Mickeys

Cape Town – Winning a huge sum of money must be a very, very pleasant experience – especially if you were just getting by each month.

Stanley Philander, 52, a deaf and mute cleaner at a hardware shop in Wynberg, on Friday night won over R91m in the national lottery’s PowerBall game.

This is the largest amount which has been paid out by the Lotto.

The jackpot had rolled over since 22 November and with each passing week grabbed the country’s imagination.

Philander’s wife, Diana, 50, is also deaf and mute. They live with their children, Logan, 9, and Kirsten, 6, in a wooden house in a family member’s back yard, apparently somewhere in the Southern suburbs.

However, with the good news comes a bit of bad as well.

The Philander family is R91m richer after Stanley won the PowerBall jackpot on Friday. With him is his wife Diana and their children, Kirsten and Logan.

Great challenges, stress, lack of safety and pressure from family and the community is what awaits Cape Town’s new instant millionaire.

These are the typical things a needy person will experience when he suddenly becomes a millionaire, according to several Cape Town psychologists speaking to Die Burger.

Apparently after they were approached for money by several people in the community, they’re now staying at an undisclosed location.

Several residents of Wynberg, when asked, recognised the man as the deaf man who’d won the “lotto”.

According to Dr Petri van der Merwe, a psychiatrist at Cape Gate Medi-Clinic, the couple’s new wealth can bring many negative and positive consequences.

“Now they can fulfil their dreams and improve their standard of living. On the other hand, they can experience a lot of pressure from the community and family. That can become very stressful.”

Dr Ester Niemand, a clinical psychologist, said the family probably feel extremely overwhelmed, helpless and a little lost since they became aware of their new status.

It’s possible that they could feel very defenceless because they don’t have control over the situation.

Appointing a financial advisor would be a good idea, but even that could involve problems.

“Many people will be able to exploit them.”

According to Niemand, it wasn’t a wise decision go public with the winner’s identity.

taken from News24

London – Greek researchers called on Wednesday for more safety studies into electronic cigarettes, saying scientific knowledge of them was “very limited”.

E-Cigarette

Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, were first made in China and are sold mostly on the internet.

They are battery-powered devices which emit a “puff” or fine mist of nicotine into the lungs and are intended to replace normal cigarettes and help smokers quit.

The products are at the centre of a legal battle in the US between manufacturers and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates drugs and which wants to stop e-cigarettes from being imported into the US.

The FDA, which conducted research into e-cigarettes, has expressed concerns about their safety, and teams from Greece and New Zealand have also carried out studies into them.

But interpretations of the three reports vary, with the New Zealand study saying e-cigarettes should be recommended because they are safer than tobacco cigarettes, and the Greek study taking a broadly neutral stance.

“The limited information given in these three reports represents all the knowledge we currently have about e-cigarettes,” Andreas Flouris and Dimitris Oikonomou, of the Institute of Human Performance and Rehabilitation in Greece, wrote in the British Medical Journal.

“This may be one reason why the battle… between the FDA and e-cigarette manufacturers has been so heated.”

A US judge last week granted an injunction barring the Obama administration from trying to ban imports of e-cigarettes, saying the move was part of “aggressive efforts” by the FDA to regulate “recreational tobacco products”.

Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death in the world, killing more than five million people a year. A report by the World Lung Foundation last August said smoking could kill a billion people this century if trends hold.

Flouris and Oikonomou said that while “alternative smoking strategies are always welcome in an effort to reduce the threat to public health” caused by tobacco, safety was also vital.

“More rigorous chemical analyses are needed, followed by extensive research involving animal studies and, finally, clinical trials in humans,” they wrote.

taken from News24

Port-au-Prince – A strong aftershock struck Haiti on Wednesday, creating panic among people camping out in the capital’s streets after last week’s devastating earthquake.

Haitians resume some semblance of normal life after the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, was mostly reduced to rubble following a massive earhtquake.

The 6.1 aftershock rattled already shattered buildings but there was no immediate reports of damage from the tremor, which struck after daybreak. Fearing damage from aftershocks, thousands of people have been sleeping in streets in the capital Port-au-Prince since the January 12 earthquake.

The US Geological Survey said Wednesday’s tremor was centred west-northwest of Jacmel.

