Gandalph's Views

Will it take blood on the streets of Harare, dismembered bodies in the ghettos of Bulawayo, and raped women and children in camps on the South African borders before the spineless leaders of South Africa and the West get off their collective butts and finally do something about Robert Mugabe. Hitler... Sign in to see full entry.

While it is easy to point fingers at idiot bankers who got us into this sub prime mess, let us not forget two important points: 1 It is us the consumers who have spent more than we earned - surviving on cheap credit and overvalued personal assets 2 Alan Greenspan who allowed this cloud cuckoo land... Sign in to see full entry.

We all sympathise with athletes from decent countries who will lose out on the 2008 Olympics, but, sadly, in a world of competing priorities, the urgent needs of oppressed peoples rank higher than the medal aspirations of our world class competitors. The IOC should decide, as a matter of urgency to... Sign in to see full entry.

In the old days when Apartheid South Africa was the world's favourite whipping boy, massive progress toward a free and fair democracy was made when the country's top sportspeople were denied world-class competition both at the Olympics and in the test arenas of cricket and rugby football. A total... Sign in to see full entry.

Population increases, pressure on natural resources, global warming, and the great divide between rich and poor, are all combining to make us more conscious of ourselves as a united human race on a crowded planet rather than an amorphous grab bag of competing, and often warring, nations. Nine... Sign in to see full entry.

When adults are afraid to go out on the streets at night, because of marauding gangs of violent teenagers, and when society is held captive by its young, then we are long overdue for a big rethink on how we deal with our young people. The first, and most popular, target for blame is usually the... Sign in to see full entry.

The King is Dead Long live the king! Before we get too excited about the welcome demise of Robert Gabriel Mugabe, let us remember that his successor comes to power in a system that is inherently corrupt, in a country that is riven with tribal in fighting and on a continent that has yet to learn the... Sign in to see full entry.

Let us be fully aware as we remember the horror of six years ago this day that it is not really possible "to make war on terror" when the purpose of terrorism is to shock and horrify. The more outrageous the act of terrorism, the more brutal the outcome, the more successful the terrorist. However,... Sign in to see full entry.

Imagine you are watching your son’s soccer team. You see that only two boys are running around, passing the ball, and actively engaged in the game. Five youngsters stand on the sidelines laughing at them. Four others are sitting well away from the field under a tree goofing off, smoking and playing... Sign in to see full entry.

Somehow there seems to be a worry about the suggestion that children who persistently and consistently refuse to do the work required of them in school should be thrown out and refused entry to any other educational institution, or on to the streets if you will. But why not? These children are not... Sign in to see full entry.