Kristen Tedder, or Tutu as she is known to friends, was never going to react to breast cancer in a conventional way. This is the performance artist whose Doris Day meets Courtney Love routine had the Gallagher brothers whooping for more at a London club in the late 1990s.

Her latest project is Punk Cancer: a visceral, disrespectful and decidedly un-pink approach to fighting breast cancer. “All the pink, fluffy breast cancer imagery didn’t do it for me, so I went down a different road,” Tutu explains. “I learned to love breast cancer because it’s part of my body and it taught me a lot about my life. But I also wanted to kick its ass.”

When we meet, Tutu, 45, is wearing a T-shirt, created with London label Earl of Bedlam. It features a stencil of herself, boldly one-breasted, and, in Never Mind the Bollocks lettering, the phrase: “Cancer Sucks: Fight it, Love it, Live it, Survive it.”

More from the Guardian here

The other bit of news I am looking at (how are Gwisai and gang?) is story of a Chitungwiza woman who was doing plastic recycling. And was arrested, and did a few nights inside. Seems she did not have a license to deal with waste. So, in Zimbabwe, throw your garbage all over the place, no fear. Try and deal with it, go to jail.

During my kombi days I often heard whindi’s and drivers complaining about how police officers refused to pay kombi fare, but at roadblocks the same officers would ask them for bribes, or when they were arrested would beat them badly. Personally, I’ve never really trusted the police, and given a choice I’d pick a soldier over a policeman. Outside of the repeated harassment at roadblocks, I’ve found members of the police to be undisciplined, bureaucratically inefficient and at times just plain unwilling to do their job.  So given an opportunity where I am not compelled by law to cooperate with the police, I won’t.

Recently I had occasion to add ‘entitled’ to my list of grievances against the police. On Friday afternoon, as I was leaving the British Embassy a police officer approached my car and attempted to get in. Finding both passenger doors closed, he looked perplexed, then finally asked me which way I was going, although it didn’t quite sound like a request:

Policeman: Murikuenda nekuextension handiti? (You’re going through second street extension right?)
Me: Aiwa, handisi. (No, I’m not)

I started my car and left.

There had been two other cars besides mine leaving the embassy at the same time, one with an old British couple, and another with a man by himself. The policeman hadn’t approached either of these. Did he really think it more likely that he would get a ride from a woman driving on her own?

What made me angry was the presumption on his part that he had any right at all to attempt to get into the car without asking my permission first. It was still my car.

I’m still not sure how I feel about this, and perhaps I am making mountains out of molehills. Should I be angry that a policeman in uniform tried to get into my car without asking me first? Is it because he is a policeman and thought himself entitled to a free ride like other officers do with kombis? Or is it because he’s a policeman and, being I woman I appeared weaker and couldn’t say no?

This just in – the Macdonald Park Pool (Avondale’s city/public pool) has changed it’s opening times. It will be closed Sunday, and only open 0800 to 1200 Saturday. It will also be shut at 1600 everyday, not the 1800 it used to shut. But it will be available to hire for functions on those days. No reason has been given. This is city wide, directive from above.

I ‘understand’ things, since I have been involved in getting the Mac Park Pool rehabilitated and opened.

The first thing I know is that it was rented for functions at $300 a time. Weddings usually. And the area residents complained non-stop about the noise involved.

The second thing I know, on a warm weekend day, the pool would take in over $300 in gate proceeds. In a day! And, or course, the residents generally work on the weekdays, so can only swim on the weekends.

Conclusion. The City of Harare has decided to stop getting up to $500 (two and a half days’ income) and instead rent it out for $300. The City of Harare is trying to NOT make money. The City of Harare is trying to keep the citizens of Harare out of their pool.

Another thing known – The City of Harare takes all the gate takings. Banked straight to them. And rental of the place as a venue means the money goes to the pool, which then takes what it needs for chemicals and upkeep, and banks the remainder to the City of Harare. The City of Harare, however, never gives or pays for any chemicals or pool maintenance. So, the only way to keep the pool running is to shut it to the public, rent it to a private function, and use that money to keep it running for the public.

Is this not short-term policy to long-term disaster?

Please can we have the City of Harare run the pool for the Harare Public and make money?

Blocked drains in Glenview; Zimbabweans get involved in Kubatana’s Fix this.please campaign.

Thanks to Priviledge from Glenview.

Education is a very powerful tool in life. We all seek and need education with the hope that we would find employment. Countless people are not been given the opportunity to utilize this powerful resource because of the deprived economy in Zimbabwe. Thousands of graduates and postgraduates are seated in their homes with nothing to do. Where are the jobs? Jobs must be created.

There are so many universities in Zimbabwe. But can Zimbabwe’s economy sustain this? It’s like adding harm to injury. It is a fact that Zimbabwe is one of the best countries in Africa in quality of education. I for one agree with that because I am a result of this good edification. Despite lack of resources, Zimbabwe still maintains that standard. What worries me is whether being educated is still worth it in our country anymore. The rate of unemployment is so high and keeps soaring. I was amused when I read an article in the Herald about auditions for a radio talk show where thousands of people turned up in hope. The director of this radio talk show insinuated that people were enthusiastic about the auditions. I should think that these were just unemployed people with a hope of just getting a job and being able to earn a living. The next batch of graduates are yet to be released adding to the already high rate of unemployment.

Economists with their jargon talk about the demand and supply curve. It does not tally at all. There are not enough jobs to meet the number of educated people in this country. Thus people resort to leaving the country to what they have termed “greener pastures”. But is it all green and rosy out there? I know of many Zimbabweans who would die to come back home, but to what?  They would rather sacrifice to be out there to earn the little they can and send some back home, with their professional and academic certificates safely tucked away in the hope that one day an opportunity will arise that would best suit their qualifications. Hoping that the dust would not have settled on them too…

I do wish that our economy will one day improve, and if possible the sooner the better. People cannot hustle forever, and if hustling wont work then what? Crime?

To those graduating this year and the years to come, I say brace yourselves for the reality, they call the Industry.