I have had the privilege of becoming acquainted with the work of a young Iranian-American philosopher, Farhang Erfani, along various avenues, and what a pleasure it has been. In addition to papers published by him in philosophical journals, he recently published a book, “Aesthetics of Autonomy – Ricoeur and Sartre on Emancipation, Authenticity, and Selfhood” […]
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Posted inGeneral
The north-south rugby divide
This past Saturday saw the Wallabies taking on the Welsh Dragons in Cardiff, what a great prospect I felt in the offing. The Welsh most certainly one of the form teams of the Rugby World Cup (RWC) and the Wallabies proving to be the most inconsistent team in world rugby this year. Bryce Lawrence, the […]
Posted inLifestyle
The twilight of testosterone
Something truly extraordinary is happening in the US labour market. At the beginning of 2010, it was revealed, that for the first time in the country’s history, women held a majority of the nation’s jobs. The dramatic rise of women within the ranks of the gainfully employed shouldn’t be seen as solely an American phenomenon. […]
Posted inGeneral
Do myths about African sexuality hurt the fight against Aids?
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Q: How many sizes do penises come in? A: Five — “small”, “medium”, “large”, “extra-large”, and “does that come in white?” African men have been the subject of European myth-making since the very earliest days of contact between the two continents. One of the hardiest and most enduring […]
Posted inNews/Politics
From Jewish South African to South African Jew
By Martine Schaffer The question of my South African identity was first raised when I went to Israel after school to study for a year at Hebrew University. I had been educated at Carmel College in Durban and brought up in an environment where my character was very much formed around being Jewish. In Israel, […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Africa = Social + media + revolution
By Rick de Kock In the space of barely a year, our continent has injected a unique African meaning into the phrase “social media revolution”. Only in Africa has tangible meaning been attached to each of those words in such dramatic ways. In addition to social and political revolutions, Africa’s tremendous economic progress in recent […]
Posted inGeneral
Watershed year for SMS approaching
2012 is the year that the electronic communications opt-in vs opt-out debate is going to come to a head, and the fallout is going to have a significant impact on both businesses and consumers. Related telecommunication regulatory decisions are going to affect both the price of SMS, as well as the amount of SMS spam […]
Posted inNews/Politics
What the frikkabill?
By Nompumelelo Motlafi Arguments about the Protection of State Information Bill have rarely occurred at low decibels. Black-clad journalists and other critics shout that the Bill is unconstitutional, tantamount to gagging, and heralds the end of democracy. At best, government representatives respond that there is no cause for alarm: the Bill is based on careful […]
Posted inGender violence, News/Politics
Crime: Are you to blame?
Safety is a difficult thing to contemplate in a country where nowhere is really “safe”. It is hard to pretend that we don’t know. We can’t ignore the high crime statistics, and police commissioner requirements of stomach in chest out. It’s almost impossible to meet anyone who doesn’t know anyone who has been victim of […]
Posted inGeneral, Lifestyle
Durex: ‘Let copulation thrive!’
It’s just more embarrassing to watch oral sex on the big screen because it is just that much more in your face. The sexy Hollywood actor slid down the gorgeous Hollywood actress’s quivering body towards her you know what. Courteously — or rather in line with movie ratings — the camera did not pan across […]
Posted inNews/Politics
The ANC’s meaningless victory over the media
A belligerent government claims victory. A defiant coalition of media and civil society organisations vows that it will seek legal recourse. The decision to ram through parliament the so-called ‘secrecy Bill’ on what has been dubbed Black Tuesday – the vote was brought forward by a day in a futile attempt to avoid embarrassing comparisons […]
Posted inGeneral
The fundamental contradiction in society — conventional vs critical thinking
I wonder if it has always been the case that there is a fundamental tension in society, or societies, between a kind of conventional, mainstream opinion (what the ancient Greek philosophers derogatorily called “doxa”), on the one hand, and a countervailing, critical thread of thinking, on the other. Moreover, in addition to this tension, there […]