Examine the latest available Human Development Index (HDI) figures -- a measure of education, life expectancy and standard of living -- and you will find that the 2010 World Cup hosts are ranked 129 out of 182 UN member states. Or a whole 19 places b...
A hat tip to Mphutlane wa Bofelo for pointing out the subtext to the ANC's claim to the "shoot the boer!" song: For is it not the case, as wa Bofelo points out, that the attempt to establish a heritage status for the song locates the struggle in the ...
On October 2nd the Irish electorate will be pressed into voting again on a treaty that they rejected as long ago as last year. There have been no changes to the Lisbon Treaty itself as, indeed, there was little to distinguish it from the treaty estab...
Forgive me for being so presumptuous, but I suspect that even the well informed are unaware of some of the most remarkable international news in recent weeks. Now if this supposition is correct then ask yourself, dear reader, for we will surely agree...
In spite of being unsuccessful last week’s attempt by the Guardian columnist George Monbiot to arrest as a war criminal the former US ambassador to the UN, and Under-Secretary Of State for Arms Control, is a salutary reminder of civic duty.
The...
On 21 April 2008, the American Defence Secretary Robert Gates, told the West Point Military Academy’s cadets that they could expect “years of persistent, engaged combat all around the world” for -- note well -- "there are no exit strategies". ...
Recently a friend asked me what I, as a former member of the organisation, now make of the ANC Youth League.
Her question resulted in me googling the names of my former comrades, who in the early Nineties had been activists in a range of Congress...
These six simple words are widely acknowledged as one of the greatest short, short stories. Ernest Hemingway wrote it, and with it won his barroom bet to that end.
A Cape Town tabloid once came close with “Man dies kak death”, but I think you...
Events recently have made John McCain’s boneheaded interpretation of the Beach Boys' Barbara Ann seem far less inconsequential than he claimed it was, this time last year, while campaigning in South Carolina. His belligerence was, you may recall, p...
Before considering a few arguments on why a boycott is obligatory, let's be clear about why this is not yet happening on any significant scale. There are, I think, at least two broad reasons. The most pivotal has to do with the ambivalent attitude of...
