Mindless vilification The opprobrium heaped on Ronnie Kasrils by the Zionist lobby (Letters, September 8) has a lengthy pedigree. Writing in 1970s Britain, Labour MP Christopher Mayhew and journalist Michael Adams provide an insightful analysis of Zionist rancour in their book Publish It Not (The Middle-East Cover-Up). Particularly ludicrous and threadbare is the accusation of […]

Build and be damned It is a sad day in our country when eminent persons with an admirable track record in government, such as Mike Muller, feel compelled to rubbish the mandated custodians of South Africa’s rich natural heritage, SANParks, “and their allies”, for objecting to appallingly poor planning decisions (“SANParks retreats to its old […]

Ethanol is not green Kevin Davie’s article “Green fuels start now” (Feburary 10) seriously overstates the advantages of ethanol auto-fuels. Ethanol may be 45% cheaper than petrol in Brazil, but anyone who has driven in that country will know that you get significantly fewer kilometers per litre from it than from petrol. Brazilian E85, which […]

Encouraging free thought A million thanks to the Mail & Guardian for “The God rush” edition (April 13). What a great contribution you’re making in encouraging free thought and open debate as the hallmark of a mature and modern South Africa. You hold out the vision of a diverse society in which religious practice and […]

Erwin not against EIAs Fiona Macleod’s “Mbeki joins assault on green laws” (August 4) and last week’s letter from Richard Worthington, “Too red to see green” — both critical of Minister of Public Enterprises Alec Erwin — are completely misleading. Macleod implies that Erwin is against environmental impact assessments (EIAs). Nothing could be further from […]

Who’s Malthusian now? It is a pity Fiona Macleod didn’t take the time to read the speech on global warming Tony Leon gave at the Oxford Debating Union before lambasting him for it (“The Malthusian musings of Tony Leon”, November 10). She might have spotted these remarks: “I am not arguing tonight that the developing […]

A mindless destroyer I used to jokingly refer to the United States as the “Evil Empire”, but I’m afraid history will show this to be an accurate description of a society that mindlessly destroyed Earth’s precious reserves. About 25% of Earth’s population uses 75% of its resources, and causes a similar proportion of Earth’s pollution. […]

Revealed: Bleek Hoax It appears that the hallowed Bleek records, housed at the University of Cape Town (UCT), could be an elaborate hoax perpetrated by the German linguist, Wilhelm Bleek, aided and abetted by his sister-in-law, Lucy Lloyd, and his daughter, Dorothea. This bombshell was dropped at a conference on marginalised languages by Bleek’s great-grandson, […]

Is this animal welfare? I refer to the Mail & Guardian‘s article (January 18) about the tragic story of Frida the Romanian lioness, so cunningly misused by Vier Pfoten International (VPI). Last year, our department of trade and industry asked me to comment on VPI’s application to establish a sanctuary in the Free State for […]