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/ 4 August 2006

Half SA’s education degrees fail to make the grade

Many university faculties are scrambling to repair their reputations, after the Council on Higher Education accredited only seven of 23 master’s in education (MEd) programmes on offer in South Africa. The MEd is a crucial component of university education qualifications, providing a platform for schoolteachers seeking promotion, and for students aiming at an academic career.

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/ 4 August 2006

God works in mysteriously convenient ways

”The anointing has stopped the camera from working,” a burly man in sunglasses, a dark pinstriped suit and driving a white BMW X5 told Mail & Guardian photographer Oupa Nkosi. In fact, the ”anointing” — the Pentecostal movement’s buzzword for God’s enabling power — had to be supplemented by mechanical and human muscle.

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/ 4 August 2006

The agony of it

As an ordained rainbow pessimist, last week’s aggravated pronouncements by President Mbeki sent my worst imaginings into a tailspin. As I read our president’s rousing "wake-up" speech to his ANC colleagues, a feeling of intense dismay slowly cloaked me. Here was I, content to go on feeding my racist prejudices from a seemingly endless smorgasbord.

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/ 4 August 2006

Influential rocker Arthur Lee dies in Memphis

Arthur Lee, the eccentric singer/guitarist with influential 1960s rock band Love, has died in a Memphis hospital after a battle with leukemia, his manager said on Friday. He was 61. ”His death comes as a shock to me because Arthur had the uncanny ability to bounce back from everything, and leukemia was no exception,” said Mark Linn.

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/ 4 August 2006

US generals warn Iraq could slide into civil war

Two senior United States generals on Thursday publicly agreed with a warning by Britain’s outgoing ambassador to Iraq, William Patey, that the country is slipping towards civil war and partition. ”I believe that the sectarian violence is probably as bad as I’ve seen it in Baghdad in particular, and that if not stopped, it is possible that Iraq could move toward civil war,” said General John Abizaid.

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/ 4 August 2006

In defence of Geldof and Gates

Somehow, when nobody was looking, it became a shameful thing to be "nice". Benevolence became a dirty word. Philanthropy and selflessness have become so despised that Mother Teresa probably did herself a favour by dying when she did. Other­wise she too could have been a victim of the New Age mentality that demands that we lampoon those who dare to show that they care.

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/ 4 August 2006

White works on wounded Boks

Coach Jake White is working overtime to get his wounded Springboks in the right frame of mind to pull off a spectacular turnaround in Saturday’s Tri-Nations rugby Test with Australia at Sydney’s Olympic stadium. ”The most important area to address with the players is the mental aspect,” White said on Friday.