Meanwhile fears of violence and looting have eased in Haiti as US troops provided security for water and food aid deliveries, and thousands of displaced Haitians heeded the government’s advice to seek shelter outside Port-au-Prince.

Medical care, handling of corpses, shelter, water, food and sanitation remain the priorities for the international operations, UN relief officials said a week after the magnitude 7 quake.

While military escorts still are needed to deliver relief supplies, the United Nations said security problems were mainly in areas considered “high risk” before the January 12 quake. Some 4 000 criminals escaped from damaged prisons soon after the temblor hit.

“The overall security situation in Port-au-Prince remains stable, with limited, localised violence and looting occurring,” the UN Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

US Black Hawk helicopters swooped down on the grounds of Haiti’s wrecked presidential palace on Tuesday, deploying troops and supplies and immediately attracting crowds of survivors who clamoured for handouts of food.

(continue reading…)

Port-au-Prince – In just one terrifying minute the earth convulsed on Tuesday in Haiti, flattening buildings and casually tossing chunks of twisted metal and concrete into the air.

Thousands fled sobbing in terror and panic onto the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince, seeking to escape the fury of the 7.0 earthquake.

But hundreds are feared to have been killed in yet another tragedy to strike the impoverished Caribbean nation, which is still trying to recover from a series of 2008 hurricanes and storms.

“The centre of Port-au-Prince has been destroyed, it’s a catastrophe,” wailed Pierre, covered in dust, and so shocked he could hardly speak as he surveyed the devastation around him, having walked several kilometres to find his house.

No corner of the city had been spared from the wave of destruction which unleashed its fury on the two million inhabitants for a full 60 seconds, witnesses said.

Many have been forced to abandon the ruins of their homes, and were squatting in sports grounds and open spaces. Few dared to return indoors, terrified of being buried in one of the huge aftershocks which continued to rock the nation.

“When we get an idea of the toll it will be measured in the hundreds,” a local doctor, who was bloodied and nursing an injured left arm, told AFP.

Rescue efforts were hampered when communications were snapped in the minutes after the earthquake struck at 21:53 GMT.

(continue reading…)

Raising the gay flag

Matuba Mahlatjie is gay, African and married, an unheard of status beyond the borders of liberal South Africa, where governments are clamping down on homosexuality across the continent.

Gay pride parades, same-sex marriages and the famously gay-friendly pink city of Cape Town puts South Africa way ahead of countries such as nearby Malawi, where a gay couple was last week thrown in jail for trying to marry.

But scratch the surface and sexual intolerance and hate crimes still plague the continent’s powerhouse.

“We still have hate crimes perpetrated against gay and lesbian people in our communities. The legalisation of same-sex unions did not make our life any easier,” said Mahlatjie who feels gays are still “under siege” in the country.

Across Africa governments are laying down the law against homosexuality and 38 out of 53 countries have criminalised consensual gay sex, in what Human Rights Watch says is a method of “political manipulation”.

Uganda has come under fire for the tabling of a bill against the “sinful lifestyle” that would toughen penalties for gays and also punish anyone who “promotes” homosexuality.

In Malawi, where discussing sex is taboo, the attempt by the gay couple to get married was labelled a matter of “gross indecency”. A judge is expected to decide next week whether they will face trial.

In Nigeria, northern Muslim states have the death penalty for homosexuality, while anti-gay incidents have flared in Senegal, where bodies of gay men have been exhumed and tossed out of Muslim cemeteries.

(continue reading…)

Today we remember Merle Hendriks who passed away 01/08/2004!

When thinking of you, you always bring a smile to ones face!

Thanks Merly, you will always be remembered.

Happy New Year to all!

We at Mickeys wish you and your family a wonderful 2010, full of prosperity and happiness!

May all your dreams and wishes come true this year!

Hope to see you all around!

Two climbers have been killed in an avalanche on Ben Nevis in Scotland.

The deadly avalanche was reported at Coire na Ciste on Ben Nevis

Mountain rescue teams found the bodies in an area known as Number 3 Gully, on the north face of the peak.

The identities of the climbers have not yet been released, as next of kin are yet to be informed.

A member of the public raised the alarm are seeing two people get swept up in a large avalanche.

Five weather-related deaths have now been recorded over the past 24 hours.

An accident on the M62 near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire claimed the lives of three men on Tuesday night.

The trio were all believed to be from the Preston area of Lancashire.

