Stories are doing the rounds about a “spate of suicides” at Foxconn, a factory that supplies Apple and various other technology vendors. Most of them editorialise about the terrible labour practices going on at the Chinese company. The reality is that Foxconn workers are much happier than the rest of us. Here’s my ITWeb column on the subject, in which I challenge Reuters and the Associated Press to do the arithmetic.

My very first column for The Daily Maverick this year was a call to boycott FIFA. At the time, mine was a lone voice. Most people thought I was just being contrarian. I wasn’t. I really am incensed at the cavalier manner in which FIFA treats South Africans, and the way in which the government not only lets them get away with it, but aids and abets their plunder with special laws. As we got closer to the FIFA World Cup South Africa, more headlines began to appear in the mainstream media, documenting the real cost to South Africa — a developing nation that needs all the resources it can muster — of FIFA’s heavy-handed approach, special privileges, and allegations of corruption.

Boycott FIFA explains why I’m doing so, and that this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy the football, support our national team, or welcome our foreign visitors.

A few weeks later, an idea was floated to extort money from bars and restaurants who show the football. Because no court would sanction such a law, it was quickly scaled back to cover only venues that didn’t already have a liquor licence. Still, at R50 000 for a licence to serve liquor while showing the football on TV, it’s outright extortion. This was my initial reaction: Really, boycott the FIFA farce.

While everyone was getting shrill about the late Eugene Terre’blanche and young Julius Malema, it occurred to me that even if marketing was the only benefit we derived from the billions we spent on the World Cup, what exactly would we be marketing? Division? Racism? Anger? While FIFA takes over, we fight.

Among the reasons for objecting to FIFA’s presence in South Africa is the fact that local businesses, who were supposed to benefit from this expensive shindig, are not only being excluded, but are being unfairly accused of price gouging. The only people ripping off foreigners are FIFA and its exclusive marketing partner, Match Services. Only, the foreigners won’t know this, and they’ll blame us. Who is ripping off whom?

These are among the many reasons why South Africans should avoid supporting FIFA and its sponsors. They are exploiting a country that can ill afford it. Instead, support anyone who isn’t associated with FIFA. Help them turn this economic disaster into an opportunity, however small it may be.

Update: I’ve just created a Twitter ribbon (or “twibbon”) for your avatar, and a Facebook sticker for your profile pic. Show your displeasure with FIFA’s exploitation of South Africa. Get your #boycottfifa twibbon now.

That was the challenge set for me for this week’s column, though not by The Daily Maverick’s editor. In the wake of the Muhammed cartoon furore, and the general high levels of intolerance everywhere, here’s what I came up with: What’s wrong with everyone?

I know my mother reads this, and I know she told me not to be mean about cyclists. Sorry, mom.

No joke. That’s the title of my latest column over at The Daily Maverick. Have a look, and tell me what you think: Leave poor BP alone.

Late last week, a column of mine was published in which, almost two months after first alerting their implementation agency to the problems, I finally took SA Tourism to task for the badly broken URL shortener it has tried to foist on patriotic South Africans. The mzan.si service has learnt none of the lessons about URL shorteners that litter the internet: Why you shouldn’t use mzan.si is available on ITWeb.

Over at The Daily Maverick, I wrote a sad tale, in which my heart bleeds, a grown man cries, and what do I blame? The destructive power of government, of course.

Thanks for the great comments on my piece from last week, on the bonsai economy. There’s much meat there on which to base a future column about labour laws.

Here’s a round-up my latest columns and articles:

The bonsai economy, on The Daily Maverick, prompted by president Zuma’s promises of tighter labour law in his May Day speeches.

The death of an industry, on ITWeb, which celebrates the coming demise of a telecoms sector (least-cost routing) that existed merely because of a temporary market inefficiency.

South Africans rock Texas, which appeared in print in Brainstorm magazine, and contains a detailed report-back from our trip to South by South West, including some pretty cool notes on technology in Africa.

I trust you’ll enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.