After years of bitter controversy, Beijing rose to the occasion and produced an Olympic Games which will be remembered for its sleek organisation, spectacular ceremonies and a feast of sensational sport. London may have received the baton for the next Olympiad, but the reality is the spotlight has now shifted to South Africa as the […]
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Posted inGeneral
Of feminism and the misconstruction of equality
The rise of feminism in the early 19th century was inspired by subjugation of the rights of women and the need to promote the ideals of equality among women and men; the advocacy of their political and legal rights as well as their interests; and the need to trounce male chauvinism. Over the years, there […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Scott-Crossley’s parole: the momentary lapse of justice?
In September 2005, Mark Scott-Crossley, a farmer from a province that has gained notoriety in respect of relations between farmers and farm labourers, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the callous murder of Nelson Chisale, who was fed to the lions. The community and Nelson Chisale’s family found consolation in what appeared to have been […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Sell a submarine, save the Post Office?
As an infrequent but dedicated purchaser of books from Amazon.com, I was surprised to read a number of articles claiming that the company would no longer be shipping goods to South Africa because our Post Office was infested with thieves and nogoodniks. Customers of Amazon who still wanted to acquire their products were, according to […]
Posted inGeneral
Olympics: every clown has a silver lining
I just love watching Sky News commentators waffling on about how well their guys did at the Olympics and how you can figure out exactly how much money each medal costs by taking the amount spent on a particular sport and dividing that by the amount of medals won. So I figured that seeing as […]
Posted inLifestyle
Travel blog pt 2: how Americans drink their coffee
Americans have developed a unique approach to poor nutrition: they drink coffee with a straw so that they can suck the coffee up through a layer of sugar that is deposited at the bottom of the cup and thus sweeten the coffee without using too much sugar. I realise this may seem a trivial conclusion […]
Posted inGeneral
Privacy on social networks
They are in your Facebook, mining your data … The issue of privacy on social networking platforms like Facebook has been discussed at length before, and dismissed by most as merely drivel from paranoid folk. My take on the issue has always been one of neutrality — I’m well aware of the ability for private […]
Posted inSport
Corne and the ‘Blitz’ Krige saga
SuperSport’s unashamed bias in rugby commentary is typified by the bland and bombastic commentator Hugh Bladen, who acts as a sort of glorified cheerleader as he yells out encouragement from behind the microphone. All that he’s missing is a skimpy skirt and a pair of generous boobs, although his banal comments act as boo-boobs quite […]
Posted inGeneral
The ‘Tshwane’ derby is taking over!
Fifty-three fouls … 12 yellow cards … two red cards … this is not football, it’s war! Human beings are by nature generally known to be resistant to change. Who would have known (10 years ago) that by now homosexuality would be legislated and protected? Maybe not Jon Qwelane, but such is the reality of […]
Posted inGeneral
Is Matfield the right man to lead the Boks?
Is Victor Matfield the right man to captain the Springboks? It was clear in the Tri-Nations Test against the All Blacks at Newlands last week that he did not have the cool head required to lead his men in tight situations. He failed to control his temper on several occasions when disputing Australian referee Matt […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Afrikanerbond must get used to affirmative action
A particular section of the Afrikaner community and some members of other white groupings appear to be suffering from chronic paranoia of everything related to transformation. While they recognise the indubitable truth that apartheid established gross imbalances in our society, they consider themselves under threat of measures intended to correct such imbalances. Their views do […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Would China invade Russia?
The United States’ continued preoccupation with Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran has opened a window of opportunity for Russia to win back some of her global influence and prestige. Since August 7 she has flung Georgia out of South Ossetia and crossed the border, entered into a new arrangement with Syria, threatened to return to Cuba, […]