Since then, Britons have been urged to wrap up for a freezing new year as the cold snap continued.

Large parts of the country were blanketed in snow, with Wales the worst hit.

The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings of widespread icy roads across much of Scotland, north-east England, Yorkshire, the Midlands and Wales.

Earlier on Wednesday there were fears for the safety of another climber at Torridon, Wester Ross, following reports he too had been caught up in an avalanche.

Rescuers later found the man at Liathach Ridge, conscious but cold and with an injured arm.

Avalanches are not common in Scotland and recent weather conditions have been blamed.

When fresh snow settles on older and harder snow crystals, it results in a slippery layer – making the phenomenon more likely.

taken from SkyNews

About 260 people were left homeless after two shack fires overnight on Friday in Khayelitsha and Woodstock, the Cape Town Disaster Management Centre said.

Centre spokesperson Wilfred Solomons Johannes said that the first fire happened in Site B, Khayelitsha, just after 13:00 on Thursday when 40 shacks were burned down.

One hundred and sixty people were left homeless. They were not injured.

During the night in Railway Road, Woodstock, 39 shacks burned down.

Some 100 people were affected. None were injured.

Solomons Johannes said the cause of the fires were not yet known.

However disaster management officials were on site and providing food, and blankets, as well as clearing the site. Building materials would also be provided to the affected people for them to rebuild their homes.

taken from News24

Miss World 2009 in Kaiane Aldorino from Gibraltar (centre), Miss Mexico in 2nd place (left) and Miss SA in 3rd place (right).

23-year-old Kaiane Aldorino is the new Miss World from Gibraltar. She shared a bit of her limelight with her runner-up Miss Mexico, Perla Beltran Acosta and second runner-up, our very own Miss South Africa, Tatum Keshwar.

I asked the newly crowned Miss World who she had told first about her win.  She replied, “My friend, and I want to tell my little sister.”  Although Miss Gibraltar escaped my radar, I found her genuine, accessible and naturally stunning.  She has great confidence for someone so young, and is very relaxed and comfortable in the media spotlight. She is also incredibly photogenic, and showed her class in front of a bank of photographers wearing a risqué white lace dress.

Her profile describes her as an ordinary girl, similar to one to my favorites, Miss Russia.  She’s a clerk who loves netball and going to gym.  Kaiane has also represented Gibraltar at the World Dance Championships in Germany.

On the talent side of things, there were remarkable performances by Miss Sierra Leone doing a fantastic mask dance and the striking Miss Canada, who sent goosebumps across the globe as she sang (her parents were sitting three seat away from us waving Canadian flags like crazy).

Some of the other standout contestants for me were Miss Albania, Miss Puerto Rico, Miss Scotland and Miss Venezuela. None of these made the semi-finals.  Only two Africans made the top 16, and there were no blondes in the top seven, which comprised Miss Colombia, Miss France, Miss Panama and Miss Canada along with the eventual winners. (continue reading…)

A German bank manager who secretly transferred millions of pounds from rich clients to debt-ridden customers has been spared jail.

Actor Errol Flynn in 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood

The 62-year-old, dubbed the “Robin Hood banker”, was found guilty of moving a total of 7.6 million euros (£6.85m) between 2003 and 2005.

She carried out 117 separate transfers to try and stop people’s accounts closing due to lack of funds.

As a rule, the banker – whose name was not reported under German media conventions – moved the money back when the indebted clients were solvent again.

But 1.1 million euros (£991,000) was lost when certain customers were unable to pay their debts.

A court, in the western city of Bonn, took a lenient view of the fraud because the defendant owned up immediately and did not take any money for herself.

A judge also said the banker had suffered enough after losing her job and paying compensation.

The manager was given a 22-month suspended jail term, a court spokesman said.

According to press reports, she now lives off a tiny pension.

Robin Hood:

:: Robin Hood is an English folklore hero known for “stealing from the rich and giving to the poor” in medieval times.

:: Hollywood stars Like Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner and Sean Connery have starred as the bandit in big screen adaptations of his exploits.

:: Actor Russell Crowe (pictured) is to appear in the tile role of Ridley Scott’s soon-to-be-released Robin Hood remake.

taken from SkyNews

Friendship is born at that precise moment when one person says to another: “What? You too? I thought I was the only one!”

