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/ 18 May 2005

Mandela, Bush talk Third World debt

Former South African leader Nelson Mandela and United States President George Bush on Tuesday discussed ways to reduce Third World debt, but did not raise their disagreement over Iraq, officials said. Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize-winner, met with Bush at the White House during a private visit to the US.

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/ 18 May 2005

Feel free to speak your mind

I have a question for all teachers and principals: do you feel free to speak to the media? Or do you find yourselves "censored" — either because your district manager tells you that you can’t be interviewed by a journalist without going through the official "channels" or because the Voice of the Department speaks on your behalf?

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/ 18 May 2005

Useful and useless

Let’s start with some very sexy, scary, surreal Aids adverts. Scary <i>and</i> sexy? Yup. I mean, think about it — how do you convey the idea of a disease that kills via sex? The French — unlike the African National Congress — actually don’t want their citizens to die, so they came up with some beautifully effective adverts that make the point with breathtaking ease.

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/ 18 May 2005

Mount St Helens stirs 25 years after eruption

Mount St Helens is living up to the name it was given by Indians who inhabited the north-west United States — ”Smoking Mountain”. Since late last year, it’s been showing signs of life again, and a new 100m-high lava dome has formed over the seething magma within it. The 25th anniversary of the volcano’s big eruption was this week on Wednesday.

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/ 18 May 2005

Justice and reconciliation still elude Kenya

A recent statement by Kenyan Minister of Justice Kiraitu Murungi that it is ”no longer necessary” for the country to establish a commission to investigate atrocities committed under previous governments has been greeted with both outrage and delight. The promise to set up such a body, was one of the key pledges made during the current head of state’s campaign for office.

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/ 18 May 2005

A touchy subject

I find it impossible to comprehend how anyone could pay for sex. I’m not keen on the commodification of the body, its coarsening of sexual expression or the exploitative working conditions. But my difficulty is less a question of deeply held principles and more a matter of my reservations about paying to be touched by strangers.