I decided to write another blog on the topic to further clarify my position on a few issues and to adopt a more conciliatory tone. Too many people are worried about being wrong, they say nothing or refuse to change their position no matter how untenable. Reading the comments and debating with some of the […]
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Posted inBusiness
An ordinary, decent company — right!
Most of us ordinary, reasonably decent people have difficulty wrapping our minds around the legal notion of a company being a “person” in the same way we are. People are people and companies are, well, just, y’know, companies. People have feelings and morals. Companies don’t. It never was that simple and it never will be. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
How can Old Mutual defend the indefensible?
Old Mutual says its investments are dictated by profit and not political considerations. The insurance giant was reacting to a call to shed its investment in the Zimbabwean company that prints the Mugabe government’s propaganda mouthpiece, The Herald newspaper. “Our investments are made for the benefit of our policyholders, meant to meet needs and expectations […]
Posted inGeneral
Reitz Four debate should move beyond race
By Rachel Nyaradzo Adams I have grappled with the Reitz Four saga for some time now. When I first watched the video, I was in the process of completing research for my master’s dissertation which explored the difficulties of “deracialising” South African universities. Using my alma mater, the University of Cape Town, as a case […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Obama, the new JFK?
A funeral attended by presidents past and present. It is Senator Edward Kennedy’s final farewell held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston. A milieu has come full circle in American politics. The “new king” presides over a ceremony rich in symbolism, a king spiritually descended from the noble line of Camelot. America is […]
Posted inGeneral
Merciful justice
To build the society that we want to live in, which principle do we think is more important — mercy or justice? This was the topic of the latest of the discussion groups that I attended. At first most of us had our knee-jerk opinion — we had decided on our principles and decided which […]
Posted inLifestyle
Sex 101: Lather, rinse, repeat
By Michael Baillie Dolly was her name. Smallish frame, petite bust, and tiny blue eyes that really lit up if you did it just right. She usually did it on the floor, man-on-top, and, like I said, shed really light up if you just stuck by the book: keep you arms straight, 12 deep pushes […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Time to join the 21st century, Juliarse
I’m sorry, but has everyone gone mad? Wherever I turn, it’s Joost. Joost and his wife (not to mention her equine flatulence), Joost and his apology, Joost and his book. Really? A book? Have we not all suffered enough? I tell you, I have had it up to here with Joost. And considering that Andre […]
Posted inLifestyle
Speaking of names…
Sarah Britten’s post about Afrikaans names reminded me of another bunch of people who are apt to give their offspring some pretty amusing, if not unfortunate names. Black people. I’m sure this has happened to you before: you walk into the Steers, place your order, wait for 5 minutes and then accept your greasy burger […]
Posted inLifestyle
Received any false compliments lately?
The glorious art of the insult has been brought to a new level with Julius Malema around. I was sent an article about him recently (Feather in his cap as Malema agrees to shut up) in which he professed to stop making clownish statements and get more mature as he prepares for his rise to […]
Posted inGeneral
When SA’s future Parliament sat in a wire cage
Apart from the lamentable tendency to misspell “Gandhi” as “Ghandi”, failing to distinguish between the Treason Trial and the Rivonia Trial would seem to be the most common error even reasonably educated people make when it comes to South African history. Usually, it is the second trial, where Nelson Mandela et al were famously put […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Malema’s praise for Mbeki offers a vital bridge
ANC Youth League president Julius Malema has for the first time praised former president Thabo Mbeki as a hero of the ANC, whose struggle credentials can never be erased from the history of the ANC. Malema in the past has been very critical of Mbeki, even accusing him of leading a political conspiracy against President […]