As former president Nelson Mandela lies sick in hospital the narrative of what he will represent to future generations will, without a doubt, take a pendulum swing between two opposing sides. As we have all come to accept his inevitable departure, we find ourselves asking what we shall tell our kids about Mandela. Will whites […]
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Posted inMedia, News/Politics
Sarah Palin has her once-in-a-million-year Hamlet moment
One always knew, as with the averred statistical likelihood of a million chimpanzees with a million keyboards in a million years eventually producing the equivalent of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, that it had to happen. Now after a lifetime of effort, former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has at last said something intelligent. Palin, who has […]
Posted inLifestyle
On art and honesty
“It doesn’t always have to mean something”, a friend barked back. We were watching The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish. The circle was all a bit older, degreed drama folk. I, waitering by my gap year in an industrial backwater, just couldn’t get screwball comedy. But it was not to last long. […]
Posted inBusiness
Preparing a generation to manage Liberia’s oil sector
By Urias Goll Liberia’s quest to explore for hydrocarbon (petroleum) offshore its territorial waters dates back to the late sixties. Some believe the government’s decision for exploration activities was made in 1940s. Creating a long-term approach for capacity development has been on the fringe of decision-making. As usual, the government and decision-makers wanted to prove […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The crown jewels are looking a tad tarnished
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, warned Shakespeare. And as it happens, 2013 is turning out to be a tough year for Europe’s kings and queens. Royalists argue that monarchism’s value lies in the seamless continuity that is provided by inherited office, whereas in other constitutional arrangements political leaders come and go. The […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Is Oscar’s attorney really a star?
Why is the defence advocate, Barry Roux, considered a star by the faceless social media when a defenceless woman was killed? One realises there are sub-editors, and part of their jobs is just to make a sensational headline. But the story in reports like these celebrate Roux as if he were a chess grandmaster. The […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
Lady Gaga, the avatar
Madonna modelled herself on a sexually unrestrained, powerful and de-sanitised version of Marilyn Monroe and rebelled against patriarchal Catholic constraints of the feminine, using the notion of wanton sexuality as her arsenal. Michael Jackson refused to be categorised according to race and gender and mixed these up in both theatrics and surgery, to much public […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Insurgents closing in on Zuma, he’ll be gone by 2014
The opposition’s motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma coincided with the Shakespearean fall of CIA director David Petraeus. Both Zuma and Petraeus know about modern insurgencies. Petraeus wrote the US Army counterinsurgency strategy handbook when America was losing her wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Zuma, with less success, is trying to fight off […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Why Motlanthe?
The road to Mangaung has revealed a lot, not only about South African politics but our society as a whole. Many seem to be looking outside themselves for solutions to our problems — waiting for a saviour to “fix” things. It’s almost as if we fear being a part of the solution. Or rather, we […]
Posted inGeneral
Tales from a mine shaft
Ever since I was a child many people – young and old – from my village have worked in the mines, from uncles, cousins to friends. One thing remains common, despite their hard work digging precious metals, they have very little to show in monetary terms. They come home at end of the year with […]
Posted inMedia
No ghastly Women’s Day sermonising
Women’s Day is upon us, which means we can expect four five things: * Meaningless speeches by politicians (presumably our president knows about the importance of women; he’s consorted with enough of them). * Ghastly twee sermonising about the Importance of Women. * Women’s Day ad campaigns for ugly furniture. * Debates about whether Women’s […]
Posted inNews/Politics
ANC policy conference ignores the burning issue of the day
The African National Congress’ policy conference kicked off in Johannesburg this week. Its intellectual equivalent of mud wrestling was over a truckload of documents analysing party organisational renewal, nationalisation, job creation, investment and land redistribution. There was also President Jacob Zuma’s catchily titled but ponderously composed Second Transition centrepiece of policy proposals, which is his […]