National Friends Day celebrates this, and all the other moments that make up a real friendship. And because Women24 is all about friendship, we’ve made a Playlist of Fun to make National Friends day all about YOU.

So. You could WIN a luxury Spa day for you and two friends, IF you:

• Choose activities from our Playlist of Fun.
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… submit your entry and BAM! You’re one of us, and possibly, a winner.

*First said by that friend to all, CS Lewis.

Johannesburg – British mercenary Simon Mann bought himself a “relatively luxurious” lifestyle in Equatorial Guinea’s notorious Black Beach prison, by paying a government minister and a police official about R6m.

Freed mercenary Niek du Toit told Beeld on Sunday that Mann – the architect behind the 2004 attempted coup – bribed the officials to ensure his release.

“He told me how he’d tried to buy himself out of prison with £400 000 or £500 000, and how that had apparently not been enough. They wanted more. He learned a lesson. £500 000 is a large amount of money.”

Pardoned SA mercenary Niek du Toit shows the marks where handcuffs cut to the bone during his imprisonment in Equatorial Guinea.

As a result of Mann’s bribery, take-away meals from the best hotel in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, were delivered to him. He also wasn’t kept in cuffs for 24 hours a day, like the other mercenaries were.

“Food from the Paraiso Hotel was delivered to his cell, or he was taken out to a part of the prison which was specially built to serve as a court,” said Du Toit.

Regarding allegations that Mann was allowed to drink wine, Du Toit said: “I never saw any wine, so I can’t say if there was wine. But it’s customary to drink wine with meals in that country, so it is possible.”

The other inmates were prevented from doing any exercise. But a treadmill was installed in Mann’s cell.

Du Toit lost 37kg in prison.

“There was a period recently when the guards started removing our handcuffs while we were still in our cells. We still had shackles around our ankles. One morning I tried to do a few exercises, but they were watching me on security cameras.

“That night, at 23:00, they came storming into my cell and handcuffed me again. They didn’t say a word.

“The next day, when I asked why I was now being shackled again, they said if I ever dared to exercise again, they would tie me to the bed.”

(continue reading…)

Cape Town – Soldiers are to be deployed, instead of police, to patrol and protect South Africa’s borders, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said on Wednesday.

Members of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) would be better placed to fight cross-border crime, such as cars being smuggled to neighbouring countries after they were stolen in South Africa.

Maseko told a post-Cabinet briefing, soldiers would gradually replace the police both along the country’s frontiers and at border posts.

“There will be an intermediate phase where some parts will be guarded by police and some parts guarded by the SANDF,” he said.

“Eventually the task must be given to the SANDF but in the meanwhile it will be shared.”

Cabinet has yet to decide how many soldiers will be needed and when their deployment will start.
The announcement marks a policy reversal.

Police began taking over responsibility from the army for border security five years ago but the move has been widely regarded as a mistake.

taken from News24

Imagine a free website that would allow you to report any type of crime incident you witnessed or that happened to you, and where you could be informed of all the crime incidents – serious or minor reported in a radius around you.

Inspired by New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who instated a computer based crime mapping system called CompStat in the 1990’s. Every crime that occurred in the city was reported on the system no matter how minor. The NYPD could then begin to see crimes patterns and begin to predict where criminals could strike next, allowing them to be prepared and counteract the crime effectively. The result was that over time crime in New York was cleaned up.

You can use the website to report ANY crimes and incidents in your neighbourhood in order to let others know what is happening. You can also be instantly notified of any crime being committed around you.

The better the sense you have of the crime being committed near you, the more you can do to prevent it happening to you and your neighbours. Knowledge is power and forewared is forearmed.

Crime Aware is very easy to use and is a map based system that allows you to graphically view the incidents of crime in your neighbourhood.

Report any type of crime from minor to serious. Even report a dog poisoning or attempted burglary, as the more you report, the more those around you can be aware of what is happening in the neighbourhood.

Some crimes do not get reported to the police as we feel they are too minor, but if we track each and every incident, we can start to see a pattern and form an detailed image of the crimes in an particular area.

Years ago, we would lean of the wall and talk to our neighbour on the weekend, nowadays neighbours seldom talk and share information. Crime Aware hopes to change that and provide an easy way to share crime information and assist in preventing crime.

Sign up today and participate in making your neighbourhood a safer place to be.

taken from CrimeAware