I really like Noam Chomsky's work - but perhaps that's because I'm not an American citizen. He's known for his contribution to the field of theoretical linguistics, but is more widely known for his political activism, media criticism an blatant criticism of the US.

In a video interview he spoke of the disparate conditions impossed on mainstream and dissident opinion. As a dissident himself, I suppose he understands this better than most. And so, as Chomsky has written about terrorism, he shown how terrorism corresponds to power, that therefore the power powerful states are more involved with terrorism. The peak of this argument is that the US is the most powerful state and by argument, is involved in massive terrorism.  read more »

You can insult a South African's home town. You might even be able to insult his mother and get away with as little as a ringing ear. You might even be lucky enough to escape death after whistling at his "chick". But insult his choice of beer and you'd be lucky if your forefathers didn't feel the beating you'd be in line for.

Maybe slightly overstated, but South African men are immensely passionate about their choice of beer. More so than the rugby team we support, the type of beer held in your hand seems typify what type of man you are. Such identification with a brand is testament, in my mind, of how powerful a self-brand connection can be. I'm fairly convinced that this identifcation has absolutley nothing to do with a beer's taste. Mike even reckons that most of us would fail to distinguish between the brands in a blind taste test.  read more »