Sideswipe

Marcus Pickens writes: "We have had roadworks outside our retail shop on Wellesley St for a couple of weeks now. It seems to be progressing slowly, and here is a possible reason why. This boatie had a flat tyre and no jack and the chaps here helped out by using their digger to lift the boat trailer and get the tyre changed. They looked like a formula one pit crew as there were so many helpers in fluorescent vests willing to get involved."

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Literacy is not declining in New Zealand. According to one reader, it's always been pretty ordinary. "At a quiz night in the local RSC the genial, fiftyish quiz master had some trouble reading the questions (let alone understanding them). His best effort came when he described the barbarian Atilla the Hun as "The Scrooge of God". My attempt at Scrooge McDuck was not considered to be the right answer. Despair not about our youth.

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Not quite sure about the lyrics to one of your favourite songs? Planning to look them up on the internet? Better look fast. The US Music Publishers Association says it is going to pursue legal action against websites that post lyrics and song scores. The MPA, which represents sheet music publishers, says it isn't just looking to shut the sites down or even reap monetary rewards. MPA president Lauren Keiser says that throwing some people in jail would make their campaign even more effective. (Source: www.reason.com)

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The Kiss Coffeehouse will open this summer in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The band's website promises the coffeehouse will feature several blends of Kiss coffee and something it calls "The Kiss Frozen Rockuccino". The building itself looks like a space-age diner flanked by two gigantic platform boots.

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An Ohio judge sentenced a man convicted of threatening and using racial slurs towards a black cab driver, not to 30 days in jail but to six weeks of Afro-American church services. "It seems readily apparent to me that you don't like black people," Judge William Mallory Jnr said. "That's okay with me. But you have to understand that you are at the whim and authority of a black judge ... If you want to get out of jail, you're going to have to raise your black consciousness," the judge said.