Paul Jacobson

Tag: Current Affairs

  • Cute animal bubbles and happy things

    Cute animal bubbles and happy things

    Sometimes the antidotes to all the tragedy and darkness we see in social media in response to world events are cute animal bubbles and other happy things. At least, that is what my wife suggests.

  • "I wear a Magen David because I am not too small to fight"

    The last few weeks have been challenging times for Jews worldwide, particularly here in South Africa where we have been spared the growing anti-Semitism that has gripped much of Europe and other parts of the world. The Israeli campaign in Gaza has inspired tremendous opposition to Israel and its ongoing fight to protect its citizens…

  • Israel’s operation in Gaza is not causing deep-seated prejudices, it is revealing them

    From “Anti-Israel Protests Make the Case for Israel“: Israel’s operation in Gaza is not causing deep-seated prejudices, it is revealing them. And behind all of that hatred lies the need for Israel—the case for Jewish sovereignty is the case for Jewish safety.

  • Could the old Apartheid government have saved us from Zuma's ANC?

    Someone I was chatting to after the 2014 elections, last week, made an interesting comment. He said that if the old Apartheid-era National Party had educated all South Africans better (and not just white South Africans), the ANC under Jacob Zuma would have had a more challenging time selling themselves with all the corruption in…

  • The ANC Abuses Its Power To Protect Its Control

    I just read an article in Mail & Guardian titled ANC at pains to silence booing and noticed this stark reminder that the ANC sees itself as synonymous with the State and has no difficulty using national intelligence agencies to retain power: At the time, ANC insiders said that a team of state intelligence operatives…

  • Why I hope the DA has a chance to govern

    The Democratic Alliance published its follow-up to the original Ayisafani ad which the SABC banned. Even taking into account that this is an ad and portrays the DA in a brilliant light, I love the energy in this ad and I want to see the DA govern more of South Africa for the next 5…

  • A parable about hubris and an ongoing digital tragedy

    This post was originally published on Medium It feels like a lifetime since the Pushers left and the Communicators stepped up. Before then, the Pushers shaped the Message, told us how we would feel about their brand, their products and services. We either accepted what we were told or, well, we didn’t have much choice.…

  • Writing about the ANC's perspective on power

    More equal than others The ANC’s response to the Public Protector’s report on the Nkandla controversy highlights its twisted perspective on its position as ruling party. I had to express my outrage and did it on Medium in an article titled “More equal than others“. Here is how it begins: If you have paid much…