A few months back, someone posted a website where you could enter a product and it would tell you where you could get the cheapest prices for it. I'm specifically looking for BOGOF offers for ice lollies... could you help please?

It's for our School's Fundraising efforts ... selling ice lollies on Fridays after school

A Spanish firm is to sell subsidised routers as part of a plan to turn domestic wi-fi networks into public hotspots.


Read more here ...

Good news or bad? :mmm:

:am:

Good morning.....

A unny: day here - good chance that we will see some tennis today! :tim:

Have a pleasant day every one! :yes:

....with the money still nowhere to be found!

SA coach admits he may be on his way to England


June 26, 2006

By Dale Granger & Gary Lemke

Jake WhiteÂ’s tenure as Springbok coach could come to an end as early as next week if the England Rugby Football Union (RFU) offers him a job as its elite director of rugby.

It has been reliably learnt that White is on an impressive shortlist to become the most influential man in England rugby, although London sources maintain that Sir Clive Woodward is the man the RFU want for the position.

However, the irony is that even if Woodward is offered the job, White could still be on his way to England in a coaching role, as the South African commands huge respect within RFU headquarters and enjoys a good relationship with Woodward.

White has admitted his link with England.

“Yes, it’s fair to say that I’m at the crossroads and might not be Springbok coach for much longer,” he said after RFU sources had confirmed their interest in him.

On Friday the RFU will sit down with the shortlist and identity the man they want to approach. If White is offered and accepts a job with the England team, he would have to start work as early as next month.

This would put him in direct opposition to the Springboks, who are in the same group as England in next yearÂ’s World Cup.

The news of WhiteÂ’s job offer comes in the aftermath of a Test defeat against France at Newlands on Saturday. This was WhiteÂ’s first loss on home turf in two-and-a-half years.

By failing to offer White a contract beyond 2007, SA Rugby could be forcing White out of the Springbok job, despite a win percentage of around 70% and a complete turnaround in Bok fortunes.

England is ready to step in and buy him out of his existing deal at a cost of around £100 000. If White does move abroad, word is that Bulls coach Heyneke Meyer and SA Under-21 coach Pieter de Villiers would be favourites to succeed him.

It has emerged that White has been frank with his employers and has told them of EnglandÂ’s interest.

It appears, however, that SA Rugby went behind WhiteÂ’s back to check whether he was in the running for the RFU post. Its own inquiries drew a blank.

SA Rugby has had three months in which to offer White an extension of his contract to 2009.

However, while it has been procrastinating, England has been quick to signal its interest with a job that is worth a minimum of R20 million over four years – nearly four times his current package.

When contacted, SA Rugby Union (Saru) president Oregan Hoskins said SA Rugby was aware that England were interested in White, but was surprised at the speed at which things had moved.

Last week the SA Rugby board failed to make a decision on WhiteÂ’s future as Springbok coach. It appears that Saru vice-president Koos Basson had pointed out that, according to the constitution, the matter would have to be referred to the presidentÂ’s council. It was later announced that the presidentÂ’s council would meet again only on July 12.


“I am prepared to call an emergency meeting this week to clarify the situation as a matter of urgency. And if necessary, there is a possibility I could get a mandate (from the president’s council),” Hoskins said.

White also spoke openly about his frustration of coaching the Springboks.

“I promised myself when I took on the job that I would never lose perspective about what it was all about.

“I like to believe I’ve proven myself in a job that is harder than any rugby coaching position in the world.

“But you can’t keep living on the edge, when even with a 70% win ratio, you’ve got to keep on proving yourself.

“There are times when you feel as if you are walking into a big black hole and there are people who want you to fall into it.

“You know what’s happening and you’ve seen it coming.

“If you knew you had a long-term future, then things could be different and you might be able to select a side by bringing in younger guys. But when you don’t know whether you will still have a job by next Saturday, then you go with the guys you know and have had a relationship with, because you trust those players.

“I’ve been open with the board and there are no hard feelings. But mentally I know there is a right time and a wrong time and I know where I am in life.

“I’ve always believed timing is everything and over the past two years I am happy I was able to succeed in one of the most difficult jobs in international sport.

“I told myself I would leave this job on my own terms and that I would not be forced out.

“So I’m not prepared to go down that hole just for the sake of some lekker fun. I’ve always known that this job would end at some stage, but I would like that to be when it suits me.

“At the same time I have a family in Cape Town and two boys at Bishops, who are happy. So if I went to England I would probably have to go and do the job on my own.

“At Newlands on Saturday, when we were 23-11 up, there were guys turning to me and giving me the thumbs up. At the final whistle many of those same people were booing. I thought to myself: ‘What did I do right for 60 minutes and wrong for 20 minutes to make me a bad coach?’

“There are people in South African rugby who pledge their support, but sometimes you think it is just lip service. If we had won on Saturday they would all have come to the dressing room, stood in a circle and maybe put out a press release saying we’re backing the coach until the World Cup.

“Instead, we lost, and you look around and realise there are some who are still with you, and others who have fled to the hills.

“In England people are prepared to offer you a contract for the next four years. But in South Africa you do not know whether you will be around for the Lions series. I’m not cross about that. In fact I’m quite relaxed,” White said.

