Eric: Also Not Dead

Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling writes:

First things first. Jack, I popped round to your flat today to drop off some chocolate fudge for you as a "get well soon" after your haemmorhoids (was it?) operation, but alas you were not there.

Secondly, some news of our broken planet - this story was one I read in The Economist, and so requires a password to link to it, so I have copied some of it out below:

The trials and travails of Jacob Zuma
Apr 20th 2006
From The Economist print edition

THE first trial of Jacob Zuma, South Africa's former deputy president until he was sacked last June, is coming to an end. A 31-year-old HIV-positive woman accused him of raping her at his Johannesburg home, and a verdict on this charge is expected early next month. This is only the first hurdle he has to clear to be rehabilitated politically; he then faces another trial, for corruption, in July.…

...Mr Zuma's performance in court so far raises fundamental questions about his suitability for further political office, let alone the presidency. He has admitted having unprotected sex with his accuser - although he maintains it was consensual - in spite of knowing she was HIV-positive. Though he once headed the country's official anti-AIDS campaign, he also explained that he took a shower immediately after sex to "minimise" the risk of infection...

...The former deputy president, who testified in Zulu, maintains that his accuser seduced him, pointing out that she came to his house wearing a skirt. According to his Zulu culture, he claims, leaving a woman in a state of sexual arousal is unacceptable and he had to oblige. All this flies brazenly in the face of South Africa's carefully nurtured official policy on women's rights, reflected in the constitution and - officially - promoted assiduously by the ANC.

And finally, for all those who care, I am now the world's newest draughtsman (we design the timber framing that goes in the walls, roofs, and floors of your house. And it pays not bad at all thanks for asking.