The head coach of Bafana Bafana, Alberto Parreira, has resigned to spend time with his sick wife. When officials from the South African Football Association (SAFA) announce Parreira's successor on May 6, many expect that they will settle on another Brazilian, Joel Santana. Naturally SAFA and the country's rabid fan base hope to ease the transition, as the next few years will be crucial in South African soccer circles, as th4e next coach will presumably lead Bafana Bafana into the 2010 World Cup, which the country is, of course, hosting. Recent years have been unkind to South African football, which has declined significantly since Bafana Bafana's 1996-1997 heyday. Perhaps Santana will be the man to lead the team and thus the country to glory. The Springboks and Proteas seem to have garnered the bulk of media attention in recent years, both for their successes and their controversies, and yet in the end, the masses of South Africans love football and Bafana Bafana foremost.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