'n Windgat laaitie met 'n wipstert BMW van die Gauteng kom by 'n boer in die klein karoo aangeja dat die stof so staan.
Hy klim uit en tune die oom "hoezit oom!?" Die Boer groet beleefd en kyk die mannetjie uit.
"As ek vir oom kan vertel hoeveel skape oom op die plaas het, kan ek maar vir my eenetjie huistoe vat?" vra die laaitie.
Die boer dink so 'n bietjie en antwoord ja, hy weet immers hy't heelwat skaap op die plaas en die kans is skraal dat die outjie sou reg raai.

Die laaitie ruk sy 'laptop' oop, koppel sy selfoon en klim op die internet. Met vreeslike ingewukkelde programmatuur skuif die laaitie naderhand N.A.S.A se sateliete tot bo oor die karoo plasie en neem lugfoto's uit die ruimte uit. Met meer gevorderde programmatuur doen hy ingewikkelde
berekeninge en na 'n uur se gespook kom hy op 'n getal uit... "Oom het presies 3795 skape op die plaas"
Die boer krap sy kop en wonder hoe de hel die mannetjie dit so reg het. "Ja toe" antwoord die boer, "vat maar vir jou 'n skapie"

Die outjie glimlag breed en begin te soek. Uiteindelik het hy een in sy arms en stap na sy motor se bagasiebak toe.
Net toe hy sy prys wil inlaai stop die boer hom. "As ek vir jou kan vertel watter soort werk jy doen, kan ek maar die diertjie hou?" vra die boer. Die outjie dink so 'n bietjie en antwoord ja. Die oom het hom immers 'n kans gegee dink hy.
"Jy moet 'n konsultant wees" praat die boer. "HEL hoe weet oom?" vra die laaitie "Man boet dis maklik" antwoord die boer. "eerstens kom jy hier aan sonder om 'n afspraak te maak, tweedens vra jy my 'n fooi om my iets te vertel wat ek reeds weet, en in die derde plek kan ek sien jy weet BOGGEROLL van skape af nie WANT DIS MY HOND DAAI!!!!! :haha:

Just a thought to brighten your day!



An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the
ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots
had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always
delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from
the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.


For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing
home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot
was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was
ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only
do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it
spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself,
because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the
way back to your house."


The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on
your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?" "That's
because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds
on

your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water
them."
"For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there
would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws
we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and
rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are
and look for the good in them.

SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember
to smell the flowers on your side of the path! :lovef:

June 26, 2006

By Eddie Cross

Bulawayo: Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai had lunch with a group of local business leaders earlier this month.

During the conversation he made the point that he would never have predicted that the Nationalist government in South Africa in 1989 would have accepted the changes that were about to break over the heads of all who lived in South Africa.

It controlled all the instruments of the state, huge resources, the electoral system and the media. Domestically, it seemed to be unassailable. Five years later it was defeated and out of power, and the party that had dominated South Africa for the previous 45 years started disintegrating.

It happens. Never say the word "impossible" in politics.

Suddenly there is a new consensus in the international community about Zimbabwe. This replaces the assumed approach sculptured by Tony Blair at the G8 summit in mid-2005, when the G8 renewed its commitment to helping put the Zimbabwe economy back on its feet and its support for the approach proposed by the South Africans.

After the Gleneagles summit, President Thabo Mbeki had a go at getting Robert Mugabe to step aside and allow reform and recovery on three separate occasions, and on each occasion he was frustrated by the local leadership.

We, in the MDC, were never happy with the approach being adopted for the resolution of the crisis over the past year, and are quite happy that the Blair/Mbeki approach has failed. In its place, a much more principled and robust approach has now been crafted, and seems to have suddenly gained acceptance across the globe.

In response, we have modified our own approach, and this is now synchronised with the new United Nations-crafted proposals and is currently being given some flesh by experts and legal draftsmen. As soon as this process is complete, we will be ready for what might be coming in the near future.

The reasons for this new consensus are not hard to understand. It is now four years since US President George Bush stood with Mbeki in Pretoria and stated that Mbeki was now the "point man" on the Zimbabwe crisis.

A logical choice - he has the power to coerce the Zimbabwean leadership if this is required, he has the experience and his own country had just been through a dramatic transition assisted by the global community.

In fact, Mbeki accepted the role, but then tried to use his position to secure an outcome that would have left a so-called "sanitised Zanu-PF government" in power. The reasons for this were purely domestic and had little to do with what was best for Zimbabwe.

Had the Zanu-PF leadership recognised this and co-operated with Mbeki, then he might have made progress and we (the MDC and the people of Zimbabwe) would have had to learn to live with new leadership, perhaps modified policies, but with most of the same problems that beset us right now.

The leadership of Zanu-PF did not see this as a way out and instead they blocked all Mbeki's efforts to resolve the crisis. In fact, they have insulted and slandered the South African president and must now finally face the new consensus without his support and protection.

The second reason for the new consensus is the acceptance that Zimbabwe is now close to collapse. I have often said this before - countries do not collapse like companies, but in this case I may be wrong.


