11 Apr 2008
Update 5: Bullard burns at the stake
David Bullard has been fired by the Sunday Times. Ostensibly, it was over last Sunday’s column, in which he envisioned what South Africa would look like had it not been colonised by the Dutch and the English. His vision isn’t exactly complimentary. The column is condescending at best, and probably racist. But so what? It stokes debate, and that debate should not be about freedom of... read more
11 Apr 2008
Updated: How not to mop up criminals quickly
In a previous post I used a throwaway line about shooting a fleeing suspect in the back, as proxy for lazy, unprocedural, untrained, unconstitutional and in the end unacceptable behaviour by the police. I thought it would be obvious, but now it seems I was wrong about such behaviour being unacceptable, if I am to believe a foaming-at-the-mouth deputy minister of safety and security, Susan Shabangu. The... read more
11 Apr 2008
Someone broke the internet
I’d blog, but someone somewhere broke the internet. A story I wrote yesterday morning is stale by now, as is the support ticket I lodged with my ISP. I’ve been able to see only half the internet for 36 hours now. I’m getting tremors. read more
Extreme Environment: How Environmental Exaggeration Harms Emerging Economies