Blog Entries
Rats and dogs
3 April 2020 — Can dogs be trained to sniff out Covid-19? Medical Detection Dogs, a UK NGO founded in 2008 on the premise that dogs can be trained to sniff out diseases, is hoping this is the case. They are working in partnership with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (...
Smoking killjoys
2 April 2020 — In Italy, cigarettes and other tobacco products in that country can only be sold by designated tobacco shops called "tabacchi". These outlets are ubiquitous and easily recognisable by very distinct blue sign with a large 'T' and the words 'sali tabacchi, valori bollati'. The...
Day 6: The political game-changer
1 April 2020 — Many people have noticed that the Ramaphosa government has quite efficiently been rolling out water supplies to communities following the declaration of the Covid-19 State of Disaster. Not only water supplies; provisions for emergency housing in the form of tents or other...
Day 5: Beware the police state
31 March 2020 — Just a brief, philosophical note today on Jean-Jacques Rousseau (28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778), Genevan philosopher, writer and composer. Rousseau was famously against property rights. I quote: The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said 'This is mine', and...
Day 4: Covid-19 crisis will prove to be the death rattle of the EU
30 March 2020 — Italy, country of my eldest daughter's birth and home to some of my dearest friends, has borne the brunt of Covid-19 tragedies thus far. As I write this, 812 people have died in the past 24 hours pushing the death toll to 11 591. There will be much speculation in the years...
Day 3: Check your privilege; seriously
29 March 2020 — As pictures roll in from around the country of our urban masses crammed into peri-urban slums (which we sanctimoniously refer to as informal settlements), many of us have taken to sharing sentiments about how privileged we are to be relatively safe within our middle-class and...
No time for tears
28 March 2020 — Edcon CEO Grant Pattison reportedly broke down in tears this week on a conference call to suppliers. "We only have sufficient liquidity to pay salaries... which we deem a priority during these uncertain times." There was much sympathy for Pattison when the story broke. "His...
Boris's Bravado
27 March 2020 — Day 1 of lockdown in South Africa greeted with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's announcement today that he had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. The news was greeted with mirth and derision by the usual suspects. They pointed to BoJo's previous...
Toward an objective reality
17 March 2020 — Seth Goddin earlier this month wrote about the notion of "objective reality". I quote: Objective reality is measured. It’s not based on talking points. It’s repeatable and verifiable. When humans share an understanding of how things are objectively, we’re able to make...
BoJo is right to run with Huawei 5G
12 March 2020 — UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson staved off his first rebellion in parliament this week. In January, the UK said it would allow China telecommunications giant Huawei to build part of the country's 5G phone network. This upset the Trump administration in the United States...
Have you watched these banned films?
8 March 2020 — Did you know that Wonder Woman (2017) is banned in countries belonging to the Arab League? (The 22 members of the Arab League are Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,...