We are now close to the very real threat that we may not be able to sustain our economy as a functional entity. Coal supplies are down to critical levels, electrical energy needs are no longer being met and our own local crisis is being exacerbated by a growing deficit in electrical energy supplies regionally.

Our railways are no longer capable of moving more than a small proportion of our national transport needs and we no longer have the foreign currency to support essential imports - Air Zimbabwe recently suspended flights because it simply cannot keep its aircraft in the air.

A country such as the DRC can survive these sorts of pressures - the majority of its economy is informal and can survive these chaotic conditions. Its inherent riches have enabled the Congo to survive under a succession of corrupt, even criminal, elements since 1960.

Somalia has seen half its total population leave the country since its own collapse began. Other African states that have failed have seen similar numbers of migrants fleeing the country for greener pastures.

The great difference here is that our own millions of fleeing citizens have in the main "gone south". A correspondent told me recently that they now think that up to four million Zimbabweans may be living in South Africa - only 15% as legal residents.

The continued, even accelerated, collapse in the Zimbabwean economy this year has scared a lot of people - in the region and abroad. It has suddenly given new impetus to the search for a solution.

Perhaps another reason for the new consensus on the way forward and the need to throw some weight behind the initiative, is the new sense of the fragility of the South African situation.

The SACP and Cosatu are talking about breaking away from the ANC, and if they did the political spectrum in South Africa would change overnight. A leftist party would emerge from the new dispensation that could challenge the hegemony of the ANC in South African politics. It is Mbeki's nightmare scenario.

Under these circumstances, he needs to narrow down the focus of the South African administration and reduce the number of fronts on which it is dealing with serious problems. Zimbabwe is one place where it could effect such a reduction and, at the same time, perhaps draw the interests of the ANC alliance partners together.

Whatever the reasons - there is suddenly a new consensus on the way forward.

Like a clearing in deep, dense fog at sea, suddenly we can all see how a transitional government might open up the situation here - allow the international community in with resources and open up the possibility that free and fair elections could be held in a year or so. So, watch the AU's meeting in the Gambia this week very closely.

It is perhaps another turning point in southern African history - one that will echo the events in September 1976 when Ian Smith was forced to cede to a transition and 1989 when the South Africans faced the same scenario and succumbed to a combination of domestic and international pressure.
Perhaps, just perhaps, this time is our turn - again.

Youngster declared brain dead after rugby beating
June 26, 2006

By Karen Breytenbach and Sapa

Riaan Loots was chosen as captain of the Boland B rugby team, but before he could hear the good news he was declared brain dead after being beaten and kicked in the head during a rugby match.

The incident has been strongly condemned by the Boland Rugby Union.

Loots, 24, a flyhalf for Rawsonville Rugby Club, was pummelled by an opponent from Delicious Rugby Club in Ceres at the end of a match in Rawsonville on Friday. Ceres lost 23-6.

Rawsonville chairman DP Spangenberg ran onto the field to break up the fight.

Spectators watched in horror.

"The whole team is very shocked and needs counselling", said Rawsonville rugby club president Piet du Toit.

The club has laid criminal charges with the Rawsonville police.

The beating follows a similar incident in 2004, when a Ceres player punched Rawsonville's coach, bursting his eardrum.

Boland police spokesman Randall Stoffels said a case of assault with an intent to do grievous bodily harm would be changed to murder when the doctors switched off Loots's life-support equipment.

Worcester Medi-Clinic doctor Christo van Dyk declared Loots brain dead yesterday.

His family has decided to donate his organs.

Rugby players and organisers from across the Boland, as well as 30 Rawsonville locals, gathered in the talented young player's hospital room yesterday to offer support and prayers to Loots's shattered family, friends and team mates.

"He looks so beautiful as he's lying here," the young player's father, Willie Loots, said.


"From the outside nothing seems to be wrong with him, it's on the inside that he's hurt.

"We have such a beautiful family portrait, a father, mother and three beautiful boys, and now one is gone. It's terrible."

His son had shown talent since playing for the Wesbank Primary School in Oudtshoorn and Strand High School, Loots sen said. After matriculating, Loots played for Maties U-19 A1 and U-20 A1 while studying for a BComm.

He later played Super A-league for the rugby clubs NTK Parow and Helderberg and worked as a personal trainer.

Loots jun took up golf a month ago and won his first tournament on Wednesday. He was to have made his debut with the Boland B team in Wellington next Saturday.

"Maybe his death has a purpose," said Loots sen.
"Maybe it will help to clean up the game he lived for."

Jack Abrahams, chairman of the Boland Rugby Union, said: "It's not an incident we can feel proud of.

"I'm personally upset. We'll definitely investigate. We're bound to. It's just too shocking."

Abrahams said all rugby clubs in the Boland had to sign a code of conduct at the beginning of each year and were responsible for enforcing discipline.

The union's official position will be announced after an executive meeting at 8am today.

The chairman of Delicious, Bennie Leenders, could not be reached for comment.

Loots is also survived by his mother, Lana, his brothers Wimpie and Christiaan.
He leaves his girlfriend, Lizandra Nel.