October 2012

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The Remedy for Procrastination

Picture: onefitmind.com Video Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, says you can't beat your Facebook addiction into submission -- so schedule it into your work day. All the studies of procrastination say that you can't find a work reward that will take the place of procrastination. So if the reward for procrastination is that you get to spend five minutes distracted by Facebook, you have to allow yourself to do that. However, we also know that the more you focus, the more that focus becomes a habit....

Failing to Protect the Poor against Crime

Picture: Mind Fiesta Anna Majavu - South Africa continues to be a hazardous place for the Black poor. You don’t have to be a Marikana mineworker to die a death that is undignified, if not brutal and terrifying. The daily security concerns of the majority have never been further from the minds of politicians, who are either gripped with Mangaung mania, or – in the case of the DA - feverishly plotting the jingles and publicity stunts that they think will win them another metro city in the 2014 elections. COPE’s...

Britain's Unions Bring London to a Standstill: 100 000 March against Austerity

Picture: As seen on The Real News Network. Video More than a 100 000 union workers, students and supporters converged on London on Saturday, October 20, to have their voices heard in a massive protest for a "Future that Works" against the Cameron government's austerity cuts. A call for a nationwide general strike from Britain's trade union leaders is imminent. Many of those protesting on Saturday carried banners that read, "24 Hour General Strike Now". Protestors believe that the government's strategy of austerity is...

Tweaking the Old or Building Something New? Dealing with the Troubled Political Economy of Mining in SA

Picture: Pouring gold courtesy The Puzzler/Flickr Saliem Fakir - In many respects “Marikana” represents our own ‘Arab Spring’. After the massacre the wave of wildcat strikes in other sectors outside of the platinum industry, had they gotten much wider popular support, could have fundamentally shaken government as well as the complacent and disinterested business community. This is not the first time that miners have turned against an oppressive system of rent. It’s happened many times before in our country -- the most...

A Panel Discussion on the Meaning of 'Marikana' Hosted by the Frontline Club in London

Picture: As seen on Frontline. Video A panel of South Africans speak at the Frontline Club in London about the meaning of the Marikana massacre. The panel discussion took place on October 17. Journalist Terry Bell, former ANC MP Andrew Feinstein, writer and scholar Jonny Steinberg, and BBC presenter Audrey Brown offer their views in this panel discussion. They are joined by Natznet Tesfay, head of Africa Forecasting at Exclusive Analysis. The panel was chaired by Richard Dowden, director of the Royal African Society. ...

Political Humour: The Obama/Romney Debate - Electile Dysfunction

Picture: As seen on Juice Rap News. Video It's nearing the end of 2012, and the bastion of world democracy (The United States of America) is displaying its free and open process of elections for the world to observe. As is customary every four years, the rigorous selection process has served up a number of philosopher kings and queens from which to choose. But why have so many choices when with a bit of effort you can whittle it down to two candidates and let the people pick from those? Especially when it makes for such scintillating...