* I learnt that because Crawshaw Street / Lyell Street is on the N11, it becomes a SANRAL responsibility to fix it.
I wonder if they will succeed with that notorious pothole behind Mortimer Toyota. SANRAL too is responsible for that waste-of-money bridge near Modelkloof. Will the Boxer bridge be worth the cost? I doubt it. Pedestrians will be too hasty to cross the road instead of trudging such a long way via the bridge to get onto the other side.
* Sultan Kosen, a Turkish man who holds the Guinness World Record for the tallest living man at 2.51m, has married 1.73m Merve Dibo, a Syrian woman. I wonder if she gives him a High Five!
* A Free State woman was this week convicted in the Bloemfontein Regional Court of raping her teenage son, according to a report.
The 51-year-old woman admitted to the court that she had sexual intercourse with her son without his consent. She told the court that she had raped the teenager from late 2007 to January 2013, according to News24. A Dutch Reformed Church minister testified in mitigation of sentencing, saying that the woman herself had been the victim of sexual molestation. A mother doing that to her son? Is the world coming to an end?
* Cape Town is opening spray parks or splash pads for children and the physically challenged to cool off in summer.
It would be a good idea for our municipality to consider something like that. Apparently the spray parks are a safe and fun way to cool off without the risk of drowning. It is an area of 200 to 300 square metres of water play without any swimming pools, created by a series of spray features. The surface has a non-slip finish or rubber matting which negates falling.
* News of the Guinness World Record to be set in Ladysmith in January has aroused immense interest. What is the Bat-a-thon all about? Will it feature a team of batsmen and bowlers? Will it involve only men? Will there be other events to complement the batting?
These are some of the queries Rehaz Khan and Mike Pillay have received. All details will be featured in forthcoming editions of the Ladysmith Gazette. In the meantime, it will be prudent to keep the weekend of January 24, 25 and 26 set aside to be part of this history-making event.
* It’s understandable why the fugitive ex-US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who now lives in Russia, is wanted so badly in the US in connection with unauthorised disclosures. He has opened a can of worms as far as how the US intelligence agencies operate and the lies meted out to justify attacks on people who are considered ‘terrorists’. Germany too got a whiff of the US arsenical method of obtaining information. There are claims that the US National Security Agency monitored Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone.
The Germans are upset because they always danced to Yankee-Doodle-Dandy tunes. The US is facing growing anger over reports that it spied on its allies abroad. It has also been reported that the NSA monitored French diplomats in Washington and at the UN, and that it conducted surveillance on millions of French and Spanish telephone calls, among other operations against US allies.
* Newcastle mayor Afzul Rehman won the Best Performing Mayor in KZN again! Are you surprised?
* Sitting up straight is not the best position for office workers, a study has suggested. Scottish and Canadian researchers used a new form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to show that it places an unnecessary strain on your back. They concluded that the best position in which to sit at your desk is leaning back, at about 135 degrees. Experts said that sitting was known to contribute to lower back pain. Data from the British Chiropractic Association says 32% of the population spends more than 10 hours a day seated.
The ‘slouch’ position revealed a reduction in spinal disk height, signifying a high rate of wear and tear on the lowest two spinal levels.
* Don’t forget! Be at the Arts & Culture function at the Indoor Sports Complex this Saturday.
