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/ 21 August 2006

Cruising through retirement

There is an email doing the rounds that suggests it is cheaper for a pensioner to live on a cruise liner than in a retirement home. According to the email, the benefits of spending your golden years cruising are substantial. Apart from having all your meals prepared for you, and even served breakfast in bed if you want, you are treated like a customer and not a patient.

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/ 21 August 2006

From SNO to GNO

If the government gets its way a new giant could soon be stalking the telecommunications sector. The new player, which would own significant telecommunications infrastructure, would be an alliance between the government, the major shareholder, and Tata subsidiary VSNL.

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/ 21 August 2006

You and your carbon footprint

The CO2 we produce comes from what we eat, the mode of transport we use and our daily lifestyle choices. This is called your carbon footprint. Fuel colossus BP offers an online facility that allows you to calculate your carbon footprint, and the <i>Mail & Guardian</i> asked a range of people to use the facility to do so.

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/ 21 August 2006

Battle of the sexes

As Zambia moves closer to the presidential and parliamentary general elections on September 28, the country’s political terrain is still rough for women like Forum for Democracy and Development president Edith Nawakwi to win the number one spot. In a country where more than 60% of voters are female, Zambia has failed to reach the Southern Africa Development Community target of 30% representation of women in politics.

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/ 21 August 2006

Traffic officers see red

The traffic officers must have licked their lips when they saw the easy pickings approaching — a luxury grey Toyota LandCruiser with United Nations number plates. In time-honoured fashion, one of the officers stepped into the road on the outskirts of Nairobi, flagged down the vehicle, informed the driver that he had been speeding and confiscated his licence and car keys.

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/ 21 August 2006

The shape of reality

Like every other Western woman, I am more than aware of what the idealised female body looks like. I see the taut celebrity tummies in magazines and pert breasts on TV. Although these images are relentless, at least motherhood used to give women a bit of a breather from trying to live up to them.

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/ 21 August 2006

No windfalls here

Fuel giant Sasol has rolled out the big guns in its fight to resist the imposition of windfall taxes, presenting a 256-page report to the team tasked with recommending whether such taxes should be applied to liquid fuels and, particularly, synthetic fuels in South Africa.