment, Equality, Gender violence, General, Health, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics
Living in constant fear
ON Thursday 19 September, South Africans heard why this remains a country where its people are still living in constant fear. Two decades of African National Congress self-interest and bungling have failed to curb crime, despite the asinine claptrap with which SA’s minister of police Nathi Mthethwa insulted the country. Millions of ordinary South Africans […]
Posted inGeneral, Health, Media
A beginner’s guide to dealing with smartphone addiction
Well done on having the courage to read this! Don’t be afraid. Think of why you need to abstain from (or at least minimise) using smartphones and other devices. Make a list of reasons. This will require a lot of honesty. But by being honest you are being kind to yourself and others. These reasons […]
Posted inMedia, Tech
Star Trek, technology and being human
When I lived in the US, I made sure to catch at least one episode of the original Star Trek television series, conceived by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s, which has spawned at least 10 feature films to date. Had I wanted to, it could have been up to half a dozen a night, on […]
Posted inMedia
This should be about Syria, but it’s about Space Barbie
Pending the vote on Syria in Congress, which has been delayed while Barack Obama considers other, more diplomatic options, the topic of this blog is a certain Ukrainian YouTuber known as the “real-life Barbie” or as Vice has crowned her: “Space Barbie.” Valeria Lukyanova (Space Barbie) has made somewhat of a name for herself online […]
Posted inHealth, Lifestyle, Media
Social media in healthcare and why the doctorsaurs became extinct
Sometimes I feel very alone and vulnerable here. You see, it is rare that doctors air their views on social media (SM), and I have done a fair bit of that on this forum. If you sift out all my posts pertaining to healthcare and read them in sequence, you will have a pretty representative […]
Posted inMedia
Total Recall and the neverending dream of liberation from oppression
I sometimes wonder whether people have noticed that many movies (as well as novels and short stories, which are not my concern here) thematise the fight for liberation from some or other dictatorial regime that oppresses people, often depicted as the working class. Just off the top of my head I can think of several: […]
Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Liberia’s children can help weed out corruption
By Robtel Neajai Pailey I remember the first time I stared corruption in the face. It was 2010, and I was chairwoman of a Liberian government committee responsible for reforming the awarding of international scholarships. We discovered that a group of 18-year-old boys had forged their national exam records to become eligible for a scholarship […]
Posted inMedia
Free Mandela forever Cape Town
This last week, the fabulous young South African and increasingly world-renowned artist Faith47, posted an online petition to ask the City of Cape Town to please reconsider their decision NOT to restore the well-known and loved FREE MANDELA slogan on the wall of a cemetery in the suburb of Observatory. The slogan, that has been […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, Lifestyle, Media, News/Politics
What art you talking about?
The 31st of July was the deadline decided on by the South African Department of Arts and Culture (DepARTment) for arts practitioners and institutional responses to a revised White Paper they made available (in very limited fashion) earlier in the same month. There was nothing normal about the process but nothing abnormal either. Because this […]
Posted inEquality, Lifestyle, Media
Reclaiming ‘bitch’ a pointless exercise
I need us to get serious for a few minutes. Let’s take some time to cut the jokes for once and start to look at this issue with the seriousness it deserves. Because I’m quite sure if we did, we’d be able to agree on the sham that is “reclamation of words”. “Reclamation of words” […]
Posted inMedia
Who’s watching the watchdogs?
This is an acid test of media integrity, of being brave enough to face the uncompromising truth. Our media, whether online, print, radio or television, have a pathological aversion to candour and transparency about their own behind-the-scenes attitudes, practices and policies. Oh, they love ripping into political parties, other companies, organisations, prominent individuals, sportsmen and […]