Comment Where fish turns boys into menFirst came the discovery of a "new" illness called PND (post-nuptial depression), The Observer reports. PND happens after a wedding, when one of the spouses finds that marriage hasn’t brought what they most expected from it - immediate happiness. "It ranges from vague discontent, to full-scale depression. PND lasts a few days, though if left untreated, it can go on indefinitely, getting worse – with time", the paper says. About 10 per cent of new couples suffer from a post-wedding depression. Perhaps, not surprisingly, more brides than grooms suffer PND, we are told, because "women are investing more effort and emotional energy in their weddings than ever". The story doesn’t mention that the tendency for some grooms to sneak off on their wedding nights to watch Manchester United clash with Arsenal with the boys at the club might contribute to the higher levels of PND among women. From a new illness to a new cure. A leading psychologist at the University of California in a major research into the causes of crime among teenagers, reports an intriguing finding. His study, released this week, says that feeding children a diet rich in fish could prevent violent and anti-social behaviour in their teens. If he is right, then western Kenyan people, who eat fish from Lake Victoria, and the Coastals should be less violent than the rest of Kenyans. True or false? Talking of crime, in Zengzhou, the capital of the Chinese province of Henan, they have hit upon an innovative way of battling rape. An anti-rape squad of female detectives has been set up to help combat rising cases of the crime in the city. The women have been chosen for their karate skills, and are undergoing training in acting so that they can successfully lure the culprits. The Chinese police authorities, however, are taking extra precaution and are not letting the detectives, who will move around dressed as ordinary women, rely only on their karate for self-defence. The women will also be packing pistols. And, above all, they have chosen the very beautiful ones who can be sure to attract rapists! Closer home in Botswana, the Gaborone government hasn’t been as innovative in dealing with the influx of livestock and unemployed Zimbabweans into the country. It is erecting a 480-km long, 8ft-high, electrified fence along its border with Zimbabwe, reports The Guardian, to keep away cattle infested with foot and mouth disease as a way of protecting its lucrative beef export industry. Officially, Gaborone denies that the fence is also meant to keep out Zimbabweans, derogatively referred to as makwerekwere (foreigners), 60,000 of whom have arrived in Botswana as their country plunges deeper into economic misery and political chaos. The large number of Zimbabweans has created an unusual problem for the municipal authorities in Francistown, Botswana’s second largest city. The district commissioner there has claimed that there are "hordes" of unclaimed bodies of illegal Zimbabwean immigrants clogging the mortuaries, and now the city has to bury them in mass graves. Next door in South Africa, we now have a sense of the average level of bribes to politicians. Deputy President Jacob Zuma is fighting for his political life following allegations that he received annual bribes from Thales, the French arms manufacturer, in exchange for his political influence in securing a lucrative contract for the company. The Times reports that Zuma is alleged to have sought bribes in excess of £41,000 (Sh5m). Which tells us that South African politicians "eat" less than their Kenyan counterparts, if recent reports about ministerial sticky fingers are to be believed. Wherever you go, it seems you can’t separate politicians and money. American elections have become so expensive, only the rich have a prayer. When George Bush won the presidency in 2001, because of the vote rigging in Florida, his critics claimed he had stolen half the election. And bought the other half. Now they are saying he plans to buy the whole thing next year. Bush is leading the tables in fundraising. The Independent reports that he is poised to raise and spend more than $200m (Sh15 billion). The price of the White House has really skyrocketed over the last 20 years. When Ronald Reagan first purchased the seat in 1980, it cost him just about 10 per cent of what Bush will have to pay next year - about $21million only (Sh1.6 billion). And so to Italy, that land where it seems there is never a dull moment. A senior official at the University of Bari in southern Italy is in police custody after demanding sex in return for the answers to an entrance exam, The Independent reports. This is the fourth such scandal to hit Italian universities in recent times. In July, students at Sapienza University, the most prestigious in Rome, were found to have paid between $1,500 to $3,000 to pass exams. At the University of Camerino, a professor was videotaped selling examination results in exchange for sex in January last year. And at the University of Messina, in Sicily, in 1998 one student was found to have paid about $18,000 for a degree in economics and business. The culprit from the University of Bari is Giuseppe Specchia. In his defence, he launched a volley of self-deprecation that an offender at an African university would consider extremely unmanly. Arguing that his sexual approaches to candidates were not intended to be serious, Specchia said; "I don’t deny having touched, having made advances, but I’ve never said that I wanted to go to bed with them. I know myself very well. I am all smoke and no fire–" Now think of that, and consider this. A woman, aged 93, broke her hips after she was dropped off by an ambulance at the wrong address. She was taken to an empty house. The woman is normally cared for by her daughter, and being let off at the wrong address meant she had no help. By the time the ambulance crew discovered their mistake and returned, they found her lying in the garden with broken hips. The incident happened in South Wales; where else? It had to be a British ambulance crew. Comments\Views about this article |
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