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/ 6 October 2004

Paedophile teacher feels ‘like a piece of rubbish’

The horror and trauma of being in Pollsmoor Prison, awaiting trial, has left him feeling like a ”piece of human garbage”, convicted paedophile Wiliam John Creasey told the Wynberg Regional Court on Tuesday. After his tearful outbursts on Monday brought his trial to a halt, he assured defence attorney Van Zyl Loots that he was sufficiently recomposed to proceed with his testimony in mitigation of sentence.

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/ 6 October 2004

Bigger can be better

"And from the moment I rolled the throttle open words such as ‘overweight’, ‘underpowered’ and ‘slug’ were ripped from my lexicon — I suppose you could say it was disemvowelled." Gavin Foster puts the DL 650 V-Strom Suzuki to the test and finds that there’s no question about who has the finest engine in the range of two wheelers.

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/ 6 October 2004

Who needs black Oppenheimers?

AngloGold Ashanti CEO Bobby Godsell recently called for "black Oppenheimers". "We need enriched individuals and we need symbols or role models of dramatic success in the black community," he writes in <i>Voices for a New Democracy</i>. Who is "we"? That "we" is not us. It is white capitalists who need black capitalists.

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/ 6 October 2004

How to nail the speculators

The Belgian Parliament has passed legislation to introduce a currency transaction tax, otherwise known as a "Tobin Tax", after its original promoter 30 years ago. This is a step forward for the global Tobin Tax movement. Belgium follows Canada, which passed Tobin Tax-enabling legislation about five years ago, and is the first move towards getting a handle on speculative currency dealing.

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/ 6 October 2004

The rise and fall of English

Crumbling masonry, peeling paint and dusty patches where once were manicured lawns … The University of Khartoum has worn poorly under the searing Sudanese sun — as much as the language that the buttoned-up colonialists who built it came to spread. There are no official statistics for the number of English speakers in the country, but it is safe to say that they are few and far between. Change is in the air, however.

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/ 6 October 2004

Country music and King Kong

Deep-fried Oreos, the US Presidential debates, methods of restraining one’s spouse, little-known <i>Star Wars</i> facts, quotes from <i>King Kong</i>, kidnappings in Iraq, David Hasselhof and country music, PC protection advice and a pinch of porn. There’s something for everyone this week in Fraser’s bag.

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/ 6 October 2004

How South Africa’s risk gurus rate the body politic

”Measuring political risk is not a science — it’s more a matter of perception. But even using scientific measurements, South Africa looks pretty good,” writes Allister Sparks. ”I don’t see any political risk in South Africa. What many people overlook when evaluating risk is that South Africa had an undemocratic state, but not an undemocratic society,” writes Moeletsi Mbeki. Read their respective stances.

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/ 6 October 2004

Sony unveils computer with 1 000 gig storage

Sony will begin selling a computer and home-server system in Japan with a 1 000 gigabytes of hard-drive storage — enough to record seven TV channels for a week straight, the company said. Vaio Type X, set to go on sale on November 20, will sell for about 520 000 yen ( 700), said Sony spokesperson Shinji Obana on Wednesday.